NATO taking ‘some personnel’ out of Iraq

BRUSSELS, Jan 8 (NNN-AGENCIES) — NATO said it would take “some personnel” out of Iraq because of the increased danger there after the US killing of an Iranian general triggered revenge threats. The withdrawal is temporary but “the safety of our personnel is paramount”, a NATO official said in a…

Spain: Sanchez wins parliament vote to return as PM

MADRID, Jan 7, 2020 (BSS/AFP) – Spain’s parliament on Tuesday confirmedSocialist leader Pedro Sanchez’s reappointment as prime minister by a razor-thin margin, ending almost a year of political limbo for the eurozone’s fourth-largest economy. Sanchez, who plans to form an unprecedented minority coalition government with far-left party Podemos, got 167…

Update: Hundreds arrested for deliberately starting catastrophic Australian bushfires

Bushfires rage between the towns of Orbost and Lakes Entrance in east Gippsland. CANBERRA, Jan 7 (NNN-Xinhua) — Hundreds of Australians have been arrested for allegedly deliberately lighting Australian bushfires in only a matter of months. Australia is currently enduring one of the worst bushfire crises in the nation’s history,…

Update: Iranians mass for burial in hometown of general killed by US

KERMAN (Iran), Jan 7 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Iranians gathered in Kerman for the burial Tuesday of top general Qasem Soleimani in the final stage of funeral processions after he was killed in a US strike in Iraq. The massive number of mourners in the hometown of the slain commander of the…

US eyes sanctions over growing Russian support for Venezuela

WASHINGTON, Jan 7 (NNN-AGENCIES) — The United States will take action in response to growing Russian support for Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, a senior US official said. US President Donald Trump’s administration has sanctioned Maduro’s regime and called it a dictatorship after he was re-elected in 2018 in elections widely…

Australian bushfire cloud visible in Chile and Argentina

Bushfires burn on Kangaroo island, Australia SANTIAGO (Chile), Jan 7 (NNN-AGENCIES) — The cloud of smoke caused by raging bushfires in Australia has been spotted more than 12,000km away in Chile and Argentina, weather authorities in the South American countries said. In the early hours “the effect was seen in…

Magnitude 6.2 quake strikes near Indonesia’s Aceh province

The location of the quake in Indonesia BANDA ACEH (Sumatra, Indonesia), Jan 7 (NNN-AGENCIES) — An earthquake of magnitude 6.2 struck southwest of Indonesia’s Aceh province on the island of Sumatra on Tuesday at a depth of 20.3 km, the US Geological Survey (USGS) said. The Indonesian meteorology and geophysics agency said…

India suffers hottest decade on record

A shepherd and their livestock walk across a dried out reservoir on the outskirts of Chennai NEW DELHI, Jan 7 (NNN-AGENCIES) — The last decade was India’s hottest on record with the national weather office calling the impact of global warming “unmistakable” and extreme weather killing more than 1,500 people…

UN resumes grain milling in starvation-threatened Yemen

A worker walks past a ship unloading grain at the Red Sea port of Hodeidah ADEN, Jan 7 (NNN-AGENCIES) — The UN World Food Programme has resumed the milling of grain for food aid to a starving population in Yemen after a halt in late December due to shelling damage, the…

French pension talks resume as govt seeks to end standoff

French unions have called for blockades of refineries and fuel depots starting Tuesday, when talks resume on the government’s pension overhaul PARIS, Jan 7 (NNN-AGENCIES) — French officials prepared to restart talks with unions Tuesday over a pension overhaul that has sparked the country’s longest transport strikes in decades, which…