Brazil probe into Petrobras widened to Maersk shipping contracts

BRASILIA, Dec 19 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Brazilian authorities targeted Maersk and other companies for allegedly paying bribes to get an edge in securing shipping contracts with state oil firm Petroleo Brasileiro, in the latest phase of a sprawling graft probe. Federal prosecutors said in a statement that Denmark’s Maersk, the world’s…

Italy faces complaint at UN over ‘abusive’ Libya asylum returns

GENEVA, Dec 19 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Campaigners filed a complaint with the UN against Italy over a teenage migrant who was sent back to Libya in 2018 along with other migrants, where he was shot, beaten and subjected to forced labour. The Global Legal Action Network (GLAN) lodged the case with…

Mexico: 14 killed in fiery family mini-bus crash

GUADALAJARA (Mexico), Dec 19 (NNN-AGENCIES) — A mini-bus carrying a family to a holiday beach getaway in Mexico crashed into a lumber truck on Wednesday and caught fire, killing 14 people including five children, authorities said. Many of the victims were trapped inside the burning mini-bus, whose charred chassis could…

Romania: 11 injured in head-on train collision

BUCHAREST, Dec 19 (NNN-Xinhua) — Eleven people were injured after a passenger train and a freight train collided head on Wednesday near the capital city of Bucharest, southeastern Romania. According to the local Emergency Situations Inspectorate of Prahova County, where the accident occurred, 10 people were sent to the local…

Death toll in Panama prison shooting climbs to 15

PANAMA CITY, Dec 19 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Panama’s Pres Laurentino Cortizo wasted no time in following through on his promise that there would be “consequences” following the Tuesday afternoon massacre in La Joyita prison, where the death toll has now risen to 15, with 13 detainees still hospitalized with severe injuries.…

Russia: Moscow’s snowless December warmest in 133 years

MOSCOW, Dec 19 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Russian capital, Moscow registered the warmest December weather in over a century on Wednesday, as an unusually snowless month put winter activities on hold and confused plants into blooming. One weather station in northern Moscow registered a temperature of 5.4 degrees Celsius (41.7 degrees Fahrenheit),…

Cameroon MPs pass devolution bill for troubled anglophone regions

YAOUNDE, Dec 19 (NNN-AGENCIES) — A bill granting special status to Cameroon’s two crisis-hit anglophone regions was passed by lawmakers on Wednesday, national radio said, an attempt to ease two years of bloody violence. If the Senate approves the devolution law and it comes into force, the western areas where…

Sudan marks anniversary of uprising that ousted Bashir

KHARTOUM, Dec 19 (NNN-AGENCIES) — A year after demonstrations broke out in Sudan over soaring bread prices, celebrations are planned across the country on Thursday to mark the uprising that brought down veteran autocrat Omar al-Bashir. In the central town of Atbara, the cradle of the revolt, hundreds of people…

British PM sets out plan for power

LONDON, Dec 19 (NNN-AGENCIES) — British Prime Minister Boris Johnson will set out his plans for government on Thursday following a sweeping election win, focused on delivering Brexit and supporting the health service. Queen Elizabeth II will open parliament in a lavish ceremony where she will read out the Conservative…

Peru: Embattled opposition leader Fujimori to take political break ahead of new court hearing

LIMA, Dec 19 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Peruvian opposition leader Keiko Fujimori, released last month after more than a year in pre-trial custody, announced she would take a break from politics, before a new detention hearing in her corruption case. Fujimori, 44, is accused of accepting $1.2 million in illicit funding for…