El Clássico: Catalan protests at football match in Spain

BARCELONA, Dec 19 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Protesters have clashed with police outside a Barcelona and Real Madrid football match at Nou Camp in Spain. Thousands of fans inside the stadium held up banners urging the Spanish government to “sit and talk” with those demanding Catalan independence. The match had been postponed…

US House passes 1.4-trillion-USD spending plan ahead of government shutdown deadline

WASHINGTON, Dec 19 (NNN-XINHUA) — The US House of Representatives has passed a 1.4-trillion-U.S.-dollar spending package that will fund the government through the end of the fiscal year, as lawmakers in both chambers are rushing to avoid a government shutdown. The House approved the spending bill on Tuesday to keep the federal government open…

Rwanda evacuates 6,000 residents from areas threatened by heavy rains

KIGALI, Dec 19 (NNN-XINHUA) — The Rwandan government on said it has evacuated close to 6,000 residents from high-risk zones in different parts of the country threatened by heavy rains in the first three weeks of December. Some 4,000 of them are staying with their relatives, 1,500 living in government-rented houses while about 300 others…

UK: London street bans petrol, diesel cars

LONDON, Dec 19 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Petrol and diesel vehicles will be banned from a street in central London in an innovative attempt to reduce pollution, local authorities said.Officials said Beech Street, which runs underneath the Brutalist designed Barbican Estate, would become Britain’s first “24-7 zero emission street”.During an 18-month trial…

French Pres Macron’s West Africa visit: Ivory Coast, Niger lined up (Dec 20 – 22)

Emmanuel Macron PARIS, Dec 19 (NNN-AFRICANEWS) — French President Emmanuel Macron is set to undertake a two-nation tour of West Africa, the presidency disclosed on Tuesday. He is expected to visit Ivory Coast before proceeding to Niger.His visit to Niamey has been described as a short one on Dec 22,…

UK and US call for more action to end Sahel conflict

The leaders of Mali, Niger, Burkina Faso, Chad and Mauritania UNITED NATIONS, Dec 19 (NNN-AGENCIES) — The UK and the US have told the UN Security Council that West African governments were not doing enough to end escalating violence in the Sahel. Despite the presence of thousands of regional and…

Nigerian church set ablaze over missing child

The child allegedly went missing from the church last month ABUJA, Dec 19 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Protesters have set ablaze a church in Akure city, south-west Nigeria, following unconfirmed rumours that the body of a missing one-year-old child had been found buried by the altar.Witnesses said two of the protesters were…

Nearly 700,000 displaced by east DR Congo violence: MSF

GOMA (DR Congo), Dec 19 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Nearly 700,000 people have been displaced by violence in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, Doctors Without Borders (MSF) said, pointing to “worrying” cases ofmalnutrition and sexual violence. In a press release, it said more than 687,500 displaced people were nowliving in camps or…

Mexico the origin of Hong Kong’s largest meth seizure in a decade

File photo used for sample purpose only. HONG KONG, Dec 17 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Hong Kong customs announced its largest seizure of methamphetamine in a decade on Tuesday – 110kg of Ice with an estimated street value of HK$77 million (US$10 million) that originated in Mexico. The seizure points towards the growing presence of meth…

British warship HMS Scott joins the search for the missing Chilean C130 Hercules

PUNTA ARENAS (Chile), Dec 17 (NNN-MERCOPRESS) — The Royal Navy vessel HMS Scott arrived to provide support to the Chilean military in their response to the loss of a C130 military plane that went missing earlier in the week in the Southern Atlantic Ocean. British Forces’ South Atlantic Islands, based…