Crowd in DR Congo lynches two people as UN envoy visits

BENI (DR Congo), Dec 1 (NNN-AGENCIES) — A crowd in eastern DR Congo onSaturday lynched two people they suspected of being members of a militiablamed for the killing of more than 100 civilians over the past month. Munitions were found in the bags of the two people, a man and…

France: Twenty suspects face trial for deadly 2015 Paris attacks

PARIS, Dec 1 (NNN-AGENCIES) — French prosecutors called for 20suspects to go on trial over the massacre of 130 people by suicide bombersand gunmen in Paris four years ago. In a 562-page indictment on Friday, the office of the national anti-terrorprosecutor (PNAT) charged 14 people currently in prison or under…

Germany: Blow to Merkel coalition as ally loses SPD leadership race

BERLIN, Dec 1 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Germany’s Deputy Chancellor and Finance Minister Olaf Scholz on Saturday lost the leadership race of his centre-left SPD party, throwing the future of Chancellor Angela Merkel’s coalition into question. Scholz and his running mate Klara Geywitz obtained only 45.33 percent of the vote of the…

Opposition leader Keiko Fujimori leaves prison in Peru

LIMA, Dec 1 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Peru opposition leader Keiko Fujimori wasreleased from prison after spending 13 months in pre-trial detentionin a corruption case linked to Brazilian construction giant Odebrecht. Her release comes days after the country’s Constitutional Court ordered herfreed in a ruling related only to her detention and which…

ICC must probe former Pres Morales ‘crimes against humanity’: Bolivia

LA PAZ, Dec 1 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Bolivia’s interim government will file acase at the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague against former president Evo Morales for “crimes against humanity,” the interior minister announced. The government will file the lawsuit “in the next few days,”Arturo Murillo, told state radio Patria…

Hague knife assault suspect arrested: Dutch police

THE HAGUE, Dec 1 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Dutch police on Saturday arrested a suspect in the stabbing of three teenagers in a busy shopping street in The Hague, the city’s police force said. Police had earlier said they were investigating “several scenarios” and that it was “too early to speculate” about…

Qatari foreign minister’s Saudi visit seen easing Gulf rift

Qatar’s Foreign Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al-Thani RIYADH, Nov 29 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Qatar’s foreign minister has made an unannounced visit to Riyadh, amid signs that a 2-1/2-year rift among US-allied Gulf Arab states could soon subside. Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman al-Thani met with senior Saudi officials last month, said…

Russia loses bid to block new Syria chemical weapons probe

THE HAGUE, Nov 29 (NNN-AGENCIES) — A bid by Russia to block funding for a new team that will identify culprits behind toxic attacks in Syria failed with member states at the global chemical watchdog overwhelmingly approving a new budget. Moscow and its allies were trying to block next year’s…

Backlash in Mexico at US Pres Trump plan to list cartels as ‘terror’ groups

MEXICO CITY, Nov 29 (NNN-AGENCIES) — US Pres Donald Trump’s plan to designate Mexican drug cartels as terrorist organisations has ignited a raging debate in Mexico on whether the groups’ horrific violence should be considered terrorism. Mexicans broadly agree on one thing, though: They don’t want the American president’s help.…

Revised data shows deforestation in Brazil Amazon at decade high

BRASÍLIA, Nov 29 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Brazil released revised statistics showing deforestation in the Amazon rainforest surpassed 10,000 sq km in the year to July 2019, the highest in more than a decade. The National Institute for Space Research (INPE) said last week that satellite data showed 9,762 sq km were…