France’s Macron to mark Christmas with troops on Africa visit

Last year French President Emmanuel Macron celebrated with French troops in Chad ABIDJAN, Dec 20 (NNN-AGENCIES) — In keeping with tradition, President Emmanuel Macron will celebrate Christmas with French soldiers posted abroad, travelling this year to Ivory Coast as Paris seeks to strengthen regional ties against militants. Far from protest strikes…

Iran’s Rouhani to meet Japan PM amid tension with US

Iranian President Hassan Rouhani meeting Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on the sidelines of the 74th United Nations General Assembly TOKYO, Dec 20 (NNN-AGENCIES) — President Hassan Rouhani will make the first visit to Japan by an Iranian head of state for two decades on Friday, as Tokyo seeks to mediate…

US deports Mexicans far from border, may send others to Guatemala

A government official talks to Mexican deportees after their arrival on a flight from the U.S., at Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla International Airport in Guadalajara, Mexico WASHINGTON/MEXICO CITY, Dec 20 (NNN-AGENCIES) — The United States began flying Mexican deportees to the interior of Mexico and a senior US official said…

Croatia to pick a president in tight three-way race

Incumbent Kolinda Grabar-Kitarovic is Croatia’s first female president ZAGREB, Dec 20 (NNN-AGENCIES) — A nationalist folk singer and a leftist former premier are challenging Croatia’s conservative president in a close election race on Sunday that could loosen her camp’s grip on power. The Adriatic nation, which is set to host…

Britain’s new parliament votes on Johnson’s Brexit deal

Britain’s Prime Minister Boris Johnson (R) and Britain’s main opposition Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn during the State Opening Of Parliament LONDON, Dec 20 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Britain’s freshly-elected parliament prepared on Friday to move past years of partisan wrangling and initially approve Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s divorce deal with the European…

Two firefighters killed battling Australian bushfires

 Geoffrey Keaton, 32, and Andrew O’Dwyer, 36, died when their firetruck overturned while they were fighting the NSW bushfires south-west of Sydney on Thursday night. SYDNEY, Dec 20 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Two Australian firefighters were killed and three injured when their truck crashed as they battled out-of-control blazes in New South…

Belgian court convicts Rwandan official for genocide

BRUSSELS, Dec 20 (NNN-AGENCIES) — A Brussels court found a former Rwandan official guilty of genocide after hearing of his role in the 1994massacres in his country. Fabien Neretse, who protested his innocence, is the first person to beconvicted in Belgium on such a charge and he now faces a…

US: Pres Trump says he wants “immediate” impeachment trial

US President Donald Trump  WASHINGTON, Dec 20 (NNN-XINHUA) — U.S. President Donald Trump said he wanted “an immediate trial” in the Senate, after the House of Representatives voted on Wednesday to pass two articles of impeachment against him. “So after the Democrats gave me no Due Process in the House,…

US slaps sanctions on drug trafficking group in Guatemala

WASHINGTON, Dec 20 (NNN-Xinhua) — The US Treasury said Thursday that it has blacklisted a Guatemalan mayor and a drug trafficking organization related to him. The blacklisted mayor, Erik Salvador Suniga Rodriguez, and his drug trafficking organization have been identified as significant foreign narcotics traffickers, said the Treasury in a…

Brazil registers over 13,000 cases of measles in 2019

RIO DE JANEIRO, Dec 20 (NNN-Xinhua) — Brazil registered 13,489 confirmed cases of measles from January to late November of this year, the country’s Ministry of Health announced. The country had two outbreaks in 2019: one early in the year, concentrated in the northern part of the country, and another…