Venezuela slams use of UNHRC for “political” ends

CARACAS, Dec 4 (NNN-Xinhua) — Venezuela denounced a handful of countries for using the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) for “political” ends. Writing on Twitter, Venezuelan Foreign Affairs Minister Jorge Arreaza said that the country “rejects the political use of the mechanisms of the UNHRC,” given the creation of…

France braces for traffic chaos as workers protest against Macron’s pension reform

PARIS, Dec 4 (NNN-Xinhua) — French commuters will face travel misery on Thursday as rail and metro workers will go on strike with which labor unions eye to show enough force to make President Emmanuel Macron reconsider his pension reform. “Thursday will be extremely difficult. The networks will be badly…

UN to deliver food aid to 4.1 million hungry in Zimbabwe

Villager Shupikai Makwavarara inspects her maize crop in rural Bindura near Harare GENEVA, Dec 4 (NNN-AGENCIES) — THE United Nations said it was procuring food assistance for 4.1 million Zimbabweans, a quarter of the population in a country where shortages are being exacerbated by runaway inflation and climate-induced drought. Zimbabwe, once…

French police clear 600 Tibetan migrants from camp outside Paris

Tibetan asylum seekers gather by a portrait of the Dalai Lama at a makeshift camp in Saint-Germain-en-Laye forest in Acheres PARIS, Dec 4 (NNN-AGENCIES) — French authorities said that they removed some 600 asylum-seekers from Tibet from a camp on the edge of a forest outside Paris, which had grown…

Brazil approves sale of medical cannabis in pharmacies

SAO PAULO, Dec 4 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Brazil’s health watchdog approved the sale of cannabis-based products for medical use in pharmacies to people with a prescription. The regulation, which takes effect in the coming months, also allows for the manufacture of such products in a laboratory, the Brazilian Health Regulatory Agency…

French engineer assassinated in Colombian capital

BOGOTA, Dec 4 (NNN-AGENCIES) — An engineer working for French aerospace and defence company Thales has been shot dead in the Colombian capital Bogota in an apparent targeted assassination, officials said. The 45-year-old victim was shot late Monday as he left a restaurant with a French colleague in the city’s…

China gifts El Salvador stadium, library after Taiwan switch

BEIJING, Dec 4 (NNN-AGENCIES) — China has agreed to pay for a new national stadium and library in El Salvador as part of an infrastructure package promised to the country after it switched allegiance from Taiwan to Beijing. President Xi Jinping met with Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele on Tuesday (Dec 4)…

NATO unity on the line as feuding leaders meet

LONDON, Dec 4 (NNN-AGENCIES) — NATO leaders will attempt to make a convincing show of unity on Wednesday when they meet to conclude a summit already overshadowed by bitter rows about the future of the alliance. Last year, the Western allies’ get-together was derailed by US President Donald Trump’s demand…

Journalist murder probe: EU parliamentary mission head says Malta PM should stand aside now

VALLETTA, Dec 4 (NNN-AGENCIES) — The head of a European Parliament delegation, dispatched to Malta to review the rule of law on the island following a scandal over the murder of a journalist, said Prime Minister Joseph Muscat should step aside immediately. Muscat has defended his handling of the investigation…

Namibia to redouble efforts to reduce inequalities and fight corruption: president

WINDHOEK, Dec 4 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Namibia’s newly re-elected President Hage Geingob has said his country is going to redouble efforts to reduce inequalities and fight corruption. Geingob was addressing the nation and thanking them for voting for him to lead for a second term. “A new chapter has been opened…