Namibia’s presidential elections: Pres Geingob secures second term with reduced majority

WINDHOEK, Dec 1 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Namibian president Hage Geingob on Saturday won the country’s presidential elections with a diminished majority of 56.3 percent, the worst performance of any ruling party candidate for nearly 30 years. Geingob was declared president of this week’s vote, retaining his positionand the ruling South West…

UK: Prime Minister Johnson vows to act as convicted terrorist named in London attack

LONDON, Dec 1 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Prime Minister Boris Johnson vowedto review Britain’s sentencing system after a convicted terroristreleased early from prison stabbed two people to death and wounded three in a London Bridge attack. Members of the public were hailed as heroes for preventing even greaterloss of life by tackling…

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…