Progress made in talks with opposition: Venezuelan VP

CARACAS, Nov 19 (NNN-Xinhua) — Venezuelan Vice President Delcy Rodriguez on Monday said conciliation talks with the right-wing opposition have been “making progress” over the two months since the dialogue began. Rodriguez noted the talks had so far led to ruling socialist party legislators rejoining the National Assembly, where the…

Protests aggravate food insecurity in Haiti: UN

UNITED NATIONS, Nov 19 (NNN-Xinhua) — Months-long political protests and unrest are aggravating the food insecurity in Haiti, with 3.7 million people already at crisis level, a United Nations spokesman said. “Most businesses and schools in the country have been closed since mid-September, due to ongoing protests and unrest,” said…

US Pres Trump says will ‘strongly consider’ testifying in impeachment probe

WASHINGTON, Nov 19 (NNN-AGENCIES) — US President Donald Trump said he is “strongly” considering answering a challenge from opposition Democrats to testify in his own impeachment investigation. After the speaker of the lower house, Nancy Pelosi, upped the ante by suggesting that Trump come forward to tell the “truth”, the Republican…

Botswana to start issuing trophy hunting licences in December

GABORONE, Nov 19 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Botswana’s president announced the government will by December start issuing trophy hunting licences after it controversially scrapped a five-year ban on the practice, and angered international conservationists. President Mokgweetsi Masisi’s government in May removed the moratorium, just a year after he suceeded Ian Khama, an…

Girl dies, several feared missing in French bridge collapse

The dead girl’s mother was pulled alive from a sunken car by bystanders, some of whom were badly injured in the rescue attempt MIREPOIX-SUR-TRN (France), Nov 19 (NNN-AGENCIES) — A 15-year-old girl was killed after a suspension bridge over a river in southwest France collapsed on Monday, causing a car,…

Riot police use water cannons to disperse Georgia protesters

Anti-government protesters block an area near the entrance to parliament in Tbilisi TBILISI, Nov 19 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Riot police in Georgia on Monday used water cannons to disperse anti-government protesters who have taken to the streets after the ruling party backtracked on promised electoral reforms. Hundreds of riot police in body…

Three killed in Oklahoma Walmart shooting

Three people, including a shooter, are dead following a shooting in Duncan, Okla. OKLAHOMA, Nov 19 (NNN-AGENCIES) — A gunman killed two people outside an Oklahoma Walmart store Monday before fatally shooting himself, officials said. A woman and a man were fatally shot in a car in the parking lot…

Walmart seeks police protection in riot-hit Chile

SANTIAGO, Nov 19 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Walmart has sought court orders for police protection in protest-wracked Chile after more than 120 of its supermarkets were looted or burned. The Chilean subsidiary of the US-headquartered retailer lodged orders with courts in six Chilean cities, saying the attacks on its stores had put…

Dec 12 elections: Protest city, Algiers shunned by most Algerian candidates

The five candidates for the Dec 12 elections ALGIERS, Nov 19 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Campaigning has officially started for the Dec 12 presidential election in Algeria – but on the first day all but one of the five candidates chose to stay away from the capital, Algiers – the city where opposition to the poll…

‘32 militants killed’ in Burkina Faso sex slave raid

Security forces in Burkina Faso have been under pressure as militant attacks increase OUAGADOUGOU, Nov 19 (NNN-AGENCIES) — The army in Burkina Faso says it has killed 32 armed men – described as “terrorists” – during two operations in the north of the country, the first of which resulted in…