Massive blackout hits four countries in Central America

Honduras and Nicaragua experienced a massive power cuts, Salvador and Guatemala had partial outages SAN SALVADOR, Sept 18 (NNN-AGENCIES) — A massive blackout has left thousands without electricity in at least four countries in central America, following a failure in the region’s electrical grid.“At 11:48 (17:48GMT) there was an emergency…

Venezuela releases Guaidó deputy from detention

Edgar Zambrano CARACAS, Sept 18 (NNN-AGENCIES) — The deputy of Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaidó has been released from prison. Edgar Zambrano was detained in May on treason charges for supporting a failed uprising on April 30 organised by Guaidó, who is recognised as an “interim president” by more than…

UN investigators say Burundi’s president violated human rights

President Pierre Nkurunziza GENEVA, Sept 18 (NNN-AGENCIES) — A UN committee looking into abuses in Burundi has concluded that President Pierre Nkurunziza is personally accountable for serious violations.They have presented their final report before the international human rights council in Geneva.Investigators found that opposition members, their families and people who…

Saudi oil attack: Ghana must scale-up protection of oil facilities – COPEC

ACCRA, Sept 18 (NNN-GNA) — The Government of Ghana must increase its surveillance on all the oil installations in the country in order to guard the facilities against possible attacks, Duncan Amoah, Executive Director of the Chamber of Petroleum Consumers (COPEC-Ghana), has said.Amoah stated that the recent bombing of oil…

Ghana’s central bank BoG enforces laws banning pricing of goods, services in foreign currencies

ACCRA, Sept 18 (NNN-GNA) — The Bank of Ghana (BoG) has begun a series of activities to enforce its laws which prohibits the pricing of goods and services in foreign currencies.Officials from the BoG’s Other Financial Institutions Supervision Department on Tuesday led a task force to enforce these laws in…

Peru leads exports to EU among CAN members

LIMA, Sept 18 (NNN-ANDINA) — Among Andean Community (Spanish: Comunidad Andina CAN) members, Peru held the first position in terms of exports to the European Union (EU) in 2018, amounting to US$7.009 billion, Andean Parliament member Mario Zuñiga said. According to the official, one of the main characteristics of the Inca…

South Africa apologises to Nigeria over xenophobic attacks

South Africa has been rocked by unrest and xenophobic violence ABUJA,  Sept 18 (NNN-AGENCIES) — South Africa has apologised to Nigeria over a spate of xenophobic attacks which led to a spike in tensions between the two countries. Twelve people were killed earlier this month when mobs attacked foreign-owned businesses, mainly in…

Apple embarks on EU court battle over 13-bn-euro tax bill

LUXEMBOURG, Sept 18 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Apple embarks on an epic court battle with the EU on Tuesday, fighting the commission’s landmark order that the iPhone-maker reimburse Ireland 13 billion euros ($14 billion) in back taxes. Lawyers for the world’s biggest company will face EU officials in a Luxembourg court, challenging…

US Sec of State Pompeo heading to Saudi Arabia over Iran tensions: VP Pence

WASHINGTON, Sept 18 (NNN-AGENCIES) — US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo will travel to Saudi Arabia after its oil infrastructure was struck in an attack blamed on Iran, Vice President Mike Pence said. “The secretary of state is traveling to Saudi Arabia Tuesday to discuss our response,” Pence said during…

US intel indicates South Arabia oil attacks staged from Iran: report

WASHINGTON, Sept 18 (NNN-AGENCIES) — American officials have shared intelligence with Riyadh indicating that Iran was the staging ground for devastating drone attacks on Saudi Arabia’s oil installations, the Wall Street Journal reported. The weekend strikes on Abqaiq — the world’s largest processing plant — and the Khurais oilfield have…