UN calls for international support for refugees in Libya

Displaced children in an abandoned building used as temporary refuge for displaced civilians in Tripoli TRIPOLI, Aug 29 (NNN-Xinhua) — A UN official stressed need for additional support from the international community for refugees in Libya. Kelly T. Clements, deputy high commissioner for UN Higher Commission of Refugees (UNHCR), made…

Italy: Pres Mattarella to ask caretaker PM Conte to form M5S-PD coalition gov’t

ROME, Aug 29 (NNN-Xinhua) — Italian president Sergio Mattarella summoned outgoing Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte on Thursday in order to ask him to try to form a new coalition government. “President Sergio Mattarella has summoned professor Giuseppe Conte Thursday at 9:30 a.m. (local time),” the president’s office said in a…

Update: Thousands gather across Britain to protest against PM’s announcement to suspend Parliament

LONDON, Aug 29 (NNN-Xinhua) — Thousands of people gathered in city squares across Britain to protest against Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s announcement he is to suspend the House of Commons. Protestors, waving banners, accused Johnson of staging a political coup. Opponents of Johnson claimed his decision, sanctioned by Queen Elizabeth,…

Drought: China donates 30,000 bags of rice to Kenya

NAIROBI, Aug 29 (NNN-AFRICANEWS) — Kenya has received a donation of rice from China to help with government efforts to combat drought in parts of the country.Cabinet Secretary of the Ministry of Devolution and ASALs, Eugene Wamalwa, disclosed that China had donated 30,000 bags of rice.“Just received a donation of…

South Africa’s President Ramaphosa to engage with Nissan Global

YOKOHAMA (Japan), Aug 29 (NNN-SANEWS) — President Cyril Ramaphosa participated in a Japan-South Africa Business Forum at the Nissan Global Headquarters in Yokohama, Japan.  This engagement by the President forms part of his working visit to Japan, where he arrived on Tuesday to participate in the 7th Tokyo International Conference…

Italy: Interior Minister Salvini bans latest migrant ship from entering Italian waters

MILAN, Aug 29 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Italy’s outgoing Interior Minister Matteo Salvini has signed a decree banning a rescue ship carrying about 100 migrants picked up off the Libyan coast from entering Italian waters. The move follows a similar ban on another rescue ship on Tuesday as part of a closed…

Venezuela’s political crisis talks ‘not working,’ says opposition leader Guaido

CARACAS, Aug 29 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Venezuela’s opposition leader Juan Guaido admitted that talks with the government of President Nicolas Maduro aimed a resolving the country’s political crisis “aren’t working.” Talks mediated by Norway first took place in May in Oslo with several subsequent rounds in Barbados. But Maduro called off…

Bolivia lost 1.2 million hectares to fires this year: Government

LA PAZ, Aug 29 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Fires have destroyed 1.2 million hectares of forest and grasslands in Bolivia this year, the government said. The news comes after President Evo Morales suspended his re-election campaign to direct the government’s response to a growing environmental disaster in the Bolivian portion of the…

US: Hurricane Dorian appears to spare Puerto Rico, heads for Florida

FAJARDO (Puerto Rico), Aug 29 (NNN-AGENCIES) — A strengthening Hurricane Dorian appeared to have largely spared Puerto Rico Wednesday, barreling past the US territory that is still recovering from a powerful storm two years ago. The National Hurricane Center (NHC) in Miami said the hurricane watch and tropical storm warning…

Kenyan watchdog bans pornographic songs; restricts them to bars, clubs

Tetema and Wamlambez songs banned in Kenya NAIROBI, Aug 29 (NNN-AFRICANEWS) — Two highly popular Kenyan songs have been banned by the country’s arts watchdog, the Kenya Film and Classification Board, KFCB.Head of the KFCB, Ezekiel Mutua, disclosed that his outfit considered Tetema (a Tanzanian song) and Wamlambeez (by Kenyan…