Tunisia gears up for Sunday presidential poll steeped in uncertainty

TUNIS, Sept 14 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Tunisia will hold on Sunday its secondfree presidential election since the 2011 uprising that toppled an autocratic regime, with growing uncertainty over who will reach the next round. Twenty-six candidates are in the race, including the incumbent primeminister and a media magnate who was arrested…

UN eases arms embargo on Central African Republic

UN peacekeepers from Gabon patrolling Central African Republic town of Bria  UNITED NATIONS, Sept 14 (NNN-AGENCIES) — The UN SecurityCouncil unanimously approved the easing of an arms embargo on theCentral African Republic for the first time since 2013 when it was engulfedin violence. Drafted by France, the resolution authorizes the…

Brazil: At least 10 dead in Rio de Janeiro hospital blaze – fire service

Medical staff evacuating a patient from the Badim hospital in Rio de Janeiro RIO DE JANEIRO, Sept 14 (NNN-AGENCIES) — At least 10 people died in afire inside a hospital in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, on Thursday evening withrescuers desperately trying to evacuate scores of patients from the building,the fire…

US wants to make ‘meaningful progress’ in China trade talks – Treasury Secretary Mnuchin

WASHINGTON, Sept 14 (NNN-AGENCIES) — US trade negotiators want to make “meaningful progress” in upcoming talks with China, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said, after conciliatory gestures by both sidesboosted hopes of an eventual resolution. Mnuchin said on CNBC he is “cautiously optimistic” about chances for adeal to resolve the conflict,…

12 drown in India in religious ceremony

A devotee carries an idol of elephant-headed Hindu god Ganesha for immersing in the waters on the Ganesh Chaturthi festival in Mumbai, India. NEW DELHI, Sept 13 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Twelve people drowned in a lake in central India on Friday morning when their boats capsized during a religious ceremony, authorities said.…

US Senate presses action on China’s treatment of Uighurs

WASHINGTON, Sept 13 (NNN-AGENCIES) — The US Senate has approved a Bill to press China on its treatment of Uighurs, requiring the US government to closely monitor the mass incarceration of the community and consider punishment of those responsible. The Senate unanimously approved the so-called Uighur Human Rights Policy Act…

New Zealand: PM Ardern acts to tighten gun laws further, six months after attack

Ardern also announced more funding to meet mental health needs of people affected by the shooting WELLINGTON, Sept 13 (NNN-AGENCIES) — New Zealand’s Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern introduced a new bill to parliament on Friday that aims to further tighten gun laws, as the country marks six months since the mass shooting…

Kenya becomes third African nation to introduce world’s first malaria vaccine

NAIROBI, Sept 13 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Kenya on Friday added the world’s first malaria vaccine to the routine immunization schedule for children under two, becoming the third country in Africa to roll out the vaccine for the disease that kills one child globally every two minutes. Malaria is a top killer…

Update: Bahamas’ count of missing people post-Dorian drops to 1,300

NASSAU, Sept 13 (NNN-AGENCIES) — The Bahamian government now believes there are 1,300 people missing after Hurricane Dorian plowed into the islands, a sharp decline from the 2,500 listed on the missing registry a day earlier, a government spokesman said. The Bahamas National Emergency Management Agency on Wednesday had said…

Twitter blocks accounts of Raul Castro and Cuban state-run media

HAVANA, Sept 13 (NNN-AGENCIES) — US social media firm Twitter Inc has blocked the accounts of Cuban Communist Party Leader Raul Castro, his daughter Mariela Castro and Cuba’s top state-run media outlets, a move the Cuban Union of Journalists denounced as “massive censorship”. Dozens of accounts of journalists for Cuban state-run…