17 die in road crash in central Nigeria: official

LAGOS, Aug 24 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Seventeen people were killed when a passenger bus collided with an oncoming truck in central Nigeria, a road safety official said. The accident involving an 18-passenger Toyota bus and a truck transporting a container happened in Kwara state on Thursday, said Udeme Eshiet of the…

Russia launches floating nuclear reactor in Arctic

MOSCOW, Aug 2 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Russia launched the world’s first floating nuclear reactor, sending it on an epic journey across the Arctic on Friday. Loaded with nuclear fuel, the Akademik Lomonosov left the Arctic port of Murmansk to begin its 5,000 kilometre voyage to Pevek in northeastern Siberia. Nuclear agency…

US and Russia trade barbs at UN over ‘new arms race’

UNITED NATIONS, Aug 24 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Russia and the UStraded accusations at the United Nations of risking a new arms raceas China said it would play no part in any new missile deal. The United States and Russia ditched the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) treaty after blaming each other for…

Brazil tightens controls over money laundering and illicit financial activities

BRASILIA, Aug 22 (NNN-MERCOPRESS) — The Brazilian government issued a decree moving the Financial Activities Control Board (Coaf), which monitors nefarious financial activity such as money laundering, into a new Financial Intelligence Unit under central bank control. The measure, published in the Official Gazette, gives power to the central bank…

Argentine presidential candidate Fernandez favors the Mexico/Uruguay position in the Venezuela conflict

BUENOS AIRES, Aug 22 (NNN-MERCOPRESS) — Argentine presidential candidate Alberto Fernandez said that if he wins the October election he would join Mexico and Uruguay in promoting dialogue with Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro. The potential foreign policy shift in Latin America’s third largest economy would end nearly four years of…

Tourism to Cuba plunges after Trump’s tightening of travel ban – data

The cruise ship MS Empress of the Seas, operated by Royal Caribbean International, as it leaves the bay of Havana, Cuba HAVANA, Aug 22 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Tourist arrivals to Cuba plunged 23.6% on the year in July, official data showed, confirming the blow dealt to the sector by the Trump…

Spain: All residents likely to go home as Gran Canaria fire weakens

Smoke billows from a fire raging in Agaete in the Natural Park of Tamadaba on the island of Gran Canaria MADRID, Aug 22 (NNN-AGENCIES) — All residents in the Spanish holiday island of Gran Canaria who were evacuated over a raging wildfire should be able to return to their homes,…

300,000 livestock vaccinated along Kenya, Uganda border

NAIROBI, Aug 22 (NNN-KBC) — Kenya and Uganda have vaccinated 300,000 cows in a free joint mass vaccination of livestock against the Contagious Bovine Pleura Pneumonia [CBPP], Lumpy Skin and foot and Mouth diseases which are rampant in the region. The exercise started last week in Kacheliba Pokot North Sub…

Mexico partners Ghana to increase yields in corn production

ACCRA, Aug 22 (NNN-GNA) — Ghana is set to make giant strides in agricultural production following enhanced partnership between Mexico and government, a deputy Minister for Food and Agriculture has revealed.Speaking after a closed-door meeting with the Deputy Foreign Affairs Minister of Mexico and a delegation from the embassy, Kennedy…

Spain issues international alert as listeria cases hit 150

MADRID, Aug 22 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Spain’s health ministry issued an international alert over the country’s biggest ever listeriosis outbreak on Wednesday as the number of people affected rose to 150, including one fatality. Amid concerns over possible infection among the more than 80 million tourists who visit Spain annually, the…