Impounded Air Tanzania plane allowed to leave SA

JOHANNESBURG, Sept 5 (NNN-AGENCIES) — A South African court has set aside an earlier decision to impound an Air Tanzania plane. On Aug 24, the plane, an Airbus 220-300, had been prevented from taking off from Johannesburg because of a court injunction. A lawyer had argued in court that a…

Pope Francis in Mozambique seeks to strengthen peace accord

MAPUTO, Sept 5 (NNN-AGENCIES) — After a jubilant arrival in Mozambique at the start a three-nation African tour, Pope Francis on Thursday will meet with political and civil leaders to encourage them to consolidate a fragile peace accord. The pope’s three-day visit to Mozambique comes a month after the government…

Cuba sends doctors & teachers to hurricane hit Bahamas

HAVANA, Sept 5 (NNN-TELESUR) — Cuba’s government confirmed on Wednesday that they have sent a number of doctors and teachers to areas of the Bahamas which have been hit by Hurricane Dorian. The Cuban workers will assist local authorities in emergency relief, though they will also stay afterwards to help…

Bolivia has lost 1.7 million hectares to fire: government

LA PAZ, Sept 5 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Wildfires raging in Bolivia’s forests and grasslands since May have destroyed 1.7 million hectares, officials said Wednesday, amid an $11 million effort by the government to contain them. Environmentalists blame laws enacted under President Evo Morales, who has encouraged the burning of forest and…

Hurricane Dorian: Scale of Bahamas devastation emerges

NASSAU, Sept 5 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Rescuers have begun to reach areas of the northern Bahamas devastated by Hurricane Dorian, with aerial images showing a trail of destruction. PM Hubert Minnis said some areas had been “decimated” and expected the current death toll of seven would rise. The hurricane winds that…

Former first lady of Honduras sentenced to 58 years in jail

Former first lady Rosa Elena Bonilla de Lobo arrives at a court hearing TEGUCIGALPA, Sept 5 (NNN-AGENCIES) — The former first lady of Honduras Rosa Elena Bonilla, wife of ex-president Porfirio Lobo, was sentenced on Wednesday to 58 years in jail on charges of fraud and undue appropriation of funds,…

Colombian soldiers killed in ambush by drugs gang

A map showing the flow of heroin from Colombia to the US. BOGOTA, Sept 5 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Four soldiers have been killed and two more injured in an ambush near the town of Caucasia in northern Colombia.A powerful criminal gang known as the Gulf Clan is believed to have been…

Germany set to ban glyphosate from end of 2023

BERLIN, Sept 5 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Use of glyphosate will be banned in Germany from the end of 2023, after a phased effort to reduce its application by farmers.The ban, agreed by the Cabinet on Wednesday, is part of an insect conservation program from Environment Minister Svenja Schulze.It includes a “systematic…

Heroin worth $148 million seized in UK’s biggest ever bust

The haul follows a 398 kilogram seizure at the port of Felixstowe in August. LONDON, Sept 5 (NNN-AGENCIES) — UK authorities seized almost 1.3 tons of heroin with a street value of £120 million ($148 million) from a container ship, in the nation’s largest ever bust involving the drug. Officers…

UK lawmakers block PM Johnson’s call for snap election

An anti-Brexit protester with a composite Union and EU flag outside the Houses of Parliament in central London LONDON, Sept 5 (NNN-AGENCIES) — The British parliament voted on Wednesday to prevent Prime Minister Boris Johnson taking Britain out of the European Union without a deal on Oct. 31, but rejected…