US: Pres Trump to visit El Paso Wednesday after shooting – mayor

EL PASO (Texas, US), Aug 7 (NNN-AGENCIES) — US President Donald Trumpwill visit El Paso, Texas, on Wednesday following a mass shooting in thesouthern border town that killed 22 people, the local mayor said. “President Trump called me Sunday. He was very gracious in the call…(and) offered to help in…

Morocco navy picks up 400 migrants en route to Spain

RABAT, Aug 7 (NNN-AGENCIES) — The Moroccan navy has picked up more than 400 migrants trying to reach Spain and returned them to the North African country. Some of those taken ashore were “in a state of poor health” and receivedfirst aid aboard Moroccan coastguard vessels, before being taken to…

DR Congo: 11 dead, dozens missing in barge accident

KINSHASA , Aug 7 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Eleven people drowned andat least 50 others missing after a barge sank on a river in central Democratic Republic of Congo. Sixteen people survived the accident on the overcrowded vessel by swimming to safety on the Lukenye river. The barge was travelling to the…

Zambia delays new sales tax until January 2020

LUSAKA, Aug 3 (NNN-AFRICANEWS) — Zambia will delay implementing a new sales tax until January 2020 to allow for further refinement of the law, Finance Minister Bwalya Ng’andu said.Zambia, Africa’s second-largest copper producer, plans to replace an existing value-added tax with a non-refundable sales tax, but the move has met…

Mexico: 2,000 people displaced after gas pipeline leak

MEXICO CITY, Aug 3 (NNN-TELESUR) — Nearly 2,000 people were evacuated from a rural community north of Mexico City due to a gas leak. The leak was caused by an illegal tap drilled by fuel thieves. The state-run Pemex oil company said the flow of LP gas into the pipeline…

Flash flooding kills residents of Sierra Leone capital, Freetown

FREETOWN, Aug 3 (NNN-AGENCIES) — At least five people are dead after flash flooding hit Sierra Leone’s capital on Friday amid torrential rains, mortuary sources said. More rain was expected as some residents feared possible mudslides like ones that devastated parts of Freetown two years ago. Serious damage was reported…

Uganda starts largest trial of experimental Ebola vaccine

KAMPALA, Aug 3 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Researchers in Uganda have launched the largest-ever trial of the experimental Ebola vaccine that is expected to be deployed in neighboring DR Congo, where a deadly outbreak has killed over 1,800 people. The trial of the Janssen Pharmaceuticals vaccine involves up to 800 people in…

Spanish NGO boat seeks safe port for 124 people rescued in Mediterranean

MADRID, Aug 3 (NNN-AGENCIES) — A Spanish charity rescue boat sought safe port after Italy rejected its request to disembark 124 people saved from two migrant rafts in the Mediterranean, the organisation said. Non-governmental organisation (NGO) rescue boats have largely disappeared from the Mediterranean over the last year as governments…

Mexican journalist shot and killed in violent Guerrero state

MEXICO CITY, Aug 3 (NNN-AGENCIES) — A Mexican reporter in Guerrero state who also served as a municipal official was shot and killed on Friday in a beachside resort, authorities said, the second journalist from the state murdered in less than a week. Edgar Alberto Nava, who published news stories…

Pres Maduro says he ‘repudiates’ US Pres Trump statement on possible Venezuela blockade

CARACAS, Aug 3 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro said he rejected U.S. President Donald Trump’s statement about a possible blockade of the South American country, adding that its seas would remain “free and independent.” Maduro said he had asked Venezuela’s ambassador to the United Nations, Samuel Moncada, to denounce…