British Prime Minister Boris Johnson visits N.Ireland, heart of Brexit battle

LONDON, July 31 (NNN-AGENCIES) — British Prime Minister Boris Johnson on Wednesday will meet leaders in Northern Ireland, the key battleground in Britain’s fight to leave the European Union and the focus of increasingly tense rhetoric on both sides of the Irish Sea. He arrived in Belfast on Tuesday night…

Ethiopia sets new tree-planting record to fight climate change

ADDIS ABABA, July 31 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Ethiopia’s roughly 91 million inhabitants planted 353.6 million trees in the space of 12 hours on Monday, setting a new world record as part of a campaign to revert deforestation caused by climate change. The initiative is supported by UN agencies and other international…

Greece: Students protest to keep universities police free

ATHENS, July 31 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Greek students are protesting against a proposal to scrap academic sanctuary, a law that was designed to protect protesting students and freedom of ideas but which the new government says is used as a cover for lawlessness. A couple of thousand students marched through Athens…

DR Congo: Second Ebola case is detected in Goma, eastern Congo’s main city

GOMA (DR Congo), July 31 (NNN-AGENCIES) — A second Ebola case has been confirmed Tuesday in Goma, one of the largest cities in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). The city had reported earlier this month its first Ebola death since the beginning of the outbreak last year.  Officials and health workers have…

Costa Rica and Panama bust migrant-smuggling network

SAN JOSE, July 31 (NNN-TELESUR) — Costa Rican and Panamanian officials arrested Tuesday nearly 49 people linked to an international human smuggling network that would charge migrants thousands of dollars to take them through Central America en route to the United States. The operation constitutes one of the largest ever…

Puerto Rico governorship crisis: Newly appointed Secretary of State to be Rossello’s replacement

SAN JUAN, July 31 (NNN-TELESUR) — Puerto Rico’s outgoing Governor Ricardo Rossello has named Pedro Pierluisi, as his new secretary of state, filling a void and placing him next in line to succeed the governor when he steps down on Friday. The representative to Rossello’s New Progressive Party (PNP), Jose…

St. Kitts and Nevis officially recognizes Palestine

BASSETERRE, July 31 (NNN-TELESUR) — The government of the Carribean island of St. Kitts and Nevis announced that it will formally recognize the state of Palestine, joining 135 countries around the world, predominantly in the global south.  “[St Kitts and Nevis] reiterates its support of a credible two-state solution to…

Guatemala’s top court to rule on ‘safe third country’ agreement with US

GUATEMALA CITY, July 31 (NNN-TELESUR) — Guatemala’s Human Rights Prosecutor Jordan Rodas filed an urgent appeal to the Constitutional Court to curb the “Safe Third Country” (STC) agreement signed by President Jimmy Morales administration in Washington on July 26. “The agreement contradicts not only the Guatemalan Constitution but also the Vienna Convention,” Rodas…

Venezuela: Six farmers killed by alleged Colombian paramilitary forces – ruling party PSUV

CARACAS, July 31 (NNN-TELESUR) — Diosdado Cabello, the first vice president of the United Socialist Party of Venezuela (PSUV), lamented the killing of six farmers by far-right paramilitaries in the Barinas state at the Colombia-Venezuela border area. “We want to alert you to what happened in the Barinas state. Venezuelans were killed by paramilitary groups,” Cabello said.…

Russia to ‘abstain’ attending international talks on Venezuela in Lima

MOSCOW, July 31 (NNN-TELESUR) — Russia will not be participating in international talks on the political crisis in Venezuela due to be held in Peru next month, its Foreign Ministry said. Peru invited China, Russia, Cuba, the United States and dozens of other countries earlier this month to discuss the situation in Venezuela in…