Venezuela seizes over 54 tons of drugs in 2 years: top prosecutor

CARACAS, July 27 (NNN-Xinhua) — Venezuelan authorities have seized more than 54 tons of drugs in less than two years, Prosecutor General Tarek William Saab said. The top prosecutor, while presenting an overview of his tenure that began on August 2017, said that 35 tons were cocaine. “We have lodged…

Mexico to restore two immigration stations on U.S. border

MEXICO CITY, July 27 (NNN-Xinhua) — Mexico will restore two immigration centers on the northern border as part of a project to improve conditions and expedite processing for new immigrants, the Mexican Foreign Ministry said. The National Institute of Migration (INM) stations are located in the cities of Hermosillo in…

Venezuela’s Supreme Court nullifies opposition’s attempt to rejoin Rio Pact

CARACAS, July 27 (NNN-Xinhua) — Venezuela’s Supreme Court of Justice (TSJ) annulled the opposition-controlled National Assembly’s decision to reinstate the country into the Inter-American Treaty of Reciprocal Assistance, commonly known as the Rio Pact. TSJ Constitutional Chamber President Juan Jose Mendoza declared the absolute nullity and lack of legal effects…

15 killed in landslide in southern Morocco

RABAT, July 26 (NNN-AGENCIES) —  Moroccan emergency crews pulled 15 bodies from the mud after a rare summer downpour triggered a landslide that buried a minibus, the authorities said on Friday. The victims – eleven women, three men and one child – were found in the bus buried about 20m…

Tunisia prepares for polls after death of president

TUNIS, July 27 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Tunisia has less than two months to organise snap elections following the death of president Beji Caid Essebsi, amid uncertainty over who could step forward to run the North African country. Essebsi, the country’s first head of state elected in nationwide polls, died Thursday at…

South Africa: Johannesburg court approves US$353 million silicosis settlement

JOHANNESBURG, July 27 (NNN-AGENCIES) — A Johannesburg High Court approved a 5 billion rand (US$353 million) class action settlement between gold mining companies and law firms representing thousands of miners who contracted the fatal lung diseases silicosis and tuberculosis. The settlement follows a long legal battle by miners to win…

Greece bans pork imports from Bulgaria due to African swine fever

SOFIA, July 27 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Greece has banned imports of pork from its northern Balkan neighbor Bulgaria due to outbreaks of African swine fever, Bulgarian Agriculture Minister Desislava Taneva said. European Union member Bulgaria has detected more than 20 outbreaks of African swine fever in pigs in industrial farms or…

Spain’s Sanchez seeks to avoid election, Podemos coalition offer off

MADRID, July 27 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Spain’s Socialist leader Pedro Sanchez will keep working with all parties to avoid a repeat election, but is no longer prepared to offer a coalition government to far-left Podemos after it blocked his attempt to be confirmed as prime minister. Deputy prime minister Carmen Calvo…

WHO says it could use more US experts help on the ground in Ebola fight

GENEVA, July 27 (NNN-AGENCIES) — The United States could bolster the battle against the Ebola virus in Democratic Republic of Congo by allowing more of its experts to travel to the outbreak zone, a senior World Health Organization (WHO) official said. The virus has killed more than 1,700 people in…

EU partners warn Johnson against Brexit ‘provocations’

PARIS, July 27 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Britain’s European partners warned British Prime Minister Boris Johnson that his hardline Brexit stance was putting the UK on a “collision course” with the EU and called on the new premier to avoid “provocations”. Johnson is planning meetings with French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor…