US dismisses Iran’s announcement that it captured CIA spies

WASHINGTON, July 23 (NNN-AGENCIES) — U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo dismissed Iran’s announcement it had captured 17 spies working for the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency and sentenced some to death. Iran made the announcement in state media, saying the alleged spies had been arrested in the 12 months to…

Zimbabwe increases fuel prices again, but pumps remain dry

HARARE, July 23 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Zimbabwe hiked fuel prices on Monday for the second time in a week but most pumps remained dry, with no end in sight to shortages that are helping drive inflation rapidly higher and which have led to protests about the cost of living. The Zimbabwe…

Kenyan finance minister arrested on graft charges

NAIROBI, July 23 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Kenyan Finance Minister Henry Rotich was arrested on suspicion of corruption related to the construction of two dams. Charges against Rotich, announced on Monday, stem from a police investigation into the misuse of funds in a dam project overseen by the Italian construction company CMC…

Somalia: At least seven killed in bomb attack in capital Mogadishu

MOGADISHU, July 23 (NNN-AGENCIES) — At least seven people were killed and 27 others wounded when a bomb went off outside a hotel near the international airport in Somalia’s capital Mogadishu on Monday, medical officials said. The al Shabaab group, which is trying to topple Somalia’s weak U.N.-backed government, claimed…

Libyan warplane makes emergency landing on road in southern Tunisia

TUNIS, July 23 (NNN-AGENCIES) — A warplane belonging to eastern Libyan forces fighting the internationally recognized Tripoli government made an emergency landing in Tunisia on Monday and the pilot was detained. Negotiations with Tunisian authorities to secure the release of the pilot were under way, the self-declared eastern foreign ministry…

South Africa’s anti-corruption chief Busisiwe Mkhwebane lied under oath: court ruled

 PRETORIA, July 23 (NNN-AGENCIES) — South Africa’s highest court has ruled that Public Protector Busisiwe Mkhwebane lied under oath and acted in bad faith while investigating a bank bailout. The Constitutional Court upheld a High Court ruling that ordered Mkhwebane to pay $62,000 in legal fees in a dispute between…

US Expands Powers To Deport Migrants Without Going To Court

WASHINGTON, July 23 (NNN-AGENCIES) — The US government is introducing a new fast-track deportation process that will bypass immigration courts. Under the new rules, any undocumented migrants who can’t prove they’ve been in the US continuously for more than two years can be immediately deported. The policy is expected to…

Iran Tanker Seizure: Hunt Seeks European Help On Gulf Shipping

Crew members on the British-flagged vessel are Indian, Russian, Latvian and Filipino  LONDON, July 23 (NNN-AGENCIES) — The British Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt has repeated his call for the release of a British-flagged ship and its crew detained in the Gulf by the Iranian military. The Iranian Revolutionary Guard captured the Stena…

UN’s nuclear watchdog chief Yukiya Amano has died: IAEA

Yukiya Amano. Photo courtesy of Kyodo VIENNA (Austria), July 23 (NNN-AGENCIES) — The UN’s nuclear watchdog, the Interational Atomic Energy Agency, said that its chief, Yukiya Amano, who has been in poor health for some time, has died at 72. “The Secretariat of the International Atomic Energy Agency regrets to…

New York bans cat declawing

NEW YORK, July 23 (NNN-AGENCIES) — New York became the first American state to ban the declawing of cats, a practice already illegal in several countries and condemned as cruel by animal rights activists. Governor Andrew Cuomo signed a bill outlawing the removal of cats’ claws for cosmetic reasons with…