More Puerto Rico protests planned as governor resists calls to resign

SAN JUAN, July 19 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Massive and at times violent protests in Puerto Rico showed no sign of stopping as labour unions organised a Friday march to keep up pressure on the governor to resign, while dozens of guns were stolen in a raid on police firearms centre. Thousands…

PNG leader wants deadline for emptying Australia asylum-seeker camp

SYDNEY, July 19 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Papua New Guinea Prime Minister James Marape called on Australia to set a deadline for relocating several hundred asylum-seekers who have been stranded on PNG’s Manus island for years. Marape, who will meet Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison in Canberra next week, told national broadcaster…

Russian Pres Putin says will work to restore Ukraine ties

MOSCOW, July 19 (NNN-AGENCIES) — President Vladimir Putin said Russia was ready to work with any political party to restore ties with Kiev as he met with a pro-Kremlin politician ahead of Ukraine’s parliamentary polls. The Russian leader held talks in Saint Petersburg with Viktor Medvedchuk, a pro-Moscow Ukrainian politician…

Iran grain ships stuck in Brazil without fuel due to US sanctions

SAO PAULO, July 19 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Two Iranian vessels have been stranded for weeks at Brazilian ports, unable to head back to Iran due to lack of fuel, which state-run oil firm Petrobras refuses to sell them due to sanctions imposed by the United States. The vessels Bavand and Termeh…

Gibraltar, Iran officials hold talks on seized oil tanker

GIBRALTAR, July 19 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Gibraltar’s Chief Minister Fabian Picardo said he had a “constructive and positive” meeting with Iranian officials in London aimed at defusing tensions around an oil tanker carrying Iranian oil being held in the British territory’s waters. In a statement, Picardo’s government said the meeting took…

Singapore: Myanmar national who used community club for Arakan Army activities ‘misrepresented’ himself – Home Affairs Ministry

SINGAPORE, July 19 (NNN-CNA) — One of the deported Myanmar nationals who used a community club in Singapore to mobilise support for an armed group had “misrepresented” himself when booking the facility, authorities said. “Our investigations showed that the individual had misrepresented himself, stating that the booking was for his…

Singapore returning more than S$50 million of 1MDB-related money to Malaysia: Police

SINGAPORE, July 19 (NNN-CNA) — About S$50.3 million of seized 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB)-related money have either been transferred to Malaysia or are being processed by the banks for repatriation, said the Singapore Police Force. In response to queries from CNA, police said that court applications to return the money have been filed…

Singaporeans head to fire hotspot village in Indonesia to tackle haze

SINGAPORE, July 19 (NNN-CNA) — A Singaporean charity is working with villagers in Indonesia to restore ancient peatlands, seeking to curb the haze that chokes the region every year, organisers said. Indonesian farmers burn huge swathes of land every year to clear land for agricultural expansion, creating a vast haze…

Canadian platform spills 3,200 gallons of oil-mix into Atlantic

54 MONTREAL, July 19 (NNN-AGENCIES) — An oil platform off the Canadian island of Newfoundland spilled nearly 3,200 gallons of an oil-water mix into the Atlantic Ocean, and efforts were underway to minimize the environmental impact, ExxonMobil said. The spill occurred a day earlier during “routine activities related toremoving water”…

ICC suspends Zimbabwe Cricket over ‘political interference’

LONDON, July 19 (NNN-AGENCIES) — International cricket chiefs suspended Zimbabwe over a failure to keep the sport free from governmentinterference, throwing into doubt their participation in qualifiers for theT20 World Cup. The decision means International Cricket Council funding to ZimbabweCricket will be frozen and representative teams from the country will…