American, Italian, Russian blast off for ISS

The Soyuz MS-13 spacecraft’s mission BAIKONOUR (Kazakhstan), July 21 (NNN-AGENCIES) — US, Italian and Russian astronauts blasted into space on Saturday, headed for the International Space Station, in a launch coinciding with the 50th anniversary of the Apollo 11 Moon landing. Alexander Skvortsov of the Russian space agency Roscosmos, NASA’s Andrew…

Sudan: Opposition seeks postponement in deal with military, says needs to resolve differences among members

KHARTOUM, July 21 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Sudan’s pro-democracy movement is seeking to postpone the signing of the second and possibly more contentious part of a power-sharing agreement with the country’s military, saying that it needs more time to resolve differences among its members over the deal. The first part of the…

UN demands release of abducted lawmaker in eastern Libya

TRIPOLI, July 21 (NNN-AGENCIES) — The United Nations Support Mission in Libya (UNSMIL) demanded the immediate release of lawmaker, Siham Sergewa, and her husband who were reportedly abducted at their house in the eastern city of Benghazi. Sergewa was known for being an outspoken critic of eastern Libya strongman Khalifa…

Greek earthquake: Buildings collapse as powerful tremor shakes Athens

Crowds gathered in open areas in Athens after the earthquake struck ATHENS, July 21 (NNN-AGENCIES) — A strong earthquake has shaken the Greek capital of Athens, knocking out phone networks and power in parts of the city.  The 5.1 magnitude earthquake had an epicentre about 22km north-west of Athens. Athenians ran out into the…

US: 19 wounded, 2 killed in Chicago spate of shootings

CHICAGO, July 21 (NNN-XINHUA) — Two people were killed and at least 19 more were wounded in Chicago as the city embraced a violent start to the weekend on Saturday. Seven people were shot late Friday before midnight, including two victims who were pronounced dead after they were taken to hospital. Another 14 people were…

US offers $7 mn to find Hezbollah agent as Sec of State Pompeo visits Argentina

BUENOS AIRES, July 21 (NNN-AGENCIES) — The United States offereda $7 million reward to find a Hezbollah operative accused of masterminding a deadly 1994 attack on a Jewish center in Buenos Aires, as Secretary of State Mike Pompeo sought to unite Latin American nations against the militants. Pompeo visited to…

Russia: Over 20,000 rally in Moscow as election anger boils over

MOSCOW, July 21 (NNN-AGENCIES) — More than 22,000 people packed a Moscow square to demand free and fair local polls, incensed by the authorities’ refusal to put popular opposition candidates on the ballot. Staging their largest protest in years, opposition leaders such as President Vladimir Putin’s top opponent Alexei Navalny…

Costa Rica on alert after 19 die from tainted alcohol

SAN JOSE, July 21 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Alcohol tainted with potentially toxic levels of methanol has killed 19 people in Costa Rica, where authorities issued an alert against drinking some half-dozen brands. The Ministry of Health issued the national warning while also updating the death toll. Of 34 people who have…

Chadians back on social media after 16 months net blockade

Chad President, Idriss Deby N’DJAMENA, July 21 (NNN-AFRICANEWS) — For sixteen odd months, Chadians were cut off social media platforms – Facebook, Twitter and Whatsapp with the main government justification hinged on protecting internal security.No amount of appeals, protestations and even a legal challenge succeeded in getting connection to be…

Dangerous heatwave starts hitting US and Canada

A little girl cools off in water fountains in Washington DC WASHINGTON, July 21 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Extremely hot weather has started to hit most of the United States, with temperatures set to peak over the weekend, meteorologists say.The heatwave could affect about 200 million people in major cities like New…