Chile orders Church to pay damages to ex-priest’s victims

SANTIAGO, March 28 (NNN-AGENCIES) — A court in Chile ordered the Roman Catholic Church to pay damages of around US$440,000 to the victims of influential former priest Fernando Karadima. The court in Santiago ordered the Church to pay 100 million pesos (US$$146,000) to each of three of his victims. Juan Carlos…

US border agents redeployed to handle migrant humanitarian needs

EL PASO (Texas, US), March 28 (NNN-AGENCIES) — US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) will pull around 750 officers off ports of entry and redeploy them to process record numbers of migrant families entering the United States at the Mexico border, the head of the agency said. The agency is also…

More than 30 killed after truck ploughs into crowd in Guatemala

GUATEMALA CITY, March 28 (NNN-AGENCIES) — At least 32 indigenous Guatemalans were killed and nine admitted to hospitals in critical condition on Wednesday night when they were struck on a highway by a semi-trailer truck in the town of Nahuala in the country’s west, rescue workers said. The accident occurred at the…

Brazil to privatise some of its most famous national parks starting this year

BRASILIA: Brazil aims to begin privatising the management of its national parks this year, including some of its most famous natural tourist sites, the country’s Environment Minister Ricardo Salles said. The government aims to privatise as many as possible, he said. Salles listed Foz do Iguaçu, one of the world’s…

EU lawmakers back ban on single-use plastics, set standard for world

STRASBOURG, March 28 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Single-use plastic items such as straws, forks and knives as well as cotton buds will be banned in the European Union by 2021 following a vote by EU lawmakers as the bloc pushes manufacturers to step up their recycling efforts. Growing concerns about plastic pollution…

Austria police arrest Daesh plot suspect in Vienna raid

VIENNA, March 28 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Special forces have arrested an alleged Daesh group supporter in the Austrian capital Vienna, who is believed to have tried to derail trains in neighbouring Germany. The 42-year-old Iraqi national is thought to have twice put obstacles on rail tracks last year. Flags for the…

Brazil: Chapecoense plane crash survivor, Rafael Henzel, dies of heart attack after football game

Journalist Rafael Henzel CHPECO (Brazil), March 28 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Rafael Henzel who was among the six survivors of the plane crash that killed most of the Brazilian football team Chapecoense in 2016 has died after suffering a heart attack.The Brazilian journalist, 45, collapsed while playing football with friends on Tuesday…

Rescued migrants hijack merchant ship near Libya – reports

VALLETTA, March 28 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Migrants have hijacked a merchant vessel that rescued them off Libya’s coast, ordering the crew to head towards Malta, reports say.More than 100 migrants aboard the cargo ship are said to have acted after being told they would be taken back to Libya.Malta’s military said…

Pope to broaden Muslim dialogue with Morocco visit

VATICAN/RABAT, March 28 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Pope Francis heads to Morocco on Saturday, the first pope to do so in 35 years, with inter-religious dialogue and immigration on the agenda.The Argentine pontiff will be welcomed by the North African country’s population of around 30,000 Roman Catholics, mostly sub-Saharan African students or…

Lithuania finds ex-Soviet defense minister guilty of war crimes

VILNIUS, March 28 (NNN-AGENCIES) — A Lithuanian court found former Soviet defense minister Dmitry Yazov guilty of war crimes and crimes against humanity on Wednesday for his role in a 1991 crackdown against the Baltic state’s pro-independence movement. The Vilnius court sentenced Yazov, 94, in absentia to 10 years in…