Northern Spain hit with 50 fires

MADRID, Feb 18 (NNN-AGENCIES) – Regional authorities in northern Spainsaid they were battling around 50 fires, some of which were deliberately set. By end of Sunday, 48 fires were still active, a statement from thegovernment of the Cantabria region said. “During the day we counted 50 fires, and 760 people…

Group of 25 Canadian students flees Haiti unrest

OTTAWA, Feb 18 (NNN-AGENCIES) – A group of 25 Canadian school students from Quebec and three chaperones were able to leave Haiti on Sunday, where they had been stuck due to violent anti-government protests. “We are on the plane” back to Montreal, one of the chaperones confirmed in a message.…

Zimbabwe: 24 bodies, 8 survivors retrieved from flooded gold mine

HARARE, Feb 18 (NNN-AGENCIES) – Rescue workers retrieved 24 bodies andeight survivors from two flooded gold mines in Zimbabwe whereofficials fear dozens more illegal miners are still trapped, state televisionreported. “Eight of the trapped minors have been rescued … while 24 bodies havebeen retrieved to date as rescue efforts continue…

US Pentagon chief said he felt ‘welcomed’ on European tour

WASHINGTON, Feb 18 (NNN-AGENCIES) – Acting Pentagon chief Patrick Shanahan said he felt “very welcomed” during his trip this week to NATOheadquarters in Brussels and a major security conference in Germany. “My takeaway is that I felt very welcomed and it was a very inclusiveenvironment,” Shanahan said, speaking aboard the…

State Department spokeswoman Nauert ends bid to be next US ambassador to UN

WASHINGTON, Feb 18 (NNN-AGENCIES) – State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert has withdrawn from consideration to be the next US ambassador to the United Nations. “The past two months have been grueling for my family and therefore it isin the best interest of my family that I withdraw,” Nauert said in…

Salvadoran woman accused of having abortion freed pending new trial

ILOPANGO (El Salvador), Feb 16 (NNN-EFE) — A young Salvadoran woman sentenced to 30 years in prison for allegedly aborting her child was released pending a new trial set for April. Evelyn Hernandez, 20, has been behind bars in Ilopango since April 2016 and now awaits a new trial. Hernandez,…

EU to blacklist eight Russians over Azov Sea stand-off

BRUSSELS, Feb 16 (NNN-AGENCIES) — The European Union will blacklist eight more Russians over a stand-off with Ukraine in the Azov Sea, diplomatic sources said. EU foreign ministers will discuss on Monday further EU support for Ukraine, especially the south-eastern regions most affected by the conflict. Russia annexed the Black…

Portugal: Police hit smuggling gang on high seas, seize 3.3 tonnes of cocaine

LISBON, Feb 16 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Authorities seized more than three tonnes of cocaine and arrested 11 people off Portugal’s Atlantic coast, dismantling a drug smuggling gang that operated across international waters from a cargo vessel, police said. The seizure of the 3.3 tonnes of cocaine – thought to be worth…

Sudanese policeman dies from wounds after protesters stone vehicle

KHARTOUM, Feb 16 (NNN-AGENCIES) — A Sudanese policeman has died from his wounds after protesters threw stones at a police vehicle passing close to demonstrations in the capital Khartoum, a police spokesman said on Friday. The vehicle was passing the area by chance late on Thursday, the spokesman said, adding…

Update: SDF take control of last Daesh enclave in east Syria – Observatory

BAGHOUZ (Syria), Feb 16 (NNN-AGENCIES) – The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said U.S.-backed fighters seized the last Daesh enclave in eastern Syria on Saturday after the jihadists who were still there surrendered. The UK-based war monitoring group said the last few hundred militants, many of them foreigners, had surrendered…