Update: Russian Pres Putin tells French Pres Macron US leading ‘provocative’ exercises in Black Sea

  MOSCOW, Nov 16 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Russian President Vladimir Putin told French counterpart Emmanuel Macron on Monday that “provocative” US-led exercises in the Black Sea were “increasing tensions” between Moscow and NATO, the Kremlin said.   Both leaders expressed “dissatisfaction” with what Moscow called a “worsening” situation in eastern Ukraine,…

Cuban dissidents arrested, mass protest thwarted as police swamp streets

  HAVANA, Nov 16 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Cuban security forces foiled a planned mass protest on Monday, with police flooding Havana’s streets and prominent dissidents arrested or confined to their homes to prevent them from stagingthe banned rights gathering.   Friends and family members said those detained included opposition figure Manuel…

Update: Ecuador military, prison heads resign after jail riot

  GUAYAQUIL (Ecuador), Nov 16 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Ecuador is “seriously threatened” by drug trafficking mafias who want to “take control of all the country’s prisons,” President Guillermo Lasso said Monday, after the heads ofthe armed forces and the prison service quit following jail riots that left 68 people dead.  …

US shooting: Six teens hurt in drive-by shooting near school – police

  DENVER (Colorado, US), Nov 16 (NNN-AGENCIES) — An apparent drive-by shooting near a Colorado high school left six teenagers in hospital, police said, as the specter of gun violence raised its head again in the United States.   Witnesses spoke of around 30 shots being fired, and police said…

Presidents Biden, Xi stress better communication between US, China

   WASHINGTON, Nov 16 (NNN-AGENCIES) — US President Joe Biden and China’s Xi Jinping opened a virtual summit Monday with an appeal for better communication between the superpowers and what Biden called “guardrails” toavoid conflict.    Speaking from the White House to Xi on a television screen, Biden emphasized the…

Mexico’s president slams US-imposed sanctions against Cuba

Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador slams US-imposed sanctions against cuba MEXICO CITY, Nov 16 (NNN-Xinhua) — Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador again decried the U..-led economic blockade against Cuba. “I think that Cuba should not be isolated, politically speaking. You shouldn’t strangle Cubans for deciding to stay in…

Morocco rescues 331 illegal immigrants off coasts

RABAT, Nov. 15 (Xinhua) — The Moroccan navy rescued 331 illegal immigrants from Nov 12 to 15 off the Mediterranean and Atlantic coasts, the Moroccan news agency MAP reported. A total of 248 illegal immigrants are Sub-Saharans, 80 are Moroccans, 2 are Asians and 1 is Sudanese, said the report,…

Covid-19: US entangled in vaccine mandate dispute as cases rise in cold weather

A student of Montrara Ave. Elementary School has a COVID-19 test in Los Angeles, California NEW YORK, Nov 16 (NNN-Xinhua) — As the cold days set in, the United States is again seeing a surge of COVID-19 cases, though deaths and hospitalizations trend lower, while the federal government’s vaccine mandate…

Covid-19: European countries introduce new measures to curb surge of cases

People queue to receive COVID-19 vaccines outside a vaccination center in Berlin, capital of Germany BRUSSELS, Nov 16 (NNN-Xinhua) — With Europe now the epicenter of the COVID-19 pandemic, European countries are introducing new measures to curb the surge in cases. GERMANY: From Monday, Germany’s capital Berlin will ban unvaccinated…

UK terror threat level raised to “severe” following Liverpool explosion

Police are seen near Sutcliffe Street after the explosion outside Liverpool Women’s Hospital in Liverpool, Britain LONDON, Nov 16 (NNN-Xinhua) — Britain’s terror threat level has been upgraded from “substantial” to “severe” following an explosion outside a Liverpool hospital that had been declared a terrorist incident on Monday. The upgrade,…