Europe migrant crisis: More than 500 people rescued off Italian island – single largest in a day

Hundreds of migrants crammed onto a decrepit fishing boat were rescued off the island of Lampedusa, Italy  ROME, Aug 29 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Italian coastguard vessels have rescued 539 migrants from a fishing boat drifting off the island of Lampedusa. The rescue on Saturday delivered one of the largest numbers of…

Brazilian President says “everyone should buy a rifle”

BRASILIA, Aug 29 (NNN-MERCOPRESS) — Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro said that “everyone should buy a rifle” in order not to be enslaved. “Everybody has to buy a rifle, wow! Armed people will never be enslaved,” said Bolsonaro as he left the Palacio da Alvorada in Brasilia. The former Army captain…

Chilean Senate debates whether to make voting mandatory ahead of November election

GABRIEL BORIC SANTIAGO, Aug 29 (NNN-AGENCIES) — The Chilean Senate is debating a bill whether to make voting in national elections mandatory, a highly controversial issue since lawmakers of the ruling coalition are against the initiative while the opposition insists in approving it to increase the participation percentage. A few…

Covid-19: Brazil’s Rio de Janeiro City Hall to require vaccine passports for public spaces starting next month

RIO DE JANEIRO, Aug 29 (NNN-MERCOPRESS) — The City Hall of Rio de Janeiro announced that effective Sept 1, a COVID-19 vaccination passport will be required for customers to be allowed to enter cinemas, theatres, museums, stadiums, amusement parks and gyms. Rio Mayor Eduardo Paes explained the city’s flexibility plans…

Covid-19: Uruguayan President signs decree outlining conditions for foreigners to re-enter as of Sept 1

MONTEVIDEO, Aug 29 (NNN-MERCOPRESS) — Foreign owners of real estate property in the country will be allowed back into Uruguay starting Sept 1 and bring along family members up to the second degree, provided they have all been fully vaccinated against COVID-19. As per a Decree signed by President Luis…

Italy says it has received most Afghan evacuees in EU

Afghan refugees waiting to be sorted into different residences at Rome Leonardo Da Vinci Airport in Fiumicino, Italy ROME, Aug 29 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Italy said it has taken in the largest number of Afghans fleeing the war-ravaged country following the Taliban takeover, vowing “not to abandon” vulnerable groups after airlift…

Covid-19: 160,000 protest in France against Covid rules

PARIS, Aug 29 (NNN-AGENCIES) — A total of 160,000 people protested across France on Saturday, the interior ministry said, angered at the country’s Covid health pass system which they say unfairly restricts the unvaccinated. By early evening the authorities had logged 222 separate protest actions, including 14,500 people who turned…

US airlifts food, tents to quake-ravaged southern Haiti

Food is loaded onto a VM-22 Osprey at Toussaint Louverture International Airport, in Port-au-Prince JEREMEI (Haiti), Aug 29 (NNN-AGENCIES) — US military aircraft are now flying food, tarps and other material into southern Haiti amid a shift in the international relief effort to focus on helping people in the areas hardest…

Afghans ‘we want peace from the world’ demonstrate in Athens

ATHENS, Aug 29 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Hundreds of Afghans marched to the US Embassy in Athens on Saturday, making a plea to the international community for peace and holding banners reading, “Afghanistan is bleeding” and “hands off our land.” Following the Taliban’s takeover of the country earlier this month, US troops have begun…

Covid-19: Police, protesters clash as thousands march against curbs in Berlin

Police confront a protester during a demonstration against coronavirus policies in Berlin on Saturday BERLIN, Aug 29 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Police clashed with protesters as thousands of people marched through Berlin on Saturday chanting slogans and waving banners against COVID-19 restrictions. Some demonstrators tried to get past barricades to the government…