President set to gain as Peru heads to Sunday congressional polls

LIMA, Jan 24 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Peru will hold separate parliamentaryelections for the first time on Sunday as President Martin Vizcarra looks tobreak the influence of the main opposition party of Keiko Fujimori. Vizcarra dissolved parliament in September following constant clashesbetween the legislature and the executive that left Peru in a…

Update: China virus toll jumps to 25 dead with 830 confirmed cases – govt

BEIJING, Jan 24 (NNN-AGENCIES) — The death toll in China’s viral outbreakhas risen to 25, with the number of confirmed cases also leaping to 830, thegovernment said on Friday. The National Health Commission said authorities were also examining 1,072 suspected cases of the virus that first emerged in central city…

Update: Coronavirus: China expands travel ban to 2 more cities

BEIJING, Jan 24 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Chinese officials expanded travel restrictions on Thursday to include two more cities, one of which was also ordered to lock down to mitigate the spread of a deadly coronavirus. China has closed off access to the major port city of Wuhan, where the outbreak originated,…

US threatens to hike tariffs on UK car exports

DAVOS, Jan 24 (NNN-AGENCIES) — US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said that the United States would consider imposing tariffs on cars made in the United Kingdom if the country moves ahead with a tax on digital services. Mnuchin said at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland that the United…

Saudi Arabia denies case of coronavirus infection

RIYADH, Jan 24 (NNN-AGENCIES) — A Saudi health ministry affiliate said there were no cases of coronavirus in the kingdom, denying earlier reports of an expatriate resident being infected.Earlier, India’s minister of state for external affairs said an Indian nurse working at a hospital in southwestern Saudi Arabia has been…

World leaders at Jerusalem conference condemn rising anti-Semitism

World leaders voiced alarm at resurgent anti-Semitism JERUSALEM, Jan 24 (NNN-AGENCIES) — World leaders voiced alarm at resurgent anti-Semitism on Thursday as they gathered at Israel’s national Holocaust Memorial to mark the 75th anniversary of the liberation of the Nazi death camp Auschwitz.Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and U.S. Vice…

New Lebanon government looking for $5 billion in loans

Ghazi Wazni, Lebanon’s new Finance Minister BEIRUT, Jan 24 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Lebanon’s new Finance Minister Ghazi Wazni said he is looking for up to $5 billion in soft loans to purchase wheat, medicine and fuel.The former defense minister said the loans are among his top priorities since taking over the…

Libya reopens Tripoli’s Mitiga airport

Mitiga airport TRIPOLI, Jan 24 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Libya’s internationally recognised government said on Thursday that it had reopened Mitiga, Tripoli’s only functioning airport, following almost a day of closure after rockets were fired towards it. Mitiga, just east of central Tripoli, has repeatedly come under attack in recent months, forcing…

Malian army says six soldiers killed, several wounded in overnight attack

BAMAKO, Jan 24 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Six soldiers were killed and several were wounded in an overnight attack in central Mali, the army said Thursday, in fresh violence in the war-torn West African state.The troops came under fire late Wednesday from “unidentified armed men” in Dioungani, an area in central Mali’s…

Somalia ranked world’s most corrupt nation

Somalia BERLIN, Jan 24 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Somalia is still ranked the world’s most corrupt country, according to the just released 2019 Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI).The index is published annually by Transparency International (TI) and assesses the perceived levels of public sector corruption in 180 countries.According to TI, the country’s poor…