OPEC and allies prepare to deepen oil output cuts

VIENNA, Dec 6 (NNN-AGENCIES) — OPEC and its allies led by Russia on Thursday were moving closer to agreeing one of the deepest output cuts this decade to support crude prices and prevent a glut, sources from OPEC and its allied producers said. The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries…

Chile’s lower house passes “anti-looting, anti-roadblock” bill

SANTIAGO, Dec 6 (NNN-XINHUA) — Chile’s Chamber of Deputies has approved a bill aimed at stamping out violent protests such as looting and roadblocking. The bill makes it a crime to paralyze or disrupt basic services such as public or emergency transportation, hurl “sharp or cutting” objects such as knives,…

Nigerian minister pushes for tougher penalties on sexual abusers

LAGOS, Dec 6 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Nigeria’s Women Affairs Minister Pauline Tallen called for stricter penalties for sexual offenders with an aim to curb rape and all forms of abuse against women and children. She made the appeal a week after the country’s National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in…

South African cash-strapped national carrier placed under business rescue

CAPE TOWN, Dec 6 (NNN-XINHUA) — South African Airways (SAA) announced that its Board of Directors has adopted a resolution to place the company into business rescue at the earliest opportunity. As previously announced, the SAA Board of Directors and the Executive Committee have been in consultations with the shareholder,…

Iran protests: State TV acknowledges deaths during unrest

A minister said 731 banks and 70 petrol stations were set ablaze during the unrest TEHRAN, Dec 6 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Iranian state TV has said security forces killed what it called “thugs and rioters” during last month’s mass protests against a petrol price rise. Activists have accused the authorities of deliberately…

Berlin murder: Germany expels two Russian diplomats

Police at the spot in a Berlin park where the Chechen exile was shot dead BERLIN, Dec 6 (NNN-AGENCIES) —Months after a man was shot dead in a Berlin park, Germany is throwing out two Russian diplomats because it suspects the murder was ordered by Russia or Russia’s Chechen republic. The expulsions come…

US urges countries to suspend digital service taxes amid digital row with France

Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin WASHINGTON, Dec 6 (NNN-XINHUA) — US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin has urged all countries to suspend the introduction of digital service taxes as nations work towards a multilateral deal on international taxation. “The United States firmly opposes digital service taxes because they have a discriminatory impact on U.S.-based businesses and…

North Korea raises ‘dotard’ spectre as deadline looms

SEOUL, Dec 6 (NNN-AGENCIES) — North Korea has threatened to resumereferring to US president Donald Trump as a “dotard”, raising the prospect of a return to a war of words with a negotiating deadline approaching. Pyongyang has set Washington an end-of-year time limit to offer it newconcessions in deadlocked nuclear…

US: 4 dead after jewelry heist leads to carjacking, chase, shootout

Authorities in Florida have confirmed “multiple fatalities” following a shootout after suspects allegedly stole a UPS truck MIAMI, Dec 6 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Two armed jewelry thieves trying to escape the scene of their heist on Thursday hijacked a delivery truck, took its driver hostage, then led police on a high-speed…

Presidents Putin and Zelensky in first talks to revive Ukraine peace efforts

MOSCOW, Dec 6 (NNN-AGENCIES) — The leaders of Russia and Ukraine willmeet on Monday for talks on the conflict in east Ukraine, in what could be astep forward in ending Europe’s only active war. The summit in Paris will mark the first time Russia’s Vladimir Putin meetsface-to-face with Ukraine’s new…