Colombia requests more time to complete removal of landmines in accordance with the Ottawa Treaty

BOGOTA, Nov 18 (NNN-MERCOPRESS) — Colombia has requested a more than four-year extension under the Ottawa Treaty for removing landmines from across the country, the High Peace Commissioner’s office said. If the request is granted, Colombia will have until the end of 2025 to remove anti-personnel landmines from its territory.…

Update: Iota, weakened but deadly, rips through Central America

TEGUCIGALPA, Nov 18 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Storm Iota has killed at least nine people as it smashed homes, uprooted trees and swamped roads during its destructive advance across Central America, just two weeks after Hurricane Eta devastated parts of the region. Iota, which made landfall in Nicaragua as a “catastrophic” Category…

Covid-19: Hard-hit Brazil threatened by second wave of virus

RIO DE JANEIRO, Nov 18 (NNN-AGENCIES) — After struggling for months to get its spiraling Covid-19 death toll under control, Brazil is now threatened by the nightmare scenario that has already shaken the United States and Europe: a second wave. Brazil has been one of the countries hit hardest by…

US election: Pres Trump fires top election security official who rejected fraud claims

WASHINGTON, Nov 18 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Pres Donald Trump fired thegovernment’s top election security official, who had rejected the president’sunsubstantiated claims of “massive” fraud in the vote he lost to Joe Biden. Trump announced on Twitter the termination “effective immediately” of Chris Krebs, who leads the agency that jointly declared “the…

US hero of Bosnia war named to the Pentagon

WASHINGTON, Nov 18 (NNN-AGENCIES) — A US former fighter pilot whose plane was shot down over Bosnia in 1995 and who survived six days without being captured was appointed to a senior Department of Defense position, the Pentagon said. Scott O’Grady, 55, was named to be an Assistant Secretary of…

Pres Trump administration in rush to sell oil rights in Alaska nature refuge

WASHINGTON, Nov 18 (NNN-AGENCIES) — The administration of US President Donald Trump is rushing to sell rights to companies to drill for oil and gas in Alaska’s nature reserve before he leaves office.The Interior Department posted a “call for nominations,” to be published on Tuesday, allowing oil and gas firms…

Barbados removes Nelson statue in break with colonial past

British Admiral Lord Horatio Nelson BRIDGETOWN, Nov 18 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Barbados removed the statue of British Admiral Lord Horatio Nelson from the capital Bridgetown’s main square, two months after announcing plans to replace Britain’s Queen Elizabeth as its head of state and move on from its colonial past.The bronze statue…

Hurricane Iota tears through Central America after Nicaragua landfall

BILWI (Nicaragua), Nov 18 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Hurricane Iota was barreling through Central America on Tuesday, hours after making landfall as the strongest Atlantic storm this year along a stretch of Nicaraguan coast devastated by a powerful storm just two weeks ago. Authorities rushed to evacuate thousands of people from coastal…

Covid-19: Global cases surpass 55 mln, WHO “extremely concerned”

GENEVA, Nov 18 (NNN-XINHUA) — Global COVID-19 cases topped 55 million on Tuesday, according to the Center for Systems Science and Engineering at Johns Hopkins University. The World Health Organization (WHO) said that it was “extremely concerned” by the recent surge in COVID-19 cases in some countries, particularly in Europe…

Pentagon Confirms Troops Drawdown Plan In Afghanistan, Iraq

WASHINGTON, Nov 18 (NNN-AGENCIES) – The Pentagon, yesterday confirmed that U.S. troops in Afghanistan and Iraq will be reduced to 2,500 level, by mid-Jan, 2021. “By Jan 15, 2021, our force size in Afghanistan will be 2,500 troops, our force size in Iraq will also be 2,500 by that same…
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