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Gadhafi-era oil chief found dead

[email protected] (Reuters)
May 1, 2012

Shukri-Ghanem-Drowned

Vienna, May 1: Libya's former top oil industry official, Shokri Ghanem, has been found floating dead in the River Danube in Austria, police said on Sunday.

Ghanem, 69, had been chairman of Libya's state-owned National Oil Corporation (NOC) before defecting last year several months after opponents of Muammar Gadhafi had risen up against the Libyan leader and begun a rebellion.

As NOC chairman since 2006, Ghanem helped steer Libya's oil policy and held the high-profile job of representing Libya at OPEC meetings, often visiting Vienna for meetings in that role.

No foul pay

“He was found dead in the Danube river at 8:40 am (0640 GMT). There is no suspicion at all of foul play at this stage. The corpse exhibited no signs of violence,” a Vienna police spokesman said.

He said an autopsy would be performed to determine the cause of death. After making a final break with the Gadhafi administration last year, Ghanem first appeared in Rome, saying he had defected because of the “unbearable violence” being used by government forces to try to put down the rebellion.

He was believed to have been living in Europe in exile since then but was still closely associated with Gadhafi's rule by Libya's new leaders and had ruled out returning home.

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News Network
July 9,2020

Washington, Jul 9: The United States recorded 55,000 new coronavirus cases in 24 hours on Wednesday (Thursday in Malaysia), a tally by Johns Hopkins University showed, bringing its total to 3,046,351 recorded infections since the pandemic began.

The country, the hardest-hit in the world, had earlier on Wednesday passed the grim milestone of three million infections. The actual number is likely far higher due to issues over getting tested in March and April.

The US also added an additional 833 virus deaths, bringing the death toll to 132,195, the Baltimore-based institution showed at 8.30pm (0030 GMT Thursday).

US President Donald Trump regularly downplays the numbers, attributing them to an increase in testing capacity during the month of June.

Coronavirus cases are surging in several southern hotspots including Texas, Florida, Louisiana and Arizona, but the pandemic has almost entirely receded from its former epicentre in New York and the north-east.

Several states have been forced to suspend their reopening processes or even reverse course, with some ordering bars to close again.

On Wednesday morning, Trump called on schools throughout the country to reopen in the fall, lashing out at his own top health agency to ease health and safety requirements aimed at slowing the spread of the virus, such as social distancing.

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Agencies
July 22,2020

Houston, Jul 22: China said on Wednesday that the US has ordered it to close its consulate in Houston in what an official called an outrageous and unjustified move that will sabotage China-US relations.

Foreign ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin condemned the action, which comes as tensions rise between the world's two largest economies. He warned of firm countermeasures if the US does not reverse its decision.

The unilateral closure of China's consulate general in Houston within a short period of time is an unprecedented escalation of its recent actions against China, Wang said at a daily news briefing.

There was no immediate confirmation or explanation from the U.S. side.

Media reports in Houston said that authorities had responded to reports of a fire at the consulate. Witnesses said that people were burning paper in what appeared to be trash cans, the Houston Chronicle reported, citing police.

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Agencies
August 8,2020

Washington, Aug 8: The United States has reported 58,173 new coronavirus cases on Friday, bringing the total past 4.9 million, according to Johns Hopkins University.

"The first case of COVID-19 in the US was reported 198 days ago on 22.01.2020.Yesterday, the country reported 58,173 new confirmed cases and 1,243 deaths," it said.

The country is expected to cross the 5 million thresholds in the coming days. It leads the world both in terms of coronavirus cases and deaths estimated at over 161,300.

Overall, there have been 19.4 million cases confirmed globally and almost 721,800 people have died from virus-related complications. Another 11.7 million have recovered.

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