Iraq Holds First Provincial Elections In A Decade

BAGHDAD, Dec 19 (NNN-NINA) – Iraq yesterday held provincial elections in 15 of the country’s 18 provinces, after a 10-year hiatus over political differences. Voting began after 7:00 a.m. local time (0400 GMT) when 7,166 polling centres opened under tight security measures, as millions of Iraqis voted in Baghdad and…

Over 1,200 Illegal Immigrants Held In NW Turkish Province: Report

ISTANBUL, Dec 19 (NNN-TRT) – Turkish security forces have rounded up a total of 1,209 illegal immigrants, in the north-western province of Edirne in Nov, it was reported yesterday. The seized illegal immigrants had been sent to the migration office in Edirne, according to the report, without specifying any details.…

Jordanian Army Arrested Nine Drug Smugglers On Border With Syria

AMMAN, Dec 19 (NNN-PETRA) – The Jordanian Armed Forces-Arab Army, announced yesterday, its border guards had arrested nine smugglers, after armed clashes along the country’s northern border with Syria. The army also claimed it had killed and wounded several smugglers, during clashes that began at dawn yesterday, while an unspecified…

Three Killed, 12 Injured In Cylinder Blast In Karachi

ISLAMABAD, Dec 19 (NNN-APP) – At least three people were killed and around 12 others severely injured, yesterday, in a gas cylinder blast in a building in Pakistan’s southern port city of Karachi, the rescue service said. Salman Naseer, an official of the rescue organisation, Edhi Foundation, said that, the…

Heavy Rainfall Hits Tamil Nadu, Leading To Cancellation Of Trains, Flights

NEW DELHI, Dec 19 (NNN-PTI) – Heavy rains hit India’s southern state of Tamil Nadu, triggering inundation and resulting in the cancellation of trains and flights, officials said yesterday. India Meteorological Department officials attributed the rains to the influence of a cyclonic circulation, over the Indian Ocean and south-west Bay…

Türkiye Receives Over 180 Patients From Gaza: Official

ANKARA, Dec 19 (NNN-TRT) – Türkiye has received 182 patients and their 147 companions from the Gaza Strip, since Nov 16, the country’s Foreign Ministry Spokesperson, Oncu Keceli, said, yesterday. Ankara will continue transferring Gazan patients to Türkiye, Keceli said on the social media platform X, noting that, Türkiye will…

Indian Parliament Suspends 78 More Opposition Lawmakers

NEW DELHI, Dec 19 (NNN-PTI) – As many as 78 federal lawmakers from different opposition political parties were suspended yesterday, for the remaining part of the ongoing winter session, for “repeatedly disrupting parliamentary proceedings.” The suspension, which involved 33 lawmakers from the Indian Parliament’s lower house, Lok Sabha, and 45…

Egypt’s Sisi Wins Presidential Election With 89.6 Percent Of Vote

CAIRO, Dec 19 (NNN-MENA) – Egypt’s National Election Authority (NEA), declared yesterday that, incumbent President, Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi, won the 2024 presidential election with 89.6 percent of valid votes. At a press conference in the capital, Cairo, the NEA said, the turnout reached 66.8 percent of the total 67 million eligible…

Qatar Presents New Proposals On Hamas-Israel Hostage Deal

GAZA, Dec 18 (NNN-QNA) – Qatar presented new proposals to resume the hostage deal between Israel and Hamas, to facilitate a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip, a Palestinian source said, yesterday. A high-level Qatari delegation has been discussing the proposals with Israeli officials, in unannounced meetings held in Norway since…

DPRK Condemns U.S.-South Korea Second Nuclear Consultative Group Meeting

SEOUL, Dec 18 (NNN-YONHAP) – The Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK), yesterday, condemned the second meeting of the U.S.-South Korea Nuclear Consultative Group, which escalates military tensions in the Korean Peninsula. In a statement, a spokesman for the Ministry of National Defence of the DPRK, lashed out at the…