US, Russia promise to work to ease Ukraine tensions

GENEVA, Jan 22 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Washington and Moscow’s top diplomats on Friday agreed to keep working to ease tensions over Ukraine, with the United States promising a written response to Russian security requirements next week and not ruling out a presidential meeting. As fears grew that Russia could invade its…

UN chief ‘convinced’ Russia won’t invade Ukraine

   UNITED NATIONS, Jan 22 (NNN-AGENCIES) — UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said that a Russian invasion of Ukraine would be against international law and said he was confident that it would not happen.    “There should not be any military intervention. In this context, I think that diplomacy is the way…

UN General Assembly president to join China’s Winter Olympic torch relay

 BEIJING, Jan 22 (NNN-) — China said the president of the UN’s General Assembly will take part in the Winter Olympics torch relay, which organisers announced would be closed to the public because of coronavirus fears.    Abdulla Shahid will participate in next month’s relay before the Feb 4 opening of…

Chile: President-elect Boric unveils young, woman-majority cabinet

SANTIAGO, Jan 22 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Chile’s leftist president-elect Gabriel Boric, whose victory at the polls last month unsettled the markets, on Friday named the country’s Central Bank governor as his finance minister in a young, diverse and woman-majority cabinet.    Mario Marcel, an independent politician and former member of the Socialist…

Nigeria jihadists kidnap 20 children: residents

KANO (Nigeria), Jan 22 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Jihadists have killed two people and kidnapped 20 children in Nigeria’s Borno state, where a more than decade-long Islamist insurgency rages, a community leader and two residents said on Friday. Jihadists from the Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP) stormed the northeastern village of…

Covid-19: US judge blocks Biden federal employee vaccine mandate

HOUSTON, Jan 22 (NNN-AGENCIES) — A federal judge in Texas ruled that President Joe Biden could not require federal employees to be vaccinated against COVID-19 and blocked the government from disciplining employees who failed to comply. Biden issued an order requiring about 3.5 million workers to get vaccinated by Nov 22…

Canada: PM Trudeau vows action after family of four from India freeze to death in ‘mind blowing’ tragedy

OTTAWA, Jan 22 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Canada is doing all it can to stop people smuggling across the US border after a family of four froze to death in a “mind blowing’ tragedy, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said. US authorities have charged a US man with human trafficking after the four – a man,…

Afghanistan: Taliban to meet Western officials in Norway for aid talks

Minister of Foreign Affairs of Norway Anniken Huitfeldt OSLO, Jan 22 (NNN-AGENCIES) — The Taliban will hold talks with Western officials in Oslo next week on human rights and humanitarian aid in their first official visit to the West since returning to power, the Norwegian and Taliban governments said. The…

Covid-19: Brazil’s Rio de Janeiro and Sao Paulo postpone official Carnival parade to April

RIO DE JANEIRO, Jan 22 (NNN-AGENCIES) — The Brazilian cities of Rio de Janeiro and Sao Paulo announced they are postponing colourful Carnival parades to the end of April, due to an increase in COVID-19 cases as Omicron spreads through the country. Both cities had already cancelled their Carnival street…

Covid-19: US suspends 44 U.S flights by Chinese carriers after China action

es and China Eastern Airlines Air China planes are seen parked on the tarmac at Beijing Capital Airport WASHINGTON, Jan 22 (NNN-AGENCIES) — The US government said it would suspend 44 China-bound flights from the United States by four Chinese carriers in response to the Chinese government’s decision to suspend…