UN Chief marks 20th anniversary of 9/11 attacks

UNITED NATIONS, Sept 11 (NNN-XINHUA) — United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Saturday issued a statement to commemorate the 20th anniversary of the 9/11 terrorist attacks in the United States. “Today we mark a somber day seared in the minds of millions of people around the world — a day…

Covid-19: Former Ivory Coast PM dies of coronavirus

  PARIS, Sept 11 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Former Ivory Coast prime minister Charles Konan Banny died in a Paris hospital on Friday after contracting Covid-19.   Banny, 78, who was in office from 2005-2007, was being treated at the American Hospital in the Paris suburb of Neuilly-sur-Seine after contracting the disease…

Army helicopter crash kills five in Ivory Coast

   ABIDJAN, Sept 11 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Five people died when an army helicopter crashed in northern Ivory Coast, officials said.    The crash, which took place overnight Thursday to Friday, involved a Mi-24 helicopter, the army said.    The helicopter had been on a “reconnaissance mission on the northern border” with Burkina…

Four missing after hillside collapses in Mexico

  MEXICO CITY, Sept 11 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Rescuers searched for at least four people missing near Mexico City after a hillside collapsed on Friday, bringing huge boulders crashing down on homes, authorities said .   “It’s a tragedy,” said Raciel Perez, mayor of Tlalnepantla just outside the capital.   Two…

Update: Morocco’s king names businessman Akhannouch to head government

 RABAT, Sept 11 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Morocco’s King Mohammed VI named businessman Aziz Akhannouch to lead a new government after his National Rally of Independents (RNI) thrashed the long-ruling Islamists in parliamentaryelections.   The king appointed Akhannouch “head of the government and tasked him with forming a new government”, following Wednesday’s…

Spain: Catalan separatists to take streets ahead of Madrid talks

  BARCELONA, Sept 11 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Catalan separatists are expected to jam the streets of Barcelona on Saturday in a test of their strength ahead of fresh negotiations with Spain’s government.   The protest coincides with Catalonia’s national day, or “Diada”, which commemorates the 1714 fall of Barcelona in the…

US honors 9/11 dead on 20th anniversary of attacks

  NEW YORK, Sept 11 (NNN-AGENCIES) — America marks the 20th anniversary of 9/11 Saturday with solemn ceremonies given added poignancy by the recent chaotic withdrawal of troops from Afghanistan and return to power of the Taliban.   Heart-wrenching commemorations will unfold at each of the three sites where 19…

Covid-19: Togo shuts churches, mosques as cases worsen; weddings, funerals banned

Togo’s borders have been shut since March 2020 LOME, Sept 11 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Togo’s government has ordered all places of worship to shut down for one month starting on Friday, following a “worrying upsurge” in coronavirus cases in recent weeks.The West African nation of about eight million people has recorded…

RNI party wins most seats in legislative election in Morocco

It remains unclear if the PJD will be part of the upcoming governmental coalition RABAT, Sept 11 (NNN-AFRICANEWS) — The leader of the National Rally of Independents party (RNI) in Morocco declared the results of the legislative elections a “victory of all Moroccans” after his party won the most seats.With…

Canada: PM Trudeau, trailing in polls, defends early election call

Canada’s Liberal Prime Minister Justin Trudeau OTTAWA, Sept 11 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Canada’s Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, facing potential defeat in a snap Sept 20 election, defended his decision to go to the polls early and said his main rival would undermine the country’s fight against COVID-19. Trudeau, who heads a minority…