Somalia: al-Shabaab militants recapture strategic town

MOGADISHU, Aug 26 (NNN-AGENCIES) — The Islamist group, al-Shabaab, is reported to have seized a strategic town in central Somalia. Residents of Amara in the Galmudug region said the militants stormed an army base before over-running the town. The insurgents captured several armoured vehicles, burning some of them. Al Shabaab’s…

16 soldiers killed in insurgency-hit southeast ; 50 of the insurgents neutralised

NIAMEY, Aug 26 (NNN-AGENCIES) — An attack by hundreds of Boko Haram fighters on a town in Niger’s insurgency-plagued southeast killed 16 soldiers and wounded nine others, Defence Minister Alkassoum Indatou said. In the assault late on Tuesday “the positions of our defence and security forces in Baroua, in the…

Canada races to beat US deadline in Afghanistan

 OTTAWA, Aug 26 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Canada is racing to wind down its Afghanistan evacuation effort ahead of America’s Aug 31 deadline, as officials warn some may be left behind. As of Aug 24, Canada had airlifted more than 2,700 people out of Kabul, including Canadian citizens, Afghans and other foreign…

UN agency,Universal Postal Union, banned British stamps from Chagos Islands in Indian Ocean

Stamps marked British Indian Ocean Territory now won’t be recognised PORT LOUIS, Aug 26 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Mauritius has moved a symbolic step closer to wresting control of the Chagos Islands, in the Indian Ocean, from the UK. The Universal Postal Union (UPU), a UN agency in charge of the world’s…

German model seriously injured in leopard attack during photoshoot

Two leopards live in the enclosure, Troy and Paris  BERLIN, Aug 26 (NNN-AGENCIES) — A 36-year-old model has been mauled by a leopard during a photoshoot that went wrong at a retirement home for show animals in eastern Germany. The woman, described as an animal lover as well as a…

Covid-19: US plans booster shots at six months instead of eight

WASHINGTON, Aug 26 (NNN-AGENCIES) — US health regulators could approve a third COVID-19 shot for adults beginning at least six months after full vaccination, instead of the previously announced eight-month gap. Approval of boosters for three COVID-19 shots being administered in the United States – those manufactured by Pfizer Inc and partner BioNTech…

Russian Pres Putin holds talk with China’s Xi and Pakistan’s Imran Khan on Afghan situation

Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping MOSCOW, Aug 26 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping have agreed their countries will step up efforts to counter “threats” emerging from Afghanistan following the Taliban’s takeover, the Kremlin said. In a phone call, the…

Afghan girl born on US military plane named Reach, after aircraft’s code name

BERLIN, Aug 26 (NNN-AGENCIES) — An Afghan girl born aboard a US military plane as her family was fleeing Taliban rule was named Reach after the aircraft’s code name, US military officials said. The baby’s mother went into labor on Saturday while being flown to a US military base in…

Uganda, South Sudan in talks over rampant fatal road ambushes

KAMPALA, Aug 26 (NNN-Xinhua) — Uganda and South Sudan are in talks over a growing number of deadly ambushes on South Sudanese territory targeting transit trucks. Okello Oryem, Uganda’s minister of state in charge of international affairs, is in South Sudan’s capital, Juba, to discuss stopping the ambushes with his…

US to ensure Americans, partners can leave Afghanistan beyond Aug 31: Blinken

WASHINGTON, Aug 26 (NNN-Xinhua) — US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said that the United States would work to ensure Americans and Afghan partners could leave Afghanistan beyond Aug 31, the planned deadline for the ongoing evacuation led by the US military. President Joe Biden confirmed on Tuesday that his…