Update: Pres Trump says ‘all well’ after Iranian missiles target US troops

WASHINGTON, Jan 8 (NNN-AGENCIES) — President Donald Trump said that initial casualty assessments indicated “all is well” after Iranian missiles targeted two bases housing US troops in Iraq. He tweeted that “assessment of casualties & damages taking place now. So far, so good!” Trump did not go on evening television…

Costa Rica protests US travel advisory alert

SAN JOS, Jan 8 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Costa Rica vehemently objected to the US government’s decision to raise the alert level for tourists visiting the Central American country due to the risk of crime. “We express energetic protest on the part of the Costa Rican government for the decision to change…

WHO: 6,000 deaths recorded in 2019 following measles epidemic in DR Congo

UNICEF: A mother holds her 3-month-old baby as he receives a vaccination against measles at a health centre in Lubumbashi KINSHASA, Jan 8 (NNN-AGENCIES) — More than 6,000 people died since the start of 2019 as a result of the “world’s worst measles epidemic” raging across the Democratic Republic of…

Libya’s Higher Council of State recommends government to cut relations with UAE

TRIPOLI, Jan 8 (NNN-Xinhua) — The Higher Council of State of Libya, an advisory body, on Tuesday recommended the UN-backed government to cut relations with the United Arab Emirates (UAE) for “direct involvement in the attack on Tripoli”. The Council recommended the UN-backed government to cut relations with the UAE…

UK: Opposition MPs fail to dent Johnson’s Brexit strategy in first votes of new year

LONDON, Jan 8 (NNN-Xinhua) — British lawmakers started a three-day Brexit debate Tuesday on their first House of Commons sitting of the new year. MPs debated details of Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s Brexit Withdrawal Bill which was passed last month with an overwhelming majority. Opposition MPs tabled a long list…

UN says no exodus of civilians from Sirte, envoy concerned about Libyans

Pic: UN Libya UNITED NATIONS, Jan 8 (NNN-Xinhua) — One day after the east-based Libyan National Army (LNA) said it had taken Sirte, a UN spokesman said there has been no exodus of civilians from the coastal city of the North African country. “In terms of the situation in Sirte…

Iran fired ‘more than a dozen’ missiles at US forces in Iraq: Pentagon

WASHINGTON, Jan 8 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Iran fired “more than a dozen” ballistic missiles Tuesday against two airbases in Iraq where US and coalition forces are based, the Pentagon said. “At approximately 5.30 pm (2230 GMT) on January 7, Iran launched more than a dozen ballistic missiles against US military and…

Kenya: Four civilians killed in al Shabaab attack on telecom mast

Al Shabab militants NAIROBI, Jan 8 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Four Kenyan civilians were killed in a gunfight between police and al Shabaab militants from Somalia who attacked a telecommunications mast in the third such deadly incident in Kenya this week, police said. Officers killed two attackers and recovered two assault rifles…

European powers reject Turkey’s decision to send troops to Libya

French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian BRUSSELS, Jan 8 (NNN-Xinhua) — Top European diplomats emerged from a Tuesday meeting saying continuing outside interference is fuelling the crisis in Libya and that there is no military solution to it. Top diplomats from Britain, Italy, Germany, France as well as the European…

Togo: Pres Gnassingbé to seek another term, hoping to extend family’s decades-long rule

LOME, Jan 8 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Togo’s president Faure Gnassingbe confirmed his candidacy for elections next month that look set to see him claim a fourth term and extend his family’s decades-long rule. The incumbent has been in power for nearly 15 years since taking over after the death of his…