US: World’s largest twin-engine jet completes first flight

The 252-foot-long passenger jet aeroplane has been delayed by some technical difficulties SEATTLE (US), Jan 27 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Boeing has successfully completed the first test flight of the world’s largest twin-engined plane, the 777X.It comes as the firm attempts to boost its image after its 737 Max plane was grounded…

Death toll rises to 21 in rain-battered Madagascar; 20 missing

Madagascar cyclone ANTANANARIVO, Jan 27 (NNN-AGENCIES) — At least 21 people have died in Madagascar following almost a week of flooding and landslides from torrential rain, the government says, with some homes being evacuated by the military.Another 20 people are missing, and thousands more have been displaced, according to the…

Fifteen on trial for stealing Moroccan king’s watches, jewellery

King Mohammed VI RABAT, Jan 27 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Fifteen people have gone on trial in Morocco over the theft of dozens of luxury watches and other pieces of jewellery from one of King Mohammed VI’s royal palaces. The 15 suspects, who appeared in a court in the capital Rabat on…

Turkish Pres Erdogan discuss Libya conflict on Algeria visit

Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune (r) meeting with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan (l) in Algiers ALGIERS, Jan 27 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said the Libyan crisis could not be solved by “military means”, after talks Sunday with his Algerian counterpart in Algiers. Erdogan, accompanied by a high-level…

Nineteen soldiers killed in attack on Mali army camp, militants suspected

BAMAKO, Jan 27 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Nineteen soldiers were killed and five wounded in an attack on an army camp in central Mali before dawn on Sunday, an army spokesman said. The identity of the attackers was not immediately clear. They entered the camp near the village of Sokolo at about…

US to evacuate its citizens from China virus epicenter

161 WASHINGTON, Jan 27 (NNN-AGENCIES) — The United States is arranging aflight to evacuate personnel and American citizens trapped at the epicentreof a deadly virus in central China, the US State Department said. The flight will leave on Tuesday from Wuhan and take people to SanFrancisco, the department said in…

One year on, Brazil town remembers 270 killed in dam breach

BRUMADINHO (Brazil), Jan 27 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Residents of Brumadinho in southeastern Brazil paid homage to the 270 people killed one yearago when a nearby dam burst, spewing millions of tons of mining waste over homes and farmland in one of the country’s worst industrial accidents. Still in mourning for the…

Heads of European Council, European Commission sign Brexit deal

Ursula von der Leyen signs the agreement as Michel Barnier and Charles Michel look on BRUSSELS, Jan 24 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Heads of the European Council and the European Commission on Friday signed on Britain’s exit from the European Union (EU) later this month. “.@eucopresident Charles Michel and I have just…

No more birth tourism: United States limits visas to pregnant women

WASHINGTON, Jan 24 (NNN-AGENCIES) — In the latest immigration control measure, the United States said it would no longer issue temporary visitor visas to pregnant women seeking to enter the country for so-called “birth tourism.”In announcing the rule change, which takes effect Friday, the White House said foreigners were using…

US Pres Trump to sign trade accord with Mexico, Canada next week: White House

WASHINGTON, Jan 24 (NNN-AGENCIES) — US President Donald Trump will sign the new North American trade pact with Mexico and Canada next week, a White House official said. The USMCA, the fruit of years of negotiation between the three key tradingpartners, is billed as an update to the 1994 North…