African countries borrowing like it’s the 1990s – IMF

Kristalina Georgieva WASHINGTON, Dec 11 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Record commodity prices and low global interest rates have encouraged African countries to borrow as they did in the 1990s, but now some are struggling to pay up as their revenue slows along with economic growth. The debt of governments as a percentage…

Dec 12 elections: UK PM Johnson pockets reporter’s phone in hospital row

LONDON, Dec 11 (NNN-AGENCIES) — British Prime Minister Boris Johnson was accused of grabbing a journalist’s phone and putting it into his pocket to avoid looking at an image of a boy sleeping on a hospital floor. An ITV television reporter attempted to show Johnson the picture — of a…

Pres Putin says Russia has every reason to appeal against sports ban

PARIS, Dec 11 (NNN-XINHUA) — Russian President Vladimir Putin saidthe ruling by the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) to ban Russiafrom international sporting events for four years violates the Olympiccharter and Russia has every reason to go to court. “The fact that the (WADA’s) decision applies collectively to all Russianathletes proves…

Libya’s UN-backed gov’t to investigate into “mistreatment” of captured east-based army pilot

TRIPOLI, Dec 9 (NNN-Xinhua) — The Interior Minister of the UN-backed government of Libya, Fathi Bashagha, issued Sunday an order to start an immediate investigation into “mistreatment” of a captured pilot of the rival east-based army. On Saturday, the UN-backed government forces announced shooting down a fighter jet of the…

Rockets hit Iraq military complex housing US forces: army

BAGHDAD, Dec 9 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Several rockets slammed into an Iraqimilitary complex that hosts US forces next to Baghdad International Airporton Monday, wounding six Iraqi troops, the military said. Security forces found launchers with rockets that had not been firedproperly, indicating a larger attack was planned, a military statement said.…

Malaysia reports first case of polio since 1992

KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 9 (NNN-AGENCIES) — A three-month-old Malaysian infant has been diagnosed with polio, the first case reported in the country in nearly three decades, a top health official said. The baby boy from Tuaran in Malaysia’s Sabah state on Borneo island tested positive for polio on Friday after…

Thailand delays deporting family of Rakhine insurgent leader

Tun Myat Naing is the commander-in-chief of the Arakan Army, which has been fighting the Myanmar army in Rakhine state BANGKOK, Dec 9 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Thailand will delay the deportation of the wife and children of the top commander of the Arakan Army insurgent group that is fighting Myanmar’s army…

Mexico accepts US steel demand in USMCA trade deal, but with conditions

Mexico’s Foreign Minister Marcelo Ebrard MEXICO CITY, Dec 9 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Mexico would accept a U.S. demand on steel in the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement if the rule took effect at least five years after the trade pact’s ratification, Mexican Foreign Minister Marcelo Ebrard said. Mexican lawmakers earlier this year approved…

Firemen hailed as heroes in Delhi horror blaze

The walls of a building stand blackened after it caught fire in New Delhi NEW DELHI, Dec 9 (NNN-AGENCIES0 — Two firemen who rescued 27 people were hailed as heroes Monday after Delhi’s deadliest fire in decades killed 43, prompting outrage that safety regulations were yet again ignored. The blaze…

Pope appoints Philippine cardinal to global Vatican post

Cardinal Luis Tagle VATICAN CITY, Dec 9 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Pope Francis named Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle to a major global Vatican post in a move likely to increase the Filipino’s chances of one day being elected pope himself. The Vatican said the 62-year-old archbishop of Manila will move to Rome…