Chilean Air Force recovers human remains, says no survivors from crashed plane

PUNTA ARENAS (Chile), Dec 13 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Chile confirmed that human remains and debris found by search ships are from a military plane reported missing with 38 people aboard, and the chances of finding survivors is “practically impossible.” “The condition of the plane wreckage that was found makes it practically impossible…

US vaping-related deaths rise to 52, hospitalizations to 2,409

WASHINGTON, Dec 13 (NNN-AGENCIES) — US health officials said four more deaths occurred since last week from a mysterious respiratory illness tied to vaping, taking the total toll to 52. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) also reported 118 more hospitalized cases from 50 states, the District of…

Myanmar: Aung San Suu Kyi warns genocide case could reignite Rohingya crisis

Myanmar’s leader Aung San Suu Kyi HAGUE, Dec 13 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Nobel peace laureate Aung San Suu Kyi urged UN judges to throw out a genocide case against Myanmar, warning it risked reigniting the crisis that forced nearly three-quarters of a million Rohingya Muslims from their homes. In her closing arguments…

Update: New Zealand troops retrieve six bodies from volcano in daring mission

WHAKATANE (New Zealand), Dec 13 (NNN-AGENCIES) — A team of elite New Zealand soldiers airlifted six bodies from the volatile White Island volcano on Friday, police said, in a mission carried out under the ever-present threat of another eruption. Two military helicopters set off from Whakatane airport at first light…

US Senate passes resolution recognizing Armenian genocide

WASHINGTON, Dec 13 (NNN-AGENCIES) — US Senate unanimously passed a resolution that formally recognizes the Ottoman Empire’s mass killings against the Armenian people as “genocide,” a move might further strain relations between Washington and Ankara. By passing Armenian Genocide resolution, “the Senate finally stood up to confirm history: What happened…

Sudanese envoy asks UN Security Council to review Darfur sanctions

UNITED NATIONS, Dec 13 (NNN-Xinhua) — The Sudanese ambassador to the United Nations on Thursday asked the Security Council to review its sanctions regime on the Darfur region. The situation that prevailed in 2005, when the sanctions regime was expanded to include Sudanese government forces in Darfur, has changed completely,…

11 Hashd Shaabi members killed in suicide attack in central Iraq

SAMARRA (Iraq), Dec 13 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Eleven Iraqi fighters were killed north of Baghdad on Thursday when two suicide bombers attacked a base of Saraya al-Salam, an armed group led by Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr, the Iraqi army said. The attack, which also wounded three fighters, was carried out by…

Fatah deputy chief meets UN envoy over Palestinian elections

UN Envoy for the peace process in the Middle East Nikolai Mladenov RAMALLAH, Dec 13 (NNN-Xinhua) — Mahmoud al-Aloul, vice president of Palestinian Fatah party, on Thursday met with the UN Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process Nickolay Miladinov in the West Bank city of Ramallah over steps…

Argentine government confirms arrival of ex-Bolivian Pres Evo Morales as a “refugee”

Bolivia’s ex-President Evo Morales  BUENOS AIRES, Dec 13 (NNN-Xinhua) — Bolivia’s ex-President Evo Morales arrived in Argentina on Thursday and will remain in the country under “refugee” status, said the Argentine Foreign Affairs Minister Felipe Sola. “He has just arrived, he has come to stay. He entered as an asylum…

At least 6 killed in multi-vehicle crash in southern Philippines

MANILA, Dec 13 (NNN-Xinhua) — At least six people, including four children, were killed in a crash involving multiple vehicles in Mindanao in the southern Philippines early Friday, police said. Police said the crash, which happened at around 4 a.m. local time along a national highway in Tacurong City in…