Iraqi parliament sacks local governor after Mosul boat capsize

BAGHDAD, March 25 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Iraq’s parliament voted to sack the governor of Nineveh after an overloaded ferry capsized, killing at least 90 people, in the provincial capital Mosul, state media said. The boat was carrying families heading to an outing on an island in the Tigris River on Thursday…

Israeli PM Netanyahu in Washington with Golan Heights recognition on tap

WASHINGTON, March 25 (NNN-AGENCIES) –: Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu arrived in Washington on Sunday, looking for an electoral boost from Donald Trump amid expectations the US president will formally recognise Israel’s sovereignty over the Golan Heights. Trump broke longstanding international consensus last week over the status of the Golan…

Australia hit with second ‘severe’ cylcone in two days

SYDNEY, March 25 (NNN-AGENCIES) — A severe category 3 cyclone blew into the key mining region of Pilbara in Western Australia on Sunday, forcing evacuations and a halt to port operations, as the north of the country dealt with the effects of an even more powerful storm that hit the…

Russian air force planes land in Venezuela carrying troops

CARACAS, March 25 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Two Russian air force planes landed in Venezuela’s main airport on Saturday carrying a Russian defense official and nearly 100 troops, according to a local journalist, amid strengthening ties between Caracas and Moscow. A flight-tracking website showed that two planes left from a Russian military…

Romania to move its embassy to Jerusalem

WASHINGTON, March 25 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Romania’s prime minister promised on Sunday in Washington that her country would move its embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, breaking with both the European position and apparently with her own country’s president. Prime Minister Viorica Dancila made the announcement before the annual conference…

Turkey will not go back on purchase of Russian S-400s: Pres Erdogan

ISTANBUL, March 25 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Turkey will not go back on the purchase of S-400 missile systems from Russia no matter what the United States says, President Tayyip Erdogan said. He made the comment in an interview with broadcaster TGRT Haber. The United States could soon freeze preparations for delivering…

Disease fears mount for Africa cyclone survivors

BEIRA (Mozambique), March 25 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Disease is threatening to aggravate the already dire conditions facing millions of survivors following the powerful tropical cyclone which ravaged southern Africa 10 days ago, officials warned. Cyclone Idai smashed into Mozambique’s coast unleashing hurricane-force wind and rain that flooded swathes of the poor…

Qatar’s US$434 million desert rose museum finally blooms

DOHA, March 25 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Almost a decade in the making, three years late and at an estimated cost of US$434 million, Qatar’s vast national museum, built in the shape of a desert rose, opens this week. A glittering ceremony, expected to include Qatar’s ruler Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani,…

Princes Charles becomes first British royal to visit Cuba

HAVANA, March 25 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Prince Charles and his wife Camilla landed in Havana on Sunday for the first official trip by the British royal family to Communist-run Cuba even as Britain’s top ally the United States seeks to isolate the island nation. Shortly after arriving on a Royal Air…

Syria war: Militants emerge from tunnels to surrender after ‘caliphate’ falls

BAGHOUZ (Syria), March 25 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Dozens of Daesh group extremists emerged from tunnels to surrender to US-backed forces in eastern Syria on Sunday, a day after their “caliphate” was declared defeated. Syria’s Kurds warned that despite the demise of the proto-state, the thousands of foreign jihadists they have detained…