Malawian president declares state of disaster in 23 districts

LILONGWE, March 24 (NNN-XINHUA) — Malawian President Lazarus Chakwera has declared a state of disaster in 23 districts of the country hit by a dry spell caused by El Nino, which has left those districts with little or no harvest. The Malawian leader made the declaration in a televised address…

Two skiers killed in Swiss avalanche

GENEVA, March 24 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Two cross-country skiers have been killed in an avalanche near the plush resort of Klosters in southeast Switzerland, police said Saturday. The accident happened on Friday, the Graubunden regional police said. “In the Schintersiten area they took a slope with a steep gradient,” a police…

Cuban President assesses storm damages in Havana

HAVANA, March 24 (NNN-PRENSA LATINA) — Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel, along with other Cuban authorities, today assessed the damages in the from heavy rains and severe local storms that hit the capital and other Western provinces. At the Havana Electric Union the Head of State held a meeting with provincial…

Mexican forces search for 24 possible kidnapping victims

CULIACAN (Mexico), March 24 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Mexican authorities were searching Saturday for two dozen people in Sinaloa state reported to have been kidnapped along with more than 40 others who have since been found alive. The governor of the coastal state in northwest Mexico — home to the notorious Sinaloa…

3 killed, 10 injured in supermarket roof collapse in southern Brazil

BRASILIA, March 24 (NNN-XINHUA) — The roof of a supermarket collapsed Friday night in the southern Brazilian city of Pontal do Parana, killing three people and injuring 10 others, the local fire department reported Saturday. The tragedy happened at the Super Rede Atacadista supermarket where hundreds of people were attending…

Tunisia rescues 1,178 undocumented immigrants off eastern coast

TUNIS, March 24 (NNN-XINHUA) — Tunisian maritime authorities rescued 1,178 undocumented immigrants off its eastern coast and thwarted 28 attempts at illegal sea crossings to Italy on Saturday, the Tunisian National Guard said in a statement. The maritime guards intercepted vessels off the coast of Sfax province, saving 1,160 immigrants…

Korcok, Pellegrini set for Slovak presidential runoff

BRATISLAVA, March 24 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Slovak ex-foreign minister Ivan Korcok and current parliament speaker Peter Pellegrini will face off in April’s presidential election runoff, near-final results showed Saturday. The liberal Korcok led with 42.44 percent backing with 99.9 percent of the vote counted, while former prime minister Pellegrini earned 37.07…

France: Race is on to make Paris Olympics mosquito-free

PARIS, March 24 (NNN-AGENCIES) — France is scrambling to make sure that that virus-carrying tiger mosquitos, a growing menace in Europe, don’t spoil the Paris Olympics for athletes and fans, with millions of visitors due in the French capital for the summer Games. The Asian tiger mosquito has made its…

Southeast Brazil battered by downpours, at least a dozen killed

PETRÓPOLIS (Brazil), March 24 (NNN-AGENCIES) — A powerful storm has claimed at least a dozen lives in southeastern Brazil, mostly in the mountainous parts of Rio de Janeiro state, where authorities on Saturday deployed rescue teams to deal with a “critical” situation. The deluge came as Brazil, South America’s largest…

Russian Soyuz rocket with 3 astronauts blasts off to ISS, days after glitch

BAIKONUR (Kazakhstan), March 24 (NNN-AGENCIES) — A Russian Soyuz rocket carrying three astronauts to the International Space Station (ISS) blasted off on Saturday, two days after its launch was aborted at the last minute.The spacecraft carrying NASA astronaut Tracy Dyson, Russian Oleg Novitsky and Marina Vasilevskaya of Belarus launched smoothly…