Azerbaijan: Pres Aliyev nominated by ruling party to run for re-election in 2024

BAKU, Dec 16 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Azerbaijan’s ruling party nominated incumbent President Ilham Aliyev for re-election next year, a move expected to extend the decades-long rule of the Aliyev family. The 61-year-old has governed the energy-rich country since 2003, when he succeeded his father, Heydar, a former KGB officer and Communist-era…

Sudan crisis: Army blocks city hosting war-displaced

WAD MADANI (Sudan), Dec 16 (NNN-AGENCIES) — The Sudanese army blocked civilians from entering the city of Wad Madani, where media correspondents saw fighter jets overhead and heard blasts as the war with paramilitaries entered its ninth month. Soon after the war began between the army and the Rapid Support…

Swiss police find 14 migrants in van after 30-km chase

 GENEVA, Dec  16 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Swiss police said they found 14 migrants, presumed to be Syrians, in the back of a French-registered van following a lengthy chase. The vehicle had sped away from police controls in northern Italy and at the Swiss exit of the Gotthard Road Tunnel, where the…

Migrant boat carrying over 60 capsizes in English Channel, one dead

LILLE (France), Dec 15 (NNN-AGENCIES) — A boat carrying more than 60 migrants capsized in the English Channel off France overnight Thursday to Friday while attempting to reach Britain, with one person dead and another in criticalcondition, French maritime authorities said. Among the 66 people recovered, “one unconscious victim, in…

Kenya to hold inaugural International Minorities Rights Day celebrations

NAIROBI, Dec 15 (NNN-KBC) — Head of Public Service Felix Koskei confirmed Friday that Kenya will be joining the world next week in commemoration of International Minorities Rights Day. Monday Dec 18, 2023 event will mark the first time Kenya is celebrating it since it was declared in 1992. “Kenya…

Coal use to decline next year after record high in 2023: IEA

 PARIS, Dec 15 (NNN-AGENCIES) — World coal consumption should start declining next year after peaking in 2023, the International Energy Agency (IEA) said Friday. The IEA’s latest forecast came after nearly 200 countries at the COP28 UN climate talks adopted a deal stating that the world will be “transitioning away…

Denmark, Germany arrest terror suspects, including alleged Hamas members, authorities say

COPENHAGEN/BERLIN, Dec 15 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Denmark and Germany announced the arrests of several terror suspects, including alleged Hamas members suspected of plotting attacks on Jews and Jewish institutions in Europe over the ongoing Israel-Hamas war. The announcements were issued separately and it was unclear how the arrests were connected and if they were…

Guyana and Venezuela agree to refrain from using force, but fail to resolve territorial dispute

KINGSTOWN (St. Vincent), Dec 15 (NNN-AGENCIES) — The leaders of Guyana and Venezuela promised in a tense meeting Thursday that neither side would use threats or force against the other, but failed to reach agreement on how to address a bitter dispute over a vast border region rich with oil…

South Africa: Pandor pleased by growing trade with Austria

PRETORIA, Dec 15 (NNN-SANEWS) — International Relations and Cooperation Minister, Dr Naledi Pandor, has welcomed the growing overall trade between South Africa and Austria and the rising tourism numbers from the landlocked country in central Europe.  “We appreciate the valuable contribution that Austrian companies are making in South Africa, particularly…

US Covid-19: Los Angeles buries its unclaimed Covid-year dead

 LOS ANGELES, Dec 15 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Almost 2,000 people who died during the first year of the Covid pandemic and whose bodies were never claimed were laid to rest in Los Angeles on Thursday. The cremated remains were put in a communal grave in a ceremony attended by religious and…