Afghan Gov’t To Turn Former U.S. Military Bases Into Economic Zones

KABUL, Feb 20 (NNN-ANA) – The Afghan caretaker administration, has decided to change former U.S. military bases into economic zones, to bolster economic activities, the state-run Bakhtar news agency reported, yesterday. The decision has been taken at a meeting of the Economic Commission, with Deputy Prime Minister, Mullah Abdul Ghani…

Fire Broke Out At Highrise In Bangladesh Capital Dhaka

DHAKA, Feb 20 (NNN-BSS) – A devastating fire broke out at a multi-storey building in Bangladesh’s capital, Dhaka, last night, with no death reported, so far. At least seven fire engines were fighting the fire on the sixth floor of the 12-storey building, in Dhaka’s diplomatic area, Gulshan, which is…

People In Tokyo Flocked To Say Goodbye To Beloved Giant Panda Xiang Xiang

TOKYO, Feb 20 (NNN-NHK) – People flocked to Tokyo’s Ueno Zoological Gardens yesterday, to see Xiang Xiang, on the final day for public viewing for the beloved five-year-old female giant panda, before her return to China. The celebrity panda’s eventual departure drew fans to wait for hours at the zoo…

Severe Thunderstorms Wreak Havoc On Australia’s Sydney

SYDNEY, Feb 19 (NNN-AAP) – Severe thunderstorms rolled into Australia’s most populated city, Sydney, yesterday afternoon, bringing about damaging lightning and gusts that disrupted the daily life of local residents. From 11:00 a.m. local time, Australia’s Bureau of Meteorology (BOM) began updating severe thunderstorm warnings, roughly every 20 minutes, alerting…

Sri Lanka To Spend 132 Million USD On Port Development Projects

COLOMBO, Feb 19 (NNN-XINHUA) – Sri Lankan Minister of Ports, Shipping and Aviation, Nimal Siripala de Silva, said, the government will spend around 132 million U.S. dollars on port development projects. These investments would be made through revenue generated from port operations, the minister said last night. Speaking at an…

US gun violence: Injured Chinese student at MSU shooting paralyzed chest down

CHICAGO, Feb 19 (NNN-XINHUA) — A 20-year-old Chinese student who was shot and injured in the on-campus shooting at Michigan State University on Feb 13 is paralyzed from the chest down, the Detroit News reported Saturday. The shooting left three students killed and five injured. The Chinese student surnamed Hao…

Earthquake: Malaysia Sends First Humanitarian Aid Mission To Syria

SUBANG (Selangor, Malaysia), Feb 19 (NNN-Bernama) — Malaysia’s first humanitarian aid delivery mission to Syria which was hit by an earthquake earlier this month, took off Saturday night aboard an A400 transport aircraft belonging to the Royal Malaysian Air Force. A special flight involving 51 crew and other representatives from various ministries and non-governmental organisations (NGOs)…

US-China tension: Blinken, China’s top diplomat in ‘direct, candid talks’ amid balloon spat

 MUNICH (Germany), Feb 19 (NNN-AGENCIES) — US Secretary of State Antony Blinken warned China not to repeat its “irresponsible act” of sending a spy balloon into American airspace, as he held rare talks late Saturday with China’s top diplomat Wang Yi. The highly anticipated meeting of the two senior officials…

Bank Of Japan To Launch Digital Yen Pilot Programme

TOKYO, Feb 19 (NNN-NHK) – The Bank of Japan (BOJ) will start a pilot programme, to test the use of a digital yen with commercial financial institutions in Apr, the central bank said. Under the programme, the BOJ will conduct simulated transactions with private entities, in a test environment, which…

Six-Seater Cessna Plane Missing In Philippines

MANILA, Feb 19 (NNN-PNA) – A six-seater Cessna 340 plane was reported missing, shortly after taking off yesterday morning, in the Philippines’ Albay province, south-east of Manila, said the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines (CAAP). The CAAP said, the aircraft, with four people on board, including the pilot, a…
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