Five die in plane, glider crashes in Swiss Alps

GENEVA, June 16 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Five people died when a glider and a small plane crashed in the Swiss Alps at the weekend, police said, adding that they were investigating whether the two accidents were linked. A small plane with the pilot and three other people on board, including a…

Covid-19: UNITAID signs deals to supply oxygen for poor countries

GENEVA, June 16 (NNN-AGENCIES) –– WHO-hosted International Drug Purchasing Facility (Unitaid) announced it had struck deals with two of the world’s main medical oxygen producers to boost access to badly-needed supplies in poor countries fighting the Covid-19 pandemic. The international organisation, which works on innovations to prevent, diagnose and treat…

US Pres Biden ‘ready’ for Russian counterpart Putin after landing in Geneva

GENEVA, June 16 (NNN-AGENCIES) — US President Joe Biden landed Tuesday in Geneva on the eve of his first summit with Vladimir Putin, a meeting the White House hopes will set clear “red lines” preventing the combustible US-Russia relationship from further deterioration. “I’m always ready,” Biden told reporters with a…

Yemen’s Houthi rebels claim drone attack on Saudi airport

SANAA, June 15 (NNN-Xinhua) — Yemen’s Houthi rebels said they launched a bomb-laden drone attack on Saudi Arabia’s southwestern Abha airport on Monday. “The attack accurately hit a military target in the airport,” Houthi military spokesman Yehya Sarea said in a statement aired by the Houthi-run al-Masirah TV. “The attack…

Bodies of scores of migrants recovered after boat capsizes off Yemen

Migrants often find themselves stranded in Yemen, which is mired in the world’s worst humanitarian crisis after six years of conflict ADEN (Yemen), June 15 (NNN-AGENCIES) — The bodies of 25 migrants have been recovered off the coast of Yemen after their boat, reportedly carrying up to 200 people, capsized,…

Covid-19: World Bank, AU join hands to deploy vaccines for 400 mln Africans

ADDIS ABABA, June 15 (NNN-Xinhua) — The World Bank (WB) and the African Union (AU)’s COVID-19 Africa Vaccine Acquisition Task Team (AVATT) announced a decision to work together to deploy vaccines for 400 million Africans. This came after the president of the World Bank, David Malpass, met with the AVATT…

18 militants killed, 9 injured in South Afghan province

A file photo of unidentified gunmen LASHKAR GAH (Afghanistan), June 15 (NNN-Xinhua) — A total of 18 militants have been killed and nine others sustained injury as security forces stormed Taliban hideouts in parts of the restive Helmand province Tuesday, said a statement of provincial police. The security forces involving…

ICC prosecutor seeks full probe into Filipino president’s drug war killings

President Rodrigo Duterte THE HAGUE, June 15 (NNN-AGENCIES) — The outgoing prosecutor of the International Criminal Court has sought authorisation from The Hague tribunal to open a full investigation into Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte’s ongoing war on drugs that killed thousands of people, including innocent children.Prosecutor Fatou Bensouda, whose term…

Burkina Faso army kills 10 ‘terrorists’ after massacre

OUAGADOUGOU, June 15 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Burkina Faso’s army said Monday that troops had killed around 10 “terrorists” in security operations following the deadliest massacre in the country’s six-year jihadist insurgency. More than 7,000 people have fled northern Burkina Faso after the attack on the village of Solhan in early June…

China ready to launch first crew to new space station

BEIJING, June 15 (NNN-AGENCIES) — The first crew for China’s new space station prepared to blast off this week for the latest step in Beijing’s ambitious programme to establish itself as a space power. The mission is China’s first crewed spaceflight in nearly five years, and a matter of prestige…