News in Brief 2023-12-01)

Top diplomats arrive in North
Macedonia for security meeting
SKOPJE, Nov 30: Top diplomats from more than 50 countries arrived in North Macedonia on Wednesday for a meeting of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, while others boycotted the event due to the presence of Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov. The foreign ministers of Ukraine, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania had said they would not attend the talks due to Lavrov's participation and Russia's ongoing war in Ukraine. U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken made a brief stop in North Macedonia's capital, Skopje, for the meeting but left for Israel hours later. He did not encounter Lavrov, who arrived in Skopje late Wednesday. — AP
13 people die in Almaty hostel fire
ALMATY, Nov 30: At least 13 people were killed in a hostel fire that broke out in Kazakhstan's largest city Almaty before sunrise on Thursday, according to the city's emergency situations department. "In the course of reconnaissance and extinguishing the fire, 13 dead were initially discovered, their identities are being established," the department said in a statement. "Preliminarily, they died of carbon monoxide poisoning." — AFP

Somalia floods displace more than million
MOGADISHU, Nov 30: More than a million people have been displaced in Somalia after the country was hit by severe flooding caused by torrential rains, the Somali president said. Somalia and its Horn of Africa neighbours Kenya and Ethiopia are battling flash floods caused by heavy rainfall linked to the El Nino weather pattern. The floods are exacerbating the humanitarian crisis in the region. — AFP