News in Brief (2022-03-24)

FE Team | Published: March 23, 2022 21:49:41

Saudi Arabia urges OIC states to help curb Houthi aggression
ISLAMABAD, Mar 23: Saudi Arabia's foreign minister on Tuesday condemned the aggression of the Houthis in Yemen and urged Muslim nations to apply more pressure on the Iran-backed militia. "In line with international resolutions, Saudi Arabia calls for measures to neutralize the Houthi group and to stop the importing of arms into Yemen," Prince Faisal bin Farhan told the Council of Foreign Ministers of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation. "We reiterate the importance of the role of brothers to apply more pressure on the Houthis so that they can be stopped from jeopardizing the security of the Kingdom." — Arab News

Black box of crashed China Eastern jet recovered
WUZHOU, Mar 23: A black box from the crashed China Eastern airliner was recovered on Wednesday as investigators try to determine what made the jet carrying 132 passengers nosedive into a mountainside in southern China. The cause of the disaster has mystified aviation authorities who have scoured rugged terrain for clues, finding no survivors from what is almost certain to be China's deadliest plane crash in nearly 30 years. A flight recorder was found from China Eastern flight MU5735 on Wednesday, Liu Lusong, a spokesman for China's aviation authority, told reporters. — AFP

WikiLeaks' Assange to get married in prison
LONDON, Mar 23: WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange will marry his long-term partner Stella Moris inside a high-security prison in southeast London on Wednesday at a small ceremony attended by four guests, two official witnesses and two guards. Assange is being held in jail while US authorities seek his extradition to face trial on 18 counts relating to WikiLeaks' release of vast troves of confidential US military records and diplomatic cables more than a decade ago. The 50-year-old Australian, who denies any wrongdoing, has been in Belmarsh prison since 2019 and before that was holed up in the Ecuadorean embassy in London for seven years. — Reuters

Tornado kills one, destroys homes of US New Orleans
WASHINGTON, Mar 23: A large tornado destroyed homes and claimed at least one life near the US city of New Orleans on Tuesday night, according to media reports. "Large tornado on the ground in New Orleans! Take shelter now!" tweeted the National Weather Service's local office at 8:35 pm. "Severe damage to homes" was reported in Arabi, an eastern suburb of New Orleans, according to a Facebook post by the sheriff's office in St. Bernard Parish. "Rescue efforts are under way for residents trapped in their homes," it added. — Arab News