News in Brief-(2024-03-02)

FE Team | Published: March 01, 2024 23:44:59

Ex-Canada PM Mulroney dies
MONTREAL, Mar 01: Former Canadian prime minister Brian Mulroney, who made his political mark in the 1980s with the signing of a ground-breaking free trade agreement with the United States that later expanded to include Mexico, died Thursday. He was 84. "It is with great sadness we announce the passing of my father," Caroline Mulroney, a politician in Ontario, said on X. "He died peacefully, surrounded by family." Brian Mulroney, Canada's last Cold War leader, opposed apartheid in South Africa and helped secure a landmark treaty on acid rain with Washington. — AFP
Hundreds of Sri Lankan nurses prepare to join Saudi hospitals
COLOMBO, Mar 01: Sri Lanka is preparing to send hundreds of nurses to join hospitals in Saudi Arabia in 2024, the Ministry of Labor said on Friday. The first phase of the recruitment process took place in Colombo this week and was overseen by the Saudi Ministry of Health and Sri Lanka's Labor and Foreign Employment Minister Manusha Nanayakkara. "Saudi Arabia is looking for medical and paramedical staff from countries such the Philippines, Indonesia, and Sri Lanka to meet the growing demand of this sector in the Kingdom." — Arab News
Ex-Tanzanian president Ali Hassan dies
DAR ES SALAAM, Mar 01: Former Tanzanian president Ali Hassan Mwinyi, who introduced multi-party democracy to the East African nation, died on Thursday aged 98, the presidency said. "I'm saddened to announce the death... around 5:30 in the evening," President Samia Suluhu Hassan said on state television TBC1, adding that he had been receiving treatment for lung cancer. Tanzania will observe seven days of mourning with national flags flown at half-mast. — AFP
New species of Amazon anaconda, world's largest snake, discovered
Canberra, Mar 01: Researchers in the Amazon have discovered the world's largest snake species - an enormous green anaconda - in Ecuador's rainforest that split off from its closest relatives 10 million years ago though they still nearly look identical to this day. A video shared online shows the scale of these 20-foot-long (6.1-meter-long) reptiles as one of the researchers, Dutch biologist Freek Vonk, swims alongside a giant 200-kilo (441-pound) specimen. It was thought that there was only one species of green anaconda in the wild, the Eunectes murinus, but the scientific journal Diversity this month revealed that the new "northern green anaconda" belongs to a different, new species, Eunectes akiyama. — Reuters
Japan mayor quits over 99 sexual harassment allegations
TOKYO, Mar 01: The resignation of a Japanese mayor facing 99 allegations of sexual harassment sparked anger on social media on Friday, after he denied some cases and wept at a press conference. An official investigation accused Hideo Kojima, the mayor of a town in central Gifu region, of several incidents of harassment, including touching a colleague's breasts and buttocks. The 74-year-old said Thursday he would quit, a day after wiping away tears in front of reporters. — AFP