News In Brief

Trump, Macron discuss NATO, counterterrorism on phone
Xinhua, Washington
U.S. President Donald Trump on Tuesday spoke over phone with his French counterpart Emmanuel Macron on topics surrounding NATO and counterterrorism, said the White House on Wednesday.
The two leaders discussed the importance of NATO and counterterrorism efforts in Africa, the White House said in a statement. French Minister of the Armed Forces Florence Parly earlier expressed concern that the expected U.S. forces drawdown in Africa would “severely limit our effectiveness against terrorists.”

Indian road mishap death toll climbs to 20
Xinhua, New Delhi
The death toll in Thursday’s road mishap in south India’s Tamil Nadu state has climbed up to 20, a local administration official told Xinhua over phone.
The mishap, involving a bus and a truck, happened at around 3:30 a.m. local time in Avinashi area of Tiruppur district of the state. One of the tyres of the bus burst, as a result of which the driver lost control and the vehicle rammed into a truck coming from the opposite direction. Both the vehicles were said to be in high speed.

10 bodies uncovered in mass grave in Mexico
Xinhua, Mexico City
Mexican authorities have discovered 10 bodies in a mass grave in a rural part of west Michoacan state, local prosecutors said on Wednesday.
Officials searched the grave in the town of Comanja in the municipality of Coeneo, according to a statement from the state’s prosecutor general’s office.

19 children among 31 dead in recent Yemen strikes: UN
AFP, Sanaa
Nineteen children were among at least 31 civilians killed in air strikes on rebel-held northern Yemen last week, the United Nations said on Thursday.
“UNICEF is sad to confirm that the recent attack in Al-Jawf, north of Yemen, on February 15, took the lives of 19 children (eight boys and 11 girls) and injured another 18 (nine boys and another nine girls),” the UN children’s agency said in a statement.