Briefly

TANZANIA

Death toll rises to 29 in building crash

The death toll in the building collapse in the Kariakoo suburb of Dar es Salaam has risen to 29, a senior government official said on Tuesday. Thobias Makoba, the chief spokesperson of the Tanzanian government, also announced the suspension of the 10-day rescue operations that saw the rescue of more than 85 people trapped under the rubble of the building. Nine more bodies were recovered since the last count of 20 bodies was announced by President Samia Suluhu Hassan on Wednesday last week.

UNITED STATES

Blinken to testify over Afghan troop pullout

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken has agreed to testify publicly at a House of Representatives committee hearing on the 2021 withdrawal from Afghanistan, the panel said on Tuesday, after a long dispute with the Republican-led committee. House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Michael McCaul said Blinken had committed to appear at a public hearing on Dec 11 to discuss the committee's investigation of the withdrawal three years ago. The committee and the State Department have been wrangling over Blinken's appearance for months.

UNITED KINGDOM

World's oldest man dies aged 112 in England

John Tinniswood, an Englishman born the same year the Titanic sank and who survived two world wars and two pandemics, has died aged 112, Guinness World Records said on Tuesday, months after it recognized him as the world's oldest man. Tinniswood passed away on Monday at a care home in Southport, northwest England, surrounded by "music and love", his family told Guinness World Records in a statement. Born in August 1912 in Liverpool, he went on to meet his wife Blodwen at a dance before marrying her in 1942, at the height of World War II when he served in the Royal Army Pay Corps.

RUSSIA

Forces take control of a settlement: TASS

Russia's Defense Ministry said on Wednesday that its forces had taken control of the settlement of Nova Illinka in eastern Ukraine. TASS also cited the ministry as saying that Ukrainian forces had attacked the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant.

Agencies - Xinhua