Briefly

UNITED STATES

Macron's state visit slated for December

US President Joe Biden will receive French President Emmanuel Macron in December for what will be the first state visit of a foreign head of state to the United States since Biden took office, the White House announced on Monday. The visit is slated for Dec 1 and will include a state dinner, according to a statement by White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre. "The leaders will discuss our continued close partnership on shared global challenges and areas of bilateral interest," the spokeswoman said.

BANGLADESH

Death toll from boat capsize rises to over 60

Rescuers in northern Bangladesh on Tuesday found more bodies from an overcrowded boat with Hindu pilgrims that capsized, pushing the death toll to 66, officials said. At least 15 more people were still unaccounted for, said Dipankar Roy, a senior government official in Panchagarh district, where the boat capsized on Sunday. Local police chief SM Sirajul Huda said the search would continue.

DR CONGO

Ebola outbreak in east declared over

The Democratic Republic of the Congo has declared the end of its latest Ebola virus outbreak in the eastern province of North Kivu, Health Minister Jean-Jacques Mbungani Mbanda said in a statement on Tuesday. The 15th outbreak in the country emerged when a new case of the deadly virus was confirmed in the eastern city of Beni on Aug 22. Testing showed the case was genetically linked to the 2018-2020 outbreak in North Kivu and Ituri provinces, which killed nearly 2,300 people.

Agencies - Xinhua