Briefly

TURKIYE

Parliament ratifies Finland's NATO bid

Turkiye's parliament on Thursday ratified Finland's application to join NATO. The Turkish parliament was the last among the 30 members of the alliance to ratify Finland's membership, after Hungary's legislature approved a similar bill earlier this week. Finland will join NATO within days, NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said on Friday. Sweden's bid to join the alliance, meanwhile, has been left hanging.

SUDAN

14 miners killed in gold mine accident

At least 14 workers were killed after a gold mine collapsed in northern Sudan, The Associated Press quoted the state mining authorities as saying on Friday. According to the state-run news agency SUNA, the collapse happened after one of the hillsides that surround the Jebel Al-Ahmar gold mine gave way on Thursday. Many other miners were still missing. A security source said workers were feared to be trapped beneath the mine's groundwater.

UNITED NATIONS

Fiona, Ian retired as hurricane names

Fiona and Ian have been retired as hurricane names by the World Meteorological Organization after devastating storms with those names killed dozens of people and inflicted billions of dollars in damage last year. Hurricanes have been named in alphabetical order since 1953 in a move meant to simplify warnings. The name Fiona will be replaced by Farrah and Ian by Idris.

Agencies Via Xinhua