Putin, Rouhani agree to work closely
Reuters, Moscow
Russian President Vladimir Putin and Iran’s President Hassan Rouhani agreed in a telephone conversation on Saturday to continue their close coordination in trying to end the Syria crisis, the Kremlin said in a statement.
The two leaders agreed on the importance of a new ceasefire agreement in Syria brokered by Russia and Turkey and plans for peace talks in the Kazakh capital Astana, the Kremlin said.
Russia and Iran are strong supporters of President Bashar al-Assad in the Syrian conflict.
Baghdad blasts kill 9
AP, Baghdad
Iraqi officials say a pair of suicide bombers detonated their explosives belts at a checkpoint south of Baghdad, killing nine people, including four members of the security forces.
The police and hospital officials said the Sunday attack near the holy Shiite city of Najaf also wounded 22. There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the attack, which bore the hallmarks of Islamic militants.
China jails 16 for trafficking
AFP, Beijing
Sixteen people including two surgeons have been jailed for between two and five years in China for trafficking in human organs, a practice still widespread in the country.
The group-which also included an anaesthesiologist, a nurse and an assistant doctor-were involved in a vast illegal trade in kidneys, according to the judgement cited by the official Xinhua news agency Saturday.
Burundi minister shot dead
Reuters, Nairobi
A gunman killed Burundi’s environment minister early on Sunday, police said, the first murder of a senior government figure in nearly two years of political violence. Emmanuel Niyonkuru, 54, was attacked as he travelled home in the central African nation’s capital Bujumbura, police spokesman Pierre Nkurikiye said in a tweet.
Violent protests erupted early in 2015 after President Pierre Nkurunziza said he would seek a third term – a move opponents said violated the constitution and a peace deal that ended an ethnically charged civil war.
