Reuters, Berlin
German Chancellor Angela Merkel said on Sunday she was “optimistic” going into exploratory talks with the Social Democrats (SPD), whose leader Martin Schulz said his party would not draw any red lines at the start of discussions.
Merkel’s conservative bloc and the SPD have scheduled five days of talks to see if they can find enough common ground to form a re-run of the ‘grand coalition’ that has governed Germany for the last four years.
Cold wave claims 9 lives in Nepal
Xinhua, Kathmandu
The spell of cold wave has claimed at least nine lives in southern Nepal’s districts of Terai region bordering India in the past two days, media reports said on Saturday.
Six people died of freezing cold in Saptari district and three in Rautahat district, mostly children and elderly people, Republica Newspaper reported referring local authorities.
“The unbearable cold could be the most probable reason for all of these deaths,” Ranjit Kumar Jha, senior consultant at Gajendra Narayan Singh Sagarmatha Zonal Hospital, said.
Airstrikes kill 20 Afghan insurgents
Xinhua, Farah
At least 20 insurgents including their three local commanders were killed and eight others injured during airstrikes conducted by Afghan air forces in Farah province, west of Afghanistan on Saturday, defense ministry said in a statement released Sunday.
“The air forces targeted insurgents’ hideouts in Khak-e-Safid district of Farah province on Saturday, killing at least 20 militants including their three commanders and injuring eight others,” said the statement.
Strong quake hits Manipur
Xinhua, New Delhi
A strong earthquake measuring 6.0 on the Richter scale hit India’s northeastern state of Manipur Sunday, officials said.
According to Indian Meteorological Department, the earthquake occurred at 12:17 p.m. (local time).
“The epicenter of earthquake was Myanmar-India (Manipur) border located at 24.7 degrees north latitude and 94.7 degrees east longitude,” the information released by Indian Meteorological Department said. “The depth of the earthquake was 35 km.”
3 guerrilla fighters killed in Mali
AFP, Bamako
Three members of an armed pro-government group were killed Saturday by suspected jihadists in northern Mali, security sources said, a day after extremists freed two hostages held since July in the troubled region.
Jihadists continue to roam the north and centre of the African country, despite being ousted from key northern towns by an ongoing French-led military intervention in 2013.
