AP, Kabul
The leader of the Taliban said Saturday there will be no peace in Afghanistan as long as the foreign “occupation” continues, reiterating the group’s position that the 17-year war can only be brought to an end through direct talks with the United States.
In a message released in honor of the Eid al-Adha holiday, Maulvi Haibatullah Akhunzadah said the group remains committed to “Islamic goals,” the sovereignty of Afghanistan and ending the war.
Cooperation with Iran to continue: China
Reuters, Beijing
China will continue its cooperation and relations with Iran, state news agency Xinhua reported on Friday, citing a statement from Chinese State Councillor Wang Yi.
The Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), the 2015 deal in which Tehran agreed to curb its nuclear work in return for the lifting of most Western sanctions, is in line with the international community’s “common interest”, the Chinese diplomat said in a phone conversation with Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif, according to Xinhua.
Xi to visit N Korea next month
Reuters, Shanghai
Chinese President Xi Jinping is set to visit Pyongyang next month at the invitation of North Korea leader Kim Jong Un to attend the celebrations of the 70th anniversary of North Korea’s founding, Singapore’s Straits Times newspaper reported.
It will be the Chinese leader’s first visit to the North Korean capital since he took power in 2012, and 13 years after the last visit by a Chinese President, when Xi’s predecessor Hu Jintao visited in 2005, the newspaper said on Saturday.
Toll rises to 42 in Italy bridge collapse
AP, Genoa
Italy’s president spoke quiet words of comfort to families of many of the dead in the Genoa bridge collapse at state funeral held on the city’s fair grounds.
The unofficial death toll in Tuesday’s collapse rose to 42 earlier Saturday after rescuers found four bodies.
Families of 19 of the dead had their loved ones’ coffins brought to a fairgrounds’ pavilion for the funeral led by Genoa Cardinal Angelo Bagnasco. Among the coffins was that of an Albanian man who worked in Italy.
