Mexico to grant highest honor to Jared Kushner
AFP, Mexico City
Mexico will bestow its highest honor for foreign nationals on US President Donald Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner for his role in saving the country’s free-trade agreement with the United States and Canada.
Kushner, an influential White House adviser, will receive the Order of the Aztec Eagle for shepherding the negotiations to reach a new version of the deal, despite Trump’s blistering criticism of the original North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA).
Afghanistan to negotiate peace with Taliban
Reuters, Geneva
Afghanistan President Ashraf Ghani has formed a 12-strong negotiating team to seek a peace agreement that would include the Taliban in a democratic and inclusive society that respects the rights of women, he told a U.N. conference on Wednesday.
“I’m pleased to announce today that after several months of intensive consultation with our citizens across the country, we have formulated a roadmap for peace negotiations,” Ghani said.
Madagascar ex-presidents to contest run-off vote
AFP, Antananarivo
Two former presidents of Madagascar, Andry Rajoelina and Marc Ravalomanana, will face each other in a run-off election next month to decide who will lead the Indian Ocean island nation, the country’s top court announced on Wednesday.
The run-off comes after neither candidate won the 50 percent of votes required for a first-round victory on November 7, with Rajoelina on 39.23 percent and Ravalomanana 35.35 percent, according to final results released by the Constitutional Court.
Pakistani shot death in Kashmir
AP, Srinagar
Indian security forces shot dead an alleged Pakistani militant accused in the death of a prominent journalist during a gunfight Wednesday in Indian-administered Kashmir, police said.
Naveed Jatt and another accomplice were killed in a joint military-police operation in central Kashmir’s Badgam district that also left three soldiers injured, said Additional Director General of Police Munir Khan.
Blast kills 23 near north China chemical plant
AFP, Beijing
An explosion and fire near a chemical factory left at least 23 people dead and 22 others injured on Wednesday in a northern China region that will host the 2022 Winter Olympics, authorities said.
The incident near Hebei Shenghua Chemical Co. in Zhangjiakou, a city some 200 kilometres (124 miles) northwest of Beijing, also burned 50 large and small trucks, the local propaganda department said on its Weibo social media account.
