Taliban, US to sit down for peace talks today
Reuters, Kabul
Afghan Taliban representatives and U.S. officials will sit down to two days of peace talks on Wednesday in Qatar but Afghan government officials will not be involved, senior Taliban members said.
The Taliban have rejected numerous requests from regional powers to allow Afghan officials to take part in the talks, insisting that the United States is their main adversary in the 17-year war and that Kabul is a “puppet” regime.
UK minister rules out Brexit process extension
AP, Brussels
A British government minister working on the process of taking the country out of the European Union says the government will not seek to extend the two-year period in which its departure must happen.
Britain leaves the EU on March 29, when the EU treaty’s Article 50 governing the procedure times out, but the U.K. parliament still has not endorsed Prime Minister Theresa May’s Brexit deal.
20 children injured in Chinese pry school attack
AP, Beijing
A male attacker injured 20 children Tuesday inside a primary school in China’s capital, officials said.Three of the children have serious but non-life-threatening injuries, the Xicheng district government said on its social media account, adding that the attack took place at 11:17 a.m.
The suspect was apprehended at the scene and an investigation has been launched, the statement said. All of the injured children are receiving hospital treatment. Authorities did not say what weapon, if any, was used.
UK police get extra powers to control drones
AFP, London
Drone exclusion zones around British airports will be extended and operators made to register under new rules announced after drone sightings wrought havoc at London’s Gatwick in the run-up to Christmas. Police will also be allowed to fine users up to £100 (112 euros, $128) for failing to comply when instructed to land a drone, or not showing registration to operate a drone.
The Home Office will also begin to test and evaluate the use of counter-drone technology at airports and prisons after Gatwick and Heathrow, Britain’s busiest airport, announced they were investing millions of pounds in such equipment.
3 skiers, 2 hikers dead in Austrian snow, landslides
AFP, Vienna
Three skiers and two snowshoe hikers have died as heavy snow and avalanches hit Austria, isolating several areas of the mountainous country, authorities said Monday.
Two German skiers lost their lives in avalanches in the western region of Vorarlberg on Sunday, and a Slovenian died in the region of Salzburg, rescue services said. The bodies of two missing snowshoe hikers were discovered Monday as snow caused chaos in parts of the country, blocking roads and shuttering schools.
