AFP, Seoul
Pyongyang has named an army general with expertise in artillery as its new military commander, North Korean state media reported, in a move that an analyst said could signal plans for the development of new weapons.
Pak Jong Chon was appointed the “chief of the General Staff of the Korean People’s Army,” KCNA said late Friday, adding that the decision was announced during a meeting attended by leader Kim Jong Un.
Acting UN nuclear watchdog head to meet Iranian officials
AFP, Vienna
The acting head of the UN’s nuclear watchdog will meet officials in Iran this weekend, the organisation said Friday, as Tehran prepares to detail its latest scale-back to commitments under a 2015 deal to curb its nuclear programme.
The International Atomic Energy Agency said in a statement that its Acting Director General Cornel Feruta “will travel to Tehran on Saturday for meetings with high-level Iranian officiInternational Atomic Energy Agency als on Sunday, 8 September”.
Preparations underway for Russia-Ukraine
prisoner exchange
AFP, Moscow
A long-awaited exchange of prisoners between Moscow and Kiev has begun, Russian state television reported on Saturday, broadcasting footage of buses leaving a jail in the capital. “Buses have left the Lefortovo jail within the framework of preparations for a prisoner exchange,” the Rossiya 24 news channel said. AFP journalists at the scene saw two buses with tinted windows leaving the high-security prison in Moscow under a police convoy.
Jihadists kill Nigerian soldier in ambush
AFP, Kano
At least one soldier was killed and three others injured when suspected IS-affiliated jihadists ambushed a military convoy in northeast Nigeria’s Borno state, according to security sources. Militants believed to be from the Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP) on Friday opened fire on the convoy in Kamuya village, close to the family home of Nigeria’s army chief, Lieutenant General Tukur Buratai, a military officer and a vigilante told AFP.
