UN Syria envoy in Iran ahead of peace talks
AFP, Tehran
UN Syria envoy Staffan de Mistura arrived in Tehran on Tuesday for talks with a key backer of President Bashar al-Assad on the eve of fresh peace negotiations in Geneva. De Mistura will meet Iran’s deputy foreign minister Hossein Amir Abdollahian, Iranian media reported, ahead of the latest effort to end five years of fighting that have killed more than 270,000 people.
Yellow fever kills 21 in Congo
Reuters, Geneva
Twenty-one people have died of yellow fever in Democratic Republic of Congo, some of them from infections contracted in neighboring Angola, the World Health Organization said on Tuesday.
An outbreak has already killed 225 people and infected 1,600 in Angola. There was now a high risk of further spread in Congo, given the number of people who regularly travel between the two countries, the WHO said.
Afghan Taliban start ‘spring offensive’
Reuters, Kabul
The Taliban announced the start of their spring offensive on Tuesday, pledging to launch large-scale offensives against government strongholds backed by suicide and guerrilla attacks to drive Afghanistan’s Western-backed government from power.
The announcement of the formal start of “Operation Omari”, named after the late Taliban founder Mullah Mohammad Omar, comes just days after Secretary of State John Kerry visited Kabul.
7 surrendered in India temple fire
AP, Paravur
Seven people who fled after a weekend fire killed at least 116 people at the southern Indian temple where they are board members have surrendered to police to face prosecution, police said Tuesday.
Police officer Gupakumar said the seven were taken into custody late Monday after a two-day hunt by police.
