AFP, Jeddah
Saudi Arabia said talks on Wednesday with visiting Iranian delegates on arrangements for Haj pilgrims from the Islamic republic have been ‘positive’.
Earlier this month, Tehran said ‘arrangements have not been put together’ for Iranians to make this year’s pilgrimage to Makkah at the end of the summer, accusing its regional rival of ‘sabotage’.
Nuclear power stations to join French strike
AFP, Paris
Workers at nuclear power stations in France were set to go on strike Thursday, joining a growing protest movement against controversial labour market reforms that has already severely disrupted fuel supplies.
With two weeks until France hosts the Euro 2016 football championships, the country has been paralysed by a series of transport strikes and fuel shortages that has heaped pressure on the deeply unpopular Socialist government.
Afghan Taliban reject peace talks
Reuters, Kabul
The Afghan Taliban under their new leader, Mullah Haibatullah Akhundzada, on Wednesday rejected peace talks as a viable solution to bringing the Afghan insurgency to an end, and have stated that fighting will continue.
In an audio message released in Pushto, circulated by Taliban commanders, Haibatullah stated the “Taliban will never bow their heads and will not agree to peace talks.”
