Taliban rejects peace talks with Afghans
KABUL - Taliban leaders will not participate in peace talks with the Afghan government, the insurgent group said in a statement on Saturday, throwing into question a U.S.-backed plan to negotiate an end to the country’s 15-year war.
Face-to-face talks between Afghan officials and Taliban leaders were scheduled to take place in Pakistan in early March, as part of a wider bid by the United States, Pakistan and China to broker peace between the two sides. Representatives from the three countries met in Kabul last month to set conditions for the talks.
But on Saturday, the Taliban - which leads Afghanistan’s violent insurgency - rejected reports its leaders would be participating in the meeting. Taliban leader Akhtar Mohammad Mansour “has not authorized anyone to participate,” the statement said.
Friends celebrate Murdoch-Hall wedding
LONDON – Rupert Murdoch and Jerry Hall celebrated their marriage Saturday alongside family members, media executives and music stars in a church considered the spiritual home of British journalism.
The media mogul groom and model-actress bride emerged from St. Bride’s church in Fleet Street after the service beaming in the London drizzle. Murdoch wore a dark blue suit, Hall an ice-blue silk Vivienne Westwood dress accompanied by silver shoes and a small bouquet of cream flowers.
Among some 100 guests at the service were actor Michael Caine and composer Andrew Lloyd Webber. Also attending were the couple’s 10 children. Murdoch, 84, has six children from three previous marriages, while 59-year-old Hall has four with her ex-partner Mick Jagger.
The couple officially tied the knot Friday in a civil service at Spencer House, an aristocratic palace built by ancestors of the late Princess Diana. They were also due to hold a reception there Saturday.
Syria rebels battle for control of crossing
BEIRUT – Syrian insurgents were battling the Islamic State group for control of a key border post with Iraq on Saturday, a day after the U.S.-backed fighters seized control of the crossing, activists said.
The Tanf crossing in southeastern Syria links the Homs province, including the ISIS-held ancient city of Palmyra, to Iraq’s Anbar province, where ISIS has a large presence. The extremist group uses border crossings to shift fighters and resources to different fronts as it seeks to defend and expand its self-styled Islamic caliphate.
ISIS captured the Tanf crossing from Syrian government forces in May 2015.
Ailing miners awarded out-of-court settlement
JOHANNESBURG – Gold miners infected with lung diseases brought on by repeated exposure to the dust of South Africa’s mines have won a multimillion dollar out-of-court settlement, their lawyer said Saturday.
Anglo American South Africa and AngloGold Ashanti have agreed to pay the equivalent of $32,595,800 to claimants affected by silicosis, settling the case before it went to court, said lawyer Zanele Mbuyisa, who represents 4,365 claimants.
Silicosis, caused by the inhalation of dust particles, makes victims vulnerable to diseases like tuberculosis. Most of the claimants worked in South Africa’s gold mines during apartheid, when miners rarely had the proper protective gear, according to the miners’ lawyers.
Associated Press & Washington Post
