US agrees on draft deal: Taleban
KABUL • Taleban officials said US negotiators yesterday agreed on a draft peace deal stipulating the withdrawal of foreign forces from Afghanistan within 18 months of the agreement being signed.
The details were provided by Taleban sources at the end of six days of talks with US special peace envoy Zalmay Khalilzad in Qatar aimed at ending the United States' longest war.
They have yet to be confirmed by US officials.
Mr Khalilzad is heading to the Afghan capital Kabul to brief President Ashraf Ghani after the longer-than-expected talks, the sources and a diplomat said. A key provision to the deal included a ceasefire but the sources said they had yet to confirm a timeline.
REUTERS
68 die in Sulawesi floods, landslides
JAKARTA • At least 68 people have been killed and thousands were forced to flee their homes after floods and landslides hit the Indonesian island of Sulawesi, an official said yesterday.
Some 6,700 people in 14 districts have been evacuated and are now living in shelters, schools, tents or mosques.
The number of evacuees has doubled from Friday after disaster mitigation officials managed to get access to previously isolated districts. Six people are still missing.
AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE
Spanish toddler found dead in well
TOTALAN (Spain) • Spain grieved yesterday after a toddler who fell into a well was found dead in a tragic end to an intense 13-day rescue operation fraught with danger and setbacks.
Hundreds of engineers, police and miners had been working non-stop to try to reach two-year-old Julen Rosello, who plunged down a narrow, illegal well on Jan 13 while his parents prepared lunch nearby in Totalan, a southern town near Malaga.
AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE
Oscar-winning composer dies at 86
PARIS • Prolific French composer Michel Legrand, who won three Oscars and five Grammys during a career spanning more than half a century, died yesterday at age 86.
His music spanned a wide range of styles and genres, and he composed for more than 200 film and TV productions. He died at his home in Paris with his wife, actress Macha Meril, at his side, his spokesman said.
AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE
