Rebel spokesman plays down talks

South Sudan: Opposition spokesman Puoch Riek Deng played down hopes for peace talks in Ethiopia yesterday, demanding government concessions to end deadlock over power-sharing proposals.

The negotiator for rebel leader Riek Machar said that both sides had “disagreed on almost everything” since resuming talks in Addis Ababa.

President Salva Kiir arrived in Ethiopia yesterday for direct talks with Mr Machar, for which regional mediators have set a deadline of tomorrow.

Rightwingers hide reactor deal details

Hungary: Government parties pushed through legislation yesterday to keep secret for 30 years key details of a contract with Russia to expand Hungary’s only nuclear power plant.

Prime Minister Viktor Orban’s Fidesz party and its Christian Democrat allies backed confidentiality for business and technical aspects of the scheme on national security grounds.

Opposition parties rejected the plan, which one MP said was “legalisation of a gigantic robbery.”

Eight killed in remote bombing

Afghanistan: Helmand provincial official Omar Zwak reported at least eight deaths yesterday, including civilians and soldiers, after a vehicle bomb was remotely detonated in Sangin district.

He said that nine others, including four civilians, four soldiers and a policeman, had been wounded.

Helmand has seen heavy fighting since the army launched a major operation against Taliban strongholds last month.

More troops sent to advise Iraq on Isis

Australia: PM Tony Abbott announced yesterday that more troops would be sent to Iraq to help train security forces in their battle against Islamic State (Isis).

“We don’t expect to be doing the Iraqis’ fighting for them,” he said. “This is a training mission, not a combat mission.”

New Zealand Prime Minister John Key also confirmed that his country would send 143 troops as part of the joint mission.

Islamists murder fleeing civilians

Chad: Boko Haram extremists murdered hundreds of civilians fleeing Chadian troops’ battle for the Nigerian town of Dikwa, the military claimed yesterday.

Spokesman Colonel Azem Bermandoua added that one soldier was killed during the successful operation to liberate the town and 34 were wounded, most by a suicide car bomber.

Separately, Nigerian troops claimed to have killed more than 70 Boko Haram insurgents when they repelled an attack on nearby Konduga on Monday.

Hadi offers talks in Saudi Arabia

Yemen: Contested President Abd Rabbo Mansour Hadi suggested the Saudi capital Riyadh yesterday as a possible venue for resumed UN-sponsored talks with Shi’ite Houthi rebels.

He made the offer during a meeting with tribal leaders in Aden, where he has been based since fleeing house arrest in the capital Sanaa last month.

The Houthis are almost certain to reject the plan given Saudi opposition to their overthrow of Mr Hadi.

Police surround student marchers

Myanmar: Hundreds of police formed a human chain yesterday around student protesters staging a sit-in on a road in Letpadan after being blocked from marching to the capital Yangon.

The demonstrators, who have been rallying for more than a month and gaining public sympathy, want the government to scrap a new education law that they say curbs academic freedom.

Security forces formed rows around the students four layers deep.

Judge suspends vote over polling law

Egypt: Administrative Court Judge Yahia Dakrouri suspended expected parliamentary elections yesterday after the Supreme Constitutional Court ruled that laws regulating polling districts were unconstitutional.

The government said that it was working on amending the law, while the Supreme Election Committee said that it would lay down a new timetable for elections whenever the law became ready.