PAKISTAN: A group of Pakistani Taliban soldiers ambushed troops during an operation against insurgents on the border with Afghanistan today, triggering a shoot-out that killed an army major, a junior officer and five militants, the army and a militant spokesman said.

The shootout happened in the Zhob district in Baluchistan province, the military said.

Pakistani Taliban issued a statement claiming responsibility for attacking the troops.

SWEDEN: The Nobel economics prize was awarded today to Harvard University professor Claudia Goldin for research that has advanced the understanding of the gender pay gap in the labour market.

Prof Goldin won the award for her study of 200 years of women’s participation in the workplace, showing that despite continued economic growth, women’s pay did not continuously catch up with men’s and a divide still exists, despite women gaining higher levels of education than men.

BURKINA FASO: Burkina Faso’s security forces said they have killed a fugitive commander, Ismael Tohobougou, who was wanted for his role in last month’s reported attempted coup, the state-owned RTB TV reported on Sunday.

Mr Tohobougou was implicated in the plot and had been on the run after being summoned by the military prosecutor for questioning, the report said.

CYPRUS: The head of the United Nations peacekeeping mission in divided Cyprus said today that Greek and Turkish Cypriots have reached an “understanding” over a contentious road inside a UN-controlled buffer zone whose construction had stirred up tensions not seen in years.

UN envoy Colin Stewart said a “few modalities” were still being discussed, although the framework of the deal would take effect right away.