IN BRIEF (Page 12)
Kazakhstan
Foreign ministers to discuss Syria
The foreign ministers of Russia, Iran and Turkey plan to meet next month to discuss the situation in Syria, Kazakh Foreign Minister Kairat Abdrakhmanov said on Tuesday. The sides have yet to fix the exact date and location, Abdrakhmanov told reporters, but one of the options is the Kazakh capital, Astana, which will also host a fresh round of lower-level talks on Syria among the same three parties.
Iraq
$88.2b price tag for reconstruction
Authorities estimate Iraq needs $88.2 billion to restore a country smashed after the Sunni extremists seized the country's second-largest city of Mosul and a mass of territory in June 2014. Kuwait on Monday opened a week of conferences seeking aid for rebuilding Iraq after the onslaught of the Islamic State group, seeking tens of billions of dollars for a nation only a generation ago that invaded it.
Iran
Professor 'used shirt' in suicide
Lawmakers confirmed that an Iranian-Canadian university professor killed himself while he was in custody, the semiofficial ILNA news agency reported on Monday. Official said Professor Seyed-Emami's "family also accepted this, so they did not ask for an autopsy". According to the report, the professor prepared his shirt as a rope to commit suicide.
United States
Trial for murder suspect delayed
A federal judge on Monday set a new trial date for the man suspected of kidnapping and killing visiting Chinese scholar Zhang Yingying, local media reported. The judge set the trial for April 2, 2019. Neither the prosecutors nor the defense attorneys objected the new schedule.
Obama unveils official portraits
Former president Barack Obama joked about his ears and gray hair and praised his wife Michelle Obama's "hotness" at the unveiling of the couple's official portraits at the Smithsonian's National Portrait Gallery on Monday. The Obamas selected two black artists for the paintings, which take their place in the National Portrait Gallery's collection of presidential portraits.
AP - Xinhua - Reuters
(China Daily 02/14/2018 page12)