IN BRIEF (Page 6)

Qatar

Taliban hopeful on deal on Afghanistan with US

The Taliban and Washington's peace envoys are close to reaching an agreement on US troop withdrawal from Afghanistan, a spokesman for the militant group said on Tuesday amid a new round of talks with the United States. Suhail Shaheen, the spokesman, said the deal will also include guarantees that Afghanistan will not be used again as a staging arena for anti-American attacks. His remarks came during the second day of talks in the Qatari capital of Doha with US envoy Zalmay Khalilzad who has been trying to negotiate a resolution of the 17-year war in Afghanistan. He said the sides in the talks are for now sticking to the two-point agenda: US withdrawal and no-attacks guarantees.

United Kingdom

Wildfires rage after warmest winter day

Firefighters battled a series of wildfires in Britain on Wednesday, including a large moorland blaze outside the northern English city of Manchester, as the country experienced its warmest winter weather on record. A fire started on Tuesday evening on Saddleworth Moor, an expanse of hills that is popular with hikers. It has since spread to an area of about one-and-a-half square kilometers. Large flames could be seen rising from the hillside as witnesses described "apocalyptic" scenes. Laura Boocock, West Yorkshire Fire Service's incident commander, told the BBC it was "one of the biggest moorland fires we've ever had to deal with". The fire came after Britain recorded its warmest winter day with a temperature of 21.2 C in Kew Gardens in London.

Japan

No more 'lucky' beards with sumo wrestlers

Japanese sumo officials have introduced a crackdown on beards, calling them "indecent" and telling wrestlers they must look spick and span during competitions under strict, new rules on personal grooming. The draconian whisker ban is part of fresh regulations also barring tattoos and long nails, local media reported on Wednesday, as the authorities look to clean up the image of Japan's roly-poly sport. Superstitious sumo wrestlers often decline to shave their beards during tournaments as they believe it brings them luck, but the Japan Sumo Association have decided it will no longer tolerate such slovenliness. The ancient sport of sumo has been tarnished by a series of scandals in recent years.

AP - AFP - Reuters

(China Daily 02/28/2019 page6)