Briefly

AFGHANISTAN

9 police killed in Taliban attack

At least nine Afghan police officers were killed and three others injured after the Taliban stormed a security checkpoint in the country's northern Baghlan Province, a local official said on Tuesday. The incident happened late on Monday night, when a group of the militants attacked the security checkpoint in Khawja Alwan, an area on the outskirts of the provincial capital Pul-e-Khumri, on the Baghlan-Samangan highway.

ISRAEL

PM withdraws immunity request

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Tuesday withdrew his request for immunity from prosecution on corruption charges. Netanyahu, who is in Washington for the launch of US President Donald Trump's "Deal of the Century" Middle East peace plan, made the announcement on his Facebook page. It came hours before the country's Parliament was to begin a procedure to discuss his request.

SPAIN

Jobless rate back below crisis levels

Spain's unemployment rate unexpectedly fell in the last quarter of 2019 to 13.78 percent, a level last seen before a global financial crisis hit the country's workers in 2008, data from the National Statistics Institute showed on Tuesday. The rate has not been that low since the third quarter of 2008, the institute said. The rate has been steadily falling since hitting a peak of almost 27 percent in early 2013.

Xinhua - Agencies