Briefly

AFGHANISTAN

900 Taliban inmates freed before truce

A total of 900 Taliban inmates were freed from Afghan government prisons on Tuesday in the latest move to further advance the intra-Afghan peace talks, Afghan officials confirmed. The releases came after Taliban militants announced a three-day cease-fire during the Eid al-Fitr festival, starting from Sunday. On March 11, Afghan President Mohammad Ashraf Ghani issued a decree to release 5,000 Taliban inmates on parole and the Taliban agreed to free 1,000 soldiers, but the exchange of prisoners was repeatedly delayed.

VENEZUELA

Tanker's arrival with Iranian fuel hailed

Venezuelan authorities celebrated on Monday as the first of five Iranian tankers loaded with gasoline docked in the South American country, delivering badly needed fuel to the crisis-stricken nation that sits atop the world's largest oil reserves. The gasoline shipments are arriving in defiance of stiff sanctions by the United States against both nations. State TV played images of the ship pulling through Caribbean waters as Venezuelan fighter jets flew overhead. Energy Minister Tareck El Aissami posted photographs on his Twitter account of the sun rising over the tanker docked at El Palito refinery.

UNITED STATES

Virgin's rocket test launch via plane fails

Richard Branson's Virgin Orbit failed on Monday in its first test launch of a new rocket carried aloft by a Boeing 747 and released over the Pacific Ocean off the coast of Southern California. The inaugural launch had appeared to be going well until moments after the rocket was dropped from beneath the left wing of the jumbo jet dubbed Cosmic Girl. "We've confirmed a clean release from the aircraft. However, the mission terminated shortly into the flight. Cosmic Girl and our flight crew are safe and returning to base," Virgin Orbit said in its official Twitter commentary on the launch. There was no immediate word on what went wrong with the rocket, which carried a test satellite.

Xinhua - Agencies