Briefly

AFGHANISTAN

Australia says shutting embassy in Kabul

Australia on Tuesday announced it will shutter its embassy in Afghanistan this week, expressing fears over the "increasingly uncertain security environment" in Kabul as Western troops withdraw. Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison said the facility would close on Friday. The United States and allied forces are in the final stages of withdrawing their troops from Afghanistan, ending the US' longest war. But in recent weeks, violence in the country has soared as Afghan forces clashed with Taliban fighters not far to the east and west of Kabul.

MALI

President and PM taken to military base

Malian transitional President Bah N'Daw and his Prime Minister, Moctar Ouane, were driven by force to Kati military camp outside the capital Bamako after the composition of the new government was announced on Monday afternoon, local media reported, citing diplomatic sources. According to local media, this act could be due to the discontent of the former National Committee for the Salvation of the People following the ousting of two of its influential members in the new team formed by the prime minister.

MALAYSIA

Train collision injures more than 200 people

Two light rail trains collided in a tunnel in Kuala Lumpur, injuring more than 200 people, in the first major crash for the 23-year-old metro system. Pictures on social media after the Monday night collision showed bloodied passengers, some lying on the floor of the carriage strewed with blood and shattered glass. A metro train carrying 213 passengers collided with a vacant carriage on a test-run in a tunnel near the Petronas Towers, one of the world's tallest twin towers.

Agencies - Xinhua