Briefly

AFGHANISTAN

Classroom bombing death toll jumps to 43

The death toll from a suicide bomb attack on an education center in the Afghan capital last week has risen to at least 43, the United Nations mission in Afghanistan said on Monday. A suicide bomber blew himself up next to women at a study hall in a Kabul neighborhood on Friday. The bomber detonated as hundreds of students were sitting a practice test ahead of an entrance exam for university admissions. No group has so far claimed responsibility.

YEMEN

Failure to renew truce announced by UN

UN Special Envoy for Yemen Hans Grundberg announced on Sunday that no agreement has been reached to renew the expired truce between the Yemeni warring parties. He said that the proposal submitted to the warring parties on Saturday includes the extension of the truce for another six months, salary and pension payments for civil servants, and the opening of specific roads into the besieged government-controlled city of Taiz and other provinces.

LATVIA

PM's party comes out on top in polls

Latvian Prime Minister Krisjanis Karins' centrist New Unity party has emerged as the winner of a parliamentary election, the Baltic country's Central Election Committee announced on Sunday. Preliminary results show that New Unity has captured 26 mandates in Latvia's 100-seat parliament. After his party's victory in the election, Karins announced his intention to form Latvia's next government coalition and lead the new cabinet. President Egils Levits was expected to start consultations on Monday on the shape of the new government coalition with the parties that won seats in parliament.

Agencies - Xinhua