AFGHAN PEACE TALKS RESUME IN QATAR

Islamabad, Feb. 23: After more than a month of delays, escalating violence and a flurry of diplomatic activity, peace talks between the Taliban and the Afghan government have resumed in the Middle Eastern State of Qatar. Taliban spokesman Dr. Mohammad Naeem tweeted on Monday night that talks had resumed.

There were no details other than the atmosphere was “cordial”, a commitment that negotiations should continue and an announcement that the first item of business will be setting the agenda. When talks ended abruptly in January, both sides submitted their wish lists for agendas.

Washington, Feb. 23:

The wife of Mexican drug kingpin Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman was arrested Monday in the US and accused of helping her husband run his multibillion-dollar cartel and plot his audacious escape from a Mexican prison in 2015.

Emma Coronel Aispuro, a 31-year-old former beauty queen, was arrested at Dulles International Airport in Virginia and is expected to appear in federal court in Washington on Tuesday. She is a dual citizen of the United States and Mexico. Her arrest is the latest twist in the bloody, multinational saga involving Guzman, the longtime head of the Sinaloa drug cartel.

Piaggio Vehicles, the Italian manufacturer of small commercial vehicles, on Tuesday entered the cargo electric threewheeler segment with the launch of Ape’ EXtra FX priced at Rs 3.12 lakh. This is the second product in the EV space by the company with the first being the passenger electric three-wheeler Ape’ E-City which was launched in late 2019 and came with swappable battery technology.

These small commercial vehicles are powered by the FX (fixed) range of battery solutions. The Ape’ E-City is priced at Rs 2.83 lakh. Both prices are introductory.

The Ape’ E-Xtra FX gives 9.5 kW power output and has a payload capacity of 506kg.

The top-speed of both E-Xtra FX and E-City FX is 45km/hour. The drive range of the cargo variant is 90km and the passenger variant, 110km.

The charging time for both the vehicles is three hours and 45 minutes.