News in Brief

Soldiers killed in Taliban bomb blast

TWO American soldiers were killed and two others injured when their vehicle was hit by a roadside bomb in southern Afghanistan yesterday.

The Taliban immediately took responsibility for the attack. A spokesman said it occurred in the southern Kandahar province.

More than 2,400 American troops have been killed in Afghanistan. Last year was one of the deadliest with 23 American troops killed, even as Washington engaged in peace talks with the Taliban.

US peace envoy Zalmay Khalilzad has been pressing the insurgents to declare a cease-fire or at least reduce violent attacks.

That would give a window in which the US and the Taliban could then forge an agreement to withdraw all of America’s troops. That agreement would also set out a roadmap for direct Afghan-to-Afghan talks, mapping out the country’s post-war future

Prime minister moves to end rail strike

FRENCH prime minister Edouard Philippe has told the unions behind a crippling railway strike that he is open to backing down on one of the most controversial proposals: raising the full pension eligibility age to 64.

Mr Philippe wrote to unions one day after the government and union representatives engaged in talks that had seemed to end in a stalemate after more than a month of strikes and protests.

His letter said the plan to raise the full pension eligibility age from 62 to 64 — the unions’ major sticking point — was open to negotiation.

It was the first time the French government overtly indicated room for movement on the retirement age issue.

The overture could signal hope for ending the France’s longest transport strikes in decades.

Six die in nursing home blaze

AT least six people were killed when fire engulfed part of a nursing home in northern Croatia.

The blaze erupted about 5am local time (4am GMT) at the privately-run home in the village of Andrasevac, 20 miles north of the capital, Zagreb.

An investigation to determine the cause is under way. Croatian prime minister Andrej Plenkovic spoke to reporters after arriving on the scene. “Unfortunately, according to initial information we have received, six people died,” he said.

“At this moment, we don’t have enough information to be able to say anything else.

“We need to wait until the authorities finish their job.”