UN envoy Annan seeks Iranian help

UN envoy Annan seeks Iranian help

beirut

International envoy Kofi Annan tried to rescue his peace plan for Syria by seeking help Monday from Iran, a staunch ally and military backer of President Bashar Assad’s regime.

Before flying to Tehran, Annan said he had agreed on a new approach with Assad to stop the violence, which activists say has killed more than 17,000 people since the conflict began in March 2011.

Annan did not spell out the agreement or say what kind of involvement he saw for Iran in resolving the crisis.

Leader OKs digging up Arafat’s body

ramallah, west bank

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas has given final approval to dig up Yasser Arafat’s remains and is also pressing for an international investigation of his predecessor’s mysterious 2004 death, a top aide said Monday.

The decision came days after a Swiss lab detected elevated traces of a lethal radioactive agent on clothing said to be Arafat’s.

Testing Arafat’s bones could offer the last chance to get to the bottom of Palestinian claims that their leader was poisoned, though some experts cautioned it may already be too late for conclusive answers.

6 American soldiers killed by bomb

kabul, afghanistan

An insurgent bomb killed six American soldiers in eastern Afghanistan, part of a surge of violence that has dealt a stark reminder that war is still raging as NATO plots an exit strategy for the end of 2014.

Violence raged across the country Monday, including grisly attacks by multiple suicide bombers, a day after donor nations meeting in Tokyo pledged $16 billion in aid.

Violence erupted again on Monday as militants launched suicide attacks on two police headquarters and carried out other assaults that left 20 people dead — three policemen, an Afghan prosecutor, two children and 14 attackers, according to officials. At least 60 other people were wounded.

Developers asked to test tiny apartments

new york

Maybe it’s the urban dwelling of the future: Studio apartments measuring no more than 300 square feet.

New York City planners believe the tiny units could be the answer to a growing population of singles and two-person households. And in a nation that’s becoming increasingly populous and increasingly urbanized — and where people more frequently are creating a family of one — such downsizing may not stop here.

Mayor Michael Bloomberg on Monday invited developers to propose ways to turn a Manhattan lot into an apartment building filled mostly with what officials are calling “micro-units” — dwellings complete with a bathroom, built-in kitchenette and enough space for a careful planner to use a fold-out bed as both sleeping space and living room.

3 gored on 3rd day of bull running

pamplona, spain

Two Britons and an American were gored Monday on the third day of Spain’s famed running of the bulls through the cobblestoned streets of Pamplona, the most gorings for one run so far this year.

Thousands of runners charged ahead of six fighting bulls let loose for the annual San Fermin festival in Spain, and the three were gored by one that broke free from the pack just before entering the city’s bullring, a Navarre regional government statement said.

Associated Press