United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon late Wednesday discussed with Iranian Foreign Minister Jawad Zarif Iran’s nuclear programme and the conflict in Syria. The Secretary-General “welcomed the generally favourable impressions

United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on Wednesday night welcomed the Presidential Statement approved by the Security Council earlier today on the humanitarian situation in Syria, his press office said in a statement.

Mali’s government freed 23 rebel prisoners on Wednesday under terms of a June ceasefire deal in an effort to revive a stalled peace process after Tuareg separatists pulled out last week. Violence has flared in northern Mali since the MNLA rebel group abandoned the ceasefire on Thursday. A grenade attack that wounded …