3 killed in Jalalabad blast

• KABUL: A bomb went off in a hotel room in Afghanistan's eastern Nangarhar province on Tuesday, killing three tribal elders, while Afghan officials reported that at least nine policemen were killed in latest attacks by insurgents. The spokesman in Nangarhar, Attaullah Khogyani, said the bomb went off around noon as tribal elders gathered in the hotel room in Jalalabad, the provincial capital, to discuss village problems. Khogyani said three other elders were wounded in the blast and that another bomb was discovered and defused by police forces near the hotel. There were no further details and no one immediately claimed responsibility for the bombing. In western Farah province, attacks on police checkpoints killed eight policemen. AP

Indonesia crystal

• JAKARTA: Indonesia seized a record 1.6 tonnes of crystal methamphetamine from a ship off the northern island of Batam on Tuesday, a narcotics official said, the second major drug bust this month. Reuters

Brazil decree

• RIO DE JANEIRO: Brazil's lower house early on Tuesday approved a decree that authorises the federal government to intervene in security in the crime-plagued state of Rio de Janeiro, sending the bill to the Senate for final approval. Reuters

Turkey troops

• ANKARA: Turkey thwarted the possible deployment of Syrian government troops into the northwest Afrin region after talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin, Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan said on Tuesday. Reuters

Thaksin sighting

• BANGKOK: Fugitive former Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra and his sister, former leader Yingluck, were in Singapore on Tuesday, in a rare sighting of them since Yingluck fled Thailand last year and a day after Thaksin called for unity. Reuters

Poland logging

• WARSAW: Poland's decision to increase logging in a primeval forest breaks EU law, an adviser to the EU's top court said on Tuesday, backing the European Commission against the government. Reuters

Catalan leader

• MADRID: A former member of Catalonia's parliament, who fled to Switzerland from Spain, says she will not attend a court summons over her alleged role in the region's declaration of independence. Reuters

Germany party

• BERLIN: Members of Germany's Social Democrats start voting on whether their party should enter a new coalition with Angela Merkel's conservatives in a postal ballot on Tuesday which could scupper the chancellor's fourth term. Reuters

Anti-Sisi leader on terror list

• CAIRO: An Egyptian court put former Islamist presidential candidate Abdel Moneim Abol Fotouh on a terrorism list on Tuesday, state news agency MENA reported, following his arrest for alleged contacts with the banned Muslim Brotherhood. Abol Fotouh was arrested last week a day after returning from London, where he had given interviews sharply critical of President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi ahead of next month's presidential election. The interior ministry said at the time that Abol Fotouh held secret meetings with leaders of the Muslim Brotherhood while in London to implement a plot to stir unrest and instability in the country, accusations he denied. Sisi is almost guaranteed to win a second term in a presidential election slated for March 26-28, but the vote has been criticised by rights groups after a number of potential competitors called off their campaigns, citing intimidation, and a top challenger was arrested. Reuters

Lahore blasphemy

• LAHORE: Hundreds of activists of religious parties surrounded a Christian colony in Lahore, demanding arrest of a Christian man who allegedly posted blasphemous content on the social media, police said on Tuesday. The youth was accused of allegedly posting blasphemous content about Muslim holy places. PTI

Singapore robber

• SINGAPORE: Singapore said on Tuesday it had agreed to a request from Britain not to carry out corporal punishment on a suspected bank robber if he is extradited to face charges in the city-state. Reuters

IS militants

• LONDON: Britain and the US are in talks about the fate of two captured British IS militants, suspected of being part of a notorious group known for torturing and killing western hostages. Reuters

Philippine fighters

• MANILA: Foreign IS fighters forced out of Syria and Iraq have been arriving in the Philippines with the intent of recruiting. Reuters

Joyce support

• SYDNEY: A state branch of the Australian National Party has pulled its support for deputy Prime Minister Barnaby Joyce because of his extramarital affair, its leader said on Tuesday. Reuters

Malaysia activist

• KUALA LUMPUR: A Malaysian artist was jailed for a month on Tuesday for publishing a caricature of Prime Minister Najib Razak looking like a clown. Reuters

NZ cyclone

• WELLINGTON: New Zealand's national carrier on Tuesday cancelled all flights in and out of Wellington and Christchurch declared a state of emergency as the cyclone Gita pummelled the country. Reuters