Officials from over 100 countries to attend late Iranian supreme leader's funeral: foreign ministry
Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei said on Thursday that officials from more than 100 countries will attend the funeral ceremonies of Iran's late Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
In an interview with state-run IRIB TV, Baghaei said the foreign guests would include heads of state, parliament speakers, foreign ministers, governments' special envoys as well as a large number of personalities and popular groups.
Qatar says progress made in indirect U.S.-Iran talks in Doha
Qatar confirmed late Wednesday that Qatari and Pakistani mediators had concluded separate meetings with U.S. and Iranian negotiators, making positive progress on issues related to the Islamabad Memorandum of Understanding.
The meetings were built on the outcomes of the Lake Lucerne talks, Foreign Ministry spokesperson Majed Al-Ansari said.
WHO chief says cruise ship-linked hantavirus outbreak "over"
The World Health Organization (WHO) on Thursday declared the hantavirus outbreak linked to the cruise ship MV Hondius officially over, following the completion of quarantine for the final contact and no new cases reported for more than five weeks.
"Today, the final contact of a person exposed to hantavirus on the cruise ship MV Hondius completed their quarantine period, tested negative and returned home. No further cases have been reported since May 25. We are therefore very pleased to say that WHO considers the outbreak of hantavirus over," said WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus during his opening remarks at the media briefing on Thursday.
Explosion at central Damascus cafe kills 9, injures 20
The death toll from an explosion inside a cafe in central Damascus on Thursday has risen to nine, while the injuries have surged to 20, Syria's interior authorities said Thursday night in a statement.
The blast, occurred at around 3:00 p.m. local time (1200 GMT), was caused by an improvised explosive device weighing about 1 kg and packed with metal fragments, the authorities said.
Ebola cases top 1,406, death toll rises to 438 in DR Congo
The Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) has reported 1,406 confirmed Ebola cases, including 438 deaths, the government said in an update on Wednesday.
The figures showed that 192 patients had recovered, while 609 others were receiving treatment or under care.■
