U.S. group said to plan visit to Iran
TEHRAN, Iran — A U.S. delegation will visit Iran to review energy investment opportunities while Tehran negotiates a deal with world powers on its nuclear program, a top oil official told Mehr news agency Monday.
The United States has imposed sanctions on Tehran that prohibit Americans from trading with Iran’s oil sector, government or individuals connected to the sector.
“It is forecast that by the visit of [the] American delegation this week and in the case of lifting sanctions on Iran's oil industry, we will witness involvement of major international American oil and gas companies in Iran in the future,” Deputy Oil Minister Abbas Sheri-Moghaddam said.
Spy agency defended
BERLIN — Chancellor Angela Merkel defended Germany’s BND intelligence agency on Monday against accusations it illegally helped the U.S. spy on officials and firms in Europe.
In her first public comments on the scandal, Ms. Merkel said it was still unacceptable for friendly nations to spy on each other — a reference to reports the National Security Agency had tapped her cell phone up to 2013 — but backed BND cooperation with the U.S. agency, even as Germany’s top public prosecutor launched an investigation.
Burundi unrest persists
BUJUMBURA, Burundi — Three protesters were killed in Burundi’s capital Monday amid hundreds rallying in Bujumbura, the Red Cross said, as demonstrations against a decision by President Pierre Nkurunziza to seek a third term in office ran into a second week.
The unrest has plunged the East African nation into its worst political crisis since the conflict that pitted majority Hutus against minority Tutsis ended, reviving ethnic tensions in a region where other presidents will soon face term limits.
Kerry buoys Kenya
NAIROBI, Kenya — U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry told Kenya on Monday it had an important role in helping resolve conflicts in South Sudan and Somalia and pledged $45 million in new aid to help it deal with 600,000 refugees.
Speaking after meetings with Kenya’s President Uhuru Kenyatta and opposition politicians, Mr. Kerry also criticized South Sudan’s government and rebels for failing to end its civil war.
Report perturbs China
BEIJING — China has lodged a protest with the United States after a U.S. government commission said Chinese violations of religious freedom against Christians, Buddhists and Muslims last year were “severe” and “systematic,” the Foreign Ministry said Monday.
The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom in a report last week urged the State Department to re-designate China as a top-tier violator.
Also in the world …
Mediators have called an urgent meeting in Belarus for Wednesday to try to salvage a nearly 3-month-old peace plan for Ukraine, where intense fighting has resumed and both sides are reported to be gearing up for new offensives. … The fates of 1.3 million people who went missing in World War II remain unknown 70 years after the end of the conflict, the German Red Cross said Monday. … Thai authorities said Monday that they were investigating the complicity of local officials in a human trafficking network along the border with Malaysia where a mass grave has been unearthed.