News in Brief

Maldives to go ahead with polls
Afp, Male

The Maldivian elections commission yesterday said it planned to go ahead with today's parliamentary polls despite the islands' new president expressing doubts over whether the vote can be conducted. A total of 302 candidates are contesting 85 constituencies in a country of just over 330,000 Sunni Muslims.

Iraq violence kills 27
Afp, Kirkuk

Militants controlled a northern Iraqi village for several hours yesterday as attacks nationwide killed 27 people, including at least 10 policemen, amid a surge in bloodshed ahead of parliamentary elections. The latest unrest comes barely a week before campaigning begins for the April 30 election due to take place as Iraq grapples with its worst protracted bloodletting since a brutal 2006-2007 Sunni-Shia sectarian war in which tens of thousands of people were killed.

US reaffirms military ties with Saudi
Afp, Washington

Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel hosted Saudi Arabia's deputy defense minister for talks Thursday, reaffirming US military ties to Riyadh despite discord over Washington's Iran and Syria policies, officials said.Saudi Arabia harbors grave reservations about attempts by Washington and other major powers to negotiate a deal with Iran over its nuclear program, but "Hagel stressed our position on Iran has not changed," said the senior US official, who spoke on condition of anonymity.

Khamenei reiterates Holocaust doubts
Afp, Tehran

Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei yesterday voiced doubts about the existence and scale of the Holocaust, questioning the West's "red lines" on freedom of expression. Khamenei, Iran's top decision-maker, has repeatedly called Nazi Germany's killing of six million Jews a "myth" and said the historical record has been distorted.