After meeting Mr Kellenberger in Moscow, the Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov appeared to give
whole-hearted
support to the initiative. He said that both of them urged the Syrian government and the armed opposition groups to agree immediately to a daily pause in the fighting.
Tens of thousands of supporters of the Iraqi Shia cleric Muqtada al-Sadr have held a
rally
in the southern city of Basra to mark the ninth anniversary of the US-led invasion which overthrew Saddam Hussein. Rami Ruhayem reports from Baghdad.
It's become an annual show of force by one of Iraq's most powerful men. Only the date has changed with this year's March time to mark the beginning of the US invasion instead of the fall of the former regime. The cleric's supporters vented their anger at corruption, unemployment and most of all, poor services. Despite the country's oil wealth, severe power cuts are a daily feature of life in Iraq through chilly winters and
scorching
summers.
A UN envoy says South Sudan's leaders appear committed to
demobilising
the estimated 2,000 child soldiers still serving in the army. The UN special representative says there's a determination at the highest level in South Sudan to ensure that the former rebel army meets international standards.
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The International Atomic Energy Agency says it's received an invitation to visit North Korea three years after its inspectors were expelled from the country. It comes less than three weeks after North Korea agreed to suspend nuclear and long-range missile tests, and to allow in UN nuclear inspectors