Cargo crashes: 6 dead

SHARJAH: A Sudanese cargo plane crashed on Wednesday in the desert near the airport in the United Arab Emirates, killing all six crew members, Sharjah civil aviation director Khaled al-Qassimi said. “A Sudanese cargo plane crashed three km from the Sharjah airport shortly after takeoff and there were no survivors among the six crew,” Sheikh Khaled told AFP, saying the crash site was in the desert. Officials had earlier said the the aircraft was Iranian. Civil aviation official said the airport had been closed to air traffic. — AFP

Draft N-deal for Iran

VIENNA: The UN’s atomic watchdog on Wednesday handed Iran and world powers a draft deal for approval by the end of the week that could dramatically ease tensions over the Islamic republic’s controversial nuclear programme. The agreement was brokered after crunch talks between Iran, Russia, the United States and France, and has been sent to the capitals for final approval, said Mohamed ElBaradei, the head of the International Atomic Energy Agency. ElBaradei declined to reveal any details about the draft document, but diplomats said it included demands that Iran ship out most of its stockpile of low-enriched uranium for further processing by another country. — AFP

Iraqi journo killed

KIRKUK: An Iraqi cameraman was killed and another journalist was wounded on Wednesday by a roadside bomb in Kirkuk. Orhan Hijran, a cameraman for the Al-Rasheed television channel, was killed and Md Abdallah Zadeh, was wounded.— AFP