DHAKA: France said on Saturday there was no certainty nuclear talks under way with Iran in Geneva would succeed because of major stumbling blocks over an initial proposed text on a deal.‘As I speak to you, I can not say there is any certainty that we can conclude’ the talks, French

DHAKA: US president Barack Obama said on Friday that it may be time for the United States to revise its policies toward Cuba, against which it has had an embargo for more than half a century.‘We have to be creative and we have to be thoughtful and we have to continue to update our

DHAKA: At least six people have been killed after a suspected suicide attack at a hotel in Somalia`s capital, Mogadishu.Interior Minister Abdikarim Hussein Guled told the BBC that 15 people had been injured after a car exploded outside the Hotel Maka.The hotel lies on one of the capital`s

DHAKA: UN cultural agency Unesco has suspended US and Israel voting rights after they skipped a deadline for paying their dues.The US stopped its contributions, which make up about a fifth of the agency`s funding, when Unesco gave the Palestinians membership in 2011.Israel, which halted

DHAKA: Voters in the Maldives are going to the polls to elect a president after two previous rounds failed.Candidates came to a last-minute agreement earlier this week to agree and sign the voter lists required for the election to take place.It is the first vote in the Indian Ocean

DHAKA: Talks in Geneva on Iran`s nuclear programme between Iran and world powers are to enter a third day on Saturday.A US State Department official said at the end of Friday`s talks that "we continued to make progress as we worked to narrow the gaps".Russian Foreign Minister Sergei

DHAKA: At least 100 people have reportedly been killed by Typhoon Haiyan in one city, according to a Philippine official.Capt John Andrews, deputy director general of the Civil Aviation Authority, said the bodies were lying in the streets of the city of Tacloban.It may be days before the

DHAKA: Palestinian officials say Israel is the ‘only suspect’ in the death of leader Yasser Arafat following a Swiss report that said his remains contained high levels of radioactive polonium.The head of a Palestinian committee set up to investigate Arafat’s 2004 death called it an

DHAKA: Activists from right-wing religious parties led protests in Pakistan on Friday to denounce a US drone strike that killed the leader of the country’s Taliban, after the movement named a notorious hardliner as his successor.Pakistan last week reacted angrily to the drone attack

DHAKA: Any deal negotiated between Iran and world powers at a Geneva conference should solidly address concerns about the Islamic state’s nuclear programme.French foreign minister Laurent Fabius said on Friday, reports The Jerusalem Post.‘We want a deal that bring a solid first

DHAKA: Britain’s foreign secretary William Hague and German foreign minister Guido Westerwelle will join six-power talks with Iran over its contested nuclear programme on Friday.The six powers, the United States, Russia, China, France, Britain and Germany, began talks with Tehran on

DHAKA: More than 20 million children are to be vaccinated in Syria and neighbouring countries against polio to try to stop the spread of the crippling infectious disease following its re-emergence there after 14 years.United Nations agencies said on Friday, reports The Jerusalem Post.The

DHAKA: About 2,000 Sri Lankan university students blocked traffic as they shouted slogans outside the capital’s main railroad station on Friday to protest a government decision to close state universities during a summit of leaders from Commonwealth countries next week.The university

DHAKA: World powers and Iran are working intensively to advance talks in Geneva over Iran’s disputed nuclear programme.A spokesman for European Union foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton said on Friday, reports The Jerusalem Post.‘Very intense work is continuing,’ spokesman Michael

DHAKA: Egypt will hold parliamentary elections ‘between February and March’, to be followed by a presidential vote in early summer.Egypt foreign minister Nabil Fahmy said on Friday, reports The Jerusalem Post.The elections will replace the leaders appointed after the army ousted

DHAKA: Three people were killed and seven others hurt on Friday as super typhoon ‘Haiyan’ struck the Philippines.The government said, reports The Straits Times.Two people were electrocuted by power lines toppled by the cyclone, while a third victim was struck by lightning, said

DHAKA: Uganda president Yoweri Museveni is testing for HIV in public, saying he wants all Ugandans to know their status if the country is to stem the growing number of new infections.Public leaders in Uganda rarely test for HIV in public, despite the urging of Aids workers in this East

DHAKA: Russian foreign ministry says Syrian opposition refuses to participate in proposed Moscow talks.RIA Novosti reported Friday, says TDS.The National Coalition, Syria’s leading opposition force, rejected Russia’s offer to hold talks with Syrian authorities in Moscow, the agency

DHAKA: The Pakistani Taliban has vowed to orchestrate a wave of revenge attacks against government targets after naming commander Mullah Fazlullah as its new leader.The threat on Friday came a week after Hakimullah Mehsud, the previous leader of the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), was

DHAKA: US President Barack Obama has apologised to Americans whose health insurance plans have been cancelled as a result of his signature health law.In recent weeks, insurance companies have reportedly cancelled policies that do not meet strict requirements under Mr Obama`s 2010