• Lifting of Iran sanctions possible by next spring says UK

    Sanctions placed on Iran could be lifted by next spring, said the UK on Monday, Reuters quoted the country's foreign secretary, Philip Hammond, as saying on Monday.

    Mr Hammond who is currently in Tehren to reopen the embassy, and attended the official reopening ceremony this morning, said, "We could be talking as early as next spring to start to see sanctions lifting off."

    Recent weeks have seen intense negotiations between the US and Iran over Iran's nuclear programme.

  • World markets plummet as China stops supporting slowing Asian market

    World stock markets plummeted with a sharp drop in the US dollar and major commodities, as China failed to mitigate sliding confidence in its domestic stock market on Monday.

  • EU opens office in Kurdistan
     The European Union will open a delegation office in the Kurdish de-facto capital Erbil reports Rudaw.
  • North and South Korea to address escalation of violence

    Negotiators from North Korea and South Korea spoke through Saturday night and into Sunday evening to ease tensions between the two nations after an exchange of artillery fire last week.

  • Nigeria army chief survives Boko Haram attack

    The new head of Nigeria's army, General Tukur Buratei has survived an attack by Boko Haram militants on his convoy in Borno state, in the northeast of the country.

    The ambush resulted in clashes in which 5 militants and one Nigerian soldier were killed.

  • India and Pakistan cancel high level talks
    Indian and Pakistan have cancelled high level talks between the two countries, just hours before they were due to start.

    Pakistan accused India of imposing "preconditions" on the talks after India's foreign minister, Sushma Swaraj, said they could not continue if Pakistan pressed ahead with plans to meet Kashmiri separatists.

    Pakistan’s foreign ministry said "it is not reasonable for India to assume the right to decide unilaterally that from now onwards, other issues will [only] be discussed after terrorism has been discussed and eliminated".

    "We have come to the conclusion that the proposed National Security Advisers (NSA) level talks between the two countries would not serve any purpose” it added, as it announced the cancellation of the talks.
  • AU soldiers charged over civilian deaths

    Ugandan soldiers who were deployed with the African Union in Somalia, have been charged with the killing of a group of civilians at a wedding last month.

    Head of the AU troops in Somalia, Maman Sidikou, apologised to the families of the seven wedding guests. The bloc had previously denied the incident took place.

  • Europe toughens security measures in response to refugee crisis
    On Thursday, France and Britain announced a joint security operation to prevent thousands of refugees living in makeshift camps in Calais from entering the UK through the Channel Tunnel.
  • Sudan's president offers cease-fire in run up to proposed talks with militants

    Sudan’s President Omar Hassan al-Bashir proposed ceasefire and peace talks with militants working to overthrow his government.

    Mr Bashir reiterated his offer of amnesty for rebels who agreed to put down their arms and join the national dialogue between government and opposition parties.

  • UK to re-open embassy in Iran
    Britain’s foreign secretary, Philip Hammond will formally reopen the UK embassy in Tehran on Sunday, a senior government source said.

    The embassy was closed in 2011 after, it was stormed by demonstrations against sanctions imposed by the UK.
  • ICC re-opens investigation into Kenya’s failure to comply with Kenyatta investigation
    On Wednesday an Appeals Court of the International Criminal Court (ICC) ordered that trial judges re-visit allegations that Kenya obstructed investigations into President Uhuru Kenyatta. Mr.
  • Myanmar parliament approves bills restricting religious conversions
    Myanmar's parliament this week approved a bill restricting religious conversations, reports Irrawaddy.

    The bill which is the last of four bills called the 'Race and Religion Protection Bills" was tabled by the Buddhist nationalist group, Ma Ba Tha in 2013, and subsequently taken forward to parliament at the end of last year.

    The legislation, was discussed along side a monogamy bill, will place restrictions on interfaith marriages, introduce legal procedures for religious conversions and grant local government to rate the number of children couples could have.

  • South Sudan president tells Kerry he intends to sign peace deal
    South Sudan's president, Salva Kiir told the US Secretary of State John Kerry that he had "every intention" of signing a peace deal to end the conflict which began in December 2013, a US State Department spokesperson said.

    "President Kiir assured the secretary that he has every intention of signing the peace agreement," the spokesperson was quoted as saying by Reuters.

    "He said he needed a couple of more days of consultations but he made it very clear it was his intention to sign, which is encouraging," he added.

  • Guatemala dictator's genocide trial delayed after dementia diagnosis
    The genocide trial of the former Guatemala dictator, Efrain Rios Montt, was suspended on Tuesday, after the court, which was deciding whether Mr Montt was fit to stand trial, suffered from dementia, reports AFP.

    The decision has been postponed until August 25, the judge, Maria Eugenia said on Wednesday.

  • UN Security Council finally speaks on Syria
    After four years of disagreement about what to say, the UN Security Council finally adopted a statement on the conflict in Syria.
     
    The statement read by the Council President on Monday said:
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