Iran's top leader said Monday that he doubts talks aimed at sealing a final deal between Tehran and Western powers over the Islamic Republic's disputed nuclear program will succeed, a day before the negotiations begin.Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said he had accepted the talks at the behest of some Iranian leaders, but blamed what he saw as their likely failure on the United States, saying Washington is using the issue as an excuse to pressure the country."The nuclear issue is an excuse

Syria's army and rebels agreed a truce in the capital's southern suburb of Babbila Monday, the latest in a series of local ceasefires in Damascus flashpoints, an AFP reporter said.The truces come more than a year into fierce daily battles in and around several areas of the city that have led to rebels and President Bashar al-Assad's forces deciding to compromise, with neither side able to claim victory.In addition to Babbila, deals have been struck for local ceasefires in Qudsaya, Moadamiyet al-

More than 450 Indian migrants working in Qatar have died in the last two years, according to new data from the Gulf state which is under pressure over its rights record ahead of the 2022 World Cup.In response to a Right to Information request filed by AFP, the Indian embassy in Qatar gave figures detailing the number of deaths in 2012 and the first 11 months of 2013.On average about 20 migrants died per month, peaking at 27 in August last year. There were 237 fatalities in 2012 and another 218 i

Hotel guests are walking, unchecked, past unused metal detectors. Security guards are no longer poking around at the pockets and ankles of every single person entering Olympic facilities. Tangerines and bottles of Coke are making it through security barriers that banned them two weeks ago.For all the warnings that security in Sochi would be invasive and aggressive, it's appearing more and more uneven, and in places almost relaxed.No attacks have been reported since the Olympics started Feb. 7, a

Egyptian police said Monday a suicide bomber was likely behind an attack on a tour bus that killed three South Koreans and signalled a possible change in tactics by militants who have mainly targeted security forces.The bombing on Sunday, near the Taba border crossing with Israel, was the first targeting tourists since the military overthrow of Islamist president Mohamed Morsi in July sparked a militant campaign that has killed scores of police and soldiers.A shift to 'soft targets' such as tour

North Korea's leaders should be brought before an international court for a litany of crimes against humanity that include exterminating, starving and enslaving its population, a U.N. team said Monday.A hard-hitting report on the nuclear-armed totalitarian state also strongly criticised its denial of basic freedoms of thought, expression and religion, and its abduction of citizens of neighbouring South Korea and Japan."Systemic, widespread and gross human rights violations have been and are bein

Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Liu Zhenmin began a four-day visit to North Korea on Monday, an official said, days after U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry asked China to exert more pressure on the North to get it to give up its nuclear program.Liu and North Korean officials "will exchange views on China-DPRK (North Korea) relations, regional situations as well as other issues of common interest," China's foreign ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying told reporters.The visit by Liu to North Korea cam

China said Monday it would not back a reported recommendation by U.N. investigators to refer North Korea to the International Criminal Court for crimes against humanity, adding that such a move would not help improve the human rights situation in the country.Wrapping up a year-long investigation, the three-member U.N. Commission of Inquiry is set to release the results of their investigation into North Korea's human rights situation in Geneva on Monday, with leaked versions of the report indicat

Lui Che-Woo, founder of casino operator Galaxy Entertainment Group Ltd., became Asia’s richest person yesterday, eclipsing Hong Kong real estate investor Li Ka-Shing, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index. The gambling mogul’s net worth has risen by $3.5 billion this month to $29.6 billion, about $100 million ahead of Li, who had held the title since April 9, 2012, when he passed Indian billionaire Mukesh Ambani. Lui’s wealth is anchored by his 51 percent direct stake in Galaxy, Asia’s t

  JOHANNESBURG (AFP) -- More than 1,000 rhinos were poached in South Africa last year, a 50 percent increase from 2012, fuelled by the black-market demand for their horns, the government said Friday."The total number of rhino poached in South Africa during 2013 increased to 1,004," the environment ministry announced in a statement.Asian demand for rhino horn -- prized as a status symbol and wrongly thought to possess medicinal properties -- has fuelled an ever more intense onslaught on the anima

NEW DELHI (Yonhap News) -- South Korean President Park Geun-hye held a series of meetings with information technology experts and other business leaders of India on Friday, making a strong case that the two of Asia's biggest economies can be ideal business partners.Park has been in New Delhi for a four-day state visit aimed largely at increasing economic ties with the world's second-most populous nation. On Thursday, Park and Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh agreed to revise a free trade pac

Nintendo Co. President Satoru Iwata said the maker of video-game machines is considering a new business model after forecasting a surprise 25 billion-yen ($240 million) annual loss because of tepid demand for its Wii U. Nintendo previously projected a profit of 55 billion yen in the fiscal year ending March as it counted on Christmas shoppers to revive sales of the Wii U console featuring games with iconic characters Mario and Zelda. The company cut forecasts for Wii U console sales to 2.8 milli

Mining companies are extending massive cuts in exploration budgets for a second year, setting up the next price boom as China continues its relentless pursuit of metals and energy. Exploration spending plunged by 30 percent or $10 billion last year, squeezing budgets to search for minerals and sustain supplies, according to MinEx Consulting Pty, whose clients include BHP Billiton Ltd., the world’s biggest miner. Payments may drop another 10 percent this year for geologists, drilling exploratory

VIENNA (AFP) -- Tehran is still seeking to sidestep sanctions to get materials for its nuclear programme, a senior US official said Friday on a European tour seeking to cool renewed corporate enthusiasm about doing business in Iran.Iran is "undoubtedly still looking for ways to acquire material for their nuclear programme," the US official, speaking in Austria on a tour also taking in Britain, Germany, Turkey, Italy and other places, said on condition of anonymity."We have seen over many years t

 GENEVA (AFP) -- The number of South Sudanese fleeing their violence-wracked nation for severely overcrowded refugee camps in neighbouring countries could exceed 100,000 by the end of the month, the UN said Friday.More than 86,000 South Sudanese have already flooded across the country's borders since the brutal conflict erupted on December 15, when President Salva Kiir accused his former deputy Riek Machar of plotting a coup."With people still arriving at a rate of around 1,000 a day, we are loo

  TEHRAN (AFP) -- UN nuclear experts are to inspect Iran's Gachin uranium mine later this month for the first time in almost nine years, its Atomic Energy Organisation said on Friday."The inspectors of the International Atomic Energy Agency will travel to Tehran on January 29 to visit Gachin mine," AEO spokesman Behrouz Kamalvandi told Iran's official IRNA news agency.Iran agreed a framework deal with the UN nuclear watchdog in November that includes six steps Tehran must carry out by February 1

WASHINGTON (AP) -- President Barack Obama on Friday will call for ending the government's control of phone data from millions of Americans, a senior administration official said. The move marks a significant change to the National Security Agency's controversial bulk phone record collection program.Obama will announce the move in a highly anticipated speech at the Justice Department. However, the official said Obama will not recommend who should control the phone data and will instead call on th

LONDON (AFP) -- Britain's Prince Harry is to quit flying army Apache helicopters and take up a desk job organising commemorative military events, Kensington Palace said Friday.Captain Wales, as he is known in the military, served in Afghanistan as an Apache co-pilot gunner during his three years with the Army Air Corps.Kensington Palace said in a statement that 29-year-old Harry "has completed his attachment to 3 Regiment Army Air Corps and will now take up a Staff Officer role"."His responsibil

KIEV (AFP) -- The European Union and the United States expressed concern after the Ukrainian parliament passed laws to curb the right to protest, a move the opposition called a power grab.Western rights groups meanwhile denounced the bills passed on Thursday as an attempt by President Viktor Yanukovych to impose a "dictatorship" and called on him to veto the legislation.The opposition has staged nearly nearly two months of protests in a central Kiev square in response to Yanukovych's ditching a

HARRAN REFUGEE CAMP, Turkey (AFP) -- UN refugee chief Antonio Guterres said Friday it was vital that peace talks next week on the Syrian civil war find a "political solution" to the conflict.And he issued a fresh appeal for the world to help ease the massive burden on countries which have taken in millions of Syrian refugees."I am humble enough to recognise that there is no humanitarian solution for this problem. The solution is political," he told a meeting in Turkey of regional refugee-hosting