Dubai, May 15 (IANS) The India government has exempted Indian workers in Saudi Arabia, seeking to leave that country, from paying fees for issue of emergency certificates (ECs) for one-time travel to India, according to the Indian embassy in Riyadh. However, the waiver is applicable only for those EC applications [...]

Vienna, May 15 (IANS) The IAEA will continue trying to finalize nuclear inspection documents regarding Iran’s disputed nuclear programme in spite of differences between the two sides, an official said Wednesday. Herman Nackaerts, deputy director-general of the International Atomic Energy Agency, said his team was starting a new round of [...]

New Delhi, May 15 (IANS) The Congress Wednesday expressed the hope that Nawaz Sharif, after taking over as Pakistan’s prime minister, would fulfill his promise of not allowing his country to export terror. Addressing a party briefing, Congress spokesperson Shakeel Ahmed said: “We hope Nawaz Sharif will fulfill his promises [...]

Kiruna (Sweden), May 15 (IANS) India and China Wednesday got observer status in the Arctic Council along with four other countries. China, India, Italy, Japan, South Korea and Singapore were granted the status at the eighth ministerial meeting of the Arctic Council convened in Kiruna, the northernmost city of Sweden. [...]

Bangkok, May 15 (IANS) Enhanced Thai-Bangladeshi cooperation will double their trading volume to $1.7 billion in the next three years, the Thai commerce minister said Wednesday. Boonsong Teriyapirom said after a meeting of the Thai-Bangladeshi trade committee that the two countries had agreed to map out an operation plan to [...]

Washington, May 15 (IANS/RIA Novosti) US officials were tight-lipped over the arrest of US diplomat Ryan Fogle in Moscow who has been accused of trying to recruit an agent for the CIA. “We can confirm that an officer at the US embassy in Moscow was detained briefly and was released. [...]

Islamabad: US ambassador Richard Olson has met incoming Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and underlined his country’s commitment to build its ties with Pakistan. Olson called on Sharif in Lahore, Associated Press of Pakistan (APP) reported. He also met caretaker Punjab Chief Minister Najam Sethi as well as members of the [...]

Sochi (Russia), May 15 (IANS/RIA Novosti) Russia and Israel will continue cooperation in an effort to resolve the situation in Syria, Russian President Vladimir Putin said following talks with Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. “We agreed to continue contacts – both on the personal level and between our organizations, special [...]

Moscow, May 15 (IANS/RIA Novosti) Damascus’s participation in an international conference between representatives of both sides in the Syrian conflict depends on “details and developments” and it will not be a party to any act that would harm national sovereignty, Syria’s state news agency SANA reported. Information Minister Omran al-Zoubi [...]

Moscow, May 15 (IANS/RIA Novosti) A US diplomat was briefly detained by Russian counter-intelligence officials after the American was suspected of being an undercover CIA officer and trying to recruit a Russian agent, the Federal Security Service (FSB) said. A US Embassy press officer in Moscow said she could not [...]