28 February 2013 Last updated at 07:35 GMT
Western officials offered to ease sanctions in return for Iran reducing its uranium enrichment activities. Following talks on Wednesday, Iran's chief negotiator expressed appreciation that the other countries had moved 'closer to our viewpoint'.
By Justyna Pawlak, Reuters, Fredrik Dahl, Reuters / February 27, 2013
Deal signed in Malaysia raises prospect of end to bloody insurgency that has claimed 5,000 lives since 2004
Payments will be capped at a year's salary unless approved by shareholders
THURSDAY 28 FEBRUARY 2013
February 28, 2013 - 2:43PM
Kenya's President Mwai Kibaki will retire after polls, leaving a legacy of impressive economic growth partly overshadowed by corruption in government.
Syria conflict: John Kerry set to agree aid to rebels
New US Secretary of State John Kerry is meeting Syrian opposition leaders in Rome, as the US prepares to increase its support for rebels fighting to topple President Bashar al-Assad.
He is attending a gathering of the Friends of Syria group of nations that support the Syrian opposition.
Mr Kerry is expected to announce increased "non-lethal" aid for the rebels but not weapons.
Mr Kerry says US wants to "accelerate the political transition" in Syria.
The main opposition Syrian National Coalition (SNC) had threatened to boycott the meeting in Rome in frustration at the "the world's silence" at the violence.
But it agreed to attend after the US and UK indicated there would be specific promises of aid.
World powers soften toward Iran
Western officials offered to ease sanctions in return for Iran reducing its uranium enrichment activities. Following talks on Wednesday, Iran's chief negotiator expressed appreciation that the other countries had moved 'closer to our viewpoint'.
By Justyna Pawlak, Reuters, Fredrik Dahl, Reuters / February 27, 2013
Iran was upbeat on Wednesday after talks with world powers about its nuclear work ended with an agreement to meet again, but Western officials said it had yet to take concrete steps to ease their fears about its atomic ambitions.
Rapid progress was unlikely with Iran's presidential election, due in June, raising domestic political tensions, diplomats and analysts had said ahead of the Feb. 26-27 meeting in the Kazakh city of Almaty, the first in eight months.
The United States, China, France, Russia, Britainand Germany offered modest sanctions relief in return for Iran curbing its most sensitive nuclear work but made clear that they expected no immediate breakthrough.
Thailand and Muslim separatists agree to peace talks
Deal signed in Malaysia raises prospect of end to bloody insurgency that has claimed 5,000 lives since 2004
Thailand has agreed for the first time to hold peace talks with Muslim militants in the south of the country, an apparent breakthrough towards ending a nearly decade-long conflict that has claimed more than 5,000 lives.
Senior Thai government officials signed the deal on Thursday with members of the Barisan Revolusi Nasional (BRN) in the Malaysian capital, Kuala Lumpur, where they agreed to launch a "dialogue process" in the southern border provinces. They gave no date for future meetings.
The agreement was signed ahead of a meeting later on Thursday between Thailand's prime minister, Yingluck Shinawatra, and her Malaysian counterpart, Najib Razak, after which further details would be made public, Malaysian officials said.
EU agrees to cap bankers' bonuses
Payments will be capped at a year's salary unless approved by shareholders
THURSDAY 28 FEBRUARY 2013
European Union chiefs have agreed a package of financial laws that includes capping bankers' bonuses at a maximum of one year's basic salary.
The bonuses will only be allowed to reach twice the annual fixed salary if a large majority of a bank's shareholders agrees, said Othmar Karas, the European Parliament's chief negotiator.
"This overhaul of EU banking rules will make sure that banks in the future have enough capital, both in terms of quality and quantity, to withstand shocks. This will ensure that taxpayers across Europe are protected into the future," said Ireland's finance minister Michael Noonan,
Rumours swirl as Chavez stays out of sight
February 28, 2013 - 2:43PM
Laurent Thomet
Caracas: With President Hugo Chavez still out of sight, the Venezuelan government has denied any rift with the army as it led a rally in Caracas to mark the anniversary of a popular but deadly revolt.
Thousands of people clad in red rallied in the capital on Wednesday, many wearing shirts bearing the image of the leftist leader, and others holding signs reading "I am Chavez" as they marked the massacre of hundreds of people in 1989.
The rally came as Twitter lit up with speculation - none of it confirmed - that Mr Chavez had died. Thursday's rally was the first in Caracas since Mr Chavez, 58, checked into a military hospital in the capital nine days ago after spending two months in Cuba, where he underwent his fourth round of cancer surgery in 18 months.
Kenya's President Kibaki to resign after 10 years in power
Kenya's President Mwai Kibaki will retire after polls, leaving a legacy of impressive economic growth partly overshadowed by corruption in government.
A veteran politician from the birth of independent Kenya, Kibaki (81) will retire after March 4 polls. Kibaki will step down after more than a decade in power that spanned some of the country's most violent periods, but also saw a new Constitution that brought hope for change.
For a leader who was popularly swept into power in 2002 on an anti-corruption platform, Kibaki's tenure saw grotesque graft scandals where hundreds of millions of dollars were siphoned from public coffers.
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