AFP, KABUL: The Taliban's new leader told Kabul on Tuesday it must cancel a security deal with the United States and expel all foreign troops if it wants peace, as 10 Afghan soldiers died in an "insider" attack. Mullah Mansour, who formally took charge after the death of Taliban founder…

AFP, LAHORE: Pakistan has postponed the execution of a paraplegic death row convict following appeals by human rights groups, officials said Tuesday. Abdul Basit, 43, who was convicted of murder in 2009, contracted tubercular meningitis in 2010 while in prison which left him paralysed from the waist…

AFP, BEIJING: A US businesswoman has been held for six months in China over alleged espionage, her supporters said, revealing a case that could complicate Chinese President Xi Jinping's state visit to the United States, beginning Tuesday. China's ministry of state security detained Sandy Phan-Gillis…

BBC, LONDON: Scientists say they are a step closer to growing fully functioning replacement kidneys, after promising results in animals. When transplanted…

AFP, JERUSALEM: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Russian President Vladimir Putin have agreed on a plan to avoid "misunderstandings" in Syria amid an apparent military build-up by Moscow to support President Bashar al-Assad. The two leaders reached an agreement on Monday during…

AFP, TEHRAN: Iran's armed forces are the best defence against "terror" in the Middle East, President Hassan Rouhani said on Tuesday, urging regional countries not to rely on world powers. "Today, the largest power against intimidation and terror is our armed forces," Rouhani…

AFP, LONDON: Practitioners of the card game bridge are appearing in London's High Court this week to argue that their pastime deserves to be considered a sport. The English Bridge Union (EBU) took legal action after British funding body Sport England refused to recognise it as such, preventing the…