GENEVA: The United States held out the prospect of quick sanctions relief for Iran on Monday if Tehran moves swiftly to allay concerns about its nuclear programme, although both countries said any deal would be complex and take time.

LOS ANGELES: Authorities say an explosion from a plastic bottle containing dry ice at a Los Angeles International Airport terminal caused up to four flights to be delayed.

KOUBI, Mali: Mahmoudou Ibrahim combed the waters frantically for his family after they and hundreds of other passengers were catapulted into the Niger River when their boat capsized.

WASHINGTON: All eyes turned to the US Senate Sunday to work out a deal to remove the threat of a historic default with just days before the United States reaches its borrowing limit.

MECCA: Muslims from across the world poured Sunday into a sprawling tent city in the Saudi desert before the start of the annual Islamic haj pilgrimage, but the number of the pilgrims this year has been reduced in part by concerns over a respiratory virus centered in the Arabian peninsula.

WASHINGTON: President Barack Obama will nominate Federal Reserve vice chair Janet Yellen to succeed Ben Bernanke as chairman of the US central bank, the White House said on Tuesday. Yellen would be the first woman to head the powerful Fed, taking over at a pivotal time for the economy and the banking industry.

NEW DELHI: Maldives may be walking away from its new-found democratic moorings, which may spell serious implications for India, its neighbourhood and its security.

China has arrested 139 people in Xinjiang for allegedly spreading jihad, state-run media said on Wednesday, as it warns of growing religious extremism in the far western region home to Muslim Uighurs

MALE: The Supreme Court of the Maldives on Monday annulled the results of the first round of voting in the country's presidential election, agreeing with a losing candidate's claim that the election was flawed.

WASHINGTON: Forget al-Qaida's Ayman Al Zawahiri and Lashkar-e-Taiba's Hafeez Saeed for now; The United States has elevated two little known Somali terrorists to the top of its rogues gallery. Their names: Ahmed Godane and Ikrimah al-Muhajir.