Iran has banned the teaching of English in primary schools, a senior education official said, after Islamic leaders warned that early learning of the language opened the way to a Western "cultural invasion". "Teaching English

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Egypt's former prime minister Ahmed Shafiq said on Sunday that he will not now be a candidate in this year's presidential election, reversing a previous pledge to stand. His decision to step aside is likely

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One man died after an explosion outside an underground station in Stockholm on Sunday, police said, adding they did not believe the incident was terrorism-related. The man sustained fatal injuries after he picked up an

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North Korea has named its delegation for a rare high-level meeting with the South this week, the unification ministry in Seoul said Sunday, as Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe cautiously welcomed the talks. The two

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North Korea must stop conducting nuclear tests before the United States would enter into any talks with the isolated Pyongyang regime, US ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley said Sunday. "They have to stop

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Chancellor Angela Merkel voiced optimism as she opened talks Sunday with Germany's second biggest party on restoring their alliance, in a new attempt at shaking Europe's biggest economy out of political paralysis after September's inconclusive

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Jordan on Sunday said it had agreed to a UN request to deliver humanitarian aid to tens of thousands of Syrians stranded near a border crossing between the two countries. Foreign ministry spokesman Mohammed al-Kayed

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Turkish Cypriots on Sunday voted in a snap parliamentary election overshadowed by last year's failure to reach a peace deal for the divided island in UN-backed talks. More than 190,500 people are registered to vote

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Israel on Sunday named 20 foreign NGOs whose representatives are barred from its territory, saying that they support a boycott of the Jewish state over its occupation of Palestinian territory. Publication of the list of

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Israel will reverse a power cut to Gaza begun in June after the Palestinian Authority agreed to pay for its supply to the blockaded enclave, the energy ministry said Sunday. It said Energy Minister Yuval

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