Iran agrees to ''managed access'' to nuclear sites

Tehran: Iran has agreed to grant UN inspectors "managed access" to military sites as part of a future deal over its contested nuclear programme, a negotiator said on Sunday, apparently contradicting earlier comments by the nation's supreme leader. Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi's comments, carried by state television, came after he and Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif attended a reportedly stormy closed session of parliament. AP

Pak ex-PM Gilani speaks to son abducted 2 years ago 

Lahore: Pakistan's former PM Yousuf Raza Gilani on Sunday said he had spoken to his son Ali Haider for the first time since he was kidnapped by a Taliban group in 2013 and is now being held in Afghanistan. "Today I received a telephone call from an unknown number. It was from my abducted son Haider. He told me that he was well and inquired about the other family members," Gilani said. PTI

10 Afghan police officers killed in Taliban assault 

Kandahar: Taliban insurgents attacked police checkpoints on Sunday in volatile southern Afghanistan, killing at least 10 officers in the ongoing assault, authorities said. Mohammad Ismail Hotaki, the director of Helmand province's Joint Coordination Office, said that Taliban fighters attacked 10 police checkpoints in the province's Sangin district. AP

Painting exhibition on Buddha held in Singapore 

Singapore: Thousands of tourists and Singaporeans have attended the first ever week-long contemporary art exhibition on Gautama Buddha ahead of the Vesak Day on June 1. Twenty-five paintings of Buddha were showcased at the week-long exhibition titled "The Enlightened One", at the Ion Orchard, one of the main shopping malls. PTI