Despite a new interim agreement, leading US officials are warning investors it doesn't mean Iran is "open for business."

Testifying before Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Undersecretary of State Wendy Sherman and Treasury Department official David Cohen have told lawmakers that sanctions relief for Iran is limited, and countries evading sanctions will be punished. 

Cohen says U.S. officials are actively engaged with foreign banks, businesses and governmental authorities to ensure sanctions pressure continues. 

Earlier this week a French business delegation arrived in Iran to explore trade opportunities amid the easing of sanctions following last year's agreement over Iran's nuclear program. 

The trip is the latest among a number of similar trips to Tehran by Asian and European businessmen. 

Under the six-month interim deal, Iran has halted part of its nuclear activities in return for an easing of sanctions that have crippled its economy the past number of years.

 

Pakistani government negotiators fail to turn up for talks, comment from Taliban representative

Planned peace talks among Pakistani officials and a three-member team representing the Taliban have been delayed after government negotiators failed to show up for the first round. 

Both sides have named their negotiating teams, which had been expected to meet on Tuesday in Islamabad.

The Pakistani government negotiations team says its still waiting for confirmation from the Taliban about who their negotiating team is.

The current Pakistani government has been pushing for quite some time to open negotiations with the Taliban to try to end the years of violence which has been gripping the country's northwest.

 

Jihadi figure killed in Tunisia: ministry

Tunisian authorities have shot and killed the man suspected of assassinating a leading opposition politician in the country.

Kamal al-Qadqadi and six other members of the terrorist group Ansar al-Sharia were killed in a raid on a home in a surburb of the capital, Tunis.

Al-Qadqadi is believed to have killed leftist opposition leader Chokri Belaid in an attack which stunned the country this past year.

Religious extremism has been on the rise in Tunisia following the ouster of the former regieme of former President Zine Abidine Ben Ali in 2011.

 

Egypt confirms 24 swine flu deaths

Health authorities in Egypt have revealed that at least 24 people have died of swine flu in the country since the beginning of December.

Just under 200 cases of the H1N1 form of influenza virus have been detected in Egypt since the start of December.

A former Egyptian health minister notes the virus is becoming more predominant in the northern hemisphere at the moment.

Authorities in Mongolia this week announced quarantine measures for a city in the country's western steppe following a small outbreak of swine flu there.

 

New H7N9 deaths and infections in E China

Another death in eastern China has been linked to the H7N9 strain of bird flu.

The patient, a 59-year-old woman, has died in Wuxi City, Jiangsu Province.

Meantime, three new cases have been confirmed in southern China. 

Health authorities in Guangdong Province say these bird flu cases include a four year old girl from Zhaoqing, who is now in hospital in stable condition.

The others, a 76-year-old man from Yangjiang and a 52-year-old man from Huizhou, have both died.

So far this year, the virus has killed 28 people across China, while infecting at least 110 others.

Seven people have died from the virus since the beginning of the Spring Festival holiday.

 

China passenger plane tumbles on landing gear fault, no casualties

No injuries have been reported after an airplane's nose gear collapsed while on the runway in Henan's capital, Zhengzhou, on Tuesday.

The plane, with 44 people onboard, was taxiing after making a successful landing from Taiyuan when the front nose-gear gave way.

All 37-passangers and 7 crew members aboard the Joyair flight were evacuated successfully.

The incident shut down the airport in Zhengzhou for around 4-hours.

The cause of the nose gear failure is still unclear at this point.

The aircraft itself is a Chinese-made Xinzhou-60.

 

Lenovo Shares Drop 16-Percent After Acquisitions

Shares of Chinese computer maker Lenovo have tumbled 16-percent on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange following a number of acquisitions the company's investors have found questionable.

Lenovo struck two major deals worth 5.2-billion US dollars last month.

The company bought IBM's low-end business server division for over 2-billion dollars.

Lenovo also bought US mobile phone company Motorola Mobility from Google for nearly 3-billion.

However, investors have begun selling off Lenovo shares amid concerns about Motorola's profitability.

How Lenovo will incorporate the acquisitions into their corporate strategy remains a nagging question.

Market observers do note how Lenovo incorporated and turned around IBM's fledging personal computing division back in 2005.

Lenovo shares closed at 8-Hong Kong dollars-40 on Tuesday.

 

Microsoft's Change in Leadership

Microsoft has named its new chief executive officer, a 22-year company veteran.

Indian-born Satya Nadella led the creation of the company's cloud computing services, and now becomes the third CEO for the 39-year old company.

Nadella replaces Steve Ballmer as the head of the company.

Microsoft has also announced that Bill Gates will step down as chair.

Gates will instead assist Nadella by taking on a closer technological advisory role with the company.