ALMATY - Six world powers ended two days of talks with Iran on its nuclear programme without a breakthrough yesterday, but agreed to meet in Istanbul and resume negotiations in Kazakhstan on April 5. The six powers - France, Germany, the United States, China Russia and Britain - offered at the talks to lift some sanctions if Iran scaled back nuclear activity that the West fears could be used to build a bomb. Tehran did not agree to do so and the sides did not appear any closer to an agreement. Reuters
GENEVA - - Switzerland is proposing a ban on cash payments in excess of 100,000 francs (HK$834,000), including on watches and real estate, and wants to tighten the due diligence requirements for banks to prevent money laundering. Transactions above that amount would have to be processed through a bank, the government said in a draft law presented in Bern. Political parties and interest groups will now be able to comment on the proposal. Bloomberg
ANKARA - Imprisoned Kurdish rebel leader Abdullah Ocalan has outlined a peace plan with Turkey in which his fighters may declare a ceasefire by March and withdraw from Turkey by August, Turkish media reported. Turkey's government said in December that it was engaged in talks with Ocalan, who has been held in prison since 1999, with the aim of convincing his rebel group to end the 28-year-old conflict and to disarm. AP