DHAKA: Iran’s parliament, dominated by conservatives, strongly endorsed president Hassan Rohani’s diplomatic bid to break down mistrust at the United Nations in New York last week, which ended with an historic phone call with US president Barack Obama, Iranian media said.The backing

DHAKA: US president Barack Obama has cancelled two stops on his four-nation Asian tour because of the government shutdown.The White House said Obama would not now visit Malaysia and the Philippines but would still travel to Indonesia and Brunei.Malaysia had already announced Obama would

DHAKA: Welcoming suggestions of Pakistani clerics regarding a ceasefire prior to peace talks, the Pakistani Taliban Tuesday night announced that they would reconsider their stance if the government was ready for a break in fighting.Ulema (clerics) and representatives of various religious

DHAKA: Gunmen shot down an Iraqi helicopter on Wednesday killing four security forces members during a military operation against militants in the desert.Army officers said, reports The Straits Times.The dead were two crew members and two soldiers who were on board when the helicopter was

DHAKA: Five Muslims have been killed in sectarian clashes in western Myanmar, according to a new police toll on Wednesday, after a mob of hundreds of Buddhists went on a rampage.‘The death toll rose to five - four men and a woman,’ a local police officer told media, adding that the

DHAKA: Somalia’s al-Shabab Islamists threatened Wednesday to step up militant attacks against Kenya, after Nairobi refused to pull its troops out of Somalia.The Al-Qaeda linked Shabab claimed responsibility for last week’s attack on Nairobi’s Westgate shopping mall, in which at

DHAKA: The United States and South Korea signed a new strategy to deter North Korea’s possible use of nuclear arms and other weapons of mass destruction to enhance response effectiveness amid growing threats from Pyongyang.Their defence chiefs said on Wednesday, reports The Jerusalem

DHAKA: US President Barack Obama has called off his trip to Malaysia to tackle the US government shutdown, the office of Malaysia`s PM Najib Razak has said.Secretary of State John Kerry will represent him next week instead, the office said.The US government has partially shut down after

DHAKA: A chemical weapons disarmament team has arrived in Damascus to begin evaluating the country`s arsenal of the banned weapons.The inspectors from The Hague-based Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons travelled by road from Lebanon on Tuesday, a day after UN experts

DHAKA: Pope Francis has held his first meeting with a special group of cardinals to consider ways to reform the Vatican.The group, known as the Vatican G8, has been chosen from outside the Holy See`s administration to ensure independence.Made up of eight cardinals picked by Francis from

DHAKA: Sweden is the best place in the world to be old and Afghanistan the worst, according to an UN-backed global study.The Global AgeWatch Index examined the quality of life of the elderly in 91 nations. Norway and Germany made up the top spots, with the UK in 13th place.The index warns

DHAKA: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has warned against working with the Iranian government.In a speech to the UN General Assembly, he described President Hassan Rouhani as a "wolf in sheep`s clothing".He said Israel would not allow Iran to develop nuclear weapons, even if it

DHAKA: US President Barack Obama has vowed not to allow Republicans to undermine his signature healthcare legislation as a condition to restart the US government.The government has partially shut down after the two houses of Congress failed to agree to a new budget, with Republicans

DHAKA: Italy`s parliament is due to hold a vote of confidence in the governing coalition, with an attempt to topple PM Enrico Letta appearing to falter.The vote was called after Silvio Berlusconi ordered ministers in his centre-right People of Freedom party (PDL) to leave the

DHAKA: One in eight people around the world is chronically undernourished, the United Nations’ food agencies said on Tuesday, warning world leaders that some regions would fail in halving the number of hungry by 2015.In their latest report on food insecurity, the UN agencies estimated

DHAKA: Indian police on Tuesday arrested three officials working for the Mumbai city government over the collapse of an apartment block last week that killed 60 people.The accident happened early on Friday while more than 90 people were inside the building owned by the Municipal

DHAKA: Astronomers have created the first map of the clouds on a planet outside our Solar System.The planet in question is Kepler-7b, a large gaseous world like Jupiter, roughly 1,000 light-years away.The researchers used data from Nasa’s Spitzer and Kepler space telescopes to study the

DHAKA: A Saudi man, whose brother was killed when a religious police patrol crashed into their car during a hot pursuit last week, died on Tuesday of his injuries, his family said.Saud al-Qaws died from wounds sustained in the chase, just hours after the funeral of his brother Nasser, who

DHAKA: A patriotic Russian group on Tuesday called for president Vladimir Putin to be awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for his Syria diplomacy, claiming he was more deserving of the award than 2009’s laureate, United States president Barack Obama.A group that lists senior Russian officials

DHAKA: Syria’s president Bashar al-Assad will remain in office, and has the right to decide to run for reelection next year, information minister Omran al-Zohbi said on Tuesday.‘Syria is staying put: the state, the nation, the people and the president. This is the Syrians’