DHAKA: Fifty-three heads of state and government have so far confirmed attendance at upcoming memorial events for peace icon Nelson Mandela.South African foreign minister Maite Nkoana-Mashabane said Sunday, reports The Straits Times.The dignitaries will include US president Barack Obama,

DHAKA: Experts from Iran and the six major powers overseeing a landmark interim nuclear agreement will meet Monday in Vienna to discuss its implementation with UN inspectors.An Iranian negotiator said, reports The Straits Times.‘On Monday, we will have another expert-level meeting with

DHAKA: Syrian regime forces made gains Sunday in the key town of Nabuk, one of the last rebel-held areas in the Qalamoun region bordering Lebanon, a watchdog said.‘There is fierce fighting in Nabuk between government forces, backed by Lebanese Hezbollah fighters, and Al Nusra Front and

DHAKA: Strong demand from Gulf countries for Lockheed Martin Corp’s F-35 fighter jet has prompted Washington to grapple with the thorny question about releasing the jet to the region sooner than expected.A senior US defence official said, reports daily Hurriyet.Washington has already

DHAKA: The funeral service of Nelson Mandela could be a ‘trap’ for Iranian president Hassan Rouhani because he could run into US president Barack Obama.A hardline Iranian daily warned Sunday, reports Turkish daily Hurriyet.The Islamic republic has yet to announce who will travel to

DHAKA: Several hundred thousand Ukrainians occupied a central square in the capital on Sunday, denouncing president Viktor Yanukovych’s decision to turn away from Europe and align this former Soviet republic with Russia.As widespread protests continued for a third week, Yanukovych’s

DHAKA: Atomic experts from the UN nuclear watchdog were at Iran’s Arak heavy water plant on Sunday to inspect it for the first time in more than two years, media reported.‘The IAEA experts started their visit to the Arak facility on Sunday morning,’ Fars news agency quoted Iran’s

DHAKA: Afghan president Hamid Karzai arrived in Iran for talks Sunday amid disagreement with the United States over a security accord that would allow some NATO forces to stay in Afghanistan.Karzai will meet president Hassan Rouhani, for the second time in four months in Tehran, and

DHAKA: Israeli president Shimon Peres said Sunday he would be prepared to meet his Iranian counterpart Hassan Rouhani, even though their two countries consider each other arch-enemies.Asked at an economic forum over a possible meeting, Peres replied, ‘Why not? I don’t have enemies.

DHAKA: The United Nations complained Sunday that Afghan authorities have been slow in enforcing a law protecting women against forced marriages, domestic violence and rape.A report issued by the UN mission in Afghanistan found that although Afghan authorities registered more reports of

DHAKA: Saudi authorities beheaded a Pakistani man on Sunday after he was convicted of smuggling drugs into the ultra-conservative Gulf state, the interior ministry said.Mohammed Zayer Khan Qol was arrested as he was ‘smuggling a large amount of heroin’ into the kingdom, said the

DHAKA: Fourteen prisoners alleged to have been held in secret and without charge by the Pakistani army have appeared before the Supreme Court in Islamabad.Six of the 14 men were identified by their relatives, who say they disappeared after being handed over to the military from a

DHAKA: An Egyptian court acquitted 155 people arrested during deadly clashes in the capital between Islamist protesters and police in October.Egypt state media reported Sunday, reports TDS.The Cairo misdemeanour court on Saturday dismissed the charges of assaulting policemen and vandalism

DHAKA: Inspectors from the UN nuclear agency were expected to visit on Sunday, for the first time in more than two years, the Arak heavy-water reactor in Iran.Two inspectors from the International Atomic Energy Agency arrived in Tehran on Saturday, reports The Jerusalem Post.In November,

DHAKA: About 50 survivors of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor paused on Saturday at the site to honour those killed and remember the moment that plunged the US into World War II.Alvis Taylor, 90, was serving as an Army medic when the attack began.His superiors, who were doctors, rushed

DHAKA: Gunmen attacked 12 liquor stores in Baghdad on Saturday, killing nine people, police said, the latest in a series of assaults on alcohol sellers in the capital.The attackers approached the stores in SUVs and shot dead people inside shops and supermarkets and wounded two.Police said

DHAKA: Thailand’s opposition MPs are to resign en masse, officials say, after weeks of anti-government protests.Opposition-backed street protesters have been trying to oust PM Yingluck Shinawatra, saying she is controlled by her brother, former PM Thaksin.Protest leader Suthep

DHAKA: South Korea on Sunday said it plans to expand its air defence zone to cover also two territorial islands and a rock reef, thereby partially overlapping a similar zone claimed by China last month in a move that sharply raised regional tensions.Beijing’s declaration of an air

DHAKA: Thai prime minister Yingluck Shinawatra proposed a referendum on her future on Sunday, promising to resign if that was what the people wanted, as anti-government protesters prepared for a final push to force her from power.Protesters have been on the streets of the capital for

DHAKA: The United States has proposed to the Israeli government a security plan for new borders with a future Palestinian state that games out an exhaustive list of possible threats.US state secretary John Kerry told the Brookings Institution’s Saban Forum on Saturday, The Jerusalem