DHAKA: A few years ago, Suthep Thaugsuban was a suit-and-tie wearing deputy prime minister of Thailand and a senior executive of the country’s oldest political party.Now, the 64-year-old career politician has ditched his office attire, distanced himself from the opposition Democrat

DHAKA: Thai prime minister Yingluck Shinawatra has survived a no-confidence vote in parliament, amid major street protests in the capital, Bangkok.The motion was brought by the opposition Democrat Party, but Yingluck’s Pheu Thai party dominate the chamber and voted it down.Yingluck’s

DHAKA: The foreign ministers of Turkey and Iran called Wednesday for a ceasefire in Syria before proposed peace talks in Geneva scheduled for January 22.‘All our efforts are to end the conflict and for a ceasefire if possible, even before the Geneva 2 conference takes place,’ said

DHAKA: The Philippines’ post-typhoon reconstruction could take as long as 10 years, with the leadership of president Benigno Aquino put to a test amid complex problems such as property rights, missing title deeds and land zoning.Experts said on Wednesday, reports The Straits Times.The

DHAKA: At least 20 people were killed and 35 wounded in bombings and shootings in Iraq on Wednesday, police and medical sources said, the latest in a string of attacks that threaten to tilt the country back into all-out sectarian warfare.Four suicide bombers targeted a police station in

DHAKA: Women refugees who escaped Syria’s conflict to find sanctuary in neighbouring Lebanon have been sexually harassed by employers, landlords and an employee of a local aid group.Human Rights Watch said on Wednesday, reports The Jerusalem Post.The organisation said it interviewed a

DHAKA: Latvia’s PM Valdis Dombrovskis has announced his resignation, and thereby the fall of his government, over the deadly collapse of a Riga supermarket.He made the announcement at a meeting with president Andris Berzins.‘Considering the tragedy and all related circumstances... a

DHAKA: After golf courses in the desert and a ski slope in a shopping mall, the United Arab Emirates is now turning its hand to farming cold water fish such as salmon.That’s the goal of one Abu Dhabi company which plans to farm the fish in chilled onshore pools at prices that can

DHAKA: Saudi authorities are reassessing a controversial ban on the right for women to drive in the ultra-conservative kingdom, activists said on Wednesday, citing the interior minister.‘Rest assured that the issue is being discussed, and expect a good outcome,’ Prince Mohammad Bin

DHAKA: North Korea has accused the United States of ignoring its wish to settle the problem of its nuclear programme through negotiations and of disrupting the negotiating process.‘The US improper behaviour of deliberately creating obstacles in the way of resuming the (six-part) talks

DHAKA: Libya has deported more than 500 African immigrants, state news agency Lana said, sending them to Niger as it tries to tackle an influx of refugees and Islamist militants.Western powers fear Libya has become a safe haven for al Qaeda fighters as its government struggles to rein in

DHAKA: A severe cyclone was headed towards the south-eastern coast of India, the meteorological department said Wednesday.The ‘very severe cyclonic storm’ Lehar was expected to be accompanied by winds with speed of up to 170 kilometres per hour when it made landfall on Thursday

DHAKA: A Paris appeal court on Wednesday upheld the right of a nursery to fire a female employee who insisted on wearing an Islamic headscarf at work.In the latest round of a long-running legal battle, the court overturned a controversial March 2013 ruling that the ‘Baby-Wolf’

DHAKA: Pakistan’s prime minister chose the brother of a dead war hero to be the next army chief on Wednesday, promoting an experienced general to arguably the most powerful position in the country.Pakistan prime minister Nawaz Sharif’s decision to appoint General Raheel Sharif, which

DHAKA: Hundreds of Turks have crossed the border into Syria to fight with Al-Qaeda linked jihadists against the Damascus regime, according to a Turkish interior ministry report.Turkey’s government, which is fiercely opposed to president Bashar al-Assad, has come under fire for allegedly

DHAKA: The Syrian government says it will participate in UN-sponsored peace talks aimed at ending the country’s civil war, but insists that it is not going to the conference to hand over power.The United Nations announced Monday that the long-delayed peace negotiations will begin

DHAKA: Ethiopia has flown home over 50,000 citizens in Saudi Arabia after a crackdown against illegal immigrants in the oil-rich state.Ethiopian foreign ministry said Wednesday, reports The Straits Times.‘We projected the initial number to be 10,000 but it is increasing,’ foreign

DHAKA: China said its new measures over the air defence zone should not affect regular flights of commercial aircraft crossing the area.China has ‘adequate resolve and ability to protect its sovereign rights and national safety’, by enforcing the new air defence zone in the East China

DHAKA: Iran will press on with construction at a nuclear reactor site at Arak, Iranian foreign minister Mohammed Javad Zarif said on Wednesday, despite an agreement with Western powers to halt activity.The uncompleted heavy-water research reactor emerged as one of several crucial issues

DHAKA: The first book written in what is today the United States of America fetched $14.2 million in New York on Tuesday, becoming the world’s most expensive printed book sold at auction.The translation of Biblical psalms ‘The Bay Psalm Book’ was printed by Puritan settlers in