DHAKA: Afghan government officials have proposed reintroducing public stoning as a punishment for adultery, Human Rights Watch said, even though the practice has been denounced both inside and outside the country as one of the most repugnant symbols of the Taliban regime.The sentence for

DHAKA: France’s foreign minister said Monday the European Union would likely lift some sanctions on Iran in December, as part of a hard-won deal that curbs Tehran’s nuclear programme.Laurent Fabius also said Israel, which blasted Sunday’s agreement as a ‘historic mistake’, was

DHAKA: Fierce clashes broke out on Monday between army special forces and fighters from Libya’s top jihadist group in the eastern city of Benghazi, killing at least five soldiers, officials said.The army declared a ‘state of alert’ and ordered all soldiers to report for duty at

DHAKA: Washington’s point man on North Korea on Monday hinted at more sanctions against Pyongyang over its atomic weapons programme in the wake of Iran`s nuclear deal with world powers.Glyn Davies, the US special representative for North Korea policy, said he hoped quickening diplomacy

DHAKA: Rescuers on Monday searched for 25 sailors missing after two cargo ships sank off China’s east coast in separate incidents, killing at least one crew member.A ship with 14 crew members that was registered in the eastern port city of Tianjin sank early on Monday because of large

DHAKA: A quake with a magnitude of 6.6 struck the South Atlantic south-east of Britain`s Falkland Islands on Monday.The United States Geological Survey said, reports The Straits Times.The USGS put the epicentre of the quake 320km south-east of Stanley, the capital of the Falklands, which

DHAKA: An Australian family has reclaimed their Guinness World Record by stringing up more than half a million Christmas lights around their suburban home.Guinness World Records official Chris Sheedy confirmed on Monday that the Richards family of Canberra set the record for Christmas

DHAKA: A Chinese government worker in the ancient Silk Road oasis of Kashgar beckons two women to her streetside stand and logs their details under the gaze of a surveillance camera. Their offence: wearing veils.The ‘Project Beauty’ campaign aims to discourage women from covering

DHAKA: Tens of thousands of anti-government demonstrators marched through the tense Thai capital on Monday in an escalation of mass street rallies aiming to topple prime minister Yingluck Shinawatra’s embattled government.The protests against Yingluck and her brother, ousted premier

DHAKA: Canada is ‘deeply sceptical’ about Iran’s intentions, Canadian foreign affairs minister John Baird said.‘Every diplomatic (effort) should be taken to ensure that Iran never obtains a nuclear weapon,’ Baird said, reports The Jerusalem Post.He added that effective sanctions

DHAKA: Prominent Iranian-Americans praised the Iranian nuclear deal as a significant first step in what they hope will be a broader rapprochement between Iran and the international community.While the deal will give a psychological boost to many Iranians and provide momentum to moderate

DHAKA: A young Saudi woman on Sunday urged a Yemeni court to let her stay and marry the man she loves, defying norms in both deeply conservative countries.In a case reminiscent of Shakespeare’s star-crossed lovers Romeo and Juliet, Huda al-Niran, 22, defied her family and crossed the

DHAKA: The Taliban on Sunday condemned the endorsement by an Afghan assembly of a security agreement with the United States, calling it a ‘pact of slavery’.The militants said in a statement that the deal, which sets conditions for US troops to stay in Afghanistan after Nato pulls out

DHAKA: A senior western official said on Sunday that relief on EU sanctions on oil shipping insurance was included in a deal between Iran and six world powers over its disputed nuclear programme.‘Insurance on oil shipments is included’ in the agreement reached earlier on Sunday

DHAKA: The United Arab Emirates on Sunday welcomed Iran`s deal with six world powers to restrain its nuclear programme.UAE state news agency WAM said, reports The Jerusalem Post.‘The cabinet hopes this would represent a step towards a permanent agreement that preserves the stability of

DHAKA: In what appears to be a gruesome case of corporal punishment, a three-year-old student of a pre-primary school in Saroornagar was allegedly locked in an empty room for more than four hours for three days.The child is believed to be in a state of shock and depression.The parents

DHAKA: The top commander of the so-called Free Syrian Army Riad al-Asaad went missing in Turkey almost 10 days ago, according to Iranian media reports.The report, which surfaced on Iran’s Al-Alam, said the news was announced by the commander’s family.Asaad was reportedly about to have

DHAKA: French lawmakers will next week consider a bill that punishes the clients of prostitutes and has sparked fierce debate in a country with a long history of liberal attitudes to sex.The bill, which the government says is aimed at preventing violence against women, has come under fire

DHAKA: People in the Middle East will lose sleep over a nuclear deal between global powers and Iran, a Saudi foreign policy adviser said on Sunday, signalling the deep unease Sunni Muslim Gulf states have over Western rapprochement with their Shia foe.At the time the adviser spoke, Saudi

DHAKA: Iran struck a historic deal on Sunday with the United States and five other world powers, agreeing to a temporary freeze of its nuclear programme in the most significant agreement between Washington and Tehran after more than three decades of estrangement.The deal commits Iran to