DHAKA: A court in Vietnam has sentenced 30 people to death over heroin smuggling in what is said to be the largest such trial ever held in the country.The trial, over the smuggling of nearly two tonnes of heroin, began in Quang Ninh province in early January.Dozens of others were also

DHAKA: Syria’s president Bashar al-Assad said there is a ‘significant’ chance he will seek a new term and ruled out sharing power with the opposition seeking his ouster, in an exclusive interview with media before the Geneva II peace talks.Speaking on Sunday at his presidential

DHAKA: The European Union’s foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton said on Monday she hopes a new round of negotiations with Iran on a definitive settlement to a decade-old nuclear standoff could start within a few weeks.‘Depending on how things work out today, I hope that we will

DHAKA: The Al-Qaeda-linked Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant has reached out to other rebel groups in Syria to head off infighting, in an audio message posted online Sunday.‘Today, the (Islamic) state is reaching out to you to stop fighting us, to focus on fighting the nusairiyah,’

DHAKA: Indian government minister Shashi Tharoor appeared before a magistrate probing the death of his wife days after she accused him of adultery.In a case that has become an election-year political embarrassment for the ruling Congress party, Tharoor’s wife was found dead in a luxury

DHAKA: Edward Snowden may have acted in concert with a foreign power in exposing United States surveillance programs.Two Republican lawmakers suggested on Sunday, The Straits Times publishes this report on Monday.‘I think there are some interesting questions we have to answer that

DHAKA: Iran has begun curbing uranium enrichment, state TV says, under an agreement which will also trigger an easing of international sanctions.Centrifuges used for enrichment were disconnected at the Nantaz plant, according to TV, reports the BBC.The move is part of a deal reached with

DHAKA: At least eight people were killed and many feared injured in a bomb blast near the RA Bazaar in Rawalpindi on Monday, DawnNews reported.The site of the 10 kilogram bomb explosion also lies near the General Headquarters of the Pakistani military.The injured were being taken to

DHAKA: China`s economy, the world`s second-largest, grew at its slowest pace in 14 years in 2013, latest figures show.Its gross domestic product (GDP) expanded 7.7% from a year ago, the slowest pace of growth since 1999.The growth rate was better than the government`s target of 7.5%. The

DHAKA: Ukraine`s President Viktor Yanukovych has agreed to negotiate with pro-EU protesters and opposition leaders after violent clashes in the capital Kiev.He said a cross-party commission would be set up on Monday to try to resolve the deepening crisis. Opposition leaders confirmed

DHAKA: UN chief Ban Ki-moon has invited Iran to take part in preliminary Syrian peace talks in the Swiss city of Montreux on Wednesday, an offer Tehran has accepted.Mr Ban said he believed Iran "needs to be part of the solution to the Syria crisis".He also said he had received assurances

DHAKA: Afghanistan’s National Security Council, which is chaired by president Hamid Karzai, on Sunday accused ‘foreign intelligence services’ of being behind the deadly attack on a Kabul restaurant, in an apparent reference to Pakistan.‘The NSC said such sophisticated and complex

DHAKA: Russia on Sunday welcomed a decision by Syria’s opposition to attend an international peace conference next week alongside representatives of a regime they seek to overthrow.‘That is the right decision, we’ve have always said that one has to go to the forum and enter into

DHAKA: Swathed in a white turban and robes, Eissa Abdel Majid sits in his militia barracks on the edge of the desert describing a losing battle to stem the flow of armed militants with suspected links to al-Qaeda, who use it as a freeway across northern Africa.He says he’s fed up with

DHAKA: Tens of thousands of Ukrainian pro-EU demonstrators have gathered in the capital Kiev in defiance of new laws aimed at curbing public protests.They braved freezing temperatures to pack into the city’s Independence Square, with some sporting pots or colanders to mock a ban on

DHAKA: Britons named the anti-European Union UK Independence Party as their favourite political party in a poll on Sunday, dealing a setback to British prime minister David Cameron ahead of elections to the European Parliament.The survey came days after another poll showed Cameron’s

DHAKA: The office of Syria’s president Bashar al-Assad denied comments attributed to him Sunday by a Russian news agency which quoted him as saying his departure is not up for discussion.‘What the Russian news agency Interfax has published as comments made by president Assad are

DHAKA: Deposed Egyptian president Mohamed Mursi will face trial on charges of insulting the judiciary, a judicial source said on Sunday, a signal that Egyptian authorities have no intention of easing a crackdown on his Muslim Brotherhood.Egypt has been stepping up pressure on the movement

DHAKA: Malaysia’s King gave his backing on Sunday to a court ruling barring non-Muslims from using the word ‘Allah’ to refer to God, weighing in for the first time on an issue that has fanned religious tensions in the multi-cultural country.Sultan Abdul Halim Mu’adzam, whose role

DHAKA: A proposed new Egyptian constitution has been backed by 98.1% of people who voted in a referendum, officials say.Turnout was 38.6% of the 53 million eligible voters, the election committee said.The draft constitution replaces one introduced by Islamist president Mohammed Mursi