DHAKA: French president Francois Hollande landed in Israel on Sunday for a visit set to be dominated by the issue of world talks with Iran on its disputed nuclear programme.The visit, Hollande’s first since he became president in 2012, will also see him travelling to the Palestinian

DHAKA: Afghan villagers discovered on Sunday the beheaded bodies of six government contractors in the country’s insurgency-racked south, the apparent victims of Taliban insurgents who regularly target state projects, officials said.Meanwhile, the death toll from a suicide vehicle bomb

DHAKA: Three Syrians have been killed by border troops while seeking to cross into Turkey through the southeastern province of Mardin.The Syrian intruders, who were trying to walk over a mined area on the border, were shot dead on November 17 by Turkish soldiers, according to Doğan News

DHAKA: Syria’s air force struck Qara near the Lebanese border on Sunday as loyalist forces tried to storm the town where rebels have taken up positions.A monitoring group said, reports Turkish daily Hurriyet.‘Since the morning, the town of Qara has been hit by air strikes. Warplanes

DHAKA: A powerful 7.8-magnitude undersea earthquake struck in the Scotia Sea, a remote region in the far south Atlantic near Antarctica.United States earthquake monitors reported Sunday, reports The Straits Times.The quake struck at 9.04am GMT in the ocean some 893km south-west of

DHAKA: South Africa’s Nelson Mandela remains ‘quite ill’ and is unable to speak, using facial expressions to communicate as he receives intensive medical care at home.His former wife told Sunday media, reports The Times of India.Winnie Madikizela-Mandela said the 95-year-old was not

DHAKA: The secretary-general of the world’s largest bloc of Islamic countries said emotional visits with members of the long-persecuted Rohingya Muslim community, chased from their homes in Myanmar by Buddhist mobs and arsonists, brought him to tears.‘I’ve never had such a

DHAKA: The heavy rains that have been lashing the Saudi capital have claimed at least three lives.Saudi civil defence officials said in Riyadh on Sunday, reports gulfnews.com.Two men and one woman died in the floods caused by the rains on Saturday, a civil defence official was quoted as

DHAKA: Thousands of trucks blocked motorways across France on Saturday in protest at the government’s controversial plans for a tax on heavy vehicles, causing hours of delays.Police estimated 2,000 trucks while organisers said 4,000 lined motorways, driving slowly and clogging up

DHAKA: Pakistan on Sunday ordered an inquiry into sectarian violence in the garrison city of Rawalpindi that killed nine people, injured 60 and sparked clashes around the country, officials said.Fighting erupted on Friday in the garrison-city, which neighbours the capital Islamabad, when

DHAKA: Nine axe-wielding assailants have been shot dead during an attack on a police station in China’s volatile western Xinjiang province, state media say.Xinhua news agency reports that two auxiliary police officers died in Saturday’s clashes in Bachu county’s Serikbuya, near the

DHAKA: Commonwealth leaders wrapped up a summit in Sri Lanka on Sunday, putting on a united front after talks dominated by a bitter dispute over war crimes.Leaders were expected to issue joint statements on issues such as debt management and funding to combat the threat which smaller

DHAKA: US defence secretary Chuck Hagel sounded an alarm bell about budget cuts he said threaten America’s security and global military role, while ‘gambling’ over the risk of an unexpected threat.The cuts, which amount to nearly US$1 trillion for the Department of Defence (DoD)

DHAKA: Devastating floods have killed at least 34 people and left 11 others missing in central Vietnam, local authorities said on Sunday, describing the deluge as the worst for over a decade.Television footage on Sunday showed inundated houses and streets in the town of Hoi An and the

DHAKA: There has been renewed fighting between rival militias on the outskirts of the Libyan capital, Tripoli, a day after at least 43 people died in clashes.The latest violence in the suburb of Tajoura, involving local militiamen and fighters from Misrata, left one dead.Friday`s clashes

DHAKA: Abdulla Yameen has won the presidential election run-off vote in the Maldives, officials say.Mr Yameen secured 51.3% of the vote, compared with 48.6% for ex-President Mohamed Nasheed, the Election Commission said.Mr Nasheed had won 47% in the first round this month, just short of

DHAKA: Tens of thousands of people have protested in Italy`s southern city of Naples against illegal dumping of toxic waste blamed on the local mafia.Demonstrators carried photos of relatives who they said had died of cancer as a result of the pollution.Locals call the area between Naples

DHAKA: Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa has reacted defiantly to the UK`s call for an inquiry into alleged human rights abuses, saying "people in glass houses shouldn`t throw stones".He was speaking on the second day of the Commonwealth summit in Sri Lanka.British PM David Cameron

DHAKA: A 48-hour state of emergency has been declared in the Libyan capital, Tripoli, after a fresh wave of clashes broke out following a deadly protest against armed groups.At least one person was killed and dozens wounded in Saturday`s clashes that took place a day after more than 40

DHAKA: The president of Iraqi Kurdistan visited southeastern Turkey for the first time in two decades on Saturday, a trip meant to shore up support for a flagging Kurdish peace process there and bolster Turkey’s influence across its troubled southern borders.Thousands gathered as Masoud