DHAKA: Swiss voters on Sunday overwhelmingly rejected a referendum calling for an end to the country’s military draft, with 73 percent casting ballots against the plan, exit polls showed.In a country whose part-time army is ingrained in the national image, and seen abroad as being as

DHAKA: North Korea on Sunday angrily denied reports that it had executed several state performers to cover up the past of its first lady Ri Sol-ju, calling the media accounts an ‘unpardonable’ crime.The denial came a day after the North indefinitely postponed reunions for families

DHAKA: Bo Xilai, who was sentenced to life in prison for corruption on Sunday, has indicated that his verdict was unjust and is expected to launch an appeal, said a lawyer with direct knowledge of the case.Bo, former Politburo member and Chongqing city party leader, was convicted of

DHAKA: A bomb blast outside a church in the Pakistani city of Peshawar has killed at least 60 people and injured more than 100 others, officials say.They say two suicide bombers blew themselves up as people were coming out after Sunday Mass.The victims were said to include women and

DHAKA: Russia on Sunday criticised what it said were Western attempts to use a Syrian chemical arms disarmament deal to seek a UN resolution threatening force against president Bashar Assad’s government.‘They see in the US-Russian deal not a chance to save the planet from significant

DHAKA: Iran’s foreign minister, Mohammad Javad Zarif, will lead nuclear talks with world powers, a move that would see the experienced pragmatist succeed a conservative who had overseen a hardening of Tehran`s position.Iran’s Fars news agency reported on Sunday, says The Jerusalem

DHAKA: Israeli forces on Sunday joined Kenyan efforts to end a deadly siege by Somali militants at a Nairobi shopping mall.A security source told media, reports The Straits Times.‘The Israelis have just entered and they are rescuing the hostages and the injured,’ the source told media

DHAKA: The death toll from an attack in northeastern Nigeria that saw insurgents dressed as soldiers set up checkpoints and gun down travellers on a highway has risen to at least 142.A Nigeria official said on Sunday, reports The Straits Times.‘We recovered 55 bodies on Wednesday and 87

DHAKA: Iran paraded 30 missiles with a nominal range of 2,000km on Sunday, the first time it had displayed so many with the theoretical capacity to hit Israeli targets.Iran displayed 12 Sejil and 18 Ghadr missiles at the annual parade marking the anniversary of the outbreak of the 1980-88

DHAKA: Saudi women activists have called for a new day of defiance next month of the long-standing ban on women driving in the ultra-conservative kingdom.An online petition entitled ‘Oct 26th, driving for women’ had on Sunday gathered more than 5,800 signatories, as activists try

DHAKA: A mortar shell landed in the compound of the Russian embassy in central Damascus on Sunday but there was no immediate report of casualties.The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said, reports The Jerusalem Post.Rebels fighting to overthrow Syria’s president Bashar Assad have

DHAKA: French police have seized a record haul of 1.3 tonnes of pure cocaine found on board an Air France passenger plane.France interior minister Manuel Valls announced, reports The Straits Times.The drugs, seized on September 11, had been packed into 30 suitcases, Valls told a news

DHAKA: Turkish parliament speaker Cemil Cicek on Saturday departed Ankara to hold a two-day visit in Iran during which he was set to meet with various leaders of the Islamic Republic.Turkish daily Hurriyet reported, says The Jerusalem Post.Cicek met with his Iranian counterpart Ali

DHAKA: Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov on Sunday accused the United States of blackmailing Russia to support a tough United Nations resolution against Syria, and said the West is blinded by the idea of regime change in the war-torn country.‘Our American partners are beginning to

DHAKA: Iranian president Hassan Rohani said Sunday that any deal with the West would have to recognise Iran’s right to enrich uranium, as a record number of Iranian missiles capable of striking Israel were displayed at a military parade.The new Iranian president said on Sunday that

DHAKA: A bomb blast outside a church in the Pakistani city of Peshawar has killed at least 40 people and injured more than 40, medics say.A bomb disposal officer said two suicide bombers blew themselves up outside the church when people were coming out after Sunday Mass.The victims were

DHAKA: At least 59 people were killed and 175 injured in Saturday’s attack on a Nairobi shopping centre.A Kenyan government minister has said, reports the BBC.Joe Lenku said 1,000 people had managed to escape from the Westgate centre after the assault by suspected al-Shabab militants.He

DHAKA: A Chinese court has sentenced former leading politician Bo Xilai to life in prison after finding him guilty on charges of graft, accepting bribes and abuse of power.The Jinan Intermediate People`s Court announced the verdict against Bo on Sunday. It also ordered that all his

DHAKA: At least 65 people have been killed in car bombings targeting a funeral in the Iraqi capital, officials said.Police said a first car bomb went off near a funeral tent for a Shia man in the Baghdad neighbourhood of Sadr City on Saturday afternoon. A suicide bomber driving a car then

DHAKA: Two Indians were amongst those killed in a 26/11 style terror attack on an upscale mall in Nairobi in Kenya on Saturday. Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson Syed Akbaruddin tweeted to say that four others were also injured in the attack."4 Indians including 2 women, male