DHAKA: Pope Francis, in a letter to Russian president Vladimir Putin for the G20 conference, on Thursday urged world leaders to ‘lay aside the futile pursuit of a military solution’ in Syria.‘Rather, let there be a renewed commitment to seek, with courage and determination, a

DHAKA: US president Barack Obama said on Thursday he and Japanese prime minister Shinzo Abe shared the view that chemical weapons use in Syria was a violation of international law that must be addressed.Obama and Abe met on the sidelines of a Group of 20 summit in St Petersburg as

DHAKA: Senior Muslim Brotherhood leader Amr Darrag condemned an assassination attempt on Egyptian interior minister Mohamed Ibrahim on Thursday.‘The bombing allegedly targeting the minister of interior today is regrettable and the alliance strongly condemns it,’ Darrag said in a

DHAKA: Highly radioactive water leaking from a storage tank at Japan’s crippled Fukushima nuclear power plant may have seeped into groundwater flowing towards the Pacific Ocean.The plant’s operator said Thursday, reports daily Hurriyet.It is the first time that Tokyo Electric Power

DHAKA: A pint-sized android has uttered the first robotic words in space, showcasing Japan`s drive to combine cutting-edge technology with cuteness.The wide-eyed and bootie-wearing ‘Kirobo’, roughly the size of a Chihuahua, broadcast a message from inside the International Space

DHAKA: A member of the military wing of Hamas was killed in a ‘Jihadist mission’ east of Gaza city on Thursday morning.Palestinian news agency Ma’an reported, says The Jerusalem Post.The Kassam Brigades member was identified by Gaza emergency services as 24-year-old Mohammad Lufi

DHAKA: Egyptian police killed two attackers who were trying to assassinate the interior minister in Cairo on Thursday.Egypt security officials said, reports The Jerusalem Post.Security sources had earlier said his convoy had been targeted by a bomb, but that the minister was unhurt.BDST:

DHAKA: The UN special envoy for Syria, Lakhdar Brahimi, will hold discussions on the sidelines of a Group of 20 summit to push for an international conference to be held on ending Syria’s civil war.UN secretary general Ban Ki-moon said in a statement that Brahimi was on his way to St

DHAKA: Dozens of people have been injured as more than 130 vehicles were involved in a series of crashes in thick fog on the A249 Sheppey crossing in Kent in England.Eight of those hurt in the collisions, which took place at about 07:15 BST, have serious injuries, reports the BBC.Early

DHAKA: Hezbollah is preparing to defend Damascus from an invasion by the Syrian rebels following a possible US strike, as well as preparing for retaliation against Israel if the situation in the area calls for it.Lebanese sources told Saudi newspaper Okaz on Thursday, reports The

DHAKA: A bomb wounded 11 people, mostly children, when it exploded outside a Pakistani girls’ school on Thursday, a doctor said.The bomb went off at the end of the school day as pupils walked into a street lined with fabric shops in the northwestern town of Bannu, which has been a

DHAKA: A blast near the home of the Egyptian interior minister in Cairo’s Nasr City district injured at least four people, but the minister was not nearby at the time.The cause of the blast, in an area just outside central Cairo, was not immediately clear, the sources said, reports The

DHAKA: Russia is warning that a United States strike on Syria’s atomic facilities might result in a nuclear catastrophe, and is urging the United Nations to present a risk analysis of such a scenario.The warning comes from Russia’s foreign ministry spokesman Alexander Lukashevich.He

DHAKA: China warned on Thursday that a military strike on Syria would hurt the global economy, in particular by causing oil prices to rise, and reiterated its calls for a political solution to the civil war.‘Military action would have a negative impact on the global economy, especially

DHAKA: US state secretary John Kerry said the US is building an international coalition for a possible military strike against Syrian president Bashar Assad’s regime, as punishment for an alleged chemical weapons attack that killed at least 1,400 people.‘We are building support with

DHAKA: The Egyptian army killed 20 al-Qaida-led Islamist terrorists and wounded 50 others in a military operation in Sinai in the past 48 hours.Egyptian newspaper Al Gomhuria reported on Thursday, reports The Jerusalem Post.An Egyptian military source told the paper that 95% of the

DHAKA: World leaders from the G20 group of nations are set to meet in Russia amid sharp differences over military action against Syria`s government.Ahead of the talks, Russia`s Vladimir Putin warned that action without UN approval would be "an aggression".But President Barack Obama said

DHAKA: Moscow Russian President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday called U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry a liar, claiming he had denied that al Qaeda was fighting with the Syrian opposition in that country`s civil war.Speaking to his human rights council, Putin recalled watching a

DHAKA: A US Senate panel has approved the use of military force in Syria, in response to an alleged chemical weapons attack.By a 10-7 vote, the Senate Foreign Relations Committee passed the resolution that authorizes a limited military response, giving Obama an initial victory in his push

DHAKA: Turkey’s envoy to Egypt, recalled last month after a crackdown on supporters of deposed Islamist president Mohamed Mursi, was returning to Cairo on Wednesday, but Egypt said it would not reciprocate until Turkey stopped its ‘interference’.Relations between Ankara and Cairo