DHAKA: An Indian author whose memoir about her dramatic escape from the Taliban became a Bollywood movie was shot dead by militants in Afghanistan, police said Thursday.Sushmita Banerjee, also known as Sushmita Bandhopadhya, was killed outside her home in Paktika province, according to

DHAKA: As the ramifications of a grisly chemical weapons attack loom over a summit of world leaders, some of Syria`s staunchest friends blasted what they call the "arrogance" of U.S.-led efforts to strike the war-torn nation and said those who do will pay a steep price.Iran`s Ayatollah

DHAKA: An Indian woman, who wrote a popular memoir about her escape from the Taliban, has been shot dead in Afghanistan by suspected militants, police say.Sushmita Banerjee, who was married to an Afghan businessman, was killed outside her home in Paktika province, reports the BBC.The book

DHAKA: The United Arab Emirates has the ‘vainest’ skyscrapers in the world, a report measuring the extent of spires and other height-boosting additions to the top of buildings said on Thursday.The Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat (CTBUH) said unusable space at the top of

DHAKA: World powers will refrain from raising pressure on Iran at a UN nuclear meeting next week to give its new moderate president time to show he is serious about moves to reduce tensions over its atomic activity.Western diplomats say, reports The Jerusalem Post.But they stressed that

DHAKA: Iranian president Hassan Rouhani on Thursday said the foreign ministry would lead nuclear negotiations with world powers.Iran’s state news agency IRNA reported, says The Jerusalem Post.Negotiations have previously been conducted by the head of the country’s Supreme National

DHAKA: Thousands of Indonesian workers rallied in Jakarta on Thursday to demand an increase in wages of 50 percent next year, Bloomberg reported. Inflation, which is at a four-year high, has driven up living costs.About 20,000 workers from the Confederation of Indonesian Labour Unions

DHAKA: The driver of a car used in an attempt to blow up Egypt’s interior minister died during the attack on Thursday.A senior security official told the state-run Al-Ahram newspaper, reports The Jerusalem Post.Osama al-Saghir, head of Cairo security, said the minister’s armoured

DHAKA: More than 400 million Chinese are unable to speak the national language Mandarin, and large numbers in the rest of the country speak it badly.China state media said on Thursday, as the government launched another push for linguistic unity, reports The Straits Times.China’s ruling

DHAKA: Iran will support Syria ‘to the end’ in the face of a possible US-led military strike against the regime of Syrian president Bashar Assad as punishment for his alleged use of chemical weapons against civilians.The commander of the Islamic Republic’s Quds Force vowed on

DHAKA: Egypt’s interior minister said a bomb attack on his convoy on Thursday was ‘not the end but the beginning’ of a new wave of terrorism, but that the authorities would win out.Responding to a question on whether the attack marked the start of ‘a new wave of terrorism’,

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