DHAKA: Iran Expediency Council Chairman Ayatollah Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani said that the use of weapons of mass destruction, including chemical weapons, by any individual, group, or government is condemned and forbidden.He also denied the comments attributed to him accusing the Syrian

DHAKA: Hundreds of Syrian Christians gathered in Damascus on Saturday to pray for peace and protest against possible US military intervention, responding to a call by Pope Francis for a day of prayer and fasting.During a six-hour service at the al-Zeitouna Church, an ornate Roman Catholic

DHAKA: A Nato airstrike in the eastern Afghan province of Kunar has killed 15 people including nine civilians, Afghan officials say.But a Nato spokeswoman told the BBC that a precision attack killed 10 insurgents and that she had no reports of civilians dying.The Taliban frequently launch

DHAKA: The presidential elections in the Maldives will go to a second round after frontrunner Mohamed Nasheed failed to win an outright majority.Mohamed Nasheed obtained 45% but needed more than 50% to avoid a run-off against his rival, Abdulla Yameen, who got 25% of the vote.After

DHAKA: Cambodia`s ruling People`s Party (CPP) has been confirmed the winner of a general election which was marred by fraud allegations.The election commission said Prime Minister Hun Sen`s CPP won 68 seats, compared to 55 for the opposition Cambodia National Rescue Party.The televised

DHAKA: Australia`s opposition has crushed the governing Labor party in a general election that has returned the Liberal-National coalition to power for the first time in six years.The coalition won 88 seats to Labor`s 57 in the 150-seat parliament.Liberal leader Tony Abbott, who will be

DHAKA: The US state department has said that it was ‘very concerned’ over a move by Bahrain forbid foreign diplomats to meet with political groups without government permission.‘We plan to meet with Bahraini officials in the coming days to raise our concerns and to seek further

DHAKA: The United States has extended for six months waivers on Iran sanctions to Japan and 10 countries of the European Union in exchange for their reduced petroleum purchases from the Islamic republic.US state secretary John Kerry said on Friday, reports The Jerusalem Post.The sanctions

DHAKA; An interpreter for the wife of Syrian president Bashar al-Assad, Mihran Bertizlian, took shelter in Armenia four months ago in order to secure his family’s safety.Asma al-Assad’s interpreter, who is a Syrian citizen of Armenian origin, told the Turkish daily Hürriyet in

DHAKA: A German newspaper is reporting that a team of United Nations chemical weapons inspectors could submit initial findings from its tests of samples collected in Syria by the end of next week.The respected weekly Frankfurter Allgemeine Sonntagszeitung says the interim report to UN

DHAKA: An Egyptian prosecutor levelled new accusations against Mohamed Mursi, already facing trial on other charges, alleging the toppled president had insulted the country`s judiciary when he was in office.Egypt’s state media reported on Saturday, says Turkish daily Hurriyet.The

DHAKA: US state secretary John Kerry welcomed a European Union statement on Saturday that said there appeared to be strong evidence that the Syrian government carried out a chemical attack on civilians in August.‘We are very grateful for the statement that came out of the meeting today

DHAKA: A protest erupted on Saturday after Indian police said they killed two alleged militants and two civilians in the disputed Himalayan territory of Kashmir, while authorities maintained tight security for a classical music concert being staged amid separatist objections.Inspector

DHAKA: Australian prime minister Kevin Rudd announced he would step down as Labor chief after a heavy defeat to the conservatives in national elections on Saturday following years of leadership ructions.‘I will not be recontesting the leadership of the parliamentary Labor Party,’ Rudd

DHAKA: Inaction is not an option for the United States in Syria after a horrendous chemical attack, president Barack Obama has said as he urged holdout legislators to back a military strike.‘We are the United States of America. We cannot turn a blind eye to images like the ones we`ve

DHAKA: Egyptian military engineers defused on Saturday mortar rounds rigged to explode on a railroad linking the canal cities of Ismailiya and Suez, security officials said.Police called in the military experts after residents of a village near the railroad spotted the bomb, the officials

DHAKA: Tony Abbott’s Liberal-National coalition appears on course for a decisive win in Australia`s general election.Early counting showed a swing to the opposition coalition in several states, with exit polls forecasting it would secure a lower house majority.Public broadcaster ABC’s

DHAKA: Indian lawmakers have passed a long-awaited bill to ban manual scavenging, the clearing of human waste from toilets, by workers seen as the ‘ultimate untouchables’ under the country’s ancient Hindu caste-hierarchy.Already illegal under a largely ineffective 1993 law, the

DHAKA: New fighting has broken out between rebels and regime forces on the outskirts of the Christian town of Maalula in Syria.A watchdog said on Saturday, reports The Straits Times.‘There are clashes just inside the town in the western district between Popular Committees (militia) and

DHAKA: Chinese president Xi Jinping on Saturday will oversee China’s entry into Kashagan, a vast oilfield in Kazakhstan, as he tours post-Soviet Central Asia to secure hydrocarbons for the world`s largest energy consumer.The US$5 billion deal further increases China’s rising clout in