DHAKA: The United States has concluded Syria carried out chemical weapons attacks against its people, President Barack Obama said Wednesday, a claim that comes amid a looming diplomatic showdown over whether to strike against Bashar al-Assad`s military.Obama`s declaration to "PBS

DHAKA: NATO Secretary-General Anders Fogh Rasmussen has said that a variety of sources pointed to president Bashar al-Assad`s forces being responsible for the use of chemical weapons in Syria.Speaking after a meeting of NATO ambassadors in Brussels, Rasmussen said any use of such weapons

DHAKA: Envoys from Britain, China, France, Russia and the United States started talks on Wednesday on a British drafted UN Security Council resolution that could allow military action against Syrian president Bashar al-Assad.Diplomats said, reports The Straits Times.Britain wants the

DHAKA: Egypt should not ban the Muslim Brotherhood or exclude it from the political process after the army’s overthrow of Mohamed Mursi, the interim prime minister said, in a softening of state rhetoric against the group.The apparent about-turn adds to speculation that the government is

DHAKA: Iraqi premier Nuri al-Maliki dismissed Western military action in neighbouring Syria as a ‘dead end’ on Wednesday as he put his own country on high alert ahead of widely-expected strikes.His remarks came as the United States and its allies weigh military intervention in Syria

DHAKA: Iraqi premier Nuri al-Maliki dismissed Western military action in neighbouring Syria as a ‘dead end’ on Wednesday as he put his own country on high alert ahead of widely-expected strikes.His remarks came as the United States and its allies weigh military intervention in Syria

DHAKA: Iran has installed hundreds more centrifuges that could enable it to enrich uranium faster since May, a UN atomic watchdog report showed on Wednesday, as long-stalled talks were due to resume.‘Iran has continued to install IR-2m centrifuges in one of the units’ at the Natanz

DHAKA: The UK prime minister David Cameron has held an emergency meeting on Syria, after Britain drafted a UN Security Council resolution authorising ‘necessary measures’ to protect civilians in the country.David Cameron said the resolution condemned the ‘chemical weapons attack by

DHAKA: Pope Francis has phoned an Argentine woman to comfort her and tell her she is not alone after she wrote a letter to him saying she was raped by a policeman.Pope Francis has brought an informal, friendly style to the papacy since his election in March, including a habit of

DHAKA: United Nations inspectors, in Syria to determine whether forces have used chemical weapons in the civil war, need four days to conclude their investigation and time to analyse the findings.UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said on Wednesday, reports The Straits Times.‘They are

DHAKA: Israel is deploying all of its missile defences as a precaution against possible Syrian retaliatory attacks should Western powers carry out threatened strikes on Syria.Israeli Army Radio said on Wednesday, reports The Straits Times.Citing secrecy requirements, it did not give

DHAKA: Best-selling Indian novelist Chetan Bhagat faced nationwide anger on social media sites on Wednesday after tweeting that the country’s plunging currency had been ‘raped’.The comments by Bhagat, known for his romantic, funny novels which are popular with India`s middle-class

DHAKA: The UN atomic agency and Iran will hold a new round of talks in late September over Tehran’s disputed nuclear programme.This will be the first such meeting since relative moderate Hassan Rouhani took office as Iranian president.The meeting has been set for September 27, a

DHAKA: Any US military action taken in response to apparent chemical weapons attacks in Syria would need to be approved by the UN Security Council.Syria international envoy Lakhdar Brahimi said on Wednesday, reports The Jerusalem Post.‘I think international law is clear on this.

DHAKA: Germany on Wednesday urged states, especially Russia, to support a British draft resolution to the UN Security Council condemning attacks by Syrian president Bashar Assad and authorising ‘necessary measures’ to protect civilians.‘We welcome the British initiative to get the

DHAKA: The French parliament will hold an extraordinary session on Wednesday to discuss the situation in Syria.French government spokeswoman Najat Vallaud-Belkacem said, reports The Jerusalem Post.‘The president has taken the decision to summon parliament on Wednesday to assess the

DHAKA: Egypt’s interim cabinet will approve a plan on Wednesday to stimulate the economy over the next nine months.Al-Ahram newspaper quoted Egypt’s planning minister Ashraf al-Arabi as saying, reports The Straits Times.The government has said it plans to avoid raising taxes or

DHAKA: Coordinated bombings ripped through mostly Shia neighbourhoods in the Baghdad area during rush hour on Wednesday, killing at least 65 people, the latest in spiralling violence in recent months.More than a dozen explosions-most of them car bombs, but also at least two suicide

DHAKA: China has confirmed its police conducted a raid last week on an alleged terrorist cell in the restive north-western region of Xinjiang.Officials have refused to discuss the bloody August 20 incident. Details about the death toll and identities of those killed remain

DHAKA: The UK is to put a resolution to the UN Security Council later on Wednesday ‘authorising necessary measures to protect civilians’ in Syria.The resolution will be put forward at a meeting of the five permanent members of the council, UK prime minister David Cameron said on