DHAKA: Russian President Vladimir Putin has said he does not rule out granting political asylum to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, a long-time ally.In an interview with a German paper, he said political reforms were needed in Syria, including a new constitution.If the next poll was

DHAKA: Russian President Vladimir Putin said Syria needs to start working on a new constitution as a first step to finding a political solution to its civil war, though he acknowledged the process was likely to be difficult.Putin, who has thrown Russia’s support behind Syrian President

DHAKA: Citigroup Inc. chief economist Willem Buiter placed about a one-in-three chance on the UK voting to exit the European Union, as Prime Minister David Cameron struggles to wring concessions from his EU partners.Speaking to reporters in Dublin on Monday, Buiter said it’s ‘pretty

DHAKA: Hundreds of representatives from the army, parliament and ethnic armed groups are meeting for peace talks in Myanmar.It follows a ceasefire agreement, signed in October, between the outgoing government and eight armed groups.Aung Sang Suu Kyi, whose party won elections in November,

DHAKA: At least 10 people have been killed in an explosion in a district of Istanbul popular with tourists.The city authorities say, reports the BBC.The explosion occurred just after 10:00 local time (08:00 GMT) in the city’s historic Sultanahmet district, close to the Blue

DHAKA: A hospital supported by the Doctors Without Borders (MSF) in Yemen has been hit by a rocket killing at least four people.The charity says, reports Al Jazeera.The incident on Sunday, in the northern governorate of Saada near the Saudi Arabian border, also left another 10 people

DHAKA: Talks aimed at kickstarting negotiations for a final peace settlement in Afghanistan have begun in Pakistan.Monday’s meeting could revive a process that collapsed last summer after Afghanistan announced that Mullah Mohammad Omar, founder and leader of the Taliban, had died in a

DHAKA: The new leader of the government in the Spanish region of Catalonia has pledged to continue his predecessor Artur Mas’s plans to secede within 18 months.Carles Puigdemont was speaking in the regional assembly ahead of a vote that confirmed him in office by 70 votes in favor to 63

DHAKA: Mexico has formally started the process of extradition to the US of drug kingpin Joaquin ‘El Chapo’ Guzman.The authorities said Interpol officers served him papers at the Altiplano prison, near Mexico City.Guzman, 58, escaped from the maximum security jail in July and was

DHAKA: Arab foreign ministers on Sunday accused Iran of interfering in the affairs of other Middle East states and undermining regional security, as officials met at an emergency Arab League session to discuss escalating tensions in the region.The crisis between the Sunni Muslim kingdom

DHAKA: A ceremony has taken place in central Paris to remember those killed in the Charlie Hebdo attacks a year ago.President Hollande laid a wreath in the Place de la Republique, where a commemorative oak tree was unveiled, and a minute’s silence was observed, reports the BBC.In the

DHAKA: Thousands of protesters in Hong Kong have taken to the streets, demanding answers over the disappearance of a book editor and four of his colleagues.Sunday’s march is the largest since the publishers, linked to a shop selling political books critical of China’s communist party

DHAKA: Russian airstrikes on a prison complex run by Al-Qaeda’s Syrian affiliate killed at least 57 people and wounded 30 others, many critically, a monitor said, giving a revised toll.The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said Sunday’s air raids on an Al-Nusra Front building prison

DHAKA: Members of Catalonia’s assembly are due to choose a new regional president after pro-independence parties reached an agreement to form a coalition.The anti-capitalist CUP party and the Junts pel Si (Together for Yes) alliance are expected to elect Carles Puigdemont as regional

DHAKA: Riot police have used water cannon to disperse anti-migrant protesters in the German city of Cologne.Right-wing groups, headed by the anti-Islam Pegida movement, gathered after reports emerged of a wave of sexual assaults on women on New Year's Eve, reports the BBC.Violence flared

DHAKA: Israeli troops have killed two Palestinians during an alleged stabbing incident near the central West Bank city of Nablus as a wave of violence continues without pause.Ali Abu Mureem, 26, and Said Abu al-Wafa, 38, were both fatally shot by Israeli forces while allegedly attempting

DHAKA: An Islamic State (IS) militant carried out a public ‘execution’ of his mother because she asked him to leave the group.Activists say, reports the BBC.Ali Saqr, 21, killed his mother, Lena al-Qasem, 45, outside the post office in Raqqa, Syria, eyewitnesses said.Raqqa has served

DHAKA: Mexican police have recaptured Joaquin Guzman six months after the fugitive drug kingpin’s escape from prison.Guzman, the head of the powerful Sinaloa cartel, was Mexico’s most-wanted fugitive. He had escaped from a maximum security prison six months ago.‘Mission

DHAKA: German Chancellor Angela Merkel has said she will consider changes in the law to make it easier to deport migrants who commit crimes after sex attacks on women in Cologne.The attacks on New Year's Eve have shocked the country and sparked a debate about Germany's open-door policy on

DHAKA: A hospital in China has been bulldozed while still in use, reportedly causing doctors inside to flee and burying six bodies from its morgue under rubble, state media say.The Number Four Hospital of Zhengzhou University in Henan province was partially demolished on Thursday amid a