DHAKA: More than a third of the world’s population, or 2.6 billion people, live in nations and territories gripped by repression, corruption and human rights abuses, with the worst being Syria, Tibet and Somalia.An advocacy group said on Wednesday, reports The Jerusalem Post.The year

DHAKA: US Secretary of State John Kerry will push China to rein in North Korea’s nuclear ambitions, as he meets with officials in Beijing.The visit follows North Korea’s claim that it had successfully tested a hydrogen bomb earlier this month.Kerry told reporters that Pyongyang was

DHAKA: Remote communities are not receiving the compensation they are entitled to from schemes designed to conserve tropical forests, a study suggests.People who depend on being able to harvest forest resources should receive payment under the schemes.But researchers say there is a

DHAKA: Donald Trump has said he will boycott the final Republican presidential debate before the Iowa caucuses.The maverick Republican frontrunner accused Fox News debate moderator Megyn Kelly, whom he has clashed with in the past, of being a ‘lightweight’.The unexpected move prompted

DHAKA: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has accused UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon of "encouraging terror".Referring to the Palestinians, Ban said it was human nature for oppressed people to react to occupation, reports the BBC.Speaking at the UN Security Council, Ban also

DHAKA: Pope Francis on Tuesday met Iranian President Hassan Rouhani and asked Tehran to work with other Middle East states to promote peace and stop the spread of terrorism and arms trafficking in the region.A Vatican statement issued after the meeting spoke of the ‘relevant role Iran

DHAKA: Iran wants to become a major exporting nation following the lifting of international sanctions.Iranian President Hassan Rouhani said on Tuesday, adding that economic growth was crucial to defeating extremism in the Middle East, reports The Jerusalem Post.Rouhani is on a four-day

DHAKA: An Afghan policeman drugged and shot dead 10 of his comrades in the central province of Uruzgan.An official said, reports Al Jazeera.‘The policeman who had connections with armed militants first poisoned his comrades and than shot all of them during the night in a checkpoint,’

DHAKA: Peace talks between the warring parties in Syria, which were scheduled to open on Jan. 25, will instead begin in Geneva on Jan. 29 and last for six months.The United Nations’ Syria envoy Staffan de Mistura has said, reports Hurriyet Daily News.De Mistura told reporters that the

DHAKA: Prime Minister David Cameron and German Chancellor Angela Merkel have spoken by phone and agreed progress has been made in Britain's renegotiation with the EU.Number 10 said both leaders saw there was genuine goodwill across Europe for Cameron’s aims, but accepted there was work

DHAKA: India is celebrating its 67th Republic Day on Tuesday with the ceremonial parade in ‘Rajpath’.President of France Francois Hollande will attend the event as a chief guest amidst unprecedented security in the wake of the attack on Pathankot air force base.Hollande will be the

DHAKA: At least 60 have died due to an unusually cold weather that caused record-low temperatures in Taiwan’s greater Taipei area.The Taipei government said the cold wave that pushed temperatures to a 16-year record low of 4 degrees Celsius (39.2 degrees Fahrenheit) in the capital was

DHAKA: Afghan President Ashraf Ghani has promised to "bury" the Islamic State (IS) militant group, whose local offshoot has clashed with government forces and Taliban fighters.In a BBC interview, Ghani said IS was "not an Afghan phenomenon" and its atrocities had "alienated the people",

DHAKA: A travel ban on cars in New York City has ended as the east coast of the US begins digging out from the weekend’s massive snowstorm.But in Washington DC, the metro is set to remain closed and air travel in the region faces further disruption, reports the BBC.As householders dug

DHAKA: Syrian pro-government forces recaptured the rebel-held town of Rabiya in the western coastal province of Latakia on Sunday.Syrian state television and a Britain-based monitoring group said, reports The Jerusalem Post.The advance, with the backing of Russian air strikes and directed

DHAKA: A magnitude-7.1 earthquake hit southern Alaska early Sunday (January 24), awakening residents and shaking buildings in this earthquake-prone region.The earthquake struck about 1:30am (Alaska time) and was centered 30 miles east of Pedro Bay and 160 miles southwest of Anchorage,

DHAKA: At least 19 people were reportedly declared dead in a massive blizzard in the East Coast of the United States. Life has come to a standstill in 11 states where "snow emergency" was declared on Saturday, a day after Winter Storm Jonas hit parts of the US, reports the ibtimes.co.inOf

DHAKA: A massive snowstorm has brought much of the eastern US to a standstill, affecting some 85 million people.The blizzard has dumped 40in (102cm) of snow in some areas, with 11 states declaring emergencies, reports the BBC.All non-essential travel is banned in New York, with officials

DHAKA: Islamic State (IS) militants have threatened attacks on Spain in their latest propaganda video, declaring, ‘We will recover our land from the invaders’.A map was previously shared showing the areas IS plans to have under control by 2020, including Spain and large parts of Asia

DHAKA: Iranian President Hassan Rouhani and visiting Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping said on Saturday (January 23) their countries had agreed to expand economic and political ties, calling it a ‘new season’ in bilateral relations.‘We are happy that President Xi visited Iran after the