DHAKA: The United States will have to negotiate with Syrian president Bashar al-Assad for a political transition in Syria and is exploring ways to pressure him into agreeing to talks. US Secretary of State John Kerry told CBS News in an interview, reports The Straits Times. Washington

DHAKA: At least five people were killed and 40 others injured when Taliban suicide attackers targeted two packed churches during mass on Sunday in Pakistan’s biggest Christian neighborhood in Lahore, the capital of Punjab. The attackers targeted Roman Catholic Church and Christ Church

DHAKA: The United States embassy in Saudi Arabia said it had suspended consular services in the kingdom for two days due to ‘heightened security concerns’, after warning of threats against Western oil workers.All services in Riyadh and at the consulates in Jeddah and Dhahran have

DHAKA: China is falling short of its people’s expectations in battling smog, Premier Li Keqiang said on Sunday, one week after the authorities blocked a scathing documentary on the country’s air pollution problem.Li, who is second only to president Xi Jinping in the Communist

DHAKA: Egypt’s state media reports that a disciplinary court has ordered 41 judges into compulsory retirement for supporting the outlawed Muslim Brotherhood.The Disciplinary Council headed by Nabil Zaki, a judge, did not immediately release the reason for its decision on Saturday,

DHAKA: Kurdish authorities in Iraq said they have evidence that fighters of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) used chlorine gas as a chemical weapon against their peshmerga forces.The Kurdistan Region Security Council (KRSC) said in a statement on Saturday that

DHAKA: The president of Vanuatu said most of his people are homeless after the devastating cyclone that hit the Pacific island nation on Friday.Speaking from Japan, Baldwin Londsdale told that most of the buildings in the capital Port Vila had been destroyed by Cyclone Pam, reports the

DHAKA: A tour bus has plunged off a cliff in southern Brazil, killing at least 32 people.Police say the bus, carrying about 50 people, fell down the 400m (1,300ft) cliff near the city of Joinville in Santa Catarina state.Rescue teams are on site and police say there are still people

DHAKA: China has summoned the Myanmar ambassador for a meeting in Beijing after a bomb from a Myanmar aircraft fell in Chinese territory and killed four Chinese people. China’s foreign ministry said on Saturday, reports The Straits Times. Myanmar government forces have been battling

DHAKA: US president Barack Obama is ‘committed’ to a two-state solution for Israel and Palestinians.US Secretary of State John Kerry said Saturday on the stalled Middle East peace process, reports The Straits Times.‘The position of the United States with respect to our long

DHAKA: Police in eastern India said Saturday they were investigating the gang-rape of a 75-year-old nun by burglars who broke into the convent school where she lived.Two people have been arrested in connection with the alleged attack on Friday night, when 12 men broke into the convent

DHAKA: India prime minister Narendra Modi landed in Jaffna on Saturday, making a highly symbolic first visit by an Indian prime minister to Sri Lanka’s war-ravaged northern Tamil heartland after urging greater autonomy for the island’s largest minority.The Jaffna peninsula in Sri

DHAKA: Pope Francis has suggested he may resign his papacy like his predecessor, rather than remain at the Vatican for life. The pontiff made the comments during a interview with Mexican television, marking the second anniversary of his election. ‘I have the feeling that my

DHAKA: Pope Francis has suggested he may resign his papacy like his predecessor, rather than remain at the Vatican for life. The pontiff made the comments during a interview with Mexican television, marking the second anniversary of his election. ‘I have the feeling that my

DHAKA: A passenger ferry has sunk off the coast of western Myanmar, leaving at least 21 people dead and 26 missing.Police said on Saturday, reports The Straits Times.The Aung Takon ferry was carrying more than 200 passengers from Kyaukphyu to Sittwe in western Rakhine state when it went

DHAKA: Cyclone Pam has intensified as it hits Vanuatu, with dozens feared dead in the outer islands. The category five storm landed in Vanuatu on Friday bringing flooding and evacuation orders, the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs says. 'There were no

DHAKA: Iraqi forces hope to retake the city of Tikrit from Islamic State (IS) within a week, a commander said.The head of one of the Shia militia brigades fighting alongside government forces said that IS militants still held about 70% of Tikrit's town centre, reports BBC.But he said

DHAKA: Germany’s highest court has struck down a state’s ban on teachers wearing headscarves as unconstitutional, saying that it violates guaranteed religious freedoms.The Federal Constitutional Court ruled Friday in favor of two female Muslim teachers from the state of North

DHAKA: Swedish prosecutors have offered to travel to London to question Wikileaks founder Julian Assange over sex assault allegations.Sweden sought Assange’s arrest in 2010. Prosecutors had previously insisted on questioning him in Sweden.Assange denies the assault claims and has been

DHAKA: U.S. efforts to counter China's growing influence in Asia have been dealt a blow following a decision by the U.K. to join a new China-backed financial institution modeled on the World Bank.Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne said Thursday that the U.K. has applied to