DHAKA: Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas will ask for $4 billion for reconstruction in Gaza following the recent 50-day war between Israel and Gaza’s Hamas rulers.Donor countries are deciding on aid to Gaza on October 12, reports the NDTV.Palestinian officials say more than 60,000

RIYADH: "Labbaik Allahumma Labbaik" (O God, here I am, answering your call) are being reverberated in the air of Arafat on Friday.Sources said that more than two million Muslim pilgrims from around the world ascended Mount Arafat in western Saudi Arabia at the climax of the annual

DHAKA:  Protesters in Hong Kong have accepted an offer of talks with the government after a week of unrest.Chief Executive CY Leung Leung offered the talks with his deputy late on Thursday but rejected calls to resign.The protesters, angry at China's plan to vet election candidates,

DHAKA: UK Prime Minister David Cameron has arrived in Kabul for talks with new Afghan President Ashraf Ghani. Cameron said British armed forces had paid a "very high price" for their involvement in Afghanistan. As he arrived, the prime minister said Britain had gone "a long way" towards

DHAKA: The Australian cabinet has given its approval for fighter jets to join the US-led military action against Islamic State targets in Iraq.Prime Minister Tony Abbott said IS was a "death cult" that had "declared war on the world" and must be stopped.IS controls a broad swathe of

DHAKA: Turkey's parliament has authorised the government to carry out cross-border military operations in Iraq and Syria to fight the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) and other armed groups.Thursday's vote also allows foreign soldiers to be stationed in Turkey and to use

DHAKA: Hong Kong's Chief Executive CY Leung says he will not resign, but has offered talks between his government and pro-democracy protesters, BBC reports. The leaders of mass demonstrations have welcomed proposed talks, but still insist that Leung should step down.The protesters are

DHAKA: Lawyers for the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge have asked a photographer to "cease harassing" Prince George, BBC reports. A Kensington Palace statement said they were prompted to take action after the man was spotted near the 14-month-old and his nanny in a central London

DHAKA: Russian president Vladimir Putin dismissed Western sanctions as ‘utter foolishness’ on Thursday and said they would not stop Russia developing into a stronger economic power.Attempting to take the higher ground in a speech to foreign and Russian investors, Putin said he was

DHAKA: Cape Town’s mayor has ‘suspended’ a planned summit of Nobel peace laureates, blaming the South African government’s ‘intransigence’ in refusing to grant a visa to the Dalai Lama.South Africa has three times turned down a request to grant the exiled Tibetan spiritual

DHAKA: The Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) launched attacks on Iraqi bases in two western towns that left at least 17 members of the security forces and 40 jihadists dead.Security and medical sources said on Thursday, reports daily Hurriyet.Seven policemen and four soldiers

DHAKA: Lawyers for the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge have asked a photographer to ‘cease harassing’ Prince George and his nanny.A Kensington Palace statement said they were prompted to take action after the man was spotted near the 14-month-old in a central London park.It said,

DHAKA: Islamic State (IS) insurgents in Iraq have carried out mass executions, abducted women and girls as sex slaves, and used child soldiers in what may amount to systematic war crimes that demand prosecution.The United Nations said on Thursday, reports The Straits Times.A report,

DHAKA: Fourteen infants have died at the Burdwan Medical College and Hospital in India’s West Bengal state in the past 24 hours.Hospital deputy superintendent Dr Tapas Kumar Ghosh said six infants died between midnight last night till 6:00am Thursday, while eight others died

DHAKA: The Dalai Lama indicated Thursday he was in informal talks with China to make a historic pilgrimage to Tibet after more than half a century in exile.The Tibetan spiritual leader said he had ‘made clear’ his desire to undertake the pilgrimage to a sacred mountain in his

RIYADH: Over two million pilgrims started marching to Mina as the ceremonial activities of hajj, one of five essentially-performed duties of Islam, scheduled to begin on Friday.The pilgrims will perform hajj activities for next five days.This year Bangladeshi pilgrims are performing

DHAKA: US President Barack Obama has told Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Washington's deep concerns over an Israeli plan to build 2,600 new settler homes in East Jerusalem. Obama raised the development in face-to-face talks in the Oval Office on Wednesday, White House

DHAKA: Over 120 Islamic scholars from around the world, many of them leading Muslim voices in their own countries, have issued an open letter denouncing militants of the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS) and refuting their religious arguments. An array of Muslim leaders and groups

DHAKA: China's Foreign Minister Wang Yi has warned against "illegal" protests in Hong Kong, amid major pro-democracy rallies in the territory. Wang, in Washington, said the matter was an "internal affair" for China. US counterpart John Kerry urged Hong Kong to handle the protests - seen

DHAKA: A shell has killed four people at a school in the rebel-held east Ukrainian city of Donetsk in Ukraine, on the first day of classes, BBC reports. Another six people died when a minibus was hit elsewhere in Donetsk.No children were apparently hurt when the school playground was