DHAKA: India’s new prime minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday said there should be no space in Parliament for criminals, where a record number of elected representatives face charges. Modi, who pledged a clean and efficient government to help revive the slowing economy, said lawmakers

DHAKA: Russian president Vladimir Putin accused Ukraine Wednesday of forcing gas talks into a ‘dead end’ by rejecting a price cut offer made amid a row threatening supplies to the rest of Europe. As Kiev demanded contract changes to lower the highest prices in Europe for Russian gas

DHAKA: The city of Tikrit has been seized by fighters from the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, security sources have said, the second Iraqi city to fall to the group in as many days. Sources told Al Jazeera on Wednesday that gunmen had set up checkpoints around the city, which is

DHAKA: In yet another callous statement on rapes, Maharashtra home minister RR Patil on Wednesday said that even if the government provides one policeman for every house, crime against women can’t be stopped. Patil, who was speaking in the Maharashtra legislative assembly, also added

DHAKA: Vietnam said on Wednesday a Chinese oil rig at the centre of an increasingly bitter territorial dispute appeared to be on the move again, as China denied Vietnamese accusations that it had sent warships to the scene. Scores of Vietnamese and Chinese ships, including coast guard

DHAKA: A court in Egypt has sentenced one of the country’s most prominent pro-democracy activists, Alaa Abdul Fattah, to 15 years in jail for illegal protest and attacking a police officer. Abdul Fattah’s family said the verdict was issued in absentia as he was refused entry into the

DHAKA: A delegation of Thai military commanders travelled to China on Wednesday for talks on regional security and joint training exercises amid Western unease over the Thai army’s seizure of power in a coup last month. General Surasak Kanjanarat, deputy permanent secretary for

DHAKA: Fifa president Sepp Blatter has been urged to quit next year because of the damage corruption allegations have inflicted on football's governing body. Michael van Praag, boss of the Dutch Football Association, told Blatter he should not seek re-election in 2015. "Few people still

DHAKA: More than 150,000 people have been forced to flee Iraq's second city of Mosul after Islamist militants effectively took control of it.   Troops were among those fleeing as hundreds of jihadists from the ISIS group overran it and much of the surrounding province of Nineveh. 

DHAKA: The government and rebels in South Sudan have agreed to end fighting and form a transitional government within 60 days.  The regional IGAD bloc, mediating the conflict, has threatened sanctions if they fail to abide by the agreement. It follows a rare meeting between President

DHAKA: Two men on a motorcycle shot dead on Monday a politician from the ruling party of Indian prime minister Narendra Modi in Uttar Pradesh, the second such killing in a week, prompting concern about lawlessness in the northern state. Omveer Singh, a local politician of the Bharatiya

DHAKA: The second attack on Pakistan’s Karachi Airport in as many days has ended, a spokesman for the Airport Security Force (ASF) said, adding that the two gunmen involved had escaped. ‘It was not such a big attack, two people came towards the ASF checkpost and started firing,’

DHAKA: The Israeli parliament has elected veteran Likud lawmaker Reuven Rivlin as the country’s next president. Rivlin, a former parliamentary speaker and Cabinet minister, defeated long-time legislator Meir Sheetrit, by 63 to 53 in a secret runoff ballot. He will succeed Shimon

DHAKA: A bus carrying Russian tourists plunged into a river in northern India on Tuesday, killing at least two and injuring eight. A local official said, reports The Straits Times. The bus was travelling to Gangotri, source of the Ganges, in the Himalayan state of Uttarakhand when it

DHAKA: Hundreds of activists protested in the Sri Lankan capital on Tuesday against India’s new prime minister Narendra Modi for urging the island to step up post-war reconciliation with ethnic minority Tamils. The pro-government protesters waved placards that read ‘Modi don’t be

DHAKA: Australia and Malaysia were on Tuesday set to discuss the next phase of the search for missing flight MH370, with the cost of the unprecedented mission on the agenda. Officials said, reports The Straits Times. Malaysia’s costs have so far been about one-tenth of the US$84

DHAKA: Militants have taken control of parts of Mosul, officials say, on a fifth day of fighting in the northern Iraqi city. Overnight, hundreds of men armed with rocket-propelled grenades, sniper rifles and machine-guns seized the provincial government’s headquarters. They also

DHAKA: A gun battle has erupted close to a Karachi air terminal one day after militants stormed Pakistan’s biggest and busiest airport, reports say.Local media say gunmen have attacked a training camp of the airport security forces.It is not clear if there are any casualties, reports

DHAKA: Five Nato soldiers have been killed in an incident in southern Afghanistan, the Nato-led force in the country says.The International Security Assistance Force (Isaf) says the incident took place on Monday but gave no details.The Isaf force currently has soldiers from 50

DHAKA: The Pakistani military has carried out air strikes in tribal areas in the north-west of the country, killing at least 15 militants.Officials say, reports the BBC.The raids destroyed nine militant positions in the Tirah Valley in Khyber district, the military said.The strikes came