DHAKA: A Vatican advance team is expected in Israel in the near future to plan for a likely papal visit in late May.Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu, who will fly to Rome on Sunday and meet Pope Francis the next morning, will extend a formal invitation for him to visit the Holy

DHAKA: A Japanese court has ordered public broadcaster NHK to pay US$10,000 (S$12,500) in damages to an indigenous Taiwanese woman for defaming her by using the term "human zoo" in a programme, officials said on Friday.Overturning a lower court ruling, the Tokyo High Court ordered NHK on

DHAKA: A Malaysian high court on Friday jailed three family members who suffocated their two-year-old to death by piling on top of her in a suspected exorcism ritual.Chua Wan Zuen, aged two, died after being pinned down under a blanket in August last year with eight people, including her

DHAKA: Protesters in Thailand have forced their way into the army headquarters compound, as anti-government rallies went into a sixth day.More protesters gathered outside ruling party headquarters, as part of efforts to force the government to step down, reports BBC.On Thursday, Prime

DHAKA: At least 30 people have been killed in an explosion at a weapons depot in southern Libya, officials say.The blast is believed to have occurred after a group of people, reportedly including African immigrants, were trying to steal copper, reports BBC.A hospital near the depot in

DHAKA: An earthquake with a preliminary magnitude of 5.6 struck a town Thursday in southern Iran, killing seven people while causing no damage at the country`s only nuclear power plant, state television reported.The U.S. Geological Survey said the temblor struck some 8.7 miles northeast

DHAKA: The head of a supermarket chain in Latvia has lost his job over controversial comments he made after the collapse of a shop in Riga.Gintaras Jasinskas, chairman of Maxima Latvia, sparked anger by saying: "It is those who feel guilty who resign.", reports BBC.His remarks came after

DHAKA: China has sent warplanes to its newly declared air defence zone in the East China Sea, state media reports.The vast zone, announced last week, covers territory claimed by China, Japan, Taiwan and South Korea.China has said all planes transiting the zone must file flight plans and

DHAKA: Attacks in Iraq on Thursday killed 15 people as a senior police officer escaped assassination, the latest in a surge of violence nationwide that authorities have failed to stem.The bloodshed, in which more than 6,000 people have been killed this year, is the worst violence in Iraq

DHAKA: Sri Lanka is set to start a survey to determine the number of people killed during the country’s 26-year civil war, the government says.The census will collect information on deaths, missing people and damage to property from 1983 to 2009, it said.It comes amid international

DHAKA: More than 50 Tunisian police officers were injured, two seriously, during clashes with demonstrators in the north-central farming town of Siliana.Tunisia interior ministry said Thursday, reports The Voice of Russia.The clashes broke out Wednesday evening as the town held a general

DHAKA: Thailand has registered the first clash between pro- and anti-government demonstrators as crowds blocked off state agencies across the country, calling on the prime minister to step down.The clash took place Thursday in the central province of Pathum Thani where a hundred of

DHAKA: UN Arab League envoy Lakhdar Brahimi has admitted that there will be no cease-fire in Syria as sides wait to attend the long-awaited Geneva peace conference.Brahimi said both sides of Syria’s civil war now agreed that there was no military solution to the conflict.‘Some time

DHAKA: Russian investigators on Thursday brought criminal charges against former defence minister Anatoly Serdyukov, who was fired a year ago in a major corruption scandal.The once influential minister was charged with negligence for ordering the refurbishment of a private holiday

DHAKA: Six civilians were killed and some injured on Thursday when two bombs exploded in eastern Afghanistan, a local official said.‘A bomb was placed in a car and second one was a roadside bomb, but it is not yet clear if they were remotely detonated,’ said Ahmad Zia Abdulzai, a

DHAKA: The managing editor of Indian investigative magazine Tehelka quit Thursday after coming under fire over her handling of allegations that the publication’s founder sexually assaulted a reporter.In an email to staff, Shoma Chaudhury denied being part of a ‘cover-up’ to protect

DHAKA: Iran unveiled its newest domestically manufactured phased array radar system, named the Asr (Era), in a ceremony held in Tehran on Wednesday.The commander of the Navy, Rear Admiral Habibollah Sayyari, and the deputy commander of the Iranian Armed Forces, Brigadier General

DHAKA: With one thunderous crash, Brazil’s troubled preparations for the World Cup are thrown in the spotlight for all the wrong reasons, just as soccer gears up for the high-profile setting of the schedule for next year’s big event.Part of the stadium that will host the

DHAKA: Malala Yousafzai, the Pakistani teenager shot in the head by the Taliban for campaigning for girls’ education, has been named as Britain’s most influential Asian by a weekly publication in the UK.At the ‘GG2 (Garavi Gujarat2) Leadership Awards 2013’ last night, Malala,

DHAKA: Turkey’s ambassador to Cairo has returned home after being expelled in a diplomatic spat over Ankara’s support for Egypt’s ousted Islamist president.Turkey’s foreign ministry said Thursday, reports daily Hurriyet.The row erupted at the weekend after Turkish prime minister