DHAKA: Only 14 percent of voters believe Rahul Gandhi would make the best prime minister for India, a survey found on Thursday, just days after his endorsement by outgoing Congress premier Manmohan Singh.The survey for The Times of India found 58 percent of respondents want Narendra Modi,

DHAKA: Germany said on Thursday it had accepted a UN request to destroy remnants of Syria’s chemical weapons on its own soil as part of a bid to eliminate the arsenal by June 30.‘The government decided following a request by the UN-Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons

DHAKA: Central African Republic (CAR) interim leader Michel Djotodia is expected to face pressure to step down when he attends a regional summit on Thursday.His failure to quell violence between Christian and Muslim militias has prompted speculation that he may quit.However, CAR officials

DHAKA: Islamist rebels have captured the headquarters of the al-Qaeda-affiliated Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIS) in the Syrian city of Aleppo.The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said it was not clear what had happened to the jihadists who had been at the hospital in the

DHAKA: Haiti police have arrested three people after detectives recovered at least 10 bodies in a remote area apparently used by a gang to execute motocycle-taxi drivers it robbed, a police official has said.Investigators from the Haitian National Police and the UN police division found

DHAKA: At least five people were killed and 12 others injured in an explosion at a chemical factory in central Japan, said police sources. The blast occurred at a plant run by Mitsubishi Materials in the town of Yokkaichi in Mie prefecture.Maintenance crews were working on a heat

DHAKA: The deep freeze that has left people in North America shivering for days, shattering century-old temperature records, is loosening its icy grip.The mercury is rising in the US Midwest and East, which has borne the brunt of the so-called polar vortex, but was still below freezing in

DHAKA: The world’s chemical watchdog called on Wednesday for Syria to speed up operations to hand over its arsenal for destruction, after missing a key deadline.‘We are exhorting the Syrian government to intensify its efforts, so we can conclude this critical part of the mission

DHAKA: Gaza’s Hamas government freed seven imprisoned Fatah members Wednesday, as part of efforts to mend relations between the Islamist movement and its West Bank-based Palestinian rival, officials said.‘The release of these condemned men comes as part of the prime minister`s

DHAKA: More than 13,000 families have fled Fallujah in the past few days amid clashes and shelling after the city fell to Al-Qaeda-linked militants.The Iraqi Red Crescent said on Wednesday, reports The Straits Times.‘Most of them are now living in schools, public buildings or with

DHAKA: Indian women have now figured right on top in an infamous list - smoking.In a shocking trend, India has now more female smokers, over 12.1 million, than any country except the United States, reports The Times of India.In 2012, female smoking prevalence was 3.2%, which is virtually

DHAKA: Iraq’s prime minister vowed to uproot al-Qaida and said he was sure of victory as his army prepared to launch a major military assault against Sunni Islamist militants in the city of Falluja.In a televised address on Wednesday, Nuri al-Maliki also thanked the international

DHAKA: Germany saw a boost to its population last year due to the biggest influx of immigrants in two decades, mainly from Europe’s crisis-hit countries, according to official estimates published on Wednesday.The announcement came as the German cabinet debated whether the country needed

DHAKA: In further retaliatory steps over the arrest of diplomat Devyani Khobragade, India has asked the US to ‘discontinue’ commercial activities being undertaken from its embassy premises in New Delhi by January 16.India`s action comes ahead of the January 13 deadline for the

DHAKA: Masked gunmen remained in control of Iraq’s Fallujah on Wednesday even as traffic police returned to the city’s streets after a jihadist group urged Sunnis to keep fighting the Shia-led government.Fallujah and parts of the Anbar provincial capital Ramadi farther west have been

DHAKA: Asylum-seekers trying to reach Australia claimed on Wednesday that members of the Australian navy subjected them to verbal and physical mistreatment as their boat was towed back to Indonesia.One of the migrants, Yousif Ibrahim from Sudan, said they were handcuffed, called insulting

DHAKA: A prominent Saudi religious scholar has been criticised and praised in equal measures after he waded into a controversy over gifts to women in the media.Mohammad Al Arefi said that he offered gifts to 100 actors, singers and radio hosts and that he was thankful to them for

DHAKA: Fighters from several Syrian rebel brigades have seized the headquarters of the jihadist Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant in the main northern city of Aleppo.An NGO said Wednesday, reports TDS.‘Fighters from several Islamist rebel brigades took control of the children’s

DHAKA: Egyptian security officials say bad weather has delayed ousted president Mohammed Mursi’s helicopter flight from a prison in the country’s north to Cairo for the resumption of his trial on charges of inciting murder.Mursi is being held in a prison near the Mediterranean city of

DHAKA: The UN human rights agency urged Cambodia to launch an investigation into the ‘disproportionate’ use of force by security forces last week against garment factory workers striking over pay.Military police opened fire on workers protesting outside a factory in Phnom Penh on