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

DHAKA: Iran plans to increase its production of uranium enriched at a low level, its official news agency reported Thursday.IRNA quoted Ali Akbar Salehi, the head of Iran’s nuclear department, as saying machines which were earlier producing 20 percent enriched uranium will be engaged in

DHAKA: Japan’s coastguard said on Thursday it had flown through China’s newly declared air zone, with pilots meeting no resistance from Beijing’s jets.‘We’ve not changed our normal operation of patrolling the area where China declared its defence zone without reporting flight

DHAKA: Australia on Thursday refused to back down from its criticism of China’s newly declared air defence identification zone, denying it had overstepped the mark.Canberra on Tuesday summoned Beijing’s ambassador to voice opposition to the zone over the East China Sea, which includes

DHAKA: An Egyptian court sentenced on Wednesday 14 Muslim Brotherhood girls to 11 years in prison each after convicting them of blocking roads, possessing bladed weapons and vandalism, according to judicial sources.The Misdemeanor Court in the coastal city of Alexandria also ordered seven

DHAKA: A few years ago, Suthep Thaugsuban was a suit-and-tie wearing deputy prime minister of Thailand and a senior executive of the country’s oldest political party.Now, the 64-year-old career politician has ditched his office attire, distanced himself from the opposition Democrat

DHAKA: Thai prime minister Yingluck Shinawatra has survived a no-confidence vote in parliament, amid major street protests in the capital, Bangkok.The motion was brought by the opposition Democrat Party, but Yingluck’s Pheu Thai party dominate the chamber and voted it down.Yingluck’s

DHAKA: The foreign ministers of Turkey and Iran called Wednesday for a ceasefire in Syria before proposed peace talks in Geneva scheduled for January 22.‘All our efforts are to end the conflict and for a ceasefire if possible, even before the Geneva 2 conference takes place,’ said

DHAKA: The Philippines’ post-typhoon reconstruction could take as long as 10 years, with the leadership of president Benigno Aquino put to a test amid complex problems such as property rights, missing title deeds and land zoning.Experts said on Wednesday, reports The Straits Times.The

DHAKA: At least 20 people were killed and 35 wounded in bombings and shootings in Iraq on Wednesday, police and medical sources said, the latest in a string of attacks that threaten to tilt the country back into all-out sectarian warfare.Four suicide bombers targeted a police station in

DHAKA: Women refugees who escaped Syria’s conflict to find sanctuary in neighbouring Lebanon have been sexually harassed by employers, landlords and an employee of a local aid group.Human Rights Watch said on Wednesday, reports The Jerusalem Post.The organisation said it interviewed a

DHAKA: Latvia’s PM Valdis Dombrovskis has announced his resignation, and thereby the fall of his government, over the deadly collapse of a Riga supermarket.He made the announcement at a meeting with president Andris Berzins.‘Considering the tragedy and all related circumstances... a

DHAKA: After golf courses in the desert and a ski slope in a shopping mall, the United Arab Emirates is now turning its hand to farming cold water fish such as salmon.That’s the goal of one Abu Dhabi company which plans to farm the fish in chilled onshore pools at prices that can

DHAKA: Saudi authorities are reassessing a controversial ban on the right for women to drive in the ultra-conservative kingdom, activists said on Wednesday, citing the interior minister.‘Rest assured that the issue is being discussed, and expect a good outcome,’ Prince Mohammad Bin

DHAKA: North Korea has accused the United States of ignoring its wish to settle the problem of its nuclear programme through negotiations and of disrupting the negotiating process.‘The US improper behaviour of deliberately creating obstacles in the way of resuming the (six-part) talks

DHAKA: Libya has deported more than 500 African immigrants, state news agency Lana said, sending them to Niger as it tries to tackle an influx of refugees and Islamist militants.Western powers fear Libya has become a safe haven for al Qaeda fighters as its government struggles to rein in

DHAKA: A severe cyclone was headed towards the south-eastern coast of India, the meteorological department said Wednesday.The ‘very severe cyclonic storm’ Lehar was expected to be accompanied by winds with speed of up to 170 kilometres per hour when it made landfall on Thursday

DHAKA: A Paris appeal court on Wednesday upheld the right of a nursery to fire a female employee who insisted on wearing an Islamic headscarf at work.In the latest round of a long-running legal battle, the court overturned a controversial March 2013 ruling that the ‘Baby-Wolf’

DHAKA: Pakistan’s prime minister chose the brother of a dead war hero to be the next army chief on Wednesday, promoting an experienced general to arguably the most powerful position in the country.Pakistan prime minister Nawaz Sharif’s decision to appoint General Raheel Sharif, which