DHAKA: The leader of Nepal’s Maoist party, who appears to have lost in this week’s national election, demanded on Thursday that the vote counting be stopped because of what he called massive irregularities.The irregularities occurred during transporting of ballot boxes and also during

DHAKA: Iran would not suspend its uranium enrichment activities says Iran’s deputy foreign minister Abbas Araqchi.Speaking a day after talks with world powers resumed in Geneva, Araqchi told reporters on Thursday Iran would not suspend its uranium enrichment activities, saying it was a

DHAKA: Egyptian army chief Abdel Fattah Sisi, who deposed elected president Mohamed Mursi in July following mass protests, said he did not rule out running for the presidency.Asked if he was a candidate for the job, Sisi replied ‘let’s see what the days bring us’ in an interview

DHAKA: France’s foreign minister said on Thursday the West needed to be firm in its dealings with Iran over the country’s nuclear programme, but he was hopeful an accord could be struck this week.‘I hope so,’ Laurent Fabius told France 2 television when asked if there could be a

DHAKA: A US envoy urged North Korea on Thursday to resolve the issue of American citizens detained by the reclusive country, among them an 85-year-old Korean War veteran from California and Kenneth Bae, a Korean-American Christian missionary.US Special Representative for North Korea

DHAKA: Six mortar shells landed near a remote Saudi border post close to Iraq and Kuwait on Wednesday, but caused no damage.The kingdom’s border guards agency said on Thursday, reports The Jerusalem Post.‘Six mortar shells fell in an uninhabited area near the new al-Auja border guard

DHAKA: Foreign ministers from the six world powers were poised to fly to Geneva by the end of the week in case their presence is required to sign an interim deal with Iran on its nuclear programme.The Guardian quoted western officials as saying on Wednesday night, The Jerusalem Post

DHAKA: Australian prime minister Tony Abbott has promised Indonesian president Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono a full and courteous response to his demand for an examination of reported Australian eavesdropping on senior Indonesian leaders’ phones.Indonesia has downgraded its relations with

DHAKA: US state secretary John Kerry accused the Muslim Brotherhood of stealing Egypt’s revolution.‘Those kids in Tahrir Square, they were not motivated by any religion or ideology,’ Kerry said in a speech to a forum on enhancing links between private sector businesses and

DHAKA: A senior Palestinian official accused then-US president George W Bush of okaying alleged Israeli killing of PLO leader Yasser Arafat.In an interview given to official Palestine television earlier this month, Fatah leader Jibril Rajoub said that the ‘fool known as (George) Bush

DHAKA: Up to 15,000 foreign troops could stay in Afghanistan beyond 2014 if a security pact with the US is signed.Afghanistan president Hamid Karzai said on Thursday, reports The Straits Times.About 2,500 tribal chiefs, chieftains and dignitaries are gathered in Kabul for a four-day

DHAKA: A suspected US drone attack has killed at least five people in an Islamic seminary in Pakistan’s north-western Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa province, reports say.Officials said at least two of those killed were militants, reports the BBC.The attack appears to have taken place outside the

DHAKA: The deep depression over the Bay of Bengal would intensify into a cyclonic storm and cross the coast between Chennai and Ongole on Thursday night, the Indian Meteorological Department said on Wednesday.Cyclone `Helen` would cross the south Andhra Pradesh coast near Kavali on the

FROM NEWYORK: US congress foreign affairs house committee Chief Ed Royce expressed deep concern over ongoing political crisis of Bangladesh including attacking on minority, emerge of militancy and various others issues.He came up with the assertion at 2:55am Wednesday in the sub-committee

DHAKA: The UK allowed the US National Security Agency to keep the mobile phone numbers and email addresses of ordinary Britons from 2007, reports say.Channel 4 News and the Guardian said existing rules were modified in 2007 to allow the US to keep information swept up incidentally about

DHAKA: An assembly of more than 2,000 Afghan elders is due to discuss the text of a long-awaited bilateral security agreement with the US.The deal to be debated at the Loya Jirga will determine the presence of US troops in the country after 2014.A draft reportedly says the Afghan

DHAKA: World powers resumed efforts to clinch a preliminary deal to curb Iran’s nuclear programme at talks in Geneva on Wednesday, with Russia and Britain confident that agreement can be reached.Seeking to end a long standoff and head off the risk of a wider Middle East war, the United

DHAKA: A powerful cyclone was hurtling on Wednesday towards India’s southeastern state of Andhra Pradesh, a month after a killer storm forced one million people to flee their homes, officials said.The National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) advised the state administration to

DHAKA: Iran’s ambassador to Lebanon narrowly escaped a twin suicide bombing outside the embassy that killed 23 people, including an aide and four guards.An Iranian diplomatic source said on Wednesday, reports The Straits Times.‘Ambassador Ghazanfar Rokn-Abadi was on his way with

DHAKA: The remaining differences between Iran and world powers over a potential deal to curb Tehran’s nuclear programme are narrow and a historic deal is within reach.British foreign secretary William Hague said on Wednesday, reports The Jerusalem Post.‘The differences that remain