DHAKA: The global chemical weapons watchdog has called for a ceasefire in Syria to enable it to destroy the stockpiles.The organisation’s chief, Ahmet Uzumcu, said the deadline for destroying equipment was ‘extremely tight’, but was possible if truces were agreed.Some early work of

DHAKA: The Iranian Revolutionary Guards have trained more than 30,000 Hezbollah fighters in training camps in Iran and Lebanon.Saudi newspaper Al Watan reported on Wednesday, reports The Jerusalem Post.The Hezbollah fighters have undergone ‘intensive training’ since the 80s in the use

DHAKA: Dutch foreign minister Frans Timmermans has apologised to Moscow for the arrest and detention of a Russian diplomat.The incident prompted a diplomatic row, with Russia complaining police had held Dmitri Borodin for several hours and beaten him.Neighbours had called the police over

DHAKA: A Cambodian disaster relief official says at least 104 people have died in recent floods caused by heavy rains and the Mekong River overflowing its banks.Disaster management committee spokesman Keo Vy said on Wednesday that floods in the past several weeks have affected some 1.5

DHAKA: Iran’s police should keep a lower profile in their enforcement of the rules for women to cover up their bodies.Iran president Hassan Rouhani said on Wednesday, reports The Straits Times.His remarks were seen to be keeping a promise of more social freedoms, a cornerstone of the

DHAKA: Around 60 people have been killed in sectarian clashes in Central African Republic between local militias and former rebels.Witnesses and a local official said on Wednesday, reports truth.co.nz.The mineral-rich but impoverished nation has descended into chaos since mostly Muslim

DHAKA: France said on Wednesday that reporter Nicolas Henin and photographer Pierre Torres are being held in Syria, bringing to at least four the number of French journalists abducted in the conflict-wracked country.The foreign ministry said in a statement that Henin, 37, and Torres, 29,

DHAKA: At a makeshift workshop on the outskirts of the northern Syrian city of Aleppo, teenagers are busy sorting through metal scrap while a man, sitting cross-legged in a corner, makes homemade rockets.‘The regime is supported by all the big, rich countries,’ says Samir, never once

DHAKA: One of the three winners of the Nobel Chemistry Prize, Dr Michael Levitt, said on Wednesday he was essentially awarded for work he did when he was 20 years old.Dr Levitt, speaking from his California home, said he felt like he had a ‘triple espresso’ after being informed that

DHAKA: The head of the European Commission has announced during a visit to the Sicilian island of Lampedusa that Italy will receive an additional 30 million euros in EU funds to help settle refugees, after the sinking of a migrant boat killed at least 275 people.Jose Manuel Barroso also

DHAKA: South Korea’s spy chief has said he is ‘aware’ of the alleged execution of members of the North’s national orchestra, said to include a singer rumoured to be leader Kim Jong Un’s former girlfriend.Several members of the orchestra and other state music troupes had been

DHAKA: Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi is to finally receive the EU Sakharov human rights prize she won in 1990 at the height of the Myanmar military crackdown.The European Parliament revealed on Wednesday, reports The Straits Times.Suu Kyi, now leader of the opposition in Myanmar and

DHAKA: Iran and world powers should focus on confidence-building at next week’s talks on Tehran’s disputed nuclear programme.Iran’s parliamentary speaker said on Wednesday, reports The Jerusalem Post.Ali Larijani, a former nuclear negotiator, declined to say whether Iran would bring

DHAKA: A Pakistani court on Wednesday granted bail to former military dictator Pervez Musharraf in a ruling which takes him a step closer to being released from house arrest.Musharraf’s fate has been subject to speculation since he became the first former army chief to be arrested this

DHAKA: US state secretary John Kerry said that Myanmar’s dramatic political reforms were still ‘incomplete’, a day after the former military-ruled country released dozens more political prisoners.‘I think what is happening in Myanmar is very exciting, but it is incomplete,’

DHAKA: The trial of Egypt’s deposed Islamist president Mohamed Mursi on charges of inciting the murder of protesters will start on November 4.The official MENA news agency reported Wednesday, reports daily Hurriyet. Mursi will stand trial with 14 other defendants over the killings of

DHAKA: South African police are investigating Nelson Mandela’s grandson for allegedly pointing a gun at a driver in a road rage spat.A spokesman said on Wednesday, reports The Straits Times.Mandla Mandela, a traditional chief and member of Parliament, is accused of pulling his gun on

DHAKA: Malala Yousafzai, the teenage activist nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize, says she has not done enough to deserve the award, as her old school closed on Wednesday to mark the first anniversary of her shooting by the Taliban.The 16-year-old was shot in the head by the Pakistani

DHAKA: Three scientists have won the Nobel prize in chemistry for their work on multiscale models for complex systems.Martin Karplus of Strasbourg and Harvard universities, Michael Levitt of Stanford University and Arieh Warshel at the University of Southern California share the prize.The

DHAKA: US state secretary John Kerry is in Brunei for meetings with top officials from China and its smaller Southeast Asian neighbours, in which he will urge all countries to cool tensions over territorial disputes in the South China Sea.Kerry will make the case in Wednesday discussions