DHAKA: Saudi Arabia’s Supreme Court has upheld the sentence of 1,000 lashes and 10 years of imprisonment on blogger Raif Badawi, despite a foreign outcry.Speaking from Canada, his wife Ensaf Haidar said, “This is a final decision that is irrevocable.”In March, the kingdom expressed

DHAKA: President Barack Obama has said G7 leaders will discuss “standing up to Russian aggression” in Ukraine, as he arrived at the summit in Germany.Trade, violent extremism and climate change would also feature, he said.The annual summit of leading Western economic powers is taking

DHAKA: At least 44 Yemeni soldiers have been killed and more than a hundred injured in an air strike at Yemeni army headquarters in the capital Sanaa,They were killed while waiting to collect salaries, according to the Houthi-run Saba news agency.Earlier on Sunday, army officials said

DHAKA: The death toll from the disaster reached 431 on Sunday, with 11 still missing.Chinese officials and rescuers bowed in mourning towards a battered cruise ship which capsized during a storm in the Yangtze river, reports the Times of India.Only 14 survivors, one of them the captain,

DHAKA: Turks on Sunday have begun voting in a general election which will determine whether the ruling party can change the constitution.President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who first came to power as prime minister in 2003, is seeking a big enough majority to turn Turkey into a presidential

DHAKA: Fourteen more cases of Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (Mers) have been confirmed in South Korea and a fifth person has died.Health officials say, reports the BBC.The total number of patients has risen to 64, making it the biggest outbreak of Mers outside the Middle East.The

DHAKA: Nearly 3,500 migrants have been rescued from five wooden boats in the Mediterranean, and as many as seven other vessels have been reported at sea, Italy's coastguard says.Australian Broadcasting Corporation on its website (www.abc.net.au) reported on Sunday morning that the

DHAKA: 10 police officers were killed by Taliban fighters attack at Yamgan district headquarters of Badakhshan province’s in Afghanistan from four directions on Saturday. The Taliban have wrested control of Badakhshan province's Yamgan district in northeastern Afghanistan after

DHAKA: Pope Francis is celebrating Mass in front of tens of thousands of Catholics at a stadium in Bosnia-Herzegovina.The pontiff’s visit to the capital, Sarajevo, is aimed at promoting peace and reconciliation across the country, reports the BBC.The Pope will also meet members of the

DHAKA: The bodies of 11 climbers have been recovered from Malaysia’s highest peak Mount Kinabalu after a 6.0 magnitude earthquake triggered a series of landslides.A total of 137 climbers, including several foreigners, who had been stranded when the quake first struck on Friday have

DHAKA: South Korea on Saturday confirmed nine more cases of the MERS virus, which has killed four people, but said it did not represent a spread of the outbreak as the infected were already in quarantine.The additional cases brought the total number of people infected with the virus to

DHAKA: Saudi Arabia said it intercepted a Scud missile fired on its territory by rebel forces in neighboring Yemen early Saturday as momentum gathers for peace talks in Switzerland next weekend.‘The Royal Saudi Air Defence Forces intercepted it with a Patriot missile,’ said a

DHAKA: A total of 331 people are now known to have died after a ship overturned in a storm in China’s Yangtze River last Monday.China state media said, reports the BBC.Salvagers righted the Eastern Star on Friday after officials said chances of finding anyone alive were slim.Just 14 of

DHAKA: Eight of the 10 men reportedly jailed for the attempted assassination of Pakistani schoolgirl Malala Yousafzai were acquitted, it has emerged.In April, officials in Pakistan said that 10 Taliban fighters had been found guilty and received 25-year jail terms.But sources have now

DHAKA: Tariq Aziz, known as the face of Saddam Hussein’s regime on the world stage for many years, has died in an Iraqi prison.Aziz, 79, served as foreign minister and deputy prime minister and was a close adviser to the former leader, reports the BBC.He was sentenced to death by the

DHAKA: Rescue operations are underway to reach tourists trapped on one of South East Asia’s highest mountains after a 6.0 magnitude earthquake struck.Around 160 are stranded, some injured, on Mount Kinabalu in Malaysia’s Sabah state on Borneo island, said the state’s tourism

DHAKA: Expats who leave Saudi Arabia on re-entry visas and fail to return before their expiry will be banned from re-entering the Kingdom for 3 years, the Passport Department has clarified.Col. Mohammed Al-Saad, director of public relations, said this while responding to queries of

DHAKA: Some 175 people have died in a fire at a petrol station in Ghana's capital, Accra, officials say.The fire on Wednesday night started as people in the city were trying to cope with two days of heavy rain, which has left many homeless and without power.The flooding hampered rescue

DHAKA: Chinese hackers are suspected of carrying out a "massive breach" affecting the data of millions of US government workers, US officials said.BBC reported on Friday.The Office of Personnel Management (OPM) confirmed that almost four million current and past employees have been

DHAKA: Nestle India has said it is temporarily taking its bestselling instant noodle brand Maggi off the shelves in India, reports BBC.It comes amid concerns about safety as several states have been testing the product for higher-than-allowed levels of lead.They have also been testing for