DHAKA: Rights group Amnesty on Saturday strongly criticised a decision by an Egyptian court to confirm death sentences for more than 180 Islamists, accusing the judiciary of losing ‘any semblance of impartiality’. The court in the central city of Minya had initially sentenced 683

DHAKA: Iran and the major powers ended an intense round of nuclear talks in Vienna after making good progress in the process of drafting the text of a final deal to resolve the decade-old dispute over Tehran’s nuclear program. The two sides also agreed to resume nuclear negotiations on

DHAKA: Protesters gathered in the Afghan capital on Saturday in support of presidential candidate Abdullah Abdullah’s accusation of vote fraud, and his call for the organisers to stop counting the ballots from the run-off election held a week ago. Several hundred people gathered,

DHAKA: Sunni fighters seized a border post on the Iraq-Syria frontier overnight, security sources at the border said on Saturday, a strategic gain which will allow them to move heavy weapons between the territory they control in both countries. The militants, led by the Islamic State in

DHAKA: Saudi Arabia’s King Abdullah has arrived in Cairo, underlining the strong support of the monarch for Egypt’s newly elected president Abdel Fattah al-Sisi. Abdullah landed in Cairo on his way home from Morocco on Friday, becoming the first foreign leader to visit Sisi since he

DHAKA: On or around June 21 each year, the rays of the sun will be perpendicular to the Tropic of Cancer at 23°30' North latitude. This day is the summer solstice in the Northern Hemisphere, reports geography.about.com. On this day, the earth’s ‘circle of illumination’ will be

DHAKA: Pakistan has temporarily banned two private television channels, including one of the Geo TV network, and imposed a hefty fine of Rs 10 million on them for airing blasphemous content and ridiculing the judiciary. Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (PEMRA), the official

DHAKA: Lebanon remained on high alert Saturday, with security forces deploying en masse outside government buildings around the country in light of rumors about an attack against state facilities.Lebanese Army and Internal Security Forces personnel were on guard outside Beirut's

DHAKA: Israeli security forces have arrested 10 more Palestinians in the West Bank as they press their search for three teenagers believed to have been kidnapped. The army said on Saturday, reports The Straits Times. ‘Ten people were arrested overnight, bringing to 330 the number of

DHAKA: More than half a million people have voted in an unofficial Hong Kong electoral reform poll, organisers said on Saturday, in a ballot hit by a massive cyberattack and labelled by Beijing as ‘illegal’. Online polling started on Friday at noon and 500,436 residents had taken

DHAKA: An Egyptian court has confirmed the death sentence against the Muslim Brotherhood’s general guide Mohamed Badie and more than 180 others. Lawyers said the ruling, which was confirmed on Saturday, can be overturned on appeal. The court’s decision came two months after it

DHAKA: A suicide attack in Afghanistan targeting a senior government official has killed one civilian and injured several others in Kabul. Police say, reports the BBC. But Mohammed Masoom Stanikzai, an adviser to the government body tasked with conducting peace talks with the Taliban,

DHAKA: Sri Lankan police were investigating a fire which on Saturday destroyed a Muslim-owned clothing store in a district where religious tensions had heightened. The authorities had not ruled out arson at the upmarket No-Limit store in Panadura, 25 kilometres south of Colombo, police

DHAKA: Angry demonstrators blocked a railway track in northern India on Saturday in protest against a steep hike in rail fares announced by the government in its first tough step aimed at reforming a sluggish economy. Scores of flag-waving protesters shouted slogans demanding an

DHAKA: Police in China's western Xinjiang region shot dead 13 assailants who drove one or more vehicles into a police office building and set off explosives in an attack Saturday that injured three officers, AP reports. The the news website for the regional government said in a one-line

DHAKA: The next phase of the hunt for missing Malaysian jet MH370 will move hundreds of miles south, BBC news.        The search will focus on an area 1,800km (1,100 miles) off the city of Perth, Australian Transport Safety Bureau (ATSB) chief Martin Dolan said.    Nearby areas

DHAKA: Ukraine's President Petro Poroshenko has declared a week-long unilateral ceasefire in fighting with pro-Russian militants in the east of the country.    Heavy fighting had been continuing between Ukrainian government forces and pro-Russia rebels, with new reports of

DHAKA: Narendra Modi’s government of India has increased railway passenger fare by 14.2 percent and freight charges by 6.5 percent on Friday.  The increased rates came to effect from Friday, reported Times of India. The hike in the passenger fare and freight charges was expected as

DHAKA: Taking further the new government's stated objective of "good neighborly" relations, the Indian commerce department has circulated a draft Cabinet note that seeks to offer unilateral entry to vehicles from Bangladesh. Prime Minister Narendra Modi has emphasized strengthening ties

DHAKA: Pakistan's military gunship helicopters pounded militant targets in the country’s North Waziristan tribal region on Friday, killing up to 20 suspected rebels, as the number of civilians fleeing an expected ground offensive passed 150,000. Nearly 100,000 people have left North