DHAKA: France unveiled on Thursday plans to boost tourism and said it needed to eradicate its surly reputation as its status as the world’s top destination for foreign visitors faces increasingly stiff competition. Speaking at the close of a national conference on tourism, foreign

DHAKA: Afghanistan’s election crisis deepened Thursday when presidential candidate Abdullah Abdullah said he would reject the result because his claims of massive fraud have failed to stop the ongoing vote count. Abdullah’s complaints about alleged fraud in the run-off election have

DHAKA: The Saudi-based Organisation of Islamic Cooperation, representing more than 1.5 billion Muslims worldwide, affirmed on Thursday a commitment to unity in combating ‘sectarian’ policies. A two-day meeting in the Red Sea city of Jeddah affirmed that OIC members will stand

DHAKA: India’s new government struggled on Thursday to make headway in its first foreign crisis as it tried to secure the release of 40 construction workers being held in war-torn Iraq, home to some 10,000 Indian expatriates. Prime Minister Narendra Modi has already dispatched a former

DHAKA: Unknown gunmen shot dead a popular female singer in the northwestern Pakistani city of Peshawar in the latest attack against women artistes. Officials said on Thursday, reports The Straits Times. Gulnar, 38, famous under her performing name Muskan, was shot by four gunmen who

DHAKA: Turkish prime minister Tayyip Erdogan said on Thursday US air strikes on militants in Iraq could cause a high number of civilian deaths and that Washington did not view such a strategy favourably. ‘America, with its current stance and the statements it has made, does not view

DHAKA: Four Taliban militants struck a Nato post in the eastern Afghan province of Nangarhar on Thursday, destroying dozens of trucks and sparking a gun battle with the police. Afghan officials said, reports The Straits Times. The attack took place in the parking compound of a Nato base

DHAKA: India’s new prime minister Narendra Modi has postponed a visit to Japan which had been expected to take place early next month. The foreign ministry said on Thursday, reports The Straits Times. ‘The dates we were looking at for the visit in early July will now be reworked

DHAKA: A Twitter account Iran experts believe is run by the office of supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, in comments apparently inspired by Iraq’s turmoil, accused Sunni militants on Thursday of wanting to bring about a war in the Muslim world. Shia Iran has been alarmed by rapid

DHAKA: Ukrainian forces and pro-Russian separatists were locked in a fierce battle in the rebellious east of the country on Thursday. Ukrainian military sources said, reports The Straits Times. The sources said there were reports that tanks had been deployed by both sides but this could

DHAKA: US president Barack Obama has told Congressional leaders he does not need lawmakers’ approval for any action in Iraq. The top Senate Republican says, reports the BBC. Senator Mitch McConnell was speaking after a meeting between the president and senior members of Congress.

DHAKA: Several families of 40 Indian construction workers abducted in strife-torn northern Iraq say they have spoken with the men, whose captors claim they will be freed unharmed. Reports said Thursday, according to The Straits Times. India’s foreign ministry announced on Wednesday

DHAKA: King Felipe VI took the Spanish crown on Thursday, setting the stage for celebrations in the flag-festooned capital a day after his father quit the throne with tears in his eyes. The 46-year-old former Olympic yachtsman, who stands nearly two meters tall, assumed the crown after

DHAKA: Iraq has formally called on the US to launch air strikes against jihadist militants who have seized several key cities over the past week. "We have a request from the Iraqi government for air power," confirmed top US military commander Gen Martin Dempsey in front of US senators.

DHAKA: A top Iranian official said on Wednesday that Teheran could consider working with the United States over the crisis in Iraq if talks on its nuclear programme are successful. Asked about possible cooperation in Iraq, president Hassan Rohani’s chief of staff Mohammad Nahavandian

DHAKA: The United States is not looking for a military solution in Iraq, Treasury Secretary Jack Lew said on Wednesday. Speaking at a forum in Jerusalem, Lew said the United States was concerned about the ‘grave situation’ in Iraq. ‘As the President (Barack Obama) makes a decision

DHAKA: Militants seized three villages in northern Iraq on Wednesday during clashes with security forces and residents that left 20 civilians dead. A local official said, reports The Straits Times. The official, Shallal Abdul Baban, named the villages as Albu Hassan, Birwajli and

DHAKA: Forty Indian construction workers have been abducted in violence-hit northern Iraq. The Indian foreign ministry said on Wednesday, reports The Straits Times. The workers were taken from the region around Mosul, which has been overrun by militants from the Islamic State of Iraq

DHAKA: Bangladeshis among 60 foreign construction workers were abducted by militants near the Kirkuk city of Iraq. Sources from Turkey’s embassy in Baghdad disclosed the matter to international media Wednesday. Militants of the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant seized the group

DHAKA: A 21-year-old woman was allegedly gangraped by her Facebook friend and his two accomplices in Jind on Monday. Accused Ram Niwas, alias Raj Fauji, and his two friends were booked for gangrape and criminal intimidation on Monday evening. The woman had reportedly married a local