DHAKA: Syria’s main opposition group denounced as a ‘political manoeuvre’ a Russian plan to head off threatened punitive US airstrikes on Syria by destroying the regime’s chemical weapons.Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov suggested on Monday that Damascus hand its chemical

DHAKA: France will put a resolution to the UN Security Council to place Syria’s chemical weapons under international control so they can be destroyed.French foreign minister Laurent Fabius says, reports the BBC.He said it would threaten ‘extremely serious’ consequences if Syria

DHAKA: Afghan police have arrested two militants over the murder of an Indian writer whose book about her dramatic escape from the Taliban was made into a Bollywood film, an official said on Tuesday.Sushmita Banerjee, 49, was dragged out of her husband’s house by masked gunmen in

DHAKA: Iran’s newly installed president, Hassan Rohani, vowed that Tehran ‘will not give up one iota’ of its nuclear rights.Iran’s Mehr news agency reported, says The Jerusalem Post.Rohani reportedly made the remarks to a group of clerics in Iran.‘Our government will not give up

DHAKA: US president Barack Obama is eager to ‘turn a new page’ in his government’s relations with Iran and its newly installed president, Hassan Rohani.It was revealed on Tuesday, reports The Jerusalem Post.According to the London-based pan-Arab daily Al-Hayat, Obama communicated

DHAKA: Egypt has tightened control of crossings from the Sinai peninsula and continued assaults on militants after an Islamist group based there said it tried to kill the interior minister in Cairo last week.The state news agency reported on Monday, reports The Jerusalem Post.The group

DHAKA: China said on Tuesday that it welcomes and supports Russia’s proposal that Syria hand over its chemical weapons for destruction, which could avert planned US military strikes.China foreign ministry spokesman Hong Lei made the comments at a regular news briefing, adding that a

DHAKA: Syrian government forces were most likely to blame for the deadly chemical weapons attack last month which left hundreds dead.Human Rights Watch said on Tuesday, reports The Straits Times.A 22-page report issued by the US rights watchdog concluded that available evidence

DHAKA: Four men have been found guilty by a Delhi court of raping and murdering a 23-year-old medical student on a moving bus in Delhi on December 16, 2012. The quantum of sentence will be pronounced Wednesday, the four men could face the death sentence. A fifth man committed suicide in

DHAKA: As President Barack Obama presses his case for a strike on Syria, a new national survey shows him swimming against a strong tide of public opinion that doesn`t want the United States to get involved.The CNN/ORC International poll released on Monday shows that even though eight in

DHAKA: On Sept 9, on Leo Tolstoy’s 185th birthday, the web portal www.tolstoy.ru was launched, offering details about the life and works of the great Russian writer. This was done concurrently with the opening of the Tolstoy State Museum and the Yasnaya Polyana Museum-Estate.For the

DHAKA: US President Barack Obama has said he will put plans for a US military strike against Syria on hold if the country agrees to place its chemical weapons stockpile under international control.But he said he was sceptical the Syrian government would follow through.As the US Congress

DHAKA: At least 43 people have been killed after a bus plunged 200m (660ft) into a ravine in western Guatemala, rescue workers said.The crash happened in San Martin Jilotepeque, some 65km (40 miles) from the capital, Guatemala City.At least 40 people are thought to have been injured in

DHAKA: Nine months after a 23-year-old student was fatally gang-raped on a moving bus in Delhi, a fast-track court will deliver its verdict on four of the six men who were arrested for a crime that shook India to its core, ignited street protests, and forced the introduction of tougher

DHAKA: Norwegian centre-right leader Erna Solberg is set to form a new government after Labour Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg admitted election defeat.Ms Solberg described her win as “a historic election victory for the right-wing parties”.Her Conservative Party is widely expected to

DHAKA: Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov called Monday on the Syrian regime to hand over control of its chemical weapons arsenal to international supervision as a way of staving off the threat of military action.After talks with Syrian foreign minister Walid al-Muallem in Moscow,

DHAKA: Some blind people are granted gun permits in one US state, and law enforcement officials are debating the wisdom of it.The Des Moines Register reports that Iowa law does not allow sheriffs to deny a permit to carry a gun in public based on physical ability.Blind people can obtain

DHAKA: France on Monday unveiled a new charter designed to reinforce rules banning religion from schools which have been a recurring cause of tension with Muslims and other faiths.The ‘Charter for Secularity in School’ is to be displayed in poster form in every state-funded school in

DHAKA: Syrian government forces launched an offensive to wrest back control of an historic Christian town north of Damascus on Monday, activists said.In the past six days, the town of Maaloula has already changed hands three times between president Bashar Assad’s forces and rebel

DHAKA: India prime minister Manmohan Singh on Monday spoke to Uttar Pradesh chief minister Akhilesh Yadav on steps taken to restore peace in Muzaffarnagar after communal clashes in which 31 people have been killed since Saturday.Six politicians, including four from the BJP, have been