DHAKA: The British army has a global reputation for efficiency and performance, but new figures published on Sunday suggest that its soldiers might be getting a little soft. More than 32,000 soldiers failed a basic fitness test at some point in the past three years, and more than 22,000

DHAKA: Most Spaniards want their new king, Felipe, to play a greater role in politics and build bridges between the country’s divided parties and regions. A poll showed on Sunday, reports The Straits Times. Spain’s monarchy has tried stay out of the intricacies of factional

DHAKA: Iraqi forces have made a ‘tactical’ withdrawal from three western towns, a security spokesman said on Sunday, as Sunni militants widened an offensive that has already overrun swathes of territory. ‘The military units’ withdrawal (from Al-Qaim, Rawa and Ana) was for the

DHAKA: Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei expressed strong opposition on Sunday to US intervention in Iraq, saying Iraqis themselves were able to bring an end to the violence there. Iran’s official IRNA news agency reported, says The Jerusalem Post. Khamenei, who has the

DHAKA: Japan's crippled Fukushima nuclear plant on Sunday restarted its trouble-plagued water decontamination system for the first time in three months. The utility said, reports The Straits Times. Tokyo Electric Power Co. (Tepco) has been forced to repeatedly switch off its Advanced

DHAKA: Some 350,000 people have been displaced since the start of an army offensive against militants in Pakistan’s North Waziristan a week ago. Officials say, reports the BBC. Long lines of buses and lorries are reported waiting in intense heat for security clearance to enter the

DHAKA: Sunni militants have seized another town in Iraq's western Anbar province, the fourth in two days. Fighters of the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (Isis) captured Rutba, 90 miles east of Jordan’s border, officials said. They earlier seized a border crossing to Syria and

DHAKA: United States Secretary of State John Kerry arrived in Egypt on Sunday on a surprise trip, becoming the highest-ranking US official to visit since president Abdel Fattah al-Sisi came to power.Kerry was to meet Sisi during his lightning trip to press the former army chief, who

DHAKA: The Queen has treated Prince William to an early birthday present – a luxury £8m helicopter. The chopper, a 2008 Augusta A109S Grand, will be used to ferry William and his wife Kate between official royal engagements. The Duke of Cambridge, who turns 32 tomorrow, is a

DHAKA: Khalil al-Haya, a senior Hamas official spoke during a funeral for five member of the organization, saying Hamas and its military wing, the al-Qassam brigades, will continue to dig tunnels and make rockets, even cross the ocean, ‘until we defeat our enemy’. The official added

DHAKA: At least 43 people have died in opposition protests against Venezuela President Nicolas Maduro that began in February. A non-government group has said after a student died from a bullet wound, reports The Times of India. Alfredo Romero, who heads the Penal Forum group, said

DHAKA: A strategic border crossing and three other towns in western Iraq fell Saturday to the control of ISIS militants, a senior Iraqi security official said. In addition to their offensives in northern Iraq, the militants have now strengthened their hand in the western province of

DHAKA: India prime minister Narendra Modi, once denied a visa to enter the United States over massacres of Muslims, is expected to receive the honour of addressing a joint session of the US Congress during a visit to Washington in September. California Republican Ed Royce, chairman of

DHAKA: A South Korean conscript soldier shot and killed five of his fellow unit members and injured five others late on Saturday at a guard post near the heavily armed border with North Korea. A South Korean official said, reports The Straits Times. The exact circumstances of the

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