VIENNA: Austria on Wednesday moved to further tighten migrants’ access to the country by placing tough new restrictions on asylum eligibility and making it easier to reject asylum seekers at the border. As of mid-May, the government will only accept cases of refugees facing threats to their safety in a neighbouring transit country or whose relatives are already in Austria. ...

DHAKA: A Bangladesh court on Wednesday issued an arrest warrant for opposition leader Khaleda Zia over a fire-bomb attack on a bus that killed two people and injured dozens last year, a prosecutor said. The Dhaka court accused Zia and 27 other leaders and officials of her Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) of instigating the petrol bomb attack as part of ...

Fidel Castro HAVANA: Fidel Castro responded on Monday to President Barack Obama’s historic trip to Cuba with a long, bristling letter recounting the history of US aggression against Cuba, writing that “we don’t need the empire to give us any presents”. The 1,500-word letter in state media titled “Brother Obama” was Castro’s first response to the president’s three-day visit last ...

Indian PM says he will visit the Kingdom next month to ‘expand and deepen bilateral relations’ with Saudi Arabia.─AFP/File MUMBAI: Indian prime minister Narendra Modi announced Monday that he will be visiting Saudi Arabia between April 2 and April 3 on the invitation of King Salman. The Indian premier announced the decision on his official Facebook page, adding that he ...

At least 15 Taliban insurgents were arrested by the Afghan intelligence operatives for planning coordinated suicide attacks in southern Kandahar province. The National Directorate of Security (NDS) said the Taliban insurgents were operating in three different groups and were involved in planning and coordinating suicide attacks in Kandahar province. No further details were given regarding the possible target of the ...

The Russian Presidential envoy to Afghanistan Zamir Kabulov has estimated the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) terrorist group has 10,000 loyalists in Afghanistan. Kabulov who is also director of the Second Asian Department at the Russian Foreign Ministry has said the terror group is expanding its military activity in Afghanistan. “The IS activity has grown significantly in Afghanistan ...

DUBAI: A year after it launched air strikes in Yemen, a Saudi-led military coalition has failed to deal a decisive blow to Iran-backed rebels and is facing mounting criticism over civilian casualties. With warring parties drained by the fighting, the United Nations said on Wednesday that a ceasefire had been agreed from April 10, to be followed by peace talks. ...

BRUSSELS: Six people were arrested Thursday in a series of police raids in Brussels, federal prosecutors said, two days after terror attacks in the Belgian capital left 31 dead. Three of the suspects were detained “outside the door of the federal prosecutor’s office” a spokesman said. Two others were arrested in the Belgian capital and the sixth was detained in ...

In a gesture of welcome amid rising anti-Muslim and anti-immigrant sentiment, Pope Francis has visited a refugee centre to wash and kiss the feet of Muslim, Orthodox, Hindu and Catholic refugees, it has been reported. The move by Pope Francis comes as anti-Muslim sentiment has further spiked following coordinated attacks in Brussels which followed months after deadly attack in Paris. ...

DUSHANBE – Belarus is eager to strengthen ties with regions of Tajikistan and Afghanistan, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Belarus to Tajikistan and concurrently to Afghanistan Oleg Ivanov said as he met with Chairman of the Tajikistan Chamber of Commerce and Industry Sharif Said, BelTA has learned. “Belarus is eager to intensify interregional ties not only with Tajikistan, but also ...