A bomb explosion in eastern India has killed seven people and severely wounded six others amid growing Maoist-related insurgency in the region. The Sunday blast was allegedly caused by a bomb planted by Maoists in the eastern state of Bihar on Saturday, officials say.

In a landmark ruling the High Court has formally recognised Pakistan’s Islamic guardianship law to be equivalent to a legal adoption in order to allow an 18-month-old boy to come to New Zealand.

LISBON: NATO said on Saturday it would hand over security in Afghanistan to Afghan forces by the end of 2014 but the head of the alliance said it would not abandon the country in its fight against the Taliban.

The three-year-long restoration of Istanbul’s historic Suleymaniye Mosque has been completed, and the mosque will open for prayers for Eid El-Adha. The The Süleymaniye Mosque was built during the era of Kanuni Sultan Süleyman (Suleiman the Magnificent) in 1551-1558 by the famous architect Mimar Sinan.

MAKKAH: The Hajj pilgrims will perform today the most vital pillar of Hajj, i.e. Wuquf-e-Arafat (Stay at Mount Arafat), Geo News reported Monday. Hundreds of thousands of people are on a journey from Makkah to Mount Arafat through the valleys of Mina and Muzdalifa to start Hajj rites.

Lebanese authorities have arrested Muslim leader Omar Bakri in the northern city of Tripoli, days after a military court sentenced him in absentia to life in prison. Bakri, who said on Friday that he would not spend a day behind bars, was arrested in his home “by a patrol of intelligence agents from the Internal […]

DUBAI: Yemen-based al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula denied on Sunday it would stage any action to coincide with the Muslim haj pilgrimage to Saudi Arabia after a Saudi minister said such an operation could not be ruled out.

US administration officials say the alleged mastermind behind the 9/11 attacks would probably remain in military detention without trial for the foreseeable future.Buffeted by opposition from a number of US lawmakers from both houses in the state of New York, the administration said it cannot hold a tribunal for Khalid Sheik Mohammed, the prime suspect […]

During a late-night session of the Iraqi parliament, politicians have returned Jalal Talabani to the largely ceremonial post of president and voted to make Osama al-Nujaifi, a Sunni Arab member of the Iraqiya coalition, the new speaker of parliament.

Iraqi politicians appear to have broken an eight-month political impasse by agreeing to take part in a new government headed by Nouri al-Maliki, the incumbent prime minister.