Amader Brahmanbaria.com

THE Council of Ministers recently announced that withholding the passports and other official documents of expatriates by their employers is a legal violation. Many Saudi sponsors continue to withhold the passports and official documents of their expatriate employees to ensure they enter and exit the country on their terms.  Lawyers have argued that the act is a violation of the ... Read More »

Ever wondered what happens after you quit smoking? Many people fall back and get back to their bad habits. There are many reasons for this, some of which are mental while others are physical. We just found out about smoking detox where you can literally detox cigarettes out of your body. “This can only be assisted by controlling what you ... Read More »

MELBOURNE: World No.1 Novak Djokovic fought off Stan Wawrinka over five tense sets to master the defending champion and reach his fifth Australian Open final on Friday, where he will meet Andy Murray. The Serb top seed won 7-6 (7/1), 3-6, 6-4, 4-6, 6-0 in 3hr 30mins and will face the British sixth seed for a third time in Sunday’s ... Read More »

ISLAMABAD: A bomb blast ripped through a Shiite mosque in southern Pakistan as worshippers gathered for Friday prayers, killing at least 56 people and wounding dozens more, in the deadliest act of anti-Shiite violence in two years. The attack compounds Pakistan’s security challenge to contain a surge in militancy following last month’s killing of 150 people, mostly children, at a ... Read More »

ISTANBUL: Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan brushed off criticism that he’s trying to amass sultan-like powers, saying he really just wants to be more like Britain’s Queen Elizabeth II. Erdogan told state-run TRT channel on Thursday that his desire for an expanded presidential role would not undermine democracy and he pointed to the UK as an example.   Tayyip Erdogan ... Read More »

ISTANBUL: Turkey is ready to “pay the price” if found guilty of the mass killings of Armenians a century ago, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said. In a live interview with state-run TRT channel on Thursday, Erdogan said his country would take the necessary steps if historians conclude that it was at fault for the World War I-era massacres that ... Read More »

The new Cabinet announced by Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman on Thursday has several appointees who are accomplished administrators with vast experience and expertise in their fields. Azzam Al-Dakhil, the new minister of education, is also chief executive officer of the Prince Mohammed bin Salman bin Abdul Aziz Charity Foundation (MISK). This is an organization founded by ... Read More »

Amanda Fisher   INSIDE the territory of Palestine lives a resilient, primarily Muslim population of about four million, encircled by a hostile neighbor. Some 21 hours’ flying time away is another resilient, highly atheist population of about four million, encircled by water.     Protestors march from Aotea Square down Queen Street protesting the Israeli ground invasion of Gaza on ... Read More »

Martin Armstrong   FEAR of open conflict with Israel — last seen in 2006 — has returned to Lebanon following a Hezbollah attack on an Israeli convoy in the occupied Shebba farms on Wednesday morning, in which two Israeli troops were killed and a further seven injured.     Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah (right) and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. ... Read More »

Nabila Pathan   WHAT started in the 1990s as the original “The Halal Guys” food cart has become a word-of-mouth success story on the streets of New York and looks set to create a Middle Eastern street food phenomenon in national and international markets within the next five years.   Scenes of block long queues stretching out from the food ... Read More »

DHAKA: Bangladesh cinemas will boycott movies starring the nation’s top actor after he led protests against the first screening of a Hindi film in decades in the Muslim-majority nation, an official said Thursday. Bollywood blockbuster “Wanted” opened in cinemas on the weekend after Bangladesh’s censor board cleared its nationwide release, following a 50-year ban on Hindi-language films.   Indian Bollywood ... Read More »

LONDON: New York oil prices tumbled to a near six-year low underneath $44 per barrel on Thursday, as record-high US crude inventories deepened worries over the global supply glut. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) for March delivery dived to $43.57 a barrel, a level last seen on March 12, 2009. The contract later stood at $43.87, down 58 cents from Wednesday's ... Read More »

BUKIT MERTAJAM, Malaysia: Abul Kassim, a Rohingya asylum seeker, was snatched from his home in the northern Malaysian state of Penang on Jan. 12. The next morning, his beaten and bloodied body was found. That day, police moved on the 40-year-old’s alleged killers. Raiding a house in the neighboring state of Kedah, they rescued 17 Rohingya migrants being held against ... Read More »

WASHINGTON: The US Senate Banking Committee approved a controversial measure Thursday that would ratchet up sanctions on Iran, a legislative weapon Congress could wield after March if international nuclear talks hit an impasse. Senators voted 18 to 4 to advance the so-called Kirk-Menendez bill, which is steadfastly opposed by the White House.   n this Jan. 27, 2015 file photo, ... Read More »

TOKYO: Japan was studying the latest message purportedly from the Islamic State group, which extends the deadline for Jordan’s release of an Iraqi prisoner, while officials worked feverishly Thursday to try to free a Japanese journalist held by the militants. The message, read in English by a voice the Japanese government said was likely that of hostage Kenji Goto, was ... Read More »