Sunday, 02 Mar, 2025

International

Philippine troops kill 8 Muslim rebels

DHAKA: Philippine security forces killed eight Muslim rebels on Thursday as they hunted the remnants of a guerrilla force hiding in homes of a major city and believed to be holding hostages.A soldier also died, the military reported, bringing the death toll from 11 days of fierce street

EU police officer killed in Kosovo

DHAKA: A European Union police officer has been shot dead while on patrol in Kosovo, the first casualty since the EU took over security in 2008.The Eulex mission condemned the ‘act of cowardly violence’ and said a murder investigation had been launched.It said two vehicles, carrying

Man beheaded, woman beaten to death in ‘honour killing’

DHAKA: A man was beheaded and his girlfriend beaten to death in an ‘honour killing’ in northern India after they had eloped.The police said on Thursday, reports The Straits Times.The woman’s mother, father and uncle were arrested after the gruesome murders carried out in a village

Washington Navy Yard opens for normal operations

DHAKA: The Washington Navy Yard has begun returning to nearly normal operations, three days after a gunman killed 12 people.The Navy installation re-opened at 6am local time on Thursday, but traffic was blocked from reaching the main gate because a tractor-trailer tried to make a U-turn,

4 charged for gang-rape of Mumbai photographer

DHAKA: Four men were formally charged on Thursday in a Mumbai court over the gang-rape of a young photographer in the city, a case that reignited anger about women’s safety across India.Crime branch officers filed a charge sheet laying out their case against the men at the Esplanade

Gaddafi’s son Saif appears in Libyan court

DHAKA: Saif al-Islam Gaddafi, the most prominent of slain Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi`s sons, has appeared in court in Zintan, west of the capital Tripoli, on security charges and his trial was adjourned until December, a lawyer said.‘Saif al-Islam Gaddafi appeared before the Zintan

Germany to help destroy Syria’s chemical weapons

DHAKA: Germany says it is giving 2 million euros to the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons to help it oversee the destruction of Syria’s arms stocks.An agreement last Saturday between Russia and the United States called for an inventory of Syria’s chemical weapons

Overfishing of sharks endangers reefs

DHAKA: Scientists studying reefs off Australia said on Thursday that sharks play a fundamental role in the health of coral, and overfishing of them made reefs more vulnerable to global warming and weather disasters.A research team, led by Dr Mark Meekan from the Australian Institute of

Outrage in Greece over neo-Nazi’s killing of musician

DHAKA: The Greek press railed on Thursday over the murder of a leftist musician by an alleged supporter of the neo-Nazi party Golden Dawn, amid mounting calls for tighter control of the group.‘The cold-blooded murder of a citizen by a Golden Dawn supporter must awaken everyone,’ the

Egypt to cut nightime curfew by 2 hours from Saturday

DHAKA: Egypt is to shorten a nightime curfew imposed on Cairo and 13 provinces starting on Saturday.Egypt Cabinet said on Thursday, reports The Straits Times.The curfew will be from midnight to 5am, except on Fridays when it will begin at 7:00pm, according to a Cabinet statement.The

Egypt policeman killed in operation near Cairo

DHAKA: An Egyptian police officer was shot dead on Thursday, state media reported, during a security operation on the outskirts of Cairo aimed at reasserting control over an area where gunmen killed 11 policemen last month.The police had earlier fired tear gas and exchanged gunfire with

Abbott abolishes climate watchdog

DHAKA: Australia’s new conservative government on Thursday abolished an independent climate change commission set up by the previous Labor administration, as part of its plans to streamline bureaucracy.The Climate Commission was set up to provide apolitical and reliable information to

Abe tells to scrap reactors at Fukushima

DHAKA: Japanese prime minister Shinzo Abe on Thursday instructed Tokyo Electric Power Co to decommission the No. 5 and No. 6 reactors at the crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant.The other four reactors at the six-reactor plant, devastated by a massive earthquake and towering

‘Must keep military option open on Syria’

DHAKA: It is crucial to keep the military option on the table in dealing with the Syria crisis, NATO Secretary-General Anders Fogh Rasmussen said on Thursday.‘I think it is essential for keeping momentum in the diplomatic and political process that the military option is still on the

‘Iran will never build nuclear weapons’

DHAKA: Iran’s new president Hassan Rohani has said that his country would never build nuclear weapons.Rohani also told US broadcaster NBC he had full authority to negotiate with the West over Tehran’s controversial uranium enrichment programme, reports the BBC.And he described a

Egypt army storms area near Cairo

DHAKA: Egyptian troops and police have stormed the Kerdassah district in the outskirts of Cairo to clear it of "terrorist elements", security officials said, triggering clashes with armed groups based in the area.Vehicles carrying armed personnel were sent into the village on Thursday

Ban-ki-moon inaugurates UNGA 68th session

DHAKA: The United Nations General Assembly opened its annual session with its gaze firmly fixed on the decades ahead as its new President outlined the need to lay the groundwork for global sustainable development in the years following the end of the current development cycle in 2015.The

One year to destroy chemical weapons

DHAKA: Syrian President Bashar al-Assad has said he is committed to a plan to destroy his country`s chemical weapons but warned it could take about a year.Speaking to Fox News, Mr Assad again denied claims that his forces were responsible for a deadly chemical attack near Damascus on 21

E-readers `more effective` for some dyslexic readers

DHAKA: Short lines of text on electronic devices may help some dyslexic readers increase their reading speed and comprehension, research suggests.US scientists studied 100 pupils reading on paper and e-readers.On the device, those who struggled most with sight-word reading read faster and

Iran releases political prisoners

DHAKA: Iran is reported to have freed at least eight political prisoners, including noted human rights lawyer Nasrin Sotoudeh.Ms Sotoudeh was arrested in 2010 and jailed for six years on charges of acting against national security.The release of the political prisoners comes just days