DHAKA: Facebook introduced a new option allowing users to identify themselves as a gender other than male or female.The basic user profile for members in the United States now includes a customisable category with a variety of gender identifiers, including "transgender," "intersex" and

DHAKA: The latest winter storm to hit the East Coast of the US has grounded more than 6,500 flights, while hundreds of thousands in the ice-encrusted south remained without power.In the capital, Washington had at least 20cm of snow, and federal offices and the city`s two main airports

DHAKA: South and North Korean officials have sat down for a second round of talks at a border village as the North`s call for a delay of annual South Korea-US military drills threatens plans for the resumption of reunions of war-divided families.The talks that started on Friday have no

DHAKA: Gunmen have carried out a deadly attack on the main prison in the Yemeni capital, Sanaa.Seven policemen and three militants were killed in the fighting, the state news agency reported. It said a number of inmates had managed to escape.No group has said it carried out Thursday`s

DHAKA: Italian Prime Minister Enrico Letta has said he will resign on Friday after his Democratic Party backed a call for a new administration.Party leader Matteo Renzi had earlier called for a change of government at a party meeting, saying the country could not go on in

DHAKA: UN humanitarian chief Valerie Amos has urged the Security Council to act immediately to ensure more humanitarian access in war-torn Syria.Calling for a resolution, she said it was "unacceptable" that both Damascus and rebels continued to "flagrantly" violate humanitarian law,

DHAKA: Thousands of people are evacuating their homes in Indonesia after a volcano erupted in east Java.Mount Kelud spewed ash and debris over a large area, including the city of Surabaya, about 130km (80 miles) away, reports BBC.Some towns are reported to have been covered by a 4cm (1.6

DHAKA: Comcast said Thursday it had agreed to buy Time Warner Cable for $45 billion in a deal that would combine the two biggest cable companies in the United States.If the deal is approved, the combined group will be the country`s dominant provider of television channels and Internet

DHAKA: A Michigan mother’s attempt to cheer her 10-year-old son, who suffers from a disorder similar to autism and told her he had no friends, with a Facebook page has won the boy some 1.3 million fans on the social media site by Wednesday.Jennifer Cunningham created the site early this

DHAKA: Pro-democracy demonstrators clashed with police in Bahrain on Thursday as they marked the third anniversary of an Arab Spring-inspired protest movement that was quelled with the help of GCC troops, witnesses said.It was the first of three days of protests called by the Shia-led

DHAKA: The Qaeda-linked Abdallah Azzam Brigades allegedly released a video Wednesday showing footage of the November 19 double suicide attack against the Iranian embassy in Beirut, for which it has claimed responsibility.The 18-minute video, entitled ‘The attack on the Iranian Embassy

DHAKA: Russia’s president Vladimir Putin has said he backs Egypt’s military chief Abdul Fattah al-Sisi in his ‘bid for the presidency’.Putin, meeting Field Marshal Sisi in Moscow to discuss an arms deal, said he was ‘aware’ of his decision to run.However, there has been no

DHAKA: India’s parliament erupted in mayhem on Thursday when a legislator fired pepper spray in the lower house in protest against a bill on a new state.Television footage showed pictures of lawmakers coughing, sneezing and holding scarves to their faces. Shouting protesters also broke

DHAKA: At least six people were killed and many more wounded Thursday in a car bomb attack close to the entrance of Mogadishu’s heavily-fortified international airport.Somalia police and witnesses said, reports Al Arabiya.The bomb went off near a checkpoint at the entrance to the

DHAKA: Gunmen have abducted a British teacher in Sana’a, in the second kidnapping this month of a British expat in violence-hit Yemen.A security official said on Thursday, reports gulfnews.com.The unidentified gunmen captured the teacher on Wednesday evening as he returned from work,

DHAKA: Thailand has sent around 1,300 Rohingya refugees back to Myanmar, a top official said on Thursday, dismaying rights campaigners who warned the minority Muslims faced persecution in the former junta-ruled country.Thousands of Rohingya, described by the United Nations as among the

DHAKA: Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov said on Thursday that Moscow had presented a draft UN Security Council resolution on ‘fighting terrorism’ in Syria in addition to its attempt at a resolution on aid access there.‘Terrorism is certainly no less acute a problem (than the

DHAKA: Afghanistan is preparing to release 65 detainees from Bagram detention centre despite the US condemning the decision and insisting they are "dangerous".US officials say they have evidence the men were responsible for carrying out attacks on Nato and Afghan troops, reports BBC.But

DHAKA:  African Union (AU) peacekeepers have uncovered a mass grave at a military camp occupied by Seleka rebels in Bangui, the capital of the Central African Republic (CAR).The find came a day after UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said on Tuesday there was "a distinct risk" the CAR

DHAKA: Boko Haram fighters killed 39 people and razed scores of homes when they stormed two villages in northeast Nigeria, firing indiscriminately on fleeing civilians, a state governor and witnesses said.Heavily armed groups in trucks attacked a mosque, markets and government buildings