DHAKA: The Italian navy has rescued 233 mostly African migrants from a 10 meter boat in Mediterranean waters south of Sicily as the immigration crisis that killed hundreds in shipwrecks in 2013 showed no signs of letting up in the New Year.The navy picked them up in choppy seas late on

DHAKA: At least 27 people were killed after a bus collided with a truck and plunged into a gorge in India’s western state of Maharashtra Thursday, police said.The driver lost control of the bus after the collision in Thane district, around 150 kilometres north of state capital

DHAKA: Greece’s coastguard on January 2 rescued a group of 85 undocumented migrants including women and children from a sailing ship in the southeastern Aegean Sea, officials said.‘The migrants are currently being transferred to other vessels and will be taken to the island of

Turkey is building a four-meter high wall along part of its border with Syria to try to stop people from illegally bypassing its checkpoints.The construction in the Karkamış district of southeastern province of Gaziantep will continue for some time, officials said, reports daily

DHAKA: Malaysian Islamic authorities on Thursday seized hundreds of Bibles from a Christian group and detained two of their officers, one of them said, amid tensions over the use of ‘Allah’.A court in October barred a Malaysian Catholic newspaper from using ‘Allah’ to refer to the

DHAKA: A powerful earthquake jolted southern Iran on Thursday, killing at least one person and injuring 30 others.Iranian state television reported, sasys TDS.The quake, measuring 5.5 on the Richter scale, damaged many buildings and electricity lines in the southern province of Hormozgan,

DHAKA: The condition of Israel’s former prime minister Ariel Sharon, who has been in a coma since 2006, has worsened and is now critical, ‘with some danger to life’, his doctors say.Sharon, 85, is suffering from a malfunction of several organs including the kidneys, they said,

DHAKA: Americans enter 2014 with a profoundly negative view of their government, expressing little hope that elected officials can or will solve the nation’s biggest problems, a new poll finds.Half say America’s system of democracy needs either ‘a lot of changes’ or a complete

DHAKA: More than 73,000 people were killed in Syria in 2013, the bloodiest year yet in the brutal civil war that began in March 2011.A non-governmental organisation said on Wednesday, The Straits Times publishes this report on Thursday.The tally from the Syrian Observatory for Human

DHAKA: A former head of Rwanda’s external intelligence service was found strangled in a hotel in South Africa, where he has lived in exile for several years.His opposition party said, reports Al Jazeera.‘The Rwandan opposition is deeply saddened to announce the assassination of

DHAKA: Pakistan’s former military ruler Pervez Musharraf has been taken to hospital with a suspected heart problem on his way to court for his treason trial.Officials told the court the 70-year-old was transferred to the Armed Forces Cardiology Hospital in Rawalpindi, reports the BBC.It

DHAKA: The head of the UN peacekeeping mission in South Sudan has called for an end to fighting in the country, and for peace talks to be given a chance.Hilde Johnson told the BBC the humanitarian situation was worsening.At least 1,000 people have died since fighting erupted last month

DHAKA: Two car bombs have exploded outside a hotel in the Somali capital Mogadishu, killing at least 10 people.The blasts were at the Jazeera hotel which is frequented by Somali politicians and foreigners, reports BBC.Reports say the blasts were followed by exchanges of fire between

DHAKA: A Palestinian diplomat was killed in an explosion at his home in the Czech capital Prague, apparently while opening a case.Jamal al-Jamal, the head of the Palestinian mission, had been taken to hospital after the blast, a spokesman for the mission told Czech media.It is not yet

DHAKA: Chinese state media kept up the heat on Japanese prime minister Shinzo Abe on the first day of 2014, urging him to learn from Germany in dealing with divisive historical issues.‘Abe’s conspicuous lack of historical honesty contrasts shamefully with the courage and vision of

DHAKA: The much-awaited Lokpal Bill on Wednesday got the assent from Indian president Pranab Mukherjee, providing for creation of an anti-graft watchdog which will bring under its purview even the prime minister with certain safeguards.The Bill was passed by the Rajya Sabha on December 17

DHAKA: Taiwanese authorities are monitoring hundreds of people who may have had contact with a mainland Chinese tourist infected with the H7N9 strain of bird flu.Taiwan officials said on Wednesday, reports The Straits Times.The 86-year-old man from the eastern Chinese province of Jiangsu

DHAKA: French president Francois Hollande said he would be ‘intransigent’ on racism after a provocative gesture popularised by a French comedian sparked global controversy.French striker Nicolas Anelka triggered a media outcry when he used the ‘quenelle’ gesture, performed by

DHAKA: The Palestinian ambassador to the Czech Republic was injured in an explosion at his residence in Prague on Wednesday.Czech media outlets CTK news agency and website idnes.cz reported, says The Jerusalem Post.The blast occurred before midday, the reports said.BDST: 1933 HRS, JAN 01,

DHAKA: Ringing out a year that ended with an unqualified diplomatic disaster in what used to be an almost enviable bilateral relationship, US ambassador to India Nancy Powell used a New Year message to express regrets for ‘the circumstances’ of the arrest of Indian diplomat Devyani