Wednesday, 12 Mar, 2025

International

Afghan security forces capture two Taliban leaders

DHAKA: Afghan security forces captured two Taliban commanders from Khinjan district of Baghlan province with Pul-e-Khumri as its capital 160 km north of Kabul on Friday night.Provincial police chief Aminullah Omarkhil said Saturday.‘Acting upon intelligence report, our police launched

Assad sends message to Pope

DHAKA: Syrian president Bashar al-Assad has sent Pope Francis a private message, the Vatican said on Saturday, without disclosing its contents.The Vatican said a delegation headed by Joseph Sweid, a Syrian minister of state, held talks in the Vatican with the pope’s secretary of state,

Islamist students torch Cairo campus building

DHAKA: A student was killed and 60 arrested as Egyptian police entered a Cairo university on Saturday to confront Islamist protesters who torched a building, amid an intensifying crackdown on the Muslim Brotherhood.Egypt officials said, reports The Straits Times.The unrest followed

Suu Kyi’s party to contest Myanmar election

DHAKA: Myanmar pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi’s opposition party vowed on Saturday to contest crucial elections in 2015 even if the constitution is not amended first to allow her to become president.The military-drafted charter blocks anyone whose spouse or children are overseas

Yemen tribesmen blow up major oil pipeline

DHAKA: Tribesmen on Saturday blew up a major oil pipeline in southeastern Yemen operated by foreign companies bringing production to a halt.Government and industry officials said, reports The Voice of Russia.‘Gunmen belonging to an alliance of Hadramawt tribes blew up the oil pipeline

4 US military personnel released in Libya

DHAKA: All four US military personnel detained in Libya have been released, according to a US defence official.The four were detained Saturday and were believed to have been taken while looking into possible evacuation routes for diplomats.The New York Times said, reports The Jerusalem

Kejriwal sworn in as Delhi chief minister

DHAKA: Wearing his trademark white cap, Arvind Kejriwal was sworn in as the chief minister of Delhi today, as thousands of people cheered for him at Ram Lila Maidan, a massive public park in the heart of the city.The bespectacled 45-year-old rode the metro to the ceremony.  His decision

20 die, 200k powerless in US

DHAKA: If it`s cold outside and you have electricity, consider yourself lucky.Thousands of people in the Northern United States and southeastern Canada have endured at least four days without power because of ice-related outages. And for some, the heat might not come back on until this

Thai army chief refuses to rule out coup

DHAKA: At least one person killed and three injured overnight as a gunman opened fire at a group of protesters near Chamai bridge in Bangkok.Earlier on Friday, Thailand`s army chief urged both sides in the country`s bitter political dispute to show restraint, but did not explicitly rule

Woman gang-raped by two groups of men

DHAKA: A 21-year-old woman tourist in Puducherry of India was raped by least six men in two separate groups on Christmas Eve. She is recovering in a local hospital.Of 15 suspects who either raped her or enabled the attack, 12 are in police custody, reports NDTV.The woman was first

Egypt widens crackdown on Brotherhood

DHAKA: Egyptian authorities have arrested 23 Muslim Brotherhood supporters on accusations of belonging to a terrorist organisation, a day after the country`s interim government blacklisted the group.The people arrested on Thursday were accused of passing out leaflets in support of the

29 die after Thai bus plunges into ravine

DHAKA: At least 29 people have died and four were badly injured after a bus plunged into a deep ravine in northeastern Thailand, police say.The accident occurred around midnight on Friday in the Lom Sak district of Phetchabun province, with the bus en route to the northern province of

Obama signs bipartisan budget bill

DHAKA: US President Barack Obama has signed a two-year bipartisan federal budget bill, averting the risk of a government shutdown in January.The hard-fought legislation was passed by both the Senate and the House of Representatives earlier this month, reports BBC.The bill had been drafted

Tribesmen seize oil ministry building in Yemen

DHAKA: Tribesmen seized an oil ministry building in Yemen’s eastern Hadramout province on Thursday and exchanged gunfire with a pro-government tribe seeking to regain control of the premises.Tribal sources and ministry employees said, reports The Straits Times.The tribesmen were

Plane crash in Siberia kills 6

DHAKA: A plane crashed in eastern Russia on Thursday, killing all six crew members, Interfax news agency reported, citing a local emergency services official.The Soviet-built Antonov An-12 plane was carrying no passengers and crashed during a flight from Novosibirsk to Irkutsk in Siberia,

Thai govt rejects election delay

DHAKA: Thailand’s government has rejected calls to delay February’s election, amid increasingly violent protests in which a policeman has been shot dead.The Electoral Commission urged the postponement over safety fears for candidates on the campaign trail.But government officials said

Swiss expert dismisses Russian ‘political declaration’ on Arafat

DHAKA: The Swiss expert who examined samples of Yasser Arafat’s remains dismissed as a ‘political declaration’ a statement Thursday by Russian researchers excluding radiation poisoning as the cause for the Palestinian leader’s death.‘The Russians, they make claims without

Egypt arrests Brotherhood supporters under terror law

DHAKA: Police arrested 16 Muslim Brotherhood supporters on Thursday, the state news agency said, the first arrests on charges of belonging to a terrorist organisation since the group was declared one by the government.The men were arrested in the Nile Delta province of Sharkiya on

African leaders in S Sudan for peace talks

DHAKA: African leaders arrived in South Sudan on Thursday to try to mediate between the country’s president and the political rivals he accuses of attempting a coup that the government insists sparked violence threatening to destroy the world’s newest country.Kenyan president Uhuru

Turkish PM’s son next target of graft probe

DHAKA: The son of Turkey’s prime minister will likely be the next target of a widening graft probe that led to a major cabinet reshuffle after three ministers resigned.Turkish media said on Thursday, reports The Straits Times.Several newspapers said a bitter struggle between prime