DHAKA: The only US soldier held prisoner in Afghanistan has been freed as part of a swap deal with the Taliban, brokered by the government of Qatar. Bowe Bergdahl's release was part of a negotiation that included the freeing of five high-profile Afghan prisoners held in Guantanamo Bay,

DHAKA: The son of the Brazilian football legend Pele has been sentenced to 33 years in jail for laundering money raised from drug trafficking. Edinho is a retired footballer who played goalkeeper for Pele's old club, Santos, in the 1990s, reports the BBC. He was first arrested in 2005

DHAKA: The boss of Europe’s biggest home improvements retailer Kingfisher said on Saturday that a vote for independence from the United Kingdom would make Scotland a less attractive place in which to invest. Kingfisher, which operates the DIY chain B&Q across Britain as well as

DHAKA: Pakistani army officers said the military, backed by helicopter gunships, killed 14 militants in a clash near the Afghan border in Pakistan’s northwestern tribal region. The officers said a group of insurgents sneaked into Pakistan on Saturday and attacked a military checkpoint,

DHAKA: Nick Clegg accused the controversial mayor of Tower Hamlets of ‘arrogance’ as he backed an investigation into the borough’s chaotic election process. UK’s Deputy Prime Minister launched an extraordinary attack on Lutfur Rahman amid allegations of voter intimidation at

DHAKA: Flights into and out of the northern Australian city of Darwin were cancelled on Saturday and some to Bali affected due to huge ash clouds thrown up by an Indonesian volcano. Indonesia’s Sangeang Api volcano began erupting on Friday and its ash is sweeping south towards

DHAKA: A roadside bomb has killed 12 civilians in eastern Afghanistan, officials have said. Afghan provincial officials in Ghazni said two minivans hit a roadside bomb in Giro district, Al Jazeera publishes this reports without mentioning the date. The passengers in the two vehicles

DHAKA: Union minister Smriti Irani has requested the Delhi University (DU) to reinstate five officials who were suspended for leaking her documents amid a controversy over her educational qualifications. ‘Since DU is an autonomous institution I have put forth my personal appeal to the

DHAKA: A Chinese military official on Saturday blasted the United States for making ‘threats’ after the US defence chief accused Beijing of inflaming tensions in the disputed South China Sea. China state television reported, says The Straits Times. US defense secretary Chuck Hagel

DHAKA: A Chinese woman was beaten to death at a McDonald’s outlet in China’s eastern province of Shandong, city police said, after she reportedly refused to give members of an alleged religious cult her mobile phone number on May 28. Six people, including four members of the same

DHAKA: Police in India say they have now arrested all suspects in connection with the gang rape and murder of two teenage cousins. Three suspected attackers have been detained, along with two policemen accused of dereliction of duty and criminal conspiracy. The girls, who belonged to a

DHAKA: Thailand will have to wait for about 15 months or more before elections are held, according to Thai junta chief Prayuth Chan-ocha, who has laid out his road map for reforms after seizing power though a military coup on May 22. In a televised statement last night, the army chief

DHAKA: President Barack Obama dropped a major bombshell on Friday. He announced White House Press Secretary Jay Carney will be resigning in a surprise press briefing appearance. In his remarks, Obama called Carney "one of my closest friends in Washington."  "I'm going to miss him a

DHAKA: There is more to a country than the cold GDP numbers and economic statistics. And to understand well-being of a nation, Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) has come up with a ‘Better Life Index’. This index allows user to understand how life in a

DHAKA: Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi's wife Jashodaben, who lives in Brahmanwada village of Unjha town of Mehsana district, has been given round-the-clock police protection by the Mehasana police. Since Friday, five policemen from Mehsana police headquarters have been deployed

DHAKA: The US defence secretary has accused China of "destabilising" the South China Sea, saying its action threatened the region's long-term progress. Chuck Hagel said the US would "not look the other way" when nations ignored international rules. Mr Hagel was speaking at a three-day

DHAKA: German Chancellor Angela Merkel has said she wants former Luxembourg Prime Minister Jean-Claude Juncker to become the next EU Commission president. But some European leaders have voiced opposition to the move. Correspondents say the UK government sees Juncker as too much of an EU

DHAKA: Turkish PM Recep Tayyip Erdogan has urged young Turks to ignore calls to mark the first anniversary of Istanbul's Taksim Square protests. He was speaking ahead of nationwide demonstrations planned for Saturday. Thousands of police officers and dozens of water cannon trucks are to

DHAKA: Congress president Sonia Gandhi's daughter Priyanka Gandhi on Friday wrote a letter to the Director of Special Protection Group (SPG), asking for withdrawal of special airport exemptions provided to her and family. The plea came hours after reports claim today that government is

DHAKA: There is outrage over police inaction in a village in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh where two teenage girls were gang raped and hanged from a tree. The father of one victim said he was ridiculed by policemen when he sought help in finding his missing daughter. He said when