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

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

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

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

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

DHAKA: An Indian gangster linked to dozens of murders escaped from police custody after apparently serving food laced with sedatives to officers guarding him.Police and local media reports said on Thursday.Vikram Paras, 27, carried out the daring escape as four armed officers were

DHAKA: An Indian court on Thursday rejected a petition seeking the prosecution of a Hindu nationalist party’s prime ministerial candidate in the killing of a former lawmaker and other Muslims during riots in the western state of Gujarat in 2002. Magistrate BJ Ganatara’s ruling comes

DHAKA: US cargo ship Cape Ray will set sail for the Mediterranean on January 3, local media say.The vessel is specially equipped to neutralize toxins, as the ones to be moved out of Syria over 2014, reports The Voice of Russia.According to insider sources, the ship will reach an Italian

DHAKA: Communist China’s president Xi Jinping acknowledged on Thursday its founding father Mao Zedong made ‘mistakes’, as admirers celebrated the 120th anniversary of the late leader’s birth with noodles and fireworks.Mao is the centrepiece of the ruling party’s pantheon and

DHAKA: Russian forensic experts announced Thursday that Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat died of natural causes.Lebanese newspaper The Daily Star reported, says The Jerusalem Post.The Russian experts had been studying the remains of the leader, searching for clues about his death.‘We

DHAKA: Dozens of Libyan militiamen blocked the entrance to the central bank and port in the capital Tripoli on Thursday, demanding the resignation of prime minister Ali Zeidan.Libya is in turmoil with Zeidan’s government struggling to assert control of the North African country awash

DHAKA: An elderly American development worker kidnapped in Pakistan has appeared in a new video, appealing to president Obama to negotiate his release after more than two years in captivity.In the 13-minute video received on Thursday by media, Warren Weinstein says he feels

DHAKA: Aid agencies need US$166 million over the next three months to help civilians in violence-wracked South Sudan.The United Nations said on Wednesday, The Straits Times publishes this report on Thursday.The money is needed for maintaining health and sanitation, distributing food, as

DHAKA: China’s leaders bowed three times before a statue of Mao Zedong on the 120th anniversary of his birth on Thursday in carefully controlled celebrations that also sought to uphold the market-style reforms that came after his death.The approach underscores the delicate balancing act

DHAKA: Turkish PM Recep Tayyip Erdogan has announced a major cabinet reshuffle after three ministerial resignations over a corruption inquiry.Erdogan named 10 new ministers, almost half of his total roster, after talks with president Abdullah Gul.One of those who quit, environment

DHAKA: A US drone strike targeted a house in Pakistan’s restive north Waziristan tribal region killing at least four suspected militants.Local officials said the drone attack took place late on Wednesday night and targeted a house in Qutab Khel village, five kilometres from Miranshah,

DHAKA: Egypt’s interim government has declared the Muslim Brotherhood a terrorist organisation, a move that gives authorities greater freedom to crack down on the group.Hossam Eissa, a deputy prime minister, announced the decision on Wednesday night after a lengthy cabinet meeting,

DHAKA:  The death toll from two weeks of floods and mudslides amid torrential rain in two states in southeastern Brazil has risen to 32, officials said.The civil defence department of Minas Gerais state said on its website on Wednesday that 17 people died there in floodwaters and

DHAKA: Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe is visiting a controversial shrine to World War Two dead, exactly one year after he took office.Abe said his visit to Yasukuni was "to pledge and determine that never again will people suffer in war".He said it was "not intended to hurt the

DHAKA:  Ex-National Security Agency contractor Edward Snowden has delivered an "alternative" UK Christmas message, urging an end to mass surveillance.The broadcast was carried on Channel 4 as an alternative to the Queen`s traditional Christmas message, Snowden focused on privacy, saying: