DHAKA: Premier Barry O`Farrell has declared a state of emergency across NSW for the next 30 days, which will give special powers to all emergency services to force evacuations and deal with what could be a catastrophe.The last time such an order was used was in March 2012, to cope with

DHAKA: Nine Lebanese Shia pilgrims who were kidnapped by rebels in Syria in May 2012 have arrived back in Beirut a day after being released.There were jubilant scenes as they were greeted on the tarmac by family members and Lebanese politicians.Two Turkish pilots who were being held

DHAKA: Two convicted murderers who used forged documents to trick their way out of prison in Florida have been recaptured, US officials say.Joseph Jenkins and Charles Walker, both 34, were seized without incident at a motel in Panama City, Florida.The men, who were serving life sentences,

DHAKA: Australian firefighters battling destructive bush fires in New South Wales are preparing for worsening conditions in the next few days.The return of hot weather and strong winds is expected to fan the flames - the worst in the state for a decade.Around 200 homes have already been

DHAKA: Tunisian security forces have killed at least nine suspected Islamist militants who are blamed for a deadly attack on a police patrol, officials say.They say at least three other suspects were arrested in the operation in the Mount Taouyer area, about 70km (44 miles) west of the

DHAKA: At least 10 people have been killed after a small tourist plane crashed near the city of Namur in south-east Belgium.It was carrying a group of skydivers and crashed shortly after take-off, killing all those on board, the local mayor has told the AFP news agency.The plane is

DHAKA: Campaigning Pakistani schoolgirl Malala Yousafzai was reunited on Saturday with two friends who were injured in the Taliban attempt to kill her.Kainat Riaz and Shazia Ramzan met Malala during an event at Edinburgh University in Scotland, the first time they have seen her since the

DHAKA: Egyptian state media say top security officials are testifying behind closed doors in the retrial of former president Hosni Mubarak, who faces charges related to the killings of around 900 protesters during the 2011 uprising that led to his ouster.The 85-year-old former autocrat

DHAKA: Russian deputy foreign minister Sergei Ryabkov and US ambassador Michael McFaul met on Saturday to discuss a number of international and bilateral subjects.The Russian foreign ministry reported, says The Voice of Russia.Ryabkov and McFaul ‘touched upon some international issues,

DHAKA: A Somali police official says at least 12 people have been killed after a suicide bomber detonated explosives in a small restaurant north of the capital.Mohamed Abdi said on Saturday that the attack in the city of Beledweyne, about 339km north of Mogadishu, also wounded at least 10

DHAKA: A batch of toxic bootleg liquor killed at least 32 people, mostly poor labourers, and sickened dozens more in northern India, police said on Saturday.Police officer Arvibnd Sen said the victims bought pouches of tainted liquor on Thursday from a shop in Adampur village in Uttar

DHAKA: Groundwater radiation levels at Japan’s crippled Fukushima nuclear plant have soared near a tank that leaked 300 tonnes of toxic water in August, struggling operator Tokyo Electric Power (Tepco) said.Tepco said water samples collected from a well on Thursday contained 400,000

DHAKA: A Milan court on Saturday ruled that former prime minister Silvio Berlusconi should be barred from holding public office for two years following a conviction for tax fraud.But, since Berlusconi is a senator, the court’s decision will have no immediate effect, and his expulsion

DHAKA: At least 20 people were killed and 44 injured on Saturday in a pile-up on an unlit highway in the Philippines involving three buses and four trucks, police said.Pictures of the accident in Atimonan, 120km south-east of Manila, aired on ABS-CBN television showed at least 10 of the

DHAKA: At least 16 Syrian soldiers have been killed in a suicide bombing and fighting that followed in a Damascus suburb, activists say.The blast triggered clashes at a checkpoint near the mainly-Christian area of Jaramana, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.State media blamed

DHAKA: A senior Chinese official has denounced the Dalai Lama’s long-standing pursuit of autonomy for Tibet, describing it as equivalent to advocating Tibetan independence.China state media said on Saturday, reports The Straits Times.The comments by Zhu Weiqun, chairman of the ethnic

DHAKA: The electoral commission had made a last-minute announcement that the vote would be held as planned on Saturday.But commission head Fuwad Thowfeek said police had entered his offices and were stopping officials distributing election materials.Two candidates had sought to have the

DHAKA: The United Nations has said that at least 450 civilians may have been killed by US drone strikes in Pakistan, Afghanistan and Yemen, a figure which the US has previously downplayed.A UN report, obtained by Al Jazeera on Friday, stated that Pakistan’s government had confirmed at

DHAKA: On Thursday, the 193 countries making up the U.N. General Assembly held a secret ballot to select new members of the Security Council. Each year, the Assembly elects five new countries to serve two-year rotating posts; competition is keen, and countries lobby years in advance for a

DHAKA: A fire in Brazil`s largest port has burnt some 180,000 tonnes of raw sugar, damaging six warehouses and pushing international prices to a one-year high.The authorities in the port of Santos said it took six hours to bring the fire under control.The cause of the blaze is still being