DHAKA: UN secretary general Ban Ki-moon said that he was increasingly concerned by the humanitarian crisis sparked by refugees stranded in boats in Southeast Asia, and offered help from the United Nations.Ban said he had spoken by phone with the prime ministers of Malaysia and Thailand

DHAKA: The Iraqi city of Ramadi has fallen to Islamic State (IS) after government forces abandoned their positions, officials say.The police and military made a chaotic retreat after days of intense fighting, reports bbc.com.But the US refused to confirm the capture, saying the situation

DHAKA: Police in the US state of Texas say nine people have been killed in a shootout between rival biker gangs in the city of Waco.The incident happened at the Twin Peaks Sports Bar and Grill in a shopping area called the Central Texas Market Place, reports bbc.com.Police said eight had

DHAKA: Tens of thousands of protesters in the Macedonian capital Skopje are demanding the resignation of long-serving Prime Minister Nikola Gruevski.The rally follows the release by the opposition of covert recordings which appear to show ministers plotting vote-rigging and the cover-up

DHAKA: Nearly 300 people have been killed after several days of fighting between the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) group and the Syrian government in the historic town of Palmyra.The UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said on Sunday the dead included 123 Syrian

DHAKA: Migrants rescued from a sinking boat off Indonesia have told the BBC that about 100 people died after a fight broke out over the last remaining food.Survivors told of horrific conditions. Three men separately said people were stabbed, hanged or thrown overboard.The 700 rescued

DHAKA: At least 32 Islamic State (IS) in Iraq and Syria members, including four of its leaders, were killed in air strikes and a US special forces raid that targeted the group in eastern Syria.A group monitoring the Syrian war said on Sunday, reports The Straits Times.US officials said

DHAKA: Germany’s foreign intelligence agency helped the CIA track down Osama bin Laden in Pakistan where US special forces killed the Al-Qaeda leader.A German news report published Sunday said, according to The Straits Times.The BND spy service provided a tip-off that Osama was hiding

DHAKA: Thousands of people rallied in Okinawa in southern Japan on Sunday in protest against a controversial United States airbase on the island, as a two-decade-old bitter row over the relocation of the site drags on.Okinawa is home to more than half of the 47,000 US service personnel

DHAKA: Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi held talks on Sunday with his counterpart during a visit to Mongolia, with the two nations upgrading relations as Delhi tries to strengthen its influence in China’s backyard.Meeting Prime Minister Chimed Saikhanbileg, Modi praised the

DHAKA: The United States is ‘deeply concerned’ about an Egyptian court decision to seek the death penalty for former president Mohamed Mursi.A State Department official said on Sunday, reports The Straits Times.The US criticism follows condemnations from Amnesty International and

DHAKA: A magnitude 5.7 earthquake hit Nepal on Saturday, about 76 km east south east of the capital Kathmandu, at a shallow depth of 10 km.The US Geological Survey said, reports The Straits Times.A 7.8 magnitude earthquake struck on April 25, killing more than 8,000 people and there have

DHAKA: The Syrian army has killed an Islamic State (IS) in Iraq and Syria leader responsible for oil-related affairs along with 40 other militants in an attack in the eastern province of Deir al-Zor.Syrian state media reported, says The Straits Times.A news flash on state TV identified IS

DHAKA: Thailand has found more than 100 migrants on a southern island but thousands remain adrift as boats are pushed back out into southeast Asia’s seas by governments who have ignored a UN call for a coordinated rescue.The crisis has arisen because smugglers have abandoned boats

DHAKA: Myanmar president office said it may snub a regional meeting hosted by Thailand on May 29 aimed at easing the current Bay of Bengal migrant crisis, reports NDTV. Hundreds of boat people have arrived on Thai, Malaysian and Indonesian soil since May 1, when the discovery of mass

DHAKA: At least 55 people were killed in two Boko Haram raids this week near Maiduguri, capital of restive northeastern Nigeria Borno state.A vigilante and two residents said on Friday, reports the Times of India.“Boko Haram fighters raided Bale and Kayamla villages where they killed at

DHAKA: Burundi’s President Pierre Nkurunziza has returned to the capital Bujumbura in the wake of a failed coup attempt.Nkurunziza was in Tanzania when military leaders moved against his bid for a third term on Wednesday, reports the BBC.Three of the coup leaders have been arrested,

DHAKA: Three major meteorological agencies -- the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Japan's Meteorological Agency and the Australian Bureau of Meteorology -- have determined that water in the Pacific Ocean is now warm enough to say that El Niño is back.The El Niño

DHAKA: Malaysia has turned away two boats with up to 800 Rohingya Muslims, insisting that Myanmar must end its oppression of this minority group, reports the Straits Times.With 1,158 refugees, mainly Rohingyas from Myanmar but some from Bangladesh as well, landing in Langkawi on Sunday

DHAKA: The wreckage of a US military helicopter that disappeared this week while delivering aid near the Chinese border in Nepal has been found.Six US marines and two Nepali soldiers were on board. There is "no chance" of survivors, Nepali officials say, reports the bbc.comTuesday's