DHAKA: The Russian economy contracted by 0.5% in November, the first fall in national output - Gross Domestic Product - since October 2009.Russian official figures show, reports the BBC.The Russian government expects a 0.8% decline in GDP next year, compared with 0.6% GDP growth in 2014

DHAKA: All remaining passengers have been taken off the ferry Norman Atlantic, which caught fire off the island of Corfu.Italian officials say, reports the BBC.Five people died in the incident. One man was killed when trying to escape the ship, and a further four bodies have been

DHAKA: British boxer Amir Khan on Monday visited the Pakistani school where Taliban gunmen slaughtered 150 people, including 134 children, to pay his respects to the victims.The World Boxing Council welterweight world champion, who has Pakistani roots, has pledged to help rebuild the Army

DHAKA: A Pakistani court on Monday suspended a detention order on the alleged mastermind of the 2008 Mumbai attacks, government lawyers said, a move likely to further inflame tensions with India.The suspension is the latest round in a tussle over whether to grant bail to Zaki-ur-Rehman

DHAKA: South Korea has offered to resume high-level talks next month with North Korea on a range of issues, to prepare for a ‘peaceful unification’.Unification Minister Ryoo Kihl-jae said he especially hoped to discuss the reunion of families separated by the Korean War more than

DHAKA: Indonesia's top rescue official says authorities believe the missing AirAsia jet is likely at the bottom of the sea, based on radar data from the plane's last contact."(Because) the coordinate that was given to us and the evolution from the calculation point of the flight

DHAKA: Ships and planes have resumed searching for a passenger jet that went missing on a flight from Indonesia to Singapore with 162 people on board.First Admiral Sigit Setiayana, the Naval Aviation Center Commander at the Surabaya air force base, said on Monday that 12 navy ships,

DHAKA: The worst flooding in Malaysia in more than a decade has killed 10 people and forced nearly 160,000 from their homes and more rain is expected.Authorities said on Sunday, reports The Straits Times.Among the casualties, five were in the worst-hit state of Kelantan, in

DHAKA: Rescuers scouring the Java Sea for a missing AirAsia Indonesia plane with 162 aboard halted their search at nightfall on Sunday and will resume on Monday.Indonesia’s transport ministry said, reports The Straits Times.‘We ended at 5.30pm (local time) because it was getting

DHAKA: Former US president George HW Bush will stay at a Texas hospital through the weekend after experiencing breathing problems. But his spokesman said on Saturday he could be discharged soon, The Straits Times publishes this report on Sunday. Bush, 90, was admitted late Tuesday to

DHAKA: In the face of adversity, some people showed their ugly side out of desperation but Malaysians are proving to be courageous and compassionate. An IT engineer, who wanted to be known only as Jack, told The Star that victims affected by the floods were desperate due to a shortage of

DHAKA: Unconfirmed reports have emerged online that wreckage, allegedly to be from the missing Indonesia AirAsia Flight QZ8501 has been found in the waters off East Belitung.This was reported by the Bangka Pos, which however added that there was no confirmation that the purported

DHAKA:  Syria is ready to meet the country's opposition in Moscow in an effort to find a way out of the nearly four-year civil war, a government official has said. "Syria is ready to participate in a preliminary and consultative meeting in Moscow to respond to the aspirations of Syrians

DHAKA: A search operation is underway for an AirAsia Indonesia flight with 162 people on board that lost contact with Indonesian air traffic control en route to Singapore on Sunday, after the pilots asked to change course to avoid bad weather and no distress signal was sent.Flight QZ8501,

DHAKA: The North Korean government called President Obama 'a monkey living in a tropical forest' in a racist tirade against the United States, which the dictatorship blames for knocking out its internet.Officials on the National Defense Commission, led by Supreme Leader Kim Jong Un,

DHAKA: Residents of Myanmar’s commercial hub Yangon went to the polls on Saturday for the first municipal elections in six decades, with voters hoping for change as the city booms, despite knowing little about the candidates or their policies.The election will be closely watched as

DHAKA: Malaysia is battling some of the worst floods in decades along its east coast. At least five people have been killed and more than 100,000 forced to leave their homes. The eastern coastal states are often flooded during the wet monsoon season, but this time officials say heavier

DHAKA: Pro-Russian rebels in eastern Ukraine on Saturday freed four Ukrainian prisoners a day after the two sides exchanged hundreds of captives.The release was announced by a Ukrainian defence ministry adviser, Vasyliy Budik, who said three were soldiers and the fourth a civilian.On

DHAKA: A key militant commander Saddam, the alleged planner of the recent deadly attack on a school in Pakistan, was killed by security forces in Khyber Agency's Jamrud area on Thursday night.Political Agent of Khyber Agency Shahab Ali Shah, while speaking at a press conference in

DHAKA: Memorial services are being held in Indonesia and other nations for the victims of the Indian Ocean tsunami on the 10th anniversary of the disaster.In Indonesia's province of Aceh - the worst hit area - Vice-President Jusuf Kalla led tributes to the dead at the Siron mass