DHAKA: The death toll in a massive explosion on a state-owned gas pipeline running through southern India has risen to 19, officials said on Sunday, while police confirmed a case of negligence was filed against the company. A senior official from the East Godavari district of Andhra

DHAKA: Saudi King Abdullah on Sunday sharply criticised religious extremists, vowing not to let ‘a handful of terrorists...terrify Muslims’ in a speech marking the start of the Muslim holy fasting month of Ramadan. Islam is ‘religion of unity, fraternity and mutual support’ but

DHAKA: US space agency Nasa sent a saucer-like vehicle high into the sky on Saturday to test technology for a future Mars landing, but its parachute tangled when deployed and the spacecraft splashed into the Pacific Ocean. The test began when the space agency attached its ‘Low-Density

DHAKA: A magnitude 6.2 earthquake hit 167 km east-southeast of Iwo Jima in the Volcano Islands of Japan on Sunday. The US Geological Survey (USGS) said, reports The Straits Times. Japanese radio NHK said there was no threat of a tsunami. USGS earlier reported the quake was of 6.4

DHAKA: Iraq says it has received the first batch of fighter jets it ordered from Russia to help it as it fights an offensive by Sunni rebels.  The defense ministry said five Sukhoi Su-25 attack aircraft would enter service in ‘three to four days’, reports the BBC.  The insurgents

LONDON: British Prime Minister David Cameron extended Ramadan greetings to Muslims in Britain and throughout the world observing the holy month of Ramadan.  He said “This is an special time of year for Muslims at home and abroad: a time for charity, for contemplation and community.”

DHAKA: At least 11 people were killed and 28 others wounded in an explosion in a brothel in the northeastern Nigerian city of Bauchi, aljazeera reports.  Suspicion for the blast immediately fell on the Boko Haram group, which has in the past few months targeted several cities across

DHAKA: Nine people died after one of the two towers of an 11-storey under-construction building collapsed near Chennai in India on Saturday. The incident occurred at Moulivakkam near Porur, about 20 km from Chennai. 23 people have been rescued so far and the injured are being admitted

DHAKA: Reacting strongly to reports that China has in its recent map shown Arunachal Pradesh as its territory, India on Saturday said ‘cartographic depiction’ does not change reality on the ground and asserted that Arunachal was an integral part of the country. Asked about recent

DHAKA: China’s top official in charge of Taiwan affairs on Saturday wrapped up a landmark four-day visit to the island which sparked angry protests, forcing him to scrap some engagements. The visit by Zhang Zhijun, the most senior Chinese official ever to visit Taiwan, was a further

DHAKA: Russia put off the maiden launch of its first new space rocket design since Soviet times for a second day on Saturday. RIA news agency said, a fresh blow to the country’s once-pioneering industry, reports The Straits Times. The debut launch of the Angara rocket was first called

DHAKA: China has reportedly commissioned a ‘preliminary research study’ to build an international rail link connecting its border province of Xinjiang to Pakistan, a contentious project from India’s perspective as it runs through Pakistan-occupied Kashmir. China has allocated funds

DHAKA: Thailand’s junta-leading Army Chief has dismissed allegations he plotted to seize power for years before May’s coup, issuing an apparent rebuke to the leader of the protests that crippled the former government. ‘It is not true’ General Prayuth Chan-O-Cha said, addressing

DHAKA: A young couple in Pakistan were tied up and had their throats slit with scythes after they married for love. Police said Saturday, reports The Straits Times. The 17-year-old girl and 31-year-old man married on June 18 without the consent of their families in eastern Pakistan’s

DHAKA: An explosion in the red light district of northern Nigeria’s Bauchi city has killed 10 people and injured 14 others. Police said on Saturday, reports The Straits Times. The cause of the late Friday blast was not immediately clear, but Boko Haram Islamists have attacked Bauchi

DHAKA: Transportation authorities agreed to fund anti-suicide netting beneath the Golden Gate Bridge to prevent people jumping to their death from the iconic landmark. An official said, reports Hindustan Times. The Golden Gate’s management authority agreed to pay part of the $76

DHAKA: More than one million Bangladesh expatriates in the UAE will have smart Machine Readable Passports (MRPs) by November 2015. The project was launched in Dubai by the Ambassador of Bangladesh to the UAE Mohammad Imran, the Gulf News publishes this report early Saturday. It said

DHAKA: Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe is considering visiting Bangladesh. A government source said Friday, reports the Global Post early Saturday. At that time he might visit Sri Lanka. The report includes that if Abe makes the visit, Bangladeshi Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina is

DHAKA: The most influential Shia cleric in Iraq called on the country’s leaders on Friday to choose a prime minister within the next four days, a dramatic political intervention that could hasten the end of Nuri al-Maliki’s eight year rule. Grand Ayatollah Ali Sistani, who commands

DHAKA: The Indian Navy has deployed its warship in the Persian Gulf as the government continues efforts to ensure safety of Indian nationals stranded in Iraq. INS Mysore has been deployed in the Persian Gulf as it has been asked to be on standby by the government after the meeting of the