DHAKA: Armed rebels were besieging a hospital in their eastern Ukraine stronghold on Saturday in an apparent bid to seize wounded foes after a deadly firefight. A media correspondent said, reports The Straits Times. A doctor at the hospital in the main eastern city of Donetsk said the

DHAKA: The BJP on Saturday expressed ‘delight’ at the decision of Nawaz Sharif to attend the oath-taking ceremony of Narendra Modi as Prime Minister while Congress asked the new government to raise issues such as cross-border terrorism, slow pace of trial of 26/11 attackers and

DHAKA: Pope Francis made an urgent plea on Saturday for peace in war-torn Syria as he kicked off a three-day pilgrimage to the Middle East. And he called for religious freedom to be upheld throughout a region ravaged by war and bloodshed, where a dwindling Christian population faces

DHAKA: An Egyptian court jailed 19 supporters of ousted Islamist president Mohamed Mursi for five years on Saturday for storming the offices of the head of the prestigious Al-Azhar Islamic institution. Egypt judicial sources said, reports The Straits Times. The army-installed government

DHAKA: Thailand’s military junta has disbanded the country’s Senate and placed all law-making responsibility in the hands of the army general who led this week’s coup. The army said on Saturday, reports The Straits Times. ‘The Senate is dismissed. Responsibility for any laws

DHAKA: Russia has still not received any new payment from Ukraine for natural gas supplies. Energy Minister Alexander Novak said on Saturday, reports The Straits Times. Russian state-run natural gas exporter Gazprom has threatened to halt deliveries to Ukraine on June 3 if Kiev does not

DHAKA: Pope Francis has arrived in Jordan at the start of a three-day visit to the Middle East which will also take him to Israel and the Palestinian territories. The official purpose of the visit is to improve ties with the Orthodox Church. Quentin Sommerville reports, says the BBC.

DHAKA: A series of drive-by shootings in the Californian city of Santa Barbara has left seven people dead. US police say, reports the BBC. The shootings took place near a student campus belonging to the University of California-Santa Barbara. The suspected gunman is among the dead.

DHAKA: Explosions and gunfire have been heard in the Somali capital Mogadishu as the parliament came under attack while MPs were meeting. The cause of the blasts was not immediately clear. Somalia’s first parliament of its own since the collapse of government in 1992 was sworn in two

DHAKA: An Iranian businessman convicted of masterminding a US$2.6 billion banking scam, the biggest fraud case in the country’s history, was hanged on Saturday. State media reported, says The Straits Times. Mahafarid Amir Khosravi was sent to the gallows in Tehran’s notorious Evin

DHAKA: The whereabouts of former Thai prime minister Yingluck Shinawatra is unknown after she was detained by the military that seized power in a coup. ‘It is confirmed that she was detained by the military since she reported to the junta yesterday,’ a source in her Puea Thai party

DHAKA: Rebels in northern Mali have agreed to a ceasefire, two days after clashes with the army threatened to throw the country back into chaos. Three Tuareg rebel groups occupying the key northern town of Kidal signed the agreement after talks with African Union chairman Mohamed Ould

DHAKA: The Pope is due to arrive in Jordan at the start of a three-day visit to the Middle East which will also take him to Israel and the Palestinian territories. Pope Francis will first travel to Amman, where he will celebrate Mass in a stadium, and later meet Syrian refugees. The

DHAKA: A meteor shower late on Friday and early Saturday is captivating countless astronomers and amateur skywatchers with the promise of a falling-star show unlike any ever before seen. The Camelopardalids meteor shower could start for North American viewers at early as 10:30pm on

DHAKA: Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif will attend India’s prime minister designate Narendra Modi's swearing-in on Monday. "On the invitation of Prime Minister designate, Narendra Modi, Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif will make a day long visit to New Delhi," PML-N Spokesperson Siddiq

DHAKA: The Thai military on Friday tightened its grip on the politically unstable Southeast Asian nation, banning more than 150 prominent figures from leaving the country and threatening to arrest politicians who disobey its orders. Former Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra was among

DHAKA: General Prayuth Chan-ocha has declared himself acting Prime Minister of Thailand until the new coup regime announced Thursday can find someone to serve in the post full time. Announcement No.10 of the National Peace and Order Maintaining Council (NPOMC) says General Prayuth, who

DHAKA: Russia's President Putin has said he will respect the outcome of Ukraine's presidential election on Sunday.Speaking at an economic conference in St Petersburg on Friday, Vladimir Putin also said he believed Ukraine had descended into "full-scale civil war".Meanwhile, pro-Russia

DHAKA: Thailand's ex-PM Yingluck Shinawatra and a number of members of her family have been detained, as leaders of the nation's military coup tighten their grip on power. Ms Yingluck and scores of politicians from the deposed government had been told to report to a Bangkok army base.

DHAKA: Indian Prime Minister designate Narendra Modi is the sixth most followed leader on Twitter globally, according to a survey by Twiplomacy, a study of world leaders on the microblogging site.  Modi’s Twitter handle has 4,240,643 followers, with a weekly growth of 6.77 percent,