DHAKA: Russian forensic experts announced Thursday that Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat died of natural causes.Lebanese newspaper The Daily Star reported, says The Jerusalem Post.The Russian experts had been studying the remains of the leader, searching for clues about his death.‘We

DHAKA: Dozens of Libyan militiamen blocked the entrance to the central bank and port in the capital Tripoli on Thursday, demanding the resignation of prime minister Ali Zeidan.Libya is in turmoil with Zeidan’s government struggling to assert control of the North African country awash

DHAKA: An elderly American development worker kidnapped in Pakistan has appeared in a new video, appealing to president Obama to negotiate his release after more than two years in captivity.In the 13-minute video received on Thursday by media, Warren Weinstein says he feels

DHAKA: Aid agencies need US$166 million over the next three months to help civilians in violence-wracked South Sudan.The United Nations said on Wednesday, The Straits Times publishes this report on Thursday.The money is needed for maintaining health and sanitation, distributing food, as

DHAKA: China’s leaders bowed three times before a statue of Mao Zedong on the 120th anniversary of his birth on Thursday in carefully controlled celebrations that also sought to uphold the market-style reforms that came after his death.The approach underscores the delicate balancing act

DHAKA: Turkish PM Recep Tayyip Erdogan has announced a major cabinet reshuffle after three ministerial resignations over a corruption inquiry.Erdogan named 10 new ministers, almost half of his total roster, after talks with president Abdullah Gul.One of those who quit, environment

DHAKA: A US drone strike targeted a house in Pakistan’s restive north Waziristan tribal region killing at least four suspected militants.Local officials said the drone attack took place late on Wednesday night and targeted a house in Qutab Khel village, five kilometres from Miranshah,

DHAKA: Egypt’s interim government has declared the Muslim Brotherhood a terrorist organisation, a move that gives authorities greater freedom to crack down on the group.Hossam Eissa, a deputy prime minister, announced the decision on Wednesday night after a lengthy cabinet meeting,

DHAKA:  The death toll from two weeks of floods and mudslides amid torrential rain in two states in southeastern Brazil has risen to 32, officials said.The civil defence department of Minas Gerais state said on its website on Wednesday that 17 people died there in floodwaters and

DHAKA: Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe is visiting a controversial shrine to World War Two dead, exactly one year after he took office.Abe said his visit to Yasukuni was "to pledge and determine that never again will people suffer in war".He said it was "not intended to hurt the

DHAKA:  Ex-National Security Agency contractor Edward Snowden has delivered an "alternative" UK Christmas message, urging an end to mass surveillance.The broadcast was carried on Channel 4 as an alternative to the Queen`s traditional Christmas message, Snowden focused on privacy, saying:

DHAKA: More than 500,000 households in the north-eastern US and the south-eastern Canada are still without electricity after last weekend`s severe ice storm.Utility crews are working round-the-clock, but warn that some homes could be without power at least until Saturday, reports BBC.In

DHAKA: At least 17 people have died and dozens more were rescued after their boat capsized off the Turks and Caicos Islands in the Caribbean on Wednesday, according to the local government and U.S. officials.The U.S. Coast Guard, assisting the islands` rescue crews, retrieved about 55

DHAKA: The United Nations mission in South Sudan has denied a report of a mass grave that was issued by the office of a UN Commissioner for Human Rights.The Berlin office of Navi Pillay had said on Tuesday that a grave of 75 bodies was found in Bentiu, Unity State.Later the office revised

DHAKA: Russia on Wednesday formally dropped criminal charges against Greenpeace activists arrested in a protest against Arctic oil drilling on Wednesday and was expected to shortly do the same for all 30.The environmental group said, reports daily Hurriyet.By 1200 GMT Greenpeace said it

DHAKA: Three Turkish ministers have resigned after their sons were arrested amid a corruption scandal that has hit the government of PM Recep Tayyip Erdogan.Announcing his decision, environment minister Erdogan Bayraktar said the prime minister should also step down.Two of the

DHAKA: Damascus signed a major oil exploration deal with a Russian company in the Syrian capital Wednesday, which will allow for exploration in a section of Syrian waters.The deal was signed by Syrian oil minister Suleiman Abbas, Syria’s General Petroleum Company and the Russian

DHAKA: Pope Francis on Wednesday called for humanitarian aid access in Syria and ‘social harmony’ in South Sudan on his first Christmas in the Vatican after months of shaking up the papacy with his humble style and common touch.Pope Francis also pleaded for divine aid to rescue child

DHAKA: Militants in Iraq targeted Christians in two separate bomb attacks in Baghdad on Wednesday, killing at least 37 people.Iraq officials said, reports Today’s Zaman.In one attack, a car bomb went off near a church during Christmas Mass in the capital’s southern Dora neighbourhood,

DHAKA: Pope Francis has used his first Christmas Day address to urge access for humanitarian aid in Syria.He told thousands of pilgrims in St Peter’s Square in the Vatican to pray for a peaceful end to violence in Syria and other conflict zones, reports the BBC.The Argentine pope also