WASHINGTON: General James Mattis was named Thursday as the new head of US Central Command, or CENTCOM, which has overall control of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Mattis, whose appointment must be confirmed by the Senate, replaces General David Petraeus, who took over direct command

NEW YORK: Ten Russian spies headed for home Friday after being released by the United States in a sensational Cold War-style exchange for four Western agents. The 10 pleaded guilty in a New York federal court to acting as illegal agents for Moscow and were ordered expelled from the

JAKARTA: US and Indonesian scientists on Thursday launched a joint expedition to map some of the deepest oceanic trenches in the world for clues on biodiversity and volcanic vents, officials said.The US embassy in Jakarta said the first joint expedition by Indonesia and the United States

BEIJING: A Catholic priest and a nun were murdered in northern China this week, but the motive was not immediately clear, police said Thursday.AsiaNews, a Vatican-based news service, said Joseph Shulai Zhang and Sister Mary Wei Yanhui were apparently stabbed to death at the nursing home

BEIJING: An explosion at a mine in central China on Thursday killed at least six people and left 34 others injured, many of them residents living near the pit, local authorities said.The blast took place in Henan province`s Pingdingshan city, according to a report on the city`s official

GUWAHATI: A bomb planted on railway tracks in India`s restive northeast ripped through the engine and coach of a passenger train on Thursday, killing one and injuring seven, officials said.Police blamed the outlawed National Democratic Front of Bodoland (NDFB) for the blast in the early

TOKYO: More than 100 people showed up and thousands more listened via the Internet to a recent suicide prevention workshop in Japan, a country where over 30,000 people kill themselves every year."Please, wait a minute before you hang yourself or start mixing chemicals and pills," Koji

SHAMWARI GAME RESERVE: Darting an African elephant is no easy task: its herd will try to revive it. A drugged lion will be killed by its pride. And a furious rhino can simply storm through sedation.Such situations are all in a day`s work in the South African bush for veterinarian Johan

NEW YORK: US prosecutors named top Al-Qaeda leaders Wednesday in an alleged attempt to bomb New York`s subway, saying their failed plot was part of a Pakistan-based campaign against US and British cities.The indictment dramatically broadened the case in which Afghan immigrant and Colorado

ATHENS: Greece faced a general strike Thursday after deputies approved a bill on the reform of the private-sector pension system, voting to raise the retirement age from 60 to 65.Socialist deputies and two independents late Wednesday backed the measure, considered a key plank of the

HAVANA: Cuba agreed to release 52 political prisoners Wednesday, in a breakthrough church-state deal set to yield the biggest prisoner release since President Raul Castro formally took the reins of power in 2008.The release, to include five dissidents, exceeds a bold demand by a

NEW YORK: Fresh from upbeat talks with US President Barack Obama in Washington, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu flew Wednesday to New York, where he spoke emotionally of the bond between Israel and the United States.Addressing American Jewish leaders, Netanyahu recalled the

MONTERREY: Torrential rain pounded northern Mexico on Wednesday, triggering floods that closed a US-Mexico border bridge and forced tens of thousands of people to evacuate their homes.The heaviest rain for several decades has topped off reservoirs in the border states of Coahuila, Nuevo

BAGHDAD: A suicide bomber wearing an explosives-filled belt targeted Shiite pilgrims and murdered 28 people in Baghdad on Wednesday while 11 more were killed in bomb attacks, security officials told AFP.The suicide attack occurred in Adhamiyah, a Sunni district across the Tigris river

LONDON: British troops will hand over control of the violence-wracked Sangin area of southern Afghanistan to US forces by the end of the year, Defence Secretary Liam Fox announced on Wednesday.British forces have suffered their heaviest losses in Sangin with almost 100 deaths in the

banglanews24.com.bd/AFPPAYERNE: An experimental solar-powered aircraft took off from a Swiss airbase here in the early hours of Wednesday in a bid to make history by flying round the clock and through the night. Solar Impulse whirred along the runway at Payerne in western Switzerland,

banglanews24.com.bd/AFP KUPANG: Indonesia has detained 66 asylum-seekers from Afghanistan and Iran who were on their way to Australia when their boat ran aground, police said Wednesday.The migrants, including women and children, were found Tuesday on a beach off East Nusa Tenggara

COLOMBO: Sri Lankan protesters led by a cabinet minister rallied outside the UN office in Colombo on Wednesday, a day after laying siege to the building and trapping staff inside for several hours.The United Nations expressed its anger at the protesters, who said they were campaigning

SYDNEY: Australia`s Defence Minister John Faulkner on Wednesday said he would quit the cabinet after coming elections, but denied his decision was prompted by last month`s abrupt change of prime minister.Faulkner, a Labor Party heavyweight and a known ally of ousted leader Kevin Rudd,

WASHINGTON: US President Barack Obama said Tuesday he hoped for direct Middle East peace talks to start before the end of September, as he and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu denied reports of a rift.The leaders sat close together in the Oval Office and staged a prolonged