DHAKA: Four bomb blasts in Baghdad have killed more than 60 people, medics say, in the latest in a series of attacks in the Iraqi capital in the past week. Three of the bombings targeted mainly Shia Muslim districts, while another hit a mixed Shia-Sunni area, reports the BBC.

DHAKA: Tanzania has removed more than 10,000 ‘ghost workers’ from its public sector payroll in a crackdown on corruption. Payments to the non-existent employees had been costing the government more than $2m a month, according to the prime minister’s office, reports the BBC.

DHAKA: Afghanistan's capital Kabul is in lockdown as members of an ethnic minority group stage protests over the proposed route of a power line. Thousands of Hazara demonstrators took to the streets of Kabul to march towards the presidential palace, demanding a 500KV transmission

DHAKA: This year has been recorded the highest land and ocean April temperatures on record, keeping 2016 on track to be the hottest year yet and by the biggest edge ever. New data released by NASA put April at 1.11 degrees Celsius warmer than average April temperatures between 1951 to

DHAKA: India is placed to divert water from its rivers to deal with a severe drought. Water resources minister Uma Bharati said transferring water, including from major rivers like the Brahmaputra and the Ganges, to drought-prone areas is now her government's top priority, BBC

DHAKA: Twitter users have praised India Prime Minister Narendra Modi's post pictures of his mother's first visit to his official residence in Delhi on social media. Heeraben Modi, who is in her nineties, lives in her family house in a town in Gujarat, Modi's native state,

DHAKA: Thousands of Australian aircraft enthusiasts have watched the world’s largest plane, the Antonov An-225 Mriya, arrive in Perth. The 84m-long plane, which weighs 175 tones without cargo or fuel, was transporting a 117-tone generator, reports the BBC. Traffic blocked roads on

DHAKA: The 50th anniversary of the start of the Cultural Revolution, which plunged China into a decade of chaos, has been met with silence in its state media. On 16 May 1966 Communist leader Mao Zedong began a campaign to eliminate his rivals. At the same time he called on Chinese

DHAKA: The UN high commissioner for refugees has warned that asylum seekers have become a global fact that requires a global response. Filippo Grandi said that more nations had to help the ‘few countries’ shouldering the burden and that ‘simply pushing people away won't

DHAKA: The Islamic State (IS) of Iraq and Syria group launched a coordinated assault on a government-run natural gas plant in Baghdad’s northern outskirts that killed at least 14 people, while a string of other bomb attacks in or close to the capital killed 15 others. Iraqi officials

DHAKA: A suicide attack claimed by the so-called Islamic State (IS) group has killed at least 25 people in southern Yemen. Officials say the bomber detonated his explosives outside a police base in the port city of Mukalla, killing recruits as they queued up outside the building,

DHAKA: Venezuelan president Nicolas Maduro has threatened the seizure of factories that have stopped production, and the jailing of their owners. In a speech to supporters in the capital Caracas, he said the country had to recover the means of production, to counter its deep economic

DHAKA: Twenty-five Palestinian children were killed in the last three months of 2015 during a wave of anti-Israeli attacks and the number detained was the highest in seven years, according to the UNICEF. ‘Serious concerns arose regarding excessive use of force, particularly in

DHAKA: A casino-bound bus in Texas rolled over killing eight and 44 injured on Saturday (May 14).  The bus, owned by OGA Charters, was traveling north on Route 83 and went off the road about 42 miles north of Laredo after the driver lost control, the department said. The bus rolled

DHAKA: Islamic State (ISIS) has declared state of emergency in self-declared capital through social media.  US military officials are closely watching social media and news reports that say ISIS believes it may soon come under blockade in Raqqa, Syria, its self-declared capital, CNN

DHAKA: The US Navy has demoted the commander of 10 US sailors who entered Iranian territorial waters and were briefly detained in January. In a statement, the US Navy said it had lost confidence in Eric Rasch, who was in charge of a riverine squadron at the time of the incident in the

DHAKA: Top Hezbollah commander Mustafa Badreddine was killed in Israeli air strike in Syria this week. He took part in most of the operations of the Islamic resistance since 1982, Hezbollah said in a statement announcing his death on Friday, describing Badreddine as a ‘great jihadi

DHAKA: Brazil's new acting President Michel Temer has addressed the nation after the Senate voted to back the prosecution trial of Dilma Rousseff. Temer said, ‘Trust in the values of our people and in our ability to rebuild the economy’, BBC reports on Friday (May 13). He

DHAKA: Iranians will not make the Hajj pilgrimage to Saudi Arabia this year after talks failed to break an impasse, an Iranian minister has said. Ali Jannati, Culture and Islamic Guidance Minister of Iran said the Saudis had played a "destructive" role in negotiations, Iranian news

DHAKA: Drought, severe heat and water shortages are disrupting schools, killing animals and ravaging rice crops in Southeast Asia. Thailand, Laos and Cambodia have recorded temperatures up to 44.6°C (112.4°F), beating all-time national highs, according to data from a commercial