DHAKA: Russian President Vladimir Putin has announced the creation of a new National Guard, which he said would fight terrorism and organized crime. The force will be formed of interior ministry troops and led by Putin’s former bodyguard, Viktor Zolotov, who will report directly to

DHAKA: One of the founders of Mossack Fonseca, the law firm at the centre of the Panama Papers revelations on offshore holdings, said his company was hacked. Ramon Fonseca said the leak was not caused by an insider but that the company was hacked by servers abroad, reports Al Jazeera.

DHAKA: India’s Bihar state has declared total ban on the sale of all forms of alcohol with immediate effect in a move seen as fulfillment of an election promise made by state chief minister Nitish Kumar. ‘Liquor will not be sold in any bar, pub or hotel from now onwards,’ Nitish

DHAKA: President Obama has warned ‘tax avoidance is a big global problem’, and urged Congress to take action to eliminate tax loopholes. ‘A lot of it is legal, but that's exactly the problem,’ he said, reports the BBC. His comments come a day after the US Treasury

DHAKA: The European Commission is due to unveil options for reforms to the way EU countries handle asylum claims in response to the migrant crisis. The move is in part a reaction to the difficulties faced by Greece and Italy to cope with thousands arriving from the Middle East and

DHAKA: A surge in the number of executions recorded worldwide saw more people put to death last year than at any point since 1989.   Amnesty International (AI) says, reports the BBC. At least 1,634 people were executed in 2015, a rise of more than 50% on the previous year, the

DHAKA: Republican presidential candidate Ted Cruz has decisively won the Wisconsin primary, complicating front-runner Donald Trump’s path to the nomination.   In the Democratic race, Bernie Sanders scored a strong victory over Hillary Clinton in the Midwestern state, reports the

DHAKA: Three Congolese peacekeepers accused of sex abuse in the Central African Republic have appeared before a tribunal in the Democratic Republic of Congo. The three men - from the UN’s MINUSCA peacekeeping mission - are the first troops to be prosecuted in the scandal, which has

DHAKA: A Syrian army plane has been shot down in the north of the country and the the pilot captured alive, according to government media and the opposition. SANA, the state news agency, said on Tuesday that the fighter jet was downed by a surface-to-missile and that the pilot ejected

DHAKA: Myanmar’s parliament has passed a bill that gives Aung San Suu Kyi a role similar to that of prime minister. The Lower House passed the bill to create the post of ‘state counselor’, which now requires only presidential approval to become law. Unelected military

DHAKA: South Africa’s parliament is due to vote on an opposition-sponsored motion to impeach President Jacob Zuma.   The Democratic Alliance (DA) said he was no longer fit to govern after the country’s highest court ruled last week that he had breached the constitution by failing

DHAKA: Former New Zealand Prime Minister Helen Clark has ended months of speculation by announcing her candidacy to become the next UN secretary-general.   In an interview with the BBC she said she would like to reform the security council by making Germany, Japan, India and Brazil

DHAKA: Syrian forces and their allies have retaken the central town of al-Qaryatain from so-called Islamic State (IS), dealing a further strategic blow to the militant group.   Syria state media say, reports the BBC.   It comes days after IS was pushed out of the nearby

DHAKA: At least 25 people have been killed and dozens wounded in bomb attacks across Iraq, media reports say.   As many as 10 suicide bombers carried out the attacks, which reportedly targeted members of the security forces and allied Shia Muslim militias.   The Islamic

DHAKA: The first boat carrying migrants being deported from Greece has arrived in Turkey as part of an EU plan aimed at easing mass migration to Europe.   Scores of migrants boarded ferries on the Greek island of Lesbos and arrived in Dikili, western Turkey, reports the BBC.  

DHAKA: At least 53 people have been killed by flash floods caused by torrential rain in northwest Pakistan. Pakistan officials say, reports the BBC. The rain began on Saturday bringing flooding to parts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Kashmir and Gilgit-Baltistan provinces. Pre-monsoon

DHAKA: Mehbooba Mufti has been sworn in as the first woman chief minister of Indian-administered Kashmir, where she will lead a coalition with Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s BJP. The 56-year-old leader took oath after a delay of nearly three months since her father Mufti Mohammad

DHAKA: A huge leak of confidential documents has revealed how the rich and powerful use tax havens to hide their wealth. Eleven million documents were leaked from one of the world’s most secretive companies, Panamanian law firm Mossack Fonseca, reports the BBC. These documents

DHAKA: Azerbaijan has announced a ‘unilateral ceasefire’ in fighting with Armenian forces over the disputed Nagorno-Karabakh region.   A defense ministry spokesman said the Azeris were acting in response to international calls to halt violence, reports the BBC. But the

DHAKA: Brussels airport has reopened for three ‘symbolic’ flights amid tight security controls, 12 days after an attack by suicide bombers killed 16 people there. Three Brussels Airlines flights were scheduled to depart for European destinations. The first left at 11:40 GMT for