DHAKA: At least eight civilians including women and children were killed when their van struck a roadside bomb in southern Afghanistan on Tuesday.The officials confirmed the matter, report the NDTV.Deputy Provincial Governor Mohammad Ali Ahmadi said the incident occurred in the Jaghuri

DHAKA: Scuffles broke out in Nepal’s parliament and police arrested protesters in the capital as tensions rose before a deadline to draft a new national constitution.Opposition lawmakers threw chairs and microphones and attacked the parliamentary speaker early on Tuesday.The Maoist

DHAKA: The People's Court of Vietnam sentenced eight people, including two women, to death in Hoa Binh province for heroin trafficking.State-controlled English daily ‘The Tuoi Tre’ publishes this report on Tuesday.They were convicted of trafficking 189 kilograms of heroin after a

DHAKA: Political earthquakes could be in store for Europe in 2015, according to research by the Economist Intelligence Unit for the BBC’s Democracy Day.It says the rising appeal of populist parties could see some winning elections and mainstream parties forced into previously

DHAKA: At least 20 of up to 80 people taken hostage by Boko Haram militants in Cameroon at the weekend are reported to be free.Cameroon’s defence ministry said the hostages were freed ‘as defence forces pursued the attackers who were heading back to Nigeria’.Many of those kidnapped

DHAKA: China said on Monday it hoped for continued ‘cooperation’ with Sri Lanka despite a pledge by the new government in Colombo to review Chinese infrastructure projects awarded under the previous administration.The remarks by China’s foreign ministry come two days after a junior

DHAKA: EU foreign ministers will meet on Monday to discuss the terror threat in Europe in the wake of recent attacks.Europe is on high alert after a failed terrorist plot in Belgium and a deadly attack in Paris in which gunmen killed 17 people.The talks will also focus on EU relations

DHAKA: Sri Lanka’s new government will review Chinese infrastructure projects awarded under the previous administration, a junior minister said, a move bound to please Indian and Western powers concerned about Beijing’s access in the island state.On Friday, the government said it

DHAKA: Almost half of French oppose publication of cartoons depicting Islam’s Prophet Muhammad, according to a poll Sunday, as global debate deepened on the limits of free speech in the wake of the ‘Charlie Hebdo’ killings.The Ifop poll found 42 percent believe the prophet

DHAKA: Chinese authorities have rolled out its long-expected plan to increase salaries for civil servants.Hong Kong-based Wen Wei Po reported on Sunday, says The Straits Times.The pay raise plan, released by the State Council on January 12, covers grass-roots officials to ministerial

DHAKA: The chief editor of ‘Charlie Hebdo’ has defended the satirical magazine’s controversial depictions of Prophet Muhammad, saying the cartoons safeguard freedom of religion.His comments were broadcast as five people were killed and churches set on fire in Niger on Saturday in

DHAKA: The Islamic State (IS) militant group has freed around 350 members of the Yazidi religious community in northern Iraq.The groups of mainly elderly Yazidis crossed out of IS-controlled territory and were received by Kurdish officials near the city of Kirkuk, reports BBC.It is not

DHAKA: Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has slammed the decision by the International Criminal Court to launch a preliminary investigation into possible war crimes in the Palestinian territories, saying it is "absurd".Speaking in West Jerusalem on Saturday, a day after the

DHAKA: Police in Niger’s capital have fired tear gas at a new protest against French magazine ‘Charlie Hebdo’ over a cartoon of the Prophet Muhammad.Protesters threw stones at police and burned tyres outside Niamey’s grand mosque a day after at least four were killed in the

DHAKA: Japanese prime minister Shinzo Abe pledged Saturday US$2.5 billion in non-military aid for the Middle East as he launched a regional tour that includes visits to Jordan and Israel.In a speech in Cairo, Abe also pledged US$200 million in non-military assistance for states

DHAKA: A man has been arrested in Indian state of Tripura for trying to bury his 10-year-old daughter alive in the backyard of his home.NDTV reports on Saturday.The incident happened at a village close to the India-Bangladesh border, and police sources say the reason behind the

DHAKA: Twenty-one people have been confirmed dead after a tugboat capsized on the Yangtze river in eastern China. State media report, the BBC says. The boat, with 25 people on board, overturned on Thursday while it was conducting tests on the river near Zhangjiagang, in Jiangsu

DHAKA: Europe is on high alert following anti-terror raids and arrests of suspected Islamist militants. More than 20 people have been arrested in Belgium, France and Germany and Belgium has joined France in deploying troops alongside police. Security has been tightened in several

DHAKA: 2014 was the warmest year on record, with global temperatures 0.68C (1.24F) above the long-term average, US government scientists have said. The results mean that 14 of the 15 warmest years on record have occurred since the turn of the century. The analysis was published on

DHAKA: Dozens of angry protesters have attacked the French cultural centre and three churches in Niger's second biggest city in response to France's satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo's latest Prophet Muhammad cartoon, the head of the centre has said. At least four people, including a