DHAKA: Kurdish fighters battling Islamic State (IS) say they have recaptured a strategically important hilltop west of Kobane on Syria’s border with Turkey.The advances were made after a series of air strikes by the US-led coalition, reports the BBC.The hill, Tall Shair, was captured

DHAKA: Turkish F-16 and F-4 warplanes have bombed Kurdistan Workers party (PKK) rebel targets in Hakkari province near the Iraqi border.Turkish media report, says the BBC.It is the first significant air raid on the PKK since the rebel group declared a ceasefire in March 2013.Hurriyet

DHAKA: Senior Pakistani and Indian military officials spoke Tuesday by hotline after days of intense cross-border firing in the disputed region of Kashmir heightened tensions.At least 20 civilians have been killed and thousands of people on both sides of the de facto border in Kashmir

DHAKA: Two men were killed and one remains missing after powerful typhoon ‘Vongfong’ pounded Japan this week, officials said Tuesday, the latest storm to hit the disaster-prone archipelago. The typhoon churned through eastern Japan early Tuesday after hitting Okinawa over the weekend

DHAKA: Twelve people have been sentenced to death for organizing attacks that left dozens of people dead in the restive western Chinese province of Xinjiang earlier this year, CNN reports.  The incident -- described by authorities as an "organized and premeditated" terror attack --

DHAKA: North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has made his first public appearance since 3 September, BBC reports.  Media said on Tuesday that Kim "gave field guidance" at a newly-built scientists' residential district. Rodong Sinmun daily newspaper carried several photographs of Kim using a

DHAKA: A 7.4-magnitude earthquake hit off the southern coast of El Salvador on Monday night, reports the epoch times. The quake hit about 35 miles south of Chirilagua, the US Geological Survey said. It was also located 40 miles south of Intipuca, 52 miles south of La Union, and 105 mile

DHAKA: The severity of destruction caused by Cyclone Hudhud emerged a day after it ravaged coastal Andhra Pradesh with human fatalities reaching a grim 22 on Monday. Some 15 people were killed in Visakhapatnam, six in Vizianagaram and one in Srikakulam, said government spokesman Parakala

DHAKA: President Abdrabuh Mansur Hadi Monday named former oil minister Khalid Bahah as Yemen’s new premier, in his second bid this month to end the country’s political crisis. A presidency source said, reports The Straits Times. Bahah, 49, was nominated after consultations with

DHAKA: Asserting that the problem of terrorism in India was imported, president Pranab Mukherjee has said indigenous terrorist activity was ‘extremely negligible’ with hardly any involvement of the 150 million Muslims of the country.‘Of course there may be one or two out of

DHAKA: A Chinese court on Monday condemned 12 people to death and gave another 15 suspended death sentences in connection with a July attack in violence-racked Xinjiang.The regional government’s Tianshan portal said, reports The Straits Times.Thirty-seven civilians and 59

DHAKA: The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences has declared The Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel for 2014 to Jean Tirole of Toulouse 1 Capitole University in France.The Academy press release said that he is awarded ‘for his analysis of market power

DHAKA: Australian prime minister Tony Abbott on Monday vowed to ‘shirtfront’, or confront, Russian president Vladimir Putin at the Group of 20 summit next month over the loss of Australian lives in the MH17 crash over Ukraine.Australia is hosting the summit in Brisbane, and there

DHAKA: Powerful typhoon ‘Vongfong’ slammed into Japan on Monday morning, with at least one person missing and dozens injured while more than 300 flights were grounded.Officials and local media said, reports The Straits Times.Winds of up to 180 kmh whipped ashore as the typhoon made

DHAKA: Clashes have broken out in Hong Kong after masked men moved in on the main pro-democracy protest site in Central district.Hong Kong’s South China Morning Post said about 500 masked men rushed the barricades set up by protesters in recent week.Police have made some arrests,

DHAKA: Turkey has agreed to let the US use its military bases in the campaign against Islamic State militants, US National Security Adviser Susan Rice says. Ms Rice said the US welcomed the new agreement, which included use of the Incirlik air base in Turkey's south. The US is leading

DHAKA: Bolivia's President Evo Morales has claimed victory and a third term in office after presidential elections."This win is a triumph for anti-imperialists and anti-colonialists," he told cheering supporters at the presidential palace in La Paz.Exit polls show him on 60%, well ahead

DHAKA: International donors have pledged $5.4bn (£3.4bn) for the Palestinians at a conference in Cairo.The total, announced by the Norwegian Foreign Minister, Boerge Brende, exceeded the $4bn (£2.5bn) the Palestinian Authority had asked for.Half the sum would be "dedicated" to work in

DHAKA: Chinese prime minister Li Keqiang on Sunday arrived in Moscow for talks with president Vladimir Putin as Russia is struggling with its most pronounced isolation since the end of the Cold War.‘It is a major event in the bilateral relations,’ Chinese vice-minister Cheng

DHAKA: Israeli and Palestinian officials met at the weekend to draw up an action plan to prevent the Ebola epidemic from spreading to the territories they control.The Israeli military said Sunday, reports The Straits Times.‘During the meeting (on Saturday evening), updates were