DHAKA: The Japanese and Chinese governments are making final arrangements for talks between Japan prime minister Shinzo Abe and Chinese president Xi Jinping, to be held on the sidelines of the upcoming Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum in Beijing next week.Japan government

DHAKA: A four-day rail strike, billed as the longest in German history, has hit passenger trains and threatens to disrupt celebrations marking the 1989 fall of the Berlin Wall.The stoppage by the 20,000-member GDL union hit intercity and regional services alike on Thursday and is due

DHAKA: The International Criminal Court’s chief prosecutor says she will not take action over Israel’s deadly commando raid on a Gaza-bound ship in 2010.Fatou Bensouda said this was despite a ‘reasonable basis to believe that war crimes... were committed’.But she said the ICC

DHAKA: The head of the UN mission charged with fighting Ebola has told the BBC he does not yet have the resources necessary to defeat the deadly disease.Tony Banbury said more help was urgently needed, despite significant contributions from Britain, China, Cuba and the US.He was

DHAKA: The European Union in a statement on Thursday, once again, reiterated their position against death penalty and asked the Bangladesh government to stay all pending executions.The statement said, “We are closely following judicial proceedings in Bangladesh. The European Union

DHAKA: Countries in the Asia-Pacific region are set to endorse a plan for a China-based information-sharing network to combat corruption. The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) reported on Thursday, says The Straits Times. The network, known as Act-Net, will be based at the training arm of the

DHAKA: Decrypted communications between Indian Mujahideen (IM) and al-Qaida and testimony from suspects have triggered alarm among intelligence officials in New Delhi: the groups appear to be working together to launch major attacks in the region. The officials said that plots they had

DHAKA: The US Senate's new Republican leader and President Barack Obama have both promised to end the political gridlock that has so frustrated American voters.Republicans made historic gains in the mid-term elections and now control both legislative chambers.Incoming Senate leader

DHAKA: For a second year in a row, Russian president Vladimir Putin has beaten Barack Obama to the title of world’s most powerful leader as ranked by Forbes.In a year in which Russia annexed Crimea, stoked a conflict in Ukraine and clinched a multi-billion-dollar gas pipeline deal

DHAKA: Britain will boost the number of its army trainers in Iraq in the coming weeks to support the Iraqi armed forces’ battle against Islamic State (IS) militants.The British defence secretary said on a visit to Baghdad on Wednesday, reports The Straits Times.Britain said last

DHAKA: Shelling of a rebel-held area in the north-east of the Syrian capital killed 13 children Wednesday, a monitor said revising an earlier toll, with activists saying a school had been hit.‘The number of children... killed by mortar fire on areas of Qabun district has risen to

DHAKA: Ten people were wounded, one critically, when a car deliberately rammed pedestrians in Jerusalem on Wednesday, before the driver was shot dead by police.Officials said, reports The Straits Times.Police described the incident as a ‘hit and run terror attack’ and said it

DHAKA: Students calling for full democracy for Chinese-ruled Hong Kong are hoping to take their protest to Communist Party rulers in Beijing and are expected to announce details of their new battle plan on Thursday.The move signals a shift in the focus of the protests in the former

DHAKA: The Republican Party has won control of the Senate in the US mid-term elections, increasing its power in the final years of Barack Obama's presidency.The party took Arkansas, Colorado, Iowa, Montana, North Carolina, South Dakota and West Virginia.Republican Senate leader Mitch

DHAKA: The presidents of Ghana, Nigeria and Senegal are due to arrive in Burkina Faso to press the military for a speedy handover of power to a civilian ruler.The African Union (AU) says the army acted unconstitutionally when it took over after President Blaise Compaore was forced to

DHAKA: Ukraine’s president Petro Poroshenko is set to chair a crisis meeting of his security chiefs, following elections in rebel-held areas which Kiev describes as a “farce”.In a TV address, Petro Poroshenko said Sunday’s polls in parts of the eastern Donetsk and Luhansk

DHAKA: A raid on a prison in central Nigeria’s Kogi state freed 132 inmates, the area governor’s office said Monday after the attack on the same facility stormed by Boko Haram Islamists two years ago.‘There were 145 prisoners at the time of the attack. One died, eight have been

DHAKA: India and Pakistan have held a daily military ceremony at their only land border crossing, a day after a suicide attack there killed dozens of people.Despite earlier plans to suspend the ritual at Wagah, Pakistan’s military said it wanted the nation to unite against

DHAKA: A suicide bomber killed at least 23 people in a procession of Shia Muslims marking the ritual of Ashoura in northeast Nigeria’s Yobe state on Monday.Witnesses said, reports The Straits Times.The attacker joined the line of Shia before setting off his device as they marched

DHAKA: Gunmen armed with dynamite freed at least 50 inmates in a raid on a prison in central Nigeria’s Kogi state, the same facility attacked by Boko Haram militants in 2012.Police said Monday, reports The Straits Times.‘They blew up the thing with dynamite,’ national police