DHAKA: Russia’s prime minister Dmitry Medvedev has arrived in Crimea, the most senior Russian official to visit since it was annexed from Ukraine.Medvedev announced that the region would become a special economic zone, with incentives for businesses.The Russian government says it is

DHAKA: Rescue crews have put no time limit on the search for the missing Malaysia Airlines plane.Australian prime minister Tony Abbott has said, reports the BBC.Abbott told reporters near Perth, where the operation is being co-ordinated, that the hunt for flight MH370 was still being

DHAKA: Malaysian prime minister Najib Razak will travel to Perth on Wednesday to observe search operations firsthand.Malaysia’s Acting Transport Minister Hishammuddin Hussein said on Monday, reports The Straits Times.Najib will be there to ‘thank everyone involved in search’,

DHAKA: Thousands of travellers, many of them visiting family during the Iranian new year holidays, have been rescued after being trapped by unexpected snowstorms in north Iran.A report said on Monday, according to The Straits Times.Red Crescent spokesman Hossein Derakhshan told the

DHAKA: Russian forces have begun a gradual withdrawal from the Ukrainian border, a Ukrainian defence ministry official told media, without specifying the number of troops involved.‘In recent days, the Russian forces have been gradually withdrawing from the border,’ the Ukrainian

DHAKA: At least 16 people were killed in rain and hailstorms that triggered flooding and landslides in southern China.China officials said on Monday, reports The Straits Times.The severe weather, which began last Friday, has affected seven provinces and municipalities, China’s ministry

DHAKA: Pakistan’s former president, Pervez Musharraf, on Monday pleaded not guilty to five counts of treason, in the latest chapter of a long-running drama between the country’s increasingly assertive judiciary and its former military ruler.Musharraf faces the death penalty if

DHAKA: All evidence points to Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370 being lost in the remote Indian Ocean, Australian prime minister Tony Abbott said on Monday, backing his Malaysian counterpart’s view that the plane crashed.The flight from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing vanished on March 8 carrying

DHAKA: A court in Pakistan has charged former military ruler Pervez Musharraf with treason, the first army chief to face such a prosecution.Musharraf is accused of unlawfully suspending the constitution and instituting emergency rule in 2007.He pleaded not guilty and has always claimed

DHAKA: The impacts of global warming are likely to be "severe, pervasive and irreversible", a major report by the UN has warned.Scientists and officials meeting in Japan say the document is the most comprehensive assessment to date of the impacts of climate change on the world.Members of

DHAKA: A day after raising the possibility of further nuclear tests, North Korea has engaged in provocative live-fire exercises near the South Korean maritime border, leading to an exchange of fire between the two neighbors.Semi-official South Korean news agency Yonhap reported Monday

DHAKA: US Secretary of State John Kerry has announced no breakthrough on Ukraine, following four hours of "frank" talks with Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov.Kerry said he told Lavrov that the US still considered Russia`s takeover of Ukraine`s Crimea region to be "illegal and

DHAKA: Malaysia Airlines (MAS) said on Sunday it will set up a Family Assistance Centre (FAC) for families of passengers on board a missing flight, as Malaysia prime minister Najib Razak vowed full commitment to the search operation.‘The FAC will become the focal point for all

DHAKA: The first round of Egypt’s presidential poll has been set for 26-27 May, the electoral authorities say, days after army chief Gen Sisi resigned and announced his candidature.State TV said nominations would be accepted from Monday until 20 April.Abdul Fattah al-Sisi led the

DHAKA: Attacks in Sunni-majority areas of Iraq killed nine people on Sunday, exactly a month ahead of parliamentary polls that remain in disarray after the mass resignations of election commissioners last week.The violence came hours after seven soldiers were shot dead at a checkpoint in

DHAKA: Russian president Vladimir Putin wants to carry on the frequent ‘tough but constructive’ contacts he has had with chancellor Angela Merkel on the Ukraine crisis.Putin’s spokesman has told German TV, reports The Straits Times.Dmitry Peskov told ZDF television that the

DHAKA: Nato chief Anders Fogh Rasmussen said on Sunday that the Ukraine crisis underscored the need to protect the right of nations to map out their own future.In an op-ed entitled ‘The right to choose’, the outgoing secretary general called Russia’s actions in Crimea a violation of

DHAKA: Six people were killed on Sunday in clashes between groups backing rival candidates in Turkey’s municipal elections, which turned into a referendum on the rule of prime minister Tayyip Erdogan.Security officials said four people were killed in a gun fight between two families in

DHAKA: Leading scientists and officials completed a fresh climate report on Sunday expected to lay bare the grim impact of climate change, with warnings that global food shortages could spark violence in vulnerable areas.Part of a massive overview by the United Nations’

DHAKA: An official photograph of Prince George with the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge has been released ahead of their tour of Australia and New Zealand.The eight-month-old is pictured in his mother’s arms while Prince William holds their dog, Lupo.In the image, taken by royal