DHAKA: At least 26 people have been killed in an eight-hour battle between government and rebel forces in the Democratic Republic of Congo`s second city Lubumbashi, police say.The rebels were beaten back on Tuesday morning after heavy fighting overnight, police said.The city of more than

DHAKA: The United Nations’ human rights office has stopped updating the death toll from Syria’s civil war, confirming on January 7 that it can no longer verify the sources of information that led to its last count of at least 100,000 in late July 2013.Rupert Colville, a spokesman for

DHAKA: The first consignment of chemical weapons has left the Syrian port of Latakia on a Danish ship.The United Nations has confirmed, reports the BBC.Removing the most dangerous chemicals is the first step of a UN-backed deal to eliminate Syria’s chemical arsenal by the middle of

DHAKA: The US ambassador to Israel says a framework proposal on all issues at the heart of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict will be presented to both sides soon.Dan Shapiro told Israel Radio on Tuesday that the proposal will include security arrangements, borders, Jerusalem and all the

DHAKA: The fight to control Iraq’s biggest province, Anbar, has intensified, with air attacks by the military killing dozens of people and the army preparing an assault on a city controlled by al-Qaeda linked fighters.Missile strikes on Ramadi, the provincial capital, killed 25 people

DHAKA: US banking giant JPMorgan Chase will pay US$1.7 billion to the victims of Bernard Madoff’s Ponzi scheme under an agreement with prosecutors.A US Attorney announced on Tuesday, reports The Straits Times.JPMorgan admitted to charges that it failed to maintain an effective

DHAKA: An Indian judge has ordered a French consular official to stand trial over accusations he raped his three-year-old daughter.The order on Monday came after the accused, Pascal Mazurier, asked the court to discharge him for lack of evidence over allegations he raped his daughter in

DHAKA: German chancellor Angela Merkel appeared publicly on crutches on Tuesday for the first time since it emerged she had fractured her pelvis in a ski accident, to join children for carol singing.Smiling broadly and looking relaxed, the 59-year-old chancellor, dressed in a smart teal

DHAKA: Turkish premier Recep Tayyip Erdogan met his Japanese counterpart Shinzo Abe for free trade talks on Tuesday, as pressure mounted at home over a corruption scandal in which hundreds of police officers were fired.The two countries also confirmed their cooperation on nuclear

DHAKA: The deputy mayor of a town in the Indian state of Bihar was arrested by police while in the company of two call girls at a city-based hotel in Patna on Monday night, shortly after he had attended a crucial meeting with a team of the visiting Finance Commission.The arrest comes amid

DHAKA: Syrian rebels laid siege to the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) in Raqa on Monday in a bid to oust the al Qaeda-linked jihadists, who have been accused of widespread abuses against both rival rebel groups and Syrian civilians.At least 34 foreign jihadists from ISIL and

DHAKA: The new ministers of the Kuwaiti government took the parliamentary oath today at the start of a much-awaited session with the lawmakers.Abdul Mohsen Al Midaj, the deputy prime minister and minister of commerce and industry, Ahmad Al Mualifi, the education minister, Ali Al Abidi,

DHAKA: Indian diplomat Devyani Khobragade sought a one-month extension of the deadline for charging her in a visa fraud case involving her domestic help but her plea was opposed by the prosecution, even as the US on Tuesday said it wanted to resolve the ‘ordeal’ as soon as

DHAKA: Priyanka Gandhi Tuesday attended a Congress strategy meeting with senior party leaders amid reports that a major organisational revamp is on the cards.Her brother, Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi, was not present in the meeting that took place at his residence, reports

DHAKA: A Chinese ship that helped rescue passengers from a Russian vessel trapped in Antarctica only to get stuck in the ice itself broke free on Tuesday.China state media reported, says The Straits Times.The Xue Long, or Snow Dragon, ‘pulled free of the ice and navigated into the open

DHAKA: A French restaurant, running in a posh locality in Islamabad, was raided and shut down by police following a public outcry over its policy of not allowing Pakistanis in.‘La Maison’, running out of Islamabad’s F7-1, was not allowing Pakistanis in, citing the French style of

DHAKA: India Tuesday test-fired its indigenously developed ‘Prithvi-II’ missile, which is capable of carrying 500 kg to 1,000 kg of warheads and has a strike range of 350 km, from a test range at Chandipur near Balasore.The test was carried out as part of a user trial by the Army.The

DHAKA: A Spanish judge has summoned the youngest daughter of King Juan Carlos to appear in court over accusations of fraud and money-laundering.Infanta Cristina, 48, has been linked to the business affairs of her husband, Inaki Urdangarin, who is being investigated for alleged

DHAKA: Iran is not among the first round of nations invited to attend Syria peace talks in Switzerland later this month.A UN spokesman has confirmed, reports Al Jazeera.However, the UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon ‘is in favour of inviting Iran’, spokesman Farhan Haq said on

DHAKA: A special court set up to try Pakistan’s former ruler Pervez Musharraf for treason adjourned on Tuesday to consider a medical report on his heart complaint.The 70-year-old was rushed to the Armed Forces Institute of Cardiology in Rawalpindi, which borders Islamabad, on his way to