Wednesday, 01 Jan, 2025

International

Hunt for new leads proves fruitless

DHAKA: Two weeks. Two gut-wrenching, frustrating, mysterious weeks.That`s how long it`s been since 227 passengers and 12 crew members boarded Malaysia Airlines Flight 370, destined for Beijing. A routine trip, it seemed, to catch up relatives in time for the weekend, start on a work

Crimea celebrations as region joins Russia

DHAKA: Thousands of people celebrated in the Crimean capital of Simferopol after the region broke away from Ukraine and was formally accepted into the Russian Federation.Celebrations continued into early Saturday, hours after the Russian president, Vladimir Putin, signed a treaty making

Thai court rules February election invalid

DHAKA: Thailand`s Constitutional Court has declared as invalid the parliamentary elections held last February, throwing the country into a deeper political impasse.The court said on Friday that the vote did not take place on the same day across the country and that violated a clause in

Russia`s deputy PM, speaker on draft list

DHAKA: After hours of chewing over how to deal with Russia`s annexation of Crimea, EU heads have added a further 12 individuals to their blacklist.The list of those to be targeted by sanctions is to be released on day two of their Brussels summit. Its first incarnation included figures

8 killed in Kabul hotel suicide attack

DHAKA: Eight people were killed when gunmen broke into a hotel in the Afghan capital Kabul and attacked diners, says a government minister.Two children and two foreign nationals were among the dead, with four other people wounded, said Deputy Interior Minister General Mohammad Ayub

Turkey blocks access to Twitter website

DHAKA: Turkey has restricted access to Twitter hours after the prime minister, Tayyip Erdogan, threatened to shut down the social media platform after users published claims of corruption against him.Users reported on Friday that they were forwarded from twitter.com to a statement from

Planes resume search for possible debris

DHAKA: Search planes are on their way to the site of possible debris from the missing Malaysia Airline flight thousands of kilometres south-west of Perth.Authorities yesterday identified two objects on satellite images almost 2,500 kilometres off the coast of Western Australia, but bad

Baghdad cafe attack pushes toll to 46 dead

DHAKA: Late night bombings at a Baghdad cafe left 13 people dead, officials said Thursday, pushing the toll from a day of nationwide blasts, shootings and shellings to at least 46.The violence has been primarily driven by discontent in the Sunni community, which alleges mistreatment at

US imposes more sanctions on Russia

DHAKA: US president Barack Obama has announced further sanctions on Russian officials and a bank over the crisis in Crimea.Obama said the US was watching with concern the situation in southern and eastern Ukraine, and he had signed an executive order enabling the US to impose economic

Michelle Obama begins China visit

DHAKA: US First Lady Michelle Obama is in China for a week-long visit that includes stops in Beijing and Chengdu.Michelle is accompanied by her mother and two daughters, Malia and Sasha. Chinese First Lady Peng Liyuan will accompany her on part of her trip.In a blog, she said she would

Abe hopes to resume talks with N Korea soon

DHAKA: Japanese prime minister Shinzo Abe said on Thursday he hopes to resume formal talks with North Korea as soon as possible.Abe also said that talks between officials from the Japanese and North Korean affiliates of the Red Cross this month on the return of the remains of Japanese

‘Almost half of Syria’s chemical weapons removed’

DHAKA: Almost half of Syria’s declared stockpile of chemical weapons has now been removed, the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons says.Two additional consignments of the most dangerous chemicals were loaded on to cargo vessels at Latakia over the past week, according

Ukraine severs key ties with Russia over Crimea

DHAKA: Ukraine announced plans to drop out of a key post-Soviet alliance and slap entry visas on Russians while also preparing for a possible Crimean withdrawal following the Kremlin’s absorption of the peninsula.Kiev’s first firm response to Russia’s claim to the strategic Black

‘Definite findings on plane debris in 2-3 days’

DHAKA: Australia expects to make a quick deliberation on whether possible debris seen at sea is indeed from flight MH370, a report said on Thursday, but a first spotter flight failed to locate anything in bad weather.Authorities should know something definite on the possible discovery of

Legal moves to annex Crimea this week

DHAKA: The legal process required to make Crimea part of Russia will be completed this week.Russia foreign minister Sergei Lavrov said on Thursday, two days after president Vladimir Putin signed a treaty to bring the Ukrainian region into Russia, reports The Jerusalem Post.‘Practical

10 killed in train crash in Turkey

DHAKA: At least ten people were killed and five injured on Thursday when a train crashed into a bus carrying factory workers in Turkey’s southern city of Mersin.Turkey state broadcaster TRT said 10 people were killed, says The Straits Times.The minibus was carrying the workers to an

‘Satellite finds objects possibly from missing plane’

DHAKA: Australia has sent aircraft to investigate two objects spotted by satellite floating in the southern Indian Ocean that could be debris from a Malaysian jetliner missing with 239 people on board.Australia prime minister Tony Abbott said on Thursday, reports The Straits Times.No

‘Search for Malaysia Airlines flight a top priority’

DHAKA: US president Barack Obama said the search for the missing Malaysian airliner was a ‘top priority’ for the United States and offered every possible resource, including the Federal Bureau of Investigation.In his first on camera comments on the mystery of Malaysia Airlines Flight

4 convicted in Mumbai gang rape

DHAK: A court in the Indian city of Mumbai has convicted four men of the gang rape of a photojournalist last year.The men have been found guilty of five offences, including gang rape, unnatural sex and destruction of evidence.Sentencing is set for Friday, reports the BBC.The 22-year-old

4 dead after Afghan bomb attack

DHAKA: At least four people have died after a suspected suicide attack on a police station in eastern Afghanistan.Police officials in the city of Jalalabad say gun battles started after a "multi-pronged" attack by insurgents, reports BBC.Reports suggest a suicide car bomber targeted the