Thursday, 26 Dec, 2024

International

Ukraine elite police ‘disbanded’

DHAKA: Ukraine’s acting interior minister has said the elite Berkut police unit, blamed for the deaths of protesters, has been disbanded.It is unclear what will happen to Berkut officers but Arsen Avakov said more details would be given in a briefing on Wednesday.The unit had

Hague calls for end to rape as weapon of war

DHAKA: British foreign secretary William Hague has called for an end to rape as a weapon of war.Speaking in Washington, where he received an award from Hillary Clinton for promoting women’s rights, Hague said the issue ‘should shame all men’.These acts be removed ‘from the

Police indicted in NY 9/11 scam

DHAKA: New York prosecutors Tuesday announced the indictments of an additional 32 people in a multimillion-dollar Social Security fraud scheme that involved retired cops and firefighters who falsely claimed to have suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder after the 9/11 terrorist

Italy PM secures final confidence vote

DHAKA: Italy`s Prime Minister Matteo Renzi has won a vote of confidence in the lower house of parliament, backing his government`s programme of rapid economic and institutional reform.Renzi, 39, won a comfortable margin in the Chamber of Deputies, with 378 MPs voting in favour to 220

US plans full Afghanistan pullout

DHAKA: President Barack Obama has warned his Afghan counterpart Hamid Karzai that the US may pull all of its troops out of his country by the year`s end.Obama conveyed the message in a phone call to Karzai, who has refused to sign a security agreement, reports BBC.The US insists this

Egypt minister asked ‘to form new cabinet’

DHAKA: Egypt’s president has asked outgoing housing minister Ibrahim Mahlab to form a new government, state media report, a day after the interim cabinet quit.Interim Prime Minister Hazem Beblawi did not give a clear reason for his government’s resignation on Monday.The surprise

29 people killed in school in Nigeria

DHAKA: Islamic militants from the Boko Haram group in north-eastern Nigeria have attacked a school and shot some students.The military has said, reports the BBC.The BBC’s Will Ross, in Nigeria, says it is not clear how many pupils were killed. But Reuters news agency says that as many

11 workers dead, 18 injured in Thai building collapse

DHAKA: At least 11 workers died and 18 others were injured when a large concrete beam collapsed on Tuesday at a construction site just outside Bangkok.Police said, reports The Straits Times.Two of the injured were in a critical condition in hospital, said Apiwat Kasorn of the Bang Phli

Police clash with protesters at Al-Aqsa mosque

DHAKA: Israeli police early Tuesday entered the sensitive Al-Aqsa mosque compound in Jerusalem`s Old City to disperse stone-throwing Palestinian protesters.A police spokesman said, reports The Straits Times.Police used stun grenades to disperse the Palestinians, Micky Rosenfeld told

Pakistani air strikes kill 27 militants

DHAKA: Pakistani military officials said the air force has bombarded the suspected hideouts of Taliban militants in tribal areas near the Afghan border, killing at least 27 militants.Officials said on Tuesday the early-morning attack targeted areas of North and South Waziristan, in the

Park forms special reunification panel

DHAKA: South Korean president Park Geun Hye announced on Tuesday the creation of a committee under her direct control to work out ‘systematic and constructive’ plans for reunification of the divided Korean peninsula.The presidential committee will include experts from every sector of

Ukraine to appoint unity government

DHAKA: Ukraine’s interim president Olexander Turchynov is due to form a unity government, days after the ousting of president Viktor Yanukovych.The US has yet to endorse the new leader, but says ‘Mr Yanukovych is no longer actively leading the country’.Meanwhile, UK foreign

Thai army chief cautions nation may ‘collapse’

DHAKA: Thailand’s army chief warned on Monday the country risks ‘collapse’ unless it pulls back from escalating violence after attacks in recent days left three children dead in the kingdom`s worst political unrest since 2010.Twenty-one people have now been killed and more than 700

Pakistan minister offers Taliban a cricket match for peace

DHAKA: A top Pakistani minister on Monday offered to hold a cricket match with the Taliban as a way of reviving stalled talks on ending the militants’ bloody seven-year insurgency.Pakistan’s government entered into a formal dialogue with the Taliban earlier this month, but the process

Moscow court jails 7 anti-Putin activists

DHAKA: A court in Russia has sentenced eight protesters for rioting and attacking police at a demonstration against Vladimir Putin’s inauguration for a third presidential term in 2012.Seven of the ‘Bolotnaya’ activists received prison terms of up to four years. An eighth, the only

17 killed in Iraq

DHAKA: Violence in Iraq, including shelling in the city of Ramadi and shootings in the north, has killed at least 17 people since Sunday.The single deadliest attack was a bomb that exploded on a highway between Baghdad and the northern city of Mosul on Sunday, killing three police and

Egypt interim govt resigns unexpectedly

DHAKA: Egypt’s military-backed interim government has resigned, prime minister Hazem Beblawi has announced.Beblawi gave no reason for the decision in his televised statement, reports the BBC.The state-run al-Ahram newspaper, citing unnamed sources, reported that outgoing housing

Pakistani Taliban commander shot dead

DHAKA: A top commander of the Pakistani Taliban was shot dead by unidentified gunmen on Monday in the militant stronghold of North Waziristan.Security sources and family members in the tribal region told media, reports Al Arabiya.Asmatullah Shaheen was on the Pakistan army’s list of

Arrest warrant for Yanukovych over ‘mass murder’

DHAKA: Fugitive Ukrainian president Viktor Yanukovych, ousted after bloody street protests in which demonstrators were shot by police snipers, is wanted for mass murder.Authorities announced on Monday, reports The Straits Times.As rival neighbours east and west of the former Soviet

‘Only one out of every 10 Malaysians pays tax’

DHAKA: The current mix of low taxpayer base, increasing public spending, and resistance towards subsidy rationalisation is a recipe for trouble, said Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak.Revealing that only one out of every 10 Malaysians pays tax, Najib said there is an urgent need to