DHAKA: Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe is visiting a controversial shrine to World War Two dead, exactly one year after he took office.Abe said his visit to Yasukuni was "to pledge and determine that never again will people suffer in war".He said it was "not intended to hurt the

DHAKA:  Ex-National Security Agency contractor Edward Snowden has delivered an "alternative" UK Christmas message, urging an end to mass surveillance.The broadcast was carried on Channel 4 as an alternative to the Queen`s traditional Christmas message, Snowden focused on privacy, saying:

DHAKA: More than 500,000 households in the north-eastern US and the south-eastern Canada are still without electricity after last weekend`s severe ice storm.Utility crews are working round-the-clock, but warn that some homes could be without power at least until Saturday, reports BBC.In

DHAKA: At least 17 people have died and dozens more were rescued after their boat capsized off the Turks and Caicos Islands in the Caribbean on Wednesday, according to the local government and U.S. officials.The U.S. Coast Guard, assisting the islands` rescue crews, retrieved about 55

DHAKA: The United Nations mission in South Sudan has denied a report of a mass grave that was issued by the office of a UN Commissioner for Human Rights.The Berlin office of Navi Pillay had said on Tuesday that a grave of 75 bodies was found in Bentiu, Unity State.Later the office revised

DHAKA: Russia on Wednesday formally dropped criminal charges against Greenpeace activists arrested in a protest against Arctic oil drilling on Wednesday and was expected to shortly do the same for all 30.The environmental group said, reports daily Hurriyet.By 1200 GMT Greenpeace said it

DHAKA: Three Turkish ministers have resigned after their sons were arrested amid a corruption scandal that has hit the government of PM Recep Tayyip Erdogan.Announcing his decision, environment minister Erdogan Bayraktar said the prime minister should also step down.Two of the

DHAKA: Damascus signed a major oil exploration deal with a Russian company in the Syrian capital Wednesday, which will allow for exploration in a section of Syrian waters.The deal was signed by Syrian oil minister Suleiman Abbas, Syria’s General Petroleum Company and the Russian

DHAKA: Pope Francis on Wednesday called for humanitarian aid access in Syria and ‘social harmony’ in South Sudan on his first Christmas in the Vatican after months of shaking up the papacy with his humble style and common touch.Pope Francis also pleaded for divine aid to rescue child

DHAKA: Militants in Iraq targeted Christians in two separate bomb attacks in Baghdad on Wednesday, killing at least 37 people.Iraq officials said, reports Today’s Zaman.In one attack, a car bomb went off near a church during Christmas Mass in the capital’s southern Dora neighbourhood,

DHAKA: Pope Francis has used his first Christmas Day address to urge access for humanitarian aid in Syria.He told thousands of pilgrims in St Peter’s Square in the Vatican to pray for a peaceful end to violence in Syria and other conflict zones, reports the BBC.The Argentine pope also

DHAKA: Thousands of Britons woke up to flooding and power cuts on Christmas morning after torrential rainfall and hurricane-force winds battered the country.Three severe flood warnings are in place along with over 350 secondary warnings and alerts, largely across southern and central

DHAKA: At least 20 people were killed in bomb attacks in Christian areas of Baghdad on Wednesday, including a car bomb that exploded near a church after a Christmas service, police and medics said.A bomb in a parked car went off while worshippers were leaving a church in the Doura

DHAKA: A surgeon has been suspended over allegations that he ‘branded’ his initials onto a patient’s liver.The letters were reportedly found by a colleague who was performing a routine operation on the unnamed patient.University Hospitals Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust confirmed

DHAKA: North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has urged the country’s military to bolster its combat readiness, saying a war could break out ‘without any prior notice’.North Korea state media reported on Wednesday, says The Times of India.The call comes at a time of heightened tension on

DHAKA: Devyani Khobragade’s lawyer Wednesday said US authorities goofed up in the investigation and arrest of the Indian diplomat on charges of visa fraud as a federal agent made a ‘serious’ mistake in reading the paperwork submitted regarding her domestic help`s salary.Daniel

DHAKA: A car bomb has exploded near a church in the Iraqi capital, as Christians celebrated Christmas Day, killing at least 14 people.Iraq police and medics said, reports Al Jazeera.The bomb went off in the Doura district on Wednesday while worshippers were leaving the church, police

DHAKA: Two Turkish ministers stepped down Wednesday, the first heads to roll over a massive graft probe that has presented prime minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan with the biggest challenge to his 11 years in power.Economy minister Zafer Caglayan and interior minister Muammer Guler announced

DHAKA: Pope Francis is set to make his first Christmas address as pontiff in front of thousands of pilgrims in St Peter’s Square in the Vatican.The Argentine pope is expected to tackle themes such as global poverty, which he has focused on since taking over from Benedict in March this

DHAKA: Two Taliban rockets landed inside the US embassy compound in Kabul early on Wednesday, causing no casualties but underlining Afghanistan’s continuing security problems as many foreigners in the capital marked Christmas Day.‘At approximately 6:40 local time in Kabul,