DHAKA: Residents and tourists are spoilt for choice for New Year fireworks on December 31 with Burj Khalifa, Burj Al Arab, The Palm Jumeirah and Atlantis the Palm offering scenic backdrops for what could be the world’s largest pyrotechnic display.Some 450,000 colourful fireworks

DHAKA: US defence secretary Chuck Hagel discussed the use of US drones against militants in remote areas of Pakistan on Monday during the first visit by a Pentagon chief to the South Asian ally in almost four years.Islamabad says drone strikes kill too many civilians and violate its

DHAKA: Germany’s express delivery and mail company Deutsche Post DHL is testing a drone that could be used to deliver urgently needed goods to hard-to-reach places.The small pilotless helicopter was to fly a package of medicine Monday from a pharmacy in the town of Bonn to the

DHAKA: The Egyptian authorities have recovered a pharaonic statue looted from a museum that was ransacked during unrest touched off by the ouster of president Mohamed Mursi this summer.The limestone statue of Ankhesenpaaten, a sister of Tutankhamun, was recovered from the home of a man

DHAKA: The European Union’s top foreign policy official, Catherine Ashton, will travel to Ukraine on Tuesday for a two-day visit after hundreds of thousands of demonstrators protested against the rejection of an EU pact.The Commission said, reports TDS.‘She’s expected to meet all

DHAKA: Saudi Arabia has launched a genetic code mapping project aimed at identifying the basis of chronic diseases prevalent in the desert kingdom.The Saudi Human Genome Program will be run by Saudi researchers, in cooperation with the US Life Technologies Corporation, at the King

DHAKA: A car bomb outside a cafe and other attacks in central Iraq killed at least 18 people on Monday, officials said.The car bomb went off outside the cafe in the town of Buhriz, about 60km north of the capital, Baghdad, killing 12 people and wounding 24, police officials said, reports

DHAKA: Four Turkish soldiers abducted by Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) militants were released early on Monday in southeast Turkey’s Diyarbakir province after Kurdish politicians intervened on their behalf.Turkey’s security sources told media, reports The Jerusalem Post.Tensions rose

DHAKA: More than 70 heads of state and government are expected in South Africa this week to attend funeral events for former president Nelson Mandela, with most due to attend a huge memorial service in Johannesburg on Tuesday.‘The whole world is coming to South Africa,’ South Africa

DHAKA: Syrian president Bashar Assad’s forces have taken control of a highway connecting Damascus to the coast that is needed to extract hundreds of tons of toxic chemicals for destruction.A monitoring group said on Monday, reports The Jerusalem Post.Fighting in Syria poses a hurdle to

DHAKA: North Korea confirmed on Monday that Jang Song Thaek, an uncle of the country’s leader Kim Jong Un, had been dismissed for committing ‘criminal acts’ prompted by political ambition.Jang had been previously considered the second-most-powerful man in the country, viewed as his

DHAKA: US defence secretary Chuck Hagel arrived in Pakistan on Monday for what is likely to be a day of tough talks with senior officials about security and the use of US drones, the first Pentagon chief to visit Islamabad in almost four years.The United States has long had a complicated

DHAKA: A car bomb exploded in north-eastern Iraq on Monday, killing 11 people and wounding 23.Iraq police said, reports The Straits Times.The explosion in Buhriz, 60km north-east of Baghdad, took place close to a cafe in a Sunni Muslim area.BDST: 1653 HRS, DEC 09, 2013

DHAKA: Thousands of protesters have spent the night in freezing cold in the centre of the Ukrainian capital Kiev, after Sunday’s huge anti-government rally.A group of protesters smashed the city’s statue of the Russian revolutionary leader Lenin, and brought its dismembered parts as

DHAKA: At least seven people died on Monday when a commuter train collided with a truck hauling fuel in Indonesia’s capital, sending a fireball of orange flames and black smoke shooting skyward.The accident in southern Jakarta killed the train engineer and at least six others, said

DHAKA: French troops are set to start disarming militias in the Central African Republic following a wave of sectarian violence in the capital of Bangui that has left around 400 people dead.French defence minister Jean-Yves Le Drian said French soldiers would begin disarming rebels on

DHAKA: South Africa’s parliament is to meet to pay tribute to Nelson Mandela, as world leaders prepare for Tuesday’s memorial service.The special sitting comes at the start of a week of commemorative events before a state funeral on 15 December.Some 60 world leaders are expected to

DHAKA: Elections will be held on February 2, a spokesman for Thailand’s government said.The decision was made during a Cabinet meeting on Monday, spokesman Teerat Ratanasevi told media, reports The Straits Times.The announcement came after Thailand’s prime minister said she will

DHAKA: At least four people were killed when a commuter train collided with a fuel truck near the Indonesian capital Jakarta on Monday, derailing a women-only carriage which burst into flames, officials said.A media correspondent saw six people being taken to hospital in ambulances.Both

DHAKA: Singapore’s prime minister Lee Hsien Loong has pledged to prosecute individuals involved with an overnight riot in the city-state, which left at least 18 people injured.Lee Hsien Loong said on Monday that authorities would ‘spare no effort to identify the culprits and deal with