Friday, 17 May, 2024

International

Iraq attack kills 51 Shia pilgrims

DHAKA: An attack on Shia pilgrims in the Iraqi capital, Baghdad, has left at least 51 people dead and more than 100 injured, an interior ministry official says.The attack in Adhamiyah district came as pilgrims walked to a Shia shrine and followed a day of violence elsewhere.In the mainly

US House passes Bill to pay govt workers affected by shutdown

DHAKA: The Republican-led United States House of Representatives unanimously approved a Bill on Saturday that would retroactively pay 800,000 furloughed workers once the now five-day-old government shutdown ends.The measure now goes to the Democratic-led Senate for concurrence, reports

Pope meets priest kidnapped, tortured by Argentine junta

DHAKA: Pope Francis on Saturday met Father Franz Jalics, a priest whose kidnapping and torture by Argentina’s brutal military dictatorship led to accusations that the future pope failed to help.The Vatican has firmly denied these claims and there have since been many reports of the

‘Iran a year or more away from nuclear weapon capability’

DHAKA: The United States believes Iran is a year or a more away from being able to produce a nuclear weapon.US president Barack Obama said in an interview released on Saturday by the Associated Press, describing the estimate as ‘conservative’, reports TDS.‘Our assessment continues

Libyan gunmen kill 15 soldiers

DHAKA: Gunmen have attacked a military checkpoint south-east of the Libyan capital Tripoli killing 15 soldiers, the authorities say.A military official said the attack was near Bani Walid, a stronghold in 2011 of supporters of former leader, Muammar Gaddafi, reports the BBC.Several more

Tunisia rivals agree to form cabinet of independents

DHAKA: Tunisia’s ruling Islamist Ennahda party and the opposition on Saturday signed a roadmap for the creation of a government of independents within three weeks.An international media correspondent said, reports TDS.The document, drawn up by four mediators, foresees the nomination of

Security being tightened across Egypt

DHAKA: The Egyptian authorities have warned Muslim Brotherhood supporters against attempts to stage violent protests as security is being tightened in Cairo and other cities.Egypt interior ministry said in a statement that it was ‘determined to counter violence and offences by people

2 journalists killed in northern Iraq

DHAKA: Two journalists with Iraq’s Sharqiya television were ‘assassinated’ in the northern city of Mosul on Saturday.The channel said, reports The Straits Times.A police officer and a doctor said the two men, named by Sharqiya as correspondent Mohammed Karim al-Badrani and cameraman

Indian army kill seven in Kashmir

DHAKA: India’s army, which says it has been locked in a nearly two-week battle with dozens of suspected Pakistan-backed rebels, said Saturday it killed seven militants in 24 hours in disputed Kashmir.The military says it has been fighting 30 to 40 rebel infiltrators who crossed the

Syrian military shells Sunni village on coast

DHAKA: Syrian government forces shelled a vulnerable Sunni community in a coastal province dominated by president Bashar Assad’s Alawite sect on Saturday, activists said, raising fears that residents of the isolated town could face mass killings by pro-Damascus militias.Two Syrian

Kenya military spokesman confirms names of mall attackers

DHAKA: Kenya’s military spokesman confirmed the names of the four attackers implicated in the four-day-long siege at the Westgate Mall, which killed more than 60 people last month.Major Emmanuel Chirchir confirmed that the attackers are Abu Baara al-Sudani, Omar Nabhan, Khattab al-Kene

Obama calls impact of US government shutdown heartbreaking’

DHAKA: Saying the United States government shutdown was having a ‘heartbreaking’ impact on ordinary Americans, president Barack Obama on Saturday renewed his call on congressional Republicans to end the five-day stalemate and pass a funding Bill without conditions.Republicans in the

Children among 5 Afghans killed in NATO airstrike

DHAKA: At least five civilians, including three children, were killed overnight in a NATO airstrike in eastern Afghanistan after they went hunting for birds with air guns.Angry locals at the scene of the strike near Jalalabad city, the capital of Nangarhar province, shouted ‘Death to

Libyan checkpoint ambush kills at least 12 soldiers

DHAKA: Gunmen killed at least 12 Libyan soldiers in an attack on a checkpoint near the city of Bani Walid, a former stronghold of supporters of Muammar Gadhafi.Libya security officials said on Saturday, reports TDS.Two years after Gadhafi was overthrown and killed in a civil war, the

Khamenei offers meek support for recent Iran-US overtures

DHAKA: Iranian supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said on Saturday he supported moderate president Hassan Rohani’s diplomatic initiative at the UN General Assembly last week but that some of what occurred there was ‘not proper’.In his first comments since Rohani, committed to

Somalia militant base ‘attacked from sea’

DHAKA: Unidentified foreign forces have launched a night-time raid on a militant base in the south Somali town of Barawe from the sea, reports say.A spokesman for the al-Shabab Islamist group told media that a fighter had been killed in the raid, reports the BBC.Reports speak of residents

US shutdown halts EU trade talks

DHAKA: Negotiations on a sweeping free trade pact between the US and the EU have been postponed because of a partial government shutdown in America.US officials had been due in Brussels next week to discuss the deal aimed at boosting bilateral ties.US President Barack Obama earlier

Clashes erupt in Egypt

DHAKA: Clashes have erupted between supporters of Egypt’s ousted President Mohammed Morsi, opponents and security forces in the capital, Cairo, and Alexandria.The BBC’s Quentin Sommerville in Cairo said there had been heavy gunfire and explosions in the city centre.State TV reported

Vietnam`s General Vo Nguyen Giap dies

DHAKA: Vo Nguyen Giap, the Vietnamese general who masterminded victories against France and the US, has died aged 102.His defeat of French forces at Dien Bien Phu in 1953 made him the first military commander to defeat a major Western power in Asia.He went on to oversee the Tet Offensive

Kenya cleric killing sparks protests

DHAKA: A church has been set on fire in the Kenyan port of Mombasa as rioters protest against killing of Muslim cleric Ibrahim “Rogo” Omar.“They have burnt the Salvation Army church and we are now trying to repulse them with tear gas,” AFP quotes a senior police officer as