DHAKA: The 30 people arrested following a Greenpeace protest at an Arctic oil rig were transferred to St Petersburg on Tuesday.Greenpeace International and Russian transport officials said, reports The Straits Times.A sealed wagon attached to a passenger train transported the group from

DHAKA: Former Pakistan ruler Pervez Musharraf on Tuesday asked a court to let him leave the country to visit his sick mother in Dubai, legal sources said.Musharraf is facing four major criminal cases dating back to his 1999-2008 rule of the nuclear-armed nation, including one related to

DHAKA: The deadly typhoon that ravaged much of the Philippines struck at the start of the main rice-planting season, dealing further sorrow to the Asian nation.In Rome, the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation estimates than more than 1 million rice farmers have been affected

DHAKA: China’s leaders Tuesday promised a bigger role for the free market in the country’s state-dominated economy as they try to overhaul a worn-out growth model.In a brief statement issued following a four-day meeting aimed at producing a reform blueprint for the coming decade,

DHAKA: The International Monetary Fund remains ready to provide aid to Egypt when Cairo requests it, a senior IMF official said on Tuesday without elaborating on when that might happen.‘We have some technical work already underway and we will be very ready and keen to support them when

DHAKA: Mauritius prime minister announced Tuesday he will stay away from this week’s Commonwealth summit in Sri Lanka because of the host’s poor human rights record.Mauritius joins India by refusing to send a premier to Sri Lanka, which is accused of widespread human rights abuses and

DHAKA: Russian president Vladimir Putin said on Tuesday that his country will expand its military supplies to Vietnam, as he held talks with his Vietnamese counterpart to boost ties between the former ideological allies.Military and energy cooperation topped the agenda during the talks

DHAKA: Hundreds of Buddhists marched through the streets of Myanmar’s biggest city on Tuesday to protest an upcoming visit by a high-level delegation from the world’s biggest Islamic political bloc.Some of those who marched in Yangon carried banners saying ‘Get out!’ and ‘Stop

DHAKA: More than 5,000 people have fled their homes in western Indonesia in recent days following a series of violent volcanic eruptions.An Indonesian official said on Tuesday, reports The Straits Times.Mount Sinabung on the north of Sumatra island has been hurling out red-hot ash, rocks

DHAKA: Twenty-nine people died and several others were injured after a bus collided with a truck in South Africa.The government said on Tuesday, reports The Jerusalem Post.The accident happened in the country’s eastern Mpumalanga province on Monday night.‘Twenty-nine people were

DHAKA: The International Energy Agency (IEA) says China and India are becoming the world`s main drivers of energy demand, as the United States continues to boost its domestic production of oil and gas.The IEA’s executive director Maria van der Hoeven says Asia’s ‘demand and thirst

DHAKA: Thai premier Yingluck Shinawatra appealed on Tuesday for anti-government groups to end ongoing street protests after the parliamentary defeat of an amnesty bill failed to defuse political tensions.The bill, which critics say was aimed at allowing divisive former premier Thaksin

DHAKA: Iranian foreign minister Mohammad Javad Zarif on Tuesday denied US claims that the Islamic republic had scuttled nuclear talks in Geneva, pointing instead to France as the culprit.US state secretary John Kerry said in Abu Dhabi on Monday Iran had balked at the Geneva talks just as

DHAKA: Gunmen who massacred at least 67 people in Kenya’s Westgate mall in September were special suicide commandos.Somalia’s Shebab insurgents said on Tuesday, rubbishing reports the men had tried to escape, reports The Straits Times.Members of a ‘martyrdom brigade’, the gunmen

DHAKA: The abuse of disabled people has emerged as a major problem in Japan with the violence most often inflicted by family members or domestic carers, according to a government survey.The nationwide report, the first of its kind, found 1,699 confirmed cases of physically or mentally

DHAKA: An expert committee of architects is set to announce whether New York’s new World Trade Center tower or Chicago’s Willis Tower is the tallest building in the United States.The Height Committee of the Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat is expected to announce its

DHAKA: India’s Mars spacecraft was ‘successfully’ raised into a higher orbit around Earth early on Tuesday, after a brief engine failure during an earlier attempt.The space agency said, reports The Straits Times.The Mars Orbiter Mission, which blasted off on November 5 for a

DHAKA: A Tibetan monk has set himself on fire in an act of protest in China, reports and campaign groups said on Tuesday, as top Communist Party leaders hold a key gathering.Tsering Gyal, 20, set himself alight on Monday in Guolou, a Tibetan area of Qinghai province in southwestern China,

DHAKA: Egypt is now the worst country for women`s rights in the Arab world, according to a poll of gender experts.The study found sexual harassment, high rates of female genital mutilation and a growth in conservative Islamist groups contributed to the low ranking, reports the BBC.The

DHAKA: The ministry of external affairs will discontinue the India-Bangladesh Passport (IBP) service from November 15, 2013.However, the passports already issued will remain valid till their expiry.No new applications for IBP will be accepted by any of the state governments, who were