DHAKA: Nelson Mandela is to be buried in his ancestral home in Qunu in the Eastern Cape, ending a week of commemorations for South Africa`s first black leader.Some 4,500 people - including foreign dignitaries - will be attending the funeral, which will blend state ceremonial with

DHAKA: Syrian rebel commanders from the Islamic Front which seized control of bases belonging to Western-backed rebels last week are due to hold talks with US officials in Turkey in coming days.Syria rebel and opposition sources said on Saturday, reports TDS.The expected contacts between

DHAKA: The Philippines will need nearly US$3 billion to rebuild parts of the country destroyed by the deadliest typhoon in its history.The presidential palace said on Saturday, reports The Straits Times.President Benigno Aquino told reporters in Tokyo late Friday that scores of towns and

DHAKA: Thailand’s military chief on Saturday shrugged off an opposition rally leader’s appeal to intervene in support of protester efforts to topple the government and install an unelected ‘people’s council’.Weeks of boisterous demonstration have gripped Bangkok in the latest

DHAKA: A space module carrying China’s first lunar rover landed on the moon on Saturday, state television showed, the first soft landing on the moon in nearly four decades and a major step for the emerging superpower`s ambitious space programme.Scientists burst into applause as a

DHAKA: In his first visit to Vietnam as America’s top diplomat, John Kerry urged the country’s leaders to strengthen their commitment to human rights and allow more freedom of expression, including on the Internet.More than four decades after he served in the Vietnam War, Kerry has

DHAKA: Egypt said Saturday a referendum on a new draft constitution will be held next month, the first step towards elected rule in a country deeply polarised after president Mohamed Mursi’s ouster.‘I call upon you to vote in a referendum on the draft revised constitution on January

DHAKA: Nelson Mandela`s coffin has been flown to the Eastern Cape region of South Africa for the final leg of the journey to his ancestral home in Qunu. Large numbers of people have turned out on the route to Qunu to pay their respects as the cortege passes by.A state funeral will be held

DHAKA: A senior government official on Saturday confirmed 11 deaths of children in relief camps for victims of India’s Muzaffarnagar riots, even as chief medical officers were directed to provide adequate medical treatment to the victims.District magistrate (Muzaffarnagar) Kaushal Raj

DHAKA: China will attempt to land a probe carrying the country’s first lunar rover on the moon on Saturday in a major breakthrough for its ambitious space programme.The spacecraft is expected to make touchdown at about 9pm local time, the mission’s official microblogging page said, 12

DHAKA: Palestine president Mahmoud Abbas has reportedly shot down a proposal by US state secretary John Kerry to maintain Israeli presence in the Jordan Valley for ten years following the signing of an Israeli-Palestinian peace accord.A Palestinian official told Al-Ayyam, reports The

DHAKA: Cairo’s court has issued a ruling Tuesday to arrest the current Interior Minister of Egypt Mohamed Ibrahim and hold him in prison for two years, and also to sack him for his refusal to carry out the court’s rulings.Egyptian media reports say, according to The Voice of

DHAKA: Two French soldiers have been killed in combat in Central African Republic’s capital, president Francois Hollande’s office announced on Tuesday, underscoring the challenges of a new French military intervention in the nearly lawless former colony.Hollande plans to visit the

DHAKA: A suicide bomber killed 11 people and wounded 20 at a funeral in northern Iraq on Tuesday.Iraq police said, reports The Straits Times.The attack took place in Baquba, 65km north-east of the Iraqi capital Baghdad.BDST: 2046 HRS, DEC 10, 2013

DHAKA: The death toll from torrential weekend rain in north-eastern Brazil has risen from 11 to 16, local authorities said on Tuesday.‘Our latest toll is 16 dead and one still missing,’ a Civil Defence spokesman said, reports The Straits Times.An official statement said 202 homes were

DHAKA: Iran’s foreign minister defended himself on Tuesday against what he called ‘slander, profanity and insults’ by conservative hardliners at home who have accused him of undermining the state and are pushing for his position to be reviewed.Mohamed Javad Zarif was Iran’s chief

DHAKA: Police in a remote northern Afghan village rescued a woman from being stoned to death after she was condemned by the Taliban for allegedly cheating on her husband.Afghan officials said on Tuesday, reports gulfnews.com.Taliban militants, who often run informal justice systems in

DHAKA: Ukraine’s president says he will ask the country’s general prosecutor to find a way to release some of the demonstrators who were arrested in recent protests, in a bid to defuse the country’s tensions.Ukraine’s capital has been gripped by more than three weeks of

DHAKA: India’s anti-corruption crusader Anna Hazare on Tuesday started another indefinite fast demanding the central government to pass an anti-corruption bill.At least 12 supporters joined the 76-year-old veteran social activist as he began his fast at a temple venue in his village

DHAKA: The UN said on Tuesday it would for the first time begin airlifting food and other aid items across the border from Iraq to Syria after receiving the go-ahead from both governments.‘Our colleagues on the Iraqi side, with the permission of the Syrian government and also the