DHAKA: Anti-government protesters cut off electricity to the prime minister’s office compound on Thursday and demanded that police abandon the premises, piling pressure on the government amid a political crisis that has dragged on for weeks.The protesters, seeking to force the

DHAKA: Saudi Arabia’s grand mufti Sheikh Abdul Aziz bin Abdullah al-Sheikh branded suicide bombers as ‘criminals’ who will go to ‘hell’.Al-Hayat daily reported Thursday, says TDS.Suicide bombings are ‘great crimes’ and bombers are ‘criminals who rush themselves to hell by

DHAKA: The sign language interpreter accused of using fake hand signals at Nelson Mandela’s memorial has said he suffered a schizophrenic episode.Thamsanqa Jantjie, 34, told South African media he ‘started hearing voices’ and began hallucinating, reports the BBC.Deaf viewers at

DHAKA: A huge fire broke out on Thursday afternoon at a plastic manufacturing factory in Sharjah.Civil Defence rushed to battle the flames after receiving a report at 2.40pm.Officials were still at the scene late into the afternoon, reports gulfnews.com.The factory, in the industrial area

DHAKA: Egyptian police have raided the office of the Qatari news TV in Cairo and arrested 11 Qataris allegedly for illegal operation and residence amid tensions between the two Arab countries.The late Wednesday crackdown, the latest on the station’s bureau in Egypt, came upon a tip-off

DHAKA: Severe winter weather delayed the start of the first United Nations airlift of aid items from Iraq’s autonomous Kurdistan region to neighbouring Syria.A spokesman said on Thursday, reports TDS.‘It appears... the weather in Qamishli has delayed the start of the airlift, as well

DHAKA: A cave on the northwestern coast of Sumatra holds a remarkable record of big tsunamis in the Indian Ocean.The limestone opening, close to Banda Aceh, retains the sandy deposits washed ashore by huge, earthquake-induced waves over thousands of years.Scientists are using the site to

DHAKA: A crash involving several cars in central Iran has killed 15 people, including 11 Afghans, on a road often used by illegal migrants crossing from neighbouring Afghanistan.Iranian state TV says at least four cars hit one another in the pile-up near the town of Naeen, about 350

DHAKA: Two Saudi women were detained at a police station for driving a car in the capital Riyadh and refusing afterwards to call their male custodians to take them home.Azza Al Shamsi and Baria Al Zubaidi were caught by the police as they were driving the car near a shopping complex.Azza

DHAKA: Ukraine’s president Viktor Yanukovych intends to sign a deal on closer EU ties after all.EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton has told reporters, according to the BBC.She was speaking in Brussels after meeting pro-EU protesters who have paralysed the centre of Kiev.The

DHAKA: Mourners in South Africa are waiting to view the body of former president Nelson Mandela for a second day.Thousands of people queued on Wednesday to file past Mandela’s body, which was lying in state at the Union Buildings in Pretoria.His widow Graca Machel and president Jacob

DHAKA: A huge explosion that shook central Kabul on Thursday was an accident in an arms depot, officials said, allaying fears of an attack on the Afghan capital that has often been targeted by militants.‘It was an accident, not an enemy act,’ Lutfullah Mashal, a National Directorate

DHAKA: Burglars broke into the Cape Town home of South African peace icon Desmond Tutu when he was away speaking at Nelson Mandela’s memorial.An aide said Wednesday, reports TDS.‘I can confirm that there was a burglary last night,’ said Tutu aide Roger Friedman.‘We are not able to

DHAKA: A Pakistani court has stopped the screening of foreign films, serials and television shows, especially Indian content, on the country’s TV channels, triggering panic and outrage among exhibitors and viewers.While staying the beaming of foreign content, Lahore high court Justice

DHAKA: Nelson Mandela is lying in state in Pretoria dressed in one of his trademark colourful batik shirts from Indonesia.Through a glass casing, visitors can see the brown-and-yellow shirt and Mandela’s face.His lower body is covered, reports ann7.com.Four guards with heads bowed are

DHAKA: South Africa’s deaf community on Wednesday accused the sign language interpreter at Nelson Mandela’s memorial of being a fake, who had merely flapped his arms around during speeches.‘He’s a complete fraud,’ Cara Loening, director of Sign Language Education and Development

DHAKA: Time magazine on Wednesday named Pope Francis its person of the year, saying that in nine months in office the head of the Catholic Church had become a new voice of conscience.‘For pulling the papacy out of the palace and into the streets, for committing the world’s largest

DHAKA: The trial of Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood chief and his deputies on charges related to protest deaths came to an abrupt end Wednesday when the judges walked out, citing chaos in the dock.The previous session on October 29 of the trial against Mohamed Badie and 34 co-defendants had

DHAKA: A 16-year-old girl was allegedly gang-raped by four to five unidentified men and dumped at a parking lot in Connaught Place in the heart of the national capital.Police said on Wednesday, reports Hindustan Times.Even as there have been discrepancies in the girl’s statement about

DHAKA: Six Gulf Arab nations wrapped up a summit meeting in Kuwait by agreeing to establish a joint military command, paving the way for tighter security coordination as their regional rival Iran pursues outreach efforts.The official Kuwait News Agency said Wednesday that the military