Saturday, 27 Apr, 2024

International

State of emergency imposed in Bangkok

DHAKA: The Thai government has imposed a 60-day state of emergency in Bangkok and surrounding provinces from Wednesday to help contain a protest movement that has blockaded parts of the capital to try to force prime minister Yingluck Shinawatra to resign.Visarn Techateerawat, the deputy

‘The protest will be indefinite, with no negotiations’

DHAKA: After spending the night sleeping on a road in the heart  Delhi, the state’s chief minister Arvind Kejriwal woke up to rain and chilly winds Tuesday morning but vowed to escalate his sit-in protest against a police force that he describes as ‘compromised’.Kejriwal, 45,

2 killed as suicide car bomb explodes in Beirut

DHAKA: Two people were killed in a suicide car bombing in a south Beirut neighbourhood considered a stronghold of the Lebanese Shia movement Hezbollah.Lebanon’s official news agency said, reports The Straits Times.‘Suicide bomber blows himself up in a car... in Haret Hreik, two people

‘UN withdrew Syria talks invite under pressure’

DHAKA: Iranian foreign minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said on Tuesday the United Nations had abruptly withdrawn Tehran’s invitation to highly anticipated peace talks on Syria ‘under pressure’.‘We regret that Secretary General Ban Ki-moon has withdrawn the invitation under

Hamas deploys troops on Israel border

DHAKA: Hamas has reportedly deployed hundreds of forces along the border fence with Israel to allegedly deter escalations of violence in the South and prevent further rocket fire from Gaza into southern Israel.Israel Radio reports, The Jerusalem Post says.In light of the recent slew of

Iraqi militia chief threatens to kill politicians

DHAKA: A Shia militia leader arrested in Iraq after his group fired mortars into Saudi Arabia has said leaders of prime minister Nuri al-Maliki’s political bloc will be killed unless he is released within 24 hours.Wathiq al-Battat, speaking on a mobile phone he said had been given him

UN rescinds Iran’s invite for Syria talks

DHAKA: The UN secretary-general has withdrawn his invitation to Iran to join this week’s Syria peace talks, saying he is ‘deeply disappointed’ by Iran’s statements on Monday.A spokesman for Ban Ki-moon announced the withdrawal less than 24 hours after Ban surprised the US and

Tharoor cleared in wife’s death probe

DHAKA: Indian minister Shashi Tharoor has been cleared of any involvement in the death of his wife.Police sources said, reports The Straits Times.Tharoor, 57, has been cleared based on testimony by a witness who saw Sunanda Pushkar alive two hours after Tharoor had left the five-star

Bomb blasts kill 28 in Baghdad

DHAKA: Seven bomb explosions have killed 28 people and wounded 67 in the Iraqi capital, police and medics said, as security forces battled fighters around the western cities of Fallujah and Ramadi.The bloodiest attack on Monday occurred in the mainly Shia Muslim Abu Dsheer district in

10 killed by twin bombs at Syria-Turkey border post

DHAKA: Two car bombs hit a rebel-held border post in the northwest Syrian province of Idlib on Monday, opposition activists and fighters said, killing at least 10 people and closing the frontier.The Bab al-Hawa crossing is held by a rebel alliance called the Islamic Front, which have been

US expects UN to withdraw Iran invite to Syria talks

DHAKA: Washington is in talks with the UN over the surprise invitation of Iran to Syria peace talks and expects the invite to be withdrawn.A US official said Sunday, TDS publishes this report on Monday.Iran has ‘never endorsed the Geneva I communique’ which calls for a transitional

China working-age population falls

DHAKA: China’s working-age population continued to decline last year, the government said Monday, as Beijing grapples with a demographic time bomb that is one of its biggest challenges.The country introduced its controversial one-child policy in the late 1970s to control population

Syria opposition issues ultimatum over talks

DHAKA: Syrian peace talks could collapse before they even start, with the main opposition coalition bloc issuing a deadline for the withdrawal of Iran’s invitation to the talks.The Syrian National Coalition, a key player in the so-called Geneva II meeting, set to start on Wednesday, has

Nepal doctors’ strike leaves patients stranded

DHAKA: Nepalese doctors shut hospitals and clinics across the Himalayan nation, leaving thousands of patients stranded Monday, as part of a campaign to reform medical education.The national doctors’ association said, reports The Straits Times.Doctors were still providing emergency and

Al-Qaeda has enough arms to take Baghdad

DHAKA: A senior Iraqi official claims Al-Qaeda fighters hunkered down in a city they seized late last month west of Baghdad have enough heavy weapons to allegedly take the country’s capital.Senior deputy interior minister Adnan al-Asadi said Monday that Iraqi forces are fighting

Police chief assassinated in Yemen

DHAKA: Yemeni security officials say that an unidentified gunman shot and killed a police director in the southwest city of Taiz, the latest in a series of assassinations of the country’s security officers.A gunman on motorcycle shot police director Abd Al Wali Al Turkmi in the head

Earth waits for comet-chaser signal

DHAKA: Rosetta, Europe’s decade-long quest to put a robotic lander on a comet, has reached a key milestone.The probe, which has spent the past two-and-half-years moving through space in a deep sleep, was expected to rouse itself at 10:00 GMT, ready to send a signal to Earth.Receipt of

Bomb blasts kill 24 people, wound 58 in Baghdad

DHAKA: Half a dozen bomb explosions killed 24 people and wounded 58 in Baghdad on Monday.Iraqi police and medics said, reports The Jerusalem Post.The bloodiest attack occurred in mainly Shia Muslim Abu Dsheer district in the south of the Iraqi capital, where a car bomb near a crowded

21-year-old gang-raped on busy Kolkata road

DHAKA: A 21-year-old woman, working in one of the biggest malls in Kolkata, was allegedly gang-raped while returning home after work on Sunday evening.Even before the Madhayamgram gang-rape incident could die down, the latest incident, in the heart of Kolkata, has come as a blot for the

Vietnam sentences 30 to death over drug smuggling

DHAKA: A court in Vietnam has sentenced 30 people to death over heroin smuggling in what is said to be the largest such trial ever held in the country.The trial, over the smuggling of nearly two tonnes of heroin, began in Quang Ninh province in early January.Dozens of others were also