DHAKA: Deposed Islamist Egyptian president Mohamed Mursi said on Wednesday he was kidnapped and held by the Republican Guard and then at a naval base a day before he was formally ousted by the military.He also intends to sue the army-installed authorities over his ouster in July, his

DHAKA: Former Australian leader Kevin Rudd has announced his retirement from politics.In an emotional speech, the former Labor Party leader said he had not arrived at the decision lightly, reports the BBC.But Rudd, who served as prime minister twice, attributed the decision to his family

DHAKA: A young Frenchman who weighs 230 kilograms and was deemed too heavy to fly on a jetliner arrived in New York Tuesday to head home by ship.Kevin Chenais and his parents arrived at Penn Station in New York by train from Chicago.They will stay at a hotel in Brooklyn until they catch

DHAKA: Russian president Vladimir Putin was in South Korea Wednesday, pushing a pet project for a new trading route linking Asia and Europe by rail that requires prying open North Korea.The ambitious scheme envisages an ‘Iron Silk Road’ uniting the rail networks of South and North

DHAKA: India’s top police official was under fire on Wednesday for saying, ‘If you can’t prevent rape, you might as well enjoy it’.Central Bureau of Investigation chief Ranjit Sinha made the comment on Tuesday during a conference about illegal sports betting and the need to

DHAKA: China, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Algeria and Vietnam have been elected to the UN`s human rights watchdog, despite concerns about their rights records.Campaign groups have condemned the election of the countries to the 47-seat Human Rights Council.Human Rights Watch said some new

DHAKA: Afghan opium cultivation has reached a record level, with more than 200,000 hectares planted with the poppy for the first time, the United Nations says.The UNODC report said the harvest was 36% up on last year, and if fully realised would outstrip global demand.Most of the rise was

DHAKA: Philippines President Benigno Aquino says the death toll from Friday`s typhoon may be lower than first thought.In an interview with CNN, he said the number of 10,000 killed was "too high" and the figure was more likely up to 2,500.The UN says more than 11 million people are

DHAKA: Egypt`s government says it is lifting the country`s three-month state of emergency and night-time curfew.The move comes two days earlier than expected, after a court ruling.An aide to the prime minister said the measures had ended at 14:00 GMT, but the government later said it was

DHAKA: Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu has ordered his housing minister to reconsider construction plans for more than 20,000 homes in the West Bank.He said the plans, announced by Housing Minister Uri Ariel earlier on Tuesday, would create unnecessary friction with the international

DHAKA: For hour after hour, driving into the heart of typhoon-stricken northern Cebu, it was the same picture.Hundreds of families, picking through the remains of their destroyed homes, hoping to find some treasured keepsakes; and children lining the roadside, for mile after mile,

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