Thursday, 28 Mar, 2024

International

UN agency urges China to drop HIV spa ban

DHAKA: The United Nations’ Aids agency on Monday condemned a draft Chinese regulation to ban HIV-positive people from spas and public bathhouses, as campaign groups expressed outrage over the proposal.The proposed Ministry of Commerce rule is the latest instance of longstanding

Mass evacuations in Vietnam for typhoon Nari

DHAKA: Vietnam is evacuating tens of thousands of people in the path of typhoon Nari, state media said, after the powerful storm left 13 dead in the Philippines.Nari is expected to slam into central Vietnam on Tuesday morning, after ripping off rooftops, toppling trees and triggering

Italy steps up migrant boat patrols after tragedies

DHAKA: Italy is stepping up sea and air patrols following the deaths of hundreds of migrants sailing in overcrowded boats from North Africa.Italy prime minister Enrico Letta said an ‘air and naval package’ would start on Monday south of Sicily, reports the BBC.On Friday at least 33

Death toll rises to 115 in India

DHAKA: The death toll in the stampede during Navratri festivities near a temple in India’s Madhya Pradesh on Monday climbed to 115 with a number of people who had carried away the bodies of their relatives turning up for autopsy.The stampede, which also left over 100 injured, was

‘Violence not the way to Kurdish statehood’

DHAKA: Kurds have a right to self-determination and statehood, but this will not be accomplished through violence, the president of Iraq’s Kurdistan Regional Government, Massoud Barzani, has said.It is ‘a natural right for there to be a state for the Kurdish people, but this will not

‘Mursi won’t negotiate with Egypt military’

DHAKA: The family of deposed Islamist president Mohamed Mursi said he would not enter any negotiations or accept any compromises following a crackdown on the Muslim Brotherhood by military-backed authorities.Mursi, Egypt’s first freely elected president, was ousted by the military on

‘Window for diplomacy with Iran is cracking open’

DHAKA: US state secretary John Kerry said in London on Sunday that ‘the window for diplomacy (with Iran) is cracking open’, in comments via satellite to the American Israel Public Affairs Committee summit in California.‘But I want you to know that our eyes are open, too. While we

Chemical team to probe Syria rebel sites

DHAKA: The head of the team tasked with destroying Syria’s chemical weapons says he is concerned about accessing some sites in rebel-controlled areas.Ahmet Uzumcu, of the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons, renewed calls for both sides in the conflict to support his

400 held after Moscow rocked by race rioting

DHAKA: Moscow police were holding almost 400 people under arrest after the Russian capital was rocked by some of its worst ethnically-fuelled rioting in years, sparked by the killing of an ethnic Russian allegedly by a Muslim migrant from the Caucasus.An initially peaceful protest in the

India temple stampede toll rises to 109

DHAKA: The death toll from a stampede at a Hindu festival in the central Indian state of Madhya Pradesh has risen to 109.Local officials have said, reports the BBC.Many were crushed after panic broke out on a bridge near the Ratangarh temple near the town of Datia. Others died when they

UK to relax Chinese visa rules

DHAKA: Visa applications for Chinese visitors entering the UK will be simplified, Chancellor George Osborne has announced.He wants to make it easier for Chinese visitors to the EU to visit the UK.The announcement came as part of Mr Osborne`s week long trade visit to China in which he is

Red Cross workers kidnapped in Syria

DHAKA: The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) says gunmen have abducted six of its workers and one Red Crescent volunteer in north-west Syria.The aid agency has had no contact with the gunmen, an ICRC spokesman says.Earlier, Syrian state media said gunmen had opened fire on

90 dead in India temple stampede

DHAKA: Over 90 pilgrims including children were killed and more than 100 injured in a stampede at Ratangarh temple in Madhya Pradesh in India on Sunday morning.Madhya Pradesh chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan has ordered a judicial inquiry to probe the tragedy.According to reports, the

American found hanged in Egypt police cell

DHAKA: An American found hanged in his police cell in the Suez Canal city of Ismailiya on Sunday was believed to have committed suicide.Egyptian security officials said, reports TDS.They said the body of James Henry, 55, who told authorities he was a retired officer, was found at noon at

Iran to send another monkey into space

DHAKA; An Iranian newspaper is reporting that the Islamic Republic plans to send another monkey into space within a month.A report on Sunday in the conservative daily Jomhuri Eslami quotes the deputy head of Iran’s space agency Hamid Fazeli as saying the planned launch is part of the

Brotherhood calls for more protests amid crackdown

DHAKA: The Muslim Brotherhood supported calls for continued protests and strongly condemned violence used by security forces, saying it demonstrated the regime’s weakness.The group, in a statement issued on Sunday, accused the ‘putschists’ of the terrorism that it claimed to fight,

Iran to seek Western recognition of its uranium enrichment

DHAKA: Iran has reportedly planned to present to world powers at talks on its nuclear program this week in Geneva a three-step proposal aimed at garnering Western recognition of Tehran’s ‘right to enrich’ uranium.The first stage of the Iranian package reportedly calls on the P5+1

Afghan in uniform shoots at US soldiers

DHAKA: An Afghan man wearing an Afghan army uniform shot at US soldiers in east Afghanistan, killing at least one serviceman on Sunday.Local officials and the NATO-led coalition said, reports The Jerusalem Post.The so-called ‘insider attack’ in eastern Paktika province is the fourth

Malala says she’s no Western puppet, but a proud Pakistani

DHAKA: Malala Yousafzai hit back at claims that she has become a figure of the West, insisting she was proud to be a Pakistani.The 16-year-old, who was shot by the Taliban for championing girls’ right to an education, claimed she retained the support of people in her homeland, and

N Korea rejects US non-aggression deal

DHAKA: North Korea refused to sign a non-aggression agreement that U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry offered last week on condition of denuclearization.In a statement carried by the North`s official state media on Saturday, the National Defense Commission spokesman said the U.S. should