More than 240 houses were damaged by a fire that started in the early hours of Saturday in an ancient town in Shangri-la, a resort county in southwest China’s Yunnan Province, forcing 2,600 residents to evacuate. The fire lasted nine hours till 10:30 a.m. at the Ruyi Inn in the Dukezong Ancient Town, where most […]
At least five people were killed and six injured when a group of armed people attacked a camp for internally displaced persons in Sudan’s Darfur state, the commissioner of Bilail said. “An armed group from Um Qoja area opened intensive fire in Al-Salam camp when people were busy shopping in a market, which left five […]
With the bitter India-US row over the arrest of an Indian diplomat defused with her departure for India, both sides are hoping to bring the “important” relationship back on track in the weeks ahead. One sentiment encountered during the discussions to work out a deal over the treatment of Devyani Khobragade, India’s then deputy consul […]
US President Barack Obama will unveil his proposals to reform the National Security Agency’s surveillance programmes next week, the White House announced. The White House said the president will make the announcement in a speech Jan 17, Xinhua reported Friday. “He will be making remarks to discuss the outcomes of the work that has been […]
The US Senate has adopted a resolution on Bangladesh stressing the “critical need” for a political dialogue. The first session of the 113th Congress Jan 7 adopted the resolution, the details of which have been published Jan 9, bdnews24.com reported Friday. On Dec 18, the US Senate Committee on Foreign Relations discussed the resolution submitted […]
Germany will help in world efforts to destroy Syria’s stockpile of chemical weapons, German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier said Thursday. “No one shall refuse to help if he has the technical capacity,” reported Xinhua citing Steinmeier who added that the German government has therefore decided not to shirk its responsibility and to make a substantial […]
At least 15 people, including eight Al Qaeda militants, were killed and eight wounded in clashes and attacks in Iraq’s Anbar province and near Baghdad Thursday evening, police said. A police commando force fought a fierce clash with Al Qaeda militants in a desert area near the town of Khaldiyah, some 80 km west of […]
As part of his efforts to focus on income inequality and poverty in the country, US President Barack Obama Thursday announced five “promise zones”. “I will work with anybody who’s willing to lay out some concrete ideas to create jobs, help more middle-class families find security in today’s economy, and offer new ladders of opportunity […]
Washington As Nisha Desai Biswal officially became Washington’s first Indian-American pointperson for South and Central Asia last week, her boss mentioned that she is known as “somebody who speaks softly and carries a big stick”. But whether it was with her soft speech or her big stick, Biswal’s efforts to bring peace between the feuding begums of Bangladesh […]
The ongoing conflict in South Sudan has already uprooted more than 200,000 people from their homes, a UN spokesperson confirmed here Wednesday. “The Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) says that an estimated 201,000 people have been internally displaced by the current crisis in South Sudan since Dec 15,” reported Xinhua citing Farhan […]