Nepal Maoists seeks Chinese help to ‘buy’ lawmakers?

The Maoists in Nepal are allegedly seeking Chinese help to get their chief Pushpa Kamal Dahal elected as the new prime minister of that country as well as ‘neutralize’ India’s ‘influence’ in the affairs of the neighbouring country.

A day before

Indonesia warns BlackBerry of ban if it beams porno

Jakarta, Sep 1 : Indonesia has warned Canadian firm Research in Motion (RIM), the maker of BlackBerry, to stay away from showing pornographic pictures in smart phone or face ban in the country.

The ultimatum comes on a day when the multinational company ac

UN ‘shocked’ over killing of Israeli civilians

A senior United Nations official has expressed his shock over this evening’s killing of four Israelis in the West Bank, as long-awaited direct talks are set to begin later this week in Washington between Israelis and Palestinians.

According to media repor

Bangladesh minister Sahara Khatun slammed for comments on Janmashtami

A call by Bangladesh Home Minister Sahara Khatun to the minority Hindu community to observe Janmashtami, the birthday of Lord Krishna, “peacefully” and end it by 5 p.m. Wednesday in time for the end of “roza” has been criticised by the nation’s media.

The m

Thousands flee volcanic eruption in Indonesia

A volcano on the Indonesian island of Sumatra erupted Sunday for the first time in 400 years, shooting black smoke and ash up to 1,500 metres into the air and prompting the evacuation of thousands of residents.

Mount Sinabung in the Karo district of North S

Surgeons in colombo remove 18 nails from tortured Sri Lankan woman

A team of surgeons in Colombo removed 18 nails Friday from a Sri Lankan woman allegedly tortured in Saudi Arabia by her employer, a spokesman for the hospital said.

L.T. Ariyawathi was employed in Saudi Arabia for five months during which 24 heated nails we

Bollywood gives Nepal’s beleaguered Maoists a break

When they fought an armed war for 10 years that killed over 16,000 people, Nepal’s Maoist guerrillas sought to ban Hindi films in the Hindu kingdom to establish their nation’s own, distinct cultural identity.

But now, with the war over and struggling with p

H.M. Ershad may seek Sheikh Hasina’s ‘blessings’ to escape punishment

Former Bangladesh president H.M. Ershad, held responsible by a court for usurping power through a military takeover, may seek Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s ‘blessings’ to escape punishment.

A lawmaker whose Jatiya Party (JP) is a constituent of the ruling

Bangladesh government Will first time introduce pre-primary schooling

Hoping to catch children young and curb the drop-out rate, the Bangladesh government will for the first time introduce pre-primary education in its schools from January.

Measures have been taken to recruit 37,000 teachers in all its primary schools to harne

61 killed in Iraq attacks

At least 61 people were killed and more than 180 injured in a series of attacks across Iraq Wednesday, mainly bomb blasts targeting police stations.

A member of parliament for the Iraqiya List, a party headed by former premier Iyad al-Allawi, called for an

All 14 die in Nepal plane crash near Kathmandu

The festival of Raksha Bandhan, when sisters pray for the long life of their brothers, turned into stark tragedy in Nepal Tuesday as all 14 people on board a private aircraft, including seven foreign tourists, were killed in a crash near Kathmandu.

The 15-s

Eight Chinese, gunman killed in Philippines hostage drama

A sacked police officer seized a tourist bus and opened fire at his hostages, killing eight of them, before he was shot dead by police ending an over 10-hour-long hostage drama in a seaside park in Manila city Monday.

Eight of the dead were Chinese passenge

Bangladesh opposition protests move to bring back Khaleda Zia’s son

Leaders of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) held a nationwide demonstration Sunday against the government’s move to bring back their leader Khaleda Zia’s son from Thailand where he is undergoing treatment after his parole in 2008. He was arrested for all

BNP-Jamaat linked to 2004 grenade attacks: Sheikh Hasina

Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has alleged that her political rival Khaleda Zia, chief of the Bangladesh National Party (BNP), and the then government had “direct links” with the grenade attacks on a 2004 party rally in which 24 people were killed and

Air India plane lands in Oman after bomb hoax

An Air India passenger plane traveling from Kuwait to Mumbai made an emergency landing Friday at the airport in Oman’s capital Muscat after a passenger claimed there was a bomb on board, a media report said.

The Boeing 737, carrying 160 passengers, was in t

10 Mideast nations declare Wednesday first day of Ramadan

At least 10 countries in the Middle East decided Tuesday night that the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan will start Wednesday.

The decision was first adopted by Saudi Arabia’s legal moon sighting panel, with other Arab and Islamic countries following suit.

‘South Asia matters more with India’s rise’

Given the rise of India and the difficulties of Pakistan, South Asia matters a little more in global affairs with the decline of America relative to Asia, according to a former Bush era official.

“Although we’re still and will remain the strongest power eco

Japan observes 65th anniversary of Nagasaki bombing

Nagasaki marked the 65th anniversary of the US atomic bombing of the Japanese port city Monday, in which about 74,000 people were killed.

The ceremony observed a minute of silence in memory of victims of the attack at 11.02 a.m. 65 years ago.

The Peace M

Bangladesh gets $1 bn loan from India

Bangladesh Saturday inked a $1 billion loan agreement with India to finance several projects in the country.

The line of credit will be utilised for implementation of projects to be identified and approved by the Bangladesh government, the Daily Star report

Nepal lawyers rally behind Sobhraj’s lawyer, fiancee

In an act of solidarity, Nepal’s lawyers Thursday rallied behind former international master criminal Charles Sobhraj’s beleaguered lawyer Shakuntala Thapa and her daughter Nihita Biswas, better known as Sobhraj’s fiancee, opposing the decision by two Supreme