A stand-off involving pro-Russian soldiers at a Ukrainian military base outside the Crimean city of Sevastopol has reportedly ended without incident. A BBC correspondent saw two lorries from Russia’s Black Sea Fleet outside the gates, surrounded by armed men. But…
The West, in the shape of the EU and the US, is talking about tough action against Russia – but these are threats, not punishment. They are intended to be a big rock hovering over the head of individuals, forcing…
China wants to contribute to Bangladesh’s development, ambassador of the world’s second largest economy, Li Jun, has said. Meeting diplomatic correspondents in Dhaka on Thursday, he said Bangladesh “really matters” to China, as it is an important developing country with…
EU leaders are to begin an emergency summit to decide how strongly they should respond to Russia’s troop deployment in Ukraine’s Crimea region. Some members, particularly from Eastern Europe, want tough sanctions, while others, led by Germany, seek mediation. Ahead…
Ousted Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych asked Russia to send troops across the border to protect civilians, Moscow’s UN envoy has claimed. Vitaly Churkin told a Security Council meeting Mr Yanukovych wrote to Russian President Vladimir Putin on Saturday. Thousands of…
Tania Branigan Migrant workers are treated as second class citizens, but now women are organising and speaking out. On a dark, damp Sunday, hundreds of women are massed in a city park. “Women united will never be divided! Migrants united…
China on Sunday blamed Muslim militants from the restive far western region of Xinjiang for the deadly attack on Kunming railway station in the country’s Yunnan province, in which at least 33 have died so far Four of those killed…
US President Barack Obama has told his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin that Russia has flouted international law by sending troops to Ukraine. In a 90-minute telephone conversation, Mr Obama urged the Russian leader to pull forces back to bases in…
A bomb attack on a polio vaccination team in north-west Pakistan has killed at least 10 people, officials say A roadside bomb went off as the police-guarded convoy drove through a village in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province near the Afghan border.…
US President Barack Obama has warned Russia there will be “costs” for any military intervention in Ukraine. He said he was deeply concerned by reports of Russian military movements inside the country. Ukraine’s acting president has accused Russia of deploying troops…
Face masks have appeared on statues around Beijing’s Peking University in an apparent bid to protect them from the smog engulfing the city. With no end in sight for China’s pollution crisis, one student with a sense of humour used…
An explosion has killed two people and wounded more than 20 others near a protest site in a busy shopping district of the Thai capital Bangkok. One of those who died in the attack near the Central World shopping mall…
Geneva – A new United Nations report has found that crimes against humanity are occurring in North Korea and calls for an international tribunal to investigate and hold perpetrators to account, Human Rights Watch said Thursday. The report, by a…
New Delhi – India’s Parliament has approved a plan to create a 29th state following days of political mayhem, including a melee in which a lawmaker unleashed pepper spray on his colleagues. Members of groups opposed to the division of…
India’s Supreme Court has put on hold the release of three of the seven people convicted of involvement in the murder of former PM Rajiv Gandhi. The chief minister of Tamil Nadu state, where the plotters are held, ordered the…
The government in the southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu has decided to free three men and a woman convicted of plotting the 1991 assassination of former PM Rajiv Gandhi. On Tuesday, the Supreme Court commuted the death sentences of…
Ballroom dancers and aerobics classes have popped up in the midst of an anti-China protest in Hanoi, Vietnam, in an apparent ploy by the government to break up the event. Protesters say the dancers, who showed up with a loud…
Islamabad – Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry retires today leaving behind a legacy of broken myths, shaking the archaic political order and bringing into public spotlight the spy chiefs who had remained shrouded behind the wall of secrecy, never to…
At least 10,000 people are thought to have been killed in the Philippine city of Tacloban by Typhoon Haiyan, officials believe. A further 300 are confirmed dead with 2,000 missing in the neighbouring island of Samar.
Indian PM Manmohan Singh will boycott this week’s Commonwealth summit in Colombo, officials say, amid a row over Sri Lanka’s human rights record. Indian media said Mr Singh had written to Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa to say he will…
A deal can be reached with Iran to curb its nuclear programme, UK Foreign Secretary William Hague has said. The outline of an agreement was “on the table” although he acknowledged current talks were “formidably difficult”.
More than 120 people have been reported killed by Typhoon Haiyan in the Philippines after the massive storm swept through on Friday.
Typhoon Haiyan is battering the central Philippines with sustained winds of up to 320 km/h (199mph). Meteorologists say that if initial estimates based on satellite images are borne out, it could be the most powerful storm ever to make landfall.
Palestinian officials say Israel is the “only suspect” in the death of leader Yasser Arafat following a Swiss report that said his remains contained high levels of radioactive polonium.
Washington, DC – The United States government should undertake a thorough and impartial investigation into new allegations of US complicity in the killings of 18 men in Afghanistan, Human Rights Watch said today. An article published on November 6, 2013,…
Manila, Philippines — Thousands of villagers in the central Philippines, including those from a province devastated by a recent earthquake, were being evacuated Thursday as one of the most powerful typhoons globally this year approaches.
Petrapole (West Bengal): Union Home Minister Sushilkumar Shinde Wednesday said relations between India and Bangladesh would not be affected by the conflict situation within Bangladesh. The minister was present at the Indian side of the border checkpoint here in West…
Former Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat may have been poisoned with radioactive polonium, says a Swiss forensic report obtained by al-Jazeera. Arafat’s medical records say he died in 2004 from a stroke resulting from a blood disorder.
Dhaka: In a veiled attack on India, an opposition BNP leader has said his party feared that a “neghbouring country” has hatched plots to keep the ruling Awami League in power after the next elections.
Moderate Republican New Jersey Governor Chris Christie has won a landslide re-election, a possible launch pad for a 2016 White House run.