Prime Minister Kevin Rudd of Australia, emphasizing the need of rejuvenating Australia relationship with India, has outlined a vision for new regional institution in the Asia Pacific region based on the European Union model. Prime Minister Rudd made his point while speaking at the Asia Society ...

David D. McKiernan, the US General who spearheaded the ground invasion of Iraq, was on Tuesday, June 3, given the charge of the 40-nation NATO-led campaign in Afghanistan. Army Gen. David D. McKiernan took over from Gen. Dan McNeill the control of the 51,000-member International Security Assistance ...

A series of simultaneous bomb explosions rocked the 12-storied Hotel Orchard Plaza of Dhaka in the wee hours of Monday, June 2, injuring at least 50 people in the process. Those injured in the blast were rushed to the Dhaka Medical College Hospital and Islami Bank Central Hospital. The number of ...

A number of missing memorabilia of Indian Nobel Laureate Rabindranath Tagore have been recovered by authorities in Bangladesh, who say these got ‘misplaced’ some 13 years ago. Dewan Mahamudul Haque, the Assistant commissioner (AC) for land, has handed more than 54 memorabilia of ...

The recluse North Korea state on Friday, May 30, 2008 test-fired three short range missiles off its west coast. A South Korean news agency quoted a government source saying the move was part of a military training exercise involving Russian designed Styx ship-to-ship missiles with a range of 46 ...

The military government of Myanmar is reportedly forcing the cyclone survivors to leave their refugee camps and dumping them back nearby their devastated villages with practically no aid supplies. This information was provided by the United Nation and church officials in Myanmar on Friday 30 May. ...

The military ruled Myanmar has adopted a new national pro-military constitution, following a heavily criticized referendum held earlier this month. The state television read a statement by senior general Than Shwe, the head of the military government, saying that 92.48 percent of the voters had ...

Newly elected constituent assembly in Nepal has decided to abolish Shah Dynasty with overwhelming majority. The 601 member assembly meeting was convened at Birendra International Convention Center. The motion was moved by Home Minister Krishna Prasad Sitola on behalf of Prime Minister Girija Prasad ...

The Chief Minister of Jammu and Kashmir, Ghulam Nabi Azad, on May 29, 2008 blamed the Pakistan Government for delaying the cross-border trade between Muzzafarabad and Srinagar. According to him, all the formalities have been completed on the Indian side but it is still waiting for the Pakistan ...

The United Nations chief, Mr Ban Ki Moon returned to New York on Monday 26 May after a visit to the disaster-hit zones in Burma and China. While in Burma, Ban Ki Moon had also attended an international donors conference, in which millions of dollars were given to Burma as aid for the reconstruction ...

The outbreak of a fire on the topmost floor of the Myanmar Embassy in Thailand on Monday 26 May has caused a part of the building to get destroyed. This got the aid groups worried as they thought getting hold of visas for carrying out relief work in the cyclone hit Myanmar may now get delayed even ...

The parliament of Lebanon elected army chief Michel Suleiman as the President of the country on Sunday, May 25, 2008. By appointing Suleiman as the head of the state, the country revived paralyzed state institutions after an eighteen month standoff between an American backed government and the ...

Aung San Suu Kyi, the world’s most prominent political prisoner was due to be freed from her house arrest on 26 May in Burma. But the widespread disaster which envelopes the country at present because of the recent powerful cyclone Nargis has caused this event to go majorly unnoticed. During ...

"The Chinese government, at the early stage of this natural disaster, has invested strenuous effort and demonstrated extraordinary leadership," was the statement of UN Secretary General, Ban Ki Moon.  He asked Chinese government to be swift in rescue work and provide basic amenities ...

Myanmar’s military regime on Friday, May 23, 2008 announced that it will allow foreign aid workers and commercial ships to help survivors of the cyclone Nargis. The ruling junta however refused to relent on accepting aid from the US, French and British military ships. The military regime told ...

Saturday morning shook Indonesia again with an earthquake with magnitude of 6.7 on the Richter scale. Although details are awaited, the quake has shocked Indonesians once again. The epicenter of quake was Maluku province, 194 km north-west of Saumlaki regency.  Reportedly the quake was 72 ...

The Junta in Myanmar has eventually agreed to the plan of allowing foreign cyclone aid workers into the badly-damaged Irrawaddy Delta of the country on Friday 23 May ‘regardless of nationalities’. This breakthrough came about after the United Nations chief Ban Ki Moon himself flew down ...

The radical Tibetan exiles in India have decided to convene their own mock Olympics in the northern part of the country on Thursday, about three months before the real event will be convened in China’s capital, Beijing. The mock Olympics will comprise of just few sport events like swimming, ...

Following international pressure to permit entry of relief supply for the victims of the recent powerful cyclone Nargis, the Burmese junta has finally given green signal to limited regional and UN-co-ordinated aid operation. But at the same time it also will continue denying unhindered access to ...

Ma Ying jeou has been sworn in as Taiwan's new President. Jeou took office, two months after defeating the pro-independence incumbent Chen Shui-bian with a promise to improve the ties with China and establish the direct air links for the first time in almost 60 years.
Legislative speaker Wang ...

UN Relief coordinator, John Holmes visited the cyclone Nargis hit Myanmar on Monday, May 19, 2008. The United Nations’ top aid official got a first hand look at the disaster affected Myanmar. John Holmes handed over a letter to the isolationist junta from UN secretary General Ban Ki-moon. The ...

Senior General Than Shwe, the leader of Myanmar’s ruling junta for the first time visited victims of the cyclone Nargis that killed nearly one lakh people and left thousands homeless. Sate television showed the video of the leader touring a refugee camp on Sunday, May 18, 2008. Than Shwe was ...

United Nations Secretary General, Ban Ki-moon will visit Myanmar this week and stopover at the areas hardest hit by the cyclone Nargis. Michele Montas, a UN spokeswoman revealed that the Myanmar’s military government has granted permission to for the UN chief to travel to the Irrawaddy delta. ...

Two bomb explosions, within a few hours of one another, in the deep south of Thailand on Saturday 17 May have killed one policeman and injured 14 other people, said police officials. South Thailand happens to be a zone where the local authorities have been busy battling a serious separatist ...

The Military junta’s slow and disorganized response to the cyclone disaster in Myanmar has left several survivors helpless. Desperation amongst the 1.5 million cyclone survivors of Myanmar is on the rise as police barred foreign aid workers to reach out in the worst-hit areas. Gordon Bacon, ...

In order to control the second eruption of the deadly bird flu or avian influenza within a week’s time, South Korea has culled all domestic fowl in its capital Seoul. Since the beginning of April, South Korea declared 31 cases of the fatal H5N1 strain in its poultry and consequently killed ...

Myanmar, which was hit by a powerful cyclone Nargis recently, has eventually permitted the entrance of the very first significant international aid shipment on Thursday 8 May. The military regime, however, brushed-off the offer of the United States to assist those in Myanmar who have been hit badly ...

According to a top presidential source the Parliament of Sri Lanka has been suspended by Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapakse for a month. The reason behind this suspension is unknown. As the Parliament has been suspended, all the bills and parliamentary committees which were presented, are now ...

Myanmar’s military rulers have revealed late on Monday night that more than ten thousand people are feared dead after cyclone ‘Nargis’ hit the small nation on Saturday, May 3, 2008. Foreign Minister Nyan Win stated that ten thousand people have died in just one town, Bogalay. ...

After cyclone Nargis hit Myanmar on Saturday 3 May, causing havoc everywhere, aid agencies and other help groups have asked the military government to permit free movement in the region so that the victims can be assisted. As per the official figures, death toll in Myanmar reached 351 after the ...