Australia’s agriculture minister has been forced to resign after she was found to have steered public money to sports clubs in seats the conservative government was targeting ahead of an election.

A claim by Chinese scientists that a liquid made with honeysuckle and flowering plants could help fight the deadly coronavirus has sparked frenzied buying of the traditional medicine, but doubts quickly emerged.

Russia’s government on Saturday halted visa-free tourism for Chinese nationals and stopped issuing them with work visas over the deadly the deadly coronavirus outbreak.

British police yesterday said they had shot a man in Streatham, in south London, after several people were stabbed in a suspected “terrorist-related” incident.

Foreign diplomats visited different polling centres during yesterday’s Dhaka city polls without their local staffers, following a government directive not to include Bangladeshi employees of their missions in election observer teams.

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina yesterday sharply criticised some foreign missions in Dhaka for picking Bangladeshi nationals as “foreign election observers”.

Low overall turnout and a lesser presence of young voters compared to that of the elderly was what The Daily Star observed at two voting centres during the city corporations polls yesterday.

Macau is usually bustling with gamblers during China’s Lunar New Year holiday but the flood of tourists has been reduced to a trickle this year as fears grow over a coronavirus that has killed almost 260 people.

The ruling Awami League yesterday claimed that elections to the two Dhaka city corporations were held much more peacefully and better than ever in the past, while BNP said that elections were nothing but a farce.

A man died of carbon monoxide poisoning after a supermarket was torched in Chile’s capital Friday, and another succumbed to injuries sustained in clashes with police, bringing the death toll in a new wave of unrest to four.

Best-selling American author Mary Higgins Clark, known by her fans as the “Queen of Suspense”, has died aged 92, her publisher confirmed Friday.

An actress accusing disgraced Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein of rape told a court Friday she had only stayed in contact with him out of fear.

A woman attempting to flee from Florida police on Friday burst through two security checkpoints on a road leading to US President Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort, officials said.

Poland on Friday finalised an agreement to buy dozens of F-35 fighter jets from the US in a multi-billion dollar deal aimed at revamping its air force and further strengthening close ties with Washington.

Iraqi President Barham Salih yesterday appointed Mohammed Tawfiq Allawi as new prime minister, State TV reported, after squabbling political parties failed to name a candidate in the two months since the former premier was ousted by popular protests.

The US Senate on Friday rebuffed Democratic calls for new witnesses at President Donald Trump’s impeachment trial, paving the way for his acquittal next week of charges of abuse of power and obstruction of Congress.

African countries are scrambling to avert an outbreak of the rapidly spreading coronavirus strain, as health officials warn that the poorest countries are ill-equipped to combat the deadly disease.

Police arrested a man, said to be an Awami League activist, on charge of raping a 14-year-old girl from the Tripura community. The incident happened on Friday night in Cox’s Bazar’s Chakaria, which is adjacent to Bandarban’s Lama upazila.

A man was stabbed to death in the capital’s Mohammadpur area last night.

Lt Gen Jagjit Singh Aurora, C-in-C, Eastern Command of India, calls on Prime Minister Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman at his official residence. Aurora was accompanied by Maj Gen BN Sarkar.