French officials yesterday prepared to restart talks with unions over a pension overhaul that has sparked the country’s longest transport strikes in decades, which labour leaders say could force millions of people to retire later than they thought.

A former head of Iran’s Revolutionary Guards threatened on Sunday to turn the Israeli cities of Haifa and Tel Aviv “to dust” if the US attacks targets in Iran.

Leftist former prime minister Zoran Milanovic, who has pledged to make Croatia a tolerant country turning the page on its wartime past, won Sunday’s presidential run-off vote, defeating the incumbent conservative leader.

An Armenian man has been arrested for releasing “false information” on Facebook claiming the country’s prime minister had congratulated Donald Trump for killing Iran’s top general, the security service said yesterday.

German police on Sunday shot dead a knife-wielding Turkish man who sought to attack officers in the city of Gelsenkirchen.

The authorities will finally start investigating the purchase of “faulty” buses and trucks from Indian manufacturers for the Bangladesh Road Transport Corporation.

Police yesterday arrested the organising secretary of Chattogram South District Bangladesh Chhatra League on charges of raping a mother of two.

Hundreds of thousands of Iranians thronged Tehran’s streets yesterday for the funeral of military commander Qassem Soleimani, killed by a US drone strike, and his successor promised to drive US forces out of the region in revenge.

A Dhaka court yesterday granted a Criminal Investigation Department’s (CID) petition to freeze 194 bank accounts of former Jubo League leader GK Shamim.

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina yesterday asked the police personnel to gain people’s trust and confidence by developing themselves as the “force of people”.

Police have demanded postings on deputation in the Anti-Corruption Commission, Department of Narcotics Control (DNC), BRTA, and BIWTA to look after the enforcement and investigation activities of those organisations.

Protests were held across India yesterday after masked assailants wielding batons and iron rods went on a rampage at a top Delhi university, leaving more than two dozen injured.

Honey yields from mustard in Tangail were dealt a blow this year due to unfavourable weather conditions, say cultivators.

Chief Election Commissioner KM Nurul Huda yesterday turned down BNP’s demand for not using electronic voting machines (EVMs) in the Dhaka city elections slated for January 30.

A sixth grader died by suicide in Panchagarh Sadar upazila yesterday, hours after she was allegedly raped by her neighbour.

Two Rohingya men, suspected of being drug peddlers, were killed in a “gunfight” with members of Border Guard Bangladesh in Cox’s Bazar early yesterday.

Saudi Arabia yesterday condemned the Turkish parliament’s approval of a military deployment to Libya, which is aimed at shoring up the UN recognised government in Tripoli.

Militants have killed 60 Democratic Republic of Congo soldiers since October in the restive east of the country, the army said in a statement Saturday.

Thousands of people demonstrated on Saturday against French President Emmanuel Macron’s proposed pension reforms which have sparked a month-long transport strike.

Six months into his term, Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis heads to his first White House visit on January 7 amidst tense relations with Nato ally and regional rival Turkey.