Hundreds of California firefighters on Tuesday battled a wind-driven brushfire that grew out of control overnight near Santa Barbara, threatening thousands of homes and prompting evacuation orders.

The German army yesterday apologised for posting a photo on Instagram of a military uniform complete with two Iron Crosses bearing the Nazi swastika and appearing to celebrate it as “retro”.

Turkey yesterday rejected criticism from the United States over its testing of a newly-acquired Russian missile defence system.

Amnesty International warned yesterday that Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi’s government had built a “parallel justice system” to crack down on critics and dissent.

Chile’s national police committed “serious human rights violations” as weeks of violent demonstrations across the South American country claimed 25 lives, Human Rights Watch said Tuesday in a report calling for reform of the force.

Beijing yesterday accused developed countries including the US of doing too little to curb global warming, ahead of a UN summit discussing controversial issues including climate compensation.

Workers of nine state-owned jute mills in the Khulna-Jashore industrial belt staged a symbolic hunger strike yesterday to press home their 11-point demand, including payment of due salary and implementation of a wage commission.

Sitting at her home in Narayanganj’s Siddhirganj, a feeble-looking Maksuda Begum stares vacantly into the distance. She mumbles most of the time making her words difficult to catch.

Police arrested two employees of a building material store yesterday morning on suspicion of hacking a Brac employee to death in Kazirhat area of Nilphamari town Tuesday afternoon.

Rohingyas of Ukhia and Teknaf upazilas of Cox’s Bazar are using around three lakh mobile connections of local carriers, a technical committee of the telecom regulatory commission has found out.

Sajeeb Wazed Joy has been made number 1 member of Rangpur district Awami League.

A CCTV footage of a privately owned drug rehabilitation centre in Mirpur upazila of Kushtia raised question over the death of a first-year Hons student with schizophrenia.

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina yesterday announced that the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (Unesco) together with Bangladesh would celebrate the “Mujib Borsho”.

International media prominently covered the verdict in the 2016 Holey Artisan case in which seven militants were sentenced to death.

The 17th span of the under-construction Padma Bridge was installed between its 22th and 23rd pillars yesterday.

Maltese Prime Minister Joseph Muscat said yesterday his chief of staff had resigned amid an ongoing probe into the murder of investigative reporter Daphne Caruana Galizia.

France and Germany have drawn up plan to guide deep reform of the European Union to present to fellow members and to counter concerns about divisions between their leaders.

Pakistan’s Supreme Court has temporarily suspended an extension of the term of office for the country’s army chief, putting it on a possible collision course with the powerful military.

At least two people were killed in grenade attacks in Kashmir yesterday and two militants shot dead by Indian forces, officials said, in one of the region’s most violent days since New Delhi imposed a security clampdown.

Myanmar is in breach of a global convention banning chemical weapons and may have a stockpile left over from the 1980s, the United States said on Monday.