Typhoon Shanshan clipped Japan's eastern coast yesterday morning, sparing Tokyo but bringing heavy rain, strong winds and high waves to some areas along the Pacific coast.

New York's city council on Wednesday dealt a blow to Uber and other car-for-hire companies, passing a bill to cap the number of vehicles they operate and impose minimum pay standards on drivers.

Thousands of firefighters, backed by US troops and crews from as far away as Australia and New Zealand, were on Wednesday making progress battling the biggest wildfire on record in California -- but the weather forecast for the rest of the week is not promising, officials said.

An NGO ship which saved 87 migrants in distress off Libya docked in Spain yesterday after roaming the Mediterranean for days, the third such vessel to be allowed in the country in two months after Italy refused to take them in.

Israel carried out a wave of strikes across Gaza yesterday in response to some 180 rockets and mortars fired at its territory, killing three Palestinians including a toddler in another severe flare-up of violence.

A group of Egyptian students has designed a vehicle they say will battle rising energy prices and promote clean energy by running on nothing but air.

Organisers of the Oscars -- under fire for plummeting ratings and accused of elitism -- on Wednesday announced the creation of a new category to honour top blockbusters and said they would shorten the ceremony to attract more viewers.

Myanmar has categorically rejected the International Criminal Court (ICC) prosecutor's request to seek jurisdiction over suspected deportations of Rohingyas from Myanmar to Bangladesh, saying it was meritless.

Two alleged drug dealers were killed in separate “gunfights” with police in Chandpur and Rajshahi districts, while one was arrested by police from the capital's Gabtoli, yesterday.

The High Court yesterday directed the home secretary to make arrangements for examining whether noted photographer Shahidul Alam was tortured in custody.

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina yesterday said her government is working on strengthening democracy in the country and accelerating the country's development.

Abul Hasnat Reza Karim was finally freed yesterday, ending his two years ordeal in jail. His release comes a day after a special tribunal in Dhaka exonerated him from having any involvement in the Gulshan Café attack.

Police last night launched a massive block raid in the capital's Bashundhara Residential Area and its adjacent Kalachandpur to arrest “drug peddlers and criminals”.

A wanted drug dealer was killed in a “gunfight” with Rab at Chauddagram upazila in Comilla early yesterday.

They made a hidden chamber on top of the cab of a lorry, concealed a large consignment of yaba inside it, welded them shut and painted over it so that it would not raise suspicion.

Researchers at Israeli cybersecurity firm said yesterday they had found a flaw in WhatsApp that could allow hackers to modify and send fake messages in the popular social messaging app.

Two brothers were killed in a road crash and another injured when a truck rammed a CNG-run autorickshaw in Hetimganj area of Golapganj upazila in Sylhet yesterday morning.

Foreign Minister AH Mahmood Ali left Dhaka for Myanmar last night to see for himself whether a conducive environment has been created in Rakhine for the safe return of forcibly displaced Rohingyas.

The Ansar-VDP Cooperative Society Ltd has been tasked with publicising 10 special initiatives of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and other development activities of the government among people at unions.

Saudi Arabia yesterday ruled out any mediation in an escalating diplomatic row with Canada, adding that the kingdom was considering further punitive measures against Ottawa.