DHAKA: Rain-swollen rivers in Bangladesh broke through at least four embankments, submerging dozens of villages and doubling the number of people fleeing their homes overnight to 400,000 in one of the worst floods in recent years, officials said yesterday. Heavy rains and overflowing rivers have swamped 23 districts in northern
NEW YORK: Microsoft Corp on Thursday beat analysts’ estimates for fourth-quarter revenue and profit, driven by continued sales increases from its cloud business and sending its shares to all-time highs. Since chief executive Satya Nadella took over in 2014, Microsoft has been shifting away from its Windows operating system software
WASHINGTON: The number of Americans filing applications for unemployment benefits increased moderately last week, pointing to still strong labour market conditions despite signs that economic activity was slowing. Other data on Thursday showed factory activity in the mid-Atlantic region rebounded sharply in July, reaching its highest level in a year.
DHAKA / GUWAHATI (India): One of Bangladesh’s main rivers breached an embankment, flooding a northern district and forcing thousands from their homes, an official said yesterday, as the toll from monsoon rains in neighbouring India climbed to 97 in two flood-hit states. Several million people are living in camps and
YANGON: A Myanmar judge yesterday charged filmmaker Min Htin Ko Ko Gyi for Facebook posts he made about the powerful military, meaning he will stand trial despite concern over his health and an outcry from human rights groups. The director, who runs a human rights film festival, was detained three
BY ANNE MARIE ROANTREE AND FELIX TAM Hong Kong’s extradition bill demonstrations have mutated into a bigger and more complex animal, ripping open old wounds and expanding a political fight as the city battens down for a summer of protests. The demonstrations pop up almost daily, with little notice, as
BEIJING: New bank loans in China rose to a three-month high in June as policymakers sought to keep ample funds in the financial system to support the slowing economy amid rising US trade pressure. Most analysts have forecast the Chinese economy would stabilise in the second half of this year
WASHINGTON: US underlying consumer prices increased by the most in nearly 1-1/2 years in June amid solid gains in a range of goods and services, but that did not change expectations the Federal Reserve would cut interest rates this month. Signs of a pick-up in underlying inflation and a strong
BEIJING: The heaviest average rainfall to lash a swathe of southern and eastern China in more than half a century brought torrential rain and floods, destroying houses, damaging crops and forcing the evacuation of nearly 80,000 people, state media said. Even more rain is expected, state television said yesterday, after
LONDON: British police said they had detained a man who scaled the front gates of Queen Elizabeth’s Buckingham Palace, almost 37 years to the day after the most famous break-in at the monarch’s home in central London. Police said the 22-year-old man had been arrested in the early hours of