TONGI (Bangladesh) - AT LEAST two million worshippers gathered north of the Bangladeshi capital Dhaka on Friday for a three-day event billed as the largest annual Islamic event after the hajj.
TOKYO - JAPAN is planning a first summit with US President Barack Obama before April to show the strength of the two nations' alliance, the foreign ministry said on Friday.
Japanese Prime Minister Taro Aso and Mr Obama are expected to take part on April 2 in a London summit on the global economic crisis of the Group of 20 wealthy and developing nations.
COLOMBO - CALLS mounted on Friday for a ceasefire in Sri Lanka amid growing fears for an estimated quarter of a million civilians trapped by fierce fighting between government troops and Tamil Tiger rebels.
A group of international relief organisations, including UN agencies, urged the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) to allow civilians to leave areas under their control, and the government to stop blocking international aid.
KISHANPUR - TIGERS have killed at least three children and four adults in north India in recent weeks, officials said Friday, forcing frightened villagers to stay indoors while forest rangers search for the wild cats.
Authorities wielding guns combed villages surrounding the Dudhwa Tiger Reserve in the state of Uttar Pradesh, from which seven tigers are believed to have strayed. One of the tigers is believed to have killed at least four people in the last two weeks, including three children between the ages of 8 and 15.
