U.S. President-elect Donald Trump on Tuesday named Elon Musk to a role aimed at creating a more efficient government, handing even more influence to the world's richest man who donated millions of dollars to helping Trump get elected. Musk and former Republican presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy will co-lead a newly created Department of Government Efficiency, an entity Trump indicated will operate…

At least 13 people were killed and 25 injured in a bomb blast at a railway station in Quetta in southwestern Pakistan on Saturday, a police official told Reuters. Pakistan is grappling with a surge in militant attacks in its northwest and a growing separatist insurgency in the south. "The blast took place inside the railway station when the Peshawar-bound express was about to leave for its destination,"…

AFP footage showed strikes hitting south Beirut Thursday about an hour after the Israeli army called for residents of the Hizbollah bastion to leave, including from a location near Lebanon's international airport. AFP footage showed several plumes of smoke rising above south Beirut, with AFP journalists in the Lebanese capital hearing loud bangs. Earlier, Israeli military spokesman Avichay Adraee…

US Vice President Kamala Harris wrapped a day on the campaign trail Saturday with a surprise appearance on "Saturday Night Live," mocking her presidential election rival Donald Trump on the sketch show. Appearing in the long-running series's "cold open" -- the sketch before the opening titles -- Harris appeared as her own reflection in a dressing room mirror, joining in good-natured mockery of her…

Iran warned on Saturday it would defend itself after Israeli air strikes killed at least two soldiers and further stoked fears of a full-scale regional war in the Middle East. Israel warned Iran would "pay a heavy price" if it responded to the strikes, and the United States, Germany and Britain demanded Tehran not escalate the conflict further. US President Joe Biden said he hoped "this is the end"…

More than one billion people are living in acute poverty across the globe, a UN Development Program report said Thursday, with children accounting for over half of those affected. The paper published with the Oxford Poverty and Human Development Initiative (OPHI) highlighted that poverty rates were three times higher in countries at war, as 2023 saw the most conflicts around the world since the Second…

Indian tycoon Ratan Tata has died aged 86, says the Tata Group, the conglomerate he led for more than two decades, BBC reports. Tata was one of India's most internationally recognised business leaders. The Tata Group is one of India's largest companies, with annual revenues in excess of $100bn (£76.5bn). In a statement announcing Tata's death, the current chairman of Tata Sons described him…

The government has appointed Seheli Sabrin, Director General (public diplomacy wing) at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, as Consul General of Bangladesh Consulate in Florida, USA. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MoFA) issued a notification on Thursday regarding her new role. She is also serving as spokesperson at the MoFA. This transfer order will be effective from the date of her joining at the…

China's population grew 5.4% over the last 10 years, according to the census figures published by the country's National Bureau of Statistics on Tuesday. This is the first time that most of the data was collected online and it recorded the slowest growth rate since the 1960s. China's population in numbersOver the last decade, China's population has increased by 72 million to 1.41 billion people. …