Axiata of Malaysia, parent company of cellular phone operator Robi, and India’s Bharati Airtel have started “exclusive discussions” to merge their operations in Bangladesh eying to be the country’s second-largest operator after GrameenPhone. “Axiata Group Berhad and Bharti Airtel wish to announce they have entered into an exclusive discussion to explore the possibility of combining the business operations of their ...

Oil prices edged higher in quiet Asian trade Wednesday as dealers set aside weak Chinese trade data and looked ahead to the release of a US stockpiles report, analysts said. US benchmark West Texas Intermediate for October delivery gained 22 cents to $46.16 while Brent crude for October rose 24 cents to $49.76 in late-morning trade. “We are seeing trading ...

Tokyo’s benchmark index rocketed 7.71 percent on Wednesday, leading an Asian equities rally in its biggest one-day jump since late 2008 during the global financial crisis when markets were hit by wild volatility. The Nikkei-225 at the Tokyo Stock Exchange soared 1,343.43 points to 18,770.51 by the close, while the broader Topix index of all first-section shares jumped 6.40 percent, ...

Facebook pages moved closer to replacing small business websites Tuesday, announcing features designed to make it easier for shops to hawk their wares. Changes to business pages at the leading social network included raising the profile of features that allow customers to take actions such as booking an appointment or browsing, and allowed for more customized approaches to layouts. “We’re ...

Dubai property developers are still turning out some larger-than-life projects even though prices are heading south again after clawing back a good chunk of their losses in the 2008 crash. The Gulf emirate’s annual Cityscape property fair opened Tuesday with developers foreseeing price declines of about 15 percent this year, yet confident there would be no return to the days ...

A wave of confidence swept through Asian markets Wednesday, led by a five percent surge in Tokyo and extending the previous day’s broad global advance, raising hopes that recent turmoil may be coming to an end. With investors in a risk-on mood, assets considered safe bets retreated, with the yen sagging against the dollar and euro, the Australian dollar recovering ...

The Gold locket handover ceremony for Lux’s “Find the Gold Locket” contest took place on Sunday (September 6) in Rajshahi. 37 winners from Rajshahi  in Bangladesh found gold lockets in this contest. For centuries, two ingredients in enhancing women’s beauty have been fragrance and gold jewelries. For this reason, Lux, the most loved beauty soap of Bangladeshi women, introduced the ...

Pakistan Army chief Gen Raheel Sharif has responded to his Indian counterpart’s remarks about terrorist violence triggering short wars by saying Kashmir is the “unfinished agenda” of Partition and his troops are ready to inflict an “unbearable cost” for any aggression. Sharif’s remarks, made during a ceremony held at the General Headquarters in Rawalpindi on Sunday to commemorate the 1965 ...

An air attack has killed at least 11 Afghan police officers in the volatile and opium-rich southern province of Helmand, officials said on Monday. An interior ministry spokesman said the strike on Sunday was carried out by NATO forces but another ministry official could not confirm who was responsible. NATO said in a statement it conducted no air strikes in ...

Activists say members of the Islamic State group have captured an oil field in central Syria. The activists say the extremists captured the Jazal oil field late Sunday after intense clashes with government forces in the area in the central province of Homs. Syria-based activist Bebars al-Talawy said via Skype that IS fighters first attacked army posts around the Jazal ...