Bangladesh's government has said that it will sue the Federal Reserve Bank of New York for failing to prevent $100m from being stolen by hackers from a reserve account for Bangladesh's central bank.
Dhaka, which accuses Chinese hackers of stealing the money from its foreign exchange account on February 5 and transferring it to accounts in the Philippines, also said it was working to recover the funds.
Bangladesh's Finance Minister AMA Muhith said on Tuesday that that his government would launch a lawsuit against the US bank, which denied responsibility over the lost funds.
"We've heard that Federal Reserve Bank of New York has completely denied their responsibility. They don't have any right," Muhith told reporters in Dhaka.
"Of course, we'll file a case against them. We have kept the money with them. They are responsible," he said, when asked what action his government would take against the bank.
The New York Fed put out a brief statement through its Twitter account on Monday, saying: "Regarding hacking reports, there is no evidence of attempts to penetrate Federal Reserve systems and no evidence Fed systems were compromised."
The Bangladeshi bank said it managed to recover some of the funds, but gave no details.
It has also tracked down those still missing and is working with the anti-money laundering agency in the Philippines, which has been ordered by a court in the country to freeze the accounts while the issue is being investigated.
Bangladesh is also working with World Bank cyber and forensic experts, the bank said in a statement.
The country's leading Bengali-language Prothom Alo newspaper reported on Wednesday that at least 30 transfer requests were made on February 5 using the Bangladesh Bank's SWIFT code, out of which five succeeded in effecting transfers.
Economist Mamun Rashid, who previously headed Citibank NA in Bangladesh, said he was sure the country would be able to recover the full amount.
"Bangladesh is a client of the Federal Reserve Bank. They must take the responsibility for this incident," he said. "But we have to see whether we have lodged our complaint properly".
Since hacking has been a threat for years, he said clients should not suffer if depositing with large banks. "A client's right must be protected."
Source: Agencies + Al-Jazeera
Millions of people across Indonesia and the Pacific have experienced a total solar eclipse, with parts of the region falling into complete darkness.
The eclipse began at 06:19 local time (23:19 GMT Tuesday) as the Moon started to pass directly in front of the Sun.
As the eclipse reached totality, the Moon blocked all direct sunlight, turning day into night.
In Indonesia's Belitung province, a crowd gathered on a beach and witnesses spoke of a "magical" experience.
In pictures: Indonesia's three minutes of darkness
The eclipse was total in much of Indonesia and the Central Pacific, while parts of Australia and Asia experienced a partial one.
Astronomers reiterated advice not to look directly at the Sun with the naked eye, or through a telescope. Experts recommended using either a professional solar filter in front of a telescope or camera, or special eclipse-viewing glasses.
The total eclipse began at 00:15 GMT, with the moment of maximum shadow at 01:59 GMT. The celestial event will end at sunset, local time, north of Hawaii (04:34 GMT).
What was the eclipse like? Ging Ginanjar, BBC Indonesian
Belitung, Indonesia, was one of the best places to view the total solar eclipse.
From before dawn, about 200 people gathered at Olivier beach to watch. About 30 foreigners were in the crowd, travelling from Australia and Europe to see it.
One of them was Wilma from Holland, who is a solar eclipse hunter and has seen the solar eclipse five times. She said that when the eclipse started an overwhelming feeling of peace came over her and she heard no sounds. It was a magical experience she said.
When the solar eclipse started the crowd cheered and then went silent in awe. People were taking photos while others just watched in amazement. Then when it finished people clapped quietly. It was an incredible experience, our correspondent said.
Across the island other people prayed in mosques, churches and temples.
Who can see what in this eclipse?
Because the eclipse path crosses the International Date Line, in the local time zones it begins on Wednesday 9 March and ends on Tuesday 8 March.
People along a 150km-wide strip running through Sumatra, Borneo and Sulawesi - the path of eclipse totality - experienced the eclipse for about four hours on Wednesday morning.
In Maba, Maluku Islands, there was darkness for about three minutes - the longest time in Indonesia. Other areas experienced blackout or darkness for about two minutes.
Skywatchers in southern China, south-east Asia, Australia, Hawaii and Alaska experienced a partial eclipse when the Moon's penumbra - the outer region of the shadow - catches them. This looks as if a chunk of the Sun has been blacked out.
For eclipse watchers outside these regions, a number of astronomy institutes hosted live streams of the event.
iWonder: How can you watch a solar eclipse safely?
What are scientists looking for?
Scientists at Nasa said they planned to use the event to study solar physics.
From Indonesia, they will use an instrument called a polarization camera to capture 59 exposures of the Sun in just over three minutes, collecting data on the innermost parts of the sun's volatile, superheated atmosphere.
This region can only be observed during total solar eclipses when the Sun's bright face is completely blocked by the Moon.
The lower part of the sun's atmosphere, the corona, is thought to hold the keys to several solar mysteries, including the birth of explosive clouds of solar material called coronal mass ejections and the mystery of why the corona is actually hotter than the surface.
"The Sun's atmosphere is where the interesting physics is," said Nelson Reginald, from Nasa's Goddard Space Flight Center in Maryland.
The most recent total solar eclipse took place in the far northern hemisphere on 20 March 2015.
Source : BBC WORLD NEWS
Relatives of 12 Chinese passengers of the missing Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 have filed lawsuits in Beijing, one day before the deadline for launching legal action.
They say they want the courts to help establish what happened to the plane.
Families of 32 other passengers, mostly Chinese, filed a separate lawsuit in Malaysia, their lawyer has said.
MH370 disappeared on 8 March 2014 while flying from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing with 239 people on board.
Under international agreements, relatives have two years following an air accident to begin legal action.
MH370: What we know
Missing Malaysian's wife seeks $7.6m in damages
Zhang Qihuai, the lawyer for the 12 families, said they were seeking a range of damages, but their goal was to determine the cause of the accident and those who were responsible.
The total compensation requested from Malaysia Airlines, Boeing, engine manufacturer Rolls Royce and insurance companies ranged between 10m and 70m yuan ($1.5m to $10.8m; £1m to £7.6m) per family, Mr Qihuai was quoted by AFP news agency as saying.
Verdicts might not come for two years, he said.
The companies have not commented.
Many relatives were crying as they presented their documents to court officials. Some said they hoped to use the action to obtain more information about the case.
"Today we came to demand our people back. We come every day. We demand to have our people back everyday, we want our relatives," Dai Shuqin, whose sister was on board the flight, told the Reuters news agency.
In Kuala Lumpur, lawyer Ganesan Nethi said he filed a joint lawsuit on behalf of the relatives of 32 passengers last Thursday. He said most were Chinese, along with one American and a few Indians, AP reported.
The lawsuit named the airline, the Malaysian government and its air force and civil aviation department, he said.
It was not immediately clear how many lawsuits have been filed in total or how many cases have been settled in relation to MH370.
Ships in the Indian Ocean are still searching for the missing Boeing 777, in an operation that is estimated to have cost more than $130m (£92m).
Mozambique debris
Meanwhile, Mozambican civil aviation officials handed over suspected debris from the missing flight to Malaysian experts.
If confirmed, the object found by an American amateur investigator would be the second piece of known debris from the aircraft to be found.
Last year authorities found a piece of the plane's wing on the shore of Reunion island in the Indian Ocean.
The debris could provide fresh clues to the mystery of the flight. Based on satellite communications data, MH370 is thought to have crashed in the Indian Ocean.
"Currently, we are awaiting verification of two more pieces of debris which were discovered recently in Mozambique and Reunion Island respectively," Malaysian Transport Minister Liow Tiong Lai said in a statement.
An interim report will be released by the investigation team on Tuesday marking the two-year anniversary of the disappearance, he said.
