An Egyptian court has ordered the closure of four television channels, including one run by the Muslim Brotherhood, Ahrar 25.The Egyptian arm of al-Jazeera, Mubashir Misr, is one of those set to be shut down, along with the Islamist channels al-Quds and al-Yarmuk.Authorities have recently

DHAKA: Russia on Tuesday announced that its missile early warning system had detected the launch of two missiles from the central part of the Mediterranean Sea fired towards the Sea’s eastern coastline.The launches took place at 10:16am Moscow time (0616 GMT) and were detected by the

DHAKA: India plans to subsidise wheat, rice and cereals for some 800 million people under a US$20 billion scheme to cut malnutrition and ease poverty.The Food Security Bill, which is expected to be approved by India’s president, guarantees citizens a legal right to food.India has some

DHAKA: United States president Barack Obama this week plans to urge reluctant world leaders to back an American-led strike against Syria even though the prospects for military action depend on the votes of a fractured US Congress.The uncertainty surrounding Syria will hang over the

DHAKA: A five-year-old boy from China has become the Guinness world record holder for the youngest person to pilot a plane.He Yide, nicknamed Duoduo, made a 35-minute flight in an ultralight aircraft across the Beijing Wildlife Park Aug 31, Chinese media reported on Tuesday, says

DHAKA: Nelson Mandela’s discharge from hospital after nearly three months of treatment shows he has made ‘progress’.South Africa’s president has said, reports the BBC.Jacob Zuma said South Africans were ‘very happy’ that the anti-apartheid hero, 95, had returned home on

DHAKA: China has sacked the head of its state assets regulator, former top energy executive Jiang Jiemin.China’s official Xinhua news agency said on Tuesday, two days after the agency reported Jiang was the subject of a corruption probe, reports The Straits Times.Jiang is ‘suspected

DHAKA: British prime minister David Cameron mistakenly named India among countries which had concluded that Syrian regime forces were behind a chemical attack near Damascus.India’s foreign ministry said on Tuesday, reports The Straits Times.New Delhi took note of the lapse during

DHAKA: Russia on Thursday hosts the G20 summit hoping to push forward an agenda to stimulate growth but with world leaders distracted by divisions on the prospect of US-led military action in Syria.After US president Barack Obama’s surprise decision to seek the backing of Congress for

DHAKA: A U.S.-led attack on Syria without United Nations support would be a war crime regardless of congressional approval, Noam Chomsky, the antiwar activist and author, said in response to President Barack Obama`s announcement that he would seek Hill approval."As international support

DHAKA: Japan is to invest hundreds of millions of dollars to stop leaks of radioactive water from the Fukushima nuclear plant.Government spokesman Yoshihide Suga said an estimated 47bn yen ($473m, £304m) would be allocated to the project.The leaks were getting worse and the government

DHAKA: More than two million Syrians are now refugees, with the total going up by half a million in the past three months, the United Nations has said.More than 700,000 have fled to Lebanon, and more Syrians are now displaced than any other nationality, the UNHCR says.France and the US

DHAKA: US plans for strikes against Syria may be coupled with increased support for rebel forces in that country’s civil war, two leading Republican senators said after meeting with President Barack Obama on Monday.Obama met in the Oval Office with Sens. John McCain, and Sen. Lindsey

DHAKA: British army officials have dismissed what they called "baseless rumours" that troops mutilated the bodies of dead Iraqi fighters after a 2004 battle, as a public inquiry heard its first evidence from military witnesses.The Al-Sweady Inquiry is investigating claims that British

DHAKA: There could be at least 320,000 viruses awaiting discovery that are circulating in animals, a study suggests.Researchers say that identifying these viral diseases, especially those that can spread to humans, could help to prevent future pandemics.The team estimates that this could

DHAKA: Lebanon’s Shia Hezbollah group, a close ally of the Syrian regime, is redeploying its forces ahead of possible US strikes on Damascus, according to witnesses in Lebanon.The reports come as the daily Al-Akhbar, which is close to both Hezbollah and the Syrian regime, said yesterday

DHAKA: Russian lawmakers will urge the US Congress not to approve military strikes on Syria.The speaker of the upper house of parliament told president Vladimir Putin on Monday, reports The Jerusalem Post.‘I think if we manage to establish a dialogue with our partners in the US Congress

DHAKA: The head of the Arab League has said military intervention in Syria is not an option, a further blow to United States` efforts to act over a chemical weapons attack in Damascus last month.Following emergency meetings in Cairo on Monday, secretary general, Nabil Al-Araby, said the

DHAKA: The head of India’s ruling party Sonia Gandhi left on Monday for the United States for a medical check-up, according to a report, a week after she was hospitalised in New Delhi.Sonia was accompanied by her daughter Priyanka, the semi-official Press Trust of India news agency

DHAKA: Self-styled godman Asaram Bapu, accused of sexually assaulting a 16-year-old girl at his ashram here, was behind bars on Monday after he was remanded in 14-day judicial custody by a local court.Wearing a white dhoti and kurta and a red cap, the controversial 72-year-old Asaram was