DHAKA: At a makeshift workshop on the outskirts of the northern Syrian city of Aleppo, teenagers are busy sorting through metal scrap while a man, sitting cross-legged in a corner, makes homemade rockets.‘The regime is supported by all the big, rich countries,’ says Samir, never once

DHAKA: One of the three winners of the Nobel Chemistry Prize, Dr Michael Levitt, said on Wednesday he was essentially awarded for work he did when he was 20 years old.Dr Levitt, speaking from his California home, said he felt like he had a ‘triple espresso’ after being informed that

DHAKA: The head of the European Commission has announced during a visit to the Sicilian island of Lampedusa that Italy will receive an additional 30 million euros in EU funds to help settle refugees, after the sinking of a migrant boat killed at least 275 people.Jose Manuel Barroso also

DHAKA: South Korea’s spy chief has said he is ‘aware’ of the alleged execution of members of the North’s national orchestra, said to include a singer rumoured to be leader Kim Jong Un’s former girlfriend.Several members of the orchestra and other state music troupes had been

DHAKA: Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi is to finally receive the EU Sakharov human rights prize she won in 1990 at the height of the Myanmar military crackdown.The European Parliament revealed on Wednesday, reports The Straits Times.Suu Kyi, now leader of the opposition in Myanmar and

DHAKA: Iran and world powers should focus on confidence-building at next week’s talks on Tehran’s disputed nuclear programme.Iran’s parliamentary speaker said on Wednesday, reports The Jerusalem Post.Ali Larijani, a former nuclear negotiator, declined to say whether Iran would bring

DHAKA: A Pakistani court on Wednesday granted bail to former military dictator Pervez Musharraf in a ruling which takes him a step closer to being released from house arrest.Musharraf’s fate has been subject to speculation since he became the first former army chief to be arrested this

DHAKA: US state secretary John Kerry said that Myanmar’s dramatic political reforms were still ‘incomplete’, a day after the former military-ruled country released dozens more political prisoners.‘I think what is happening in Myanmar is very exciting, but it is incomplete,’

DHAKA: The trial of Egypt’s deposed Islamist president Mohamed Mursi on charges of inciting the murder of protesters will start on November 4.The official MENA news agency reported Wednesday, reports daily Hurriyet. Mursi will stand trial with 14 other defendants over the killings of

DHAKA: South African police are investigating Nelson Mandela’s grandson for allegedly pointing a gun at a driver in a road rage spat.A spokesman said on Wednesday, reports The Straits Times.Mandla Mandela, a traditional chief and member of Parliament, is accused of pulling his gun on

DHAKA: Malala Yousafzai, the teenage activist nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize, says she has not done enough to deserve the award, as her old school closed on Wednesday to mark the first anniversary of her shooting by the Taliban.The 16-year-old was shot in the head by the Pakistani

DHAKA: Three scientists have won the Nobel prize in chemistry for their work on multiscale models for complex systems.Martin Karplus of Strasbourg and Harvard universities, Michael Levitt of Stanford University and Arieh Warshel at the University of Southern California share the prize.The

DHAKA: US state secretary John Kerry is in Brunei for meetings with top officials from China and its smaller Southeast Asian neighbours, in which he will urge all countries to cool tensions over territorial disputes in the South China Sea.Kerry will make the case in Wednesday discussions

DHAKA: Iran will reportedly offer to stop enriching uranium to levels of 20% purity in upcoming talks with world powers in Geneva, as well as offer to open the country’s nuclear facilities to more intrusive international inspections.The Wall Street Journal cited officials as saying on

DHAKA: A court in eastern China on Wednesday allowed ousted former senior politician Bo Xilai to appeal against a life sentence handed out last month on crimes of corruption and abuse of power.Bo was a rising star in China’s leadership circles and cultivated a loyal following through

DHAKA: Six workers at Japan’s crippled Fukushima nuclear power plant were doused with radioactive water from a desalination system on Wednesday, the plant’s operator said.The fluid splashed onto the men when they accidently removed a pipe connected to the system, Tokyo Electric Power

DHAKA: Americans are fed up with the political deadlock in Washington and frustrated with how the federal government shutdown is interfering with everything from hunting season to weddings and even military funerals.The congressional approval rating dropped to 11 percent in a Gallup poll

DHAKA: Myanmar released 56 political prisoners in a presidential amnesty, the government`s official MRTV reported late Tuesday.The inmates were released from a dozen prisons, according to Tun Kyi, a member of government`s committee on political prisoners. Most were charged under an

DHAKA: The Pentagon has named Paul Lewis as its special envoy for closing the US military prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.US Defence Secretary Chuck Hagel announced the appointment on Tuesday.It was part of President Barack Obama`s renewed push to close the prison, which remains open

DHAKA: US President Barack Obama will nominate Federal Reserve Vice-Chair Janet Yellen to be the next head of the US central bank on Wednesday, according to a White House official.If confirmed by the US Senate, Ms Yellen would replace Ben Bernanke, who has held the post for eight