DHAKA: Europe is about to launch the Gaia satellite - one of the most ambitious space missions in history.The 740m-euro (£620m) observatory is going to map the precise positions and distances to more than a billion stars, reports BBC.This should give us the first realistic picture of how

DHAKA:  Nearly 1,000 men were killed over a two-day period this month in the Central African Republic, according to Amnesty International.The human rights group said Wednesday that war crimes and crimes against humanity are being committed in that country, reports CNN."Crimes that have

DHAKA: The US Federal Reserve has announced a slowdown in its effort to boost the US economy.The central bank said it planned to scale back its $85bn (£51.8bn) a month bond buying programme by $10bn a month, reports BBC.Stimulus of this kind is designed to lower interest rates and boost

DHAKA: US Secretary of State John Kerry has called a top Indian official to express his regret over the treatment of an Indian diplomat arrested in New York on suspicion of visa fraud.Deputy consul general Devyani Khobragade was handcuffed and strip-searched last week.Mr Kerry spoke to

DHAKA: Egypt’s deposed president Mohamed Mursi will be tried on charges of ‘espionage’ that aided acts of ‘terrorism’.Egypt state media reported on Wednesday, reports The Straits Times.Mursi, an Islamist who the military toppled in July after a single year of turbulent rule, is

DHAKA: An Iraqi policeman sacrificed himself on Wednesday as he tried to protect Shia pilgrims, embracing a suicide bomber just moments before the man exploded.Iraq officials said, reports The Straits Times.The bomber struck in the Khales area northeast of Baghdad, killing five people and

DHAKA: Ukraine’s president Viktor Yanukovich faced calls to resign on Wednesday, one day after securing $15 billion in loans from Russia and a major discount on natural gas prices in a move that has infuriated demonstrators.Ukraine’s capital Kiev has been gripped by mass protests over

DHAKA: Iran says it will resume technical talks with six world powers in Geneva on Thursday and Friday, a vital step in implementing a deal signed last month which suspends key elements of Tehran’s nuclear programme in exchange for limited relief from sanctions.The talks between expert

DHAKA: A leading advocacy organisation representing over three million Indian-Americans in the US has strongly condemned the arrest procedures of Indian diplomat Devyani Khobragade.The US India Political Action Committee (USINPAC) said it found the comments of state department spokeswoman

DHAKA: A video of a group of migrants being washed down in a centre on the Italian island of Lampedusa has caused a wave of outrage in Rome and Brussels, less than three months after a shipwreck in which hundreds died.The male migrants, some of them naked, are shown queuing up to be

DHAKA: Russian lawmakers on Wednesday approved a Kremlin-backed amnesty bill that is set to free the two jailed members of the punk band Pussy Riot while also ending the prosecution of 30 Greenpeace crew members.Russia’s Duma lower house of parliament voted 446 in favour to none against

DHAKA: The Syrian government has told the family of UK doctor Abbas Khan it can send a team to Damascus to investigate his death.Syrian authorities have said their post-mortem examination showed he killed himself while in detention, reports the BBC.But his family has said this is not

DHAKA: Turkish police chiefs who oversaw a wave of high-profile arrests for bribery have been sacked from their posts in Istanbul.Turkish media say, reports the BBC.Five police chiefs are said to have been fired in Istanbul a day after at least 52 people were picked up, including sons of

DHAKA: Just when it seemed the scandal over the bogus sign language interpreter at Nelson Mandela’s memorial had run its course, a cousin and three friends say he was part of a mob that accosted two men found with a stolen television and burned them to death by setting fire to tires

DHAKA: The US ambassador to Damascus has said a newly formed Islamist alliance in war-torn Syria has refused to meet with American officials, in an interview aired Wednesday on Al-Arabiya television.‘The Islamic Front has refused to sit with us without giving any reason,’ Robert Ford

DHAKA: For the second consecutive year, world’s leading press advocacy body said in its latest report, Turkey is the world’s leading jailer of journalists, followed closely by Iran and China.Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) said in the report that the number of journalists in

DHAKA: Philippine communist rebels have declared a cease-fire to celebrate Christmas and the 45th founding anniversary of their party.In a statement Wednesday, the outlawed Communist Party of the Philippines directed the New People’s Army to be vigilant against attacks by security

DHAKA: Six major world powers are expected to resume talks with Iran this week in Vienna.The Wall Street Journal reported on Tuesday, The Jerusalem Post says on Wednesday.The resumption of the talks comes after Iran interrupted technical discussions with six world powers in Vienna over

DHAKA: Ukraine’s decision to suspend a deal on closer EU ties and sign a Russian aid agreement instead has helped avoid bankruptcy, prime minister Mykola Azarov has told ministers in Kiev.Russian President Vladimir Putin has agreed to buy $15bn of Ukrainian government bonds and slash

DHAKA: India vowed on Wednesday to bring home a female diplomat Devyani Khobragade who was arrested and strip-searched in New York last week ‘at any cost’ amid rising anger against the United States over her treatment.‘It is my duty to bring the lady back and we have to restore her