DHAKA: If the war in Syria suddenly stopped and reconstruction began Tuesday, around $73 billion would be needed to put the country back on track.A study published in Al-Watan newspaper said Tuesday, reports daily Hurriyet.Quoting Syrian real estate expert Ammar Yussef, the report said

DHAKA: India’s prime minister Manmohan Singh declared on Tuesday his embattled government has ‘nothing to hide’ and was ‘making all efforts’ to find missing files sought for a high-profile corruption probe.Singh told parliament more than 150,000 documents have already been

DHAKA: Fifteen militants were killed in the Sinai Peninsula by rocket fire, Egyptian state TV reported on Tuesday, after witnesses said army helicopters had attacked militant strongholds in the area.The state-run Nile TV gave no further details in a brief report, The Straits Times.The

DHAKA: The trial of four adult suspects accused of the fatal gang-rape of a student on a New Delhi bus in December will conclude on September 10.The presiding judge Yogesh Khanna said on Tuesday, reports The Straits Times.Dismissing pleas for more time by defence lawyers, the judge told

DHAKA: Two ballistic ‘objects’ that Russia said were launched toward the eastern coast of the Mediterranean on Tuesday fell into the sea.State-run Russian news agency RIA cited a source in Damascus as saying, reports Turkish daily Hurriyet.Israel later said it carried out a test of a

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