DHAKA: An earthquake of magnitude 5.6 struck off the coast of the Philippine island of Luzon on Wednesday, around 400km from Manila, the capital. The United States Geological Survey said, reports The Straits Times. The quake at a depth of 77km, hit at 1152 GMT. There were no immediate

DHAKA: Al Qaeda’s Syrian offshoot on Wednesday made an oath of loyalty to the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant at a key town on the Iraqi border. A monitor said, reports Hindustan Times. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the merger is significant because it opens the

DHAKA: A team of astronomers has identified possibly the coldest, faintest white dwarf star ever detected. This ancient stellar remnant is so cold that its carbon has crystallised, forming, in effect, an earth-sized diamond in space. It is likely its age is the same as of the Milky Way,

DHAKA: China on Wednesday accused the Philippines of creating tension in the region and urged Manila to show ‘sincerity’ in upholding stability after president Benigno Aquino welcomed Japan’s more assertive military policy. Japanese prime minister Shinzo Abe made it clear on

DHAKA: At least 100 Taliban militants have been killed in fighting around four military checkpoints in southern Afghanistan. Local officials say, reports the BBC. Five days of clashes in Sangin district in Helmand province left 35 civilians and at least 21 Afghan troops dead. Tribal

DHAKA: Iraq prime minister Nouri Maliki has rejected calls for a national salvation government to help counter the offensive by jihadist-led Sunni rebels. Such calls represented a ‘coup against the constitution and an attempt to end the democratic experience’, he warned, reports the

DHAKA: At least 200 passengers were forced to spend Tuesday night in a Paris airport after an ongoing air-traffic controllers’ strike disrupted their flights to Spain and Portugal. An airport source said the passengers, most of whom had been due to travel with low-cost airline Vueling,

DHAKA: Proposals by radical Buddhist monks to criminalise inter-faith marriage in Myanmar face strong opposition from women’s rights groups in a tussle over the nation’s religious identity that has sparked international alarm. Buddhist nationalists, feeding off the fear and

DHAKA: When Kiab turned 16, her brother promised to take her to a party in a tourist town in northern Vietnam. Instead, he sold her to a Chinese family as a bride. The ethnic Hmong teenager spent nearly a month in China until she was able to escape her new husband, seek help from local

DHAKA: Unidentified gunmen on Tuesday late night opened fire on a passenger plane landing at Peshawar’s Bacha Khan airport, killing a woman and injuring two flight stewards on board, Dawn reported.  The Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) Boeing PK-756, with 196 passengers on board,

DHAKA: The first US troops deployed to assist the Iraqi army in combating a growing Sunni militant insurgency have arrived and begun work, said the Pentagon.    Nearly half the 300 special operations soldiers promised by US President Barack Obama are in Baghdad or on the front lines of

DHAKA: The Ukrainian military says one of its helicopters has been shot down by pro-Russian rebels in the east, killing all nine people on board. It says the Mi-8 helicopter was hit by a rocket shortly after take-off outside the rebel-held city of Sloviansk. It comes a day after the

DHAKA: At least four passengers were killed and eight injured when the Delhi-Dibrugarh Rajdhani Express derailed at Golden Ganj station near Chapra early on Wednesday. 12 coaches were derailed in the incident at around 2:10 am hours on Wednesday, Railway spokesperson Anil Saxena said.

DHAKA: A Ukrainian military helicopter has been shot down by pro-Russian rebels in the east, with casualties feared. The Ukrainian military says, reports the BBC. It says the Mi-8 helicopter used for transporting military cargo was hit shortly after take-off near the rebel-held city of

DHAKA: Sri Lankan authorities are to dig up the site of a suspected mass grave next week following claims that it contains the bodies of scores of Muslims killed by Tamil rebels 24 years ago. Police said on Tuesday, reports gulfnews.com. The move comes amid criticism that Sri Lankan

DHAKA: Nearly 500 alleged Islamists will go on trial on July 16 over violence in which 44 people died, state media said on Tuesday, the latest in a string of mass trials slammed internationally. The trial is part of a relentless crackdown targeting supporters of deposed Islamist

DHAKA: Iran said on Tuesday it expected to sign a deal with Russia in late August on the building of two new 1,000-megawatt nuclear reactors in the Islamic Republic, potentially boosting its case that it is refining uranium for civilian energy, not atom bombs. Russia is one of six world

DHAKA: Egypt’s president has said he will not ‘interfere’ with the judiciary over the sentencing of Al Jazeera journalists in Cairo, which triggered global outrage. ‘We must respect judicial rulings and not criticise them even if others do not understand this,’ Abdul Fattah

DHAKA: The US secretary of state John Kerry is in the northern Iraqi city of Irbil holding talks with Kurdish leaders as Sunni rebels continue their offensive. Kerry’s central aim is to assist the formation of a new, more inclusive Iraqi unity government, reports the BBC. Kerry said

DHAKA: Former News of the World editor Andy Coulson has been found guilty of conspiracy to hack phones. Ex-News International chief executive Rebekah Brooks was cleared of all charges in the phone-hacking trial, reports the BBC. Coulson went on to become director of communications for