PARIS: Two genes controlling a tissue protein may have played a role in the key period when fish shed their fins and became limbed land-lovers, a study published by Nature on Thursday said.Fossil evidence suggests that around 365 million years ago, fish, or fish-like creatures, emerged

WASHINGTON: The US Federal Reserve held its key interest rate at historic lows Wednesday and said the economy was continuing its modest recovery despite financial headwinds from abroad.The Federal Open Market Committee said it was maintaining its federal funds rate target between zero and

WASHINGTON: US President Barack Obama`s administration said Wednesday that the Chinese currency remained undervalued despite a pledge by Beijing to relax controls on the yuan following international pressure.Five days after the Chinese central bank promised to let the yuan trade more

LONDON: Four British soldiers were killed in a vehicle crash in southern Afghanistan, the Ministry of Defence said Thursday, only days after Britain passed the grim milestone of 300 deaths.Three soldiers from 1st Battalion The Mercian Regiment and one from 1st Battalion The Yorkshire

KABUL: The dismissal of NATO commander General Stanley McChrystal was greeted with dismay in Kabul where Afghans and foreign diplomats praised his bold efforts to reshape the war. But the Taliban vowed the change in command would not halt their fight against foreign troops, as NATO

KABUL: The dismissal of NATO commander General Stanley McChrystal was greeted with dismay in Kabul where Afghans and foreign diplomats praised his bold efforts to reshape the war. But the Taliban vowed the change in command would not halt their fight against foreign troops, as NATO

TEHRAN: Iran`s nuclear chief said Wednesday his country has produced 17 kilograms of uranium enriched to 20 percent, defying U.N. demands to halt the controversial program.   The 20 percent level, needed to produce fuel for a medical research reactor, is far below the more than 90

TAIPEI: Senior officials from Taiwan and China began talks in Taipei on Thursday to finalise the details of a controversial trade agreement which the two sides expect to sign next week. The negotiations in Taiwan`s capital, which are scheduled to last just one day, are aimed at agreeing

Australia`s Julia Gillard has become the country`s first female prime minister after Kevin Rudd stood aside from a party ballot.   Mr Rudd took the step in the knowledge he would suffer an embarrassing defeat, correspondents say.   His successor said the government had been losing

WASHINGTON: Bob Dudley has been thrown out of Russia and worked in some of the most difficult oil locations around, but his latest challenge, managing the Gulf of Mexico oil spill, may be the toughest of his 30 year career. The BP managing director assumed control of the British firm`s

WASHINGTON: Legendary former US Senator Ted Stevens was among five fatalities after a small plane carrying nine people slammed into a remote Alaska mountainside, officials said Tuesday. Stevens, 86, the longest-serving Republican in Senate history before being voted out of office in

PALO ALTO: Russian President Dmitry Medvedev, iPad at the ready, darted about Silicon Valley courting Internet stars as allies for a Moscow version of the renowned center of innovation. "I am inspired by what I saw here in Silicon Valley," Medvedev said while wrapping up his tour with a

BENAPOLE: Members of Bangladesh Rifles Wednesday held seven people, including children and women, on Sadipur border here while trying to cross the border illegally.Subeder Abul Hossen of Benapole BDR told BanglaNews24.com.bd that acting on a tip-off, the BDR jawans raided Sadipur border

DHAKA: The two suspected Pakistani Taliban brothers--Humayan Kabir and Nasirullah--surrendered to the special branch of police on Wednesday morning, well in time as per their words of bond.Police had arrested the two Pakistanis from Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport on June 18 and

KOLKATA: The Reliance Group of Anil Ambani, one of the major business groups of India, is going to launch a TV channel from Reliance Broadcast Ltd under a big media venture.One official of the Reliance Group said they would run the TV channel with the partnership of famous CBS media of

KOLKATA: Chief of Northeast India’s dreaded separatist organization United Liberation Front of Assam (ULFA) Paresh Barua agreed to talk with the Indian government, said mediators led by Hiren Gohay Tuesday, after prolonged persuasion.          A 6-member team of go-betweens who

KOLKATA: At least 200 villages in Assam`s worst affected Lakhimpur, Karimganj and Cachar districts have been flooded amid monsoon downpour, throwing normal life out of gear as hundreds of families were forced to leave their homes.According to government officials, heavy downpour submerged

KOLKATA: India successfully tested its own developed nuclear-capable ballistic missile Prithvi-II on Friday from the Integrated Test Range (ITR) at Chandipur, about 15 km off the Orissa coast. “The missile mounted on a mobile launcher was blasted-off from the launch complex-3 in the ITR

Dhaka: At least 160 people, including 19 children and 6 crews, are believed killed as an Air India Express aircraft from Dubai overshot the runway while landing at Mangalore airport early Saturday, reports reaching here said.According to Karnataka Home Minister V S Acharya, the airplane

GAZA CITY - Israeli warplanes fired missiles at several targets in the Gaza Strip on Friday, killing one person and wounding eight people, witnesses and medics said after a rocket fired from the strip hit a southern Israeli city.A 22-year-old Hamas militant was killed in an airstrike on a