United Nations: Ban Ki-Moon joked to hundreds of diplomats and UN staff as he left United Nations headquarters for the last time as secretary-general that he feels “like Cinderella” tomorrow at midnight, everything changes.” Flanked by the presidents of the General Assembly and the Security Counc

New York police officers will be allowed to wear beards and turbans while in uniform in accordance with their religion, a measure long demanded by Sikh and Muslim officers. Sikh policemen in New York who request to do so will now be able to wear standard-length turbans, provided they are blue. Th

Sarajevo,December 30, 2016: Bosnia’s main university will not hold classes during Muslim Friday prayers, prompting criticism from some that it represents a step towards Islamisation. The University of Sarajevo this week adopted a plan to halt activities for about an-hour-and-a-half each Friday duri

Tokyo [Japan]: An earthquake of 5.9 magnitude has struck north of Tokyo, Japan, reports United States Geological Survey (USGS). However, according to Japan Meteorological Agency, the intensity of the earthquake is measured to be 6.3 on the Richter Scale. The quake struck the city of Takahagi,

DAMASCUS, SYRIA: Syrian authorities have accused rebel fighters of executing 21 civilians, including women and children, at close range as they quit second city Aleppo last week, state media reported. The bodies were found in two neighbourhoods in east Aleppo, state news agency SANA said late Sun

Santiago [Chile]: A powerful earthquake measuring 7.7 on the Richter scale has hit the coast of southern Chile. Officials have ordered an evacuation of the coastal area after a Tsunami threat was issued for parts of the Pacific Ocean close to the earthquake, reports The Independent. According

Two militants, a female and a boy, were killed in separate suicide blasts when Bangladesh Police raided their hideout here on Saturday. Counter terrorism and Transnational Crime unit of Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP) concluded their operation after 2 militants - a woman and a teenager were kille

Manila: Philippine disaster officials on Saturday ordered people living in coastal villages south of Manila to move to safer places as Typhoon Nock-ten is approaching the country. Speaking for the national disaster agency, Mina Marasigan told reporters that evacuation has got underway along the c

The evacuation of the last Opposition-held areas of the Syrian city of Aleppo was suspended on Friday after pro-government militias demanded that wounded people should also be brought out of two Shia villages being besieged by rebel fighters. The second day of the operation to take fighters and c

BEIJING China expressed dissatisfaction on Friday after exiled Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama met President Pranab Mukherjee, saying it hoped India would recognise the Nobel Peace Prize winning monk as a separatist in religious guise.Mukherjee hosted the Dalai Lama and other Nobel Peace lau

US president-elect Donald Trump has said he will build safe zones in Syria and will make the Gulf states to pay for it. “We will build safe zones in Syria,” Trump said at a post-election victory rally in Pennsylvania last night. “When I look at what’s going on in Syria it’s so sad, it’s so sad. A

Washington: "Buy American and hire Americans" - US President-elect Donald Trump on Wednesday said his government will follow these two simple rules and claimed that the treaties the US had signed with other countries suggest that it has been putting interests of others ahead of itself. At a 'Thank Y

Tokyo: Moscow seeks full normalisation of relations with Tokyo as it is imperative for the resolution of a peace treaty, the Russian President said on Tuesday. “We strive to sign a peace treaty. We want full-scale normalisation of relations,” Efe news agency quoted Vladimir Putin as saying in an

LAGOS (NIGERIA): Metal girders and the roof of a crowded church collapsed onto worshippers in southern Nigeria, killing at least 160 people with the toll likely to rise, a hospital director said Sunday. Mortuaries in the city of Uyo are overflowing from Saturday's tragedy, medical director Etete

HELSINKI (AP) — A gunman in Finland killed a local town councilor and two journalists in an apparent random shooting in a small town's nightlife district, police said Sunday. A local man was detained on suspicion of murder. The chairwoman of the Imatra town council and two female reporters were g

Beijing: At least 59 people have been killed in two separate Chinese coal mine blasts, according to death tolls reported by state media. An explosion on Saturday at a colliery in the northern Inner Mongolia region killed 32, Xinhua news agency said. A total of 181 people were working undergrou

Washington: Several Indian Americans are being considered for positions in the Trump administration as they all qualify on merit and ethnicity is not an issue, the highest ranking Indian-origin politician in the Republican party has said. “I know of several Indian Americans in consideration for p

Jerusalem: 23 people were arrested on suspicion of negligence or deliberately starting fires that swept across central and northern Israel. So far, the Israeli police released only the basic details about 10 of the detainees and is quiet with details identities of the remaining 13. The Israe