Couples in China should be allowed to have a third child, a lawmaker has proposed, arguing it is the only way to stem a worrying slide in the birth rate despite the scrapping of the one-child policy two years ago. The number of births fell sharply in 2017 after an increase in 2016, a year after t

Turkish air force hit two positions of pro-government Syrian fighters deployed last week in the Kurdish enclave of Afrin, killing and wounding a number of fighters in an escalation of violence in a region where Turkey has been on the offensive for more than a month, Syrian activists said Friday. Tur

Israeli police questioned Benjamin Netanyahu and his wife as part of an investigation into a corruption case involving the country’s telecom giant on Friday, casting a shadow on the prime minister’s upcoming visit to Washington. Police investigators entered Netanyahu’s residence Friday morning. An A

Pakistan has received another rap from from the US as the Pentagon said that it can do more to combat terrorism, clearly suggesting that the country with terrorist hotbeds on its very soil isn't doing anything to curb the menace. USA has said repeatedly that Pakistan isn't doing much to take acti

Turkey on Thursday accused the US of a double standard by specifying which "terrorist" groups can be fought in Syria and which cannot be. Several Turkish government officials criticized earlier US remarks that implied that Turkey's operations in Afrin are in violation of the UN's Syria ceasefire

In a major gaffe, a map of India displayed at the Canadian High Commission dinner reception during Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's visit here omitted Jammu and Kashmir. Trudeau was on a week-long State visit to India from February 18 to 24. Journalist Terry Glavin, in an opinion piece written

NEW DELHI: President Vladimir Putin unveiled an array of new nuclear weapons on Thursday, in one of his most bellicose speeches in years, saying they could hit almost any point in the world and not be intercepted. Speaking weeks before an election he is expected to win, Putin also said that a nuc

At least 14 people are feared drowned after two overcrowded, rickety boats sank in the River Congo, Henri Mova, Interior Minister of the Democratic Republic of Congo told AFP on Wednesday, though local sources fear the toll could be much higher. “Fourteen missing, 108 survived,” Mr. Mova, said in

After days of ambiguity Pakistan on Wednesday confirmed that it will be on the grey list of Financial Action Task Force on Money Laundering (FATF) in June but disputed claims of being put on a black list. “At the outset I would like to state that the lead Ministry for dealing with FATF/ICRG is th

Some 40 previously unreported shipments were made between 2012 and 2017, the report found. Materials included acid-resistant tiles, valves and pipes. The leaked report says North Korean missile specialists have been seen at Syrian weapon-making centres. The allegations follow new reports of ch

Russian and Syrian warplanes have relentlessly bombed rebel-held enclaves in Syria’s Eastern Ghouta in what has been one of the most devastating attacks in the country’s seven-year civil war. President Bashar Al-Assad’s ramped up offensive to restore state control in Syria has left a massive death t

U.S. President Donald Trump on Tuesday said he would have entered the Florida school to save the students from a gunman even without a weapon, as he criticised the inaction of a sheriff’s deputy assigned to the school. Last week, Mr. Trump called out the armed school resource officer who stayed o

MEXICO CITY (Thomson Reuters Foundation) - The United Nations remains hopeful that U.S. President Donald Trump will change his mind on withdrawing the United States from the Paris Agreement to tackle climate change, and will stay in the 2015 global deal, the U.N. climate chief said. Trump announced

Michelle Obama's forthcoming memoir, Becoming, is set for worldwide release on November 13, at which time the former first lady will embark on a global tour to promote the book, publisher Penguin Random House said on Sunday. The volume fulfills half of the deal the company reached with former US Pr

The ancient Colosseum in Rome was illuminated in red on Saturday in protest against persecution of Christians around the world, Reuters reported. Catholic group Aid to the Church in Need organised the protest at the amphitheatre, where the first Christians were killed centuries ago. The protestor

BEIJING: In an unprecedented move, China's ruling Communist Party today prepared the ground for President Xi Jinping to stay in power indefinitely after the end of his second term in 2022 as it proposed to remove presidential term limits from the party's Constitution. The CPC Central Committee pr

Pakistan’s Interior Minister said on Saturday that authorities were taking steps not to please the US but for the country’s own benefit, a day after Islamabad avoided being placed in a watch-list by a global watchdog. Pakistan escaped from being placed on the watch-list of countries that have fai

LASHKAR GAH, Afghanistan (Reuters) - A series of militant attacks in Afghanistan killed more than 20 people, officials said on Saturday, ahead of an international meeting next week aimed at building diplomatic support for hoped-for peace talks with the Taliban. Taliban militants attacked an Afghan