Ankara: Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yildirim said on Tuesday the government was withdrawing a controversial bill that could overturn men`s convictions for child-sex assault, after an angry public backlash. Critics had said the bill — which would allow the release from jail of sex assault convicts if they marry theirRead More

Washington: A travel alert has been issued by the US State Department urging its nationals to exercise caution at holiday festivals, events and outdoor markets in Europe in the coming weeks. This comes in wake of an ISIS-linked plot being thwarted by the French security services day ago. French InteriorRead More

Columbia: President-elect Donald Trump Friday tapped arch-conservative Alabama Senator Jeff Sessions to be attorney general and hawkish congressman Mike Pompeo, a strident opponent of the Iran nuclear deal, as his CIA director. The incoming commander in chief also appointed retired lieutenant general Michael Flynn, a top military counsel to theRead More

The Hague: Jihadists belonging to the so-called Islamic State group may have manufactured sulphur mustard gas used in attacks in Syria and Iraq themselves, the head of a global watchdog told AFP Friday. Samples analysed by experts with the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons “suggest that this substanceRead More

Washington: Pakistan is expanding its nuclear arsenal and has developed an estimated stockpile of 130 to 140 warheads for delivery as well as converting some of its fighter jets including F-16s to deliver nukes, Bulletin of Atomic Scientists said in its latest report. Authored by Hans M Kristensen and RobertRead More

Paris: Right-wing candidates for the French presidential election face off in the first round of a US-style primary on Sunday with former president Nicolas Sarkozy and ex-prime minister Alain Juppe fighting to avoid being knocked out by an outsider. In a contest overshadowed by the election of Donald Trump inRead More

Jerusalem: Israel`s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu failed to prepare his country for Hamas` use of tunnels during the 2014 Gaza war, according to a key report cited by local media Friday. A two-year inquiry by state comptroller Yossef Shapira reportedly found that despite intelligence warnings, Netanyahu only belatedly and partiallyRead More

BEIJING: China told Mongolia to forbid the Dalai Lama`s planned arrival there on Friday, suggesting the Tibetan spiritual leader`s trip could harm Beijing`s relations with its northern neighbour. China regards the Dalai Lama as a separatist, though he says he merely seeks genuine autonomy for his Himalayan homeland Tibet, whichRead More

BRUSSELS: NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said on Friday, he was certain that Donald Trump as U.S. president will lead the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation and he is hoping to speak to the president-elect soon. “I am absolutely confident that President Trump will maintain U.S leadership in the alliance,” Stoltenberg toldRead More

WASHINGTON: Vietnam is extending a runway on an island it claims in the South China Sea in apparent response to China`s building of military facilities on artificial islands in the region, a U.S. think tank reported. Satellite images taken this month showed Vietnam had lengthened its runway on Spratly IslandRead More