Bulan, December 15 Tattered lanterns, festive lights and tin roofs littered towns in the central Philippines today after Typhoon Melor swept through, killing at least four people and leaving millions without power ahead of Christmas. Distraught survivors surveyed their damaged homes on the eve of the traditional nine-day Christmas vigilRead More

Wellington, December 15 It’s official. A new flag, featuring a fern on a blue and back background, will face off against New Zealand’s current flag next March. The existing flag features the United Kingdom’s Union Jack in the corner and four red stars in a Southern Cross formation, indicating NewRead More

Washington, All public schools in the Los Angeles area have been closed due to an unspecified “electronic” threat, affecting over 660,000 students in one of the largest School District in the US, officials said today. Authorities decided to close the entire school system after it received a “credible threat” of violenceRead More

New York, December 14 In a rare exception, an active-duty Sikh combat soldier in the US Army has reportedly been granted a temporary religious accommodation that allows him to grow his beard and wear a turban. Captain Simratpal Singh, 27, had to cut his hair on his first day atRead More

Dubai, December 14 Alarmed by the rise of Islamic State, under pressure from the West and with stalemate on the battlefield, Yemen’s civil war foes are expected to launch their most serious peace efforts so far at UN-mediated talks in Geneva starting on Tuesday. The nine-month-old conflict between a Saudi-ledRead More

Paris, France’s far-right National Front (FN) failed to win a single region in elections despite record results, as voters flocked to traditional parties to keep them out of power.With presidential elections due in 2017, the anti-immigration FN had hoped the regional polls would act as a springboard for leader Marine LeRead More

Manila, More than 700,000 people in the central Philippines fled to safer areas for fear of giant waves, floods or landslides as Typhoon Melor slammed into the archipelago nation today, officials said. Melor crossed the central Burias Island late today, with authorities warning that traditional thatched homes were unlikely to withstandRead More

Riyadh, December 12 Saudi Arabian women voted for the first time on Saturday in local council elections and also stood as candidates, a step hailed by some activists in the Islamic patriarchy as a historic change, but by others as merely symbolic. “As a first step it is a greatRead More

LE BOURGET, FRANCE: The United States will agree to a draft climate change accord at global talks, US climate envoy Todd Stern today said. Stern spoke to reporters shortly before negotiators from nearly 200 countries were to begin their final meeting at the conference site outside Paris. The unprecedented dealRead More

Beirut, December 12 Twin explosions in a government-controlled neighbourhood of Syria’s Homs city killed at least 16 people and wounded scores more on Saturday, a group monitoring the war said. The blasts come days after the government extended its control of western city with the implementation of a truce dealRead More