World

Geneva, Aug 4: Facebook needs to narrow its “sweeping” definition of terrorism to stop governments arbitrarily blocking legitimate opposition groups and dissenting voices, a UN Human Rights Council independent expert said in a statement on Monday. The UN Special Rapporteur on promoting and protecting human rights, Fionnuala Ní Aoláin, while countering terrorism has written to Facebook chief Mark

Yangon, Sept 3: A Myanmar judge on Monday found two Reuters journalists guilty of breaching a law on state secrets and sentenced them to seven years in prison, in a landmark case seen as a test of progress towards democracy in the Southeast Asian country. Yangon northern district judge Ye Lwin said Wa Lone, 32, and Kyaw Soe Oo, 28, breached the colonial-era Official Secrets Act when they collected

Washington/New Delhi, Sept 3: In a blow to US-Pakistan relations, the US has said it had made a final decision to cancel $300 million in aid to Pakistan over Islamabad’s perceived failure to take decisive action against terrorists and militants. This is in addition to another $500 million in aid that was withdrawn earlier this year at the behest of the US Congress. “Due to a lack of Pakistani

New Delhi, Sept 2: India is expected to convey to the US during the upcoming 'two-plus-two' talks that it is going ahead with the Rs 40,000 crore deal with Russia to procure a batch of S-400 Triumf air defence missile systems, notwithstanding the American sanctions on military transactions with Moscow, official sources said Sunday. They said India is likely to seek a waiver from the Trump

Washington, Sept 2: The US military is seeking to reallocate $300 million in aid to Pakistan due to Islamabad's lack of "decisive actions" in support of regional American strategy, the Pentagon said Saturday. The US has been pushing Pakistan to crack down on militant safe havens in the country and announced a freeze on aid at the beginning of the year that an official said could be worth almost $2

Beijing, Sept 2: China's massive and expanding "Belt and Road" trade infrastructure project is running into speed bumps as some countries begin to grumble about being buried under Chinese debt. First announced in 2013 by President Xi Jinping, the initiative also known as the "new Silk Road" envisions the construction of railways, roads and ports across the globe, with Beijing providing billions of

Washington, Sep 1: The Trump Administration has announced an end to all funding to the United Nations Palestine Refugee Agency (UNRWA), alleging it to be "irredeemably flawed". "The administration has carefully reviewed the issue and determined that the United States will not make additional contributions to UNRWA," State Department Spokesperson Heather Nauert said on Friday. "The fundamental

Athens, Aug 31: Sarah Mardini, one of two Syrian sisters who saved over a dozen refugees in 2015 by pulling their sinking dinghy to Greece, has been arrested on charge of “people smuggling”, her lawyer said on Friday. Greek police said on Tuesday they had arrested two members of an aid organization on the island of Lesbos and were investigating a total of 30 on suspicion they smuggled migrants

Kathmandu, Aug 31: Prime Minister Narendra Modi today held "productive talks" with his Thai counterpart Prayuth Chan-ocha during which the two leaders reviewed the entire gamut of bilateral ties, including ways to strengthen cooperation between India and Thailand. The two leaders met in the Nepalese capital, Kathmandu, on the sidelines of the 4th Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral

Washington, Aug 31: There is no change in the US’ H-1B visa policy which is currently undergoing a review to ensure that it does not disadvantage US workers or wages, a senior Trump administration official has said ahead of next week’s 2+2 Dialogue during which India is expected to raise the issue of the work visa popular among Indian IT professionals. The H-1B visa is a non-immigrant visa that