World

Washington, Jan 4: Creating history for a minority ethnic community that comprises just one per cent of the US population, five Indian Americans took oath as members of the Congress. 52-year-old Kamala Harris whose mother was from India and father from Jamaica of African heritage, was sworn in yesterday as the Senator from California by the outgoing US Vice President Joe Biden. She is the first

Rio De Janeiro, Jan 3: At least 60 people were killed in a prison riot in Brazil's Amazon region when fighting broke out between rival gangs, an official said Monday. The riot happened on Sunday at a prison in Manaus, the capital of Amazonas state, said the head of the state's prisons administration, Pedro Florencio. “There are 60 dead so far,” he told journalists. The unrest ended early on Monday

Kano (Nigeria), Jan 2: One person was seriously injured when a suicide bomber aged around 10 blew herself up in a New Year's Eve attack in the northeastern Nigerian city of Maiduguri, witnesses and aid workers said today. The girl approached a crowd buying noodles from a food vendor in the Customs area of the city around 9:30 pm yesterday and detonated her explosives, they said. Although no one

Jakarta, Jan 1: At least 23 people have been killed and 17 are missing after a passenger boat caught fire today near Jakarta, according to officials. The passenger boat was ferrying some 200 people off the coast of Jakarta to Tidung island, a tourist destination 50 kilometres from the capital, when the fire started, said national disaster agency spokesman Sutopo Purwo Nugroho.

Istanbul, Jan 1: Thirty-nine people, including many foreigners, were killed when a gunman reportedly dressed as Santa Claus stormed an Istanbul nightclub as revellers were celebrating the New Year, the latest carnage to rock Turkey after a bloody 2016. The assailant shot dead a policeman and a civilian at the entrance to the Reina club, one of the city's most exclusive nightspots, and then went on

Sydney, Dec 31: Global terror attacks have cast a pall over 2016 but Australia was today set to defy the threats and ring in the New Year with bumper crowds gathering to watch a firework extravaganza on Sydney's glittering harbour. 2016 has seen repeated bloodshed, most recently a deadly truck attack at a Berlin Christmas market, a similar incident on Bastille Day in France that killed 86, and

Brussels, Dec 31: The International Federation of Journalists says that 93 journalists and media staff were killed in targeted attacks, by bombs or by crossfire in 2016 while a further 29 died in two plane crashes. The IFJ said in its annual report released today that the number was down from 112 in 2015. Iraq still had the largest number of media killings with 15, ahead of Afghanistan with 13 and

Moscow, Dec 31: US President-elect Donald Trump on Friday praised Russian President Vladimir Putin for refraining from retaliation in a dispute over spying and cyber attacks, in another sign that the Republican plans to patch up badly frayed relations with Moscow. Putin earlier on Friday said he would not hit back for the US expulsion of 35 suspected Russian spies by President Barack Obama, at

Washington, Dec 30: The first explorers on Mars may build their homes using the ice beneath their feet to effectively protect them from the harsh martian environment and provide a safe place to call home, NASA scientists say. When astronauts set foot on Mars, they may stay for months rather than days as they did during Apollo missions to the Moon. The surface of Mars has extreme temperatures and

Washington, Dec 30: President Barack Obama's administration announced sweeping new measures against Russia on Thursday in retaliation for what U.S. officials have characterized as interference in this fall's presidential election, ordering the expulsion of Russian "intelligence operatives" and slapping new sanctions on state agencies and individuals suspected in the hacks of U.S. computer systems