World

United Nations, Dec 24: The UN Security Council has demanded that Israel halt settlements in Palestinian territory, after the United States refrained from vetoing a resolution condemning its closest Middle East ally. In a rare and momentous step, the United States instead abstained, enabling the adoption of the first UN resolution since 1979 to condemn Israel over its settlement policy. Applause

Valletta, Dec 23: All passengers were freed from a hijacked plane in Malta on Friday, but some crew remained on board with hijackers believed to be loyalists of late Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi. The aircraft was on an internal flight in Libya on Friday morning when it was diverted to Malta, 500 km (300 miles) north of the Libyan coast, after a man told crew he had a hand grenade. Initial reports

Valletta, Dec 23: An airliner on an internal flight in Libya was hijacked and diverted to Malta where it landed on Friday, Maltese media reported. Two hijackers, reportedly having hand grenade, have threatened to blow up the Airbus A320, which had 118 people aboard, including seven crew, outlets including the Times of Malta said. Maltese media reported that the hijacked plane was an Airbus 320

Rome, Dec 23: The Tunisian man suspected of carrying out the deadly Berlin truck attack at the Christmas market was shot dead by police today in Milan, Italy's interior minister Marco Minniti said. The minister told a press conference in Rome that Anis Amri had been fatally shot after firing at two police officers who had stopped his car for a routine identity check around 3:00 AM (0200 GMT)

New Delhi, Dec 23: China's official media has warned India against using the Dalai Lama "card", saying New Delhi should stop behaving like a "spoilt kid" and learn lessons from how China handled Donald Trump after the US President-elect challenged 'One-China' policy. "Sometimes, India behaves like a spoilt kid, carried away by the lofty crown of being 'the biggest democracy in the world.' India

The first job that Sherry Johnson, 56, lost to automation was at the local newspaper in Marietta, Georgia, where she fed paper into the printing machines and laid out pages. Later, she watched machines learn to do her jobs on a factory floor, and in inventory and filing. “It actually kind of ticked me off because it's like, How are we supposed to make a living?” she said. She took a computer class

Washington, Dec 22: President-elect Donald Trump said today that America must massively boost its nuclear capability until the "world comes to its senses." "The United States must greatly strengthen and expand its nuclear capability until such time as the world comes to its senses regarding nukes," Trump wrote on Twitter, without explaining what he meant. His comment marks a jarring departure from

United Nations, Dec 22: The UN General Assembly on Wednesday agreed to set up a panel to gather evidence on war crimes in Syria, taking a first step toward prosecuting those responsible for atrocities in the nearly six-year war. A resolution on establishing the investigative mechanism was adopted in the 193-nation assembly by a vote of 105 to 15, with 52 abstentions. The panel will work closely

Beirut, Dec 21: A "soldier" of the Islamic State group carried out a truck attack that killed 12 people at a Berlin Christmas market, a news agency linked to the jihadists said today. "A soldier of the Islamic State carried out the Berlin operation in response to appeals to target citizens of coalition countries," the IS-linked Amaq news agency said in a statement posted online.

Tultepec (Mexico), Dec 21: A massive explosion gutted Mexico's biggest fireworks market, killing at least 29 people and injuring 70, authorities said. The conflagration, in the suburb of Tultepec, set off a quickfire series of multicoloured blasts and a vast cloud of smoke yesterday that hung over Mexico City. The market was packed at the time with customers buying pyrotechnics for traditional end