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Over half of world population online Some 3.9 billion people are now using the Internet, meaning that for the first time more than half of the global population is online, the United Nations said on Friday. The UN agency for information and communication technologies, ITU, said that by the end …

Situation on Korean peninsula is in flux: Xi Chinese President Xi Jinping told North Korea’s Foreign Minister on Friday that he hoped Pyongyang and Washington will address each other’s concerns so that peace talks on the Korean peninsula “continue to make positive progress”. Mr. Xi met with Ri Yong Ho …

Says U.K. should use risk of Ireland food shortage in talks Britain’s Indian-origin former Cabinet Minister Priti Patel has faced condemnation in the U.K., Ireland and beyond for suggesting that Britain should use the food shortages that Ireland would suffer in the event of a no-deal as leverage to improve …

A U.S. resolution championed by Ambassador Nikki Haley to condemn the Palestinian Hamas movement at the United Nations for firing rockets at Israel failed to win enough votes for adoption on Thursday. The proposed measure won 87 votes in the General Assembly, falling short of a two-thirds majority. Fifty-eight countries …

China says it is confident that a trade deal could be reached with the U.S. in 90 days Avoiding a knee-jerk response, China is delinking the detention of the daughter of the founder of Huawei in Canada from trade talks with the U.S. On Friday, the Chinese Foreign Ministry reiterated …

About 1,000 delegates will choose the new chief of CDU German Chancellor Angela Merkel will hand over leadership of her party on Friday after nearly two decades at the helm, with the race wide open between a loyal deputy and a longtime rival. The contest’s outcome is expected to be …

IS men clueless about Islam: ex-IB head Strong religious education acts as a bulwark against radicalisation, and most of the Islamic State members had little knowledge of Islam, Asif Ibrahim, former envoy of the Prime Minister on countering terrorism and extremism, said on Friday. Mr. Ibrahim, former Director of the …

Sources link Michel’s extradition to role of Coast Guard in ‘repatriating’ runaway Emirati Princess earlier this year Christian Michel, a key accused in the AugustaWestland VVIP helicopter deal case, was brought to India on board a Gulf Stream G3 jet owned by the Aviation Research Centre of the Research & …

Stray incidents of violence and malfunctioning EVMs mar polling in the State Over 74% of the 4.74 crore voters in Rajasthan exercised their franchise in the Assembly election on Friday, amid reports of stray incidents of violence and malfunctioning of electronic voting machines at several polling stations. The highest turnout …

No major incident reported in 119 constituencies in State Polling across the 119 constituencies in Telangana concluded peacefully on Friday with no major incident reported from any part of the State, barring the attack on Congress candidate Ch. Vamsichand Reddy of Kalwakurthy. Though election authorities were yet to arrive at …

Tamil writer, traveller, essayist and scriptwriter S. Ramakrishnan has won the Sahitya Akademi Award for 2018 for his novel Sancharam , which poignantly captures the lives of nagaswaram players in karisal bhoomi – the arid land – of Tamil Nadu. The novel places their music and struggle for a livelihood …

Home Ministry approves Rs. 131.16 crore to landslip-affected Nagaland, Rs. 539.52 crore to Andhra Pradesh for Cyclone Titli A High Level Committee, headed by Home Minister Rajnath Singh, Thursday approved the additional assistance of Rs. 3,048.39 crore to Kerala, Rs. 131.16 crore to Nagaland and Rs. 539.52 crore to Andhra …

Karnataka’s Water Resources Minister D.K. Shivakumar on Thursday wrote to Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Edappadi K. Palaniswami seeking a meeting to clear “misconceptions” about the Mekedatu project. The day also saw the Tamil Nadu Assembly unanimously passing a resolution opposing the permission granted to Karnataka to prepare a detailed project …

The Supreme Court on Thursday upheld the induction of three BJP members — V.Saminathan, K.G. Shankar and S. Selvaganapathy — as MLAs of the Union Territory of Puducherry by the Centre unilaterally without consulting the elected local Congress government. A Bench led by Justice A.K. Sikri, in a judgment, agreed …

A High Level Committee, headed by Home Minister Rajnath Singh, Thursday approved the additional assistance of Rs. 3048.39 crore to Kerala, Rs. 131.16 crore to Nagaland and Rs. 539.52 crore to Andhra Pradesh, a Home Ministry spokesperson said. The Kerala government had sought Rs. 4,700 crore as compensation from the …

Agency is trying to establish money trail of alleged bribes in copter deal case The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Thursday confronted Christian James Michel, an alleged middleman in the AgustaWestland VVIP helicopter deal case, with a series of documents obtained from Italy and those gathered as part of …

On the other hand, many voters complain about not receiving even the simple voter slips The Election Commission’s promise of distribution of photo voter slips with a route map to the polling station has fallen flat in the city, with many electors not even receiving the slips, let alone the …

Chief Justice of India Ranjan Gogoi on Thursday asked the Central Vigilance Commission (CVC), represented by Solicitor-General Tushar Mehta, to explain the exigency that had prompted it to take an “overnight” decision to divest Alok Verma of his powers as CBI Director. “The situation which prompted the CVC to take …

Delegation accompanied by UN envoy A rebel delegation flew out of the Yemeni capital on Tuesday heading for high-stakes talks in Sweden with the government aimed at ending the country’s devastating war. The departure of the Houthi insurgents on a Kuwaiti plane followed a prisoner swap deal and the evacuation …

Murtaza Ahmadi moved the world with his love for footballer Lionel Messi in 2016. His dream of meeting the Argentinian came true, but now the seven-year-old boy is living a nightmare as one of thousands of Afghans displaced by war. Murtaza and his family abandoned their home in southeastern Ghazni …