Turkish prosecutors Thursday demanded life sentences for nine suspects charged over their work at a now closed pro-Kurdish newspaper, including the internationally-renowned novelist Asli Erdogan.

The battle for Iraq's second city Mosul neared the remains of ancient Nimrud on Thursday, the military said, raising fears for the famed heritage site already ravaged by jihadist bombs and sledgehammers.

On November 8, 2016, the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) Mission Director Dr. Anne Patterson attended the launching event of the Research for Results (R4R) project at the Ministry of Education and Higher Education, in the presence of Director General of Education and Higher Education Fadi Yarak, Head of the Department for International Development (DfID) Lebanon Amanda McLoughlin, and World Bank Program Leader Haneen Sayed.

USAID contributed $917,000 to this two-year research project to be implemented by the World Bank, in partnership with UK’s Department for International Development (DFID).

The 77-year-old former defense minister chosen to head France's new Foundation for Islam in France on Monday called on conservative Muslims to try harder to integrate into society.

Australia's parliament late Monday rejected the government's proposal for a national vote on whether to legalize same-sex marriage.

Estelle Liebow Schultz, who is 98, was born before her fellow countrywomen had the right to vote. 

Now she has proudly cast a ballot for the candidate she hopes will make history as the first American woman elected president.

Pope Francis on Sunday celebrated Mass before a thousand prisoners specially invited to the Vatican, giving them a message of hope while denouncing the "hypocrisy" of society.

To an ear-splitting soundtrack of chanting and drums, 400 young dancers in spangled outfits clanged sickles and kick-stepped before thousands of spectators and a dais of a dozen Chinese officials.

The performance was one of many at Leishan county in the southwestern province of Guizhou, as a lavish government-sponsored opening ceremony kicked off new year celebrations for the Miao ethnic minority -– a group of about 12 million people who are more at home in their own languages than in Mandarin Chinese.

They were tortured to death, fatally strung up by their feet, shot or thrown into quicksand.

Russian President Vladimir Putin on Friday unveiled a giant statue by the Kremlin of his namesake Vladimir the Great, a revered leader and Orthodox saint, that has faced criticism from locals and conservationists.