The United States will provide basic military training and equipment to Syrian rebels and may eventually instruct them on how to call in air strikes against Islamic State jihadists, the Pentagon said Wednesday.

The US and the Taliban central spokesman yesterday denied plans to hold peace talks in Qatar, contradicting earlier claims by militant leaders that contacts would resume in the Gulf state within weeks.

A wealthy Indian couple has made a pet monkey their sole heir, saying their lives became more prosperous after they adopted the animal and they want to ensure he is looked after.

India's Janata Dal (United) yesterday attacked the government for allegedly suggesting construction of new dams in the Himalayas and "finishing" the river Ganges under the garb of rejuvenating it.

Forty-five days, 93 suicides. 2015 has started quite ominously for farmers in the perennially parched Marathwada region and activists blamed the fickle weather and the delay in release of government compensation for this.

Qatar said yesterday it would introduce a major labour law reform to ensure thousands of workers building venues for the 2022 World Cup are paid on time, after complaints by rights groups.

According to a report published in CNN, the United Nations were looking into claims that ISIS was engaged in "harvesting organs from

Russia could inflict the tactics it is accused of using to destabilise Ukraine on Baltic members of Nato, Britain's defence minister warned

Former Thai premier Yingluck Shinawatra was indicted over a bungled rice subsidy scheme yesterday in the latest legal move against her family that could see her jailed for up to a decade.

Japan and China plan to resume security talks as early as April after a four-year hiatus amid simmering tensions over territorial disputes, a report said yesterday. A meeting planned for Tokyo, which would be the first since January 2011 in Beijing, will likely focus on maritime issues, Kyodo News reported, citing unnamed diplomatic sources.

Nearly 90,000 civilians in northeastern Myanmar are believed to have fled clashes between troops and ethnic rebels, an official said Wednesday, as sporadic violence hampered efforts to evacuate those still trapped.

Nigeria's military yesterday claimed that more than 300 Boko Haram fighters were killed when troops recaptured the garrison town of Monguno in northeast Borno state.

France yesterday insisted the truce it helped broker last week in the Belarus capital Minsk "was not dead” after Ukrainian troops pulled out of the flashpoint eastern town of Debaltseve after it was stormed by pro-Russian rebels.

Italy on Wednesday issued its strongest warning yet about the danger of the Islamic State group establishing a stronghold in Libya from where it could attack Europe and destabilise neighbouring states.

An Indian bride has reportedly swapped her groom for a wedding guest mid-ceremony after her fiancé had an epileptic seizure. Jugal Kishore, 25, reportedly fell to the ground during the traditional exchange of “varmala” flower garlands in the northern town of Rampur.

The number of civilian deaths and injuries in Afghanistan rose by 22% in 2014, the United Nations says.

The route used by mountaineers to scale Mount Everest is to be changed amid fears of an increased avalanche risk.

The tiny hut at the edge of the sea is barely large enough for Bokul Mondol and his family. The water took everything else from them, and one day it may take this, too.

Just when Washington and Nato feared they were going to be bombing ISIS on their own, the self-styled “Islamic State” has single-handedly created a new Arab military alliance to bomb the West's enemies.

Greece's crunch talks with its European creditors broke down after just four hours today, pushing the country closer towards a potential exit from the single currency.