Today's Date

Relations between China and Taiwan have spent two years in the doldrums since the election of Tsai, who has refused to acknowledge Beijing's stance that the island is part of "one China". Tsai's comments came a day before Chinese President Xi Jinping is due to give a landmark speech on Taiwan. from World News Headlines, Latest International News, World Breaking News - Times of India http://bit.ly/2Ssc2lK

A police spokesman said one suspect, in his 20s, had been detained and that he had described the incident as an "act of terror". The spokesman declined to elaborate. The incident happened shortly after midnight local time on Monday in a popular tourist area of Harajuku, near Meiji Shrine, in central Tokyo. from World News Headlines, Latest International News, World Breaking News - Times of India http://bit.ly/2F3zulJ

The comments came as Israel has stepped up air strikes on Iranian positions in neighboring Syria, and as Israel digested an abrupt decision by President Donald Trump to withdraw US troops from Syria. Netanyahu has repeatedly warned that Iran is trying to develop nuclear weapons to destroy his country. from World News Headlines, Latest International News, World Breaking News - Times of India http://bit.ly/2F2zCCs

During his televised New Year's speech, Kim Jong UN said he's ready to meet with Trump at any time to produce an outcome "welcomed by the international community." However, he said the North will be forced to take a different path if the United States "continues to break its promises and misjudges our patience by unilaterally demanding certain things and pushes ahead with sanctions and pressure." from World News Headlines, Latest International News, World Breaking News - Times of India http://bit.ly/2CHjzYH

from World News Headlines, Latest International News, World Breaking News - Times of India http://bit.ly/2Ao62n8

from World News Headlines, Latest International News, World Breaking News - Times of India http://bit.ly/2R4iJ0T

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from World News Headlines, Latest International News, World Breaking News - Times of India http://bit.ly/2R3pYGc

Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on Monday rejected calls for a new vote after being declared landslide winner in an election marred by deadly violence that the opposition slammed as "farcical" and rigged. from World News Headlines, Latest International News, World Breaking News - Times of India http://bit.ly/2BQcHGM

from World News Headlines, Latest International News, World Breaking News - Times of India http://bit.ly/2TlNnzr

Four people were killed and nearly 70 unaccounted for after a gas explosion tore through a residential building in Russia on Monday, leaving hundreds without a home in freezing temperatures on New Year's Eve. from World News Headlines, Latest International News, World Breaking News - Times of India http://bit.ly/2Ss1wen

from World News Headlines, Latest International News, World Breaking News - Times of India http://bit.ly/2SARXcU

An entire section of the 12-storey residential building collapsed when a gas explosion tore through the high-rise in the industrial city of Magnitogorsk nearly 1,700 kilometres east of Moscow in the Ural mountains. from World News Headlines, Latest International News, World Breaking News - Times of India http://bit.ly/2AqDYiZ

from World News Headlines, Latest International News, World Breaking News - Times of India http://bit.ly/2SoKkGp

The new-generation tank, identified as Type-15 by the People's Liberation Army (PLA), was displayed for the first time at an exhibition, organised last month to mark the 40th anniversary of China's reform and opening up, at China's National Museum as part of new weapons developed by the country. from World News Headlines, Latest International News, World Breaking News - Times of India http://bit.ly/2R2znhm

Hasina, the daughter of Bangladesh's founder, won a historic fourth term as prime minister with a landslide victory in Sunday's election that the opposition claimed was rigged. The 71-year-old is lauded by supporters for overseeing a decade of impressive economic growth in the impoverished South Asian nation that was more commonly known for its frequent floods and cyclones. from World News Headlines, Latest International News, World Breaking News - Times of India http://bit.ly/2RqP6pN

The death toll from a storm that struck the Philippines shortly after Christmas rose to 68 with the number of fatalities expected to climb even higher, civil defence officials said Monday. 57 people died in the mountainous Bicol region, southeast of Manila, while 11 were killed in the central island of Samar, mostly due to landslides and drownings, the officials said. from World News Headlines, Latest International News, World Breaking News - Times of India http://bit.ly/2GL0Gbf

The alliance dominated by Hasina's Awami League, seen as close to regional power India, won 287 of the 298 seats for which results have been declared for the 300-strong parliament, the commission said. The main opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), which boycotted the last poll in 2014, won just six seats. from World News Headlines, Latest International News, World Breaking News - Times of India http://bit.ly/2EXEkkb

from World News Headlines, Latest International News, World Breaking News - Times of India http://bit.ly/2QfCfSV

Buthaina Mansur al-Rimi's entire immediate family was wiped out in an air strike by a Saudi-led coalition that backs Yemen's government, using an explosive device Amnesty International says was made in the US. Images of Buthaina's rescue and a picture of her swollen and bruised at a hospital trying to force open one of her eyes with her fingers were beamed worldwide. from World News Headlines, Latest International News, World Breaking News - Times of India http://bit.ly/2RnupLh

For 2019, it will be parsed carefully for clues about Kim's thinking on denuclearisation talks with Washington and a second summit with President Donald Trump, relations with South Korea and Pyongyang's efforts to get out from under international sanctions as it tries to build up its domestic economy. from World News Headlines, Latest International News, World Breaking News - Times of India http://bit.ly/2RsS116

Shanahan is moving up from his position as deputy defense secretary to the top spot following the resignation of Jim Mattis, who quit over long-running — and ultimately irreconcilable — disagreements with President Donald Trump. from World News Headlines, Latest International News, World Breaking News - Times of India http://bit.ly/2EXU6vi

A senior Republican senator said Sunday that President Donald Trump had promised to stay in Syria to finish the job of destroying the Islamic State group — just days after announcing he would be withdrawing troops immediately. from World News Headlines, Latest International News, World Breaking News - Times of India http://bit.ly/2QgKUEE

from World News Headlines, Latest International News, World Breaking News - Times of India http://bit.ly/2SuoaCI

Hundreds of Iranian students held protests for a second day on Sunday, calling for university officials to resign over a bus crash that killed 10, state news agency IRNA said. from World News Headlines, Latest International News, World Breaking News - Times of India http://bit.ly/2EWBnRU

from World News Headlines, Latest International News, World Breaking News - Times of India http://bit.ly/2rYOOrQ

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un vowed to meet the South's President Moon Jae-in 'frequently' next year to discuss denuclearisation of the peninsula in a rare letter sent to Seoul, Moon's office said Sunday. The leader of the isolated North met with Moon three times this year, as a reconciliatory push gathered pace. from World News Headlines, Latest International News, World Breaking News - Times of India http://bit.ly/2CGsaL0

Voting for the 11th national election began with the machines being used in the six seats selected through lottery. These are: Dhaka-6, Dhaka-13, Chattogram-9, Rangpur-3, Khulna-2 and Satkhira-2. The six seats comprises over 2.1 million voters. The results from these six seats could be announced within hours after the voting ends, Bangladeshi media reported. from World News Headlines, Latest International News, World Breaking News - Times of India http://bit.ly/2CFJW16

from World News Headlines, Latest International News, World Breaking News - Times of India http://bit.ly/2BMsJBu

At least 22 people died from a storm that swept through the central Philippine islands at the weekend, authorities said Sunday, with rescue operations under way in flood-inundated communities. from World News Headlines, Latest International News, World Breaking News - Times of India http://bit.ly/2CH5OJn

Nauert, 48, would replace Indian American Nikki Haley as the Permanent Representatives of the United States to the UN if she is confirmed by the Senate. President Donald Trump nominated Nauert for the top diplomatic position in the UN last month, weeks after Haley announced her resignation. from World News Headlines, Latest International News, World Breaking News - Times of India http://bit.ly/2Qbaj28

from World News Headlines, Latest International News, World Breaking News - Times of India http://bit.ly/2ThFXgx

from World News Headlines, Latest International News, World Breaking News - Times of India http://bit.ly/2Subqw0

Relations between Moscow and Kiev have deteriorated since a pro-Western government came to power after the 2014 revolt against a pro-Russian leader, Moscow's annexation of the Crimea and the outbreak of war in eastern Ukraine. from World News Headlines, Latest International News, World Breaking News - Times of India http://bit.ly/2SpIHZ7

from World News Headlines, Latest International News, World Breaking News - Times of India http://bit.ly/2EUJLAv

Turkey's last prime minister was on Saturday chosen as the ruling party's mayoral candidate for Istanbul in a bid to ensure the country's biggest city remains in its hands after 2019 elections. from World News Headlines, Latest International News, World Breaking News - Times of India http://bit.ly/2TeQOI4

China successfully launched six atmospheric environment research satellites and a communication satellite on Saturday, state media reported.The six Yunhai-2 satellites will be used to study atmospheric environment, monitor space environment, prevent and reduce disasters. from World News Headlines, Latest International News, World Breaking News - Times of India http://bit.ly/2QcEdTU

A Canadian convicted of drug trafficking in China faces the possibility of more serious charges after a court on Saturday ordered a new trial amid tensions over Canada's arrest of a Chinese technology executive. from World News Headlines, Latest International News, World Breaking News - Times of India http://bit.ly/2Qb7le7

Shehu Shagari, Nigeria's second president, whose civilian tenure was sandwiched between two military rulers in an era rocked by coups, has died.He was 93. from World News Headlines, Latest International News, World Breaking News - Times of India http://bit.ly/2RmvIu2

from World News Headlines, Latest International News, World Breaking News - Times of India http://bit.ly/2QWKAA5

Ibrahim al-Assaf, a former veteran finance minister who was briefly detained last year in what Riyadh said was an anti-corruption sweep, replaced Adel al-Jubeir as foreign minister in a major government shake-up on Thursday ordered by King Salman. from World News Headlines, Latest International News, World Breaking News - Times of India http://bit.ly/2ERexdv

from World News Headlines, Latest International News, World Breaking News - Times of India http://bit.ly/2TbMGsc

The undated video clips, which have been posted by dissident Pakistani columnist Gul Bukhari, also shows the self-exiled former president as saying that he thinks that the negligence of the ISI was "pardonable" as the CIA was also involved in same level of negligence on 9/11. from World News Headlines, Latest International News, World Breaking News - Times of India http://bit.ly/2AmKHuq

from World News Headlines, Latest International News, World Breaking News - Times of India http://bit.ly/2ETlv2l

An earthquake of 6.9 magnitude struck off the southern Philippine island of Mindanao on Saturday and hazardous tsunami waves were possible on parts of the coasts of the Philippines and Indonesia, the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center said. from World News Headlines, Latest International News, World Breaking News - Times of India http://bit.ly/2s0xDpU

from World News Headlines, Latest International News, World Breaking News - Times of India http://bit.ly/2ETlKKc

Their terrorist acts resulted in the deaths of 176 people, including 19 armed forces personnel, 41 police and levies officials and 116 civilians and injured 217 others, it said. from World News Headlines, Latest International News, World Breaking News - Times of India http://bit.ly/2AmUtwr

from World News Headlines, Latest International News, World Breaking News - Times of India http://bit.ly/2Sp8UHv

China's customs administration announced Friday it had approved US rice imports, a move that comes during a 90-day tariff truce between the two countries which are engaged in a bruising trade war. from World News Headlines, Latest International News, World Breaking News - Times of India http://bit.ly/2AliYKy

from World News Headlines, Latest International News, World Breaking News - Times of India http://bit.ly/2EQBgGt