Today's Date

Navy ships and military aircraft were bringing water, food and fuel to towns where supplies were depleted and roads were cut off by the fires. Since Monday, four people have died as destructive wildfires tore through communities in New South Wales and Victoria states on Australia's southeast coast. from World News Headlines, Latest International News, World Breaking News - Times of India https://ift.tt/36iN9jq

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's dream project of building a canal in Istanbul to rival those at Suez and Panama has turned into a political showdown with the city's new mayor. from World News Headlines, Latest International News, World Breaking News - Times of India https://ift.tt/2rJbIXI

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has announced that Pyongyang no longer considers itself bound by its moratoriums on nuclear and intercontinental ballistic tests, threatening a demonstration of a new strategic weapon. from World News Headlines, Latest International News, World Breaking News - Times of India https://ift.tt/35gcusO

US Secretary of Defence Mark Esper said on Tuesday that the US will deploy the troops immediately to the Middle East, a move taken hours after demonstrators stormed its embassy. from World News Headlines, Latest International News, World Breaking News - Times of India https://ift.tt/2Qg1kQJ

from World News Headlines, Latest International News, World Breaking News - Times of India https://ift.tt/2SIGqLy

The city has been battered by more than six months of unrest with millions marching, as well as confrontations in which police have fired tear gas and rubber bullets, while protesters have responded with petrol bombs. from World News Headlines, Latest International News, World Breaking News - Times of India https://ift.tt/2sFFAor

Tsai, who's seeking re-election in a Jan. 11 vote, also vowed in a New Year's speech to defend Taiwan's sovereignty, saying her government would build a mechanism to safeguard freedom and democracy as Beijing ramps up pressure on the island. from World News Headlines, Latest International News, World Breaking News - Times of India https://ift.tt/2Qck4AG

US President Donald Trump on Tuesday said he believes North Korean leader Kim Jong Un will stick to his commitments on denuclearization, even as the strongman threatened a "new strategic weapon." from World News Headlines, Latest International News, World Breaking News - Times of India https://ift.tt/2QytRjv

North Korea's leader plans to further develop nuclear programmes and to introduce a "new strategic weapon" in the near future, state media said on Wednesday, but he left room for dialogue with the United States after it ignored a year-end deadline he had set for talks. from World News Headlines, Latest International News, World Breaking News - Times of India https://ift.tt/2SIoOzJ

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Secretary of State Mike Pompeo warned Iraq on Tuesday that Washington will "defend its people" after supporters of pro-Iran factions breached the wall of the US embassy compound in Baghdad. from World News Headlines, Latest International News, World Breaking News - Times of India https://ift.tt/36bcb44

from World News Headlines, Latest International News, World Breaking News - Times of India https://ift.tt/39wIJHU

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Months of pro-democracy protests in Hong Kong have brought “sadness, anxiety, disappointment and even rage," the city's leader said Tuesday, vowing to tackle underlying social and economic problems in the coming year. from World News Headlines, Latest International News, World Breaking News - Times of India https://ift.tt/35coZps

Taiwan's parliament passed an anti-infiltration law on Tuesday to combat perceived threats from China as the island gears up for a presidential vote on January 11 amid heightened tension with Beijing. from World News Headlines, Latest International News, World Breaking News - Times of India https://ift.tt/2F5Gn4A

Washington has accused Iraqi authorities of failing to "protect" US interests, the day after deadly American air strikes against a pro-Iran group sparked anger. At least 25 fighters were killed in Sunday night's attacks, which were in retaliation for the death last week of a US civilian contractor. The United States has blamed the attacks on pro-Iran factions. from World News Headlines, Latest International News, World Breaking News - Times of India https://ift.tt/37rOyVc

“This year in Russia was the hottest for the entire period of instrumental observations,” the head of the Gidromedtsentr weather service, Roman Vilfand, said. He said Moscow’s average temperature for 2019 had hit 7.6°-7.7° Celsius, beating the previous record by 0.3°. He said January will continue to be warmer than usual in almost all regions of Russia. from World News Headlines, Latest International News, World Breaking News - Times of India https://ift.tt/2Qapvjj

As many as four thousand people are trapped on the foreshore of the encircled seaside town of Mallacoota, as smoke turned day to night and the authorities said nearby fires were causing extreme thunderstorms and "ember attacks". Preparations were reportedly under way for a sea or airborne evacuation if needed. from World News Headlines, Latest International News, World Breaking News - Times of India https://ift.tt/2F86W9k

from World News Headlines, Latest International News, World Breaking News - Times of India https://ift.tt/2Q7tZr8

from World News Headlines, Latest International News, World Breaking News - Times of India https://ift.tt/2Q8LFT3

Bangladesh's top Islamic leadership has not yet made a ruling on the milk bank, but it was halted after critics said the plan could lead to breaches of Sharia law if two babies drank milk from the same mother and later married. from World News Headlines, Latest International News, World Breaking News - Times of India https://ift.tt/39qhlen

The Taliban on Monday denied agreeing to any ceasefire in Afghanistan after rumours swirled of a potential deal that would see a reduction in fighting after more than 18 years of war. The US and the Afghan govt in Kabul have long called for a ceasefire with the Taliban, including during the year of negotiations between Washington and the militants that were abruptly called off by Trump in September. from World News Headlines, Latest International News, World Breaking News - Times of India https://ift.tt/2QbMURM

Lead researcher He Jiankui was sentenced to three years and fined 3 million yuan ($430,000). He, the lead researcher, said 13 months ago that he had helped make the world's first genetically edited babies, twin girls born in November 2018. from World News Headlines, Latest International News, World Breaking News - Times of India https://ift.tt/2ZBRwDI

Civil rights icon and US House Representative John Lewis has announced that he had been diagnosed with stage four pancreatic cancer. The diagnosis followed a "routine medical visit," Lewis, a 79-year-old Democrat who has repeatedly sparred with President Donald Trump, said in a statement. from World News Headlines, Latest International News, World Breaking News - Times of India https://ift.tt/37idLBc

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un called at a ruling party meeting for "positive and offensive measures" to ensure security ahead of a year-end deadline he has set for denuclearisation talks with the United States, state media KCNA said. Kim suggested action in the areas of foreign affairs, the munitions industry and armed forces. from World News Headlines, Latest International News, World Breaking News - Times of India https://ift.tt/356qg1o

from World News Headlines, Latest International News, World Breaking News - Times of India https://ift.tt/2SyICFo

The Taliban said Saturday they have agreed to a temporary cease-fire nationwide. It provides a window during which a peace agreement with the United States could be signed. from World News Headlines, Latest International News, World Breaking News - Times of India https://ift.tt/2MEBML3

Iraqi anti-government protesters blockaded an oil field and rallied in southern cities Sunday while political factions remained paralysed in their attempts to form a new government. Several hundred people demanding jobs shut off access to the Nasiriyah field, 300 kilometres (190 miles) south of Baghdad, which produces 82,000 barrels of oil per day, executives said. from World News Headlines, Latest International News, World Breaking News - Times of India https://ift.tt/353OOrx

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The new mechanism will unify the standards and procedures for calculating national and local GDP numbers which had been calculated under different accounting methods adopted by local and national statistics authorities since 1985, the National Bureau of Statistics said. from World News Headlines, Latest International News, World Breaking News - Times of India https://ift.tt/357eOlO

Pope Francis appealed for prayers Sunday for the scores of people who lost their lives in a truck bombing in Somalia's capital. from World News Headlines, Latest International News, World Breaking News - Times of India https://ift.tt/3581LAS

"Taiwan's most pressing challenge arises from China's expanding ambitions,`` Tsai said. ``The situation in our region is ever-more complex and Taiwan's sovereignty - its free, democratic way of life - is under threat of being stripped away and undermined," said Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen. from World News Headlines, Latest International News, World Breaking News - Times of India https://ift.tt/2rDHx4j

The country's lowest temperature this year was recorded at 4.5 degrees Celsius (40.1° Fahrenheit) early on Sunday in Tetulia, a border town in Bangladesh's north. At least 17 people died of acute respiratory infection and 33 from diarrhoea and other diseases across Bangladesh from Nov. 1 to Dec. 28, said a senior official of the government’s health directorate. from World News Headlines, Latest International News, World Breaking News - Times of India https://ift.tt/2QtcBfn

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Multiple people were stabbed at a synagogue in Monsey, New York, while celebrating Hanukkah late Saturday night. ​The NYPD Counterterrorism Bureau says it is ``closely monitoring the reports of multiple people stabbed at a synagogue. The Anti-Defamation League of New York and New Jersey says it's also aware of reports and is on the way to the scene in Monsey. from World News Headlines, Latest International News, World Breaking News - Times of India https://ift.tt/2siC9E5

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In an unusual gesture, unions organizing the march asked yellow vest protesters to join them. The march coincided with the 59th consecutive Saturday of marches by the yellow vest movement that seeks social and economic justice. from World News Headlines, Latest International News, World Breaking News - Times of India https://ift.tt/2rzmHTt

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"We have ample room to further bolster growth which was very good (so far)," Vucic said after presenting the programme which the World Bank helped develop and which envisages investment of around 9 billion euros in infrastructure such as road and rail. from World News Headlines, Latest International News, World Breaking News - Times of India https://ift.tt/2ssseM8

Even as the majority of over 600 ISIS Khorasan operatives, who, along with hundreds of their family members, surrendered in Afghanistan last month, are from Pakistan, the Imran Khan government has remained tight-lipped about it. from World News Headlines, Latest International News, World Breaking News - Times of India https://ift.tt/39kTAEv

Dozens of Lebanese protesters held a brief sit-in inside a bank in Beirut and another in the country's south on Saturday, part of their focus on banking policies they complain are inefficient and corrupt. from World News Headlines, Latest International News, World Breaking News - Times of India https://ift.tt/37gEX39

from World News Headlines, Latest International News, World Breaking News - Times of India https://ift.tt/2F0YybE

from World News Headlines, Latest International News, World Breaking News - Times of India https://ift.tt/2MABzIF

A truck bomb exploded at a busy security checkpoint in Somalia's capital, killing at least 61. It was one of the deadliest attacks in Mogadishu in recent memory. Two Turkish nationals and many university students were among those killed. The blast targeted a tax collection center during the morning rush hour as Somalia returned to work after its weekend. from World News Headlines, Latest International News, World Breaking News - Times of India https://ift.tt/2Szz0dy

​​Victims advocates had long criticized the Roman Catholic Church for not making public the names of credibly accused priests. Despite the dioceses' release of nearly 5,300 names, most in the last two years, critics say the lists are far from complete. An AP analysis found more than 900 clergy members accused of child sexual abuse who were missing from lists. from World News Headlines, Latest International News, World Breaking News - Times of India https://ift.tt/364HNrY