Turkeys Tayyip Erdogan threatened on Monday to strangle a planned 30,000-strong US-backed force in Syria before it is even born,as Washington's backing for Kurdish fighters drove a wedge into relations with one of its main Middle East allies. The United States announced its support on Sunday for plans for a border force to defend territory held by US-backed, Kurdish-led fighters in northern Syria. The Syrian government of President Bashar al-Assad responded on Monday by vowing to crush the new force and drive US troops from the country. Assads ally Russia called the plans a plot to dismembe ... Read More

Groomed to perfection yet rarely heard in public, Melania Trump is an enigma a first lady whose opinions, marriage and goals remain a mystery to millions of Americans. She is without question a unique first lady a former model who once posed nude in her husbands private jet the first foreign-born wife of a US president in nearly 200 years and the first for whom English is a second language. A year after channelling Jacqueline Kennedy in powder blue Ralph Lauren at her husbands inauguration, Trump has yet to embrace a cause, as did Michelle Obama with her anti-obesity campaign or Laura Bush a ... Read More

We are standing at the end of 2017, but sexism in the society is still pervasive. The roles assigned for men and women are still starkly different and so are the expectations from them. And, conditioned as we are, this sexism often gets perpetuated by schools and other institutions. But a father from Australia decided to have none of it. Stephen Callaghan penned an extremely scathing letter to his daughters school authorities after he came to know that girls from his daughters class were about to have a make-over during their library class while the boys were going to a local hardware store, B ... Read More

Global arms sales increased for the first time in five years in 2016 as rising geopolitical tensions fuelled defence spending, according to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI). Sales by the worlds 100 biggest arms producers increased 1.9 per cent from the previous year to reach $374.8 billion, CNN quoted SIPRI as saying in an official report on Sunday night. The growth in arms sales was expected and was driven by the implementation of new national major weapon programmes, ongoing military operations in several countries and persistent regional tensions that are lea ... Read More

Venezuelas President Nicolas Maduro announced Sunday that leading opposition parties will be barred from taking part in next years presidential vote after they boycotted mayoral polls, in a move set to further consolidate his grip on power. That includes the groups of key figures who have led street protests against his rule such as Henrique Capriles, Leopoldo Lopez and others, Maduro told reporters after casting his vote in the municipal polls. That is what the National Constituent Assembly set out he said, referring to a controversial Maduro-allied special powers legislature whose legitima ... Read More

Real Madrids biggest challenger at the Club World Cup will be a team with a Brazilian coach who says he played better than Cristiano Ronaldo. European champion Madrid and South American champion Gremio, coached by former Brazil forward Renato Gaucho, are the favorites for the tournament featuring the champions of FIFAs six continental confederations and the host nations league winner. Renato Gaucho, a star for several Brazilian clubs in the 1980s and 90s, made headlines across Brazil not long ago after saying that for sure he played better than the Portugal star. I wanted to see Cristiano Ro ... Read More