A numbing cold wave has gripped much of the US, from the Midwest to the northeast, leading to at least three deaths as the New Year began.


Brutal cold wave grips US


IANS Automatic

The United Nations Children's Fund (Unicef) has estimated that nearly 386,000 babies were born on New Year's Day, with India heading the list with 69,070.


69,000 Indian babies born on New Year's Day: Unicef


An outage affecting the computer systems of the US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) left international travelers waiting in long lines at airports throughout the country.


US Customs computers outage causes delay


California has begun its first historic legal sales of recreational marijuana, inaugurating a milestone move with projections pointing to a turnover of at least $7 billion a year.


California legalises recreational marijuana sale


A hearing and speech impaired 12-year-old boy from Pakistan, arrested for accidentally straying into the Indian territory in May last year, was on Monday handed over to Pakistani authorities, officials said.


Hearing, speech-impaired boy repatriated to Pakistan


Traffic came to a complete halt and roads were choked with vehicles on central Delhi roads on Monday as more than one lakh revellers gathered at the India Gate to celebrate the New Year.


Traffic clogged in central Delhi as revellers flood India Gate


A hearing and speech impaired 12-year-old boy from Pakistan, arrested for accidentally straying into Indian territory in May last, is set to reunite with his family in Lahore as the Indian government has allowed his repatriation, officials said on Monday.


Hearing & speech-impaired boy repatriated to Pakistan


In his New Year message, United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has called for unity among the global community to tackle overwhelming challenges and defend values shared by all.


UN chief urges world to come together in 2018 to tackle challenges


Russian President Vladimir Putin called on the people to express love to their family members in his traditional New Year greeting that went on air Sunday.


Putin stresses love for family in New Year greeting


The unusual and very efficient whistle language used as a means of communication by villagers in remote northern Turkey entered the Unesco list of Intangible Cultural Heritage.


Turkey's endangered 'bird language' enters Unesco list


Sixteen-year-old Nadeem Khan, who recently earned laurels for being the winner in the state-level Bhagwad Gita competition in Rajasthan, is passionate about learning the Sanskrit language.


These Muslim kids love reciting Gita verses in Sanskrit


New Year celebrations will begin with a touch of caution in Goa, with tourism authorities in the coastal state warning of unusual tidal activity and possible flooding of beaches on Sunay due to the Supermoon phenomenon on January 2.


Supermoon could gatecrash Goa's New Year celebrations


Beijing has set up more than 112,600 electric vehicle charging points, according to official figures.


Over 112,000 charging points in Beijing for electric vehicles


John F. Kennedy said "One person can make a difference, and everyone should try". These words of one of America's best-known presidents probably inspired a former engineer in India to try to transform what was once a bone-dry region into a green oasis simply by motivating its inhabitants to do what they earlier thought was impossible.


Inspiring change: When a once-arid village becomes a national model (IANS Special Series)


Nepal has banned solo climbers from scaling its mountains, including Mount Everest, in an attempt to reduce accidents and make mountaineering safer.


Nepal bans solo climbing on Mount Everest


An Indian expat died of a heart attack here after hearing the news of his mother's demise back home, the media reported.


Expat dies in UAE after news of mother's death in India


Kranti Kumari, Ramrati Kumari, Rupa Kumari and Soni Kumari have one thing in common. They are part of a small team performing street plays across this remote and underdeveloped rural pocket of Bihar's Gaya district to educate girls and their parents to say "no" to child marriage.


Girls stage street plays to fight child marriage in Bihar (Societal Feature)


A Thai court has sentenced a fraudster to a total of 13,275 years in prison, a media report said.


Thai fraudster sentenced to 13,275 years in prison


A woman working as Office Assistant in the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) here alleged on Saturday she was brutally assaulted by husband and in-laws when she was pregnant after she refused to abort her female foetus, police said.


Woman MEA staffer alleges assault by husband, in-laws


A girl from Hyderabad has painted a surface of 140 square metres with her feet in an attempt to enter Guinness World Records.


Girl from Hyderabad makes world's largest painting by feet


The arrival of the French modern circus Baraka in Greece for first time on November 15 this year happened to coincide with a tragedy.

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