Russia, UN call for humanitarian corridors in Ukraine conflict

During an emergency UN Security Council meeting on Tuesday, Russia and the UN called for humanitarian aid corridors to be established in conflict-scarred eastern Ukraine.

IN BRIEF (Page 12)

100 years after WWI, live shells pose threat

The fields and woods around Verdun, site of one of the most devastating and protracted battles of World War I, may now appear tranquil. But remnants of the war - unexploded ordnance - still pose a threat 100 years on.

Grande Arche of Paris in a sorry state

It was opened 25 years ago amid much pomp and ceremony on the 200th anniversary of the French Revolution, but Margaret Thatcher no doubt remembered it more as the place where she got stuck in the toilets.

'Hollywood underrepresents Hispanics'

A new study shows that less than 5 percent of actors in top Hollywood films are Hispanic, and Latinas are more likely than women of any other ethnicity to appear partially or totally nude on screen.

Decade on, separate lives for once-conjoined twins

One twin uses an iPad, plays video games and dances to Michael Jackson tunes. The other has significant, possibly permanent, problems walking and talking.

40 children reported dead after attack in northern Iraq

Forty children from northern Iraq's Yazidi minority are reported to have died as a result of a jihadist attack on the Sinjar region, the United Nations Children's Fund said on Tuesday.

UN cautions Lebanon against getting pulled into Syrian war

The United Nations Security Council has backed Lebanon's military action against extremist groups but urged it to stay out of the conflict in neighboring Syria, as Beirut vowed no leniency for "terrorist killers".

South Korea plans to publish white paper on 'comfort women'

The South Korean government announced on Monday that it will publish a white paper on wartime sexual slavery victims to tell the world the truth about the Japan's military role in creating the "comfort women" system.

25 Turkish police detained in new raids

Police in Turkey launched a second wave of raids at police officers' residences on Tuesday, detaining at least 25 officers suspected of conducting illegal wiretaps, the country's state-run television reported.

Discredited Japanese researcher commits suicide

A Japanese scientist at the center of discredited research initially hailed as a potential breakthrough for stem-cell treatment killed himself after months of stress and exhaustion, officials said on Tuesday.

Israel withdraws troops

Israel pulled its ground forces out of the Gaza Strip on Tuesday and started a 72-hour cease-fire with Hamas, mediated by Egypt, as a first step toward negotiations on a more-enduring end to the month-old war.