In a moving encounter, Francis blessed them, held their hands and intently listened to their heart-rending tales of escape from the Buddhist-majority nation, in an apparent show of public solidarity towards Asia's worst refugee crisis in decades.
It is absolutely essential to prevent an atmosphere of trial and execution from being created on the larger issue of sexual assault, so that there can be a dispassionate understanding of every case, instead of irresponsible outpourings on television channels run by unaccountable anchors, says Seema Mustafa.
Rising skills gap, falling exports, low productivity, rising debt and low foreign investment is jeopardising the target set for the textile and apparels sector
Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on Saturday said that she would not allow the soil of her country to be used for any kind of extremism and hoped that India would also reciprocate on the matter.
Here's the full text of President Ram Nath Kovind's address to the nation on the eve of 71st Republic Day.
At least five Palestinians were killed in Israeli air strikes in Gaza on Saturday as the war entered its 47th day following the collapse of a fragile truce, even as Israel's hawkish foreign minister said that the offensive would continue until "Hamas waves the white flag".
Qureshi said External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj sent a letter on Sunday to congratulate Prime Minister Imran Khan and mentioned about talks to resolve issues.
We take a look at Time magazines top world leaders.
India could add $7.7 billion every year to its economic productivity if its young girls are able to study and work till their 20s.
"I was on the way to winning until the combination of Jim Comey's (sic) letter on October 28th and Russian WikiLeaks raised doubts in the minds of people," she said.
Siva Sankar looks at S P Balasubrahmanyam's fantastic repertoire.
Pakistani teenage activist Malala Yousafzai on Monday said she wants to be a politician in future to ensure compulsory education in her country, an issue for which she was shot in the head by the Taliban.
MUST READ: The speech Nayantara Sahgal was not allowed to give.
If elected president, the Republican nominee said he would declare China a currency manipulator, cancel payments to United Nations for combating climate change and renegotiating NAFTA.
A fascinating glimpse of the Mughal emperor, courtesy Parvati Sharma's new book Jahangir: An Intimate Portrait Of A Great Mughal.
'If prices of everyday consumption don't come down, employment doesn't pick up, 2020 will not be a happy year for anyone but the super rich,' notes Sherna Gandhy.
Skeletal remains of 80 bodies have been dug out of a mass grave in a former Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam stronghold in Sri Lanka, fuelling speculation that the bodies are of Tamil civilians who disappeared during the war with the rebels.
She acknowledged it would have been better if she had used government email for her official work.
Uproar was witnessed on Tuesday in the Lok Sabha as several parties got together to demand a resolution to condemn Israeli raids in Gaza Strip but the government did not oblige.
Neeraj Pandey's Aiyaary is the sort of spy fantasy story that drunks narrate in bars, says Sreehari Nair.
'No private citizen can be prevented from holding or propagating in India or abroad, a view contrary to that of the government of the day. The government, it seems is misreading the mandate in the Lok Sabha as being a mandate to crush dissent. In times when ruling parties have brute majorities in Parliament, the true test of safeguarding democracy is its ability to allow dissenting voices to be heard,' says Indira Jaising, the former additional solicitor general.
The order also prevents all persons from Iraq, Syria, Iran, Sudan, Libya, Somalia or Yemen from entering the country for 30 days.
'Today, when Kailash Satyarthi is being honoured with the most prestigious global award, reports appear to the effect that many millions of Indian children are in 'slavery'. This is hardly the reputation that India should have when we are basking in the glory of 'Mangalyan',' says T P Sreenivasan.
As 2018 draws to a close and the white noise of 24-hour news cycles and Twitter storms fade into the background, it is already clear that history will remember only a handful of those people, each of whom has taught us something about ourselves and the rapidly changing world in which we live.
Before the situation in the Naxal-affected areas got out of hand, the Raman Singh government intervened to calm tempers between the police and human rights activists.
The patience, discipline, and resolve displayed by 125 crore Indians, will play a critical role in shaping the future of the nation for years to come, the PM said.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday asserted that the world community must reject any linkage between religion and terrorism while formulating a "genuinely international" partnership in the fight against all forms of terror acts.
'I give Modi full credit, for brilliantly using his personal diplomacy, his personal stature, to accomplish his goals...'
Opposition parties on Monday staged a walkout in the Rajya Sabha after their demand for a resolution on Gaza was not accepted.
When Rani Hong was just seven, she was taken from her family and sold into slavery. At an age when she should have been enjoying her childhood, she was subjected to treatment that left her close to death.
What happens if a movie ends differently? Reality checks in, of course.
'Let us not, with all our drive for modernisation of the armed forces, send the forces to battle this time with second rung leadership,' says Brigadier S K Chatterji (retd).
The Taliban helmed attack on the Afghan parliament on Monday, ended with all six gunmen killed, the interior ministry said.
Let's take a look at how the world is gearing up for this mega event:
The two countries, technically still at war after their 1950-53 conflict ended with a truce, agreed on Tuesday that North Korea would send a large delegation across the border to next month's Games.
Resettlement of refugees elsewhere is not the morally correct solution to the problem for it lets the perpetrators off the hook.
With a massive final push, which began mid-November, Syrian forces loyal to Bashar al-Assad took over the last remaining rebel strongholds in the historic city of Aleppo on the night of December 12. They only won a ruined city and ruined lives.
The White House said it has 'a large body' of evidence indicating that the Assad regime was responsible for the April 7 chemical attack in Duma.
Dr Jashu Patel, who led the delegation, told Rediff.com he did not discuss the protest when he met Modi, "but he was aware of who we were and we had communicated with him three days ago". "I am concerned about what is happening in Gujarat," said Dr Patel, "So we submitted a memorandum to him."
