The Islamic State (IS) militants on Sunday released 19 Christian Assyrians they had kidnapped last month, a monitoring group reported.
The 19 people are the first batch of 29 Assyrians the sharia court of the IS exonerated on Saturday, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said, Xinhua reported.
On February 23, the IS abducted 220 Christian Assyrians during an assault it had waged on predominantly Assyrian areas, mainly in the area of Tal Tamr and its countryside in Syria's northeastern province of al-Hasakah.
The fate of the other abductees is still unknown amid reports that the rest of the Assyrians are awaiting trials in the IS courts.
There is no clear reason why would the IS even put the Assyrians on trial.
Also on Sunday, the pan-Arab al-Mayadeen TV said the Syrian troops captured as many as 33 towns in the eastern countryside of Hasaka after clashes with the IS.
An Indian citizen residing illegally in the US has been sentenced to 15 years in prison for allegedly trying to provide material support to Hezbollah, a designated foreign terrorist organisation.
An Indian-origin doctor in Australia, jailed last year for raping two patients, has been found not guilty of raping a third woman, media reported Thursday.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi may have won the hearts of the Indian American community in the US but he will have to work harder to win a place at the Smithsonian Institute just yet.
Two Indian Americans have been charged with conspiring to extort victims to load prepaid debit cards with funds that were stolen as part of a scam running into over $5.8 million.
Nobel laureate Malala Yousafzai, the teenage Pakistani girl once shot by Taliban for promoting girls' education, has decided to donate her $50,000 prize to the UN to help rebuild Gaza schools damaged by Israel during the recent conflict.
Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman Thursday lashed out at Sweden's decision to recognise Palestine, saying the "unfortunate" move only serves to reinforce extremist elements.
