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.
Gill Sukhdarshan Singh has been in dispute with his employer, Veolia Transport in the city of Vantaa, for more than a year for his right to wear turban at work,
In the face of objections from China, President Barack Obama met the Dalai Lama Friday saying the US supports his "Middle Way" approach of neither assimilation nor independence for Tibetans in China.
There was din, protests and chaos along with accusations of a "deal" between the Congress and the BJP, as the Rajya Sabha Thursday gave its approval to the bill for formation of Telangana.
The resignation of Kejriwal and his six young cabinet ministers of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government over the stalling of Jan Lokpal Bill - touted as the panacea for corruption - in the assembly has ended a chapter which some would term "glorious" and others "turbulent"
Supreme Court of India has commuted the death sentences of three individuals convicted of assassinating former Prime Minister of India, Rajiv Gandhi to life in prison
