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Rescuers put the body of a victim into a body bag after a truck accident in Manokwari, West Papua, IndonesiaAn overloaded truck carrying 29 people hit a cliff and flipped over near an illegal gold mine in Indonesia’s West Papua province on Wednesday, killing 17 people and leaving others injured, police said.The truck, overloaded with miners and their families, was headed to the capital of West Papua province Manokwari to celebrate Easter. They were on their way from a mining area in Minyambou village of Arfak Mountain district when it hit a cliff and rolled upside-down before dawn, said local police chief Parisian Herman Gultom.Survivors said the truck’s engine apparently lost power while going up a hill and rolled backward before hitting a cliff, killing 13 people instantly, including a child and the driver. The other 16 were taken to two hospitals, some in critical condition, and four died while in treatment.Television reports showed rescuers from the local search and rescue agency using their bare hands to search for the victims and struggling to bring out black body bags in half-vertical terrain.Informal mining operations are commonplace in Indonesia, providing a tenuous livelihood to thousands who labor in conditions with a high risk of serious injury or death.Landslides, flooding and collapses of tunnels are just some of the hazards facing miners. Much of gold ore processing involves highly toxic mercury and cyanide and workers frequently use little or no protection.The country’s last major mining-related accident occurred in February 2019 when a makeshift wooden structure in an illegal gold mine in North Sulawesi province collapsed due to shifting soil and a large number of mining holes, killing more than 40 people buried in the mine pit.Also Read | Watch: DTC bus catches fire in Delhi's Mahipalpur

17 dead in overloaded truck crash in Indonesia’s West Papua

Survivors said the truck’s engine apparently lost power while going up a hill and rolled backward before hitting a cliff, killing 13 people instantly, including a child and the driver. The other 16 were taken to two hospitals, some in critical condition, and four died while in treatment.

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Israel to reopen to vaccinated tourists from Nov 1. Starting from November 1, Israel will be reopened to tourists fully vaccinated against Covid-19, according to a plan jointly drafted by Prime Minister Naftali Bennett's office and the Ministries of Tourism and Health.Under the plan, individual tourists who are fully inoculated with vaccines produced by Pfizer, Moderna, AstraZeneca, Johnson & Johnson, Sinovac, and Sinopharm will be allowed to enter the country, reports Xinhua news agency.People who have recently recovered from Covid-19 would also be allowed to enter the country if they had received a booster dose of a vaccine approved by the World Health Organization, according to the plan.The plan is subjected to updates "according to developments and the discovery of new variants," and will be brought for final approval of the cabinet later this month. /* .jw-reset-text, .jw-reset{line-height: 2em;}*/ .jw-time-tip .jw-time-chapter{display:none;} if ('' == comscore_jw_loaded || 'undefined' == comscore_jw_loaded || undefined == comscore_jw_loaded) { var comscore_jw_loaded = 1; 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Israel to reopen to vaccinated tourists from November 1

People who have recently recovered from Covid would also be allowed to enter the country if they had received a booster dose of vaccine approved by WHO, according to the plan.

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Russia Ukraine War LIVE UpdatesAs Day 7 of the Russia-Ukraine conflict dawned, Russia continued its attacks on crowded Ukrainian cities and a lengthy convoy of Russian tanks and other vehicles advanced slowly toward the capital of Kyiv. Russia's escalation Wednesday came as President Joe Biden, in his State of the Union speech to Americans on Tuesday night, warned that if the Russian leader didn't “pay a price” for the invasion, the aggression wouldn't stop with one country. A 40-mile (64-kilometer) convoy of hundreds of Russian tanks and other vehicles advanced slowly on Kyiv, a city of nearly 3 million people. The West feared it was part of a bid by Putin to topple the government and install a Kremlin-friendly regime. The Russians also pressed their assault on other towns and cities, including the strategic ports of Odesa and Mariupol in the south. A senior US defence official said Russia's military progress has slowed, plagued by logistical and supply problems. Some Russian military columns have run out of gas and food, the official said, and morale has suffered as a result. The Russian military has also been stalled by fierce resistance on the ground and a surprising inability to completely dominate Ukraine's airspace.

Russia Ukraine War: Air alert across Ukraine, strong explosions heard in Kyiv | Updates

Rights groups and observers say Russia is using cluster bombs in its invasion of Ukraine, a charge Moscow denies. If confirmed, deployment of the weapon, especially in crowded civilian areas, would usher in new humanitarian concerns in the conflict, Europe’s largest ground war in generations.

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Pfizer Covid vaccine for kids may not be available until NovemberPfizer has submitted research to the U.S Food and Drug Administration on the effectiveness of its COVID-19 vaccine in children but the shots may not be available until November. The company said Tuesday it provided health regulators with data from a recent study of its vaccine in children 5 to 11 years old.Officials had said previously they would file an application with the FDA to authorize use in the coming weeks.Once the company files its application, US regulators and public health officials will review the evidence and consult with their advisory committees in public meetings to determine if the shots are safe and effective enough to recommend use.That process may mean the shots may not be available until closer to Thanksgiving, according to a person familiar with the process but not authorized to discuss it publicly. But it is possible that, depending on how quickly the FDA acts, the shots could become available earlier in November, the person said.The drugmaker and its partner, Germany's BioNTech, say they expect to request emergency use authorization of their vaccine in children ages 5 to 11 “in the coming weeks.” The companies also plan to submit data to the European Medicines Agency and other regulators.The two-shot Pfizer vaccine is currently available for those 12 and older. An estimated 100 million people in the U.S. have been fully vaccinated with it, according to the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention.Pfizer tested a lower dose of the shots in children. The drugmaker said last week that researchers found the vaccine developed coronavirus-fighting antibody levels in children that were just as strong as those found in teenagers and young adults getting regular-strength doses.Earlier this month, FDA chief Dr. Peter Marks told the AP that once Pfizer turns over its study results, his agency would evaluate the data “hopefully in a matter of weeks” to decide if the shots are safe and effective enough for younger kids.Pfizer's updated timetable was first reported by The Wall Street Journal. Another US vaccine maker, Moderna, also is studying its shots in elementary school-aged children. 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Pfizer Covid vaccine for kids may not be available until November

The company said Tuesday it provided health regulators with data from a recent study of its vaccine in children 5 to 11 years old.

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Japan declares 4th COVID state of emergency. The Japanese government has decided to place capital Tokyo under the fourth Covid-19 state of emergency, covering the entire duration of the upcoming Olympics, in an effort to curb a recent surge in infections.The government announced on Thursday that the emergency will be effective from July 12 to August 22, which may cause the Summer Olympic Games to be held without spectators at venues in the capital, Xinhua news agency reported.Addressing a news conference here, Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga said that the occupancy rate of hospital beds and the number of patients in serious condition remain low due to the vaccine rollout, but infection cases in Tokyo were rising due to the spread of the Delta variant."We must avoid another outbreak starting in Tokyo. With that in mind, we decided to take preemptive measures, and declare a state of emergency for Tokyo once again," Suga was quoted as saying by the public broadcaster, NHK.With two weeks until the Olympic Games, Suga pledged safety above all."Holding a safe and secure Games amid the coronavirus pandemic is a good opportunity to show our global unity to overcome the current difficulties together," he said.Infection cases in the capital have been going up.Health authorities reported 896 new infections on Thursday, marking the 19th straight day cases have gone up compared to the week before.Japan has so far reported 811,712 coronavirus cases, with 14,897 deaths.At least 37,214,200 vaccine doses against Covid-19 have been administered in the country till date. /* .jw-reset-text, .jw-reset{line-height: 2em;}*/ .jw-time-tip .jw-time-chapter{display:none;} if ('' == comscore_jw_loaded || 'undefined' == comscore_jw_loaded || undefined == comscore_jw_loaded) { var comscore_jw_loaded = 1; firstjw = document.getElementsByClassName('jwvidplayer')[0]; cs_jw_script = document.createElement('script'); cs_jw_script.src = 'https://sb.scorecardresearch.com/internal-c2/plugins/streamingtag_plugin_jwplayer.js'; firstjw.parentNode.insertBefore(cs_jw_script, firstjw.nextSibling); } var jwconfig_4703465594 = { "file": "https://vod-indiatv.akamaized.net/hls/2021/05/0_v9553hwh/master.m3u8", "image": "https://thumbs.indiatvnews.com/vod/0_v9553hwh_big_thumb.jpg", "title": "Educational expo held in Tokyo amid Covid-19", "height": "440px", "width": "100%", "aspectratio": "16:9", "autostart": false, "controls": true, "mute": false, "volume": 25, "floating": false, "sharing": { "code": "", "sites": [ "facebook", "twitter", "email" ] }, "stretching": "exactfit", "primary": "html5", "hlshtml": true, "sharing_link": "", "duration": "166", "advertising": { "client": "vast", "autoplayadsmuted": true, "skipoffset": 5, "cuetext": "", "skipmessage": "Skip ad in xx", "skiptext": "SKIP", "preloadAds": true, "schedule": [ { "offset": "pre", "tag": "https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/ads?iu=/8323530/Eng_Video_Desktop_PreRoll&description_url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.indiatvnews.com&tfcd=0&npa=0&sz=640x480&gdfp_req=1&output=vast&unviewed_position_start=1&env=vp&impl=s&correlator=", "type": "linear" }, { "offset": "50%", "tag": "https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/ads?iu=/8323530/Eng_Video_Desktop_MidRoll&description_url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.indiatvnews.com&tfcd=0&npa=0&sz=640x480&gdfp_req=1&output=vast&unviewed_position_start=1&env=vp&impl=s&correlator=" }, { "offset": "post", "tag": "https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/ads?iu=/8323530/Eng_Video_Desktop_PostRoll&description_url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.indiatvnews.com&tfcd=0&npa=0&sz=640x480&gdfp_req=1&output=vast&unviewed_position_start=1&env=vp&impl=s&correlator=", "type": "linear" } ] } }; var jwvidplayer_4703465594 = ''; jwsetup_4703465594(); function jwsetup_4703465594() { jwvidplayer_4703465594 = jwplayer("jwvidplayer_4703465594").setup(jwconfig_4703465594); jwvidplayer_4703465594.on('ready', function () { ns_.StreamingAnalytics.JWPlayer(jwvidplayer_4703465594, { publisherId: "20465327", labelmapping: "c2=\"20465327\", c3=\"IndiaTV News\", c4=\"null\", c6=\"null\", ns_st_mp=\"jwplayer\", ns_st_cl=\"0\", ns_st_ci=\"0_v9553hwh\", ns_st_pr=\"Educational expo held in Tokyo amid Covid-19\", ns_st_sn=\"0\", ns_st_en=\"0\", ns_st_ep=\"Educational expo held in Tokyo amid Covid-19\", ns_st_ct=\"null\", ns_st_ge=\"News\", ns_st_st=\"Educational expo held in Tokyo amid Covid-19\", ns_st_ce=\"0\", ns_st_ia=\"0\", ns_st_ddt=\"2021-05-28\", ns_st_tdt=\"2021-05-28\", ns_st_pu=\"IndiaTV News\", ns_st_cu=\"https://vod-indiatv.akamaized.net/hls/2021/05/0_v9553hwh/master.m3u8\", ns_st_ty=\"video\"" }); }); jwvidplayer_4703465594.on('all', function (r) { if (jwvidplayer_4703465594.getState() == 'error' || jwvidplayer_4703465594.getState() == 'setupError') { jwvidplayer_4703465594.stop(); jwvidplayer_4703465594.remove(); jwvidplayer_4703465594 = ''; jwsetup_4703465594(); return; } }); jwvidplayer_4703465594.on('error', function (t) { jwvidplayer_4703465594.stop(); jwvidplayer_4703465594.remove(); jwvidplayer_4703465594 = ''; jwsetup_4703465594(); return; }); jwvidplayer_4703465594.on('mute', function () { ga('send', 'event', 'JW Player Events', 'Errors', event.message); }); jwvidplayer_4703465594.on('adPlay', function (event) { ga('send', 'event', 'JW Player Events', 'Errors', event.message); }); jwvidplayer_4703465594.on('adPause', function (event) { ga('send', 'event', 'JW Player Events', 'Errors', event.message); }); jwvidplayer_4703465594.on('pause', function (event) { ga('send', 'event', 'JW Player Events', 'Errors', event.message); }); jwvidplayer_4703465594.on('error', function (event) { ga('send', 'event', 'JW Player Events', 'Errors', event.message); }); jwvidplayer_4703465594.on('adBlock', function (event) { ga('send', 'event', 'JW Player Events', 'Errors', event.message); }); }

Japan declares 4th COVID state of emergency

The govt announced on Thursday that emergency will be effective from July 12 to Aug 22, which may cause Summer Olympic Games to be held without spectators at venues in the capital, Xinhua news agency reported.

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Water released by India creates flood scare in PakistanAs if India's abrogation of Article 370 and a timid response from the UN Security Council wasn't enough, now Pakistan is dreading a looming flood scare due to river water released by India.A note by Pakistan's Provincial Disaster Management Authority (PDMA) of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province that has been accessed by IANS shows the extent of the scare in the Pakistani establishment after India opened outlets of the Alchi Dam. Alchi which is touted to be the world's highest dam is a village in the Leh district of Jammu and Kashmir. The letter addressed to 10 regions, including Abbottabad where al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden was killed by US special forces, reads, "On the evening of August 18, 2019, India has opened outlets of Alchi Dam without pre-scheduled, which can lead to the flooding situation in river Indus".The fear among Pakistani authorities is palpable from the note which further reads, "This water would take around 12 hours to reach Tarbela Dam and around 15-18 hours at DI Khan. The damming authorities at Tarbela have been instructed by NDMA to regulate the inflow and water discharge so as to overcome flooding situation."The note also instructs to "watch" catchment areas and "restricts" boating and swimming in those areas.Balakot where the Indian Air Force bombed terror camps on February 26 this year, also falls under the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province.Ever since India in a decisive move abrogated Article 370 and bifurcated the state of Jammu and Kashmir, the Pakistani establishment has been in a state of shock and panic. Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan betrayed his nervousness through a series of tweets. Now, this SOS from Pakistan's disaster management authority only reinforces the state of panic it is in.ALSO READ | Flood alert issued as Yamuna breaches danger mark in Delhi, flowing at 205.36 metresALSO READ | Flood alert in Delhi; 9 rescued from Punjab, Haryana amid heavy rainsALSO READ | Punjab CM announces Rs 100 cr for relief measures in flood-hit areas

Water released by India creates flood scare in Pakistan

A note by Pakistan's Provincial Disaster Management Authority (PDMA) of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province that has been accessed by IANS shows the extent of the scare in the Pakistani establishment after India opened outlets of the Alchi Dam. Alchi which is touted to be the world's highest dam, is a village in the Leh district of Jammu and Kashmir.

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The Malaysian government has approved a new attempt to find the wreckage of Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 in the Indian Ocean, the transport minister said on Friday.A US-based company early this week dispatched the search vessel Seabed Constructor to look for debris in the southern Indian Ocean, three and half years after the Boeing 777 disappeared on a flight from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing with 227 passengers and 12 crew.Related Stories Debris found in Mozambique definitively from MH370Possible MH370 wreckage found on Tanzanian island Flight MH370 fell very fast out of sky after engine failure, says news analysisSearch for missing Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 resumes ahead of fourth anniversary The governments of Malaysia, China and Australia called off the 1,046-day official search on January 17 last year without solving the mystery.The Australian Transport Safety Bureau's final report on the search conceded that authorities were no closer to knowing the reasons for the plane's disappearance, or its exact location."The basis of the offer from Ocean Infinity is based on 'no cure, no fee,'" Malaysian Transport Minister Liow Tiong Lai said on Saturday. It means that payment will be made only if the company finds the wreckage."That means they are willing to search the area of 25,000 square kilometers pointed out by the expert group near the Australian waters," he said.However, he said, "I don't want to give too much hope...to the (next of kin)." He said his government was committed to continue with the search. He did not offer other details.Ocean Infinity said in this week's statement that the vessel, which left the South African port of Durban on Tuesday, was taking advantage of favorable weather to move toward "the vicinity of the possible search zone."

Where is MH370? Malaysia approves new search for airliner that went missing three years back with 239 onboard

A US-based company early this week dispatched the search vessel Seabed Constructor to look for debris in the southern Indian Ocean, three and half years after the Boeing 777 disappeared on a flight from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing with 227 passengers and

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People gather in a basement, used as a bomb shelter, during an air raid in Lviv, Western Ukraine on March 19, 2022. Russia-Ukraine War: Russian forces pushed deeper into Ukraine’s besieged and battered port city of Mariupol on Saturday (March 19), where heavy fighting shut down a major steel plant and local authorities pleaded for more Western help. The fall of Mariupol, the scene of some of the war’s worst suffering, would mark a major battlefield advance for the Russians, who are largely bogged down outside major cities more than three weeks into the biggest land invasion in Europe since World War II. “Children, elderly people are dying. The city is destroyed and it is wiped off the face of the earth,” Mariupol police officer Michail Vershnin said from a rubble-strewn street in a video addressed to Western leaders that was authenticated by The Associated Press. Details also began to emerge Saturday about a rocket attack that killed as many as 40 marines in the southern city of Mykolaiv the previous day, according to a Ukrainian military official who spoke to The New York Times. Russian forces have already cut Mariupol off from the Sea of Azov, and its fall would link Crimea, which Russia annexed in 2014, to eastern territories controlled by Moscow-backed separatists. It would mark a rare advance in the face of fierce Ukrainian resistance that has dashed Russia’s hopes for a quick victory and galvanized the West. Ukrainian and Russian forces battled over the Azovstal steel plant in Mariupol, Vadym Denysenko, adviser to Ukraine’s interior minister, said Saturday. “One of the largest metallurgical plants in Europe is actually being destroyed,” Denysenko said in televised remarks. The Mariupol city council claimed hours later that Russian soldiers had forcibly relocated several thousand city residents, mostly women and children, to Russia. It didn’t say where in Russia, and AP could not immediately confirm the claim. Oleksiy Arestovych, an adviser to Ukraine’s president, said the nearest forces that could assist Mariupol were already struggling against “the overwhelming force of the enemy” or at least 100 kilometers (60 miles) away. “There is currently no military solution to Mariupol,” he said late Friday. “That is not only my opinion, that is the opinion of the military.” In Mykolaiv, rescuers searched the rubble of the marine barracks that was destroyed in an apparent missile attack Friday. The region’s governor said the marines were asleep when the attack happened. It isn’t clear how many marines were inside at the time, and rescuers were still searching the rubble for survivors the following day. But a senior Ukrainian military official, who spoke to The New York Times on condition of anonymity to reveal sensitive information, estimated that as many as 40 marines were killed, which would make it one of the deadliest known attacks on Ukrainian forces during the war. Ukrainian President Volodomir Zelensky has remained defiant, appearing in a video early Saturday that was shot on the streets of the capital, Kyiv. Zelenskyy said Russia is trying to starve Ukraine’s cities into submission but warned that continuing the invasion would exact a heavy toll on Moscow. He also repeated his call for Russian President Vladimir Putin to meet with him to prevent more bloodshed. ALSO READ: Russian invasion has shaken roots of in'tl order, says Kishida at joint media brief with PM Modi “The time has come to restore territorial integrity and justice for Ukraine. Otherwise, Russia’s costs will be so high that you will not be able to rise again for several generations,” he said. Putin appeared Friday at a rally in Moscow where he lavished praise on his country’s military. “We have not had unity like this for a long time,” Putin told the cheering crowd. The rally took place as Russia has faced heavier-than-expected losses on the battlefield and increasingly authoritarian rule at home, where police have detained thousands of antiwar protesters. Estimates of Russian deaths vary widely, but even conservative figures are in the low thousands. Russia had 64 deaths in five days of fighting during its 2008 war with Georgia. It lost about 15,000 in Afghanistan over 10 years, and more than 11,000 in years of fighting in Chechnya. The Russian military said Saturday that it used its latest hypersonic missile for the first time in combat. Maj. Gen. Igor Konashenkov said Kinzhal missiles destroyed an underground warehouse storing Ukrainian missiles and aviation ammunition in the western region of Ivano-Frankivsk. Russia has said the Kinzhal, carried by MiG-31 fighter jets, has a range of up to 2,000 kilometers (about 1,250 miles) and flies at 10 times the speed of sound. Pentagon press secretary John Kirby said the U.S. couldn’t confirm the use of a hypersonic missile. U.N. bodies have confirmed more than 847 civilian deaths since the war began, though they concede the actual toll is likely much higher. The U.N. says more than 3.3 million people have fled Ukraine as refugees. The northwestern Kyiv suburbs of Bucha, Hostomel, Irpin and Moshchun were under fire Saturday, the Kyiv regional administration reported. It said Slavutich, 165 kilometers (103 miles) north of the capital, was “completely isolated.” Evacuations from Mariupol and other besieged cities proceeded along eight of 10 humanitarian corridors, Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk said, and a total of 6,623 people were evacuated. Waiting to board a bus at a triage center near the Moldova-Ukraine border, a woman named Irina said she decided to leave home in Mykolaiv this week after a loud explosion shook the walls, waking her young daughter. “Can you imagine the fear I had, not for me but for my child?” said Irina, who didn’t provide her last name. “So we made decision to arrive here, but I don’t know where we are going, where we’ll stay.” Vereshchuk said planned humanitarian aid for the southern city of Kherson, which Russia seized early in the war, could not be delivered because the trucks were stopped along the way by Russian troops. Ukraine and Russia have held several rounds of negotiations aimed at ending the conflict but remain divided over several issues, with Moscow pressing for its neighbor’s demilitarization and Kyiv demanding security guarantees. Putin spoke by phone Saturday for a second time this week with Luxembourg Prime Minister Xavier Bettel. The Kremlin said Putin “outlined fundamental assessments of the course of the talks between Russian and Ukrainian representatives,” while Bettel informed him about “contacts with the leadership of Ukraine and other countries.” British Foreign Secretary Liz Truss accused Putin of using the talks as a “smokescreen” while his forces regroup. “We don’t see any serious withdrawal of Russian troops or any serious proposals on the table,” she told the Times of London. U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, during a Saturday visit to NATO ally Bulgaria, said the Russian invasion had “stalled on a number of fronts” but the U.S. had not yet seen signs that Putin was deploying additional forces. Around Ukraine, hospitals, schools and buildings where people sought safety have been attacked. At least 130 people survived the Wednesday bombing of a Mariupol theater that was being used a shelter, but another 1,300 were believed to be still inside, Ludmyla Denisova, the Ukrainian Parliament’s human rights commissioner, said Friday. “We pray that they will all be alive, but so far there is no information about them,” Denisova told Ukrainian television. A satellite image from Maxar Technologies released Saturday confirmed earlier reports that much of the theater was destroyed. It also showed the word “CHILDREN” written in Russian in large white letters outside the building. Zelenskyy said more than 9,000 people were able to leave Mariupol on Friday along a route leading 227 kilometers (141 miles) to the city of Zaporizhzhia — which is also under attack. Southern Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhia region announced a 38-hour curfew after two missile strikes killed nine people Friday. Russian forces have fired on eight cities and villages in the eastern Donetsk region in the past 24 hours, including Mariupol, Ukraine’s national police said Saturday. Dozens of civilians were killed or wounded, and at least 37 residential buildings and facilities were damaged including a school, a museum and a shopping center. In the western city of Lviv, Ukraine’s cultural capital, which was hit by Russian missiles on Friday, military veterans were training dozens of civilians on how to handle firearms and grenades. “It’s hard, because I have really weak hands, but I can manage it,” said one trainee, 22-year-old Katarina Ishchenko. ALSO READ: Russia uses hypersonic Kinzhal 'Dagger' missiles to destroy large weapons base in Ukraine: ReportsRussia-Ukraine War: Russian forces pushed deeper into Ukraine’s besieged and battered port city of Mariupol on Saturday (March 19), where heavy fighting shut down a major steel plant and local authorities pleaded for more Western help.The fall of Mariupol, the scene of some of the war’s worst suffering, would mark a major battlefield advance for the Russians, who are largely bogged down outside major cities more than three weeks into the biggest land invasion in Europe since World War II.“Children, elderly people are dying. The city is destroyed and it is wiped off the face of the earth,” Mariupol police officer Michail Vershnin said from a rubble-strewn street in a video addressed to Western leaders that was authenticated by The Associated Press.Details also began to emerge Saturday about a rocket attack that killed as many as 40 marines in the southern city of Mykolaiv the previous day, according to a Ukrainian military official who spoke to The New York Times.Russian forces have already cut Mariupol off from the Sea of Azov, and its fall would link Crimea, which Russia annexed in 2014, to eastern territories controlled by Moscow-backed separatists. It would mark a rare advance in the face of fierce Ukrainian resistance that has dashed Russia’s hopes for a quick victory and galvanized the West.Ukrainian and Russian forces battled over the Azovstal steel plant in Mariupol, Vadym Denysenko, adviser to Ukraine’s interior minister, said Saturday. “One of the largest metallurgical plants in Europe is actually being destroyed,” Denysenko said in televised remarks.The Mariupol city council claimed hours later that Russian soldiers had forcibly relocated several thousand city residents, mostly women and children, to Russia. It didn’t say where in Russia, and AP could not immediately confirm the claim.Oleksiy Arestovych, an adviser to Ukraine’s president, said the nearest forces that could assist Mariupol were already struggling against “the overwhelming force of the enemy” or at least 100 kilometers (60 miles) away.“There is currently no military solution to Mariupol,” he said late Friday. “That is not only my opinion, that is the opinion of the military.”In Mykolaiv, rescuers searched the rubble of the marine barracks that was destroyed in an apparent missile attack Friday. The region’s governor said the marines were asleep when the attack happened.It isn’t clear how many marines were inside at the time, and rescuers were still searching the rubble for survivors the following day. But a senior Ukrainian military official, who spoke to The New York Times on condition of anonymity to reveal sensitive information, estimated that as many as 40 marines were killed, which would make it one of the deadliest known attacks on Ukrainian forces during the war.Ukrainian President Volodomir Zelensky has remained defiant, appearing in a video early Saturday that was shot on the streets of the capital, Kyiv.Zelenskyy said Russia is trying to starve Ukraine’s cities into submission but warned that continuing the invasion would exact a heavy toll on Moscow. He also repeated his call for Russian President Vladimir Putin to meet with him to prevent more bloodshed.ALSO READ: Russian invasion has shaken roots of in'tl order, says Kishida at joint media brief with PM Modi“The time has come to restore territorial integrity and justice for Ukraine. Otherwise, Russia’s costs will be so high that you will not be able to rise again for several generations,” he said.Putin appeared Friday at a rally in Moscow where he lavished praise on his country’s military.“We have not had unity like this for a long time,” Putin told the cheering crowd.The rally took place as Russia has faced heavier-than-expected losses on the battlefield and increasingly authoritarian rule at home, where police have detained thousands of antiwar protesters.Estimates of Russian deaths vary widely, but even conservative figures are in the low thousands. Russia had 64 deaths in five days of fighting during its 2008 war with Georgia. It lost about 15,000 in Afghanistan over 10 years, and more than 11,000 in years of fighting in Chechnya.The Russian military said Saturday that it used its latest hypersonic missile for the first time in combat. Maj. Gen. Igor Konashenkov said Kinzhal missiles destroyed an underground warehouse storing Ukrainian missiles and aviation ammunition in the western region of Ivano-Frankivsk.Russia has said the Kinzhal, carried by MiG-31 fighter jets, has a range of up to 2,000 kilometers (about 1,250 miles) and flies at 10 times the speed of sound.Pentagon press secretary John Kirby said the U.S. couldn’t confirm the use of a hypersonic missile.U.N. bodies have confirmed more than 847 civilian deaths since the war began, though they concede the actual toll is likely much higher. The U.N. says more than 3.3 million people have fled Ukraine as refugees.The northwestern Kyiv suburbs of Bucha, Hostomel, Irpin and Moshchun were under fire Saturday, the Kyiv regional administration reported. It said Slavutich, 165 kilometers (103 miles) north of the capital, was “completely isolated.”Evacuations from Mariupol and other besieged cities proceeded along eight of 10 humanitarian corridors, Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk said, and a total of 6,623 people were evacuated.Waiting to board a bus at a triage center near the Moldova-Ukraine border, a woman named Irina said she decided to leave home in Mykolaiv this week after a loud explosion shook the walls, waking her young daughter.“Can you imagine the fear I had, not for me but for my child?” said Irina, who didn’t provide her last name. “So we made decision to arrive here, but I don’t know where we are going, where we’ll stay.”Vereshchuk said planned humanitarian aid for the southern city of Kherson, which Russia seized early in the war, could not be delivered because the trucks were stopped along the way by Russian troops.Ukraine and Russia have held several rounds of negotiations aimed at ending the conflict but remain divided over several issues, with Moscow pressing for its neighbor’s demilitarization and Kyiv demanding security guarantees.Putin spoke by phone Saturday for a second time this week with Luxembourg Prime Minister Xavier Bettel. The Kremlin said Putin “outlined fundamental assessments of the course of the talks between Russian and Ukrainian representatives,” while Bettel informed him about “contacts with the leadership of Ukraine and other countries.”British Foreign Secretary Liz Truss accused Putin of using the talks as a “smokescreen” while his forces regroup. “We don’t see any serious withdrawal of Russian troops or any serious proposals on the table,” she told the Times of London.U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, during a Saturday visit to NATO ally Bulgaria, said the Russian invasion had “stalled on a number of fronts” but the U.S. had not yet seen signs that Putin was deploying additional forces.Around Ukraine, hospitals, schools and buildings where people sought safety have been attacked.At least 130 people survived the Wednesday bombing of a Mariupol theater that was being used a shelter, but another 1,300 were believed to be still inside, Ludmyla Denisova, the Ukrainian Parliament’s human rights commissioner, said Friday.“We pray that they will all be alive, but so far there is no information about them,” Denisova told Ukrainian television.A satellite image from Maxar Technologies released Saturday confirmed earlier reports that much of the theater was destroyed. It also showed the word “CHILDREN” written in Russian in large white letters outside the building.Zelenskyy said more than 9,000 people were able to leave Mariupol on Friday along a route leading 227 kilometers (141 miles) to the city of Zaporizhzhia — which is also under attack.Southern Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhia region announced a 38-hour curfew after two missile strikes killed nine people Friday.Russian forces have fired on eight cities and villages in the eastern Donetsk region in the past 24 hours, including Mariupol, Ukraine’s national police said Saturday. Dozens of civilians were killed or wounded, and at least 37 residential buildings and facilities were damaged including a school, a museum and a shopping center.In the western city of Lviv, Ukraine’s cultural capital, which was hit by Russian missiles on Friday, military veterans were training dozens of civilians on how to handle firearms and grenades.“It’s hard, because I have really weak hands, but I can manage it,” said one trainee, 22-year-old Katarina Ishchenko. 

Russians push deeper into Mariupol as locals plead for help

The fall of Mariupol, the scene of some of the war’s worst suffering, would mark a major battlefield advance for the Russians, who are largely bogged down outside major cities more than three weeks into the biggest land invasion in Europe since World War II.

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People gather at a New York rally.More than 800,000 noncitizens and “Dreamers” in New York City will have access to the ballot box — and could vote in municipal elections as early as next year — after Mayor Eric Adams allowed legislation to automatically become law Sunday.Opponents have vowed to challenge the new law, which the City Council approved a month ago. Unless a judge halts its implementation, New York City is the first major U.S. city to grant widespread municipal voting rights to noncitizens.More than a dozen communities across the U.S. already allow noncitizens to cast ballots in local elections, including 11 towns in Maryland and two in Vermont.Noncitizens still wouldn't be able to vote for president or members of Congress in federal races, or in the state elections that pick the governor, judges and legislators.The Board of Elections must now begin drawing an implementation plan by July, including voter registration rules and provisions that would create separate ballots for municipal races to prevent noncitizens from casting ballots in federal and state contests.It's a watershed moment for the nation's most populous city, where legally documented, voting-age noncitizens comprise nearly one in nine of the city's 7 million voting-age inhabitants. The movement to win voting rights for noncitizens prevailed after numerous setbacks.The measure would allow noncitizens who have been lawful permanent residents of the city for at least 30 days, as well as those authorized to work in the U.S., including "Dreamers,” to help select the city's mayor, city council members, borough presidents, comptroller and public advocate.“Dreamers” are young immigrants brought to the U.S. illegally as children who would benefit from the never-passed DREAM Act or the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, which allows them to remain in the country if they meet certain criteria.The first elections in which noncitizens would be allowed to vote are in 2023.“We build a stronger democracy when we include the voices of immigrants,” said former City Councilmember Ydanis Rodriguez, who led the charge to win approval for the legislation.Rodriguez, who Adams appointed as his transportation commissioner, thanked the mayor for his support and expects a vigorous defense against any legal challenges.Adams recently cast uncertainty over the legislation when he raised concern about the monthlong residency standard, but later said those concerns did not mean he would veto the bill.While there was some question whether Adams could stop the bill from becoming law, the 30-day time limit for the mayor to take action expired at the stroke of midnight. Adams said he looked forward to the law bringing millions more into the democratic process.“I believe that New Yorkers should have a say in their government, which is why I have and will continue to support this important legislation,” Adams said in a statement released Saturday night. He added that his earlier concerns were put at ease after what he called productive dialogue with colleagues.Former Mayor Bill de Blasio had similar concerns but did not move to veto the measure before vacating City Hall at the end of the year.Opponents say the council lacks the authority on its own to grant voting rights to noncitizens and should have first sought action by state lawmakers.Some states, including Alabama, Arizona, Colorado and Florida, have adopted rules that would preempt any attempts to pass laws like the one in New York City.ALSO READ | US: Omicron explosion spurs nationwide breakdown of servicesALSO READ | New coronavirus variant 'Deltacron' emerges in Cyprus; experts say 'not something to be worried about'

Noncitizens in New York city may have right to vote as early as next year

More than a dozen communities across the U.S. already allow noncitizens to cast ballots in local elections, including 11 towns in Maryland and two in Vermont.

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More than 31,400 people have been displaced from their homes by the two massive earthquakes in the Philippines last week(Representational image)More than 31,400 people have been displaced from their homes by the two massive earthquakes measuring 6.6 and 6.5 on the Richter Scale that jolted Mindanao Island in the Philippines last week, the government said on Monday. The earthquakes left 22 dead, two missing and more than 400 injured, reports Efe news.Some 24,000 of those displaced have been housed in evacuation centre in the most severely affected provinces, especially Cotabato and Davao Sur, while another 7,465 have taken shelter with friends and family, according to data released by the Department of Social Welfare and Development.In the affected areas, 29,377 houses were damaged, 21,064 of them totally destroyed, according to the department, which has released 11 million pesos ($218,000) to assist the affected families, reports Efe news.Meanwhile, the National Disaster Risk Management and Reduction Council added a new victim to the number of deaths caused by earthquakes and pegged the number of injured at 424. A magnitude-6.5 earthquake struck the southern Philippines on October 31, just two days after another one of magnitude-6.6 in the same area, near the city of Tulunan, Cotabato, which suffered the most damage along with Kidapawan and Makilala.On October 16, the same area was struck by another 6.4-magnitude earthquake - once again with the epicenter in Tulunan - that left seven dead and 200 injured. The Philippines is located along the Ring of Fire, a region of high volcanic and seismic activity that is shaken every year by some 7,000 quakes, most of them moderate.ALSO READ| Philippines earthquake toll rises to 7, 400 injuredALSO READ| Powerful earthquake, 246 aftershocks rattle Philippines; casualties reported

Over 31,400 displaced due to quakes in Philippines

The earthquakes left 22 dead, two missing and more than 400 injured, reports Efe news. Some 24,000 of those displaced have been housed in evacuation centre in the most severely affected provinces, especially Cotabato and Davao Sur

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WHO recommends wider use of face masks to curb COVID-19The World Health Organization (WHO) on Friday updated its guidance on the use of masks for control of COVID-19, advising all people aged 60 years or over, or those with underlying conditions, to wear a medical mask in situations where physical distancing is not possible. The new guidance advises medical masks for all people working in clinical areas of a health facility in areas with widespread transmission, not only workers dealing with COVID-19 patients, Xinhua reported."That means, for example, when a doctor is doing a ward round on the cardiology or palliative care units where there are no confirmed COVID-19 patients, they should still wear a medical mask," WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said at a virtual press conference.The new guidance also updated the WHO's advice on the use of masks by the general public in areas with community transmission."In light of evolving evidence, WHO advises that governments should encourage the general public to wear masks where there is widespread transmission and physical distancing is difficult," Tedros said while introducing the new guidance.Based on new research, the WHO also advises that fabric masks should consist of at least three layers of different materials.However, the UN health body warns that masks are not a replacement for physical distancing, hand hygiene and other public health measures, and they are only of benefit as part of a comprehensive approach in the fight against COVID-19."The cornerstone of the response in every country must be to find, isolate, test and care for every case, and to trace and quarantine every contact," Tedros stressed.

WHO recommends wider use of face masks to curb COVID-19

The World Health Organization (WHO) on Friday updated its guidance on the use of masks for control of COVID-19, advising all people aged 60 years or over, or those with underlying conditions, to wear a medical mask in situations where physical distancing is not possible.

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U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres addresses his statement, during the opening of the High-Level Segment of the 43rd session of the Human Rights Council, at the European headquarters of the United Nations in Geneva, SwitzerlandChildren have so far largely escaped the most severe symptoms of COVID-19 but the social and economic impact “is potentially catastrophic for millions of children,” according to a UN report launched Thursday. It said COVID-19 is turning into “a broader child-rights crisis.” “All children, of all ages, and in all countries, are affected,” it said. “However, some children are destined to bear the greatest costs.” Those badly hit will be children living in slums, refugee and displacement camps, conflict zones, institutions and detention centers and youngsters with disabilities, the report said.UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres warned in a video statement launching the report that the coronavirus pandemic is putting many of the world’s children “in jeopardy” and urged families everywhere and leaders at all levels to “protect our children.”The UN chief said the lives of children “are being totally upended” by COVID-19.He pointed to almost all students out of school, family stress levels rising as communities face lock-downs, and reduced household income expected to force poor families to cut back on essential health and food expenditures, “particularly affecting children.”Guterres said the global recession that is gathering pace as a result of the pandemic and the measures being taken to mitigate it could lead to “hundreds of thousands additional child deaths in 2020.”According to the report, “This would effectively reverse the last two to three years of progress in reducing infant mortality within a single year.”The estimate of hundreds of thousands of additional child deaths came from a 2011 paper by three economists — Sarah Baird, Jed Friedman, and Norbert Schady — who investigated the impact of “income shocks,” like a recession, on infant mortality.The report urges governments and donors to prioritize education for all children and give special priority to the most vulnerable – youngsters in conflicts and refugee camps, and those who are displaced and disabled. It also calls for governments and donors to provide economic assistance, including cash transfers, to low-income families.On education, the report said 188 countries have imposed countrywide school closures, affecting more than 1.5 billion children and young people and it said nearly 369 million children in 143 countries who rely on school meals for daily nutrition must now look to other sources.Guterres said some schools are offering online learning but children without access to the internet and in countries with slow and expensive services are severely disadvantaged.Noting that children are both victims and witnesses of domestic violence and abuse, he said, “with schools closed, an important early warning mechanism is missing.”Also Read | Coronavirus-hit Chinese economy shrinks 6.8 pct in Q1, worst since 1976Also Read | Coronavirus Crisis: UK becomes the 6th country to cross 100,000 cases

Coronavirus pandemic turning into ‘child-rights crisis’: UN report

On education, the report by the United Nations said 188 countries have imposed countrywide school closures, affecting more than 1.5 billion children and young people and it said nearly 369 million children in 143 countries who rely on school meals for daily nutrition must now look to other sources.

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Pakistan is working on a massive project with China as part of the $55-billion CPEC project to develop a communications system which is not routed through India and the US, a media report said on Sunday.The roadmap of the Long Term Plan (LTP) for the China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) was developed from November 2013 to December 2015 by officials and experts from both countries, the Dawn reported. The plan contains a detailed 21-page outline specific to communications and envisions to span up to 15 years, starting in 2016 and concluding in 2030.After examination of the LTP document, the report said that the project aims at a revamped communications framework, which includes components such as a fibre optic cable connecting Pakistan and China, a new submarine landing station for internet traffic flow, e-governance and digital TV for all.The most critical component is a new, upgraded fibre optic cable network which spans across Pakistan and crosses the border to connect directly with China. The cross-border fibre optic cable will address multiple challenges faced by China and Pakistan.Firstly, it said it will handle the anticipated increase in communication between the two countries.With "deepening comprehensive strategic cooperation" comes the need to establish fast, reliable connectivity - and perhaps most critically - communication that is not routed through Europe, the US and India, the daily said.China also has in mind its increasing international telecommunications service demands which, if not addressed, may end up exposing "a huge gap" in China's international bandwidth.If actualised according to the LTP, the new network will be beneficial to Pakistan by improving internet penetration and increasing speed, especially in Balochistan and Gilgit-Baltistan, regions where internet connectivity has ranged from poor to non-existent. It should also reduce the cost of internet connections.Additionally, linking with the rest of the world through China will help reduce Pakistan's dependence on undersea cables that carry the country's internet traffic. In cases where the undersea cables develop a fault - as has occurred in the past - the document says another route would be in place.More broadly, the new network would provide landlocked central Asian states a new, shorter and more cost-effective route for connectivity.The existing fibre optic network through which Pakistan connects to the world has been developed by a consortium that has Indian companies either as partners or shareholders. This is viewed as a security concern when it comes to surveillance of communication.As recently as January this year, Director General Special Communications Organisation (SCO) Maj Gen Amir Azeem Bajwa informed the National Assembly Standing Committee on Information Technology that some incoming and outbound internet traffic landed in India before being routed to its destinations, posing a security risk for Pakistan.

Pak overhauling communications system with help from China: Report

The plan contains a detailed 21-page outline specific to communications and envisions to span up to 15 years, starting in 2016 and concluding in 2030.

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Taiwan president calls for clear probe of train crash which killed 18Taiwan’s president pressed for a quick, transparent probe into the cause of the island’s worst train crash in nearly three decades as the search of the derailed cars ended and crash investigators examined the wreckage Monday.The eight-car Puyuma express ran off the tracks as it went around a bend where the maximum speed is 75 kilometers per hour (47 mph). Video footage obtained by local media showed the train striking and toppling a beam and ripping down metal structures from above the tracks as it crashed.Related Stories Madhya Pradesh: 24 wagons of goods train derail in Satna, traffic affectedTaiwan: 17 killed, 132 injured as train with over 300 passengers on board derails near Taitung cityTaiwan train derailment: President calls for swift investigation after accident kills 18 people in TaitungEighteen people were killed and 187 injured in the crash that left most of the cars damaged and five overturned in a zig-zag pattern to the left of the tracks. Rescuers searched through the night for more victims before work crews moved the derailed cars upright to assist the investigation."Everyone cares a lot about the cause of the accident," Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen said in a statement from her office. "Therefore we request that the investigating departments must as soon as possible make clear the timing and situation of the whole accident from start to finish and be able to give citizens a report."That report may take more than a day as investigators do interviews and check records, a Taiwan Railways Administration spokesman said on customary condition of anonymity. The speed of the train was not being released due to the pending investigation, but has not been ruled out as a cause.The Taiwan Railways Administration said it has not released any official video pending the investigation.Survivors told Taiwan’s official Central News Agency the driver applied emergency brakes multiple times before the train derailed. One told local television reporters the train sped up after taking the curve.Crash investigators checked inside and underneath the now-upright cars for evidence. The Yilan County prosecutor also surveyed the wreckage as her office talked to witnesses.The 6-year-old trains were built to travel at an especially fast 150 kph to ease transportation on rugged parts of the island. They are designed to tilt when going around curves.Taiwan Railways bought the Puyuma cars in 2011 from Japanese maker Nippon Sharyo for $260 million. The seller said then that the trains were part of a $46 billion upgrade of the line along Taiwan’s east coast.The train that derailed had its most recent inspection and major maintenance work in 2017, Taiwan Railways Director Lu Chieh-shen said Sunday at a televised news conference. Lu offered to resign Monday, an offer that is not unusual in Taiwan in such situations. It’s not yet certain if his offer would be accepted or if he would be asked to stay as the investigation continues.Five people killed including a 9-year-old boy and a 12-year-old girl belonged to a single family. Three students and two teachers who died were from the same middle school.Some passengers were crushed to death, Ministry of National Defense spokesman Chen Chung-chi said. Of the total injured, seven were still receiving intensive hospital care on Monday morning, county news liaison Liu Ya-chih said. No one had life-threatening injuries, she said.The train had been carrying more than 360 passengers on a popular weekend route from a suburb of Taipei in the north to Taitung, a city on Taiwan’s southeast coast.Railway service was partly restored Monday.A 1991 train wreck killed 30 people, and Sunday’s derailment was at least the third deadly rail accident in Taiwan since 2003.A tourist train overturned in the southern mountains in April 2011 after a large tree fell into its path. Five Chinese visitors were killed. A train undertaking a test run ignored a stop sign and crashed into another train in northeastern Taiwan in June 2007. Five people were killed and 16 others hurt.And in March 2003, a train derailed near a popular mountain resort, killing 17 people and hurting more than 100 people. Investigators blamed brake failure.

Taiwan president calls for clear probe of train crash which killed 18

Video footage obtained by local media showed the train striking and toppling a beam and ripping down metal structures from above the tracks as it crashed.

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Harsh Vardhan ShringlaIndia saw its best phase of macro-economic stability in the past five years and is set to become the fifth largest economy in the world by the end of this year, the country's top diplomat in the US has said, urging the young American students to come and study in India.Speaking at the ongoing 71st Annual Conference and Expo of Association of International Educators, India's ambassador to the US Harsh Vardhan Shringla said the University Grants Commission (UGC) is a statutory organisation established for the coordination, determination, and maintenance of standards of university education.Related Stories Fact check: No, he is not an ‘Indian millionaire’ showering dollars to celebrate Modi’s winJ&K: Pakistan violates ceasefire in Nowshera, Indian Army retaliating Army detains 2 suspects near military station in J&K's Ratnuchak; Pakistan angle zeroed in onDelhi University to issue smart identity cards, test applicants' certificates forensically from this yearThe UGC even hosts the list of fake education institutions in India on its website so that there is no fraud with the students, he said."You are guaranteed of the excellent quality education as we have a robust ranking/accreditation system, which you may study while taking admission in Indian University," Shringla said Tuesday."Look at the other advantages of studying in India; you will be part of the fastest growing major global economy. Studying for short term or long term in India would provide students with an opportunity to understand the government systems, culture, and markets closely," he said.It would provide the international students with a unique perspective and understanding of India that would be useful in their careers in the business, government or non-profit sector, he said.Shringla said that India witnessed its best phase of macro-economic stability in the past five years."From being the 11th largest economy in the world in 2013-14, we are heading to become the fifth largest economy in the world by end of this year," he said.In Purchasing Power Parity terms, today, India is the third largest economy in the World, after China and the USA, he said.India is poised to become a five trillion dollar economy in the next five years and aspires to become a ten trillion dollar economy in the next eight years thereafter."Due to a stable and predictable regulatory regime, growing economy and strong fundamentals, India could attract massive amount of Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) during the last five years - as much as USD 239 billion," he said."This period also witnessed a rapid liberalisation of the FDI policy, allowing most FDI to come through the automatic route. The last five years also witnessed a wave of next-generation structural reforms, which have set the stage for decades of high growth," said the Indian Envoy.Indian Education system is the world's third largest higher education system with 907 universities, 43,000 colleges and a capacity of enrolling more than a whopping 30 million students, the envoy said.Shringla said the higher education institutions in India offered courses and degrees that are competitive in the world market in terms of quality but are delivered at one-fourth the cost.The Indian education system is vast in size, as well as its academic offerings.It ranges from exposure to the latest advancements of science and technology like Virtual and Augmented Reality, Artificial Intelligence, and Cognitive Computing to Yoga, Ayurveda, Sanskrit, languages and classical music and dances.This vastness of the Indian education system directly translates to enhanced opportunities for its students and global learning for an all-round academic and personal development, the envoy said.A burgeoning IT and Services sector has led to a robust placement-oriented education as about 200 of the Fortune 500 companies hire regularly from Indian campuses, Shringla said, adding that India has been and continues to be home to innovation, creativity, and leadership.The strength of India's education system may be gauged from the fact that the world's leading companies are being led by students of the Indian education system, he said.To give you a few examples - CEO Microsoft Satya Nadella is an alumni of Manipal Academy of Higher Education, CEO, Google Inc Sundar Pichai studied at Indian Institute of Technology, Kharagpur and Indira Nooyi, CEO of Pepsi Co is an alumnus of Indian Institute of Management, Calcutta, Shringla said.

India's US envoy urges American students to study in Indian Universities

It would provide the international students with a unique perspective and understanding of India that would be useful in their careers in the business, government or non-profit sector, he said.

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Russian President Vladimir Putin has held the United States responsible for the global cyber-attack that hit 150 countries since Friday crippling computer systems across the world.According to Daily Mail, Putin added that said intelligence services should beware of creating software that can later be used for malicious means.   “As regards the source of these threats, I believe that the leadership of Microsoft have announced this plainly, that the initial source of the virus is the intelligence services of the U.S.,” Mr. Putin said.“Once they are let out of the lamp, genies of this kind, especially those created by intelligence services, can later do damage to their authors and creators,” he told reporters in Beijing.Mr. Putin claimed there was no significant damage to Russian institutions, including its banking and healthcare systems, from the computer worm. “But as a whole it is worrying, there’s nothing good about it, it is a source of concern.”He added that global leaders needed to discuss cyber security at a “serious political level” and said the U.S. has backed away from signing a cyber security agreement with Russia.The initial attack, known as WannaCry, paralysed British National Health Services (NHC) computers, Germany’s national railway and scores of other companies and government agencies around the world.In China, universities and other educational institutions were among the hardest hit, with about 15% of the internet protocol addresses attacked, according to Xinhua News Agency.(With IANS inputs)

US to blame for global cyber-attack: Vladimir Putin

Russian President Vladimir Putin has held the United States responsible for the global cyber-attack that hit 150 countries since Friday crippling computer systems across the world.

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President Donald Trump speaks to members of the press as Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar, left, and CDC Director Robert Redfield, right, at the headquarters of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta on Friday, March 6, 2020.Cruise officials and passengers confined to their rooms on a ship circling international waters off the San Francisco Bay voiced mounting frustration as the weekend wore on with no direction from authorities on where to go after 21 people on board tested positive for the new coronavirus.The Grand Princess was forbidden to dock in San Francisco amid evidence that the vessel was the breeding ground for a cluster of about 20 cases that resulted in at least one death after its previous voyage. The ship is carrying more than 3,500 people from 54 countries.Jan Swartz, group president of Princess Cruises and Carnival Australia, told reporters Saturday that cruise officials want guests and crew off the ship as soon as possible, but the decision-making is out of their hands.“”From where we sit, there are many different authorities involved in the decision, and we are awaiting that decision,” she said. “So we are hopeful that decision will be made quickly so our guests and team can be cared for.”The U.S. death toll from the virus climbed to 19, with all but three of the victims in Washington state. The number of infections swelled to more than 400, scattered across states. Pennsylvania, Indiana, Minnesota, Nebraska and Kansas reported their first cases.In California, state authorities were working with federal officials to bring the 951-foot (290-meter) Grand Princess cruise ship to a non-commercial port and test those aboard.Vice President Mike Pence said at a Saturday meeting with cruise line executives in Florida that officials were still working on a plan.“All passengers and crew will be tested for the coronavirus and quarantined as necessary,” Pence said.Princess said the ship is about 50 miles (80 kilometers) off the coast of San Francisco. It said a critically ill passenger was taken from the ship to a medical facility for treatment unrelated to the virus.While health officials said about 1,100 crew members will remain aboard, passengers could be disembarked to face quarantine, possibly at U.S. military bases or other sites, as were hundreds of Americans exposed to the virus on another cruise ship in January.On social media, people pleaded Saturday with elected officials to let the ship dock as they endured a second full day confined to their rooms as officials disclosed more information about how they think the outbreak occurred.Officials believe a 71-year-old Northern California man who later died of the virus was probably sick when he boarded the ship for a Feb. 11 cruise to Mexico, said Grant Tarling, chief medical officer for Carnival Corporation.The passenger visited the medical center the day before disembarking with symptoms of respiratory illness, he said. Others who were on that voyage also have tested positive in Northern California, Minnesota, Illinois, Hawaii, Utah and Canada.The passenger likely infected his dining room server, who also tested positive for the virus, Tarling said. Two passengers now on the ship who have the virus were not on the previous cruise, he said.Passenger Karen Dever of Moorestown, New Jersey, agreed she should be tested but wants officials to let her go if her results come back negative.“Fourteen more days on this ship, I think by the end I will need a mental health visit,” she said with a laugh. “I’m an American. I should be able to come home.”Rex Lawson, 86, of Santa Cruz County in California, said he and his wife were lucky to have a balcony and fresh air. But he feels for travelers confined to interior rooms.“It’s quite anxious because we don’t know what’s going on. I guess nobody knows what’s going on,” he said. “It looks like we get information from the television first and then the captain.”President Donald Trump, speaking Friday at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta, said he would prefer not to allow the passengers onto American soil but will defer to medical experts.“I don’t need to have the numbers (of U.S. cases) double because of one ship that wasn’t our fault,” Trump said while touring the CDC in Atlanta. “And it wasn’t the fault of the people on the ship either. OK? It wasn’t their fault either.”Another Princess ship, the Diamond Princess, was quarantined for two weeks in Yokohama, Japan, last month because of the virus. Ultimately, about 700 of the 3,700 people aboard became infected in what experts pronounced a public-health failure, with the vessel essentially becoming a floating germ factory.Experts say recirculated air from a cruise ship’s ventilation system, plus the close quarters and communal settings, make passengers and crew vulnerable to infectious diseases.Experts say ship air conditioning systems are not designed to filter out particles as small as the coronavirus, allowing the disease to rapidly circulate to other cabins.“The passengers should be quarantined on shore if there is a suitable facility,” said Qingyan Chen, a Purdue University air quality expert, in an email.Worldwide, the virus has infected more than 100,000 people and killed over 3,400, the vast majority of them in China. Most cases have been mild, and more than half of those infected have recovered. 

Coronavirus outbreak: Frustration mounts over virus-stalled ship in California

Cruise officials and passengers confined to their rooms on a ship circling international waters off the San Francisco Bay voiced mounting frustration as the weekend wore on with no direction from authorities on where to go after 21 people on board tested positive for the new coronavirus.

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Same old political stakeholders as Israel goes to poll for the third time in a yearIsraelis were voting Monday in the country’s unprecedented third election in less than a year to decide whether longtime Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu stays in power despite his upcoming criminal trial on corruption charges.Netanyahu, the longest serving leader in Israeli history, has been the caretaker prime minister for more than a year as a divided Israel has weathered two inconclusive elections and a prolonged political paralysis. With opinion polls forecasting another deadlock, Netanyahu is seeking a late surge in support to score a parliamentary majority along with other nationalist parties that will deliver him a fourth consecutive term in office, and fifth overall.He faces a stiff challenge once again from retired military chief Benny Gantz, whose centrist Blue and White party is running even with Netanyahu’s Likud on a campaign message that Israel’s longtime prime minister is unfit to lead because of the serious charges against him.Both parties appear unable to form a coalition with their traditional allies. With the prospect of a unity government between them seemingly off the table after a particularly nasty campaign, Monday’s vote may well turn into merely a preamble to another election.“I hope that today marks the start of a healing process, where we can begin living together again,” Gantz said upon voting in his hometown of Rosh Ha’ayin in central Israel, warning voters not to “get drawn in by the lies or by the violence” after the acrimonious election campaign.There was little fanfare in the days leading up to the vote, with a noticeable absence of campaign posters on the streets and public rallies that typically characterize the run-up to Israeli elections. With voter fatigue clearly a factor, turnout could prove to be decisive. Election day is a national holiday in Israel and the country usually boasts one of the highest voter turnouts among Western democracies. But the second repeat vote and fears of the new coronavirus, which has so far has been kept largely in check, look to hinder turnout.Israel set up some 15 stations to allow voting by hundreds of Israelis who have been ordered to remain in home-quarantine after possible exposure to the virus.“The corona thing is completely under control. Today we’ve taken all the precautions that are necessary, people can go and vote, with complete confidence,” Netanyahu said, after placing his vote in Jerusalem.Netanyahu has tried to portray himself as a statesman who is uniquely qualified to lead the country through challenging times. Gantz has tried to paint Netanyahu as divisive and scandal-plagued, offering himself as a calming influence and an honest alternative.Gantz says he favors a national unity government with Likud, but only if it rids itself of its longtime leader because of the corruption charges against him. Netanyahu, who still enjoys widespread support in his party, insists he must remain prime minister in any unity deal.With his career on the line, Netanyahu has campaigned furiously. He’s taken a hard turn to the right in hopes of rallying his nationalist base, promising to expand and annex West Bank settlements. In a campaign that has been marked by ugly smears, Netanyahu’s surrogates have spread unfounded allegations claiming Gantz is corrupt, unstable and susceptible to blackmail by Iran.The most recent attempt appears to have backfired. Recordings have revealed Netanyahu lied on live television about not being involved in a plot to secretly record a Gantz consultant disparaging his boss. Channel 12 aired audio Sunday night of Netanyahu speaking to the rabbi who clandestinely recorded the Gantz adviser and discussing when it would be leaked to the media.Netanyahu is desperate to score a narrow 61-seat majority in parliament with his hard-line religious and nationalist allies before heading to trial two weeks later. Netanyahu has failed to secure himself immunity from prosecution, but with a strong hold on power he could seek other avenues to derail the legal proceedings against him.Netanyahu goes on trial March 17 for charges of bribery, fraud and breach of trust stemming from accusations he accepted lavish gifts from billionaire friends and promised to promote advantageous legislation for a major newspaper in exchange for favorable coverage. He vowed he will prove his innocence in court.Opinion polls forecast similar results to the previous two stalemates, and the deadlock raises the possibility of a fourth election in quick succession.Maverick politician Avigdor Lieberman once again looms as a potential kingmaker, with neither Netanyahu nor Gantz able to secure a parliamentary majority without his support. Lieberman has not committed himself to either candidate, though he has promised there will not be a fourth election.Polling stations opened across the country at 7 a.m. Monday with exit polls expected at the end of the voting day at 10 p.m. (20:00 GMT) Official results are projected to come in overnight.That’s when the real jockeying may get underway, with attention shifting to President Reuven Rivlin who is responsible for choosing a candidate for prime minister. He is supposed to select the leader who he believes has the best chance of putting together a stable coalition. The honor usually goes to the head of the largest party, but not necessarily. Just as important is the number of lawmakers outside his own party who recommend him to the president.Rivlin’s selection will then have up to six weeks to form a coalition. If he fails, another candidate then has 28 days to form an alternative coalition. If that effort fails, new elections would be forced. It’s a procedural process that remained hypothetical for Israel’s first 70 years of existence until it played out after the last election in September. Should results match current opinion polls, and all the major player stick to the campaign promises, it may well repeat itself.“This is usually a holiday, but to be honest I have no festivity in me just a sense of deep shame before you, the citizens of Israel,” Rivlin said as he cast his ballot. “We don’t deserve this. We don’t deserve another horrible and filthy campaign like the one that ends today and we don’t deserve this endless instability. We deserve a government that will work for us.”

Same old political stakeholders as Israel goes to poll for the third time in a year

Israelis were voting Monday in the country’s unprecedented third election in less than a year to decide whether longtime Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu stays in power despite his upcoming criminal trial on corruption charges.

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India scuttles 'hub of terror' Pak's attempt to raise Kashmir at UNGACalling it "the hub of terrorism", India has dismissed Pakistan's attempts to raise the Kashmir issue in the UN General Assembly after it had failed to get a hearing in the Security Council.Pakistan was attempting "to misuse this forum to spread baseless and deceitful narratives about my country", Indian diplomat Sandeep Kumar Bayyapu said on Thursday at the General Assembly debate on the Security Council's annual report."Such attempts have not succeeded earlier and will not succeed now," he said.A First Secretary in India's UN Mission, Bayyapu said: "The truth is that the delegation represents a geographical space that is now widely known as the hub of terrorism that has jeopardized innocent lives in our region and beyond."He declined to go into a point-by-point rebuttal of the statement made earlier by Pakistan's Permanent Representative Maleeha Lodhi, saying: "We do not wish to dignify such baseless diatribes with a response."Bayyapu devoted his speech to the working of the Council and its relationship to the Assembly."Many of the flaws in the functioning of the Council are structural," he said."Like most others, we remain convinced that the only remedy is a comprehensive reform of the Security Council, involving expansion in its permanent and non-permanent categories."Bayyapu said that the Council's "composition is demonstrably out of touch with ground realities" as it "neither reflects nor represents the aspirations and views of the larger membership".The 15-member Council is dominated by five veto-wielding permanent members, three of them from Europe.India is seeking a reform of the Council that would expand the permanent membership to include it and other countries, especially from Africa, to reflect the 21st century realities.Lodhi was critical of the Council, accusing it of actively pursuing some resolutions while ignoring others.Referring to the Council's resolution on Kashmir, she said: "As elsewhere, when the Council fails to implement its own resolutions, the price for this failure is paid, in blood, by generations of innocent people."Islamabad, however, failed to abide by the resolution.Forcing the implementation of Resolution 47 of 1948 that calls for a plebiscite, would require the Council to make Pakistan withdraw from the parts of Kashmir it occupies.The resolution made it a first condition that Pakistan pull out of Kashmir all its troops and those it sent in disguised as "tribesmen". Only after Pakistan had complied with that requirement would India be required to scale back its military presence, while being allowed to maintain some for defence.Pakistan has not been able to address the Council directly on the Kashmir issue and its request for an open session has been turned down.Lodhi now tried to address the Council at the Assembly.She said: "The Security Council must act, by demanding India to lift the curfew and end the communication blackout, allow the people to exercise all their rights including the right of peaceful assembly; release all those detained and all political prisoners; halt human rights violations, including the use of force against unarmed demonstrators, and use of pellet guns and live ammunition."The August 16 Council consultations on Kashmir held at China's behest were a closed-door affair and Pakistan could not attend it.

India scuttles 'hub of terror' Pak's attempt to raise Kashmir at UNGA

Pakistan was attempting "to misuse this forum to spread baseless and deceitful narratives about my country", Indian diplomat Sandeep Kumar Bayyapu said on Thursday at the General Assembly debate on the Security Council's annual report.

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Women 10 per cent more likely than men to feel unsafe in metro trains: StudyWomen are ten per cent more likely than men to feel unsafe on metro trains, and six per cent more likely to feel so on buses, according to a study which may lead to better interventions to bridge the safety gender gap in public transport.The study, published in the Journal of the Royal Statistical Society: Series A, assessed a third of a million passenger responses to Customer Satisfaction Surveys (CSSs) from 28 cities across four continents.According to the researchers, including those from Imperial College London in the UK, the largest difference between women and men's perceptions of safety was in Europe, where women were 12 per cent more likely to report feeling unsafe than men.The smallest difference was in South America, where women were nine per cent more likely to report feeling unsafe than men, they said.The findings, the study noted, highlight an important social issue that could be preventing some women from thriving both personally and professionally."Feeling unsafe can lead to social, professional, economic, and health problems for those affected. In this case, women who feel unsafe on public transport might turn down shift work at certain times of day, or avoid social or work events that require travelling a certain route," said Laila Ait Bihi Ouali, lead author of the study from Imperial College London.The surveys, the researchers said, asked passengers their level of agreement with various statements about availability, time, information, comfort, security, customer care, accessibility, environment, and overall satisfaction.They said the response options are usually -- agree strongly, agree, neither agree nor disagree, disagree, or disagree strongly.To carry out the study, the scientists looked at 327,403 completed responses to CSSs from 2009 to 2018.They also focussed on responses to three questions pertaining to feelings of 'security' and assigned numbers from one to five for each potential response (one for 'agree strongly; five for 'disagree strongly') to quantify the responses.Comparing the scores between men and women, the researchers looked at whether they differed alongside characteristics like rates of violence on the network, numbers of cars per train, and busyness of vehicles and stations.According to the study, around half of women surveyed felt safe on urban public transport -- 45 per cent felt safe in metro trains and stations, and 55 per cent felt safe in buses.But they said women were ten per cent more likely than men to report feeling unsafe in metro trains and stations, and six per cent more likely than men to feel unsafe in buses.The study also showed that women were overall less satisfied than men with public transport services, but the gap between genders for satisfaction was far less than for safety.This, according to the researchers, demonstrates that safety is an important part of overall passenger satisfaction.The study also noted that having more staff on metro trains may not be correlated with feelings of safety, but that more staff at stations were correlated with increased feelings of safety.According to the researchers, quantifying feelings of safety on public transport with operators' own data may help contribute towards creating tangible goals, which they said operators could use to improve people's feelings of safety."We hope that by putting a figure on feelings of safety, urban metro and bus companies can take measures to boost women's feelings of safety and reduce the gap between genders," Laila said."Feeling unsafe on public transport can prevent people from living as they otherwise would at certain times or on certain routes," said Dan Graham, study co-author from Imperial College London."We hope our results will highlight the gender gap in feelings of safety and nudge transport companies to implement changes to help women feel safer using public transport," Graham.

Women 10 per cent more likely than men to feel unsafe in metro trains: Study

Women are ten per cent more likely than men to feel unsafe on metro trains, and six per cent more likely to feel so on buses, according to a study which may lead to better interventions to bridge the safety gender gap in public transport.

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333 Pakistani Twitter accounts suspended over posts on KashmirPakistan has admitted that 333 Twitter accounts have been suspended for writing on Kashmir after the abrogation of Article 370.The handles were suspended by Twitter following the objection by the Indian authorities in view of false and provocative content being disseminated through the accounts.The Pakisitan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) raised the issue of suspension of tweets and blocking of Twitter accounts with the Twitter administration on Wednesday, reported Dawn news.The PTA has termed the Twitter administration's approach as biased. According to the statement issued by the regulator, it has also requested Pakistani social media users to report any Twitter account suspension on the pretext of posting Kashmir content to the PTA.The PTA has already received 333 such complaints which were sent then to Twitter to be restored, however, only 67 accounts were restored, reported Dawn news.The PTA said Twitter has not responded officially nor given any reason for the suspension of these accounts.The regulator said it is already making efforts to engage with Twitter to ensure freedom of expression for social media users in Pakistan.It said it has invited Twitter's administration for a meeting in Pakistan or anywhere they prefer in order to have meaningful discussions and devise a workable arrangement. But Twitter is yet to respond, PTA said.Dawn reported in August that some 200 Twitter accounts were suspended for apparently posting about Kashmir. The claim came from journalists, activists, government officials and fans of the military tweeting.Director-General of the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) Maj. Gen. Asif Ghafoor had then said the authorities had taken up with Twitter and Facebook regarding the suspension of Pakistani social media accounts.Under The Prevention of Electronic Crimes Act 2016, PTA is the sole body that can officially block access to unlawful online content on the internet and take it up with relevant platforms in cases where the PTA is unable to block them because of technical grounds.ALSO READ | Pakistan's Karachi among LEAST LIVEABLE cities in the worldALSO READ | Pakistan's 'Twitter General' parrots Imran Khan's speech; plays 'jugular vein' card /* .jw-reset-text, .jw-reset{line-height: 2em;}*/ .jw-time-tip .jw-time-chapter{display:none;} if ('' == comscore_jw_loaded || 'undefined' == comscore_jw_loaded || undefined == comscore_jw_loaded) { var comscore_jw_loaded = 1; firstjw = document.getElementsByClassName('jwvidplayer')[0]; cs_jw_script = document.createElement('script'); cs_jw_script.src = 'https://sb.scorecardresearch.com/internal-c2/plugins/streamingtag_plugin_jwplayer.js'; firstjw.parentNode.insertBefore(cs_jw_script, firstjw.nextSibling); } var jwconfig_3235106609 = { "file": "https://indiatv-vh.akamaihd.net/i/vod/0_y9d3hzio_,20,21,22,.mp4.csmil/master.m3u8", "image": "https://thumbs.indiatvnews.com/vod/0_y9d3hzio_big_thumb.jpg", "title": "Captured Pakistani terrorists confess of being trained by Lashkar terror group", "height": "440px", "width": "100%", "aspectratio": "16:9", "autostart": false, "controls": true, "mute": false, "volume": 25, "floating": false, "sharing": { "code": "", "sites": [ "facebook", "twitter", "email" ] }, "stretching": "exactfit", "primary": "html5", "hlshtml": true, "sharing_link": "", "advertising": { "client": "vast", "autoplayadsmuted": true, "skipoffset": 5, "cuetext": "", "skipmessage": "Skip ad in xx", "skiptext": "SKIP", "preloadAds": true, "schedule": [ { "offset": "pre", "tag": "https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/ads?iu=/8323530/Eng_Video_Desktop_PreRoll&description_url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.indiatvnews.com&tfcd=0&npa=0&sz=640x480&gdfp_req=1&output=vast&unviewed_position_start=1&env=vp&impl=s&correlator=", "type": "linear" }, { "offset": "50%", "tag": "https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/ads?iu=/8323530/Eng_Video_Desktop_MidRoll&description_url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.indiatvnews.com&tfcd=0&npa=0&sz=640x480&gdfp_req=1&output=vast&unviewed_position_start=1&env=vp&impl=s&correlator=" }, { "offset": "post", "tag": "https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/ads?iu=/8323530/Eng_Video_Desktop_PostRoll&description_url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.indiatvnews.com&tfcd=0&npa=0&sz=640x480&gdfp_req=1&output=vast&unviewed_position_start=1&env=vp&impl=s&correlator=", "type": "linear" } ] } }; var jwvidplayer_3235106609 = ''; jwsetup_3235106609(); function jwsetup_3235106609() { jwvidplayer_3235106609 = jwplayer("jwvidplayer_3235106609").setup(jwconfig_3235106609); jwvidplayer_3235106609.on('ready', function () { ns_.StreamingAnalytics.JWPlayer(jwvidplayer_3235106609, { publisherId: "20465327", labelmapping: "c2=\"20465327\", c3=\"IndiaTV News\", c4=\"null\", c6=\"null\", ns_st_mp=\"jwplayer\", ns_st_cl=\"0\", ns_st_ci=\"0_y9d3hzio\", ns_st_pr=\"Captured Pakistani terrorists confess of being trained by Lashkar terror group\", ns_st_sn=\"0\", ns_st_en=\"0\", ns_st_ep=\"Captured Pakistani terrorists confess of being trained by Lashkar terror group\", ns_st_ct=\"null\", ns_st_ge=\"News\", ns_st_st=\"Captured Pakistani terrorists confess of being trained by Lashkar terror group\", ns_st_ce=\"0\", ns_st_ia=\"0\", ns_st_ddt=\"2019-09-05\", ns_st_tdt=\"2019-09-05\", ns_st_pu=\"IndiaTV News\", ns_st_cu=\"https://indiatv-vh.akamaihd.net/i/vod/0_y9d3hzio_,20,21,22,.mp4.csmil/master.m3u8\", ns_st_ty=\"video\"" }); }); jwvidplayer_3235106609.on('all', function (r) { if (jwvidplayer_3235106609.getState() == 'error' || jwvidplayer_3235106609.getState() == 'setupError') { jwvidplayer_3235106609.stop(); jwvidplayer_3235106609.remove(); jwvidplayer_3235106609 = ''; jwsetup_3235106609(); return; } }); jwvidplayer_3235106609.on('error', function (t) { jwvidplayer_3235106609.stop(); jwvidplayer_3235106609.remove(); jwvidplayer_3235106609 = ''; jwsetup_3235106609(); return; }); jwvidplayer_3235106609.on('mute', function () { ga('send', 'event', 'JW Player Events', 'Errors', event.message); }); jwvidplayer_3235106609.on('adPlay', function (event) { ga('send', 'event', 'JW Player Events', 'Errors', event.message); }); jwvidplayer_3235106609.on('adPause', function (event) { ga('send', 'event', 'JW Player Events', 'Errors', event.message); }); jwvidplayer_3235106609.on('pause', function (event) { ga('send', 'event', 'JW Player Events', 'Errors', event.message); }); jwvidplayer_3235106609.on('error', function (event) { ga('send', 'event', 'JW Player Events', 'Errors', event.message); }); jwvidplayer_3235106609.on('adBlock', function (event) { ga('send', 'event', 'JW Player Events', 'Errors', event.message); }); }

333 Pakistani Twitter accounts suspended over posts on Kashmir

The handles were suspended by Twitter following the objection by the Indian authorities in view of false and provocative content being disseminated through the accounts.

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US: Saudis recruited Twitter workers to spy on usersThe Saudi government recruited two Twitter employees to get personal account information of their critics, prosecutors said Wednesday.A complaint unsealed in U.S. District Court in San Francisco detailed a coordinated effort by Saudi government officials to recruit employees at the social media giant to look up the private data of thousands of Twitter accounts.The accounts included those of a popular critic of the government with more than 1 million followers and a news personality.It also alleged that the employees — whose jobs did not require access to Twitter users’ private information — were rewarded with a designer watch and tens of thousands of dollars funneled into secret bank accounts. They were charged with acting as agents of Saudi Arabia without registering with the U.S. government.The Saudi government had no immediate comment through its embassy in Washington.Twitter acknowledged that it cooperated in the investigation and said in a statement that it restricts access to sensitive account information “to a limited group of trained and vetted employees.”“We understand the incredible risks faced by many who use Twitter to share their perspectives with the world and to hold those in power accountable,” the statement said. “We have tools in place to protect their privacy and their ability to do their vital work.”Ahmad Abouammo, who left his job as the media partnership manager for Twitter’s Middle East region in 2015, was also charged with falsifying documents and making false statements to obstruct FBI investigators — offenses that carry a maximum penalty of 30 years in prison if convicted.At his appearance in Seattle federal court Wednesday, Abouammo was ordered to remain in custody pending a detention hearing set for Friday.His lawyer, Christopher Black, declined to comment, as did Abouammo’s wife, who did not give her name.Investigators alleged that a Saudi citizen working as a social media adviser for the Saudi royal family recruited Twitter engineer Ali Alzabarah. The two met in Washington. D.C., around the same time the adviser, Ahmed Almutairi, met with someone named in the complaint as Royal Family Member 1.“Within one week of returning to San Francisco, Alzabarah began to access without authorization private data of Twitter users en masse,” the complaint said.The effort included the user data of over 6,000 Twitter users, including at least 33 usernames for which Saudi Arabian law enforcement had submitted emergency disclosure requests to Twitter, investigators said.After being confronted by his supervisors at Twitter, Alzabarah acknowledged accessing user data and said he did it out of curiosity, authorities said.Alzabarah was placed on administrative leave, his work-owned laptop was seized, and he was escorted out of the office. The next day, he flew to Saudi Arabia with his wife and daughter and has not returned to the United States, investigators said.A warrant for his and Almutairi’s arrests were issued as part of the complaint.Also Read | Saudi Aramco's IPO officially announced, MBS expects $2 trillion valuation

US: Saudis recruited Twitter workers to spy on users

A complaint unsealed in U.S. District Court in San Francisco detailed a coordinated effort by Saudi government officials to recruit employees at the social media giant to look up the private data of thousands of Twitter accounts.

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TAGAYTAY, Philippines (AP) — Red-hot lava gushed out of a Philippine volcano Monday after a sudden eruption of ash and steam that forced villagers to flee and shut down Manila’s international airport, offices and schools. There were no immediate reports of casualties or major damage from Taal volcano’s eruption south of the capital that began Sunday. But clouds of ash blew more than 100 kilometers (62 miles) north, reaching the bustling capital, Manila, and forcing the shutdown of the country's main airport with more than 240 international and domestic flights cancelled so far.An alternative airport north of Manila at Clark freeport remained open but authorities would shut it down too if ashfall threatens flights, the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines said.The government’s disaster-response agency reported about 8,000 villagers have moved to at least 38 evacuation centers in the hard-hit province of Batangas and nearby Cavite province, but officials expect the number to swell with hundreds of thousands more being brought out of harm’s way. Some residents could not move out of ash-blanketed villages due to a lack of transport and poor visibility. Some refused to leave their homes and farms, officials said.“We have a problem, our people are panicking due to the volcano because they want to save their livelihood, their pigs and herds of cows,” Mayor Wilson Maralit of Balete town told DZMM radio. “We’re trying to stop them from returning and warning that the volcano can explode again anytime and hit them.”Maralit, whose town lies along the coastline of Taal Lake surrounding the erupting volcano, appealed for troops and additional police to be deployed to stop distraught residents from sneaking back to their high-risk coastal villages.After months of restiveness that began last year, Taal suddenly rumbled back to life Sunday, blasting steam, ash and pebbles up to 10 to 15 kilometers (6 to 9 miles) into the sky, according to the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology.The government volcano-monitoring agency raised the danger level around Taal three notches to level 4, indicating “an imminent hazardous eruption.” Level 5, the highest, means a hazardous eruption is underway and could affect a larger area with high-risk zones that would need to be cleared of people, said Renato Solidum, who heads the institute.Ma. Antonio Bornas, the agency’s chief volcanologist, said lava spurted out in fountains out of the volcano early Monday while its ash and steam ejections eased. It’s hard to tell when the eruption would stop, she said, citing Taal’s similar restiveness in the 1970s that lasted for about four months. With the steam and ashfall easing, some residents began to shovel away the few inches of ash that covered everything from homes to cars and trees in Tagaytay, a popular upland resort city on a ridge that overlooks the picturesque volcano in the middle of a crater lake.Usually bustling with traffic and tourists, many of Tagaytay’s restaurants and coffee shops were closed, its main road covered in volcanic filth and mud. The volcanology institute reminded the public that the small island where the volcano lies is a “permanent danger zone,” although fishing villages have existed there for years. It stressed that the “total evacuation” of people on the volcano island and coastal areas “at high risk to pyroclastic density currents and volcanic tsunami within a 14-kilometer (8.7-mile) radius from Taal.”Aviation officials must advise airplanes to avoid flying at a certain distance from the volcano “as airborne ash and ballistic fragments from the eruption column pose hazards to aircraft,” it said.Authorities continue to detect swarms of earthquakes, some of them felt with rumbling sounds, and a slight inflation of portions of the 1,020-foot (311-meter) volcano, officials said and advised residents to stay indoors and wear masks and goggles outdoors.Government work and classes in schools in a wide swath of towns and cities were suspended Monday, including in Manila, to avoid health risks posed by the ashfall.One of the world’s smallest volcanoes, Taal is among two dozen active volcanoes in the Philippines, which lies along the so-called Pacific “Ring of Fire,” a seismically active region that is prone to earthquakes and volcanic eruptions. About 20 typhoons and other major storms each year also lash the Philippines, which lies between the Pacific and the South China Sea, making it one of the world’s most disaster-prone countries.

Philippines Volcano begins spewing lava: Timelapse video captures eruption inside main crater

Red-hot lava gushed out of a Philippine volcano Monday after a sudden eruption of ash and steam that forced villagers to flee and shut down Manila’s international airport, offices and schools. There were no immediate reports of casualties or major damage from Taal volcano’s eruption south of the capital that began Sunday.

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China hikes defence budget by 7.5 per centChina, the world's second largest military spender after the US, Tuesday announced a 7.5 per cent increase in its defence budget for this year, hiking it to a whopping USD 177.61 billion, over three times that of India. The 2019 defence budget will be 1.19 trillion yuan (about USD 177.61 billion), according to a draft budget report to be submitted at the opening of the annual session of China's Parliament, the National People's Congress (NPC), on Tuesday.The increase this year is lower than that of last year's 8.1 per cent which amounted to USD 175 billion.Related Stories China, Russia pose challenge to US space capabilities: Pentagon'We follow certain principles', says China as it plays down media reports of selling aircraft carrier to PakistanChina wants a deal with US very badly: Donald TrumpChina again declines to back India's appeal to list JeM chief Masood Azhar as global terroristPulwama Terror Attack: China's opposition to mentioning of terrorism delayed UNSC statementJaish mention only in 'general terms', not judgement: China downplays UNSC Pulwama statementSridevi’s last film Mom to release in China on March 22China non-committal about move in UN to list Masood Azhar as global terroristIn view of Indo-Pak tensions, China cancels all flights to and from PakistanChina says it never recognised India, Pakistan as nuclear statesChina, which increased its defence budget in double digits till 2015, has been lowering it to single digit hikes since 2016. China's budgeted defence spending growth rate stood at 7.6 per cent in 2016, 7 per cent in 2017 and 8.1 per cent in 2018.With this year's increase, China's defence spending moved closer to the USD 200 billion mark, making it the highest spender on defence after the United States.India's defence budget this year was increased by 6.87 per cent to Rs 3.18 lakh crore against last year's allocation of Rs 2.98 lakh crore, notwithstanding expectations of a major hike when China and Pakistan were bolstering their military capabilities.In recent years, China has resorted to major reforms of its military, which included giving priority to expand its navy and air force to enhance its influence abroad, while cutting down three lakh troops of the People's Liberation Army (PLA).Even after the cuts, the PLA is the world's biggest military with two million personnel in its ranks.Chinese President Xi Jinping, who has vowed to turn the PLA into a "world class" military by mid-century, has repeatedly called on the army to be combat-ready.The hike comes as Beijing steps up its efforts to assert its vast territorial claims in the disputed South China Sea.Describing China's defence budget increases in recent years as reasonable and appropriate, NPC spokesman Zhang Yesui said the raise aimed to "meet the country's demand in safeguarding national security and military reform with Chinese characteristics".In his preparatory media conference on Monday, Zhang put up a staunch defence of China's continued heavy spending on defence, saying it was still less compared to other "major developing countries'" military expenditure."Whether a country is a military threat to others or not is not determined by its increase in defence expenditure, but by the foreign and national defence policies it adopts," he said.Compared to other countries, China's defence budget accounted for 1.3 per cent of the GDP, while major developing countries spent two per cent GDP on their defence, Zhang added."China remains committed as always to a peaceful path of development and we pursue a defensive national defence policy. China's limited defence spending is for safeguarding the sovereignty, security and territorial integrity of the country. It is not a threat to other countries," he said.As part of the new policy, China now has one aircraft carrier, another undergoing trials and the third one under construction.The state media reported that China planned to have five aircraft carriers in the near future with plans to build nuclear carriers like the US. It is also rapidly adding new naval ships and submarines.Beijing also claimed to have developed a new range of missiles and weapons systems in recent years, including stealth aircraft.

China hikes defence budget by 7.5 per cent to USD 177.61 billion, over three times that of India

India's defence budget this year was increased by 6.87 per cent to Rs 3.18 lakh crore against last year's allocation of Rs 2.98 lakh crore.

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Dr. Anthony Fauci on Thursday said the US is eager to involve Indian investigators in global clinical trials to evaluate the safety and efficacy of COVID-19 therapeutics.America’s top infectious disease specialist Dr. Anthony Fauci on Thursday said his country is eager to involve Indian investigators in global clinical trials to evaluate the safety and efficacy of COVID-19 therapeutics. The National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases has a long history of collaboration with its counterpart agencies in India, Dr Fauci said during a conversation organised by the US-India Strategic and Partnership Forum.“Under the long-standing Indo-US vaccine action programme, we will continue to work with India on research related to SARS-CoV-2 (Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2) vaccines. We also are eager to involve Indian investigators in sites in global clinical trials to evaluate the safety and efficacy of various COVID-19 therapeutics,” he said.The partnerships between the NIH and India's Department of Biotechnology as well as what the Indian Council of Medical Research have helped produce important scientific and public health discoveries in the past.“I am confident they will continue to do so in the future. India's contributions to global scientific knowledge are well known to all. With strong governmental support and a vibrant biopharma private sector, this knowledge already is yielding solutions to COVID-19 prevention and care,” Dr Fauci said.India’s Ambassador to the US Taranjit Singh Sandhu said as India ramps up vaccine production to cater to its needs and those of the world, it relies on the support of the United States in ensuring raw materials and component items are available in good supply.“Vaccinating the world is our best bet against another wave of the pandemic, and the ideal way to speed economic recovery,” he said. Observing that India-US health collaboration is not new, he said under the longstanding Vaccine Action Programme between both nations, they developed a vaccine against rotavirus, which causes severe diarrhea in children.Indian companies have also manufactured, highly cost-effective HIV drugs for use in African countries, building on cooperation between US organisations and the private sector, he said.“Looking ahead, we need to invest in preparing for the future. Future global resilience will depend on how well prepared we are in dealing with future pandemics. We need to work to further expand our bilateral programmes in areas such as epidemiology, digital health and patients’ safety to tackle communicable, and non-communicable diseases and improve infectious disease modelling, prediction and forecasting.Similarly, the sharing of clinical expertise, standards, and experiences of hospitals, in the management of infectious diseases, especially COVID-19, would add to the knowledge base,” Sandhu said.“I think it's important to understand when the US went through a crisis last year, it was India that kept up to support the US from critical medicine. And India is going through his own challenges us stepped up. So, it is a reciprocal partnership,” USISPF president Mukesh Aghi said.Sandhu said last year, as the pandemic hit, India ensured the integrity of health supply chains, providing essential medicines to the US. “This year, when the US supported India during the second wave, President Biden recalled India’s help. Companies such as Gilead and Merck present here today have been critical in supplying essential medicines to India which has helped us fight the pandemic and saved innumerable lives,” he said.Also Read: US to swiftly boost global vaccine sharing, Biden announcesAlso Read: Covid-19: US removes DPA ratings on AstraZeneca, Novavax, Sanofi vaccines

US eager to involve Indian investigators in clinical trials on COVID-19: Dr Fauci

Dr. Anthony Fauci on Thursday said the US is eager to involve Indian investigators in global clinical trials to evaluate the safety and efficacy of COVID-19 therapeutics.

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NepaliSat-1 satelliteNepal on Thursday successfully launched its first satellite into space from the US to gather detailed geographical information of the Himalayan nation, evoking unbridled excitement among the people and scientists.Developed by the Nepalese scientists, NepaliSat-1 satellite was launched at 2:31 am (Nepal time) from Virginia in United States, according to Nepal Academy of Science and Technology (NAST).Two Nepali scientists, Aabhas Maskey and Hariram Shrestha who are currently studying at Japanese Kyushu Institute of Technology, developed the satellite under the BIRDS project of their institute.Prime Minister K P Sharma Oli congratulated all the scientists and institutions involved in the development of the satellite. He said it was a matter of prestige for the country to have its own satellite."Though a humble beginning, with the launching of NepaliSat-1 Nepal has entered the Space-Era. I wish to congratulate all those scientists and institutions that were involved right from the development to its launching thereby enhancing the prestige of our country," he said in a tweet.Spokesperson for NAST Suresh Kumar Dhungel said they invested in the satellite in a bid to open new paths for space engineering in the country.He said with the help of NepaliSat-1, ground station located at NAST office will communicate and gather images of the geographical area of the country.NepaliSat-1 is a low orbit satellite which will be in the 400-km distance from the Earth's surface. It will be stationed at the International Space Station for a month and then it will be sent to orbit the earth, according to NAST.The satellite will take photographs on a regular basis to gather geographical information of the country.The satellite has a Nepali flag and the NAST logo. It also has the name of the scientists involved in the making of the satellite.Nepal Academy of Science and Technology has invested nearly Rs 20 million for the satellite that weighs 1.3 kilograms, a small satellite with limited capability.Nepal's first entry into space has brought huge excitement among people and scientists.NAST initiated the launch of the country's own satellite under the BIRDS project of the Japanese Kyushu Institute of Technology.The BIRDS project has been designed in association with the United Nations and aims at helping countries launch their first satellite.

Nepal’s first ever satellite launched from US

Developed by the Nepalese scientists, NepaliSat-1 satellite was launched at 2:31 am (Nepal time) from Virginia in United States, according to Nepal Academy of Science and Technology (NAST)

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Largest purple-pink diamond ever to go on sale at Christie’s Hong Kong auction (Representational Image)A 15.81 carat Sakura diamond, the largest of its kind to ever appear for sale, will go under the hammer at Christie’s upcoming Hong Kong Magnificent Jewels Live Auction on May 23, the auction house announced on Tuesday. Estimated at 25 million USD to 38 million USD, the “fancy vivid purple-pink internally flawless” diamond will be the star highlight of the sale.It is the diamond’s exceptional rarity, extraordinary optical transparency, brilliant colour, and enormous size that make it an immensely important, and eternal masterpiece of nature.“As fewer than 10 per cent of pink diamonds weigh more than one-fifth of a carat, this fancy vivid purple-pink diamond is of an unprecedented size of 15.81 carats, which is the largest of its kind (Fancy Vivid Purple-Pink) to be offered at any auction,” a Christie’s statement noted.It added that the lot fell in the exclusive group of the four per cent of pink diamonds that possess a colour deep enough to qualify as “fancy vivid”. “This magnificent gem is graded ‘fancy vivid’ for its perfect display of strong saturation and remarkable pink hue with a secondary colour of purple, resembling the fascinating colour of cherry blossoms — appropriately coinciding with spring,” the auction house said.Christie’s has previously offered on auction several of the largest and the rarest pink diamonds, including the Winston Pink Legacy sold in Geneva in 2018 that still holds the auction record per carat for any pink diamond.“This season we are very honoured to continue this fine tradition by presenting ‘The Sakura Diamond’ in Hong Kong.“This exceptionally rare and magnificent wonder of nature represents a unique expression of identity and mesmerising beauty through its enthralling purple pink hue, that will undoubtedly capture the hearts of discerning connoisseurs and collectors worldwide,” said Vickie Sek, Chairman, Department of Jewellery, Christie’s Asia Pacific. ALSO READ | MP farmer finds 14.98 carat diamond in patch of land leased for Rs 200

Largest purple-pink diamond ever to go on sale at Christie’s Hong Kong auction

A 15.81 carat Sakura diamond, the largest of its kind to ever appear for sale, will go under the hammer at Christie’s upcoming Hong Kong Magnificent Jewels Live Auction on May 23, the auction house announced on Tuesday.

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A file photo of Ravinder Singh, a Sikh youth killed in Pakistan last weekThe Peshawar police in Pakistan have cracked the mystery of a Sikh youth murder and arrested his fiancee in the case on Friday.The 25-year-old Sikh youth Ravinder Singh from the remote Shangla district of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, was found dead in Peshawar on Sunday.Ravinder Singh, said to be the brother of a Sikh journalist Harmeet Singh, lived in Malaysia and had returned home for his wedding.A senior security official told The Express Tribune on Thursday that it was a "contract killing" paid for by Ravinder's fiancee, Prem Kumari, who didn't want to marry him.She promised the hitmen Rs 7,00,000 (Pakistani currency) for Ravinder's murder, the official added."Part of the committed money was paid in advance, while the rest had to be paid after the murder."According to the investigation team, Ravinder was murdered in Mardan and later his body was shifted to Peshawar by the hitmen. Prem Kumari has been taken into custody at Mardan, one investigator said."In Peshawar, the hitmen dumped the body at a deserted place and called the family from Ravinder's phone to demand ransom or else they would kill him," he added. "All this was done to divert any investigations into the murder."Ravinder's body was found dumped at a deserted place in the precincts of Chamkani police station on Sunday - a day after he was murdered.The investigation team - led by Peshawar's capital city police officer - cracked the blind murder case after four days of arduous investigations in which officials from other investigative and intelligence agencies also provided valuable clues."The Hindu nationalist government of Narendra Modi tried to portray it as a religiously motivated 'target killing' to malign Pakistan for alleged persecution of religious minorities - triggering an angry rebuke from Islamabad," the media said."Indian attempts to politicise the tragic killing of [the] Pakistani Sikh youth are mischievous and reprehensible," the Pakistani Foreign Office spokesperson said on Monday."As this crime was reported, a case was registered immediately and a high-powered committee constituted to investigate the matter. The law will take its course and those responsible will be brought to justice," she added."Rather than feigning any dishonest concern for minorities elsewhere, the BJP government would do better by focusing on the ongoing human tragedy at home and protecting India's minorities from 'Saffron terror'," she said.A day later, Indian Charge d'Affaires Gaurav Ahluwalia was summoned to the Foreign Office to convey "Pakistan's strong rejection of baseless and fabricated" allegations of mistreatment of the Sikh minority community in the country.

Fiancee arrested for killing Sikh man in Pakistan, had paid Rs 3.2 lakh to hitmen

A senior Pakistani security official said that it was a "contract killing" paid for by Ravinder's fiancee, Prem Kumari, who didn't want to marry him

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On a day when the United States has suspended its USD 255 million military aid to Islamabad, Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari has hit out at US president Donald Trump by saying that his country is no longer interested in defeating terrorism.In a series of tweets, former prime minister Benazir Bhutto's son Bilawal said that Pakistan will eradicate extremism because it’s in their interest not because Donald Trump has said so.Related Stories Pakistan bans Hafiz Saeed’s JuD, FIF from collecting donationsPak tries to remind US of its contribution in war against terror after Trump stops all aideUS blocks USD 255 million military aid to Pak for 'not acting' against terrorFlustered over Donald Trump's 'lies and deceit' tweet, Pakistan summons US envoy "We will eradicate extremism because it’s in our interest not because of what @realDonaldTrump says. We will not allow the #US to scapegoat #Pakistan for its own failures in the region", the PPP president said."Someone please explain to @realDonaldTrump difference between coalition support fund reimbursement for work done & USaid ostensibly given for humanitarian reasons, to win hearts & minds.Cutting off moneys owed for assistance already rendered does not encourage further cooperation.""Pakistan needs to articulate & implement a counter violent extremism strategy not because of what the US wants but because we need to succeed. to survive. We also have to come to terms with the fact, US is no longer interested in defeating terrorism.""The US just wants to ‘win’ in Afghanistan/Iraq/Syria & the many quagmires they are involved with. No plan to get out. All they are left with is excuses, blame games and denial.""Only the #PPP has experience in handling both the US & our own domestic terrorism issue. In our last government we launched Pakistan’s first, most extensive and most successful anti-terror operations. We also shut NATO supplies & air bases until the US apologied for Salala," he added.Earlier, US President Donald Trump accused Pakistan of giving nothing to the US but "lies and deceit" and providing "safe haven" to terrorists in return for USD 33 billion aid over the last 15 years. "They give safe haven to the terrorists we hunt in Afghanistan, with little help. No more!" Trump said, clearly indicating that Pakistan would no longer receive any security aid from the US till the time it sees a change in behaviour from them in fight against terrorism."

'Won't allow US to scapegoat Pakistan', says Bilawal Bhutto as US blocks USD 255 million military aid

In a series of tweets, former prime minister Benazir Bhutto's son Bilawal said that Pakistan will eradicate extremism because it’s in their interest not because Donald Trump has said so.

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A reminder of our @NASAArtemis pledge to return to the Moon now sits in the Oval Office.NASA has loaned a Moon rock for display in the Oval Office of the White House at the request of the Joe Biden administration. The Moon-rock now sits in the Oval Office in symbolic recognition of earlier generations' ambitions and accomplishments, and support for America's current Moon to Mars exploration approach.The "Lunar Sample 76015,143" is from the Lunar Sample Laboratory Facility at NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston, the US space agency said on Thursday.Apollo 17 astronaut Ronald Evans and moonwalkers Harrison Schmitt and Eugene Cernan, the last humans to set foot on the Moon, chipped this sample from a large boulder at the base of the North Massif in the Taurus-Littrow Valley, 3km from the Lunar Module, according to the inscription on the display case.ALSO READ | NASA mulls second firing of its moon rocket engines following halted testThis 332 gram piece of the Moon, which was collected in 1972, is a 3.9-billion-year-old sample formed during the last large impact event on the nearside of the Moon, the Imbrium Impact Basin, which is 1,145 km in diameter.NASA plans on landing next human on moonNASA plans to land the first woman and next man on the Moon by 2024.NASA chief Jim Bridenstine officially stepped down from his role as the administrator of the US space agency, as Biden took the president's office.President Biden is expected to pick a woman to fill the NASA administrator role, which has only been occupied by men since the agency's founding in 1958.Biden was sworn-in as President and Kamala Harris as Vice President of the US on Wednesday.ALSO READ | Donald Trump bids goodbye, leaves White House | In Pics 

Moon rock, collected in 1972, now on display in Oval office after Biden's request

NASA has loaned a Moon rock for display in the Oval Office of the White House at the request of the Joe Biden administration.

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Roman Abramovich experienced symptoms of poisoning during peace talks in KievAmid the Russia-Ukraine war and peace talks, reports have suggested Russian oligarch Roman Abramovich, along with Ukraine peace negotiators suffered suspected poisoning earlier this month. If media reports are to be believed, the Chelsea Football Club owner was reportedly poisoned just weeks ago after a meeting in Kyiv while he acted as a 'peacemaker' in the Russian war in Ukraine.Following the meeting in Kyiv, Abramovich, as well as two senior members of the Ukrainian team, developed symptoms that included red eyes, painful tearing as well as peeling skin on their faces and hands, reports stated quoted sources. Analysts at Bellingcat confirmed that three members of the delegation -- including Abramovich -- attending the peace talks between Ukraine and Russia on March 3 experienced "symptoms consistent with poisoning with chemical weapons".Abramovich, another Russian entrepreneur and Ukrainian MP Rustem Umerov had been taking part in the negotiations, with the talks lasting until about 10 pm, investigative news site Bellingcat said.The three members of the delegation left the talks on March 3 to an apartment in Kyiv later that night.While there, they were all suffering from eye and skin inflammation and piercing pain in their eyes until the next morning.Sources said they blamed the suspected poisoning attack on hard-liners in Moscow who wanted to ruin talks aimed at ending the war.Also Read | Willing to discuss Russia's demand for adoption of neutrality, says Ukrainian President

Roman Abramovich, Ukraine peace negotiators experienced poisoning during talks in Kyiv: Reports

Sources have said they blamed the suspected poisoning attack on hard-liners in Moscow who wanted to ruin talks aimed at ending the war.

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US begins clinical trial of hydroxychloroquine, azithromycinA clinical trial has begun in the US to evaluate whether the anti-malaria drug hydroxychloroquine, given together with the antibiotic azithromycin, can prevent COVID-19 hospitalization and death, according to the National Institutes of Health (NIH). Hydroxychloroquine is approved by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to prevent and treat malaria, as well as to treat the autoimmune diseases rheumatoid arthritis and lupus, while azithromycin is an FDA-approved antibiotic, reports Xinhua news agency.In a statement on Thursday, the NIH said that the trial will enroll approximately 2,000 adults across the US who are infected with COVID-19, and exhibiting symptoms of fever, cough or shortness of breath, according to the release.The investigators anticipate that many participants will be 60 years of age or over, or have a comorbidity associated with developing serious complications from COVID-19, such as cardiovascular disease or diabetes, the NIH said.Participants will be randomly assigned to receive short-term treatment at home with either hydroxychloroquine and azithromycin or matching placebos, it said.Those assigned to the experimental treatment group will take 400 mg of hydroxychloroquine twice on the first day, and 200 mg twice daily for an additional six days. They will also take 500 mg of azithromycin on the first day, and 250 mg daily for an additional four days.The control group will receive equivalent numbers of placebo pills, and neither the participants nor the study team will know who received experimental treatment or placebo until the end of the trial, according to the NIH.Participants will record their symptoms, adherence to treatment, and major events such as hospitalizations in a diary for 20 days.The first participant enrolled on Thursday in San Diego, California. And Teva Pharmaceuticals is donating medications for the study, according to the NIH.Currently, there are no specific therapeutics approved by the FDA to treat people with COVID-19.Many clinical trials were planned or underway to evaluate the safety and effectiveness of hydroxychloroquine for treatment of adults hospitalized with COVID-19, and some preliminary reports have suggested that hydroxychloroquine, alone or in combination with azithromycin, may benefit people with COVID-19, according to the NIH.The NIH said that the main objective of the study is to determine whether hydroxychloroquine and azithromycin can prevent hospitalization and death due to COVID-19.Additionally, investigators will evaluate the safety and tolerability of the experimental treatment for infected people.The FDA issued an Emergency Use Authorization on March 28 to allow hydroxychloroquine and medical-grade chloroquine to be distributed from the Strategic National Stockpile and prescribed by doctors, to hospitalized adolescents and adults with COVID-19, when a clinical trial was not available or feasible.ALSO READ | Containing coronavirus could take 4-5 years, vaccine not a guaranty: WHO scientist's reality checkALSO READ | US senator unveils 18-point plan to hold China accountable for coronavirus outbreak

US begins clinical trial of hydroxychloroquine, azithromycin

A clinical trial has begun in the US to evaluate whether the anti-malaria drug hydroxychloroquine, given together with the antibiotic azithromycin, can prevent COVID-19 hospitalization and death, according to the National Institutes of Health (NIH).

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Passenger says she woke up to find herself forgotten on empty Air Canada plane A woman passenger of Air Canada has said that she was left alone on a cold and dark plane after falling asleep during a domestic flight and forgotten by the ground staff, forcing the flag carrier to investigate the incident.Tiffani Adams said she fell asleep while flying from Quebec to Toronto on June 9. When she woke up, she was freezing cold and still buckled into her seat, but the aircraft was parked after the 90-minute flight. Related Stories Air India to start services on three routesAir India suspends regional director for shoplifting at Sydney airportPakistan didn't enter Indian airspace after Balakot airstrike: IAF chiefAdams's terrifying experience was posted by a friend Deanna Noel-Dale on Air Canada's Facebook page, drawing over 600 reactions. Air Canada has confirmed the incident occurred and is investigating.Adams said on Facebook that she woke up around midnight amidst freezing cold still trapped in her seat in complete darkness, a few hours after the flight landed at the Pearson Airport.She said the experience was "terrifying".Adams managed to call her friend Noel-Dale to let her know where she was when her phone died less than a minute into the call.She was unable to charge her phone as the plane had been shut down.Noel-Dale called airport authorities in Toronto and told them of Adams' whereabouts.While she was on board, Adams managed to locate a torch in the cockpit and attempted to attract attention.She was spotted by a luggage cart operator who she claimed was "in shock"."I am literally dangling my legs out the plane... He is asking how the heck they left me on the plane... I'm wondering the same," said Adams. "Anyway the guy had the ladder dock and I jumped to safety before he was even a foot from the door," Toronto Sun quoted her as saying."I haven't got much sleep since the reoccurring night terrors and waking up anxious and afraid I'm alone locked up someplace dark," Adams says.She said that Air Canada staff offered her a limousine and a hotel but she declined, wanting to return home as quickly as possible.She said that representatives from Air Canada had called her twice as part of the investigation and apologised.Air Canada has confirmed Adams' account and said it was reviewing the incident, according to Canadian media reports. 

Passenger says she woke up to find herself forgotten on empty Air Canada plane

Tiffani Adams said she fell asleep while flying from Quebec to Toronto on June 9. When she woke up, she was freezing cold and still buckled into her seat, but the aircraft was parked after the 90-minute flight.

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Fly on the wall: Likely candidates in next NaMo cabinetThe NDA's landslide victory in the Lok Sabha elections has put the spotlight on the next big headline: the men and women who will be in Prime Minister Narendra Modi's council of ministers.Modi, the first Prime Minister to win two clear majorities in a row, could possibly bring in new faces in his Council of Ministers.There is intense speculation that BJP President Amit Shah might be given a heavyweight Cabinet berth. He was not included in the Council of Ministers in the first term of the Modi government. Taking into account his exceptional role in delivering the party a massive second mandate, he could well be retained in the same position.But since the party has a policy of one person not being given two positions, Shah may have to give up his role as the BJP chief in case he is inducted in the Council of Ministers.It is also being said that Piyush Goyal, who held the finance portfolio when Arun Jaitley was unwell, is a candidate for this top portfolio.Goyal, the Railways Minister, has been chipping in whenever Jaitley had to take leave for medication for his ailment.Jaitley, who is said to indisposed, is likely to be made Minister Without Portfolio. Jaitley was conspicuous by his absence on Thursday evening at the victory celebrations held at the BJP headquarters led by the Prime Minister and Shah. Prior to the celebrations, Shah went to meet him at his residence.The first major task before the new Finance Minister will be to present the full Budget by July. In February, Piyush Goyal had presented the Interim Budget in view of the Lok Sabha elections. Smriti Irani, who held Textiles portfolio till now, is expected to get back the HRD Ministry, considering that she has emerged as a giant killer by defeating Congress President Rahul Gandhi in his family pocket borough Amethi.Gadkari, who was Minister for Road Transport and Highways, Shipping and Water Resources, may also get a bigger portfolio in view of the successful work done by him in the ministries held by him in the first term. He is also believed to have the blessings of the RSS.Ram Madhav, BJP's General Secretary (Organisation), may also be made a Minister and given an important portfolio with Cabinet rank.Former Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje is also likely to be inducted in the ministry with a Cabinet berth.Among other new faces who could be brought in is former Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh.Niti Aayog too may have a new vice chairman with Nandan Nilekeni replacing Rajiv Kumar.There may also been new representatives from the NDA allies, like the Shiv Sena and JD(U).The new Council of Ministers is also likely to see some of the ministers of the outgoing Council not finding their place. Among them are Hansraj Ahir and Shiv Sena's Anant Geete, both of whom lost the just-held Lok Sabha elections.There is also a possibility of Uma Bharati not finding a place in the new Council of Ministers.The party will also have to look for a new Lok Sabha Speaker, since Sumitra Mahajan did not contest this time.As part of the bureaucratic rejig, Cabinet Secretary P.K. Sinha or Delhi Lt Governor Anil Baijal may be made Principal Secretary to the PM.

Fly on the wall: Likely candidates in next NaMo cabinet

The NDA's landslide victory in the Lok Sabha elections has put the spotlight on the next big headline: the men and women who will be in Prime Minister Narendra Modi's council of ministers.

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Protestors demonstrate outside of a burning Minneapolis 3rd Police Precinct, Thursday, May 28, 2020, in Minneapolis. Protests over the death of George Floyd, a black man who died in police custody Monday, broke out in Minneapolis for a third straight night. (AP Photo/John Minchillo)The white Minneapolis police officer who knelt on George Floyd’s neck was arrested and charged with murder Friday, and authorities imposed an overnight curfew to try to stem three nights of often-violent protests that left dozens of stores burned and looted. Derek Chauvin, 44, was charged with third-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter in the case. He was also accused of ignoring another officer at the scene who expressed concerns about the black man as he lay handcuffed on the ground, pleading that he could not breathe. Floyd had been arrested on suspicion of using a counterfeit bill at a small grocery store.An attorney for Floyd’s family welcomed the arrest, but said he expected a more serious murder charge and wants all four officers involved to be arrested.Hennepin County Attorney Mike Freeman said more charges were possible. He said the investigation into the other three officers continues, but authorities “felt it appropriate to focus on the most dangerous perpetrator.”Meanwhile, Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey declared a curfew from 8 p.m. to 6 a.m. on Friday and Saturday. The order said no one can be out in public except emergency responders and people seeking medical care, fleeing danger or those who are homeless.“I know that whatever hope you feel today is tempered with skepticism and a righteous outrage,” Frey said in a statement. “Today’s decision from the County Attorney is an essential first step on a longer road toward justice and healing our city.”According to the criminal complaint, Chauvin allegedly disregarded the concerns of another officer, who wanted to roll Floyd onto his side as he was being held down.The papers also said that an autopsy revealed nothing to support strangulation as the cause of death. The exam concluded that the combined effects of being restrained, potential intoxicants in Floyd’s system and his underlying health issues, including heart disease, likely contributed to his death. Floyd’s family was seeking an independent autopsy.Police were trying to put Floyd in a squad car when he stiffened up and fell to the ground, saying he was claustrophobic, the complaint said. Chauvin and officer Tou Thoa arrived to help and tried several times to get the struggling Floyd into the car, it said.At one point, Chauvin pulled Floyd out of the car’s passenger side, and Floyd, who was handcuffed, went to the ground face down. Officer J.K. Kueng held Floyd’s back, and officer Thomas Lane held his legs, while Chauvin put his knee on Floyd’s head and neck area, the complaint said.When Lane asked if Floyd should be rolled onto his side Chauvin said, “No, staying put is where we got him.” Lane said he was “worried about excited delirium or whatever,” and Chauvin replied, “That’s why we have him on his stomach,” according to the complaint.After Floyd apparently stopped breathing, Lane again said he wanted to roll Chauvin onto his side. Kueng checked for a pulse and said he could not find one, the complaint said.In all, Chauvin had his knee on Floyd’s neck for 8 minutes, 46 seconds, including nearly three minutes after Floyd stopped moving and talking, according to the complaint.Chauvin’s attorney had no comment when reached by The Associated Press.Freeman, whose home has been picketed by protesters, highlighted the “extraordinary speed” in charging the case just four days after Floyd’s death, but also defended himself against questions about why it did not happen sooner. He said his office needed time to put together evidence, including what he called the “horrible” video recorded by a bystander.All four officers at the scene of Floyd’s arrest on Monday were fired the next day. After the charges were announced, protesters outside government offices chanted, “All four got to go.”It was not immediately clear whether Chauvin’s arrest would quiet the unrest, which escalated again Thursday night as demonstrators burned a Minneapolis police station soon after officers abandoned it.Protests also spread across the U.S., fueled by outrage over Floyd’s death, and years of violence against African Americans at the hands of police. Demonstrators clashed with officers in New York and blocked traffic in Columbus, Ohio, and Denver.News of the arrest came moments after Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz acknowledged the “abject failure” of the response to the protests and called for swift justice for the officers. Walz said the state had taken over the response to the violence.“Minneapolis and St. Paul are on fire. The fire is still smoldering in our streets. The ashes are symbolic of decades and generations of pain, of anguish unheard,” Walz said. “Now generations of pain is manifesting itself in front of the world — and the world is watching.”President Donald Trump threatened action, tweeting “when the looting starts, the shooting starts,” which prompted a warning from Twitter for “glorifying violence.” Trump later said he was referring to shooting that had happened during the protests.The governor faced tough questions after National Guard leader Maj. Gen. Jon Jensen blamed a lack of clarity about the Guard’s mission for a slow response. Walz said the state was in a supporting role and that it was up to city leaders to run the situation. Walz said it became apparent as the 3rd Precinct was lost that the state had to step in. Requests from Minneapolis and nearby St. Paul for resources “never came,” he said.“You will not see that tonight, there will be no lack of leadership,” Walz said.On Friday morning, nearly every building in a shopping district a couple blocks from the abandoned police station had been vandalized, burned or looted. National Guard members carrying assault rifles were lined up at some intersections, keeping people away from the police station. Dozens of volunteers swept up broken glass in the street.Dean Hanson, 64, lives in a subsidized housing unit nearby, which is home to many older residents. He said his building lost electricity overnight, and residents were terrified as they watched mobs of people loot and burn their way through the neighborhood.“I can’t believe this is happening here,” he said. “It was pure hell.”Dozens of fires were also set in St. Paul, where nearly 200 businesses were damaged or looted.A visibly tired and frustrated Frey, the Minneapolis mayor, took responsibility for evacuating the police precinct, saying it had become too dangerous for officers.Attorney Benjamin Crump, who is representing Floyd’s family, asked to take custody of Floyd’s body to have an independent autopsy performed. Crump said that talk of a heart condition or asthma was irrelevant because Floyd was walking and breathing before his contact with police.The doctor who will do the autopsy is Michael Baden, former chief medical examiner of New York City, who was hired to do an autopsy for Eric Garner, a black man who died in 2014 in New York after he was placed in a chokehold by police and pleaded for his life, saying he could not breathe.State and federal authorities are also investigating Floyd’s death.The owner of a popular Latin nightclub said Floyd and Chauvin both worked as security guards at the club as recently as the end of last year, but it’s not clear whether they worked together. Chauvin worked at the El Nuevo Rodeo club as an off-duty security guard for nearly two decades, but Floyd had only worked there more recently for about a dozen events featuring African American music, Maya Santamaria told The Associated Press.Santamaria said if Chauvin had recognized Floyd, “he might have given him a little more mercy.”Santamaria, who recently sold the venue, said Chauvin got along well with the regular Latino customers but did not like to work the African American nights. When he did, and there was a fight, he would spray people with mace and call for police backup and half-dozen squad cars would soon show up, something she felt was “overkill.”ALSO READ | Four Minneapolis officers fired after death of black man

Minneapolis cop who knelt on man’s neck charged with murder

The white Minneapolis police officer who knelt on George Floyd’s neck was arrested and charged with murder Friday, and authorities imposed an overnight curfew to try to stem three nights of often-violent protests that left dozens of stores burned and looted.

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France's daily COVID-19 fatalities close to 1,000More than 13,000 people have so far lost their lives due to coronavirus in France. According to the official data released by the country, the total death toll in France now stands at 13,197 - an increase of 987 from a day earlier while the number of critically-ill patients declined for a second consecutive day, offering a "pale ray of sunshine," said General Director of Health Jerome Salomon at his daily briefing on the epidemic. Further 554 patients died in the country's health institutions in the last 24 hours, bringing the total to 8,598. The cumulative tally of deaths in accommodation establishments for dependent elderly people since March 1 stood at 4,599, up from 4,166.A 10-year-old child tested positive for the COVID-19 had died in the Parisian region, but the cause of his death "seems however multiple", said Salomon on Friday.The total infections detected in hospitals rose by 4.25 per cent to 90,000, slower than Thursday's 5.3 per cent and the number of "confirmed or possible" cases in nursing homes rose to 34,193 from 31,415, said the official.Some 31,276 are hospitalized, among them 7,004 in intensive care units, down by 62 in the last 24 hours."It's a pale ray of sunshine, but this tiny improvement is very important for all caregivers," said Solomon, adding that "a very high plateau seems to be starting. We must remain completely vigilant."Noting a positive impact of containment for days, Salomon stressed that "staying home is acting against the virus, is acting against disease, is saving lives."On April 7, France entered its fourth week of nationwide confinement.Also Read | Over 1 lakh people dead due to coronavirus; cases approach 1.7 millionAlso Read | Italy extends nationwide coronavirus lockdown until May 3

France records close to 1,000 fatalities in 24 hours; total death toll at 13,197

The total infections detected in hospitals rose by 4.25 per cent to 90,000, slower than Thursday's 5.3 per cent and the number of "confirmed or possible" cases in nursing homes rose to 34,193 from 31,415, said the official.

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The National Hurricane Center warned people of storm surges, heavy wind and rains.Tropical storm Barry made landfall in the US state of Louisiana and has weakened to a storm from a hurricane, according to the National Hurricane Centre (NHC).Barry became a hurricane as it was making its final approach toward the Gulf Coast onto Louisiana on Saturday morning, according to the NHC.Barry is expected to bring dangerous storm surge and heavy rains across the north-central Gulf Coast following its landfall, mainly due to its slow movement toward the inland region, Xinhua news agency. Residents in the affected regions who had not been put under voluntary or mandatory evacuation were told to take shelter.Local governments and residents have geared up for the hurricane. New Orleans and Baton Rouge, the capital city of Louisiana, are among the cities at high risk of flooding. The Mississippi River is forecast to crest at 19 feet (about 5.8 meters) in New Orleans.Both US states of Louisiana and Mississippi declared state of emergency in advance of Barry's arrival. US President Donald Trump on Thursday night declared a federal state of emergency for Louisiana at Governor John Bel Edwards' request, a move that the governor said on Twitter would "help us better coordinate and respond to the incoming storm".On its forecast track, Barry is projected to move northward through the Mississippi Valley through Sunday night.Also Read | Power outage strikes New York City, subway services affectedAlso Read | 4.7-magnitude earthquake hits western GreeceAlso Read | Nepal floods death toll touches 34, several still missing

Tropical storm Barry makes landfall in Louisiana

Tropical storm Barry made landfall in the US state of Louisiana and has weakened to a storm from a hurricane.

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A 15-year-old boy accidentally shot his friend in USA 13-year-old Utah boy is dead after he was accidently shot by a 15-year-old friend, police said. The teens sneaked away from their homes and met up at a church parking lot in the Salt Lake City suburb of West Jordan, said police Lt. Richard Bell.One of the boys had brought a gun and it accidentally went off early Saturday morning, killing the younger teenager. The teen did not know the gun was loaded, he said. “It is not our belief he intended to kill his friend,” Bell said. The older boy called 911 after the shooting, terrified and wanting to help his friend, he said.The 15-year-old was booked into a juvenile detention center on suspicion of manslaughter, but the investigation so far has shown the shooting to be a “truly unfortunate, tragic accident.” The teens names were not released.Police wouldn’t say where the teens had gotten the gun, but did warn gun owners to lock up firearms in their homes and talk to kids about gun safety.

US: 15-yr-old boy accidentally shoots, kills friend in Utah

One of the boys had brought a gun and it accidently went off early Saturday morning, killing the younger teenager.

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Afghans wait in long lines for hours to withdraw money, near Kabul Bank, in Kabul, Afghanistan, Sunday, Aug. 15, 2021.The UN Security Council will hold an emergency meeting on Afghanistan on Monday morning at the request of Estonia and Norway. Council diplomats said Sunday that UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres will brief council members on the latest situation following the Taliban takeover of the capital, Kabul.The UN chief on Friday had urged the Taliban to immediately halt their offensive in Afghanistan and negotiate “in good faith” to avert a prolonged civil war.He also said he is “deeply disturbed by early indications that the Taliban are imposing severe restrictions in the areas under their control, particularly targeting women and journalists.

UN to hold emergency meeting on Afghanistan crisis

The UN chief on Friday had urged the Taliban to immediately halt their offensive in Afghanistan and negotiate “in good faith” to avert a prolonged civil war.

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Pakistan imposes 100,000 PKR fine on Qatar Airways for violating COVID-19 SOPsThe Pakistan government has imposed a 100,000 PKR fine on Qatar Airways for violating the Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) enforced against the COVID-19 pandemic. Aviation Division spokesman Abdul Sattar Khokhar in a statement on Friday said the government had taken serious notice of the violation which had put the health and safety of the passengers as well as personnel working at the airport at risk, reports Dawn news.He said the fine was imposed by the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA).The airline shall also be responsible for all expenses incurred on the testing of Covid-19 and quarantine of the passengers and the staff, Khokhar added.He said that one of the passengers with a positive Covid-19 test report had travelled on the Qatar Airways flight to Islamabad.The CAA has already directed the airlines operating flights to and from Pakistan to ensure compliance with the SOPs that have been devised and implemented to protect passengers from contracting the virus.(With agency inputs)

Pakistan imposes 100,000 PKR fine on Qatar Airways for violating COVID-19 SOPs

The Pakistan government has imposed a 100,000 PKR fine on Qatar Airways for violating the Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) enforced against the COVID-19 pandemic.

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Representational PicIn a brutal incident, an 8-year-old girl was first raped and then burnt alive in Punjab.The shocking incident triggered massive protest with a large number of people of Chichawatni, Sahiwal district, some 200-km from Lahore, holding a demonstration and blocking the main G.T Road for several hours.On the assurance of police that claimed to have arrested a suspect the protesters dispersed. According to police, the grade-II student of the government girls high school Chichawatni went missing on Sunday after she left home to buy some sweets from a grocery shop. When she did not return after a while, her family members and neighbours held a search. They found her in a deserted street in an unconscious state with burns all over her body. Initially she was shifted to Tehsil Headquarters (THQ) Hospital Chichawatni from where she was brought to Lahore’s Jinnah Hospital. “She succumbed to her burns today as doctors could not save her life despite efforts,” Jinnah Hospital spokesman Dr Abdul Jabbar said.  He said the girl had received more than 70 per cent burns. Police official concerned Atif Ikram told reporters that police had arrested a suspect who is being interrogated. He said it was suspected that the girl was set on fire after being raped. However, autopsy report would confirm it, he said, adding that an FIR has been registered against the suspected person(s). There has been an upsurge in rape incidents especially in Punjab province this year. The murder of seven-year-old girl in Kasur district of Punjab earlier this year had shocked the whole nation.

Pakistan: 8-year-old girl raped, burnt alive in Punjab

The shocking incident triggered massive protest with a large number of people of Chichawatni, Sahiwal district, some 200-km from Lahore, holding a demonstration and blocking the main G.T Road for several hours.

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President Donald Trump said that his Russia counterpart Vladimir Putin once again denied meddling in the 2016 election during their conversations on Saturday at a summit in Vietnam.Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One that every time Putin sees him he says: “I didn’t do that.”“And I believe, I really believe that when he tells me that he means it,” Trump said.Multiple US intelligence agencies have concluded that Moscow meddled in the 2016 election to try to help Trump win. Multiple investigations are also under way to determine whether Trump campaign officials colluded with them.Trump dismissed the heads of those agencies as “political hacks.” He said there’s plenty of reason to be suspicious of their findings.Trump also choose to blame Democrats for creating an “artificial barrier” to US-Russian relations by accusing Russia of meddling in the 2016 election.He said that “artificial barrier” gets in the way of putting global pressure on North Korea to abandon its nuclear weapons program.Without that obstacle, Trump said, “We could really be helped a lot, tremendously with Russia having to do with North Korea.”“If we can save many, many, many lives by making a deal with Russia having to do with Syria, and then ultimately getting Syria solved and getting Ukraine solved and doing other things, having a good relationship with Russia’s a great, great thing. And this artificial Democratic hit job gets in the way,” he said, adding that, “people will die because of it.”

Donald Trump says Vladimir Putin again denied election meddling

Donald Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One that every time Vladimir Putin sees him he says: “I didn’t do that.”

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Donald Trump renews attack on 'wacky' UK ambassador calls him 'very stupid guy'In a Twitter tantrum, US President Donald Trump on Tuesday renewed his attack on the British ambassador labeling him a "very stupid guy" and a "pompous fool".The outburst comes after the leak of sensitive diplomatic memos by Ambassador Kim Darroch detailing the "uniquely dysfunctional" and "inept" White House under the US president."The wacky Ambassador that the UK foisted upon the United States is not someone we are thrilled with, a very stupid guy," Trump wrote in a series of tweets about Darroch.Trump also doubled down in attacking May regarding Brexit, saying she "went her own foolish way-was unable to get it done. A disaster!" He added: "He should speak to his country, and Prime Minister Theresa May, about their failed Brexit negotiation, and not be upset with my criticism of how badly it was handled.""I told Theresa May how to do that deal, but she went her own foolish way-was unable to get it done. A disaster! I don't know the Ambassador but have been told he is a pompous fool."Trump was continuing his attack from Monday in which he said he would "no longer deal" with the Darroch and criticized May for making a "mess" of Brexit.Darroch is at the eye of a diplomatic storm after remarks he made about President Trump's US administration, and shared with UK officials in confidence, were leaked over the weekend.Also Read: No longer acceptable: Trump re-emphasises disfavour on India levying high tariffs on American products

Donald Trump renews attack on 'wacky' UK ambassador calls him 'very stupid guy'

In a Twitter tantrum, US President Donald Trump on Tuesday renewed his attack on the British ambassador labeling him a "very stupid guy" and a "pompous fool".

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Coronavirus death toll rises to 908 in mainland China; over 40,000 infectedThe death toll in mainland China due to the mysterious new strain of coronavirus has notched up to 908 as on Monday morning. The authorities confirmed that there were 97 deaths added to the count on Sunday while 3,062 new confirmed cases were registered. Ninety-one deaths were reported from Hubei province, the epicentre of the epidemic, two from Anhui, and one each from Heilongjiang, Jiangxi, Hainan and Gansu. A total of 910 people have died of the infection including 2 outside China in Hong Kong and the Philippines while 40,171 confirmed cases of the outbreak were reported in 31 provincial-level regions so far.On Sunday, as many as 3,281 patients have been discharged from hospital after recovery. So far, over 630 people, including 356 in Hubei, have been discharged, state-run Xinhua news agency quoted the health commission as saying.Chinese authorities have designated the new virus with the temporary name of "Novel Coronavirus Pneumonia" (NCP). The World Health Organisation (WHO) is yet to assign it a permanent name.Image Source : APTop 10 countries with highest number of coronavirus casesTop 10 countries with highest number of coronavirus casesMonday’s rise was a turnaround from a significant reduction in new cases reported Sunday, 2,656, down by about 20% from the 3,399 new cases reported in the previous 24-hour period. That had prompted optimism that the “joint control mechanism of different regions and the strict prevention and control measures have worked,” in the words of a spokesman for the National Health Commission, Mi Feng.Also Sunday, new cases were reported in Japan, South Korea, Vietnam, Malaysia, the U.K. and Spain. More than 360 cases have been confirmed outside mainland China.“Dramatic reductions” in the pace of the disease’s spread should begin this month if containment works, Dr. Ian Lipkin, director of Columbia University’s Center for Infection and Immunity, said in an online news conference on Sunday. He assisted the World Health Organization and Chinese authorities during the outbreak of SARS, or severe acute respiratory syndrome.Warmer weather will reduce the virus’s ability to spread and bring people out of enclosed spaces where it is transmitted more easily, Lipkin said. However, he said, if new cases spike as people return to work after the Lunar New Year holiday, which was extended to reduce the risk of spreading the virus, then “we’ll know we’re in trouble.”The new U.K. case was the nation’s fourth, while Spain reported its second, as European authorities sought to contain the spread of the virus by tracking down people who came into contact with those infected.Both of the new cases were acquired during trips to France, officials said.The new U.K. case is a known contact of a previously confirmed case there, the country’s Chief Medical Officer Professor Chris Whitty said, adding that experts “continue to work hard tracing patient contacts.”In Spain, authorities were working to identify everyone who came into contact with a British man whose case was detected in Mallorca, a popular vacation island in the Mediterranean Sea, Spain’s National Microbiology Center said.Image Source : APCoronavirus death toll rises to 908 in mainland China; over 40,000 infectedCoronavirus death toll rises to 908 in mainland China; over 40,000 infectedThe fatality toll has passed the 774 people believed to have died of SARS, another viral outbreak that originated in China. The total of 37,198 confirmed cases of the new virus vastly exceeds the 8,098 sickened by SARS.Japan reported six more cases among 3,700 passengers and crew aboard the quarantined cruise ship Diamond Princess, bringing the number of infections on the vessel to 69. The new cases are an American passenger in her 70s and five crew members — four Filipinos and a Ukrainian.South Korea reported a new case in a 73-year-old woman whose relatives visited Guangdong province in southern China, raising its total to 27. The family members, a 51-year-old South Korean man and a 37-year-old Chinese woman, were confirmed infected later Sunday.Vietnam reported its 14th case. The Health Ministry said she is a 55-year-old woman in Vinh Phuc province, northwest of Hanoi, where six earlier patients were found to be infected.Malaysia reported its 17th case. The 65-year-old woman’s son-in-law was diagnosed earlier with the virus.Spain confirmed its second case in Mallorca, a popular vacation island in the Mediterranean. The first case was a German tourist diagnosed a week ago in the Canary Islands off northwest Africa.The 1,800 passengers and 1,800 crew members of the cruise ship Dream World were released from quarantine after Hong Kong authorities said tests of the crew found no infections.The ship was isolated after eight mainland Chinese passengers were diagnosed with the disease last month.Port official Leung Yiu-hon said some passengers with symptoms tested negative but there was no need to test all of them because they had no contact with the infected Chinese passengers.Meanwhile, Hong Kong began enforcing a 14-day quarantine for arrivals from mainland China. The territory’s chief executive, Carrie Lam, has refused demands by some hospital workers and others to seal the border completely.The mother of a physician who died last week in Wuhan said in a video released Sunday she wants an explanation from authorities who reprimanded him for warning about the virus in December.The death of Li Wenliang, 34, prompted an outpouring of public anger at Wuhan officials. Some postings left on his microblog account said officials should face consequences for mistreating Li.“My child was summoned by the Wuhan Police Bureau at midnight. He was asked to sign an admonishment notice,” Lu Shuyun said in the video distributed by Pear Video, an online broadcast platform. “We won’t give up if they don’t give us an explanation.”The video shows flowers in her home with a note that says, “Hero is immortal. Thank you.”Also Read | Taiwan reports 1st coronavirus infection without symptoms

Coronavirus death toll rises to 908 in mainland China; over 40,000 infected

The death toll in mainland China due to the mysterious new strain of coronavirus has notched up to 908 as on Monday morning. The authorities confirmed that there were 97 deaths added to the count on Sunday while 3,062 new confirmed cases were registered.

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4 injured in Oakland freeway shooting attack in California (Representational image)A shooting on a San Francisco Bay Area freeway wounded four people Wednesday, authorities said. The attack was reported shortly after 3 p.m. on eastbound Interstate 580 near an off-ramp in Oakland, according to the California Highway Patrol.The black Infiniti M35 sedan was carrying three men and two women, all in their late teens to early 20s, when it was hit by gunfire, authorities said.Three men and a woman were hit.The victims were hospitalized in stable condition, two with major and two with minor injuries, a CHP statement said.Leisa Baker told KGO-TV that two men ran up to her van and begged for help, and she used towels to try to stop one man’s bleeding.“It really took me back to when George Floyd said ‘I can’t breathe,’ to listen to that and hear this young man tell me that, ‘I’m bleeding out, I’m bleeding out,’”″ she said. “I knew that these young men needed help.”No arrests were immediately made and there was no immediate word on what prompted the shooting, which shut down eastbound freeway lanes for several hours. 

4 injured in Oakland freeway shooting attack in California

A shooting on a San Francisco Bay Area freeway wounded four people Wednesday, authorities said. The attack was reported shortly after 3 p.m. on eastbound Interstate 580 near an off-ramp in Oakland

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In a veiled reference to Pakistan, India has sought investigations into North Korea’s nuclear proliferation linkages asked to hold accountable those responsible for it. External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj's remarks came during her trilateral meeting with US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and her Japanese counterpart Taro Kono on Monday. The remarks come days after North Korea fired another mid-range ballistic missile over Japan on Friday.It follows North Korea's sixth and most powerful nuclear test on September 3 which was in direct defiance of United Nations sanctions and other international pressure."External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj deplored North Korea's recent actions and stated that its proliferation linkages must be explored and those involved must be held accountable," the ministry spokesperson Raveesh Kumar told reporters at a news conference here.Swaraj's assertion in this regard came during her trilateral meeting with US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and her Japanese counterpart Taro Kono yesterday on the sidelines of the ongoing United Nations General Assembly session here.Responding to questions, Kumar did not specify the country, but said the hints were enough to determine that."I think I am giving you enough material to try to figure out what we are talking about," he said."We have very clearly mentioned that we not only deplore DPRK's recent actions but also stated that its proliferation linkages must be explored and those involved be held accountable," Kumar said.In addition to proliferation, the three leaders discussed the issue of maritime security and connectivity."Three broad issues were discussed -- maritime security connectivity and proliferation. We have spelled out what these heads mean on security the ministers emphasised the need to ensure freedom of navigation respect for international law and peaceful resolution of disputes," he said."On connectivity, there was discussion on how to base them on universally recognised international norms prudent financing and respect for sovereignty and territorial integrity," Kumar said.The first trilateral ministerial meeting between the three countries was held in 2015. Senior official level meeting has been taking place since 2011. (With PTI inputs)

India deplores North Korea's nuke programmes, seeks investigation into its nuclear proliferation links with Pakistan

In a veiled reference to Pakistan, India has sought investigations into North Korea’s nuclear proliferation linkages asked to hold accountable those responsible for it

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PM Modi/FilePrime Minister Narendra Modi, his Pakistani counterpart Imran Khan and several other world leaders will attend the third edition of Saudi Arabia's high-profile annual financial conference beginning on Tuesday, which is aimed at wooing foreign investors to help the Gulf Kingdom diversify its oil-based economy.Prime Minister Modi, who will arrive in Riyadh late Monday night on a two-day visit, will deliver the keynote address under the title 'What's next for India?' at the forum, which is dubbed as 'Davos in the Desert'.Besides addressing the forum he will hold bilateral talks with Saudi King Salman bin Abdulaziz and Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. The two sides are expected to sign a number of agreements in several key sectors including oil and gas, renewable energy and civil aviation to bolster their ties.The three-day Future Investment Initiative (FII), as the forum is officially known, will host financiers, governments, and industry leaders who would discuss global trade and explore the trends, opportunities and challenges shaping the global investment landscape over the coming decades.US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and President Donald Trump's advisor and son-in-law Jared Kushner will also attend the economic forum, which will also see Pakistan Prime Minister Khan for the second consecutive year."India and Saudi Arabia have enjoyed traditionally close and friendly relations. Saudi Arabia has been one of the largest and reliable suppliers of India's energy needs," Modi said in his departure statement in New Delhi. He noted that defence, security, trade, culture, education and people-to-people contacts are the other important areas of bilateral cooperation with Saudi Arabia.The two sides would also sign an agreement to establish a Strategic Partnership Council to coordinate on key issues. The council will be headed by Prime Minister Modi and the crown prince and it will meet every two years."The Agreement for establishment of the Strategic Partnership Council will further elevate the India-Saudi Arabia Strategic Partnership to a new level," the prime minister said in his statement.This would be Prime Minister Modi's second visit to the Gulf Kingdom. During his first visit in 2016, King Salman conferred Saudi's highest civilian award on him. The Crown Prince visited India in February 2019, giving a further fillip to the bilateral ties.India's relations with Saudi Arabia have been on an upswing over the last few years. India's bilateral trade with Saudi Arabia was at USD 27.48 billion in 2017-18, making Saudi Arabia its fourth largest trading partner.Saudi Arabia last month said that it was looking at investing USD 100 billion in India in areas of energy, refining, petrochemicals, infrastructure, agriculture, minerals and mining.At the FII forum, Prime Minister Modi will speak on India's economy, its challenges and opportunities for equitable growth and prosperity. "I will speak about the growing trade and investment opportunities for the global investors in India as the country marches forward to a 5 trillion dollar economy by 2024," Modi said.The high-profile forum faced widespread boycott in 2018 in the aftermath of killing of Saudi dissident journalist Jamal Khashoggi, who was murdered in the Kingdom's consulate in Istanbul, Turkey by Saudi security agents.This year a number of world leaders such as King Abdullah of Jordan, Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro, Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari, Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyattta and former British prime minister David Cameron are among the speakers at the forum, which would be attended by more than 6,000 people from over 30 countries.Mukesh Ambani, Chairman & Managing Director, Reliance Industries Limited, India will also speak at the forum on the topic 'The next decade: How will a new era of economic ambition shape the global economy?'.The FII is organised by the Public Investment Fund, the Kingdom’s main investment arm and one of the world's leading sovereign wealth funds. The forum is intended to project the Kingdom as the future investment hub in the region.Under vision 2030 of Crown Prince Mohammed, the oil-rich Saudi Arabia plans to diversify its economy while reducing its economic dependence on petroleum products. 

Davos in the Desert: PM Modi to address key Saudi biz conference

Prime Minister Narendra Modi, his Pakistani counterpart Imran Khan and several other world leaders will attend the third edition of Saudi Arabia's high-profile annual financial conference beginning on Tuesday, which is aimed at wooing foreign investors to help the Gulf Kingdom diversify its oil-based economy.

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Benches stand taped off to try and stop people sitting on them, on the South Bank of the River Thames with St Paul's Cathedral in the background in London, during the lockdown to try and stop the spread of coronavirus.The British government announced Thursday that a nationwide lockdown imposed to slow the spread of the new coronavirus will remain in place for at least three more weeks, as health officials said the U.K.’s coronavirus outbreak — one of Europe’s worst — was nearing its peak. Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab said “any change to our social distancing measures now would risk a significant increase in the spread of the virus.”The lockdown has been in place since March 23. Schools, pubs, restaurants and most shops are closed, and most people are allowed to leave home only for essential errands or exercise.Medical officials say the outbreak in the U.K. is reaching its peak but it’s too early to loosen restrictions on daily life.Chief Scientific Officer Patrick Vallance said that while transmission of the virus has been dramatically reduced, “we run the risk of a second peak” if the lockdown is loosened now.As of Thursday, 13,729 people have died in U.K. hospitals after testing positive for coronavirus, an increase of 861 from a day earlier. That number still understates the true toll of the pandemic since those figures do not include hundreds, and maybe thousands, of virus-related deaths in nursing homes and other settings.Chief Medical Officer Chris Whitty said the U.K. is “probably reaching the peak overall” but that officials are “not yet at the point where we can say confidently and safely this is now past the peak.”For now, extending the lockdown has wide public and political support. But as other European countries cautiously ease their restrictions, Britain’s Conservative government faces pressure to explain when and how the country will reopen.The suspension of normal business activity has thrown hundreds of thousands of Britons out of work and sent the economy into a nosedive. The Office for National Statistics said Thursday that a quarter of U.K. businesses had temporarily closed since the lockdown began.“We agree the measures need to remain in place, but to maintain morale and hope, people need a sense of what comes next,” said Keir Starmer, leader of the opposition Labour Party.In one small sign of movement, fast food chains Pret a Manger, Burger King and KFC said they planned limited takeout reopenings, especially near U.K. hospitals.The Conservative government’s response to the pandemic has been complicated by the absence of Prime Minister Boris Johnson, who has not returned to work after spending a week in a London hospital being treated for COVID-19. Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab is filling in while Johnson recuperates, but the government is wary of making big decisions until he is back.Epidemiologist Neil Ferguson, a government adviser, said “significant” social distancing will have to be maintained until there is a vaccine for the coronavirus — a development that could be over a year away.He said easing restrictions would also require vastly expanded testing for the virus, so that people who are ill, and their contacts, can be isolated or quarantined.Ferguson said without broad testing “we have relatively little leeway.”“If we relax measures too much, then we’ll see a resurgence of transmission,” he told the BBC. “What we really need is the ability to put something in their place.”Britain’s government has been criticized for its belated response to the pandemic, including limited testing and delays in getting protective equipment to health care workers.The government insists it is rectifying those mistakes. It has vowed to conduct 100,000 tests a day by the end of April — a more than five-fold increase on current rates.Critics have also accused U.K. officials of unnecessary secrecy over its pandemic planning. The government’s decisions are based on advice from the Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies, a panel of scientists whose full membership list has not been made public.The British government also is accused of neglecting nursing home employees and residents. Virus-related deaths at nursing homes or any other non-hospital setting are not included in the government’s daily tallies. The Office for National Statistics said up to April 3 this year, 383 deaths involving COVID-19 occurred outside hospitals.In a leaked letter, nursing home bosses have accused the government of offering conflicting messages, creating confusion and adding to the workload of those on the front lines.The letter from the Association of Directors of Adult Social Services, published by the BBC, said the distribution of protective equipment for nursing home staff had been “shambolic” and testing for health care workers was being expanded without “thought to who is going to be tested and what we are going to do with the result.”Association President Julie Ogley said she regretted the leak of the letter but not its contents.“Some of the language used in the letter may be more emotional than we would normally use, but we are in emotional times,” she said.ALSO READ | India provides Hydroxychloroquine to over 50 countries. FULL LIST

UK government extends coronavirus lockdown by at least 3 weeks

The British government announced Thursday that a nationwide lockdown imposed to slow the spread of the new coronavirus will remain in place for at least three more weeks, as health officials said the U.K.’s coronavirus outbreak — one of Europe’s worst — was nearing its peak.

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US delegation visits PoKA high-level US Congressional delegation on Sunday visited Pakistan-occupied Kashmir to assess the situation on the ground and gauge the public sentiment after India revoked the special status of Jammu and Kashmir.The delegation comprising Senators Chris Van Hollen and Maggie Hassan and US Charge d'Affaires Ambassador Paul Jones visited Muzaffarabad, the capital of PoK.Pakistan Foreign Office (FO) said the purpose of the visit was to see the ground situation and gauge the public sentiment following India's August 5 decision.Normal life in Kashmir remains paralysed following the government's August 5 move to abrogate Article 370, that provided special status to Jammu and Kashmir, and bifurcate the State into two union territories.Ties between India and Pakistan came under severe strain after New Delhi's decision. Pakistan reacted angrily to the move and expelled the Indian envoy. Since then, Pakistan has been trying to rally international support against India on the issue."The US Senators said that they shared the human rights concerns and would continue to urge India to lift the curfew and release all prisoners as a first step. They also expressed their resolve to remain engaged for the resolution of the dispute," according to the FO.The delegation also met PoK's leaders Sardar Masood Khan and Raja Farooq Haider.Khan and Haider said that visit would help the delegation to have first-hand information, understanding of the prevailing "humanitarian crisis" in Kashmir.They asked US Senators to press India to resolve the Jammu and Kashmir issue in accordance with UNSC resolutions.India has been maintaining that the Kashmir issue is a bilateral matter between India and Pakistan and there is no scope for third-party mediation.The US delegation was apprised of the historical background of the Jammu and Kashmir issue and the situation in Kashmir in the wake of prolonged curfew.The visit came after Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi on Saturday urged Hollen to visit both sides of Kashmir and see the situation on the ground. ALSO READ | JKLF marchers stopped from moving towards LoC to protest abrogation of Article 370ALSO READ | Hundreds of Kashmiris from PoK to march towards LoCALSO READ | Imran Khan warns PoK residents against crossing LoC

US delegation visits PoK

The delegation comprising Senators Chris Van Hollen and Maggie Hassan and US Charge d'Affaires Ambassador Paul Jones visited Muzaffarabad, the capital of PoK.

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Shoppers lineup to enter a supermarket in Auckland, New Zealand, Tuesday, Aug. 17, 2021.New Zealand’s government took drastic action Tuesday by putting the entire nation into a strict lockdown for at least three days after finding a single case of coronavirus infection in the community.Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern invoked some of the stirring rhetoric she used early in the pandemic by urging the “team of 5 million” — New Zealand’s population — to go hard and early in trying to eliminate the latest outbreak.She said Auckland, where the infected man lives, and Coromandel, where he had visited, would go into a full lockdown for seven days and the remainder of the country for three days while health experts tried to find the source of his infection.New Zealand had managed to stamp out the virus, and the last outbreak was in February. But Ardern had been warning that the contagiousness of the delta variant would likely require more drastic action than previous outbreaks.Health officials said genome testing would not verify until Wednesday whether the infected 58-year-old man had the delta variant, although they were working under the assumption he does.Officials said they could not immediately find a connection between the man and the handful of people who have tested positive while isolating in quarantine after arriving from abroad. The border is seen as the most likely source of any outbreaks.The move into the strictest lockdown underscored the vastly different approach New Zealand has taken to the virus than most other nations, which are attempting to suppress its spread rather than eliminate it entirely.New Zealand has reported just 26 virus deaths since the pandemic began.The lockdown takes effect from just before midnight Tuesday. It requires people to remain at home and avoid others. 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New Zealand to enter lockdown after single coronavirus case found

New Zealand's government took drastic action Tuesday by putting the entire nation into a strict lockdown after detecting just a single community case of the coronavirus.

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The government had also announced immediate restoration of the Ganesh temple, which was complied to, and the temple was restored at the expense of the government. A Pakistani Anti-Terrorism Court (ATC) has sentenced atleast 22 accused to five years of imprisonment each for allegedly attacking a Hindu temple in Punjab province in 2021.In July 2021, miscreants allegedly attacked the Ganesh temple at Bhong city of Rahim Yar Khan district in Punjab province with sticks, bamboos and weapons. The angry mob allegedly assaulted the security guard, damaged idols, walls, doors and electric fittings and set part of the temple ablaze, desecrating the holy Hindu temple.The mob attack was triggered in response to desecration of a Muslim seminary by an eight-year-old Hindu boy. At least 84 suspected persons, who attacked the Hindu temple were taken into custody during September 2021, and a case was registered in the ATC in Bahawalpur of Punjab province.As per details, Bahawalpur ATC judge, Nazir Hussain, announced the judgment in the case. "The judge handed down imprisonment of five years each to at least 22 suspects while acquitting the remaining 62 people on benefit of doubt," confirmed a court official."The court handed out the punishment to 22 accused persons after the prosecution presented the relevant evidence in the form of footages and witnesses who testified against them," the official added. The matter was also taken up by the Pakistan government, which had already announced a compensation of Rs one million from the alleged suspects. This was done as per orders of the same court.The government had also announced immediate restoration of the Ganesh temple, which was complied to, and the temple was restored at the expense of the government. The former Pakistan Chief Justice, Gulzar Ahmed had taken notice of the incident and regretted that vandalism of Ganesh temple had brought shame to the country.He also expressed disappointment over the local police, who he said, did nothing to stop the violent mob from attacking the Hindu temple. "Imagine what mental agony the desecration incident had brought to the members of the Hindu community," Ahmed said. The incident was also condemned as a resolution was unanimously adopted against it.ALSO READ | Pakistan, US hold security talks ahead of Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto's visitALSO READ | Pakistan PM Shehbaz Sharif meets elder brother Nawaz in London, briefs him on crisis back home

Pakistan court sentences 22 culprits to 5-year jail in Hindu temple attack case

In July 2021, miscreants allegedly attacked the Ganesh temple at Bhong city of Rahim Yar Khan district in Punjab province with sticks, bamboos and weapons.

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File photo of President Muhammadu Buhari of Nigeria addressing the 72nd session of the United Nations General AssemblyNigeria’s presidency late Sunday announced a “deeply unfortunate killings across a number of communities” in central Plateau State as one report cited police as saying 86 people were dead in clashes between mostly Muslim herders and Christian farmers.President Muhammadu Buhari appealed for calm as the military and police tried to end the bloodshed, and said “no efforts will be spared” to find the attackers and prevent reprisal attacks.Related Stories Boko Haram attack kills 15, wounds 83 in northern Nigeria31 killed in twin suicide bomb attacks in NigeriaNigeria’s government did not announce a death toll. But the independent Channels Television cited a Plateau State police spokesman, Mathias Tyopev, as saying 86 people had been killed, with at least 50 houses destroyed, in violence that appeared to have started overnight.Deadly clashes between herders and farmers in central Nigeria are a growing security concern in Africa’s most populous country, which is roughly split between Muslims in the north and Christians in the south.The fighting between herders and farmers by some accounts has been deadlier than Nigeria’s Boko Haram extremist insurgency, which continues to carry out attacks in the northeast.That extremist threat has been cited as one cause of the growing tensions in central Nigeria as herders — also feeling the effects of climate change — are forced south into more populated farming communities in search of safe grazing.The widespread security issues pose a major challenge to Buhari, a Muslim former military ruler who won office in a democratic transfer of power in 2015, as elections approach next year.While few details emerged immediately of the latest killings, Nigerians for hours Sunday on social media shared a growing sense that something awful had occurred.Earlier in the day the Plateau State governor, Simon Bako Lalong, announced a 6 p.m. to 6 a.m. curfew after saying had woken up to the “shocking news” of the attacks. In a series of message posted on Twitter he gave few details about “this horrible situation.”The governor said the curfew affects the communities of Jos South, Riyom and Barkin Ladi “and is in effect until further notice.”

86 dead in Nigerian communal clashes, govt terms violence as 'deeply unfortunate killings'

Deadly clashes between herders and farmers in central Nigeria are a growing security concern in Africa’s most populous country, which is roughly split between Muslims in the north and Christians in the south.

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Pak-Hindu girl found dead in college hostelA Pakistani-Hindu medical student was found dead in her hostel room at the Shaheed Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto Medical University (SMBBMU) in Larkana, media reports said on Tuesday.The body of Nimrita Kumari, a student of the SMBBMU's Bibi Aseefa Dental College, was found on Monday hanging from the ceiling fan in her hostel room, the university administration confirmed.Kumari was enrolled in the university's Bachelor of Dental Surgery programme and was a final-year student, reports The News International.The university's Vice-Chancellor, Aneela Atta-ur-Rahman they had formed a committee to probe Kumari's alleged suicide. It would be headed by the principal of Larkana's Chandka Medical College, she added.The late student's parents, who live in Karachi, had been informed, the Vice-Chancellor added.The police has also launched an investigation into the case.Also Read: Without violating Indus Water Treaty, India to obstruct flow of excess water into PakistanAlso Read: Two Indian spies sneaked into Balochistan: Pakistan media

Pak-Hindu girl found dead in college hostel

The body of Nimrita Kumari, a student of the SMBBMU's Bibi Aseefa Dental College, was found on Monday hanging from the ceiling fan in her hostel room, the university administration confirmed.

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Must recognize Taliban if the world doesn't want to be threatened from Afghanistan: SpokespersonThe world must recognize the outfit if they do not want to receive any threat from Afghanistan, the Taliban have warned the international community. Speaking at a press conference on Saturday, Taliban spokesperson Zabiullah Mujahid said they must be recognized as a responsible side, Khaama Press news agency reported.In a statement that appeared as a possible warning, Mujahid stated the Taliban will not take any responsibility to avert threats to other countries until and unless they are recognized by the international community. He added that recognition is a bilateral need."We fought the US because they did not recognize us in the past. If the Taliban are not recognized, it will only increase problems in Afghanistan, the region and the world," said Mujahid.He further claimed that the Taliban have completed all preconditions of their recognition and the world will recognize them "one way or the other."Mujahid also asked all the countries to activate their diplomatic missions in Afghanistan.Two months have passed since the outfit took over Afghanistan. Aside from a handful of countries including Pakistan and China, no other country has shown any keenness to increase engagement with the Taliban.The rest of the international community is observing the rights situation in the country and are focused on curtailing the humanitarian crisis in the country.Amid questions on the recognition of the Islamic Emirate, the Taliban's diplomats have started working in Afghanistan's missions in Pakistan.Meanwhile, the European Union is also seeking to reopen its diplomatic mission in Afghanistan in months' time as the bloc is looking to enhance its engagement with the new Taliban government.The 27-member bloc will return to the capital city of Kabul as Brussels seeks to co-ordinate aid efforts and the continued evacuation of some Afghans, UK-based newspaper Financial Times (FT) reported. (With inputs from ANI)Also Read | Taliban killed 13 to silence music at a marriage party in Nangarhar, says Amrullah Saleh /* .jw-reset-text, .jw-reset{line-height: 2em;}*/ .jw-time-tip .jw-time-chapter{display:none;} if ('' == comscore_jw_loaded || 'undefined' == comscore_jw_loaded || undefined == comscore_jw_loaded) { var comscore_jw_loaded = 1; 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'Fought US as they did not recognise us in past': Taliban warn world of threats if not recognised

In a statement that appeared as a possible warning, Mujahid stated the Taliban will not take any responsibility to avert threats to other countries until and unless they are recognized by the international community.

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Zydus Cadila gets USFDA nod for thyroid drugDrug firm Zydus Cadila has received final approval from the US health regulator to market Liothyronine Sodium tablets that are used to treat underactive thyroid. Liothyronine is a man-made form of thyroid hormone which is used to treat an underactive thyroid (hypothyroidism). It replaces or provides more thyroid hormone, which is normally made by the thyroid gland.Zydus Cadila has received final approval from the US Food and Drug Administration (USFDA) to market Liothyronine Sodium tablets USP, 5 mcg, 25 mcg, and 50 mcg, Cadila Healthcare said in a regulatory filing.Zydus Cadila is a part of the Cadila Healthcare group.The drug will be manufactured at the group's formulation manufacturing facility at the SEZ, Ahmedabad, the company added.The group now has 312 approvals and has so far filed over 390 abbreviated new drug applications (ANDAs) since the commencement of the filing process in FY 2003-04. ALSO READ | Zydus Cadila gets DCGI nod to initiate Phase-3 clinical trials for COVID-19 vaccine

Zydus Cadila gets USFDA nod for thyroid drug

Drug firm Zydus Cadila has received final approval from the US health regulator to market Liothyronine Sodium tablets that are used to treat underactive thyroid.

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Jammu and Kashmir: ISI looks for younger face for HurriyatPakistan apparently does not want to abandon its effort to promote terrorisn in Jammu and Kashmir. Pakistan's spy agency Inter Services Intelligence (ISI) is looking for young face for Hurriyat, the separatist group in the Kashmir valley. It is being suspected that Pakistan is trying to revive terrorism in Jammu and Kashmir. Indian governement recently took the decision of withdrawing 10,000 troops from Jammu and Kashmir. This may have given terror masterminds in Pakistan including in Pakistani government new nudge to foment terror. Although Indian security forces are more than enough to tackle the terror threat, fresh moves of ISI need to be followed carefully.IANS reported that terrorists based in Pakistan were making desperate attempts to cross the Line of Control in Jammu and Kashmir to enter Indian territory, intelligence agencies have alerted security establishments in the valley.Sources said 12 Pakistan trained Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) jihadis, in two groups, are making attempts to cross the Line of Control (LoC). To help these terrorists cross the LoC, Pakistan's Border Action Team (BAT) has planned to carry out attacks on Indian Army posts.The agencies have flagged that in "Bhimbher Gali (BG) sector in Rajouri district six LeT jihadis accompanied with a guide to infiltrate" in Indian territory.Intelligence agency sleuths have also alerted the security establishments, "In Poonch Sector, six LeT accompanied by a commander Abdul Fazal are making attempts to infiltrate and also planned BAT like action".

Jammu and Kashmir: ISI looks for younger face for Hurriyat

Pakistan apparently does not want to abandon its effort to promote terrorisn in Jammu and Kashmir. Pakistan's spy agency Inter Services Intelligence (ISI) is looking for young face for Hurriyat, the separatist group in the Kashmir valley. It is being suspected that Pakistan is trying to revive terrorism in Jammu and Kashmir.

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Representational image of the deadbody of the little girl The body of a 7-year-old Indian girl was found in a remote desert area in the US state of Arizona earlier this week, according to US Customs and Border Protection (CBP).According to authorities, the unidentified girl "was trying to cross into the US with a group of people from her country". Her body was discovered 17 miles west of Lukeville, just over the US-Mexico border on Wednesday, the local media reported.Border agents said the day when the girl's body was found, they were told that human smugglers helped five Indian illegal immigrants cross into the US.The group was trying to get into the US after human smugglers dropped them off near the Mexico border, the agency said in a statement on Thursday. CBP described the terrain where the young girl was found as "rugged desert wilderness" and said anyone there would have "little to no resources." Temperatures were around 108 degrees on the day the girl is believed to have died.Border Patrol agents got the information on the girl's movements from two women from India who told officials they'd been separated from a woman and two children travelling in their group hours earlier."Agents took the two women into custody and began searching the area north of the international border in remote terrain seven miles west of Quitobaquito Springs," the agency said in a statement cited by the US media. "Within hours, they discovered the little girl's remains."Agents used helicopters to search for the people she'd been travelling with and found footprints indicating they returned to Mexico."Our sympathies are with this little girl and her family," Tucson Chief Patrol Agent Roy Villareal was quoted as saying by CNN. "This is a senseless death driven by cartels who are profiting from putting lives at risk."Customs and Border Protection agents along with Mexican authorities were searching both sides of the border for anyone associated with the group.

Body of 7-year-old Indian girl found in Arizona desert in US

The body of a 7-year-old Indian girl was found in a remote desert area in the US state of Arizona earlier this week, according to US Customs and Border Protection (CBP)

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Imran Khan- File photoA second economist resigned from Prime Minister Imran Khan’s Economic Advisory Council (EAC) on Saturday in protest over the removal of renowned academic Dr Atif Mian from the body due to his Ahmadi faith.“With a heavy heart, I have resigned from the EAC this morning,” Dr Imran Rasul, a professor of economics at University College London, said in a tweet.Related Stories Pak to open Kartarpur border crossing for Sikh pilgrims; Sidhu thanks Imran Khan‘Filled with cautious hope’: Indian envoy Ajay Bisaria welcomes opening of political window by Imran govtTarek Fatah Exclusive: 'Pakistan was formed to destroy India, Imran Khan a duffer'Pak, China foreign ministers hold talks, agree to strengthen strategic ties between two nations“I wish the government and EAC luck in their future work and remain willing to offer non-partisan, evidence-based advice that can help improve economic policy making in the country,” he said.His resignation came a day after another EAC member Dr Asim ljaz Khwaja, a professor of International Finance and Development at the Harvard Kennedy School, resigned hours after the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) government asked his colleague Dr Atif Mian to step down on Friday, Geo News reported.Dr Atif Mian, a professor at Princeton University and Woodrow Wilson School of Public Policy, had been appointed to the body last week and said he was resigning because the government was facing pressure from religio-political parties regarding his appointment.Information Minister Fawad Chaudhry had taken to Twitter about Dr Atif Mian’s removal, saying: “The government wants to move forward alongside scholars and all social groups, and it is inappropriate if a single nomination creates an impression to the contrary.” The appointment of Dr Atif Mian to the 18-member EAC set up to advise the government on economic policy was opposed by some individuals and groups, including Tehreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan, who objected to his Ahmadi faith.A social media smear campaign had erupted against Dr Atif Mian’s appointment, with many calling for his removal.On the other hand, there were a large number of supporters who defended his appointment on the social media, saying that one’s religion should not factor into their professional qualifications or employment.

Second economist resigns from Pakistan’s advisory council over Ahmadi colleague’s removal

Dr Atif Mian, a professor at Princeton University and Woodrow Wilson School of Public Policy, had been appointed to the body last week and said he was resigning because the government was facing pressure from religio-political parties regarding his appointment.

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Britain's Queen Elizabeth IILeaked documents have revealed for the first time on Friday the extent of the huge operation that will be launched in the hours and days after Britain’s Queen Elizabeth II dies.Details of what will happen under the codename “Operation London Bridge” were leaked to US-headquartered news organisation ‘Politico’, which reports that officials will refer to the day the Queen dies as “D Day”.The 95-year-old monarch, the longest-serving in British history, is to be buried 10 days after she dies and her son and heir, Prince Charles, will embark on a tour of the UK before the burial is held.According to the plans, the late sovereign's coffin will lie in state for three days at the Houses of Parliament, with authorities anticipating hundreds of thousands of people to descend on London – sparking fears over gridlock, policing and even food shortages.A vast security operation has been planned to manage the unprecedented crowds and travel chaos that are expected in the lead-up to her funeral. One memo warns that London could be stretched to breaking point as hundreds of thousands of people make their way to the UK capital.There will be a supposedly “spontaneous” service at St Paul’s Cathedral, according to Politico, and the new King Charles will tour the four nations of the United Kingdom in the days after her death.The British prime minister and the monarch are said to be in agreement that the day of her state funeral will be a day of national mourning. It will effectively be a holiday, although not described as such.Buckingham Palace officials have declined to comment, either on the leak or the plans.In 2017, ‘The Guardian’ published a long article revealing details about Operation London Bridge, which covered how the new King - Charles – will be proclaimed at St James’s Palace amid visiting royalty.ALSO READ: 3 doses of Covid vaccine will offer full protection: Dr FauciALSO READ: Won't recognise Afghanistan Taliban govt, but ready to have 'constructive relationship': UK

Secret funeral plans for Britain’s Queen Elizabeth II leaked

Details of what will happen under the codename “Operation London Bridge” were leaked to US-headquartered news organisation ‘Politico’, which reports that officials will refer to the day the Queen dies as “D Day”.

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A top American commander today said that the Indo-US relationship stands on its own merit and does not aim to contain China.Commander of the US Pacific Command Admiral Harry Harris, however, added that that China is using its military and economic power to "erode" the rules-based international order."There are those who question the motives for the increasingly cooperative relationship between the US and India. Some have said that it is to contain China. That is simply not true," Admiral Harry Harris said a day after the Chinese media raised questions on the increasing relationship between India and the United States. "The US-India relationship stands on its own merits. That is why I made enhancing our relationship with India a major line of effort when I took command of Pacific Command," he added."The growing US-India relationship has also inspired my thinking about partnerships like our Australian alliance, the US deepening cooperation with India is based on shared values and shared concerns. I have spoken about the clear benefits of a democracy quadrilateral that enhances security cooperation between Australia, India, Japan, and the US," Harris said.China, he said, poses a challenge to the US."China is using its military and economic power to erode the rules-based international order."I believe the Chinese are building up combat power and positional advantage in an attempt to assert de facto sovereignty over disputed maritime features and spaces in the South China Sea... where they are fundamentally altering the physical and political landscape by creating and militarising man-made bases," the four star ranked admiral said."Fake islands should not be believed by real people," Harris said, apparently referring to the artificial islands being built by China in the disputed South China Sea.China claims almost all of the resource-rich South China Sea and Vietnam, the Philippines, Malaysia, Brunei and Taiwan have counter claims.Americas goal, he said, remains to convince China that its best future comes from peaceful cooperation, meaningful participation in the current rules-based international order, and honouring its international commitments."I have also been loud and clear that we wont allow the shared domains to be closed down unilaterally. So we will cooperate where we can, but remain ready to confront where we must."Ultimately, the US seeks a constructive and result- oriented relationship with China. This will benefit America, our allies ? especially Australia ? and our partners, while pressing China to abide by international rules and norms," Harris added.(With PTI inputs)

Indo-US relationship stands on merits, not aimed at containing China: US Pacific Commander Harris

Admiral Harry Harris, however, added that that China is using its military and economic power to "erode" the rules-based international order.

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24 killed, over 2,000 wounded in Iraqi protestsThe Iraqi authorities said on Friday that the casualty toll from the new waves of nationwide protests over unemployment, corruption and lack of public services has risen to 24 dead and more than 2,000 wounded.According to a statement by the Iraqi Independent High Commission for Human Rights (IHCHR), the 24 protesters were killed by either tear gas suffocation or live bullets used by the guards protecting the headquarters of the provincial governments and the offices of the political parties, the Xinhua news agency reported.Eight protesters killed in the capital Baghdad, six in Maysan Province, six in Dhi Qar Province and four in the provinces of Basra and Muthanna, the parliament-affiliated commission said.The number of the wounded has risen to 2,047, including both the demonstrators and security forces, mostly in Baghdad."Most of the casualties occurred as a result of gunshot wounds, tear gas and rubber bullets," the statement said.Since the early hours of Friday, hundreds of protesters rallied in the square on the eastern side of the Tigris River and tried to cross the nearby al-Jumhouriyah Bridge to reach the Green Zone, the administrative centre of the Iraqi government.The repeated attempts to cross the bridge pushed the security forces to completely close it with three-meter high concrete blocks.According to an earlier IHCHR statement, demonstrators in Wasit Province burned the Islamic Dawa Party headquarters and stormed the house of the governor in the province, while in the southern province of Dhi Qar, protesters burned the provincial government building.Meanwhile, the media office affiliated with the Iraqi Joint Operation Command said in a statement that the intelligence forces captured a person in Sadoun Street in downtown Baghdad for holding a pistol and shooting both protesters and security forces.Moreover, the state-run Iraqiya television reported that demonstrators captured another person, who fired bullets at the security forces in Tahrir Square in downtown Baghdad.The demonstrations came after Iraqi Prime Minister Adel Abdul Mahdi delivered a televised speech, in which he warned of chaos if the government resigns, and promised a cabinet reshuffle, more job opportunities and the establishment of a court to prosecute corrupt officials.Earlier this month, massive protests erupted in Baghdad and other central and southern provinces over similar reasons that left 157 killed, including security forces.The Iraqi authorities said on Friday that the casualty toll from the new waves of nationwide protests over unemployment, corruption and lack of public services has risen to 24 dead and more than 2,000 wounded.According to a statement by the Iraqi Independent High Commission for Human Rights (IHCHR), the 24 protesters were killed by either tear gas suffocation or live bullets used by the guards protecting the headquarters of the provincial governments and the offices of the political parties, the Xinhua news agency reported.Eight protesters killed in the capital Baghdad, six in Maysan Province, six in Dhi Qar Province and four in the provinces of Basra and Muthanna, the parliament-affiliated commission said.The number of the wounded has risen to 2,047, including both the demonstrators and security forces, mostly in Baghdad."Most of the casualties occurred as a result of gunshot wounds, tear gas and rubber bullets," the statement said.Since the early hours of Friday, hundreds of protesters rallied in the square on the eastern side of the Tigris River and tried to cross the nearby al-Jumhouriyah Bridge to reach the Green Zone, the administrative centre of the Iraqi government.The repeated attempts to cross the bridge pushed the security forces to completely close it with three-meter high concrete blocks.According to an earlier IHCHR statement, demonstrators in Wasit Province burned the Islamic Dawa Party headquarters and stormed the house of the governor in the province, while in the southern province of Dhi Qar, protesters burned the provincial government building.Meanwhile, the media office affiliated with the Iraqi Joint Operation Command said in a statement that the intelligence forces captured a person in Sadoun Street in downtown Baghdad for holding a pistol and shooting both protesters and security forces.Moreover, the state-run Iraqiya television reported that demonstrators captured another person, who fired bullets at the security forces in Tahrir Square in downtown Baghdad.The demonstrations came after Iraqi Prime Minister Adel Abdul Mahdi delivered a televised speech, in which he warned of chaos if the government resigns, and promised a cabinet reshuffle, more job opportunities and the establishment of a court to prosecute corrupt officials.Earlier this month, massive protests erupted in Baghdad and other central and southern provinces over similar reasons that left 157 killed, including security forces.The Iraqi authorities said on Friday that the casualty toll from the new waves of nationwide protests over unemployment, corruption and lack of public services has risen to 24 dead and more than 2,000 wounded.According to a statement by the Iraqi Independent High Commission for Human Rights (IHCHR), the 24 protesters were killed by either tear gas suffocation or live bullets used by the guards protecting the headquarters of the provincial governments and the offices of the political parties, the Xinhua news agency reported.Eight protesters killed in the capital Baghdad, six in Maysan Province, six in Dhi Qar Province and four in the provinces of Basra and Muthanna, the parliament-affiliated commission said.The number of the wounded has risen to 2,047, including both the demonstrators and security forces, mostly in Baghdad."Most of the casualties occurred as a result of gunshot wounds, tear gas and rubber bullets," the statement said.Since the early hours of Friday, hundreds of protesters rallied in the square on the eastern side of the Tigris River and tried to cross the nearby al-Jumhouriyah Bridge to reach the Green Zone, the administrative centre of the Iraqi government.The repeated attempts to cross the bridge pushed the security forces to completely close it with three-meter high concrete blocks.According to an earlier IHCHR statement, demonstrators in Wasit Province burned the Islamic Dawa Party headquarters and stormed the house of the governor in the province, while in the southern province of Dhi Qar, protesters burned the provincial government building.Meanwhile, the media office affiliated with the Iraqi Joint Operation Command said in a statement that the intelligence forces captured a person in Sadoun Street in downtown Baghdad for holding a pistol and shooting both protesters and security forces.Moreover, the state-run Iraqiya television reported that demonstrators captured another person, who fired bullets at the security forces in Tahrir Square in downtown Baghdad.The demonstrations came after Iraqi Prime Minister Adel Abdul Mahdi delivered a televised speech, in which he warned of chaos if the government resigns, and promised a cabinet reshuffle, more job opportunities and the establishment of a court to prosecute corrupt officials.Earlier this month, massive protests erupted in Baghdad and other central and southern provinces over similar reasons that left 157 killed, including security forces.ALSO READ: 4th suspect arrested as UK truck deaths case probe deepensALSO READ: China's Communist Party to meet to review key polices, Hong Kong protests

24 killed, over 2,000 wounded in Iraqi protests

The demonstrations came after Iraqi Prime Minister Adel Abdul Mahdi delivered a televised speech, in which he warned of chaos if the government resigns, and promised a cabinet reshuffle, more job opportunities and the establishment of a court to prosecute corrupt officials.

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Calling Charlottesville violence ‘horrible’, US President Donald Trump on Tuesday blamed both white supremacist groups and leftist demonstrators for the confrontation in the state of Virginia that left one woman dead and about 20 people injured. "You had a group on one side that was bad and you had a group on the other side that was also very violent. No one wants to say that, but I'll say it right now: You had a group on the other side that came charging in without a permit and they were very, very violent," Trump said at a Trump Tower press conference in New York.Trump said that the violence that erupted in Charlottesville was "horrible", but he insisted that not all of those who attended the protest were neo-Nazis or white supremacists, Efe news reported.He said that many people attending the rally were there to protest the removal of a statue of Confederate General Robert E. Lee."You had people in that group who were protesting the taking down of what to them is a very, very important statue," the President said, going on to suggest that if historical revisionism could deligitimize Lee's role and lead to the removal of his statue, then it could also be used to remove statues and monuments to George Washington and Thomas Jefferson, who were both slave-owners.The "Unite the Right" march in Charlottesville led to clashes between rallygoers and their opponents.Trump said that the decision to remove such statues should be left to local authorities and be handled on a case by case basis, but he also vehemently defended his earlier response to what happened in Charlottesville after the criticism he received for waiting two days to explicitly condemn the Ku Klux Klan, the neo-Nazis and white supremacists who had gathered there.He told reporters that the statement he had made on Saturday had been vague in assigning blame for the violence because, "Unlike ... the media, before I make a statement, I like to know the facts."Originally, Trump on Saturday had said that "hatred, bigotry and violence" had been evidenced "on many sides" and failed to single out the white supremacists who had called the march in Charlottesville.(With IANS inputs)

Donald Trump blames both white supremacists and leftist demonstrators for Charlottesville violence

Trump said that the violence that erupted in Charlottesville was "horrible", but he insisted that not all of those who attended the protest were neo-Nazis or white supremacists

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Prime Minister Narendra Modi has arrived in France Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday held wide-ranging talks with French President Emmanuel Macron during which the two leaders discussed issues of bilateral and mutual interests to further boost the comprehensive strategic partnership."This visit will add to the ground covered during previous interactions with the French leadership," Modi tweeted ahead of his talks with Macron at Chateau de Chantilly, a historic chateau located about 50 kms north of Paris.Macron explained the historic significance of the chateau to Modi and took him around the centuries-old building. The two leaders held one-on-one interaction which would be followed by delegation-level talks. Earlier, Prime Minister Modi was accorded a red carpet welcome at the airport where he was received by Minister for Europe and Foreign Affairs Jean-Yves Le Drian."Landed in France, marking the start of a key bilateral visit. India and France enjoy extremely friendly ties and have been working together bilaterally and multilaterally for years," Modi tweeted. During his two-day visit, Modi will also meet his French counterpart Edouard Philippe and interact with the Indian community.He will dedicate a memorial to the Indian victims of the two Air India crashes in France in the 1950s and 1960s. In his departure statement, the prime minister said his visit to France reflects the strong strategic partnership which the two countries deeply value and share."India and France have excellent bilateral ties, which are reinforced by a shared vision to cooperate for further enhancing peace and prosperity for our two countries and the world at large," the prime minister said.He said the strong strategic and economic partnership is complemented by a shared perspective on major global concerns such as terrorism and climate change. "I am confident that this visit will further promote our long-standing and valued friendship with France for mutual prosperity, peace and progress," Modi said. 

Prime Minister Narendra Modi arrives in France, holds talks with French President Emmanuel Macron

Macron explained the historic significance of the chateau to Modi and took him around the centuries-old building. The two leaders held one-on-one interaction which would be followed by delegation-level talks. Earlier, Prime Minister Modi was accorded a red-carpet welcome at the airport where he was received by Minister for Europe and Foreign Affairs Jean-Yves Le Drian.

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FILEA Pakistan-based American blogger has alleged that she was raped by Pakistan's former interior minister Rehman Malik and accused ex-prime minister Yousaf Raza Gillani and another former minister of physically manhandling her in 2011.She made the allegation against the three top leaders of the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) through a video clip posted on her Facebook page on Friday, and soon it went viral on social media."In 2011, I was raped by the former interior minister Rehman Malik. That's right, I'll say it again. I was raped by the then interior minister Rehman Malik," she claimed.She also said Gilani and former health minister Makhdoom Shahabuddin "physically manhandled" her while the ex-prime minister was staying at the "President's House" in Islamabad.Her allegations have escalated the already bitter row between her and the Opposition party following her tweet on May 28 against slain PPP leader and former prime minister Benzair Bhutto, which was termed as derogatory by the party leaders who filed a complaint against her at the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA).Her comments came as a reaction to a tweet discussing the violent confrontation between model Uzma Khan and a woman, who accused the former of having a relationship with her husband of 13 years and used this allegation to justify her violent treatment of the model."This echoes stories of what BB used to do when her husband cheated. She'd have the guards rape the women. Why do women condone this rape culture? Why aren't the men ever held accountable? Where is the justice system?" she said in the tweet.According to media reports, the PPP, on the same day, filed a complaint with the FIA against her for "hateful comments and slander" against Bhutto.In another post, she said that the rape assault against her took place at Malik's house in the Ministers' Enclave around the time of the raid in which Al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden was killed in Pakistan in 2011."I thought it (was) a meeting about my visa but I was given flowers/a drugged drink," she wrote.She also said that she kept mum as no one in the then PPP government helped her.The PPP was in power from 2008 until 2013 and Gilani was the prime minister until he was removed by the Supreme Court in June 2012 for disobeying court orders.She also said she had informed about the incident to "someone" at the US Embassy in Pakistan in 2011, "but due to 'fluid' situation and 'complex' relations between US and Pakistan, [the] response was less than adequate"."It is primarily those who use and abuse others, particularly women and the vulnerable population. And I am one of them," the girl was quoted as saying by the Dawn newspaper. However, all three leaders have denied the allegations.Gilani said he was even considering responding to such allegations, "humiliation and disgrace".While talking to ARY News, he was asked what she was doing at the Presidency when she was allegedly manhandled, and why she had been staying in Pakistan.Gilani alleged that she had come to Pakistan as part of a campaign to malign politicians. "Who has given them the right to malign politicians?" he asked. He said she was maligning him because his two sons had filed a defamation case against her for her allegedly defamatory tweet against Bhutto.Malik on Saturday endorsed Gilani's statement of denial and a spokesperson for the senator said that "he [Malik] does not want to respond directly, but denies the allegations"."The allegations are untruthful and have been made to harm Senator Rehman Malik's reputation. The American woman has made the allegations at the behest of a specific person or group," the report said.He spokesperson said that as Malik "respects the girl and all women, he would not respond to the allegations with any foul words."He said Malik's sons have independently contacted their lawyers to see what legal action can be taken against her.Shahabuddin also rejected the allegations of manhandling her , terming them "concocted" and "baseless"."She is levelling these baseless allegations for the sake of cheap fame," he alleged in a statement, saying he "could not even think of "manhandling or beating up a woman".

American blogger alleges rape by Pak ex-home minister Rehman Malik

A Pakistan-based American blogger has alleged that she was raped by Pakistan's former interior minister Rehman Malik and accused ex-prime minister Yousaf Raza Gillani and another former minister of physically manhandling her in 2011.

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Indian ambassador briefs US lawmakers on ground situation in KashmirIndia's ambassador to the US Harsh Vardhan Shringla on Wednesday briefed lawmakers on the situation in Kashmir and the steps taken to maintain peace after Jammu and Kashmir's special status was abrogated. The briefing, first such by the top Indian diplomat for members of the House foreign affairs committee, comes as there has been an increasing voice of dissent and uneasiness among lawmakers on the curbs in Kashmir, several of which have been removed. Since August 16, there was gradual removal of curbs and by September first week, most were removed, officials in Jammu and Kashmir had said. The most prominent being restoration of post-paid mobile phone services on October 14 for 40 lakh subscribers across networks. Several Congressmen who were not members of the committee also attended the ambassadorial briefing and a majority of the lawmakers were from the opposition Democratic party. Congressman Ami Bera was the only Indian-American lawmaker present at the briefing. Shringla and other diplomats from the Indian Embassy here and its consulates in New York, Chicago, Atlanta, Houston and San Francisco, have reached out to hundreds of Congressmen and their aides after abrogation of the state's special status. Since August 5, the government besides restoring post-paid mobilep hone services, has opened the state for tourists. On August 17, partial fixed line telephony was resumed and on September 4, nearly 50,000 landlines were declared operational. Educational institutions are also open, but attendance has been slim. The government has claimed that over 99 per cent of the area of the state has no restrictions on movement. Congressman Brad Sherman, who is holding a hearing on human rights in South Asia, in particular Kashmir, next week, said lawmakers have been hearing from their constituents and that there have been some alarming report of restrictions, on movement and communications and lack of access. He, however, noted that some of these restrictions have been removed in recent days. Interestingly, it is believed that Pakistan did not figure in the entire briefing that lasted for over 80 minutes. However, Shringla did mention the human rights situation in Pakistan and cross-border terrorism. He briefed lawmakers on the historic context of the Kashmir problem, and the steps being taken by India post August 5. Shringla patiently responded to the questions from lawmakers Lawmakers raised issues of missing persons, restrictions on movement and communication. Shringla refuted the allegations about missing persons and assured the lawmakers that if any of their constituents cannot reach their families, he will personally ensure that the communication channel between them was established. The ambassador said most of the restrictions have been lifted and the rest are being gradually removed. Congressman Pete Olson from Texas spoke about India-US relationship and the 'Howdy, Modi!' event in Houston. Also Read | J&K: Apple truck driver killed by terrorists in ShopianIndia's ambassador to the US Harsh Vardhan Shringla on Wednesday briefed lawmakers on the situation in Kashmir and the steps taken to maintain peace after Jammu and Kashmir's special status was abrogated.The briefing, first such by the top Indian diplomat for members of the House foreign affairs committee, comes as there has been an increasing voice of dissent and uneasiness among lawmakers on the curbs in Kashmir, several of which have been removed.Since August 16, there was gradual removal of curbs and by September first week, most were removed, officials in Jammu and Kashmir had said. The most prominent being restoration of post-paid mobile phone services on October 14 for 40 lakh subscribers across networks.Several Congressmen who were not members of the committee also attended the ambassadorial briefing and a majority of the lawmakers were from the opposition Democratic party. Congressman Ami Bera was the only Indian-American lawmaker present at the briefing.Shringla and other diplomats from the Indian Embassy here and its consulates in New York, Chicago, Atlanta, Houston and San Francisco, have reached out to hundreds of Congressmen and their aides after abrogation of the state's special status.Since August 5, the government besides restoring post-paid mobilep hone services, has opened the state for tourists. On August 17, partial fixed line telephony was resumed and on September 4, nearly 50,000 landlines were declared operational. Educational institutions are also open, but attendance has been slim.The government has claimed that over 99 per cent of the area of the state has no restrictions on movement. Congressman Brad Sherman, who is holding a hearing on human rights in South Asia, in particular Kashmir, next week, said lawmakers have been hearing from their constituents and that there have been some alarming report of restrictions, on movement and communications and lack of access.He, however, noted that some of these restrictions have been removed in recent days.Interestingly, it is believed that Pakistan did not figure in the entire briefing that lasted for over 80 minutes. However, Shringla did mention the human rights situation in Pakistan and cross-border terrorism.He briefed lawmakers on the historic context of the Kashmir problem, and the steps being taken by India post August 5. Shringla patiently responded to the questions from lawmakersLawmakers raised issues of missing persons, restrictions on movement and communication.Shringla refuted the allegations about missing persons and assured the lawmakers that if any of their constituents cannot reach their families, he will personally ensure that the communication channel between them was established.The ambassador said most of the restrictions have been lifted and the rest are being gradually removed. Congressman Pete Olson from Texas spoke about India-US relationship and the 'Howdy, Modi!' event in Houston.Also Read | 3 terrorists killed during encounter with security forces in Anantnag

Indian ambassador briefs US lawmakers on ground situation in Kashmir

India's ambassador to the US Harsh Vardhan Shringla on Wednesday briefed lawmakers on the situation in Kashmir and the steps taken to maintain peace after Jammu and Kashmir's special status was abrogated.

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Saudi Arabia and other Arab countries that have cut ties to Qatar issued a steep list of demands Thursday to end the crisis, insisting that their Persian Gulf neighbor shutter Al-Jazeera, cut back diplomatic ties to Iran and sever all ties with the Muslim Brotherhood.In a 13-point list — presented to the Qataris by Kuwait, which is helping mediate the crisis — the countries also demand an end to Turkey’s military presence in Qatar. The Associated Press obtained a copy of the list in Arabic from one of the countries involved in the dispute.Saudi Arabia, Egypt, the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain broke ties with Qatar this month over allegations the Persian Gulf country funds terrorism — an accusation that President Donald Trump has echoed. Those countries have now given Qatar 10 days to comply with all of the demands, which include paying an unspecified sum in compensation.Qatari officials in Doha did not immediately respond to a request for comment from the AP. But the list included conditions that the gas-rich nation had already insisted would never be met, including shutting down Al-Jazeera. Qatar’s government has said it won’t negotiate until Arab nations lift their blockade. The demands were also likely to elicit Qatari objections that its neighbors are trying to dictate its sovereign affairs by imposing such far-reaching requirements.Only a day earlier, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson had warned the demands must be “reasonable and actionable.” The U.S. issued that litmus test amid frustration at how long it was taking Saudi Arabia and others to formalize a list of demands, complicating U.S. efforts to bring about a resolution to the worst Gulf diplomatic crisis in years.According to the list, Qatar must refuse to naturalize citizens from the four countries and expel those currently in Qatar, in what the countries describe as an effort to keep Qatar from meddling in their internal affairs.They are also demanding that Qatar hand over all individuals who are wanted by those four countries for terrorism; stop funding any extremist entities that are designated as terrorist groups by the U.S.; and provide detailed information about opposition figures that Qatar has funded, ostensibly in Saudi Arabia and the other nations.Qatar vehemently denies funding or supporting extremism. But the country acknowledges that it allows members of some extremist groups such as Hamas to reside in Qatar, arguing that fostering dialogue with those groups is key to resolving global conflicts.Qatar’s neighbors have also accused it of backing al-Qaida and the Islamic State group’s ideology throughout the Middle East. Those umbrella groups also appear on the list of entities whose ties with Qatar must be extinguished, along with Lebanon’s Hezbollah and the al-Qaida branch in Syria, once known as the Nusra Front.More broadly, the list demands that Qatar align itself politically, economically and otherwise with the Gulf Cooperation Council, a regional club that has focused on countering the influence of Iran. Saudi Arabia and other Sunni-led nations have accused Qatar of inappropriately close ties to Iran, a Shiite-led country and Saudi Arabia’s regional foe.The Iran provisions in the document say Qatar must shut down diplomatic posts in Iran, kick out from Qatar any members of Iran’s elite Revolutionary Guard, and only conduct trade and commerce with Iran that complies with U.S. sanctions. Under the 2015 nuclear deal, nuclear-related sanctions on Iran were eased but other sanctions remain in place.Cutting ties to Iran would prove incredibly difficult. Qatar shares a massive offshore natural gas field with Iran which supplies the small nation that will host the 2022 FIFA World Cup its wealth.Not only must Qatar shut down the Doha-based satellite broadcaster, the list says, but also all of its affiliates. That presumably would mean Qatar would have to close down Al-Jazeera’s English-language sister network.Supported by Qatar’s government, Al-Jazeera is one of the most widely watched Arabic channels, but it has long drawn the ire of Mideast governments for airing alternative viewpoints. The network’s critics say it advances Qatar’s goals by promoting Islamist movements like the Muslim Brotherhood that pose a populist threat to rulers in other Arab countries.The list also demands that Qatar stop funding a host of other news outlets including Arabi21 and Middle East Eye.

Qatar faced with punitive list of demands by Arab neighbours to end crisis

According to the list, Qatar must refuse to naturalize citizens from the four countries and expel those currently in Qatar, in what the countries describe as an effort to keep Qatar from meddling in their internal affairs.

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Pfizer says COVID booster offers protection against omicron variantPfizer said Wednesday that a booster dose of its COVID-19 vaccine may offer important protection against the new omicron variant even though the initial two doses appear significantly less effective. Pfizer and its partner BioNTech said that while two doses may not be protective enough to prevent infection, lab tests showed a booster increased by 25-fold people's levels of virus-fighting antibodies against the omicron variant.Blood samples taken a month after a booster showed people harboured levels of omicron-neutralising antibodies that were similar to amounts proven protective against earlier variants after two doses.Scientists don't yet know how big a threat the omicron variant really is. Currently the extra-contagious delta variant is responsible for most of the COVID-19 cases in the US and other countries.But the omicron variant, discovered late last month, carries an unusually large number of mutations and scientists are racing to learn how easily it spreads, whether it causes illness that is more serious or milder than other coronavirus types — and how much it might evade the protection of prior vaccinations.Pfizer's findings, announced in a press release, are preliminary and haven't yet undergone scientific review. But they're the first from a vaccine maker examining whether the booster doses that health authorities are urging people to get may indeed make an important difference.Scientists have speculated that the high jump in antibodies that comes with a third dose of COVID-19 vaccines might be enough to counter any decrease in effectiveness.Pfizer and BioNTech already are working to create an omicron-specific vaccine in case it's needed. Antibody levels predict how well a vaccine may prevent infection with the coronavirus but they are just one layer of the immune system's defenses. Pfizer said two doses of the vaccine should still protect against severe disease, because the mutations in omicron don't appear to hamper one of those other defenses, T cells that fight the virus after infection sets in.“Although two doses of the vaccine may still offer protection against severe disease caused by the Omicron strain, it's clear from these preliminary data that protection is maximised with a third dose of our vaccine,” Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla said in a statement.Pfizer's announcement had an immediate impact on US markets. Futures that had pointed to a lower open reversed course in seconds and swung solidly to the positive with the Dow jumping almost 200 points.ALSO READ | ​Covid-19 cases spike even as US hits 200 million vaccine milestone

Pfizer says COVID booster offers protection against omicron variant

Pfizer and its partner BioNTech said that while two doses may not be protective enough to prevent infection, lab tests showed a booster increased by 25-fold people's levels of virus-fighting antibodies against the omicron variant.

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India’s Ambassador to Russia Pankaj Saran has said that the two countries will hold the Indra military exercise in the Russian Far East at the end of this year.Talking to Russian news agency TASS, the Indian Ambassador said that troops of the three armed services from both countries - the army, air force and navy - will be involved in the drills this year.“We will be holding a joint military exercise in the Far East at the end of the year, probably in the autumn," he said.Russia and India have been holding Indra military exercises since 2003. These exercises are aimed at ensuring better interaction among the two countries’ servicemen.   The drills include joint maneuvers by warships and anti-terror exercises of ground forces. 

India, Russia to hold military exercise in Far East by year-end: Indian envoy Pankaj Saran

the Indian Ambassador said that troops of the three armed services from both countries - the army, air force and navy - will be involved in the drills this year.

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"It's important to us because India has suffered immensely from the outbreak", says Biden admin on increasing COVID 19 vaccine capacity in India.Increase in manufacturing capacity of COVID-19 vaccines in India has the potential to be a game changer well beyond its borders, the Biden Administration said Thursday."It's important to us because India has suffered immensely from the outbreak. Virtually, no element of Indian society has been left untouched by this horrible scourge. That is why we have spoken of the focus on increased manufacturing in India," State Department spokesperson Ned Price told reporters."The increased manufacturing capacity in India, the volume of capacity has the potential to be a game changer well beyond India's borders. And that's precisely why this arrangement was reached and announced in the context of the Quad," he said.Early this year at the first virtual Quad summit composed of leaders from Australia, India, Japan and the United States, it was decided to work together to increase the COVID-19 vaccine manufacturing capacity of India.So far the United States has contributed USD500 million in COVID-19 assistance to India. This includes USD100 million from the government alone. The entire US government, including Secretary of State Tony Blinken, has led an effort to galvanise the private sector to chip in, he said.“We have been really gratified to see that, together between the US government contributions as well as private sector contributions, we have seen some USD0.5 billion in support go to India in its time of need,” he said.The Biden Administration on Thursday announced that it will send 25 million of its vaccines to other countries, including India.“There remain some 55 million doses that the administration has committed to send abroad by the end of this month,” Price said, adding that the announcement in this regard could come in the coming weeks.Also Read: Talk of Donald Trump 2024 run builds as legal pressure intensifies

Increase in manufacturing capacity of Covid vaccines in India may prove game changer: Biden Admin

"It's important to us because India has suffered immensely from the outbreak", says Biden admin on increasing COVID 19 vaccine capacity in India.

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Iran’s supreme leader says Donald Trump is a 'clown' who will betray IraniansIran's supreme leader said President Donald Trump is a "clown" who only pretends to support the Iranian people but will “push a poisonous dagger” into their backs, as he struck a defiant tone in his first Friday sermon in Tehran in eight years.Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said the mass funerals for Iran's top general, who was killed in a U.S. airstrike earlier this month, show that the Iranian people support the Islamic Republic despite its recent trials. He said the “cowardly” killing of Soleimani had taken out the most effective commander in the battle against the Islamic State group.In response, Iran launched a barrage of ballistic missiles targeting U.S. troops in Iraq, without causing serious injuries. Khamenei said the strike had dealt a “blow to America's image” as a superpower. In part of the sermon delivered in Arabic, he said the “real punishment” would be in forcing the U.S. to withdraw from the Middle East.As Iran's Revolutionary Guard braced for an American counterattack that never came, it mistakenly shot down a Ukrainian jetliner shortly after it took off from Tehran's international airport, killing all 176 passengers on board, mostly Iranians.Authorities concealed their role in the tragedy for three days, initially blaming the crash on a technical problem. Their admission of responsibility triggered days of street protests, which security forces dispersed with live ammunition and tear gas.Khamenei called the shootdown of the plane a "bitter accident" that saddened Iran as much as it made its enemies happy. He said Iran's enemies had seized on the crash to question the Islamic Republic, the Revolutionary Guard and the armed forces.He also lashed out at Western countries, saying they are too weak to “bring Iranians to their knees.” He said Britain, France and Germany, which this week triggered a dispute mechanism to try and bring Iran back into compliance with the unraveling 2015 nuclear agreement, were “contemptible” governments and “servants” of the United States.He said Iran was willing to negotiate, but not with the United States.Khamenei has held the country's top office since 1989 and has the final say on all major decisions. The 80-year-old leader openly wept at the funeral of Soleimani and vowed “harsh retaliation” against the United States.Thousands of people attended the Friday prayers, occasionally interrupting his speech by chanting “God is greatest!” and “Death to America!”Tensions between Iran and the United States have steadily escalated since President Donald Trump withdrew the U.S. from Iran's 2015 nuclear deal with world powers, which had imposed restrictions on its nuclear program in exchange for the lifting of international sanctions.The U.S. has since imposed crippling sanctions on Iran, including its vital oil and gas industry, pushing the country into an economic crisis that has ignited several waves of sporadic, leaderless protests. Trump has openly encouraged the protesters — even tweeting in Farsi — hoping that the protests and the sanctions will bring about fundamental change in a longtime adversary.After Soleimani was killed, Iran announced it would no longer be bound by the limitations in the nuclear agreement. European countries who have been trying to salvage the deal responded earlier this week by invoking a dispute mechanism that could result in even more sanctions.Khamenei was always skeptical of the nuclear agreement, arguing that the United States could not be trusted. But he allowed President Hassan Rouhani, a relative moderate, to conclude the agreement with President Barack Obama. Since Trump's withdrawal, he has repeatedly said there can be no negotiations with the United States.Khamenei last delivered a Friday sermon in February 2012, when he called Israel a “cancerous tumor” and vowed to support anyone confronting it. He also warned against any U.S. strikes on Iran over its nuclear program, saying the U.S. would be damaged “10 times over.”ALSO READ | Iran Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei calls targeting US base 'Day of God' ALSO READ | Not interested in negotiating with US, says Iran Foreign Minister Javed Zarif 

Iran’s supreme leader says Donald Trump is a 'clown' who will betray Iranians

​Iran's supreme leader said President Donald Trump is a "clown" who only pretends to support the Iranian people but will “push a poisonous dagger” into their backs, as he struck a defiant tone in his first Friday sermon in Tehran in eight years.

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Pakistan court says marriage with underage Christian girl valid as she's had her 1st menstrual cycle (Representational Image)The parents of a 14-year-old Pakistani Christian girl, who was abducted, forcibly converted to Islam and married off to her abductor, will approach the Supreme Court after a lower court ruled that marriage with an underage girl is valid as per the Sharia law if she has had her first menstrual cycle. Huma was 14 when she was abducted in October last year and forced to marry her abductor Abdul Jabbar after being converted to Islam, according to her parents Younis and Nagheena Masih.Their counsel Tabassum Yousuf on Friday said they would seek justice from the Supreme Court after the Sindh High Court, as per the Sharia law, said earlier this week that even if the girl, Huma, was found to be underage, the marriage between her and her alleged abductor, Jabbar, would be valid as she has already had her first menstrual cycle.After they approached the Sindh High Court to see their daughter, the court, in a hearing on February 3, ordered the police to oversee the tests to confirm her age.However, Judges Muhammad Iqbal Kalhoro and Irshad Ali observed that under the Sharia law, the marriage would be valid even if Huma was underage.Tabbasum said that the ruling was not in accordance with the Sindh Child Marriage Restraint Act passed in 2014 which outlawed marriages of girls under 18 years, in a bid to stop forced marriages of minors in the province, primarily of Hindu and Christian community."The girl's parents were convinced that the police investigating officer was supporting Abdul Jabbar and his family. They also fear that the test results of Huma's age could be falsified and she might be sent with her husband," the lawyer said.The parents had requested to keep Huma at a women's shelter away from her alleged husband until her age was determined.Tabassum said the parents produced documents including the church, school documents confirming Huma's age to be 14.On the website of the Independent Catholic News, the girl's mother has appealed to the international community to support them.The latest case has emerged amidst an increasing number of forcible conversions of girls belonging to the minority communities in Muslim-majority Pakistan.In the last one month, at least two cases of forced conversion and marriage of Hindu girls after abduction have emerged in the province.Also Read: Facebook's official accounts on Twitter, Instagram hackedAlso Read: IS remains at centre of transnational terrorism threat: UN

Pakistan court says marriage with underage Christian girl valid as she's had her 1st menstrual cycle

Huma was 14 when she was abducted in October last year and forced to marry her abductor Abdul Jabbar after being converted to Islam, according to her parents Younis and Nagheena Masih.

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Apple CEO Tim CookApple CEO Tim Cook has been appointed chairman of the advisory board of the Tsinghua University School of Economics and Management.He will have a three-year tenure and recently chaired a meeting, according to a statement released by the university.At the meeting, Cook said as chairman he hoped to promote development of the college and improve its economic curriculum, CNET reported on Monday.He succeeds Breyer Capital founder and CEO Jim Breyer, who was appointed in 2016.In 2018-19, the university's 70-member advisory board included Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg, Foxconn CEO Terry Gou, Dell CEO Michael Dell, General Motors CEO Mary Barra, JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon, Alibaba executive chairman Jack Ma and Pepsi CEO Ramon Laguarta.Cook's appointment comes at an interesting time in the Apple-China relations with rising tension between China and Hong Kong.Earlier this month, the multinational tech giant removed an app called HKmap.live from its iOS App Store. Apple said it had removed the app allegedly used by anti-government protesters in Hong Kong to track and attack police.

Apple CEO Tim Cook named chairman of Chinese business school

Apple CEO Tim Cook has been appointed chairman of the advisory board of the Tsinghua University School of Economics and Management.

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Sydney's drinking water supply under threat from bushfiresAuthorities on Friday raised concerns about severe bushfires near Sydney's main drinking water catchment, suggesting that a build of ash could soon contaminate the precious resource. On Friday, fire crews continued to battle blazes which have almost entirely surrounded Lake Burragorang, which is responsible for supplying roughly 80 per cent of Sydney's drinking water via Warragamba Dam, reports Xinhua news agency.Professor of civil and environmental engineering at the University of New South Wales Stuart Khan told the Sydney Morning Herald that there were two main risks to the water supply.Firstly the fire would cause damage to infrastructure such as pumping stations and pipes, and secondly ash would wash into and pollute the water supply itself.So far, largely due to preventative measures by firefighters, vital infrastructure remains untouched, while due to a lack of rainfall, ash and other organic matter have been piling up rather than washing into the lake.Khan predicted that a big downpour, between 100mm to 200mm, could wash that large build-up of material into the water, causing serious issues.That amount of rain is not predicted for several months, however, WaterNSW has taken precautionary measures, including deploying floating booms and curtains to block ash from entering the supply, while monitoring water quality closely.Weather conditions were expected to worsen once again next week, with "extreme heatwave conditions" predicted to hit the area on December 30 and 31.Also Read:'Extreme heat' to hit Australia's south-east

Sydney's drinking water supply under threat from bushfires

Firstly the fire would cause damage to infrastructures such as pumping stations and pipes, and secondly, ash would wash into and pollute the water supply itself.

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Trump Vs Biden: Mics to be muted during final US presidential debatePresident Donald Trump and Democrat Joe Biden will have their microphones cut off in Thursday’s debate while their rival delivers their opening two-minute answer to each of the debate topics.The 90-minute debate is divided into six 15-minute segments, with each candidate granted two minutes to deliver uninterrupted remarks before proceeding to an open debate. The open discussion portion of the debate will not feature a mute button, but interruptions by either candidate will count toward their time in the second and final debate Thursday.The nonpartisan Commission on Presidential Debates announced the rule changes Monday, three weeks after a chaotic opening faceoff between the two presidential contenders that featured frequent interruptions — most by Trump.The commission has faced pressure from the Trump campaign to avoid changing the rules, while Biden’s team was hoping for a more ordered debate. In a statement, the commission said it “had determined that it is appropriate to adopt measures intended to promote adherence to agreed upon rules and inappropriate to make changes to those rules.”Trump plans to attend Thursday’s debate despite the rule changes.Trump campaign manager Bill Stepien said Trump “is committed to debating Joe Biden regardless of last minute rule changes from the biased commission in their latest attempt to provide advantage to their favored candidate.”

Trump Vs Biden: Mics to be muted during final US presidential debate

President Donald Trump and Democrat Joe Biden will have their microphones cut off in Thursday’s debate while their rival delivers their opening two-minute answer to each of the debate topics.

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Two killed in Quetta blast. (Representational image)At least two policemen have been killed while 13 others are injured in a blast near Quetta's Serena Hotel at Unity Chowk area of Quetta, Pakistan.Pakistan media reports said four passers-by were also wounded in the blast that targeted a police mobile near Tanzeem Chowk, Balochistan government spokesperson Liaquat Shahwani said in a statement.He said the bomb was fitted into a motorcycle. The injured were shifted to the hospital, where an emergency was imposed.He condemned the attack, saying "terrorists want to disturb Balochistan's peace and spread fear.""Will bring to justice the elements trying to create disturbance in peaceful Balochistan," he added.The incident comes more than three months after a powerful bomb exploded in the parking lot of the Quetta Serena Hotel, killing five people and wounding a dozen others.ALSO READ | Taliban executes young woman for wearing tight clothesPakistan Taliban had claimed responsibility of blast at Serena Hotel in Balochistan's Quetta in April.Police said that the explosion took place at Zarghoon Road, near the city's University Chowk, adding that the explosives were planted on a motorcycle. The explosion took place near a police van.The injured, including two policemen, have been shifted to the city's Civil Hospital, Deputy Inspector General Quetta said, adding that the windows of nearby buildings were shattered due to the explosion. Chief Minister of Balochistan Jam Kamal Khan has condemned the incident.ALSO READ | LeM chief in touch with JeM terrorists in Pakistan, including Masood Azhar's brother: NIA /* .jw-reset-text, .jw-reset{line-height: 2em;}*/ .jw-time-tip .jw-time-chapter{display:none;} if ('' == comscore_jw_loaded || 'undefined' == comscore_jw_loaded || undefined == comscore_jw_loaded) { var comscore_jw_loaded = 1; firstjw = document.getElementsByClassName('jwvidplayer')[0]; cs_jw_script = document.createElement('script'); cs_jw_script.src = 'https://sb.scorecardresearch.com/internal-c2/plugins/streamingtag_plugin_jwplayer.js'; firstjw.parentNode.insertBefore(cs_jw_script, firstjw.nextSibling); } var jwconfig_8711630209 = { "file": "https://vod-indiatv.akamaized.net/hls/2021/08/0_95r5f6iw/master.m3u8", "image": "https://thumbs.indiatvnews.com/vod/0_95r5f6iw_big_thumb.jpg", "title": "India slams Pakistan for attack at temple in Punjab province \n", "height": "440px", "width": "100%", "aspectratio": "16:9", "autostart": false, "controls": true, "mute": false, "volume": 25, "floating": false, "sharing": { "code": "", "sites": [ "facebook", "twitter", "email" ] }, "stretching": "exactfit", "primary": "html5", "hlshtml": true, "sharing_link": "", "duration": "278", "advertising": { "client": "vast", "autoplayadsmuted": true, "skipoffset": 5, "cuetext": "", "skipmessage": "Skip ad in xx", "skiptext": "SKIP", "preloadAds": true, "schedule": [ { "offset": "pre", "tag": "https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/ads?iu=/8323530/Eng_Video_Desktop_PreRoll&description_url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.indiatvnews.com&tfcd=0&npa=0&sz=640x480&gdfp_req=1&output=vast&unviewed_position_start=1&env=vp&impl=s&correlator=", "type": "linear" }, { "offset": "50%", "tag": "https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/ads?iu=/8323530/Eng_Video_Desktop_MidRoll&description_url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.indiatvnews.com&tfcd=0&npa=0&sz=640x480&gdfp_req=1&output=vast&unviewed_position_start=1&env=vp&impl=s&correlator=" }, { "offset": "post", "tag": "https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/ads?iu=/8323530/Eng_Video_Desktop_PostRoll&description_url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.indiatvnews.com&tfcd=0&npa=0&sz=640x480&gdfp_req=1&output=vast&unviewed_position_start=1&env=vp&impl=s&correlator=", "type": "linear" } ] } }; var jwvidplayer_8711630209 = ''; jwsetup_8711630209(); function jwsetup_8711630209() { jwvidplayer_8711630209 = jwplayer("jwvidplayer_8711630209").setup(jwconfig_8711630209); jwvidplayer_8711630209.on('ready', function () { ns_.StreamingAnalytics.JWPlayer(jwvidplayer_8711630209, { publisherId: "20465327", labelmapping: "c2=\"20465327\", c3=\"IndiaTV News\", c4=\"null\", c6=\"null\", ns_st_mp=\"jwplayer\", ns_st_cl=\"0\", ns_st_ci=\"0_95r5f6iw\", ns_st_pr=\"India slams Pakistan for attack at temple in Punjab province\", ns_st_sn=\"0\", ns_st_en=\"0\", ns_st_ep=\"India slams Pakistan for attack at temple in Punjab province\", ns_st_ct=\"null\", ns_st_ge=\"News\", ns_st_st=\"India slams Pakistan for attack at temple in Punjab province\", ns_st_ce=\"0\", ns_st_ia=\"0\", ns_st_ddt=\"2021-08-06\", ns_st_tdt=\"2021-08-06\", ns_st_pu=\"IndiaTV News\", ns_st_cu=\"https://vod-indiatv.akamaized.net/hls/2021/08/0_95r5f6iw/master.m3u8\", ns_st_ty=\"video\"" }); }); jwvidplayer_8711630209.on('all', function (r) { if (jwvidplayer_8711630209.getState() == 'error' || jwvidplayer_8711630209.getState() == 'setupError') { jwvidplayer_8711630209.stop(); jwvidplayer_8711630209.remove(); jwvidplayer_8711630209 = ''; jwsetup_8711630209(); return; } }); jwvidplayer_8711630209.on('error', function (t) { jwvidplayer_8711630209.stop(); jwvidplayer_8711630209.remove(); jwvidplayer_8711630209 = ''; jwsetup_8711630209(); return; }); jwvidplayer_8711630209.on('mute', function () { ga('send', 'event', 'JW Player Events', 'Errors', event.message); }); jwvidplayer_8711630209.on('adPlay', function (event) { ga('send', 'event', 'JW Player Events', 'Errors', event.message); }); jwvidplayer_8711630209.on('adPause', function (event) { ga('send', 'event', 'JW Player Events', 'Errors', event.message); }); jwvidplayer_8711630209.on('pause', function (event) { ga('send', 'event', 'JW Player Events', 'Errors', event.message); }); jwvidplayer_8711630209.on('error', function (event) { ga('send', 'event', 'JW Player Events', 'Errors', event.message); }); jwvidplayer_8711630209.on('adBlock', function (event) { ga('send', 'event', 'JW Player Events', 'Errors', event.message); }); }

Pakistan: Two policemen killed in blast near Unity Chowk in Quetta

At least two policemen have been killed while 13 others are injured in a blast near Unity Chowk area of Quetta, Pakistan, ANI quoted media reports as saying. More to follow.

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COVID-19: Saudi Arabia issues new guidelines for Umrah pilgrimsThe Kingdom of Saudi Arabia on Monday announced new terms and conditions for visitors and Umrah pilgrims in the wake of surging coronavirus cases. The new guidelines will come into effect from the 1st of Ramadan and are as stated below(With IANS inputs)

COVID-19: Saudi Arabia issues new guidelines for Umrah pilgrims

The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia on Monday announced new terms and conditions for visitors and Umrah pilgrims in the wake of surging coronavirus cases.

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COVID-19 epicentre Wuhan resumes bus services, China reports 47 new imported casesWuhan, the epicenter of the novel coronavirus pandemic, on Wednesday resumed bus services within the city for the first time since the nine-week lockdown even as 47 new imported cases were reported from the country, threatening a second wave of infections. China on Tuesday decided to lift the three-month lockdown on more than 56 million people in the central Hubei province.However, the prolonged lockdown of Hubei's capital Wuhan will end on April 8, lifting the mass quarantine over the city with a population of over 11 million.While Hubei and Wuhan has not reported any new COVID-19 case, four people died in the city taking the death toll in China to 3,281, the National Health Commission (NHC) said.China on Wednesday said that no new domestically transmitted case was reported on the Chinese mainland on Tuesday.Forty-seven new imported COVID-19 cases were reported in the country on Tuesday, taking the total of such cases to 474, it said.The Chinese Foreign Ministry said on Tuesday that majority of the imported cases are the Chinese nationals returning from abroad.Of the 427 confirmed imported cases reported on March 23, 380 are Chinese and the rest 47 are foreign nationals.Also on Tuesday, four deaths and 33 new suspected cases were reported on the mainland with three of the deaths reported in Hubei.The overall confirmed cases on the mainland reached 81,218 by the end of Tuesday. This included 3,281 people who died of the disease, 4,287 patients still being treated and 73,650 patients discharged after recovery, the NHC said.It said 134 people were still suspected of being infected with the virus.By the end of Tuesday, 386 confirmed cases including four deaths were reported in Hong Kong, 26 confirmed cases in Macao and 216 in Taiwan, including two deaths.Meanwhile, bus services began in Wuhan for the first time since January 23 as a bus departed from its terminus at Hankou railway station at 5:25 am on Wednesday, state-run Xinhua news agency reported.The city resumed a total of 117 bus routes starting Wednesday, around 30 per cent of the city's total bus transport capacity, the municipal transport bureau said.It would resume outbound transport services from April 8.Apart from the driver, a safety supervisor is also present on each bus whose duty is to make sure all passengers are healthy as their health code is being checked before boarding.People in Wuhan will be allowed to leave the city and Hubei Province, if they hold a green health code, meaning no contact with any infected or suspected COVID-19 cases."For those who do not use smart phones, they should bring with them a health certificate issued by the health authorities," said Zhou Jingjing, a safety supervisor aboard a bus departing from Wuchang railway station complex.From Saturday, six metro lines are expected to reopen to the public. The service time will be published on the stations.On January 23, Wuhan declared unprecedented traffic restrictions, including suspending the city's public transport and all outbound flights and trains, in an attempt to contain the epidemic within its territory.Similar restrictions were later introduced in other areas in Hubei.The provincial authorities ended restrictions on outbound traffic starting Wednesday, with the exception of its capital city of Wuhan, which will lift outbound travel restrictions on April 8, according to a provincial government notice issued Tuesday.ALSO READ | No new domestic COVID-19 case in China for the first time since outbreakALSO READ | China exonerates whistleblower doctor reprimanded for warning of coronavirus

COVID-19 epicentre Wuhan resumes bus services, China reports 47 new imported cases

Wuhan, the epicenter of the novel coronavirus pandemic, on Wednesday resumed bus services within the city for the first time since the nine-week lockdown even as 47 new imported cases were reported from the country, threatening the second wave of infections.

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Firefighters work on the site of a plane crash, in San Donato Milanese suburb of Milan, Italy, Sunday. A small private plane carrying six passengers and a crew of two crashed Sunday into a vacant, two-story office building in a Milan suburb, and Italian news reports said all aboard perished.The LaPresse news agency initially quoted firefighters at the scene saying the pilot and all five passengers aboard were killed. But later LaPresse and other media said there were eight people aboard the flight, including a boy.Rai state TV said the passengers were believed to be French. Fire officials couldn't immediately be reached to confirm the nationalities or the number of people aboard the plane.Firefighters tweeted that no one other than those aboard was involved in the early afternoon crash near a subway station in San Donato Milanese, a small town near Milan. They said several cars in a nearby parking lot were set ablaze, but apparently, the vehicles were unoccupied at the time.A thick column of dark smoke rose from the crash site and was visible for kilometers. Firefighters were extinguishing the flames of the now-charred building, which reportedly was under renovation.ALSO READ | Israel tightens COVID ‘green pass’ rules, sparking protest /* .jw-reset-text, .jw-reset{line-height: 2em;}*/ .jw-time-tip .jw-time-chapter{display:none;} if ('' == comscore_jw_loaded || 'undefined' == comscore_jw_loaded || undefined == comscore_jw_loaded) { var comscore_jw_loaded = 1; firstjw = document.getElementsByClassName('jwvidplayer')[0]; cs_jw_script = document.createElement('script'); cs_jw_script.src = 'https://sb.scorecardresearch.com/internal-c2/plugins/streamingtag_plugin_jwplayer.js'; firstjw.parentNode.insertBefore(cs_jw_script, firstjw.nextSibling); } var jwconfig_6173893388 = { "file": "https://vod-indiatv.akamaized.net/hls/2021/03/0_s8lvmjxk/master.m3u8", "image": "https://thumbs.indiatvnews.com/vod/0_s8lvmjxk_big_thumb.jpg", "title": "Volcanic eruptions: Never-seen-before visuals from Guatemala, Indonesia, Iceland and Italy", "height": "440px", "width": "100%", "aspectratio": "16:9", "autostart": false, "controls": true, "mute": false, "volume": 25, "floating": false, "sharing": { "code": "", "sites": [ "facebook", "twitter", "email" ] }, "stretching": "exactfit", "primary": "html5", "hlshtml": true, "sharing_link": "", "duration": "232", "advertising": { "client": "vast", "autoplayadsmuted": true, "skipoffset": 5, "cuetext": "", "skipmessage": "Skip ad in xx", "skiptext": "SKIP", "preloadAds": true, "schedule": [ { "offset": "pre", "tag": "https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/ads?iu=/8323530/Eng_Video_Desktop_PreRoll&description_url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.indiatvnews.com&tfcd=0&npa=0&sz=640x480&gdfp_req=1&output=vast&unviewed_position_start=1&env=vp&impl=s&correlator=", "type": "linear" }, { "offset": "50%", "tag": "https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/ads?iu=/8323530/Eng_Video_Desktop_MidRoll&description_url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.indiatvnews.com&tfcd=0&npa=0&sz=640x480&gdfp_req=1&output=vast&unviewed_position_start=1&env=vp&impl=s&correlator=" }, { "offset": "post", "tag": "https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/ads?iu=/8323530/Eng_Video_Desktop_PostRoll&description_url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.indiatvnews.com&tfcd=0&npa=0&sz=640x480&gdfp_req=1&output=vast&unviewed_position_start=1&env=vp&impl=s&correlator=", "type": "linear" } ] } }; var jwvidplayer_6173893388 = ''; jwsetup_6173893388(); function jwsetup_6173893388() { jwvidplayer_6173893388 = jwplayer("jwvidplayer_6173893388").setup(jwconfig_6173893388); jwvidplayer_6173893388.on('ready', function () { ns_.StreamingAnalytics.JWPlayer(jwvidplayer_6173893388, { publisherId: "20465327", labelmapping: "c2=\"20465327\", c3=\"IndiaTV News\", c4=\"null\", c6=\"null\", ns_st_mp=\"jwplayer\", ns_st_cl=\"0\", ns_st_ci=\"0_s8lvmjxk\", ns_st_pr=\"Volcanic eruptions: Never-seen-before visuals from Guatemala, Indonesia, Iceland and Italy\", ns_st_sn=\"0\", ns_st_en=\"0\", ns_st_ep=\"Volcanic eruptions: Never-seen-before visuals from Guatemala, Indonesia, Iceland and Italy\", ns_st_ct=\"null\", ns_st_ge=\"News\", ns_st_st=\"Volcanic eruptions: Never-seen-before visuals from Guatemala, Indonesia, Iceland and Italy\", ns_st_ce=\"0\", ns_st_ia=\"0\", ns_st_ddt=\"2021-03-25\", ns_st_tdt=\"2021-03-25\", ns_st_pu=\"IndiaTV News\", ns_st_cu=\"https://vod-indiatv.akamaized.net/hls/2021/03/0_s8lvmjxk/master.m3u8\", ns_st_ty=\"video\"" }); }); jwvidplayer_6173893388.on('all', function (r) { if (jwvidplayer_6173893388.getState() == 'error' || jwvidplayer_6173893388.getState() == 'setupError') { jwvidplayer_6173893388.stop(); jwvidplayer_6173893388.remove(); jwvidplayer_6173893388 = ''; jwsetup_6173893388(); return; } }); jwvidplayer_6173893388.on('error', function (t) { jwvidplayer_6173893388.stop(); jwvidplayer_6173893388.remove(); jwvidplayer_6173893388 = ''; jwsetup_6173893388(); return; }); jwvidplayer_6173893388.on('mute', function () { ga('send', 'event', 'JW Player Events', 'Errors', event.message); }); jwvidplayer_6173893388.on('adPlay', function (event) { ga('send', 'event', 'JW Player Events', 'Errors', event.message); }); jwvidplayer_6173893388.on('adPause', function (event) { ga('send', 'event', 'JW Player Events', 'Errors', event.message); }); jwvidplayer_6173893388.on('pause', function (event) { ga('send', 'event', 'JW Player Events', 'Errors', event.message); }); jwvidplayer_6173893388.on('error', function (event) { ga('send', 'event', 'JW Player Events', 'Errors', event.message); }); jwvidplayer_6173893388.on('adBlock', function (event) { ga('send', 'event', 'JW Player Events', 'Errors', event.message); }); }

Italy: Plane crashes into building near Milan; 8 reported dead

The LaPresse news agency initially quoted firefighters at the scene saying the pilot and all five passengers aboard were killed. But later LaPresse and other media said there were eight people aboard the flight, including a boy.

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The Trump administration late Monday released a long-awaited list of 114 Russian politicians and 96 “oligarchs” who have flourished during the reign of President Vladimir Putin, fulfilling a demand by Congress that the U.S. punish Moscow for interfering in the 2016 U.S. election.Yet the administration paired that move with a surprising announcement that it had decided not to punish anybody — for now — under new sanctions retaliating for the election-meddling. Some U.S. lawmakers said President Donald Trump was giving a free pass to those Congress intended to target, fueling further questions about whether the president is too soft on Russia.The list comprises a who’s who of politically connected Russians in the country’s elite class. The idea is to name-and-shame those believed to be benefiting from Putin’s tenure just as the United States works to isolate his government diplomatically and economically.Being on the list doesn’t trigger any U.S. sanctions on the individuals, although many are already targeted under earlier sanctions.Known informally as the “Putin list,” the report lists 114 senior political figures in Russia’s government, including 42 of Putin’s aides, Cabinet ministers including Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev, and top officials in Russia’s leading spy agencies, the FSB and GRU. The CEOs of major state-owned companies, including energy giant Rosneft and Sberbank, are also on the list.So are 96 wealthy Russians deemed “oligarchs” by the Treasury Department, which said each is believed to have assets totaling $1 billion or more. Some are the most famous of wealthy Russians, among them tycoons Roman Abramovich and Mikhail Prokhorov, who challenged Putin in the 2012 election. Aluminum magnate Oleg Deripaska, a figure in the Russia investigation over his ties to former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort, is included.The Trump administration had until Monday to issue the list under a law passed last year. After declining to answer questions about it throughout the day Monday, the Treasury Department released it with little fanfare 12 minutes before midnight.

US issues list of Russian politicians who flourished during President Putin's reign

The list comprises a who’s who of politically connected Russians in the country’s elite class. The idea is to name-and-shame those believed to be benefiting from Putin’s tenure.

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Official Taliban websites go offline, though reasons unknown.Taliban websites that delivered the victorious insurgents’ official messages to Afghans and the world at large in five languages went offline abruptly Friday, indicating an effort to try to squelch them. It is not immediately clear, though, why the sites in the Pashto, Urdu, Arabic, English and Dari languages went offline Friday. They had been shielded by Cloudflare, a San Francisco-based content delivery network and denial-of-service protection provider.Cloudflare has not respond to emails and phone calls seeking comment on the development, which was first reported by The Washington Post. The Cloudflare shield prevents the public from knowing who exactly hosts the sites.Also Friday, the popular encrypted messaging service WhatsApp removed a number of Taliban groups, according to Rita Katz, director of SITE Intelligence Group, which tracks online extremism.The websites’ disappearance may just be temporary as the Taliban secures new hosting arrangements. But the reported removal of the WhatsApp groups followed the banning of Taliban accounts by Facebook, the service’s parent company, on Tuesday after the U.S.-backed Afghan government fell to the Taliban.WhatsApp spokesperson Danielle Meister did not confirm the removal but referred The Associated Press to a statement the company issued earlier this week saying it was “obligated to adhere to U.S. sanctions laws. This includes banning accounts that appear to represent themselves as official accounts of the Taliban.”Katz said via email that she hoped the removal of the Taliban websites is just a first step to diminishing its online presence.Unlike the Taliban of 20 years ago that the U.S. drove from power in Afghanistan, today’s Taliban is immensely media savvy and its online infrastructure “inspires and mobilizes” al-Qaida and other extremist Islamist factions, said Katz.“Tech companies should do what they can to get ahead of this problem as soon as possible, as the group’s online presence is stoking a newly emboldened jihadi movement worldwide,” she added.Twitter has not removed Taliban accounts and the group’s spokesman, Zabihullah Mujahid, has more than 300,000 followers there. The company indicated Tuesday that as long as such accounts observe its rules — including not inciting or glorifying violence — they will remain up.Like Facebook, Google’s YouTube considers the Taliban a terrorist organization and prohibits it from operating accounts.The Taliban is not on the U.S. list of foreign terrorist organizations, but the U.S. has imposed sanctions on it. /* .jw-reset-text, .jw-reset{line-height: 2em;}*/ .jw-time-tip .jw-time-chapter{display:none;} if ('' == comscore_jw_loaded || 'undefined' == comscore_jw_loaded || undefined == comscore_jw_loaded) { var comscore_jw_loaded = 1; firstjw = document.getElementsByClassName('jwvidplayer')[0]; cs_jw_script = document.createElement('script'); cs_jw_script.src = 'https://sb.scorecardresearch.com/internal-c2/plugins/streamingtag_plugin_jwplayer.js'; firstjw.parentNode.insertBefore(cs_jw_script, firstjw.nextSibling); } var jwconfig_8826310836 = { "file": "https://vod-indiatv.akamaized.net/hls/2021/08/0_rqu7oxtt/master.m3u8", "image": "https://thumbs.indiatvnews.com/vod/0_rqu7oxtt_big_thumb.jpg", "title": "Aaj Ki Baat: Special Taliban Force carries out flag march in Kabul, How Pakistan, Haqqani group trained Taliban", "height": "440px", "width": "100%", "aspectratio": "16:9", "autostart": false, "controls": true, "mute": false, "volume": 25, "floating": false, "sharing": { "code": "", "sites": [ "facebook", "twitter", "email" ] }, "stretching": "exactfit", "primary": "html5", "hlshtml": true, "sharing_link": "", "duration": "2942", "advertising": { "client": "vast", "autoplayadsmuted": true, "skipoffset": 5, "cuetext": "", "skipmessage": "Skip ad in xx", "skiptext": "SKIP", "preloadAds": true, "schedule": [ { "offset": "pre", "tag": "https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/ads?iu=/8323530/Eng_Video_Desktop_PreRoll&description_url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.indiatvnews.com&tfcd=0&npa=0&sz=640x480&gdfp_req=1&output=vast&unviewed_position_start=1&env=vp&impl=s&correlator=", "type": "linear" }, { "offset": "50%", "tag": "https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/ads?iu=/8323530/Eng_Video_Desktop_MidRoll&description_url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.indiatvnews.com&tfcd=0&npa=0&sz=640x480&gdfp_req=1&output=vast&unviewed_position_start=1&env=vp&impl=s&correlator=" }, { "offset": "post", "tag": "https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/ads?iu=/8323530/Eng_Video_Desktop_PostRoll&description_url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.indiatvnews.com&tfcd=0&npa=0&sz=640x480&gdfp_req=1&output=vast&unviewed_position_start=1&env=vp&impl=s&correlator=", "type": "linear" } ] } }; var jwvidplayer_8826310836 = ''; jwsetup_8826310836(); function jwsetup_8826310836() { jwvidplayer_8826310836 = jwplayer("jwvidplayer_8826310836").setup(jwconfig_8826310836); jwvidplayer_8826310836.on('ready', function () { ns_.StreamingAnalytics.JWPlayer(jwvidplayer_8826310836, { publisherId: "20465327", labelmapping: "c2=\"20465327\", c3=\"IndiaTV News\", c4=\"null\", c6=\"null\", ns_st_mp=\"jwplayer\", ns_st_cl=\"0\", ns_st_ci=\"0_rqu7oxtt\", ns_st_pr=\"Aaj Ki Baat: Special Taliban Force carries out flag march in Kabul, How Pakistan, Haqqani group trained Taliban\", ns_st_sn=\"0\", ns_st_en=\"0\", ns_st_ep=\"Aaj Ki Baat: Special Taliban Force carries out flag march in Kabul, How Pakistan, Haqqani group trained Taliban\", ns_st_ct=\"null\", ns_st_ge=\"News\", ns_st_st=\"Aaj Ki Baat: Special Taliban Force carries out flag march in Kabul, How Pakistan, Haqqani group trained Taliban\", ns_st_ce=\"0\", ns_st_ia=\"0\", ns_st_ddt=\"2021-08-20\", ns_st_tdt=\"2021-08-20\", ns_st_pu=\"IndiaTV News\", ns_st_cu=\"https://vod-indiatv.akamaized.net/hls/2021/08/0_rqu7oxtt/master.m3u8\", ns_st_ty=\"video\"" }); }); jwvidplayer_8826310836.on('all', function (r) { if (jwvidplayer_8826310836.getState() == 'error' || jwvidplayer_8826310836.getState() == 'setupError') { jwvidplayer_8826310836.stop(); jwvidplayer_8826310836.remove(); jwvidplayer_8826310836 = ''; jwsetup_8826310836(); return; } }); jwvidplayer_8826310836.on('error', function (t) { jwvidplayer_8826310836.stop(); jwvidplayer_8826310836.remove(); jwvidplayer_8826310836 = ''; jwsetup_8826310836(); return; }); jwvidplayer_8826310836.on('mute', function () { ga('send', 'event', 'JW Player Events', 'Errors', event.message); }); jwvidplayer_8826310836.on('adPlay', function (event) { ga('send', 'event', 'JW Player Events', 'Errors', event.message); }); jwvidplayer_8826310836.on('adPause', function (event) { ga('send', 'event', 'JW Player Events', 'Errors', event.message); }); jwvidplayer_8826310836.on('pause', function (event) { ga('send', 'event', 'JW Player Events', 'Errors', event.message); }); jwvidplayer_8826310836.on('error', function (event) { ga('send', 'event', 'JW Player Events', 'Errors', event.message); }); jwvidplayer_8826310836.on('adBlock', function (event) { ga('send', 'event', 'JW Player Events', 'Errors', event.message); }); }

Official Taliban websites go offline, though reasons unknown

Cloudflare has not respond to emails and phone calls seeking comment on the development, which was first reported by The Washington Post. The Cloudflare shield prevents the public from knowing who exactly hosts the sites.

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Pakistan diplomat Syed Haider Shah summoned to protest vandalism at Nankana SahibPakistan’s Chargé d'affaires, Syed Haider Shah was summoned on Monday to lodge a strong protest at the recent acts of vandalism and desecration of the holy Gurdwara Sri Janam Asthan at Nankana Sahib, Pakistan, and the targeted killing of minority Sikh community member in Peshawar, Pakistan.India also shared strong concerns raised by members of civil society, parliamentarians and others at the continued persecution of religious and ethnic minorities in Pakistan, including the recent despicable and heinous acts.Government of Pakistan was called upon to ensure safety, security, and welfare of the members of the minority communities in Pakistan, including their places of worship, and take immediate measures to expeditiously bring the perpetrators of such despicable and heinous acts to justice. 

Pakistan diplomat Syed Haider Shah summoned to protest vandalism at Nankana Sahib

Pakistan’s Chargé d'affaires, Syed Haider Shah was summoned today to lodge strong protest at the recent acts of vandalism and desecration of the holy Gurdwara Sri Janam Asthan at Nankana Sahib, Pakistan, and the targeted killing of minority Sikh community member in Peshawar, Pakistan.

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Google CEO Sundar PichaiHours after a woman opened fire at the YouTube headquarters near San Francisco injuring three people before fatally shooting herself, Google CEO Sundar Pichai sent a note to the employees addressing the incident. Pichai described the shooting as an “unimaginable tragedy” and a “horrific act of violence”. Here is the full text of his email to the employees: Everyone,Earlier this afternoon, while our employees were having lunch, we received reports of an active shooter at YouTube in San Bruno. Law enforcement and our security team worked to evacuate the buildings and prioritize the safety of everyone there.The best information we have is that the situation is contained. It's with great sadness that I tell you-based on the latest information-four people were injured in this horrific act of violence. We're doing everything we can to support them and their families at this time.I'm grateful to everyone inside and outside the company for the outpouring of support and best wishes. I am especially thankful to the first responders and our own security team who acted so quickly to keep people safe.I know a lot of you are in shock right now. Over the coming days, we will continue to provide support to help everyone in our Google family heal from this unimaginable tragedy.Let's everyone come together now to support Susan and the YouTube team.-SundarThe Google CEO also issued a statement on his Twitter account saying, “There are no words to describe the tragedy that occurred today. Susan Wojcicki & I are focused on supporting our employees & the YouTube community through this difficult time together. Thank you to the police and first responders for their efforts, and to all for msgs of support.”

YouTube shooting: Here’s the email Google CEO Sundar Pichai sent to staff after the ‘unimaginable tragedy’

In a note to employees addressing the incident, Sundar Pichai described the shooting as an “unimaginable tragedy” and a “horrific act of violence”.

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Representational imageChina said today the financial risks arising from its mounting USD 1.71 trillion external debt were manageable, playing down the concerns over its massive accumulation. The country's foreign exchange regulator State Administration of Foreign Exchange (SAFE) said all major indicators of the external debt remained within international safety standards, amid rising concerns over the debt's accumulation and its impact on China's slowing down of economy. Related Stories Kim Jong Un holds talks with Chinese President Xi Jinping during 'unofficial visit' to BeijingChina informed US of North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un's trip: White HouseClose ties between China and Pak armies will help maintain regional peace, global stability: PLAThe world's second largest economy posted 6.9 per cent GDP last year and the government has fixed 6.5 per cent as this year's growth target. At the end of 2017, China's outstanding external debt stood at 1.71 trillion, an increase of USD 294.8 billion from one year earlier, state-run Xinhua news agency reported. That translated to a debt ratio, or outstanding external debt to GDP ratio of 14 per cent, and the ratio of short-term external debt to foreign exchange reserves was 35 per cent, the SAFE said in a statement. It attributed the rising external debt to stable economic growth, increasing two-way movement of the yuan exchange rate and the government's policies to facilitate cross-border financing. China will continue to improve the macro-prudential management policy that focuses on banks and short-term capital flow, preventing risk while better serving the real economy, it said. 

Risks from USD 1.71 trillion external debt manageable: China

The world's second largest economy posted 6.9 per cent GDP last year and the government has fixed 6.5 per cent as this year's growth target.

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Cornavirus outbreak: Donald Trump's veteran secretary confirms one veteran affected with virus United States Secretary of Veterans Affairs Robert Wilkie on Wednesday confirmed that one veteran is being treated for coronavirus at a VA facility in Palo Alto, California. Robert Wilkie said: "We began moving on supply chain and preparation really before this became a national issue. Case in point is the one vetran, that we know of, who has this virus. We prepared a swath, a section of our Palo Alto campus to recieve vetrans who have this virus. We set it up for that and that veteran is being taken care of there."This the first time coronavirus has directly touched the second-largest federal agency, which provides care to veterans at 1,243 health care facilities across the United States. Meanwhile, Veterans Health Administration head Dr. Richard Stone said that VA has about 1,000 testing kits and each kit is capable of testing hundreds of people. Till now, deaths due to the deadly virus have crossed. The deadly virus, that originated in China last year, continued to spread around the world.(With inputs from ANI)

Cornavirus outbreak: Donald Trump's veteran secretary confirms one veteran affected with virus

United States Secretary of Veterans Affairs Robert Wilkie on Wednesday confirmed that one veteran is being treated for coronavirus at a VA facility in Palo Alto, California.

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Former Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf has said that he is open to forming a political alliance with the proscribed terrorist group Jamaatud Dawa (JuD) and its chief Hafiz Saeed.According to a report in Dawn, the former president told a local Pakistani channel that LeT and JuD are both very good organisations of Pakistan.Responding to a question on possibilities of his entering into alliance with groups associated with Hafiz Saeed, Pervez Musharraf said, "If it is meant to be, it will be.”"There have been no talks yet, but if they want to be included in the alliance, by all means, I will welcome them," Musharraf said.Musharraf was referring to the 23-party grand-alliance that he recently announced.When reminded about the possible international repercussions his statements in favour of the proscribed groups could have for Pakistan, the former president said, "This is our country… we are aware of the internal situation in the country, the people in it and if they are good or bad." "I spoke about Hafiz Saeed and I will say it proudly that LeT and JuD are both very good organisations of Pakistan," Musharraf said."They are not terrorists and we should tell [this to] America and the world," he added.

Former Pak President Pervez Musharraf 'open for alliance' with JuD and its chief Hafiz Saeed

"I spoke about Hafiz Saeed and I will say it proudly that LeT and JuD are both very good organisations of Pakistan," Musharraf said.

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Mexico's coronavirus response leader Hugo López-Gatell points to a vial of the COVID-19 vaccine during its first applications into health workers at the General Hospital in Mexico City, early Thursday, Dec. 24, 2020.Mexico approved the Oxford-AstraZeneca coronavirus vaccine for emergency use Monday, hoping to spur a halting vaccination effort that has only given about 44,000 shots since the third week of December, about 82% of the doses the country has received.The Pfizer vaccine had been the only one approved for use in Mexico until Mexican regulators approved the AstraZeneca shot Monday.Foreign Relations Secretary Marcelo Ebrard wrote in his Twitter account Monday that “the emergency approval for the AstraZeneca vaccine is very good news ... with this, production will begin very soon in Mexico!”A Mexican firm has arranged to do part of the finishing and packaging of the vaccine.Assistant Health Secretariat Hugo López-Gatell said he erroneously reported approval for Chinese vaccine maker CanSino, noting it had not yet submitted full study results for safety and efficacy.Mexico has pinned much of its hopes on the inexpensive, one-shot CanSino vaccine. “It will makes things a lot easier for us,” López-Gatell said.The Mexican Social Security Institute also released more information about a doctor in northern Mexico who had such a severe allergic reaction to the Pfizer vaccine last week that she was hospitalized in intensive care.The doctor suffered difficulty breathing, brain inflammation and convulsions a half-hour after getting the shot. Experts are running tests to determine whether she suffered a rare inflammation of the spinal cord called transverse myelitis. She is reportedly recovering.López-Gatell, who heads up efforts to deal with the pandemic, had to explain why he was spotted at a Pacific coast beach, apparently sitting at a sea-side restaurant without a face mask on.López-Gatell has repeatedly counselled Mexicans to stay at home. He has also cast doubt on how whether face masks protect people from catching coronavirus.López-Gatell said he saw nothing wrong with going to the Pacific coast state of Oaxaca to see friends and relatives, noting that the virus alert level was lower there.Over the weekend, local media posted photos of López-Gatell sitting in the open-air restaurant, reportedly in the laid-back beach resort of Zipolite, in southern Oaxaca state, which has mandatory rules about face masks.President Andrés Manuel López Obrador called López-Gatell “a good public servant.” Mexico has nearly 1.45 million coronavirus cases and 127,757 deaths.“It’s a good thing that there is this scrutiny, but a public servant has rights, too,” said López Obrador.

Mexico approves AstraZeneca vaccine for emergency use

The Pfizer vaccine had been the only one approved for use in Mexico until Mexican regulators approved the AstraZeneca shot Monday.

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9/11: How did Laden live in Pakistan without detection? It has been 18 years since the US witnessed the unprecedented terror attacks but an intriguing question continues to linger -- how did Osama bin Laden, the chief architect of the strike, reach Abbottabad in Pakistan and live there without detection, probably for 6 years?Abbottabad, where Laden lived with his family in a three-storey house before being hunted down and killed by the American special forces on May 1, 2011, is located just 120 kms from Pakistan's capital Islamabad and the Army Headquarters in Rawalpindi.The house, with a big lawn, was located just about 1.5 kms away from the Pakistan Military Academy.Still, the world's most wanted terrorist lived there undisturbed while the Americans were searching for him in the mountains of Afghanistan and carrying out unsuccessful air raids at suspected places there. And the Pakistani military was pretending to be helping out the Americans in the hunt.Rumours were also spread, off and on, that he had either died due to some unknown illness or was killed in some US air raids.The CIA, while keeping the Pakistanis in the dark, finally tracked him down to this house and American special forces carried out a daring midnight operation.Under the special orders of US President Barack Obama, commandos of the US Navy SEALs dived into the compound in three helicopters and in a 40-minute operation killed Laden, along with some others there, took away his body and dumped it in a sea.The helicopters came from a US base in Afghanistan and the operation was monitored live by Obama from White House.Pakistan, which claimed to have no knowledge about his presence, raised a hue and cry over it being kept in the dark and violation of its "sovereignty" by the American forces.The US intelligence tracked Laden down to the house through a courier, who used to visit the house from time to time. Since Laden never used the modern tools of communication, like phones, to avoid detection, he used to communicate with his cadres through intermediaries.The CIA started tracking the courier from August 2010 and his visits to the house in Abbottabad led them to suspect Laden's presence there.The US intelligence agency used satellites to get a better idea about Laden's presence but there was no conclusive evidence as the Al Qaeda chief would never come out of the building.They then roped in a local doctor Shakil Afridi to visit the house for confirmation. He, along with some nurses, did so, pretending to be undertaking a vaccination programme. Besides, confirming Laden's presence physically, they collected blood samples for DNA matching with the terrorist's sister.Once the presence was confirmed, Obama on April 29, 2011 authorised the raid at the compound, without informing the Pakistani establishment.But one question still remains unanswered - how did Laden live there without being detected by the Pakistani intelligence agencies, which are supposed to be very efficient?Or is it that he lived there with the complicity of Pakistani intelligence agencies and the military establishment?According to some reports, the house was built in 2005 and Laden lived there for six years before he was killed.Perhaps, the US suspected Pakistani establishment's complicity and that is why they were kept in the dark about the ‘Operation Geronimo' to hunt down the most wanted terrorist.An agitated Pakistan lodged a protest with the US for "violating" its "sovereignty" by entering its territory without authorization and arrested the doctor who helped the CIA in tracking down of Laden.Does it indicate that Pakistan did not want Laden to be hunted?ALSO READ: On 9/11 anniversary, US designates Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan chief a 'global terrorist'  

9/11: How did Laden live in Pakistan without detection?

Abbottabad, where Laden lived with his family in a three-storey house before being hunted down and killed by the American special forces on May 1, 2011, is located just 120 kms from Pakistan's capital Islamabad and the Army Headquarters in Rawalpindi.

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The standard and uniform of the former British Governors of Hong Kong, are displayed at the exhibition "The Hong Kong Story" in the Hong Kong Museum of HistoryChina on Friday warned the UK against offering citizenship to Hong Kong residents and "immediately correct its mistakes" in order to avoid retaliatory measures. In response to China imposing the national security law on Hong Kong, the UK in July reaffirmed its plan to offer citizenships only to those holding a British National Overseas (BNO) passport, reports the BBC.Around 300,000 people currently hold a BNO passport, while an estimated 2.9 million people are eligible for it, according to the British Consulate General in Hong Kong.Addressing the media here, Foreign Mnistry spokesman Zhao Lijian was asked if Beijing would take retaliatory measures or stop BNO passport holders from leaving Hong Kong, the South China Morning Post reported."The Chinese government has repeatedly made clear its strong stance on this issue, but the British side has insisted on interfering with Hong Kong affairs and China's domestic issues."As the British side broke its own promises, the Chinese government will consider not recognising the BNO passport as a valid travel document, and reserve the right to impose further measures,"Also in a statement issued on Friday, a spokesman for the Foreign Ministry's Hong Kong office also said he "strongly opposed and firmly objected" to the UK move."We urged the British side to rectify its mistakes immediately, and stop its hypocritical show and political manipulation."By providing this new pathway, the British has publicly violated its own promise, blatantly interfered with China's domestic issues and Hong Kong affairs, and seriously violated international law and basic principles of international relations," the spokesman added.UK government analysts have estimated that up to one million people could take up the offer to live in the UK when the new visa becomes available in January 2021, said the BBC report.But critics have argues that the new visa law won't protect young pro-democracy protesters who were born after 1997 and are primarily targeted by the security law which targets secession, subversion and terrorism with punishments of up to life in prison.

China warns UK against offering citizenship to Hong Kong residents

China on Friday warned the UK against offering citizenship to Hong Kong residents and "immediately correct its mistakes" in order to avoid retaliatory measures.

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Majority of Coronavirus infections have been found in China (Representative Image)The number of patients infected with Novel Coronavirus saw a sharp jump on Tuesday as the number showed a spike of 3000 just in a day. On Monday, number of those affected by Coronavirus was 17,300. But the global figure has breached 20K mark. Number of patients across the globe is now 20,600. Majority of the infections have been found in China. The outbreak originated in Wuhan city in China's Hubei province.425 deaths and 20,438 have been confirmed on mainland China. In addition, Hong Kong has had 17 cases, including one death. Macao has had 10 cases. Most of the deaths have been in central Hubei province, where illnesses from the new type of coronavirus were first detected in December.Here's the latest number of persons infected by Novel coronavirus in countries across the world (excluding China):Treatment of patients:Currently, patients are being treated with a combination of antivirals and other measures, as scientists race to find a vaccine. Some reports said drugs to treat HIV too was being tried to treat the patients.The experimental antiviral drug, Remdesivir, to be tested in field trials is developed by US-based Gilead Sciences. It is aimed at treating infectious diseases such as Ebola and SARS, South China Morning Post reported.It was given to the first US patient last week - a 35-year-old man whose condition appeared to improve within a day, it said.(With agency inputs)Also Read | Coronavirus outbreak: This WhatsApp warning about masks to prevent virus is fakeAlso Read | Coronavirus threat looms over Auto Expo 2020; Chinese delegation to skip eventWatch | Coronavirus is another blow to tourism industry after Nipa virus, flood: Kerala Minister in Assembly

Coronavirus Outbreak: 20,600 infected globally, a jump of 3 thousand in a day

20,438 have been confirmed on mainland China. In addition, Hong Kong has had 17 cases, including one death. Macao has had 10 cases. Most of the deaths have been in central Hubei province, where illnesses from the new type of coronavirus were first detected in December.

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Alipay to WeChat Pay: Trump orders ban on transactions with 8 more Chinese appsPresident Donald Trump has signed an executive order barring transactions with eight Chinese apps including Alipay and WeChat Pay to protect America''s national security, citing the steps taken by India to ban more than 200 Chinese connected software applications.Trump''s order said action is needed to "deal with the national emergency" caused by the "pervasiveness of the spread" of apps created and controlled in China.The ban against the eight Chinese apps -- Alipay, CamScanner, QQ Wallet, SHAREit, Tencent QQ, VMate, WeChat Pay, and WPS Office -- will come into effect in 45 days from Tuesday."The pace and pervasiveness of the spread in the United States of certain connected mobile and desktop applications and other software developed or controlled by persons China, to include Hong Kong and Macau (China), continue to threaten the national security, foreign policy, and economy of the United States," Trump said on Tuesday."At this time, action must be taken to address the threat posed by these Chinese connected software applications," Trump said in his executive order.The orders follow two others Trump signed in August banning dealings with the popular video app TikTok as well as the main WeChat app.Trump said that India has banned the use of more than 200 Chinese connected software applications throughout the country.In a statement, India''s Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology asserted that the applications were "stealing and surreptitiously transmitting users'' data in an unauthorised manner to servers which have locations outside India," according to the executive order.The United States has assessed that a number of Chinese connected software applications automatically capture vast swaths of information from millions of users in the United States, including sensitive personally identifiable information and private information, which would allow the Chinese Army and the Chinese Community Party access to Americans'' personal and proprietary information.“The United States must take aggressive action against those who develop or control Chinese connected software applications to protect our national security,” he said.Trump said that by accessing personal electronic devices such as smartphones, tablets, and computers, Chinese connected software applications can access and capture vast swaths of information from users, including sensitive personally identifiable information and private information.“This data collection threatens to provide the Government of the People''s Republic of China (PRC) and the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) with access to Americans'' personal and proprietary information -- which would permit China to track the locations of Federal employees and contractors, and build dossiers of personal information,” he said.The continuing activity of the PRC and the CCP to steal or otherwise obtain United States persons'' data makes clear that there is an intent to use bulk data collection to advance China''s economic and national security agenda, Trump said.

Alipay to WeChat Pay: Trump orders ban on transactions with 8 more Chinese apps

The orders follow two others Trump signed in August banning dealings with the popular video app TikTok as well as the main WeChat app.

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One person died and several others were injured when explosion rocked Austria's main gas pipeline hub at Baumgarten east of Vienna.According to police, the incident occurred at 8:45 am, followed by a fire.Police said that things are under control, but according to preliminary reports several people have been injured.The Baumgarten gas hub, which is located near Austria's eastern border with Slovakia, is the country’s largest reception point and the main distribution hub for natural gas imports from Russia, Norway and other countries.It is also one of Europe's most important gas hubs, handling some 40 billion cubic metres per year.

Explosion at major Austrian gas hub, one dead, several injured

The Baumgarten gas hub, which is located near Austria's eastern border with Slovakia, is the country’s largest reception point and the main distribution hub for natural gas imports from Russia, Norway and other countries.

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Prime Minister Narendra Modi with former Pakistan PM Nawaz Sharif. (File Photo)Former Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif supervised hacking of phone of his political opponent Imran Khan with the help his 'friend' Narendra Modi, Pakistan Minister of State for Information Farrukh Habib has claimed. Speaking to reporters on Tuesday, Habib made a sensational claim that  "Nawaz Sharif obtained information (about Imran Khan) through Israeli spyware with the help of Narendra Modi"."It is certain that Nawaz Sharif also obtained phone data of Imran Khan with assistance of Modi," Habib told journalists in Faisalabad.ALSO READ: Pegasus row: Congress, Shiv Sena demand formation of JPC to probe snooping caseReferring to PM Modi's sudden stop over in Lahore on his way back from Kabul to Delhi in 2015 and Sharif attending Modi's swearing-in ceremony in May 2014, Habib said,"These links indicate strong connection between them."Meanwhile, the Pegasus snooping controversy marred the first two days of ongoing Monsoon Session of Parliament with the Congress-led Opposition demanding a probe into the alleged phone tapping of leaders, journalists and other prominent people. Congress spokesperson Shaktisinh Gohil said the government should clearly tell whether it has purchased the Pegasus spyware or not and hold a joint parliamentary probe.ALSO READ: 'Aap chronology samajhiye': Amit Shah on alleged phone tapping of Opposition leaders, journalistsThe government on Monday categorically rejected in Lok Sabha allegations of snooping on politicians, journalists and others using Pegasus software, asserting that illegal surveillance was not possible with checks and balances in the country's laws, and alleged that attempts were being made to malign Indian democracy.An international media consortium reported on Sunday that over 300 verified mobile phone numbers, including of two ministers, over 40 journalists, three opposition leaders and one sitting judge besides scores of businesspersons and activists in India could have been targeted for hacking through the spyware.(With inputs from agencies)

Nawaz Sharif obtained Imran Khan's phone details with help from 'friend' Modi, Pakistan minister claims

Speaking to reporters, Farrukh Habib made a sensational claim that  "Nawaz Sharif obtained information (about Imran Khan) through Israeli spyware with the help of Narendra Modi".

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Pentagon Chief goes against Trump, says US troops in Syria are not going homePentagon Chief has gone against Donald Trump's statement by saying that the American troops that are withdrawing from Syria are not coming back home but rather are heading to Syria to join the Counter ISIS operations. Donald Trump has said time and against that he wanted to bring Americans (soldiers) back from "endless wars" in the middle east. They aren’t coming home and the United States isn’t leaving the turbulent Middle East, according to current plans outlined by U.S. Defense Secretary Mark Esper before he arrived in Afghanistan on Sunday. The fight in Syria against IS, once spearheaded by American allied Syrian Kurds who have been cast aside by Trump, will be undertaken by U.S. forces, possibly from neighbouring Iraq.Esper did not rule out the idea that U.S. forces would conduct counterterrorism missions from Iraq into Syria. But he told reporters traveling with him that those details will be worked out over time.Trump nonetheless tweeted: “USA soldiers are not in combat or ceasefire zones. We have secured the Oil. Bringing soldiers home!”The president declared this past week that Washington had no stake in defending the Kurdish fighters who died by the thousands as America’s partners fighting in Syria against IS extremists. Turkey conducted a weeklong offensive into northeastern Syria against the Kurdish fighters before a military pause.“It’s time for us to come home,” Trump said, defending his removal of U.S. troops from that part of Syria and praising his decision to send more troops and military equipment to Saudi Arabia to help the kingdom defend against Iran.Esper’s comments to reporters traveling with him were the first to specifically lay out where American troops will go as they shift from Syria and what the counter-IS fight could look like. Esper said he has spoken to his Iraqi counterpart about the plan to shift about 1,000 troops from Syria into western Iraq.Image Source : APPentagon Chief goes against Trump, says US troops in Syria are not going homePentagon Chief goes against Trump, says US troops in Syria are not going homeTrump’s top aide, asked about the fact that the troops were not coming home as the president claimed they would, said, “Well, they will eventually.”Acting chief of staff Mick Mulvaney told “Fox News Sunday” that “the quickest way to get them out of danger was to get them into Iraq.”As Esper left Washington on Saturday, U.S. troops were continuing to pull out of northern Syria after Turkey’s invasion into the border region. Reports of sporadic clashes continued between Turkish-backed fighters and the Syria Kurdish forces despite a five-day cease-fire agreement hammered out Thursday between U.S. and Turkish leaders.The Turkish military’s death toll has risen to seven soldiers since it launched its offensive on Oct. 9.Trump ordered the bulk of the approximately 1,000 U.S. troops in Syria to withdraw after Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan made it clear in a phone call that his forces were about to invade Syria to push back Kurdish forces that Turkey considers terrorists.The pullout largely abandons America’s Kurdish allies who have fought IS alongside U.S. troops for several years. Between 200 and 300 U.S. troops will remain at the southern Syrian outpost of Al-Tanf.Esper said the troops going into Iraq will have two missions.“One is to help defend Iraq and two is to perform a counter-ISIS mission as we sort through the next steps,” he said. “Things could change between now and whenever we complete the withdrawal, but that’s the game plan right now.”The U.S. currently has more than 5,000 American forces in Iraq, under an agreement between the two countries. The U.S. pulled its troops out of Iraq in 2011 when combat operations there ended, but they went back in after IS began to take over large swaths of the country in 2014. The number of American forces in Iraq has remained small due to political sensitivities in the country, after years of what some Iraqis consider U.S. occupation during the war that began in 2003.Esper said he will talk with other allies at a NATO meeting in the coming week to discuss the way ahead for the counter-IS mission.Asked if U.S. special operations forces will conduct unilateral military operations into Syria to go after IS, Esper said that is an option that will be discussed with allies over time.He said one of his top concerns is what the next phase of the counter-IS missions looks like, “but we have to work through those details.” He said that if U.S. forces do go in, they would be protected by American aircraft.While he acknowledged reports of intermittent fighting despite the cease-fire agreement, he said that overall it “generally seems to be holding. We see a stability of the lines, if you will, on the ground.”He also said that, so far, the Syrian Democratic Forces that partnered with the U.S. to fight IS have maintained control of the prisons in Syria where they are still present. The Turks, he said, have indicated they have control of the IS prisons in their areas.“I can’t assess whether that’s true or not without having people on the ground,” said Esper.He added that the U.S. withdrawal will be deliberate and safe, and it will take “weeks not days.”According to a U.S. official, about a couple hundred troops have left Syria so far. The U.S. forces have been largely consolidated in one location in the west and a few locations in the east.The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss ongoing operations, said the U.S. military is not closely monitoring the effectiveness of the cease-fire, but is aware of sporadic fighting and violations of the agreement. The official said it will still take a couple of weeks to get forces out of Syria.Also Sunday, U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi led a group of American lawmakers on a visit to Jordan to discuss “the deepening crisis” in Syria.Jordan’s state news agency Petra said that King Abdullah II, in a meeting with the Americans, stressed the importance of safeguarding Syria’s territorial integrity and guarantees for the “safe and voluntary” return of refugees.With Inputs from Associated PressAlso Read | Won't suspend Trump's account, Twitter tells Kamala Harris 

Pentagon Chief goes against Trump, says US troops in Syria are not going home

They aren’t coming home and the United States isn’t leaving the turbulent Middle East, according to current plans outlined by U.S. Defense Secretary Mark Esper before he arrived in Afghanistan on Sunday. The fight in Syria against IS, once spearheaded by American allied Syrian Kurds who have been cast aside by Trump, will be undertaken by U.S. forces, possibly from neighboring Iraq.

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Kamala Harris as president would be 'terrible thing' for US and women: TrumpDemocratic vice-presidential candidate Senator Kamala Harris becoming US president would be a "terrible thing" for both the country and women, President Donald Trump said on Tuesday as Americans were voting in one of the most divisive bitter presidential polls in decades.Trump, 74, is seeking his re-election in the presidential elections. He is facing the toughest electoral battle of his life by the Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden, 77, and his running mate Harris, 56. They are leading in opinion polls.The Republican leader said that the US would never remain the same if Biden-Harris ticket are the winner.ALSO READ | Huge voter turnout expected in US election despite pandemic"Our country could never be the same country if they win, because they are radicalised left," Trump said as he launched a scathing attack against Harris."Joe Biden will never call the shots and if he does, he's not going to be there very long. He's got a vice president who's further left than (Senator) Bernie Sanders, who is not a particularly good person and she would be, I think, a terrible first representative," Trump alleged.US ELECTION 2020: COVERAGE"If she became the first woman president, I think it would be a terrible thing for our country. I think it would be a terrible thing for women," he said.Harris is the first ever Indian-American, Black and African-American to be a vice presidential candidate of a major political party.  If elected, she would break another glass ceiling and would be just one step away from being the president of the country.In that case she would be the first-ever woman president of the country.US ELECTION 2020: LIVE UPDATES"I look forward to the first woman president," Trump said in response to a question."But I wouldn't look forward to her being that person. I think it would be a very bad thing. I think you'd have a country that would become a socialist country, if they pack the courts, that would be a terrible thing," said the president.ALSO READ | Nation by nation, the world watches Election Day in USTrump reiterated that Biden is beyond his prime time in life and he is having a tough time from the radicalised left of the Democratic party who have taken over the party."That's a tough group to run and they would take the country into a terrible place. But Joe's going to have a hard time. He's not going to be able to handle them," he claimed."Joe is having a very hard time. Joe Biden is not prime time. He never was, actually. But he's not prime time. And he's put in a very hard position. When you see all of the gaffes and all of the problems, this is something that -- he shouldn't be -- when he says he's -- he's a proud Democrat running for the US Senate and, you know, at first I thought he was joking, but he wasn't joking. He's done that a number of times," he said, referring to many gaffes by Biden.ALSO READ | Feel 'very good' about chances of winning: Donald Trump

Kamala Harris as president would be 'terrible thing' for US and women: Trump

Democratic vice-presidential candidate Senator Kamala Harris becoming US president would be a "terrible thing" for both the country and women, President Donald Trump said on Tuesday.

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Lankan cricket legend Arjuna Ranatunga quits United National PartyFormer Sri Lankan minister and legendary cricketer Arjuna Ranatunga has resigned from the Opposition United National Party, citing dissatisfaction with the outfit's workings.In a letter to UNP leader and former prime minister Ranil Wickremesinghe on Monday, Ranatunga said the UNP has not managed to revive and rebrand itself after the recent electoral losses, which led him to resign.The UNP formed in 1946, suffered its worst electoral defeat in the last parliamentary election held in August 2020, where it failed to win a single seat.Ranatunga, 57, held a ministerial position in the previous government led by the UNP between 2015 and 2019.Ranatunga joined the UNP against family tradition. His father Reggie Ranatunga was a minister in the Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP).After retirement from cricket in 2000, Ranatunga entered politics in 2001 as a member of the SLFP.His younger brother Prasanna is the current Minister of Tourism in the government of President Gotabaya Rajapaksa.Ranatunga has switched between political parties and administrative roles in Sri Lankan Cricket often since 2001. ALSO READ: Sweden's first female Prime Minister Magdalena Andersson elected for 2nd time in a weekALSO READ: Sri Lanka: Thousands protest amid deteriorating economic conditions, fuel shortage

Sri Lankan cricket legend Arjuna Ranatunga quits United National Party

In a letter to United National Party (UNP) leader and former prime minister Ranil Wickremesinghe on Monday, Ranatunga said the UNP has not managed to revive and rebrand itself after the recent electoral losses, which led him to resign.

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Florida City partially shuts down park after snakes found mating in massLove, having no geography, knows no boundaries is a popular quote but who knew this would turn a 'shocker' for residents of Lakeland, Florida, who were alarmed to see a group of snakes mating around Lake Hollingsworth. A Florida city partially shut down Lake Hollingsworth on Thursday after receiving reports of swarming snakes. According to reports, the slithery creatures were just celebrating Valentine's Day a little early.Sharing a photo of the lake shoreline, and a closeup shot of a brown snake nestled in leaves on its Facebook page, the Lakeland Parks & Recreation department wrote that a group of non-venomous water snakes congregated to mate near a traffic roundabout.“Relax. Keep calm. The snakes at the lake are not venomous!” a Facebook post from the city government reads. “We wanted to clarify some rumours that have been going around over the last day or so about the snakes at Lake Hollingsworth near the roundabout, which were mistakenly thought to be venomous.”(function(d, s, id) { var js, fjs = d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0]; if (d.getElementById(id)) return; js = d.createElement(s); js.id = id; js.src = "//connect.facebook.net/en_US/sdk.js#xfbml=1&version=v2.6&appId=1530374180564359"; fjs.parentNode.insertBefore(js, fjs); }(document, "script", "facebook-jssdk")); “They are an important part of the ecosystem and should not be disturbed,” the Parks and Recreation Department said in its own Facebook post on Thursday. “While we cannot rule out the presence of other species being in that location or other locations around the lake we believe the water snakes have congregated in that area as they seem to do yearly.” Officials said the snakes are “generally not aggressive as long as people do not disturb them.”Once mating is over, the snakes are expected to go their separate ways.The city said that Florida water snakes are a native species.“They are generally found resting in tree limbs over water or basking on shorelines. They are an important part of the ecosystem and should not be disturbed,” the Facebook post said. Lakeland is in central Florida, between Tampa and Orlando.

Florida City partially shuts down park after snakes found mating in mass

Sharing a photo of the lake shoreline, and a closeup shot of a brown snake nestled in leaves on its Facebook page, the Lakeland Parks & Recreation department wrote that a group of non-venomous water snakes congregated to mate near a traffic roundabout.

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Breaking News LIVE: Top Headlines This HourThe total number of global coronavirus cases has surpassed 30.6 million, including more than 956,000 fatalities. More than 22,333,000 patients are reported to have recovered. Follow this breaking news blog for live updates on the coronavirus pandemic as it continues to pose a challenge for health workers and scientists who are in a race against time to produce a vaccine/medicine. Russia became the first country to register the world's first coronavirus vaccine. President Vladimir Putin himself endorsed the vaccine and said that the vaccine was safe to use and that one of his daughters had already been vaccinated.IndiaTvNews.com brings you the economic fallout of the COVID-19 crisis that has resulted in job losses in millions and changing the way we work. Stay Home, Stay Safe, and Stay Informed as our team of dedicated editors/reporters bring you the latest news on coronavirus, coronavirus vaccine trial updates, photos, video, news, views and top stories from monsoon rains, business, politics, education, science, yoga, and much more in India and worldwide.

Breaking News: September 19, 2020 | As it happened

Get all the latest news on coronavirus cases, news on the vaccine, monsoon rains, business, politics, science, education and much more in India and worldwide.

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New US coronavirus case may be 1st from unknown originA new coronavirus case in California could be the first in the U.S. that has no known connection to travel abroad or another known case, a possible sign the virus is spreading in a U.S. community, health officials said.California officials said the person is a resident of Solano County, northeast of San Francisco, and is getting medical care in Sacramento County. They said they have begun the process of tracking down people who the patient has been in contact with, a process known as contact tracing.The patient was brought to UC Davis Medical Center from another Northern California hospital on Feb. 19 but it was four days before the CDC heeded a request to test the patient for COVID-19, according to an email sent to employees Wednesday by the hospital’s interim CEO, Brad Simmons, and David Lubarsky, CEO of UC Davis Health.The patient arrived on a ventilator and special protection orders were issued “because of an undiagnosed and suspected viral condition,” according to the email sent to employees.The hospital asked the CDC to test for the coronavirus but testing was delayed until Sunday “since the patient did not fit the existing CDC criteria for COVID-19,” the email said.Solano County health officials said in a statement Thursday they are working with local, state and federal officials to identify people who may have been exposed to person infected in the county."While this is considered a serious public health threat, the risk to Solano County residents and the general public is low at this time,” the county health department said.UC Davis, which has treated other coronavirus patients, has been taking infection prevention precautions since the patient arrived. The email said officials believe there was a small chance that others at the facility were exposed to the virus.“Nevertheless, a small number of medical center employees have been asked to stay home and monitor their temperatures,” the email said.The CDC had not responded Thursday to email messages sent Wednesday night seeking comment.All of the 59 other cases in the U.S. had traveled from abroad or had been in close contact with those who traveled. Health officials have been on high alert for so-called community spread.Earlier U.S. cases included 14 in people who traveled back from outbreak areas in China, or their spouses; three people who were evacuated from the central China city of Wuhan; and 42 American passengers on the Diamond Princess cruise ship who were evacuated by the federal government to the U.S. from where the ship was docked in Japan.Some of those evacuated were taken to Travis Air Force Base, which is in Solano County. A number of the earlier cases have been in California, including some of the people taken to Travis and one in which a traveler who returned to San Benito County south of San Francisco and spread it to a spouse.California officials have been preparing for the possibility that community spread of the virus might first surface in the state.“We have been anticipating the potential for such a case in the U.S., and given our close familial, social and business relationships with China, it is not unexpected that the first case in the U.S. would be in California,” said Dr. Sonia Angell, Director of the California Department of Public Health and State Public Health Officer, in a statement.The outbreak, which began in China, has infected tens of thousands of people in more than three dozen countries, with the vast majority in mainland China.The new virus is a member of the coronavirus family that can cause colds or more serious illnesses such as SARS and MERS.The virus can cause fever, coughing, wheezing and pneumonia. Health officials think it spreads mainly from droplets when an infected person coughs or sneezes, similar to how the flu spreads.Officials are advising people to take steps to avoid infection with coronavirus or other respiratory infections like colds or the flu, including washing hands with soap and water and avoiding close contact with people who are sick.Also Read | Iran Vice President Masoumeh Ebtekar, spokeswoman for 1979 hostage-crisis, tests positive for CoronavirusWatch | Coronavirus toll mounts to 2,744 in China /* .jw-reset-text, .jw-reset{line-height: 2em;}*/ .jw-time-tip .jw-time-chapter{display:none;} if ('' == comscore_jw_loaded || 'undefined' == comscore_jw_loaded || undefined == comscore_jw_loaded) { var comscore_jw_loaded = 1; firstjw = document.getElementsByClassName('jwvidplayer')[0]; cs_jw_script = document.createElement('script'); cs_jw_script.src = 'https://sb.scorecardresearch.com/internal-c2/plugins/streamingtag_plugin_jwplayer.js'; firstjw.parentNode.insertBefore(cs_jw_script, firstjw.nextSibling); } var jwconfig_8038574921 = { "file": "https://indiatv-vh.akamaihd.net/i/vod/0_ipbg8mcp_,20,21,22,.mp4.csmil/master.m3u8", "image": "https://thumbs.indiatvnews.com/vod/0_ipbg8mcp_big_thumb.jpg", "title": "Coronavirus toll mounts to 2,744 in China", "height": "440px", "width": "100%", "aspectratio": "16:9", "autostart": false, "controls": true, "mute": false, "volume": 25, "floating": false, "sharing": { "code": "", "sites": [ "facebook", "twitter", "email" ] }, "stretching": "exactfit", "primary": "html5", "hlshtml": true, "sharing_link": "", "advertising": { "client": "vast", "autoplayadsmuted": true, "skipoffset": 5, "cuetext": "", "skipmessage": "Skip ad in xx", "skiptext": "SKIP", "preloadAds": true, "schedule": [ { "offset": "pre", "tag": "https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/ads?iu=/8323530/Eng_Video_Desktop_PreRoll&description_url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.indiatvnews.com&tfcd=0&npa=0&sz=640x480&gdfp_req=1&output=vast&unviewed_position_start=1&env=vp&impl=s&correlator=", "type": "linear" }, { "offset": "50%", "tag": "https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/ads?iu=/8323530/Eng_Video_Desktop_MidRoll&description_url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.indiatvnews.com&tfcd=0&npa=0&sz=640x480&gdfp_req=1&output=vast&unviewed_position_start=1&env=vp&impl=s&correlator=" }, { "offset": "post", "tag": "https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/ads?iu=/8323530/Eng_Video_Desktop_PostRoll&description_url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.indiatvnews.com&tfcd=0&npa=0&sz=640x480&gdfp_req=1&output=vast&unviewed_position_start=1&env=vp&impl=s&correlator=", "type": "linear" } ] } }; var jwvidplayer_8038574921 = ''; jwsetup_8038574921(); function jwsetup_8038574921() { jwvidplayer_8038574921 = jwplayer("jwvidplayer_8038574921").setup(jwconfig_8038574921); jwvidplayer_8038574921.on('ready', function () { ns_.StreamingAnalytics.JWPlayer(jwvidplayer_8038574921, { publisherId: "20465327", labelmapping: "c2=\"20465327\", c3=\"IndiaTV News\", c4=\"null\", c6=\"null\", ns_st_mp=\"jwplayer\", ns_st_cl=\"0\", ns_st_ci=\"0_ipbg8mcp\", ns_st_pr=\"Coronavirus toll mounts to 2,744 in China\", ns_st_sn=\"0\", ns_st_en=\"0\", ns_st_ep=\"Coronavirus toll mounts to 2,744 in China\", ns_st_ct=\"null\", ns_st_ge=\"News\", ns_st_st=\"Coronavirus toll mounts to 2,744 in China\", ns_st_ce=\"0\", ns_st_ia=\"0\", ns_st_ddt=\"2020-02-27\", ns_st_tdt=\"2020-02-27\", ns_st_pu=\"IndiaTV News\", ns_st_cu=\"https://indiatv-vh.akamaihd.net/i/vod/0_ipbg8mcp_,20,21,22,.mp4.csmil/master.m3u8\", ns_st_ty=\"video\"" }); }); jwvidplayer_8038574921.on('all', function (r) { if (jwvidplayer_8038574921.getState() == 'error' || jwvidplayer_8038574921.getState() == 'setupError') { jwvidplayer_8038574921.stop(); jwvidplayer_8038574921.remove(); jwvidplayer_8038574921 = ''; jwsetup_8038574921(); return; } }); jwvidplayer_8038574921.on('error', function (t) { jwvidplayer_8038574921.stop(); jwvidplayer_8038574921.remove(); jwvidplayer_8038574921 = ''; jwsetup_8038574921(); return; }); jwvidplayer_8038574921.on('mute', function () { ga('send', 'event', 'JW Player Events', 'Errors', event.message); }); jwvidplayer_8038574921.on('adPlay', function (event) { ga('send', 'event', 'JW Player Events', 'Errors', event.message); }); jwvidplayer_8038574921.on('adPause', function (event) { ga('send', 'event', 'JW Player Events', 'Errors', event.message); }); jwvidplayer_8038574921.on('pause', function (event) { ga('send', 'event', 'JW Player Events', 'Errors', event.message); }); jwvidplayer_8038574921.on('error', function (event) { ga('send', 'event', 'JW Player Events', 'Errors', event.message); }); jwvidplayer_8038574921.on('adBlock', function (event) { ga('send', 'event', 'JW Player Events', 'Errors', event.message); }); }

New US coronavirus case may be 1st from unknown origin

A new coronavirus case in California could be the first in the U.S. that has no known connection to travel abroad or another known case, a possible sign the virus is spreading in a U.S. community, health officials said.

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Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif (left) pictured during Raisina Dialogue in New DelhiIran Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif on Friday said India and Iran need to work together to expedite rail connectivity to Afghanistan and procurement of equipment for development of Chabahar Port. The minister who was in the city said that India has good relations with Iran as well as US and can play a role in bringing both the countries to negotiating table.Despite the US exempting India from sanctions imposed on Iran for the development of the port in Novermber 2018, the European and Chinese suppliers who had bagged contracts to supply equipment for the port have been reluctant to deliver, fearing adverse impact on their business with the US."Chabahar Port is essential for Afghanistan and Central Asia. There are several problems and we made several advances on them. One of them is that our Parliament has recently approved the expansion of the free zone," he said.Zarif noted that the problem in the progress of the project is that India has found difficulty in procuring the necessary equipment for the port despite the exemption."The other issue is connecting Chabahar to Afghanistan and to Central Asia through rail. We need to complete the Chabahar-Zahedan rail network. We have the infrastructure for that, but we need rails. We are in negotiation with India for providing rails. We produce our own rails but not at the scale we need. So, Iran and India need to work together on procurement of equipment for the port as well as finishing the rail link," he added.The minister further said Iran was not interested in re-negotiations with the US but if India wants to work in preventing the unrest and bringing the US back to the negotiating table, it would be ready for dialogue."India is a dear friend of Iran and has good relations with the US, so it can get the latter to come back to the negotiations. But the most important priority for Iran is to have good relations with neighbours, stability in neighbourhood and attract more investments in the country. We want to take a leading role in peace building," Zarif added.The Chabahar Port complex, backed by India, on Iran's coast along the Gulf of Oman is being developed to provide an alternative trade route between India and Afghanistan.In May 2016, India and Iran signed a bilateral agreement under which India would refurbish one of the berths at Shahid Beheshti Port, and reconstruct a 600 meter long container handling facility at the port.Under the agreement, India would build a 600-metre (1,969 feet) cargo terminal and a 640-metre container terminal.However, only a portion of the two berths have been finished because of deteriorating relations between the US and Iran after the election of US President Donald Trump in November 2016 that culminated with reimpositon of economic sanctions in 2018.In December last year, India took over operations of part of Shahid Beheshti Port.

India, Iran should work to expedite Chabahar Port development, connectivity to Afghanistan: Zarif

Iran Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif on Friday said India and Iran need to work together to expedite rail connectivity to Afghanistan and procurement of equipment for development of Chabahar Port.

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Britain's Queen Elizabeth IIBarbados stopped pledging allegiance to Queen Elizabeth II on Tuesday as it shed another vestige of its colonial past and became a republic for the first time in history.Several leaders and dignitaries, including Prince Charles, attended the ceremony that began late Monday in a popular square where the statue of a well-known British lord was removed last year amid a worldwide push to erase symbols of oppression.Fireworks peppered the sky at midnight as Barbados officially became a republic, with screens set up across the island so people could watch the event that featured an orchestra with more than 100 steel pan players and numerous artists. It was also broadcast online, prompting a flurry of excited messages from Bajans living in the U.S., Canada and beyond.“Happy Independence Day and freedom to all,” wrote one viewer.The drive to become a republic began more than two decades ago and culminated with the island’s Parliament electing its first-ever president last month in a two-thirds majority vote. Barbados Governor General Sandra Mason was scheduled to be sworn in before dawn on Tuesday as the island marked its 55th independence from Britain.Mason, 72, is an attorney and judge who also has served as ambassador to Venezuela, Colombia, Chile and Brazil. She will help Prime Minister Mia Mottley lead the wealthy Caribbean island of more than 300,000 people that is dependent on tourism, manufacturing and finance.Barbados did not need permission from the U.K. to become a republic, although the island will remain a member of the Commonwealth Realm. It’s an event that the Caribbean has not experienced since the 1970s, when Guyana, Dominica and Trinidad and Tobago became republics.Barbados became independent from the United Kingdom in November 1966, more than three centuries after English settlers arrived and turned the island into a wealthy sugar colony based on the work of hundreds of thousands of African slaves.In recent decades, the island has begun distancing itself from its colonial past. In 2005, Barbados dropped the London-based Privy Council and chose the Trinidad-based Caribbean Court of Justice as its final court of appeal. Then in 2008, it proposed a referendum on the issue of becoming a republic, but it was pushed back indefinitely. Last year, Barbados announced plans to stop being a constitutional monarchy and removed a statue of British Vice-Admiral Horatio Nelson from National Heroes Square, the location of the event to celebrate becoming a republic.Barbados’ flag, coat of arms and national anthem will remain the same, but certain references will change, according to Suleiman Bulbulia, a columnist for the Barbados Today newspaper. He wrote that the terms “royal” and “crown” will no longer be used, so the Royal Barbados Police Force will become the Barbados Police Service and “crown lands” will become “state lands.”“It is the beginning of a new era,” he wrote. “Any Barbadian can aspire now to be our Head of State.”ALSO READ: All adults in Britain eligible to get third Covid dose amid Omicron scareALSO READ: As UK reports 2 cases of Omricon, top scientist says new Covid variant 'not a disaster'

Barbados officially declared a republic, not to pledge allegiance to Queen Elizabeth

Barbados Governor General Sandra Mason was scheduled to be sworn in before dawn on Tuesday as the island marked its 55th independence from Britain.