BJP worker Suhail Hindustani has been arrested in the cash-for-votes scam. Hindustani is alleged to have acted as a liaison between Amar Singh and BJP MPs who were bribed during the 2008 trust vote. Hindustani was questioned this morning by the Delhi police. Amar Singh to be questioned next...

UK PM David Cameron appeared before the a specially convened session of Parliament today over his decision to hire Andy Coulson as Director Communications at 10 Downing. Coulson was arrested for his alleged involvement in the phone hacking scandal while he was with the News of the World. Cameron says in hindsight it was a mistake to hire Coulson.

The only other really big story today...

Mangalore air crash victims to be paid Rs 75 lakh each in a month.

Actress Katrina Kaif has apologised for her comments describing Rahul Gandhi as "half Indian" but said her remarks were taken out of context.
"The comments have been misconstrued. They have been taken out of context. But having said that if I have caused hurt to anyone's sentiments, I deeply apologise. It was not the intention at all," Kaif told a TV news channel.

 In an interview to a newspaper, the actress had said, "Am I supposed to be ashamed that I am half-Asian, I mean, no! Rahul Gandhi is half-Indian, half-Italian. So? I am very proud of what I am and I just don't understand the
confusion as if I'm trying to hide the fact that my mother's a British. Why would I?"

Back to other news...

After being stranded at Mumbai's Juhu beach for nearly three weeks, Singapore-flagged cargo ship, MV Wisdom, finally anchored at Alang Ship Breaking yard here for dismantling. The cargo vessel, on her voyage from Colombo to Alang in Gujarat for scrapping, grounded at Juhu beach in Mumbai
after its towing cable got snapped on June 11.

The 'inquisition' at the House of Commons continues as Miliband says it's time Cameron thoroughly apologised to the public.

Basically, what Cameron said today...

• With hindsight, he would not have hired Andy Coulson as communications chief
• Coulson is innocent until proven guilty
• The meetings with News International broke no rules
• Staff acted properly in turning down a police briefing about the hacking scandal
• Did not hold slumber parties for Rebekah Brooks

Mrityunjoy Kumar Jha on Twitter: Shootout at MP Uma Shankar Singh's house in Chapra (Bihar)..driver, bodyguard and village head dead.. AK47 was used by attackers.

Not verified yet...

Developments at the Hindu:

Malini Parthasarathy who has quit, says on Twitter: Siddharth (Varadarajan) far junior to me appointed as Editor makes it untenable to continue.

Back to Cameron: Says if people have been paying police officers for information, those officers need to be prosecuted - along with the people who were paying them.

Cameron announced the names of the panel members who will assist the inquiry into the phone hacking issue -- one of the names is Shami Chakrabarti. The lady is trending on Twitter.

Chakrabarti has been the director of Liberty, a British pressure group, since September 2003 and is the Chancellor of Oxford Brookes University. She is of Indian origin.

If you're watching the debate on TV, remember this is a historic one. Never ever has the British PM had to explain himself and his choices about hiring a Communications director for 10 Downing street in the context of a phone hacking scandal.

Low moment for Cameron, big high for British Parliamentary democracy and the amazing discipline they show. Every single heckler falls silent, the moment the Speaker talks.

Meira Kumar must be so jealous

Cameron speaking on transparency, one of the key issues at this meeting, says it doesn't matter whether Rupert Murdoch entered Downing St through the front or back door, but whether it was properly declared, which it was.

Yesterday, Murdoch said he was asked to enter 10 Downing through the back door but didn't know who made that decision.

Speaker says members getting "over excited" as heckling continues.

Cameron tells Miliband to stop looking for conspiracy theories. Promises to speed up the process of selecting a new police chief.

Cameron quoting Rupert Murdoch says the PM the media magnate was closest to was Gordon Brown (former PM). And the man who advised Brown, was in fact, Ed Miliband.

Cameron: If it turns out Andy Coulson knew about the hacking at the News of the World and lied to the PM, then it would require a "profound apology".

Cameron ends his statement. The hearing is being held at a special Parliamentary session.

John Bercow, Speaker, asks Ed Milliband the Labour party leader to hold on, and admonishes the hecklers saying, "the world is watching this, what will they think."

Milliband continues.  

Cameron: My staff behaved entirely properly in dealings with the police.

If allegations against Andy Coulson are true he would have lied to me, but he is innocent until proven guilty.

It was my decision to hear Coulson. With 20:20 hindsight I would not have offered Coulson the job. But I did not hire him on hindsight.

UK PM David Cameron begins his address before the specially convened session of Parliament. Cameron speaks on public confdience in the media and police amid din, albeit small, in the House. OK, volume of din going up...

Bin Laden, who had evaded capture for a decade, was killed with a double tap - a shot to his chest quickly followed by one above his left eye - during a top-secret US military operation ordered by Obama at his hideaway in Pakistans Abbottabad city on May 2.

Hillary also says, like she did at joint Indo-US address in New Delhi that the opening of the Indian market to the world would bring more prosperity to India and South Asia.

She adds, "We are different countries... We will from time to time disagree. Our differences are outweighed by bonds.

And.. "We are watching the progress of India with great admiration. You have maintained democratic foundations and improved the lives of the poor."

Clinton says she is committed to stronger ties between India, US and China.

At 4.30 pm Clinton meets with Tamil Nadu chief minister J Jayalalithaa.

Hillary in Chennai says: Indian election commission viewed as a gold standard worldwide.

Our differences are outweighed by our deep bonds.

Want to deepen our counter-terrorism offensives and combating terror is a common goal.

Choices we make now will have global resonance.

Indo-US relationship will be one of the greatest in the 21st century.

Have watched India's growth with admiration.

Just in: Iran's Revolutionary Guard has shot down an unmanned US spy plane that was trying to gather information on an underground uranium enrichment site, a state-owned news site said today.

The AP report says that lawmaker Ali Aghazadeh Dafsari said the drone was flying over the Fordo uranium enrichment site near the holy city of Qom in central Iran.

Iran is locked in a dispute with the US and its allies over Tehran's disputed nuclear program, which the West believes aims to develop nuclear weapons. Iran denies the accusations, saying its nuclear program is aimed at generating electricity and producing isotopes to treat medical patients.

Interesting moment during #Rupert Murdoch's grilling at the House of Commons yesterday.

Murdoch opened the hearing by described yesterday as "the most humble day of my life" and apologised to MPs for the phone hacking scandal.

Some time during the questioning which ran into three hours, as Tory MP Louise Mensch continued demanding answers, she said Murdoch had admitted that "this was the most humiliating day of his life."

Murdoch, smiled and interrupted her saying: "Humbling, not humiliating."

Freudian slip?

Update on the murder of Anni Dewani, murdered on her honeymoon, allegedly by her husband Brit-Indian millionaire Shrien.

Shrien who has been charged with masterminding his wifes murder during their honeymoon in South Africa last year, may be sabotaging his own mental health, a London court has heard.

Dewanis lawyer Clare Montgomery had earlier argued that he was simply unfit to stand trial for extradition to South Africa.  However, the South African authorities lawyer, Hugo Keith, asked if there was any evidence of a deliberate decision to avoid getting better by refusing treatment.

Details on the Serbia's last major war crimes fugitive (see our 13:44 pm post).

A Croatian Serb wartime leader indicted for crimes against humanity during the 1991-95 Croatian war, has been arrested. Goran Hadzic was a key figure in the breakaway Krajina Serb republic in Croatia, and after the arrest of wartime general Ratko Mladic earlier this year, he was Serbia's last remaining figure sought by the United Nations war crimes tribunal in the Hague, reports ABC News.

Just as news of the compensation for the Mangalore air crash came in, an Air India plane has reportedly made an emergency landing in Kanpur.  

Author Chetan Bhagat, who was on the flight, tweeted "Emergency landing as plane skidded off runway into wet mud. Lucky save. Evacuations on now."   Bhagat also said, "The plane wheels are barely visible, dug deep into mud. Everyone''s out now. Rattled but safe."

Yesterday Rupert Murdoch was grilled by MPs. Today all the pressure will be on UK PM David Cameron, who faces the most important parliamentary debate of his premiership.

The blog on the Guardian, says that Cameron is not up before a select committee, but MPs will have plenty of time to question him because he is making a statement in the Commons on "public confidence in the media and the police" and then open a debate on the whole phone-hacking affair.

Cameron, apparently, is in a "robust" mood. 

Update on the whopping Rs 75 lakh compensation that Air India now has to pay to the families of each of the victims of the Mangalore crash. We told you of the development at 11:30 am, but the details are here.

The families of victims of the Air India Express crash in Mangalore last year are entitled to a minimum compensation of Rs 75 lakh each, the Kerala High Court
held today. 
Justice P R Ramachandran Menon passed the order while allowing a petition filed by Abdul Salam and Ramla, parents of 24-year-old B Mohammed Rafi, who was killed in the crash. 

158 passengers and six crew on board the Air India aircraft from Dubai had perished in the worst air disaster in the last decade, when the plane caught fire after one of its wings hit a hillock before landing at Kenjar in Mangalore. 

Following the big international story of the moment -- the News of the World phone hacking scandal -- the company's former CEO Rebekah Brooks was paid a reported $5.6 million to leave. Murdoch has also dropped millions more on other staffers. Here's why.

Josh Dzieza in the Daily Beast

Pakistani wicketkeeper Kamran Akmal has revealed that he has been seeking guidance from former wicketkeepers Wasim Bari, Moin Khan, Rashid Latif and Saleem Yousuf to improve his game.   

Kamran, who is currently training alongside Mohammed Hafiz at the National Cricket Academy, said that he was going through intense training to correct mistakes, which were brought to light during the recent 50-over World Cup on the Indian sub-continent.  

The 29-year-old has been constantly criticized for his lack of consistent wicketkeeping.  

He had a horrendous series behind the stumps against Australia in 2009-2010, where during the second Test at Sydney he dropped four catches, including three chances from Michael Hussey.  

Hussey went on to score a match-winning century with the Pakistan team losing in a shock result after dominating the first three days of play.

On Twitter: Brahma Chellaney says: Hu Jintao's presumed successor says China will "completely destroy' Tibetan separatist activities as Chinese forces kill 14 Uighurs in Hotan.

Chellaney is a strategic analyst and professor of strategic studies at the Centre for Policy Research in New Delhi.

She is also scheduled to address students at Anna Centenary Library. She will also visit Kalakshetra Foundation cultural center. Yesterday, she had met Prime Minister, Dr Manmohan Singh, at his official residence in New Delhi.

Newsflash on PTI says the victims of last year's Mangalore plane crash are entitled to an interim compensation of Rs 75 lakh each, according to the Kerala High Court. The Air India plane overshot the runway killing 159 on board.

Here's what happened

In Foreign Policy magazine, why Afghanistan is now India's problem

Sumit Ganguly writes that the United States may soon have the option of washing its hands of Afghanistan. But with an untrustworthy Pakistani military exerting greater influence, India does not.

Read

It somehow seems the African nation of Somalia is in a perennial state of chaos, drought and famine. Yet, the last time Somalia had famine was 19 years ago!

But famine is back in Somalia, reports bbc.co.uk.

The United Nations is set to declare a famine in parts of Somalia as it suffers the worst drought in more than half a century. The UN says the humanitarian situation in the country has deteriorated rapidly, despite assistance efforts.

Read more

British Prime Minister David Cameron will be grilled by Parliament today about the phone-hacking scandal that has rocked the establishment.
Cameron cut short his visit to Africa on Tuesday to join parliamentarians in debating the phone-hacking issue and answer lawmakers' scrutiny over his links to Rupert Murdoch's media empire in a special session of House of Commons.
The scandal has forced the resignations of senior executives at News Corp and two of Britain's top policemen as well as fuelling opposition attacks on Cameron. 

At the extraordinary and historic hearing at Westminster of Rupert and James Murdoch's hearing by British MPs yesterday, televised live, a protester accused of throwing a paper plate of foam at Rupert Murdoch has been charged with a public order offence.  

Jonathan May-Bowles, who also goes by the name Jonnie Marbles, is to appear in court today. The incident happened as Murdoch addressed the Commons Culture, Media and Sport Committee.  

In extraordinary scenes broadcast live on television, the mogul's wife Wendi Deng was seen leaping to her husband's defence, slapping the perpetrator before police handcuffed him and led him away.  

Son James Murdoch also tried to come to his father's aid. The hearing was suspended as May-Bowles was detained by police. His membership of the Labour Party was suspended after the incident.

Drama, denials at Murdoch hearing (The Hindu)
Rupert Murdoch on Tuesday refused to take personal responsibility for the phone hacking scandal engulfing his media empire and said he was let down by "people I trusted. Read

Murdoch's wife Wendi steals the spotlight (Hindustan Times)

Her husband was in the hot seat, but Wendi Deng has emerged as the unlikely star of a British hearing into phone hacking at Rupert Murdoch's newspapers. Read 

Man rushes at Rupert Murdoch in hearing (The Hindu)
A protester rushed at Rupert Murdoch as he gave testimony to British lawmakers on Tuesday, setting off a scuffle and spattering Mr. Murdoch with what appeared to be white foam in a foil pie dish in a shocking interruption of a hearing into the phone hacking scandal thats rocked the media barons global empire. Read

US exposes ISI subversion of Kashmir issue (The Times of India)
Federal authorities arrested a prominent US-based pro-Pak activist, accusing him of funneling money from the ISI to lobby US decision-makers. Read

Taliban: Mullah Omar death report false, phone hacked (Hindustan Times)

Two Taliban spokesmen said their mobile phones, emails and a website had been hacked and messages issued on Wednesday falsely reporting the death of the movement's supreme leader Mullah Mohammad Omar. Read

Unseal Tahawwur Rana trial documents, US judge orders (DNA)
A US judge has ordered to unseal more than two dozens of court documents related to the trial of Tahawwur Hussain Rana in the 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks case so that they could be made public. Read