We leave you with the top stories this day. Refresh (your memory) and do join us tomorrow for more of this.

1. Armed naval guards on ships to tackle piracy
2. Delhi on high alert after HC blast
3. Abbottabad was an act of war: Musharraf
4. Crude low-intensity bomb explosion in Delhi High Court car park
5. Iceland volcano finally stops erupting
6. Antony: India monitoring Pak border 24X7
7. India against European IMF boss
8. Relief for Radia: HC stays book release
9. In Tihar, Kani returns to her first love
10. Indian envoy's daughter sues NYC for $1.5 mn

The government today said it is in talks with the Navy to look at the possibility of manning merchant navy ships with armed guards from Navy. The guards will help tackle the menace of Somali pirates, even as 40 Indian sailorsarestill being held captive by Somalis.

Onlyon rediff.com: Why Rahul is beginning to worry senior Congress leaders.

Excerpt:A senior leader said that UP Congressmen are worried that 'Yuvraj' (Rahul Gandhi) has been unable to deliver in the state.

They feel that the party has been unable to capitalise on the acts of omission and commission of the Mayawati government and has been unable to mobilise the party rank and file required.

A leader who attended the recent Varanasi Congress meeting said the mood in the meet was certainly not upbeat.

Read the full report

India and Africa today came out strongly against cross-border terrorism asking countries not to allow their territories to be made a base for terrorists and sought intensified international cooperation to snuff out the menace of piracy off the coast of Somalia.

The two sides also highlighted the need for urgent and comprehensive reform of the UN system and backed each other's aspirations to become permanent members of the UN Security Council with full rights.

The eight-page Addis Ababa Declaration adopted at the end of the two-day Africa-India Forum Summit here, co-chaired by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Equitorial Guinea President Obiang Nguema Mbasogo, called for immediate cessation of all hostilities in Libya and urged the parties in the conflict to strive towards a political solution through peaceful means and dialogue.

It was a given, but here it is.

Former Kerala Chief Minister V S Achuthanandan was today unanimously elected as leader of the CPI(M) in the Assembly and to head the 68-member LDF Opposition in the 140-member House. That the 87-year-old veteran would lead LDF was a foregone conclusion as the party's central and state leadership favoured him right from the start, considering his pivotal role in leading LDF in the Assembly polls in Kerala.

DMK chief M Karunanidhi's son Tamilarasu and daughter Selvi met their half-sister Kanimozhi, who has been arrested in the 2G spectrum case, at a trial court in New Delhi

Accompanied by DMK Parliamentary Party leader T R Baalu (the only person in the party to attend PM Manmohan Singh's dinner), they also met former Telecom Minister A Raja and Kalaignar TV MD Sharath Kumar at the Patiala House court complex.

Tamilarasu's wife Mohana, senior DMK leader M K Stalin's wife Durga and Union Minister Dayanidhi Maran's mother Mallika met Kanimozhi and spoke to her for nearly 45 minutes in the court complex.

Karunanidhi, who was on a two-day visit here, met his daughter Kanimozhi, Raja and Kumar at the high-security Tihar Jail on Monday where the trio are lodged in connection with the 2G spectrum scam.

Just in: Delhi has been put on high alert after the blast at the car park at the High Court. There were no casualties in the incident thankfully, because the bomb found inside a plastic bag near a car, was low intensity. Moreover, the nails (which in fact, causes major injuries) in the crude bomb failed to hit anyone.

Last heard is the terror outfit who got the bomb in the car park has sacked the chap who designed the bomb.

Changes at the Pakistan Naval base Mehran after Monday's attack by the Taliban which killed 10 navy personnel.

The base commander, Commodore Raja Tahir has been removed from his post after being suspended, pending an inquiryand Commodore Khalid Parvez has been appointed in his place.

Next hearing in the Niira Radia vs RK Anand case is on July 22. Anand wrote the corporate lobbyist's unauthorised biography, Close Encounters with Niira Radia.

The lady will sleep well tonight.

After the severe drubbing at the hustings in West Bengal, the CPI today said it would witness leadership change at the party Congress next year.

However, General Secretary A B Bardhan said the proposed change in leadership had "nothing to do" with the recent debacle suffered by the Left, especially in the strongholds of West Bengal and Kerala.

"Our party constitution provides that no General Secretary can continue for more than three terms. All I can tell you is that there will be a change as far as the CPI is concerned. I have completed my term," the 86-year-old communist leader said.

From Virgin Group owner Richard Branson's blog.

Joan and I were honoured to have dinner with the Queen and President Obama at a state banquet last night at Buckingham Palace.

Both of them managed to find time for everybody in the room as did our own Prime Minister David Cameron.

I congratulated President Obama on his brave stance over the Israel/Palestinian problem and gave him a message fromThe Eldersof support.

It was a wonderful evening and something that only the British can do in such style.

See our 11:37 am post

An excerpt from former Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf's interview with Cnn's Piers Morgan. He hosts the show Piers Morgan Tonight, that replaced the Larry King Live show.

Piers Morgan: President Obama said this week on British television for a state visit to Britain that if the same event (Abbottabad) arose again, he would do the same, and if it happens in the future with other known terrorists of al Qaeda, he'll take the same action. So we have a clear now flashpoint between Pakistan and America.

Gen. Pervez Musharraf: Yes. I think this is putting the Pakistan leadership and government on the dock. And I think it's not a very responsible statement.

Morgan: You think it's irresponsible for President Obama to say that?

Musharraf: Yes, indeed.

Morgan: Because it basically implies that America has rights in terms of taking action on the sovereign soil as in Pakistan, we saw with Bin Laden, that it has a right to do that when you say it has no right to do that.

Musharraf: Certainly, no country has a right to intrude into any other country. Actually, I mean, technically or legally you see it it's an act of war. So therefore, I think it is an irresponsible statement and I think such arrogance should not be shown publicly to the world.

Barack Obama arrived at Downing Street today for in-depth talks with UK Prime Minister David Cameron on issues ranging from military campaigns in Libya and Afghanistan to global economic reform.

A report in the Independent.co.uk says that the US president will insist the US-UK alliance is key to providing global security after a "difficult decade" as he gets down to the real political business of his state visit.

Obama was smiling broadly after making the short journey in Cadillac One - his bombproof limousine known as "The Beast" - from Buckingham Palace.

US President Barack Obama got the date wrong by three years while signing the Westminster Abbey guestbook despite apparently asking the dean what day it was.

Instead of signing May 24, 2011, Obama signed 2008. Apparently after asking the Dean of Westminster, Dr John Hall, for the date, Obama wrote: "It is a great privilege to commemorate our common heritage and our common sacrifice.'

Although First Lady Michelle Omama was affectionately stroking his back as he wrote the wrong date and then signed the book after him, the President's error went unnoticed.

The president made the mistake before laying a wreath on the Tomb of an Unknown Warrior. Three years ago on the same date, Obama was campaigning in Puerto Rico, as he fought a fierce battle in the Democratic primaries against Hillary Clinton. On the same day, he accepted Clinton''s apology for saying she was staying in the race because of her memory of Robert Kennedy''s assassination.

Read Obama's handwriting

Oscar-winning filmmaker Kathryn Bigelow will direct a film about the killing of Al Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden after Colombia Pictures won the rights to distribute the movie.

Bigelow and journalist-turned screenwriter Mark Boal, who won Oscars for Iraq bomb squad movie The Hurt Locker in 2010, had already been working on a project about the al-Qaeda chief''s capture or killing, before his death on May 2.

Here's what the Bhupathis have been up to...

Mahesh Bhupathi:Mixed doubles today.. First time ever getting to play mixed before the doubles starts..maybe useful to get some match practice!!

Lara Dutta Bhupathi:Roland Garros calling! Husband playing 1st round of Mixed Doubles today with Zheng Jie of China. Tomorrow, the Indian Express start to roll!

In what is typical to the US -- freak weather --violent storms swept through a chunk of central US killing at least nine people in three states, toppling trees, crushing cars and tearing through a rural Arkansas fire station.

The high-powered storms arrived as forecast last night and early today, just days after a massive tornado tore through the southwest Missouri town of Joplin and killed 122 people.

China braces itself for the worst drought in 50 years!

In a rare admission, the Chinese government has said the Three Gorges Dam -- the world's largest hydropower plant -- is having "urgent problems". The government, reportscnn.com warns of environmental, construction and migration "disasters" as well.

China's State Council, the country's Cabinet, this week said that while the dam has been beneficial to the region, there has also been a variety of issues since construction began in 1992.

Read more on the problem

The Delhi police has just confirmed that the explosion in the car park at the High Court is not an accident. The police said some kind of crude low-intensity explosive was found in a plastic bag near a car. An eyewitness says smoke arose from the bag and closer inspection revealed there were nails in the bag.

Initially, the Delhi police thoughta car part had exploded. Fire tenders had been rushed to the spot immediately and luckily there were no casualties.

LeT operative David Coleman Headley, who conducted the recce in the 26/11 Mumbai blasts has a condition known heterochromea -- where the colour of both eyes are different. Headley as must've noticed has one brown and one blue eye.

If you believe in handwriting analysis, visit this link, which analyses Headley's handwriting. But remember the analyst or whatever it is they are called, has the entire history of Headley to help him.

After conquering Britain with chicken tikka masala, the country's secret service have now dipped into Hindi for a code name for President Barack Obama.

The US President was given the Hindi code name "Chalaque' during his visit to Britain.The code name, which when translated means clever or cheeky or crafty, cunning, was randomly generated by computer.

"Chalaque is sometimes used when we want to denigrate someone who we think is too clever for their own good,' the Sydney Morning Herald quoted the director of Britain's Network of Sikh Organisations, Indarjit Singh, as telling London's the Times.

The President's Secret Service code name, which is used by agents guarding him when they communicate with each other, is Renegade, while the First Lady's is Renaissance.

Absolutely wonderful news for those flying to or out of Europe. The Icelandic volcano Grimsvotn (sounds like something out of Harry Potter) has stopped erupting, says a weather report from Britain.

Grimsvotn which began erupting on Saturday, left thousands stranded in the UK and Germany with over 1200 flights grounded. Now experts say ash levels in most places are diminishing.

Germany today grounded air traffic across its northern airspace because of ash from an erupting volcano in Iceland, but it may set to change.

From theTelegraph, Kolkata.

DMK chief M Karunanidhi has moved out of the Taj Mansingh to a presidential suite at the ITC Maurya, the switch to the Rs 2 lakh-a-day accommodation contrasting with daughter Kanimozhi's 15x10 cell in Tihar.

A source said it was uncomfortable for the 87-year-old leader in a wheelchair to manage with the two rooms he had at the Taj.

The tariff for each room was around Rs 15,000 a day. The suite in Maurya, around 4 km away in Delhi's diplomatic enclave, is large enough to accommodate him and wife, Kanimozhi's mother Rajathi, the source said.

Just in: There has been a minor explosion in the car park outside the Delhi High High Court near gate 5. Five fire tenders have been rushed to the spot. No casualties yet.

The explosion occured when a car parked outside the court caught fire and triggered a security scare. The incident occured around 1:30 pm, fire brigade and police said.

Police said they were yet to ascertain the reasons for the blast. "We are checking. We don't know the reasons for the blast," a senior police official said. The Bomb Disposal Squad and Delhi Police officials are at the spot.

In Tihar jail,DMKMP Kanimozhi returned to herfirst love.

The Telegraph, Kolkata, reports that packed off to Tihar jail for her alleged role in the 2G spectrum scam, Kanimozhi went back to writing poems.

The 43-year-old, who had several volumes to her name much before she entered politics, has turned to poetry again her first love to find solace and keep herself busy in her 15ft-by-10ft solitary cell.

"She told us she loves poetry and now has enough time to write poetry in adversity. She also said she wants to write about her stay in jail,' said a senior Tihar official.

And you thought....

Here's a tweet from Sushma Swaraj, BJP: My heartfelt condolences on the sad demise of Mrs Surinder Kaur Badal wife of Sardar Prakash Singh Badal (Punjab CM). I am sorry, I am unable to attend her funeral. Advaniji, Menaka Gandhi and I have just returned from Airport. We could not take off due to poor visibility at Bhatinda airport.

Read: Invisible force behind Badal's rise goes silent

A Taliban suicide bomber today rammed his explosives-laden vehicle into a police building near the US consulate in Peshawar killing at least nine policemen as terror fury continued to hit Pakistan since the US raid that killed al-Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden.

The bomber, said by police to be carrying more than 300 kg of high-grade explosives, hit a three-storey police building, which houses the office of the Criminal Investigation Department, flattening the complex and leaving about 38 others injured.

As the battle behind the scenes for the next IMF chief hots up, developing countries have expressed concern over the selection process for the next head. Brics countries -- Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa -- said choosing a managing director on the basis of nationality undermined the fund's legitimacy.

The bbc.co.uk report says European officials believe another European should replace Dominique Strauss-Kahn as IMF managing director. Strauss-Kahn resigned last week to fight sex assault charges in New York.

Is Christine Lagarde the next IMF boss? and What women in the IMF really want

In what will certainly come as a relief for Niira Radia, the Delhi High Court today stayed the release of a book written by lawyer R K Anand on controversial Niira Radia tapes.

Thebook called Close Encounters with Niira Radia is apparently a vivid and deeply intimate account of Radia -- India's most famous corporate lobbyist.

Read our story on Niira Radia: Why the corporate lobbyist did no wrong

Defence minister AK Antony calls for 24x7 vigilance against terror. In a statementin New Delhi,he said terrorists were waiting to crossover from Pakistan and the border needs to be monitored constantly.India concerned about terror attacks inside Pakistan.

Remember, on the day of the terror attack on the naval airbase in Pakistan, the government had said India was saddened by the loss of lives.

Antony's statement comes in the aftermath of the 26/11 trial in Chicago, where LeT operative David Coleman Headley has taken the stand.

Twenty-four students from underprivileged sections, of the total 30, have this time made it to the IIT-JEE from the 'Super-30' founded by mathematics wizard Anand Kumar.

With this the total number of Super 30 students, having qualified for the IIT-JEE in the last nine years, have gone upto 236, Kumar told PTI today.

Be it the child of a roadside vendor, mobile mechanic, marginal farmer or truck driver and Group IV employee, all managed to successfully crack the IIT-JEE barrier, under the expert guidance of Anand and his dedicated team.

The fabled Super 30 is an institution, having featured in different prominent world publications as the unique Indian experiment, where Anand Kumar grooms 30 poor but talented students after screening for nearly one year with free coaching, accomodation and food.

Not taking any financial help from the government or any organisation, Anand supports Super 30 from what he earns from his tuition centre.

Read the winners' story

The Chinese foreign ministry said yesterday it was unaware of a request by Pakistan to Beijing for help in building a naval base at its deep-sea port of Gwadar, strategically located on the Arabian Sea.

In a report in the South China Morning Post, Pakistan's defence minister, Chaudhry Ahmed Mukhtar, who accompanied Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani on a visit to China last week, said on Saturday the proposal had been made during the trip, which highlighted the neighbours' close ties.

The British papers call it it India's "gendercide" -- or rather, female infanticide/foeticide.

The Independent.co.uk reports that in the last 30 years up to 12 million unborn girls have been deliberately aborted by Indian parents determined to ensure they have a male heir.

Once, parents desperate for a son achieved the same end by infanticide. But modern medical technology, and the complicity of the medical establishment, has sanitised the process and made it more socially acceptable.

Read more

An Indian diplomat's daughter who claims she was falsely arrested and suspended for sending obscene e-mails to teachers at her Queens high school, has decided to sue the city for a whopping 1.5 million dollars.

In a notice of claim filed on May 6, John Bowne High School senior Krittika Biswas, the daughter of the vice counsel at the Consulate General of India in Manhattan, Debashish Biswas, said her claims of diplomatic immunity were ignored when she was cuffed and locked up for more than 24 hours on February 8 after a shoddy probe by administrators into the emails.

The Daily Mail reports that the star-studded banquet in Obama's honour saw 171 guests arrive, who dined on lamb, roast potatoes and vanilla Charlotte.

Here's what they wore and how!

As you may know, US President Barack Obama and the First Lady are on a three-day visit to the UK and Ireland. Last evening, the couple were invited by the Queen and The Duke of Edinburgh to a state banquet.

From the guest list, names that caught our attention...

Sir Richard and Lady Branson
Sir Martin and Lady Sorrell
Mr Tim Burton and Ms Helena Bonham-Carter
Mr Kevin Spacey
Lord Sebastian Coe.

The Blairs and the Majors and most of the British government were there as well.

Apparently, all upper lips had been starched to maintain the adequate amount of stiffness.

The United States has been intensely monitoring Pakistan's nuclear and missile programmes, US diplomatic cables unveiled by whistle-blower website WikiLeaks have indicated.

Dozens of cables from US embassies around the world are seen inquiring into purchases by Pakistan's nuclear and missile complexes from the international market, the Dawn reports.

In a 2008 cable, the then US Deputy Chief of Mission to Turkey, Nancy McEldowney, detailed her discussions with Turkish authorities about the US' desire to see relevant action taken against a suspicious shipment to Pakistan.

Lakshmi Mittal's son,Aditya, has taken charge of ArcelorMittal's biggest and most problematic unit in a move seen by analysts as paving the way for him to eventually succeed his father, reports the Financial Times, London.

Lakshmi Mittal, incidentally, is the world's biggest steelmaker and is chairman and chief executive of ArcelorMittal, and also has a 42 per cent stake.

The FT says that although he has given no sign of wanting to reduce his role in running the company, analysts believe that he may at some time over the next few years wish to hand over the chief executive's role to the 35-year-old Aditya.

Read: Mittal's $55 million wedding for his daughter

Enough of dirt (for now). Congratulations are in order for Dr Jayant Khandare,a young Indian scientist who been awarded the prestigious Alexander von Humboldt Experienced Researcher Fellowship for his research in macromolecular chemistry.

He has been working on cancer cells and in inflammation with Piramal Life Sciences Limited.

Dr Khandare joins the galaxy of researchers called 'Humboldtians', 44 of whom have so far received the Nobel Prize.

The Germany-based Humboldt foundation promotes academic cooperation between top scientists and scholars from within and outside that country.

Helll hath no fury it seems like a scorned Maria Shriver. Arnold Schwarzenegger's soon to be ex wife was the one who reportedly leaked the news about the secret love child.

It has also been reported that Shriver hired a private investigator to find out whether Schwarzenegger has fathered more children in secret.

Shriver's friends had to persuade the "hysterical" former TV journalist not to hold a news conference when she found out in late April or early May that the star had fathered a son with the family's housekeeper

Mumbai attacks co-accused David Headley is singing like a canary. Today the LeT terrorist testified that the New Delhi-based National Defence College is on the hit-list of terrorists as 26/11 mastermind Illiyas Kashmiri believes he can kill more Indian brigadiers than what the Pakistan Army could not do in four wars with India.

Within a few months of the Mumbai terror attacks, Kashmiri, who has now emerged as mastermind of 26/11, met Headley, and asked him to go to India again to do surveillance of the National Defence College in New Delhi and a number of Chhabad Houses in various cities of India.

Good morning. The newsmaker today is LeT operative David Coleman Headley all the way as more details of his trial in Chicago unfolds.Here'swhat the papers have this morning.

Headley planned to infiltrate, attack Shiv Sena (The Times of India)

They showed him a styrofoam mock-up of the Taj Mahal Hotel at the Lashkar-e-Taiba headquarters. He wowed them with video footage from inside the Shiv Sena headquarters. They gave him a GPS device to capture coordinates of targets. He warned them against landing the terrorists at the Gateway of India pier. Read

Ihad a two-second interaction with David Headley: Rajaram Rege (DNA)
Though Headley described Rege as the Shiv Sena PRO, the party has said that he does not occupy any post like that. Read

We have seen many Headleys, says Bal Thackeray (Hindustan Times)
Shiv Sena supremo Bal Thackeray was on Tuesday night dismissive of Mumbai terror attack accused David Headley's testimony in a Chicago court that a plot was involving his handlers in Pakistan's intelligence agency ISI and terror outfit LeT was hatched to kill him. Read

Rana trial: ISI wanted to add Mumbai airport to 26/11 list (DNA)

Major Iqbal, the alleged ISI handler of David Coleman Headley, wanted to include Mumbai international airport in the list of targets in the 2008 terror attack, a court was told today. Read

I would give IAEA access to Khan, said Zardari (The Hindu)

The Wikicable notes that Zardari understood the negative reaction the lifting of restrictions [on Dr. Khan] would have in Washington. Read

Congress comforts Karunanidhi but says can't stop legal process (The Times of India)
Congress comforted Karunanidhi but made it clear that it could do nothing to stop the law from following its course in the 2G spectrum scam case. Read