Syrian Prime Minister Riad Hijab has defected from President Bashar al-Assad's government to join "the revolution", his spokesman says.

Hijab was appointed less than two months ago and his departure is the highest-profile defection since the uprising began in March 2011.

Read the full story on BBC

In another ceasefire violation in less than 24 hours, Pakistani troops tonight fired on Indian posts along the Line of Control(LoC) in Poonch sector in Jammu and Kashmir.

UPA constituents Trinamool Congress has 19 MPs in Lok Sabha and 9 in Rajya Sabha, DMK has 18 members in Lok Sabha and 7 in Rajya Sabha, NCP 9 in Lok Sabha and 7 in Rajya Sabha and RLD has 5 in Lok Sabha.

Over 35 Chinese fishermen, detained by Sri Lanka for allegedly poaching in the country's waters were released today within 24 hours of their arrest. 

Wikipedia appears to be experiencing severe technical problems, with users around the world unable to access the site's main page and article pages lacking images or stylesheet information. 

The FBI has launched a probe into the massacre of six people inside a gurudwara in Wisconsin, described as the deadliest attack against the Sikh community in the US, as authorities termed the shooting spree of the lone white gunman as "domestic terrorism". 

Former BJP leader Keshubhai Patel has just announced the name of his new party -- Gujarat Parivartan Party

Patel, one of the founder-leaders of the BJP in Gujarat had on Saturday announced his resignations from the party to float a new party to contest the coming assembly elections.

Patel is considered the most powerful leader of the numerically strong 'Patel' community, which can shift the balance in the electoral battles.

The former chief minister launched a stinging attack on Modi saying the party had become a one-man outfit and gone far away from the principles of the BJP. The poor and the middle class have become unhappy with the government and Modi was keeping away from everyone including the media to avoid questioning, he said.

The AIADMK will support National Democratic Alliance's Vice Presidential nominee Jaswant Singh, said Tamil Nadu chief minister and party chief Jayalalithaa.

Jayalalithaa announced her support after a meet with Singh today.

The vice presidential election will be held on Tuesday with UPA nominee and Vice President Hamid Ansari facing Singh.

The AIADMK has nine members in the Lok Sabha and five members in the Rajya Sabha.

Sikhs across United States condemned the shooting at a gurudwara in Wisconsin on Sunday night that left seven dead, including the killer.

In a blog posted on Huffington Post, Simran Jeet Singh, a doctoral candidate in Religion, Columbia University, wrote: As a Sikh-American, I am absolutely heart-broken. As soon as news broke about the massacre in Wisconsin, my parents called me to make sure I was safe. Our conversation was eerily similar to the moments immediately after 9/11. After making sure I was safe, they asked me to be careful walking around the streets of New York City.

They pointed out that: "You never know what someone might do." While I accepted their advice, their words crushed me.

As a Sikh, I believe that people are inherently good. Our faith instills a sense of perpetual optimism, and our traditions teach us to always make the best of a tough situation. Fear and negativity are foreign to our vocabulary. Sikhs are not a God-fearing people; we are God-loving.

Read the full blog here

Newly appointed Finance Minister P Chidambaram said today that inflation is a concern and can be moderated. "The government will work with RBI to ensure that inflation is moderated in medium term."

'The key to restart growth is to attract investment. The government will modify policies to regain investor confidence. Steps will be taken in few weeks to attract investments in mutual funds and insurance," Chidambaram said.  He added that he will shortly unveil path of fiscal consolidation.   

One CRPF personnel dead as Naxals blow up a mine-protected vehicle in Chhattisgarh. Five jawans were injured and are said to be critical.

More details are awaited.     

The seating arrangements at Sonia Gandhi's lunch today conferred VIP status on former Uttar Pradesh chief minister Mayawati -- she was placed at Gandhi's table.

Gandhi's meal for the ruling coalition and its supporting partners saw an appearance from Mulayam Singh Yadav too -- he was at the Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's table, reports NDTV. 

However, Sharad Pawar and his deputy Praful Patel, who recently threatened to quit the Congress-led UPA, were conspicuous by their absence.

The lunch was hosted a day before the new Vice-President of the country is elected by Parliament. The Congress-led UPA is seeking a second consecutive term for Hamid Ansari.

Read full story here

An incident of firing was reported outside a mall in Noida, Uttar Pradesh this afternoon.

The guard of the Greater India Palace mall was hurt in the firing. The firing incident took palace at the mall's Gate No 2 and two miscreants have been held by bystanders.

More details are awaited.  

"The work initiated by Team Anna has come to an end. The core committee of the team ceases to exit. It was constituted for Jan Lokpal," said Anna Hazare in blog.

He said henceforth the team will work for a political alternative. "We have decided not to have any link with the government."      

Delhi high court blast accused killed in an encounter in Kishtwar, Jammu and Kashmir. He was killed along with an associate. 

Arms and ammunition are recovered for the encounter site, said the J&K police.

More details are awaited. 

Ex-Harayana deputy CM Chander Mohan's estranged wife Anuradha Bali alias Fiza commits suicide. The body of Fiza was found in her Chandigarh residence.

No suicide note has been found, said the police.

Fiza is Mohan's second wife. The two converted to Islam to marry. Chander Mohan changed his name to Chand Mohan.  

He left Fiza in Jan 2009. She was former Harayana assistant advocate general. 

Chander Mohan is ex-Harayana CM Bhajan Dal's eldest son.    

 Taliban fighters attacked a truck carrying supplies for NATO forces in the restive Khyber tribal region of Pakistan today, killing its driver, officials said.  

The militants fled when the Khasadar militia personnel fired at them.   

The militants and security forces exchanged fire for sometime following the attack in Jamrud area of Khyber Agency.   

Two persons were also injured in the attack, TV news channels reported.   

The main road linking the border town of Torkham with Peshawar, the capital of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa province, was closed after the incident.   

The Pakistani Taliban had threatened attacks on NATO convoys travelling to Afghanistan when Pakistan ended a seven-month blockade of supply lines last month.   

The routes were reopened after the US apologised for a NATO air strike that killed 24 Pakistani soldiers last November. This was the second attack on NATO vehicles in Khyber Agency, one of the main supply routes to Afghanistan, in nearly two weeks.

The Supreme Court today rejected the CBI plea for cancellation of bail of former Karnataka chief minister B S Yeddyurrappa. 

Yeddyurrappa is not cooperating with in the investigations, the CBI told SC. He is an accused in the illegal mining scam and land denotification case.    

File a plea in the high court for cancellation of Yeddyurrappa's anticipatory bail, the SC told the investigation agency.     

NASA's first nuclear-powered rover 'Curiosity' has landed on Mars after travelling hundreds of millions of miles through space.  

The rover will explore the possibility of water on Mars. It is the largest man-made object to land on another planet.  

NASA spent $2.6 billion to develop 'Curiosity'. The vehicle is packed with scientific instruments, including a laser that can zap rocks to determine their make-up.  

Nasa monitored the landing from the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California.  

The FBI will investigate Sunday's rampage at a Sikh temple in a Milwaukee suburb as a "domestic terrorist-type incident" that left at least six people and the gunman dead, the town's police chief said.

Authorities have not identified the gunman by name, though Thomas Ahern, a spokesman with the ATF's Chicago division, described him as a white male roughly 40 years of age.

No connection has been established between the shooter and the temple, he told CNN.

Like other officials, Ahern said authorities have not determined a motive, adding "we are a long way away from that right now."

Tattoos on the body of the slain Sikh temple gunman and certain biographical details led the FBI to treat the attack at a Milwaukee-area temple as an act of domestic terrorism, officials said Sunday to the LA Times.

The shootings in Oak Creek, Wisconsin, left seven dead, including the gunman, and three critically wounded.

A federal official who spoke on the condition of anonymity because he was not authorised to speak to the media refused to say whether the gunman was thought to belong to a hate group or some other violent group because the investigation was still unfolding.

Contrary to multiple panicked reports from the scene, officials say they believe there was only one shooter.

Read full story here

The Federal Bureau of Investigation is leading the investigations into the Gurudwara shooting that killed seven people including the gunman, in Wisconsin on Sunday morning. Four people died inside the Gurudwara, the others were killed outside.

CNN is quoting the member of the congregation as saying that the attacker was a bald, white man, dressed in a white T-shirt and black pants and with a 9/11 tattoo on one arm. The man reportedly lived nearby and the police are searching his home.

Just in: Seven persons, including a gunman, were killed during a shootout at a Gurudwara in the Milwaukee suburb of Oak Creek, Wisconsin, US

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