President Barack Obama welcomes Iraq's Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki to the White House today, as sectarian violence in the country hits its deadliest peak since April 2008. 

Israeli aircraft bombed what the military described as a "terror tunnel" used by Hamas in Gaza and the militant Palestinian group said three of its fighters were killed in the strike early Friday.

Ritu Jha reports: A shooting has been reported at the Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) in Southern California, early Friday morning.

Dawn reports: Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan chief Hakimullah Mehsud was killed in a United States drone strike in North Waziristan tribal agency today, intelligence officials said.

Five militants, including Abdullah Bahar Mehsud and Tariq Mehsud, both key militant commanders and close aides of the TTP chief, were also killed in the drone strike.

Read the full report here

Battling for life for five days, an Odisha teacher who was set ablaze for refusing to withdraw a complaint of molestation in Raygada district, died today.

The 36-year-old teacher posted in an upper primary school at Tikri and admitted to a hospital in Visakhapatnam in neighbouring Andhra Pradesh with 90 per cent burns after being set on fire by a man on Sunday night, died during the day, Rayagada district collector Dr S B Padhi said.

With the death sparking a statewide outcry, Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik directed the CID, Crime Branch to investigate the incident.

NDTV reports: ISRO today cleared launch of India's maiden mission to Mars on Nov 5.

The Mangalyaan was to be launched as early as October 28, but was postponed because of rough weather in the Pacific Ocean.   

Measures being taken to improve infrastructure along the border with China and Pakistan and the maritime boundary are understood to have been discussed ata high level meeting chaired by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh today.   

The meeting of National Security Council was attended by Home Minister Sushilkumar Shinde, Defence Minister A K Antony and National Security Adviser Shivshankar Menon, sources said.   

Senior officials of defence and home ministries also attended the meeting which deliberated upon infrastructure along the border and its management, they said.   

The meeting comes in the wake of India signing a pact with China for avoiding flare-ups between troops of the two sides with both of them coming closer to each other due to development of border infrastructure.

Narendra Modi at the inauguration of the Dinanath Mangeshkar hospital in Pune, dedicated to Lata Mangeshkar and Asha Bhonsle's father. Paying tribute to the Mangeshkar family, he says Didi (Lata Mangeshkar) called him to inaugurate the hospital and wrote him a touching letter, which is a big gift for him.

Lata in turn says she hopes Modi becomes PM.

The government will push the long pending insurance bill, which seeks to raise FDI cap in the sector to 49 per cent from 26 per cent in the Winter session of Parliament, Finance Minister P Chidambaram said today.

He said the government has secured the support of the principal opposition party (BJP) for the passage of the insurance Bill.

"The opposition parties have promised me they will pass the insurance Bill...  Most parties, including the principal opposition party, have expressed their support for insurance bill. I hope with majority support, if not unanimous support, we will be able to pass the insurance bill," he said.

My close encounter with Somalia's whip-wielding al-Shabab. Read

A President's award winning headmaster of a school in Odisha's Malkangiri district has been suspended on the charge of molesting a minor girl student of his school.

Self-styled godman Asaram Bapu, currently lodged in a jail in Gujarat, has once again lost a petition seeking to restrain the media from reporting on sexual assault allegations against him.

The 75-year-old had moved the court to stop two TV channels from airing allegedly slanderous reports about him saying they were projecting him as a "dracula who drank children's blood." Read more

Work nears completion on Basra Museum, Saddam's former palace, which will display antiquities from Iraq's Assyrian, Babylonian and Arabic past. Read

When Narendra Modi arrives in Patna tonight, the security organised for him will be unprecedented in the 64-year-old's political career, and similar to what is arranged for the Prime Minister.

On Sunday, Modi addressed a massive rally in Patna after a series of bombs exploded in and around the venue, killing six people and injuring nearly 80.

The BJP's candidate for prime minister was unharmed; tomorrow, he will visit the families of those who died. Read

Yasin Bhatkal, the chief of terror outfit Indian Mujahideen who was recently arrested by Indian security agencies, came across as extremely bitter and disillusioned about his mentor -- the Inter Services Intelligence -- during his interrogation. Read

Just in: There's been a fire at a firecracker unit at Kumbakonam in Tamil Nadu killing at least nine and injuring four. Details awaited.

Communications and Information Technology (IT) Minister Kapil Sibal today lashed out at BJP's prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi, saying he was desperate to occupy the country's topmost post.

"If you want to build a 'Statue of Unity' build it in you heart and show to the people that the 'Statue of Unity' is there in my heart and I apologise for all my wrong deeds (2002 riots) then it will appear that you want unity," he said.

Sibal alleged that Modi is always angry and uses the language which is against the Indian tradition.

"It's not part of the culture of India to use the kind of language that he uses. He is always angry, always upset, always acrimonious, always attacking and talks of the 'Statue of Unity',' he said.

Modi had earlier on Thursday laid the foundation stone of India's first Home Minister Sardar Vallabbhai Patel's statue along with senior BJP stalwart Lal Krishna Advani on the banks of Narmada river in Ahmedabad.

The statue, is being called the 'Statue of Unity' will be double the size of the 'Statue of Liberty' in the United States

Congress General Secretary Digvijay Singh today admitted that there had been a delay in declaring the party's list of candidates for the November 25 Assembly elections in Madhya Pradesh.

"I have no hesitation in admitting that the release of the list of candidates for the elections has been delayed," Digvijay said after his son, Jaiwardhan Singh, filed his nomination papers here today.

Incidentally, the party had announced some time back that tickets for the Assembly elections would be handed out three months in advance.

The Congress has been putting up a show of unity in the BJP- ruled state, but sources said that leaders in the faction- ridden party have not been seeing eye-to-eye on the issue of poll tickets. The filing of nominations for the state polls began today.

Eight persons, arrested in connection with the latest round of violence in Budhana area of Muzaffarnagar, have been sent to 14 days' judicial custody. The accused were produced before Chief Judicial Magistrate K P Singh last evening and sent to judicial custody till November 13.

The Supreme Court today allowed Sahara Chief Subrata Roy to go abroad and modified its order restraining him from leaving the country till the group hands over title deeds of Rs 20,000 crore to SEBI.

Volvo, manufacturers of thousands of buses running on Indian roads, said the blaze that charred to death 45 passengers on the Bangalore-Hyderabad bus, might not have been caused by a fuel tank explosion, forcing authorities to look at other angles. Read

India's current account deficit is likely to be $60 bln or less, finance minister P. Chidambaram said Friday, thanks to rising exports, along with measures taken by the government to control imports and encourage investment inflows.  He also  cautions markets against "excessive exuberance".

The Sensex rose to an intra-day high of 21205.44 compared to the all-time high of 21206.77 recorded in January 2008. The bench-mark index gained by130.55 points to close at 21164.52.

He said gold imports in October rose slightly to 23.5 tonnes. Chidambaram also expects momentum that was seen in exports to continue until the end of March. -- Reuters

Narendra Modi addressing a rally in Pune, where he will inaugurate the Deenanath Mangeshkar Super Speciality Hospital.

He said: "I tell political pundits to decide parameters and it is within those parameters that they should see what the state did and under which party. 

"When this happens, there will never be a question about whether the BJP will be victorious or not. It is the BJP is responsible that is responsible for development in this country.

"Wherever the BJP has got a chance to serve people, they have done so and tried to fulfill the aspirations of the people.   

"There were governments by Morarji Desai and Atal Bihari Vajpayee -- governments where the prices were kept under check.  But whenever the Congress formed the government or supported a government, the nation and the poor suffered due to price rise.    

"Should a government give answers to the people or not? Do people not have right to know. Take the speeches of UPA leaders in last nine years... have they ever answered the people about what they did in their tenure?  

"The PM is theirs, the government is theirs, still they ask Modi for answers. The elections are for the Lok Sabha.  I assure the people of India in 2014, when you bless the BJP, that we will give answers to you every year.  We will be accountable.

"Dilli me shasak nahi sevak baithna chahiye. Koi nath nahi, janata ke das hone chahiye.  They keep saying let Gujarat answer. In 2012 December, Gujarat voted. Congress did same thing there for five years, money was spent.

"But the people of Gujarat saw the work of the BJP government and they were not influenced by the Congress's lies. For the 3rd time we had a 2/3rd majority.    

"Ten months ago we gave the exam, my Congress friends. People are the best examiners. So, please do not mislead them. You will get nothing by misleading the people on Gujarat."

The who's who of Bollywood including Aamir Khan, Ranbir Kapoor, Priyanka Chopra and politicians, media barons, cricketers attended the 50th birthday bash of Nita Ambani, wife of India's richest man Mukesh Ambani's in Jodhpur.

The birthday venue was decorated with exotic flowers from Florence. 'Dhoom 3' star Aamir Khan arrives at the Jodhpur airport with 'Besharam' actor Ranbir Kapoor on Thursday. See

Raja Sen says the only superpower Krrish has is that of boring the audience. Read

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee today said that the Adhar card must not be made compulsory to receive LPG gas subsidy and called for immediate review of the Oil Ministry's move.

"Adhar Card must not be made compulsory. Only 15 to 20 per cent of the people have received the card," Banerjee told reporters at the state secretariat.

"I am told that there is a verdict of the Supreme Court that it cannot be made compulsory by the government for obtaining benefits and subsidies," she said.

Actress Aishwarya Rai Bachchan turned 40 today and celebrated the occasion by donating cash for cancer patients.

"Heartfelt thank you to everyone for the wishes. It's a good coincidence that my birthday comes with Diwali... It's a celebration time. I am thankful to God for this life... Thankful to my parents for this gift of life. It means a lot to me. I embrace everything that life gives me," Aishwarya said.

Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar has censured his political rival, the BJP,  whose party workers are marching to the Ganga with the ashes of six people who were killed in Sunday's blasts ahead of a rally held by Narendra Modi in Patna.

Modi is the BJP's candidate for prime minister. He will land in Patna tonight; tomorrow, he will visit the homes of those who died. Read

The security personnel have made tight security arrangements for BJP prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi's rally in Pune today against the backdrop of Sunday's serial blasts in Patna.

According to reports, Modi, who will arrive here around 1.30 pm, will be received by Maharashtra BJP chief Devendra Fadnavis.

Several other senior Maharashtra BJP leaders will also be present at today's rally.

Six people were killed and 83 injured in the low intensity blasts that rocked Patna between 9.30 am and 12.45 pm on Sunday shortly before Modi's address to a 'Hunkar rally' in Gandhi Maidan.

However, the BJP had accused Nitish Kumar-led Bihar Government for failing to provide adequate security for Modi''s Patna rally.

BJP spokesperson Nirmala Sitharaman said that Modi is a serious target of many terror groups, and added that the Bihar police have completely failed in ensuring proper security arrangements.

The CNN-IBN-THE WEEK pre-poll survey conducted by CSDS projects the National Democratic Alliance edging towards 200-seat mark in Lok Sabha polls.

The NDA tally is projected to rise between 187 and 195 Lok Sabha seats just by gains in four states whereas United Progressive Alliance tally is projected to slip to between 134 and 142 Lok Sabha seats just by losses in four states. Read

CBI has registered a case against Janata Dal (United) Rajya Sabha MP Anil Kumar Sahani for alleged filing of fraudulent Leave Travel Concession claims using forged air tickets and boarding passes and carried out searches today at Rajya Sabha Secretariat and other locations.

CBI sources said that, after registering an FIR, agency teams today carried out searches at Rajya Sabha Secretariat, his Muzaffarpur residence in Bihar and at his office.

Sahani was not available for comments and did not respond to calls made to obtain his response. The sources said more cases could be registered soon in connection with the LTC scam.

Delhi Metro will stop services at 8 pm on Sunday on account of Diwali, said an official release on Friday.

The last of Metro train on Sunday will start at 8 pm from the terminal stations of all the six lines - Dilshad Garden-Rithala, Jahangirpuri-HUDA City Centre, Noida City Centre-Dwarka Sector-21, Yamuna Bank-Vaishali, Inderlok-Mundka and Central Secretariat-Badarpur Metro station."Metro train services will run as usual for rest of the day on Diwali from 6 am. onwards," said the release.-- NDTV

As Congress and BJP battle it out over the legacy of Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, I&B minister Manish Tewari hit out at Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi, saying UPA's record in issuing advertisements to commemorate Patel was far better than that of its rival NDA.

In a tweet, Tewari alleged that for three years -- 1999, 2000 and 2001 -- its government was at power at the Centre from 1999 and 2004, NDA had not issued any advertisements to commemorate Patel.

Comparing that with UPA's achievement in this regard, Tewari said from 2004 and 2013, barring in 2008, advertisements had been issued every year by the Centre.

"Sardar Patel Advertisements - NDA (1999-04), 3 Years - 99, 2000 and 2001, no ads. UPA (2004-13), 1 year - 2008, no ads. Why Gujarat CM always economical with truth?," Tewari said.

Many might not be familiar with the name of Takeshi Shudo but children and adults alike recognize and adore his creation, Pokmon. Takeshi Shudo breathed his last due to subarachnoid hemorrhage in Japan. Read

Narendra Modi to address a rally in Pune shortly. 

Sibal says it is being propagated that the Congress has destroyed India, we speak with facts and data not claims. And yes, Kapil Sibal, challenges Narendra Modi to a debate: Any language, any subject, any place.

Former DGP of Punjab KPS Gill, who had served as security advisor to the Gujarat Chief Minister in 2002, has said that Narendra Modi cannot be blamed for post-Godhra riots as it is the job of the police leadership to respond to law and order situations. 

And so it goes on. IT minister Kapil Sibal's turn to slam Narendra Modi today.

Sibal begins with asking what kind of books of Modi reads if he doesn't even know that Chandragupta Maurya did not belong to the Gupta dynasty. 

"If Modi leaves Bihar why doesn't he leave the Shiv Sena (alliance)? asks Sibal on Modi's insistence that Biharis should develop their own state.

"He claims he evacuated 15,000 Gujaratis in Uttarkhand, there has to be a limit to lies," says Sibal.  "He doesn't know Takshila is in Pakistan," says Sibal mocking Modi's statement that Takshila was in Bihar.

He says the country's future cannot be made by one person, it is made by policies. He has no vision on education, technology, cyberspace, security... what will he bring to the nation, he asks.

Decrying the hike in diesel prices, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa today urged the Centre to roll back the increase. The hike would lead to increase in prices and affect people, she said in a statement here and reiterated her demand for withdrawing powers vested with oil companies to regulate fuel prices.

Jayalalithaa said people are agitated over fuel price hike and cautioned they are prepared to vote out the UPA government at the Centre in the coming General Election.

During the Hindu festival of lights, devotees worship Lakshmi, the goddess of wealth. Diwali is usually the time of year that shop owners and vendors await most eagerly as sales escalate and customers feel most confident about spending on themselves and others. Read

The Narendra Modi government's decision to charge 20% lower rent for cables being laid in Gujarat by 4G service providers such as Reliance JioInfocom, as well as a uniform rental for towers built on municipal land, has been challenged in the high court by a local Congress leader Abdul Hamid Bhatti. Read more

Thousands of policemen are standing guard at two villages of Muzaffarnagar in Uttar Pradesh after four killings have revived fears of riots that led to nearly 60 deaths last month.

Senior police officers have gathered for a long vigil at the villages Hussainpur and Mohmadpur, where tension is simmering after the killing of three young men and a woman in separate incidents on Wednesday.

In the past few days, political parties have vied with each other to lay claim to the political legacy of India's first Home Minister, Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, and to build their own partisan narratives around the beliefs that are thought to have defined him. Read

"I have an ideological umbilical cord with the BJP...we are three generation party supporters... my grandfather was a swayamsevak, my mother, a BJP booth activist". That's Smriti Irani (37), vice-president, BJP, emphasizing that her ties with the party are old, tested and wound in family tradition. Read more

Diwali was meant to be a happy day for many families in Hussainpur. It was decided, says village pradhan Shaista's husband, Shahnawaz Khan, that some Muslims who had taken shelter from the neighbouring Mohammadpur-Raisingh village during the recent riots would go back to their homes shortly after the festival of lights on coming Sunday. Read

Just in: BCCI chief N Srinivasan, an accused in graft case involving Jaganmohan Reddy, appears before CBI court in Hyderabad.

Former prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee's niece Karuna Shukla is a bitter person today. She resigned from the Bharatiya Janata Party last week, putting an end to a three-decade old association. The incident failed to create any ripples in the saffron party; neither did anybody take notice of her resignation nor did any one rush to placate her. Read

BJP prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi's claim that UPA had forgotten Sardar Patel till this year is far off the mark. The government's publicity arm, directorate of advertising and visual publicity (DAVP), has spent Rs 8.5 crore in advertisements to commemorate Sardar Patel's birth anniversary over the last four years.

Ironically, the shoe may be on the other foot. Here's why

The tea arrived quickly, with slices of lime and freshly fried savouries. Beyond that, there was nothing on offer on the bare patio of Nafees Haider's home in Bisunpur. "Kaahe ko mushkil mein daalte hain? (Why do you want us in trouble?)' Reclined in a charpoy in a near corner, Haider's wizened uncle, Khudabaksh, spoke into the silence, but only to buttress it. Read more

The Indonesian government has summoned the Australian ambassador in Jakarta to give an official explanation of reports about Australia's spying activities in the country.

Former News of the World editors Rebekah Brooks and Andy Coulson were having an affair for at least six years from the late 1990s, the phone-hacking trial has heard.

Israeli warplanes struck a military base near the Syrian port city of Latakia this week, an Obama administration official told CNN on Thursday.

Buoyed by a recent report that US has surged past countries like India and China to become a nation with the top FDI prospects, President Barack Obama today launched a fresh effort to attract foreign investments, saying America is a land of opportunities where "you can do business".

William C Lowe had a bold idea: IBM should develop a personal computer that could be mass marketed, expanding the company's reach beyond businesses and into people's homes. 

A US man has been sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole for the killings of his father and seven others beaten to death inside the mobile home they all shared. 

Five car bombs north of Baghdad killed 19 people today, while attacks elsewhere in Iraq left seven more dead, officials said, the latest casualties in a nationwide spike in unrest. 

The US ambassador to Berlin said today that he is unaware of any illegal activity linked to US espionage operations that have sparked a major rift in transatlantic ties. 

The United States believes that Syria's large stock of chemical weapons will be destroyed on schedule by the end of June 2014, US officials said today. 

Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki today pleaded for a major international effort to combat Al-Qaeda and terror networks, likening the fight to a third world war. 

Edward J Snowden, the former National Security Agency contractor living in asylum in Russia, now has a job at one of the country's major Internet companies, a lawyer who has represented him since he arrived here as a fugitive from American prosecution four months ago said Thursday.