Live! Justice for all: Civil rights activists march on Washington

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Sat, 13 December 2014

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23:13 Justice for all: Civil rights activists march on Washington

The growing, national protest movement against police violence spilled out into the streets of the nation's capital on Saturday.

Spurred by a recent spate of killings of unarmed black men by cops who have escaped criminal prosecution, thousands gathered here to join the families of many of those who have been killed in a march and rally billed as the "Justice For All' march.

Read full story here

A document, produced and distributed by the Islamic State, details their organisational policy towards captured women.

The document, first printed in October or November, then later posted on an ISIS website, has gotten more publicity recently because of the Middle East Media Research Institute, an independent Washington-based nonprofit rendered a detailed report on the same.

Read full story here.

Pakistan avenged their Asian Games final loss when they beat India 4-3 in Bhavaneswar on Saturday to enter the Champions Trophy final.

Pakistan will play Germany in the final.

20:52 Prez undergoes angioplasty at Army hospital

President Pranab Mukherjee was taken to the hospital today morning after he complained of stomach problems and related ailments.

Mukherjee, 79, underwent a heart procedure as doctors at the Army's Research and Referral hospital installed a coronary stent in his artery to remove a blockage.

Doctors at the hospital put him under observation for a day for various tests during which they detected a blockage in one of the arteries, hospital sources said.

The doctors immediately conducted angioplasty on the President.

20:00 Minority Affairs Min meets RSS chief

Union Minority Affairs Minister Najma Heptulla today met Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh chief Mohan Bhagwat here and discussed development issues.

"I discussed development issues," Heptulla told reporters on the sidelines of a function here on reply to a question whether she discussed the recent issue of alleged conversion in Uttar Pradesh with the RSS chief.

Heptulla's visit comes hot on the trails of the recent controversy surrounding the alleged forcible conversions in Agra which saw over 200 Muslim changing their faith to Hinduism.

Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar said today that intelligence agencies had warned of more terror attacks in India but also assured that "all arrangements had been made to counter them".

Parrikar, who is in Goa on a two-day visit, said, "We also have intelligence inputs that there might be more terrorist attacks planned by various groups in the next few days; we have made all arrangement to counter it."

Parrikar's statement comes on the same day as the arrest of the ISIS twitter account handler in Bengaluru.

Samir Naji is a Yemeni who was accused of serving in Osama bin Laden's security detail and imprisoned for nearly 13 years without charge in Guantanamo Bay.

He was cleared for release in 2009, but remains in detention. The following first-person testimony, recorded during his most recent meeting with lawyers from the international human rights organization Reprieve, has just been released by prison censors.

Read full story here.

17:58 Dineshwar Sharma appointed new IB chief

Dineshwar Sharma, Special Director in the Intelligence Bureau, was today appointed as the agency's new chief and will take charge on January one succeeding Syed Asif Ibrahim.

A 1979 batch IPS officer from Kerala cadre, Sharma, who has been working with the agency for the past 23 years, will have a two-year tenure.

An official announcement said he will take over as Officer on Special Duty (OSD) with immediate effect and will take charge as Director of Intelligence Bureau after the retirement of Ibrahim.

West Bengal Transport Minister Madan Mitra has been remanded to CBI custody till December 16 in connection with his involvement in the Saradha scam.

Mitra's arrest had stoked state wide protests led by the Trinamool Congress.

TMC leader Mamata Banerjee had earlier called the arrest part of a "deep rooted conspiracy".

17:36 'Kiss protest' at the venue film festival

A few delegates of the ongoing 19th International Film Festival of Kerala today staged a 'kiss protest' at the festival venue here to protest against increasing incidents of 'moral policing' in the state.

Protesters raised slogans against 'fascism' and indulged in 'kiss' in front of the Kairali theatre, the main venue of the festival.

However, when a group of persons objected to the 'kiss protest', police, deployed in large numbers near the theatre intervened and brought the situation under control.

"We are tired of the moral policing happening in the state', one of the female protesters said.

Under pressure after the arrest of her key aide Madan Mitra in the Saradha scam, Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee on Saturday hit out directly at Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Arguing that an image of Madan Mitra with the man who ran Saradha should not be considered proof of criminal conspiracy, Banerjee asked, "Should the PM be arrested just because he appeared in photographs with Sahara chief Subrata Roy?"

"If an image is a proof of criminal conspiracy, then PM should be arrested for Sahara Scam," Ms Banerjee said at a party rally in Kolkata.

"A red diary was obtained after raiding Sahara office. It had several big names. Empty vessels sound much," she added.

The Sahara chief has been in Delhi's Tihar Jail since March after he failed to convince judges that he is serious about repaying nearly 20,000 crores for two Sahara bond schemes that were declared illegal in 2012.

Union Minister of State Ramkripal Yadav on Saturday said the coming together of RJD, JD(U) and the erstwhile 'Janata Parivar' will have no impact as people have "rejected" them after testing them for long.

"Its nothing but a futile attempt to protect their identity," the BJP leader told PTI when asked about the coming together of Janata Parivar to take on his party.

"People are well aware of their old records... What new things do they have to tell people... Nobody is going to be befooled by them anymore," he said.

Yadav, a close confidante of RJD chief Lalu Prasad, had defected to BJP and is now MOS in Narendra Modi Cabinet.

"Ye log ab bhule bisre geet ho gaye hai (These people have become like old and forgotten songs)," he said in an apparent dig at Lalu and senior JD(U) leader Nitish Kumar.

A CRPF jawan was killed in a landmine blast in Chhattisgarh's naxal-inflected Bijapur district today, police said.

R Govasdhan Reddy, belonging to E company of 222 battalion of CRPF, was killed after he stepped on a pressure bomb, planted underneath the land by naxals in the interior forests of Sarkeguda village under Basguda police station limits, DIG (Intelligence) Dipanshu Kabra, told PTI.

The officer said a team of CRPF jawans was sent for patrolling in the forest area today and when they reached near Sarkeguda village, Reddy stepped up on the bomb, triggering an explosion.

Soon after getting the information, additional police force was rushed to the spot and Reddy was rescued. He was admitted to Bijapur district hospital, where scummed to injuries during treatment, Kabra said.

Security forces have been alerted in the region and efforts are on to nab the ultras responsible for the blast, he added.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will talk about the menace of drug abuse on Sunday in his monthly 'Mann Ki Baat' programme on radio.

"On Sunday at 11 am, I look forward to sharing my thoughts during the #MannKiBaat radio programme," Modi tweeted today.

"As I said during the last programme, this time I would talk about the menace of drugs," he added.

In his second 'Mann Ki Baat' programme on November 2, Modi had said that some people had written to him about the drug menace. He had then asked people to share their views and suggestions on the issue.

"Several people shared ideas, comments & insights on the topic which have been both eye-opening & helpful. My thanks to them for contributing," he posted in another tweet.

The prime minister has said he will share his thoughts with the countrymen over radio every month through the 'Mann Ki Baat' programme.

India and China today supported the idea of a trilateral dialogue involving them and the US to deal with major global challenges and ensure better mutual ties.

"I agree with the proposal to launch a trilateral talk between China, the US and India. I think it is a good idea. China is open to any dialogue if it produces peace and development. I think it is a very positive idea," Chinese Ambassador Le Yucheng said.

He was replying to a question at an interactive session at the conference on "Shaping the 21st Century: India, the US and China" organised by Bengaluru-based media group Deccan Herald.

Minister of State for External Affairs V K Singh also supported the idea, saying such a proposal will enhance cooperation between the three countries which have strong ties bilaterally with each other.

The idea for such a dialogue was mooted by former Union Minister Jairam Ramesh while addressing the conference.

Editor of Deccan Herald K N Tilak Kumar said the world today was witnessing a tectonic change with the phenomenal rise of China and the continued prominence of the US.

"Both countries are important to India and each one of the three have high stakes in economic ties with the other two," Kumar said, adding the kind of three-way relationship between them will be important not only to each of them but to the whole world.

The body of a sarpanch, who was kidnapped by suspected militants, was found in the fields in in Sopore in north Kashmir's Baramulla district this morning.

Police sources say multiple gunmen barged into the house of 62-year-old Ghulam Mohammad Mir in Tarazoo village in the district last evening and kidnapped him.

"There were 7 or 8 people in our backyard. There were perhaps more outside too. All of them were armed and wearing khaki-coloured uniforms. One man said, 'we are your kin, don't be afraid. An officer wants to meet him. He will be back soon and we will leave him till the gate.' My elder sister protested and one man pushed her away and took my father away. We don't know what happened after that," said the daughter of the sarpanch or village head.

Police and security forces had launched a manhunt soon after the family of the sarpanch lodged a complaint, but could not track down the kidnappers.

"The body of the slain headman has been recovered from a field Saturday morning away from the place where he was kidnapped. An FIR has been lodged," a senior police officer said.

Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge, which made superstars out of Shah Rukh Khan and Kajol, has completed 1000 weeks and SRK believes the film has lived so long because the story is relevant even today.

The two stars got together at Yash Raj Films studio to relive many moments of the cult romantic film, which was the directorial debut of Aditya Chopra.

"I think people should watch the film as it has realities which were true for that era and are true for this era as well. It says that it is cool to be Raj and Simran while maintaining our Indianness and culture. I think it is very relevant even today," Shah Rukh said last evening in a conversation with Kajol while late Yash Chopra's wife Pamela looked on.

The actress, on her part, said her daughter did not like to watch the movie as she gets upset to see her mother cry on-screen.

Shah Rukh, who did most of the talking, said the film changed the lives of everyone part of it as they all are doing well in their respective fields be it Karan Johar, Farah Khan, Kajol, Anaita Shroff, Manish Malhotra or him.

SRK, 49, revealed that his character's name and the Mandolin in the film came from director Aditya's admiration for Raj Kapoor.

"Mandolin is Aditya's favourite instrument. It tells you a lot about the person," Shah Rukh joked, but on a serious note added that Aditya later told him that Mandolin was the main instrument used in the music of Raj Kapoor's films.

Mehdi Mehboob Biswas, 24-year-old engineer from West Bengal, has confessed to operating a pro-Islamic State Twitter account with over 17,000 followers, police said on Saturday.

Biswas, who works as an engineer in a multinational company in Bengaluru was arrested on Saturday morning. During interrogation, he confessed to have operating the @ShamiWitness Twitter handle.

"During the day he worked in office and he became active on internet late at night," said Karnataka DGP L Pachau, adding that Biswas had developed interest in the Levant region consisting of countries Turkey, Syria, Lebanon, Israel, Gaza strip, Egypt and Libya.

Projecting BJP as a fresh option in Jammu and Kashmir, Prime Minister Narendra Modi today said Congress "sneaks" into every government that is formed in the state but attacks these dispensations just before elections.

Blaming Congress, NC and PDP for the problems in the state, he asked people to punish all "three offenders" in the assembly polls.

Addressing a poll rally in Kathua, Modi had a dig at Congress saying the party "jumps" into every government that is formed in the state, be it led by PDP or NC, but withdraws from it just before the elections and starts attacking these dispensations.

"If you punish them once, they will realise their mistakes. Has BJP ever formed the government in Jammu and Kashmir? Did we ever commit any mistake? Don't you know who are the first, second and third offenders," he asked the people who cheered back in response.

Maintaining that the people of the state knew who the "three offenders" were, Modi said they would not mend their ways unless they were punished by the voters.

"Congress sneaks into the government whenever one is formed and gets away with all the benefits. Then they say that they are against this government and that the government has done all wrong. Whether PDP comes or NC to power, they join hands with them and come out of the government whenever elections near."

A landslide triggered by torrential downpours has killed at least 12 people and left nearly 100 others missing on Indonesia's main island of Java, an official said today.

Hundreds of rescuers were digging through mud and rubble after the landslide buried scores of houses in Jemblung village in central Java late Friday, the national disaster agency said.

The landslide swept down a hillside in the village, sparing only two houses.

TV footage showed bystanders watching the emergency effort while rescuers passed an orange body bag by hand through the muddy area.

"We found 12 bodies at the moment, and we are searching for 96 others," an officer at the emergency centre at the scene of the disaster told AFP, asking not to be identified.

Disaster agency spokesman Sutopo Purwo Nugroho said it was unclear whether those missing were buried under the landslide or had taken refuge.

"Conditions on the ground are pretty tough and we need heavy machines to clear the road that has been covered by the landslide," Nugroho added.

CNN-IBN reports: Almost a year ago India came very close to eliminating Dawood Ibrahim, the country's most wanted terrorist and accused in the 1993 Mumbai serial bomb blasts, who is being shielded by Pakistan.

A team of Indian commandos had infiltrated into Pakistan to hunt Dawood and were all set to execute the highly secret operation before they were asked to not carry out the strike.

Indian intelligence agencies have been trying to trace and nab Dawood ever since he fled to Pakistan more than two decades ago after masterminding the biggest terror strike in the country.

But several attempts at extraditing him have failed over the years. Now explosive details accessed by IBN7 suggests India attempted a daring covert operation to eliminate Dawood on Pakistan's territory.

Read more HERE

11:15

Just In: The Bangalore Police has announced that it has arrested the suspected owner of the pro-Islamic State Twitter account.

10:50 Fuming Mamata to hit Kolkata's streets to protest her minister's arrest

Fuming after the arrest of her Trinamool Congress collegue Madan Mitra by the CBI, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee called for a protest rally on Saturday.

The Bengal transport and sports minister's arrest in the multi-crore-rupee Saradha chit fund scam was termed as BJP's "political vendetta" by the CM who announced that her party would hold a protest rally where sportspersons will be present.

"Sportspersons will protest. Because Madan Mitra has run the sports department really well," she said and dared Prime Minister Narendra Modi to take her into custody.

The rally will be organised at 1 PM at the base of the statue of legendary footballer Gostho Pal in central Kolkata's Maidan area.

On the other hand, the opposition Left Front has decided to hold a rally at 2.30 PM from the feet of the Lenin statue to Moulali to press for a three-point charter of demands including the grilling of Banerjee by the CBI in relation to the scam.

"Banerjee knows everything about the scandal, but she tried to brush it under the carpet with the Special Investigation Team of the state police probing the scam," said Communist Party of India-Marxist state secretariat member Sujon Chakraborty.

"We also demand the arrest of all culprits, and all arrangements made to return the money to those who lost their savings by parking their hard-earned money in ponzi schemes," he said. Similar protests will be held across the state, he added.

The US is unhappy over India doing "business as usual" with Russia, but it will have no effect on President Barack Obama`s upcoming visit to India which remains an "important partner."

"No. India remains an important partner," State Department spokesperson Jen Psaki told reporters Friday when asked whether deals reached during Russian President Vladimir Putin`s just concluded visit to India would change Obama's plans.

Obama has been invited by Prime Minister Narendra Modi to be the chief guest at India`s Republic Day parade on January 26. He will be the first US president to get that honour and the first one to visit India twice while in office.

"Obviously, our economic relationship is a big part of what we continue to work on," Psaki said while repeating its caution to "allies and partners" that it was not time for doing business with Russian following its intervention in Ukraine.

The US, she said had seen reports about India and Russia signing agreements in oil exploration, infrastructure, defence and nuclear energy including construction of 12 Russia-built nuclear units in India over the next two decades.

"We continue to monitor it, but we haven't looked at all the specifics of the contracts, for obvious reasons," Psaki said. But "We continue to urge all countries not to conduct business as usual with Russia."

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday paid homage to the martyrs of the 2001 Parliament House terrorist attack.

Paying tributes to those that had laid their lives on the fateful day 13 years back, Modi tweeted: "We salute martyrs who lost their lives protecting the Temple of our Democracy on this day in 2001. Their sacrifices are etched in our memory."

On December 13, 2001, five heavily-armed gunmen stormed the Parliament complex and opened indiscriminate fire, killing nine persons.

The martyrs included five Delhi Police personnel, a woman Central Reserve Police Force official, two Parliament watch and ward staff and a gardener.

A journalist, who was injured, died later. All five terrorists were shot dead.

A year later, four accused, including Afzal Guru, were arrested for the attack and found guilty after a trial.

Guru was hanged to death for his involvement in the Parliament attack.

02:58

The wife of Thailand's Crown Prince has relinquished her royal title, the kingdom's palace said Saturday, the first official confirmation of her fall from grace after a string of relatives were arrested in a police corruption scandal.

"The king has granted permission to announce that Princess Srirasmi, the wife of Crown Prince Maha Vajiralongkorn, has informed in a written document that she has resigned from her royal status," the palace said in a statement.

Princess Srirasmi married the Crown Prince in 2001. The couple have a son who is thought to be Vajiralongkorn's most likely heir.

Read the full story HERE

02:46 Jolie eye-to-eye with hacked exec

Oh, to be a fly on the wall when this photo of Angelina Jolie was taken.On Wednesday at the Hollywood Reporter's Women in Entertainment breakfast, Jolie was photographed running into Amy Pascal, the Sony Pictures co-chairwoman whose emails werepublished by Gawker this week after a massive hack of Sony's private data.

Read the full article HERE

02:22 Did Pope Francis open a doggy door to heaven?

When Amy Kitchens Pollick was but a girl of 10, death claimed her beloved cat, Big Tom.The loss was tough enough for a little girl. But there was also the sticky question of heaven. So she took her concerns to her father, "the seat of all spiritual wisdom.

"With tears in his eyes, Daddy said, 'Now Little One. The Bible says the Lord sees even every sparrow that falls," Pollick wrote on Facebook. "If He sees every sparrow, He's not going to forget about a good old kitty like Big Tom."

Read the story HERE

Snapdeal sends 2 stones instead of iPhone 4S @Rs40k. These must be the highest valued pieces of stones.

This is going to cost very high for Snapdeal in the coming days. the company doesn't seem to have learnt anything from past mistakes and now it has done everything to tarnish its own name.

In a market that seems to be very sensitive making mistakes like sending brick on the place of an iPhone may come to haunt for a very long time. I am sure the guys at Flipkart and Amazon.in must be having a hearty laugh.

02:00 Congress averts government shutdown -- for now

President Barack Obama has signed a bill that provides a two-day extension of government funding and temporarily averts a partial federal government shutdown.

Both houses of Congress approved the heavily fought-over spending measure late Thursday, with just minutes to go before the midnight deadline.

Read the full story HERE

01:45 Possible Mugabe successor takes office

Zimbabwe has two new vice presidents, including the man many see as the likely successor to 90-year-old President Robert Mugabe. Emmerson Mnangagwa was sworn in as the country's first vice president during a ceremony at Zimbabwe's State House on Friday.

Mnangagwa, 68, was Mugabe's aide during Zimbabwe's war of liberation and has held several key positions, including state security minister, speaker of parliament, and the president's campaign manager during the disputed 2008 election.

A French court ruled Friday that Uber's ride-hailing service may infringe French law and ordered the company to make changes to its popular mobile app-based service.

However, the court did not ban the popular service that launched earlier this year in France and that matches people seeking rides with drivers through a mobile phone app.

The Paris Commercial Court said it is ordering Uber to withdraw from its app to French users 'all mention suggesting it is legal' for Uber's drivers to act like taxis -- that is, driving around and waiting for clients.

01:04 Try and convert me if you can: Akhilesh to BJP

Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav on Friday alleged that the Bharatiya Janata Party was 'misguiding' people in the name of religious conversions and challenged the saffron party to 'try and convert' him.

"People gave the BJP most seats in the recent Lok Sabha polls. But the party is fooling the same people on the name of religious conversion," the chief minister said.

Yadav threw a challenge before the BJP, saying it should 'try to convert him to another religion'.

Referring to the plans of a 'mass conversion ceremony' in Aligarh, announced by a Hindu outfit, Yadav said that it was the responsibility of the district administration to maintain law and order and arrest the trouble makers.

00:46 Ex-News of the World editor admits to hacking

A former features editor of the now defunct Rupert Murdoch-owned 'News of the World' tabloid in the UK today pleaded guilty to conspiring to hack phones.

Jules Stenson, 48, entered his guilty plea at a case management hearing at the Old Bailey court. His plea follows an investigation by Operation Pinetree -- the police inquiry into the features desk at the paper.

Former deputy editor Neil Wallis appeared beside Stenson and pleaded not guilty to the same offence. Wallis is expected to go on trial next June.

Stenson admitted conspiring to intercept voicemail messages at the now defunct Sunday tabloid newspaper between January 2003 and January 2007.

A terrorist threw acid on seven Israelis in the West Bank on Friday, including a mother with her three young daughters and her niece.

Two other pedestrians were wounded in the attack. The Palestinian suspect then chased another Israeli with a screwdriver and was shot by an armed passerby.

Read the full story HERE

00:32

And here are 15 Rajinikanth GIFs that will help you react to life's important moments

00:16 Paul Revere's 1795 time capsule unearthed

A time capsule buried by patriots Samuel Adams and Paul Revere more than two centuries ago was unearthed Thursday in Boston.

The box-shaped capsule was placed by the Revolutionary-era duo in a cornerstone of the Massachusetts State House in 1795, the year construction began on the building, CNN affiliate WBZ reported.

Read the full article HERE

00:07 ISRO to launch GSLV-MarkIII on Dec 18

Indian Space agency ISRO would launch the Geo-synchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle-Mark III(LVM3 X mission) on December 18 which would carry active solid boosters, liquid core stage and a passive cryo-stage.

Moving ahead with its launch of crew module recovery experiment, ISRO had earlier said it would launch the heaviest rocket GSLV-MarkIII sometime between December 15 and 20 from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre at Sriharikota in Andhra Pradesh.

"ISRO's LVM 3 X flight planned on December 18 will carry active Solid boosters, Liquid core stage and a passive Cryo stage," ISRO said in micro-blogging site Twitter. "#ISROLVM3 mission would validate its atmospheric ascent,esp. the aerodynamic & control features that cannot be decisively tested on ground," it said.

"#ISROLVM3 flight will carry the CARE (Crew-module Atmospheric Re-entry Experiment) Module, to be recovered from the Bay of Bengal," it said.

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