Live! Biting cold, dense fog claim 12 lives in North India

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Thu, 25 December 2014

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21:02 Biting cold, dense fog claim 12 lives in North India

Intense cold wave swept across North India on Thursday and, coupled with dense fog, affected normal life across the region and led to the death of 12 persons -- nine in Uttar Pradesh and three in Punjab.

Hilly regions of Jammu and Kashmir and Himachal Pradesh reeled under temperatures below the freezing point, while dense fog in the plains caused low visibility affecting flight operations and delaying around 100 trains.

In the national capital, people woke up to a chilly Christmas morning with dense fog continuing to disrupt road, rail and air traffic. The minimum temperature in Delhi settled two notches below the season's average at 6 degrees Celsius. The maximum was 15.9 degrees, according to the MeT office.

More than 90 trains including Rajdhani Expresses coming from Ranchi, Kolkata, Bubhaneshwar and Guwahati were running late, railway officials said.

Bitting cold wave, coupled with dense fog, severely affected normal life in Uttar Pradesh, where at least nine persons lost their lives due to cold weather conditions.

According to UP officials, three persons were killed in Mainpuri and one each in Barabanki and Badaun districts in separate road accidents due to low visibility caused by fog.

In Barabanki, two more persons -- a 55-year-old man and a two-year-old child -- died due to cold wave. According to a report from Muzaffarnagar in western UP, two persons have died due to cold since yesterday in the region.

20:32 Chinese troops holds military drills in Tibet

Chinese troops have conducted military exercises at the foot of a high altitude mountain in Tibet to test the endurance of the soldiers and the efficacy of equipments.

The military exercise was held on December 20.

Photos posted on the state-run People's Daily showed the soldiers exercising with battle tanks and armoured vehicles at Tanggula located in the Nagqu prefecture which has a very high elevation of 5,000-meters high in the Tibetan plateau.

It's a great challenge for soldiers to complete missions in the severe cold of a 5,000-metre-high plateau, the Daily said in a brief write-up.

Jilted in love, a fellow doctor was arrested today for allegedly scripting the acid attack on a 30-year-old woman doctor in New Delhi, along with three persons, two of them juvenile, who helped him to target the victim.

Police said Dr Ashok Yadav and the victim had done their MBBS from Russia and knew each other for around 10 years and the duo were "good friends."

According to the police, Dr Yadav, a resident of Mayapuri, wanted to marry her and had proposed her on two-three ocassions but she rejected his overture every time.

"He recently came to know that her family members are getting her married. Angry over this, he decided to hatch a plot to teach the victim a lesson. Yadav involved his close friend Vaibhav, who earlier used to work with him," Joint Commissioner of Delhi Police, Tajender Luthra, told reporters here.

Luthra also said Vaibhav, who is working in a call centre in Naraina, told Yadav that he knew some persons who can execute his plan.

Police said Vaibhav had roped in two juveniles and fixed a deal of Rs 25,000 with them to carry out the plot and out of which, Vaibhav gave them Rs 22,000 in advance. To ensure a foolproof plan, Dr Yadav had also conducted a trial to make their plot a success

A 33-year-old married woman, who had filed a case of sexual assault against self-styled godman Asaram Bapu, is mysteriously missing for over a week along with her son and husband, police said today.

"A victim of rape, who had accused Asaram of sexual assault, went missing along with her son and husband more than a week ago," Sub-Inspector N M Ahir of Kamrej Police Station in Surat city told PTI over phone.

"Police department had provided four Constables to the victim for her protection. On December 14, the victim informed our personnel that her family members were going to attend a marriage in Amroli area in the city where they did not require police protection," he said.

The Constables remained posted outside her home but neither the woman nor her son or husband returned.

This led police to file a missing complaint on December 18, Ahir said.

Police later found that there was no marriage in the victim's social circuit in Amroli on that day.

Their cellphones are switched-off, making it difficult to trace them, the Sub-Inspector said.

A probe is underway to locate them, he added.

19:01 Pakistani troops violate ceasefire again

Pakistani troops indulged in small arms firing along the border in Kathua district of Jammu and Kashmir for the second consecutive day today, drawing retaliation from BSF.

Pakistani Rangers resorted to unprovoked small arms firing in forward areas in Pansar border out post belt of Hiranagar sub-sector of Kathua district around 1:30 PM, a senior BSF officer said.

BSF troops, guarding the borderline, replied to the Paksitani firing, resulting in brief intermittent exchanges, he said.

"There was no loss of life or injury to anyone in the firing exchanges," he said.

This is second ceasefire violation in the past two days. The Pakistani troops had yesterday targeted the forward areas in Pansar BoP.

They had targeted border areas throughout August this year and for over 15 days in October, killing 11 people and leaving over 100 injured. Over 32,000 people were also displaced.

Zee News reports: In the wake of deadly attacks in Assam by the outlawed NDFB(S) militants, the government is believed to have ordered an all-out action against the militant group.

As per highly-placed sources, Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh -- who is in Assam to take stock of the situation on a day when the toll in militant attacks and subsequent violence rose to 78 -- has issued a 'discreet order' to security agencies to eliminate the top leadership of anti-talk Songbijit faction of the National Democratic Front of Bodoland (NDFB) in two months.

Sources say the government is of the view that such orders should have been issued by the Assam government long ago when intelligence inputs had been received about possible NDFB(S) attacks in the state.

According to sources, a series of intelligence inputs on possible militant strikes were passed on to the Assam government between September and December. However, the state government failed to act on the inputs.

The development came hours after Rajnath said in a tough message that strong action will be taken against NDFB(S), asserting that the Centre has "zero tolerance" policy for such "crafted terror".

Read more HERE

On a day when over 58 persons embraced Hinduism in Kerala's Kottayam, the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party appealed to all parties to support it over an anti-conversion law so as to put an end to the controversial trend.

Speaking to scribes on Thursday, External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj reached out to all political parties and said, "Conversions will continue until Parliament passes an anti-conversion law. We want all parties to support us on this."

The BJP has time and again dared the Opposition to support it over the matter who have cornered the government on the ghar wapsi campaign in parts of North India and stalled proceedings in Rajya Sabha demanding a statement from Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Parliamentary Affairs Minister Venkaiah Naidu too had said in Parliament that the government is ready to bring in a law against forced conversions.

The conversions in Kottayam district on Christmas Day were done by the Vishwa Hindu Parishad.

Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh's helicopter today made an emergency landing at Tezpur IAF airbase after developing a technical snag.

Singh's helicopter, which had left for Kokrajhar from the airbase, developed technical problems midair and was forced to return to Tezpur, a senior police officer said.

Singh, accompanied by his deputy Kiren Rijiju, was delayed by more than hour and could only leave when another chopper returned from Kokrajhar.

The Home Minister, who arrived in Guwahati on Wednesday evening, earlier visited Bishwanath Chariali to review the situation following the killing of 46 persons - 43 in attacks by NDFB(S) and three in police firing in Sonitpur district.

Singh reviewed the situation in a meeting with Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi and senior police officers last night and was scheduled to visit the violence affected districts of Sonitpur and Kokrajhar district.

Attacks by NDFB(S) and retaliatory violence by Adivasis along with an incident of police firing has claimed 78 lives in Assam so far.

17:23 Modi rules out privatisation of Railways

Prime Minister Narendra Modi today ruled out privatisation of Railways while asking trade unions to stop worrying about foreign investments coming in the sector, saying these will be used for greater development of the national transporter.

"There is a misunderstanding that Railways is being privatised. However, I want to make it clear that we are not privatising Railways. We cannot go in this direction. You don't have to worry. It is neither our wish nor thinking," he said.

The prime minister was obviously seeking to dispel apprehensions among railway unions over the issue. The unions had even planned to hold protest against the proposal to invite FDI in railways.

"I want to ask the union leaders how is it worrying if funds come in pounds or dollars," he said and asked railwaymen whether they welcome it or not and whether it should be done or not.

Asserting that he would not want Railways to be merely a means of transport, he said he wants to make it the engine of growth in the country.

17:22 'No bigger sin' than female foeticide: Modi

Prime Minister Narendra Modi today denounced the practice of female foeticide prevailing in the country, saying "there is no bigger sin" than this and sought the help of people in the field of art and culture in "shaking" the society so stop the menace.

"In a country where Rani Laxmi Bai is hailed, there is the practice of female foeticide. There is no bigger sin," he said at a function in Banaras Hindu University here as part of 'Good Governance Day' celebrations.

Modi, who was talking in the context of his 'Beti-bachao' programme, asked whether a message could be spread for stopping this practice.

In this direction, he suggested that people in the field of art and culture could play a role by "shaking the society as they did during thefreedom struggle".

He also suggested holding of 'kavi sammelans' on the social evil along with spreading the message about cleanliness.

"Please work for the nation...Dreams can be fulfilled," he said.

The Prime Minister also expressed concern over the problem of malnutrition of women and children in a country where there is a tradition of feeding even "ants and cows".

Hailing Prime Minister Narendra Modi's move to nominate them to join the 'Swachh Bharat' campaign, the 'dabbawalas' of Mumbai said they will leave no stone unturned to make Modi's dream of clean India come true.

"When the PM of this country nominates common people like us to take part in his (clean India) campaign, it is a matter of honour for us," Raghunath Medge, head of Mumbai Dabbawala Association said.

"The team of 5,000 dabbawalas supply food to around two lakh office goers every day. We will make sure that we do our bit in helping Modiji's dream of a 'Swachh Bharat' come true," he said.

The dabbawalas will work hard to ensure that people are made aware of the dangers of littering garbage on the city's streets and in housing colonies, he said.

"The members of our association had even visited Prince Charles' wedding on his invitation. We have seen the world and hence know how beautiful cities look when they are kept clean," Medge said.

"We do not have financial backing, but if private organisations are willing to come out with pamphlets depicting the harms caused by filth, we will support it whole-heartedly and distribute it among our clients," he said.

16:41 Have Omar-BJP struck a deal on next J&K govt?

India Today reports: The National Conference and the Bharatiya Janata Party are on the verge of reaching a deal in the run up to the formation of the next government in Jammu and Kashmir, where the assembly elections threw a fractured verdict earlier this week.

According to sources in the BJP, the Omar Abdullah-led party will get the deputy chief minister post, one Rajya Sabha seat and one Cabinet berth at the Centre.

There has been no confirmation from the two parties, with senior BJP leader Ram Madhav even denying any meeting between the two parties on Twitter.

But India Today affiliate Headlines Today reported that the former Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister met BJP president Amit Shah and Union Minister Arun Jaitley in New Delhi on Thursday, triggering speculation over whether the two parties are exploring options to form the state government together.

Read more HERE

Activists of Akhil Bharatiya Hindu Mahasabha have allegedly performed a ceremony in Meerut for construction of a "temple" dedicated to Mahatma Gandhi's assassin Nathuram Godse, following which the administration has ordered a probe into the matter.

The "bhumi pujan" (prayers) was performed at a temple on Shaarda Road in the Uttar Pradesh district on Wednesday

During the event, the national general secretary of Akhil Bharatiya Hindu Mahasabha Acharya Madan allegedly praised Godse, calling him a true patriot and criticised Prime Minister Narendra Modi over the issues of Ram Temple and revocation of Article 370 from Jammu and Kashmir.

Mahasabha members also allegedly spoke of launching a campaign for conversion.

Acting District Magistrate Navneet Singh Chahal told PTI today that the district administration has taken the incident seriously and ordered the police officer in charge of the area to probe it.

Case will be registered and strict action will be taken against whoever is found guilty, he said.

SSP Onkar Singh said the matter is serious.

The Local Intelligence Unit has been asked to submit a report on the incident, he said, adding that strict action will be taken against those involved after the report is received.

No one will be allowed to disturb the law and order of the city and police will deal with such people strictly, he said.

16:15 Babus get 4 more months to declare assets

Central government employees have got four more months, till April next year, to file details of their assets and liabilities under the Lokpal rules.

The forms for providing such declarations are also being revised by the Centre.

The Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT) today extended the date, from this month-end, to April 30, 2015 for filing the property returns.

The formats for submission of statement regarding movable properties and for submission of statement regarding debts and liabilities are also being revised and will be notified, it said in an order.

The move comes following concerns raised by some bureaucrats regarding putting details of their assets and liabilities, including that of their family members, in public domain.

The DoPT has also formed a committee to look into the babus' concerns. The committee has submitted its first report, recommending simplified formats for declaration of movable property, debts and other liabilities.

The DoPT had in September notified the Public Servants (Furnishing of Information and Annual Return of Assets and Liabilities and the Limits for Exemption of Assets in Filing Returns) Amendment Rules, 2014, extending the date for the filing of returns to December 31.

As per the rules, every public servant shall file the returns of his assets and liabilities, including that of his spouse and dependent family members, on March 31 every year on or before July 31 of that year.

16:11 Govt launches SMS-based cyclone warning system

Union Minister Harsh Vardhan today launched an SMS-based warning system which will provide alerts on cyclones, tsunami and other weather-related natural calamities.

Inaugurating the system on the occasion of Good Governance Day, Harsh Vardhan said information on warnings will be disseminated to officials involved in administration, district magistrates/collectors besides fishermen, farmers and general public.

"The information should be provided from the national to village level," the Minister for Earth Sciences said, adding that, principals of schools should also be provided this information as they can disseminate it to a large number of children.

Vardhan said that this exercise is a part of Prime Minister's Digital India Programme and one of the components of the programme is to create an SMS-based weather information and disaster alert system.

"The whole process would take almost a year to get operationalised since we need to collect data and put it together. We would be closely working with the Ministry of Home Affairs and agencies like National Information Centre and NDMA to put all the data together," he said.

A provision is being made for issue of SMS alerts to general public, who would be required to register on Indian Meteorological Department website www.rsmcnewdelhi@imd.gov.in for this purpose.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi today mooted introducing a five-year training course after schooling for those aspiring to pursue a career in teaching and said the country should aim to export top-class teachers across the world.

Sharing his vision for an education policy which struck at the roots of social evils like lack of hygiene and female foeticide, Modi said, "India has a tremendous responsibility towards the world in the 21st century, which has been called the century of knowledge."

The PM was speaking at a function organised at the Benaras Hindu University, where he laid the foundation stone for an inter-university centre for teachers education.

Modi also launched a Rs 900-crore scheme "Pandit Madan Mohan Malaviya National Mission on Teachers and Teaching", named after the BHU founder, whom the Modi government has decided to posthumously confer the Bharat Ratna.

Modi said India needs to look at the opportunity presented by the world, wherein qualified and efficient teachers are in ever-increasing demand and aim at "the ability to export top-class teachers across the world."

He stirred up a hornet's nest by talking about a dressing room unrest but Indian cricket captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni sought to quell the speculation with a dash of humour today, saying that the imaginary stories that came out could be made into a movie by Warner brothers.

"Virat Kohli used a knife and he stabbed Shikhar Dhawan. When he recovered, we pushed him out to bat," joked Dhoni, when asked if Ravi Shastri indeed had to separate the two batsmen as per reports this past week.

The incident in question was the much talked about backing out from batting on the fourth day of the Brisbane Test by Shikhar Dhawan after being hit on the wrist during a net session.

Dhoni had stated that the last-minute shuffling of the order, which required Kohli go ahead of Dhawan, resulted in some unrest in the dressing room.

"These are all stories," he said on a serious note.

"Stuff like this makes for good reading in tabloid papers and maybe it helps them sell better. Marvel and Warner Brothers should pick them up and make a movie out of it. I don't know where such stories come from."

"If someone from the team has actually said this, it will be interesting if you give us the name of that individual. Because his imagination is really brilliant and he should be working for movie companies and he doesn't deserve to be in our dressing room because he has created something that hasn't been there at all," he added with a dead-pan expression.

15:00 At least 58 persons embrace Hinduism in Kerala

At least 58 persons, most of them belonging to Christian families, embraced Hinduism at two temples in Kerala's Kottayam district under the initiative of Vishwa Hindu Parishad on Christmas day on Thursday.

At least 42 members belonging to 20 families embraced Hinduism at the Puthiyakavu Devi temple in Ponkunnam while at another function at the Thirunakara Sri Krishna Swamy temple in Thirunakara, 16 were converted to Hinduism, VHP District President, Balachandran Pillai said.

One of the person who converted is said to be a Muslim.

Pillai said those who had converted had come on their own from Vaikom, Kumarakkam and Kanjirapally.

Similar functions are being held at various places.

On Wednesday, 11 persons had embraced Hinduism near Kayamkulam in Alappuzha district in yet another case of conversion since the last week in the state.

A batch of 30 persons belonging to eight families of Scheduled Caste Christians had re-converted in the district on December 21.

On conversion, Chief Minister Oommen Chandy had said yesterday that the situation did not warrant a government intervention.

An eight-year-old girl was allegedly raped by an unidentified man in the premises of a Madrassa in Sanganer area of Jaipur, police said today.

The victim had gone to the Madrassa when the accused took her to the rooftop and allegedly raped her, SHO Sanganer Rajendra Singh said.

According to the police, the incident came to light when she the victim narrated the ordeal to her parents upon returning home.

A case has been registered under relevant sections of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO)act, Singh said.

She was admitted to JK Lone hospital where doctors have confirmed rape, Singh said adding that efforts are on to identify the accused and nab him.

BJP today denied reports that its leadership had held discussions with National Conference (NC) on government formation in Jammu and Kashmir.

Amid media reports that the outgoing Chief Minister Omar Abdullah had met BJP President Amit Shah in New Delhi on Wednesday night, party general secretary Ram Madhav tweeted, "News about BJP leaders meeting NC leadership in Delhi baseless".

Omar, who left for Srinagar after an overnight stay here, refused to be drawn into such speculation and said that he had come to the capital preparatory to departure to London on Saturday to meet his father Farooq Abdullah who has undergone a kidney transplant, and his mother, Molly who donated her kidney to her husband.

Asked about government formation after a hung verdict in the Assembly polls, Omar, who is working president of NC, said that his party's stand had been made clear when he had offered to support the rival PDP of Mufti Mohammad Sayeed in this regard.

That offer stood and it was for the PDP to take a call on it.

The oldest litigant in the Babri Masjid case, Mohammad Farooq, died at the age of 100 in Ayodhya, officials said today.

Farooq, a resident of Ayodhya, was one of the seven main litigants from Muslim side in the 1949 Babri Masjid case regarding placing of Lord Ram idols in the premises.

After his demise yesterday, Farooq's eldest son Mohammad Saleem may inherit his legacy of the case and become litigant in his father's place, Additional Advocate General of the Uttar Pradesh Government and convenor of Babri Masjid Action Committee, Zafaryab Jilani said.

Farooq's father, Mohammad Zahur, was one of the original complainants in the case, he said.

The remaining six litigants in the case are Ashhad Rashidi, Hashim Ansari, Maulana Mahfuzurur Rahman, Mufti Hasbullah, Mahmud and the Sunni Central Waqf Board.

To commemorate Good Governance Day, Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited Assi Ghat in Varanasi where he conducted a cleanliness drive.

Asserting that the entire nation had responded to his 'Swachh Bharat' call, Modi said: "I especially thank the people of Varanasi and voluantary organisations for bringing back the beauty of these ghats."

Thereafter, the PM nominated Nagaland Governor, Kiran Bedi, Sonal Man Singh, Kapil Sharma, Saurav Ganguly, ETV group of Andhra Pradesh and Ramoji Rao, Arun Purie and India Today group, ICAI, Mumbai Dabbawalas for 'Swachh Bharat Abhiyan'.

Earlier in the day, Modi paid floral tributes to Pt Madan Mohan Malaviya at the Banaras Hindu University.

13:13 Toll rises to 78 in Assam violence

The toll rose to 78 on Thursday in attacks by NDFB-S and retaliatory violence in lower Assam with Adivasis setting afire houses of Bodos as the backlash to Tuesday massacre continued for the second day.

In worst-affected Sonitpur district six more bodies were recovered this morning from Maitalu Basti under Zinzia police station bordering Arunachal Pradesh taking the toll in attacks by NDFB(S) to 43 in the district and overall toll to 71, a police spokesman told PTI.

Three adivasis were killed in police firing during protests against the carnage on Wednesday.

In Kokrajhar, the other severely affected district, retaliatory violence by adivasis claimed the lives of four Bodos at Manikpur and Dimapur areas.

A civil suit has been filed in a Pune court against Akhil Bhartiya Hindu Mahasabha seeking a ban on its forthcoming film 'Desh Bhakt Nathuram Godse', slated for release on January 30.

The suit filed by activist Hemant Patil alleges that Mahasabha general secretary Munna Kumar Sharma had said in a section of media that "the film would show that Nathuram Godse, the assassin of Mahatma Gandhi, was a patriot while Gandhi was anti-Hindu".

Civil Judge S S Nair has placed the suit for hearing tomorrow, said advocate Wajid Khan, the petitioner's lawyer.

According to the suit, the film was being released on the same day when Godse had gunned down Mahatma Gandhi in 1948.

"As the film has the potential to incite people on communal lines", the petition has prayed for a ban on its release.

The suit's main prayer is to stop the release of the film until the producer satisfies the court that it would not in any way flare up communal issues or cause disharmony among people.

Delhiites today woke up to a chilly Christmas morning with dense fog which continued to disrupt rail traffic with 90 trains delayed and affected several flights.

The minimum temperature settled, two notches below the season's average at 6 degrees Celsius.

Visibility was 300 metres at 5.30 AM and 8.30 AM. The Met Office has forecast a clear day ahead.

Dense fog has severely affected operations of all north bound trains, according to a Northern Railways official.

There are as many as 90 trains that are running late including Rajdhani coming from Ranchi, Kolkata, Bubhaneshwar and Guwahati. Northern Railways has rescheduled departure of 13 trains and cancelled five trains due to adverse weather conditions, the official said.

The maximum temperature is expected to be 16 degrees Celsius.

12:08 RIL signs shipping deal with Japan's Mitsui

Energy giant Reliance Industries Ltd today said it has signed an agreement with Japan's Mitsui OSK Lines Ltd for shipping liquefied ethane from North America to India.

RIL said it has signed shipping agreements with one of the world's largest and reputed shipping companies Mitsui.

"Mitsui will supervise the construction of six Very Large Ethane Carriers (VLECs), ordered by Reliance. Mitsui will also operate and manage the vessels after they are built and delivered," the company said in a statement.

It however did not give out the investment or the cost involved in hiring of the vessels.

"Reliance, with this strategic tie-up with Mitsui, has achieved a key milestone for the successful implementation of Ethane import project to feed crackers in India," the statement said.

12:08 PM greets Vajpayee, visits his residence

Prime Minister Narendra Modi today greeted former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee on his 90th birthday and said there is no bigger tribute to him than celebrating it as 'Good Governance Day'.

Modi visited Vajpayee at his residence this morning to personally wish him on his birthday.

"Warm birthday wishes to our one and only Atal ji," he said in his message.

"There is no bigger tribute to Atal ji than celebrating his birthday as 'Good Governance Day' and pledging to devote ourselves to this cause.

"Development and good governance are the only ways ahead. Together, let us make a positive impact in people's lives and create a developed India," the Prime Minister said.

He also paid tributes to Pt Madan Mohan Malaviya on his birth anniversary.

"A man ahead of his time, he devoted himself to nationalism and education," the prime minister said.

Pakistan Army Chief General Raheel Sharif today said that terrorism has caused a big damage to the country and time has come to take 'bold decisions' to combat it.

"This is the time to take bold decisions and ensure their effective implementation," the army chief said, briefing a meeting of parliamentary leaders here.

In the meeting, where Prime Minister Nawaz Sahrif was also present, Gen Raheel said that the army is committed to eliminate militancy from the country.

"We owe it to our next generations to eliminate this scourge once and for all," Gen Raheel was quoted as saying by Military spokesman Major General Asim Saleem Bajwa on Twitter.

"Through unity we will emerge triumphant over the two-faced bane of terrorism and extremism," the army chief said.

Three digital distributors joined an expanding effort to save 'The Interview,' as Sony Pictures Entertainment disclosed the first deals to show the film online after a terror threat limited access to theaters.

Among the partners named on Wednesday morning were Google Play,YouTube Movies and Microsoft's Xbox Video. Sony also said it would show the film on a website of its own.

Read tyhe full story HERE

A Missouri police officer shoots and kills a teenager just two miles from the St. Louis suburb of Ferguson, where another young man's death months earlier set off protests across the country.

But even though both cases involved white officers and black teens, don't compare Tuesday night's shooting in Berkeley with what happened in the town down the road, Berkeley's mayor says.

Read the full article HERE

Martin Greenfield is one of the world's most respected and accomplished tailors. Since emigrating from the former Czechoslovakia to America in 1947, he has dressed everyone from the Rat Pack and Leonardo DiCaprio to Presidents Dwight Eisenhower and Barack Obama.

Read this interesting article HERE

00:17 Christmas Eve pilgrims gather in Bethlehem

Christians from across the world are gathering in the West Bank town of Bethlehem to mark Christmas Eve in the place they believe Jesus was born.

Celebrations culminate with midnight Mass at the Church of the Nativity.Thousands of pilgrims earlier crowded into Manger Square to watch a procession led by the Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem, Fouad Twal.

Read the full story HERE

00:10 Top headlines of the last 24 hours

Girls must not wear short tops to avoid rape: Rajkot BJP mayor
11 Christians convert to Hinduism in Kerala VHP intiative
Assam violence: Adivasis retaliate, set fire to Bodo homes
Suspense over government formation continues in J&K
Vajpayee revelled in being everything to everybody
Intense cold, dense fog prevails in north India, 10 killed
Mr Modi, why not a Bharat Ratna for the Mahatma?

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