An Indian-origin former German lawmaker today admitted to child pornography charges against him and agreed to pay a fine of $5,600 in exchange for a court halting his high-profile trial, a case that triggered a major political scandal leading to resignation of a minister.

45-year-old Sebastian Edathy admitted to downloading child pornography images and video onto his official parliamentary laptop, paving the way for the court proceedings to be stopped. He will have no criminal record.

"I've now realised that I made a mistake, and it took me too long to realise it," Edathy, who was born in Hannover as the son of a migrant from Kerala and a German mother, said in a statement read out by his lawyer.

"The accusations are true," said Edathy, a former candidate for a ministerial post in chancellor Angela Merkel's conservative- social democrat coalition government.

At least 11 people, including five policemen, were injured today in Egypt when a bomb exploded outside a crowded area near the supreme court building in Cairo.

The area surrounding the building houses the general prosecutor's office and is the headquarters of some of the country's most senior courts. The bomb was hidden under a car parked near the supreme xourt, the country's highest criminal court, and went off in Cairo's downtown area.

The area is very crowded, with dozens of street vendors selling their ware on stalls set up on the asphalt. Nearby are several bus stops, a railway station and a subway station.

Mumbai Police Commissioner today ordered an inquiry into the ruckus outside a city club where policemen jostled with members to prevent their entry during a function attended by Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, who has come under fire over the issue.

Traffic policemen at the NSCI Club had stopped private vehicles to make way for the chief minister's convoy and video footage showed them grappling with some of the club members, including an elderly person, last night.

As the issue triggered an outrage over people being inconvenienced during movement of VVIPs and Opposition parties attacked Fadnavis, city police chief Rakesh Maria asked R D Shinde, Additional Commissioner Police (Central) to conduct an inquiry into the matter and submit a report at the earliest.

Shinde said, "I am looking into the episode to ascertain as to what exactly happened." He declined to divulge the scope of his inquiry.

India today said it expects to sign two agreements with Bangladesh soon to further boost bilateral trade and commerce as Foreign Secretary S Jaishankar today held "constructive" talks with the top leadership.

Jaishankar, who arrived in Dhaka on his 'SAARC Yatra' to firm up India's relations with members of the eight-nation grouping, called on Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and Foreign Minister AH Mahmood Ali and held talks with his Bangladeshi counterpart Shahidul Haque.

The foreign secretary handed over a letter from Prime Minister Narendra Modi to Hasina in which he expressed his eagerness to visit Bangladesh soon. "I am eagerly waiting to visit Bangladesh soon," a spokesman of the Bangladesh premier's office quoted the letter as saying.

Hasina's press secretary AKM Shameem Chowdhury said the premier, in response, asked Jaishankar about the possible time of Modi's visit, saying "we are eagerly waiting to welcome him in Bangladesh as well".

Chowdhury also said that Jaishankar told Hasina that New Delhi expects to ink two agreements soon with Bangladesh for further boosting bilateral trade and commerce between the two neigbouring countries. "We would sign two deals -- The Protocol on Trade, and The Agreement on Coastal Shipping -- with Bangladesh soon," he quoted Jaishankar as saying.

One of the convicts on death row for the 2012 gang rape and murder of a young medical student has, displaying singular lack of remorse in an interview to the BBC, said that the woman was to be blamed and "she shouldn't have fought back." 

Mukesh Singh, who has admitted to driving the bus but denied raping the woman, was one of the four men sentenced to death for the killing that sparked worldwide condemnation and spurred major changes in Indian law.

Speaking from jail, Mukesh Singh says that "women are more responsible for rape than men."

Read the interview here

United States Secretary of State John Kerry today warned Russia that it will inevitably face further economic sanctions if it failed to implement agreements on a ceasefire deal and steps toward peace in eastern Ukraine.

Kerry, who met Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov for about 80 minutes on the sidelines of a UN Human Rights Council session in Geneva, said he hopes the ceasefire will be implemented fully "in the next hours, certainly not more than days."

He said that if that did not happen, there will "inevitably be further consequences that will place added strain on Russia's already troubled economy."

Debaltseve, a strategic railway hub in eastern Ukraine, saw intensified fighting between the Ukrainian army and the pro-Russian rebels after the Minsk II agreement was signed on February 12.

"There has been a cherry picking, a kind of piecemeal selectivity of the application of the Minsk agreement. People have still been killed in the last few days so there is not yet a full ceasefire. It is extremely difficult for the full measure of Minsk Agreement which includes a political component to begin to be implemented until you have the full measure of security that comes with an actual ceasefire," Kerry said.

Mukesh Ambani has retained his position as the richest Indian for the eighth year in a row with a net worth of $21 billion, while moving up one place on the global rich list that has been topped once again by software czar Bill Gates.

Among the 90 Indians on the Forbes Rich List 2015, published today, Ambani (39th globally) is closely followed by pharmaceuticals business tycoon Dilip Shanghvi (44th rank with net worth of $20 billion) and Azim Premji (48th with $19.1 billion). Gates with a net worth $79.2 billion tops Forbes Rich List.

This is for the 16th time in the past 21 years the software czar is topping the list. He is followed by Mexico's Carlos Slim Helu at the second and legendary American investor Warren Buffett at the third place.

Announcing the list, Forbes said ranks of the world's wealthiest defied global economic turmoil and expanded yet again, yielding a record 1,826 billionaires with an aggregate net worth of $7.05 trillion, up from $6.4 trillion a year ago. Indians on the list include Shiv Nadar (66th; $14.8 billion), Hinduja Brothers (69th; $14.5 billion) Lakshmi Mittal (82nd; $ 13.5 billion), Kumar Mangalam Birla (142nd; $9 billion), Uday Kotak (185th; $7.2 billion), Gautam Adani (208th; $6.6 billion), Sunil Mittal (208th; $6.6 billion) and Cyrus Poonawalla (208th; $6.6 billion).

Anil Ambani with a net worth of $4 billion is ranked 418th in the list.

Rebekah Brooks, the former chief executive of Rupert Murdoch's News International media empire who had stepped down in the wake of the phone hacking scandal, is likely to be re-hired by the media tycoon.

Brooks is now expected to begin a new role at News Corp owned media agency 'Storyful' that will focus on new avenues for digital and social media, according to media reports.

The new role is likely to be based in the UK but involve frequent trips to Dublin in Ireland, where 'Storyful' is based. Brooks had stepped down in the wake of the phone hacking scandal that led to the closure of UK-based tabloid News of the World.

She was acquitted last year of charges related to phone hacking during her time as editor of the Sun and now defunct News of the World newspapers and perverting the course of justice. The revelations that journalists at the News of the World hacked phones led to wide-ranging investigations and the conviction of another former editor Andy Coulson.

Just in: Indian Administrative Service officer KK Sharma to be next Delhi's chief secretary.
 

Communist Party of India supporters protested against Govind Pansare's killing in Kolhapur, police detains protesters.

Reports say that the deadly disease that has spread across the nation has as yet claimed 1,115 lives.

The maximum casualties are in Gujarat with 275 dead. Rajasthan stands second with 267 dead patients.

The number of patients suffering from swine flu has been on the rise since late last year. 

Stoking controversy, senior MIM leader Akbaruddin Owaisi on Monday termed the RSS as a "club of bachelors' and said that those who advocate producing more children have no right to say so as they themselves are not married.Owaisi asked all Muslims to be united while maintaining that his party would fight against "communal politics'.

Without naming BJP leader Sakshi Maharaj who had said recently that every Hindu woman must produce four children to protect the religion, MIM's Floor Leader in Telangana Assembly Owaisi said that they should explain if there are sufficient resources to support the children in terms of providing them education and jobs.

No gag yet on Sadhvi Prachi. After suggesting that films starring Bollywood actors Shah Rukh Khan, Aamir Khan and Salman Khan are spreading a culture of violence, the BJP MP, now slapped a love jihad conspiracy on the superstars.

Speaking to ANI, the MP said there was a conspiracy in the fact that the Khans have married Hindu women. "Malaika Arora, Gauri, Kiran Rao.
Why do they always find a Hindu girl for themselves? We must boycott the Khans," she said.

The sadhvi is a wee bit misinformed in that Malaika is in fact married to Salman's brother, Arbaaz Khan.

The sadhvi had advised youngsters not to idolise the triumvirate.

Speaking at a programme of Vishwa Hindu Parishad in Dehradun on Sunday, the Sadhvi, known for stoking controversies by her statements, said once she had been to a programme in Meerut where she asked a young boy what he wanted to become in life. "He said he wanted to become like Hrithik Roshan, Shahrukh Khan, Salman Khan, Aamir Khan. When I asked why, his mother told me because they are good at doing stunts,' she said. Suggesting that the Khans and their films are spreading a culture of violence, she asked the younger generation not to get fascinated by them and idolise them.

Bangladeshi authorities have arrested a radical Islamist over the murder last week of an atheist US blogger, accusing him of being behind earlier death threats on social media.

A spokesman for the police's elite Rapid Action Battalion (Rab) said Farabi Shafiur Rahman had been arrested at a bus station in the capital, Dhaka, over the gruesome killing of Avijit Roy. "He is the main suspect,' a Rab spokesperson said.  Read more

What's the connection between Mufti Mohammed Sayeed and the films, Omkara and and Kaminey.

Prominent blogger and writer Avijit Roy's daughter, Trisha Ahmed, writes poignantly after her father's murder by extremists in Bangladesh:

"My dad was a prominent Bengali writer, most famous for his books about science and atheism. He and my mom went to Bangladesh last week to publicize his books at Bangladesh's national book fair.

"Islamic fundamentalists stabbed my dad to death. My mom was severely wounded from the attack and is still in the hospital. His death is headline news in Bangladesh.

"The reason I'm sharing this is less for me and more for my dad. He was a firm believer in voicing your opinion to better the world.

"He and my mom started dating when I was six years old. In the twelve years that followed, he became my friend, my hero, my most trusted confidante, my dance partner (even though we're both terrible dancers), and my father. Not once did he tell me to simmer down or be more polite; he taught me to be informed, bold, and unafraid.

"To say that I'm furious or heartbroken would be an understatement. But as fucked up as the world is, there's never a reason to stop fighting to make it better. I'll carry the lessons he taught me and the love he gave me forever. I love you so much, Dad. Thank you for every single thing.

"What would help me the most right now is if everyone (even people I've never met) could share his story. His story should be heard in the US because Bangladesh is powerless; it's corrupt, there is no law and order, and I highly doubt that any justice will come to the murderers. I want his story to be on US headline news, not only Bangladesh's. If you could just do all you can to spread word of what's happened, I would appreciate it so so much. Inform your schools, your communities, write all that you can.

"Please don't allow my dad to die in vain.

"Please use your influence to help bring some sort of justice to the atrocious acts that have been committed against my parents. #WordsCannotBeKilled"

Bangladesh's anti-terrorism unit said it had arrested on Monday the main suspect in the killing of a US blogger Avjit Roy who was hacked to death in Dhaka last week in the latest attack on critics of religious extremism in the Muslim-majority nation.Forces from the Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) arrested Farabi Shafiur Rahman, who was previously jailed for his ties to the extremist Hizbut Tahrir Islamist group, at a bus stop in Dhaka, a RAB spokesman told reporters.

The spokesman said Farabi had confessed to threatening to kill blogger Avijit Roy. Farabi was still being interrogated.

Thursday's savage murder of writer Avijit Roy in Dhaka raises troubling questions about religion-inspired terror in Bangladesh, says Indrani Roy/Rediff.com. Read

The Reserve Bank may cut key interest rates as early as this week, as the fiscal measures announced in the Union Budget are unlikely to disturb the "disinflation" trend, say analysts. According to global financial services firm Morgan Stanley, "The budget does not have any measures that would disturb the current entrenched disinflation trend."

And so it begins, a group of PDP MLAs demand the return of Parliament attacker Afzal Guru's remains. PDP says Guru's hanging was a travesty of justice.

This is not the first time that the PDP has demanded the return of Guru's remains. Afzal Guru, the key collaborator of the Pakistani jihadis who attacked Parliament on December 13, 2001, was hanged in February 2013.

The PDP note demanding the return of Guru's remains has the endorsement of nine party MLAs.

PDP's Mehbooba Mufti tells Headlines Today: All Omar can do is tweet. He will have plenty of time to do that over next 6 yrs. PDP-BJP Govt is going nowhere.

This is what the former J-K CM had tweeted: "Has Mufti decided the Modi-Mufti accord was a mistake? Are the Father-Daughter duo trying to force BJP to break off the alliance? #wondering.

Another canteen, another time. Pt Nehru waits to be served at a canteen in India in the 1950s.

PM Modi today ate lunch at the MPs' canteen in Parliament house. He joined some MPs in having lunch in the Parliament's canteen. He made a surprise visit to Room number 70 on the first floor of the Parliament building and ordered a veg thali there and before you ask, paid for it.

Where have you been, Chandrika?

Oh, many places. All at the same time. Can you believe that?

When will you be back?

Your guess is as good as mine.

For good. That is.

What if I am gone for good?

***

K.S. Narendran wrote these words, an inner dialogue with his wife of 25 years, Chandrika Sharma. She was one of 239 people aboard Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 when it disappeared a year ago on March 8. Narendran still struggles at leading a life without her, as is revealed in the rest of his imagined conversation.

Read.

AAP member Vishal Dadlani  tweets: AAP followers, remember that our objective is bigger than any leader/s. Irrespective of what happens, that remains! Be respectful to all.

Rs 20,000 reward for pet parrot missing from Pallonji Shapoorji Mistry mansion. Read 

87 per cent college students say women must accept violence,  says a disturbing study. Read

PDP Chief Mehbooba Mufti says the CM's remarks did not discredit the people of J&K.

PM Narendra Modi's message in the parliament canteen's visitor book: "Anna daata sukhi bhava." Loosely translated it means, "Let the one who has provided me food be happy."

PM Narendra Modi had lunch at the MPs' canteen in Parliament. After being shut for couple of years, the old kitchen at the Parliament House Complex is to be renewed soon with pipe natural gas lines set to be installed so that food can be prepared and served hot and fresh for the MPs and visitors. Right now, the food served at all canteens inside the complex is being cooked at the Parliament House Annexe and brought from there to be served.

Jammu and Kashmir CM Mufti Mohammed Sayeed defends pro-Pakistan remark saying he stands by his comment.

Speaking to the media in the aftermath of the uproar in Parliament over his remarks on Sunday, Sayeed today said, "Media is making a mountain out of a molehill. Pakistan, Hurriyat recognized the institution of democracy in India, they did not interfere as they used to. What I have said, I have said, will stand by that."

Soon after taking oath on Sunday, Sayeed said credit must be given to people from across the border, an oblique reference to Pakistan, Hurriyat and militant outfits, for "allowing conducive atmosphere" for assembly polls. "I want to say this on record and I have told this to the prime minister that the we must credit the Hurriyat, militant outfits for the conduct of assembly elections in the state," Sayeed said during a press conference after being sworn in as head of the PDP-BJP government in Jammu and Kashmir at a ceremony which was attended by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

A day after traffic policemen stalled movement of public vehicles to make way for his convoy, Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis on Monday expressed regret for the inconvenience caused to people and insisted that he shuns VIP culture.

Traffic policemen outside the venue of a function at NSCI club in Mumbai stopped vehicles of the public to make way for his convoy.

Members of the club were even denied entry as the CM was present inside the premises.

Fadnavis said, "My sincere apologies to those who were stopped by the police unnecessarily. People in the state have always seen me stopping at traffic signals.

"I would make inquiry into the NSCI incident. Unless there is an emergency or real threat perception inputs, police shouldn't trouble people," he tweeted.

"I don't believe in VIP culture,' he said.

The Iraqi city of Mosul, which is held by Islamic State movement fighters, today became the second terrorist hot-spot to be declared off-limits to Australians under new counterterrorism laws aimed deterring foreign fighters.

Foreign Minister Julie Bishop said the Mosul district in northern Iraq had been declared a designated area under a section of the Criminal Code created in October last year.

That means that it is an offense under Australian law punishable by 10 years in prison to enter the district or to remain in it without a legitimate purpose.

The Syrian Islamic Statement group stronghold of al-Raqqa province became the first designated area under the law in December.

DPCC chief Ajay Maken on CM Arvind Kejriwal: I have great respect for Arvind-ji as an individual as he took anti-corruption as an issue in national and state politics. My first suggestion to Arvind-ji is, he should seem to be performing as Delhi CM and not looking for excuses for non-performance. I'd also like to warn Arvind-ji, ever since he took over he is more concerned of finding routes to escape from promises he made."

PM Narendra Modi had lunch at the MPs canteen in Parliament. After being shut for couple of years, the old kitchen at the Parliament House Complex is to be renewed soon with pipe natural gas lines set to be installed so that food can be prepared and served hot and fresh for the MPs and visitors. Right now, the food served at all canteens inside the complex is being cooked at the Parliament House Annexe and brought from there to be served.

Home Minister Rajnath Singh today distanced his government from the remarks of Jammu and Kashmir ally Mufti Mohammad Sayeed that "people from across the border" - seen as a reference to Pakistan - had allowed peaceful polls in the state.

Opposition members staged a walkout thereafter demanding a statement from the PM condemning Mufti's statement.

William Shatner defended himself on Twitter this weekend after his decision to skip Leonard Nimoy's Sunday funeral earned him the tabloid nickname "Captain Jerk."

Nimoy, who died Friday at 83, was best known for his portrayal of "Star Trek" science officer Spock, a logic-driven ally and foil to Shatner's earnest Captain Kirk.Shatner explained in a series of tweets Saturday that he was in Florida for a Red Cross Ball and could not make it to Los Angeles in time for Sunday's service.

His daughters will represent the family, he said.

"I feel really awful. Here I am doing charity work and one of my dearest friends is being buried," he tweeted Saturday. "So let's spend some time tomorrow celebrating Leonard's life and remembering the man." 

Read

Actress Sonam Kapoor, who has been admitted to a hospital for the treatment of Swine flu, is showing improvement in her health. The 29-year-old actress, who is said to have contracted Swine flu in Mumbai, tested positive for the virus in Rajkot, where she was shooting for her upcoming Salman Khan starrer 'Prem Ratan Dhan Payo'.

She was then taken to Mumbai, where she is undergoing treatment.

Mr Spock, mixed-race pioneer. Mr Spock -- the character's mixed Vulcan and human heritage set him apart from the rest of the Star Trek crew. Read

You've got to love Mr Aiyar: "Lovely koi buzurg tha kya?" Mani Shankar Aiyar on reporter question whether Ajay Maken elevation is youth power.

Not exactly a terrific beginning for an unnatural marriage: Shashi Tharoor about the PDP-BJP govt.

While Prime Minister Modi may pursue the laudable aim of building a cooperative relationship with Pakistan, he and his advisers should never think that concessions (and dialogue is a concession in itself) will change the Pakistan army's approach to India, says Ambassador Vivek Katju. Read

Attempts being made to remove Arvind Kejriwal as AAP's National Convener, says AAP's Sanjay Singh.

While former AAP member and now BJP member Shazia Ilmi says members like Yogendra Yadav are being sidelined because they ask questions. "This is absolute dictatorship of Arvind Kejriwal camp," she says.

Ilmi quit the party lashing out at a "coterie" surrounding Kejriwal, just days after the party faced a severe drubbing in the Lok Sabha polls.

Ajay Maken has been appointed as the new president of the Delhi Pradesh Congress Committee. He takes charge immediately.

Ashok Chavan made new PCC chief of Maharashtra replacing Manikrao Thakre; Ghulam Mir to be PCC chief of J-K, replacing Saifuddin Soz.

Opposition walks out of Lok Sabha seeking statement by PM's on Sayeed's remarks.

Opposition demands that PM Modi issue a statement on J-K CM Mufti Mohammed Sayeed's remarks crediting Pakistan.

While the BJP disassociated itself from Mufti Mohammed Sayeed's remarks on Sunday that the credit for smooth conduct of J-K assembly polls must be given to "people from across the border", the opposition today demanded that the PM condemn the remark. 

Home minister Rajnath Singh said in Parliament that the credit for smooth polls in J&K goes to EC, army, paramilitary forces and people of the state and that he was speaking on behalf of the PM. 

Soon after taking oath on Sunday, Sayeed said credit must be given to people from across the border, an oblique reference to Pakistan, Hurriyat and militant outfits, for "allowing conducive atmosphere" for assembly polls.

"I want to say this on record and I have told this to the prime minister that the we must credit the Hurriyat, militant outfits for the conduct of assembly elections in the state," Sayeed said during a press conference in Srinagar after being sworn in as head of the PDP-BJP government in Jammu and Kashmir at a ceremony which was attended by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

One of the group of Indian men convicted of the notorious Delhi gang rape of 2012 has prompted outrage by claiming that his victim was to blame for her brutal sexual assault and murder.In an interview from jail, Mukesh Singh said that women who went out at night had only themselves to blame if they attracted the attention of gangs of male molesters. "A girl is far more responsible for rape than a boy," he said.

Read the full story on the Telegraph, UK.

AAP spokesperson Ashutosh tells NDTV that the party is dynamic. "Internal churning should not be viewed as war. It's good there is democracy in our party and in every party a clash of ideologies will take place."

Meanwhile,  AAP calls for a national executive meeting on March 4, when it is likely to take a  decision on Yogendra Yadav and Prashant Bhushan's role in AAP's PAC.

Just in: Jagmohan Dalmiya elected unanimously as BCCI president at the Annual General Meeting in Chennai.

AAP senior party leader Yogendra Yadav reacts to reports of the rift in the party. Yadav today said all the stories on the crisis in the party are "imaginary" and it was time to work after the big victory in the polls and not indulge in "small acts".

He said the people of Delhi have given the party a massive mandate and one should not indulge in these small acts.

"For the past few days, I have been hearing things about me and Prashant ji (Bhushan). New stories are being planted and allegations are being leveled against (us) and conspiracies are being hatched.

"I am saddened, but also find it funny. I find it funny because these are baseless. Those scripting stories have a lot of time but I feel sad with the intention. The government of Delhi has given us our biggest victory. The time is to work after the big victory. The country has a lot of expectations from us. I can expect that from our small acts, we should not let this ray of hope become small," Yadav said in a Facebook post.

The AAP is undergoing an internal crisis with Bhushan raising the issue of "one-person centric approach" in the party. Some seven months back Yadav had criticised Kejriwal of falling prey to "personality cult". "...one person-centric campaign, which was run during Delhi elections, is making our party look more and more like other conventional parties that are also one-person centric. The only difference being that we still claim that we are wedded to the principles of 'swaraj' while they don't.

"Running one person-centric campaign may be effective, but does that justify sacrificing our principles? We will need to make a conscious course correction if we have to get away from a supremo controlled party," Bhushan said in a letter to members of AAP National Executive, which met last Thursday.

An economist from Kashmir and a popular face from the RSS/BJP craftily wove an alliance in what is one of the most difficult agenda-setting exercises in recent history. Sheela Bhatt/Rediff.com reports. Read

Chetan Bhagat tweets: AAP no longer what it was. founders please stop cribbing. Arvind supremo, party attracts anti corruption vote but also all modi hater vote.

Despite an overwhelming win in the Delhi assembly polls, the intra-party conflict in the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) has not abated. Yogendra Yadav and Prashant Bhushan, the two founders of the party find themselves at odds with Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal,  and have offered to opt out of the political affairs committee (PAC) of the party.

Prashant Bhushan, in a letter dated February 26 addressed to the national executive of the party slammed Kejriwal for "overturning collective decisions of the party".

Contradicting the party's public stand, he accused the party of seeking Congress' support for forming government in Delhi after its embarrassing loss in Lok Sabha elections.

The letter referred to a one-man-centric election campaign during the Delhi elections and made AAP look like any other conventional political party.

On Sunday, AAP's Delhi state secretary Dilip Pandey wrote a letter to the national secretary Pankaj Gupta accusing Yogendra Yadav, Prashant  Prashant Bhushan and Shanti Bhushan of anti-party activities.

Read more

Former editor of the now-defunct tabloid News of the World, Rebekah Brooks is all set to make a comeback to her alma mater News Corp, to run its social media news agency Storyful, the Financial Times reported.  Brooks will initially be based in the UK and spend time at Storyful's Dublin headquarters.

Two days after the Budget was announced, the markets opened on a high on Monday with the Sensex soaring nearly 200 points high to a record 29,550 points while the Nifty saw a jump to 8,965 points. 

Fresh snowfall and landslides closed the strategic Srinagar-Jammu highway as the weather office forecast heavy snowfall during the next 24 hours. "The Srinagar-Jammu highway has been closed because of more than three-feet deep snow on the highway in Bannihal and Batote sectors," said an official. 

Beneath the outward appearance of calm, a storm from within is buffeting the Congress. Rahul Gandhi is reportedly unwilling to end his sabbatical until some influential Congress leaders are "sidelined" and the reins of the party are handed over to him. But the flabbergasted "traditionalists" are questioning the merit of appointing Rahul as Congress president without going through the motions of an election process that will take at least eight months to complete.

CNN has apologised for a technical glitch that showed an image of Russian Preasident Vladimir Putin during a news segment on an alleged Islamic State executioner Jihadi John. 

North Korea fired two short-range missiles off its east coast on Monday, a South Korean military official said, a move seen as a protest against annual military exercises between South Korea and the United States that were due to start hours later.