An unprecedented peek into Queen Elizabeth's royal wardrobe is taking place this summer at Buckingham Palace. 

Two of the five Bangladeshi terrorists who hacked to death 20 people at a restaurant in Dhakas diplomatic zone used to follow three controversial Islamists, including Indian Islamic preacher Zakir Nayek, says a report from the Daily Star.

Terrorist Rohan Imtiaz, son of an Awami League leader, propagated on Facebook last year quoting Peace TVs preacher Nayek urging all Muslims to be terrorists, the Daily Star reported.

Nayek, a popular Islamic orator and founder of Mumbai-based Islamic Research Foundation, is banned in United Kingdom and Canada for his 'hate speech aimed against other religions'.

He is among 16 banned Islamic scholars in Malaysia.

He is wildly popular in Bangladesh through his Peace TV although his preaching often demeans other religions and even other Muslim sects, the report said.

Another Dhaka attacker Nibras Islam, 22, used to follow two alleged suspected recruiters of Islamic State Anjem Choudary and Shami Witness -- on Twitter in 2014.

Shami Witness is the Twitter account of 24-year-old Mehdi Biswas, who is also facing trial in India for running propaganda for the Islamic State. He was arrested in December 2014 following an investigation into his Twitter account which was last active in August 2014.

Biswas was charged for operating the single most influential pro-ISIS Twitter account.

An unidentified terrorist was killed and an Army jawan injured in an encounter in Kupwara district of Kashmir today, police said.

The gunfight broke out between terrorists and troops of 21 Rashtriya Rifles at Wadarballa in Handwara area this evening, a police officer said.

He said the encounter left a terrorist dead, while a soldier suffered minor injuries and was evacuated to hospital.

The identity and group affiliation of the slain terrorist was not available immediately as the search operation in the village was still continuing, the officer said.

Rejecting Pakistans statement that the countrys spy agency Inter-Service Intelligence was not involved in Dhaka attacks, Bangladeshs Information and Broadcasting Minister Hassanul Haq Inu said that there are clear evidences of Pakistans involvement spreading terror in Bangladesh.

Pakistan makes such statements time and again, if they deny their involvement in Dhaka attack, its good but the investigators in Bangladesh are looking for all possibilities, he said, adding that for the last 45 years, Pakistan and ISI have been involved, from war of liberation till now in terrorist networks of Bangladesh.

There are clear evidences of the involvement of ISI and Pak in our terrorist networks. If the Pakistani agencies aren't involved, we accept their statements and thank them ...but if other evidences come out then it will be very sad for the relations of both the two countries, he said.

He further said, It is because of Pakistan, many terrorist are involved in subversive activities in many countries. It is very sad but the reality is that the Pakistan cannot have a clean chit (sic).

On Pakistans charge that the highly regrettable, irresponsible and provocative stories of ISIs involvement in Dhaka attack are being carried in the Indian media, Haq said, Media on its own didn't make up allegations against ISI, some of our senior political officials have pointed finger towards them (sic).

Bangladesh on Sunday blamed homegrown Islamist terrorists and Pakistans spy agency ISI for the countrys worst terror attack in which 20 hostages were hacked to death, ruling out the role of the Islamic State.

Pakistan had earlier today rejected the charges, blaming circulation of these reports on the Indian media.

A series of unity events were today held at railway and underground stations across London in a bid to counter a spike in racist attacks after Brexit vote.

The "unity events" were organised by London Citizens, a local community organising alliance, and included marches and handing out of leaflets with the message "Love London. No place for Hate".

"London doesn't just tolerate difference, it celebrates it, so it's great to see London Citizens' members rallying together to show that there is no place for division in our communities.

"I urge anyone affected by abusive behaviour to report it to the police immediately, and for Londoners to pull together and rally behind this great city now more than ever," said London mayor Sadiq Khan.

The UK's National Police Chiefs Council (NPCC) had last week revealed a five-fold increase in race hate crimes around the UK since the UK voted to leave the European Union in the June 23 referendum.

"As a Mayor for all Londoners, I take seriously my responsibility to defend the capital's fantastic diversity. I will operate a zero tolerance approach to any attempt to hurt and divide our communities, and I have asked the Met police (Scotland Yard) to be extra vigilant in tackling this deeply worrying rise in hate crime," Pakistan-origin Khan said.

Image: London mayor Sadiq Khan

Shiv Sena president Uddhav Thackeray today said the BJP central leadership has not held any discussion with him on the Union Cabinet expansion and that his party will not stand on anybody's doors seeking favours.

Asserting that his party will not beg for favours shedding self-respect, the Sena chief hinted that even in 2014 when the NDA swept to power, his party did not get its due.

"At that time (the BJP) offered us Minister of State. then said we will get a Cabinet berth. We say whatever we get, we should get with respect. We will not beg for anything.There have been no discussions with Delhi on Cabinet expansion," he said.

Thackeray said getting ministerial berths was a secondary issue for him and that he would put forward his views if discussions were to take place.

"People from various political parties are joining the Shiv Sena. I have been busy attending to them and thus have not got the time to discuss the Cabinet expansion. One thing is clear. The Sena will never stand helplessly on anybody's doors asking for anything," Thackeray said.

Referring to the Maharashtra Cabinet expansion, which according to Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis would happen before he leaves for his Russia tour early next week, the Sena chief said, "I and the CM have only had superficial discussions. I will announce the intricacies once a detailed discussion happens."

The much-talked about expansion of the Union Cabinet is set to take place tomorrow morning.

First reactions from the AAP government on principal secretary Rajinder Kumar's arrest: Delhi's deputy CM Manish Sisodia says, "The Central government has stooped to a new low seeing gains made by AAP in Goa, Punjab, other states. The Narendra Modi government is trying to paralyze the Delhi government by transferring officers.

Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal's Principal Secretary Rajinder Kumar and four others arrested by CBI in the Rs 50 crore scam.

Rajender Kumar, the principal secretary to the Chief Minister, has been accused of corruption in the purchase of computers. The CBI has registered a case against him for alleged criminal conspiracy and raided his offices in December.

Arvind Kejriwal alleges that the CBI raid was an excuse to search his office and find evidence against him for the Centre. "Rajender Kumar is one of our most trusted officers. To raid him is to raid the CM," Kejriwal said.

Rajender Kumar is a 1989 batch Indian Administrative Service officer who was appointed Principal Secretary to the Chief Minister in February, when the Aam Aadmi Party took power for the second time. Like Arvind Kejriwal, Kumar is also an IIT alumnus.

Rashtrapati Bhavan will get the final list of possible inductions into the council of Ministers at 9 pm (after PM's dinner meet with Arun Jaitley and Amit Shah).

There have been a number of phone calls and meetings between the BJP President and ministers with sources saying at least 50 Union Ministers made RAX calls on secret lines meant for Union Ministers.

Newsmen who cover the BJP beat would have got the maximum number of phone calls from BJP ministers who want to scope out whether they are in or out.


Prime Ministser Narendra Modi plans to induct at least 15 new faces into his Council of Ministers. Presently, the Modi government has 66 ministers but the provision is for 82, therefore Modi wants to keep the council of Ministers strength between 80-82.

So much for the PM's promises of minimum government, maximum governance.

Modi has kept Uttar Pradesh , Uttarakhand and Punjab in mind which triggered to go in for a major shuffle. Politically speaking this new faces in council of ministers will stay upto 2019. Modi has kept this in mind to go in for polls with these faces

At 8 pm today, Prime Minister is having a working dinner with BJP president Amit Shah and Finance minister Arun Jaitley at 7 RCR where they will finalise the new team ahead of the Cabinet reshuffle tomorrow.

Jaitley who left for Raipur for a Chhattisgarh Government function, but had to land in Nagpur instead because of inclement weather, is expected back in New Delhi at 7 pm today. The list will be given final touches once Jaitley returns.

This morning a stream of leaders from the ruling BJP and its allies met Shah at his Delhi residence, sparking speculation that they will be inducted into Prime Minister Narendra Modi's council of ministers as he reshuffles his team on Tuesday morning.

Amid reports that Marxist veteran VS Achutanandan is set to be appointed Chairman of Kerala Administrative Reforms Commission, the LDF government on July 4 decided to amend the relevant law to confer him the post with cabinet rank.

A draft bill to amend the law related to the commission was approved by the state cabinet which met here, an official release said.

According to sources, the bill is envisaged to make necessary amendments in the present law to remove technical obstacles to confer Achutanandan, also an MLA in the state Assembly, the post with cabinet rank.

If the 92-year-old CPIM leader, who represents Malampuzha in the assembly, takes up the Chairmanship of the panel without amending the existing law, he may face disqualification for holding dual posts, they said.
The government was planning to present the bill in the ongoing assembly session itself, the sources added.
They said late party veterans EMS Namboodiripad and EK Nayanar had held the chairmanship of Administrative Reforms Commission in the past.
CPI(M) General Secretary Sitaram Yechury and politbureau member Prakash Karat had recently made it clear that the party had taken a decision on the post to be given to Achutanandan and it will be translated into an appropriate decision by the cabinet.

Achutanandan led the LDF to an impressive victory in the May 16 assembly polls by vigorously campaigning for the front. The left party had decided on Pinarayi Vijayan as the Chief Minister citing Achutanandans advanced age and physical limitations.
 

The Supreme Court reserves the order on a petition of diesel vehicles manufacturers seeking modification of order on ban on registration of diesel vehicle above 2000cc. The Centre tells the SC that it is ready to conduct a multipronged study on diesel vehicles' effect on environment and the possibility of imposition of green cess.

Just in: Pakistan rejects Bangladesh's claims of ISI involvement in Dhaka attack.

Bangladesh on Sunday blamed homegrown Islamist terrorists and Pakistans spy agency ISI for the countrys worst terror attack in which 20 hostages were hacked to death, ruling out the role of the Islamic State, as the shocked nation began observing two days of national mourning.

Let me clear it again, there are no ISIS or al-Qaeda presence or existence in Bangladeshthe hostage-takers were all home-grown terrorists not members of ISIS or any other international Islamist outfits, Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan told PTI.

We know them (hostage-takers) along with their ancestors, they all grew here in Bangladeshthey belong to homegrown outfits like JMB (Jamaatul Mujahideen Bangladesh), he said.

Having a separate law for Muslims is like encouraging formation of another Pakistan, the Shiv Sena today said, even as it termed the implementation of Uniform Civil Code a "national work" and urged ally BJP to fulfil its poll promise at the earliest.

The Union Law Ministry has asked the Law Commission to examine in detail all issues pertaining to the Uniform Civil Code and submit a report to the government.

"India may have an all inclusive culture, but politicians have wrecked havoc in the name of secularism in the past 60 years. There is a different law for Hindus and Muslims. The truth is, having a separate law for Muslims is like encouraging the formation of another Pakistan," the Sena said in an editorial in party mouthpiece 'Saamana'.

It claimed that the past governments did nothing to change the situation in the country while continuing with their appeasement politics.

"What is wrong if people today expect you (BJP) to implement the law and make the Ram temple in Ayodhya which you once so desperately wanted when you were in the Opposition?" the ruling alliance partner sought to know.

Even as Bangladesh mourns the loss of 20 lives, two days after the worst terror attack in 40 years, reports have emerged that two terrorists involved in the horrific murders may try to sneak into India.

According to Bangladesh home ministry sources, the two terrorists are headed towards Bengal, which shares a border with Bangladesh. "The terrorists may also try to enter India through Assam and Tripura," a source in the Bangladesh police told Rediff.com The information has reportedly been passed onto the Bengal government. Read more


IMAGE: Security personnel conduct a check in Kolkata after the Dhaka terror attack. Photograph: PTI

Three significant developments within the week signal that the momentum built up by Prime Minister Narendra Modi's path-breaking visit to Iran in May has not petered out. This may seem a sardonic remark to make, because we are displaying here a rare buck-the-trend syndrome. In the usual case, we don't care to follow through with the groundswell that appears during a high level visit.

Read MK Bhadrakumar's column here.

Nigel Farage quit as Ukip leader this morning as he declared he had 'done my bit' by winning the EU referendum. He said the Leave campaign could never have happened without 'the People's army of Ukip', adding: 'I couldn't possibly achieve more than I managed to get in that referendum'.

The Daily Mail reports that Farage was famously re-appointed Ukip leader days after resigning after last year's General Election, but insisted this morning that 'this time I mean it, I'm not coming back.'He said he wasn't a 'career politician' and decided now was the right time to step aside, but will continue in his role as an MEP until Britain officially cuts ties with Brussels.

He refused to endorse any of the Tory leadership contenders despite his close ally and major Ukip donor Aaron Banks publicly backing the Brexit supporter Andrea Leadsom. But the outgoing leader said the next prime minister should be someone who backed leaving the EU and left the door open to him joining the negotiation team.

Tarishi Jain's family has conveyed to MEA that they would like her last rites to be conducted privately.

The Bangladesh government handed over the body of Tarishi Jain to her relatives this morning, following which her moral remains were flown in to Delhi. The body will now be taken by her family to Firozabad, Uttar Pradesh.

Tarishi, an Indian national, was among the 20 foreigners killed by ISIS militants in the Dhakas Holey Artisan Bakery attack on Friday night.

Tarishis relatives said they were trying to get information about her ever since they heard about the attack as shed gone to that restaurant with her friends for dinner. The relatives were informed about the death after 3 am.

Sushma Swaraj spoke with Tarishi Jains father Sanjeev Jain and shared the tragic news on Twitter.

Tarishi was a 19-year-old student at Californias UC Berkeley who was on a vacation in Dhaka. Her father has been running a garment business in Bangladesh for the last 15-20 years.

Aamir Khan known for for his forthright remarks said Salman Khan's comment comparing himself to a 'raped women' was an unfortunate and insensitive one.

At the poster launch of Dangal, when Aamir was asked what he felt about Salman's remark, Aamir said, "I wasn't present when he made the comment. I feel going purely by the media reports that I have been reading which quotes him as saying it, I feel what he said was rather unfortunate and insensitive."

Aamir said he has not spoken to Salman on the issue. When asked if he would like give any advice to Salman, Aamir remarked, "Who am I to advise?"

The National Commission for Women has demanded Salman's apology for the comment even as his father Salim Khan apologised on his behalf.

Buzz is that Anupriya Patel of Apna Dal will be made minister after her party merges with the BJP. 

The death toll in the brazen Saturday night attack in Baghdad has mounted to over 200. The attack took place in the heart of the packed Karrada neighborhood killed at least 200 people, including 25 children and 20 women.

Families had been gathering hours after they broke the fast for the holy Muslim month of Ramadan and prepared for Eid al-Fitr -- the day that marks the end of the holiday this week.As people congregated, shopped and watched soccer matches, the bomb-laden truck plowed into a building housing a coffee shop, stores and a gym.

Firefighters rescued wounded and trapped people in adjacent buildings.ISIS claimed responsibility for the attack. It was the latest in a string of assaults during Ramadan, a period of fasting and prayer for Muslims and also a time when jihadists launch operations against those they regard as their enemies.

IMAGE: The body of a victim killed in the attack is taken away from the site.

The buzz in political circles is that BJP national spokesperson MJ Akbar, who is also the Rajya Sabha MP from Jharkhand is tipped to get a ministerial berth when the Union Cabinet reshuffle takes place tomorrow at 11 am. Akbar met BJP president Amit Shan this morning.

There have been talks of cabinet expansion for the past several months amid speculation that Prime Minister Narendra Modi could induct new faces from Uttar Pradesh which is going to polls next year.

Akbar, a Congress MP from Kishanganj in Bihar between 1989 and 1991, was appointed national spokesman by BJP chief Rajnath Singh. He was also a Congress party spokesperson in 1989 ahead of Lok Sabha polls.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi has been holding consultations on the Cabinet reshuffle with senior party colleagues including Bharatiya Janata Party chief Amit Shah, Home Minister Rajnath Singh and Finance Minister Arun Jaitley.

According to reports, there is a likelihood of smaller parties getting a berth during the Cabinet expansion. Sources state that two new faces from Uttar Pradesh are likely to be inducted. Union Power Minister Piyush Goyal and State Minority Affairs Minister Mukhtar Abbabs Naqvi are set to be promoted. Also, there is a vacancy in the Council of Ministers after Sports Minister Sarbananda Sonowal became the chief minister of Assam.

Faraaz Ayaaz Hossain, one of the 20 hostages killed by terrorists at a Dhaka restaurant this weekend, had spurned an offer from the gunmen to leave because he didn't want to desert two women friends, people close to him have said.Hishaam Hossain, a nephew of the 20-year-old Faraaz, and Arbaaz Alam, a childhood friend of the slain hostage, said they had heard the account from some of the freed hostages.

Early on Saturday morning, the suspected Islamic State terrorists who had stormed the Holey Artisan Bakery the previous night had released a group of women wearing hijabs. They had offered Faraaz the chance to leave too, Hishaam told The New York Times. Read more

Taking a strong exception to singer Abhijeet Bhattacharya's Twitter barb on a woman journalist, former NCW member Barkha Shukla on Monday advised the former to refrain from stirring controversies and focus on his art.

Reprimanding Abhijeet's remark on social media, Shukla said raking up controversies was not a new thing for the singer. "This is nothing new for singer Abhijeet... We all know he has been involved in these kinds of verbal barbs. He is always involved in these kinds of things, "Shukla told ANI.

"I feel he is a wonderful artist and he should concentrate on his art rather than commenting on these issues," she added. Shukla's remarks came in wake of Bhattacharya's 'abusive' language while addressing a woman journalist on Twitter on Sunday.

Meanwhile, the Delhi Police has also registered a complaint in this regard. A non-cognizable complaint was registered at the Vasant Vihar Police Station after Swati Chaturvedi, a Delhi-based journalist, approached the police.

The playback singer, who is at the centre of a controversy for hurling abuses at a female journalist on Twitter, had yesterday accused the latter of being an 'anti-national,' while adding that the war has not ended and he will give a proper reply in his defence. Bhattacharya caused a Twitter furore when one of his tweets - with stark communal overtones - on the murder of the Chennai Infosys techie S Swathi.

He dubbed the murder, as a case of 'love jihad', suggesting that her attacker was a Muslim. When a female journalist and other Twitter users questioned out and demanded that he should be arrested for unnecessarily stoking communal hatred, Abhijeet unleashed a tirade of abuses at her by calling her "an old woman" in his expletive-filled rant.

The al-Qaeda on Sunday asked Indian Muslims to carry out lone-wolf attacks in the country on the lines of the strikes in Europe, reports the Times of India.

The head of al-Qaida in the Indian Subcontinent (AQIS), Asim Umar, issued a statement "inciting Indian Muslims to rise up and to follow the example of lone wolves in Europe and kill administrative and police officers in India".

Al-Qaida has been making attempts for the past two years to recruit Indians for its operations in the region but has struggled so far.

Incidentally, Umar's exhortation to Indians Muslims to carry out attacks comes four days after the US state department designated AQIS as a "foreign terrorist organisation" and added Umar to the list of "global terrorists".

The statement, tracked by US-based SITE Intelligence Group, has made intelligence agencies sit up as both al-Qaida and Islamic State (IS) are making increased efforts to recruit Indians and carry out attacks in the country.

A counter-terrorism official told TOI that the "situation was grim". "Especially, lone-wolf attacks, which have lately being carried out in Europe and other places, are a cause of concern," he said.

Though al-Qaida is not known for lone-wolf attacks, experts said its exploring this option could be aimed at countering IS's growing appeal in the subcontinent.

A rivalry is visible between AQIS and IS, and both are trying to establish themselves in the region, especially in India and Bangladesh, which were earlier dominated by homegrown terror outfits or Pakistan-based organisations.Intelligence Bureau officials said terror groups like al-Qaida and IS were focusing on 'lone wolf ' strategy, especially in India, as they were not able to make much headway here.

Also, working individually makes it difficult, almost impossible, to track the activities of the person who is planning an attack. Like the Orlando attack, where US authorities had no inkling of the plan of 'lone wolf ' attacker Omar Mateen, Indians attracted to these groups and planning violent acts could pose a grave threat.


Image: Security personnel keep watch after terrorists stormed the Holey Artisan restaurant in the Gulshan area of Dhaka. Photograph: Mohammad Ponir Hossain/Reuters

Millions of Facebook users will soon be able to connect with more people around the world by sharing their posts and comments in multiple languages. The world's largest social networking site announced that its own developers have built a multilingual composer. The tool enables users to compose a single post that will appear in multiple languages. Other users will see that post in their preferred language.

"People use Facebook to share information and ideas in many different languages," the Facebook team wrote in a blog post. "In fact, 50 per cent of our community speaks a language other than English and most people don't speak each other's languages, so we're always thinking about ways we can help remove language as a barrier to connecting on Facebook".


A user test has already started and anyone in the test group can enable the multilingual composer by going to the Language section of their Account Settings. The composer, Facebook noted, is only available for desktops now, but others can view the multilingual posts across all platforms. According to Facebook, while the site is just beginning to test the service with individual users, they began testing it with pages earlier this year.

Swathi case accused P Ramkumar, who was admitted at Tirunelveli government medical college hospital, has made a preliminary confessional statement to the police that the victim had verbally abused him about his physical appearance which enraged him.

Massacres attributed to the Islamic State have struck on four continents this year, reflecting how the appeal of the group's ideology is growing even as the territory it controls in Iraq and Syria has receded, according to experts.

Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina pays homage to the victims of the Gulshan attack at the Army Stadium in Banani in Dhaka. 

The Bangladesh capital woke up to a cloudy Sunday after incessant rain through the night. But another spectre crept up and menaced Dhaka as it emerged that most of the cafe terrorists came from well-to-do families and might have been alumni of elite private institutions.

Two people are reportedly injured after a suicide bomber carried out an attack near the US consulate in the Saudi Arabian city of Jeddah.

The state-linked Okaz news website said the bomber died in the attack, and that no other deaths were immediately reported. 

The bomber was apparently headed in a car toward a mosque that is near the US consulate. Most of the consulates staff have reportedly moved offices to a new location.

The Sabq news website reported that two security guards were wounded in the attack, which took place early on Monday.

A 2004 militant attack on the US consulate in Jeddah left nine people dead.

The attack comes after over 100 people were killed in Baghdad and the gruesome attack in an eatery in Dhaka.