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Sat, 25 June 2016
Live! Euro: Lucky Wales beat Northern Ireland to make quarters

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23:43   Euro: Lucky Wales beat Northern Ireland to make quarters
Wales booked their maiden Euro last-8 berth after defeating Norther Ireland 1-0 in Paris on Saturday.
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22:54   PM expresses pain over death of CRPF personnel in J&K
Prime Minister Narendra Modi tonight expressed pain over the death of eight CRPF personnel in a terrorist attack in Jammu and Kashmir and saluted their courage. 

"I salute the courage of the CRPF personnel martyred today in J&K. They served the nation with utmost dedication. Pained by their demise," he tweeted.

"My thoughts are with the families of those martyred today. May those injured recover soon," he said in another tweet. 

In the deadliest attack on security forces in recent years, 21 CRPF personnel were also critically wounded when terrorists rained bullets on the bus carrying them at Pampore, near Srinagar, in what appeared to be a Fidayeen attack carried out by Lashkar-e-Taiba.
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22:48  
CNN is now saying that at least 15 people are dead and 25 others are injured as a result of Saturday's car bombing and gun attack at a hotel in the Somali capital of Mogadishu, according to Somali police Col. Mohamed Abdulkadir.

Most of those killed and injured were civilians who were passersby and customers of nearby shops and a petrol station, police said. Fighting still is happening inside the hotel, Somali police Capt. Aden Dahir said.
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22:17   At least five dead in Mogadishu hotel attack in Somalia
From the BBC: An attack by the Islamist group al-Shabab on a hotel in the Somali capital, Mogadishu, has left at least seven dead, health workers say.A car bomb was detonated at the gates of the Naso-Hablod hotel before gunmen stormed it and took hostages.

The identities of the victims are not clear, but reports say they include three security guards.

Al-Shabab militants frequently carry out attacks in the city in their bid to topple the Western-backed government.
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22:13   2 militants killed in encounter in Baramulla
Two militants were killed as an encounter broke out between them and security forces this evening in Uri sector of north Kashmir's Baramulla district, police said.

Acting on a tip-off about presence of militants in Lachipora area of Uri, a joint team of police and the army launched a search operation in the area, a police official said. 

As security forces were carrying out the search operation, militants fired upon them, triggering an encounter in which the two militants were killed, he said. The operation was going on when last reports came in, the official said.
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21:44   Texas: 2 dead, several injured after shooting at dance studio
Two people were killed on Saturday in a shooting at a dance studio in Fort Worth, Texas, and several others were taken to local hospitals with injuries, police said.

One victim was found dead inside Studio 74, and another person died from his injuries at the hospital, according to a statement from a Fort Worth police spokesman.

The police did not say what time the shooting had occurred. The studio provides "dance educational programming and outreach" for children through after-school and in-school programs, according to its website.
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21:34   Ram temple 'will come up soon' at Ayodhya: Yogi Adityanath
Controversial Bharatiya Janata Party Member of Parliament Yogi Adityanath on Saturday said to fulfilled the heartfelt desire of 'sarv samaj', a grand temple "will definitely come up soon" at Ayodhya .

"It is the heartfelt desire of 'sarv samaj' that a grand temple of Lord Ram should be constructed at Ayodhya and it will definitely come up soon," he said in a debate during Panchayat Aaj Tak-Uttar Pradesh 'Kitna Hua Vikas'?

"This country will run according to the Constitution and not by any shariyat," he asserted. 

Adityanath said "sages and seers" have been fighting for construction of the temple for a long time and "there is nothing wrong in it."
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21:14   Euro: Poland beat Switzerland in penalties to enter maiden quarters
Poland beat Switzerland in penalties on Saturday, becoming the first team to enter the Euro 2016 quarter-finals. 

The match went into extra time after both teams had scored a goal each in regulation -- Blaszczykowski put Poland ahead before Shaqiri equalised.In the penalty shootout, Switzerland's Xhakha missed from the spot and Poland sealed their maiden Euro quarter-final berth.
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20:43   TN Cong chief Elangovan quits
Tamil Nadu Congress Committee President E V K S Elangovan has tendered his resignation owning up responsibility for the party's poor show in assembly elections after Vice-President Rahul Gandhi was claimed to have expressed his displeasure over the drubbing. 

"Our party's state unit chief submitted his resignation on June 15 itself as electoral results were not on expected lines," party functionary V R Sivaraman, a confidant of Elangovan, told reporters. Congress, which contested 41 seats as part of the DMK-led alliance, could manage only eight of them.

Factionalism in the party surfaced in the backdrop of the resignation of Elangovan with aspirants lobbying for the top state unit post. It is not yet known whether Elangovan's resignation has been accepted or not.

While factions opposed to Elangovan claimed that he put in his papers after Rahul Gandhi expressed displeasure over the party's poll performance, Sivaraman rejected it. "Its not so. 

Rahul only told him (Elangovan) that the party could have done better and our chief answered that he did his best and also indicated that he was not averse to the idea of the party being led by someone with better abilities in TN," he told PTI.
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20:36   Somalias Al Shabab launch suicide attack on hotel
A massive explosion followed by the sounds of gunfire occurred outside a Mogadishu hotel near the city's airport on Saturday, Somali police and witnesses said.

Freelance journalists in Mogadishu tweeted that the Hotel Nasa Hablod was under attack, with The Associated Press said gunmen were fighting inside the hotel.

More details are awaited.
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20:35  
There is no word on casualties. Reports say there may have been a second blast. There was no immediate comment from al Shabaab, which frequently carries out attacks in the capital in its bid to topple the Western-backed government.
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20:22   Swamy explains his remark, says bloodshed means chaos
BJP MP Subramanian Swamy today sought to downplay his threat of "bloodbath" making it clear he did not intend the literal meaning of the word but only hinted at "chaos" which has not happened.

"I said I am the most disciplined person. If I was indisciplined, there would not be what they called as bloodshed. Bloodshed did not mean blood spilling. Bloodshed means there will be chaos. And I said that because I am disciplined, nothing of that kind happened," he told a press conference. 

The BJP leader said his usage of the word was 'misunderstood' as everyone took the literal meaning of bloodshed. Asked about the reported unhappiness of the BJP leadership over his attacks targeting those in the finance ministry, he said, "That is what your press is saying. I don't know."
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19:49   UK's EU Commissioner resigns after 'Brexit'
Britain's most senior diplomat to the European Union, Jonathan Hill, today announced he will step down from the position saying "what is done cannot be undone", a day after his country decided to leave the 28-member bloc.

Hill said he did not believe it was right for him to carry on with his work as the UK's European Commissioner - in charge of financial services at the European Commission.

"I wanted it to end differently and had hoped that Britain would want to play a role in arguing for an outward-looking, flexible, competitive, free trade Europe. But the British people took a different decision, and that is the way that democracy works," the Conservative party peer and a close aide of David Cameron said in a statement. 

"I came to Brussels as someone who had campaigned against Britain joining the euro and who was sceptical about Europe. I will leave it certain that, despite its frustrations, our membership was good for our place in the world and good for our economy," he said.

"But what is done cannot be undone and now we have to get on with making our new relationship with Europe work as well as possible," he added. European Commissioners are among the most powerful officials within the EU, based in Brussels, with the ability to make laws across a range of policy areas.
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19:46   Defence ministry nod to buy 145 ultra light howitzers from US
Defence Ministry today approved the much delayed purchase of 145 Ultra Light Howitzers, worth about Rs 5,000 crore, from the US and also the bulk production of 18 Dhanush artillery guns, the first acquisition of such weapon systems by the Army in three decades since the Bofors scandal. 

The Defence Acquisition Council, chaired by Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar, took up 18 proposals including new schemes worth Rs 28,000 crore for discussion. 

Another key project that got an Acceptance of Necessity, which will now allow the Navy to issue tenders, was the proposal to build six next generation missile vessels under 'Buy Indian' category for Rs 13,600 crore. 

"DAC has approved progressing of ongoing case of procurement of 145 Ultra Light Howitzers through the Foreign Military Sales route from US. DAC directed independent progressing of offset. The delivery of these guns will be in India which will help in substantial saving of transportation cost," a senior Defence Ministry official said. The DAC has also shortened the supply period of the guns, with a strike range of 25 kms, sources said though the exact period could not be known. 

The officer said that India had sent a letter of request to the US government showing interest in buying the guns which will be deployed in high altitude areas in Arunachal Pradesh and Ladakh, bordering China.

The US had responded with a Letter of Acceptance and today DAC looked into the terms and conditions and approved it.
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19:19   Pak claims 'important' leads uncovered in Sabri killing
Pakistani investigators have uncovered "important leads" in the murder case of one of the country's finest Sufi Qawwals Amjad Sabri, who was shot dead by Taliban militants this week, the government claimed today. Sindh province Chief Minister Qaim Ali Shah said progress has been made in Sabri's murder investigation.

"The law enforcement departments have uncovered important leads in the murder of Amjad Sabri," Shah said in a statement to the provincial assembly.

He assured the House that the killers of 45-year-old Sabri, who was fatally attacked on Wednesday in Karachi by two unidentified bike-borne gunmen, will be arrested soon. The chief minister announced a compensation of 10 million rupees for Sabri's family and said his wife will be offered a government job. The Tehreek-e-Taliban Hakimullah Masood group, which has said it was against any form of Sufism, has claimed the attack on Sabri. Since Sabri's killing, grief and anger have gripped Pakistan with TV channels and the print media highlighting the state of lawlessness in the country's largest city Karachi.

The police have so far been unable to arrest the gunmen behind the attack on Sabri, who was shot in the chest and head.
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18:48   Six girls rescued from human traffickers by Mumbai police
Six girls, including four minors, were rescued from alleged human traffickers by Social Service branch of Mumbai police in raids carried out in different areas of the city, the police said today.

"In the raid in suburban Sakinaka, three girls, including two minors, were rescued from a hotel last night. Cash of Rs 5,500 and a mobile phone were recovered," police said.

"In the raid in Sion area of South Mumbai, two minors were among three girls who were rescued," they said. Cases have been registered by Sakinaka police station and Antop Hill police station against two persons, they said.

The accused were booked under sections 366 (A) (procuration of minor girl), 370(A) (exploitation of a trafficked person) of the IPC and relevant sections of Immoral Traffic (Prevention) Act and Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act, they said.
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18:28   Will wage 'jihad' to 'free' Pak rivers from India: Saeed
JuD chief and Mumbai attack mastermind Hafiz Saeed has said he will wage a "war" against India to get Pakistani rivers "freed".

"We are going to wage jihad (war) against India to get our rivers freed," Saeed said while addressing a gathering of Jamaat-ud-Dawa workers in Sialokot district of Punjab Province yesterday.

Saeed, on whose head the US has put a bounty of $10 million, claimed "freedom movement" of the Kashmiris is "gaining momentum day by day".

Saeed said Dukhtraan-e-Milat's head Asiya Andrabi told him that situation in Kashmir has "changed" now.
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18:09   5 CRPF jawans, 2 terrorists killed in encounter in Pampore
Mukhtar Ahmad reports from Srinagar: Five CRPF troopers and two militants were killed in an ambush in Pampore town of south Kashmir Pulwama district late this afternoon. 

A senior police officer said militants opened indiscriminate fire from automatic weapons at a passing convoy of the CRPF near Frestbal in Pampore town.
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17:12   AAP MLA Dinesh Mohaniya sent to judicial custody till June 27
AAP MLA Dinesh Mohaniya who was arrested on assault charges has been sent to judicial custody till June 27.

Aam Aadmi Party MLA Dinesh Mohaniya was on Saturday arrested on charges of molestation and sexual harassment amidst high drama when he was addressing a press conference, triggering an angry reaction from Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal who accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi of declaring an "emergency" in Delhi.

The MLA was booked on June 23 for allegedly misbehaving with a group of women, who approached him with a complaint regarding water crisis in their locality. An FIR under Sections 323, 506 and 509 was registered in south Delhi's Neb Sarai police station.

Another case has been registered against Mohaniya at Govindpuri Police Station for allegedly slapping a 60-year-old man in Tughlaquabad area on Friday. 
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17:07   Modi congratulates Mehbooba on "phenomenal" win
Prime Minister Narendra Modi today congratulated Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti on her "phenomenal" victory in the bypoll for Anantnag assembly seat.

"Congratulations to J&K CM Mehbooba Mufti for the phenomenal victory in the Anantnag assembly by-election," he tweeted.

BJP is running a coalition government in the restive border state for the first time with Mehbooba's People's Democratic Party.
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16:50   Vadra-Swamy spat over 'waiter' remarks
Robert Vadra today took a dig at Subramanian Swamy for his "derogatory" remarks about waiters and termed them "classist", prompting the BJP MP to retort that he should concentrate on "staying out of jail" instead of making political comments.
Vadra, who is Congress chief Sonia Gandhi's son-in-law, earlier in the day attacked Swamy over his apparent swipe at Finance Minister Arun Jaitley in which he had said ministers who wear a coat and tie look like waiters and must be instructed to wear Indian clothes.
In a Facebook post, Vadra said, "Undermining waiters who work hard for a living; making condescending and derogatory remarks about them is deplorable and classist". 

Swamy soon hit back.

"Mr Vadra should concentrate on staying out of jail instead of making political comments," he told reporters.
Asked about the reported unhappiness of the BJP leadership over his consistent tirade against Jaitley and his ministry's officials, he said, "That is what your press is saying. I don't know." 
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16:40   Over 1 mln sign petition demanding 2nd Brexit referendum in UK
Over a million people have signed a petition in the UK calling for a second referendum over the country's EU membership following the shock Brexit vote. 

The petition will now have to be discussed in the British Parliament, having crossed 100,000 signatures required to trigger a debate in the House of Commons.

The UK voted to leave the EU by 52 to 48 per cent in Thursday's referendum but the majority of voters in London, Scotland and Northern Ireland backed the Remain side in a 72 per cent turnout.
The petition passed the million mark this morning, with votes most concentrated in London, Brighton, Oxford, Cambridge and Manchester.
The petition started by William Oliver Healey reads, "We the undersigned call upon Her Majesty's Government to implement a rule that if the Remain or Leave vote is less than 60 per cent based a turnout less than 75 per cent there should be another referendum."
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16:35   US military to lift transgender ban: media
The Pentagon is set to lift its ban on transgender troops within the coming weeks, US media reported.
The move would be another major milestone for America's vast military, which up until five years ago still banned gay troops from openly discussing their sexuality under a "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy.
USA Today said the transgender announcement is expected July 1 and the plan would require each branch of the military to phase in the new policy over a 12-month period.  Pentagon press secretary Peter Cook declined to confirm reports, but said a decision was due "soon."

Currently, Pentagon rules allow transgender troops to be discharged from the military. 

Defence Secretary Ashton Carter last year ordered all military roles -- including combat positions -- to be opened to women.
Maryland Democratic Congressman Steny Hoyer welcomed the news.
"The reversal of the ban is a major step forward in the effort to secure the full rights and equality of LGBT people in our country, and it will strengthen our military by ensuring that talented, dedicated candidates are not turned away or discouraged from serving because of their gender
identity," he said in a statement.
The US military has about 1.3 service members. 
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15:54   NASA's Curiosity rover may image potential water sites on Mars
NASA scientists are planning to use the Curiosity Mars rover to capture images of potential water sites and study areas with long, seasonally changing dark streaks in the hope of finding evidence of life on the
red planet.

Pending approval of a mission extension, the Curiosity rover will continue to climb to progressively higher and younger strata on Mount Sharp, studying how long the ancient, water-rich environments found so far persisted as Mars dried out.
Reaching those destinations would bring the rover closer to locations where dark streaks are present on some slopes.

The route would allow the one-tonne rover to capture images of the potential water sites from miles away and see if any are the seasonally changing type. 

The features of interest have been observed by NASA's High-Resolution Imaging Science Experiment camera on the Mars Reconnaissance.
They appear as dark lines that appear to ebb and flow over time. Planetary scientists think these gullies or recurring slope lineae appear seasonally as a form of briny water at or near the surface of the Red Planet under warmer conditions.
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15:12   Pakistan joins SCO as full member
Pakistan has become full member of Shanghai Cooperation Organisatio after signing Memorandum of Obligations in SCO's Heads of State Summit at Tashkent.

The memorandum was signed by Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif's advisor on foreign affairs Sartaj Aziz, reports the Express Tribune.

The document was jointly signed by the Foreign Ministers of Six SCO member states, Secretary General SCO and the Adviser on Foreign Affairs.

Pakistan's Foreign Office in a statement said, "Pakistan has been an observer at SCO since 2005. It has been a regular participant in the meetings of SCO and was the first SCO observer to apply for full membership in 2010,"
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15:09   Brexit, a sign of anti-elite revolt: analysts
It was Britain's poorer and less-educated citizens -- angry at not having shared in the economic benefits of a new world order -- who pushed it out of the European Union, in a vote that threatens elites, analysts
say.
They are those who suffered the worst hangover from the economic crisis, and whose precarious economic position makes them most fearful of rising immigration -- to the benefit of far right groups in the EU and Donald Trump in the United States.
"I see the same pattern everywhere I look," said William Galston, a senior fellow at the US-based Brookings Institution.

"The demographic splits within the UK are exactly the same category for category as the demographic splits within the American electorate in this presidential election." 
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15:02   Germany says 'won't let anyone take Europe from us'
German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier said today that the EU would weather the shock of the British vote to leave the union as he convened crisis talks.
"I am confident that these countries can also send a
message that we won't let anyone take Europe from us," he said
heading into a meeting in Berlin of his counterparts from the
EU's six founding members.
His French counterpart Jean-Marc Ayrault urged quick
negotiations on Britain's exit from the union, saying that the
pressure would be "very strong" on British Prime Minister
David Cameron at an EU summit on Tuesday to speed up the
process.
Cameron, who yesterday announced his resignation by
October in the wake of the referendum, said it should be his
successor who leads the complex negotiations under Article 50
of the EU's Lisbon Treaty which sets out a two-year timeframe
to leave.

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13:53   Farmers baton-charged for protesting auction of oilfields
Police today baton-charged farmers protesting against auction of 67 oilfields across the country, including 12 blocks in Assam, at the venue of a roadshow in the city where Petroleum Minister Dharmendra Pradhan was present.
Police detained the nearly 100 protesters and took them to nearby police station.

The farmers, who were protesting under the aegis of RTI activist Akhil Gogoi led Krishak Mukti Sangram Samiti, were demanding exclusion of the 12 blocks in Assam and withdrawal of FDI in oil sector.
Pradhan was holding a one-day roadshow at a five-star hotel here to attract bidders for the 67 oilfields across the country.
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13:45   Bangladesh enforces nationwide "security alert" for jails
Bangladesh has ordered an intensified security vigil for 68 jails across the country after warnings of possible terror attacks in the wake of nationwide anti-militants clampdown, senior officials said today.
"Instructions have been issued to intensify the security of our prisons. Directives have been sent out also for enforcing an extra vigil around the jails premises as well," Inspector general of prisons Brigadier General Syed Iftekhar Uddin said today.
He said an intelligence report warning against a possible major terror attack to destablise the country prompted the jail authorities to revise the security systems of the prisons.
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13:29   Hizbul Mujahideen module busted by Shopian Police; 3 militants arrested
The Shopian police on Saturday claims to have busted a module of Hizb-ul-Mujahideen outfit and arrested three of its members. The militants were taken into custody during the operation. 

The militants were identified as Zahid Mangrey, son of Muhammad Afzal Mangrey, Sohel Lone, son of Abdul Bashir and Arshid Khan, son of Abdul Rashid Khan, reported greaterkashmir.com. The men have been identified as residents of Ganaupora village of Shopian in south Kashmir.

In April, the army claimed to have killed two Hizbul Mujahideen militants in Shopian district, South Kashmir. 

Earlier this month, the Hizbul Mujahideen had released a six-minute video, in which its 21-year-old commander is seen threatening with attacks on the proposed Sainik colonies, if they are set it up in Kashmir.
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13:28   Delhi court grants bail to alleged assasin Emmanuelle Verhoeven
A Delhi Court granted bail today to French national Marie Emmanuelle Verhoeven, who was in jail on charges of assassinating a Chilean senator.

Marie Emmanuelle Verhoeven, a 55-year-old French national lodged in a Tihar cell, wanted the bail to avoid her extradition to Chile where she is wanted as a suspect in the killing of Jaime Guzmn Errzuriz, a senator under the Pinochet regime. Months after the collapse of the military dictatorship, Errzuriz was assassinated in 1991. Verhoeven was a suspect in the case.
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12:56   Anantnag by-polls: Mehbooba Mufti wins by over 10,000 votes
Jammu and Kashmir chief minister Mehbooba Mufti has won the Anatnag by-polls by over 10,000 votes. 

After the four rounds, Mehbooba had polled 8,549 votes followed by Hilal Ahmad Shah of Congress (2,752) and Iftikhar Misger of National Conference (9,526), District Election Authorities said. 

Mehbooba is among eight candidates in the bypoll for Anantnag Assembly seat which was necessitated due to death of incumbent MLA and then chief minister Mufti Mohammad Sayeed on January 7 this year.

The by-election in Anantnag took place following the death of the then Chief Minister Mufti Mohammad Sayeed, who represented the constituency in the 87-member legislative house. 

Sayeed passed away in New Delhi on 7 January after a brief illness. Mehbooba assumed office after being sworn in as the Chief Minister of the PDP-BJP coalition government on April 4.
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12:42   AAP MLA Dinesh Mohaniya arrested for slapping 60-year-old man
AAP MLA Dinesh Mohaniya was arested today for slapping a 60-year-old man for allegedly failing to recognize him. 

The incident took place in Tughlakabad locality where Mohaniya had gone for a visit on Friday. 

Locals told the police that other workers from the party who had accompanied Mohaniya also attacked the old man identified as Rakesh. The workers also misbehaved with women who were present at the spot. 

Mohaniya who visited Tughlakabad was met by locals who were distressed over the water supply issue in the area. Locals complained that they did not have access to adequate water supply. 
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12:23   Sukhoi does demo flight with BrahMos missile
Supersonic cruise missile had its maiden demonstration flight on board Sukhoi today. 

According to BrahMosAerospace officials, the missile's successful integration on Su-30MKI was demonstrated from HAL's Nasik unit. The officials termed the test as major fillip to the BrahMos air-launched flight test programme. 

Today's test paves way to test firing the 2.5-tonne air-to-ground missile in the next couple of months. 

Integration of BrahMos with the Su-30MKI will render the weapon a multi-platform capability while making the Indian Air Force the only air force in the world in procession of a supersonic cruise missile system. 

"The flight trial has been keenly observed by several other nations in the world in possession of the Su-30 strike fighter who are looking towards acquiring a lethal weapon system for the Russian-made warplanes," says a BrahMos official. The significant flight was witnessed by HAL Chairman T S Raju and BrahMos CEO S K Mishra. 
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12:13   Texas mother fatally shoots 2 daughters; police kill her
Police say a Houston-area woman fatally shot her two adult daughters before officers shot and killed her.
The incident happened about 5 pm yesterday in front of a home on the fringe of the Houston suburb of Fulshear. Fort Bend County Sheriff Troy Nehls says a motive was still under investigation, but it appeared the shooting climaxed a family argument.
Nehls says the two younger women had already been shot when a Fulshear police officer arrived and saw the mother with a gun in her hand, apparently preparing to shoot one of her daughters again. The officer shot and killed the woman. 

No identities have been released.
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12:00   IMD predicts 'very heavy rainfall over Mumbai
Even as heavy rains lashed Mumbai for most part of Friday, the Indian Meteorological Department issued a forecast for heavy-to-very-heavy rainfall across the city, along with Konkan and Goa, and Alibag over the weekend. 

BMC officials said that there was a 4.42 m high tide around 3 pm, coinciding with incessant heavy rains, on Friday. 

"This led to waterlogging at some spots like Hindmata, Parel TT. However, we opened the manholes within minutes and deployed labour to clear the water from these lowlying areas," an official said. 
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11:47   Students should not use mobile phones: New diktat from Jat Panchayat
A UP panchayat on Saturday issued a diktat saying students should refrain from using mobile phones, ANI reported.

Santosh Verma, member of the Jat Mahasabha told ANI that the diktat was not against the use of mobile phones entirely.

Not against mobiles but its misuse, he said. Students must use them only in presence of parents.

Two weeks ago, the Haryana Education Department banned wearing jeans for teachers in school. The notice said that it was not appropriate for teachers to wear jeans in school and that they should be dressed in more formal clothes. The notice was slammed by the Congress immediately.

Earlier in 2016, a panchayat in a village in Gujarat banned women from using mobile phones, claiming that the gadget distracts them from studies.
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11:39   Anantnag bypoll: Mehbooba leading by over 6,000 votes
Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti has extended her lead to over 6,000 votes after four rounds of counting in the bypoll to Anantnag assembly constituency.
After the four rounds, Mehbooba had polled 8,549 votes followed by Hilal Ahmad Shah of Congress (2,752) and Iftikhar Misger of National Conference (9,526), District Election Authorities said.
Mehbooba is among 8 candidates in the bypoll for Anantnag Assembly seat which was necessitated due to death of incumbent MLA and then chief ministre Mufti Mohammad Sayeed on January 7 this year.
Polling in the constituency was held on June 22 during which over 28,000 of the 84,000 voters exercised their franchise.
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11:28   23 dead in West Virginia floods
Flooding in the US state of West Virginia killed 23 people and stranded others who had to be plucked from rooftops and rescued from fast-moving waters, state officials said.
"The damage is widespread and devastating. Our focus remains on search and rescue," Governor Earl Ray Tomblin told a news conference after floods caused by a day of heavy rains.

"I had planned to fly around the affected areas myself today but wasn't able to, because all state aircrafts are currently being used for rescues," he said.

Tomblin gave a death toll of 14 from the disaster, but later Friday Jessica Tice, with the state's Homeland Security and Emergency Management office, told AFP that the toll had reached 23.
The dead included an eight-year-old boy who was swept away while walking along a creek bank with his mother and sister, local news station WSAZ reported. His body was found after three hours of searching.
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11:23   Elangovan quits as Tamil Nadu Congress committee chief
Tamil Nadu Congress Committee president E V K S Elangovan has quit from his position claiming responsibility for loss in recently concluded assembly elections.

While speculation was rife that this could have been a pre-emptive move since the high command was already mulling a change in TNCC leadership, sources close to Elangovan contended it was voluntary.

Sources within the party claimed the main charge against Elangovan was the unsatisfactory performance of the party in the recent assembly polls, when it won just eight of the 41 seats it contested as part of the DMK alliance. 
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11:17   'Save UP sister Priyanaka' say Cong posters in the state
Seems like some Congressmen want to see Rahul's sister lead the party in UP.

Posters put up outside the Congress office in Lucknow have asled Priyanka Gandhi Vadra to lead the party in UP.

'Thugs are around on all quarters, come and save UP sister Priyanaka' the posters state.

Will she heed the call?
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11:07   Pakistan grants 91-year-old Hindu man last wish, a trip to his old home
It is almost everyday that 91-year-old Krishna Khanna remembers his childhood days in the 1930s when as a boy of five he had laughed and played along with his grandfather at their home in Udhoke, Pakistan.

There is another memory. This one dark. It is 1947 and pre-partition riots have driven them from Udhoke to Sheikhupura, a city considered safer. They are cowering inside a gurdwara and a blood-thirsty mob has converged outside. But just before the door comes crashing down, the army arrives and saves them.

"But I have no bitterness... "Both our countries suffered. All I want to do now is see my ancestral village in Pakistan one more time. It's my last wish," he said.
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10:52   Trump rakes up Clinton's Indian donations issue
Attacking his Democratic rival Hillary Clinton over donations to her family foundation, presumptive Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump has alleged that she received funds from Indian political leaders
and institutions to vote for the Indo-US civil nuclear deal.
Released by the Trump campaign in form of a 35-page booklet, none of these allegations are new and have been known in the public domain for past several years. 

Clinton, the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee, had refuted these allegations several times in the past.

In a statement, the Trump campaign said the information provided in the booklet is in-depth summary of the top 50 facts about Clinton's record that were detailed by Trump in a major speech early this week in New York.
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10:43   JD-U dubs separatists attending iftar at Pak High Commission as 'diplomatic failure'
The Janata Dal-United on Saturday dubbed the Kashmiri separatist leaders attending an 'iftar' party hosted by the Pakistan High Commission here as a 'diplomatic failure' and lashed out at Prime Minister Narendra Modi for extending a hand of friendship to Pakistan.

"This is a diplomatic failure. We attend their birthday parties and eat cake. And they are involving the separatists. It is very clear what their intensions are. They made tall claims during the election campaigns on dealing with these issue," JD-U spokesperson Ajay Alok told ANI here.
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10:29   Counting for Anantnag bypoll briefly suspended
Counting for the bypoll to Anantnag Assembly seat of Jammu and Kashmir was today briefly suspended after Congress candidate Hilal Ahmad Shah alleged that the EVMs have been tampered with.
The counting was stopped for around 15 minutes after Shah and his agents walked out of the counting hall, officials said.
They said Shah alleged that some EVMs were not carrying the mandatory seal and might have been changed in the process to favour Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti, who is a candidate from the seat.
District Election Officer Abid Shah said the counting has now resumed and the third round is in progress.
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10:11   Mehbooba leading by over 1,300 votes
Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti was today leading by over 1300 votes after the first round of counting in the bypoll to Anantnag assembly constituency.
After the first round, Mehbooba had polled 1826 votes followed by Hilal Ahmad Shah of Congress (516) and Iftikhar Misger of National Conference (316), District Election Authorities said.
Mehbooba is among eight candidates in the bypoll for Anantnag Assembly seat which was necessitated due to death of incumbent MLA and then chief ministre Mufti Mohammad Sayeed on January 7 this year.
Polling in the constituency was held on June 22 during which over 28,000 of the 84,000 voters exercised their franchise. 
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10:08   'Why Trump makes me scared for my family'
In an op-ed published by the New York Times, American actor and comedian Aziz Ansari speaks of the fears that the political ascendance of Donald Trump and his ilk have brought forth for hard-working, law-abiding Muslim Americans in the name of combating the tide of ISIS.

'I am the son of Muslim immigrants,' writes Ansari, 'And in the aftermath of the horrible attack in Orlando, Fla., I realized how awful it was to tell an American citizen to be careful about how she worshiped.'

'Being Muslim American already carries a decent amount of baggage. In our culture, when people think "Muslim," the picture in their heads is not usually of the Nobel Peace Prize winner Malala Yousafzai, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar or the kid who left the boy band One Direction. It's of a scary terrorist character from "Homeland" or some monster from the news,' says Ansari.

'Today, with the presidential candidate Donald J Trump and others like him spewing hate speech, prejudice is reaching new levels. It's visceral, and scary, and it affects how people live, work and pray. It makes me afraid for my family,' states the comedian who appears on the Netflix show 'Master of None'.

The piece can be read in its entirety HERE.
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09:47   Anantnag counting begins: Mehbooba's fate to be decided soon
Counting of votes began on Saturday morning for south Kashmir's Anantnag assembly constituency where Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti is one of the eight contesting candidates

"The strong room where the EVMs had been kept in safe custody after the poll process on 22 June, was opened in the presence of the contesting candidates and their representatives in Anantnag," an official told IANS.

"The counting process has started and the results should be known before midday."

Eight candidates including Mehbooba Mufti of the Peoples Democratic Party, Hilal Ahmad Shah of the Congress and Iftikhar Hussain Misgar of the National Conference are contesting.

Read more HERE,
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09:28   Does Brexit mean Trump will win?
The presumptive Republican presidential nominee, who arrived in the UK to visit his Scottish golf courses just as the referendum result was announced, declared Friday that the US is next.

"Come November, the American people will have the chance to re-declare their independence. Americans will have a chance to vote for trade, immigration and foreign policies that put our citizens first," he said. 

"They will have the chance to reject today's rule by the global elite, and to embrace real change that delivers a government of, by and for the people."
Indeed, British voters delivered the kind of crushing rejection of the political, business and media elites that Trump has been railing against.

Read more HERE.
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04:08   Pro-remain campaigners call for mass protest at Houses of Parliament
Hundreds of people have signed up online to take part in a rally against the results of the British referendum, which ended with the majority of Brits voting to leave the European Union.

This referendum's campaign descended into an absolute pantomime, and the result is terrifying, the organizers of the march with a vocal title F**k Brexit rally wrote on Facebook, calling on people to arrive at Parliament Square at noon on Saturday, June 25, and show strength in the face of a decision none of us can truly predict the outcome of.

Protesters are to march on the Houses of Parliament, with organizers hoping the initiative can help show peoples anger about the referendum result that has split [Britain] into two.

Organizers claim the majority of the British public didn't fully understand the significance of the vote and its possible consequences. In the early hours of Friday morning, just before the vote results were announced, Google reported that the number of searches like what will happen if Britain leaves the EU? tripled across the country.

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04:04   Scots independence vote 'highly likely'
Scotland's first minister has said a second independence referendum is "highly likely" after the UK voted to leave the EU.

Nicola Sturgeon said it was "democratically unacceptable" that Scotland faced the prospect of being taken out of the EU against its will.

She said the Scottish government would begin preparing legislation to enable another independence vote.Scotland voted in favour of the UK staying in the EU by 62% to 38%.

The UK as a whole has voted to leave, by a margin of 52% to 48%, prompting UK Prime Minister David Cameron to announce he would stand down by October.

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02:53   Turkey warns of rising European xenophobia after Brexit vote
urope's politicians are failing to combat rising xenophobia and anti-immigrant views, Turkish officials said on Friday, after Britain's vote to exit the European Union deprived Turkey of what had been a major backer in its quest for EU membership.

The Brexit campaign and the rise of Europe's populist right have cast further doubt over Turkey's decade-long accession negotiations, a process which was in its early years an anchor for economic and social reforms in the country."

The fragmentation of the EU has started. Britain was the first to abandon ship," Deputy Prime Minister Nurettin Canikli wrote on Twitter.

Turkey's EU Affairs Minister Omer Celik said the British campaign had been marred by Islamophobia and anti-Turkish sentiment fuelled by mainstream politicians.

Read more
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02:40   Obama names Stonewall national monument; 1st for gay rights
President Barack Obama created the first national monument to gay rights on Friday, designating the site of the Stonewall riots in Manhattan where the modern gay rights movement took root nearly five decades ago.
The Stonewall National Monument will be anchored by Christopher Park, a small park just across from the iconic Stonewall Inn tavern, and covers a 7.7 acre swath of Greenwhich Village where the uprising took place after police raided the gay bar in 1969.
Obama said the monument would "tell the story of our struggle for LGBT rights" and of a civil rights movement that became a part of America.
"I believe our national parks should reflect the full story of our country: the richness and diversity and uniquely American spirit that has always defined us," Obama said in a video announcing the monument. "That we are stronger together, that out of many, we are one."
To herald the new monument, the video of Obama along with footage from the uprising was to be played at noon tomorrow on the billboards in Times Square just as New York's annual pride celebration is getting under way, the White House said. 
The declaration also comes as advocates celebrate the one-year anniversary on Sunday of the Supreme Court decision legalizing gay marriage nationwide.
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02:23   We won't abandon nukes with US gun to our head: N Korea
The top North Korean official for US relations on Friday said that his country is now a nuclear threat to be reckoned with, and Washington can expect more nuclear tests and missile launches like the ones earlier this week as long as it attempts to force his government's collapse through a policy of pressure and punishment.
"It's the United States that caused this issue," Han Song Ryol, director-general of the department of US affairs at North Korea's Foreign Ministry, told AP in his first interview with an American news organisation since assuming the post three years ago.
"They have to stop their military threats, sanctions and economic pressure. Without doing so, it's like they are telling us to reconcile while they are putting a gun to our forehead."
Han defended the North's test-launching on Wednesday of two medium-range ballistic missiles. Foreign military experts believe that, once perfected, such missiles could deliver nuclear warheads to US bases in Japan and possibly to major US military installations as far away as the Pacific island of Guam, where long-range US Air Force bombers are deployed. 
The tests indicated technological advances in the North's missile capabilities. They were quickly condemned by Washington, Tokyo and Seoul as a "provocation" and a violation of United Nations resolutions.
State Department spokesman John Kirby said US policy calling for the denuclearisation of the Korean peninsula hasn't changed.
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01:34   Putin blames Brexit on London's 'overconfidence'
Russian President Vladimir Putin on Friday said the British government was "overconfident" and "superficial" in the EU referendum, and denied taking a position on Brexit.
The organisation of the referendum was "nothing more than overconfidence and a superficial approach to solving fateful decisions for one's country, and Europe as a whole, on the part of the British leadership," Putin said,in comments broadcast on Russian state television.
"It will have consequences for the United Kingdom, for all of Europe and for us, of course," he added.
Many observers have said that Brexit would play into the Putin's hands as he has been accused of driving a wedge between EU members.
But Putin said that Russia had never "interferred, never expressed our opinion on the matter" and dismissed attempts to associate Moscow with the UK vote to split from the European bloc.
"Of course we closely followed what is happening but did not in any way influence the process and didn't even try to," the Russian strongman said.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov also stressed there was no indication that Moscow was pleased with the result of the vote.
"The topic of Brexit is Britain's domestic issue and an issue of its relations with the EU," said Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov.
Putin also said Russia would strive to minimise Brexit's potential effect on the Russian economy, which is already reeling from low oil prices and the devaluation of its currency.
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00:50   World doping watchdog shuts down Rio Olympic laboratory
Just weeks before the Olympic Games open in Rio de Janeiro, the city's accredited anti-doping laboratory has been stopped from conducting tests. 
The World Anti-Doping Agency said on Friday it has suspended the lab's accreditation due to "non-conformity with the International Standard for Laboratories."
The suspension is an embarrassment to Brazil and Rio so close to the Summer Games, which open August 5 after months of political turmoil and financial crisis for federal, state and city authorities.
The failings of the Rio laboratory, known as Ladetec, have previously been exposed by WADA suspending its accreditation in 2012, after a false positive test result, and revoking its status in 2013.
Rio risks being without a hometown lab during the Olympics two years it was shut down during the 2014 World Cup.
No details of the laboratory's latest problems were specified.
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00:48   Obama says UK committed to 'orderly transition' out of EU
President Barack Obama tried to reassure Britons on Friday that the special relationship between Washington and London would withstand an impending and likely messy divorce from Europe, as his administration scrambled to assess the fallout from a decision that left people stunned on both sides of the Atlantic.
As stock markets tumbled the day after the unexpected vote, Obama offered words of calm and continuity, saying the the shocking vote would disrupt neither the "enduring" bond between the US and the UK nor American support for the European alliance.
In a blitz of phone calls, Obama and his senior advisers called British and European officials to express support. 

Obama spoke with Prime Minister David Cameron and German Chancellor Angela Merkel separately to begin discussions on how Britain will extricate itself from the 27-member union, a process expected to take up to 2 years.
Obama said he came away from his call with Cameron "confident" that Britain is "committed to an orderly transition."
"One thing that will not change is the special relationship," between the US and the UK, Obama said in remarks at Stanford University.
The reassurance could not paper over what was clearly a blow to the president, who in one night saw his calls for unity rejected and his legacy in Europe reshaped.
Obama had strongly urged that the UK remain in the EU, and the decision significantly undermined his efforts to counter the isolationist viewpoints taking hold in many parts of the world.
The vote also ensured that, despite his high-profile aim of strengthening international alliances, he will leave office with the European Union diminished and under threat of further unraveling.
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00:24   America is next: Donald Trump on Brexit
British voters just shattered political convention in a stunning repudiation of the ruling establishment. Donald Trump is betting America is about to do the same.

Voters in the UK did more than reject the European Union and topple their pro-EU Prime Minister David Cameron in a referendum Thursday.

They also set off a cascade of events that could spark global economic chaos, remake the Western world, reverberate through November's presidential election and challenge U.S. security for years to come.

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