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Sat, 10 September 2016
JNUSU polls: Left alliance sweeps all four posts

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23:23   Indian prisoner in Pak shifted to another cell after attacks
A 31-year-old Indian prisoner, sentenced by a military court in Peshawar for possessing a fake Pakistani identity card, has been shifted to a separate cell after he was attacked thrice by fellow inmates.

Hamid Nehal Ansari, a Mumbai resident arrested in 2012 for illegally entering Pakistan from Afghanistan reportedly to meet a girl he had befriended online, was shifted last month by prison authorities after receiving direction from Peshawar high court to adopt security measures for protecting him.

A division bench comprising Justice Musarrat Hilali and Justice Qalandar Ali Khan on August 4 had directed Prison Superintendent Masoodur Rehman to hold a meeting with human rights activist Rakhshanda Naz and find a solution for safety and security of Ansari, The Nation reported.

Ansari was attacked and injured three times over the last couple of months and shifted to the hospital for treatment, the counsel added.

He said even the head warden would subject him to brutality and slap him on a daily basis without any reason.

Anwar said that Ansari lodged a complaint about this with the superintendent.

Superintendent of the prison Masoodur Rehman confirmed the incidents but insisted theyre of minor nature and that such incidents did happen in prisons.

Rehman also told the bench that Ansari, who was serving three years jail term, had been kept in the death cell.

Ansari had gone missing after he was taken into custody by intelligence agencies and local police in Kohat in 2012 and finally in reply to a habeas corpus petition filed by his mother, Fauzia Ansari, the high court was informed on January 13 that he was in custody of the Pakistan Army and was being tried by a military court.

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23:04   JNUSU polls: Left alliance sweeps all four posts
JUST IN: Left alliance All India Students Association and Students' Federation of India -- sweeps all four seats in Jawaharlal Nehru University Students' Union elections.

Mohit Pandey elected as president, Amal P P elected as vice president.

Tabrez Hasan elected as joint secretary and Shatarupa Chakraborty elected as general secretary.
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22:43   11 dead, 100 injured in Tanzania earthquake
An earthquake measuring 5.7 hit Tanzania on Saturday, killing 11 people and injuring over 100, police said.

Tremors were felt in nearby Rwanda, Burundi, Uganda and Kenya also, the United States Geological Survey said.

The epicentre of the quake was about 25 kilometres east of the north western town of Nsunga on the border of Lake Victoria.

Earthquakes are fairly common in the Great Lakes region but are almost always of low intensity.
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22:29   Protests against 'abduction' of Baloch activists, citizens by Pakistani forces
The Baloch National Front on Saturday staged a protest condemning the abduction of Baloch women, harassment of activists and the human rights abuses being carried out by the Pakistani forces.

The protestors were seen shouting slogans, calling for a stop to the abduction of women in Balochistan and they also urged the United Nations to 'wake up' and take notice of the issue.

Earlier, asserting that Pakistani forces have started fresh waves of military operations across Balochistan, Baloch Republican Party representative at the United Nations Human rights council Abdul Nawaz Bugti had stated that in different parts of Dera Bugti, people are now being abducted.

"Baloch civil populace have been attacked and more than 19 baloch civilians, including women and children, all belonging to the same family have been abducted. An innocent baloch man was killed in the operation in Dera Bugti. Similarly, many parts of Naseerbabad district were also attacked and Baloch civilians were harassed and many of them have been abducted," Bugti said.

He further stated that in Turbat area, a political worker's house is under siege since the past four days and his family, mostly women and children including an infant are starving.

Image used for representation only. Photograph: Reuters
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21:30   Ratan Tata's Twitter account 'hacked'
Leading industrialist Ratan Tata today said his Twitter account was hacked yesterday and a 'spurious' tweet with 'malicious intent' was sent.

'Shocked that my Twitter account was hacked yesterday and a spurious malicious was wrongly attributed to me. This spurious tweet has now been deleted and my Twitter account restored. I regret the inconvenience that this malicious and wrongful action may have caused,' he tweeted.

Yesterday, a tweet by parody account @realhistorypic was shared by Tata's account showed Reliance Industries Chief Mukesh Ambani and Prime Minister Narendra Modi together with the caption: Owner of Network 18 welcoming his employee to address people how (sic) cronies are going to halt inflation.

The tweet also marked Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal.

Twitterati was surprised by the tweet by the Chairman Emeritus of Tata Sons considering that he is not very active on Twitter.
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21:20  
JUST IN: Tremors of magnitude 4.1 felt in Delhi-NCR area. Epicentre at 10 kms near Jhajjar, Haryana.
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21:04   Talks about talks in the Kashmir Valley
There is a silver lining in the dark cloud of uncertainty looming over Jammu and Kashmir.  An all-party delegation that recently visited the Kashmir Valley has called for talks with all stakeholders which may include the "separatist' All Parties Hurriyet Conference as well. Will the Modi government find such an extraordinary idea agreeable? Anyway, the federal government needs an out-of-the-box approach to resolve the Kashmir tangle. Read more.
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20:34   Shah forms 5-member committee to probe Kerala attacks
Expressing concern over 'growing incidents of attack' on the Bharatiya Janata Party workers in Kerala, party president Amit Shah has constituted a five-member team to visit the state and submit a report over the matter.

BJP general secretary Bhupendra Yadav will head the committee whose other members are party members of Parliament Meenakshi Lekhi, Anant Hegde, Nalin Kateel and its national secretary and Kerala in-charge H Raja, a statement said.

The committee members will visit the state immediately and submit their report to Shah over the 'growing' political violence targeting the party workers.

The decision comes in the wake of a crude bomb attack at the party's office in Thiruvananthapuram which, it has alleged, was aimed at its state chief Kummanam Rajasekharan, who had left the office some time before the bomb was thrown.

The BJP has blamed the Left workers for the attack on its and Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh functionaries, alleging that such incidents have attacked since the Communist Party of India-Marxist-led Left Front came to power.
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20:17   Iran begins construction of nuclear power plant in Bushehr
Iran on Saturday began the construction of a nuclear power plant in the southern port city of Bushehr.

The new power plant will be part of the plan to develop Iran's first commercial nuclear reactor, reports Xinhua.

According to local media reports in Iran, at a ceremony attended by senior Iranian and Russian officials, head of the Atomic Energy Organisation of Iran Ali Akbar Salehi said: "We are opening a new page in the trend of our peaceful industrial nuclear activities."

He also said the project will be carried out within the framework of the Safeguards Agreement with the International Atomic Energy Agency and in line with the Non-Proliferation Treaty.

On September 1, Salehi said Iran and Russia had agreed to build two nuclear power plants in Bushehr.The construction, with an estimated cost of $10 billion (Rs 6.7 lakh crore), would be completed in 10 years and by building these two power plants, Iran would save 22 million barrels of oil per year, he said.

The construction of the other power plant will be launched in 2018.

Image for representation only.
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19:46  
Market Capitalisation top 10.
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19:28   India's NSG bid: Laugh or cry?
The pantomime of Indias 'defining partnership' with the United States at times has a comical overtone despite the dead seriousness with which the Delhi folks work on it diligently as a budding quasi-alliance.

At issue here is the high-octane drive by India to secure membership of the Nuclear Suppliers' Group.

Not many people would know that this was originally an American idea, which our chaps found rather interesting, and which the present government began tightly embracing, co-opting it as a 'core issue'.

India has convinced itself that the NSG membership is absolutely vital for the country's electricity production. Yes, India's best argument is that the NSG membership opens new avenue for nuclear energy, which is clean, cheap and plentiful.

We may have to wait for another half century when the Ministry of External Affairs decides to declassify the archival papers to know why India decided to make the NSG membership a 'core issue' on which it was gearing up to stake its relations with China.

Read the full blog by Mk Bhadrakumar.
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18:59   US, Russia reach tentative agreement over Syria ceasefire
The United States and Russia have agreed a tentative ceasefire deal for Syria, intended to lead the way to a joint air campaign against the Islamic State and other extremist groups and new political negotiations within the country.

The deal was announced by US Secretary of State John Kerry and his Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov after 13 hours of talks in Geneva, reports the Guardian.

Both were cautious in describing the deal but said it was a possible 'turning point' after more than five years of a brutal war that has killed more than 4,00,000 people

'No one is building this based on trust. It is based on oversight, compliance, mutual interest. This is an opportunity, and not more than that until it becomes a reality,' said Kerry.

Lavrov described the situation in Syria as a 'quagmire' of multiple warring parties, some of whom would seek to undermine the US-Russian deal.

For that reason, he said, much of the deal would remain secret to prevent efforts at sabotage.Russia will do 'what depends on us', Lavrov promised.

Syria's mainstream opposition also welcomed the proposed deal on Saturday, saying the ceasefire could eventually end the suffering of the civilians.
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18:17   Top Saudi cleric will not deliver Haj sermon
Saudi Arabia's top cleric will not be delivering this year's prestigious Haj sermon on Sunday for the first time in more than three decades.

Al-Riyadh newspaper reported today that Grand Mufti Sheikh Abdulaziz Al Sheikh, who has delivered the sermon since 1981, will be replaced by Sheikh Saleh bin Hamid.

Hamid previously served as chairman of the top consultative Shura Council and was appointed to the Supreme Judicial Council before serving as a royal adviser. The newspaper did not give a reason for the change.

The mufti sparked controversy this week when he was quoted as saying Iran's Shiite leaders 'are not Muslims'.

He was responding to criticism from Iran's supreme leader over Saudi Arabia's response to a crush and stampede that killed hundreds of pilgrims during last year's Haj. AP
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17:44   Strong 6.0 quake shakes northern Peru: USGS
A strong earthquake measuring 6.0 in magnitude struck the jungle region of northern Peru on Saturday, the United States Geological Survey said.

The epicentre was located 50 kilometres north of the city of Moyobamba at a depth of 114 kilometres. It occurred at 10.08 GMT, the monitor said.

There were no immediate reports of any damage or casualties.

According to the USGS map, the quake epicentre is located on the eastern slope of the Andes, where the mountain range meets the Amazon rainforest.
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17:41   Zakir Naik wasn't under suspicion when RGF accepted donation: Congress
The Congress on Saturday defended the decision to accept Rs 50 lakh donation from Zakir Naik's non-governmental organisation in 2011, saying the Islamic Research Foundation was not under suspicion at that time.

"The government must tell people should Congress have been an astrologer when it accepted unsolicited donation of Rs 50 lakh in 2011from Zakir Naik's NGO?" Congress leader Abhishek Manu Singhvi said.

He asked the Centre that, at that time, was this organisation was under any needles of suspicion?

"Now there may be allegations, but by that logic, from 2014-16, after Bangladesh's terrible blasts (sic), why didn't the NDA (National Democratic Alliance) ban this organisation on its own because the needles of suspicion against this organisation were pointed more recently, globally and here too," Singhvi said.

The Congress leader said that the Rajiv Gandhi Charitable Trust refunded the amount two months ago as soon as it was found that a donation in the past (from Zakir Naik's foundation) has been accepted.

"Unfortunate that those in power aren't exercising the least degree of responsibility in sensationalising matters," Singhvi said.
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16:46   Twin blasts near Baghdad mall ahead of Eid kill 13
Two overnight bomb blasts outside a shopping mall in central Baghdad killed at least 13 people and wounded more than 30, security and medical officials said on Saturday.

The blasts were the latest in a series of deadly attacks at Baghdad shopping centres this year, including one that killed more than 300 people in early July.

In the latest attack, one explosion came from a parked car and the other was caused by an explosives-laden vehicle driven by a suicide bomber outside Nakheel Mall on Palestine Street in the city centre, a police colonel said.

The blasts, which hit just before midnight on Friday, shattered windows at the multi-storey mall and damaged a fence surrounding it.

As people worked to clean up the rubble outside on Saturday, a private security company guarding the mall sought to prevent pictures being taken, seizing the cameras of several photographers.

Nakheel Mall opened last year and shops were likely to have remained open late ahead of the Muslim feast of Eid al-Azha which begins on Monday.

The mall also houses one of the city's most popular cinemas.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the twin bombings, but the Islamic State group has said it carried out other attacks at Baghdad shopping centres this year as well as almost all suicide bombings in the capital.
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16:16  
The spot where the MiG plane crashed
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16:02   Modi summons Anandiben Patel after flop rally, say BJP sources
Prime Minister Narendra Modi has summoned former Gujarat Chief Minister Anandiben Patel to Delhi after a BJP rally in Surat ended in bedlam in the presence of party President Amit Shah, BJP sources said on Saturday. 

Anandiben Patel, who quit as Chief Minister just over a month ago, has left in a private plane to Delhi, informed sources.

Anandiben Patel was present on the dias on Thursday night when young Patidars disrupted the rally which was called to show that the BJP still enjoyed the support of the Patel community. 

The disruption and violence forced Amit Shah, Chief Minister Vipay Rupani and Gujarat BJP President Jitu Vaghani to cut short their speeches.
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15:33   Kapil Sharma destroying mangroves: MNS neta
Maharashtra Navnirman Sena general secretary Shalini Thackeray accused comedian Kapil Sharma of adding illegal storeys to his Andheri bungalow and destroying mangroves.

"CM Devendra Fadnavis should not support Sharma... We will soon furnish evidence of how he has been breaking municipal rules to his benefit. Sharma is a liar," she added. 

A local activist also came out with charges that Sharma had harmed mangroves.

The complaint filed by RTI activist Asad Patel was registered in the Versova Police Station.

The police are currently investigating the matter.

Kapil Sharma has claimed that he was asked to pay a bribe by a BMC official for his new office that is under construction.
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15:33   Kapil Sharma destroying mangroves: MNS neta
Maharashtra Navnirman Sena general secretary Shalini Thackeray accused comedian Kapil Sharma of adding illegal storeys to his Andheri bungalow and destroying mangroves.

"CM Devendra Fadnavis should not support Sharma... We will soon furnish evidence of how he has been breaking municipal rules to his benefit. Sharma is a liar," she added. 

A local activist also came out with charges that Sharma had harmed mangroves.

The complaint filed by RTI activist Asad Patel was registered in the Versova Police Station.

The police are currently investigating the matter.

Kapil Sharma has claimed that he was asked to pay a bribe by a BMC official for his new office that is under construction.
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15:06   Farmers at Rahul Gandhis khat rally carry away cots a second time in UP
The Congress faced another 'khat loot' embarrassment in Uttar Pradesh, this time in Ambedkarnagar district, as farmers took away stringed wooden cots after a rally addressed by Rahul Gandhi in the eastern belt of the poll-bound state. 

Gandhi, the party vice-president, had just concluded his speech at Shiv Baba Dham and left the venue on Friday when villagers began jostling each other for the cots and grabbed them.
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14:49  
JUST IN: Bihar BJP will meet governor on Mohammad Shahabuddin bail issue; will sit on a dharna in every district on September 14 in protest of the same.
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14:35   Coldplay fans rejoice! Band to perform in Mumbai and for... FREE!
Coldplay playing in India has become quite a thing. Ever since they visited India last year, rumours of their concert in the country have not stopped. 

After a report in a tabloid claimed that the tickets for the Mumbai concert of the band will range from Rs 25,000 to Rs 5 lakh, fans could not contain their shock and took to Twitter to express their anger over the prices.

If you were worried about how youll afford the tickets. Stop right there because theyre free. Yes, you read that right. The tickets are absolutely free but you cant just walk-in and get them. You have to earn them.

In their very first event in India as a part of Global Poverty Project that aims to eradicate extreme poverty by 2030, the organisers want you to do good deeds and earn a ticket for yourself. @coldplay headline the 1st #GlobalCitizen Festival in India on 11/19! Tix are FREE by taking action, Global Citizen tweeted from its official handle.

So no, you guys, the tickets will not cost Rs 25,000 or more. Theyll be FREE!
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13:26   IAF MiG-21 aircraft crashes in Barmer; Pilot ejects safely
An Indian Air Force MiG-21 fighter aircraft has crashed in Barmer, Rajasthan. The pilot managed to eject safely after the incident.

Earlier in June, a MiG-27 aircraft crashed into a Jodhpur building. 

The MiG-21 has had a troubled past. In the last 10 years over 90 fighters including 11 MiG-27 have crashed, a report recently tabled in the Parliament said. Majority of the MiG27, inquiries have revealed that they went down because of "technical defects," the report adds.
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13:03   Man dies after being hit by teargas shell during clashes in Kashmir
A 26-year-old man was killed after being hit by a teargas shell during clashes with security forces in South Kashmir's Shopian district.

Nearly 80 people have been killed in similar clashes and around 10,000 injured since protests erupted in Kashmir in July after the killing of terrorist Burhan Wani.

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12:50  
JUST IN: Tamil Nadu Government announces Rs 2 crore for Mariyappan Thangavelu who won the gold medal at the Rio Paralympic Games in the high jump event. 
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12:39   San Bernardino killers nearly stopped by 3 men who rushed them
A lengthy report into the San Bernardino terror attack reveals new details about the killings last year and the way the husband and wife who carried them out died in a police shootout.

The report released by the Justice Department gave an astonishingly vivid account of last December's massacre carried out by San Bernardino County health inspector Syed Farook, 28, and his Pakistan-born wife Tashfeen Malik, 29.

It was just moments after the first masked killer burst into the conference room at the Inland Regional Center and began spraying bullets at Farook's county co-workers that the three unidentified men tried to stop the massacre, a slideshow included with the report revealed.

The heroes were shot dead in their tracks, it said.

The chilling report said the killers didn't say a word as they mercilessly fired 100 rounds during their blood-soaked rampage and even hit a sprinkler pipe that began gushing water from the ceiling.

Before they hastily disappeared in a rented black SUV parked outside, the shooters walked silently between tables and pumped bullets into anyone still moving or making a sound, according to the report.
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12:17   Army back in Kashmir's crisis zone after 2 years
For the first time since 2014, the army took up positions in rural areas of four trouble-tossed South Kashmir districts of Pulwama, Shopian, Kulgam and Anantnag, which witnessed the bulk of violence in the last two months, accounting for more than 50 of the 70 deaths.

Army chief Gen Dalbir Singh Suhag reviewed the security situation in the four worst-affected districts, asking jawans to remain vigilant towards the needs of the administration seeking to regain order after weeks of violence and protests that have left thousands of people and security personnel wounded.
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11:58   Katju attacks Kejriwal over 'holy city' promise to Amritsar
Retired Supreme Court judge Markandey Katjuhas come down hard on Arvind Kejriwal for vowing to declare Amritsar a 'holy city' if Aam Aadmi Party is voted to power in Punjab.

Katju said that the AAP convenor has 'stooped to the lowest level' with this announcement, and has exposed himself as a mere demagogue and mountebank 'who has nothing in his head, but can go to any low level to get votes'.

Delhi Chief Minister Kejriwal, who is currently touring Punjab, had announced 'holy city' status for Amritsar and Anandpur Sahib if the AAP comes to power in Punjab. He also promised to prohibit consumption of alcohol, meat and tobacco within the walled city of Amritsar.
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11:27  
JUST IN: Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad has won the positions of president, vice president and secretary while National Students' Union of India won the joint secretary position in the Delhi University Students Union polls. 
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11:22   In UP, Mayawati has two choices
While the 2017 elections in Uttar Pradesh are approaching, the BSP '" which has not won a single Lok Sabha seat in 2014 '" has two tactical decisions to make, regarding its attitude vis--vis the Muslims and the Congress. 

Read more HERE
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11:15   British stag do sparks outrage at 9/11 memorial by taking selfies with sex doll
A British stag party was asked to leave the Ground Zero memorial in New York after the group sparked outrage by taking selfies and pictures with a blow-up sex doll at the memorial.

The group were approached by a policeman and were reportedly asked to leave the 9/11 memorial.

The group's antics have been blasted as disgusting by some of the victims' families who lost their loved ones 15 years ago.

I'm speechless. I don't even have any words for that - that's a disgrace, said one of the victim's family members, adding, That is sacred ground, I lost my husband and I don't even know what to say - it's disgusting.

We hear things like this and I honestly think it's disgraceful to take selfies of anybody there laughing and smiling when they haven't lived the life we've lived for 15 years and the people we've lost, she said.

Even though it's been 15 years every year is difficult and seeing things like this is heartbreaking.
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10:30   15 killed, 70 injured in Bangladesh factory fire
At least 15 people were killed and 70 others sustained burn injuries today in a massive fire triggered by a boiler explosion at a packaging factory in Bangladesh's industrial area, just north of the capital Dhaka.

The fire broke out due to a boiler explosion at the four-storey Tempako Packaging Factory around 6:15 am in Bisic industrial area of Tongi, said Gazipur Fire Service and Civil Defence Deputy Assistant Director Akhtaruzzaman.

Fifteen people have been killed and 70 others injured, many of them critically, said doctors at the state-run Dhaka Medical College Hospital.

Ten of the injured are struggling for life with critical burn wounds, they said.

A part of the building collapsed as the rage of the blaze spread despite frantic efforts of the fire fighters.

Twenty units of firefighters were trying to douse the fire.
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10:12   Zakir Naik's NGO gave Rs 50 lakh to Rajiv Gandhi Foundation
Islamic Research Foundation, the NGO run by Salafist preacher Zakir Naik who is under the scanner for allegedly inspiring terrorists, confirmed it had made a Rs 50 lakh donation to the Rajiv Gandhi Foundation in 2011.

The Congress owned up the donation, but claimed that the money did not come to RGF but to an allied entity, Rajiv Gandhi Charitable Trust, and that the same was returned to IRF "some months ago". 

However an IRF spokesman quoted Naik and said the money had gone to RGF and not the charitable trust and, also, that they had not received the refund yet. "May be, they are planning to return but we have not received anything yet," he said. "We donated 50 lakh to RGF in 2011. 

"But the donation to RGF is just one of the several donations we make to NGOs of similar nature for education of the girl child, higher education in medicine, medical surgeries etc," the IRF representative said.
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09:29   Al Qaeda chief threatens 'thousands' of 9/11 attacks
Al Qaeda chief Ayman al-Zawahiri threatened the US that the September 11, 2001 attacks will be repeated "thousands of times", in a video marking the 15th anniversary of the deadly assault.

Addressing the United States in a video message posted on YouTube, Zawahiri blamed 9/11 on "your crimes against us".

He said that if these continue, 9/11 "will be repeated thousands of times".

On September 11, 2001, the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center were struck by hijacked aircraft, claiming 2,753 lives.
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09:07  
JUST IN: At least 10 people killed and 20 others injured in a factory fire in Bangladesh. 
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08:44   Rio Paralympics: Mariyappan Thangavelu creates history by winning gold
Mariyappan Thangavelu made history as he clinched the gold medal in men's high jump T-42 at Rio Paralympics on Friday. 

Another Indian Varun Singh Bhati won the bronze. Thangavelu clinched gold with a jump of 1.89 metre while Bhati won the bronze with an attempt of 1.86m, which is also his personal best mark. 

The 20-year-old Thangavelu, with his stellar effort at Rio, became the first Indian high-jumper to win a gold medal at the Games. He is also the third Indian to win a gold at Paralympics after Murlikant Petkar (Swimming, 1972 Heidelberg) and Devendra Jhajharia (Javelin Throw, 2004 Athens).

After Thangavelu and Bhati's feat, India's overall medal tally in all Paralympic Games has reached 10 - three golds, three silvers and four bronze. 
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03:51   Defending champion Djokovic into US Open final
Defending champion Novak Djokovic defeated Gael Monfils 6-3, 6-2, 3-6, 6-2 on Friday to reach the seventh US Open final of his career.

The world number one from Serbia, trying to become the first man to win back-to-back titles at Flushing Meadows since Roger Federer won five straight from 2004-08, will face either third-seeded Stan Wawrinka of Switzerland or sixth-seeded Kei Nishikori of Japan, the 2014 runner-up, in Sunday's championship match.
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03:42   Car bomb attacks near Baghdad mall kill 10: police
Two car bomb blasts outside a shopping mall in central Baghdad have killed at least 10 people and wounded another 25, police and medical sources said.

Explosion came from a parked car and the other was caused by an explosives-laden vehicle driven by a suicide bomber outside the Nakheel mall, a police colonel said.
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03:21   Eoin Morgan given deadline to change his mind on England's Bangladesh tour
Eoin Morgan will have until the end of Saturday to change his stance on the upcoming tour of Bangladesh, with the England one-day captain having now officially discussed his reluctance to make the trip with Andrew Strauss, the director of cricket.

Morgan has let it be known that despite the month-long trip having been cleared by the England and Wales Cricket Board's security director, Reg Dickason, he is not comfortable leading the team for the three-match series that begins on 7 October. 

Jos Buttler, the vice-captain, is lined up to deputise in his absence.

Read more HERE
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02:43   15 years since 9/11, Americans feel fear, anger, worry
Fifteen years after the 9/11 attacks, Americans are increasingly worried that terrorists will strike in the days around the anniversary, and they are more likely than five years ago to feel fear and anger when they think about what happened that day, according to a new CNN/ORC Poll.

Half of Americans say that acts of terrorism in the US in the days around September 11 this year are at least somewhat likely, up from 39% who felt that way around the 10th anniversary of the attacks in 2011.

The time between these two anniversaries has seen the rise of ISIS and several high-profile terrorist attacks both in the US and abroad. 

On US soil, those include the Boston Marathon bombing in 2013, an attack on a military recruiting center in Tennessee and a mass shooting in San Bernardino, California, by a couple who had self-radicalized. In Europe, terrorists have struck an airport in Brussels, several sites around Paris and a Bastille Day celebration in Nice in the last year alone.

Read more HERE

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02:33   Oil price fall drags Wall Street lower
US stocks edged lower on Wall Street as a 2% drop in oil prices weighed on energy firms.

Exxon Mobil was down 2% and Chevron fell 2.27% as US crude dropped by more than $1 a barrel to $46.54.

Oil traders decided a sharp drop in US crude stockpiles in the past week - which had eased concerns of oversupply and sent the oil price up on Thursday -- would be short-lived.

"One week's worth of data does not make a trend," said IG analyst Bernard Aw.

Bank stocks posted modest gains, although Wells Fargo was down 2% after it was fined $185m for illegally opening accounts to boost sales targets.
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02:13   France foils IS terror attack by female cell
French authorities have foiled an attack by three heavily radicalised women who were being guided by the Islamic State jihadist group from Syria, France's anti-terrorism prosecutor said today.

"A terrorist cell made up of young women totally receptive to the deadly ideology of Daesh has been dismantled," Francois Molins said in a press conference, using the Arabic name for IS.

The three women, led by 19-year-old Ines Madani, were arrested south of Paris yesterday. 

They were "determined" to launch an attack, Molins said.

A car laden with gas cylinders found abandoned near Notre Dame cathedral in Paris on Sunday belonged to Madani's father and the keys were found in her possession. 

Clear links also emerged on Friday between the women arrested and jihadist attacks in France this summer. Investigators have learned that one of the women arrested was the fiancee of Larossi Abballa, who killed a senior police officer and his partner at their home in a Paris suburb in June before himself being shot dead, Molins said.

The woman, identified only as Sarah H, then became engaged to Adel Kermiche, one of two jihadists who slit the throat of an elderly priest in July near the northern city of Rouen, the prosecutor said.

The developments came after the owner of the abandoned car was identified by the insurance badge that remained on the car's windscreen even though the number plates had been removed.
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02:12   Facebook reverses move to censor 'napalm girl' photo
Facebook has reversed its decision to censor an iconic Vietnam War photo of a naked girl escaping a napalm bombing, after the move set off a wave of outrage, including from Norway's prime minister. 

"Because of its status as an iconic image of historical importance, the value of permitting sharing outweighs the value of protecting the community by removal, so we have decided to reinstate the image on Facebook where we are aware it has been removed," a spokesperson for the world's largest social network said.

Norwegian Prime Minister Erna Solberg earlier today posted the photograph, which the US social network says violates its
nudity rules.

Taken by photographer Nick Ut Cong Huynh for the Associated Press, the 1972 picture of a naked Vietnamese girl running from a napalm attack is considered one of the war's defining images. It was honored with the Pulitzer Prize.

Solberg's post was taken down several hours later, deleted by Facebook, she said. She said Facebook was seeking "to edit our common history." 

The affair began several weeks ago after Norwegian author Tom Egeland published a post about war photos, illustrated by the picture. Facebook promptly deleted it. 
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02:09   Pansare case: Sanatan Sanstha lashes out at SIT
Sanatan Sanstha, which is under scanner in the murder of CPI leader Govind Pansare, has rubbished police claims that drugs were found at its ashram near here and said investigators were "deviating" from their path and making false allegations against the outfit. 

The Special Investigation Team of Maharashtra Police, probing the murder case, had on Thursday told a Court in Kolhapur it had found some drugs which could affect the nervous system. 

Addressing a press conference in Mumbai, a spokesman of the Goa-headquartered right wing outfit vehemently denied SIT had
seized narcotics from its Panvel ashram. 

"Many seekers in various age groups reside in the ashram that runs a free dispensary managed by qualified doctors having experience of 20-30 years. The medicines in the dispensary are purchased from the market with bills. 

"But we are very sorry to say the investigating agency enacted a drama to seize these medicines and told the media they were narcotics," Abhay Vartak, spokesperson of Sanstha, said.
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02:08   3 Tamil Nadu fishermen stranded in Sharjah
A Ganesh Nadar reports: Three fishermen from India are stranded in Sharjah, United Arab Emirates after their employer allegedly refused to return their passports.

Robert Bartholomew, Selvam Joseph and Arnold Anton had been working for Jasim Al Raeesi, a Saudi national, since April 2016.

On August 2, they were arrested by the Iranian Coast Guard for fishing in their waters. After having spent over a month in jail, their employer got them released after paying a fine of 250 Dirhams (Rs 4,555) for each. 

However, when the trio told Al Raeesi that they wished to return home, he refused to return their passports and told them that they would have to continue working for him. When they insisted, he assaulted them.

Speaking to Rediff.com from Sharjah, Robert said: "He (the employer) always sends the boat into neighbouring countries. We were earlier arrested by the Dubai police for entering their waters illegally."

The fishermen said they have been trying to get in touch with the labour commissioner in Sharjah, but could not locate his office.

Back home, Father Churchill of the South Asian Fishermen Fraternity said that they had informed the district collector and were also getting in touch with the external affairs ministry to help the stranded fishermen.

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