Former Haitian dictator Jean-Claude Duvalier died of a heart attack in Port-au-Prince at the age of 63, a family member told CNN Saturday.

A long-awaited trial on force-feeding practices at Guantanamo Bay, decried as torture by rights groups, begins Monday in Washington before a judge calling for openness and transparency. 

At least six people were killed and dozens injured tonight when a suicide bomber blew himself up near a crowded market at a predominantly Shiite area of volatile Pakistani city Quetta. 

Streets across Egypt were today thronged by Muslims celebrating the first day of Eid al-Adha holiday despite fears of attacks by Sinai-based militant group Ansar Bayt al-Maqdis (ABM). 

Pakistan's former president and military ruler General (retired) Pervez Musharraf has sought to blame India for ceasefire violations along Line of Control, saying it should stop testing the "patience and resolve" of Pakistani Army. 

Pro-democracy protesters were defiant in the face of attacks by opponents and warnings by the Hong Kong government to clear the streets, staging a massive rally today evening in the downtown business district they've occupied for a week. 

Kurdish fighters supported by US led air strikes held back jihadists attacking a Syrian border town today, following an international outcry at the murder of a British hostage by the Islamic State group. 

Congressmen are competing to criticise me are they doing anything for Maharashtra?

Modi in Mumbai:

Prime Minister Narendra Modi is addressing a rally in Mumbai. This is his first rally after the Bharatiya Janata Party and the Shiv Sena parted ways in the state. 

North Korea's presumptive No 2 and other members of Pyongyang's inner circle met with South Korean officials today in the rivals' highest level face-to-face talks in five years, a possible indication that both sides are interested in pursuing better ties after months of animosity. 

Terming the pro-democracy protests in Hong Kong as "illegal", China today warned that the agitation that has paralysed the city would end up creating havoc in the former British colony. 

Mukhtar Ahmad reports:

BJP today blamed administrative "lapse" of the Bihar government for the stampede near the historic Gandhi Maidan here on Dusshera festival which claimed 33 lives and left 29 persons injured. 

A 36-year-old Swede has become the world's first woman to give birth after receiving a womb transplant, doctors said today, describing the event as a breakthrough for infertile women. 

Prime Minister Narendra Modi is addressing a rally in Aurangabad in Maharashtra.

Out of 86 secretaries in the government, 38 are from the 1980 IAS batch.   

Turkey warned today it would not hesitate to strike back at Islamic State jihadists if they attacked Turkish troops stationed at Ankara's exclave inside Syria. 

A 79-year-old Indian-American Stanford University professor is among 10 innovators to receive US National Medal of Science announced by President Barack Obama for their contribution to the field of science. 

At least six persons were killed and 12 others injured today when a roadside bomb targeted a bus in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province in Pakistan's northwest. 

For next year's Republic Day celebrations, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has some new ideas. The Prime Minister's Office wants to invite dignitaries, who either have Indian origins or have expressed love and affection for Indian culture. Keeping this in mind, the dignitaries from Mauritius and Fiji may be invited and decision in the same will be taken by next week.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi addressed a campaign rally in Maharashtra's Beed district for the assembly elections slated to be held on October 15. During his speech, he said, "If Gopinath Munde was still around, I wouldn't have been required to come to Maharashtra. I had full faith in him. He looked after the poor, those from backward communities and farmers. Maybe God wanted him more than I did." Urging the crowds to vote for BJP, he said that the people needed to save Maharashtra and to save their state, they needed to vote for BJP.   

Murali Vijay was included in India's squad in place of the injured Rohit Sharma, while Ravichandran Ashwin was rested for the first three matches of the forthcoming One-Day International series against West Indies.   Left-arm spinner Kuldeep Yadav, who impressed in the ongoing Champions League T20 for Kolkata Knight Riders, was the surprise inclusion in the 14-member squad.   Leg-spinner Amit Mishra made a comeback to the Indian ODI team in place of fellow leggie Karn Sharma.  The matches will be played at Kochi, Delhi and Vishakhapatnam on October 8, 11 and 14 respectively. 

Murali Vijay was included in India's squad in place of the injured Rohit Sharma, while Ravichandran Ashwin was rested for the first three matches of the forthcoming One-Day International series against West Indies.   Left-arm spinner Kuldeep Yadav, who impressed in the ongoing Champions League T20 for Kolkata Knight Riders, was the surprise inclusion in the 14-member squad.   Leg-spinner Amit Mishra made a comeback to the Indian ODI team in place of fellow leggie Karn Sharma.  The matches will be played at Kochi, Delhi and Vishakhapatnam on October 8, 11 and 14 respectively. 

Pakistan has recorded its highest number of polio cases for 14 years, with health officials blaming the rise on attacks on immunisation teams.The number of new cases so far in 2014 is 202, already exceeding the previous the high of 199 cases in 2001. Most of the infections are in the north-western tribal region where militants have targeted health teams.

The winter session of Parliament is likely to be summoned from November 24 and will continue till December 19. The session will be important as 287 obsolete laws will be repealed.

Defence and Finance Minister Arun Jaitley will be discharged from AIIMS next week. However, PM Modi has firmly told him to work from his residence. "I do not want to see you in any of the blocks," Modi reportedly told Jaitley over the phone. 

An hour or so after Prime Minister Narendra Modi asked people in the crowds at Karnal to vote for a Congress-mukt Haryana, Congress president Sonia Gandhi addressing a crowd in Meham launched a scathing attack on the Bharatiya Janata Party, saying they had failed to deliver on their promises. Gandhi said, "BJP is making hollow promises to the people. Did they fulfill promise of providing employment or reducing inflation?"She added, "Empty vessels make the most noise, being loud doesn't mean you are speaking truth," an apparent dig at PM Modi himself. She also asked about the NDA's promise of bringing black money to back to the country.

Rashtriya Janata Dal president Lalu Prasad on Saturday said the stampede outside Gandhi Maidan which left 33 dead appears to be a result of administrative "lapse" and expressed dismay over the administration's inability to make foolproof arrangements despite several unpleasant incidents in the past at the grounds in the heart of the capital. "Gandhi maidan stampede appears to be a matter of administrative lapse," Prasad wrote on micro-blogging website Twitter. "Stern action shall be taken against officials found guilty... I am keeping a watch over the event," he said."From the beginning we have been demanding that height of the boundary wall of the Gandhi Maidan should be lowered and there should be more and more entry and exit points in the maidan," Prasad said. The RJD is extending support to Jitan Ram Manjhi government in Bihar. Prasad said he was very sorry that he could not reach Patna due to health problem. He repeated the helpline number 0612-2219810 released by the district administration for the relatives of the stampede victims.

Authorities found three more bodies on a still-smouldering Japanese volcano today after a search stalled by heavy rain resumed, while a typhoon threatened to further hamper the recovery operation. authorities said Friday that 16 people were unaccounted for on Mount Ontake, which erupted a week ago. The bodies of 47 other victims have already been retrieved from the mountain. Some 930 troops, firefighters, police restarted their search Saturday morning after heavy rain had suspended their recovery operation since Thursday afternoon.

Two policemen who were involved in preparation of the chargesheet against Bharatiya Janata Party President Amit Shah for an alleged hate speech, which was rejected by a local court, have been transferred. Deputy Superintendent of Police (New Mandi Circle) Yogender Singh and Investigation Officer of the case Sub-Inspector Bharat Lal were shifted on Friday. SSP H N Singh, however, said it is a routine transfer and has no connection with the Amit Shah case. 

On the occasion of their 22nd anniversary, Michelle Obama, the First Lady of the United States, tweeted a photo from their wedding which took place Oct 3, 1992, wishing her spouse a happy anniversary."22 years. #HappyAnniversary", she tweeted. Meanwhile, her spouse Barack Obama, the president of the United States, while speaking to a group of workers in Indiana, said that for the last "twenty-two years she's been putting up with me!"

Ahead of Haryana going to the polls, Prime Minister Narendra Modi addressing thousands at a rally in Karnal said, "In Haryana and Maharashtra, the poll campaign is on. After celebrating the auspicious festival of Vijaya Dashmi I have also come here." He added that whenever he came to Haryana he felt he had come home. He also asked people to vote for the BJP as these polls determine Haryana's future. Taking a dig at the Congress, the PM added, "Those who did nothing in the last 60 years they are asking for a report card of my work in the last few months."

Kickstarting the Bharatiya Janata Party's poll campaign in Haryana, Prime Minister Narendra Modi arrived in Haryana's Karnal amid high security. The prime minister was given a grand welcome. Addressing the over 1 lakh crowd, Modi began his speech with 'Bharat Mata ki jai' chants. 

American law enforcement officials are investigating a "racially charged" death threat emailed to several hundred students of Harvard University that claimed an individual would come to the Ivy League institution and "shoot all of you" and "kill you individually". Harvard University police are investigating the death threat and plan to increase its campus presence over the weekend. The university's police has notified the FBI and local law enforcement agencies about the racially charged email, in which its author claimed that he or she would come to Harvard on Saturday at "11 clock" and "shoot all of you" and "kill you individually", according to a report in the Harvard Crimson. Addressed to "All students at Harvard," the text of the emails included racist language and referred to their intended recipients as "slit-eyes". The emails are alleged to have been sent by one StephanieNguyen, who claims to live in Boston. Harvard University police department spokesperson Steven Catalano said that while the university cannot verify whether the threat is real, the police plans to increase its campus presence on the weekend. 

A woman in Sweden has given birth to a baby boy using a transplanted womb, in a medical first, doctors report. The 36 year-old mother, who was born without a uterus, received a donated womb from a friend in her 60s. The British medical journal The Lancet says the baby was born prematurely in September. The father said his son was "amazing". 

The All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam is observing a 12-hour bandh in all four regions of Puducherry -- Karaikal, Mahe and Yanam, in protest against the "false case" imposed on party leader Jayalalithaa, who has been convicted in an illegal assets case. The bandh commenced from 6 am today.

The toll in a stampede after the burning of the Ravana effigy at the Gandhi Maidan in Patna rose to 33 on Saturday morning after the death of a child. Meanwhile, union ministers Ravi Shankar Prasad and Ram Vilas Paswan will visit Bihar's capital today to take stock of the situation. Additional Director General of Police Gupteshwar Pandey said that a probe into the cause of the stampede has begun.

Hours after 32 people died in a stampede at Gandhi Maidan during Vijaya Dashmi celebrations, the Bihar Chief Minister Jitan Ram Manjhi  announced compensation of Rs 3 lakh to next of kin of the dead, Rs 50,000 to seriously injured and Rs 20,000 to the injured.

US President Barack Obama has strongly condemned the "brutal murder" of British national Alan Henning, and vowed to bring to justice those who were responsible for it. "The United States strongly condemns the brutal murder of United Kingdom citizen Alan Henning by the terrorist group ISIL. Henning worked to help improve the lives of the Syrian people and his death is a great loss for them, for his family and the people of the UK, he said. "Standing together with our UK friends and allies, we will work to bring the perpetrators of Alan's murder - as well as the murders of Jim Foley, Steven Sotloff and David Haines - to justice," the US president added.