LIVE! Boko Haram attack in Nigeria leaves at least 10 dead

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Sat, 11 July 2015

Boko Haram attack in Nigeria leaves at least 10 dead

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23:54 Cong blames AAP govt, BJP-led civic bodies for water-logging

Congress today blamed AAP government and municipal bodies headed by BJP for "poor" de-silting works in Delhi, saying they were the cause for water-logging in many parts of the city following heavy rains.

"The municipal bodies claim de-silting done, so does PWD. But after today's rains, it really shows that they have not done their work. People of Delhi are experiencing water- logging for themselves.

Cuban former president Fidel Castro has made a second public appearance in less than a week, state media said today, marking an unusually high-profile spell for the ageing revolutionary icon.

The communist island's official newspaper, Granma, published photos of the 88-year-old Castro and said he had met on Thursday with military chiefs and civil servants.

Police say at least 10 people were killed in northeast Nigeria when a large commando of Boko Haram Islamic extremists attacked their village and took over a major highway in the region.

A local police official who spoke on condition he not be named because he wasn't authorized to talk to media said the victims were all shot when the large group of Boko Haram extremists stormed their village and fired at fleeing residents.

The attack occurred in Ngamdu, a village 100 kilometers (60 miles) west of the Borno state capital Maiduguri.

21:25 4.4 magnitude tremor jolts Nepal

A mild tremor of 4.4 magnitude was felt across Nepal this morning. The aftershock was recorded at 2:35 AM with the epicentre at Dolakha district, 75 km east of Kathmandu, according the National Seismological Centre.

A former Polish archbishop became ill and was placed in intensive care ahead of the opening of his unprecedented trial on paedophilia charges at the Vatican, officials said today.

Jozef Wesolowski is accused of sexually abusing minors during his 2008-13 stint as Vatican ambassador to the Dominican Republic and of possessing child pornography in Rome in 2013-14.

Serena Williams won her sixth Wimbledon title and completed the so-called 'Serena Slam' after crushing 20th-seeded Spaniard Garbine Muguruza 6-4, 6-4, in the final, in London, on Saturday.

Muguruza, playing in her first Grand Slam final, began with calm authority and it was Williams who seemed to suffer an attack of butterflies, hitting three double faults and facing four break points before losing her serve in the opening game.

The Spaniard drilled her returns down Williams's throat, driving the American back behind the baseline and drawing a number unforced errors from the world number one.

But Williams cranked into gear and started to find her range, forcing Muguruza to save two break points in the sixth game before she got her reward on the Spaniard's serve to level at 4-4.

Looking for a fourth successive Grand Slam title for the second time in her career, Williams increased the pressure and, when Muguruza served a double fault to bring up set point, the American smashed a forehand winner before pumping her fist in celebration.

Serena raced to 5-1 in the second set before the youngster made a brief comeback to win the next three games but in the end it was the American who emerged victorious to clinch her 21st Grand Slam title.

19:21 India's population: 127,42,39,769 and growing

India today recorded a population of 127,42,39,769, which is growing at a rate of 1.6 per cent a year, and could make the country the most populous in the world by 2050.

At 5 pm today, the World Population Day, the number of Indians hit 127,42,39,769, and is 17.25 per cent of the global population, as per Jansankhya Sthirata Kosh or National Population Stabilisation Fund (NPSF), an autonomous body under the Union Health Ministry which has raised concerns about over-population related problems, if the rate persists.

Batting for early implementation of the USD 10 billion TAPI gas pipeline project, Prime Minister Narendra Modi today evinced India's interest in long-term investment in the energy sector in Turkmenistan as the two countries inked seven pacts and vowed to jointly combat terrorism in the region.

Anger boiled over on Saturday at a massive commemoration of the 1995 Srebrenica slaughter, as people pelted Serbian Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic with stones and other objects.

Vucic, once an ultra-nationalist, came to represent his country at the commemoration in an apparent gesture of reconciliation.

Vucic was forced to flee the tense 20th anniversary comemoration of the worst atrocity on European soil since the Second World War

Kerala Chief Minister Oommen Chandy today criticised the Centre for allowing Attorney General Mukul Rohatgi to appear in a case against the state government in the Supreme Court.

On Friday, the Centre's top lawyer had appeared in Court for Kerala liquor bars, which has challenged the High Court order upholding the state government's liquor policy. Last year, the government implemented a new policy intended to reduce liquor consumption in the state.

17:54 Tunisian authorities recover 27 dead migrants

Tunisian authorities have recovered 27 corpses of migrants off the Mediterranean Coast who apparently died trying to reach Italy from Libya.

Migrant crossings over the Mediterranean toward Europe have continued to mount in recent weeks, but the death toll has been dropping thanks to a renewed EU-coordinated rescue effort.

17:54 Tunisian authorities recover 27 dead migrants

Tunisian authorities have recovered 27 corpses of migrants off the Mediterranean Coast who apparently died trying to reach Italy from Libya.

Migrant crossings over the Mediterranean toward Europe have continued to mount in recent weeks, but the death toll has been dropping thanks to a renewed EU-coordinated rescue effort.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi today lauded the efforts of scientists of ISRO which launched its heaviest commercial space mission putting five British satellites in sun synchronous orbit late yesterday evening.

"Successful launch of PSLV-C28 with 5 UK satellites is a moment of immense pride & joy for India. Congratulations to the @isro team," Modi, who is currently in Russia, tweeted.

16:55 4 AMU scientists receive William Harvey Award

Four scientists from the Jawaharlal Nehru Medical College, Aligarh Muslim University, have jointly been awarded the prestigious William Harvey Award for 2015 in the field of Hematology.

According to an official release of the AMU, Professor Saeedul Hasan Arif and Kafeel Akhtar from the Department of Pathology along with senior residents Shagufta Qadri and Suhailur Rahman have been given this award for their work in the rare Hemoglobin C disease (Hb C).

This disease is not common in the Indian sub-continent but is widely prevalent in West African and Mediterranean countries.

Those afflicted suffer nutritional anemia and do not respond to the treatment.

The findings of research team were published in the prestigious journal of Hematology and some other leading medical journals in the USA, the release added.

The JD(U) today contradicted BJP President Amit Shah's claim that the BJP had given the first OBC prime minister from the community, and hit out at the party for its alleged attempt to sell Narendra Modi as a "caste leader" in view of the coming Bihar elections.

"Amit Shah is wrong in claiming that BJP gave the first OBC prime minister. Chaudhary Charan Singh and H D Deve Gowda hailing from OBC have occupied the post earlier," JD(U) General Secretary K C Tyagi told PTI.

Citing BJP's victory in Bihar Legislative Council poll, Shah had yesterday said that the Janata Parivar proved to be a damp squib and claimed his party had given the "first prime minister" and "maximum chief ministers from the community."

Tyagi made a scathing attack at the BJP for trying to "sell" the prime minister as a caste leader.

"In Gujarat he was known as 'Hindu hriday samrat'. During Parliamentary election he sought vote in the name of development. In Delhi poll Narendra Modi was presented as a 'vikash purush' (development messiah) but in Bihar he is portrayed as an OBC leader," the JD(U) General Secretary said.

"We wish to know from BJP what is his (PM) real identity?" he said taking a jibe at the saffron party.

We remember Atticus Finch in Harper Lee's 1960 classic, To Kill a Mockingbird, as that novel's moral conscience: kind, wise, honourable, an avatar of integrity who used his gifts as a lawyer to defend a black man falsely accused of raping a white woman in a small Alabama town filled with prejudice and hatred in the 1930s.

As indelibly played by Gregory Peck in the 1962 movie, he was the perfect man -- the ideal father and a principled idealist, an enlightened, almost saintly believer in justice and fairness.

In real life, people named their children after Atticus. People went to law school and became lawyers because of Atticus.

Shockingly, in Lee's long-awaited novel, Go Set a Watchman (due out Tuesday), Atticus is a racist who once attended a Klan meeting, who says things like "The Negroes down here are still in their childhood as a people". Or asks his daughter: "Do you want Negroes by the carload in our schools and churches and theaters? Do you want them in our world?"

Click HERE to read the New York Times' exclusive review Of Harper Lee's new book

15:09 Amarnath Yatra resumes after day-long hault

Amarnath yatra today resumed from the base camps after a day-long suspension due to inclement weather in South Kashmir Himalayas.

Over 16,500 pilgrims left the twin base camps of Nunwan and Baltal this morning to pay obeisance at the 3,880 metre high cave shrine in South Kashmir Himalayas, marking the resumption of the yatra, officials said.

While 8,981 pilgrims were allowed to move towards the cave shrine from Nunwan base camp along the 45-km traditional Pahalgam cave route in Anantnag district, as many as 7,862 pilgrims proceeded from the Baltal base camp along the shorter 16-km route in Ganderbal district, they said.

The 59-day yatra, which commenced on July 2, was suspended from both the routes yesterday as a precautionary measure after heavy rains rendered the tracks unsafe.

However, with improvement in the weather as the day progressed, the pilgrims were allowed to move from the halting stations enroute but none was allowed from the base camps.

While 10,378 yatris paid obeisance at the holy cave despite disruption due to rains yesterday, so far 9,182 pilgrims visited the cave shrine and offered their prayers till 1300 hours today, the officials said, adding the yatra was going on smoothly from both the sides.

The Madras high court on Saturday recalled its controversial order directing mediation between a rapist and the victim days after the Supreme Court observed that it would be a "spectacular error" to adopt a soft approach on cases of rape and stated that there cannot be any compromise in such matters.

The June 23 order of Justice P Devadass directing the rapist, who was sentenced to seven years imprisonment by a trial court, to go for mediation had triggered a controversy.

In his order Justice P Devadass said, "In view of the judgement of the Hon'ble Supreme Court in State of Madhya Pradesh VS Madanlal case, the earlier order of this Court directing the parties to go for mediation is recalled. Consequently, the interim bail granted to the petitioner is cancelled."

Taking note of an earlier Supreme Court order that there be no mediation in the case of rape, the judge directed the officer-in-charge of Mediation Centre to stop the parties from attending mediation.

The judge also directed the Registrar (Judicial) of High Court to ensure compliance to his latest order on the matter.

The June 23 order of Justice P Devadass directing the rapist, who was sentenced to seven years imprisonment by a trial court, to go for mediation had triggered a controversy.

The judge also directed the Registrar (Judicial) of High Court to ensure compliance to his latest order on the matter.

Pakistan has said Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and his Indian counterpart Narendra Modi have agreed in their meeting in Russia to address the issues of Kashmir, Siachen and Sir Creek through Track II diplomacy.

PM's Adviser on National Security and Foreign Affairs Sartaj Aziz yesterday said both leaders were of the opinion that for lasting peace the way forward was to address the outstanding issues like Kashmir, Siachen and Sir Creek.

"The two sides also agreed to take up these issues under the back-channel Track-II mechanism for better understanding of each others point of view," the Dawn quoted Aziz as saying.

His remarks came after furor back in Pakistan for not mentioning Kashmir in the joint statement issued after the meeting between Sharif and Modi in Ufa, Russia yesterday.

Aziz, who was also present in the meeting in Ufa, said that the meeting between the two leaders was held in "very good atmosphere" as both sides believed that peace in the region was vital for progress.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi was on Saturday accorded a ceremonial welcome in Turkmenistan, where he arrived yesterday on the fourth leg of his Central Asian tour.

He was welcomed at the Ashgabat airport by smiling children with the offering of the traditional bread 'chorek'.

Prime Minister Modi will inaugurate a statue of Mahatma Gandhi and a Traditional Medicine and Yoga Centre here.

This is the first visit to Turkmenistan by an Indian Prime Minister after PV Narasimha Rao's visit in 1995.

Besides Turkmenistan, the Prime Minister will visit Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan

The Jammu-Srinagar National Highway, which remained closed due to landslides triggered by heavy rains, has reopened for traffic and all the stranded vehicles have been cleared.

The landslides at Ramsoo stretch had blocked the highway yesterday resulting in over 2000 vehicles getting stranded at various places en route the highway.

The men and machinery of the Border Road Organisation cleared the highway.

"The highway was reopened for traffic after the landslides triggered by heavy rains were cleared", a police officer said today.

This is the second time that the highway was closed following heavy rains across the state.

On Thursday, the highway was closed at 3 am following heavy rainfall and the Amarnath pilgrimage was halted. The highway was thrown open after remaining closed for several hours.

At a time when the Supreme Court has struck down Section 66-A of the Information Technology Act, an arrest warrant issued by a Magistrate Court in Chennai against a software professional for liking a Facebook meme that allegedly poked fun at women, has triggered a controversy.

The person, who posted the meme, has also been arraigned as an accused.

The complainant, a woman lawyer, is related to one of the accused with whose family she reportedly had a dispute.

Read more on this story HERE

11:18 Blast at Italian consulate in Cairo, 5 injured

The Italian consulate in Cairo was bombed on Saturday, leaving at least 5 people injured.

An official has told the state-run news agency Mena that the blast was caused by a car bomb.

The blast partially destroyed the facade of the building, photos from the scene showed.

No group has yet said it carried out the attack.

The explosion on Saturday morning has wounded five people, including two police officers, medics at the scene told AFP news agency.

Egypt's public prosecutor, Hisham Barakat, was killed last month by a car bomb attack in the city.

Seeking to corner the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party, the Aam Aadmi Party will on Saturday hold protests in Mumbai, Bhopal and Ludhiana against the Vyapam scam.

Meanwhile, the Congress party has also upped the ante against Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan demanding his immediate resignation owing to the recent spate of deaths in connection with the Vyapam scam.

The Supreme Court had earlier this week transferred all cases relating to the Vyapam scam to the Central Bureau of Investigation.

The apex court also issued a notice to the Centre and the Madhya Pradesh government on the petition demanding the removal of state Governor Ram Naresh Yadav. The court has sought a reply within four weeks.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday said the successful launch of PSLV-C28 with five UK satellites is a moment of immense pride and joy for India.

"Successful launch of PSLV-C28 with 5 UK satellites is a moment of immense pride & joy for India. Congratulations to the @isro team," Prime Minister Modi said on twitter.

The Indian Space Research Organisation successfully launched its PSLV-C28 (Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle-XL variant) carrying five British satellites yesterday.

The PSLV lifted off on its 30th flight from Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota, Andhra Pradesh, with the heaviest ever payload (1,440 kilograms) for a commercial launch.

It was India's biggest commercial lift-off with five satellites of Britain's Surrey Satellite Technology Limited and Surrey Space Centre.

10:13 Key witness in Asaram molestation case shot at

The main witness in self-styled godman Asaram's molestation case was shot by two unidentified men in Shahjahanpur last night.

The witness, Ram Kripal, was shot while he was on his way home from the market.

"Ram Kripal was shot and was immediately taken to the district hospital for primary treatment. From there he was referred to Bareilly. We are looking at the crime scene and investigating everything," said Bablu Kumar, Superintendent of Police, Shahjahanpur.

He assured that action will be taken against whoever is responsible for the crime.

The onward journey of a GoAir aircraft, which suffered damage during docking with an aerobridge, remained cancelled today even as foreign and local engineers were scheduled to attend to the damage.

Airport officials said engineers from Germany and Mumbai were scheduled to attend to the damage.

The services of the flight to Port Blair remained cancelled today, they said.

The GoAir Aircraft G8305 (Mumbai to Port Blair via Chennai) with 168 passengers on board was slightly damaged while docking with an aerobridge yesterday.

However, nobody was injured in the incident.

According to Director General of Civil Aviation the aerobridge operator was apparently talking over phone during the docking procedure and in the process lost control of the jet way.

The DGCA has ordered a probe into the incident.

A strong wave batters the shore near San'ao Village in Wenling, east China's Zhejiang province on July 9, 2015. The typhoon-triggered wave is reportedly able to reach as high as 20 meters.

China's National Meteorological Center has issued a red alert for typhoon Chan-Hom, whose center was spotted 550 km southeast off the coast of Zhejiang Province at 5 a.m. on July 10, 2015.

More than 8,65,000 people in the eastern Chinese province of Zhejiang have been evacuated as super Typhoon Chan-Hom, the second typhoon to hit China in two days, approaches.

Read this story HERE

The Mumbai police has arrested a person for allegedly defaming Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis recently, by tweeting his family photograph.

The accused, who has been identified as Ajay Hatekar, was arrested by the suburban Oshiwara police, a police official said. Hatekar had allegedly posted a photograph of the Maharashtra CM's family enjoying a vacation in Goa, in 2011-2012, on Twitter, and suggested that it is a photograph of the CM's family holidaying in the USA at present, he said.

According to the police, Hatewar allegedly posted the photo on social networking site Twitter at 8.30 am on July 2, by linking it to the Maharashtra CM's recent visit to the USA.

Later, a police complaint was lodged by Sanjay Pandey, a BJP worker, alleging that Twitter had tried to malign the Maharashtra Chief Minister, the official said.

Putting an end to the century-old practice of not serving non-vegetarian food in canteens in the high court campus, a group of lawyers today served meat items to the litigants and public.

Till date the three canteens in the campus were serving only vegetarian food though there was no specific restriction on serving non-vegetarian food.

Advocate P Rathinam, who had staged a protest at Madurai bench of the high court last month over the issue, said each non-veg packet would be sold at a subsidised rate of Rs 70 to popularise the protest.

Citing the recent observation of Chief Justice Sanjay Kishan Kaul that more than 85 per cent of people in the country are non-vegetarians and that food choice cannot be curtailed, he said people in the high court could not be denied their right to choose food.

00:11 Bangladesh stampede toll rises to 27

At least 27 people, all of them women and children, were killed and 50 others injured today in a stampede that took place when hundreds of people stormed the home of a businessman in northern Bangladesh for a charity handout during the holy month of Ramzan.

The stampede took place early in the morning when people gathered in front of the house of Shamim Talukder, who owns a chewing tobacco factory, to receive free gifts and clothes and tried to force their way in. 23 women and four children got trampled to death in Mymensingh town, officials said.

"About 1,500 people had gathered outside the businessman's house to collect zakat (charity)," witnesses said. "He stages this showoff every year in the name of zakat," a neighbour said.

00:10 Top headlines of the last 24 hours

Mulayam threatens IPS officer crusading against 'corrupt' minister
Jawan opens fire in Mussoorie IAS academy; kills officer
Madhya Pradesh governor our appointee but he should go: Congress
Man behind Jet Airways flight hoax tweet surrenders in Jaipur
Why Gajendra Chauhan was picked over Big B, Rajni
India inducts home-made Akash missile system
Missing Dornier aircraft FOUND a month after it disappeared

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