Live! Senior Isis leader Hafiz Saeed 'killed in drone strike in Afghanistan'

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Sun, 12 July 2015

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Prime Minister Narendra Modi arrived Sunday evening in the Tajikistan capital, on the final leg of his Central Asia tour.

"Final stop on this whirlwind tour of Central Asia, PM is received by PM Rasulzoda of Tajikistan in Dushanbe," tweeted external affairs ministry spokesperson Vikas Swarup.

Modi has visited Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Ufa in Russia for the BRICS and SCO summits, Turkmenistan and Kyrgyzstan. He returns to India on Monday after the visit.

A senior Isis leader has been killed in a US drone strike, according to reports by Afghanistan's intelligence service.

Hafiz Saeed is understood to be Isis' leader in Afghanistan and Pakistan. He was one of more than 30 militants killed in an airstrike in the Nangarhar province yesterday.

Abdul Hassib Sediqi, spokesperson for the National Directorate of Security, told media today that the strike had been carried out by US forces acting on Afghan intelligence information.

There has been no independent verification of reports as yet.

Read more HERE.

20:38 It's one set apiece in Wimbledon final

The Wimbledon final is evenly poised with both Novak Djokovic and Roger Federer winning a set apiece.

Both the sets have gone to the tie-break, the Serb winning the first 7-1, and the Swiss taking the second 12-10, with Djokovic wasting seven set points.

Federer, chasing a record eighth Wimbledon title, landed the first punch in the set, breaking the Djokovic serve to love for a 4-2 lead when the world number one netted a straightforward mid-court backhand.

But the second-seeded Swiss's serve, which had been functioning with laser precision throughout the tournament, then faltered allowing Djokovic to break back immediately.

Both players stayed strong to force the tiebreak where Serb Djokovic raced into a 6-1 lead and closed it out when Federer served his first double fault of the match.

19:44 Djokovic takes first set in Wimbledon final

Novak Djokovic moved a step closer to a third Wimbledon title as he claimed the first set in Sunday's final against Roger Federer on a tiebreak.

The authorities in Jammu and Kashmir on Sunday detained all separatist leaders here ahead of a rally called by them.

Separatist leaders, including Syed Ali Geelani, Mirwaiz Umer Farooq, Muhammad Yasin Malik and Shabir Shah, were placed under house arrest, a police officer told IANS.

"This has been done as a preventive measure to maintain law and order ahead of a rally called by them tomorrow (Monday)," the officer said.

The separatists have called the rally to coincide with "Martyrs Day" which is observed to commemorate the martyrdom of 31 people who were killed in firing by troops of the then Maharaja in Srinagar in 1931.

Home Minister Rajnath Singh is number two in the government when it comes to social media outreach as his official twitter handle has got five lakh followers, second only to the Prime Minister.

@HMOIndia crossed the five lakh followers mark last night, just within one year of its launch in July 2014.

The twitter handle has the second highest followers after Prime Minister Narendra Modi's twitter handle PMOIndia which has 6.8 million followers.

Interestingly, the personal twitter handle of the Home Minister-- @BJPRajnathsingh -- has 16 lakh followers

The Home Minister's official twitter handle regularly updates on his statement, policy initiatives of his Ministry, his various programmes and photos and information on dignitaries who call on him.

The twitter handle of Ministry of External Affairs has 3.82 lakh followers, the Ministry of Railways has 3.96 lakh followers, Ministry of Information and Broadcasting has 3.80 lakh followers, Ministry of HRD has 1.77 followers.

The twitter handle Ministry of Finance has just a little over 45,000 followers.

The website of Antrix, Indian Space Research Organisation's commercial arm, was hacked on Sunday.

The URL antrix.gov.in leads to a web page to buy sports merchandise and is believed to be the handiwork of Chinese hackers.

This comes two days after ISRO launched five British satellites from its Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle, its heaviest commercial launch, from Sriharikota in Andhra Pradesh.

Read more HERE.

A leading US civil rights organisation has said it was ending its 15-year economic boycott of South Carolina after the controversial Confederate flag was removed from the state's legislature.

The Civil War-era battle flag, regarded by many as a bitter symbol of racism and slavery, was taken down Friday following protests in the wake of last month's church massacre that left nine African-American worshippers dead.

The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) ended its boycott against the state in an emergency resolution, calling the flag "a symbol of racial, ethnic and religious hatred, oppression, and murder which offends untold millions of people."

It welcomed the move to remove it, but said there was still work to be done to address discrimination.

"While removal of the flag was clearly a victory for the NAACP and a defeat for promoters of hate, the NAACP clearly recognises that there are still battles to be fought in other states and jurisdictions where emblems of hate and oppression continue to be celebrated," the group said.

At least four soldiers and nine militants were killed after insurgents attacked a security post in Pakistan's northwestern restive tribal region near the Afghan border where a massive army operation is underway against the Taliban.

Militants attacked the security outpost in South Waziristan yesterday which led to a clash, army said.

"At least nine terrorists were killed in a cordon and search operation. Four soldiers also embraced shahadat (martyrdom)," it said in a statement.

Army said killing of the soldiers forced the army to retaliate.

The army also launched a search operation in the area.

South Waziristan was cleared in a military operation in 2009 but rebels are still active in its border areas.

After the operation in neighbouring North Waziristan, the militants are hard-pressed from the two sides.

Army has also moved ahead to clear the Shawal valley which overlaps both South and North Waziristan and links these two districts to Afghanistan.

Saudi-led warplanes bombarded Yemeni rebels at dawn today, witnesses said, in a new blow to a UN-proposed truce in the impoverished country where millions are threatened with famine.

Air strikes hit the Shiite Huthi stronghold of Saada in Yemen's north, as well as other rebel positions south of the capital Sanaa and in the southern province of Lahj, residents said.

There were no immediate reports of any casualties.

The UN-proposed humanitarian truce technically went into effect at 2059 GMT Friday and is supposed to run until July 17, the last day of the holy Muslim fasting month of Ramadan.

But the ceasefire, much needed to rush food supplies to a population threatened by famine, has been flouted by strikes conducted by the Saudi-led coalition and fighting on the ground.

The ceasefire was declared after UN chief Ban Ki-moon received assurances from exiled Yemeni President Abedrabbo Mansour Hadi and the Huthis that it would be respected.

The coalition said it has not received a formal request from Hadi's government to observe a truce, while the rebels said before the ceasefire went into effect they had little hope it would succeed.

More than a week ago the United Nations declared Yemen a level-3 humanitarian emergency, the highest on its scale, with nearly half the country facing a food crisis.

More than 21.1 million people -- over 80 per cent of Yemen's population -- need aid, with 13 million facing food shortages, while access to water has become difficult for 9.4 million people.

The UN says the conflict has killed more than 3,200 people, about half of them civilians, since late March.

Top Mexican drug lord Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman has escaped from a maximum security prison for the second time, security officials said.

Guzman, who headed the powerful Sinaloa Cartel, was last seen in the area of the showers in the Altiplano prison outside of Mexico City, the capital.

The National Security Commission said in a statement late yesterday that Guzman went to the showers shortly before 9 pm and wasn't seen for a while. Upon checking his cell, authorities found that it was empty.

A search operation began immediately in the surrounding area and highways. Flights have also been suspended at Toluca airport near the penitentiary.

Guzman was captured in February 2014 after more than a decade on the run. He faces multiple federal drug trafficking indictments in the US and was on the DEA's most-wanted list.

Guzman had been caught previously in Guatemala in 1993, extradited and sentenced to 20 years in prison in Mexico for murder and drug trafficking. He escaped from another maximum security prison, Puente Grande in western Jalisco state, in 2001 with the help of prison guards.

A pair of Queen Victoria's underwear with a 45.5 inch waist have sold for a "record breaking" 12,000 pounds at an auction in the UK.

The bloomers, which bear the stamp VR for Victoria Regina, were bought by an English woman who is a private collector for 12,090 pounds.

"This is a record-breaking price for Victoria royal intimate apparel," said Principal auctioneer Richard Edmonds at Chippenham Auction Rooms in Wiltshire.

The underwear, dating to the late 1890s, was in 'excellent' condition, having spent years preserved in tissue paper in a temperature-controlled storeroom at Yesterday's World museum in Sussex, 'express.co.uk' reported.

"Items of Queen Victoria's clothing were often given to members of the royal household, particularly after her death in 1901," said Edmonds.

"We've been able to date the pants by measuring the waistband.

"As there's such a good photographic record of Queen Victoria, it's possible to calculate her waist measurement over time, so we know roughly when she would have worn items of this size," Edmonds said.

The woman who bought the pants also purchased a number of other items of royal clothing and a set of replica Crown Jewels, which she bought for 5,500 pounds.

Warner Bros. stunned fans Saturday at Comic-Con with a new trailer for "Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice."

The over three-minute video has a lot to unpack.

Batman and Superman aside, one of the most exciting parts of the trailer didn't have anything to do with either caped hero.

Instead, we finally got our first good look at Gal Gadot ("Fast and Furious" franchise) as Wonder Woman.

Fans have been clamoring for a big female superhero on screen and Wonder Woman is certainly the most recognizable (sorry Black Widow and Scarlet Witch).

How does she look?

Great.

Watch the trailer HERE.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday said India and Kyrgyzstan are united by the bonds of shared democratic values and seek a peaceful and secure neighbourhood, in the time of challenges in the region.

"We are united by the bonds of shared democratic values. We can reinforce each other's economic progress. We seek a peaceful and secure neighbourhood, in the time of challenges in the region. Have shared interests to combat terror and extremism," said Prime Minister Modi.

"I am delighted that our Election Commissions have signed an agreement on cooperation," he added.

The prime minister further said he was pleased to meet Kyrgyzstan President Almazbek Atambayev, whose contribution to democracy and development is admirable.

In order to curb use of forged caste certificates, the Aam Aadmi Party government has decided to make data of such documents available online by next week.

The move comes after several cases of use of forged caste certificates have come to notice.

According to Revenue Department, registration numbers of caste certificates having digitised signatures will be made online.

Revenue Department has started analysing its software to be used for online updating of data.

The database will be available for open access and anyone who wishes to verify a particular individual's certificate can do so by using the registration number.

"The initiative will be helpful for verifying details of applicants seeking reservation in admissions and jobs or applying for government schemes among others benefits," Ashwani Kumar, Divisional Commissioner, said.

A key witness in the rape case against self-styled godman Asaram Bapu, who was shot at by unidentified assailants in Shahjahanpur district, succumbed to injuries, the third witness in the case who has been killed.

35-year-old Kripal Singh was shot at by two motorcycle-borne persons in Puwayan area in Shahjahanpur when he was on his way home from the market on Friday night, police said today.

Before escaping, the duo warned him against deposing against Asaram.

Singh, who had sustained serious bullet injuries, was rushed from Shahjahanpur to a Bareilly hospital where he succumbed at around 2325 hours last night, Bareilly Circle Officer Mukul Dwivedi said.

Special police teams have been constituted to track down the assailants, they said.

In a statement given to Additional City Magistrate, Singh had alleged that people connected to Asaram were threatening him for the last few days.

Police said Singh was an employee of a transport firm, whose owner's daughter had lodged a case against 74-year-old Asaram for allegedly sexually assaulting her at his ashram near Jodhpur in Rajasthan in 2013.

China's national capital Beijing has announced plans to build a new administrative center adjacent to the city to address growing traffic woes while promising to limit its population to 23 million people.

The city would speed up construction of a "subsidiary administrative center" while promising to limit its population to 23 million people, an official announcement said here today at a key meeting of the ruling Communist Party of China.

During the meeting, a guideline was passed on promoting the integration of Beijing with its neighbouring Hebei Province and Tianjin Municipality.

The city's "subsidiary administrative center" would be "focused" on Tongzhou, a suburban district to the southeast, and its construction must have "remarkable progress" by 2017, according to the guideline.

The guideline also said the city must stick to its population control target of 23 million people. The city's total population stood at 21.5 million in 2014, according to official data, state-run news agency Xinhua reported.

The Chinese capital has sought to address its severe "urban diseases," such as traffic congestion and air pollution, by curbing its population growth and moving some facilities to nearby regions.

Pope Francis delivered yet another biting critique of contemporary capitalism on Saturday, saying the poor are often sacrificed on the "altar of money" and accusing the wealthy of worshipping a new "golden calf."

"Certainly every culture needs economic growth and the creation of wealth," the Pope told a group of civic leaders in Paraguay, the final stop of his weeklong trip to three South American countries. But political and business leaders have a responsibility to ensure that profits reach the pockets of the poor as well as the rich, he said.

"I ask them not to yield to an economic model which is idolatrous, which needs to sacrifice human lives on the altar of money and profit," Francis said.

Saturday's speech was neither as long nor as scathing as the sharp denunciation of modern capitalism the Pope delivered Thursday in Bolivia, in which he called the relentless pursuit of profits the "dung of the devil." Still, it had its share of rhetorical fire.

Read more HERE.

"I ask them not to yield to an economic model which is idolatrous, which needs to sacrifice human lives on the altar of money and profit," Francis said.

Read more HERE.

Security forces foiled a major infiltration bid along the Line of Control in Kashmir, killing three militants in Keran sector of Kupwara district, army

officials said here today.

"Suspicious movement was noticed by troops near the fencing along the Line of Control (LoC) in Keran sector around midnight. The intruders were challenged leading to a gunfight," a senior army official said.

He said the gunbattle lasted couple of hours and three bodies were recovered during the searches in the morning.

"We have also recovered three AK rifles, 12 magazines, 300 rounds, two UBGL grenades and other war-like stores from the spot," the official said.

He said the militants were cutting the fencing erected along the LoC when the troops detected their activity using night vision devices.

The infiltration of militants along the LoC in Kashmir has increased over the past few weeks as the snow along the high mountain passes started melting.

Three infiltration bids were foiled in Tangdhar sector along the LoC in Kupwara district on May 25, May 31 and June 6 this year.

11:19 First unified survey of Ganga dolphin soon

India will soon launch the first unified survey to enumerate the endangered Ganga dolphins, the National Aquatic Animal, whose count is an important indicator of the health of the holy river.

The survey would be simultaneously conducted in Bihar, Jharkhand, Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal from October this year and results are likely to be available by February next year, sources at the National Mission for Clean Ganga, functioning under the Union Ministry of Water Resources, River Development and Ganga rejuvenation said.

According to NMCG sources, it would be the country's first national-level survey for the head count the Ganga dolphin (Platanista Gangetica) in the river using the direct count method of the International Union for Conservation of Nature.

Somalia's government said Saturday that 12 Al Shabab militants were killed in Friday evening's raids on two heavily-fortified Mogadishu hotels.Internal Security Minister Abdul Rizk Omar Mohammad told reporters that "it was only them (the attackers) who died' in the coordinated suicide strikes."

"The violent elements attacked the Weheliye and Siyaad hotels in order to disrupt people from breaking their fast in peace. Seven attackers were involved in the hotel Weheliye attack while five attackers were involved in the Siyaad hotel, and all of them were killed," he said.

00:08 Greece faces 'difficult' talks to stay in euro

Eurozone finance chiefs warned that last-ditch talks today on a bailout deal to stop Greece crashing out of the euro would be "extremely difficult", blaming a collapse of trust in the government in Athens.

Hardline Germany led a chorus of scepticism as ministers prepared to give a verdict on leftist Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras's new reform plan for a third rescue package worth more than 80 billion euros (USD 89 billion).

Kosovo authorities say they have cut off the water supply to tens of thousands of people in the capital after police arrested five suspects linked to the Islamic State group who allegedly were planning to poison a reservoir.

About a million worshippers packed the Paraguayan town of Caacupe today to see Pope Francis, who is wrapping up a three-country South America tour in which he has repeatedly spoken up for the poor.

The pope, 78, paid special tribute to Paraguay's women, largely left widowed and orphaned during the War of the Triple Alliance from 1865 to 1870, which nearly decimated the male population.

A crowd of furious Bosnian Muslims jumped over fences and attacked Serbia's prime minister with stones and water bottles on Saturday, marring the 20th anniversary commemorations of the Srebrenica massacre.

Aleksandar Vucic, a former ultranationalist during the Balkan wars but who is now a moderate with a pro-Western stance, escaped serious injury. He said he was hit in the face with a rock as the crowds chanted "Kill, Kill" and "Allahu akbar," the Arabic phrase for "God is great."

00:04 Top headlines in that last 24 hours

Italian Consulate in Egypt bombed; 1 killed
Srinagar: Carpets laid for 1.6 km to host 'longest iftar party'
Iftar party brings top Kashmiri separatists together
Delhi cop arrested on rape charge sacked; AAP attacks police chief
US drone strike kills IS Afghanistan-Pakistan chief
China saves a million people as Typhoon Chan-hom makes landfall
IPS officer claims Mulayam threatened him, cops refuse to file FIR
Heavy rains leave Delhi waterlogged, reeling under jams

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