In a recent op-ed Shobhaa De has commented upon how unlike Kasab, Memon a direct product of the very city he helped blow to smithereens.

Here's an exerpt:

All those of us who live in this deliriously amazing metropolis called Mumbai, owe it a big one. 

Today some citizens are ignoring that huge debt, by exonerating a man who played a pretty big role in destroying that very city -- not just key areas of Bombay/Mumbai -- but the soul of what used to be a truly vibrant, open and generous slice of India where everybody miraculously managed to grab a piece of the sky that covered it. March 12, 1993, was that ghoulish day when our beloved Mumbai was blown apart by a series of bomb blasts that claimed 257 innocent lives, and left 713 injured. 

Sadly, 22 years ago, on that terrible day, Mumbai changed forever. Mumbai never did recover. Mumbai may never recover.

When a convict is told he is to hang on such-and-such day and time, when his family members, along with the doomed man, begin the ghastly countdown, when detailed reports giving minute details, start doing the rounds across media platforms, it is inevitable that a surge of public sympathy follows. After all, we are human. We connect to grief no matter to whom that grief belongs. Or even why. In this defining case, we also know complete justice has been done, even if that has taken the courts 22 years and an incredible amount of work to get to this final point of closure. 

Despite all that, the first instinctive response is to place oneself in the shoes of the man who faces the gallows -- it is a scary, eerie experience. Next, you think of what his wife and daughter are going through -- equally troubling. And then you start to feel awful about yourself! Strange, isnt it? Temporarily, you forget the enormity of the crime committed against a city, a nation, humanity itself. And you personalise the situation.

For more read HERE.

Tunisia's parliament voted overwhelmingly to pass the country's new anti-terror law after a pair of devastating attacks against tourists, but critics fear the new legislation may endanger the North African nation's hard-won freedoms.

Alone among the countries that underwent the 2011 uprisings of the Arab Spring, Tunisia emerged with a democracy, but amid a rise in attacks by Islamic radicals, the new government is increasingly considering stability and security over personal freedoms.

"There are many holes in the law that could open the way to human rights violations," said a statement by coalition of Tunisian 10 civil society groups, including the bar association, the journalists' union and several rights groups.

The law, which had languished in parliament for years and was approved late Friday, was fast-tracked after gunmen in March attacked the national museum in Tunis and killed 21 foreign tourists.

Three months later, another gunman attacked a resort in Sousse killing 38 tourists, mostly Britons.

The leader of the Hezbollah militant group says he is "proud" of US sanctions targeting three members of the group.

Speaking before a graduation event in southern Beirut today, Sheikh Hassan Nasrallah says such sanctions do not make the slightest difference to the group.

The US Treasury Department slapped sanctions last week on three Hezbollah members, including senior figure Mustafa Badral Din, and a Lebanese businessman for their suspected militant activities in support of Syrian President Bashar Assad.

The action freezes the US assets of all four and prevents Americans from engaging in transactions with them.

"This does not make a slightest difference to our brothers," Nasrallah said. He said Hezbollah members did not have money in international banks or otherwise.

Muhammad was one of dozens of detainees who have died in military detention in Pakistan in the past year and a half, amid accounts of torture, starvation and extrajudicial execution from former detainees, relatives and human rights monitors. The accusations come at a time when the countrys generals, armed with extensive new legal and judicial powers, have escalated their war against the Pakistani Taliban by sweeping into their strongholds and detaining hundreds of people.

Critics warn that those gains may be coming at the cost of human rights, potentially weakening Pakistans fragile democracy and, ultimately, undermining its counterterrorism effort.

Read more HERE.

Amid growing radicalisation of a sect of Muslims and the rise of ISIS, RSS organ 'Organiser' has said Indian Muslims can lead the way for global peace and prosperity as shown by the community in Maharashtra town by Eid celebrations for Vaishnavite pilgrims.

The editorial in 'Organiser' said that despite exceptions of Memons and Dawoods among Indian Muslims, their cultural DNA has not changed even after "conversion" to Islam that respects all ways of worship.

It said that against the backdrop of outrage against global jihad, a group of Muslims in Lonand in Satara District of Maharashtra have shown the "real character" of Indian Muslims by postponing the Eid celebrations and not carrying out animal slaughter out of respect for Vaishnavite pilgrims who were carrying out a yatra.

"Indian Muslims would explain that they have followed their 'dharma'. After conversion to Islam, the way of worship may have changed, but the cultural DNA, of respecting all ways of worship and believing that those ways lead to the same God, remained the same. Muslims of Lonand showing such gesture was not an aberration," it said.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi honoured Madhvi Sally, Special Correspondent, The Economic Times, New Delhi with Chaudhary Charan Singh Award for Excellence in Journalism in Agricultural Research and Development during his Bihar visit on Saturday. 

This award is constituted by Indian Council of Agricultural Research, which is part of Ministry of Agriculture.

Madhvi Sally has been reporting about agriculture, commodities and allied areas for over a decade from Chandigarh (grain bowl of country Punjab & Haryana), Ahmedabad (commodity trade centre and dairy capital Gujarat) and now New Delhi (national capital for policies) for business dailies. 

She has been working with The Economic Times for close to nine years and has travelled to most parts of India besides countries such as USA, Israel, Thailand, Singapore and Pakistan to interact with farmers, traders, processors and policy makers.

She has extensively written about trends, technologies, policies and issues concerning farmers among others. 

Besides agriculture, Madhvi has also been pursing issues in the areas of dairying and fishing.

President Barack Obama on Saturday lectured Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta about his country's gay rights record.

Under Kenyan law, sexual activity between men is illegal and punishable with a maximum imprisonment of 14 years.

"When you start treating people differently not because of any harm they are doing to anybody, but because they are different, that's the path whereby freedoms begin to erode," Obama said at a joint press conference with the Kenyan leader in Nairobi. "And bad things happen."

Obama equated legalized discrimination of gays to legalized racism in America.

"And when a government gets in a habit of people treating people differently, those habits can spread," Obama continued. "As an African-American, I am painfully aware of what happens when people are treated differently under the law."

Kenyatta, however, said that while the US and Kenya share many common values and goals, gay rights is not one of them.

Read more HERE.

Calling Ram Janambhoomi-Babri Masjid issue a political problem, ICHR chief Prof Y Sudershan Rao said while it was easy to convince those connected with the mosque and the religion about evidence in favour of Ram temple, the real problem was with Leftist historians.

Stating that he had walked the streets of Ayodhya and got a feeling of living in Ramayana times, Rao said Leftist historians keep insisting that there is a need for objective evidence.

Refuting the argument that mosques were not built on existing structures, he said that there were researches suggesting that several mosques were built on land belonging to temples, including in south India.

He also said that Valmiki's Ramayana is written mostly on objective evidence and asserted that Valmiki, in fact was a historian by himself.

Rao, who took over as the Chairperson of Indian Council of Historical Research (ICHR) in June last year, was speaking at a symposium organised by RSS linked Akhil Bharatiya Itihas Sankalan Yojana.

A batch of Kenyan newborn babies have been named in honour of US President Barack Obama's visit to the country -- with some mothers evidently hoping their offspring will be future high-flyers.

Already there are numerous young Barack Obamas living in Kogelo, the president's ancestral village, but soon after Obama touched down last night two mothers in the western city of Kisumu took the unusual decision to name their sons after the president's jet, Air Force One.

"I have decided to call my baby AirForceOne Barack Obama so that we can all remember Obama's visit to Kenya because it is a huge blessing," said Lucy Akinyi Okoth, one of the mothers.

Another, Lucy Atieno, decided to simply call her boy Air Force One.

"I have been told that it is the best aeroplane because it carries a very powerful leader of America who is also a Kenyan," she said.

The two Air Force Ones were among eight children born on Friday night at Kisumu Jaramogi Oginga Odinga Referral Hospital and named after Obama, said nurse Dolphin Akinyi.

Seizing on Prime Minister Narendra Modi's poll promise of 'bigger than Rs 50,000-crore' financial package for Bihar, Shiv Sena president Uddhav Thackeray today said the special package should be extended on priority level to crisis-hit Maharashtra instead of the election-bound state.

"We do not have any problem with the financial package for Bihar. He should give it to all the states which need it. 

But the money needs to be given first where it is needed the most. Today farmers in Maharashtra are committing suicide because of drought. There is no rain here which has distressed farmers. They need help on priority. Special packages should be for crisis situations and not for elections," Thackeray told reporters here.

Modi, while kicking off the NDA's election campaign in Patna today, said politics had hurt the development of Bihar and added that the state would get a package bigger than the Rs 50,000-crore as announced earlier.

Referring to Radha Mohan Singh's controversial reply in the Parliament on the issue of farmer suicides, Thackeray said it was unfortunate that such a person was the Agriculture Minister, and Modi should take action against him.

Pakistani television journalist Chand Nawab is hoping director Kabir Khan and Bollywood star Salman Khan will compensate him for inspiring the character played by Nawazuddin Siddiqui in the hit film Bajrangi Bhaijaan.

People have said that I should be compensated for inspiring the character of the reporter in the film. I am also hoping I will be compensated, Nawab told Hindustan Times on phone from Karachi on Friday.

You can watch a video of Chand's TV newscast that is repeated nigh verbatim in the movie Bajrangi Bhaijaan right HERE.

With the recovery of five more bodies today from a sunken ferry in the Nile River in Egypt, the overall death toll in the tragedy rose to 36 as search operations continue for the third day to locate two missing passengers, the government said.

Following the collision between the ferry and a cargo boat on Wednesday night, the passenger boat sustained damage, causing it to sink in the river. Five more bodies have been recovered taking the overall death toll to 36, Al Ahram reported.

Head of the civil protection administration Magdy El-Shalaqany said that civil protection workers are still searching for the last two victims. He also said that there were nine survivors of the incident, five of whom are still hospitalised.

Earlier in the day, Egypt's health ministry had announced that the number drowned after the collision had risen to 33.

Over 35 passengers were estimated to have been aboard a chartered boat when it collided with a cargo ship near the shores of Al-Warraq district in Giza, causing the chartered boat to capsize.

Gunmen with Islamist militant group Boko Haram have raided three villages in eastern Nigeria's Adamawa state, killing at least 25 people, residents and a local government official said Saturday.

The attackers rode into the villages on motorcycles Friday morning before gunning people down, according to residents and Maina Ularamu, chairman of local government in the Madagali district.

The attacks happened in the villages of Kopa, Maikadiri and Yaffa.

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee will leave for the United Kingdom tomorrow on a five-day visit to showcase the state as an ideal destination for investment.

Finance and Industry Minister Amit Mitra, nearly 50-member business delegation, three Trinamool Congress MPs Derek O'Brien, Sugato Bose and actor Deepak Adhikari (Deb), Kolkata Mayor Sovan Chatterjee and several officials would accompany her.

ITC chairman Y C Deveshwar, RP-Sanjiv Goenka Group chairman Sanjiv Goenka and Ambuja Neotia Group chairman Harsh

Neotia would be members of the business delegation, officials said.

The tour could pave way for agreements on health, education and other social sectors, Finance minister Amit Mitra had said earlier.

Among other engagements, she would attend a meeting of UKIBC and FICCI to discuss various issues related to business opportunities in the state, they said.

The CM would meet the Duke of York, Prince Andrew at Buckingham Palace, the officials said.

Turkey arrested nearly 600 terror suspects as warplanes intensified attacks against ISIS and other militant targets in a daylong operation, Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said Saturday.

The strikes also targeted the Kurdistan Worker's Party or PKK, and came days after ISIS militants killed a Turkish soldier in border clashes.

The same week, a suicide blast killed more than 30 people in Suruc, a town that borders Syria. Turkish authorities blamed it on ISIS.

"We will not stay silent in the face of those who kill our police officers in their sleep," Davutoglu said, referring to PKK's assassination of two Turkish police officers Wednesday.

Turkish warplanes and artillery bombed ISIS in northern Syria and PKK in northern Iraq on Friday, the first time Turkey has attacked ISIS and PKK simultaneously.

Turkey believes that PKK is exploiting ISIS efforts. PKK has been fighting for independence and autonomy since 1984 and is feared to be making gains.

The airstrikes, which coincided with Turkish ground troops, targeted PKK militants in shelters, depots and caves around mountainous areas near the Turkish / Iraqi border.

The government said the hits on terror groups in Iraq were effective.

Read more HERE.

The Pentagon has quietly expanded its military operations in Somalia against Al-Shabaab militants in recent weeks.

US drone strikes are now part of a larger U.S. military strategy to provide direct military support to African peacekeepers -- mainly Kenyans -- under attack from Al-Shabaab, two US defense officials told CNN.

Drones, armed with Hellfire missiles, have been flying from a U.S. military site in Djibouti on the strike missions. Other drones conducting intelligence-gathering, surveillance and reconnaissance have been operating out of Ethiopia, according to one of the officials.

The missions are specifically targeting militants in the field who are directly attacking or threatening African Union Mission in Somalia peacekeepers. 

AMISOM is staffed by troops from nearly a dozen countries, but the bulk come from Kenya and Ethiopia on a regular basis.

Until now, most US military actions in Somalia have focused on airstrikes or raids by special operations forces aimed at capturing or killing specific individuals linked to al Qaeda and other terrorist groups in the region. 

But in June, Al-Shabaab militants attacked and overran a peacekeeper base in southern Somalia. A spokesperson for the terror group claimed at the time that the group killed 50 soldiers.

Read more HERE.

Twenty-four more people were killed today as floods triggered by heavy monsoon rains inundated northern Pakistan, raising the overall death toll in the flooding to 46.

The rescuers recovered 24 more bodies from the deluged Chitral district in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, police said.

The already inundated district has been lashed with heavy rainfall since Sunday, which have swept away roads and bridges, cutting away remote areas from the district headquarters.

The district's Mor Kahu area is the worst-hit where around seven villages have been swept away. It has been already cut off from rest of the district and there are reports of shortages of food and medicines.

The overall death toll due to flooding in the country has climbed to 46 nationwide, police said. 

A Delhi court on Saturday discharged all 16 accused in the IPL spot fixing case, including cricketers S Sreesanth, Ajit Chandila and Ankeet Chavan. 

The infamous IPL controversy broke out during the sixth edition of the Indian Premier League, during which Rajasthan Royals cricketers Sreesanth, Chandila and Chavan were accused of tarnishing the image of the game. 

The Delhi Police, on May 16, 2013, arrested the three cricketers along with Sreesanth's friend and alleged booking Jiju Janardhan and 10 other bookies. While framing charges against them, the police had referred to telephonic conversations among the accused to support their claims.

The court had granted bail to Sreesanth, Chavan and various others accused for lack of evidence against them under the provisions of stringent Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act.

Other accused, including Chandila, were also granted bail later on by the court.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi tore into Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar and Rashtriya Janata Dal chief Lalu Prasad Yadav while launching the Bharatiya Janata Party's campaign for the upcoming assembly elections at a rally at Muzaffarpur.

Here are highlights of what he said:

* Do you know what is the true meaning of RJD? It is 'Rozana Jungle Raj ka Darr' (Daily Fear of Jungle Raj). The coming elections are about freedom from that.

* There was a time when Nitish asked me not to come to Bihar, but time has changed now. The previous PM didn't come, only did an aerial survey but my visit now is troubling the chief minister. If I was so bad you could have slapped me, strangled me but why did you strangle the development of an entire state, is this democracy?

* There is a problem in political DNA of Nitish Kumar.

* A Bihar leader made fun of my tweets earlier. Now, he tweets himself.

There is a lot to be done at Rashtrapati Bhavan, said President Pranab Mukherjee on Saturday as he ushered in his fourth year in office dispelling notions that life in the President's Estate was in a "realm of boredom".

Mukherjee, who has launched many initiatives to bring Rashtrapati Bhavan closer to the masses, said it has been his idea to keep doing something which is "primarily concerned with the people" and that is the reason he chose to implement government schemes like 'Swachh Bharat' and 'Beti Bacaho, Beti Padhao' in the sprawling campus on Raisina Hill.

"While filing my nomination (for Presidency) a colleague simply said after being so long in active politics what would I do there (Rashtrapati Bhavan). He clearly said you are entering into a realm of boredom...from such active life. 

"But I found it is not exactly the same and there is lot that can be done as there is a large community living here (inside President's Estate) of about 7,000 people and their families," Mukherjee said after inaugurating an AYUSH wellness centre inside the Estate after the renovation of an old and abandoned building.

The New York City Health Department has asked city residents to stop using certain ayurvedic medications made by a leading Indian pharma company, saying the products contain "elevated" levels of lead and mercury making them unsafe for "human consumption". 

It also recommended that New Yorkers "should immediately stop using these products" and those who have been consuming them should consult with their doctor and consider receiving tests for exposure to lead or other heavy metals.

The department has also asked residents to report to authorities about stores selling the products. 

"The New York City Health Department advises New Yorkers to avoid certain Ayurvedic medications made in India by Shree Baidyanath as they have been found to contain elevated levels of arsenic, lead and mercury," it said in a statement issued on Friday. 

The department issued Commissioner's Orders to cease sales at neighborhood stores where the products were found.

"Although not all Ayurvedic medications contain dangerous ingredients, lead and other heavy metals may be intentionally added to some of these medications for perceived therapeutic benefits. Ayurvedic medications are generally not tested for safety," Bureau of Environmental Disease and Injury Prevention Assistant Commissioner Nancy Clark said.

External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj, who is in the spot for helping Lalit Modi, on Saturday reiterated that she never requested or recommended travel documents for the former Indian Premier League chief.

Responding to a series of questions posed to her on Twitter by different users, Swaraj said she left it on the UK Government to make a decision in this regard.

"You got it right. I am saying this time and again that I never requested or recommended travel documents for Lalit Modi. @minhazmerchant," she tweeted

She added that she is accountable to Parliament and that is the only forum to inform the nation.

Referring to the Parliament logjam, Swaraj said she expressed her readiness for a debate on the issue on the very first day of the Monsoon Session of Parliament. It is "Congress members are not allowing a debate," she added.

The Opposition is demanding the resignations of Sushma Swaraj and Rajasthan Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje for helping Lalit Modi, and of Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan over the Vyapam scam issue.

The Congress, BSP and Left parties are vocal in demanding the resignations of the three BJP leaders.

A senior police officer told rediff.com that militants hurled a grenade near the Achabal bus stand.

"The injured have been evacuated to hospital," he said.

The area was immediatedly cordoned off and search operations are underway.

No group has so far claimed responsibility of the attack.

Several ex-servicemen held a protest against the delay in implementation of One Rank One Pension scheme by Narendra Modi-led NDA government in Mohali on a day when Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar is visiting the city. 

The ex-servicemen from Mohali, Chandigarh and Panchkula owing allegiance to different associations gathered at a Sikh shrine in Sohana carrying black flags, anti-government placards and raising slogans against the Modi government. 

The protesters were stopped by a heavy police force by  barricading the road which led to the venue where DefenceMinister Manohar Parrikar is scheduled to inaugurate an institute. The demonstration is held at some 2 kms away from the venue.

Sounds of 'Jai Jawan Jai Kisan...we are not beggars' echoed in the air during the protest. 

"We protest against the NDA's failure to implement OROP and want to register our anger against the centre by showing black flags to the minister for his failure to implement the scheme," said Brigadier (Retd) Harwant Singh, representative of the United Front of Ex-Servicemen (UFESM). 

"The Defence Minister has often mouthed platitudes for soon implementing OROP but has not given a firm date when that 'soon' would arrive," he said. 

Army Chief General Dalbir Singh Suhag today said the armed forces will not let another Kargil-like conflict to take place.

After paying tributes to the Kargil war martyrs at a memorial in Drass, he said the "Army won't allow another Kargil".

Though the celebrations to mark the 16th anniversary of India's victory in the Kargil War, also called Vijay Diwas, began on July 20, the main functions will be held this weekend.

Army will hold a memorial service at the Kargil War Memorial where prayers by religious leaders will be held. They will be followed by lighting of lamps. 

The wreath laying ceremony for the martyrs will be held tomorrow which will be followed by an interaction with Veer Naris.

The Kargil war, which began in May 1999, lasted for more than two months before Pakistani soldiers, a bulk of them drawn from its Northern Light Infantry, and irregulars withdrew from the mountain tops they had occupied overlooking the Srinagar-Leh highway.

In the conflict, the Indian Army lost 490 officers, soldiers and jawans. 

A head constable was killed after a fire broke out in the CRPF office in R K Puram in south Delhi in the wee hours today, police said. 

The fire department was informed about the blaze at 1:20 AM and seven fire tenders were rushed to the spot. 

42-year-old Head Constable Lingam Gowda, who was on night duty, informed the guard about the fire in the record room of the CRPF office. 

The Head Constable was trapped in the room and his body was later found under a table, police said. 

The cause of the blaze, which was controlled by 3 am, is yet to be ascertained.

A dinner for the Union ministers will be hosted by President Pranab Mukherjee on Saturday to commemorate three years of his presidency.

"To mark this occasion, the President will host a dinner for the council of ministers and other dignitaries," a press release issued by Rashtrapati Bhavan said on Friday.

Two volumes of his selected speeches and two books on Rashtrapati Bhavan will be released on the occasion by Vice President Hamid Ansari and Home Minister Rajnath Singh, it said.

The books are titled 'Abode under the Dome' and 'Right of the Line: The President's Bodyguard (1773-2015)'.

The two volumes of selected speeches of President Mukherjee contain important speeches delivered by him since assumption of office on July 25, 2012 as the 13th President.

The order on framing of charges in the 2013 Indian Premier League spot-fixing case in which suspended Indian cricketers Ajit Chandila, S Sreesanth, Ankeet Chavan and others, including underworld don Dawood Ibrahim and his aide Chhota Shakeel are accused, is scheduled for today in a Delhi court.

Additional Sessions Judge Neena Bansal Krishna, who was scheduled to pass the order on June 29, said that the order sheet was not yet prepared.

Speaking to ANI ahead of pronouncement of the order, former Rajasthan Royals cricketer Chandila said, I had never seen such bad times before. I believe that my bad time is over, I am sure justice will prevail

Additional Sessions Judge Neena Bansal Krishna had on May 23 reserved the order on framing of charges in the case for June 29 and asked the counsel appearing for the accused to file their written arguments, if any, by June 6.

Special Cell of Delhi Police had named 42 accused in the case in its charge sheet out of whom six are absconding.

The investigation carried out by police in the case had earlier come under scanner of the court which had questioned its theory of "match fixing", saying there was prima facie no evidence showing that matches were fixed by the accused.

The Bharatiya Janata Party-led National Democratic Alliance will on Saturday sound begul of campaigning for the forthcoming assembly elections in Bihar with Prime Minister Narendra Modi addressing a rally at Chakkar Maidan in Muzaffarpur.

Union Agriculture Minister Radha Mohan Singh, who is on the Opposition's target for blaming love affairs for farmers' suicide, said the turnout at the rally would be a historic one.

Singh, who is supervising preparations for the PM's Muzaffarpur rally, said the event at Chakkar Maidan will be bigger than any other rallies held in Muzaffarpur since Independence.

In a jibe at political rivals, Singh said some people have already started feeling dizzy at the mere thought about the impact of Saturday's rally.

"Kai logon ko Chakkar Maidan ke naam se chakkar aa raha hai (Many are feeling dizzy at the mere name of Chakkar Maidan)," the senior BJP leader from Bihar said.

The PM's rally would also showcase unity of the NDA in the run-up to the Bihar Assembly polls as all top leaders of BJP and coalition partners like Ramvilas Paswan (LJP), Upendra Kushwaha (RLSP) and Jitan Ram Manjhi (HAM, Secular) would attend the rally with leaders and workers of their respective parties, Singh said.

The report of the Subramanian committee to revise environment laws should be scrapped and the issue looked at afresh, Parliaments standing committee on the sector has recommended. 

The committee, headed by Ashwani Kumar, a Rajya Sabha member from the Congress party and an ex-Union minister, gave its report on Tuesday.

The report it said should be scrapped came from a committee chaired by T S R Subramanian, former cabinet secretary and also an ex-chief secretary of Uttar Pradesh. 

It had asked for a complete overhaul of six environmental laws. 

The report had been criticised by many environmental and tribal rights groups, for recommending dilution of some existing safeguards.

Kerry was asked in an NBC "Today" show interview if the nuclear deal reached last week would make it more likely that Israel might attempt a military or cyber attack on Tehran."That'd be an enormous mistake, a huge mistake with grave consequences for Israel and for the region, and I don't think it's necessary," Kerry said.

In 2013, President Obama signed a law qualifying a mass shooting as one where three or more victims die, meaning that Thursday night's shooting would not count since the third death was that of the shooter.

The 28-year-old specialised in quantum optics and nanophotonics -- used to make high-powered computers -- and worked for the Max Planck Institute for several months between 2009 and 2011. Der Spiegel says the man identified as Ivan A. transmitted confidential research results to the Russian secret services during that time.

"Two women extremists from the terrorist cell that was recently dismantled and whose members had pledged allegiance to the so-called Islamic State were arrested Thursday in Tangiers," a ministry statement cited by the official MAP news agency reported.

"We would like to inform you that we are seeking a new loan facility from the International Monetary Fund," Finance Minister Euclid Tsakalotos wrote in a letter to Christine Lagarde, the managing director of the IMF.

"Following a review of Mitsubishi Motor Corporation's global supply chain, we have been informed it is necessary to end production and seek a strategic buyer for the Normal plant," Mitsubishi Motors North America said in a statement. Mitsubishi said it will continue to sell its cars, including current and planned models, at US dealerships. "The North American market remains a priority for Mitsubishi Motors," it said.

Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said the strikes were part of a broad "process".Turkey arrested IS suspects on Friday. It has also said it would let the US use a key airbase to attack IS targets.

Nkurunziza won 69.41 percent of the vote in Tuesday's polls, handing him an immediate first-round victory, the election commission said.

Air Force One touched down at Nairobi's international airport, AFP reporters said, marking the start of a weekend visit during which the president will address an entrepreneurship summit and hold talks on trade and investment, security and counter-terrorism, and democracy and human rights.