The bowling action of the 30-year-old spinner was reported as suspect during the third ODI against Zimbabwe at Harare on October 3. Asif underwent a biomechanical test in Chennai on October 19.

"At the assessment (in Chennai), it was revealed that the amount of elbow extension in all of Asif's deliveries was well within the 15-degree level of tolerance permitted under the ICC regulations," an ICC said in a statement yesterday. Asif is set to make his Test debut against England in the third and final Test, which gets underway in Sharjah tomorrow.

"We will support Congress as this (BJP) government and the police have committed atrocities on my son," Bharat Patel said. "We are with Congress this time," he told reporters in Sabarkantha district after attending a Congress event where Congress's MLA from Bayad Mahendrasinh Vaghela was also present.

"The Patel community is with Hardik and they will show this in the elections," he said. Hardik is currently in police custody in connection with a sedition case here. Bharat Patel has moved the high court to get the cases against his son quashed.

Elections to six municipal corporations are slated for November 22. Polling will be held for 31 district panchayats, 230 taluka panchayats and 56 municipalities on November 29. Patel community had been a loyal supporter of BJP in the state in the past.

Faizal had been convicted by the additional sessions judge B S Bhadoria yesterday.

The court also awarded three years' imprisonment to co-accused Mahtab after finding him guilty under the Arms Act for supplying a weapon to Faizal which was used in the crime, said Special public prosecutor Naresh Gupta.

Faizal has been found guilty for the murder of constable Sitaram Yadav in Khandwa district in 2009.

Faizal, who attended the hearing from jail through video conference facility, lost his cool and shouted after the judge pronounced the verdict yesterday. Today also he attended the hearing through video conference.

"Why these writers did not raise the issue of intolerance during the regime of Congress in Maharashtra when Dhabolkar was killed. Why are they not writing a word against the Congress government in Karnataka where Dr Kalburgi's murder took place. Whose government is in Uttar Pradesh when Dadri episode happened? It was Mulayam Singh party's government. But some writers are attacking Modi for all these incidents. What is the connection of Modi with these incidents?" Naidu said.

The Union Law and Parliamentary Affairs Minister said these writers, who were silent and did not write a word against Emergency and other wrongdoings of the Congress governments in the past, are criticising Modi for his silence, because they were comfortable during the Congress regime.

"These writers did not raise voice against the wrongdoings including Emergency and the murder of rationalist Dhabolkar during Congress rule ... Why they did not raise the voice because they were comfortable during the Congress regime," he said at a function here to mark the birth anniversary of Sardar Vallabhai Patel

Mythology is the subjective truth of a people transmitted through stories, symbols and rituals. The former tells me what happened in the past and the latter tells me how our ancestors explained life.

We must distinguish both history and mythology from cultural memory '" how people remember the past. This has nothing to do with facts. It has to do with self-esteem of a tribe, a clan, or a community. One has to gently tread on it.

In colonial times, the world was divided into fact and fiction. But in post-colonial times we have learned to recognise the fluidity that makes such binaries rather simplistic. That memory of communities, their understanding of the world, and their articulation defy the rigid boundaries constructed by Marxists on one hand, and religious radicals on the other. 

Read this article HERE

Raising slogans against the NDA government and DoorDarshan, the protesters marched outside the office of the broadcaster. "Youth Congress protested outside Doordarshan office at Mandi House for not broadcasting Indira Gandhi's coverage. There was lathi charge and many youth activists were detained and taken to Parliament Street police station," said Delhi Youth Congress president Amit Malik.

The IYC volunteers were dispersed by the police and 16 of them were detained, said a senior police officer denying the use of force. The IYC members participating in "Sardar Patel se Indira tak Sashakt Bharat Yatra" also alleged that they were "barred" from paying tribute to Sardar Vallabh Bhai Patel at Ashoka Road.

Expressing concern over the 'demographic imbalances', the RSS' Akhil Bharatiya Karyakari Mandal passed a resolution urging the Centre to reformulate the National Population Policy keeping in view the availability of resources in the country, future needs and the 'problem of demographic imbalance.'

The resolution, a copy of which was released to the media here, also asked for a total curb on infiltration from across the border, preparation of National Register of Citizens and preventing these infiltrators from acquiring citizenship rights and purchasing land.

Briefing the press on the resolution adopted by the RSS, its Sah-Sarakaryavah Krishna Gopal said the religion data of Census 2011 highlighted the necessity of the review of population policy.

"There are some people in the country who are encouraging such protests intentionally and definitely with some purpose and even there might be a conspiracy as well to stop BJP's progress or prevent Modiji from taking many revolutionary steps which the opposition fears," she said at a programme to mark the 140th Birth anniversary of Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel.

"This will malign the image of the country, but won't be able to tarnish the image of Modiji (Is me desh ka image ko problem hoga, lekin kuch nehi bigarnewala Modiji ka)," she observed.

"In the name of raising voice against alleged intolerance, these people are actually encouraging intolerance to divide people and spoil the poll prospect of the BJP in Bihar, which will never happen," Bharati added. "Where were these persons when riots took place in 1984 or when the country was divided in the name of religion ?," she asked.

"I am not afraid, but fear of bua (aunt) should be in everybody's mind," he said. The chief minister announced that the Ramabai Ambedkar ground will be given to Bhimrao Ambedkar University. He was addressing a function at Dr Ram Manohar Lohia University.

He said the auditorium in which he was speaking in was actually the university. "I am ready to connect the auditorium with the university," he said.

Mitra was granted bail by ACJM (in-charge) of Alipore District and Sessions Court Partha Das on condition that he would furnish a bond of Rs two lakh, cannot leave the state, submit his passport and cooperate with the investigation process.

Trinamool Congress secretary general Partha Chatterjee told a news conference that Mitra's bail not only vindicated the party's stand that none of its members were involved in the scam, but it brought a sense of relief as well.

"The CBI had falsely implicated Mitra in the Saradha scam and his bail today is a testimony to that," he said adding efforts to tarnish Trinamool Congress's image would not fructify.

UK health secretary Jeremy Hunt is expected to announce charges for A&E treatment on all non-British residents next month. All nationals from outside the European Economic Area, including Indians, planning to migrate to Britain for longer periods of time already have to pay an additional annual surcharge when applying for their visa.

The surcharge of 200 pounds per year for general visa categories and 150 pounds for student visas came into force from April this year. This new charges being planned are likely to be over and above this surcharge. 

"International visitors are welcome to use the NHS, provided they pay for it '" just as families living in the UK do through their taxes. This government was the first to introduce tough measures to clamp down on migrants accessing NHS care and have always been clear we want to look at extending charges for non-EEA migrants," a spokesperson of the UK Department of Health said.

Dipan was sent to Dhaka Medical College Hospital where the doctors declared him dead, a police official confirmed.

Read this story HERE

Rudy, who is minister of state (independent charge) for skill development and entrepreneurship, got into the row when he shared the screenshot of Dawn website on his Twitter handle showing a poll advertisement of Nitish Kumar.

"Nitish advertises in PAKISTAN daily ''DAWN' e-edition to woo voters in Bihar. Why Pak? Whom does he want to reach?" Rudy tweeted. However, the remarks led to an  outrage on social media, after which he deleted the post.

Scores of twitteratis castigated Rudy over his "ignorance" about Google ads and questioned his knowledge of the cyber world arguing that Google provides ads on any site based on the reader's locations and browsing habits and insisted that it's not an ad in "Dawn".

 JD-U general secretary K C Tyagi wondered how the minister can promote skills in the country if he himself is so "unskilled".

The ad on TradeMe, New Zealand's biggest online marketplace, by a man from Christchurch city who goes by the name Alistair was listed a week ago, and has been viewed hundreds of times.

The man who listed the ad, which has been removed now, insisted that he was not racist "but did not want to live with people who cook curry every night or couldn't speak English", the New Zealand Herald reported.

News UK, Murdoch's UK-based publishing house, announced plans to scrap the paywall and offer most of its website content for free. News UK chief executive Rebekah Brooks informed staff yesterday of the new strategy, which will kick off from November 30. "I recently shared with you the future priorities for the company and am excited today to tell you more about our plans for the first of these growing The Sun's audience. "This will mean setting the Sun predominantly free in the digital world from November 30. By happy coincidence, this is also Cyber Monday, one of the best-performing days of the year for online retail," Brooks told staff. 

News UK had made the decision to put the UK's biggest-selling tabloid behind a paywall in August 2013, following a decision to move its other titles '" the Times and the Sunday Times '" on to a paid service.

Brooks described this as a "new chapter for The Sun", which she had put behind the paywall before her high-profile exit from the publishing house amid the phone hacking scandal in 2011.

The new scheme 'Vikalp' will take off in trains running on Delhi-Lucknow and Delhi-Jammu sectors on pilot basis. Initially, the scheme will be available only for the tickets booked through internet for six months and option will be limited to Mail and Express trains on the two selected routes, said a senior Railway Ministry official.

It will be extended to other routes as also to the reservation booking counters after getting the feedback. As per the scheme, waitlisted passengers would be given option of getting confirmed accommodation in the next train running on the route. No extra charges will be levied on the passenger or any refund provided for the difference of fare. Railway aims to achieve the twin objectives of providing confirmed accommodation to waitlisted passengers and ensure optimal utilisation of available accommodation by this scheme. 

While there is a huge demand for train berths in certain sector round the year, some routes witness increased rush during festive season.

Speaking after reviewing the passing out parade of the 67 RR (2014 batch) of Indian Police Service probationers at Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel National Police Academ, Doval said India cannot become a great and powerful country without managing its internal security.

"When you retire probably from 35-37 years from now, this will be an entirely new India. This will be an India, which will be a global power and it will be a big and great India, which will have great economic challenges, great economic opportunities and which will have much greater population, more opportunities and more problems," he said.

Stating that India would face more and more internal security problems, Doval said, "You cannot have a great powerful country if you cannot manage its internal security. It is only the policemen who can fight this battle and win it. Train yourself to become powerful intellectually, emotionally and spiritually, as strong as possible you can."

"You have to master the technology. The biggest challenge will be now if you have to fight and win this fourth generation of warfare, whether it is organised crime, terrorism, insurgency or foreign powers trying to meddle into your internal affairs you have got to be demonstrative.

Ahmedur Rashid Tutul, 43, Ranadipam Basu, 50, and Tareque Rahim, 30, were taken to the hospital with severe injuries after they were hacked by unknown assailants at the office of Shuddhaswar publications in the capital.

"We sent them to the DMCH (Dhaka Medical College Hospital) for treatment," an officer of the nearby Lalmatia police station told PTI. 

A resident of the building told reporters that the assailants also fired gunshots though police said victims' wounds were caused by knife attacks. 

"The attackers locked them up in the office from outside and then left the scene immediately after injuring them," he said.

"The condition Tutul is critical," doctors at the hospital said.

Tutul, who runs Shuddhaswar publications, had lodged a complaint with police after receiving death threats on Facebook following Roy's murder in February this year.

Four secularist bloggers have been killed by suspected Islamist militants in Bangladesh this year.

The team plan to use liposomes, tiny bubbles of fat which carry materials round the body, to release toxic drugs when their temperature is raised. These so-called "grenades" are intended to avoid side- effects by ensuring the drugs target only the tumour.

"This is still early work but these liposomes could be an effective way of targeting treatment towards cancer cells while leaving healthy cells unharmed," said Professor Charles Swanton, the chairman of the conference. Cancer experts believe such technology, which has been effective in animal experiments, was the "holy grail of nanomedicine". They are trying to harness the transporting abilities of these fatty spheres by getting them to carry toxic drugs to tumours.

"The difficulty is, how do you release them when they reach their target," Professor Kostas Kostarelos, from the University of Manchester, told BBC.

Irrespective of system of judges' appointment, the process must operate on "well-established and transparent principles to select the best" and no one can meddle with it, President Pranab Mukherjee today said while asking the judiciary to "reinvent itself through introspection and self-correction".

The statement, made in the backdrop of the historic apex court verdict quashing the National Judicial Appointment Commission Act, assumes significance as the President said that the judiciary is "autonomous" and a vital feature of democracy.

"...The appointment process must conform to the highest standards of probity. Whichever system of appointment we follow, it must operate on well-established and transparent principles to select the best.

"No one can meddle in the process. An autonomous judiciary is a vital feature of democracy. Yet being an important pillar of democracy, it must reinvent itself through introspection and self-correction, as and when necessary," the President said while inaugurating the Golden Jubilee Celebrations of the Delhi high court at Vigyan Bhawan.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has ordered the emergency ministry to dispatch rescue teams to Egypt, where a Russian passenger plane with 224 on board crashed today.

"The head of state has given orders to send emergency ministry (teams) to Egypt immediately to work at the plane crash site," a Kremlin statement said. 

Putin also ordered the government to launch a special commission "due to the catastrophe of Kogalymavia company plane in Egypt," the statement said. 

An emergency ministry meeting shown on Russian television announced that teams of rescue workers along with the emergency minister, Vladimir Puchkov, will fly out to Egypt at 1300 GMT.

Russia's transport minister Maksim Sokolov and the head of Russia's air transport agency Alexander Neradko are also leaving for the site, Russian agencies quoted the ministry's representative as saying.

Russia's Investigative Committee said it had launched a criminal probe into any possible violation of air safety rules, a standard procedure when air crashes involving Russian planes occur. It is also sending investigators to the scene.

Mukhtar Ahmad in Srinagar: At least two civilians were injured today in a grenade attack by suspected militants on a security force vehicle at Anantnag town in south Kashmir, police said. 

The assailants hurled a grenade towards a security force vehicle at Anantnag town but missed the intended target, a police official said. 

He said the grenade landed and exploded on the roadside, injuring at least two civilians.

The injured persons have been rushed to the local district hospital for treatment, he added. 

Uttar Pradesh Governor Ram Naik today stoked a controversy when he ordered stopping of national anthem mid-way as it was being played during the end of the oath taking function for ministers in Raj Bhawan. 

As the national anthem was played at the end of the event, Naik waved at his staff indicating that Jana Gana Mana be stopped and even verbally instructed his personnel to do so as he wanted to take up a pledge of national unity to mark the National Integration Day on the birth anniversary of Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel.

On Naik's instructions, the playing of Jana Gana Mana was stopped mid-way, but it triggered a controversy with questions being raised whether it tantamount to insulting the national anthem.  

In a quick damage control measure, a Raj Bhawan official clarified that it was due to a minor confusion and there was no intention to insult the national anthem. 

Russian airplane with more than 200 passengers crashed early Saturday in the central Sinai Peninsula, according to a statement from the office of Egypts prime minister.

Egypts aviation ministry told the Reuters news agency that the plane, an Airbus A321, crashed in a mountainous area of the Sinai after daybreak.

In Moscow, the Federal Air Transport Agency confirmed that the flight had disappeared from radar screens while flying from the Egyptian resort of Sharm el-Sheikh to St Petersburg, according to the Interfax news agency.

The plane, operated by Kogalymavia, disappeared from radar about 25 minutes after it took off at 6:51 a.m., Interfax said, quoting Sergei Isvolsky, a spokesman for the air transport agency.

He said there were 224 people on board, including 217 passengers. The flight, Kogalymavia 9268, had been scheduled to land at Pulkovo Airport in St. Petersburg.

The plane requested an emergency landing before disappearing, the Interfax report said. Aircraft crew members had previously complained about the state of one engine, the RIA Novosti agency reported.

Egypts air accident chief said on Saturday that a missing passenger plane on its way to Russia had safely left Egyptian airspace and made contact with Turkish air traffic control.

"The Russian airline had told us that the Russian plane we lost contact with is safe and that it has contacted Turkish air traffic control and is passing through Turkish skies now," Ayman al-Muqaddam, the head of the central air traffic accident authority in Egypt, said in a statement.

Egyptian air traffic control had lost contact with a civilian airliner carrying 212 people shortly after it had took off from the Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh to head to Russia, aviation sources said on Saturday.

Reserve Bank of India Governor Raghuram Rajan joined the debate on intolerance and expressed sharply on the ethnic tension prevailing in the country, and has said that an open spirit of inquiry is critical for the economic progress in the country.

Speaking at a function in Delhi, Rajan said that excessive political correctness stifles progress as much. He added if a government wants to attain economic growth, it is better to improve environment for ideas through tolerance and mutual respect.

He spoke of India's tradition of debate and an open spirit of enquiry and added that intolerance can take offense out of debate.

Moody's Analytics, an arm of global ratings agency Moody's, said on Friday that Prime Minister Narendra Modi must keep "his party members in check" from making controversial statements "or risk losing domestic and global credibility".

Defending champion Viswanathan Anand suffered a shock defeat at the hands of Dutch Grandmaster Anish Giri in the fourth round of the Bilbao Masters final chess tournament in Spain.

After three draws coming under different circumstances, Anand suffered a typical case of chess blindness and his opening blunder cost him dearly against Giri who used the opportunity well. For the records, this was Anand's first loss against Giri in Classical chess. 

Riding on his victory, Giri joined overnight leader Wesley So of United States in lead on six points under the soccer-like scoring system that gives three points for a victory and one for a draw.

So played out a hard-fought draw with Liren Ding of China who now shares the third spot with Anand on three points with two rounds still to come in the four-players double round-robin tournament.

Giri chose the English opening that is in vogue these days. Playing black,

Anand fell for a simple trick as early as on move 11 when a Bishop move by the Indian turned out to be a serious inaccuracy. Giri pounced on his chance in quick time and Anand was faced with a very difficult choice to either lose a pawn and wait for the inevitable or try and create some counter active chances.

Deepening the divide at the top in Delhi, the office of the Lt Governor has said that an AAP minister had approached the Raj Niwas with a file on 24 'criminal cases' pending in courts against the chief minister and senior AAP leaders and sought their withdrawal.

Delhi Home Minister Satyendra Jain was told by Lt Governor Najeeb Jung that "there cannot be a pick-and-choose policy for consideration of withdrawal of criminal cases and proper norms and procedures have to be followed."

Ajay Chaudhary, OSD to the Lt Governor, made this disclosure at a press conference after the AAP alleged that Jung had been taking 'undue interest' in a parole request by former Haryana chief minister O P Chautala who is currently in Tihar Jail -- the parole request was rejected on October 5.

Amid bitterness in ties with ally Shiv Sena, Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis has fired a fresh salvo questioning the opposition to his decision to provide security to Pakistani singer Ghulam Ali when Sena Chief's family had hosted cricketer Javed Miandad from that country. 

The Chief Minister, at the same time, asserted that that the BJP-led Government in Maharashtra, which completed a year in office today, will last the five-year term, and downplayed the "bickering" with ally Shiv Sena saying it is bound to happen in a "coalition". 

Fadnavis who had disapproved of Sena's protests against Pakistani singer Ghulam Ali, said, "I told (Sena) that there can't be different contours to denote who is patriotic. 

"Did Ghulam Ali ever give a statement against India? He was scheduled to pay tributes to Jagjit Singh. If by providing him security we become Pakistanis, then does that mean that those who hosted Javed Miandad at their home, also become Pakistanis," Fadnavis said.

Indian Express reports: A day after the government denied permission to screen a documentary on beef at the 12th Jeevika Asia Livelihood Documentary Festival 2015 in New Delhi, the makers of the documentary have said they would hold independent screenings of Caste on the Menu Card on college campuses and at civil society organisations. 

A statement issued by the five filmmakers on Friday stated they are "deeply saddened" by the Information and Broadcasting Ministry's move to deny exemption for screening the film at the festival. 

"We are planning to get the film screened on college campuses and civil society organisations across the country to encourage a dialogue. Moreover, we will be releasing the film online in the days ahead," read an excerpt from the statement. 

Caste on the Menu Card was scheduled to be screened on October 31, but the I&B ministry refused to exempt it from certification, said Centre for Civil Society, which is organising the film festival. 

India's vast but underground satta market, which sees heavy election betting, is as of now projecting the Bharatiya Janata Party-led NDA as falling short of a majority in Bihar and the Nitish Kumar-Lalu Prasad alliance getting a narrow majority.

But the market is also saying it is waiting for the fourth phase of Bihar polls, slated for November 1, for another assessment.

The Economic Times spoke to a number of big players in the satta market, who take bets and calculate the odds. 

They spoke on the condition they not be identified. 

For Bihar's 243-seat assembly, Friday's bets were being offered with a projected tally of 110 for BJP-led NDA, with BJP's own tally projected at 94.

Read more HERE

Union minister Nitin Gadkari on Friday said he intends to build a structure taller than the Dubai's iconic Burj Khalifa in Mumbai in the memory of Maratha warrior Chhatrapati Shivaji.

"I am not making any announcement but only expressing my wish. I want a huge building to come up in Mumbai. I want a structure taller than the Burj Khalifa, one of the tallest buildings of the world, to come up in Mumbai near the seas. It will be called Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj tower," Mr Gadkari said while speaking at a business Conclave .

He further said the first 30 floors would be reserved for a conventional Centre, the next 30 for restaurants, another set of 30 floors for hotels, 20 floors for malls only, along with many floors underground as parking space.

Burj Khalifa is one of the tallest artificial structure in the world, standing at 829.8 mt (2,722 ft).

"On the top floors of the building, there can be an art gallery dedicated to Shivaji Maharaj, depicting his life.

Around the building, there will be musical fountains, lights and crystal clear water," he said.

Twenty seven people died and 145 were injured in a fire and explosion in a Bucharest, Romania, nightclub during a rock concert that featured fireworks late on Friday, government officials and witnesses said, in one of the capital's worst incidents in decades.

The death toll has likely stabilised at the club, which held about 400, mostly young adults, Deputy Interior Minister Raed Arafat said.

Several witnesses said there were fireworks inside the club. A pillar and the club's ceiling went up in flames and then there was an explosion and heavy smoke, they said.

"The situation is slowly stabilising ... we have many people with burns, intoxicated with smoke and people squashed," Arafat said, adding many victims have no identification documents.

Arafat said the victims were admitted to 10 hospitals in Bucharest.

Early on Saturday morning, Prime Minister Narendra Modi paid tribute to Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel on his 140th birth anniversary in Delhi. Recalling the contributions of the 'Iron Man', he said that his ideology and heritage cannot be forgotten.

"He contributed immensely to India's unity. After Chanakya, it was Sardar Patel who strung India together with unity," he said.

He added that the entire country needs to join hands for development. 

"One India, great India (Ek Bharat Shreshth Bharat) once implemented will be states recognising and learning about another state's culture & language," he asserted.

Talking about his own clean India campaign, he noted that the mission was initially the brainchild of the Iron Man. "Sardar Patel started a Swachta Abhiyaan that went on for 222 days. This effort went on under strict eye of Sardar Patel and it was Gandhi ji who noted and appreciated the effort," he said.

In an apparent jibe at the Congress, Modi asserted that "Sardar Patel inspires the thought that there is no family name or members linked to his legacy."

Modi flagged-off a 'Run for Unity' event at Rajpath and administered the pledge of unity. The PM also offered floral tributes at Sardar Patel's statue on Parliament street.

In the "Star Wars" movies, we've seen stormtroopers guard Imperial strongholds, escort prisoners, follow Darth Vader around and fire their blaster rifles in battle -- usually with lousy aim.

But we've never seen them go to the bathroom. Until now.

The faceless soldiers in the white armor are the subjects of "The Other Side," a new series of photos by Spanish photographer Jorge Perez Higuera that takes stormtroopers out of context and places them in mundane scenes of everyday modern life: grocery shopping, gassing up the car, doing laundry and ... yes, using urinals.

Higuera says he believes the average working person can relate to the pop-culture figures because they're the unsung grunts of the "Star Wars" universe.

Read more HERE.

A Polish court rejected Friday the extradition of film director Roman Polanski in a decades-old underage sex case.

Judge Dariusz Mazur called the extradition request "inadmissible."

"The court's assessment is that it would be would be clearly connected with unlawful deprivation of freedom, taking into account time needed to transfer the extradited person to United States, which is probably several months, at least several weeks, possibly in difficult and unsuitable conditions for an elderly person," Mazur ruled.

US officials have been seeking Polanski returned for decades, insisting that he be held to account for illegally having sex with a 13-year-old girl in 1977. He was 43 at the time.

Read more HERE.

Most of us haven't carried a checkbook in years. Much less do we tear out a check, fill it out for a million bucks and expect it to be honored.

Yet if authorities in Las Vegas are to be believed that is exactly what a certain Frenchman did three years ago. A Frenchman who just happens to be the son of the current French foreign minister, authorities say.

And believe it or not -- perhaps because the gentleman in question was sitting at a gaming table -- that check and others of considerable size were honored, according court filings: No problem, monsieur, here are your chips. Please continue gambling.

But you guessed it: Authorities say there were insufficient funds.

Read more HERE,

Rockets slammed into a former U.S. military base housing Iranian exiles near the Baghdad airport, reportedly causing numerous casualties.

At least 80 rockets struck Camp Liberty, where members of the main Iranian opposition group, the Mujahedin-e Khalq, or MEK, have been living since February 2012, said Shahin Gobadi, a spokesman for the People's Mojahedin Organization of Iran.

According to the group, the Thursday attack killed 23 residents of the camp and injured dozens more.

"This is a most deplorable act, and I am greatly concerned at the harm that has been inflicted on those living at Camp Liberty," said U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees Antnio Guterres. "Every effort must continue to be made for the injured and to identify and bring to account those responsible."

Read more HERE,

Forget sharp suits, expensive cocktails, gambling problems and one night stands. Maybe mothers are better spies than James Bond?

A new job advertisement by British spy agency MI6 on the parenting website Mumsnet suggests just this.

The post seeks Intelligence Officers to join its team in London and stresses the importance of qualities including "creativity, insight, curiosity, empathy and intuition."

Successful applicants will be British, have a "wide range of life experience," and could be deployed overseas. The post also warns applicants to be "aware of the importance of discretion."

Read more HERE.

Both Democrats and Republicans on Capitol Hill took issue with President Barack Obama's decision Friday to deploy U.S. troops to Syria -- for different reasons.

Several Democrats broke with their president to criticize a move that puts American boots on the ground and cautioned against mission creep.

Some also called on their own chambers to pass a resolution authorizing the use of force against ISIS, something the administration sought earlier in the year but which has stalled in Congress.

Many Republicans, meanwhile, called Obama's new anti-ISIS plan too little, too late and questioned its utility.

And both parties called for the administration to sketch out a more detailed strategy for taking on ISIS, also called ISIL.

Read more HERE.