Srinagar, May 21; PTI/GANASHAKTI: Restrictions were Tuesday imposed in parts of the summer capital of Jammu and Kashmir in view of the separatists' plan to hold a march to Eidgah martyrs graveyard for paying tributes to slain Hurriyat leaders Mirwaiz Mohammad Farooq and Abdul Gani Lone.

The district administration imposed restrictions in Khanyar, Rainawari, Nowhatta, Maharajgunj and Safa Kadal police station areas of the old city, officials said.

21 May 2019; DW: Houthi-run Masirah TV said on Tuesday that the Yemeni rebel group had launched a drone attack on Najran airport in Saudi Arabia which caused a fire to break out at the facility.

The airport is located in the city of Najran on the Saudi-Yemen border, an area that has repeatedly been targeted by Houthi rebels.

Mumbai, May 21 (PTI) A special court here has granted exemption to the 2008 Malegaon blast case accused Pragya Singh Thakur, Lt Col Prasad Purohit and Sudhakar Chaturvedi from appearing before it this week.

When the matter was taken up by the special NIA court on Monday, the three accused filed applications through their lawyers seeking exemption from appearance.

While Thakur and Chaturvedi said they are busy with preparations for the upcoming results of the Lok Sabha polls, which they had contested, Purohit cited personal difficulties.

CAIRO, May 21 (Xinhua) -- The Arab League (AL) Secretary-General Ahmed Aboul Gheit condemned on Tuesday the Houthis bids for attacking Islam's holiest city Mecca with two ballistic missiles, the AL said in statement.

"Such terrorists actions constitute dangerous threat not only for the security and stability of the kingdom, but also for the regional security in general," Aboul Gheit said.

He pointed out those attacks are violation for the sacredness of the holy places in the holy month of Ramadan.

21 May 2019; AFP: Chinese investment in Australia has fallen to its lowest level in five years, new research shows, sparking calls for the newly re-elected conservative government to improve its rocky relationship with Beijing.

After hitting a peak of Aus$15.8 billion (US$10.4 billion) in 2016, Chinese firms invested Aus$4.8 billion in the country last year, the Australian National University said Monday.

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — An intense storm system moved across the Southern Plains on Monday, spawning tornadoes that caused scattered damage and a deluge of rain but not the “particularly dangerous” twisters that forecasters had feared.

No injuries were reported.

Srinagar, May 21 (PTI) PDP president Mehbooba Mufti on Tuesday said the silence of the Election Commission (EC) was worrying even after "evidence" had come to the fore that the electronic voting machines (EVMs) used in the just-concluded Lok Sabha polls were being switched.

"Worrying that despite solid evidence about EVMs being switched, @ECISVEEP hasnt clarified any of these concerns. A farcical wave backed by dubious exit polls followed by manipulating EVMs is another Balakot in the making," she said in a tweet.

Islamabad, May 21; PTI/GANASHAKTI: Career diplomat Moin-ul-Haq has been appointed as Pakistan's new  High Commissioner to India to start a new process of engagement with the country where a new government will be formed soon, amid strained relations between the two nuclear-armed neighbours.

Prime Minister Imran Khan on Monday approved appointments of over two dozen ambassadors in various countries including India, China and Japan.

Bhopal, May 20 (PTI) Hours after the BJP in Madhya Pradesh asked the Congress government to prove its majority and wrote to state governor for convening a special session of the state Assembly, Chief Minister Kamal Nath Monday said he was all prepared to go for floor test.

Nath also claimed that he had proven majority of his coalition government "four times" in the last five months, and is ready to do so again.

Madurai, May 20 (PTI) The Madras High Court rapped actor-politician Kamal Haasan for his Hindu extremist remark on Monday, observing that identifying a criminal with a religion, caste or race would definitely sow the seeds of hatred among people.

Granting anticipatory bail to Haasan in a case filed over his controversial remark made at a recent poll rally, Justice R Pugalendhi of the Madurai bench of the high court also said hate speeches had become a common affair of late.

Bengaluru, May 21 (PTI) Karnataka Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy has cancelled his scheduled visit to Delhi Tuesday, where he was expected to take part in a meeting of opposition leaders over the issue of Electronic Voting Machines (EVM), official sources said.

"The proposed visit of the chief minister to New Delhi today stands cancelled," the CMO said, without specifying any reasons.

ROSTOV-ON-DON, May 21. /TASS/: The Caspian Flotilla's air defense forces have repelled an attack by an 'enemy' helicopter group during military drills, the press service of the Southern Military District said on Tuesday.

"Air defense forces of the flotilla's 10 ships have promptly prepared the equipment and detroyed an 'enemy' group of helicopters after locating and identifying them," the press service said.

The ships that took part in the drills included the Grad Sviyazhsk, the Uglich, the Velisky Ustyug, the Volgodonsk, the Makhachkala and the Astrakhan.