Lucknow, Feb 20 (PTI) Bahujan Samaj Party supremo Mayawati claimed on Wednesday that the BJP was afraid of its tie-up with the Samajwadi Party in Uttar Pradesh and was now desperate to forge an alliance of its own.

Her remarks came in the wake of the BJP announcing a tie-up with the Shiv Sena in Maharashtra and the AIADMK in Tamil Nadu.

COPENHAGEN, Denmark (AP) — Shares in the world’s biggest shipping company, Denmark’s A.P. Moller-Maersk, plunged Thursday after it warned of the commercial damage it would suffer from a U.S. escalation in the trade war with China.

The company reported a fourth quarter loss of $34 million, from a $32 million profit a year earlier. Revenue increased to $10.2 billion from $8.4 billion. For all of 2018, revenue rose 26 percent to $8.1 billion.

21 Feb 2019; DW: The US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces on Thursday handed over more than 150 Iraqi and foreign Islamic State (IS) fighters and their families to Iraq, according to Iraqi military sources and a local mayor.

Ten trucks transported the IS fighters and their families to Iraq where they are in a "safe place" and being investigated, an Iraqi security official said. 

Hyderabad, Feb 21 (PTI) The Congress has gone well beyond whatever it has done in the past to reach out to opposition parties and bring them together to take on BJP-led NDA in the Lok Sabha elections, says senior party leader Salman Khurshid.

The former union minister also said Priyanka Gandhi Vadra's recent entry into active politics has energised the Congress 'troops' ahead of the Lok Sabha elections due by May and the party workers' enthusiasm is very high.

FALLS CHURCH, Va. (AP) — A Muslim civil rights group called for a congressional investigation Wednesday after its lawsuit revealed that the U.S. government has shared access to parts of its terrorist watchlist with more than 1,400 private entities, including hospitals and universities.

New Delhi, Feb 20 (PTI) Two Kashmiri shawl vendors have claimed they were beaten up and called "stone pelters" by unidentified men on a train, forcing them to cut short their business trip to Rohtak, officials said Wednesday.

The incident comes amid reports of some Kashmiri people claiming they were being targeted in many parts of the country in the aftermath of the February 14 attack on a CRPF convoy in Pulwama that left over 40 personnel dead.

Kolkata, Feb 20 (PTI) West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee Wednesday launched 'Pink Cabs' in the city as a safer mode of transport for women.

Driven by and for women, the white and pink cars would run on app-based platforms.

Handing over car keys to 10 women drivers of Pink Cabs, Banerjee said, "This move is aimed at encouraging women to be in the driver's seat."

New Delhi, Feb 21 (PTI) Prime Minister Narendra Modi continued shooting for a film in the Corbett National Park for his "propaganda and publicity" till the evening of February 14 despite the Pulwama attack taking place in the afternoon that day, the Congress on Thursday alleged, citing reports in a section of the media.

There was no immediate reaction from the Prime Minister's Office and the BJP over the allegations.

MOSCOW, February 21. /TASS/.The death toll in the fire in the four-storey residential house in the Bangladeshi capital of Dhaka has reached 81, the Bangladesh Observer newspaper reported.

Earlier reports said 69 people died in the fire. According to Reuters, at least 50 people were hospitalized, some of them remain in critical condition.

The fire in the residential building broke out at 10:30pm local time (7:30pm Moscow time), later spreading to four neighboring structures. According to Xinhua, the fire started after a gas explosion in the house.

Jaipur, Feb 20 (PTI) A Pakistan national belonging to the terror group Lashkar-e-Taiba was allegedly murdered Wednesday in a brawl with other prisoners at the Central Jail here, officials said.

A police official said the prisoners fought over the volume of a tv set and hit Shakrullah (50) with a large stone.

The police said three or four prisoners were responsible for killing the life convict, who is from Sialkot in Pakistan's Punjab, and have registered a case of murder.

New Delhi, Feb 21 (PTI) The Supreme Court has agreed to hear on Friday a PIL seeking a direction to authorities to protect Kashmiri students who are allegedly being attacked across the country in the aftermath of the Pulwama terror strike.

A bench, comprising Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi and Justices L N Rao and Sanjiv Khanna, on Thursday took note of senior advocate Colin Gonsalves' submission that the plea needed to be heard urgently as it relates to the safety and security of students.

RIYADH, Feb. 20 (Xinhua) -- The Saudi crown prince's two-day visit to China starting Wednesday is expected to bring the bilateral relations to a new high, Saudi Minister of Energy, Industry and Mineral Resources Khalid bin Abdulaziz Al-Falih said in a recent interview with Xinhua.

During the visit, Mohammed bin Salman Al Saud, the Saudi crown prince, and Chinese Vice Premier Han Zheng will co-chair the third meeting of the China-Saudi Arabia High-level Joint Committee.