India: Three held for rape; victim names another eight persons

Hyderabad, Jan 13 (PTI) Three persons have been arrested for allegedly raping a 16-year-old girl on multiple occasions over the last four years, the city police said Sunday.

A demonstration was held in the Kamatipura area here Sunday after the girl alleged that apart from the three arrested men, she was sexually exploited by eight others including a `panch' witness.

The police arrested three persons including a relative of the girl on December 31 after she filed a complaint against them.

7 die in mishap on Kanpur-Alld highway

KANPUR: As many as 7 people died and 44 were injured in an accident between truck and roadways on Kanpur-Allahabad highway on Sunday. As the moving truck laden with cement lost its control owing to bursting of its tyre suddenly it collided with a roadways bus of Fatehpur depot approaching from an opposite direction.

The mishap occurred near Mohar village of Chaudagra in Fatehpur. A gypsy car was also crushed herewith. 

India: HBTU gets extra seats in engineering courses

KANPUR: The admission committee of the prestigious Harcourt Butler Technical University has decided to increase seats in the engineering branches. In a meeting held on January 10, 2019, a consensus on making admission possible at least on 120 seats on all the seven branches of the engineering department has reached.

Kidnapped American teen found alive months after parents' murder

12 Jan 2019; AFP: A 21-year-old man has been charged with murdering the parents of an American teen as part of a calculated plot to kidnap her, police said Friday, after 13-year-old Jayme Closs was found alive following three months in captivity.

The subject of a nationwide search since her parents were found murdered in their home in rural Wisconsin in October, Closs made a seemingly miraculous escape Thursday afternoon, seeking help from a neighbor who alerted authorities.

China declares Chang'e-4 mission complete success

BEIJING, Jan. 11 (Xinhua) -- China announced Friday that the Chang'e-4 mission, which realized the first-ever soft-landing on the far side of the moon, was a complete success.

With the assistance of the relay satellite Queqiao (Magpie Bridge), the rover Yutu-2 (Jade Rabbit-2) and the lander of the Chang'e-4 probe took photos of each other.

The scientific instruments aboard the probe worked well, and the images taken by the probe and detection data have been sent back to ground control, said the China National Space Administration (CNSA).

Turkey closely cooperating with Russia to implement accords in Syria’s Idlib

ANKARA, January 12. /TASS/. Turkey continues to cooperate closely with Russia to implement the agreements on the Syrian province of Idlib reached by the presidents of both countries in September last year, Turkey’s Defense Minister Hulusi Akar said on Saturday.

The Turkish defense minister made this statement after a meeting with Chief of the General Staff Yasar Guler, Head of the National Intelligence Organization Hakan Fidan and Land Forces Commander Umit Dundar. The meeting of the Turkish top brass was held on the border with Syria.

FBI probed whether Trump secretly worked for Russia

WASHINGTON (AP) — Law enforcement officials became so concerned by President Donald Trump’s behavior in the days after he fired FBI Director James Comey that they began investigating whether he had been working for Russia against U.S. interests, The New York Times reported Friday.

The report cites unnamed former law enforcement officials and others familiar with the investigation.

‘Green Book’ writer apologizes for old tweet about Muslims

LOS ANGELES (AP) — “Green Book” co-writer Nick Vallelonga has apologized for a 2015 tweet about Muslims and 9/11 that has resurfaced a few days after the film won a Golden Globe Award.

In the tweet, he said then-presidential-candidate Donald Trump was “100% correct” that local television news in New York on 9/11 showed Muslims in Jersey City cheering when the towers came down, and he had seen it.

There is no evidence such celebrations occurred.

U.S. gov't shutdown enters 22nd day, breaking record

WASHINGTON, Jan. 12 (Xinhua) -- As the clock struck midnight, the U.S. partial government shutdown over disputed congressional funds for President Donald Trump's border wall entered its 22nd day on Saturday, marking the longest government closure in U.S. history.

There is still no compromise in sight, no deal, and no easy alternative.

Multiple injuries after explosion at bakery in Paris

12 Jan 2019; DW: An explosion that caused a fire at a bakery in central Paris on Saturday seriously injured at least nine people, police said.

Police said the massive explosion, likely caused by a gas leak, gutted the ground floor of the building. The blast went off at around 9 a.m.local time (0800 UTC).

Interior Minister Christophe Castaner said more than 200 firefighters were attending the scene at a bakery on Rue Trevise in the 9th arrondissement of north-central Paris.

Syrian air defenses intercept Israeli missiles targeting Damascus

DAMASCUS, Jan. 11 (Xinhua) -- The Syrian air defenses intercepted most of the missiles launched by Israeli warplanes on areas near the capital Damascus on Friday night, the Syrian army said.

The Israeli warplanes flew from the Galilee Panhandle and fired several missiles on the vicinity of the capital Damascus, said an army statement.

The Syrian air defenses intercepted most of the Israeli missiles, it added.

Only a warehouse in the Damascus International Airport was damaged, according to the statement.

French police brace for ninth 'yellow vest' weekend protests

12 Jan 2019; DW: Across France, 80,000 police officers are being mobilized for the ninth weekend of nationwide street protests. President Emmanuel Macron's plans for a three-month public debate have done little to assuage anger.

More than 5,000 police officers are expected to be on the streets of the French capital on Saturday to monitor the ninth weekend of street protests by the "gilets jaunes" (yellow vests) movement.

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