New Delhi, Jan 9 (PTI) A Bill to criminalise Muslim instant divorce practice of "triple talaq" remained stuck in Rajya Sabha in face of a combined opposition insisting that it be scrutinised by a select committee of the House.

The Muslim Women (Protection of Rights on Marriage) Bill, 2018, which was passed by Lok Sabha on December 27 last year, had come up for discussion just once in the subsequent seven sittings of the House but couldn't pass through the opposition muster.

Ahmedabad, Jan 9 (PTI) At least 15 fishermen from Gujarat were apprehended early Wednesday by the Pakistan Maritime Security Agency (PMSA) near the international maritime boundary in Arabian sea, the second such incident in the last five days, officials said.

The PMSA also seized three fishing boats during the operation, said officials of the Porbandar-based National Fishworkers' Forum (NFF).

Noida (UP), Jan 9 (PTI) A 35-year-old man was arrested here Wednesday for allegedly raping his minor step-daughter, police said.

The eight-year-old girl was raped by the man Tuesday night at their home in Harola village here following which her mother approached police with a complaint against her second husband, they said.

"The woman has claimed in her complaint that her husband is an alcoholic and would often beat the child up," the official said.

KANPUR: A new revelation has startled the State Pollution Control Board (SPCB). It was nothing but the direct flow of domestic waste into the river through the pumping station.

On his inspection of Sheetla Bazaar pumping station here on Wednesday, the State Pollution Control Board’s officer Kuldeep Mishra found that as many as twenty MLD domestic wastes were flowing into the Ganges.

HOUSTON (AP) — Texas authorities filed a capital murder charge Tuesday against a black man they believe fired the bullet that killed a 7-year-old black girl in a drive-by shooting her family initially believed was racially motivated.

Prosecutors believe 24-year-old Larry D. Woodruffe killed Jazmine Barnes on Dec. 30 as she and her family drove to a grocery store in Houston.

The driver of the SUV Woodruffe rode in, 20-year-old Eric Black Jr. has also been charged with capital murder. Both suspects remain jailed.

BEIJING (AP) — Three days of U.S.-Chinese talks aimed at ending a costly tariff battle wrapped up Wednesday in an optimistic atmosphere after President Donald Trump said they were “going very well!”

No details were immediately announced, but stocks rose after talks planned for two days were extended to three. Hong Kong’s main market index closed up 2.1 percent and Tokyo rose 1.1 percent.

A Chinese foreign ministry spokesman, Lu Kang, announced the talks had ended. Lu said he had no details and an official statement would be issued later.

LONDON, Jan. 8 (Xinhua) -- Britain's main opposition leader Jeremy Corbyn Tuesday night called for a no-deal Brexit to be ruled out after Prime Minister Theresa May suffered a major defeat in the House of Commons.

Twenty Conservative MPs helped inflict the defeat on May when they supported a cross-party measure aimed at blocking Britain leaving the European Union (EU) with no deal.

ALMATY, Kazakhstan (AP) — China is allowing more than 2,000 ethnic Kazakhs to abandon their Chinese citizenship and leave the country, the Kazakh Foreign Ministry said, in a sign that Beijing may be starting to feel a mounting backlash against its sweeping crackdown on Muslims in the far west region of Xinjiang.

09 Jan 2019; DW: After plea bargaining, Gonen Segev is to be jailed for 11 years. He was extradited from Africa last year for acting as an agent for a foreign power; Israel's main foe, Iran.

In his latest brush with the law, Gonen Segev agreed with Israeli prosecutors on Wednesday to plead guilty to spying charges.

09 Jan 2019; AFP: President Donald Trump used a prime-time address to the nation Tuesday to insist on $5.7 billion for a steel wall along the Mexican border that he said would stop the shedding of "American blood" by illegal immigrants.

The nine-minute speech from the storied Oval Office in the White House contained no concessions to Democrats refusing to fund construction of the wall -- a project Trump has made his signature domestic policy idea.

WASHINGTON, Jan. 9 (Xinhua) -- Jim Yong Kim, president of World Bank, said on Tuesday that he will join a private equity fund next month after leaving his current post.

Global Infrastructure Partners (GIP), a New York-based global infrastructure investor, said that Kim will become GIP's partner and vice chairman on February 1.

WASHINGTON, Jan. 8 (Xinhua) -- Global economic growth is projected to slow to 2.9 percent in 2019 from a downwardly revised 3 percent in 2018 amid rising downside risks, the World Bank said on Tuesday.

In its newly-released Global Economic Prospects report, the World Bank said the outlook for the global economy "has darkened" as global financing conditions have tightened, trade tensions "have intensified," and some large emerging market and developing economies have experienced significant financial market stress.