KANPUR: Since the flooring of Astroturf on Green Park ground for playing hockey, it has turned into a bone of contention. Previously it was opposed for its non-compliance of the standard set for the size of the hockey field. Now the Football Federation has taken up the cudgel.

Gopeshwar (Uttarakhand), Dec 28 (PTI) A college student was raped at knifepoint in Uttarakhand's Chamoli district earlier this week, following which three accused have been arrested, police said Friday.

The incident took place on December 25 when she had gone for a walk with her male friend on Gochar road in Karnaprayag, station house officer, Karnaprayag, Chitragupt said.

The three men accosted them and threatened them with a knife, asking him to leave. When the student's friend left, the accused took turns to rape her at knifepoint, he said.

Bhopal, Dec 27 (PTI) An eight-year-old girl, student of a private school in Bhopal city, was allegedly raped by her classmate, police said Thursday.

According to the complaint filed by her parents, another unidentified boy was also involved in the crime.

While the police were yet to receive the girl's medical report, a special investigation team (SIT) has been formed to probe the shocking incident.

The alleged incident took place near the girl's house Tuesday. The case was registered Wednesday after the girl's parents approached police.

Moscow, Dec 26 (AFP) Russian President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday hailed final tests of a hypersonic missile, which he earlier said would render existing missile defence systems obsolete.

"On my instructions, the Ministry of Defence prepared and conducted a final test of this system. This has just been completed with absolute success," Putin said during a televised meeting with members of the government.

MOSCOW, December 26. /TASS/. Israel’s air strikes on the outskirts of Damascus grossly violate Syria’s sovereignty along with resolutions passed by the United Nations Security Council, the Russian Foreign Ministry said on Wednesday.

"The fact of the strikes and the way they were delivered is a question of our most serious concern. There is every indication that Syria’s sovereignty was grossly violated along with UN Security Council’s resolutions, including Resolution 1701," the ministry stressed.

JERUSALEM, Dec. 26 (Xinhua) -- Israeli authority approved plans for 2,191 settlement homes in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, Peace Now, an Israeli non-governmental organization, said on Wednesday.

The plans, which include three new settlement industrial zones in the West Bank, were approved by Israel's Higher Planning Committee, a government body in charge of such projects.

Some 1,159 housing units were faced with the final major hurdle before the building permits can be issued, and 1,032 other housing units were at the first stage of the approval process.

MOSCOW, December 26. /TASS/. Israel again carried out airstrikes on Syria using civilian jets as a cover, the Russian Foreign Ministry said in a statement on Wednesday.

"It is noteworthy that the airstrikes were again carried out by the Israeli aviation using ‘as a cover’ civilian jets, which were about to land at the airport of Damascus and Beirut," the ministry said.

27 Dec 2018; AFP: A US government delegation will travel to Beijing in early January for the first face-to-face talks since President Donald Trump and his Chinese counterpart agreed to a truce in their tariff war, Bloomberg News reported Wednesday.

Deputy US Trade Representative Jeffrey Gerrish will lead the US team for talks during the week of January 7, Bloomberg said, citing two people familiar with the matter.

MOSCOW, December 26. /TASS/. The United States has made a right decision to reduce the number of troops in Afghanistan but there is a need to wait and see what steps Washington finally takes, Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said at a briefing on Wednesday.

WASHINGTON, Dec. 26 (Xinhua) -- The impact from a partial shutdown of the U.S. federal government has grown further after Christmas as it stretched into the fifth day on Wednesday.

The shutdown, which started Friday midnight, resulted from a budgetary impasse between the White House and Congress over whether to fund the construction of a U.S.-Mexico border wall, a plank of President Donald Trump's campaign in 2016.

WASHINGTON, Dec. 26 (Xinhua) -- The first visit of U.S. President Donald Trump to American troops deployed in the Middle East on Wednesday has been somehow clouded with secrecy.

Yet so far a major topic for him in Iraq was no secret -- the justification of his controversial decision to withdraw troops from Syria.

AN UNANNOUNCED VISIT

Earlier in the day, several media outlets reported that a plane carrying Trump and First Lady Melania have traveled to an unspecific destination.

MOSCOW, December 26. /TASS/. Russia and Turkey will hold high-level talks on Syria in Moscow in the near future, the Russian Foreign Ministry said on Wednesday.

"The meeting with a representative Turkish delegation is in the works. The high-level contacts on Syria might be held in Moscow in the near future," the ministry said.