TEHRAN, December 9. /TASS/. Speaker of the State Duma, the lower house of the Russian parliament, Vyacheslav Volodin made a proposal to hold a joint business forum of Russia and Pakistan with participation of the Russian Chamber of Commerce and Industry during the meeting with Speaker of the National Assembly [the lower house of the Pakistani parliament - TASS] Asad Qaiser.

TEL AVIV, December 9. /TASS/. Israeli and Russian experts may gather for another meeting to discuss coordination on Syria in the coming days in Moscow, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told a government meeting on Sunday.

"I talked to Russian President Vladimir Putin yesterday. We agreed that the delegations of Russian and Israeli armies on coordination on Syria will meet as soon as possible. I hope this will be in the coming days, most likely in Moscow. And our meeting with President Putin will be held later," Netanyahu said, according to his press service.

Srinagar, Dec 9 (PTI) Three militants were killed and an Army jawan was injured in an 18-hour gunfight on the outskirts of Srinagar, police said Sunday.

Acting on inputs, a search operation was launched by the police and security forces at Mujgund area on Bandipora road on Saturday. The operation turned into an encounter after the militants fired on the search party, a police spokesperson said.

Patna, Dec 9 (PTI) The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) on Sunday accused the BJP of pursuing a politics of "hate and lies" and stressed on the need for ousting it from power at the Centre.

AAP Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Singh, who is also the party's in-charge for Bihar, alleged that in Delhi - which is ruled by his party - "names of about 30 lakh voters half of whom are from UP-Bihar have been deleted from the electoral roll at the behest of the BJP".

"Where will the disenfranchised voters of Delhi go.

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — A dog that survived the catastrophic wildfire in Northern California apparently protected the ruins of his home for almost a month until his owner returned.

Madison was there waiting when Andrea Gaylord was allowed back to check on her burned property in Paradise this week.

Gaylord fled when the Nov. 8 fire broke out and decimated the town of 27,000. An animal rescuer who responded to Gaylord’s request to check on Madison first spotted the male Anatolian shepherd mix several days later.

Mumbai, Dec 6 (PTI) Two onion farmers from Maharashtra's Nashik district have allegedly committed suicide in the last two days, apparently due to indebtedness and low rates commanded by the bulb in markets, police said Sunday.

The deceased are identified as Tatyabhau Khairnar (44) and Manoj Dhondage (33) who hailed from Baglan taluka in the north Maharashtra district.

YEREVAN, December 7. /TASS/. Armenia’s former President Robert Kocharyan has been placed under arrest and is kept at a pre-trial facility in the building of Armenia’s National Security Service in Yerevan, the service's head Artur Vanetsyan said on Friday.

"Robert Kocharyan was arrested under a court ruling. As far as I know, he is being kept at the Yerevan-Center penitentiary," Vanetsyan said.

PARIS, December 9. /TASS/. The so-called "yellow vest" protests are a disaster for France’s economy, French Minister of Economy and Finance Bruno Le Maire told reporters on Sunday.

"This is a disaster for trade and for our economy," Le Maire said, according to AFP. He called the current situation in the country a social and democratic crisis. "This is also a crisis of our nation," the minister noted.

CAIRO, December 9. /TASS/. Russian aviation security experts arrived on Sunday in Egypt to inspect airports in the resorts towns of Hurghada and Sharm el-Sheikh, a source at the Cairo airport told TASS.

"Some 20 people have arrived in Cairo by plane. They were divided into two groups: one headed to Hurghada and the second one to Sharm el-Sheikh," the source said.

The specialists are due to assess the airports’ readiness to ensure security of passengers. The trip will last for around a week.

New Delhi, Dec 9 (PTI) India has started granting visa on arrival to South Korean nationals, a move that is expected to boost inflow of tourists and business visitors, officials said Sunday.

South Korea is the second country whose nationals are now given visa on arrival by India after Japan, whose citizens have been getting the privilege since March 2016.

India has decided to offer visa on arrival to South Korean nationals with effect from October 1, 2018, a home ministry official said.

Thane/Mumbai, Dec 9 (PTI) A 30-year-old man was detained for allegedly attempting to slap Union minister Ramdas Athawale at a public event in Maharashtra's Thane district on Saturday night, police said.

The Republican Party of India (Athawale) chief was in Ambernath town to address a rally. Athawale had just got off the dais after delivering a speech on the Constitution when the incident happened at around 10.15 pm, a police officer said Sunday.

KANPUR: It was once again the gang man’s alertness helped avert the train accident near Ajgain railway station on Lucknow-Kanpur track route. While attentively patrolling along the railway tracks one gang man observed crack on the track at about 6.25 am on Saturday morning.