WASHINGTON, July 30 (Xinhua) -- American scientists identified a substance in blood as a biomarker for depression and pointed to a new class of antidepressants that could be freer of side effects and faster-acting than those in current use.

People with depression have low blood levels of acetyl-L-carnitine (LAC), a nutritional supplement that is being sold in drugstores, according to a study published on Monday in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

UNITED NATIONS, July 30 (NNN-UNNS) -- The United Nations has welcomed a new law which grants extra autonomy to Muslim communities living in the Southern Philippines, describing it as a “landmark achievement on the road to lasting peace”.

Philippine President, Rodrigo Duterte, signed the new legislation, formally known as the Organic Law for Bangsamoro in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao, on Thursday, raising hopes that years of separatist violence involving central Government troops and militants from the Moro Islamic Liberation Front, can be brought to an end.

Yavatmal (Maha), Jul 30 (PTI); The central government will soon bring a bill proposing death penalty for the crime of lynching, Union Minister of State for Home Hansraj Ahir said here today.

The proposed bill will be on the lines of a legislation seeking capital punishment to those convicted of raping girls below the age of 12 years, he said.

"Lynching is a barbaric crime and no civilised society can accept it. The Union government will soon bring a bill proposing death penalty for lynching.

MOSCOW, July 30. /TASS/. Russia may resume the production of super-heavy Antonov An-124 cargo planes. They will be digitalized and will carry new PD-35 engines, Russian Deputy Prime Minister Yuri Borisov said on Monday.

"The resumption of the production of An-124 planes will be linked with the possibilities of PD-35 engines that are made in the United Engine-Building Corporation. But there will be nothing new. We will simply digitalize the An-124 with new engines," Borisov said.

DVORIKI /Vladimir Region/, July 30. /TASS/. The Russian Federation possesses the information about military plans of the US and other countries against it, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said on Monday in his speech before the participants of the Russian educational youth forum Terra Scientia.

By Lalit K Jha

Washington, Jul 30 (PTI); India is a key partner in America's efforts to ensure peace, stability and prosperity in the strategic Indo-Pacific region, the Trump administration has said.

The remarks by a senior US diplomat came ahead of the announcement by the US of initiatives for development and economic assistance in the entire region.

July 29, 2018; Two gunmen opened fire, killing 3 and wounding 7, on a crowd outside a bar in New Orleans. One of the wounded is in critical condition.

Two males and a female victim "were pronounced dead at the scene," police spokesman Aaron Looney said a statement.

By Mahmut Atanur  

COTABATO CITY, Philippines; 29 July 2018; AA: The Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) held a meeting Sunday to evaluate the recent approval of a law on comprehensive autonomy for Moro Muslims. 

More than a hundred thousand Moro Muslims gathered in Darapanan Camp in Cotabato City to discuss the Bangsamoro Organic Law approved by President Rodrigo Duterte on Thursday. 

Contestants from South China University of Technology celebrate during the awarding ceremony of the RoboMaster 2018 competition in Shenzhen, south China's Guangdong Province, July 29, 2018. (Xinhua/Mao Siqian)

New Delhi, Jul 29 (PTI); In an act of defiance, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal today said "no mandatory permission" should be required from police to install CCTV cameras, as he tore apart a report of a panel set up by

Lt Governor Anil Baijal on working out the guidelines for installation and monitoring of surveillance cameras.

The L-G office in a statement issued later, however, said, the rules were only at a "draft stage" and had been put out in public domain for suggestions and clarifications.

TEHRAN, July 28 (Xinhua) -- Iran will file a lawsuit with international tribunals against U.S. fresh sanctions on importing handwoven Iranian rugs, Press TV reported Saturday.

U.S. President Donald Trump "has wrongly sanctioned the art industry, which is a symbol of culture and intellectual property of the Iranian people," said Fereshteh Dastpak, head of Iran National Carpet Center.

"According to international protocols, what belongs to a nation could not be sanctioned," Dastpak noted.

BEIJING, July 29 (Xinhua) -- China's software and information technology sector posted faster growth in the first six months, official data showed.

The sector generated 2.9 trillion yuan (around 430 billion U.S. dollars) in revenue in the first half of 2018, up 14.4 percent year on year, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) said in a statement.

The growth rate was slightly higher than that in the first five months and more rapid than the 13.6-percent increase a year ago.