Breaking News, July 7

The military airlifted two Pakistani climbers, including the man who became the youngest to scale one of the world's highest mountains, to safety on Thursday, two days after the pair went missing during an expedition to another dangerous peak.
The two - Shehroze Kashif, who last year scaled K2 at age 19, and Fazal Ali - went missing on Tuesday after scaling Nanga Parbat, known as “Killer Mountain” because of its dangerous conditions.
The military launched a search for them, following a plea from Kashif's family. On Thursday, an army statement said the climbers were found stranded on Nanga Parbat and were taken to Gilgit, a town in the northwest.
A photo posted on Twitter by Kashif's family later shows the smiling climbers sitting in an army helicopter.
Earlier, Karrar Haidri, the secretary of the Alpine Club of Pakistan, told The Associated Press that both climbers were spotted on Wednesday and were “descending on their own" as bad weather hampered the military's rescue mission.
Apart from dispatching helicopters, the military also sent a ground search team, it said.
In a statement Thursday, Kashif's father confirmed that his son and fellow climber were safe and thanked army officials. Kashif Salman told the AP that the military told him the pair were successfully rescued.
“I have good news," he said earlier on Thursday. “My son and Fazal Ali today safely reached a place on Nanga Parbat from where now they can be air-lifted." He said authorities had asked the climbers to wait for the helicopters to reach there.
Every year, hundreds of local and foreign climbers try to scale K2, Nanga Parbat and the world's other highest mountains located in the north.
Kashif in 2021 also scaled Mount Everest, which is 237 metres (777 feet) taller than K2.
Last year, Kashif told the AP that nothing is impossible if we strive to get something. “My message to the world is challenge your limit, cross it and get what you desire," he said.

Union Minister Shobha Karandlaje on Thursday attacked the CPI(M)-led government in Kerala over the controversial gold smuggling case and demanded Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan to step down from his post and face investigation. Addressing the media here, Karandlaje said it was for the first time in history that allegations have been raised against a chief minister and his family in a gold smuggling case.

The flood condition in Assam improved marginally on Thursday, although a child lost his life and over nine lakh people continued to reel under the impact of the deluge across 12 districts, an official bulletin said. According to the daily flood report of the Assam State Disaster Management Authority (ASDMA), a child drowned in Cachar district during the day. The total number of people losing their lives in this year's flood and landslides has now gone up to 187 in the state. ASDMA said around 9,06,000 people are impacted due to the flood in Bajali, Cachar, Chirang, Darrang, Dibrugarh, Hailakandi, Kamrup, Karimganj, Morigaon, Nagaon, Sivasagar and Tamulpur districts. Cachar is the worst hit with over 5.63 lakh people in distress, followed by Nagaon and Morigaon. Till Wednesday, over 9.68 lakh people were affected in the deluge across 15 districts of the state. At present, 707 villages are under water and 17,068.73 hectares of crop area has been damaged, ASDMA said. It said the authorities are operating 246 relief camps and distribution centres in 12 districts, where 91,594 people, including 27,938 children, are taking shelter.

 A six-year-old was allegedly kidnapped and killed for extortion, police said here on Thursday. The boy was killed by a 20-year-old grandson of his tuition teacher. Police recovered the body from the teacher’s house on Thursday. Informing about the incident, Deoria SP Sankalp Sharma said, "Sanskar Yadav (6) left his home on Wednesday to attend his tuition class and went missing. His body was recovered today from the house of the tuition teacher." The lips of the boy were glued together and his hands tied. "We have arrested Arun Sharma (20), who is the grandson of the tuition teacher," said the SP. The SP said they had detained the tuition teacher and his family members on suspicion on Wednesday night. "During interrogation Aman confessed to his crime and told us that he has hidden the body in one of the bathrooms in the house," said the SP.
As per the SP, Aman was unemployed and in debt. "On Wednesday Aman lured Sanskar who was on his way to the tuition class. He tied Sanskar's hands, glued his lips and killed him," he said. 

Union Minister Shobha Karandlaje on Thursday attacked the CPI(M)-led government in Kerala over the controversial gold smuggling case and demanded Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan to step down from his post and face investigation. Addressing the media here, Karandlaje said it was for the first time in history that allegations have been raised against a chief minister and his family in a gold smuggling case."For a comprehensive probe to be carried out in the gold smuggling case, the Chief Minister has to resign," she stressed. The Minister of State for Agriculture and Farmers' Welfare further said that the 164 statement of key accused Swapna Suresh, indicates the role of the CM and his family in the case. Hence, the probe must also extend to his family members. "The Chief Minister tried to misuse the UAE Consulate and diplomatic relations," Karandlaje said, adding that the Vijayan's involvement was evident from the role of his former Principal Secretary M Sivasankar. Triggering a political turmoil in the state, Suresh had recently given statements against the CM, his family and some other top bureaucrats.

Boris Johnson has resigned as British Prime Minister. Earlier in the day, Johnson agreed to resign after days of defections crippled the controversial leader and left him unable to govern. Johnson finally agreed to step down after one of his closest allies, Treasury Chief Nadhim Zahawi, told the prime minister to resign for the good of the country. It was not immediately clear whether Johnson will stay in office while the Conservative Party chooses a new leader, who will automatically become prime minister as well. A formal announcement is expected later Thursday.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson has agreed to resign, his office informed, ending an unprecedented political crisis over his future that has paralyzed Britain’s government.

An official in Johnson’s Downing Street office confirmed the Prime Minister would announce his resignation later. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because the announcement had not yet been made.

The Chinese capital has issued a mandate requiring people to show proof of COVID-19 vaccination before they can enter some public spaces including gyms, museums and libraries, with exceptions only available to those who cannot be vaccinated for health reasons. The health app that shows a person's latest PCR test results has been updated to make it easier to access their vaccination status, according to Li Ang, a spokesperson at Beijing's municipal health commission.

Rebel Shiv Sena MLA Uday Samant on Thursday urged Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde to form a board for the welfare of autorickshaw and taxi drivers in the state on the lines of Tamil Nadu. In a letter to Shinde, Samant said the move will benefit licensed 8.32 lakh autorickhsaw and 90,000 taxi drivers and owners. He said Tamil Nadu has a welfare scheme for auto drivers and they have been covered under the Tamil Nadu Manual Workers (Regulation of Employment and Conditions of Work) Act, 1982.

Trinamool Congress delegation comprising Kunal Ghosh, Sashi Panja, Tapas Ray, Kakali Ghosh Dastidar, Nayana Bandyopadhyay, Sazda Ahmed and Mala Roy to visit Raj Bhavan at 3:00 pm today. 

Union Minister Jyotiraditya Madhavrao Scindia on Thursday assumed the additional charge of the Steel Ministry. Scindia is currently in charge of the Civil Aviation Ministry. The 51-year old BJP leader, who represents Madhya Pradesh in the Rajya Sabha, is the third steel minister in the current Modi government. Before taking his seat, he took off his footwear and placed an idol of Lord Ganesha on the table of his office in Udyog Bhawan.

Former NITI Aayog CEO Amitabh Kant will be the new Sherpa of G-20, replacing Union Minister Piyush Goyal, as full-time sherpa required for India's presidency, sources said on Thursday. India assumes the G-20 presidency later this year. "With the G-20 presidency coming to India this year, the Sherpa would need to devote a lot of time to numerous meetings that will be held in different parts of the country. "Union Minister Goyal, holds the charge of multiple portfolios in the Modi cabinet which consumes a lot of his time," a source said. In addition, the Minister is also tasked with other pressing duties like the Leader of Rajya Sabha, the source added. Kant was NITI Aayog CEO for almost six year and completed his extended term last month. Prior to that the Kerala-cadre IAS officer was Secretary, Department of Industrial Policy & Promotion (DIPP). 

READ FULL STORY HERE

Boris Johnson will resign as leader of the UK's ruling Conservative Party on Thursday but will continue as Prime Minister until later this year. A Conservative leadership race will take place soon and a new Prime Minister will be in place in time for the Conservative Party conference in October, the BBC reported. The development comes as New Education Secretary Michelle Donelan and Northern Ireland Secretary Brandon Lewis have resigned, piling further pressure on Johnson Ministers Helen Whately, Damian Hinds, George Freeman, Guy Opperman, Chris Philp, and James Cartlidge have also stepped down.

A 31-year old convicted prisoner was found hanging in the central prison in Viyyur in this Kerala district on Thursday, police said. The deceased prisoner, identified as Gopi, hailed from Nagapattinam in Tamil Nadu. He had been in jail for some months in connection with a recent theft case reported in the district, police said. A police officer said prima facia it was a case of suicide. "He was found hanging in the prison. Though he was rushed to hospital, he was declared dead by the doctors. An investigation is going on over the incident," he said. 

British Treasury chief Nadhim Zahawi called on Prime Minister Boris Johnson to resign Thursday, just 36 hours after Johnson put him in the job, while another newly appointed Cabinet minister quit her post. Zahawi said Johnson knew “the right thing to do” was to “go now.” Zahawi was appointed late Tuesday to replace Rishi Sunak, who resigned saying he could no longer support Johnson after a series of ethics scandals. Education Secretary Michelle Donelan, who was also appointed on Tuesday following the resignation of her predecessor, announced her resignation Thursday morning. Johnson has rejected clamors for his resignation, digging in his heels even as dozens of officials quit and previously loyal allies urge him to go after yet another scandal engulfed his leadership.

A class 12 girl was allegedly stabbed by a 22-year-old man following a quarrel between them in west Delhi's Tilak Nagar on Thursday, police said. The duo live nearby and have been friends for the last "two to three years", police said. The girl was on her way to school when she got into an argument with the accused following which he stabbed her with a knife, they said. Deputy Commissioner of Police (West) Ghanshyam Bansal said the accused has been identified and would be nabbed soon. The reason behind the argument and the subsequent stabbing is not known yet as the girl is undergoing treatment at a hospital, he said.

Delhi High Court dismisses plea seeking suspension of Delhi Health Minister Satyendar Jain. Plea stated that Jain under custody is still enjoying the perks and privileges of a cabinet minister despite having been allegedly indicted under serious charges which may entail severe punishment.

External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Thursday conveyed to his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi the need for an early resolution of all outstanding issues along the Line of Actual Control in eastern Ladakh, and asserted that bilateral ties should be based on mutual respect, mutual sensitivity and mutual interest. At a one-hour meeting in Bali on the sidelines of a conclave of foreign ministers of the G20 nations, Jaishankar and Wang looked forward to the next round of military talks between the two sides at an early date to resolve the border issue. Jaishankar also discussed with Wang the vexed issue of the return of Indian students to China and the resumption of direct flights between the two countries. On the discussions on the border row, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said Jaishankar reaffirmed the importance of "fully abiding" by bilateral agreements and protocols, and the understandings reached between him and Wang in their previous conversations.

Despite the Supreme Court ruling which mandated CCTV cameras in all police stations, one in every three police stations do not have even a single camera, a report has found. The report, which also analyses police workforce in the country, claimed while the force has grown by 32 per cent between 2010 and 2020, the share of women is only a "meagre 10.5 per cent" and 41 per cent police stations across India do not have women help desks. The India Justice Report, 'Police: Improvements, Shortfalls and National Trends- An analysis of Data on Police Organisation 2021', said 5,396 of the total 17,233 police stations in the country do not have a single CCTV camera, and only Odisha, Telangana and Puducherry have all their police stations equipped with at least one camera.

READ FULL STORY HERE 

Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde officially took charge of his post at the state secretariat Mantralaya on Thursday. A puja was held at the tastefully decorated office of the chief minister before Shinde took charge. His chamber had a large photograph of Shiv Sena founder Bal Thackeray and a picture of Shinde's mentor Anand Dighe next to it. As soon as he entered the secretariat building, Shinde paid floral tributes to Maratha warrior king Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj and Dr BR Ambedkar.

Prohibitory orders have been clamped in Keruru town in Bagalkote district and large gatherings have been banned till Friday following violent clashes between two communities over eve teasing, authorities said. The clashes broke out on Wednesday evening leaving four people injured including two brothers over eve teasing in Keruur under Badami Taluk. Later, arson and vandalism started due to which the main market area of the town was shut. The injured persons have been admitted to the hospital where their condition is said to be stable. Schools and colleges have been closed till Friday after the administration imposed prohibitory orders under Section 144 of the CrPC, officials said. 

The decomposed body of a man was found in a swollen drain in Maharashtra's Palghar district which has been witnessing heavy rains since the last few days, a fire official said on Thursday. A police official said they suspect that the deceased, identified as Rahul Vishwakarma, might have slipped into the drain amid the heavy showers and got washed away. Local firemen got a call around 4 pm on Wednesday from a person who spotted the body in the drain in Madhuban locality of Vasai township, an official from the Vasai Virar Municipal Corporation's fire services said. The firemen rushed to the spot and fished out the body, which was highly decomposed, and sent it to a government hospital for postmortem, he said. Vishwakarma worked in a local factory, an official from Valiv police station said, adding that they have registered a case of accidental death. There was water-logging in many areas following heavy downpour in Vasai and Virar towns here since Wednesday. 

Continuing its attack on West Bengal Chief Minister over Mahua Moitra's insulting comment on Goddess Kaali, the BJP on Thursday said that by protecting her, Mamata Banerjee was 'trampling on the religious sentiments of Hindu Bengalis'. The BJP questioned the chief minister's silence and inaction against Moitra. While responding to a question on a controversial film poster, Moitra said that for her "Goddess Kaali is a meat-eating and alcohol accepting goddess". West Bengal BJP co-incharge Amit Malviya said, "Mamata Banerjee's eloquent silence and inaction on Mahua Moitra's obnoxious comment on Maa Kaali is a tacit endorsement. If not, she should have suspended the TMC MP and allowed WB police to act. By protecting her, she is trampling on the religious sentiments of Hindu Bengalis." On Wednesday, the BJP had said that Banerjee's politics, steeped in brazen minority appeasement, is the reason why her MP made that outright insulting comment on Goddess Kaali.

External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Thursday held talks with his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi in Bali with a focus on "specific outstanding issues". The talks took place on the sidelines of a meeting of the foreign ministers of G20 countries. It is learnt that the eastern Ladakh border row figured in the discussions. "Began my day in Bali by meeting FM Wang Yi of China. Discussion lasted one hour. Focused on specific outstanding issues in our bilateral relationship pertaining to the border situation. Also spoke about other matters including students and flights," Jaishankar tweeted. 

A BSF patrol caught four Pakistani fishermen and seized their ten boats from the 'Harami Nalla' creek area of Kutch along the India-Pakistan maritime boundary in Gujarat on Thursday, a force spokesperson said. Nothing suspicious has been recovered from the fishing boats, he said.  The spokesperson said a special ambush party of the Border Security Force (BSF) observed movement between border pillar number 1165 and 1166 while the fishermen were sneaking "into Indian territory" through one of the water channels of 'Harami Nalla' in Kutch district. Four Pakistani fishermen have been nabbed along with ten boats and a search of the entire area is being conducted, the spokesperson said. 

READ FULL STORY HERE

READ FULL STORY HERE

Heavy overnight rains caused flooding at various places in Maharashtra's Thane district and also led to water-logging around Chief Minister Eknath Shinde's residence in the city on Thursday morning, officials said. Local firemen got a call around 6.15 am on Thursday about inundation near the CM's residence in Louiswadi area of the city following heavy showers throughout the night, Thane Municipal Corporation's regional disaster management cell chief Avinash Sawant said. Civic personnel rushed to the spot and cleared the locality of the flood waters, he said.

Actor Salman Khan's lawyer Hastimal Saraswat received a death threat through a letter. The letter states that the lawyer will meet Sidhu Moosewala's fate and contained Lawrence Bishnoi and Goldy Brar's initials."Security has been provided to him. We are probing it," said Nazim Ali, Additional Deputy Commissioner of Police East Jodhpur. Earlier on June 14, the Patiala House Court of Delhi, had allowed Punjab Police to arrest Bishnoi in connection with Singer Sidhu Moose Wala's murder case.Sidhu Moose Wala was shot dead by unidentified assailants in Jawaharke village of Punjab's Mansa district on May 29. The incident took place a day after his security was withdrawn by the Punjab police among 424 others. Notably, the singer had joined the Congress party last year in December ahead of the Assembly elections.Canada-based gangster Goldy Brar had claimed responsibility for Moose Wala's murder in a Facebook post. Goldy Brar is a close aide of gang leader Lawrence Bishnoi, who is the chief suspect in the Punjabi rapper's murder.

READ FULL STORY HERE 

Derek Chauvin will learn his sentence Thursday for violating George Floyd's civil rights, with a deal in place that would extend the former Minneapolis police officer's time behind bars while shifting him to possibly more favorable conditions in a federal prison. Chauvin agreed to a sentence of 20 to 25 years in his December plea to a federal charge in Floyd's killing. U.S. District Judge Paul Magnuson will make the final decision, with prosecutors seeking the full 25 on the grounds that Chauvin's actions were cold-blooded and needless.

A Detroit police officer and a man wielding an assault-style weapon were fatally shot on the city's west side Wednesday night, Detroit police Chief James White said. White said the officer and his partner responded about 7:30 p.m. Wednesday to a call of a man firing a weapon. He said when the officers arrived, they were met by the suspect who was armed with an assault-style weapon and firing in their direction.

A new sub-lineage BA.2.75 of the Omicron variant of the coronavirus has been detected in countries like India and the World Health Organisation is following this, Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said. “On COVID-19, globally reported cases have increased nearly 30 per cent over the past two weeks. Four out of six of the WHO sub-regions saw cases increase in the last week,” Ghebreyesus said at a press briefing Wednesday. “In Europe and America, BA.4 and BA.5 are driving waves. In countries like India a new sub-lineage of BA.2.75 has also been detected, which we’re following,” he said.

The Trinamool Congress on Wednesday targeted Prime Minister Narendra Modi for a hike in domestic cooking gas and said the common man continues to suffer but he does not care. Cooking gas LPG price on Wednesday was hiked by Rs 50 per cylinder, the third increase in rates since May on firming international energy prices. "Domestic 14.2 kg LPG cylinder prices increased by Rs 50/cylinder. Mr. @narendramodi showering the people of India with all his love, yet again," the TMC said in its official Twitter handle. Sarcastically alluding to the PM Cares Fund, the party said "in Modi ji's 'Amrit Kaal', suffering does not stop. And the PM? Does not care."

A Delhi resident allegedly duped four Gurugram youths of Rs 20 lakh in cash, two cars and a motorcycle after promising them employment as data entry operator and lab attendant at the AIIMS, police said. An FIR has been registered at New Colony police station against the accused, identified as Rajat of Kanganheri village in southwest Delhi, under relevant sections of the IPC. One of the four youths filed a complaint alleging that Rajat had even provided them with appointment letters and ID cards which later turned out to be forged. According to the complaints, the youths paid a total of Rs 20 lakh in cash in multiple instalments to Rajat. When Rajat demanded more money, they gave away two cars and a motorcycle. "FIR has been registered and we are verifying the facts. The accused will be nabbed soon," New Colony police station SHO Dinkar Yadav said.

Alaska wildlife officials have killed four black bears in a campground recently reserved for people in Anchorage who are homeless after the city's largest shelter was closed. Employees from the Alaska Department of Fish and Game on Tuesday killed a sow and her two cubs and another adult bear that was acting separately, stealing food from tents inside Centennial Park, which is managed by the city, officials said. Anchorage is Alaska's biggest city, with nearly 300,000 residents, but it is also bear country. The park is located in east Anchorage, nestled between Chugach State Park and Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson, which state wildlife officials describe as a vast bear habitat.

Russian shelling killed at least eight civilians in eastern Ukraine over the past 24 hours and wounded 25 more, Ukrainian officials said Wednesday. Pro-Russia separatists said attacks by Ukrainian forces killed four civilians. The Ukrainian presidential office said Russian forces targeted cities and villages in the country's southeast, with most civilian casualties occurring in Donetsk province, where Russia stepped up its offensive in recent days. Governor Pavlo Kyrylenko said in a Telegram post that two people died in the city of Avdiivka, which is located in the centre of the province, and the Donetsk cities of Sloviansk, Krasnohorivka and Kurakhove each reported one civilian killed.

READ FULL DETAILS:

Aam Aadmi Party MLA Akhilesh Tripathi on Wednesday allegedly assaulted two men in the Ashok Vihar area of northwest Delhi after one of them complained about sewage problem, police said. On Wednesday around 4.30 pm, Ashok Vihar police station received information regarding a physical assault near Lal bagh, they said. A police team rushed to the spot. During enquiry, it was revealed that Akhilesh Tripathi, AAP MLA from Model Town Constituency, assaulted Guddu Halwai and Mukesh Babu and they were shifted to BJRM hospital in Jahangirpuri, Deputy Commissioner of Police (northwest) Usha Rangnani said.

Amazon will give its U.S. Prime members free access to meal delivery service Grubhub for a year under a deal announced Wednesday. The Grubhub Plus membership __ which normally costs $9.99 per month __ lets customers order from thousands of restaurants with no delivery fees on most orders. Amazon Prime membership costs $139 per year. Prime members must sign up for the Grubhub service. After one year they will be charged Grubhub's normal fees unless they deactivate the program. The deal is part of a partnership between Amazon and Just Eat Takeaway, the Amsterdam-based delivery company that bought Grubhub in 2020 for $7.3 billion. Amazon has an initial option to take a 2% stake in Grubhub, which could climb to 15% if certain performance conditions are met.

Russia has agreed to continue humanitarian aid deliveries from Turkey to rebel-held northwest Syria for six months- not a year, as many U.N. Security Council members, Secretary-General Antonio Guterres and more than 30 nongovernmental groups want. Russia proposed amendments to a draft resolution by Ireland and Norway reducing their year-long time frame for deliveries. Council diplomats said consultations were continuing late Wednesday to see if a compromise could be reached.