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India on Saturday rejected the concerns raised by the UN human rights office over the reported mass detentions of protesters in New Delhi, calling the remarks "misplaced" and an "unwarranted interference" in the country's internal affairs. The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) had said it was "concerned by reports of mass detentions in India of demonstrators, protest leaders, members of civil society organisations, lawyers and journalists, before and during today's large-scale demonstrations in Delhi," in a statement issued by its spokesperson Thameen Al-Kheetan. The UN body said the right to peaceful assembly must be fully respected, that restrictions on protests should meet tests of "necessity...

Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Tamil Nadu Chief Minister C. Joseph Vijay on Sunday jointly opened the first stretch of Chennai Metro Rail's Phase 2 network, flagging off the inaugural train on the Poonamallee–Vadapalani corridor and travelling together on the first ride. The new section runs about 15 km with 11 elevated stations and forms part of Corridor 4 of the Phase 2 project. It has been built at a cost of around Rs 4,900 crore, according to reports. Mr. Modi and Mr. Vijay boarded the inaugural service along the route in what was presented as a shared public moment between the Centre and the state on a project delivered across multiple levels of governance. Before boarding, the Prime Minister purchased his ticket by paying...

At least 109 migrants, including 15 children, have died and more than 116 are missing after a boat carrying about 350 people capsized while sailing from Djibouti to Yemen, the International Organization for Migration (IOM) said on Sunday. The boat capsized near Guhere, north of Obock — a port town on Djibouti's coast — during the night of October 8-9, the IOM said, citing survivor accounts. Dozens of survivors, all Ethiopian nationals More than 80 people survived the shipwreck, all Ethiopian nationals, the report said. A spokesperson for the Ethiopian government did not immediately respond to requests for comment. The sinking marks one of the deadliest migrant tragedies in the Gulf of Aden corridor this year. The eastern route from...

A flash flood tore through the Budhi Gandaki River in Nepal's Gorkha district early on Sunday morning, sweeping away several houses in the Manaslu region and forcing residents along the river to move to higher ground. Chief District Officer Dharmendra Kumar Mishra said he was informed of the major flood at 4:35 am. Five to seven houses in the riverbed at Jagat were swept away, and officials fear a few more downstream may also have been lost. No deaths or injuries have been reported so far. Landslide may have triggered the surge Early reports pointed to a landslide above Siuribas. Chumnubri Rural Municipality Chair Nima Lama said the landslide blocked the Chumke Khola stream, and the flood followed. Chief administrative officer...

Delhi Police has registered more than 20 first information reports (FIRs) in connection with the protest-related incidents in the national capital on Saturday, officials said on Sunday. The cases have been filed at several police stations in the New Delhi district, including Parliament Street, Barakhamba and Connaught Place. The allegations include disturbing public order, obstructing government work and attacking police personnel. Crime Bureau head Manoj Verma said police were examining CCTV recordings and video footage to identify those allegedly involved in the disturbances. Police have said strict legal action will be taken against those found responsible. Six personnel injured Six police personnel were reportedly injured in...

Two people died on Sunday after being exposed to gas at ESL Steel Limited's plant in Jharkhand's Bokaro district, the company confirmed. The victims were a company executive and an engineer employed by one of the firm's business partners. An ESL Steel spokesperson said the incident involved gas exposure at the plant and described it as unfortunate, adding that the company would conduct an independent investigation into the accident and take appropriate action based on the findings. The company did not disclose how the gas exposure occurred. Investigation under way Preliminary reports carried by news agencies suggested that the two were exposed to a toxic gas while working inside the plant's Blast Furnace-1, after which their health...

Republican lawmakers are moving to block President Donald Trump's plan to lift sanctions on Russian diesel, with Congressman Brian Fitzpatrick of Pennsylvania announcing he will introduce a bipartisan bill aimed at stopping the deal. Fitzpatrick, the co-chair of the Congressional Ukraine Caucus, said the legislation — to be called the "Ronald Reagan Peace Through Strength Act" — would be forced to the floor of the House through a discharge petition and "will pass overwhelmingly." Outgoing Congressman Don Bacon of Nebraska, who is not seeking re-election in the November 3 midterm polls, agreed to co-sponsor it. "We will be introducing bipartisan legislation to block any and all purchases of Russian oil," Fitzpatrick said in a post on...

The United States Department of Justice has opened an investigation into whether the White House television press pool's decision to halt coverage of President Donald Trump last month could have violated federal antitrust law, the department confirmed on Saturday. The announcement was made by DOJ spokesperson Emily Covington on October 10, 2026. The television pool comprises five broadcasters — ABC, CBS, CNN, NBC and Fox News — which take turns covering presidential events on behalf of the wider press corps. Networks demanded records after coverage halt According to the New York Times, which cited six people familiar with the matter, DOJ officials contacted the networks on Friday and demanded communications and materials related to...

Actor-turned-BJP MP Kangana Ranaut has described the protesters demanding the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar as 'anti-national forces' and alleged a conspiracy to destabilise the country, in remarks that have added a political edge to the ongoing row over the Delhi demonstrations. Speaking to reporters in Lucknow on October 10, before travelling to Ayodhya to offer prayers at the Ram temple, Ranaut criticised the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP)-led protests at Jantar Mantar, which were called over alleged irregularities in the Special Intensive Revision of electoral rolls, including claims of wrongful voter deletions. What she alleged Ranaut claimed that anti-national elements, terrorist forces and international...

Breaking: The Supreme Court held a special sitting on Sunday over the police action and transport restrictions imposed during Saturday's protest in the national capital, directing that there be no illegal detentions, that metro and rail services run normally, and that barricades across the city be reviewed immediately. A bench of Justices Joymalya Bagchi and V Mohana took up petitions arising from the October 10 demonstration organised by the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) at Jantar Mantar, where protesters demanded the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar over the Special Intensive Revision of electoral rolls. Delhi Police had denied permission for the gathering and imposed sweeping restrictions across parts of the...

US President Donald Trump has openly encouraged Democratic Senator John Fetterman of Pennsylvania to switch parties and become a Republican, just weeks before midterm elections that could reshape control of Congress. "I'd love to see him as a Republican," Trump told reporters at Joint Base Andrews on Saturday as he returned to Washington from a rally in Tennessee. "He does better as a Republican than he does as a Democrat." The most direct overture yet The comments rank among the most direct attempts by Trump to woo Fetterman into the GOP. The stakes are significant: the party could lose its Senate majority in next month's elections, making every potential defection count. Fetterman, with his everyman appeal, was a Democratic star...

A group of 124 former civil servants has publicly defended the Election Commission of India and its Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls, pushing back against allegations of vote-rigging that they say have been made without credible evidence. The open letter, reported on October 11, 2026, carries the signatures of former officials of the Indian Administrative Service, the Indian Foreign Service and allied services. In it, the signatories defend both the poll body and the SIR exercise, while questioning claims of electoral manipulation levelled "without credible evidence". A rare collective intervention It is unusual for such a large group of retired bureaucrats and diplomats to weigh in together on an active political...

The leaders of the Cockroach Janta Party were released from detention on Sunday morning after being produced before an executive magistrate, even as the party called a fresh demonstration at Delhi's Jantar Mantar demanding the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar. Leaders produced before magistrate CJP leaders Abhijeet Dipke, Ashutosh Ranka and Saurav Das were released on Sunday after a day in detention. According to The Tribune, they had been placed under preventive arrest in connection with Saturday's protest and were produced before the executive magistrate at the Delhi Cantonment police station at 9 am on Sunday. News18 reported that their release followed the magistrate's proceedings. Most detainees freed...

The National Investigation Agency has opened a formal investigation into the alleged mid-air attempt to seize control of a flydubai passenger aircraft last month, an incident in which the flight's Indian captain was attacked. The agency has registered a case invoking some of the country's toughest aviation-security and anti-terror statutes. Case registered under two laws The NIA has registered a case in connection with the alleged mid-air hijacking attempt of an Israel-bound flydubai flight and the attack on its Indian pilot, Captain Smit Machchhar, on September 30. According to the Free Press Journal, the first information report has been filed under the Anti-Hijacking Act and the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, and...

At least 12 people were killed and 309 wounded in a Houthi attack on Riyadh's King Khalid International Airport on Saturday, Saudi authorities said on Sunday — the deadliest attack in the kingdom in more than a decade. Saudi Arabia's civil aviation authority said the dead included four Saudi citizens, two Bangladeshis and one citizen each from the United States, Jordan, Palestine, Syria, Sudan and Egypt. It was the third strike on the international hub this week, and it came without warning — the country's threat alert system issued no alert. Hospitals flooded with casualties Hospitals were flooded with wounded brought by ambulance and helicopter, people briefed on the matter told Reuters, with some in critical condition. An...

Bhagalpur: Sudden erosion along the Ganga swallowed a temple and several houses in Raghopur village in Bihar's Bhagalpur district, beginning around 6 pm on Friday near Mahadevpur Ghat in the Naugachia area, officials said. According to PTI, around 40 to 50 houses were affected and five were destroyed, while a 50-metre stretch of embankment near an abandoned railway line on the river's left bank was damaged by the current. Kuchcha homes bore the brunt Most of the affected houses were kuchcha structures, which collapsed into the river as the bank gave way. Around 10 pucca houses developed cracks, prompting precautionary evacuations of residents from the danger zone, officials said. Local residents watched as part of a temple near the...

China has denied Philippine allegations that its coast guard deliberately obstructed a medical evacuation by the Philippine Coast Guard at the disputed Ayungin Shoal in the South China Sea, saying its vessel acted legitimately and eventually allowed the evacuation to proceed on humanitarian grounds. According to The Manila Times, the October 8 incident involved China Coast Guard vessel 5306 using a water cannon on a Philippine Coast Guard ship conducting a medical evacuation at the shoal, delaying the mission by nearly 10 hours. China's response: "legitimate and reasonable measures" In a statement on Friday, China's Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning rejected the obstruction claim and asserted that it was the Philippine vessel...

Hurricane Isaias, now downgraded to a post-tropical cyclone, has killed at least four people and left hundreds of thousands of homes and businesses without power across Florida, Alabama and western Georgia, authorities said Saturday. Death toll and damage Two people were killed in Alabama, Governor Kay Ivey said Saturday, and two more died in Escambia County, Florida, according to the county sheriff's office. In Florida, one death came late Friday night after a large tree fell on a home, pinning the victim underneath; another person was found deceased in a closed garage where a generator was running, while four other family members were hospitalised for non-life-threatening treatment. No victims were publicly identified. Power and...

Contract health employees in Andhra Pradesh have decided to pause their ongoing strike following discussions with government officials, and will resume duties on October 11. Strike began over pay and regularisation demands The A.P. Medical and Health Contract Employees' Joint Action Committee had called for a boycott of duties from October 6, after its demands for regularisation of services and payment of gross salary went unmet despite several rounds of discussions with the government. The state's health department had earlier agreed to some non-financial requests, including ex gratia for families of contract staff who died in the line of duty during the pandemic and radiation leave for radiographers. But since the government...

Security forces recovered a major stockpile of arms, ammunition and explosives from a forested area of north Kashmir's Sopore on Saturday, in what police described as a significant counter-terrorism breakthrough. The recovery was made during a joint cordon-and-search operation by Sopore Police, personnel of 22 Rashtriya Rifles and 179 Battalion of the CRPF in the Mukaam Cherhar forest area of Sopore township in Baramulla district, acting on specific intelligence inputs. Hidden barrel under a boulder During the search, personnel found a blue barrel and a bag concealed beneath a massive boulder. A bomb disposal squad was rushed to the site to safely secure the suspected explosives before the items were taken into custody under legal...