Breaking News, September 8

Syrian government airstrikes over the country's northwestern Idlib province on Thursday killed seven civilians and wounded at least 12, activists and first responders said.
The Syrian opposition, which now holds only a tiny sliver of the country, blamed Russian -backed warplanes for the attack.
Moscow has been a major ally of Syrian President Bashar Assad's forces and helped turn the tide in the country's civil war in his favor.
The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, which has a network of activists on the ground, gave the casualty figures, saying a total of 14 airstrikes were launched, killing seven people.
It gave a higher toll for the wounded, saying 15 people were hurt.
Syrian Civil Defence volunteers also said in a statement that the area in the opposition enclave was also hit with surface-to-surface missiles and cluster munitions.

Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on Thursday afternoon paid obeisance at the dargah of Sufi saint Khwaja Moinuddin Chisti in Rajasthan’s Ajmer.
She reached the shrine amid tight security arrangements and was extended a red-carpet welcome.
Saiyad Kalimuddin, a khadim at the shrine, said a “chadar” was offered on behalf of Hasina and prayers were performed for peace and prosperity in both countries. She spent nearly a hour in the dargah.
According to the protocol, there was no other devotee on the dargah premises and the market in its vicinity was closed.
Before leaving the city, Hasina stayed for some time at the circuit house.
Earlier, Hasina along with her delegation reached the Jaipur international airport in a special aircraft.
She was received by state Education Minister BD Kalla and top officials.

 Maharashtra Congress on Thursday accused the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) of using the issue of alleged beautification of the grave of 1993 Mumbai blasts convict Yakub Memon to further its political interests.
Its statement came amid a controversy that has erupted over the burial place of Memon in Mumbai, wherein the ruling BJP claimed that the grave was "beautified" and attempts were made to turn it into a shrine of sorts. While the BJP blamed the Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena, the latter said it was being dragged into the issue unnecessarily.
Swinging into action following the row, Mumbai police on Thursday removed the LED lights put around the grave of Memon. Police said a probe will be carried out how LED lights and marble tiles came to "adorn" the terror convict’s grave.
Memon was hanged at Nagpur jail in 2015 and buried at the Bada Qabrastan in south Mumbai.
Maharashtra Congress spokesman Atul Londhe said, "Why did the BJP government hand over the body of terrorist Yakub Memon to his family?...BJP is trying to use the issue of his grave to further its political interest. BJP is harmful for the country."

At least eight suspected drug smugglers and peddlers have been killed in Pakistan's Balochistan province, police said on Thursday.
The smugglers were killed on Wednesday after an exchange of fire with the police,
Quetta’s Deputy Inspector General, Azfar Maisar said.
“We have identified them all as being involved in the drug trade and smuggling and peddling drugs in the city,” he said.
Police also recovered arms and ammunition from them.
Maisar said the exchange took place after they received information about the drug smugglers and peddlers running their business from a den inside a gutter.
During the operation, police also recovered narcotics from them.
“Police seized modern weapons from the possession of the drug peddlers”, he said.
Maisar said the spread of drugs by these peddlers has become a serious issue in Quetta and they have received many complaints from concerned citizens about how drugs were being sold in the city.

Like the state capital Bengaluru, torrential rains have caused havoc in different parts of Karnataka, with overflowing rivulets and floods affecting normal life, and causing damage to life and properties.

Acres of agricultural land, number of houses, several bridges, kilometres of roads are either washed away or inundated by flood water in several parts of north and south interior Karnataka.

There are reports about a farmer in Bagalkote district being washed away in flooded Malaprabha river and a woman losing her life due to a wall collapse in Ballari district.

Livestock deaths have also been reported from several areas.

Parts of districts like Dharwad, Chitradurga, Vijayapura, Ballari, Haveri, Vijayanagara, Chitradurga, Hassan, and districts of Mysuru region like Kodagu, Chikkaballapura, Kolar, Chamarajanagara and Mysuru have also been hit by torrential rains, and several rivers in these districts are overflowing causing damage to crops and houses.

Meanwhile, the Inter-Ministerial Central Team (IMCT) headed by Home Ministry's Joint Secretary Ashish Kumar, which is visiting Karnataka to take stock of the rain and flood havoc in the state, is touring various districts. 

A 19-year-old woman whose child died minutes after delivery in Wada area of Maharashtra's Palghar district has also succumbed to post-birth complications, a health official said on Thursday. Tanuja Pardhi of Savroili village in Vikramgad taluka had given birth in her home on Tuesday and the child, born premature in the seventh month, died minutes later, he said. "The woman was shifted to Wada rural hospital after she developed complications. She was brought to the hospital in an unconscious state with bleeding. She died at around 4pm on Wednesday," he said. The woman got married in May last year and this was her first delivery, the hospital official added.

The European Central Bank is set to join the U.S. Federal Reserve in making a jumbo interest rate hike Thursday as it tries to stamp out record inflation — although it risks worsening a recession that economists say is bearing down on Europe.

The meeting of the bank's governing council is not about whether to raise rates for the 19 countries that use the euro currency, but by how much: between half a percentage point or three-quarters of a point, analysts say. The bank made its first increase in 11 years at its last meeting in July, raising rates by a half-point when it usually changes by only a quarter-point.

The ECB, which once predicted no rate increases at all this year, has torn up its road map in the face of record inflation of 9.1% last month, which has been driven by skyrocketing prices for natural gas and lasted much longer than expected.

The US Mission in India has issued a record-breaking 82,000 student visas in 2022 to date. 

Indian students received more US student visas than any other country

Union Commerce & Industry Minister Piyush Goyal to attend Indo-Pacific Economic Forum (IPEF) Ministerial meeting in Los Angeles tomorrow, on the second leg of his tour of the US

Delhi Chief Minister and AAP national convener Arvind Kejriwal will lead a 'Tiranga Yatra' in Haryana's Adampur on Thursday and address a rally.

Kejriwal arrived in Haryana on Wednesday for a two-day visit. Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann is accompanying him.

The 'Tiranga Yatra' will start from Kranti Chowk in Adampur, Hisar, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) said.

Kejriwal will later address a rally at the Adampur Mandi, the party added.

Income tax raid underway in Sion & Borivali areas of Mumbai, in connection with tax evasion & political funding. The raid has been going on since yesterday.

Single day rise of 6,395 coronavirus infections pushes India's COVID-19 tally of cases to 4,44,78,636, death toll climbs to 5,28,090

Sensex climbs 550.73 points to 59,579.64 in early trade; Nifty advances 156.1 points to 17,780.50

It was a hot and humid morning in the national capital on Thursday as the minimum temperature settled a notch above the season's average at 26.5 degrees Celsius.

The day is expected to be hot with partly cloudy sky and the maximum temperature is expected to settle around 37 degrees Celsius.

The relative humidity at 8.30 am was recorded at 78 per cent, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) said.

The Chinese capital issued a fresh coronavirus alert on Thursday after it reported 21 local COVID-19 infections a day earlier, three of which were from a high school and the rest from a university, health officials said.

In view of the fresh outbreak, Beijing’s health officials asked residents to stay put during the upcoming Mid-Autumn festival holiday on Saturday, official media reported.

According to the Beijing Municipal Health Commission, there have been three confirmed cases screened out from the community level in Beijing's Haidian district.

Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. has approved a recommendation to end the mandatory wearing of face masks outdoors across the country more than two years after it was imposed at the height of the coronavirus pandemic, top officials said Wednesday.

The Philippines and Myanmar are the last countries in Southeast Asia still requiring the compulsory wearing of masks outdoors, Interior Secretary Benhur Abalos said, adding the change in the country's masking policy will take effect after Marcos Jr. issues an executive order.

Rupee rises 27 paise to 79.68 against US dollar in early trade

An earthquake of magnitude 3.5 occurred 62km ENE of Katra, Jammu and Kashmir, at around 7:52 am today. The depth of the earthquake was 10 km below the ground: National Center for Seismology

A group of hackers allegedly stole and deleted data of educational institutes of KN Modi Foundation and demanded cryptocurrency worth USD 1 million to resolve the issue.

SP (Rural) Iraj Raja said police have received a complaint from Sandeep Kumar Yadav on behalf of the foundation. In his complaint, he told police that the hackers stole and deleted all data of students and staff from the computers of the institute.

New York state is dropping its mask requirement on public transportation thanks in part to the availability of new booster shots targeting the most common strain of COVID-19, Gov. Kathy Hochul announced on Wednesday.

Masks will be encouraged but not required on buses and trains including the New York City subway system, Hochul said.

“We'll be talking about a new normal starting today,” the Democratic governor said. “Basically, we're going from mandatory to optional.”

Official portraits of former US president Barack Obama and former first lady Michelle Obama were unveiled in their presence during a glittering ceremony at the White House here on Wednesday.

This combination of photos shows the official White House portraits of former President Barack Obama, by artist Robert McCurdy, and former first lady Michelle Obama, by artist Sharon Sprung, during a ceremony in the East Room of the White House

A building collapsed in Syria's northern city of Aleppo on Wednesday, killing at least 11 people, including three children, the Syrian state television reported.

The TV said the illegally built, five-story building in Aleppo's southern neighbourhood of Fardous collapsed in the evening. It said seven women, three children and an elderly man were killed.

The report also said two people were injured and seven nearby buildings were evacuated for fear they might collapse as well. 

Search operations were still ongoing amid the rubble in case more people might be buried under the debris.

The Biden administration has approved USD 450 million F-16 fighter jet fleet sustainment programme to Pakistan.

As a notification to the US Congress, the State Department has made a determination approving a possible foreign military sale of F-16 case for sustainment and related equipment for an estimated cost of USD 450 million, arguing that this will sustain Islamabad's capability to meet current and future counterterrorism threats by maintaining its F-16 fleet.

The Defense Security Cooperation Agency delivered the required certification notifying Congress of this possible sale on Wednesday.

Former US first lady Michelle Obama on Wednesday took an indirect dig at former president Donald Trump, highlighting the significance of a peaceful transition of power once a presidency comes to an end.

Addressing guests at the East room of the White House during the official portrait unveiling ceremony of her and her husband, former US President Barack Obama, Michelle said that once our time is up we should move on.

“We hold an inauguration to ensure a peaceful transition of power. Those of us lucky enough to serve work, as Barack said, as hard as we can for as long as we can as long as the people choose to keep us here,” Michelle said.

Another US congressional delegation is visiting Taiwan as tensions remain high with China over its claims to the self-governed island.

A steady stream of US visitors have come to meet with Taiwanese officials since US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi visited in early August.

Since then, China has stepped up its military harassment of Taiwan, sending warships, warplanes and even drones towards the island on a daily basis.

The eight-member bipartisan delegation is scheduled to meet with Taiwan's President Tsai Ing-wen on Thursday.

Union Minister for Commerce and Industry Piyush Goyal on Wednesday (local time) pitched for increasing engagements with the US that will provide new opportunities to India for combating challenges in supply chains.

Goyal is on a six-day visit to San Francisco and Los Angeles to attend the India-US Strategic Partnership Forum conference and Indo-Pacific Economic Framework (IPEF) ministerial meeting.

Clashes were reported between the supporters of Afghanistan and Pakistan after the latter won the cricket match in the ongoing Asia Cup 2022 in Sharjah on Wednesday.

According to Mohsin Dawar who is a Member National Assembly from North Waziristan in Pakistan, Pakistan's decades-old "strategic depth policy" and "interventionist misadventures in Afghanistan" is the reason behind Afghans having problems with Pakistan.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will unveil a grand statue of Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose near India Gate in the national capital on Thursday.

The jet black granite statue, with a height of 28 ft. will be placed under the Canopy near India Gate.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will inaugurate 'Kartavya Path' at India Gate at 7 pm on Thursday.

Kartavya Path will exhibit beautified landscapes, lawns with walkways, added green spaces, refurbished canals, new amenity blocks, improved signages and vending kiosks. Further, new pedestrian underpasses, improved parking spaces, new exhibition panels and upgraded night lighting are some other features that will enhance the public experience.

The US Pentagon has stopped accepting new F-35 jets after it discovered a magnet used in the stealthy fighter's engine was made with unauthorized material from China.

The aircraft's maker, Lockheed Martin, found a part used in the jet's engine was made in China, the Defence Department and company confirmed on Wednesday (local time).

The Royal Canadian Mounted Police say the second suspect in the stabbing deaths of 10 people in the province of Saskatchewan has been located and is in police custody.

Myles Sanderson was located near the town of Rosthern in Saskatchewan at about 3:30 pm local time, an RCMP statement said.