Breaking News, April 17 | LIVE UPDATES

A Sri Lankan government delegation is headed to the US on Sunday to engage with the IMF to secure a USD 4 billion package as it desperately tries to salvage the country's beleaguered economy currently reeling under a severe forex crisis. The delegation led by newly-appointed finance minister Ali Sabry will hold talks with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) between April 19 and April 24. Sabry has said that Sri Lanka is seeking a bail out package of USD 4 billion from the IMF, having earlier resisted calls to seek a facility from the global lender.

No new case of coronavirus was reported in Puducherry on Sunday, a senior official of the health department said. No case was recorded in any of the four regions of Puducherry, Karaikal, Mahe and Yanam in the last 24 hours. In a press release, Director of Health Department G Sriramulu said 206 samples were examined during the last 24 hours and no fresh case of viral infection surfaced. He said there were three active cases with all from Karaikal region.

The Covid infection tally in Ladakh remain unchanged at 28,239 with no new case reported in the last 24 hours, officials said on Sunday. As many as 2,773 tests were conducted in Leh and Kargil on Saturday and all the results returned negative, they added. The Union Territory currently has eight active cases — six in Leh and two in Kargil -- officials said. Ladakh has recorded a total of 228 COVID-19 deaths — 168 in Leh and 60 in Kargil — since the outbreak of the pandemic.

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Sunday claimed that 40 lakh Indians died during the coronavirus pandemic due to the government's "negligence" and once again demanded that all families of the deceased be given Rs four lakh compensation each. Taking to Twitter, Gandhi shared the screenshot of a New York Times report which claimed that India is stalling the WHO's efforts to make global Covid death toll public.

Police have arrested a suspect in connection with a shooting at a busy shopping mall in South Carolina's capital on Saturday that left 14 people injured. Columbia Police Chief WH “Skip” Holbrook said 22-year-old Jewayne M. Price, who was one of three people initially detained by law enforcement as a person of interest, remains in police custody and is expected to be charged with unlawful carrying of a pistol. It is not immediately known if Price has an attorney who could speak on his behalf.

Israeli police have entered the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound, a sensitive Jerusalem holy site, two days after clashes with Palestinians. The police cleared Palestinians out of the sprawling esplanade outside the mosque itself early Sunday, while dozens of Palestinians remained inside the building chanting “God is Greatest.” The police said they entered to facilitate the routine visit of Jews to the holy site. They said Palestinians had stockpiled stones and set up barriers in anticipation of violence. The police said they were committed to facilitating freedom of worship for Jews and Muslims.

The government has amended rules of the Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA), paving the way for up to 20 per cent foreign direct investment in the insurance behemoth LIC. The government is planning to dilute its stake in LIC through the the Initial Public Offering (IPO). LIC in February had filed the Draft Red Herring Prospectus (DRHP) before the markets regulator Sebi for the IPO. Last month, Sebi gave approval to the draft papers and the insurer is in the process of filing a request for proposal with changes.

Goa's beaches are under increasing threat of erosion and the phenomenon may impact its tourism economy in the years to come. Experts have called for urgent intervention and the need to create short term and long term plans to safeguard the state's coastline. Union Minister of State for Earth Sciences Dr Jitendra Singh told the Lok Sabha earlier this month that 19.2 percent of Goa's 103 km long coastline was facing the threat of erosion, which includes some of the top beaches in the state like Anjuna, Keri-Tiracol, Morjim in North Goa and Agonda, Betalbatim, Majorda in South Goa.

Thane district in Maharashtra reported two fresh coronavirus positive cases, taking the infection count to 7,08,877, an official said on Sunday. These new cases were reported on Saturday, he said. The COVID-19 death toll and the mortality remain unchanged in the district at 11,889 and 1.67 per cent, respectively, he added.

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Up to 13 people, including nine school teachers, were killed and four others wounded in a car crash south of the Iraqi capital Baghdad, Iraqi authorities and a source have said. Iraqi Interior Ministry's Traffic Directorate said on Saturday in a statement that a 4-wheel drive vehicle and a minibus collided as a result of inattentive driving and speeding in the north of Babil's province capital Hilla, nearly 110-km south of Baghdad.

Newly filed court documents in the downtown Sacramento shooting that killed six people and wounded a dozen others reveal that three of the dead had been involved in the gang dispute that led to the massive shootout, with at least one of them firing a weapon. Documents filed Friday by Sacramento County District Attorney Anne Marie Schubert's office show that the three deceased men affiliated with gangs were Joshua Hoye-Lucchesi, 32, Devazia Turner, 29, and Sergio Harris, 38, The Sacramento Bee reported Saturday. Turner fired a weapon, but it was unclear if all three fired weapons. Police have said there were at least five suspects in the April 3 shooting.

Pakistan’s former president Asif Ali Zardari on Saturday indicated that his Pakistan Peoples Party may not join the Cabinet of newly-elected Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif who is still struggling to finalise his core team even after five days in office. Shehbaz, who took the oath of office on April 11, is without any minister as he is unable to convince all of coalition partners on the formation of the Cabinet. Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) co-chair Zardari hinted that his party would prefer that other coalition partners were adjusted.

Senior Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) leader and former minister Nakul Dubey was on Saturday expelled from the party for indulging in anti-party activities. BSP chief Mayawati gave this information by tweeting late in the evening. "Nakul Dubey (Lucknow), ex-minister has been expelled from BSP over indiscipline and indulging in anti-party activities." Dubey was once considered one of the prominent Brahmin faces of the BSP. He was also a cabinet minister in the BSP government in 2007.

Ten people were shot and two others injured in a shooting at a busy shopping mall in South Carolina's capital that authorities do not believe was a random attack. Three people who had firearms have been detained in connection with the Saturday afternoon shooting at Columbiana Centre, Columbia Police Chief W.H. “Skip” Holbrook said. He said at least one of those three people fired a weapon.