Breaking News, May 9 | LIVE UPDATES

In what could further dampen the mood of crypto investors in the country, the goods and services tax (GST) council is mulling a 28 per cent tax on cryptocurrencies, at par with the current GST on casinos, betting and lottery, multiple media reports claimed on Monday.

A blast has been reported in Punjab Police Intelligence office headquarters located in Mohali, while the cause is still unknown. Buildings nearby have also been affected, reports said. The building is located near the Suhana Saheb Gurudwara. 

Further details are awaited. 

Severe cyclonic storm Asani packing gale-force winds up to 120 kmph which is moving towards the east coast bringing along heavy rain, is likely to recurve in a north-northeastward direction on reaching near the shore and weaken gradually into a cyclonic storm, the Met office said on Monday.
Coming close to North Andhra Pradesh-Odisha coasts, it is likely to turn into a cyclonic storm by Tuesday night.

A 24-year-old woman was set on fire on Monday -- two days before her wedding -- allegedly by a jilted lover in Farrukhnagar area here, police said. The woman was rushed to a private hospital and is critical with over 50 percent burn while the accused is absconding, they said. The victim’s father moved to the police claiming the accused broke into their house and set his daughter on fire.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will on May 13 virtually launch the Madhya Pradesh government's new startup policy aimed at encouraging budding entrepreneurs in the state, an official said on Monday.

A 24-year-old man and his one-and-half-year-old son were killed and his wife seriously injured on Monday when their motorcycle collided with a speeding multi-utility vehicle on Mumbai-Agra highway near Taraganj in Madhya Pradesh's Rajgarh district, a police official said.

The Delhi University has resumed the physical mode of examination after a gap of over two years due to the COVID-19 pandemic by conducting exams for students with Essential Repeats (ERs) on Monday. Speaking to PTI, D S Rawat, DU Dean of Examination, informed that exams for those who could not attain passing marks in one or more subjects were conducted "smoothly" in all colleges.

Former Gujarat MLA and Congress leader Vasant Bhatol on Monday joined the BJP at the party's 'Kamalam' headquarters in Gandhinagar. Bhatol had left the BJP ahead of the general elections in April 2019 and joined the Congress after the opposition party had given his father Parthi Bhatol a ticket to contest Lok Sabha polls from Banaskantha.

One hideout was busted in Peer Topa forest in the Poonch sector. Army and Police laid a cordon around the general area. On search of the hideout, 100 rounds of AK -47 and a few other materials were recovered. The hideout was later destroyed by team: Jammu & Kashmir Police

Amidst violent clashes and unrest in Colombo, Sri Lanka's Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa on Monday resigned from his post.

To attract young talent to the party, a Congress sub-group has recommended giving only one ticket per family so that big leaders do not corner party tickets and deny a place to the genuine hard workers.

Domestic air passenger traffic is estimated to have logged an 83 percent growth year-on-year at 10.5-million in April as Covid-19 infection cases waned, leaving a gap of just 5 percent when compared to the pre-pandemic level, ICRA said on Monday. Indian carriers had flown around 11 million passengers in April 2019.

A fire broke out in the Mahakali Nagar slum area in Beltarodi. Fire fighting operation is underway. 

Six people detained from different areas of Mumbai today are being interrogated by the Agency; Raids underway at 20 locations. 

The Opposition Leader in the Legislative Council B.K. Hariprasad on Monday courted controversy when he said that those who are campaigning against Azaan are terrorists.

The AAP government in Punjab is working in an "undemocratic manner" and "not following due legal process", former Uttar Pradesh deputy chief minister Dinesh Sharma said here commenting on BJP leader Tajinder Pal Singh Bagga's arrest last week.

An FIR will be filed in connection with the death of a woman from Faridabad in Haryana in a North Goa hotel last month after her kin raised suspicion on circumstances surrounding her demise, a senior police official said on Monday.

New Delhis "stubbornness" over Pakistan-India water disputes persists as it is yet to respond to a letter sent from Islamabad even after the passage of a month, the media reported.

A meeting of water experts from both sides is scheduled to be held in New Delhi this month, but now it seems that the talks would be delayed, The Express Tribune said in a report.

A three-day meeting of water experts from both countries was held on March 1 in Islamabad. According to sources, it was agreed in that meeting to hold talks in New Delhi in May.

An earthquake measuring 5.8 on the Richter scale jolted Indonesia's North Maluku province on Monday, according to authorities.

The quake struck at 4.51 a.m., with the epicentre at 72 km northwest of Halmahera Barat (West Halmahera) district and the shallow of 10 km under the seabed, Xinhua news agency reported citing the authorities as saying.

The quake did not trigger a tsunami, they added.

The death toll from an explosion at the Hotel Saratoga in Havana has increased to 30, as search and rescue efforts continue, the Cuban Ministry of Public Health said.

The Ministry said that there are also 84 injuries, with 19 adults and five children remaining hospitalised, reports Xinhua news agency.

Rescuers continue to search for survivors and bodies at the hotel, which was seriously damaged when a tanker truck loaded with some 10,000 liters of liquid gas exploded on May 6.

The police on Monday recovered the bodies of a married couple from a rented room in Bhopal. As per the police, Jitendra and his wife Ranjeeta from Khandwa were staying at their relative, Kaluram's rented accomodation in Shahpura area.

Ranjeeta had filed for divorce in Khandwa. A senior police official in the Shahpura police station said that a team has been sent to Khandwa.

While the woman's body was found on the bed, Jitendra was found hanging. Prima facie, it appeared that the man must have committed suicide after killing his wife, but the doctors ruled out any strangulation marks on the neck of the deceased, police said.

A 12-year-old boy died while three girls were hospitalised after consuming some poisonous herb in Ramban district of Jammu and Kashmir, police said on Monday. The children were playing in a forest area near Rakhjaroh village in Batote area on Sunday when they consumed the unknown wild herb, a police official said.

He said they fell unconscious after vomiting and were rushed to the Community Health Centre, Batote, where one of them identified as Mohammad Basit died.

Basit’s sister Shabnam (10) and neighbours Sania Bano (10) and Razia Bano (8) were referred to Government Medical College Hospital Jammu for specialised treatment.

Sri Lankan Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa on Monday appealed to the people to exercise restraint and remember that violence only begets violence, saying the economic crisis needs an economic solution which his government is committed to resolving.
His statement came amidst violence in the country in which at least 16 people were injured as supporters of Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa attacked anti-government demonstrators gathered at a protest site near his official residence, prompting the police to enforce a curfew in the capital.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will on May 13 virtually launch the Madhya Pradesh government's Startup Policy and Implementation Plan-2022, aimed at encouraging budding entrepreneurs in the state, an official said on Monday.

The event will be held at the Brilliant Convention Centre in Indore in the presence of MP Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan, the official from the public relations department said.

Various programmes have been launched across the state to bring awareness about the state's start-up policy, specially developed to strengthen and bring to reality the entrepreneurial ideas of youth, the official said.

A shooting at a greater Atlanta condominium complex has left three people dead and three others wounded, police said, adding no arrests were immediately made.

Police in Dekalb County said the six people were shot on Sunday night at the complex near Clarkston, a community in a suburb east of Atlanta.

Lt. Shane Smith, a county police spokesman, told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution that people calling 911 reported shots fired shortly before 8 p.m. on Sunday at the Brandon Hill condominium complex and that arriving officers found five people had been shot, three fatally.

IAS officer Pooja Singhal, the secretary of the Jharkhand mining department will be questioned by ED at the Ranchi Zonal office tomorrow in connection with raids & searches at premises linked to her & cash recovered from CA Suman Kumar's residence: Sources

A relatively rare East Coast earthquake centered just northeast of South Carolina's capital city jolted large numbers of state residents awake early Monday, rocking the Southern state at a preliminary 3.3 magnitude, authorities said. There were no immediate reports of any damages or injuries.

The pre-dawn temblor lasted only seconds but hundreds of people took to social media to describe being shaken from sleep when the quake hit shortly after 1:30 a.m.

A seismic analyst monitoring the quake for the USGS Geological Survey's National Earthquake Information Center in Colorado, called it the latest in a series of shakes in recent months but stronger than usual.

MG Motor India on Monday said it has crossed 1 lakh cumulative sales milestones in the country since the launch of its first vehicle nearly three years ago. The company, which started selling its vehicles in India with the launch of Hector SUV in June 2019, currently has a portfolio including the electric SUV, ZS EV, premium SUV Gloster and compact SUV Astor.

"This marks a new milestone in the brand's journey centred on constant innovation, experiential customer service, and a dedication to sustainability and community," MG Motor India said in a statement.

MG Motor India President and Managing Director Rajeev Chaba said, "Our dedication to bringing positive changes to the Indian mobility space through smart mobility solutions and creating a sustainable future is becoming stronger every day."

A major fire broke out in a residential area in Maharashtra's Nagpur city on Monday, causing damage to nearly 100 hutments, a fire official said.
The blaze erupted around 10 am in Mahakali Nagar of Beltarodi area where several labourers live, the official told PTI.

No casualty has been reported so far, but a minor girl is missing and efforts are on to trace her, he said. 

"Around 100 hutments were affected by the fire," the official said.

The blaze was later brought under control, he said, adding that the cause of the fire was yet to be ascertained.

Engineering major Larsen & Toubro (L&T) on Monday said it has bagged a significant project from the Jharkhand government for irrigation. The project envisages providing water to irrigate 22,283 hectare of Culturable Command Area (CCA) in Dumka district of Jharkhand by way of pumping water from the Sidheshwari river. The scope includes survey, design, and construction of a barrage across the river.

The talks between Pakistan and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) are expected to begin next week in Doha, local media reported on Monday. The Express Tribune reported that the IMF has informed the country's government that it could send a mission to Doha for one week on May 18 for talks with Pakistan on the revival of the Extended Fund Facility, said the officials.

However, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif will have to overcome all obstacles from his cabinet members before that and has to make a decision on fuel subsidies.

Professor Dr Medha Kirit Somaiya, wife of BJP leader Kirit Somaiya, has registered a complaint against Shiv Sena leader Sanjay Raut stating that the accused made malicious and unwarranted statements against the complainant in the media. Dr Medha visited Navghar Police Station, Mulund East, Mumbai, to file a complaint against Shiv Sena MP Sanjay Raut, who allegedly made a defamatory statement against her and his family.

"I state that the accused Sanjay Raut is Executive Editor of Marathi Newspaper "SAAMNA" and is also the chief spokesman of Shivsena, a political party. I say that the accused around 16th April, 2022 and thereafter made malicious and unwarranted mischievous statements against me in the media, the same which was printed, published and circulated to the general public at large through electronic and print media. The said malicious statements were also viral on social media platforms," she said in her complaint.

Lakhimpur Kheri violence | Lucknow Bench of Allahabad High Court rejects bail plea of accused Lav Kush, Ankit Das, Sumit Jaiswal and Shishupal

India and France agreed to work in close proximity in line with the Make in India initiatives to address challenges related to space issues, besides having deeper ties in climate change and defence-related matters.

Building on a great tradition of over 60 years of technical and scientific space cooperation, and in order to address the contemporary challenges that have arisen in space, in particular maintaining secure access to space for all, India and France have agreed on setting up a bilateral strategic dialogue on space issues during Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi's recent visit to France.

"It will bring together experts from space and defence agencies, administration and specialised ecosystem to discuss security and economic challenges in outer space, the norms and principles applicable to space as well as unveil new areas of cooperation. The two sides agreed to hold the first dialogue this year at the earliest," the joint statement from the meeting revealed.

Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Monday reviewed the situation along the Assam-Bangladesh border from the Mankachar sector of the state.
Shah, who arrived at the Kamakhya Hilltop via a chopper earlier in the day, offered prayers at the temple there before leaving for the Mankachar.
He was welcomed by officials of the BSF and the state government at the border outpost.

Jammu & Kashmir | Encounter begins between terrorists and security forces in Shirmal, Zainapora in South Kashmir's Shopian district. Details awaited.

An earthquake with a magnitude of 6.1 on the Richter Scale occurred 68 km SW of Yonaguni, Japan at 11:53am IST today, as per European-Mediterranean Seismological Centre (EMSC)

Adani Airport Holdings Ltd (AAHL), a wholly owned subsidiary of Adani Enterprises Ltd, has announced a successful closure of funding of $250 million senior secured three-year ECB facility from consortium of Standard Chartered Bank (SCB) and Barclays Bank PLC.

The facility has an option to raise additional $200 million.

The financing structure enables a scalable capital solution with flexibility to tap global capital markets in line with AAHL's vision of providing a transformational airport infrastructure platform.

South Sudan's Ministry of Health has declared a cholera outbreak following the confirmation of eight cases in Rubkona county.

The Ministry said the move follows tests conducted by the National Public Health Laboratory in Juba that confirmed the outbreak, reports Xinhua news agency.

"Public is being urged not to panic but remain calm and observe all the precautionary measures to prevent community transmission and spread in populations with inadequate access to safe drinking water, poor personal hygiene, and inadequate access to improved sanitation facilities," the Ministry said in a statement.

Delhi BJP has decided to replace unreachable or missing booth committee members with the new ones. The BJP city unit has started physical verification of its booth committee members from May after it failed to connect with nearly 50 per cent of them.

Last month, IANS had reported that the Delhi BJP is starting a 45-day physical verification campaign of its booth committee members after failing to connect with them from May 1.

An old live mortar shell was found on Monday in J&K's Tosamaidan tourist destination in Budgam district. Police sources said the live shell was found by the locals who informed the police about it.

"A bomb disposal squad was called in and the mortar shell was successfully defused," police said.

Enforcement Directorate denies allegations made by Xiaomi India that statements of its officials were taken under coercion as untrue and baseless, says the Agency.

ED had seized Rs 5551.27 cr of Xiaomi India, under FEMA, for illegal outward remittances made by the company.

Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa may offer to stand down as the prime minister on Monday, political sources said, as pressure mounts on the embattled government led by his younger brother and President Gotabaya Rajapaksa to form an interim administration to overcome the worst economic crisis facing the country.

Rajapaksa, 76, under intense pressure from within his own Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP) ranks to resign was gathering his supporters to apply counterpressure not to stand down.

His younger brother, President Gotabaya Rajapaksa, though wanting his resignation had not directly conveyed his wish. The President wants his resignation enabling him to go for a government of national unity, an interim arrangement till the present economic crisis could be dealt with, sources said.

“He may not offer direct resignation," Dayasiri Jayasekera, a ruling coalition dissident told PTI.

Police on Sunday rescued 21 cattle heads from a truck and apprehended two persons in Assam's Biswanath district.

Based on secret information, a police team of Biswanath Chariali Sadar police station set up a barricade in front of the police station on Sunday and intercepted a truck.

The Border Security Force (BSF) shot down a drone coming from the Pakistan side, which was carrying heroin in Punjab's Amritsar, the paramilitary force said on Monday.

The BSF said that it recovered nine packets of heroin from the Pakistani drone weighing 10.67 kilograms, foiling the smuggling bid from across the border.

Assam | One person died and another injured after a passenger train collided with a vehicle under Bordoloni-Dhemaji section in Dhemaji district today morning.

The rupee extended its losses and touched an all-time low of 77.42 against the US dollar in early trade on Monday weighed down by the strength of the American currency in the overseas market and unabated foreign fund outflows.

At the interbank foreign exchange, the rupee opened at 77.17 against the American dollar, then lost ground to quote at 77.42, registering a fall of 52 paise from the last close.

On Friday, the rupee had slumped 55 paise to close at 76.90 against the US dollar. 

Equity benchmarks continued to face heavy drubbing on Monday, with the Sensex tumbling over 713 points in early trade, following a sell-off in global markets and decline in shares of index major Reliance Industries.

Unabated foreign fund outflows and firm crude oil prices also continued to weigh on sentiment. The 30-share BSE Sensex tanked 713.49 points to 54,122.09 in early trade. The NSE Nifty also tumbled 248.7 points to 16,162.55.

China's export growth tumbled in April after Shanghai and other industrial cities were shut down to fight virus outbreaks.

Exports rose 3.7 per cent over a year earlier to USD 273.6 billion, down sharply from March's 15.7 per cent growth, customs data showed Monday. Reflecting weak Chinese demand, imports crept up 0.7 per cent to USD 222.5 billion, in line with the previous month's equally weak growth below 1 per cent.

A black panther has been spotted in a camera trap placed in a wildlife sanctuary in Goa, following which the state government has decided to install more cameras in the forest area to monitor the feline's movements, state Forest Minister Vishwajit Rane said.

The state forest department on Sunday released a picture of the black panther caught on camera in South Goa's Bhagwan Mahavir Wildlife Sanctuary on April 25.

Maharashtra's Thane district has added 30 new cases of coronavirus, raising its infection count to 7,09,208, an official said on Monday.
These new cases were reported on Sunday, he said.

The death toll remained unchanged at 11,894, he said, adding that the COVID-19 mortality rate in Thane is 1.67 per cent.

In neighbouring Palghar district, the COVID-19 case count has gone up to 1,63,612, while the death toll stands at 3,407, another official said. 

Shares of Reliance Industries Ltd declined 3 per cent in early trade on Monday, after the company's March quarter earnings failed to cheer investors. The stock has been quoting lower for the past many days and further slumped 3 per cent to Rs 2,542.10, amid a weak trend in the broader market.

At the NSE, the stock declined 2.99 per cent to Rs 2,542.25. Since April 29, the stock has fallen 9.82 per cent.

Billionaire Mukesh Ambani's Reliance Industries Ltd on Friday reported a 22.5 per cent rise in net profit for the quarter ended March on the back of bumper oil refining margins, steady growth in telecom and digital services and strong momentum in the retail business.

The oil-to-retail-to-telecom conglomerate's consolidated net profit rose to Rs 16,203 crore in the quarter ended March 31, 2022 from Rs 13,227 crore, the firm said in a statement.

Three persons were killed and one was injured in a strafing incident near a polling center in Maguindanao province on the election day in the Philippines on Monday. According to the military, the attackers on board two vans opened fire at the peacekeepers assisting the voting process in Buluan town around 7:25 am local time (2325 GMT), Xinhua News Agency reported.

The victims were reportedly supporters of a local politician running for the post of mayor in the town.

The election body also reported another strafing incident today morning in Sumisip town in Basilan province in the country. However, there were no casualties in the attack.

Justice Sudhanshu Dhulia & Justice Jamshed Burjor Pardiwala today took oath as Supreme Court judges. CJI NV Ramana administered the oath of office to the new judges in a swearing-in ceremony.

After their appointment, the apex court will function at its full strength of 34.

As cash-strapped Sri Lanka struggles to emerge out of a deepening economic crisis, Bangladesh has extended the term of the USD 200 million loan to the island nation under a currency swap deal by one more year.

The decision was taken by the Bangladesh Bank directors in a meeting on Sunday. The spokesman of the central bank, Serajul Islam, said that the extension was granted by keeping the conditions for the loan unchanged, reported Daily Mirror.

In its first loan to another country, Bangladesh agreed to the deal with Sri Lanka in May 2021. According to the deal, the island nation was supposed to repay the loan within three months, however, as the country is facing a severe economic crisis the loan term has been extended.

Union Civil Aviation Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia on Monday said that he himself will investigate the alleged incident of IndiGo airlines, which barred an adolescent child with special needs from boarding a plane along with his parents at the Ranchi airport on Saturday.

The Union Minister said that there is zero-tolerance for such behaviour and appropriate action will be taken after the investigation.

"There is zero tolerance towards such behaviour. No human being should have to go through this! Investigating the matter by myself, post which appropriate action will be taken," he said in a tweet.

Karnataka: Sri Ram Sena workers detained by police while they were on their way to Hanuman Temple in Shanti Nagar, Bengaluru.

Earlier in the week, Sri Ram Sena announced that they will play Hanuman Chalisa on loudspeakers.

India reports 3,207 fresh cases, 3,410 recoveries, and 29 deaths in the last 24 hours. Active cases 20,403

The US on Sunday announced new sanctions on Russia, targeting management consultancies and accounting services and media outlets funded directly or indirectly by the state. Also, among the new curbs, were export controls on equipment and machinery such as bulldozers.

The Iraqi forces have killed three Islamic State (IS) militants and arrested three of the group's local leaders in the provinces of Nineveh and Baghdad, the Iraqi military said.

The army carried out an operation in a mountainous area in the northern province of Nineveh and killed three IS militants, Yahia Rasoul, spokesman of the commander-in-chief of the Iraqi forces, Xinhua news agency reported, citing a statement.

Separately, the Iraqi forces arrested three IS local leaders in Baghdad Province by intelligence reports from previously arrested terrorists, the media office of the Joint Operations Command (JOC) said in another statement.

Filipinos began voting on Monday morning to elect their next President and some 18,000 other officials of all levels of government.

A total of 37,211 polling centers across the country opened at 6 a.m. local time for the 65.7 million eligible voters and will close at 7 p.m. local time, Xinhua news agency reported.

Also to be elected are the Vice President, 12 senators, more than 300 members of the House of Representatives, and over 17,000 local officials.

A Salman Khan doppelganger, Azam Ansari, was taken into custody by the Lucknow police on charges of disturbing peace.

Ansari was making a reel (short video) at the historic Clock Tower on Sunday night and a huge crowd gathered on the road to see the duplicate Salman Khan, resulting to a massive traffic jam.

Later, on complaint of some commuters, police rushed to the spot and took Ansari into custody. He has been booked under Section 151 for breach of peace by the Thakurganj police.

National Investigation Agency (NIA) conducts raids at more than one dozen locations in Mumbai against Pakistan-based gangster Dawood Ibrahim's associates and a few hawala operators

Raids are being conducted in Nagpada, Goregaon, Borivali, Santacruz, Mumbra, Bhendi Bazar, and other places

Several Hawala operators & drug peddlers were associated with Dawood & NIA had registered in this regard in February

Jill Biden made an unannounced visit to western Ukraine on Sunday, holding a surprise Mother's Day meeting with first lady Olena Zelenska to show U.S. support for the embattled nation as Russia presses its punishing war in the eastern regions.

She became the latest high-profile American to enter Ukraine during the war, while Zalenska's public appearance was her first since since Russia invaded Ukraine on Feb. 24

A Station House Officer (SHO) of an all-women police station and a sub-inspector (SI) were suspended here on Sunday on charges of demanding a bribe of Rs 1 lakh to omit the name of an accused in a case, officials said.

A case of indulging in corruption has been registered against the two at the Civil Lines police station here and departmental inquiry also ordered against them, the officials said.

SP (City) Vineet Bhatnagar said that Investigating Officer SI Ritu Kajla and Monika Jindal, the SHO of the all-women police station, had demanded Rs 1 lakh from an Army jawan, a resident of Chhur village in Sardhana area of the district, to remove his name from the list of accused in a case.

A major fire broke out in Noida's Sector 62 area on Sunday night and firefighting was underway, officials said. Several fire tenders were rushed to the spot while police personnel were also deployed even as a large number of people came out on roads.

There was no immediate report of injury to any person due to the fire in the commercial hub of Sector 62. 

Two Palestinians, one a teenager, were killed in separate incidents in the occupied West Bank on Sunday, hours after police apprehended two Palestinian men suspected of killing three Israelis last week. It was the latest episode of violence during weeks of Palestinian attacks in Israel, and Israeli military raids in the occupied West Bank that have left at least 18 Israelis and some 30 Palestinians dead.

The Palestinian man died after he was shot by Israeli troops trying to cross the security fence near a military checkpoint in the occupied West Bank. The Israeli military said that soldiers “spotted a suspect who attempted to illegally cross the security fence” near the northern West Bank city of Tulkarem and fired at him. It said the man was evacuated to receive medical treatment, but declined commenting on the man's condition. The Palestinian Health Ministry confirmed the man's death.

An Islamic State affiliate in Egypt has claimed responsibility for an attack that targeted a water pumping station east of the Suez Canal, killing at least 11 soldiers. At least five other soldiers were wounded in Saturday's attack, according to the Egyptian military. It was one of the deadliest attacks on Egyptian security forces in recent years.

Thousands of people attended separate funerals for the dead on Sunday.

The extremist group on Sunday announced its claim of the attack in a statement carried by its Aamaq news agency. The authenticity of the statement could not be verified but it was released on Telegram as similar claims have been in the past.

More than 60 people were feared dead Sunday after a Russian bomb flattened a school being used as a shelter, Ukrainian officials said, while Moscow's forces kept up their attack on defenders inside Mariupol's steel plant in an apparent race to capture the city ahead of Russia's Victory Day holiday.

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said he was “appalled” by the reported school bombing Saturday in the eastern village of Bilohorivaka and called it another reminder that “it is civilians that pay the highest price” in war.

The death toll of a powerful explosion at a luxury hotel in Cuba's capital increased to 31 Sunday evening as search crews with dogs hunted through the rubble of the iconic, 19th century building looking for people still missing.

The Hotel Saratoga, a five-star 96-room hotel in Old Havana, was preparing to reopen after being closed for two years when an apparent gas leak ignited, blowing the outer walls into the busy, midmorning streets just a block from the country's Capitol building on Friday.

Several nearby structures also were damaged, including the historic Marti Theater and the Calvary Baptist Church, headquarters for the denomination in western Cuba. The church said on its Facebook page that the building suffered “significant structural damage, with several collapsed or cracked walls and columns (and) the ceiling partially collapsed,” though no church workers were hurt.

Strong, fast winds complicated work for firefighters in northeast New Mexico on Sunday as they battled two major blazes, though the rural area's major population centre appeared to finally be safe from the worst danger.

“It's been a challenging day. The winds have picked up; they haven't let up,” fire spokesperson Todd Abel said Sunday evening.

The rural area's largest town — Las Vegas, New Mexico, population 13,000 — sits on the eastern edge of the fire area and appeared safe for now thanks to fire lines dug with bulldozers and other preparations over the past week. But the northern and southern edges of the blaze were still proving tricky for firefighters to contain, particularly given winds as fast as 50 miles per hour (80 km per hour), Abel said.

The United States has targeted 8 Sberbank executives and 27 Gazprombank executives, as well as Moscow Industrial Bank and its ten subsidiaries in its latest sanctions package, the White House announced in its Fact Sheet on Sunday.

"The United States also sanctioned eight executives from Sberbank- the largest financial institution in Russia and uniquely important to the Russian economy, holding about a third of all bank assets in Russia; twenty-seven executives from Gazprombank - a prominent Russian bank facilitating business by Russia's Gazprom, one of the largest natural gas exporters in the world; and Moscow Industrial Bank and its ten subsidiaries," the Fact Sheet said.

Nepal is turning out to be a gateway for Chinese criminals and the Himalayan nation has raised concern over the increasing involvement of Chinese nationals in illegal activities.

On April 22, a joint team from the Department of Immigration and Nepal Police raided a house in Maharajgunj, Kathmandu, and arrested 22 Chinese nationals, reported The Annapurna Express (ApEx).

Strangely, at the time this news was largely ignored by Nepal's major news outlets and details about the incident remain obscure to this day.

In an evolving relationship, Slovenia is unlikely to backtrack from pro-Taiwan policies. Sasa Istenic Kotar, Director of Taiwan Study Center in Slovenia on Saturday said that after Slovenian Prime Minister Janez Jansa leaves office, following his electoral defeat last month, the country will maintain ties with the island nation, reported Taipei Times.

Jansa, a populist who presided over warming relations between Taiwan and Slovenia, was ousted in the parliamentary elections last month by political newcomer Rober Golob.

A thief was injured in a police encounter in the Rajnagar Extension area of Ghaziabad on Sunday night, said the police. The thief was shot in the leg and had been sent to the hospital.

The accused had been identified as Santosh Yadav, a resident of Delhi, added the police.

More than 29 cases of robbery, theft and others are registered in Ghaziabad, Noida, Delhi and Haryana, as per the police.

Odisha | 64 school students tested COVID-19 positive in the Rayagada district 

There is no corona outbreak as such. The students have no symptoms and have been isolated. Medical teams have been deployed in the hostels: Saroj Kumar Mishra, District Magistrate, Rayagada

A social media post on Sunday alleged the staff of IndiGo airlines barred an adolescent with special needs from boarding a plane along with his parents at the Ranchi airport on Saturday.

"The Indigo staff announced that the child would not be allowed to take the flight. That he was a risk to other passengers. That he would have to become 'normal' before he could be travel-worthy,' read the post.

"And the staff then went on to state something on the lines of 'behaviours such as this, and that of drunk passengers unfit to travel," added the post.

Maharashtra | Due to OHE (Overhead Equipment) breakdown between Dahisar and Borivali station, all local trains (UP) are running late by 10 to 15 minutes: Western Railway

A Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) terrorist was apprehended by a joint team of 29 RR and Jammu and Kashmir Police in Frasthar Kreeri Baramulla on Sunday, said the police.

He has been identified as Ajaj Ahmed Mir, added the police.

Bihar DGP SK Singhal said on Sunday that the Economic Offences Unit (EOU) will probe the question paper leak case of the 67th Combined (Preliminary) Competitive Examination of Bihar Public Service Commission (BPSC).

Earlier on Sunday, BPSC announced the cancellation of the examination.

"Bihar Public Service Commission's (BPSC) 67th Combined (Prelims) Competitive Exam has been cancelled. BPSC inquiry committee found that set C of the exam was leaked. Case handed over to the Economic Offences Unit for a thorough investigation," Singhal told ANI.

A zero FIR has been lodged with the Delhi Police against the son of a Rajasthan Minister for allegedly raping a 24-year-old woman belonging to a different religion.

The FIR was lodged at Sadar Bazaar Police station against the son of a Rajasthan Minister. The woman has alleged that a man raped her on the pretext of marriage. An FIR has been transferred to Rajasthan for investigation.

An earthquake of magnitude 4.4 occurred at around 1:11am, 85km NNE of Campbell Bay, Andaman and Nicobar island today: National Center for Seismology

Union Home Minister Amit Shah late on Sunday arrived at Lokpriya Gopinath Bordoloi International Airport in Guwahati for a two-day tour to inaugurate and launch several projects on the first anniversary of Himanta Biswa Sarma-led government.

SCS ‘Asani’ over Southeast and adjoining Westcentral Bay of Bengal, about 570 km west-northwest of Port Blair. To move northwestwards till 10th May night and reach Westcentral and adjoining Northwest Bay of Bengal off North AP & Odisha coast: India Meteorological Department

Amid the Russian offensive, Canada on Sunday lifted all duties on imports from Ukraine for one year. The economic relief was announced by Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau during a meeting with President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in Kyiv on May 8.

"Canada lifts all duties on imports from Ukraine for one year. The economic relief was announced by Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau during a meeting with President Zelenskyy in Kyiv on May 8," tweeted The Kyiv Independent.

Compared to pre-covid times,there has been a massive 219% increase in preventive arrests of criminal elements.These arrests of criminal elements have drastically reduced the instances of street crimes.There has been a 19% decline in use of firearms during this period: Delhi Police

There has also been a drop of approximately 60 percent in PCR calls of snatching in 2022 compared to the same period in 2021. Since PCR calls are made by citizens, a 60% drop in PCR calls shows that the incidents of snatching have come down in the city: Delhi Police

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Sunday warned Imran Khan of legal action for attempting to instigate a civil war in the country. Shehbaz on Sunday termed Imran Khan's Abbottabad speech "a conspiracy against Pakistan," reported Geo News.

"The 220 million people of Pakistan, the Constitution, and the national institutions are not slaves to one person's ego. Imran Niazi wants to enslave the masses, but we will not allow him to become the Hitler of Pakistan," read the statement of Shehbaz Sharif.

"Imran Niazi lied a lot, but now he has to face the truth," said Pakistan PM Shehbaz Sharif.