Breaking News, October 4 | HIGHLIGHTS

Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar was on Wednesday named as the guardian minister of his home district Pune in place of senior BJP leader and cabinet minister Chandrakant Patil.

Although its air quality improved marginally, Delhi remained the most polluted city in the year ending September 30, with a PM2.5 concentration of 100.1 micrograms per cubic metre, which is three times the government's safe limit, according to a new analysis.

Police have arrested a music teacher of a school in suburban Mumbai on charges of molesting a 13-year-old student, an official said on Wednesday. The 26-year-old accused had also allegedly tried to chat with the Class 7 student on social media, but she resisted his move, the official said.

Heavy rains continued to lash several districts of West Bengal, Odisha and Jharkhand on Wednesday due to a low-pressure area in the eastern region. The Meteorological department has forecast heavy rain in several districts of West Bengal till October 5 under the influence of the low-pressure area formed over southwest Jharkhand and adjoining northern Chhattisgarh.

A Delhi court on Wednesday granted bail to RJD chief Lalu Prasad, his wife Rabri Devi and their son and Bihar Deputy Chief Minister Tejashwi Yadav in the alleged land-for-job scam in the railways.

Flights were cancelled and schools were closed in parts of Taiwan on Wednesday as the island braced for strong winds and downpours brought by Typhoon Koinu. At least 93 flights were cancelled at airports across the island on Wednesday, according to the Civil Aviation Administration. The Maritime and Port Bureau said 96 ferry trips had been cancelled, according to the Central News Agency.

A man has been arrested in connection with the bribery allegations against a personal staff member of Kerala Health Minister Veena George, police said on Thursday. The arrest was made based on a complaint made by the minister's personal staff member -- Akhil Mathew -- who had denied the allegations and sought a detailed probe into the matter.

North Korea slammed the United States over a recent Pentagon report that labelled it a “persistent” threat because of weapons of mass destruction, saying it will counter any US aggression or provocations with “the most overwhelming and sustained response strategy.”

Three people died when their motorcycle was hit by a tractor-trolley on the Gonda-Utraula road in a rural area here, police said on Wednesday. The incident occurred on Tuesday night when Akash (19), Vivek (20) and Amresh (20) were going somewhere on the two-wheeler, Additional Superintendent of Police Shivraj said.

Taliban needs to meet its commitments to get legitimacy, the White House has said. “We've not recognised them as a governing power in Afghanistan. They want that. They want legitimacy. Then they need to meet their commitments,” John Kirby, Coordinator for Strategic Communications at the National Security Council in the White House, told reporters at a news conference here on Tuesday.

 A bus carrying foreign tourists, including Ukrainians, crashed near the Italian city of Venice when it fell from an elevated street, killing at least 21 people and injuring 18 others, authorities said.