India's top court has ruled the practice of instant divorce in Islam unconstitutional, marking a major victory for women's rights activists. In a 3-2 majority verdict, the court called the practice "un-Islamic". India is one of a handful of countries where a Muslim man can divorce his wife in minutes by saying the word talaq (divorce) three times. The landmark court decision came…

White House chief strategist Steve Bannon is the latest top aide of President Donald Trump to leave his post.   Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders confirmed that Friday was his last day. His exit follows a review of his position by White House Chief of Staff John Kelly. Mr Bannon, who helped shape Mr Trump's "America First" campaign message, is returning as head of Breitbart.com,…

China on Wednesday said that its border troops are always committed to maintain the peace and tranquility along the Indo-China border. Reacting to the skirmish between Chinese and Indian troops in the Ladakh region, China’s Foreign Ministry Spokesperson, Hua Chunying said that she was not aware about this report. “I can tell you that the Chinese Border troops are always committed to maintain…

A 22-year-old air hostess of IndiGo Airlines died after falling from her flat on the fourth floor of an apartment in Kolkata, police said on Wednesday. “Clara Khongshit, from Shillong, allegedly fell down through the sliding window of her flat on the fourth floor of an apartment late on Tuesday night. The body of the deceased was recovered from in front of the apartment on Wednesday morning,”…

MANDSAUR: Congress leader and former Union Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia was on Tuesday arrested along with some party leaders while on way to Mandsaur to visit the families of the farmers killed in firing, police said. Superintendent of Police Manoj Singh said Scindia was arrested along with Congress MP Kantilal Bhuria and other party leaders at Dhodar checkpoint in Mandsaur district of Madhya Pradesh.…

MUNICH: At least one shot was fired at a railway station outside the southern German city of Munich on Tuesday leaving several persons injured, police said, adding that the scene had been secured.   "A handgun was used during a police operation at S-Bahn station Unterfoehring," police tweeted, referring to a northeastern suburb of the Bavarian city.   Several people were wounded…

LONDON: UK Prime Minister Theresa May's office said on Sunday there had been no change to plans for US President Donald Trump's to come to Britain on a state visit, after the Guardian newspaper reported the trip had been postponed. The paper, citing an unidentified adviser at May's Downing Street office who was in the room at the time, reported Trump had told May by telephone in recent…

Iran said its security forces killed the mastermind of a twin attack on Tehran that left 17 people dead this week, as security was tightened around the country to prevent other possible plots. Islamic State has claimed responsibility for the suicide bombings and gun attacks on parliament and the mausoleum of the Islamic Republic’s founder, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, on Wednesday. “The…

LONDON: British Prime Minister Theresa May's office said on Sunday talks were still ongoing with the Democratic Unionist Party on seeking its support for a Conservative government after earlier saying an outline agreement had been reached. May's Conservatives lost their parliamentary majority in a humiliating election on Thursday and now need the support of the 10 MPs from Northern Ireland's…

New Delhi: Denying sex to husband for a long time without any justification amounts to mental cruelty and is a ground for divorce, Delhi High Court has said. The verdict came on a petition by a husband seeking divorce, complaining that his wife had subjected him to mental cruelty by not allowing him to have physical relations for four-and-a-half-years though she was not suffering from any physical…

The death toll from a truck-bomb explosion in Kabul last week has reached more than 150 people, President Ashraf Ghani said on Tuesday, making it the deadliest attack in the Afghan capital since the ouster of the Taliban in 2001. The blast occurred when a sewage truck packed with what Ghani called "military-grade" explosives detonated at the entrance to a fortified area of that city that…

Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates and Yemen have cut diplomatic ties with Qatar, accusing it of destabilising the region. They say Qatar backs militant groups including so-called Islamic State (IS) and al-Qaeda, which Qatar has denied. The Saudi state news agency SPA said Riyadh had closed its borders, severing land, sea and air contact with the tiny peninsula of Qatar. Qatar…

Washington: US President Donald Trump on Saturday pledged to move quickly on the selection of a new Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) director. Trump told reporters aboard the Air Force One as he embarked on a visit to Lynchburg, Virginia that a decision may come as soon as before he starts his first oversea trip next Friday. “Even that is possible,” he told reporters when asked whether…