News LIVE: Rebel MLAs name group after Balasaheb, say they are in Sena

Live news updates: From the political crisis in Maharashtra to the end of constitutional protection for abortions in US, catch all the latest updates here

10:23 AM

Lavrov compares EU, NATO to Hitler

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov has said that the European Union (EU) and NATO were building a coalition to engage in a war with Moscow and compared them to "Hitler during World War II".

"When World War II broke out, Hitler united a significant number, if not most, of the European countries under his banner for a war against the Soviet Union," TASS News Agency quoted Lavrov as saying at a press conference following talks with Azerbaijani top diplomat Jeyhun Bayramov in Baku on Friday.

"Today, the EU and NATO are acting in a similar way, building a modern coalition of the same kind for a fight and pretty much a war against Russia," he added.

10:11 AM

Former England great Wayne Rooney resigns as Derby manager

Wayne Rooney has resigned as Derby manager after 18 months in charge and on the same day the club appeared to have sorted out its financial difficulties.

The Manchester United and England star joined the team in January 2020 as player-coach and ended that year in temporary charge following Phillip Cocu's departure.

Rooney retired as a player when named Derby's permanent boss in January 2021.

9:58 AM

Pakistan quietly jails 26/11 handler Sajid Mir for 15 years in terror financing case

Sajid Majeed Mir, one of India's most wanted terrorists on whom the US has placed a bounty of USD 5 million for his role in the 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks, has been jailed for over 15 years in a terror-financing case by an anti-terrorism court in Pakistan, which is struggling to exit the grey list of the FATF.

The Counter Terrorism Department (CTD) of the Punjab Police, which often issues convictions of the suspects in such cases to the media, did not notify Mir's conviction.

His sentencing comes as Islamabad prepares for on site visit by the officials from the global terror financing watchdog Financial Action Task Force (FATF) to verify the implementation of Pakistan's relevant anti-money laundering and terrorism-financing reforms.

9:58 AM

FTC asked to probe Apple, Google over selling personal information

Four Democratic lawmakers have called on the US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to investigate tech giants Apple and Google over selling personal data.

According to The Wall Street Journal, the lawmakers alleged the companies engaged in unfair and deceptive practices by enabling the collection and sale of mobile-phone users' personal information.

Apple and Google "knowingly facilitated these harmful practices by building advertising-specific tracking IDs into their mobile operating systems", the lawmakers wrote in a letter to FTC chair Lina Khan.

9:50 AM

India records 15,940 Covid infections, 20 fatalities in a day

India's tally of Covid infections rose by 15,940 in a day to reach 43,378,234 while the active caseload increased to 91,779, according to the Union Health Ministry data updated on Saturday.

The death toll climbed to 524,974 with 20 more fatalities, the data updated at 8 am stated.

Active cases rose by 3,495 in a day and now comprise 0.21 per cent of the total infections, while the national COVID-19 recovery rate was recorded at 98.58 per cent, the health ministry said.

The daily positivity rate was recorded at 4.39 per cent while the weekly positivity rate was 3.30 per cent, according to the health ministry.

The number of people who have recuperated from the disease surged to 4,27,61,481, while the case fatality rate was 1.21 per cent.

According to the ministry, 196.94 crore doses of Covid vaccine have been administered in the country so far.

9:48 AM

Yashwant Sinha promises to raise voice for farmers, workers, unemployed youth if he wins presidential polls

Pointing out that India is currently going through extremely difficult times, Opposition presidential candidate Yashwant Sinha promises to raise his voice for farmers, workers, unemployed youth, women and all marginalised sections of society if he wins the election.

In a letter to Opposition parties on Friday, Sinha thanked them for choosing him unanimously as their common presidential candidate and assured them that he will conscientiously uphold, without fear or favour, the basic values and guiding ideals of the Constitution.

"I am overwhelmed with feelings of gratitude towards you and leaders of all the Opposition parties for choosing me unanimously as your common candidate to contest the Presidential Election, to be held on July 18, 2022. I thank you for the trust and confidence they have reposed in me. I assure you -- and the People of India --- that, if elected, I shall conscientiously uphold, without fear or favour, the basic values and guiding ideals of the Indian Constitution. In particular, as the Custodian of the Constitution, I shall not allow the light of democracy and secularism to be dimmed by the executive," Sinha said in a letter.

9:25 AM

Beijing reopens schools for more students as Covid cases ease

Beijing will allow schools to resume in-class teaching as early as Monday, removing one the last major curbs in the capital as the outbreak of Covid-19’s omicron variant finally comes under control.

 

In-class teaching will resume for junior grades in middle schools and all primary school students outside quarantine on Monday, while kindergartens will reopen on July 4, according to a statement from Beijing’s education commission. The reopening plan for schools was delayed earlier this month by clusters of infections at a bar in the capital city. 

 

China reported 22 local Covid cases for June 24, compared with 44 for the previous day. Beijing accounted for two cases, while the rest were in five provinces with Liaoning and Guangdong seeing the most, according to a statement from the nation’s health commission.

9:16 AM

Maharashtra political crisis: CM Uddhav Thackeray to hold national executive meeting today

Amid the continuing political crisis in Maharashtra due to revolt in the Shiv Sena MLAs,  CM Uddhav Thackeray will hold a national executive meeting today.

The meeting will be held in Shiv Sena Bhavan which the Chief Minister will join virtually.

Earlier on Friday, Thackeray convened a meeting of the district chiefs virtually wherein he said that the rebel MLAs who are camping in Guwahati want to "break the party".

"I have said it earlier also that I don't have anything to do with power. The people who used to say that they would rather die than leave Shiv Sena have fled today," the Shiv Sena chief said during his virtual address at the meeting.

Thackeray said that he had "suspected" the rebellion and revealed that Eknath Shinde who turned rebel, had raised the issue in front of him of the MLAs willing to go with the BJP. However, he said that such a question "does not even arise".

"The rebel MLAs want to break the party. I had never thought in dreams that I would become the chief minister. I have left Varsha Bungalow but not the will to fight," he added.

Asking the leaders of his party to tell him if he is "useless and incapable" to run the party, he said he will separate himself from the party.

8:59 AM

China reports 7 new local COVID-19 cases

China reported seven locally transmitted confirmed COVID-19 cases, including five in Guangdong Province and two in Beijing in the past 24 hours, according to the National Health Commission's report Saturday.

As of Friday, 90 COVID-19 patients were discharged from hospitals after recovery, Xinhua reported citing National Health Commission.

After the recovery, the recovered persons' tally reached 2,19,454, the National Health Commission said in its Saturday report.

8:59 AM

China's Xi to visit Hong Kong for handover anniversary

Chinese leader Xi Jinping will visit Hong Kong this week to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the former British colony's 1997 return to China, a state news agency said Saturday, in his first trip outside the mainland since the start of the coronavirus pandemic 2 1/2 years ago.

Xi also will attend the inaugural meeting of the territory's newly installed government, Xinhua News Agency said. It gave no indication how long Xi would stay in Hong Kong or other details.

Whether Xi, who is president and general secretary of the ruling Communist Party, would visit Hong Kong at all for the anniversary had been in doubt due to the territory's struggle to control a surge in infections this year.

8:25 AM

UN chief calls for action to help internally displaced persons

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Friday launched an action agenda to galvanize efforts to help internally displaced persons. "Our world is facing a crisis of internal displacement. Record-high numbers of people around the world have been displaced within their countries by tragedies such as conflict, disasters and the climate crisis," he said in a video message for the launch of the action agenda on internal displacement.

Many internally displaced persons have been uprooted for years, even decades, and often multiple times. Others have been forced to flee more recently. In just three months, the conflict in Ukraine drove 13 million people out of their homes and communities, nearly two-thirds of whom remain in Ukraine, he said. 

8:15 AM

26/11 attacks mastermind, once claimed to be dead, arrested in Pak

Years after denying his presence and even claiming he was dead, Pakistan has reportedly arrested Sajid Mir, a top Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) operative involved in directing the 2008 Mumbai attacks.

Mir, involved in November 2008 siege -- when a team of 10 men carried out coordinated attacks on multiple targets in Mumbai, has been sought by both the US and India for over a decade. As many as 170 people of various nationalities -- including six Americans were killed in the terror attack.

The case appears to have been brought to a head by Pakistan's desire to extricate itself from the Financial Action Task Force's international terror-financing watchlist, Nikkei Asia reported.

8:09 AM

Norway: Two killed, several injured in shooting at nightclub in Oslo

Two people were killed and several more wounded in a shooting at a nightclub in Oslo, Norway, early Saturday morning, media reported citing Norwegian authorities.

CBS News qouted Oslo Police District as reporting that several shots were fired at a nightclub. According to the Police at least two people were killed and several more seriously wounded.

A suspect was in custody, police said. The circumstances of the shooting were unclear.

8:09 AM

India-Australia relation crucial to deter Chinese ambitions in Indo-Pacific: Former Australian MP

Australia sees India as one of its most important partners to deter China in the Indo-Pacific as Beijing has been very brutal in the way it is behaving, said former Australian MP Ivan Trayling.

In a telephonic conversation with ANI, Trayling said, "India-Australia relationship is important in trying to deter the Chinese aggression in the Indo-Pacific area and the Chinese brutality."

Speaking on the ground that newly elected Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese holds with respect to Chinese aggression in the region, the former Australian politician Trayling said, "I think Prime Minister Albanese will be a very strong partner with the US, India and Japan in working against the Chinese aggression in the Indo-Pacific. I particularly think and I certainly hope that he will be working very closely with India in terms of combatting the Chinese aggression and Chinese ambitions."

8:07 AM

US abortion ruling sparks debate, polarises activists across globe

The end of constitutional protections for abortions in the United States on Friday emboldened abortion opponents around the world, while advocates for abortion rights worried it could threaten recent moves toward legalization in their countries.

The US Supreme Court's overturning of the landmark Roe v. Wade decision "shows that these types of rights are always at risk of being steamrolled," said Ruth Zurbriggen, an Argentinian activist and member of the Companion Network of Latin America and the Caribbean, a group favoring abortion rights.

But in El Salvador, anti-abortion campaigner Sara Larn expressed hope the ruling will bolster campaigns against the procedure around the globe.

"I trust that with this ruling it will be possible to abolish abortion in the United States and throughout the world," said Larn, president of Fundacin Vida SV.

In Kenya, Phonsina Archane watched news of Friday's ruling and said she froze for a while in a state of panic.