Jan 11 News Live: Iranian president vows to listen to protesters but warns against rioters

Ex-DGP's SIT report shows bid to falsely implicate me under MVA rule: Fadnavis

Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis has said an SIT report submitted by former DGP Rashmi Shukla indicates there was an attempt to frame him in false cases during the previous Uddhav Thackeray-led MVA government.

Before she retired on January 3, Shukla submitted a report to the home department based on an inquiry conducted by a Special Investigation Team (SIT), sources claimed on Saturday.

The report suggested that then DGP Sanjay Pandey, Deputy Commissioner of Police Laxmikant Patil and Assistant Commissioner of Police Sardar Patil were involved in a conspiracy to implicate Fadnavis (who was then Leader of Opposition in the assembly) as well as current deputy CM Eknath Shinde (then a minister), by re-investigating a 2016 extortion case registered at Thane Nagar Police Station, they said.

Shukla recommended that a First Information Report be registered against these three officials, the sources added.

To a question on the SIT report, Fadnavis told reporters on Saturday evening, "The politics of revenge during the MVA rule has been established on how there was an attempt to frame me in false cases." In 2016, a case was registered against Shyamsunder Agarwal at Thane Nagar Police Station following a dispute between him and his former business partner, real estate developer Sanjay Punamiya. A charge sheet was filed in 2017.

UP: Man arrested for killing toddler son, throwing body into Yamuna

Police have arrested a man for allegedly killing his one-and-a-half-year-old son and dumping the body in the Yamuna River, officials said on Saturday.

Circle Officer (Sadar) Rajveer Singh Gaur said a woman living at her parental home in Pachkauri village lodged an FIR on January 7, alleging that her husband Rajendra took away their son Kartik on the night of January 5.

Based on the complaint, police detained Rajendra (32), a resident of Dhanuhan Dera in Fatehpur district, for questioning on Friday.

During interrogation, he confessed to strangling his son to death and throwing the body into the Yamuna River, the circle officer said.

The accused was formally arrested on Saturday, Gaur said, adding that efforts are underway to recover the body.

Rajendra was addicted to alcohol, and his wife, Sharda, had been living at her parental home due to marital discord, the officer said.

Owaisi targets Congress over UAPA, denial of bail to Khalid and Imam

AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi has blamed Congress for activists Umar Khalid and Sharjeel Imam not getting bail, saying the stringent UAPA under which they have been booked was enacted during a Congress government.

The Hyderabad MP was speaking at a public meeting in the Chandni Chowk area of Amravati in Maharashtra on Saturday ahead of January 15 civic elections.

The people who talk of secularism during elections are in fact enemies of Muslims, Dalits and tribals as they use political secularism to gain votes, the All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) said.

Both Khalid and Imam were denied bail by the Supreme Court in the 2020 Delhi riots conspiracy case on the basis of Section 15A of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, he said.

It was then home minister P Chidambaram who introduced the UAPA (during the Congress-led regime), Owaisi said, adding that he was the only one who objected to it in Parliament.

Myanmar holds 2nd round of elections amid armed conflict

Myanmar resumed voting Sunday in the second round of its first general election in five years, expanding polling to additional townships, including some areas affected by the civil war between the military government and its armed opponents.

Polling stations opened at 6 am local time in 100 townships across the country, including parts of Sagaing, Magway, Mandalay, Bago and Tanintharyi regions, as well as Mon, Shan, Kachin, Kayah and Kayin states.

Many of those areas have seen clashes in recent months or remain under heightened security, underscoring the risks surrounding the vote.

The election is being held in three phases due to armed conflicts. The first round took place on Dec 28 in 102 of the country's total 330 townships, followed by the second phase on Sunday. A final round is scheduled for Jan 25, though 65 townships will not take part because of fighting.

Myanmar has a two-house national legislature, totalling 664 seats. The party with a combined parliamentary majority can select the new president, who can name a Cabinet and form a new government. The military automatically receives 25% of seats in each house under the constitution.

Amaravati development ‘unstoppable’, says Chandrababu Naidu amid political row

Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu on Saturday said that some people are “jealous” of the pace at which Amaravati is being built, and are dreaming of stalling the greenfield capital city’s development, which is “unstoppable”.

Addressing an event at a private college in Vijayawada, the chief minister said that Amaravati will be constructed in a manner that will earn the world's appreciation. “We are going to build an Amaravati, which the world will appreciate. Some are jealous of its construction speed and are dreaming of stalling it… But it is unstoppable,” Naidu said.

Naidu’s remarks came in the wake of former chief minister and YSRCP supremo Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy accusing him of taking up a capital city project in a river basin. Hinting at Reddy, Naidu asked where cities like Rajahmundry, Visakhapatnam, Mumbai, Hyderabad, Delhi and London are located.

Observing that civilisations bloomed wherever there was water, Naidu alleged that some people ignorant of this matter are indulging in unnecessary politics. According to Naidu, Vijayawada, Guntur, Mangalagiri and Amaravati will combine to become the “best liveable city”.

Mega drone show depicts Somnath temple in 3D, huge Shiva formation

A mega drone show featuring several planned thematic formations, including huge images of Lord Shiva and a 'shivling', and a 3D depiction of the Somnath temple, lit up the night sky near the ancient shrine here on Saturday.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who arrived here in the evening on a two-day visit to the temple town, witnessed the show, held as part of the Somnath Swabhiman Parv, officials said.

During the nearly 15-minute show, one of the formations also depicted the destruction faced by the historic temple in Gujarat’s Gir Somnath district over the past century.

The Swabhiman Parv marks 1,000 years since Mahmud of Ghazni invaded the Somnath temple, the Prime Minister's Office (PMO) said on Friday.

Despite repeated attempts for its destruction, the Somnath temple stands today as a powerful symbol of resilience, faith and national pride, owing to the collective resolve and efforts to restore it to its ancient glory, the PMO statement said.

After Independence, the efforts for the restoration of the temple were undertaken by Vallabhbhai Patel.

One of the most important milestones in this journey of revival was achieved in 1951, when the restored Somnath temple was formally opened to devotees in the presence of the then-president of India, Rajendra Prasad.

Death toll in violence surrounding protests challenging Iran's theocracy reaches 116

Nationwide protests challenging Iran's theocracy reached the two-week mark Sunday, as the death toll in violence surrounding the demonstrations reached at least 116 people killed, activists said.

The US-based Human Rights Activists News Agency gave the new figure, saying arrests had reached more than 2,600 people as well. The agency has been accurate in multiple rounds of unrest previously.

Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has signalled a coming clampdown, despite US warnings from President Donald Trump that America could intervene to protect peaceful demonstrators.

Tehran escalated its threats Saturday, with the Iran's attorney general, Mohammad Movahedi Azad, warning that anyone taking part in protests will be considered an “enemy of God”, a death-penalty charge.

Veteran US actor TK Carter dies at 69

Veteran actor TK Carter, who appeared in the horror film “The Thing” and “Punky Brewster” on television, has died at the age of 69.

Carter was declared dead Friday evening after deputies responded to a call regarding an unresponsive male in Duarte, California, according to the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department.

Police did not disclose a cause of death or other details, but said no foul play was suspected.

Carter had been acting for years before a breakthrough role as Nauls the cook in John Carpenter's 1982 horror classi, “The Thing”. He also had a recurring role in the 1980s sitcom “Punky Brewster”.

Other big-screen roles include “Runaway Train” in 1985, “Ski Patrol” in 1990 and “Space Jam” in 1996. 

Anti-ICE protesters assemble across US after shootings in Minneapolis, Portland

Thousands of people have marched in Minneapolis to protest the fatal shooting of a woman by a federal immigration officer there and the shooting of two protesters in Portland, Oregon, as Minnesota leaders urged demonstrators to remain peaceful.

The Minneapolis gathering on Saturday was one of hundreds of protests planned in towns and cities across the country over the weekend. It came in a city on edge since the killing of Renee Good on Wednesday by an Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer.

“We're all living in fear right now,” said Meghan Moore, a mother of two from Minneapolis who joined the protest Saturday. “ICE is creating an environment where nobody feels safe and that's unacceptable.” On Friday night, a protest outside a Minneapolis hotel that attracted about 1,000 people turned violent as demonstrators threw ice, snow and rocks at officers, Minneapolis Police Chief Brian O'Hara said Saturday.

One officer suffered minor injuries after being struck with a piece of ice, O'Hara said. Twenty-nine people were cited and released, he said.

Nobel Institute says Venezuelan leader Machado can't give Peace Prize to Trump

The organisation that oversees the Nobel Peace Prize is throwing cold water on talk of Venezuelan opposition leader Maria Corina Machado giving her recent award to President Donald Trump.

Once the Nobel Peace Prize is announced, it can't be revoked, transferred or shared with others, the Norwegian Nobel Institute said in a short statement on Friday. “The decision is final and stands for all time,” it said.

The statement comes after Machado said she'd like to give or share the prize with Trump, who oversaw the successful US operation to capture authoritarian Venezuelan president Nicolas Maduro. He is facing drug trafficking charges in New York.

“I certainly would love to be able to personally tell him that we believe — the Venezuelan people, because this is a prize of the Venezuelan people — certainly want to, to give it to him and share it with him,” Machado told Fox News host Sean Hannity on Monday. “What he has done is historic. It's a huge step towards a democratic transition.” Machado dedicated the prize to Trump, along with the people of Venezuela, shortly after it was announced. Trump has coveted and has openly campaigned for winning the Nobel Prize himself since his return to office.