1,36,020 INDIANS TO PERFORM HAJ THIS YEAR
Jeddah: Over 1,36,000 Indians will perform Haj in 2015 with the quota for the country remaining unchanged since last year due to the ongoing expansion work at the Grand Mosque in Mecca. The agreement was signed as the Indian Haj delegation led by Minister of State for External Affairs Gen. (Retd) VK Singh held a meeting with Saudi Arabia’s Haj Minister Bandar Al Hajjar on Tuesday in Jeddah.
230 ACTIVISTS SENTENCED TO lIFE IN EGYPT
Cairo: An Egyptian court on Wednesday sentenced 230 activists to life in prison for taking part in clashes with security forces during the 2011 revolt that forced longtime autocratic ruler Hosni Mubarak to step down, in the heaviest sentence yet against non-Islamist protesters.
ZAMBIAN EX-PRESIDENT KAUNDA IN HOSPITAl
lusaka: Zambia’s founding President Kenneth Kaunda has been hospitalised for an undisclosed ailment, his family said on Wednesday. Kaunda, 90, was admitted to lusaka Trust Hospital on Tuesday.
SIRISENA FOR ‘UNITING HEARTS MINDS’ OF lANKANS
Colombo: Calling for a national reconciliation, Sri lanka’s new President Maithripala Sirisena on Wednesday regretted that past leaders had failed to bring together the “hearts and minds” of communities since the end of the war against the lTTE.
200 BOKO HARAM MIlITANTS KIllED, SAYS CHAD FORCES
Gamboru: Chad said on that it inflicted heavy losses on Nigeria’s Boko Haram, killing “over 200” Islamist militants in a border town that it wrested from the rebels in a ground offensive. Nine Chadian soldiers were also killed and 21 injured Tuesday in Gamboru as regional forces took the fight against the insurgents on to Nigerian soil for the first time, the Chadian army said.
TWElVE KIllED IN EAST UKRAINE, HOSPITAl HIT
Donetsk: At least 12 people were killed in fighting between soldiers and pro-Russian separatists in east Ukraine, including four civilians who died when a hospital was hit in rebel stronghold Donetsk on Wednesday.
‘QAEDA CORE NOW FOCUSED ON PHYSICAl SURVIVAl’
Washington: Al-Qaeda core is now focused on physical survival following battlefield losses, but the terrorist outfit will remain a difficult and critical intelligence challenge this year, Pentagon said.