Srinagar clashes
Three militants, including a wanted Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) commander involved in several killings, and a policeman were killed during an encounter between ultras and security forces in Srinagar.
Police assisted by the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) launched a cordon and search operation in Fateh Kadal in downtown area of the city following a specific intelligence input about the presence of militants there, a senior police official said. Curfew has been imposed in some pockets of the city to maintain law and order.
Sabarimala protests
A policeman throws back a stone as they clash with protesters who tried to stop women of menstruating age from going to the Sabarimala temple at Nilackal, a base camp on way to the mountain shrine in Kerala, on Wednesday.
The historic mountain shrine Sabarimala, one of the largest Hindu pilgrimage centers in the world is set to open its doors to females of menstruating age following a ruling by the country's top court. Police arrested some protesters when they tried to block the path of some females.
DMK high level executive committee meeting
Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam president M.K. Stalin chairing the DMK high level executive committee meeting at the party headquarters, Anna Arivalayam in Chennai on Wednesday, to discuss the upcoming Lok Sabha elections.
The DMK’s high-level executive committee met at Anna Arivalayam to deliberate on the strategy for the next Lok Sabha elections.
Having lost three successive elections — 2011 (Assembly), 2014 (Lok Sabha) and 2016 (Assembly) — the DMK has more at stake than any other political party, as the outcome of the 2019 polls will be crucial for sustaining the morale of both leaders and the rank and file of the party.
Jaswant Singh’s son Manvendra joins Congress
Congress leaders Randeep Singh Surjewala and Sachin Pilot with Manvendra Singh, the BJP MLA who quit the party to join the Congress, in New Delhi Wednesday.
Sheo MLA Manvendra Singh, son of the expelled BJP leader and former External Affairs Minister Jaswant Singh, joined the Congress on Wednesday. He announced his exit from the BJP at a “Swabhiman Rally” in Rajasthan’s Barmer district last month. Mr. Singh continued to represent Sheo constituency as a BJP member in the State Assembly even after his suspension from the party’s primary membership.
Mr. Jaswant Singh contested as an Independent in the 2014 Lok Sabha elections from Barmer-Jaisalmer after being denied BJP ticket. While he lost to BJP candidate Sonaram Chaudhary, Mr. Manvendra Singh was suspended from the party’s primary membership for campaigning for his father.
Tension in Nilackal
Protesters gather at Nilackal, the venue of protests for the last one week with prayers, or Namajapa Yagnam, being held under the banner of the Sabarimala Protection Council and the Sabarimala Aachara Samrakshana Samiti.
Nilackal, the entry point to the Sabarimala hill temple, has turned into a venue for protests by various groups that oppose the entry of younger women to the shrine. The protest peaked up on Wednesday, as the forest shrine of Lord Ayyappa in Sabarimala will open its door today for the first time after the Supreme Court's verdict to allow menstruating women to worship in the temple.
Abe sends offering to controversial Tokyo war shrine
A wooden plaque (L) showing the name of Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe is seen with a "masakaki" tree that Abe sent as a ritual offering for the war dead at Yasukuni Shrine in Tokyo, Japan, October 17, 2018.
Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on Wednesday sent a ritual offering to a controversial shrine honouring World War II criminals that infuriates Asian neighbours China and South Korea.
Mr. Abe has not visited Yasukuni Shrine in person since December 2013 — a trip that triggered a downturn in relations with Beijing — and the premier is currently in Europe.
However, he sent a sacred "masakaki" tree bearing his name at the start of a four-day festival.
US defense secretary sees the enduring costs of Vietnam War
U.S. Secretary of Defense Jim Mattis, right, is greeted by Vietnam's Air Force Deputy Commander Gen. Bui Anh Chung, in Bien Hoa city, Vietnam, Wednesday, Oct. 17, 2018.
U.S. Defense Secretary Jim Mattis is getting a firsthand look at the enduring costs of fighting the Vietnam War. Mr. Mattis visited an air base north of Ho Chi Minh City that was heavily contaminated in the late 1960s and early 1970s by American forces through storage and spillage of the chemical defoliant Agent Orange. Four years ago the U.S. pledged to clean and restore the parts of Bien Hoa (bee-yen WAH') air base that were contaminated.
