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Saudi billionaire prince Waleed bin Talal's brother freed from detention

Agencies
November 4, 2018

Riyadh, Nov 4: Saudi authorities have released the brother of billionaire Prince Al-Waleed bin Talal after nearly a year in detention, family members have said, as the kingdom faces international pressure over journalist Jamal Khashoggi's murder.

The release of Prince Khalid bin Talal was confirmed by at least three relatives on Twitter on Saturday, with photos shared of him kissing and embracing his son who has been in a coma for years.

"Thank god for your safety," his niece Princess Reem bint Al-Waleed tweeted, posting additional pictures of the released prince with other relatives.

The government has not offered any public explanation for his arrest or the conditions of his release.

The Wall Street Journal reported that he was detained for 11 months for criticising the biggest crackdown on the kingdom's elite last November that saw dozens of princes, officials and tycoons detained at Riyadh's Ritz-Carlton hotel.

The government labelled it a corruption crackdown, but critics said it was an attempt by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman -- heir to the Saudi throne -- to sideline his potential rivals and consolidate power.

Prince Al-Waleed, dubbed the Warren Buffett of Saudi Arabia, was among those rounded up and was released in early January after an undisclosed financial agreement with the government.

It appeared similar to deals that authorities struck with most other detainees in exchange for their freedom.

Prince Khalid's release comes as the kingdom faces international outrage over the killing of Khashoggi inside its consulate in Istanbul on October 2. It is widely seen as the worst diplomatic crisis facing the kingdom since the 9/11 terrorist attacks.

Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Friday said the order to murder Khashoggi came from "the highest levels" of the Saudi government, without directly naming the crown prince.

The government now appears keen to shore up internal royal family support to defuse the crisis. Authorities could also potentially release other elites still in detention, including former Riyadh governor Prince Turki bin Abdullah and billionaire businessman Mohammed al-Amoudi, The Wall Street Journal reported.

"The killing of Jamal Khashoggi has left the kingdom of Saudi Arabia in its weakest diplomatic position since the horrific terror attacks of September 11," Ali Shihabi, head of the pro-Saudi Arabia Foundation think tank, wrote in a report published on Friday.

"In the aftermath of the understandable global outrage at the Khashoggi murder, something will clearly have to give." Shihabi called for the release of "women activists and other moderate critics of the government" who have been detained in Prince Mohammed's widely condemned crackdown on dissent in recent months.

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News Network
June 30,2020

New Delhi, Jun 30: With a spike of 18,522 COVID-19 cases in the last 24 hours, India's coronavirus count now stand at 5,66,840, said the Union Health and Family Welfare Ministry on Tuesday.

According to the Ministry, 418 deaths due to COVID-19 were reported in the last 24 hours. The number of deaths in the country now stands at 16,893.

There are 2,15,125 active coronavirus cases in the country while the number of cured/discharged patients stands at 3,34,821 and one patient migrated.

As per the Ministry, Maharashtra is the worst-hit state with regard to the COVID-19 cases and has reported 1,69,883 cases, including 73, 313 active cases 88,960 cured/discharged patients and 7,610 fatalities.

Tamil Nadu has a total of 86,224 cases including 1,141 deaths. Delhi's COVID-19 count stands at 85,161 cases and 2,680 fatalities.

The total number of samples tested up to 29 June is 86,08,654 of which 2,10,292 samples were tested yesterday, informed the Indian Council of Medical Research.

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News Network
July 16,2020

New Delhi, Jul 16: With the highest single-day spike of 32,695 cases and 606 deaths reported in the last 24 hours, India's COVID-19 tally on Thursday reached 9,68,876, informed the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare on Thursday.

The total number of COVID-19 cases includes 3,31,146 active cases, 6,12,815 cured/discharged/migrated and 24,915 deaths.

As per the Ministry, Maharashtra -- the worst-affected state from the infection -- has a total of 2,75,640 COVID-19 cases and 10,928 fatalities. While Tamil Nadu has a tally of 1,51,820 cases and 2,167 deaths due to COVID-19.

Delhi has reported a total of 1,16,993 cases and 3,487 deaths due to COVID-19.

Meanwhile, as per the information provided by the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), 1,27,39,490 samples have been tested for COVID-19 till 15th July, of these 3,26,826 samples were tested yesterday.

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News Network
March 19,2020

New Delhi, Mar 19: Lawyer of Mukesh Singh, who is one of the four death row convicts in the Nirbhaya gang-rape and murder case, on Thursday mentioned a petition before the Registrar of the Supreme Court seeking an urgent hearing in the matter.

Advocate Manohar Lal Sharma, through the petition, sought directions to bring call record, documents and reports of his client through any probe agency and passed appropriate directions and measure to ensure justice in the matter.

The petition, however, has not sought a stay on the execution, which is scheduled for the morning of March 20. The petition is likely to be taken up for hearing today.

Earlier today, the apex court dismissed the curative petition of Pawan Gupta, another convict in the matter, who claimed juvenility at the time of the crime.

This comes as the four convicts -- Mukesh Singh, Akshay Singh Thakur, Vinay Sharma and Pawan Gupta -- are scheduled to be hanged at 5.30 am on March 20.

Meanwhile, several other petitions are also pending in the matter in different courts.

The case pertains to the brutal gang-rape and killing of a 23-year-old paramedical student in a moving bus on the night of December 16, 2012, by six people including a juvenile in the national capital. The woman had died at a Singapore hospital a few days later.

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