Mobile operators are losing around Rs. 2.45 crores ($350,000) in revenue every hour they are forced to suspend Internet services on government orders to control protests against a new citizenship law, a top lobby group said on Friday. Countrywide protests have raged for three weeks after parliament passed legislation which gives minorities from neighbouring Pakistan, Afghanistan and Bangladesh a path to citizenship but excludes Muslims. That, coupled with a plan for a national register of citizens, are seen by critics as anti-Muslim moves by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. To quell protests, government has deployed thousands of police as well intermittently ordered mobile data shutdowns at a time people have used social media such as Instagram and TikTok to wage a parallel battle online. Such Internet suspensions have been criticised by Internet freedom activists. On Friday, mobile Internet was ordered shut in at least 18 districts in Uttar Pradesh, a telecoms industry source told Reu
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Politically Foul It was the most politically foul week yet. Harry Reid hits below the belt. The Obama and Romney campaigns call each other names. Sen. Bill Nelson calls his opponent a tax cheatin,' road ragin', Hooters promotin' slacker. And, winning the award for the most flagrant foul, a TV ad by a Democratic group which insinuated that Romney was responsible for the death of a man's wife. It all started with a below-the-belt punch by former amateur boxer -- and current Senate Majority Leader -- Harry Reid, hitting presidential hopeful Mitt Romney in his political crown jewels. "The word's out that he hasn't paid any taxes for ten years," Reid said. "Let him prove that he has paid taxes, because he hasn't." So, how does the chairman of the Republican party respond to this low blow? Does he turn the other cheek? Rise above the fray? Not so much. "As far as Harry Reid is concerned, I'm not going to respond to a dirty liar who ha
President Barack Obama (R) meets with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in the Oval Office in March. (Mark Wilson/Getty … The White House expressed confidence Friday that American intelligence will know if Iran escalates its nuclear program in a sprint to build an atomic bomb—a day after Israel's defense minister warned that the allies might not know "in time" to prevent it. "We have eyes, we have visibility into the program," press secretary Jay Carney told reporters at his daily briefing. "We feel confident that we would be able to detect a break-out move by Iran towards the acquisition of a nuclear weapon." "We believe there continues to be the time and space to pursue this course," Carney said, referring to punishing American and international economic sanctions on the Islamic republic. "It is the best course of action to ensure that Iran does not obtain a nuclear weapon. We take no options off the table, and we consult with our all
WASHINGTON, DC - AUGUST 10: U.S. President Barack Obama acknowleges Huma Abedin, the Muslim wife of disgraced Rep. …President Barack Obama forcefully defended trusted Hillary Clinton aide Huma Abedin on Friday, praising her as "an American patriot" in the face of charges from Republicans like Representative Michele Bachmann that she is secretly tied to Muslim extremists. Speaking at a White House Iftar dinner to mark the end of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, Obama hailed Abedin as "a good friend" who has "worked tirelessly in the White House, in the U.S. Senate, and most exhaustingly at the State Department — where she has been nothing less than extraordinary in representing our country and the democratic values that we hold dear." "Senator Clinton has relied on her expertise, and so have I," he said. "The American people owe her a debt of gratitude, because Huma is an American patriot, and an example of what we need in this country: mor
Romney on his campaign plane en route to Virginia (Justin Sullivan/Getty Images) NORFOLK, Va.—On the eve of the kickoff of his four-state bus tour, Mitt Romney made a rare appearance in the back of his campaign plane en route to Virginia—though he didn't say much. The Republican presidential candidate came back after he was waved at by a member of his traveling press corps and asked to come back. "No, no, no," Romney initially mouthed, but then he relented. Asked how he was feeling, Romney replied, "Bus tour! It's great. It's great to be out campaigning." Off the road raising cash Thursday, Romney said fundraising "has its own rewards, obviously." But, he said, "campaigning is the most fun, the most enjoyable and rewarding." "And with that," he said, "back to my yogurt." View the original article here
JOLIET, Illinois (Reuters) - The sister of former Chicago-area police officer Drew Peterson's wife, whose body was discovered in a bathtub in 2004, initially suspected that Peterson was involved in her death, according to testimony on Friday in Peterson's high-profile murder case. Peterson is accused of killing Kathleen Savio, his third wife, while they were engaged in a contentious divorce in 2004 and staging her death to look like an accidental drowning. Peterson once told Savio that "he could kill her and make it look like an accident," Savio's sister, Susan Doman, testified that Savio told her. "She was terrified." Days after Savio's body was found, Doman confronted Peterson by asking, "Did you kill my sister?" Peterson replied that he would not kill the mother of his children, according to Doman's testimony. Later that same day, Doman witnessed Peterson entering the bathroom where Savio died. Doman asked Peterson what he was doing
SAN DIEGO (AP) — Two former Border Patrol agents were found guilty Friday of smuggling hundreds of people into the U.S. in Border Patrol vehicles. Raul and Fidel Villarreal were convicted of charges that they brought illegal immigrants into the U.S. for money and received bribes by public officials, and counts of conspiracy to launder money. Prosecutors said Raul Villarreal started a ring that smuggled in Mexicans and Brazilians and made Fidel Villarreal, his older brother and a fellow agent, one of his first recruits. Both brothers pleaded not guilty in one of the highest-profile corruption cases to sting the Border Patrol since it went on a hiring spree during the last decade. Raul Villarreal had been a public face of the patrol, frequently appearing on television as an agency spokesman. The federal probe began in May 2005 with an informant's tip to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Investigators installed cameras on poles in areas where migrants were dropped off, plante