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ISIS may plan Istanbul like attack in US: CIA The Islamic State terror group may carry out a terror attack similar to the one at Istanbul's Ataturk airport,   CIA   Director   John Brennan   has said. The despicable attack at Istanbul's   international   airport that killed dozens and injured several certainly bears the "hallmarks" of the Islamic State's depravity, Brennan said here yesterday. "We've seen ISIL (Islamic State) carry out and incite an array of terrorist attacks in the region, directly, indirectly and I would be surprised that ISIL is not considering carrying out these attacks in the near abroad as well as the far abroad," he said. "And the United States, as we well know, is leading the coalition to try to destroy as much of this poison, inside of Syria and Iraq, as possible. So it would be surprising to me that ISIL is not trying to hit us, both in the region as well as in our homeland," Brennan said while to repl...

Favourability ratings of Clinton, Trump increased: Gallup survey The favourability ratings of   Donald Trump   and   Hillary Clinton   have increased since they clinched the   presidential nominations   of the respective Republican and Democratic parties, a Gallup survey said on Thursday. Since clinching nomination in early June, Clinton's favourable ratings among Democrats and Democratic-leaning independents have gone up slightly to 71%, compared with 68% in April and May, the survey said. 68-year-old Clinton's image is now partly restored to what it was at the start of the year when 74% of   Democratic   viewed her favourably. Trump has also maintained higher favourable ratings among Republicans and the party leaders since he emerged as the sole   Republican   candidate in May compared with earlier in the year. Trump's favourable ratings among Republicans averages 64% so far in June, the same as in May but higher than the...

Britain's Theresa May launches bid to succeed PM Cameron post Brexit Interior minister   Theresa May   vowed to unite   Britain   as she launched her bid to succeed   David Cameron   as prime minister with a letter to   The Times , the newspaper has reported. The Conservative leader resigned in the wake of Britain's vote to leave the European Union in a June 23 referendum that sent shockwaves through the continent. Like Cameron, May supported remaining in the bloc but played a low-key and conciliatory role in the campaign that has seen her tipped as a unifying figure. In her letter to   The Times , May announced a "mission to make Britain a country that works for everyone," according to the broadsheet yesterday. "If you're from an ordinary, working-class family, life is just much harder than many people in politics realise," May wrote. The appeal to working-class voters by the vicar's daughter was aimed at her main rival for the le...

China pulls up chief negotiator for limited global support for anti-India position at NSG The Chinese leadership has pulled up Wang Qun, its lead negotiator and Director General of the Arms Control Division at the Foreign Ministry, for failing to drum up significant global support for China's position in Seoul which blocked India's entry into the   NSG . Highly placed Western and Chinese sources said that Wang Qun had told   Beijing   that at least one third of the NSG nations would endorse China's position. However, the position was totally in the reverse, with as many as 44 nations backing   India   and   China   only having the support of four nations. Beijing now fears that the fallout of the NSG outcome could have an impact on a crucial verdict expected soon from the Permanent Court   of Arbitration in The Hague in a case brought by the   Philippines   concerning China's territorial reclamation activities in the South Chin...

Virat Kohli promotes a healthy lifestyle; launches Stepathlon Kids After launching his apparel line under the Wrogn brand name and investing in FC Goa in the (football) Indian Super League, Indian cricket Test captain   Virat Kohli   has now partnered with Stepathlon Lifestyle, a wellness-promoting entity, to launch Stepathlon Kids, a company dedicated to children's fitness programmes. This venture will also mark Stepathlon’s entry into the business to consumer space. The company will also receive operational support from Cornerstone Sports and Entertainment, a sports celebrity management company. The new firm, through an annual ‘30 Day Race’ around a virtual world, will urge children to take 15,000 steps a day, in a bid to have a healthy lifestyle and to create long-term positive behaviour. According to a study commissioned by the World Health Organization in 2014, as many as 22 per cent of children in India are obese and facing health issues.   Stepathlon Kids...

7th Pay Commission: Cabinet approves big pay hike for government employees The union cabinet, led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, on Wednesday approved the recommendations of the Seventh Pay Commission, a move which will boost consumption by putting extra disposable income in the hands of the central government’s 4.7 million employees. The   Seventh Pay Commission   (7th CPC) had recommended a 23.5 per cent increase in pay, pension and allowances under a ‘business as usual’ scenario. It had envisaged an increase in pay of Rs 39,100 crore, increase in allowances of Rs 29,300 crore and increase in pension of Rs 33,700 crore, taking the total financial impact for 2016-17 to Rs 1.02 lakh crore. The   pay panel   revisions are in force retrospectively from January 1, 2016. Finance Minister Arun Jaitley had said before the budget that he would provide Rs 1.1 lakh crore and the budget documents showed that Rs 1.06 lakh crore has been provided for. The centre ...

Brazil launches Olympic anti-terrorism campaign Brazil   has launched an awareness campaign designed to foil terror plots during the Rio Olympics   in August. "It's a simple, informative campaign without calling for hysteria," defence ministry official Luiz Felipe Linhares said in a statement on Tuesday, Xinhua news agency reported. The South American country is not a traditional terrorist target and the government hopes the initiative will reduce Rio's vulnerability to possible attacks. The campaign involves the distribution of brochures, posters and booklets explaining how to identify people engaging in suspicious activity, officials said. "Our country has never faced this type of threat so we need to make sure that people are more alert," Brazilian defence force   anti terrorism   chief, Mauro Sinott said. "The message that we want to pass on is that if you think a certain situation is suspicious, it is because it is in fact suspiciou...

Olympics could be big failure amid crisis: Rio Governor Rio de Janeiro's interim Governor Francisco Dornelles has admitted the upcoming Olympic   Games   could be a "big failure" if there were no appropriate measures taken in regards to security and transport. Dornelles declared an unprecedented "state of public calamity in financial administration" earlier this month with less than 50 days until the opening ceremony, which could threaten "the fulfilment of the obligations as a result of the Olympic and Paralympic Games   Rio 2016 ", Xinhua news agency reported. Brazil's   federal government   has already reportedly agreed to disburse federal funds to cover Rio's shortfall, prioritising any projects considered necessary for the Games. However according to Dornelles, the funds have not yet reached the state. Dornelles also warned that due to lack of money, the police patrols may came to a halt by the end of the week. "I am o...

US accuses Russia of harassing diplomats Washington has delivered high-level complaints to Moscow about accusations of increasing intimidation of American diplomats in Russia, the State Department said. "We see an increase and we take it seriously," State Department spokeswoman Elizabeth   Trudeau   told reporters at a press briefing on Monday. Secretary of State   John Kerry   last discussed the matter with Russian President Vladimir Putin   on March 24,   CNN reported citing Trudeau as saying. The spokeswoman said that harassment of diplomats by Russian security agents and traffic police had been an issue over the past two years but did not detail any incidents nor why Kerry brought up the matter with Putin. Other Western embassies had reported the same behaviour towards their diplomats stationed in Moscow, Trudeau added. Moscow, however, has charged that Washington has also engaged in problematic behaviour. Last week, the Russian Foreig...

Clinton never personally denied Benghazi security: Democrats Hillary Clinton   never personally denied any requests from diplomats for additional security at the US outpost in Benghazi, Libya, according to   Democrats on a select House panel who absolved the former secretary of state and the US military of wrongdoing in the deadly September 11, 2012 attacks. In a report pre-empting the Republicans, the panel's five Democrats said after a two-year investigation that the military could not have done anything differently that night to save the lives of four Americans killed in Libya. US Ambassador Chris Stevens died in one of the two assaults at the diplomatic facility and CIA annex. Democrats' release of their own report heightened the partisanship of the inquiry, which has been marked by finger-pointing on both sides. Republicans accuse the Obama administration of stonewalling important documents and witnesses, while Democrats say the panel's primary goal is to u...

Trump targets to raise $10 million The campaign of Donald Trump, presumptive presidential nominee of the Republican party, has set a target of raising another $10 million by the month end, according to an email sent on Monday. Over the last few days, the Trump campaign raised $11 million, it said adding it is working to "shatter records" by raising another $10 million in the remaining four days of June. The mass email seeking funds was sent by his son Eric Trump, who described it as the most ambitious   fund raising   campaign yet. " Hillary Clinton 's campaign machine and her liberal media allies are desperate. First, they claimed we raised too little. Then, when donors like you helped us to raise $11 million in just a few days, they claimed we were lying," the junior Trump wrote in his first fund raising email. A real estate tycoon from New York,   Donald Trump   had self-funded his campaign during the primary elections. He started raising money ...