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In a public show of support, President Barack Obama will meet with Muslim community members Wednesday in Baltimore on his first presidential visit to an American mosque. Obama plans to hold talks with Muslim leaders at the Islamic Society of Baltimore, the White House announced Saturday. The visit will amount to a public embrace of Muslims by Obama at a time when public sentiment against them seems to be growing, largely fueled by fears of terrorist acts carried out by extremist groups. Obama has largely put distance between himself and U.S. Muslims, opting against fueling the rampant theories that he is a closet Muslim who was born in Kenya, the country of his late father's birth. Obama is American by virtue of his birth in Hawaii and has released his birth certificate as proof. He also is Christian. But segments of the U.S. population still believe neither to be true. As such, the visit will come during the final year of Obama's two terms in office. The White House said

German Chancellor Angela Merkel tried on Saturday to placate the increasingly vocal critics of her open-door policy for refugees by insisting that most refugees from Syria and Iraq would go home once the conflicts there had ended. Despite appearing increasingly isolated, Merkel has resisted pressure from some conservatives to cap the influx of refugees, or to close Germany’s borders. Support for her conservative bloc has slipped as concerns mount about how Germany will integrate the 1.1 million migrants who arrived last year, while crime and security are also in the spotlight after a wave of assaults on women in Cologne at New Year by men of north African and Arab appearance. The influx has played into the hands of the right-wing Alternative for Germany (AfD), whose support is now in the double digits, and whose leader was quoted on Saturday saying that migrants entering illegally should, if necessary, be shot. Merkel said it was important to stress that most refugees had only been

© Provided by Hindustan Times Pollution in the city rose to its highest levels since air quality data monitoring began last June. The System of Air Quality Weather Forecasting and Research (SAFAR), which has been taking readings at 10 locations in Mumbai, measured the air quality index (AQI) at 325, which falls in the ‘very poor’ category, on Friday morning. By evening, it rose to 341, which was equal to Delhi’s. The previous highest pollution level was recorded at 313 on the day after Diwali, November 12, 2015. What’s more: Mumbai’s air quality is likely to worsen further over the weekend, with SAFAR predicting an AQI of 343 for Saturday. A health advisory issued by SAFAR on Friday morning said, “People sensitive to air pollution are advised to remain indoors and everyone is advised to use pollution masks.” Of the 10 locations in the city, Malad was the most polluted on Friday as it recorded an AQI of 417, which falls in the ‘severe’ category, followed by Andheri and Chembur both

Two foreign nationals were remanded for six days on Saturday in connection with sexually harassing an 18-year-old girl in Limassol who faces cognitive problems. Although they deny any involvement in the case, police believe the suspects approached the girl offering her chocolates and cigarettes and would come into physical contact with her in public spaces. Initially, a 37-year-old man was arrested on Friday but after he named another man of the same age, he too was also arrested. The young girl and her family are monitored by the welfare department. Limassol district court ordered the remand to grant police more time to investigate.

One person was killed and six people were hurt Saturday afternoon after shots were fired and a stabbing occurred at a motorcycle show in Denver, police said. The violence broke out at about 12:45 p.m. (2:45 p.m. ET) during Colorado Motorcycle Expo weekend at the National Western Complex, said Denver police spokeswoman Raquel Lopez. Three people were listed in critical condition at Denver Health Medical Center and three were in stable condition, said Dr. Kevin McVaney, an emergency physician. He would not specify what kind of injuries they suffered. Denver Health earlier twitted that nine people had been taken to area hospitals. Lopez did not say whether the person killed was stabbed or shot. Nobody had been arrested, she said, though men led away from the event in handcuffs were being questioned. As a safety precaution, the hospital emergency department was locked down until about 4:30 p.m. (6:30 p.m. ET), according to a medical center tweet. The Denver Post quoted a witness as s

A 30-year-old man was killed and eight were injured when a bus carrying them overturned in Kharwa village, police said here on Saturday. The deceased has been identified as Manoj, they said. The incident took place when the bus carrying 40 persons overturned on Hathras-Jalesar road last night, they said. Police said that the injured persons were taken to a district hospital from where three have been referred to Aligarh medical college.

Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi today joined the student protesters at University of Hyderabad to express solidarity with them following suicide of a Dalit research scholar Rohith Vemula in Hyderabad. For more than 12 hours, Rahul Gandhi sat with students and the family members of Rohith Vemula who are on hunger strike, demanding justice. He also participated in a candlelight vigil after midnight and spent the night on the campus. He remained seated along with the students at the protest venue near Shopping Complex to mark the birth anniversary of Rohith Vemula, who committed suicide two weeks ago. He was seated with four Dalit students who were suspended along with Rohith and also Rohith's mother and brother. Dozens of other students are also on a day-long hunger strike to press the demand for the resignation of Vice Chancellor Appa Rao and action against him and others responsible for the suicide. "I am here today at the request of Rohith's friends and family, to

A six-year-old student died after falling into a water storage tank at his school in Delhi. The boy, identified as Divyansh Kakrora, was a class I student at Ryan International School in Vasant Kunj area in south Delhi, police said. He was last seen before the seventh period, which was around 12.20 PM, following which the school authorities started looking for him. The boy was trapped inside the tank till the sewage workers reached there and fished him out. His body was later found floating inside the pit, used as a water storage tank, under the ampitheatre in the school's playground, police said. The school authorities took him to a hospital, where he was declared brought dead. It was around 2.40 PM that the hospital authorities informed the police about the matter, police said. DCP south Delhi, Premnath said, "We got a call at around 2:40 pm. The kid was brought dead. We are probing the case. Child went missing during the seventh period. There was a poem competition in sc

Mirpur: India on Saturday stormed into the ICC Under-19 cricket World Cup quarter-finals after producing a clinical all-round performance to wallop New Zealand by 120 runs in their penultimate group D encounter. Put into bat on a slow track, the three-time champions scored a decent 258 for eight with Sarfaraz Khan continuing his fine form hitting a polished 74. Left-handed opener Rishabh Pant and middle-order batsman Armaan Jaffer contributed 57 and 46 respectively. Another significant innings came from all-rounder Mahipal Lomror, who scored a quickfire 42-ball-45. In reply, New Zealand were decimated for 138 in only 31.3 overs with pacer Avesh Khan bowling a deadly opening spell to finish with figures of 4 for 32 in 10 overs which also earned him the Man of the Match award. Lomror could have also got the award as he capped his 45 with figures of 5 for 47 in 7.3 overs to polish off the tail. The 'Boys in Blue' virtually wrapped up the match in the first 10 overs of New Zeala

A group of unknown assailants threw makeshift petrol bombs outside the house of a Greek minister in central Athens early on Saturday, causing damage but no injuries, police officials said. The attack took place outside the house of State Minister Alekos Flabouraris, a top adviser to Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras, in the downtown area of Exarchia, a police official said. A car which belonged to Flabouraris’ security team parked outside his house was burned and another was seriously damaged, the official said. The ruling leftist Syriza party condemned the attack, saying that it will not undermine democracy in the country. Attacks against politicians, banks and business people are not uncommon in Greece, which has a long history of political violence. Attacks have escalated since 2010, when it first adopted unpopular austerity measures in exchange for multi-billion-euro bailouts by the European Union and the IMF. Athens agreed to further rounds of austerity under a third bailout agreem

A truck en route to Larnaca on the highway from Limassol was burnt to the ground after a technical fault on Friday night, police said on Saturday. Although the damage is estimated at around €10,000 the driver, aged 55 managed to get out on time. Shortly before 8pm, the truck which contained Lidl supermarket goods, smoke was seen coming from the left front of the car. Noticing this, the driver pulled over into the safety lane and shortly afterwards, a fire broke out. Goods and the front part of the truck were completely destroyed. Police cordoned off two lanes of the highway for about two hours. Three fire trucks were deployed to the scene with the flames put under control shortly before 9pm. Officers have attributed the fault to a mechanical problem and ruled out criminal activity. The truck had no fire insurance coverage, the goods he was transporting however are insured. Damage to the truck is estimated at around €10,000 however no value has yet been attributed to the cost of the

A man who lost control of his vehicle after he suffered a hypoglycaemia attack while driving had a huge stroke of luck when two firemen behind him put out the flames and a nurse behind them took him to the hospital. The incident took place on Saturday as the 70-year-old man was driving from Akoudalia to Polys Chrysochous. He lost control of his vehicle, which then hit a concrete wall and his burst into flames. The two firemen behind him were heading to work at the Polys station and saw what happened. Trying to bring the flames under control with a portable fire extinguisher, they gave him first aid and called the Polys fire station to come to the scene. The nurse was driving behind the two firemen, also on her way to work to Polys hospital. Stopping at the scene, she took him to the hospital for further tests and care. The cost to his car is estimated to be around €1,500.

At least 33 people drowned and 75 others were rescued after a boat carrying migrants to Greece sank off Turkey’s western coast, a local mayor and Turkish news agency Dogan reported on Saturday. The Turkish coast guard was continuing search and rescue efforts where the boat sank off the coast of Ayvacik, a town across from the Greek island of Lesvos. It was not immediately clear how many migrants had been on board. “At least 33 people are dead but I am afraid the numbers will rise as divers continue the search,” Mehmet Unal Sahin, the mayor of Ayvacik, told CNNTurk news channel by phone. “Local people woke up to the sound of screaming migrants and we have been carrying out rescue work since dawn. We have an 80-kilometre-long coast just across from Lesvos, which is very hard to keep under control.” At least five of those who died were children, the Dogan news agency said, and rescued migrants were hospitalised with hypothermia symptoms. It said the migrants were of Syrian, Afghan and

A 92-year-old man died on Saturday morning after he lost control of his vehicle while driving in Nicosia. On Griva Digeni Avenue at around 7am, driving towards Ayios Antonios, under circumstances which are being investigated, he lost control of the car and hit a truck, Nicosia police chief Haris Evripidou said. No other casualties or injuries were reported.

Angelique Kerber stunned Serena Williams in a 6-4 3-6 6-4 thriller to open her grand slam account and deprive the American of a historic 22nd title at a major that would have tied Steffi Graf for the  Open Era lead. Just how rare is it for Williams to lose a grand slam final? She had won her last eight and was 21-4 overall. And after Kerber upset Williams in Cincinnati in 2012, the world No. 1 reeled off four consecutive victories against the German without conceding a set. The result followed Williams' defeat to Roberta Vinci in New York in September, one of the biggest upsets of all time in tennis, and one can't help but ponder if nerves -- or the weight of expectation -- are now getting to the 34-year-old in the most pivotal matches. "Every time I walk into this room, everyone expects me to win every single match," she told reporters in the main interview room. "As much as I would like to be a robot, I'm not. I try to. "I do the best I can.

Nitesh Kumar had the shock of his life when he complaint to police about the burglary at his house and lost forty-five grams of gold, but the policemen estimated the loss at just Re 1. However as per the market price four tolas of gold (45 grams) would be worth at least Rs 1 lakh in the market. Nitesh Kumar, a resident of Ansal Town, was shocked to found his home burgled on January 25. The thieves made away with the gold, a 32-inch LCD TV, the gas cylinder and cash of Rs 15,000, as mentioned in the FIR. However, the police evaluated the total loss at a Rs 15,001, claimed Nitesh. Moreover the police denied to accept that they had undervalued the gold, refused to make any corrections in the evaluation. "Police said the jewellery was worth just Re 1. All the other things we lost were collectively estimated at Rs 15,000. I insisted that the station in-charge correct the evaluation in the FIR. He said I should contact the clerk who wrote the FIR and refused to coopera

A 27-year-old man allegedly killed his beloved and then committed suicide in Kazi Baraiyya village under Sarai Khawja police station area, police said on Friday. Jaihind Maurya, who was having an affair with a girl living in his neighbourhood, barged into her house on Thursday and shot her, police said. He later went to his place and shot himself too, they said.

At least 26 people were on Friday rescued by GRP personnel at Mughalsarai railway station while being "illegally" taken to Delhi from Jharkhand. "25 girls and a boy being illegally taken to New Delhi by Ranchi Sampark Kranti Express were rescued by a team of GRP, Mughalsarai, led by Inspector Tripurari Pandey," a home department spokesman said. Those rescued include some minors, the spokesman said, adding two women were arrested in this connection and a case was lodged against them. Preliminary questioning revealed the accused had lured them on the pretext of participation in sporting events and getting them jobs, the spokesman added.

Months after his remark on ‘intolerance’ created a furore, superstar Shah Rukh Khan on Friday (January 29) chose not to speak on the controversial issue again and ducked a question on it. The 50-year-old actor, to talk about edutainment theme park Kidzania, said the event is not the right platform to speak about such matters. When asked whether celebrities should be conscious about putting their views on national matters like intolerance, Shah Rukh said, “I have understood one thing that one must talk about things keeping the platform in mind. I feel, this is not the right platform to talk about intolerance.” “We will meet and talk about it on some other platform where people are discussing on intolerance,” he added. The “Dilwale” star had said in an interview on his birthday on November 2 that there was “extreme intolerance” in the country. His statement was then criticised by politicians and the film fraternity and many even asked him to apologise. But Shah Rukh, will be next seen

Uttar Pradesh will become the fourth state after Rajasthan, Jharkhand and Chhattisgarh to formally join Centre's UDAY scheme on Saturday. "In the presence of Power Minister Piyush Goyal, a tripartite MoU with Uttar Pradesh on 'UDAY' (Ujwal Discom Assurance Yojana) for operational and financial turnaround of discoms will be signed tomorrow," an official said. The MoU will be signed between Centre, Uttar Pradesh government and electricity distribution utilities including Dakshinanchal Vidyut Vitran Nigam Ltd, the official said. Goyal yesterday said 'Uday' scheme will solve the problems faced by state discoms and added that the Centre was exploring ways to extend the benefits of 'Uday' to states which are unable to unbundle their utilities. Rajasthan which formally joined the scheme this week will help the state "save Rs 21,000 crore in the next 3 years".

Los Angeles: American actor Chris Rock, who is set to headline one of the most embattled Oscar telecasts in years amid ongoing outrage over the nominees' lack of diversity, says when he goes to pick his children from "white schools", it feels like they're on "another planet". In an interview with Vanity Fair, conducted before the Oscar controversy erupted, the star spoke on a wide range of topics, including a few that now take on a deeper resonance amid the ongoing furore, reports people.com. Asked which historical figure he most identifies with, he cited Janay Palmer, the wife of NFL star Ray Rice who was seen in video footage being punched unconscious by her husband in a hotel elevator. "Mrs. Ray Rice - it's not the punch in the face that eats your soul; it's having to defend the person that punched you in the face that eats," he told the magazine in its Proust Questionnaire section. "Oddly enough, this is what it feels like to be

A sessions court in Kolkata today sentenced three convicts to death and three others to life imprisonment in the Kamduni gangrape and murder case. Court held the crime as rarest of rare. Ansar Ali, Amin Ali Saiful and Ali Mollah were sentenced to death while three others Aminul Islam, SK Imanul Islam, Bholanath were sentenced to life term. On Thursday, six people were pronounced guilty for the crime, while two others were acquitted due to lack of evidence. In June 2013, a 20-year-old student was gangraped and brutally murdered when she was returning home alone at Kamduni, about 50 km from Kolkata, in North 24 Parganas district after appearing for an examination at her college on June 7, 2013. She was pulled into a farm by nine men when she was walking along a deserted road after alighting from a bus. Her mutilated body was found next morning near the farm. Eight people were facing trial. One of the accused died in custody during trial. Villagers of West Bengal's Kamduni said the

Four unidentified persons hijacked a vehicle in Dashmesh Nagar area of Patiala in the morning today. The incident took place when the victim Varun Jain was on his way to a local Gurudwara in his white indica. The abductors threw eggs on the wind screen of his vehicle forcing Varun to stop. Then the heavily armed men appeared and took control of the vehicle bearing the number PB 01-5868. The victim Varun Jain fainted and woke up to find himself on Sarhind Road near a motel. He was spotted by the waiter of the motel. Varun Jain later filed a police complaint and said that the abductors were heavily armed, wearing monkey caps and carrying backpacks. The police has registered a case against unidentified men and has launched a manhunt to nab them. The motive of car snatching is not clear yet whether the persons involved were looters or terrorists. This is the second vehicle snatching case reported in the region during this year. Earlier in January, 14 three unidentified men had snatched

A strong 7 magnitude earthquake struck eastern Russia on Saturday, the U.S. Geological Survey said. The quake struck 109 km (67 miles) north of Petropavlovsk-Kamchatskiy, USGS said. It struck at a relatively deep 153 km. There were no initial reports of damage or casualties.

The Islamic State affiliate in Yemen claimed responsibility for yesterday's attack in a statement posted by the group's supporters on Twitter. A suicide car bomber struck a checkpoint in the southern Yemen city of Aden, killing seven, security officials said. The Islamic State affiliate in Yemen claimed responsibility for yesterday's attack in a statement posted by the group's supporters on Twitter. It was not possible to verify the claim. Witnesses said firefighters and ambulances rushed to the scene in the busy district of Crater. Body parts were scattered on the ground. Officials said eight people were injured. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorised to speak to the press. The checkpoint was manned by policemen and policewomen after authorities received tips that IS militants are disguising themselves as women. Yesterday's attack comes one day after a suicide bomber blew up his vehicle near the presidential palace housin

Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi joined a protest march past midnight on Saturday with the students of Hyderabad Central University (HCU) who were on a 18-hour-mass hunger strike. Here are the updates: The Gandhi scion reached the Hyderabad University and participated in a candle light march by the students to mark the birth anniversary of Rohith Vemula, a Dalit research scholar who committed suicide two weeks ago. The Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) called for a bandh of colleges in Telangana in protest against the "politics over dead bodies" done by Rahul Gandhi in the Hyderabad university. Gandhi who arrived here at 12.10 am spoke to the agitating students and lit candles before Dalit scholar Rohith Vemula's picture. National Students Union of India (NHUI) National president Roji M John said, Gandhi will sit in the hunger strike from 6 am to 6pm on Saturday. About 2,000 students organised a candle light march tonight in the campus on Vemula's bir

Few weeks after a Nigerian grandfather Sampson Omogbo and his wife Carolyn, died in a house-fire alongside their 2 year old twin grand children at their home in USA another Nigerian family, 26 year old Jeremiah Owojori, his pregnant wife Ashley, their 5 year old son and seven month old son all died in a tragic fire incident at their home at 201 Coleman Str. in West Monroe, Louisiana, USA. The sad incident took place on Sunday January 24th. Men of the state fire service say bad wiring in their home is most likely the cause of the fire. The Owojori's were all in critical state when men of the state fire service arrived their home and took them to the hospital. They were all placed on life support, where they all eventually died. Jeremiah died yesterday evening. So sad!

Boeing Co ( BA.N ) has won a contract to start preliminary work on a new fleet of Air Force One presidential aircraft based on its 747-8 jumbo jet, the Pentagon said on Friday. The U.S. Air Force awarded Boeing an initial contract worth $25.8 million to reduce risk and lower the cost of the program by looking at the tradeoffs between the requirements and design of the new plane, according to the Pentagon's daily digest of arms deals. Details about the total value of the new contract have not been released, but the Air Force has previously said that it had earmarked $1.65 billion for two replacement jets. The Air Force first announced in January 2015 that Boeing's 747-8 would be used to replace the two current Air Force planes used to transport the U.S. president. Air Force One is one of the most visible symbols of the United States. The Air Force plans to modify the contract in coming years as the Air Force One program moves into the engineering and design phase,

The Minister of Works, Power and Housing, Mr Babatunde Fashola, (SAN) has given the assurance that government will continue with existing power projects inherited from the previous administration. Mr Fashola made the promise after visiting some power projects in Abuja, as part of his nationwide inspection tour of existing projects under his ministry. He said that the ministry would also be embarking on new policies and projects that will improve electricity power supplies. According to the Minister, tariff is a major challenge that the government is also willing to address to open up the sector for investors who would want to add value to the sector. He said that if the reviewed tariff regime is allowed to stay, it will encourage more investors. Poor electricity supply is one major problem that successive governments in Nigeria have not been able to address but Mr Fashola believes that the problem is surmountable.

Private individuals will no longer be allowed to advertise guns on Facebook and Instagram, the photo-sharing service owned by Facebook. Facebook had already banned the sale of guns without ID checks, but the new rules aim to stop all gun trade between individuals on the sites. Businesses can still advertise guns on Facebook and Instagram. The move comes three weeks after US President Barack Obama unveiled new restrictions on gun purchases. Mr Obama's executive actions included background checks for all gun sellers and the need for states to provide information on people disqualified from buying guns due to mental illness or domestic violence. The rule change brings gun sales under the same restrictions placed on illegal drugs and pharmaceuticals by Facebook, that has 1.59bn users worldwide. Facebook "was unfortunately and unwittingly serving as an online platform for dangerous people to get guns," Shannon Watts, of the Everytown for Gun Safety campaign gro

Never heard of the quagga? You're not alone. The animal, a relative of the zebra, went extinct over 100 years ago. Now, a group of scientists outside of Cape Town are bringing it back. Like zebras, the quagga has stripes, though these only appear on the front half of their bodies. Unlike the zebra, they are brown along the rear half of their body. These animals used to roam South Africa in vast herds, but European settlers fixed the beasts in their sights, killing them at an alarming rate. By the 1880s, the last known example had died. Now, however, scientists have bred an animal that looks strikingly similar with the help of DNA and selective breeding. Reverse engineering A group called the Quagga Project has worked to resurrect the little-known species. According to Eric Harley, the project's leader and a professor at Cape Town University, the key was hidden in the animal's genetics. Testing remaining quagga skins revealed the animal was in fact a sub-spec

Fearing an outbreak, India is issuing a travel alert on Saturday asking pregnant women to avoid travel to the 24 countries and territories where the Zika virus is suspected to cause microcephaly, a condition in which babies are born with abnormally small heads and brain damage. Each year, 26 million babies are born in India, which puts several thousands of them at risk from getting infected and developing abnormalities in the womb. Unlike the influenza viruses such as H1N1 (swine flu), Zika infection does not spread directly from people to people. Transmission occurs only when a mosquito gets infected after feeding on an infected person and spreads the infection to other people it feeds on. Isolating infected travelers with symptoms makes it possible to break the chain of infection from spreading across continents if infected people are stopped at the borders and treated in isolation.

Additionally, some people develop asthma in adulthood. You could be 40, 50 or even 60 years old and still develop asthma. Many cases of adult-onset asthma are linked to allergies—allergies to pets, cigarette smoke, mold and other substances are often triggers for these cases. Other cases are linked to obesity and various illnesses such as influenza. Women are also at greater risk of developing asthma as adults—some research suggests that hormonal fluctuations may play a role.  While we don’t know exactly why asthma develops, we do know common triggers that can make symptoms worse. Asthma is different in everyone, which is why it’s important to identify your specific triggers so you can avoid them.  Triggers Because they have very sensitive airways, people with asthma are extra sensitive to certain triggers. When you’re exposed to your particular trigger, your airways respond by swelling and getting inflamed. The muscles around them might even tighten up. These reactions mak