Feb 22 News Live: Pakistan strikes 7 hideouts in Afghanistan; Kabul vows response

Former Assam Congress chief Bhupen Kumar Borah has formally joined the ruling BJP in the presence of its state unit president Dilip Saikia.

Borah became a BJP member during a function held at the Assam BJP headquarters Vajpayee Bhawan in Guwahati.

Along with him, former Congress worker Sanju Bora, too, joined the saffron party.

The 126-member Assam assembly is expected to go to polls in March-April.

NCP (SP) president Sharad Pawar was admitted to a private hospital in Pune on Sunday (February 22) after suffering from mild dehydration, doctors said.

The condition of the 85-year-old Rajya Sabha member was stable, they said.

"He has been admitted to the Ruby Hall Clinic for mild dehydration and requires intravenous fluids. His condition is stable. He will remain in the hospital for two days and is expected to be discharged thereafter," Dr Purvez Grant, chief cardiologist and chairman and managing trustee of the hospital, said in a statement.

Dr Grant and Dr Abhijit Lodha, consultant physician at the hospital, were supervising his treatment.

A 35-year-old woman and her six-year-old daughter were found murdered in their home in southeast Delhi's Sarita Vihar, with police identifying a neighbour as the prime suspect and launching raids to nab him. The suspect is said to be a nephew to the family.

Police found the bodies concealed inside the box storage of a bed on Friday night. They were later identified as Jyoti (35), and her six-year-old daughter.

While initial medical examination did not reveal external injuries, a post-mortem conducted on Saturday indicated strangulation and smothering as cause of death. The final post-mortem report is awaited.

Following preliminary investigation and local enquiry, Deen Dayal (35), an accountant residing in the same building, has been identified as the prime suspect in the case, officials told PTI.

Ajay Kumar Giri, a local and the victim’s neighbour, told PTI the woman’s husband came home at night and saw two of his children sitting outside. They had gone to school and when they came home no one opened the door. The husband realised something was wrong and broke open the gate and went inside.

When they entered the house, household items were reportedly scattered everywhere, but nothing was apparently missing. A thorough search of the house revealed the bodies hidden inside the bed, the neighbour said, adding that the police arrived around 10-11 pm.

Arab and Muslim nations on Saturday sharply condemned comments by the US ambassador to Israel, Mike Huckabee, who said Israel has a right to much of the Middle East.

Huckabee made the comments in an interview with conservative commentator Tucker Carlson that aired Friday. Carlson said that according to the Bible, the descendants of Abraham would receive land that today would include essentially the entire Middle East, and asked Huckabee if Israel had a right to that land.

Huckabee responded: “It would be fine if they took it all." Huckabee added, however, that Israel was not looking to expand its territory and has a right to security in the land it legitimately holds.

His comments sparked immediate backlash from neighbouring Egypt and Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Oman, the Organization of Islamic Cooperation and the League of Arab States.

Saudi Arabia's foreign ministry described Huckabee's comments as “extremist rhetoric” and “unacceptable,” and called for the State Department to clarify its position on them.

Egypt's foreign ministry called his comments a “blatant violation” of international law, adding that “Israel has no sovereignty over the occupied Palestinian territory or other Arab lands.” “Statements of this nature — extremist and lacking any sound basis — serve only to inflame sentiments and stir religious and national emotions,” the League of Arab States said.

There was no immediate comment from Israel or the United States.

NASA’s new moon rocket has suffered another setback, putting next month’s planned launch with astronauts in jeopardy, the space agency announced Saturday (February 21).

Officials revealed the latest problem just one day after targeting March 6 for humanity’s first flight to the moon in more than half a century.

Overnight, the flow of helium to the rocket’s upper stage was interrupted, they noted. Solid helium flow is required for launch.

NASA said it is reviewing all the data and preparing, if necessary, to return the Space Launch System rocket to the hangar for repairs at Florida's Kennedy Space Centre. It's possible the work could be done at the launch pad; the space agency said engineers are protecting for both options.

“This will almost assuredly impact the March launch window,” NASA said in a statement.

The voter base in nine states and Union territories has shrunk by more than 1.70 crore following the publication of final electoral rolls as part of the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR), according to official data released on Saturday (February 21).

Data shared by the chief electoral officers of Gujarat, Puducherry, Lakshadweep, Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh, Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Goa and Kerala showed their combined voter base stood at over 21.45 crore before the SIR exercise began on October 27 last year.

It shrunk to 19.75 crore after publication of their final electoral rolls this week -- a net change of over 1.70 crore electors.