The big news: The Kansas shooting story is still evolving, says White House, and 9 other top stories
In other headlines: Police filed an FIR against those who threatened Gurmehar Kaur with rape, and SpaceX said it would send two people around the moon in 2018.
A look at the headlines right now:
- Five days after Kansas shooting, White House calls it ‘disturbing’ while Donald Trump remains mum: Democrats Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders have criticised the US president for not speaking up about the alleged hate crime.
- ‘I have been through a lot’, says Gurmehar Kaur as she drops out of #StudentsagainstABVP campaign: The Delhi Police filed an FIR in connection with the rape threats she had received for joining the protest.
- SpaceX will send two private citizens around the moon in late 2018, says Elon Musk: In a statement, the company said the two individuals had already paid a ‘significant deposit’ and that their initial training would begin later this year.
- India will release 39 Pakistani prisoners as a goodwill gesture: Twenty-one prisoners who have served their sentence and 18 fishermen will be let out.
- BBC banned from Indian tiger reserves after its film on anti-poaching policy in Kaziranga, according to TOI report: The NTCA said the BBC did not submit Justin Rowlatt’s documentary to the Environment Ministry and Ministry of External Affairs for a mandatory preview.
- Major fire breaks out at Burrabazaar, Kolkata’s biggest wholesale market: Mayor Sovan Chatterjee and MLA Smita Bakshi were injured as several inflammable containers exploded when the two were approaching the site.
- Donald Trump to seek historic $54-billion increase in US military spending: The proposal, which aims to cut nonmilitary programmes by the same amount, was unveiled by White House officials who are preparing the federal budget.
- No mechanism currently in place to stop sexual assault videos being uploaded, Centre tells SC: The government said it depended on law and order agencies being informed about such videos to stop their distribution.
- Pakistan envoy deletes tweet congratulating Mahershala Ali for Oscar after it sparks controversy: Ali, who was called the ‘first Muslim to win’ an Academy Award, is an Ahmadi, a sect that has been shunned and declared ‘non-Muslims’.
- Brokerage companies might be selling your personal data for less than a rupee, Economic Times reports: The financial daily said its reporters were offered the personal details of up to one lakh people for between Rs 10,000-Rs 15,000.