A look at the headlines right now:

  1. Pakistan rejects link to Pulwama attack after India’s statement, says strike a ‘matter of grave concern’: Thirty-seven CRPF jawans were killed in an IED attack in Jammu and Kashmir on Thursday. The Jaish-e-Mohammed have claimed responsibility for the attack.
  2. United States President Donald Trump to declare ‘emergency’ to fund border wall with Mexico: The president will also sign a spending bill to prevent another government shutdown, which was due to start on Saturday.
  3. International Court of Justice to commence hearing of Kulbhushan Jadhav case on February 18: The former Indian naval officer is on death row in Islamabad after Pakistan charged him with spying for Indian intelligence agencies in 2016.
  4. Mamata Banerjee, Rabri Devi dismiss Mulayam Singh Yadav’s praise for PM Narendra Modi: Former Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mulayam Singh Yadav had said he wished Narendra Modi would continue for a second term as prime minister.
  5. Former Goa Deputy CM Francis D’Souza dies after long battle with cancer at 64: Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar described him as a ‘wonderful human being’ who was loved by all and said the death was a great personal loss.
  6. No security breach of Aadhaar database, existing security controls are robust, says UIDAI: The Unique Identification Authority of India was responding to a plea seeking damages in the wake of several data breaches from the Aadhaar system.
  7. Sedition charges against 14 students of Aligarh Muslim University will be dropped, say police: A police officer said a preliminary inquiry found no evidence to substantiate the allegations that the students shouted anti-India slogans.
  8. Congress has ‘more or less’ said no to alliance with AAP, says Arvind Kejriwal: TMC chief Mamata Banerjee said Kejriwal’s AAP wanted an alliance with Congress.
  9. CBDT Chairman Sushil Chandra appointed election commissioner: His appointment comes months ahead of the Lok Sabha elections, which are expected this summer.
  10. ‘All I want to do is come home,’ says UK schoolgirl who fled to join ISIS in 2015: Nineteen-year-old Shamima Begum said she has no regrets about joining the group but was tired of living on a battlefield.