News In Brief

Need more time: Rahul on ISI comment
NDTV Online

Rahul Gandhi wants another week to respond to charges that he tried to incite communal hatred through speeches that he delivered in Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh last month.
The allegations against the 43-year-old have been leveled by the BJP, which registered a complaint against Rahul with the Election Commission. Rahul was asked to send his reply by yesterday.

Westgate mall attackers charged
Afp, Nairobi

Kenya charged four men, none accused of being the gunmen, yesterday in connection with the Westgate mall massacre in September, an attack claimed by Somalia's Al-Qaeda-linked Shebab in which at least 67 people were killed.
All pleaded not guilty to court charges including "supporting a terrorist group", as well as entering Kenya illegally and obtaining false identification documents.

Mali murder suspects arrested
Afp, Bamako

Around a dozen suspects have been arrested over the killing of two French journalists in Mali, a police source in the north of the country told AFP on Monday.
Radio France Internationale reporter Ghislaine Dupont, 57, and sound technician Claude Verlon, 55, were kidnapped and killed by what Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius said were "terrorist groups" in the flashpoint northeastern town of Kidal on Saturday.

US spying outrageous: Google boss
Afp, Hong Kong

Google executive chairman Eric Schmidt said reports that the US government spied on the Internet giant's data centres were "outrageous" and potentially illegal if proved true, in an interview yesterday.
Speaking to the Wall Street Journal during a visit to Hong Kong, the technology guru said that Google had filed complaints with the National Security Agency, US President Barack Obama, as well as members of the US Congress.

11 dead in north Iraq violence
Afp, Baghdad

A series of attacks north of Baghdad -- including multiple bombings targeting police -- killed 11 people yesterday, as Iraq grapples with its worst bloodshed since 2008.
Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki has appealed to Washington for greater cooperation in fighting militancy.