India

New Delhi, Feb 25 (PTI) US President Donald Trump on Tuesday described the Kashmir issue as a "big problem" and a "thorn" for a long time, and offered to mediate in de-escalating tensions between India and Pakistan.

However, he clarified that he is not offering to mediate on the Kashmir issue.

Bhubaneswar, Feb 25 (PTI) A court gave life imprisonment on Tuesday to a 78-year-old retired Army doctor for murdering his wife and chopping the body into 300 pieces in Bhubaneswar in 2013.

Khurda District and Sessions Court judge Loknath Mohapatra sentenced Somanath Parida after convicting him for the murder, government pleader R R Barhma said.

New Delhi, Feb 25 (PTI) As northeast Delhi was engulfed by communal clashes on Tuesday over the amended citizenship law, Hindu-Muslim residents of Yamuna Vihar chose to defeat those forces who sought to divide them.

The residents of Yamuna Vihar say they have never seen such a communal frenzy in the past 34 years.

Muzaffarnagar (UP), Feb 26 (PTI) A minor girl was allegedly raped by a 20-year-old man in a village in Uttar Pradesh's Muzaffarnagar district, police said.

The girl had gone to a nearby shop to get vegetables when she was waylaid by the youth in Tigri village under Kotwali police station limits on Tuesday, they said.

Raipur, Feb 26 (PTI) A fast track court in Chhattisgarh's Durg district sentenced a man to imprisonment for life for raping a 10-year-old girl.

Special judge Subhra Pachouri on Tuesday sentenced Sanju Kumar Singh (26) to life imprisonment till natural death and imposed a cumulative fine of Rs 6,000 on him, additional public prosecutor Kamal Kishore Verma said.

Palghar, Feb 26 (PTI) A 18-year-old boy committed suicide in Vasai town of Maharashtra's Palghar district after allegedly being bullied by his friends on WhatsApp, police said on Wednesday.

The incident took place on February 21 when the boy, a student of a college in Mumbai, hanged himself at his home after his friends allegedly blocked him from their WhatsApp group, an official said.

Betul (MP), Feb 26 (PTI) A 14-year-old girl died on Wednesday after immolating herself, alleging rape and harassment by three persons in Madhya Pradesh's Betul district, police said.

The Class 8 student poured kerosene and immolated herself at her home in Devgaon village on Tuesday evening and died while undergoing treatment at a hospital in Nagpur, additional superintendent of police Shraddha Joshi said.

New Delhi, Feb 26 (PTI) In his first reaction to incidents of violence in Delhi which have left at least 20 people dead, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday appealed for peace and brotherhood, and said he has held an extensive review of the prevailing situation in various parts of the national capital.

He also said it was important that calm and normalcy was restored at the earliest.

Raipur, Feb 26 (PTI) A Special Task Force (STF) jawan was on Wednesday injured in an encounter with Naxals in Narayanpur district of Chhattisgarh, police said.

The gun-battle took place around 9 am when a team of STF was out on an area domination operation in the forest of Chhotedongar police station area, located around 350 kms from the state capital Raipur, a police official told PTI.

Lucknow, Feb 26 (PTI) Samajwadi Party MP Azam Khan, his legislator wife Tanzin Fatima and MLA son Abdullah Azam were on Wednesday sent to judicial custody for allegedly faking Abdullah's birth certificate.

They have been sent to judicial custody till March 2," Rampur Superintendent of Police Santosh Kumar Mishra told PTI.

The case relates to a forged birth certificate for Azam's son. Abdullah had faced allegations that he gave a wrong date of birth when he filed his nomination papers for the assembly elections.