Bollywood actress Nargis Fakhri has been absent from the big screen for quite some time now. Reports suggested that Nargis moved back to the US to concentrate on her health.

Rumours of her dating Uday Chopra were doing the rounds before she moved to US. Reports also suggested that the alleged love-birds were planning to move in together.

Nargis’ abrupt exit from Bollywood fuelled speculation that she was heartbroken after her breakup with Uday, and their failed relationship was the main reason for her leaving Bollywood, and in turn India. Of lately, Nargis has gone quite active on social media and may be hinting towards a new-found romance in her latest Instagram posts. Nargis seems to have found love in the arms of an American director and filmmaker named Matt Alonzo.

Source: The Times of India 

Bangladesh has strongly condemned the desecration of the Holy Quran in The Hague, the capital of the Netherlands. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Dhaka made the condemnation in a statement on Thursday.

Recently the extreme right has desecrated the Holy Quran in The Hague.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs said that Islam is a religion of peace and tolerance. Bangladesh believes that freedom of religion must be upheld and respected under all circumstances. In the interest of harmony and peaceful coexistence, Bangladesh has called upon all concerned to refrain from unreasonable incitement.
 

French nun Sister André, the world’s oldest known person, died on Tuesday at the age of 118 in the southern city of Toulon.

The city’s mayor, Hubert Falco, announced the news of her death on Twitter, writing that “it is with immense sadness and emotion that I learned tonight of the passing of the world’s oldest person #SisterAndré.”

The nun’s spokesman, David Tavella, said she died on Tuesday at 2 a.m. local time and lived near Toulon. “There is great sadness, but she wanted it to happen, it was her desire to join her beloved brother. For her, it is freedom,” Tavella said.

Born as Lucile Randon on February 11, 1904, Sister André dedicated most of her life to religious service, according to a statement released by Guinness in April 2022.

Before becoming a Catholic nun, she looked after children during World War II and then spent 28 years caring for orphans and elderly people at a hospital.

She was also the oldest nun to ever live, according to Guinness.

When she turned 118 in 2022, the nun received a handwritten birthday note from French President Emmanuel Macron – the 18th French president of her lifetime. There have also been 10 different Popes presiding over the Catholic Church since she was born.

She became the world’s eldest following the death of Kane Tanaka, a Japanese woman previously certified as the world’s oldest person, who died at the age of 119 on April 19.

The title of the oldest person ever recorded also belongs to a French woman. Born on February 21, 1875, Jeanne Louise Calment’s life spanned 122 years and 164 days, according to the Guinness World Records statement.

Source: CNN

In a bid to facilitate more pilgrims to perform Umrah, the Saudi government has reduced the cost of comprehensive insurance by 63 percent for overseas Umrah performers, reports Arab News.

The Ministry of Hajj and Umrah has cut the cost from SR235 ($62) to SR87 with effect from January 10.  

Saudi Arabia’s unified insurance policy for Umrah is meant to cover all the pilgrims coming from outside of the Kingdom for the Islamic pilgrimage. 

As part of a visa procedure, pilgrims are required to take Umrah insurance that covers emergency cases such as treatment, admission, hospitalization, pregnancy, emergency childbirth, emergency dental cases, traffic accident injuries, dialysis cases, and internal and external medical evacuation.  

It also covers general cases such as accidental permanent total disability, cases of death and death due to natural disasters. The insurance also covers returning the body of the deceased to his country in the case of death, and blood money issued by a court ruling. 

It also includes covers for flight delay compensation and flight cancellation compensation.  

The ministry said that the insurance coverage period is 90 days, starting from the day of entering the Kingdom, and the scope of its coverage is only within Saudi Arabia.  

The ministry added that intending Umrah performers can visit the website of the Comprehensive Insurance Program for the Guests of Rahman to view the Umrah insurance policy, verify its validity, and know service providers.  

Earlier, the Ministry of Hajj and Umrah had announced that those who obtained tourist and commercial visas would now be allowed to perform the Umrah pilgrimage during their stay in Saudi Arabia.  The system allows people to obtain a tourist visa, valid for 12 months, upon arrival at one of the Saudi airports without the need for a prior application. The visa holders will be allowed to visit the cities and regions all over the Kingdom.   

The visa applicants shall be from those countries that are included among the countries eligible for obtaining the electronic visa. Regarding those who are holders of American, UK and Schengen visas, their visas shall be valid and bear an entry stamp from the issuing country.  

Furthermore, the Hajj package prices this year start from SR3,984, a big decrease from 2021, when the first basic package started from SR12,000.

Mexican security forces on Thursday captured a son of jailed drug kingpin Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman, scoring a high-profile win in the fight against powerful cartels days before US President Joe Biden visits.

Ovidio Guzman, nicknamed "El Raton" (The Mouse), was caught in the northwestern city of Culiacan and flown to Mexico City on a military plane, Defense Minister Luis Cresencio Sandoval told reporters.

He said the arrest was the result of six months of intelligence work tracking down the 32-year-old, who has allegedly helped to run his father's operations since El Chapo was extradited to the United States in 2017.

The United States had offered a reward of up to $5 million for information leading to Ovidio Guzman's capture, accusing him of being a key player in the infamous Sinaloa cartel.

Gunfire and arson shook Culiacan after the arrest, which comes as Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador prepares to welcome Biden next week for a North America leaders' summit in Mexico City where security is expected to be high on the agenda.

A National Guardsman was killed and at least 28 people were wounded in the violence, Sinaloa state governor Ruben Rocha said, while school classes were suspended and sporting events in Culiacan were canceled.

As Guzman's henchmen reacted with fury, a passenger jet and an air force plane were both hit by gunfire at the Culiacan airport. Videos on social media showed passengers and Aeromexico airline employees at the terminal ducking behind counters as gunfire rang out. No injuries were reported there.

Cartel gunmen set autos and trucks ablaze at several intersections in the city, and authorities reported 19 roadblocks.

El Chapo is serving a life sentence in the United States for trafficking hundreds of tons of drugs into the US over the course of 25 years.

However, his cartel remains one of the most powerful in Mexico, accused by Washington of exploiting an opioid epidemic by flooding communities with fentanyl, a synthetic drug about 50 times more potent than heroin.

Ovidio Guzman and one of his brothers are accused of overseeing nearly a dozen methamphetamine labs in Sinaloa as well as conspiring to distribute cocaine and marijuana, according to the US State Department.

He also allegedly ordered the murders of informants, a drug trafficker and a Mexican singer who refused to perform at his wedding, it said.

Previous failed arrest

Ovidio Guzman was captured briefly once before in 2019, but security forces freed him after his cartel waged an all-out war in response.

Several people were killed on that occasion in Culiacan as gunmen launched a massive machine-gun assault, leaving the streets strewn with blazing vehicles.

His release prompted sharp criticism of Lopez Obrador, who said the decision was made to protect civilians' lives in the city of around 800,000 people.

Security expert David Saucedo said Ovidio Guzman's capture was "not a consequence of Biden's visit, but rather of the pressure that the Americans were putting on the government" since the failed arrest in 2019.

Foreign Minister Marcelo Ebrard played down the prospects of a fast-track extradition, saying Ovidio Guzman was expected to face legal proceedings in Mexico.

Lopez Obrador has struggled to curb the brutal violence plaguing Mexico since taking office in 2018.

He championed a "hugs not bullets" strategy to tackle violent crime at its roots by fighting poverty and inequality with social programs, rather than with the army.

The left-wing populist has asked the United States to invest in regional economic development instead of sending helicopter gunships and other weapons to take on drug traffickers.

Mexico has registered more than 340,000 murders since the government controversially deployed the army to fight drug cartels in 2006, most of them blamed on criminal gangs.

On Sunday, cartel gunmen attacked a prison in the border city of Ciudad Juarez, leaving nearly 20 people dead and allowing 25 inmates to flee.

The next day, seven people were killed during a police operation to recapture the prisoners.

A gang leader among the escapees was killed on Thursday in a shootout with security forces, authorities said.