News brief: Big stories of the day

Rape is rape, don't politicise such issues: PM Narendra Modi at London event

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday said that it is shameful to play politics over the issues related to rapes and sexual assaults in the country.

Prime Minister Modi's remarks come in the backdrop of a nationwide outrage over the rape cases in Jammu and Kashmir's Kathua and Uttar Pradesh's Unnao.

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Addressing a gathering at the event 'Bharat Ki Baat, Sabke Saath' in London, Prime Minister Modi said, "A rape is a rape. How can we tolerate this exploitation of our daughters?"

Judge Loya death case: SC likely to decide today on independent probe

The Supreme Court is likely to pronounce its verdict on Thursday on a batch of pleas seeking an independent probe into the alleged mysterious death of special CBI judge BH Loya, who was hearing the high-profile Sohrabuddin Sheikh fake encounter case.

Loya had allegedly died of cardiac arrest in Nagpur on December 1, 2014 when he had gone to attend the wedding of a colleague's daughter.

A bench comprising Chief Justice Dipak Misra and Justices A M Khanwilkar and D Y Chandrachud had on March 16 reserved the judgment on the pleas.

Trump hopes for successful North Korea summit but warns he could walk away

US President Donald Trump said on Wednesday he hoped an unprecedented summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un would be successful after a recent visit to Pyongyang by CIA Director Mike Pompeo, but warned he would call it off if he did not think it would produce results.

Trump told a joint news conference with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe that his campaign of "maximum pressure" on North Korea would continue until Pyongyang gave up its nuclear weapons.

He also said Washington was negotiating for the release of three Americans held by North Korea and there was "a good chance of doing it." He did not answer a reporter's question as to whether that would be a condition for going ahead with the summit.

Pakistan's Geo TV returning to air after negotiations with military: Sources

Pakistan's largest TV station has been allowed back on the air at some major cable operators after talks with the military on demands it make changes in political coverage, two officials who work for the channel's media group told Reuters on Wednesday.

After Geo TV, Pakistan's most popular station, was taken off the air across much of the country at the end of March, military representatives pressed the channel to cease favourable coverage of ousted Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and stop any criticism of the Supreme Court and the "establishment", according to the two people, who had knowledge of the negotiations.

The "establishment" is a commonly used euphemism for the military in Pakistan.

I want this government to be criticised: Quotable quotes from PM Modi in London

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday addressed the 'Bharat ki Baat, Sabke Saath' town hall in London, where he is on a state-visit to attend the meeting amongst all the heads of Commonwealth Nations.

During the event, PM Modi recalled his journey from being a tea-seller on the railway tracks to heading the world's largest democracy.

*I have never indulged in counting the number of rape incidents in this government and that government. Rape is rape, be it now or earlier. It is extremely sad. Don't politicise rape incidents.

*We always ask our daughters about what they are doing, where they are going. We must ask our sons too. The person who is committing these crimes is also someone's son. He has a mother too in his house.