Karnataka: MLA removes shirt during assembly session to protest against BJP, gets suspended for a week

Maharashtra Minister Nitesh Rane on Thursday launched into a vitriolic flow attacking Bollywood actor Saif Ali Khan, who was discharged from Mumbai's Lilavati Hospital on Tuesday -- five days after a knife attack on him at his Bandra residence.

"Look at what Bangladeshis are doing in Mumbai. They entered Saif Ali Khan's house. Earlier they used to stand at the crossings of the roads, now they have started entering houses," ANI reported Rane say.

The minister continued, "Maybe he came to take him (Saif) away. It is good, garbage should be taken away."

He also cast doubt on the veracity of the attack saying that Saif was 'dancing while walking', making him doubt if the actor had actually been stabbed, or if it was all an act.

He also managed to bring in a Hindu-Muslim angle to the situation, claiming that when actors like Shah Rukh Khan or Saif Ali Khan get hurt then everyone talks about it, but when "a Hindu actor like Sushant Singh Rajput is tortured, no one comes forward to say anything".

Rane continued his rant, saying "Mumbra's Jeetuddin (Jitendra Awhad) and Baramati's Tai (Supriya Sule) did not come forward to say anything... They are only worried about Saif Ali Khan, Shah Rukh Khan's son and Nawab Malik...," and questioned, "Have you ever seen them worrying about any Hindu artist?"

He then asked people to "pay attention" to such things.

Despite the announcement of a ceasefire deal, Israel has intensified its airstrikes and artillery shelling on Gaza, especially its residential buildings, killing more than 100 Palestinians.

Gaza’s civil defense said on Friday at least 101 Palestinians, including 27 children and 31 women, have been killed by Israeli strikes in Gaza since the ceasefire announcement on Wednesday.

The attacks have also left more than 264 injured, according to the rescue agency.

Most of the killings came in Gaza City.

The report comes as Israeli attacks have shown no sign of slowing on the ground, with dozens of strikes reported on Friday.

In northern Gaza’s Jabalia, nine members of a Palestinian journalist’s family, including women and children, were killed.

Two more Palestinians were killed in a separate Israel airstrike in the Jabalia al-Balad area, in the north of Gaza. 

Jabalia has come under fierce attack since the Gaza ceasefire announcement this week. On Thursday, at least 20 were killed in one attack in the area.

At least five others were also killed in another attack that targeted a home, east of Khan Younis City, in Southern Gaza on Friday.

To the west of Khan Younis, three people were killed in attacks on tents housing displaced people.

Another tent was targeted in Nuseirat camp in central Gaza, killing one person.

That's while Israel’s prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he would convene his cabinet later on Friday to approve the long-awaited ceasefire.

Israel launched a genocidal war on Gaza on October 7, 2023, after the Palestinian resistance movement Hamas waged the surprise Operation Al-Aqsa Storm against the occupying entity in response to the Israeli regime's decades-long campaign of bloodletting and devastation against Palestinians.

The regime’s bloody onslaught on Gaza has so far killed at least 46,788 Palestinians, mostly women and children, and injured more than 110,453 others. Thousands more are also missing and presumed dead under rubble.

The ceasefire, announced on Wednesday, consists of three phases and would come into effect on Sunday over 42 days.

The truce deal stipulates that a large-scale prisoner exchange will occur, including the release of 1,000 prisoners from Gaza and hundreds of detainees serving lengthy sentences.

The first stage involves the release of 33 captives, including "children, women, female soldiers, men above 50, and the wounded and sick," as well as a gradual, partial withdrawal of invading Israeli units.

The US consulate in Bengaluru will hold its ‘site-dedication ceremony’ on January 17, with officials confirming that the location of the upcoming consulate will be disclosed during the event. Sources indicate that the site could be in either the Central Business District or Whitefield.

While the consulate building is under development, visa services may temporarily begin at the JW Marriott hotel, which currently houses the United States Commercial Service (USCS) office.

Bengaluru has long advocated for the establishment of a US consulate, and with its opening, residents of the city and Karnataka will no longer need to travel to other states for their US visa applications.

It was in January of the previous year that External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar, during his visit to Bengaluru, expressed his intention to urge the US Ambassador to India to establish a consulate in the city. This move follows the announcement during Prime Minister Modi’s June 2023 visit to the US, where it was revealed that two new US consulates would open in Bengaluru and Ahmedabad, and India would set up a mission in Seattle.