WASHINGTON: Four Indian-Americans, including Google CEO Sunder Pichai, were among 42 US nationals to be honoured with the prestigious 'Great Immigrants: The Pride of America' award. Other recipients include Hari Sreenivasan, anchor and senior correspondent of PBS NewsHour, Vikram Malhotra, Chairman of the Americas, McKinsey & Company and Bharati Mukherjee, National Book Critics Circle Award-winning author. Vartan Gregorian, President of Carnegie Corporation of New York, said, "These accomplished Americans are immigrants like our forefathers who founded this nation of nations. They are representative of the millions of immigrants who have come to the United States for economic opportunity, education, political or religious asylum, security, or reunification with families and relatives. They, like all Americans, share a common faith in this country."
40 Afghan cops killed in suicide attack
KABUL: A suicide attack near Kabul claimed the lives of at least 40 Afghan policemen, a week after an attack on a bus carrying Nepali security guards working for the Canadian embassy. At least 40 officials were reportedly killed when a bus carrying police personnel from Wadrak to Kabul was attacked. Local media reported Taliban claimed responsibility for the incident. Afghan Internal Affairs Ministry spokesperson Sediq Sediqqi tweeted "We are working on details of today's terrorist attacks on Police convoy in Kabul, we will release updates shortly."
Pak actor Nadeem Jafri shot in Karachi
LAHORE: Prominent Pakistani actor and musician Nadeem Jafri sustained injuries after an attack by suspected robbers who opened fire at him in Gulshan-e-Iqbal area in Karachi. Television actor and host Fakhr-e-Alam tweeted update on the injured saying he received multiple bullet wounds in an alleged robbery. "My dear friend artist Nadeem Jafri was shot at multiple times at sehri time today in a robbery. He survived miraculously. Thank you Allah." He also added, "Though Jafri survived the attack, the incident left his family shaken up." The artist community is still recuperating from the fatal attack on qawwali singer Amjad Sabri, when armed motorcyclists shot bullets at him in broad daylight.
4 killed in blasts near mosque in Medina, Qatif
RIYADH: Four people were killed and several injured in three separate explosions that shook holy cities of Medina and Qatif in eastern Saudi Arabia. Witnesses accounted seeing body parts in the area of the blast, and preliminary reports said number of casualties are likely to rise. While the first explosion happened near a mosque, followed by another, just before 7 pm, it was scheduled hours after a suicide bomber was killed and two others injured in a blast near the US consulate in Jeddah. The attack was the first in years, targeting foreigner in the kingdom.
Baghdad blast toll crosses 200
BAGHDAD: Baghdad's suicide bombing claimed by the Islamic State killed at least 213 people, making it one of the deadliest militant attacks in Iraq. The bomb ripped through a shopping area, sparking inferno in nearby buildings and wounding more than 200. Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi vowed "punishment" for those responsible, and declared three days of mourning. He also ordered changes aimed at the long-standing flaws in Baghdad security measures, including scrapping fake bomb detectors used at checkpoints.
