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Police in India's Kashmir arrested a youth for posting a video threatening to behead a former spokesperson of India's ruling party who had made derogatory remarks about Islam's religious leader Prophet Mohammad, officials said on Sunday, Reuters reported.

The video, circulated on YouTube, has been withdrawn by authorities as part of a wider attempt to curb religious unrest that has spread across the country.

Muslims have taken to the streets to protest against anti-Islamic comments made by two members of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in recent week. Read full story

Earlier this month, the BJP suspended its spokeswoman Nupur Sharma and expelled another leader, Naveen Kumar Jindal, for their controversial comments about the Prophet's private life that also angered several Muslim countries, causing a massive diplomatic challenge for the Modi government.

Police cases have been filed against the two former BJP officials.

Countries such as Qatar, Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Oman, Iran which are key trade partners for India, lodged protests through diplomatic channels and used social media to demand an apology from the government.

India's foreign ministry said last week the tweets and comments do not reflect the views of the government.

Clashes over the remarks simmered across the country, as some in the minority Muslim community see them as the latest instance of pressure and humiliation under BJP rule on issues ranging from freedom of worship to the wearing of hijab head scarves.

Two teenagers were killed when protestors clashed with police in the eastern city of Ranchi last week.

Sporadic riots in northern Uttar Pradesh state forced police to arrest over 300 people. Read full story

In the eastern state of West Bengal, authorities enforced an emergency law prohibiting public gatherings in the industrial district of Howrah until June 16. At least 70 people were arrested on charges of rioting and disturbing public order, with Internet services suspended for over 48 hours after the latest communal violence.

BJP leaders have issued instructions to several senior members to be "extremely cautious" when talking about religion on public platforms and the government continues to tighten public security.

The United States late Friday rescinded a 17-month-old requirement that people arriving in the country by air test negative for COVID-19, a move that follows intense lobbying by airlines and the travel industry, Reuters reported.

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Director Rochelle Walensky issued a four-page order lifting the mandate, effective at 12:01 a.m. ET (0400 GMT) Sunday, saying it is "not currently necessary."

The requirement had been one of the last major US COVID-19 travel requirements. Its end comes as the summer travel season kicks off, and airlines were already preparing for record demand. Airlines have said that many Americans have not been not traveling internationally because of concerns they will test positive and be stranded abroad.

US Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra said the CDC decision is based on science and available data, and said the agency "will not hesitate to reinstate a pre-departure testing requirement, if needed later."

The CDC will reassess the decision in 90 days, an administration official said.

The United States has required incoming international air travelers to provide pre-departure negative tests since January 2021. In December the CDC tightened the rule to require travelers to test negative within one day before flights to the United States rather than three days, according to Reuters.

The CDC has not required testing for land border crossings.

Many countries in Europe and elsewhere have already dropped testing requirements.

The CDC is still requiring most non-U.S. citizens to be vaccinated against COVID to travel to the United States.

Two officials told Reuters the Biden administration had considered lifting the testing rule only for vaccinated travelers.

JetBlue Airways Chief Executive Robin Hayes told Reuters on Friday that the testing requirement was "the last obstacle to a really full international travel recovery," saying that it "served no purpose anymore."

IATA, the world's biggest airline trade group, said it was "great news" that the administration is "removing the ineffective pre-departure COVID test for travel to the US."

In April, a federal judge declared the CDC's requirements that travelers wear masks on airplanes and in transit hubs like airports unlawful and the Biden administration stopped enforcing it. The Justice Department has appealed the order, but no decision is likely before fall at the earliest.

The CDC continues to recommend travelers wear masks and get COVID-19 tests before and after international flights, Reuters reported.

Raymond James said in a research note that lifting the restrictions "is an important catalyst for international travel."

Delta Air Lines Chief Executive Ed Bastian told Reuters last week that dropping the requirements will boost travel, noting that 44 of 50 countries Delta serves do not require testing.

US Travel Association CEO Roger Dow said Friday's move will "accelerate the recovery of the US travel industry," which was hard hit by the pandemic.

Speaker Agni Prasad Sapkota directed the government to provide fertilizers to the farmers at the earliest.

During the meeting of the House of Representatives, Speaker Sapkota directed the concerned ministry and the Nepal government to provide fertilizers to the farmers as soon as possible.

Earlier, speaking at the zero hour of the Parliament, lawmakers drew the attention of the Speaker saying that the farmers have been facing acute shortage of fertilizers during the paddy plantation season.

Lawmaker Laxmi Pariyar said that it was sad that the farmers have been facing shortage of fertilizers though the government had brought many good farmer-centric programs in its policies and programs.

Similarly, lawmaker Bina Devi Budhathoki accused the government of not taking any initiatives to iron out the problem.

Likewise, other lawmakers drew the attention of the government to find a long-term solution to the problem of fertilizer.

The main opposition CPN-UML has demanded that Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba immediately inform the House of Representatives about his upcoming visit to the United States.

Saying that various doubts have been raised about the Prime Minister’s visit to the United States, UML leader Pradeep Gyawali, while speaking at the meeting of the House of Representatives on Sunday, demanded that the House be informed about the visit.

“Is this visit taking place in the capacity of Prime Minister or in the capacity of Defence Minister? What is its stature if he is visiting in the capacity of Defence Minister?” he questioned, adding, “It should be informed in the Parliament at the earliest.”

He expressed his dissatisfaction saying that the Defence Ministry is making preparations for the Prime Minister’s visit instead of the Foreign Ministry.

Leader Gyawali said that the government had not even discussed such important issues with the main opposition parties.

Meanwhile, he said that Nepal should not be made a hotbed of geopolitical conflict under any pretexts.

China has warned the US that any attempt to make Taiwan independent from China will trigger military action by Beijing's forces, BBC reported.

Chinese Defence Minister Wei Fenghe met his US counterpart Lloyd Austin on the sidelines of an Asian security summit in Singapore.

Splitting Taiwan from China would leave the Chinese military with no choice but to "fight at any cost", Mr Wei said.

Mr Austin later called Chinese military activity "provocative, destabilising".

He said there were record numbers of Chinese aircraft flying near the island on a near-daily basis, which "undermine peace and stability in the region".

China views self-ruled Taiwan as an integral part of China's territory, a stance that prompted Mr Wei to condemn US arms sales to Taiwan, according to BBC.

A spokesman quoted him as saying: "If anyone dares to split Taiwan from China, the Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA) will have no choice but fight at any cost and crush any attempt of 'Taiwan independence' and safeguard national sovereignty and territorial integrity."

Mr Austin said the US was committed to maintaining the status quo - recognising Beijing as the sole government of China and opposing Taiwanese independence.

He insisted there must be no attempt to resolve tensions through force.

It was the first meeting of the US and Chinese defence chiefs and lasted nearly an hour, at the Shangri-La Dialogue security summit.

Mr Wei said the talks "went smoothly", and both sides described them as cordial.

Mr Austin spoke of the importance of maintaining fully open lines of communications with China's military, to avoid any misunderstanding, BBC reported.

In late May Taiwan said it had deployed fighter jets to warn off 30 warplanes sent by China into its air defence zone. The incident marked the biggest Chinese incursion since January.

The incident involved 22 Taiwanese fighters, as well as electronic warfare, early warning and anti-submarine aircraft, Taiwan's defence ministry said, according to BBC.

A US judge has dismissed a rape allegation lawsuit against Cristiano Ronaldo because the accuser's lawyer relied on leaked and stolen records, BBC reported.

Kathryn Mayorga alleges that the Manchester United footballer raped her at a Las Vegas hotel in 2009. 

He denies the allegations and has never been charged.

She reportedly reached an out-of-court settlement with the star in 2010, but has been seeking millions more than the $375,000 (£304,000) she received, according to BBC.

Ms Mayorga said that while she had agreed to the settlement shortly after the alleged incident, her emotional trauma at the time did not allow her to participate in the mediation process, and she felt pressured to accept the offer.

Before filing her complaint, Ms Mayorga's lawyer, Leslie Stovall, received "ill-gotten" information and documents which were confidential and privileged, US District Judge Jennifer Dorsey wrote.

The judge said the lawyer harmed Mr Ronaldo, 37, by conducting himself in "bad faith" through repeated use of stolen, privileged documents to prosecute the case.

In a 42-page ruling released on Friday and quoted by AFP, Judge Dorsey accused Mr Stovall of "abuses and flagrant circumvention of the proper litigation process" and said that as a result, "Mayorga loses her opportunity to pursue this case."

Last year, a magistrate judge recommended the case be dismissed due to Mr Stovall's conduct.

The BBC has contacted Mr Stovall for comment, BBC reported.

In 2019, US prosecutors said Cristiano Ronaldo would not face charges over the accusations as they could not "be proven beyond reasonable doubt".

The Clark County District Attorney's office in Las Vegas said Ms Mayorga reported an assault in 2009, but refused to state where it had happened or who the attacker was. As a result police were unable "to conduct any meaningful investigation". But the allegations were investigated again in 2018 at her request.

It followed a 2017 article in German magazine Der Spiegel, which reported that in 2010, Ms Mayorga reached an out-of-court settlement with the footballer for agreeing never to go public with the allegations. 

Ms Mayorga's lawyer said she had been inspired to re-open the case by the #MeToo movement.

Mr Ronaldo has not denied that the two met in Las Vegas in 2009, but said that what happened between them was consensual.

The BBC does not generally name people who say they are victims of sexual assault, but Ms Mayorga has given consent to make her name public, BBC reported.

Nine people have been arrested in China after a video went viral of a brutal attack by a group of men on women in the city of Tangshan, police say, BBC reported.

It has led to an outcry on social media and re-ignited debate about gender violence in China.

The incident began when a man put his hand on a woman's back in a restaurant and she pushed him away.

The man is seen striking her before others drag her outside and continue attacking as she lies on the floor.

The group of men are also seen attacking her dining partners.

Two of the women were admitted to hospital and were in a "stable condition and not in mortal danger", while two others sustained minor injuries, officials said, according to BBC.

Police in Tangshan, in northern Hebei province, said they had arrested nine people on suspicion of violent assault and "provoking trouble". 

The attack dominated discussion on Chinese social media on Saturday, taking up the top six places of Weibo's most-discussed topics. State television called for the suspects to be severely punished.

"All of this could happen to me, could happen to any of us," said one commenter in a post liked over 100,000 times.

"How is this sort of thing still happening in 2022?" wrote another. "Please give them criminal sentences, and don't let any of them get away."

A widely shared WeChat post took issue with the initial official framing of the attack as a simple act of violence, BBC reported.

"This happened in a society where violence against women is rampant," the anonymous post said. 

"To ignore and suppress the perspective of gender is to deny the violence that people - as women - suffer."

Tens of thousands of protesters have rallied across the US to call for stricter gun laws in the wake of two mass shootings, BBC reported.

Those taking part at the hundreds of marches carried slogans like "I want freedom from getting shot".

US President Joe Biden backed the protests, calling on Congress to "pass common sense gun safety legislation".

Despite this the chances of legal change are likely to be quashed by Republicans. 

Nineteen children and two adults were killed in the 24 May shooting at Robb Elementary in Uvalde, Texas.

That attack, and another days earlier in Buffalo, New York, in which 10 people were killed, has led to renewed calls for action on gun control in the US, according to BBC.

On Saturday, gun safety group March For Our Lives - founded by survivors of the 2018 Parkland school shooting in Florida - said some 450 rallies would be held across the country, including Washington DC, New York, Los Angeles and Chicago. 

The group said it would not let politicians "sit back" as people continue to die.

March For Our Lives (MFOL) said political leaders' inaction was killing Americans. 

"We will no longer allow you to sit back while people continue to die," Trevon Bosley, a MFOL board member, said in a statement.

Speaking to protesters in Washington DC, one of the survivors of the Parkland shooting, David Hogg, said the killings of children in Uvalde "should fill us with rage and demands for change, not endless debate, but demands for change, now."

Garnell Whitfield, whose 86-year-old mother was killed in the racially-motivated shooting in Buffalo, New York on 14 May, told crowds in Washington: "We are here to demand justice, BBC reported. 

"We are here to stand with those who are bold enough to demand sensible gun legislation." 

Among other policies, MFOL has called for an assault weapons ban, universal background checks for those trying to purchase guns and a national licensing system, which would register gun owners.