WASHINGTON — US President Donald Trump Tuesday described as a “horrible situation” the Pulwama terrorist attack by the Jaish-e-Mohammed group, in which 40 Indian paramilitary personnel were killed, and said he was getting reports on it and would issue a statement.

Separately, State Department Deputy Spokesperson Robert Palladino expressed “strong support” for India and asked Pakistan to “punish anyone responsible” for the February 14 attack. 

The suicide attack has led to escalation of tension between India and Pakistan and Trump told reporters at the Oval Office of White House that it would be “wonderful” if the two South Asia neighbours get along.

“I have watched. I have got a lot of reports on it. We will have comment (on it) at an appropriate time. It would be wonderful if they (India and Pakistan) get along,” Trump said in response to a question.

“That (the terrorist attack) was a horrible situation. We are getting reports. We will have a statement to put out,” Trump said.

The fashion world suffered a huge loss on Tuesday when it was announced that Karl Lagerfeld died at the age of 85. The house of Chanel, of which Lagerfeld was creative director, confirmed the news.

Upon hearing of the designer’s death, members of the fashion industry reacted on social media, mourning his loss and sharing fond memories. 

Lagerfeld, with his signature white ponytail and dark sunglasses, was considered one of the hardest-working people in fashion. While the designer was most widely known for his work at Chanel, he was also the creative director at Fendi and his eponymous Karl Lagerfeld label; he held all three jobs simultaneously. Lagerfeld was an accomplished fashion photographer as well and even shot a numberof the campaignsfor the labels he led. 

The designer was born in Hamburg, Germany. He got his first taste of fashion praise in 1954 when he won a contest organized by the International Wool Association, as noted on the Karl Lagerfeld website. The designer submitted a sketch of a coat, which ultimately caught the eye of fashion great Pierre Balmain, who offered the then-17-year-old Lagerfeld a job as his assistant. 

By the 1960s, Lagerfeld was freelancing within the fashion industry, working between France, Italy, England and Germany. In 1964, he started working for Chloé, becoming the brand’s creative lead in 1974 and again in 1992. While working at Chloé, Lagerfeld also began working with Fendi, and held the position of creative director there until his death. In 1983 he was named art director at Chanel, where he stayed for 36 years until he died, and in 1984 he launched his own eponymous fashion house. 

Lagerfeld was a master of his craft, whose go-to black and white aesthetic was often reflected in his work. He was an outspoken character in the fashion industry who stirred controversy on a number of occasions thanks to his often outdated opinions on everything from Adele’s weight to the Me Too movement. 

Throughout his career, he designed countless garments ― and epic fashion show sets ― that will go down as some of the most memorable in fashion history. From the beaded guitar dress at Chloé to the furry Karlito keychains at Fendi, and the many tweed suits and couture bridal gowns at Chanel, take a look back at the designer’s fashion legacy in photos:

The Vatican confirmed Monday that it has a secret set of guidelines for priests who break their vow of celibacy and have children.

“I can confirm that these guidelines exist. It is an internal document,” Vatican spokesman Alessandro Gisotti told The New York Times in an article published Monday. 

Vincent Doyle, an Irish man, told NYT that he discovered his godfather Rev. John J. Doyle was actually his biological father when he was 28 years old. When Doyle traveled to Rome, Italy, to find justice for him and other children of priests, Doyle said an archbishop showed him an official Vatican document that outlined secret rules for priests who father children despite their vow of celibacy. 

Doyle said that the archbishop referred to children like him as “children of the ordained,” adding, “I was shocked they had a term for it.” 

Gisotti said the document “requests” that the priest leave the clergy in order to “assume his responsibilities as a parent by devoting himself exclusively to the child.” Monsignor Andrea Ripa, a separate Vatican spokesman, told NYT that it is nearly “impossible” to force a priest to leave the ministry. 

After he discovered his biological father was a priest, Doyle created Coping International, a support group website for other children of priests. The website currently has 50,000 users in 175 countries. 

Some priests break their vow of celibacy through consensual sexual relationships, while others reportedly break their vow through sexual assault and rape.  

The Catholic Church has come under fire in the last few months for rampant sexual abuse dating back decades. In August, a Pennsylvania grand jury published a report that identified 301 predator priests and more than 1,000 victims. Earlier this month, Pope Francis publicly confirmed that some priests and bishops have sexually abused nuns and vowed to take actions.

“To those who abuse minors I would say this: convert and hand yourself over to human justice, and prepare for divine justice,” Francis said during his annual Christmas address in December. 

“It is undeniable that some in the past, out of irresponsibility, disbelief, lack of training, inexperience, or spiritual and human short-sightedness, treated many cases without the seriousness and promptness that was due,” he added.“That must never happen again. This is the choice and the decision of the whole church.”

LONDON, Feb 18 (Thomson Reuters Foundation) - Trans sportswomen hit back at Martina Navratilova, after the tennis champion said “its insane and it’s cheating” for transgender women to be allowed to compete in women’s sport.

“A man can decide to be female, take hormones if required by whatever sporting organization is concerned, win everything in sight and perhaps earn a small fortune, and then reverse his decision and go back to making babies if he so desires,” 18-times Grand Slam winner Navratilova wrote in The Sunday
Times.

Navratilova’s comments are “disturbing, upsetting, and deeply transphobic,” said Rachel McKinnon, who in 2018 became the first transgender woman to win a world track cycling title, reigniting a debate over whether trans women have unfair physical advantages in sport.

Under rules brought in by International Olympic Committee (IOC) in 2016, athletes transitioning from female to male can now participate without restrictions.

Male to female competitors must have kept their levels of testosterone, a hormone that increases muscle mass, strength and hemoglobin, which affects endurance, below a certain level for at least 12 months.

Wimbledon champion Navratilova, who has campaigned for gay rights and suffered abuse when she came out in the 1980s, argued trans women have unfair physical advantages.

“A man builds up muscle and bone density, as well as a greater number of oxygen-carrying red blood cells, from childhood,” she said.

Navratilova “trades on age-old stereotypes and stigma against trans women, treating us as men just pretending to be real women,” McKinnon told the Thomson Reuters Foundation.

Scientific research into trans people in sport is rare. A 2015 study of eight male to female trans runners found their race times slowed down to an extent that they retained no advantage over non-trans women.

Jen Wagner-Assali, who finished third to McKinnon in the 35-44 year-old category world championship race, argued the Canadian’s victory was not fair. McKinnon said her rival had previously beaten her in 10 of 12 events.

“This idea that men will transition or pretend to transition to enter women’s sport is offensive,” Natalie Washington, a trans activist who plays amateur women’s football in Britain, told the Thomson Reuters Foundation.

“It misrepresents the huge struggle that the vast majority of trans people have to go through.”

Navratilova expressed support for Caster Semenya, the two-time 800-meter Olympic women’s champion, in her case against the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF), which is being heard at the Court of Arbitration for Sport this week.

The IAAF introduced a rule in April 2018 that would have forced women with naturally-high testosterone levels to take hormone therapy to lower them to compete in track events from 400 meters to one mile, had it not been challenged by her and Athletics South Africa.

Semenya, who was forced to take a gender test when she won the world championship at the age of 18 in 2009, has hyperandrogenism, a condition characterized by higher than usual testosterone levels.

“Leaving out sprints and longer distances seems to me to be a clear case of discrimination by targeting Semenya,” Navratilova said.

(Reporting by Rachel Savage @rachelmsavage; Editing by Astrid
Zweynert @azweynert. Please credit the Thomson Reuters
Foundation, the charitable arm of Thomson Reuters, that covers
humanitarian news, women’s and LGBT+ rights, human trafficking,
property rights, and climate change. Visit http://news.trust.org)

Kylie Jenner insists she’s never gotten major plastic surgery, despite constant speculation about her changing look. 

In an interview with Paper magazine, the beauty mogul addressed the rampant rumors. “People think I fully went under the knife and completely reconstructed my face, which is completely false,” she said.

“I’m terrified. I would never,” she added.

Instead, Jenner attributed the facial features that sparked the speculation swirling about her to, among other items, fillers.

The rumor-mongers “don’t understand what good hair and makeup and, like, fillers, can really do,” she said. Of fillers, she said, “I’m not denying that.”

Injectable dermal fillers “can plump thin lips, enhance shallow contours, soften facial creases [and] remove wrinkles,” according to the website for the American Society of Plastic Surgeons.

Jenner previously has talked about using makeup to over-line her lips while also issuing the plastic surgery denial. 

“I haven’t had plastic surgery. I’ve never been under the knife,” she told Grazia magazine in 2015. “People flashback to pictures of me when I was 12 and say ‘Kylie’s so different,’ but how can I look the same from 12 to 18?’”

She eventually came clean about using lip filler on an episode of “Keeping Up With the Kardashians” in 2015. 

OAKLAND, Calif. ― Former President Barack Obama spoke Tuesday about how to “be a man” and the need to combat stereotypes of masculinity that “trap” young men, specifically young men of color.

“All of us have to recognize that being a man is first and foremost being a good human. That means being responsible, working hard, being kind, respectful, compassionate,” Obama said at aconference for hisMy Brother’s Keeper initiative in Oakland.

“The notion that somehow defining yourself as a man is dependent on, are you able to put somebody else down… able to dominate… that is an old view,” the former president added.

In conversation with NBA star Steph Curry, Obama spoke about the need to create spaces “where young men of color, and young men generally, don’t feel as if to be respected they have to act a certain way.”

“If you’re confident about your strength, you don’t need to show me by putting somebody else down,” Obama said. “Show me by lifting somebody else up.”

“I’ve just been mentored right there,” Curry responded.

At the start of his panel, Obama had introduced himself as “Michelle’s husband” and the Golden State Warriors player as “Ayesha’s husband.”

The men sat on a stage surrounded by two dozen young men of color. In the front rows of the amphitheater near Lake Merritt in Oakland, dozens more young adults, mostly boys and men of color, faced them, having traveled from places like Los Angeles; Yonkers, New York; and Nashville to be there.

The two-daygathering in Oakland was meant to mark five years since Obama started the My Brother’s Keeper initiative. The former president hasdescribed the group’s mission as “working to break down barriers that too often leave boys and young men of color at a disadvantage.”

At Tuesday’s event, Obama also spoke about how racism plays a role in perpetuating toxic masculinity.

“Racism historically in this society sends a message that you are ‘less than,’” Obama said. “We feel we have to compensate by exaggerating stereotypical ways men are supposed to act. And that’s a trap.”

He added that much of the “violence and pain” communities suffer comes from men seeking respect, including through gun violence. “And that is a self-defeating model for being a man.”

Obama noted how cultural influences, like music, specifically hip-hop and rap, are often built around “talking about how I have more money than you, I can disrespect you.”

“Ironically, that shows the vulnerability you feel,” Obama said. “If you were very confident about your sexuality, you don’t have to have eight women around you twerking… you seem stressed that you gotta be acting that way.”

“I got one woman who I’m very happy with,” he added, as the audience erupted in applause.

Curry, in turn, spoke about the need for men to be “open about their feelings” and have space where they can do that. He said the locker room with his teammates allows him that.

Obama added that women often already have such spaces, where they can talk about their feelings. However, he added that young women of color “need an enormous amount of support, too,” as they deal with a “double burden” of racism and sexism.

He recounted how in his own household, while he would often get together with his “boys,” as he put it, to watch or play a game of basketball, they might not say much to each other.

Meanwhile, Michelle Obama “will get with her girlfriends, they’ll show up at noon, they’ll be talking, I’ll leave, come back three hours later, they are still talking,” Obama joked. “They’ve cried, they’ve broken down every terrible thing that I did, said he’s worth keeping anyway.”

“That’s the difference,” he added, noting girls often create spaces “to talk about vulnerabilities, doubts, lack of confidence” that men don’t. “It has to do with socialization.”

UNITED STATES — UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres has called on India and Pakistan to take “immediate steps” to de-escalate tension that soared after 40 Indian security personnel were killed in an attack by Jaish-e-Mohammed in Pulwama.

“The Secretary General stresses the importance for both sides to exercise maximum restraint and take immediate steps to de-escalation, and his good offices are always available should both sides ask,” the UN Chief’s spokesperson Stephane Dujarric told reporters here Tuesday at the daily press briefing.

Dujarric was asked about a meeting Pakistan’s Permanent Mission to the UN has sought with the Secretary General and also about Pakistani Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi saying the UN must step in to defuse tensions between the two nations. 

”...Looking at the situation in general between India and Pakistan, we’re deeply concerned at the increase in tensions between the two countries in the wake of the attack on Indian security personnel on 14 February in Pulwama,” Dujrraic said.

UN rights chief condemns Pulwama attack

UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (UNHCHR) Michelle Bachelet condemns the attack and is also saddened by the further loss of life from subsequent gun battles in the same area Monday, the spokesperson for the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) Rupert Colville said in Geneva Tuesday.

The fashion world suffered a huge loss on Tuesday when it was announced that Karl Lagerfeld died at the age of 85. The house of Chanel, of which Lagerfeld was creative director, confirmed the news.

Upon hearing of the designer’s death, members of the fashion industry reacted on social media, mourning his loss and sharing fond memories. 

Lagerfeld, with his signature white ponytail and dark sunglasses, was considered one of the hardest-working people in fashion. While the designer was most widely known for his work at Chanel, he was also the creative director at Fendi and his eponymous Karl Lagerfeld label; he held all three jobs simultaneously. Lagerfeld was an accomplished fashion photographer as well and even shot a numberof the campaignsfor the labels he led. 

The designer was born in Hamburg, Germany. He got his first taste of fashion praise in 1954 when he won a contest organized by the International Wool Association, as noted on the Karl Lagerfeld website. The designer submitted a sketch of a coat, which ultimately caught the eye of fashion great Pierre Balmain, who offered the then-17-year-old Lagerfeld a job as his assistant. 

By the 1960s, Lagerfeld was freelancing within the fashion industry, working between France, Italy, England and Germany. In 1964, he started working for Chloé, becoming the brand’s creative lead in 1974 and again in 1992. While working at Chloé, Lagerfeld also began working with Fendi, and held the position of creative director there until his death. In 1983 he was named art director at Chanel, where he stayed for 36 years until he died, and in 1984 he launched his own eponymous fashion house. 

Lagerfeld was a master of his craft, whose go-to black and white aesthetic was often reflected in his work. He was an outspoken character in the fashion industry who stirred controversy on a number of occasions thanks to his often outdated opinions on everything from Adele’s weight to the Me Too movement. 

Throughout his career, he designed countless garments ― and epic fashion show sets ― that will go down as some of the most memorable in fashion history. From the beaded guitar dress at Chloé to the furry Karlito keychains at Fendi, and the many tweed suits and couture bridal gowns at Chanel, take a look back at the designer’s fashion legacy in photos:

A recent development involving the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) and the response to it by some Indian companies has left me both concerned and challenged. In November, TRAI asked for submissions from the public on a consultation paper that had some proposals that pose serious potential threat to basic civil rights and liberties of the citizens of the country.

The proposal that really unnerved me was the one that talked about allowing the government unabated access to the user data, including sensitive private information, under the pretext of national security. Companies like Reliance Jio, Paytm (funded by China’s Alibaba), and several others in their submissions to TRAI seemed more than favourable to these proposals.

This has once again brought to the fore the issue of citizens’ right to privacy, as declared by the Supreme Court of India, vis-a-vis government’s wish to subordinate it to any national security concerns.

The Indian government is not alone in exerting this unequivocal right on citizen’s private information. Several governments around the world have advocated the same. A well-known example is the 2015 Apple Vs FBI case in the US. The US has some of the most strict laws around protecting citizens’ fundamental rights like equality, freedom of speech, liberty and right to privacy. Even so, a school of thought in the US advocates for the government having overriding and absolute right to access citizen’s private data.

The role of US companies in protecting citizen data

There are several differences, however. Foremost is how the private companies involved, Apple and its peers, responded to the issue of the government outreach over their customers’ data privacy rights. Also noteworthy is how the Congress held a hearing in front of the House Judiciary Committee, the government body that covers matters relating to how law and order is enforced in the US, to deliberate on the issue in a thorough, open-minded and well-informed manner.

In the Congressional hearing, Apple argued that any compromise on the security and privacy of the data, however, controlled and regulated by the government, would always remain vulnerable to falling in the hands of bad actors, including terrorists and enemy states. Professor Landau, an independent cryptology expert argued that once the government started subjecting Apple with requests for access to other devices, the process Apple would create in the interest of efficiently complying with those requests, would by its nature be inherently vulnerable to exploitation through interception or perhaps through a rogue employee.

She also argued that the other side effect of iPhones with weaker security would be that the terrorists and bad actors would simply start using devices and apps created outside of the US with stronger security mechanisms. She, along with Republican Congressman Darrell Issa, instead suggested making FBI more capable by acquiring the expertise it needed for carrying out its investigations, without compelling the private companies to compromise on their security policies towards customer data.

Even in India, while local companies make submissions calling for backdoors against encryption, others such as Facebook-owned WhatsApp have so far repeatedly refused to break their encryption despite the government bringing up issues like national security and child pornography.

There is another important nuance to understand, however, when it comes to the government having unrestricted access to citizens’ private data. And it is perhaps the most important one. Any argument favoring this is based on the premise that the government always acts in the best interests of its citizens. This, however, is not always true and fraught with the risk of reducing the democracy to a more authoritarian rule. 

Governments can misuse laws

The US too has seen misuse of such laws all through its history. In 1960s, the government used it to harass and discredit civil rights activists including Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. This might be a reason why the US government did not push for any legislation to force companies to comply with the government requests to share confidential customer data after the Apple Vs FBI episode.

Despite this, the debate is far from over. And hence the need to continue to refine the arguments.

A project work published by the students of the Computers, Ethics and Social Responsibility course at the Stanford University quotes MIT professor Gary Marx on when government’s surveillance of citizens is appropriate. Professor Marx argued that before implementing any surveillance, the proposed methods must be evaluated by asking a number of questions. To summarize, any surveillance carried out should not violate personal boundaries, should have a valid objective, should produce valid results and should have accountability, oversight and redressal built into the mechanism used.

At the same time, something noteworthy has been emerging in the world of network security. And it has an uncanny resemblance to the issue of data privacy in civil societies.

In 2010, John Kindervag, a principal analyst working with Forrester Research Inc. came up with the concept of Zero Trust Architecture of network security for corporations. For decades, companies had worked with a security model wherein the internal or the corporate network, hosting its most sensitive systems and data, were placed in a separate corporate network and it was separated from the external internet by a thin layer of network called the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ).

In this suboptimal model, only the network entities in the DMZ would have the access to the corporate network. And only the DMZ would be accessible to anyone on the Internet. This architecture was based on a fundamental assumption that those with access to the corporate network could always be trusted. This, however, meant once a hacker was able to breach the DMZ and get into the corporate network, they would have unhindered access to the company’s sensitive systems and data. This is also corroborated by a recent Forrester study that found that 80% of IT security breaches involve privileged credential.

Technology can help safeguard the end user

Zero Trust Architecture is a paradigm shift in how network security is thought about. It is based on some important principles:

• All data and resources are accessed securely, based on user and location.
• Adopt a least-privileged access strategy and strictly enforce access control
• “Always verify,” meaning inspect and log all traffic.
• Add more authentication methods to counter credential based attacks.
• Never trust, always ask for context

These principles closely relate to the requirements called out by Professor Gary Marx for any government overreach with citizens’ private data. The most riveting of these is the last one which, in simple terms, dictates that any secure network system should not trust any user merely based on their location.

In many ways, this is similar to how government’s access to citizens’ private data needs be treated. Assuming that whoever wins the trust of the electorate and “gets into the corporate network of governance” is trustworthy, is a flawed assumption. Moreover, any need for compromising citizens’ liberties needs to go through well-established mechanisms that provide accountability, oversight and redressal. Democracies around the world might do well for themselves by deriving from the idea of “zero trust” in the latest network security architecture to settle this debate around privacy once and for all.

Neelesh Korade is a techie based in the Silicon Valley. As an author, his interests include technology and politics with particular focus on the intersection of the two.

BENGALURU — Hours after two aircraft of IAF’s aerobatic team Surya Kiran crashed, killing a pilot and injuring two who ejected to safety, Air Marshal Rakesh Kumar Singh Bhadauria Tuesday said the Surya Kiran will not be a part of Aero India 2019 beginning on Wednesday.

Video clips of the incident showed the two jets crashing to the ground and bursting into flames near Yelahanka airbase after brushing against each other mid-air, a day ahead of the five-day event.

“We had an unfortunate incident and an investigation will take place. Surya Kiran won’t be part of display,” Bhadauria told reporters here.

All other displays will go ahead as planned, he added.

The Hawk jets were performing a manoeuvre when one was flying inverted carrying a pilot and the other below it with two pilots moments before they hit each other and spun out of control, according to police and eye witnesses.

The incident occurred at around 1150 hrs while practising for the air show, the Defence PRO office said in a statement.

One of the three aircrew of the aircraft, Wg Cdr V T Shelke and Sqn Ldr T J Singh ejected. However, Wing Commander Sahil Gandhi sustained fatal injuries, it said.

Islamic State schoolgirl Shamima Begum’s citizenship is to be revoked by the Home Office, her family’s lawyer has said.

Ministers will seek an order “depriving” the 19-year-old Londoner of her British citizenship, solicitor Tasnime Akunjee said.

Reports suggest British officials have been able to strip the teenager of her citizenship because she is a dual British-Bangladeshi national.

In a statement posted on Twitter, he said: “Family are very disappointed with the Home Office’s intention to have an order made depriving Shamima of her citizenship.

“We are considering all legal avenues to challenge this decision.”

A letter from the Home Office obtained by ITV News told her family that Home Secretary Sajid Javid made an order “removing her British citizenship” on Tuesday.

The document, addressed to Begum’s mother, said the decision was taken “in light of the circumstances of your daughter”.

“I would be very grateful if you could ensure the Home Secretary’s decision is brought to her attention, along with her right to appeal,” it added.

The east London schoolgirl who left Britain as a 15-year-old was tracked down to a refugee camp in northern Syria last weekend by The Times.

Subsequently she has been interviewed on Sky News and the BBC, with her comments being broadcasted and subject to intense debate around the world.

International law forbids nations from making people stateless by revoking their only citizenship, but it is possible Begum, who is of Bangladeshi heritage, held dual citizenship.

Government guidance from 2017 states that the Home Secretary has the power to order the deprivation if it would be “conducive to the public good”, as long as they are not left without any citizenship.

A Home Office spokesman said he could not discuss individual cases, but added: “We don’t leave people stateless.”

Begum and two of her school friends, Kadiza Sultana and Amira Abase, originally made the headlines when they fled Bethnal Green, London to travel to Syria to join IS in February 2015.

The teenager’s family have begged the government to intervene, saying that while they expect her to face consequences, she had been through a lot of trauma in the last four years, adding that her new born baby was “entirely blameless”. 

The government, however, has so far been unclear in its response to the debate. Ben Wallace the security minister ruled out launching a rescue mission to Syria, saying he would not put British lives at risk to “go and look for terrorists or former terrorists”, adding that “actions have consequences”.

But culture secretary Jeremy Wright told the BBC’s Andrew Marr show that Begum should be allowed to return to the UK, saying that Britain was “obliged” to take back its citizens.

“I think it’s clear that if you’re dealing with a British citizen who wants to return to this country – and they’re not a dual citizen, so their only citizenship is British citizenship – then we are obliged at some stage at least to take them back.

“That doesn’t mean that we can’t put in place the necessary security measures to monitor their activities and make sure that they are not misbehaving.”

On Monday her family’s lawyer said he anticipated she would face criminal proceedings upon any return to the UK, but that it was the family’s hope she would be given professional help following her experience in Syria.

Metropolitan Police Commissioner Cressida Dick then confirmed the 19-year-old could expect to be “spoken to” and that counter-terrorism police officers are poised to “deal whatever they are confronted with” if she comes back to Britain.

One of the three, Sultana was reportedly killed in Raqqa when a suspected Russian air strike obliterated her house. The fate of Abase, and another schoolgirl who left Britain in 2014, is not known but they may still be alive.

Begum, who married an IS fighter soon after arrival, had two children who both died in recent months said to be because of illness and malnutrition. Her third child was born in the refugee camp over the weekend.

This is a breaking news story and will be updated. Follow HuffPost UK on Twitter here, and on Facebook here.

Nicholas Sandmann, the MAGA hat-wearing teen at the center of the highly publicized incident with Native American activist Nathan Phillips, is suing The Washington Post for $250 million, according to a lawsuit filed Tuesday.

Sandmann, a student from Covington Catholic High School in Kentucky, was part of a group of teens filmed surrounding Phillips while he performed an American Indian Movement song on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial last month at the National Mall.

The viral incident ― which was covered by many major news outlets ― caused nationwide outrage in the US at both ends of the political spectrum, with perceptions becoming more complicated after more than an hour of the footage from the encounter later emerged.

According to the lawsuit filed by attorneys Lin Wood and Todd McMurty, the Post’s coverage of the incident “wrongfully targeted and bullied” Sandmann “because he was the white, Catholic student wearing a red ‘Make America Great Again’ souvenir cap.”

In various interviews, Phillips maintained that he became surrounded by Sandmann and his peers after he tried to thwart any potential violence between them and a group identifying themselves as the Hebrew Israelites.

“It was getting ugly, and I was thinking: ‘I’ve got to find myself an exit out of this situation and finish my song at the Lincoln Memorial,’” he told The Washington Post. “I started going that way, and that guy in the hat [Sandmann] stood in my way, and we were at an impasse.”

Alleging that the newspaper “ignored basic journalist standards because it wanted to advance its well-known and easily documented, biased agenda against President Donald J. Trump,” the suit seeks damages “in excess of Two Hundred and Fifty Million Dollars ($250,000,000.00) ― the amount Jeff Bezos, the world’s richest person, paid in cash for the Post when is company, Nash Holdings, purchased the newspaper in 2013.”

Following the incident, a statement was released by a public relations firm on Sandmann’s behalf in which he claimed he had been singled out by Phillips and that he was only “helping to [defuse] the situation.” Then, in a subsequent interview with “Today,” the 16-year-old said that in hindsight he wished he could have “avoided the whole thing.”

The purpose of the lawsuit against the Post, the lawsuit says, is “to seek legal redress for its negligent, reckless, and malicious attacks on Nicholas which caused permanent damage to his life and reputation.

“The Post bullied an innocent child with an absolute disregard for the pain and destruction its attacks would cause to his life.” 

Reliance Group chairman Anil Ambani and two directors were held guilty of contempt of court by the Supreme Court on Wednesday, on a plea filed by Ericsson India over not clearing its dues of Rs 550 crore.

The court said Ambani and directors Satish Seth and Chhaya Virani would go to jail for 3 months if they did not pay Rs. 453 crore to Ericsson within four weeks, ANI reported.

A bench of Justices RF Nariman and Vineet Saran had on 13 February reserved its judgement when Ericsson India had alleged that the Reliance Group has money to invest in the Rafale jet deal but they were unable to clear its Rs 550-crore dues, a charge which was vehemently denied by the Anil Ambani-led company.

Ambani told the top court that with the failure of its assets sale deal with elder brother Mukesh Ambani-led Reliance Jio his company has entered insolvency proceedings and is not in control of the funds.

Reliance Communications (RCom) had told the court they had tried to move “heaven and earth” to ensure Ericsson gets its due but was unable to do so due to failure of assets sale deal with Jio.

NEW DELHI — Drugs are “not cool” and its use is not a style statement, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said Tuesday.

In a video message played out to mark the Drug Free India Campaign, he also said narcotics trade is a big threat to the safety and security of India.

Terming, drugs as a great menace to society, the prime minister said, as per WHO estimates, over three crore people around the world are suffering from drug addiction.

It is alarming, he said, to see so many youngsters indulging in substance abuse.

Drugs are not cool. It is a big misconception that drugs are a style statement, Modi said according to a statement from his office.

The prime minister said in addition, to health problems and destruction of families due to substance abuse, narcotics trade is a great threat to the safety and security of the country.

Modi pointed out that narcotics trade is one of the biggest sources of income for terrorists and anti-national elements, and the money sourced by these elements through drug trade is used to destabilise the nation.

He said those having self-confidence and self-belief will not easily fall prey to drugs use, and also asked the young generation to support and help those suffering from drug addiction.

The prime minister highlighted the various initiatives taken by the government to curb the menace of drug addiction.

Students from colleges all across the country, listened to the Prime Minister’s address through video conference, the statement said.

With its mild pace, innumerable beaches and historic temples, Chennai can be a nice place for a family vacation. Beyond the usual suspects like the zoo, the planetarium, Marina beach and the various indoor play areas that dot the city, here are some unusual picks for outings that both the kids and the adults will love:

1. The Farm, Semmancheri

This quaint farm-cum-restaurant on Old Mahalingapuram Road is the perfect place to drive to on a Sunday morning. You can also have a brunch at The Farm’s organic restaurant.

The Farm also houses a variety of animals, including horses, cows, goats, hens, chickens and buffaloes. Your child will get to snuggle up with a feline or two as you order your food. Every guest gets a complimentary 20-minute farm walk where your kid can pet and feed the animals and explore the vegetable garden and the picturesque rice fields.

Dining in this farm-to-table venture is also a great way to teach your kid to eat healthy. The Farm grows most of the fruits and vegetables used in the dishes it serves and makes its own diary products, including artisan cheese. Kids can also assemble their own pizza and watch it being made in the wood-fired oven.

If food isn’t incentive enough to drive to Semmancheri, there is an eclectic shop on the premises, which sells a range of things including homemade soaps, various cheese varieties, children’s books, homemade pickles and baked goodies. The Farm is also an off-beat venue for hosting children’s birthday parties.

Cost: A meal costs approximately Rs 1,500 for two people.

Timings: 7:30 am to 6:30 pm; farm walks are conducted every half an hour between 9:30 am and 11:30 am and 1:30 pm and 4:30 pm.

Address: 1/277, Semancheri Village, Old Mahabalipuram Road, Chennai - 600119

2. Adyar eco-park, R.A. Puram

A burst of dense, green foliage in the centre of Chennai, this ecological park is a government restoration project to protect the fragile ecosystem of the Adyar estuary. The park is home to over 150 species of trees and innumerable insects and birds. You can even spot a snake or two.

The walking trail is dotted with gorgeous views of the Adyar river and is the perfect length, to introduce even very small children to nature walks and trails. A guide, who is assigned to each group, will take you on the trail. It will take around 40 minutes to complete the trail. Animal artefacts have been erected at various places to educate the visitors. Children can also chase butterflies and walk across the pedestrian bridges over the river. For older children, a trip to the eco-park can serve as an opportunity to sight birds and learn about environment conservation. The entrance has several informative boards and posters about the history of the Adyar river.

Details: You will need to make an advance booking to visit the park. It can be done here. When you visit, you will have to show the online form and pay the entry fee of Rs 20. 

Timings: The park is only open on Tuesdays and Thursdays between 2.30 pm and 4.30 pm and on Saturdays between 10.30 am to 12.30 pm and 2.30 pm to 4.30 pm.

No food or water is sold inside. Wear walking shoes. There are extra charges to carry DSLR cameras, video cameras and for vehicle parking.

Address: Karpagam Avenue, Mandavelipakkam, Raja Annamalai Puram, Chennai, Tamil Nadu

3. ICF Rail Museum, Villivakkam

The rail museum in Chennai is a vibrant place to introduce children to the various facets of the incredible Indian Railways. One can easily spend several hours here with children, exploring the exhibits which include 41 life-size train models, dating from colonial days to the more recent Nilgiri Mountain coaches and some luxury trains as well. The museum also houses some sculptures made by various artistes from railway metal scrap.

Children will love getting on and off the coaches and even get to enjoy a toy train ride. Running around the diameter of the outdoor area in the museum, the toy train ride is complete with a tunnel.

Inside, there are rare photographs documenting the history of the incredible institution that is the Indian Railways. There is also an art gallery featuring mixed media and acrylic works of various painters depicting evocative scenes from stations and train journeys. A mini-theatre, which seats 90 people, shows short films on the Indian Railways at various times through the day.

Details: Adult entry fee is Rs 50 and kids entry fees is Rs 25 (both tickets are inclusive of a beverage and one ride in the toy train). There is a food court serving snacks and drinks. There is also a restaurant in an air-conditioned rail coach, serving lunch and dinner.

Timings: The museum is open from 10 am to 6 pm and till 8 pm on Saturdays and Sundays. It is closed on Mondays.

Address: Next to ICF Furnishing Division, New Avadi Road, Villivakkam, Chennai, 600038

4. The Book Store, Gemini Parson Complex

A visit to this second-hand bookshop will make a great excursion for budding bibliophiles. Filled with well-thumbed children’s books, mostly from the United Kingdom, in impeccable condition, this small bookshop makes a great site to browse and read for hours. They have picture books, early reader books, chapter books and young adult books by British authors such as Julia Donaldson, Nick Butterworth, Michael Bond among others.

They also have activity, craft and encyclopaedias. Books are weighed and sold by the kilo here and each kilogram of books cost Rs 250. They also have books for adults, popular fiction as well as vintage recipe books. The proprietor is a friendly woman and the neatly arranged section makes for a great browsing experience. They get fresh stock every other month and if you’d like to know when they get a new stock, you can leave your number with the shop. The store is a must-visit to introduce children to rare authors and books.

Address: 1, Nungambakkam High Rd, Gemini Parson Commercial Complex, Nungambakkam, Chennai- 600034 

5. The Infinity Park

Inaugurated as recently as December 2018, this inclusive playground in Santhome, built by the Chennai Corporation and conceptualised by NGO Kilikili, seeks to provide a vibrant and stimulating space for all children, including those with physical and intellectual disabilities. The park that spans 1,500 sqm has walls with tactile art, sensory walking areas and play equipments. The equipments include sandbox, swings, slides and merry-go-rounds, specially built to cater to the needs of children with special needs. The park also includes a herb garden. It also has an accessible toilet.

Address: 82, 4th Trust Link St, Mullima Nagar, Santhome, Raja Annamalai Puram, Chennai, Tamil Nadu 600004

NEW DELHI — In a major boost to India’s efforts to get JeM chief Masood Azhar on the list of global terrorists, France will be moving a proposal at the UN in a “couple of days” to ban the head of the UN-proscribed group, French sources said on Tuesday.

Pakistan-based outfit Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) has claimed responsibility of the Pulwama terror strike that left 40 CRPF personnel dead.

The proposal, when moved, will be fourth such bid at the UN in past ten years. In 2009 and 2016, India moved the UN’s Sanctions Committee 1267 to ban Azhar, also the mastermind of attack on the air base in Pathankot in January, 2016.

India was joined by P3 countries — the US, the UK and France — in the 2016 proposal.

In 2017, these P3 countries moved a similar proposal at the United Nations. However, China has always blocked the proposal from being adopted by the UN. 

According to sources, this time around also, France, a permanent member of the UN, is expected to be joined by other countries in the proposal.

“At the UN, France will lead a proposal to put Masood Azhar on the terrorist list... It will happen in a couple of days,” a senior French source told PTI.

The French sources also said that the country will insist on maintaining Pakistan on the “grey list” of countries at the ongoing meet of the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) in Paris. Pakistan was placed on the FATF grey list in June 2018 and put on notice to be blacklisted by October 2019 if it did not curb money laundering and terror financing.

The French decision was discussed between Philippe Etienne, Diplomatic Advisor to the French President and National Security Advisor Ajit Doval this morning, sources added.

While expressing his sincere condolences, the French leader, who called Doval, also emphasised that the two countries should coordinate their diplomatic efforts.

The proposal will be a boost to New Delhi’s efforts to designate Azhar as a global terrorist at the UN.

After the Pulwama attack, New Delhi reached out to the international community, most of which condemned the terror strike, to highlight the role of Pakistan in using terrorism as an instrument of state policy.

China expressed deep “shock” over the Pulwama attack carried out by a Jaish suicide bomber, but did not give an assurance to India that it will back New Delhi’s appeal to list its chief as a global terrorist.

Significantly, a day ahead of his visit to India, Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman in a joint statement with Prime Minister Imran Khan in Pakistan on Monday also called for avoiding “politicisation” of the UN listing regime, a position that may not go well in New Delhi.

NEW DELHI — India rolled out the red carpet for Saudi Arabia’s crown prince Mohammed bin Salman on Wednesday at a time when it is trying to build diplomatic support against Pakistan following a militant attack in the disputed region of Kashmir.

The crown prince this week was given a lavish welcome in Pakistan where the two sides signed memoranda of understanding valued at about $20 billion to help prop up Pakistan’s economy.

But the Kashmir attack threatens to overshadow the India trip as New Delhi seeks to drum up support against Pakistan. India will forcefully raise the issue of cross-border terrorism during the talks with the Saudi delegation later in the day, officials said.

Pakistan says it only gives diplomatic support to the Kashmiri people in their struggle for self-determination.

The crown prince hailed the relationship with India, a top consumer of Saudi crude oil, after a ceremonial welcome at the imposing red sandstone presidential palace.

“Today we want to be sure that this relation is maintained and improved for the sake of both countries. With the leadership of the president and the PM, I am sure we can create good things for Saudi Arabia and India,” he said in brief remarks before heading into talks with Indian leaders.

The prince is also expected to visit China during a tour that will be his first through the region since the storm over the murder of Jamal Khashoggi, a Washington Post columnist, at the Saudi consulate in Istanbul in October.

While the killing of Khashoggi, a known critic of the crown prince, has strained Saudi Arabia’s ties with the West and battered the prince’s image abroad, both India and Pakistan had expected a scaling up of investments during his trip.

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who broke with government protocol to welcome the crown prince at the airport on Tuesday, has vowed a strong response to the bombing of a security convoy in Kashmir in which 40 paramilitary police were killed in an attack claimed by a Pakistan-based militant group.

Pakistan has said it would retaliate if attacked.

JIND, Haryana — If you go by the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI)’s record of each time Vikram Sheokhand pressed his thumb down on a biometric reader for an Aadhaar-enabled transaction, on November 12 2018 he was at a Ratnakar Bank branch, a Yes Bank branch, a State Bank of India branch in Haryana where he lives, and also at the Madhya Pradesh State Electronics Development Corporation, headquartered in Arera Hills in Bhopal — each transaction separated by a few hours.

Yet on that day Sheokhand insists, and eyewitnesses concur, he spent the day at Uchana village, in Jind district, where he worked seven hour shifts as an Aadhaar enrollment operator at the local State Bank of India office.

But if Sheokhand was in Uchana, how were his fingerprints used in Aadhaar transactions in places separated by hundreds of kilometres?

“I am not a ghost who can travel from Jind to Madhya Pradesh in less than a second and simultaneously work in SBI’s branch in Uchana,” Sheokhand told  HuffPost India in an interview last week.

Tech-support emails accessed by HuffPost India showthe UIDAI has confirmed that Sheokhand’s credentials were used in multiple places in a single day, on at least one other day, November 8 2018. For this reason, on Nov 13 2018, the UIDAI barred Sheokhand from working as an enrolment operator for five years. Yet strangers continue to try to use his digital fingerprints in different banks across the country.

The UIDAI is yet to provide an explanation for how such a breach is possible — given that one unique, irreplaceable, verifiable, digital identity, based on each of our unique fingerprints and irises, forms the cornerstone for most of Aadhaar’s overstated claims.

HuffPost India emailed the UIDAI for comment, but is yet to hear back. Sheokhand’s employer, FIA Technology Systems, the private vendor empaneled to enroll citizens on SBI’s behalf, is equally tight-lipped.

“I cannot provide you with any information, any justification, or rebuttal on the issue,” Mohit Kumar, FIA’s Technical In-charge for Aadhaar said. “All I can tell you is that we have submitted details pertaining to Vikram’s case to SBI and to UIDAI, who are investigating the case.”

Sheokhand’s case proves India’s much-vaunted Aadhaar project, a controversial database containing the biometrics of over 1 billion citizens, has been fatally compromised. Its central claims stand thoroughly demolished.

The case was first reported in the Times of India. Now, HuffPost India has accessed previously undisclosed documents, including Sheokhand’s Aadhaar authentication logs obtained from the UIDAI, his correspondence with the UIDAI, and first information reports obtained from the Haryana police, to establish that:

• The sanctity of Aadhaar biometric authentication is broken as impersonators can easily bypass the system using someone else’s biometrics.
• The Aadhaar system is unable to distinguish between a “live” fingerprint captured by a person pressing their thumb to a reader, and a digital copy of the fingerprint stored on a computer. This is despite the UIDAI rolling out security updates in 2017 to plug precisely this vulnerability.
• The integrity of the information stored in the UIDAI’s Central Identities Repository (CIDR) has been compromised, as cyber-criminals with the biometric credentials of an enrolment operator like Sheokhand can enrol people into the system without furnishing proper proof.
• The theft of a citizen’s biometrics is permanent and irretrievable — rendering them permanently vulnerable to cyber-theft and potentially unemployed.

The UIDAI has provided Sheokhand with no answers beyond advising him to “lock” his biometrics, a feature that temporarily disables biometric aadhaar authentication. This defies the principal justification for gathering the biometrics of over 1 billion Indians in the first place. Users can “unlock” their biometrics at will, but the process often takes several minutes. 

Yet, in a cruel twist of fate, Sheokhand’s life and livelihood depend on him using his biometrics several times a day. Sheokhand lost his job as an Aadhaar enrolment operator soon after he was blacklisted by the UIDAI. He now works as a computer operator in a rural citizen service centre to help citizens access schemes like old-age pensions, healthcare and school scholarships — for which he needs his biometrics to be authenticated, in order to access specific government portals.

“I feel imprisoned for life as I cannot do any other job except where I have to lock and unlock my biometrics every time I have to offer services to citizens,” said Sheokhand, who never went to college and so has limited skills.

Even so, Sheokhand said he frequently receives automated email alerts — like many of us receive each time we use a debit card — informing him that someone has been trying to log into the Aadhaar system using his fingerprints; suggesting that digital copies of his fingerprints are still at large.

“What if someone misuses my biometrics and frames me in some major financial fraud, or to plans some major terror activity?” Sheokhand said. “I am terrified  everytime I unlock my biometrics on the UIDAI server.”

Broken Enrolment 

At its heart, the veracity of the information stored in India’s Aadhaar system comes down to the integrity of the enrolment software, called the Enrolment Client Multi-Platform or (ECMP).

A UIDAI document, titled Installation and Configuration of Aadhaar Enrolment Client, explains that an operator must first register with the UIDAI and then download their  biometrics onto a certified enrolment computer. The operator’s biometrics and their unique operator identity number are then locally stored on the computer as a “credential file”.

The operator is then authorised to use that specific computer to enrol new users to Aadhaar. Each time an operator enrols a new user, they must “sign off” by pressing their finger onto a biometric reader. The ECMP then matches the operator’s fingerprint with a digital version of their fingerprint stored in their credential file.

If the two prints match, the ECMP accepts the enrolment, which is then sent on to the UIDAI servers for verification. 

In Sheokhand’s case, it appears that his credential file has been stolen and has been used to enrol people to Aadhaar without his knowledge.

In September 2018, HuffPost India reported that a malicious software bypassed many of these protocols. Internationally reputed experts, including Dan Wallach, Professor of Computer Science, and Electrical and Computer Engineering, at Rice University in Houston, Texas, and  Orlando Padilla, founder of NoMotion Software LLC, analysed the software at HuffPost India’s request, and identified 26 changes to the software code — indicating that the hack was the work of a skilled expert.

The malicious software, HuffPost India had reported at the time, was freely available for as little as Rs 2,500.

 “This is a straightforward, business-like, and utilitarian hack,” Gustaf Björksten, Chief Technologist at Access Now, a global technology policy and advocacy group, told HuffPost India at the time. “Having examined the entirety of the code, it is my opinion that the patch is the work of more than one coder.”

The UIDAI had refuted HuffPost India’s findings in a series of poorly phrased, and completely unsubstantiated, tweets..

Now Sheokhand’s case, UIDAI error reports and email correspondence, indicate that Sheokhand’s stolen credentials were probably plugged into this malicious software and then used to fraudulently enrol new users to the Aadhaar database.

Sheokhand first learnt that his biometrics had been stolen on November 14 2018, a day after the UIDAI revoked his access to the Aadhaar enrolment system for logging in from multiple locations on November 12 2018. Curiously, in a subsequent email, UIDAI said he was barred because his ID was used in multiple occasions on Nov 8 2018.

When HuffPost India analysed Sheokhand’s logs, we found more instances of his ID being used from multiple occasions — indicating his credentials were misused for a while before the UIDAI caught on, and the Aadhaar fraud monitoring system not as robust as the UIDAI claims.

A month later, on 28 December 2018, the authority fined Sheokhand over Rs 33 lakh, for uploading fraudulent documents on 333 different occasions — each carrying a penalty of Rs 10,000. The UIDAI also claimed to have found another 304 cases, carrying a penalty of Rs 25 each, in which the scans of documents uploaded were found to be of poor quality, and an additional 9 miscellaneous errors — also carrying a penalty of Rs 25 each.

In a December 29 2018 email to UIDAI, O S Rana, an executive with FIA Technology Systems, Sheokhand’s former employer, noted that only 1 error of these 646 errors could be directly traced back to Sheokhand.

As for the rest, Rana wrote, “his ID has been misused by some fraudster on other stations, and he has already put complaint to UIDAI and police against this issue.”

“Only one error belongs to our station ID, which was allotted by you,” Rana concluded. HuffPost India has a copy of the email.

A station ID is a unique code that corresponds to a particular place — say a bank branch. This ‘station ID’ is important because it makes it easy to verify if a particular Aadhaar enrolment number was generated from the SBI branch were Sheokhand worked.

Every Aadhaar enrolment number has the following format: the first four digits correspond to the “registrar” or principle organisation where the enrolment has occurred — in this case, the State Bank of India. The next five digits correspond to the specific station — in this case, the Uchana branch where Sheokhand worked — where the enrolment took place.

The remaining digits correspond to the sequence number from a particular enrolment centre, and the date and time when the enrolment occured. Each enrolment id is also tagged with the unique ID of the enrolment operator.

Of the 646 incorrect enrolments flagged by the UIDAI, only one incorrect enrolment number contained Sheokhand’s station id, according to UIDAI documents seen by HuffPost India. The remaining 645 enrolments have occurred in other enrolment stations, but are tagged with Sheokhand’s operator ID — conclusively proving that Sheokhand’s credentials had been stolen.

“My biometrics were authenticated successfully at even places about which I never heard before,” said Sheokhand. “Somedays, my biometrics were authenticated over 47 times on a single day without my knowledge. This is scary.”

The UIDAI is yet to confirm if they have dropped the Rs 33 lakh fine imposed  on Sheokhand.

HuffPost India emailed the UIDAI a detailed list of questions, including if the actual perpetrators had been found. This copy will be updated if the UIDAI responds.

Is Aadhaar Safe?

In short, No.

The UIDAI routinely deflects allegations of data-theft by claiming that its own date repositories, like the CIDR, have not been breached. Yet, the Aadhaar eco-system is so porous that all the information collected by the authority routinely leaks out into the public domain.

Earlier this week, French security expert Robert Baptiste, who goes by the name Elliot Anderson, detailed an exploit that exposed the Aadhaar numbers and personal details of over 6 million Indians.

Gulshan Rai, Chief Information Security Office at the Prime Minister’s Office, conceded as much in a brief interview with HuffPost India.

“Nothing can be 100%. There is always some vulnerability,” Rai said, pointing at a reporter’s sleevless sweater to better illustrate his point. “Your arms are vulnerable, your sweater is the CIDR — that is more secure.”

Yet as evidence of repeated breaches and fraud mount, the UIDAI’s claims on the security of the Aadhaar system appear increasingly threadbare.

A massive fire broke out at a six-storey footwear godown of Paragon in Kochi on Wednesday, reports said.

Workers in the building, which is located near Ernakulam South railway station, and people in the neighbouring buildings have been evacuated, Mathrubhumi reported.

All the staff working in the building are safe, Malayala Manorama said.

Ten fire tenders are at the spot to douse the fire which had engulfed the entire building, Mathrubhumi said.

Fire officials are trying to bring the blaze under control and prevent its spread to adjacent buildings, the daily said. Units from the Indian Navy and Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited have also provided assistance.

According to Manorama, the fire was first reported on the fourth floor of the building and may have been caused by a short circuit. 

The report said the fire may have spread quickly because of the rubber products stored in the building which was making it difficult to douse the blaze.

Electricity supply to the area has been cut as a precaution, Manorama reported.

NEW DELHI — Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman said terrorism was a common concern with India and that his country was ready to share intelligence to tackle it.

The crown prince, who was speaking at a joint press conference with Prime Minister Narendra Modi in New Delhi on Wednesday, said Saudi Arabia was ready for political cooperation with India.

“On the issue of extremism and terrorism, which is a common concern, we want to tell India that we will cooperate in every way, including intelligence sharing,” the crown prince said.

The crown prince’s visit comes days after a militant attack in Kashmir which involved a bombing of a security convoy in which 40 Indian paramilitary police were killed. The attack was claimed by Pakistan-based militant group Jaish-e-Mohammed.