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By Ratnajyoti Dutta NEW DELHI (Reuters) - The monsoon rains could ease soon after hitting 89 percent over averages in the week to June 19, according to weather office sources, in a third straight week of downpours that have caused major flooding in north India. (See pictures http://in.reuters.com/news/pictures/slideshow?articleId=INRTX10LXV#a) This year's monsoon has drenched the country in record time, almost a month ahead of schedule. ...

By Swati Bhat MUMBAI (Reuters) - Indian government bonds slumped on Thursday as the rupee's steep fall to a record low raised concerns about continued foreign selling at a time when emerging markets are under pressure after the U.S. Federal Reserve signalled an end to its monetary stimulus. Data from China showing a further slowdown in the economy also roiled emerging markets. The rupee ended 1.4 percent lower on day after having touched a life low of 59.9850, prompting the Reserve Bank of India to rush in to sell dollars via state-run banks which helped it recover some ground by the close. ...

By Subhadip Sircar MUMBAI (Reuters) - The rupee slumped to a record low of 59.9850 on Thursday as India's record high current account deficit is exacerbating its vulnerability in an emerging market rout, although interventions by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) prevented further falls. The RBI was seen buying rupees at around the 59.90 to a dollar mark on at least two occasions, but the currency tanked 1.4 percent, among Asia's worst performers on a day which saw currencies tumble from Mumbai to Manila. The U.S. ...

BAGHDAD (Reuters) - An Iraqi electoral official was killed in a roadside bombing on Thursday, police said, as two Sunni Muslim-dominated provinces went to the polls under tight security. Most Iraqis voted for provincial councils in April but the Shi'ite Muslim-led government postponed elections in Anbar and Nineveh, citing security concerns after months of protests by the country's Sunni minority. The decision to delay voting in those governorates was criticised by the United States, which said this would compound a sense of Sunni marginalisation that has fuelled a wave of violent unrest. ...

By Kevin Lim and John O'Callaghan SINGAPORE (Reuters) - Haze from fires in Indonesia blanketing Singapore could persist for weeks or longer, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong said on Thursday, as the smoke drove air quality to "hazardous" levels and disrupted business and travel in the region. Illegal burning of forests and other land on Indonesia's Sumatra island to clear space for palm oil plantations is a chronic problem during the June to September dry season. ...

By Stephanie Nebehay GENEVA (Reuters) - A United Nations human rights body accused Israeli forces on Thursday of mistreating Palestinian children, including by torturing those in custody and using others as human shields. Palestinian children in the Gaza and the West Bank, captured by Israel in the 1967 war, are routinely denied registration of their birth and access to health care, decent schools and clean water, the U.N. Committee on the Rights of the Child said. ...

By Tom Perry CAIRO (Reuters) - An Egyptian court ordered the release of former prime minister Ahmed Nazif on Thursday, because of a limit on pretrial detention in a corruption case for which he had been held since the revolution that toppled Hosni Mubarak. The court accepted an appeal lodged by Nazif, who was prime minister from 2004 until Mubarak replaced him during the uprising in January 2011. He still faces retrial in the case. A lawyer for Nazif, Mohamed Salah al-Buheiri, said he expected his client to leave prison by Saturday at the latest after two years and two months in detention. ...

By Manoj Kumar and Rafael Nam NEW DELHI/MUMBAI (Reuters) - A cautious Reserve Bank of India (RBI) with limited foreign exchange reserves stands as India's main line of defence against a currency at record lows - and markets are fretting it can't stand strong enough unless the government moves firmly to boost foreign inflows. The RBI stepped in to sell dollars several times on Thursday, traders said, including after the rupee slumped to a record low of 59.9850. It was Asia's worst performing currency on a day that saw a global sell-off. ...

By Pritha Sarkar LONDON (Reuters) - There will be an unfamiliar whiff of British success in the air at Wimbledon this year when Andy Murray, and thousands of patriotic fans, will try to stop the party-pooping antics of champions Roger Federer, Novak Djokovic and Rafa Nadal. Tennis's so called 'Big Three' have lorded over Wimbledon ever since Federer won the first of his record-equalling seven titles in 2003, slamming the door shut on any pretender who threatened to gatecrash their invitation-only, VIP party. ...

By Toby Davis LONDON (Reuters) - Serena Williams heads to Wimbledon to defend her title with seeds of doubt and defeatism already sown in the minds of her opponents. The psychological scars of playing the younger Williams sister run deep in the women's game and, now that the American has dusted off the red clay from her shoes, predictions of an upset on southwest London's luscious lawns are few and far between. ...

By Fredrik Dahl VIENNA (Reuters) - Some states still appear to be sceptical about letting nuclear-armed India into an influential body regulating sensitive atomic trade, diplomats said on Thursday, suggesting Indian membership may not be imminent. The United States, Britain, France are among countries pushing for allowing India - a growing market for such commerce - to join the 48-nation Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG), a move that would boost the Asian nation's status as an atomic power. ...

ROME (Reuters) - Pope Francis said on Thursday that financial speculation and corruption were keeping millions of people in hunger and the financial crisis could not be used as an alibi for failing to help the poor. The speech was the latest in a series of criticisms by the Argentinian pontiff, the first Latin American pope, of what he has called "the dictatorship of the economy" and the spread of consumerist values. "It is a well-known fact that current levels of production are sufficient, yet millions of people are still suffering and dying of starvation. ...

By Abhishek Vishnoi MUMBAI (Reuters) - The BSE Sensex fell more than 2 percent on Thursday, the most in a day in nearly 21 months as blue chips such as Reliance Industries slumped after the U.S. Federal Reserve signalled a tapering of its monetary stimulus, stoking fears of portfolio outflows. Emerging markets, many of which have been primed by easy Fed money, saw some of the biggest selling as investors rushed to the exits. MSCI's benchmark index for emerging equities slumped by more than 3 percent. The rupee hit an all-time low against the U.S. ...

Film: "Shortcut Romeo"; Cast: Neil Nitin Mukesh, Ameesha Patel and Puja Gupta; Director: Susi Ganesh; Rating; ***

Port of Spain, June 20 (IANS/CMC) Cricket officials in Trinidad and Tobago are raising objection to a decision by organisers of the Caribbean Premier League (CPL) to name the Port-of-Spain based franchise after the twin island republic.

Guwahati, June 20 (IANS) The Assam government has set up helplines to gather information about people from the state stranded in Uttarakhand. So far, 51 people were registered this way and nine of them were found safe, a senior official said Thursday.

Bhubaneswar, June 20 (IANS) Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik Thursday announced assistance of Rs.5 crore for disaster-hit Uttarakhand, where floods and landslides have washed away thousands of homes and killed over 150 people.

Chennai, June 20 (IANS) Bollywood director Anand L. Rai prefers working with southern actors because his scripts demand simple characters and he finds these in them.

Mumbai, June 20 (IANS) Cricketer-turned-politician-turned-commentator Navjot Singh Sidhu praises Vidya Balan's flexibility to get under the skin of any character.

Kolkata, June 20 (IANS) Regretting that she did not get a chance to work with late filmmaker Rituparno Ghosh, actress Vidya Balan Thursday said she would like to work in a Bengali movie.

New Delhi, June 20 (IANS) A total of 1,446 people were rescued by the NDRF from areas affected by floods caused by torrential rains in various places of north India, including Uttarakhand, a disaster management official said Thursday.

Thiruvananthapuram, June 20 (IANS) Technopark-based Flytxt has signed up with Etisalat Afghanistan to deploy their platform NEON to drive segmented marketing campaigns and to deliver personalized offers to subscribers.

Mumbai, June 20 (IANS) A benchmark index of Indian equities markets closed Thursday's trade more than 500 points down on capital outflows following a record depreciation of the rupee and negative global cues after the US Federal Reserve signalled an end to its bond-buying programme.

Dehradun, June 20 (IANS) Pilgrimage to the shrines of Kedarnath and Badrinath in Uttarakhand cannot resume for three years due to extensive damage caused by heavy rains and floods, an official said Thursday.

Kathmandu, June 20 (IANS) Chief of India's Assam Rifles Lt General Ranbir Singh met Nepal army chief General Gaurav Shumsher Rana here.

Texas (United States), June 20 (IANS/CMC) Caribbean sprint legend Kim Collins is to be inducted into the Texas Christian University's (TCU) Hall of Fame during an official ceremony later this year.