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Washington, Feb 22 (IANS) In a historic move, Kash Patel was sworn in as the ninth director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) by placing his hand on the Bhagavad Gita, a gesture that sparked widespread appreciation from Hindus around the world on Saturday. Attorney General Pam Bondi administered the oath to Patel, instructing, "Place your hand on the Gita and raise your right hand."Patel's girlfriend, Alexis Wilkins, held the Bhagavad Gita as he took the oath in the Indian Treaty Room at the Eisenhower Executive Office Building on Friday, with his family members in attendance. Patel, at 44, becomes the first Hindu-Indian and Asian descent person to head the FBI.Social media erupted with praise as users celebrated Patel's decision to take the oath on the Bhagavad Gita, a revered...

Johannesburg, Feb 22 (IANS) South Africa concluded the G20 Foreign Ministers' Meeting, after a range of global issues having been discussed.South African Minister of International Relations and Cooperation Ronald Lamola hailed the event as "historic" when briefing the media after the meeting, which started on Thursday and ended Friday in Johannesburg, Xinhua news agency reported."The first G20 Foreign Ministers' Meeting under South Africa's presidency was historic as it was the first G20 Foreign Ministers' Meeting on the African continent," Lamola said, noting that the "very productive" meeting had a high-level strategic discussion on the global geopolitical environment and its impact on their work.He noted that the meeting showed support for South Africa's G20 presidency theme of "Solidar...

Ankara, Feb 22 (IANS) Turkish authorities launched an investigation into Maydonoz Doner, a doner kebab restaurant chain with 390 branches, over alleged ties to the Gulen movement.Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya said on social media platform X that 353 suspects, including 10 public officials, were detained in operations carried out across 31 cities, Xinhua news agency reported.The Gulen movement, once led by Muslim preacher Fethullah Gulen, who passed away in October 2024 in the US, has been accused by the Turkish government of masterminding a coup attempt in 2016, which resulted in the deaths of over 250 people.Investigators reportedly found that the doner kebab chain facilitated domestic and international money transfers to support the organisation.The Financial Crimes Investigation Board...

Gaza, Feb 22 (IANS) Al-Qassam Brigades, the armed wing of Hamas, handed over the body of Shiri Bibas, an Israeli hostage, to the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), according to a senior Hamas official, after Israeli authorities determined that a body returned by Hamas on Thursday was not her.The official, speaking on condition of anonymity, explained that the mix-up occurred due to the chaos caused by Israeli airstrikes, which led to the misidentification of remains, Xinhua news agency reported."It was an unintentional mistake, as the body of Shiri was mixed with others due to Israeli attacks on the area where it was located," he said.On Thursday, Hamas returned the bodies of four hostages to Israel, prompting a nationwide outpouring of grief as flag-waving crowds lined highw...