3 rebels killed in Kashmir:

Isha Ambani, 27, daughter of Reliance Industries chairman Mukesh Ambani, will marry Anand Piramal, 33, in the financial capital of Mumbai next Wednesday, but the celebrations began this weekend in the desert city of Udaipur, with feasts, singing and dancing, and other pre-wedding rituals.

Security was beefed up as the high-profile guests started arriving at Udaipur’s airport, said a source at the scene, who asked not to be identified. Outside, they were awaited by luxury sedans driven by chauffers wearing white uniforms and colourful Rajasthani turbans. (RTRS)

Indian officials say nearly 18-hour-long gun-battle has ended in the outskirts of disputed Kashmir’s main city after troops killed three suspected rebels.

Indian paramilitary spokesman Sanjay Sharma says the three militants were killed Sunday in the outskirts of Srinagar. Two counterinsurgency police officials and a soldier are wounded.

Sharma says Indian troops had laid a siege around a neighborhood on Saturday on a tip that militants were hiding there. The fighting sparked anti-India protests and clashes as residents tried to march to the site of the battle in solidarity with rebels. (AP)

Blast wounds 6 in Karachi:

Pakistani police say an overnight blast targeting a religious

Indian Hindu hardliners participate in a rally calling for the construction of a temple on the site of the demolished 16th century Babri Mosque in New Delhi on Dec 9. Tens of thousands of activists rallied on Dec 9 in the Indian capital on a call by a militant Hindu group demanding construction of a temple on the remains of a medieval mosque. (AFP)

gathering of an ethnic party has wounded six people in the southern port city of Karachi.

Saturday night’s blast took place as hundreds of supporters of a faction of the Muttahida Qaumi Movement were present in the neighborhood of Gulshan-e-Johar. No one has claimed responsibility and authorities say all of the wounded are listed in stable condition. (AP)

Nearly 2K arrested – BNP:

Bangladesh’s opposition party Sunday said nearly 2,000 of its supporters have been arrested on trumped-up charges in a crackdown aimed at derailing its campaign just weeks from a general election.

The Bangladesh Nationalist Party, which is seeking to unseat Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on Dec 30, said at least 1,972 party officials and grassroots campaigners had been detained since the election was announced a month ago. (AFP)