News in pictures: French teacher beheading; Iphone sold in a jiffy; 300 million in India to get COVID vaccine; Kerala temple reopens; Justin Bieber releases 'lonely'; Australia-New Zealand air bubble hits snag...

'SUSPECT IN FRENCH TEACHER BEHEADING WAS CHECHEN': The man suspected of beheading a French teacher who had shown his students cartoons of the Prophet Mohammed (PBUH) was an 18-year-old born in Moscow and originating from Russia's southern region of Chechnya, a judicial source said on Saturday. Five more people have been detained over the murder on Friday outside Paris, including the parents of a child at the school where the teacher was working, bringing to nine the total number currently under arrest, said the source, who asked not to be named. The assailant was shot by police and later died of his injuries. Identification documents were found on him.

IPHONE 11, SE 2020 GONE IN A JIFFY: Apple iPhone 11 and SE 2020 went flying off the shelves on the first day of the festive sale in India. On Apple Store Online, iPhone 11 disappeared within a couple of hours as the festive offer opened on October 17. As part of festive season offers, Apple gave out free AirPods with a limited stock of iPhone 11. iPhone SE 2020 was another Apple product that was sold faster on ecommerce platforms like Flipkart during the 'Big Billion Day' sale. Some buyers even grabbed the new iPhone SE 2020 for nearly Rs 20,000 after trade-ins and other festive schemes on credit and debit cards.

INDIA SELECTING 300 MILLION PEOPLE FOR COVID VACCINE: India is identifying 300 million people who will receive the initial dose of a coronavirus vaccine, the Times of India newspaper reported on Saturday. Priority will be given to workers in high-risk sectors such as police, health-care, sanitation, elderly people and those with co-morbidities, the report said, citing officials it didn't identify. The shots, which will include a booster dose, are planned for the initial phase once a vaccine is approved for use, according to the report.

SABARIMALA TEMPLE REOPENS: Around seven months after it was closed in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, the doors of Sabarimala temple in the south Indian state of Kerala were thrown open for devotees from Friday, albeit with certain restrictions. Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan has made it mandatory to carry a COVID-19 negative certificate while visiting the temple, while only 250 people are being allowed for darshan (visit) per day.

JAYARAJAN POTTI APPOINTED CHIEF PRIEST: V K Jayarajan Potti was on Saturday appointed Melsanthi (Chief Priest) of Sabarimala temple in the south Indian state of Kerala for one year from November 16, when the Mandala Puja season commences. Raji Kumar M N Namboothiri was selected as Chief Priest of the adjoining Malikappuram Devi temple. The selections were made by drawing lots from a panel of priests shortlisted after interviews conducted by the Travancore Devaswom Board (TDB), which manages the hill shrine.

THAILAND REPORTS FIRST LOCAL CORONAVIRUS CASES IN OVER A MONTH: Thailand has recorded its first two locally transmitted cases of the coronavirus in more than one month, the COVID-19 administration center said on Saturday. It said in its daily report that the cases were among two Myanmar nationals living near the border with Myanmar, where infections have been surging recently. The two were tested on Oct. 13. They showed no symptoms but results were positive, the center said in the statement. The last known local case was in early September.

TWITTER ALLOWS LINKS TO BIDEN STORY: Twitter Inc. is no longer restricting people from sharing links to a controversial New York Post story that contains potentially damaging allegations about Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden. Twitter on Wednesday started blocking the link, citing a policy forbidding users from sharing another person's personal information without their consent, and a separate policy forbidding the sharing of hacked documents. On Thursday night, Twitter changed its hacked materials policy, saying it would no longer block the distribution of hacked material unless the hacker was circulating it. The company also decided that the personal information contained in emails that were part of the New York Post report are now so widely distributed that it's no longer a violation of its private information rule, a spokesman said.

LESS THAN 100 ACTIVE CORONAVIRUS CASES IN SINGAPORE: Singapore's active coronavirus cases fell to the lowest level in seven months as the government reigns in local transmissions. There were 89 active cases in the city-state, falling below 100 for the first time since March 12, the Ministry of Health said. Earlier this week, Singapore said it recorded no new local infections for the first time since February, signaling a rebound from an outbreak in migrant worker dormitories that at one stage contributed to more than a thousand infections a day.

AUSTRALIA-NEW ZEALAND TRAVEL BUBBLE HITS A SNAG: The fledgling travel bubble between Australia and New Zealand hit an early snag after 17 passengers who flew into Sydney on Friday caught a connecting flight to Melbourne in an apparent breach of the rules. In an effort to boost tourism, Prime Minister Scott Morrison's government is encouraging visitors from New Zealand, which has crushed community transmission of Covid-19, and says they can enter the country without having to undergo hotel quarantine for 14 days. But the quarantine-free travel corridor only covers New South Wales state, which is home to Sydney, and the Northern Territory.

WHALE STRANDING IN NEW ZEALAND SPARKS RESCUE MISSION: Conservationists on Saturday were working to save a large pod of whales stranded in shallow water off New Zealand's Coromandel Peninsula. "Around 40 whales were sighted and sadly 25 have stranded," a spokesman for the conservation group Project Jonah said. Project Jonah general manager Darren Grover told reporters they were trying to keep the whales cool and healthy and would try to refloat them on the evening high tide.

INDIAN PM MODI WISHES ALL ON NAVRATRI: Wishing for a safe, healthy and prosperous planet, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi extended his greetings to people as Navratri began on Saturday. "Many congratulations on the auspicious festival of Navratri. May Mother Jagadamba bring happiness, peace and prosperity to all of you. Jai Mata Di," PM Modi said in a tweet. The fun-filled festival is celebrated in different ways across the country. Over the next nine days, devotees offer their prayers to Goddess Durga and observe fasts.

AIR QUALITY DIPS IN DELHI: Even though India's central government and Delhi government are making efforts to curb the pollution level, the air quality continues to dip in the national capital for the last one week. The visuals from Akshardham and near India Gate shows that a layer of haze is lingering in the sky, as the air quality dips in the national capital. Air Quality Index (AQI) is at 294 in ITO, 256 in RK Puram, 286 in Anand Vihar, all three in 'poor' category, according to Delhi Pollution Control Committee (DPCC) data. AQI stands at 325 in DTU and 381 in Wazirpur, in the 'very poor' category.

JUSTIN BIEBER RELEASES 'LONELY' MUSIC VIDEO: Musician Justin Bieber on Friday (local time) dropped the music video for his new track 'Lonely' featuring Benny Blanco. According to Fox News, the music video sees the pop star exploring the dark side of childhood fame. The 26-year-old singer rose to stardom at the age of 16 years with the release of his album 'My World 2.0,' after he was discovered on YouTube at the age of 13.

WISHES POUR IN FOR 'JUMBO' CRICKETER KUMBLE: As India's former leg-spinner Anil Kumble celebrates his 50th birthday, wishes continue to pour in for 'Jumbo'. Many Indian cricketers took to Twitter to extend birthday wishes for the spinner who has more than 600 Test wickets to his credit. Currently, Kumble is with the Indian Premier League (IPL) franchise Kings XI Punjab in UAE as the head coach.