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US President Joe Biden said on Friday he told Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman he held him responsible for the murder of Washington Post journalist Jamal Khashoggi, shortly after exchanging a fist bump with the kingdom`s de facto ruler. On a trip to reset relations with a country he had called a pariah after Khashoggi`s killing in 2018, Biden said the crown prince, known as MbS, denied involvement in the murder and said he had held those responsible to account.

"With respect to the murder of Khashoggi, I raised it at the top of the meeting, making it clear what I thought of it at the time and what I think about it now," Biden told reporters.

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has seized cash amounting to Rs 11.88 crore lying in 37 bank accounts belonging to Pankaj Mishra, political representative of Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren, and his associates, in connection with a case of money laundering it is probing against Mishra.

The agency claimed that the seized cash is a part of the money generated from illegal mining from various places, including Soren's constituency Sahibganj. Apart from Mishra, bank accounts of Dahoo Yadav were also seized.

Earlier, on July 7, the ED had conducted searches at 19 locations in Sahibganj, Barhet, Rajmahal, Mirza Chauki and Barharwa resulting in the seizure of various incriminating documents and Rs 5.34 crore unaccounted cash.

Joint Opposition candidate for Presidential polls, Yashwant Sinha on Thursday questioned NDA nominee Draopadi Murmu's silence on issues concerning the tribal community in the country.

Addressing a press conference here at a hotel, Sinha called Murmu a 'silent' and 'rubber stamp' candidate for the Presidential election.

"I have great regards for Draupadi Murmu. But she has not broken her silence even on issues concerning the tribal communities in India. Hence, my question is to members of the electoral college, and also to the people of the county -- should India have a silent and rubber-stamp Rashtrapati?" Sinha said.

Putting a penalty of Rs 5 lakh on the main petitioner, the Supreme Court on Thursday rejected a petition seeking a CBI probe into alleged torture and extrajudicial killings by the Chhattisgarh Police and Central forces during anti-Maoist operations in Dantewada in 2009. The court said the investigation indicated that Maoists, and not the security forces, were responsible for the “alleged massacre”.

A bench of Justices A M Khanwilkar and J B Pardiwala said “the filing of charge sheets at the conclusion of the investigation into the various FIRs” lodged in connection with the alleged incidents “would indicate that the alleged massacre was at the end of the Naxalites (Maoists)”.

Embattled and on-the-run Sri Lanka president Gotabaya Rajapaksa landed in Singapore Thursday evening after having fled from the crisis-hit island nation to Maldives two days before. Rajapaksa, his wife Ioma, and two bodyguards were on board Saudia Airlines flight SV 788 from Male that left at 11.30 am local time (noon IST), news agency AFP reported.

The flight landed at Singapore's Changi Airport at 7.17 pm local time (4.47 pm IST). Sri Lankan security sources say the president - who missed the Wednesday deadline to resign his post, leaving Sri Lanka facing further uncertainty - is expected to stay in Singapore for some time.

He might later move to the United Arab Emirates, sources said.