Highlights: US Congress passes bill protecting same-sex marriage, reports AFP

The US House of Representatives passed a landmark bill Thursday protecting same-sex marriage, reports AFP.

Trinamool Congress national spokesperson Saket Gokhale has been arrested again hours after getting bail in PM tweet row, Derek O’Brien said on Thursday. 

Assam chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Thursday said that BJP party is against men from Muslim community having multiple wives. 

National Investigation Agency (NIA) spokesperson on Thursday said that the mastermind of 2019 Tarn Taran bomb blast in Punjab extradited from Vienna and arrested in Delhi, PTI reported.

US President Joe Biden while he announced the realse of  Brittney Griner,  basketball star, said that US has “not forgotten about Paul Whelan” and will “never give up” trying to secure his release from Russia, according to AP reports. Paul Whelan is a corporate security executive who has been jailed in Russia since December 2018.

US basketball star Brittney Griner Thursday freed in Russian prisoner swap. US President Joe Biden said she is ‘safe’, ‘on her way home’. A former Soviet Army lieutenant colonel has been freed by the US, whom Justice Department once described as one of the world's most prolific arms dealers, according to reports from agencies.

ECI accepts the change in the name of 'Telangana Rashtra Samithi' (TRS) to 'Bharat Rashtra Samithi', reported ANI. 

In view of continuous rain across the state, a holiday has been announced for schools and colleges in Chennai, Cuddalore, Villupuram, Kancheepuram, Thiruvallur and Vellore on December 9, rpeorted ANI. 

A total of 2,46,914 candidates have been recruited by the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) and Staff Selection Commission (SSC) during last five years, Union Minister Jitendra Singh told the Rajya Sabha, reported ANI.

Supreme Court dismisses a curative petition filed by Roots in Kashmir, a Kashmiri Pandit-run NGO, seeking a probe into killing Kashmiri Pandits in the Valley in 1989-90, reported ANI.

Supreme court pulls up the Centre on delays in judges' appointments, says the government must follow the collegium system which is the law of the land. 

SC asks the Attorney General to advise Union ministers to exercise control over their public criticism of the collegium system, saying the statements made recently are “not being taken very well”.

AG R Venkataramani has been asked by the bench to advise the government to follow the legal principles laid down by the Supreme Court.

Controversial book author Dr Farhat Khan arrested from Pune in Maharashtra, says Madhya Pradesh Home Minister Narottam Mishra.

A Delhi Court grants bail to former MLA Asif Mohammad Khan accused of manhandling and abusing a police officer on duty in the Shaheen Bagh area during an allegedly unauthorised meeting on November 25.

Kerala High Court upholds the proceedings initiated by Kerala Lokayukta based on a complaint against ex-Minister and CPM MLA KK Shailaja & others over allegation of corruption in purchase of equipment, including PPE kits during Covid-19 pandemic by the state government in 2020, reports ANI.

NSE phone tapping case: Delhi High Court grants bail to former Mumbai Police Commissioner, Sanjay Pandey, in ED case, reports ANI.

Air quality in the national capital showed slight improvement on Thursday, but it was still recorded in the "poor" category while the minimum temperature settled at 8.3 degrees Celsius, a notch below the season's average.

Rescue operation to save an eight-year-old boy who remains stuck at 55-feet of a 400-feet deep borewell in Mandavi village of Madhya Pradesh's Betul district, has now surpassed 38 hours on Thursday, an official said.

Uttarakhand High Court allows 13-year-old rape survivor to terminate her 25 weeks of pregnancy.

Congress Lok Sabha MPs meeting to be held today at 10.15 AM at Congress Parliamentary Party Office in Parliament to chalk out the strategy for the Floor of the House. Senior MP Sonia Gandhi likely to attend the meet.