News brief: Big stories of the day

Indian Air Force Rafale office broken into in France in possible espionage attempt

Unidentified persons broke into the Indian Rafale project management team office in France on Sunday night in a possible espionage attempt to steal data related to the aircraft critical to India's national security plans.

Huawei unwanted: Asian shops shun phone trade-ins on Google suspension worries

Mobile phone retailers in some Asian countries are refusing to accept Huawei devices for trade-ins, as more consumers look to offload their device on worries Google suspending business with the Chinese firm will disrupt services.

Government clears names of 4 judges for elevation to Supreme Court

The government is learnt to have cleared the names of four judges for their elevation to the Supreme Court, sources said Wednesday. Once the appointments formally come through, the top court will have its full sanctioned strength of 31 judges (including the chief justice). As of now, the apex court is functioning with 27 judges.

Lok Sabha polls 2019: Home Ministry alerts state authorities of possible violence on counting day
Ahead of the counting of votes, the Ministry of Home Affairs on Wednesday issued an alert to State Chief Secretaries and DsGP regarding the possibility of eruption of violence in different parts of the country on the counting day. 

Get ready for difficult times, China's Xi warns during trade war

China must prepare for difficult times as the international situation is increasingly complex, President Xi Jinping said in comments carried by state media on Wednesday, as the country faces increased tariffs in a bitter trade war with Washington.