5 stories you must read today, October 31: From India-US defence pact to Karnataka BJP leader’s son assaulting toll booth staffer and more

The US has signed a 10-year defence framework agreement with India, US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said on Friday. The pact was signed at a meeting in Kuala Lumpur between Defence Minister Rajnath Singh and his American counterpart Pete Hegseth. This comes just days after External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar met US Secretary of State Marco Rubio in the same city. Ahead of the meeting, Rubio described US-India relations as “deep, historic and important” and underlined that his country’s ties with Pakistan do not come at the expense of its “relationship” and “friendship” with India. Read more

A video has gone viral showing Samarthgouda Patil, son of Karnataka BJP leader Vijugouda Patil leader allegedly assaulting a toll booth worker. The incident happened on the Vijayapura–Kalaburagi highway when one of the alleged assaulters was asked to pay the toll. Samarthgouda and his friends were en route to Sindagi when he was asked to pay the toll at the Kannoli toll plaza on Thursday. Samarthgouda allegedly snapped, saying, “Do you know who I am? I’m the son of Vijugouda Patil,” before assaulting the toll plaza staff. Read more

The Giuffre’s family said that Virginia Giuffre declared a victory after Prince Andrew was stripped of his royal titles. The decision by Buckingham Palace came in the wake of Virginia Giuffre’s posthumous memoir Nobody’s Girl, published this month, which entails an inside account of the two years Giuffre spent as a “sex slave” working for Epstein and co-conspirator Maxwell. The family said it was her truth and extraordinary courage that brought down Andrew. The Buckingham Palace announced the removal of all titles and privileges of the brother of UK’s King Charles III, and evicted him from his royal residence, where Prince Andrew had hosted Jeffrey Epstein, Ghislaine Maxwell and Harvey Weinstein in 2006. Read more

Junagadh MLA Sanjay Koradia has filed a police complaint accusing an Indian national working as a hotel manager in the Democratic Republic of Congo of making extortion calls to at least three members of the Gujarat Legislative Assembly. According to the police, Sameer Galif Ringbloch, a native of Talala in Gir-Somnath, made extortion calls to three MLAs from Junagadh Rajkot and Ahmedabad. While Ringbloch is on the run, the police have arrested two of his alleged accomplices. Read more

A Jharkhand man was shot dead in Saudi Arabia earlier this month after being caught in a crossfire between local police and an extortion gang involved in the illegal liquor trade. The victim, Vijay Kumar Mahato, a resident of Giridih district, was working with Hyundai Engineering and Construction Company in Saudi Arabia. According to his family, he went there about a year ago to work on transmission line projects. On October 15, when Vijay was walking near his worksite, he got caught in a gunfire between the police and local extortionists operating around the area and was hit by a stray bullet. Read more