Reformist Saudi Prince Talal bin Abdul Aziz, dies at 87
Riyadh, Dec 22: Saudi Prince Talal bin Abdul Aziz, a half brother of King Salman, died on Saturday at the age of 87, his billionaire son said.
"Prince Talal was called by God on Saturday," Prince Al-Waleed bin Talal wrote on Twitter.
The family will receive condolences on Sunday, Monday and Tuesday at home in Riyadh, he added.
Defiantly liberal and dubbed the "Red Prince", Talal bin Abdul Aziz was known as a tireless advocate of reform, sometimes in defiance of the royal family.
He was a long-standing advocate of allowing Saudi women to drive, a right that was finally granted to female citizens this year.
Born in 1931, the prince headed the Arab Gulf Fund for Development, a UN body that promotes education and health in developing countries.
Under the influence of Egyptian president and champion of pan-Arab socialism Gamal Abdel Nasser, he set up the "Free Princes Movement" in the early 1960s, calling for substantive political change in Saudi Arabia.
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Man arrested with Rs 2.54-crore heroin in Mumbai
Mumbai (PTI): Police have arrested a man and seized over 500 grams of heroin worth Rs 2.54 crore in the illicit market from him in Mumbai, officials said on Friday.
The police's Anti-Narcotics Cell (ANC) made the drug seizure in Santacruz in the western suburbs. The operation was conducted by the Kandivali unit of the ANC on Thursday as part of a special crackdown against drug trafficking in the area, they said.
Acting on specific inputs, an ANC team conducted a raid in Santacruz (East) and intercepted a man. During a search, the team recovered 508 grams of high-grade heroin from his possession, an official said.
The seized contraband, a highly addictive, opioid drug derived from morphine, is estimated to be worth Rs 2.54 crore in the international market, he informed.
Following the seizure, a case was registered against the man under relevant sections of the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act, 1985, and he was formally placed under arrest in the early hours of Friday.
The police are currently investigating the source of the drug and trying to identify the intended recipients of the consignment, he said.
