While You Were Sleeping: 5 stories you might have missed, Nov 3 edition

A selection of news stories that happened overnight, Nov 3, 2016.

All Congress party Vice President, Rahul Gandhi addresses the media after visiting Tamil Nadu Chief Minister, Jayalalithaa Jayaram at a hospital in Chennai on Oct 7, 2016. PHOTO: AFP

Rahul Gandhi detained for trying to meet family of retired soldier who killed himself over pension

Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi and Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal were detained by police on Wednesday (Nov 2) when they tried to meet the family of a retired soldier who killed himself amid an ongoing dispute over pension payments.

Ram Kishan Grewal, a 70-year-old soldier, reportedly consumed poison on Tuesday (Nov 1).

Retired soldiers have been demanding that soldiers who retire at the same rank and have served the same number of years receive the same pension, to address a disparity in pensions.

The issue took a bizarre turn on Wednesday, disintegrating into chaos as the police prevented politicians and their supporters from trying to meet members of the soldier's family.

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Gunman suspected of killing two Iowa police officers acted alone

Two Iowa police officers were shot and killed on Wednesday ( Nov 2) while sitting in their patrol cars in what police called unprovoked ambushes, and a 46-year-old suspect who investigators believe acted alone was captured hours later, officials said.

The suspect, Scott Michael Greene, was taken into custody in the killings in the Iowa capital Des Moines and its affluent suburb Urbandale, police said. Police said it was unclear what provoked the attacks.

Greene, who has not yet been charged, had a recent run-in with local police after waving a Confederate battle flag, a racially charged symbol, in the crowd while the national anthem was played at the start of a high school football game, Urbandale Police Chief Ross McCarty said.

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Obama on FBI procedures: We don't operate on innuendo

US President Barack Obama said it was important for government investigations to not allow suggestions or innuendo to influence public opinion, in his first comments after the FBI announced new emails possibly related to its investigation of Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton.

The Democratic president said in a radio interview he did not want to meddle in the process after the Federal Bureau of Investigation said on Friday (Oct 28) it had found a new trove of emails that might pertain to Clinton's use of a private email server for government business while she was secretary of state.

FBI Director James Comey said it was unclear whether the emails were significant. His decision to announce the finding upended the presidential campaign 11 days before the Nov 8 election and drew heavy criticism from Democrats.

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Val Kilmer: Michael Douglas is wrong, I don't have cancer

Val Kilmer has denied claims by fellow actor Michael Douglas that the Top Gun star has cancer, saying on social media that his friend was "misinformed."

Douglas, 72, told an audience in London over the weekend that Kilmer, his co-star in 1996's The Ghost and the Darkness, was "dealing with exactly what I had," referring to oral cancer.

Kilmer's health has been the subject of persistent speculation since pictures showed him apparently with a tracheotomy tube last year.

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Tennis: Djokovic eases into Paris Masters last 16

World number one Novak Djokovic marched into the last 16 of the Paris Masters on Wednesday (Nov 2) with a 6-3, 6-4 victory over Luxembourg's Gilles Muller.

Djokovic needed four set points before claiming the opener, with the Serb then breaking at 4-all in the second to extend his Paris winning streak to 16 matches.

"It was great to start off the way I did today," said Djokovic. "Not an easy opponent, definitely, because he serves and volleys, and I found the conditions quite quick, quicker maybe than they have been last year.

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