LIVE! Will return to Pakistan soon: Nawaz Sharif

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Fri, 06 July 2018

Will return to Pakistan soon: Nawaz Sharif

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23:33 Will return to Pakistan soon: Nawaz Sharif

Hours after the pronouncement of the Avenfield reference case, former Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif said he was not a thief and would return to Pakistan soon after his wife, Kulsoom Nawaz regains consciousness.

Addressing a press conference in London, Sharif claimed that he was being punished because he was changing the legacy of Pakistan's 70-year-old history, The Dawn reported.

Expressing disappointment over the ruling, Sharif said that no petitions filed by him were approved.

Vowing to fight against 'injustice', Sharif stated, "I will continue my struggle till the people of Pakistan are not freed of the slavery imposed on them by some generals and judges."

He asserted that if the punishment for "demanding respect for the vote is jail, I am coming to face it", adding that he will "not be a slave to those who violate their oath and the Constitution of Pakistan", as per the report.

"The kind of struggle I started, these of types verdicts were expected," Sharif added.

The three-time former prime minister did not give a specific date for returning to Pakistan. However, he said he would take a decision depending on his wife's health.

23:08 Elon Musk offers help in Thailand cave rescue

Technology entrepreneur Elon Musk said he was sending engineers from his SpaceX and Boring Co to attempt a rescue of a youth football team trapped in a cave in Thailand.

The aid offer from Musk comes amid an increasing sense of urgency for the 12 boys and their coach in a flooded mountainside cave.

Musk said he was sending teams from his private space exploration firm SpaceX and the engineering firm Boring Co which is developing tunneling systems for transportation projects.

"SpaceX & Boring Co engineers headed to Thailand tomorrow to see if we can be helpful to govt," Musk tweeted.

"There are probably many complexities that are hard to appreciate without being there in person." Authorities in Thailand have been in a race against heavy rains as they try to find a way to extract the group trapped for nearly two weeks in the Tham Luang cave complex in northern Thailand, a saga that has transfixed a nation.

Musk said he was looking at ways to pump water out of the cave or to pump air inside.

"Maybe worth trying: insert a 1m diameter nylon tube (or shorter set of tubes for most difficult sections) through cave network & inflate with air like a bouncy castle," he said on Twitter.

Force India owner Vijay Mallya on Friday rejected reports that he is set to sell his team.

Amid reports of financial issues that have hampered the team's progress and as Mallya fights extradition to India on fraud charges, he delivered a robust defence of his stewardship of the team.

The team has been linked to reported bids from British energy drinks firm Rich Energy and American IndyCar team owner Michael Andretti, but Mallya denied he had received "a credible offer."

Making his first public appearance at a Grand Prix since last year's race at Silverstone, Mallya spoke out during a news conference.

"People have been writing about the ownership of my team for years now," he told reporters. "I'm proud that we finished our 200th Grand Prix in Austria. It's a big milestone for me since I own this team.

"I am sure you will not see anybody in Force India, indeed myself, walk around with a 'for sale' sign.

"As far as all these rumours are concerned, and all the statements that keep appearing in the media, all I can say is, if there is a credible offer with cash on the table, I will be the first one to discuss with my shareholders.

"I will see what they feel and, in the unlikely event we wish to sell the team, if there's an offer that we cannot refuse, I will be the first one to announce it. Until then, speculation remains speculation.

Clarifying its stance over the legalisation of regulated gambling and betting, the Law Commission of India on Friday stated that it had "strongly and categorically" told the Centre that this would not be desirable in the present scenario.

The Law Commission further explained that a complete ban on unlawful betting and gambling must be ensured, adding that its report has been misinterpreted and not highlighted in the right perspective.

"Effective regulation remains the only viable option to control gambling if it is not possible to enforce a complete ban," it said in a clarification note.

The note was issued by the Law Commission after it received mixed reactions over its 276th report, titled "Legal Framework: Gambling and Sports Betting Including in Cricket in India".

"Incapability to enforce a complete ban has resulted in a rampant increase in illegal gambling, resulting in a boom in black-money generation and circulation. Since it is not possible to prevent these activities completely, effectively regulating them remains the only viable option," the commission wrote in the report.

It further asserted that the current measures undertaken by the Board of Control for Cricket in India to control unlawful activities are "ineffective and insufficient".

Addressing media here on Friday, Congress leader Manish Tewari said: "It's a very bad idea. It should be opposed. Not only it will subvert sports but also convert every pan shop into a 'jue ka addaa' (gambling hub). This will have serious implications on the social health of the country."

On the other hand, former cricketer Madan Lal called it a "good judgement."

-- ANI

There will be a fancy dinner at the birthplace of Winston Churchill and a meeting with the Queen when Donald Trump makes his first official visit to the UK next week. But the US president will spend hardly any time in London, minimising the risk of awkward encounters with angry protesters.

Announcing details of the itinerary on Friday, Downing Street disclosed that Trump will attend a black-tie dinner hosted by Prime Minister Theresa May at Blenheim Palace, the birthplace of the UK's celebrated wartime leader.

The event will begin with a military ceremony featuring the bands of the Scots, Irish and Welsh Guards in the spectacular Great Court. The music will have an American flavour, with the "Liberty Fanfare" and the "National Emblem" chosen alongside "Amazing Grace."

According to the itinerary released by Downing Street, Trump will arrive in the UK early on July 12 afternoon from a NATO summit in Brussels that could prove acrimonious, if last month's G7 summit is anything to go by. Later that evening, he will attend the Blenheim Palace dinner with First Lady Melania Trump.

Seeking to unravel the mystery behind the deaths of 11 members of a Burari-based family, the Delhi Police has questioned their employees, including a mason who had installed 11 pipes at their house and his daughter, a senior officer said today.

The police are questioning the relatives, neighbours and employees of the family. More than 100 people have been quizzed so far.

The police also questioned Geeta, who according to some reports was the "self-styled god-woman" Lalit had met, for about two hours today.

Geeta is the daughter of the mason who had fixed the 11 pipes, the police said.

According to the reports, Lalit had met Geeta recently, and he had told her that he would meet her again on July 10.

Geeta told the police she had nothing to do with the deaths.

"The only link Geeta has with the family is that she is the daughter of the mason. She told police she had never met Lalit," the officer said.

The police are yet to solve the mystery of the pipes - all 11 of them protruding from a wall facing an empty plot, where there was no water outlet.

The Chundawat family had denied any link between the 11 pipes and the deaths.

Ten of the 11 members of the deceased family were found hanging from an iron-mesh in the ceiling on Sunday, while the body of 77-year-old Narayan Devi, the head of the family, was lying on the floor in another room of the house.

-- PTI

20:52 'Beginning of a new Pakistan', says Imran Khan

Hours after the accountability court pronounced the Avenfield reference case verdict, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf chairman Imran Khan said that "it is the beginning of a new Pakistan."

Khan opined that it was the first time in the country's history that "the powerful are being held accountable for the first time."

"Nobody would take me seriously when I used to say that they [Sharifs and Zardari] have bought properties abroad. I thank God today because the struggle that I began 22 years ago [has now borne fruit]," Khan was quoted by The Dawn, as saying.

He claimed that if former prime minister Nawaz Sharif was sent to jail earlier, the country's institutions would have functioned normally and smoothly, Geo TV reported.

The former cricketer-turned-politician added that Sharif's sons had accepted that they owned Avenfield properties in London on television.

Launching a scathing attack on Sharif and Pakistan People's Party chief and former president Asif Ali Zardari, Khan alleged that the two destroyed state institutions, and appealed to the public to root out corruption from Pakistan.

He lamented that while fighting against "massive corruption" of the Sharif family, several cases were registered against him in a bid to stall his struggle.

-- ANI

A South African organisation that was auctioning off a night in Nelson Mandela's prison cell has apologised and removed the event from its website.

The CEO SleepOut raises money for the homeless and had offered the highest bidder a night in the cell on Robben Island, where the anti-apartheid leader and Nobel Peace Prize winner spent 18 years.

Bids had begun at $250,000 for the "once-in-a-lifetime opportunity".

The auction raised an outcry among some in South Africa, with a Robben Island Museum spokeswoman telling local media there had been no agreement to use the cell.

"So brazenly in bad taste, there are no words," local photographer Victor Dlamini said on Twitter.

A statement offers "sincere apologies" but the organisation's website says the Robben Island event has been postponed, not cancelled.

20:04 Kejriwal seeks appointment with Rajnath

Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal today sought an appointment with Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh to urge him to ensure implementation of the Supreme Court orders on governance in Delhi.

Kejriwal said that it is very "dangerous" that the central government is advising the Lieutenant Governor not to follow the apex court's order on power tussle between the Delhi government and the Centre.

"MHA has advised LG to ignore that part of SC order, which restricts LG's powers to only 3 subjects. V dangerous that central govt advising LG not to follow Hon'ble SC's orders. Have sought time from Sh Rajnath Singh ji to urge him to follow Hon'ble SC's orders (sic)," he tweeted.

Following the apex court verdict which clipped the powers of the LG, the bone of contention between the Delhi government and his office continues over the control of the services department.

Earlier in the day, the chief minister claimed that the LG had refused to give control of the services department to the city government.

Hitting back at Kejriwal, Baijal said that the home ministry's 2015 notification that 'services' fall outside the purview of the Delhi legislative assembly "continues to be valid".

Hours after the Supreme Court's landmark judgment earlier this week, the Delhi government introduced a new system for transfer and postings of bureaucrats, making the chief minister the approving authority.

However, the services department refused to comply, saying the Supreme Court did not abolish the notification issued in 2015 which made the MHA the authority for transfers and postings.

Maryam Nawaz today said that attempts were being made to stop her father and deposed prime ministrer Nawaz Sharif from returning to Pakistan and appealed to party cadres to be positive ahead of the July 25 elections when the "real verdict" would be revealed.

A Pakistan accountability court today sentenced Sharif to 10 years in prison in one of the three corruption cases against him in the high-profile Panama Papers scandal and fined 8 million pound (USD 10 million).

Maryam, considered the heir apparent of Sharif, also received a 7-year sentence with a 2-million-pound fine, while her husband Captain (retd) Safdar was sentenced to one year.

Following the verdict, Maryam has been barred from contesting the elections from Lahore to the National Assembly.

Maryam, 44, also said that in the Avenfield case, her father was returning and attempts were being made to stop him.

In a tweet, she stated that "it is a matter of happiness for the Pakistani people, for whom, a leader is willing to take an undeterred stand and willing to preserve the sanctity of the voting system".

She further reiterated that the real verdict shall be revealed to the public on July 25, the day when general elections shall be held in the country.

"This isn't new for Nawaz Sharif. He has undergone disqualification and life imprisonment before," she said in a tweet.

Maryam took to Twitter to state that "forces" have never been successful in breaking Sharif's resolve in the face of adversity.

"PML-N's lions, remember this! Do not get unsettled no matter what the verdict is," she wrote. "All of this is not new for your Nawaz Sharif, he has faced exile, disqualification, and life imprisonment (sentence) in the past."

She further said that it was positive that there is one political leader who is steadfast in his resolve to protect the sanctity of the vote.

-- PTI

19:19

JUST IN: Supreme Court judge AK Goel appointed as the Chairperson of National Green Tribunal

19:08 PM's MSP hike for crops is like putting band-aid on a haemorrhage: Rahul Gandhi

Congress president Rahul Gandhi today said Prime Minister Narendra Modi's "grand MSP increase" for farmers is like applying band-aid to a "massive haemorrhage".

Terming it mere "marketing", he compared the MSP hike with the farm loan waiver of the Karnataka government.

Gandhi described the Karnataka government's initiative an "action" that will help farmers to the tune of Rs 34,000 crore against Modi's Rs 15,000 crore budgeted for India's 120 million farmers.

"PM's grand MSP increase is budgeted at just 15,000 crore for India's 120 million farmers; which is like applying a Band-Aid to a massive haemorrhage.

"To put this MSP increase in perspective: in Karnataka, we've waived small farmer loans of over 34,000 crore! Marketing Vs Action," he said on Twitter.

The Karnataka government yesterday announced a farm loan waiver of Rs 34,000 crore for farmers of the state.

The Modi government had on Wednesday announced a Rs 200 hike in MSP for paddy.

-- PTI

BJP general secretary Ram Madhav today disapproved of the "hounding, abuses, death-wishes and obscenities" aimed at Union minister Sushma Swaraj on social media in a row over passport application of an interfaith couple, describing her as a leader who has championed the cause of nationalism for over four decades.

In an article in a leading English daily, he also said that difference of opinion in such matters is plausible and valid but it would be improper to blame the external affairs minister for a decision like transfer of a passport official accused of asking irrelevant questions to the couple about their religions.

Madhav's defence of Swaraj is the first instance of a senior BJP office-bearer offering a detailed public response on the controversy. He is also considered close to the RSS.

Swaraj was viciously attacked after her ministry had issued a passport to Tanvi Seth, days after she accused Lucknow-based passport officer Vikas Mishra of harassing her and her husband Anas Siddiqui.

Seth had made a slew of allegations against Mishra, including asking her husband to convert to Hinduism and pulling her up for marrying a Muslim. The passport official, who claimed that he made only professional enquiries, was subsequently transferred.

"Every issue that involves two different religionists need not be seen from a religious prism alone. There can be secular issues involving people of different religions. They should be seen from a purely administrative or governance prism," Madhav argued.

"A difference of opinion in these matters is plausible and valid as well. What is not valid is the hounding, the abuse, the death-wishes, the obscenities like calling her Begum Sushma or worse commenting on her health and kidney - or a retired professor asking her husband to beat her up," he said.

All this was done to a leader who championed the cause of nationalism for over four decades in the rough and tumble of the country's politics, by those who claim allegiance to the very same ideology, Madhav added.

A number of social media users who attacked Swaraj are seen to be vocal supporters of the BJP.

-- PTI

Supporting the Law Commission's recommendation on allowing gambling and betting in sports, retired Supreme Court Judge N Santosh Hegde today even favoured legalising prostitution, saying vices cannot be abolished by the state.

"A person who thinks vices can be abolished by law is living in a fool's paradise," said the former Solicitor General of India.

The Law Commission yesterday recommended that gambling and betting in sports be allowed as regulated activities taxable under the direct and indirect tax regimes and used as a source for attracting foreign direct investment.

"It's a very good recommendation", Hegde said. "There are certain vices which cannot be controlled by law and any attempt to control such vices will lead to illegal systems developing".

-- PTI

After Maharashtra, the Uttar Pradesh government has banned the use of several plastic products.

"We have issued an order to ban the use of plastic across the state from July 15," Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath was quoted as saying by ANI. "After July 15, plastic cups, glasses, and polythene should not be used," said Adityanath, adding, "For this, we should all work together."

The UP government's order comes after the Maharashtra government's state-wide ban on the use of plastic items, including carry-bags and thermocol, came into effect from June 23.

Subsequently, Maharashtra eased its ban against single-use plastic, following what a Reuters report said was intense lobbying by multinational companies and plastic industry bodies for softer rules and extensions.

-- ANI

JNU student Umar Khalid today said that the students will not "lie low" and vowed to challenge in court the University panel's recommendation upholding his rustication in connection with the February 9, 2016 incident against Afzal Guru's hanging during which anti-national slogans were allegedly raised in the campus.

In a statement released on social media, Khalid said this is the third time in the last two years that the administration has come up with a rustication order against him in the case-- an order that has been twice set aside by the courts.

"We once again reject this farce of an enquiry along with its findings and verdict. It is against all principles of natural justice, and is riddled with contradictions, lies and malice which will soon be exposed again. We will once again challenge this in court," he added.

The PhD scholar said that they were being "targeted in a systematic and a malafide manner by an enquiry that was prejudiced against us from day one".

The inquiry committee upheld Khalid's rustication and a fine of Rs 10,000 imposed on Kanhaiya Kumar, the then students' union president, in connection with the campus event against Guru's hanging.

The five-member panel had also suspended two more students and imposed financial penalty on 13 others for violation of disciplinary norms.

Kumar, Khalid and Anirban Bhattacharya were arrested in February 2016 on charges of sedition in connection with the controversial event and are out on bail.

Read Umar Khalid's full statement HERE

-- PTI

Pakistan's accountability court, in a momentous decision on Friday, sentenced the former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif to 10 years and Maryam Nawaz to 7 years in the Avenfield corruption reference.

With all eyes on the court, Judge Muhammad Bashir of the accountability court read out the 100-page verdict.

The former prime minster and his daughter were not present in the country citing Begum Kulsoom's ill-health and Nawaz's son-in-law Safdar was missing from court. The father-daughter duo had requested for a seven-day exemption, stating that they want to be in court when the judgment is announced. However, the plea was dismissed and the verdict was announced in their absence.

In 2016, data leaked from Panamanian law firm Mossack Fonesca and gathered by the ICJ [International Consortium of Journalism] showed that then-premier Nawaz and sons owned multiple off-shore companies and assets. The revelation led to severe backlash from opposing Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf and Awami Muslim League. Chiefs of both parties; Imran Khan and Sheikh Rasheed, submitted petitions in the SC against Nawaz's assets claiming that none of them were declared in the 2013 general elections.

In July 2017, in a historic verdict, the SC disqualified Nawaz from holding public office as PM, leading him to resign from his position immediately. Contrary to the corruption allegations, the disqualification was on the basis of his Iqama [work permit], and for not declaring his salary as asset of employment at Capital FZE, a company owned by his son.

The tussle between the Aam Aadmi Party and the L-G and the Centre continues even two days after the Supreme Court in its judgment said that the L-G has no independent decision making power and has to act on the aid and advice of the elected government.

After meeting L-G Baijail, Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal and Deputy CM Manish Sisodia held a press conference.

Here are highlights:

>> The LG has agreed that files of Delhi govt need not be sent to him, only the decisions will be made known to him. This will help clear a number of files which had been pending

>> If government doesnt follow orders of the Supreme Court there will be anarchy in the country

>> As long as the centre has control over bureaucrats, the centre will have power to disrupt the work of the Delhi government

The Burari house in which 11 members of a family were found dead on Sunday stares at an uncertain future with a a few locals suggesting that a temple should replace the building.

The deaths left many residents scared, a few tenants in the alley are contemplating relocation and local businesses are suffering because of the continued police presence.

The neighbourhood continued to attract curious passersby even on Thursday as they would stop their vehicles to discuss the deaths and take photographs.

The family of 11, including seven women and two children, was found dead on Sunday. While 10 of them were found hanging in the hallway, the eldest member of the family, 77-year-old Narayan Devi, was dead on the floor.

Most of the dead had their limbs tied, eyes blindfolded and ears plugged with cotton. Multiple notes indicated the family, allegedly guided by Narayans son Lalit Bhatia, was practising a religious ritual that went wrong.

A few locals suggested the house be converted into a temple. Neither would the building be occupied by a relative nor would it find buyers, said Ramesh Tyagi, a resident.

The house is currently sealed. Relatives had earlier said it was unlikely anyone from the family would move into the house. A brother and sister of the dead brothers Lalit and Bhavnesh Bhatia are settled in Chittorgarh and Panipat, respectively.

16:06 Shardul to replace Bumrah in India's ODI squad

Mumbai fast bowler Shardul Thakur will replace injured pacer Jasprit Bumrah in India's ODI squad for the upcoming three-match series against England starting July 12.

Bumrah had suffered an injury to his left thumb during India's first T2OI against Ireland in Dublin and was ruled out of the ongoing T2OI series against England.

The 24-year-old seamer underwent a surgery last Wednesday in Leeds before returning to India. The surgery was successful and he will commence rehabilitation under the supervision of the BCCI Medical Team.

"The All-India Senior Selection Committee has named Shardul Thakur as Jasprit Bumrah's replacement in India's ODI squad," BCCI Acting Secretary Amitabh Choudhary said in a release.

The first ODI begins on July 12 at Nottingham, followed by the second match at London on July 14 and third match at Leeds on July 17.

However surgery followed by recovery and resumption of training may take time and he will certainly be a doubtful starter as far as the Test series is concerned. The first Test will start from August 1 in Birmingham.

India's squad for ODIs against England:

Virat Kohli (Captain), Shikhar Dhawan, Rohit Sharma, KL Rahul, Shreyas Iyer, Suresh Raina, MS Dhoni (wicket-keeper), Dinesh Karthik, Yuzvendra Chahal, Kuldeep Yadav, Axar Patel, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Shardul Thakur, Hardik Pandya, Siddarth Kaul, Umesh Yadav. -- PTI

Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and his deputy Manish Sisodia today held a meeting with Lieutenant Governor Anil Baijal to discuss the way forward after the Supreme Court verdict, in the light of a fresh impasse with the bureaucrats over the control of services.

The bureaucrats contend that the Supreme Court has not cancelled the government order that brought services under the control of the Lieutenant Governor.

Citing the court order, which said the Lieutenant Governor has control only over land, police and public order, Kejriwal has warned that anyone violating it will stand in contempt of court.

After the meeting, the Lieutenant Governor tweeted, "Met Hon'ble CM @ArvindKejriwal & Hon'ble Dy. CM @msisodia . Assured them of my continued support & cooperation in the interest of good governance & overall development of Delhi as per the letter and spirit of Constitution."

Replying to Baijal's tweet, Kejriwal said, "Thank you sir. All of us should work together for the development of Delhi. Constitution is supreme. Orders of SC become the law of the land. They must be respected."

15:55 Asiya Andrabi sent to 10-day NIA custody

Delhi court grants 10-day custody of Kashmiri separatist Asiya Andrabi, 2 others to National Investigative Agency in case of allegedly waging war against country.

Punjab National Bank has put on sale three non-performing assets to recover Rs 136 crore dues from the borrowers.

"We intend to place these accounts for sale to ARCs/ NBFCs/other banks/FIs on the terms and conditions stipulated in the bank's policy, in line with the regulatory guidelines," PNB said in the invite for expression.

The three non-performing accounts or bad loans that have been put on sale are Gwalior Jhansi Expressways with an outstanding of Rs 55 crore; SVS Buildcon Pvt Ltd Rs 50 crore and Shiva Texfabs Ltd Rs 31.06 crore.

The process of e-bidding for the sale of these accounts will happen on July 7, 2018, the bank said.

All the public sector lenders, who account for the highest amount of bad loans of the banking industry, have stepped up measures to recover dues from bad assets.

The NPA in the banking sector stood at Rs 8.31 lakh crore as of December 2017.

Apart from referring potential NPA cases to the Insolvency and Bankturty Code, the banks are also selling off their non-core assets to improve on their balance sheets.

Earlier in April also, the second largest public sector lender PNB had invited bids to sell three NPA accounts Shree Sidhbali Ispat Ltd (Meerut) with non-performing loans of (Rs 165.30 crore), Sri Guruprabha Power Ltd (Chennai) Rs 31.52 crore and Dharamnath Investment (Mumbai) Rs 17.63 crore to recover dues.

The cumulative loss of public sector banks crossed a whopping Rs 87,357 crore in the 2017-18 fiscal, with scam-tainted Punjab National Bank topping the chart with a hit of nearly Rs 12,283 crore followed by IDBI Bank.

Out of 21 state-owned banks, only two -- Indian Bank and Vijaya Bank -- posted profits during the fiscal ended March 2018.

PNB, which is reeling under over Rs 14,000-crore scam allegedly perpetrated by Nirav Modi and associates, posted a net loss of Rs 12,282.82 crore last fiscal. In 2016-17, the Delhi-headquartered bank had posted a profit of Rs 1,324.8 crore. -- PTI

Bharatiya Janata Party MP from Mumbai North Gopal Shetty has stoked a controversy recently stating Christians did not contribute to the freedom struggle.

He also called them 'angrez' (foreigners).

The BJP MP also claimed that it was only the Hindus and the Muslims who played a role in India's freedom struggle.

"Christians were British, hence they didn't participate in India's freedom struggle. India was not freed by Hindus or Muslims, we fought as one for our independence," he can be heard as saying in the video.

Shetty made the controversial remark while addressing a gathering during the Eid-e-Milad organised by the Shia Kabrastan Committee at Malad's Malvani on Sunday. -- ANI

Amidst a trade war between the United States and China, a Chinese company is manufacturing flags for President Donald Trump's 2020 re-election campaign, a media report said.

The factory, situated in eastern Zhejiang province, had also made flags for the election campaigns of Hillary Clinton and Trump in 2016, the Washington-based National Public Radio (NPR) reported.

"We also make flags for Trump for 2020. It seems like he has another campaign going on in 2020. Isn't that right?" the company owner Li Jiang said.

Terming the manufacturing of flags for Trump's 2020 bid as "completely normal", he said, "That is trade. We buy stuff from America, and America is buying stuff from China. For example, my car is from America."

He further said that all the flags being made have 'Made in China' tags on them.

The US and China slapped levies on USD 34 billion of each other's exports, the first tangible shots in a trade battle that both sides are bracing to fight for months. The new levies took effect at midnight Eastern Time in the US, a Wall Street Journal report said today.

Dismissing any concern about the trade war between the two countries, Jiang said, We are not so worried because first of all, we have a big price advantage over our competitors. And our clients are very smart. They would always go to the cheapest place. If China is cheap, they go to China. If America is cheap, they go to America."

He said even if his US business disappears entirely, he will be fine. For US customers, it would mean either fewer or more expensive flags at political rallies and at Fourth of July parades, he added. -- PTI

Finance Secretary Hasmukh Adhia today said the all powerful GST Council will consider bringing petroleum products under Goods and Services Tax and it could happen in phases.

Speaking on the issue, Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs Chairman S Ramesh said although there is demand for bringing petroleum products under GST, the GST Council will have to finalise modalities.

Currently, diesel, petrol, crude oil, natural gas and aviation turbine fuel are outside the purview of goods and services tax, and states have the right to impose value added tax on these items.

"One of the demands that is there before us, we will see... everything will happen in stages," Adhia said at an event in New Delhi.

The civil aviation ministry has time and again voiced its concern on the high rate of taxes on aviation turbine fuel, which accounts for a significant chunk of an airline's operational costs and also has a bearing on air fares.

Earlier, the civil aviation ministry had also written to the finance ministry seeking the inclusion of jet fuel under the indirect tax regime with full input tax credit at the earliest.

The finance ministry has expressed its intention to include natural gas and ATF within the purview of the goods and services tax soon.

"We have done a lot but that it does not mean that there is no scope for betterment of the existing system. We still believe that we need to do a lot more and we are working in that direction," Adhia said.

On the issue of automation of refund, he said it was meant to be automated right from day one but unfortunately people made so many mistakes in filing return that the income-tax department had to get into manual mode at the last moment.

"We are again trying to make it completely automatic, the entire refund process. This is next thing. In terms of simplification of rates, slabs, we do understand need for it but we did what was best in the given scenario.

"We could not have done anything other than this because we had to take care of revenue, we had to take care of concern of poor. Certainly we must move in that direction of something better than that," the secretary said.

The GST currently has four slabs -- 5 per cent, 12 per cent, 18 per cent and 28 per cent.

The GST Council, in November, had reduced the tax rate on 178 items from 28 per cent to 18 per cent. -- PTI

Three Naxals were killed in an encounter with security forces in Dantewada district of Chhattisgarh today, a senior official said.

A jawan of the District Reserve Guard was also injured in the exchange of fire in the insurgency-hit district, located around 450km from the state capital Raipur, he said.

The gunbattle took place in a forest under Katekalyan police station limits when a joint team of the DRG and the District Force was out on an anti-Maoist operation, Deputy Inspector General of Police (Anti-Naxal Operations) Sundarraj P told PTI over phone.

When the patrolling team was cordoning off the forest near Pedadabba village, Naxals triggered an IED blast and fired indiscriminately, leading to the gunbattle between the two sides, he said.

"A DRG jawan suffered injuries in the incident," the IPS officer said.

After the guns fell silent, the bodies of three Naxals were recovered from the spot, the DIG said.

Three weapons were also found at the site, he said.

Further details were awaited as a search operation was underway in the area, Sundarraj said. -- PTI

Sri Lanka's lone Tamil woman minister has resigned from her post, days after her controversial remarks seeking the revival of the separatist outfit LTTE led to an uproar in Parliament.

Vijeyakala Maheswaran, 45, was working as a State Minister of Child Affairs from the northern Tamil region representing the ruling United National Party led by Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe.

"I offered my resignation at 5 PM yesterday following my meeting with the prime minister," she told reporters.

"My resignation was because I need to allow for the investigation to be done by the Attorney General," she said, adding that no one could remove her until the investigation was over.

Speaker Karu Jayasuriya had referred her remarks to the Attorney General for legal action to determine if she had violated the Constitution.

The Opposition had sought her resignation for violating the Constitution by espousing the LTTE's separatist cause.

In a public gathering in Jaffna on Monday, Maheswaran said that due to the deteriorating law and order situation coupled with rising crime graph, people in the Northern province were wishing for the LTTE's revival and return.

"Now we remember how we lived before May 18, 2009. In the present conditions our main intention is to bring back the LTTE if we want to live, if we want to walk freely, if we need our children to attend schools and return back," she was quoted as saying by the Daily Mirror.

Maheswaran said that she was quoted out of context.

Wickremesinghe had sought an inquiry into her comments which led to an uproar in Parliament as well as in the Sinhala-majority south. The UNP leaders also called for her sacking.

The LTTE had run a military campaign for a separate Tamil homeland in the northern and eastern provinces of the island nation for nearly 30 years before its collapse in 2009 after the Sri Lankan army killed its supreme leader Velupillai Prabhakaran. -- PTI

Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad has said that controversial Islamic preacher Zakir Naik will not be sent back to India.

His statement came a day after India said that it had requested Malaysia to extradite Naik.

Naik is facing various cases, including for hate speech and money laundering, in India and has been staying abroad to evade arrest.

"As long as he is not creating any problem, we will not deport him because he has been given permanent residency status," Mahathir Mohamad said at a news conference in administrative capital Putrajaya outside Kuala Lumpur, when asked about the reports.

Naik reportedly left India in 2016 and subsequently moved to largely Muslim Malaysia, where he was granted permanent residency.

The ministry of external affairs said that Malaysia was reviewing India's request to extradite him which New Delhi made in January for allegedly inciting youth to engage in terror activities via his hate speeches. The two countries have an extradition treaty.

Indian banks are working very closely with the United Kingdom authorities to recover maximum out of assets owned by Vijay Mallya after a British court allowed them to search and seize properties of the fugitive liquor baron, SBI MD Arijit Basu said today.

"We are very happy with the court order and with this kind of order we should be able to go after this assets," he told reporters here.

Without giving a specific number, he said "we hope to recover significant part our money".

The UK Enforcement order is worldwide freezing order and Indian banks are looking at recovering entire debt, he said, adding that banks are working very closely with the authorities and have appointed valuer.

SBI is the leader of consortium of 13 banks that lent money to Mallya's now defunct Kingfisher Airlines.

Asked about recovery in India, Basu said, the consortium has recovered Rs 963 crore from auction of Mallya's Indian assets.

Recently, a UK High Court judge has issued an enforcement order in favour of a consortium of 13 Indian banks, seeking to recover funds owed to them by beleaguered liquor baron Mallya who is fighting extradition to India on fraud and money laundering charges worth nearly Rs 9,000 crore.

It permits the officer and his agents entry to Ladywalk and Bramble Lodge in Tewin, Welwyn, where Mallya is currently based. However, it is not an instruction to enter, which means the banks have the option to use the order as one of the means to recover estimated funds of around 1.145 billion pounds. -- PTI

13:47 Woman held for flying drone near Charminar

A 26-year-old woman has been booked for flying a drone near the Charminar in Hyderabad, police said today.

A local court fined her Rs 1,000 for violating prohibitory orders, they said.

The woman from Kolkata was flying the drone for filming near the historic monument last night, police said.

Assistant Commissioner of Police B Anjaiah said flying drones near ancient monuments without permission is illegal and against the city police commissioner's orders.

"She claimed she was not aware of the rules. Flying drones without permission is banned in the city. Also, photography and filming are banned near archaeological sites without necessary permissions. We registered a case against her," the ACP told PTI.

Anjaiah said the woman who came to the city to meet her brother was produced in the court today, which let her off with a fine. -- PTI

13:16 PM Modi holds talks with Bhutanese counterpart

Talks between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Bhutanese counterpart Tshering Tobgay are underway, during which defence, security and strategic cooperation between the two neighbouring countries are expected to be discussed.

Tobgay, who arrived in New Delhi on a three-day visit yesterday, met Modi at the Hyderabad House.

"Exemplary relationship worth celebrating! PM @narendramodi welcomes Prime Minister of #Bhutan @tsheringtobgay to India during the Golden Jubilee Year of our relationship, which is based on shared perceptions, utmost trust, goodwill and understanding," Ministry of External Affairs Spokesperson Raveesh Kumar tweeted.

External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj had called on Tobgay yesterday and discussed ways to deepen the bilateral cooperation.

In their talks, Modi and Tobgay are also expected to deliberate on the situation at the Doklam tri-junction, the site of 73-day-long standoff between Indian and Chinese armies last year.

In February, Tobgay had visited Guwahati to participate in an investors' summit on the sidelines of which he and Modi had held talks.

Troops of India and China were locked in a 73-day-long standoff in Doklam from June 16 last year after the Indian side stopped construction of a road at the disputed Doklam tri-junction by the Chinese army.

Bhutan and China have a dispute over Doklam. The face-off ended on August 28. China and Bhutan are engaged in talks over the resolution of the dispute in the area. -- PTI

The National Investigation Agency on Friday took custody of chief of the banned group, Dukhtaraan-e-Milat, Aasiya Andrabi, and two others in connection with a case registered in April this year for allegedly waging war against the country and delivering hate speeches in Jammu and Kashmir, officials said.

Andrabi, who is in a prison in Srinagar after the Jammu and Kashmir high court cancelled her bail last month, is being brought in New Delhi from Kashmir along with her associates Sofi Fehmeeda and Nahida Nasreen, they said.

All three will be produced before a special NIA court later for custodial interrogation, they added.

The NIA, on directions of the Union Home Ministry, registered a case against them as well as the organisation, which is banned under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967, in April this year.

According to the FIR, the "central government has received information that one Aasiya Andrabi and her associates namely Sofi Fehmeeda and Nahida Nasreen are actively running a terrorist organization named as 'Dukhtaran-E-Millat' which is proscribed under the First Schedule to the UAPA".

"They are using various media platforms to spread insurrectionary imputations and hateful speeches that endanger the integrity, security and sovereignty of India. DEM through Aasiya Andrabi openly advocates secession of Jammu and Kashmir from the Union of India and has also called for Jihad and use of violence against India," the FIR alleged.

The agency also said in the FIR that Andrabi and her associates had spoken, written and also published "visible representations that bring into hatred and contempt apart from exciting disaffection towards the Government of India".

The organisation, it added, is promoting enmity, hatred and ill-will between different communities on the grounds of religion and is doing acts prejudicial to maintenance of harmony.

Andrabi has solicited help from proscribed terrorist organizations and along with her associates has entered into a criminal conspiracy to wage war against the Government of India, the FIR alleged.

She was arrested by the Jammu and Kashmir police in Anantnag in April this year for allegedly planning to organise a large-scale demonstration and stone-pelting in the area. She was not released despite being granted bail by the court and was arrested in a different case.

Inspector General of Police (Kashmir range) Swayam Prakash Pani, who took over in February this year, is placing special emphasis on pursuing all cases against separatists and ensuring that justice is delivered at the earliest, officials said.

The high court cancelled the bail of Andrabi and others in the case after police submitted its case diaries and the investigation was carried out.

It included the analysis of Andrabi's phone that purportedly showed that she was in constant touch with militant leaders across the border. -- PTI

Army and police personnel have rescued three 'sadhus' from getting lynched by a mob, which suspected them to be child-lifters, at Mahur Railway Station in Dima Hasao district of Assam, officials said today.

District officials said army men posted at an adjacent camp and police officers came to the rescue of three persons yesterday after hundreds of people had gathered to attack them in the wake of rumours of child-lifting.

The belongings of the 'sadhus' were thrown open by the mob, videographed and shared on social media, further fuelling the hearsays, the officials said.

Following the incident, the district administration, under the chairmanship of Deputy Commissioner Amitabh Rajkhowa and Superintendent of Police Prasanta Saikia, called for an emergency meeting yesterday.

Representatives of different communities who attended the meeting, appealed to the public, especially the people of Dima Hasao, to act responsibly and not be swayed away by rumours on social media.

They also urged the people to not take law into their own hands, and instead, report to the authorities about any suspicious movement of any person.

In the last few weeks, there have been several attempts by the district administration to make people aware about news circulating on social media without any base or authenticity, the officials said.

In a similar incident on June 8, two friends, who had gone to a picnic spot in Karbi Anglong, were stopped on their way back by a group of villagers and lynched on the suspicion of being child-lifters. -- PTI

12:23 Amarnath Yatra resumes from Pahalgam route

The Amarnath Yatra resumed today from the Pahalgam route after a gap of two days while it remained suspended for the third consecutive day from the Baltal route due to landslides.

The yatra was suspended on Wednesday on both routes in the wake of landslides and shooting stones at several places and intermittent rains in the Yatra area.

A spokesman of the Shri Amarnath Shrine Board said that the yatra resumed from the Pahalgam route in south Kashmir's Anantnag district this morning.

He, however, said the yatra remained suspended from the Baltal route in central Kashmir's Ganderbal district due to landslides near the base camp and in Danibagh area of Kangan on the Srinagar-Leh highway.

The landslide at Danibagh also forced the closure of the Srinagar-Leh road the only road-link connecting the valley with Ladakh region. -- PTI

In a major setback to Pakistan's ousted prime minister Nawaz Sharif, the accountability court today dismissed his petition seeking to delay by a week the announcement of the verdict in one of the four corruption cases against him.

The court said that the verdict in the Avenfield corruption case -- pertaining to the ownership of four flats in the posh Avenfield House in London -- would be delivered today.

Sharif, who is still in London along with his daughter Maryam, had said he wants to hear the judgement of the case while standing in the courtroom where he "endured more than 100 hearings" with his daughter.

The counsel for the Sharif family had submitted applications in the accountability court seeking a week's delay in the announcement of the verdict in the Avenfield case.

In the identical applications compiled on behalf of Sharif and Maryam, the counsel cited the poor health of Kulsoom Nawaz, the wife of the former premier, who is hospitalised in London, as the reason for the family's bid to have the verdict postponed.

A medical report attached with the petition says that Kulsoom was seriously ill.

Kulsoom, diagnosed with throat cancer last year, was shifted to the UK for further medical treatment. Since then, Maryam and Sharif have made several trips back and forth from London to attend the hearings and attend to the ailing Kulsoom.

Yesterday, the court received the application and issued notices to the National Accountability Bureau's prosecution.

Sharif said Pakistan has a history of verdicts being "unnecessarily" reserved for months, hence delaying the judgement of the Avenfield case for a few days "considering an extremely sensitive matter" would not violate any requisite of justice or law.

The Avenfield case was among the four corruption cases filed against the former premier and his children by the NAB on the Supreme Court's orders in the Panama Papers case which disqualified Sharif.

Apart from Sharif, Maryam and son-in-law Capt (retd) Safdar are accused in the case. Sharif's two sons - Hasan and Hussain - also wanted in the case, have been declared proclaimed offenders owing to their no-show. -- PTI

The Supreme Court today referred to a larger bench the question whether religious activities can be allowed on government land or property in a secular State like India.

A bench of Justices R F Nariman and Indu Malhotra framed the question and referred the petition filed by an organisation - Jyoti Jagran Mandal - to the Chief Justice of India for setting up of a larger bench.

The organisation has moved the top court after being denied permission by civic authorities to hold 'Jagran' and 'Mata ki Chowki' at a park in south-west Delhi here.

While hearing the petition, the bench said the issue was related to an important question whether such religious functions can be allowed on public properties in view of the fact that India is a secular nation.

The organisation, in its appeal, has said that earlier the National Green Tribunal had allowed it to perform religious activities at Chanchal Park in Lajwanti area of Mayapuri here.

However, later the permission was withdrawn that forced the organisation to hold the religious function on road.

The organisation was represented by advocates Fuzail Ayyubi and Isha Bhardwaj. -- PTI

Image used along with for representational purposes only.

The Indian high commission has finally issued visas to the Pakistan squash contingent, allowing the team to participate in World Junior Squash Championships to be held in Chennai from July 17 to 29.

Pakistan Squash Federation secretary, Tahir Sultan said the visa for the last player in the contingent had been issued yesterday.

"We have now visas for the entire contingent comprising six players and three officials who will take part in the team and individual championships," he said.

Initially, the Indian igh Commission had returned the passports of the players and officials of PSF without granting them visa.

Sultan claimed that it was after the PSF approached the World Squash Federation and Asian Squash Federation and asked them to cancel the event in India that the matter was resolved.

"We thank the World and Asian bodies for taking up our case and getting the Indian squash body to convince their government to issue us visas in a change of heart," he said.

Sultan said that the World Junior Championship is an international event of the World Squash Federation and it has been given to India to host and there was no justification for keeping Pakistan team out of it.

"We had asked the concerned bodies and affiliated members to intervene and ensure we get the Indian visas or else the World Championship should not be held in India," he said.

The PSF official said Pakistan was a pioneer in squash and had produced several world champions and top players.

"I would think that in India where the sport is becoming popular they would benefit from watching our team play there," he had said. -- PTI

The Amarnath pilgrimage remained suspended from Jammu for the second day today as inclement weather in the valley had left thousands of pilgrims stranded at both Baltal and Pahalgam base camps from where the pilgrims proceed by foot to pay obeisance at 3880-metre high cave shrine.

The Amarnath-bound convoy, which usually leaves Jammu in the early hours, was not allowed for the second day today to avoid overcrowding at the twin base camps in the valley, an official of the Shri Amarnathji Shrine Board, which manages the annual yatra, said.

He said a large number of pilgrims were held up at various camps en route to the cave shrine, including Baltal, Nunwan-Pahalgam, Sheshnag and Panjtarni, because of heavy rains which triggered landslides and shooting of stones along the arduous tracks over the past couple of days.

He said the state Governor N N Vohra, who is also Chairman of the Board, is visiting the camps today to take stock of the situation after cancelling his earlier scheduled visit to Jammu.

The yatra via both, the shortest 12-km Baltal as well as the 36-km traditional Pahalgam, routes remained suspended since Wednesday due to continuous rains and landslides between Railpathri and Brarimarg, leaving thousands of pilgrims stranded in the valley.

However, limited helicopter services functioned from both the routes and so far 68,202 pilgrims had paid obeisance at the the naturally formed 'Shivling' at the cave shrine since the beginning of the 60-day long yatra on June 28, the official said.

The yatra is scheduled to conclude on August 26, which is coinciding with the 'Raksha Bandhan' festival. -- PTI

- There is no dispute that CJI is master of roster and has authority to allocate cases to different benches.

- The CJI occupies role of first among equals and has exclusive duty of allocating cases

- The CJI, being the senior-most judge, is empowered to exercise leadership in administration of court which includes assignment of cases.

- It is the prerogative of the CJI to allocate cases and nominate benches.

- Erosion of judiciary in minds of people is greatest threat to judicial system

- The CJI, being the senior-most judge of SC, is spokesperson and leader of judiciary

- No system is foolproof and there is always scope for improvement in functioning of judiciary.

The Chief Justice is master of roster and has power to allocate cases to different benches, the Supreme Court reiterated today.

This is the third time in eight months that the apex court has reiterated this principle.

The judgment was passed by Justices AK Sikri and Ashok Bhushan in a petition filed by Senior Advocate and former law minister Shanti Bhushan.

Bhushan's petition had called for a panel of senior judges to decide on rostering judges and assigning of cases.

The Attorney General had opposed it, saying it will result in chaos.

In April a three-judge bench headed by the Chief Justice held that the Chief Justice of India was the "master of the roster" who alone has the power to decide on the allocation of cases, virtually setting at rest the controversy raised by four of its next senior-most judges.

"There is no dispute that the Chief Justice is the master of roster and allocates cases to Judges. The constitution is silent on the CJI. Conventions and judgements over the time and accepted by all stake holders CJI is first among the judges. Being the CJI, he is senior most," said the Supreme Court.

10:46 Happy birthday Dalai Lama

Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama today celebrated his 83rd birthday in Ladakh by cutting a cake along with his followers.

10:36 Ex-navy Seal dies in Thai cave rescue

A former Thai navy Seal diver working as part of the effort to rescue a soccer team trapped in a cave died on Friday after running out of oxygen, authorities said.

The diver, identified as Saman Kunont, was coming back from a spot inside the Tham Luang cave where the group were located on Monday when his supplies ran short.

SEAL commander Arpakorn Yookongkaew told a news conference that the rescuer was working in a volunteer capacity and died during an overnight mission in which he was placing oxygen canisters.

He said while underwater, the rescuer passed out and efforts to resuscitate him failed.

"Despite this, we will continue until we accomplish our mission," Arpakorn said.

In northern Thailand, hundreds of international rescue workers have been spending their last waking hours for the past 11 days trying to get a group of 12 boys, ages 11 to 16, and their 25-year-old soccer coach out who have been trapped in a cave after flooding caused by relentless monsoon rains.

On July 2, rescue teams discovered all of the boys and their coach alive and in relatively good health, sheltering deep inside the cave complex.

While the boys have been found, extracting them from the cave still remains a difficult task -- much of the return trip is underwater and even though pumps are lowering the water level, the rainfall is not letting up.

Image: Divers carry equipment as they prepare to go in to Tham Luang cave complex. Photograph: Athit Perawongmetha/Reuters

A sleeper class coach of Madurai Express derailed at Khandala railway station on Mumbai-Pune route in the wee hours today, an official said.

Nobody was injured in the incident, although it led to cancellation of four trains and diversion of another.

"The incident occurred at 2.44 am when seating-cum- luggage rake (SLR) of 11043 LTT-Madurai Express derailed while entering platform no. 1 of Khandala station. Since the train was moving at a very low speed, no passenger was injured," a senior official of the Central Railway said.

Khandala railway station is located 123 kms from Mumbai.

"Soon after the derailment, an accident relief train was pressed into service. The express train resumed its journey around 6 am," he said.

The passengers of the affected coach were shifted to the adjoining coaches and after the train reached Pune, a replacement coach was attached. The train departed from Pune at 8 am, the official added.

"Owing to the derailment, four trains were cancelled today," Sunil Udasi, chief spokesperson of CR said.

The cancelled trains are: 51317/51318 Karjat-Pune-Karjat Passenger, 12127/12128 CSMT-Pune-CSMT Intercity Express, 11010/11009 Pune-CSMT-Pune Sinhagad Express and 12126/12125 Pune-CSMT-Pune Pragati Express, while 11025 Bhusaval-Pune Express has been diverted via Manmad-Daund route, he said in a statement.

The cause of the derailment will be ascertained after an inquiry, the official said. -- PTI

09:56

Police pay tributes to constable Javaid Ahmad, who was kidnapped and killed by terrorists in Shopian, during a wreath laying ceremony.

09:26 SC to resume hearing on Ayodhya case today

The Supreme Court is likely to resume hearing on the contentious Babri Masjid-Ram Temple land dispute case today.

A special bench of Chief Justice Dipak Misra and Justices Ashok Bhushan and S A Nazeer on May 17 had heard submissions on behalf of Hindu groups that had opposed the plea of their Muslim counterparts that the 1994 verdict holding that a mosque was not integral to the prayers offered by the followers of Islam be referred to a larger bench.

M Siddiq, one of the original litigants of the Ayodhya case who has died and is being represented through his legal heir, had assailed certain findings of the 1994 verdict in the case of M Ismail Faruqui holding that a mosque was not integral to the prayers offered by the followers of Islam.

He had told the bench that the observations made in the land acquisition matter pertaining to the Ayodhya site had a bearing on the outcome of the title case.

However, the Hindu groups had said the issue relating to the observations that the mosque was not integral to Islam has already been settled and cannot be reopened.

The special bench of the apex court is seized of a total of 14 appeals filed against the high court judgement delivered in four civil suits.

A three-judge bench of the Allahabad high court, in a 2:1 majority ruling, had in 2010 ordered that the land be partitioned equally among three parties -- the Sunni Waqf Board, the Nirmohi Akhara and Ram Lalla. -- PTI

09:12 Cristiano Ronaldo to join Juventus?

Real Madrid's all-time top-scorer Cristiano Ronaldo is reportedly set to join Italian giants Juventus this summer.

The 13-time and current European champions were expected to hold on to their star striker, with reports suggesting that the 33-year-old Portuguese is close to signing a contract with Juventus and that he has already agreed to a four-year contract worth 30 million euros per season.

Juventus are also yet to negotiate a transfer fee, which will reportedly be in the 100 million euros to 120 million euros range with Madrid, goal.com reported.

The speculations of Ronaldo's Madrid exit ran rife after the third successive Champions League victory over Liverpool in May, where the former Manchester United winger hinted his exit by referring to his time in Santiago Bernebeau in the past tense.

The five-time Ballon d'Or winner also confessed his admiration for the 'Old Lady' after he scored a stunning overhead kick in Madrid's 3-0 victory over Juve in the quarter-finals.

Rumours of the Portugal captain's frustrations in Spain had started doing the rounds after his legal tussle with the Spanish tax authorities, whom he had to pay a sum of 18.8 million euros to settle a tax fraud case. -- ANI

President Donald Trump will meet the US' partner countries on Afghanistan on the sidelines of the NATO Summit in Brussels next week.

The Afghan meeting with partner countries on July 12 is part of Trump's "mission to bring peace to the war-torn country," the senior administration official told reporters during a conference call ahead of the president's trip to Europe next week.

"A new strategy in Afghanistan, asking our allies and partners, of which there are 41, to extend the funding for the security forces and to have a conditions-based operation that will provide that we will stay the course in Afghanistan and help them with training and advising to bring peace and stability to that country, the official said.

"The reason that is so important, of course, is the terrorist networks that have grown in Afghanistan have been exported to many of our countries as we have seen starting with 9/11 in America, but also European terrorists attacks as well, the official added. -- PTI

Police today recovered the body of a policeman who was kidnapped by terrorists from his home in Shopian district of Jammu and Kashmir.

Constable Javaid Ahmad, posted as the personal security officer to Senior Superintendent of Police Shailendra Mishra, was kidnapped by unidentified gunmen from his home at Vehil last night, a police official said.

He was shot in the head, the official said.

Dar was found dead by the roadside at Sehpora in the neighbouring Kulgam district, the official added.

In a separate incident, a civilian was injured when militants opened fire at him in Pulwama district. -- PTI

Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf chief Imran Khan has accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led NDA government in India of adopting an aggressive anti-Pakistan posture. He said that the Indian government had adopted the policy because Prime Minister Modi wants to blame Pakistan for all the barbarism they are doing in Kashmir.

The cricket-turned-politician said that his arch political rival and former Pakistan prime minister Nawaz Sharif made all possible attempts to mend ties with India. Pointing that the former Pakistan PM even went on to invited Prime Minister Modi to his house as a personal gesture, Khan said that Sharif tried his best.

Imran Khan blamed the Bharatiya Janata Party-led government in India for worsening of relationship between the two countries, accusing it of following a policy of trying to isolate Pakistan.

Further talking about the prospects and strategy of his party in the upcoming Pakistan general elections, Imran Khan said that in Pakistan, one needs money and thousands of trained polling agents to win elections.

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