Houston-based Texas India Forum will host a community summit in honour of visiting Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the NRG stadium on September 22.
The NRG stadium, one of America's largest professional football stadiums, is home to the Houston Texans franchise, where the Super Bowl was held in 2017.
The Texas India Forum, a not-for-profit organisation, confirmed that they expect 50,000 people to attend the mega event billed as "Howdy, Modi!", using the full capacity of the stadium in concert configuration.
Over 650 community organisations have already signed up to be "welcome partners" for the programme. Organisers have extended the deadline for welcome partners to sign up until Saturday and they will receive exclusive early access to free passes for their members.
The event will include a cultural programme and an address by Modi.
Well-known Indian community leader in Houston Jugal Malani has been named the convenor of the "Howdy, Modi!" organising committee.
"We are excited .

'Howdy, Modi!' to host 50,000 at Houston's NRG stadium in September

PTI Automatic

France will go ahead with a digital tax, Economy Minister Bruno Le Maire said Friday, shortly after US President Donald Trump threatened "substantial" retaliation over Paris targeting top US tech companies.
"Universal taxation of digital activities is a challenge for us all. We want to reach an agreement within the G7 and the OECD. In the meantime, France will implement its national decisions," Le Maire said in response to Trump's warning.

France will implement digital tax: economy minister

Libya's Red Crescent said Friday its rescue workers had recovered the bodies of 62 migrants a day after one of the deadliest shipwrecks this year in the Mediterranean.
"Our Red Crescent teams have pulled 62 migrants" from the water since Thursday evening, the head of the unit Abdelmoneim Abu Sbeih said.  Aid agencies on Thursday said more than 100 migrants were missing after an overloaded boat sank off the Libyan coast east of the capital near the port city of Khoms.
About 145 migrants were rescued by the Libyan coastguard, and fishermen said the waters were full of floating bodies.
"The bodies are still floating onto the shore continuously, it's not possible to give a total number," Abu Sbeih added.
Local authorities were gathering and storing the bodies until burial places could be found, a municipal source in Khoms said.
The migrants had apparently been headed out to sea on three boats lashed together, according to the charity Doctors Without Borders (MSF).  Survivors had reported .

Bodies of 62 migrants retrieved off Libya coast: Red Crescent

A South African court on Friday approved a five-billion-rand (USD 350-million) settlement agreement in a class action against six gold mining giants brought by thousands of mine workers who caught silicosis.
The agreement covers those who worked for African Rainbow Minerals, Anglo American SA, AngloGold Ashanti, Gold Fields, Harmony and Sibanye Stillwater between March 1965 up to the present.
A Johannesburg court said "all the parties made an effort to ensure that the settlement agreement is reasonable, adequate and fair." "The negotiations yielded the best possible settlement terms that the parties ... could find in the circumstances," it said.
The deal is expected to benefit more than 100,000 former mine workers, who caught the lung disease, or their dependents.
It was a result of years of legal battles after the Constitutional Court in 2011 ruled that mineworkers who had often accepted paltry compensation for their ill-health, could still sue.
Many of those affected were poor ...

S African court okays USD 350-mn settlement for stricken miners

Electronic cigarettes are "undoubtedly harmful" and should be regulated, the WHO said Friday as it warned against the use of vaping products by smokers trying to quit their deadly habit.
The growing popularity of e-cigarettes, battery-powered devices that enable users to inhale addictive nicotine liquids, has raised fears among policymakers worldwide of a new gateway addiction for young people.
While vaping exposes users to lower levels of toxins than smoking, the World Health Organization said the devices still pose "health risks" to users.
"Although the specific level of risk associated with ENDS (electronic nicotine delivery systems) has not yet been conclusively estimated, ENDS are undoubtedly harmful and should therefore be subject to regulation," the WHO said in a new report on the global smoking epidemic.
There was also "insufficient evidence" to support claims of their effectiveness in assisting smokers trying to quit conventional cigarettes, it said.
"In most countries where .

WHO says e-cigarettes 'undoubtedly harmful'

US authorities on Friday approved the $26 billion merger of wireless carriers T-Mobile and Sprint in a deal that brings together the third- and fourth-largest operators in the sector.
The deal calls for Sprint to sell some of its prepaid wireless operations to Dish Network, to allow for a new competitor, as well as the divestment of some spectrum assets.
Makan Delrahim, head of the Justice Department's Antitrust Division, said the agreement "will provide Dish with the assets and transitional services required to become a facilities-based mobile network operator that can provide a full range of mobile wireless services nationwide.

US approves merger of wireless operators T-Mobile, Sprint

India along with other BRICS nations on Friday called on all states to prevent the financing of terrorist networks and terrorist actions from their territories, as they condemned terrorism in all its forms and manifestations.
During the meeting of the BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) Ministers of Foreign Affairs / International Relations in Rio de Janeiro,  the five nations called for for concerted efforts to fight terrorism under UN auspices on a firm international legal basis.
India was represented by Gen (retd) VK Singh, who is the Minister of State for Road Transport and Highways.
The five nations recognised the primary role of states and their competent bodies in preventing and countering terrorism.
The ministers of these countries expressed their conviction that a comprehensive approach is necessary to ensure effective results against terrorism.
The comprehensive approach should include countering radicalisation, recruitment, travel of foreign terrorist ...

BRICS nations ask  all states to prevent terror financing from their territories

A forest fire in northern Israel's Galilee region is threatening a church where Christians believe the transfiguration of Jesus took place, the fire service said Friday.
It said in a statement that the blaze broke out on Thursday and monks were evacuated from the  Basilica of the Transfiguration overnight.  Fanned by strong winds the flames still menaced the church on Friday afternoon, fire service spokesman Dudi Peretz told AFP.
"An additional front of the fire is at the moment advancing  toward the church," he said in Hebrew.
"The fire's centre is far from main roads and the topography of the area and difficulty of access are hindering the work of the firefighting teams." He said that the church itself had so far not been damaged.  Police said that arson was not suspected.
Israel has been gripped by record high temperatures accompanied by drought and strong winds over the past week, with wildfires reported across the country.
The basilica, built in 1924, by the Roman Catholic ...

Forest fire threatens Christian shrine in Israel

US President Donald Trump on Friday asked the World Trade Organisation to define how it designates developing-country status, a move apparently aimed at singling out countries like China, Turkey and India which are getting lenient treatment under global trade rules.
In a memorandum, Trump empowered the US Trade Representative (USTR) to start taking punitive actions if any country, advanced economies, are inappropriately taking benefits of the WTO loopholes.
While Trump did not specifically mention India in the list of countries which according to him are no longer developing nations and over the years have emerged as major economic powers, the presidential memorandum to the USTR is bound to have an impact on some of the benefits that India enjoys from the US under the WTO rules that describes it as a developing country.
Trump said that his memorandum to the USTR would kick off in 90 days.
The USTR shall publish on its website a list of all self-declared developing countries that it ...

Trump asks WTO to reform 'developing' country status

US President Donald Trump on Friday vowed "substantial" retaliation against France for a tax hitting US tech giants, accusing his counterpart Emmanuel Macron of "foolishness" and issuing a veiled threat to impose tariffs on French wine.
"France just put a digital tax on our great American technology companies," Trump tweeted about the law, which is set to affect US giants Google, Apple, Facebook and Amazon.
"If anybody taxes them, it should be their home Country, the USA," he added. "We will announce a substantial reciprocal action on Macron's foolishness shortly." Trump hinted that the threatened countermeasure might hit one of France's export crown jewels -- wine.
"I've always said American wine is better than French wine!" the teetotal president said.
Deputy White House spokesman Judd Deere said Washington was "extremely disappointed by France's decision to adopt a digital services tax at the expense of US companies and workers."
"The Trump administration has consistently stated ...

Trump threatens French wine in digital tax retaliation

A controversy has erupted over Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan's outfit which he wore during his meeting with US President Donald Trump after a luxury designer claimed that it was his creation.
Khan met Trump at the White House wearing a navy blue Shalwar Kameez and his favourite black Peshawari chappal.
His traditional attire during his visit to the White House captured the attention of many and became a talking point on the social media, The Nation reported.
A designer from Islamabad claimed that he had designed Khan's dress for his meeting with the US president.
Later, Special Assistant to the Prime Minister for Overseas Pakistanis Zulfi Bukhari rubbished the claims and said that the First Lady  Bushra Bibi  bought all the clothes and got them stitched from a local tailor.
"The PM has never been interested in designers or worn them, especially for his simple shalwar kameez. The First Lady bought all the cloth and got it stitched from a simple local tailor. Which ever designer is 

Imran Khan's outfit during US trip sparks controversy

American star Caeleb Dressel, swimming's chiselled, tattooed pin-up boy, destroyed Michael Phelps's 100 metres butterfly world record Friday as countrywoman Simone Manuel retained her 100m freestyle world title.
Reigning champ Dressel clenched a fist in the direction of flag-waving American fans after clocking an astonishing 49.50 seconds in Gwangju to eclipse the American legend's old bodysuit mark by 0.32 and rob him of a second world record in 48 hours.
Dressel's fireworks were matched in the next event when American teenager Smith crushed the women's 200m backstroke world record, before Russian Anton Chupkov emulated them as he stormed to gold in the 200m breaststroke.
But Dressel, who has already won three gold medals this week, remains the hottest ticket in South Korea.
"It can be a scary thought," said Dressel, who looks on course to match or even surpass the seven golds he scooped at the 2017 world championships in Budapest.
"I woke up today and I wanted to do it," added the ..

Hot ticket: Dressel sparks record-breaking night at world swim

Britain drew the ire of Russia on Friday after it fined the Kremlin-backed broadcaster RT ?200,000 for "serious" bias in its coverage of last year's Salisbury nerve agent poisoning and the Syria conflict.
The Russian foreign ministry called it an "act of censorship" and warned British media operating in Moscow "to face the consequences".
RT had earlier denounced the penalty as "astonishing".
The international TV channel is already seeking a judicial review against the investigation at London's High Court.
The broadcaster rejects accusations of being a Russian state propaganda channel and says it presents an alternative -- and independent -- take on world news.
Britain's Ofcom media regulator said Friday that RT failed to follow UK impartiality laws in seven news and current affair programmes that aired between March 17 and April 26 of 2018.
The ?200,000 (USD 250,000, 225,000 euro) fine was levied on RT's parent company TV-Novosti -- a non-profit organisation founded by Russia's RIA ...

Britain draws Russia's fury by fining RT for bias over Skripal

The International Monetary Fund plans to select a new leader to replace Christine Lagarde at the global crisis lender by October 4, the IMF board announced Friday.
That would mean a new managing director will be in place in time for the IMF annual meeting in mid-October.
Lagarde resigned her post effective September 12 as she awaits final word on her nomination to the presidency of the European Central Bank.
The IMF board confirmed a commitment to "an open, merit-based, and transparent process for the selection of the next Managing Director," the institution is widely expected to continue the 75-year tradition of picking a European to lead the fund, while an American has always led the IMF's sister institution, the World Bank.
Any of the fund's 189 members can nominate a candidate from July 29 to September 6, after which the board will announce its shortlist of up to three names, the IMF said in a statement.
EU leaders early this month picked Lagarde to succeed ECB chief Mario Draghi, 

IMF aims to select new leader by Oct 4

A Sri Lankan investigation into nearly 3,000 tonnes of illegally imported hazardous waste has shown that some of it was sent on to India and Dubai, a top minister said Friday.
Finance Minister Mangala Samaraweera told parliament the importer of the waste had reshipped about 180 tonnes of raw garbage to India and Dubai in 2017 and 2018.
Sri Lanka's customs department found that a local company imported 241 containers from Britain, out of which 15 had been sent to India and two to Dubai.
Sri Lankan customs insist the British authorities should not have allowed the export without first clearing with Sri Lankan authorities if they were willing to accept the untreated waste.
The customs service said the consignment was believed to contain mortuary waste among other garbage which included large quantities of plastic.
"We have ordered the importer and shipping agent to take immediate steps to return the containers to its origin (Britain)," the minister said.
"I have also ordered that all ...

Sri Lanka says illegal UK waste offloaded to India, Dubai

South African President Cyril Ramaphosa said Friday he had met members of an Indian-born business family at the heart of a giant corruption scandal but "nothing of consequence" was discussed.
In an affidavit submitted to a judicial inquiry probing a web of dodgy deals between government officials including Ramaphosa's predecessor Jacob Zuma, the Gupta business family and state-owned companies, Ramaphosa said his meetings with them were largely perfunctory.
The Gupta brothers -- Ajay, Atul and Rajesh -- are accused of fraudulently profiting from government contracts including energy and transport deals through their close association with Zuma.
"I have met two of the brothers on three or four occasions," Ramaphosa said.
"My interactions with the Gupta brothers were at events where nothing of any consequence was discussed. I never engaged with them beyond basic greets, pleasantries and common courtesies," he said.
Ramaphosa said the only time he discussed anything of substance with them 

S African leader defends meetings with controversial tycoons

Iran test-launched a medium-range ballistic missile inside its borders, US officials said Friday, defying Trump administration demands that it curtail the weapon program and demonstrating its intent to further push back against US sanctions.
The test came amid heightened tensions between Iran and the West, mainly regarding the safety of commercial shipping in the Persian Gulf and the Strait of Hormuz.
Iran has responded to stepped-up US economic sanctions with a variety of military moves, and the Shahab-3 missile test launch could be considered another signal from Tehran that it will not back down.
The US officials who confirmed the missile launch spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive information.
The White House said in a brief statement that it was aware of reports of a projectile launched in Iran, but White House officials declined to comment further.
Tensions have mounted with Iran over a 2015 nuclear accord it reached with world powers.
The deal eased sanctions in .

US officials: Iran test-launched a medium-range missile

A man who falsely accused British establishment figures of involvement in a murderous VIP paedophile ring, triggering a huge police investigation, was jailed Friday for 18 years.
Carl Beech, 51, claimed that he had been sadistically raped and abused by several famous figures in the 1970s and 1980s, including former prime minister Edward Heath.
The explosive allegations gripped British newspapers, politicians and the police.
But his claims, which led to a 2 million pounds (USD 2.5 million, 2.2 million euro) police probe, were completely fabricated.
Beech, a former children's charity worker and nurse, was jailed on 12 counts of perverting the course of justice, one of fraud, and also voyeurism and possession of indecent images.
Beech claimed three children had been murdered by the group and said his abusers included the disgraced late television presenter Jimmy Savile and the heads of the British intelligence services.
Judge James Goss told Beech: he had "deliberately, repeatedly and ...

Briton behind VIP child sex abuse claims jailed

Priti Patel, Britain's first Indian-origin Home Secretary, began her new job on Friday by putting into action the new Prime Minister Boris Johnson's pledge to recruit 20,000 additional police officers on the streets of the country.
Johnson had made this a central promise in his very first speech on the steps of Downing Street earlier this week, just hours before he charged Patel with the new security brief.
"As I said on the steps of Downing Street this week, my job as Prime Minister is to make our streets safer," said Johnson in a Downing Street statement on Friday.
"People want to see more officers in their neighbourhoods, protecting the public and cutting crime. I promised 20,000 extra officers and that recruitment will now start in earnest," he said.
The new prime minister says he wants that recruitment completed over the next three years, with Patel set to chair a new national policing board to oversee the process.
"The rise we've seen in serious violence is deeply worrying. An ..

Priti Patel begins UK top job with focus on police numbers

President Donald Trump said Friday that Apple would face tariffs for components of its Mac Pro computers which are expected to be manufactured in China.
Trump's comments came after reports the US tech giant was seeking an exemption from tariffs for the high-end computer, which in the past had been made in the United States.
Apple is reportedly now shifting production to China.
"Apple will not be given Tariff wavers, or relief, for Mac Pro parts that are made in China. Make them in the USA, no Tariffs!" Trump said on Twitter.
The move comes amid growing trade frictions between the two economic powers.
Trump has threatened to slap punitive tariffs on more goods to press Beijing to accept more imports.
According to reports, Apple has chosen a Taiwanese contractor, Quanta Computer Inc., to manufacture the $6,000 desktop computer near Shanghai.

Apple won't get tariff waivers for certain China imports: Trump

At least 25 people died when a land dispute in Myanmar turned violent this week, a regional MP said Friday, as details were still emerging days after the brawl.
It is unclear what sparked the July 23 clash in central Magway region and whether all the deaths were from fighting or the sinking of a boat full of people fleeing the violence.
But Magway region lawmaker Tint Lwin said 25 bodies had been found and 13 people were still missing, adding that authorities had been hauling corpses out of the Irrawaddy River for the last two days.
"There was a serious fight," he told AFP.
"I've never had this kind of experience before."
Hundreds of villagers were involved in the clashes but no one has been arrested yet as authorities carry out post mortems and try to determine what happened, he said.
The central region is about 12 hours north of the commercial capital Yangon.
State-backed Global New Light of Myanmar said a boat capsized as villagers along the river tried to leave, while survivors ...

Page 2298 -