The US blocked more than USD 46 million in funds of designated terrorist groups, including Pakistan-based outfits, until the last year as part of its crackdown on foreign terrorist organisations and individuals, according to an annual report.
The report released by the US Department of Treasury states the US blocked nearly USD 400,000 in funds of the Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) and USD 1,725 of the Jaish-e Mohammed.
The Department of Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) is the leading US Government agency responsible for implementing sanctions against the assets of international terrorist organisations and terrorism-supporting countries.
The federal body implements these sanctions as part of its general mission to administer and enforce economic and trade sanctions based on US foreign policy and national security goals.
According to the report, till 2018, the US blocked more than USD 46.1 million in funds of designated terrorist groups and individuals, an increase of about USD 

US blocks over USD 46 mn in funds of terrorist groups: report

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Children who are teased for their weight are likely to gain more body mass, according to a study which contradicts the belief that such ridicule may motivate youth to attempt to shed a few kilos.
The study, by researchers from the Uniformed Services University in the US, involved 110 youth who were an average of 11.8 years of age when they enrolled.
The participants were either overweight when they began the study or had two parents who were overweight or obese.
At enrollment, they completed a six-item questionnaire on whether they had been teased about their weight. They then participated in annual follow-up visits for the next 15 years.
The study, published in the journal Pediatric Obesity, shows that youth experiencing high levels of teasing gained an average of 0.20 kg per year more than those who did not.
Researchers theorise that weight-associated stigma may have made youths more likely to engage in unhealthy behaviours, such as binge eating and avoiding exercise.
Another ...

Being teased about weight makes children gain more kilos: Study

US Assistant Secretary of State for Political-Military Affairs Clarke Cooper will visit New Delhi next week for talks on bolstering bilateral defense ties, including on maritime security, and supporting India's role as a "Major Defense Partner".
Cooper will travel to Singapore, India and Sri Lanka from May 29 to June 7, the State Department announced on Wednesday.
Cooper could be the senior-most American official to visit New Delhi after the new Indian government led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi assumed charge on Thursday.
In New Delhi, after attending the Shangri-La Dialogue from May 31 to June 2, Cooper will hold talks on defence cooperation and peacekeeping, two key areas of the rapidly growing US-India partnership as envisioned in the Trump administration's Indo-Pacific Strategy.
"US-India bilateral defense trade has risen from virtually zero in 2008 to USD 15 billion today. Talks will focus on supporting India's role as a Major Defense Partner, expanding our security ...

Senior US diplomat to visit to India for talks on defence cooperation

Scientists are getting closer to perfecting molecule-sized motors that drill through the surface of cancer cells, killing them in an instant without damaging the healthy tissue.
The researchers at Rice University and North Carolina State University in the US successfully activated the motors with precise two-photon excitation via near-infrared light.
Unlike the ultraviolet light they first used to drive the motors, the new technique, described in the journal ACS Nano, does not damage adjacent, healthy cells.
In 2017, the same team reported the development of molecular motors enhanced with small proteins that target specific cancer cells.
Once in place and activated with light, the paddle-like motors spin up to three million times a second, allowing the molecules to drill through the cells' protective membranes and killing them in minutes.
Since then, researchers have worked on a way to eliminate the use of damaging ultraviolet light.
In two-photon absorption, a phenomenon predicted in 

Better cancer-killing drill developed

Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad on Thursday called for talks to resolve the ongoing trade dispute between Washington and Beijing and urged the world to accept China's technological prowess.
The US cannot expect to always be at the top in technology, and countries need to talk to deal with a powerful China, Mahathir said at a conference in Tokyo.
He also appeared to side with Chinese telecom giant Huawei, which the US has put on a blacklist.
"We try to make use of their technology as much as possible," Mahathir told the Future of Asia conference, noting that Huawei has achieved a "tremendous advance over American technology."
"We have to accept that the US cannot forever be the supreme nation in the world that can have the best technology in the world," he said.
For months, the world's two biggest economies have been locked in a standoff over trade balances and technology, including allegations that China uses unfair tactics, such as stealing trade secrets.
The Trump ...

Mahathir urges US to talk with China, accept its greatness

British car output almost halved in April as factories imposed shutdowns in the face of Brexit uncertainty and other sector-wide headwinds, industry data showed Thursday.
The nation's car production nosedived 44.5 per cent from the same month last year to 70,971 vehicles, according to the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT).
April was the eleventh successive monthly decline amid softening demand for cars in major international markets, in particular for high-polluting diesel vehicles in Europe.
Carmakers also idled their factories to avoid any possible disruption in supplies if Britain had indeed left the European Union, although the April Brexit deadline has now slipped to October.
The SMMT described the performance as "dismal" and added that the shutdowns were just part of the sector's ongoing Brexit contingency plans.
Britain is now due to leave the European Union on October 31 after two delays this year triggered by MPs rejecting the divorce deal British Prime ...

UK car output crashes on Brexit-induced shutdowns

A UK court hearing the extradition case of fugitive diamond merchant Nirav Modi on Thursday fixed his next remand hearing for June 27 and directed the Indian government to confirm within 14 days which prison he is to be held in if he were to be extradited to India.
Modi, wanted in India to face charges of fraud and money laundering amounting to nearly USD 2-billion in the Punjab National Bank (PNB) case, was produced in the dock at Westminster Magistrates Court before Chief Magistrate Emma Arbuthnot for his first case management hearing Thursday.
The 48-year-old, dressed in a blue shirt and black trousers, took notes as the judge fixed his next remand hearing via videolink for June 27 and set a 14-day deadline for the Indian authorities to confirm the prison plans in India.
"There is no reason why it should not be answered within 14 days, Judge Arbuthnot said, adding that Arthur Road Jail would be the obvious candidate.
Arbuthnot, who ordered the extradition of liquor tycoon Vijay ...

Nirav Modi: UK court asks for confirmation of prison cell in India

The world's tiniest baby ever to survive, weighing just 245 grams, as light as an Apple, has been discharged after five months, according to a hospital in the US.
Baby Saybie was born at 23 weeks and three days last December at Sharp Mary Birch Hospital for Women and Newborns in San Diego, CNN reported.
Doctors told Saybie's parents she had just hours to live. But five months on, she was discharged weighing a healthy 2.5 kilograms, confounding all expectations, the report added.
A nurse who cared for Saybie as she battled for survival said her recovery and release earlier this month was a "miracle".
Her mother was experiencing complications and underwent an emergency cesarean section after doctors discovered the baby was not gaining weight and the mother's life was thought to be at risk, the report added.
"It was the scariest day of my life," said Saybie's mother in a video released by the hospital. "I just felt very uncomfortable, and I thought, maybe this was part of the ...

'World's smallest' surviving premature baby released from US hospital

A 30-year old HIV positive Pakistani woman was killed by her husband in Sindh province after she objected to his decision to marry again, police said.
The incident happened in a village near Larkana district on Wednesday when the husband of Kareema Rind insisted for a second marriage after she was recently tested HIV positive during a blood test.
The HIV positive woman who had five children refused to allow the second marriage and her husband, Bahadur Rind with the help of his brothers strangled the woman and hanged her from the tree in the village, Faheem Tunio, a police officer, said.
The body was handed over to relatives after post-mortem examination, the Dawn newspaper reported.
The police registered an FIR against Bahadur, his brother Darya Khan Rind and relative Johar Rind on the complaint of Akbar Rind, brother of the deceased, the paper reported.
Nearly 700 HIV positive cases have been identified among the 21,375 tested in Larkana within the last few weeks,  and out of the ...

HIV positive Pak woman murdered by husband after objecting to his second marriage decision

Pakistan on Thursday claimed the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) has expressed "deep concern" on the Kashmir situation and called for its peaceful resolution.
The IOC is an international organisation consisting of 57 member states, with 53 countries being Muslim-majority nations.
In a meeting of the OIC Contact Group on Jammu and Kashmir held in Jeddah on Wednesday on the sidelines of the 14th Islamic Summit, the Secretary General of the grouping "expressed deep concern" over the situation in Jammu and Kashmir, the Pakistan Foreign Office said here.
He also urged the government of India "for a peaceful settlement of the dispute, in accordance with the wishes of the Kashmiri people and the UN Security Council Resolutions", it said.
New Delhi has always maintained that Jammu and Kashmir is an integral part of India and the matter is strictly internal to the country.

OIC calls for peaceful resolution of Kashmir issue, claims Pakistan

A missing Indian man, who was presumed dead by his family back home, is in jail in Abu Dhabi for overstaying his one-month visa during his visit to the Gulf nation, according to a media report.
Wasi Ahmad, who belongs to Rampur district of Uttar Pradesh,  came to Dubai on a one-month tourist visa through an agent in India on February 9. The agent promised to provide him with an employment visa as soon as he reached and charged him Rs 80,000. Ahmad did not receive any employment visa but got a job after illegally staying for two months in the country.
He (Wasi Ahmad) is currently in jail for overstaying. In such cases we refer the case to the police who send them to jail. Once all legal formalities are complete, we inform authorities and issue an air ticket, Pooja Vernekar, First Secretary at the Head of Community Affairs of the Indian Embassy, was quoted as saying by the Gulf News on Tuesday.
She said that he was being provided consular and financial assistance.
Once he is ...

Missing 'presumed dead' Indian in UAE jail

Astronomers say they have discovered a rogue exoplanet with its own atmosphere in the Neptunian Desert.
NGTS-4b, nick-named 'The Forbidden Planet' is smaller than Neptune but three times the size of Earth, said researchers led by the University of Warwick in the UK.
The exoplanet, described in the journal Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, has a mass of 20 Earth masses, a radius 20 per cent smaller than Neptune, and temperature of 1000 degrees Celsius.
It orbits around the star in only 1.3 days -- the equivalent of Earth's orbit around the Sun of one year.
It is the first exoplanet of its kind to have been found in the Neptunian Desert, researchers said.
The Neptunian Desert is the region close to stars where no Neptune-sized planets are found, they said.
This area receives strong irradiation from the star, meaning the planets do not retain their gaseous atmosphere as they evaporate leaving just a rocky core.
However NGTS-4b still has its atmosphere of gas.
When ...

'Forbidden' planet discovered in Neptunian Desert

WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange has missed a court session, apparently due to health problems.
Assange had been expected to appear from prison via video link at a brief extradition hearing Thursday at Westminster Magistrates' Court.
He is in Belmarsh prison serving time for jumping bail in Britain while fighting extradition to the United States, which accuses him of violating the Espionage Act by publishing secret documents containing the names of confidential military and diplomatic sources.
Sweden also seeks him for question about an alleged rape.
Judge Emma Arbuthnot said a more substantive extradition hearing set for June 12 may be moved to a court next to Belmarsh prison for convenience.
WikiLeaks says it has "grave concerns" about Assange's health. The anti-secrecy group says he has been moved to the prison health ward.

WikiLeaks says Assange is ill; he misses brief court hearing

Singapore-based DBS Group expects the Reserve Bank of India's (RBI) rate-setting panel to make a 25-bp cut in the repo rate at the June 6 meeting, taking the total cut to 75 basis points (bps) for this year.
"The RBI policy committee will decide on rates on 6 June. We look for a 25-bp cut in the repo rate to 5.75 per cent, taking cumulative cuts in 2019 to 75 bps," said Radhika Rao, economist at the DBS Group Research in its report on Thursday.
She said while rates have plateaued, odds for policy rates to fall by another 25-50 bp are rising. "The fluid global environment is a wildcard in this context, particularly as a sharp decline in G3 bond yields and an inversion in the US bond yield curve has revived global growth fears," Rao added in the report.
Any resultant impact on the Indian rupee and markets will leave the RBI on a cautious footing, she said.
Apart from rates, markets are also keen to watch for any tweaks in the liquidity framework from the current stance of 'neutral' to ..

DBS expects RBI to cut 25 bps at June 6 meet

China accused the United States of "naked economic terrorism" on Thursday as Beijing ramps up the rhetoric in their trade war.
The world's top two economies are at loggerheads as trade talks have apparently stalled, with US President Donald Trump hiking tariffs on USD200 billion in Chinese goods earlier this month and blacklisting telecoms giant Huawei.
"We are against the trade war, but we are not afraid of it," vice foreign minister Zhang Hanhui said at a press briefing to preview President Xi Jinping's trip to Russia next week.
"This premeditated instigation of a trade conflict is naked economic terrorism, economic chauvinism, and economic bullying," Zhang said, stressing that China opposes the systematic use of sanctions, tariffs and protectionism.
"There is no winner in a trade war," he warned.
China has hit back with its own tariff increase on USD60 billion in US products that will take effect Saturday, while state media has suggested that Beijing could stop exports of rare ...

China accuses US of 'naked economic terrorism'

The holy city of Mecca prepared to welcome Arab and Muslim leaders Thursday for three summits, as Saudi Arabia seeks to rally support against arch-rival Iran over attacks on oil installations.
On the eve of the talks, Riyadh blasted what it called Iranian "interference" in the region and demanded "firmness" over attacks on Gulf oil tankers and pipelines.
The call came just hours after US National Security Advisor John Bolton said Iran was almost certainly behind the sabotage of four ships, including two Saudi oil tankers, off the UAE coast.
Iran-aligned Yemeni rebels meanwhile have stepped up drone attacks on the kingdom -- one of which resulted in the temporary shutdown of a major oil pipeline.
Saudi Arabia, a staunch US ally, was getting ready to welcome leaders from across the Arab and Muslim world for emergency Gulf and Arab summits and a meeting of the heads of state of Islamic nations.
Riyadh called the talks to discuss the standoff with Iran and ways to isolate Tehran amid ...

Mecca to host three summits focused on Iran tensions

Japanese automaker Toyota said Thursday it will open its first vehicle production plant in Myanmar, as the country's auto market grows and the government raises import barriers.
The firm said it plans to locally produce the Hilux model at the new plant from February 2021 and would invest USD 52.6 million in the factory in a special economic zone outside Yangon.
The plant's output will be relatively modest, with plans to build 2,500 Hilux vehicles a year.
But the announcement follows the lead of other carmakers who have established local factories, including Suzuki, Nissan and Ford.
The government introduced auto import restrictions in 2017, and a fall in prices has seen the auto market grow, with many new vehicles built locally.
The Automotive Association of Myanmar said the Toyota announced was a "surprise," but welcome news.
The brand is already popular in the country, though most of its cars on the road are second-hand models.
Toyota says demand for new cases is on the rise though, 

Toyota announces first plant in Myanmar

When a doctored video of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi  one altered to show the Democratic leader slurring her words  began making the rounds on Facebook last week, the social network didn't take it down.
Instead, it "downranked" the video, a behind-the-scenes move intended to limit its spread.
That outraged some people who believe Facebook should do more to clamp down on misinformation.
Pelosi derided Facebook Wednesday for not taking down the video even though it knows it is false.
But the company and some civil libertarians warn that Facebook could evolve into an unaccountable censor if it's forced to make judgment calls on the veracity of text, photos or videos.
Facebook has long resisted making declarations about the truthfulness of posts that could open it up to charges of censorship or political bias.
It manages to get itself in enough trouble simply trying to enforce more basic rules in difficult cases, such as the time a straightforward application of its ban on nudity led it to 

Facebook isn't deleting the fake Pelosi video. Should it?

Britain has received 750,000 applications from EU citizens seeking to settle in the UK in the first four months of 2019, with Poles leading the way, official data showed Thursday.
The government's scheme for offering an estimated 3.8 million EU nationals the right to live permanently in Britain after Brexit has been riddled with controversy.
Responding to a public outcry, Prime Minister Theresa May in January scrapped a 65 (USD 82, 74-euro) fee that would have been imposed had a so-called "no-deal Brexit" gone into effect.
The programme's status has been weighed further by uncertainties over when -- or even if -- Britain pulls out of the EU.
The UK interior ministry said 103,0000 Polish citizens had applied for permanent residence in the first four months of the year.
Romanians filed 90,000 applications and Italians 71,000, the figures showed. Portugal and Spain rounded out the top five.
The scheme is being overseen by Home Secretary Sajid Javid, who is one of 11 declared candidates ..

Over 750,000 EU nationals seek UK residence for Brexit

A Vietnamese music teacher has been arrested for posting material on Facebook "aimed at undermining" the state, his family and official media said Thursday in the communist country where a crackdown against online critics has gathered pace.
Activists, rights lawyers and bloggers have long been targeted in the one-party state where independent media and public protests are banned, with critics increasingly moving onto social media to voice discontent.
Amnesty International says there are currently 128 prisoners of conscience behind bars in Vietnam. About 10 percent of them were jailed for online commentary on platforms like Facebook.
Nguyen Nang Tinh was arrested for "producing, disseminating or spreading information and documents aimed at undermining" Vietnam, according to the official police newspaper in central Nghe An province where he was detained.
His father said Tinh was bundled into a car by police after taking his two young sons for breakfast on Wednesday morning.
"Police ...

Vietnam teacher arrested for Facebook posts 'undermining state'

At least six people were killed and six more wounded in a suicide blast outside a military academy in the Afghan capital on Thursday, an official said.
The attack outside the Marshal Fahim National Defense University in western Kabul took place at the road entrance to the war college.
Kabul police spokesman Firdaws Faramarz said the suicide bomber had been on foot. He blew himself up when a soldier challenged him.
"Based on initial information, six people killed, six wounded, police have reached the scene," Faramarz said.
The attacker "detonated himself before reaching his target", Faramarz added, without providing further details.
The attack happened around noon (0730 GMT), a time when students typically leave school early during the month of Ramadan.
No group immediately claimed responsibility.
Police and security forces in and around Kabul have come under frequent attack in recent weeks, even as the US and the Taliban have held talks about a possible peace agreement.
Opened in 2005 

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