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News

Paul Whelan claims set-up in Russia spy case

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Paul Whelan, the Former US marine, who was accused in Russia for spy works has said he is not a spy and that he was set up by a Russian friend.

Whelan (48), who is also a citizen of the UK, Canada and Ireland has said to the media that a friend had planted a hard drive on him without his knowledge.

Paul Whelan said, “A person turned up at my [hotel] room and put something in my pocket, then I was arrested”.

The Moscow court has denied his appeal against detention. Whelan was caught “red-handed” with state secrets last year, says the prosecutors.

The investigations came to an end now and the lawyers of Whelan have begun studying the evidence. Since this is an espionage case, all the information is classified.

The US ambassador in Moscow asked Russia to stop “playing games” with the case.

Image courtesy: bbc .com / images are subject to copyright

Xavier Bettel
News Politics

Luxembourg prime minister describes Brexit as a ‘nightmare’

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Current Luxembourg prime minister Xavier Bettel reportedly said that the Brexit process has turned into a “nightmare”. The PM’s comment came after holding talks with UK PM Boris Johnson.

Bettel said that the UK PM had failed to take any serious decisions to allow a deal by 31 October.

Boris Johnson is facing a severe protest and was forced to cancel his press conference. He said, “there’s been a lot of work” and “papers have been shared”.

PM said that his joint press conference was cancelled due to the fear that the two leaders would have been “drowned out” by pro-EU protesters.

Mr. Johnson said, “I don’t think it would have been fair to the prime minister of Luxembourg”.

“I think there was clearly going to be a lot of noise and I think our points might have been drowned out”, he added.

Image courtesy: politico .eu / images are subject to copyright

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Music News

Lead singer of ‘The Cars’ – Ric Ocasek, dies aged 75

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Ric Ocasek, the lead singer of the US band The Cars, has died aged 75.

The New York Police Department said that his family had called for help since they found Ocasek unresponsive. He was pronounced dead at his home in Manhattan, said the police. The cause of death is still not known.

Ocasek’s instant success was as a founding member of the Cars, recording numerous hit songs from 1978 to 1988. He played rhythm guitar and sang lead vocals for a majority of songs.

His other hits includes “Drive”, “Good Times Roll” and “My Best Friend’s Girl”.

Seven years after reforming for a tour and what would be their final album, they were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2018.

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News Politics

UK will reject any Brexit delay offer, Boris Johnson to tell Juncker

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UK will not be accepting any more Brexit delay offer, beyond the current 31 October deadline, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson is to tell European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker at talks on Monday.

Since Boris Johnson came into authority as PM, the lunchtime meeting in Luxembourg will be the first time the pair have met.

Reports says that the Prime Minister will stress he wants to secure a deal by 18 October, after a key EU summit.

But, if this is not possible, Mr Johnson will “reject any delay offered” and leave with no deal.

The PM “would make clear that he would not countenance any more delays”, said the source.

Reports said that “Any further extension would be a huge mistake. It is not just a question of the extra dither and delay – it is also the additional long months of rancour and division, and all at huge expense.”

Image courtesy: express .co .uk / images are subject to copyright

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News

The Gold toilet theft: $1M gold toilet stolen from Blenheim Palace

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The gold toilet named ‘America’ has been stolen from Blenheim Palace, while it was on display. This rare art piece by artist Maurizio Cattela, was once offered to President Trump.

The robbery has reportedly been occurred on 14th of September. The theft has been confirmed by the Blenheim Palace in a statement posted on Twitter.

“We are saddened by this extraordinary event, but also relieved no-one was hurt,” said the officials.

“We are grateful to our staff and to Thames Valley Police for their rapid and brave reactions”, they added.

Mr Hare said that the artwork was worth $5m to $6m, and it is still not been found.

In an email to The New York Times , the creator of this art-piece Maurizio Cattela said, “I wish it was a prank”. “At first, when they woke me up this morning with the news, I thought it was a prank: Who’s so stupid to steal a toilet? I had forgotten for a second that it was made out of gold”, he added.

Image courtesy: cnet .com / images are subject to copyright

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Global Climate News

Nearly 1500 killed during heatwaves in France

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The Health Minister of France has said that around 1,435 people have been killed due to the record heatwaves in June and July, this year, in the country.

Agnès Buzyn, while speaking to a French radio said that about half among the died people were aged above 75.

But, she thanked for the preventative measures and said that the rate was 10 times lower than the same period in 2003 when a deadly heatwave hit Europe.

The highest-ever temperature of 46C (114.8F) has been recorded in France, in June. In July, Paris had a high temperature of 42.6C (108.7F).

During France’s first heatwave this year, around 567 people have been dead from 24 June to 7 July, reported the Ministry of Health. Later, from 21 to 27 of July, 868 died in the second heatwave.

Reports said that 10 among them died while at work.

France faced Red alerts, the most severe warning category, during the summer season.

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Health News

Susan Sarandon supports assisted dying

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After taking on the role of a terminally ill woman, Susan Sarandon, the American actress and activist has given her support for assisted dying.

Sarandon’s new movie named ‘Blackbird’, directed and written by Gina Prince-Bythewood sees her play a mother named Lily who gathers her family to tell them of her wish to die.

At the Toronto Film Festival, Sarandon commented about the movie as, “”It’s an individual choice”.

“Everybody has the right to make a decision without your family members being charged with homicide. You should be able to be surrounded by those people”, added the actress.

In US, eight states have legalised the medically assisted suicide. After the legalisation of a new law, Maine is also expected to follow the suit.

Though this issue is slightly controversial, this is being thoroughly discussed in light of the country’s changing demographics.

Sarandon said, “There’s so many baby boomers now, this is something that’s being discussed more in the United States”.

Image courtesy: hollywoodreporter .com / images are subject to copyright

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News

Missing Winter Olympic medallist of Spain found dead

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Spain’s former alpine skier Blanca Fernandez Ochoa (56) found dead after several days of searches involving hundreds of police and volunteers. Her body has been found from a mountainous area near Madrid, by an off-duty officer from the Guardia Civil police force.

Blanca has been missing since 23 August. The cause of her death is still to be found out. Authorities said that they are now investigating the cause of her death.

The National police of Spain has officially announced the death of Blanca on their Twitter and expressed their sympathy.

Blanca marked her name as the the first Spanish woman to win a medal at the Winter Olympics, capturing bronze in France’s Albertville in 1992.

Maria Jose Rienda, Spain’s secretary of state for sports expressed her sorrow saying, “It is a very sad day for Spanish sports”.

As per reports, Blanca’s black Mercedes car on which was last seen driving was located in a town near Madrid. Her family then requested for action and a public appeal had been raised.

Image courtesy: people .com / images are subject to copyright

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International Relations News

The no-deal Brexit bill will ‘will clear Lords’

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The bill will complete its passage through the Lords on Friday, said the government regarding a bill, which is designed to stop a no-deal Brexit.

Before being passed as law, the bill will return to the Commons on Monday for considering any amendments.

On Wednesday, the proposed legislation was passed by MPs, following Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s defeat.

The bill is designed to stop UK falling out of the European Union in a situation where Boris Johnson does not get a Brexit deal or MPs do not back leaving without an agreement in place.

There were claims that the pro-Brexit peers could intentionally hold up the bill so it could not get royal assent before Parliament is prorogued next week.

But, after meeting with Labour, the Conservative chief whip in the Lords announced a breakthrough in the early hours.

Image courtesy: news .sky .com / images are subject to copyright

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International Trade News

Argentina to support economy: Imposes currency controls

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As severe economic crisis arises, Argentina has imposed currency controls, to support economy and to stabilise the markets.

Some temporary measures have been announced on Sunday which allows the government to restrict foreign currency purchases. This causes a sharp drop in the super-sensitive peso.

Central bank permission will be required for the firms for selling pesos to buy foreign currency and to make transfers abroad.

The Central bank and Macri’s government are highly backing confidence in financial markets ahead of the presidential election on October 27.

In order to deal with the economic crisis, Argentina is also trying to postpone debt payments to the IMF (International Monetary Fund).

The government on Sunday said that “a series of extraordinary measures to ensure the normal functioning of the economy, to sustain the level of activity and employment and protect the consumers” was necessary to be adopted.

Image courtesy: irishtimes .com/ / images are subject to copyright