ROW OVER RAIL PROJECT: TRUMP TELLS CALIFORNIA TO RETURN $2.5 BILLION
SACRAMENTO: The Trump administration has said that it plans to cancel $929 million awarded to California’s high-speed rail project and wants the state to return an additional $2.5 billion that it has already spent. The US department of transportation announcement follows through on President Donald Trump’s threats to claw back $3.5 billion that the government gave to California to build a bullet train between Los Angeles and San Francisco. Governor Gavin Newsom vowed a fight to keep the money and said the move was in response to California again suing the administration, this time over Trump’s national emergency declaration to pay for a wall along the Us-mexico border.
US student in ‘racist video’ sues paper for defamation
WASHINGTON: A high school student from Kentucky has sued The Washington Post for defamation, claiming the newspaper falsely accused him of racist acts and instigating a confrontation with a Native American activist in a January videotaped incident at the Lincoln Memorial. Nicholas Sandmann, 16, is seeking $250 million in damages in the lawsuit filed in US district court in Kentucky on Tuesday. REUTERS
Partner of Serbia’s gay PM gives birth to baby boy
BELGRADE: Serbian PM Ana Brnabic’s partner gave a birth to a baby boy on Wednesday, marking a historic event although the conservative country does not legally recognise same-sex marriages or partnerships. “Ana Brnabic is one of the first PMS whose partner has given birth while in office,” her media office said. The boy was named Igor. Brnabic, 43, became one of the few openly gay leaders when she came to power in June 2017.
Party wants govt to declare Nepal a Hindu nation
KATHMANDU: Rastriya Prajatantra Party, a right-wing political outfit in Nepal, has demanded the K P Oli government to declare the country as a Hindu state by revoking the provision of secularism from its statute.
Russian Parliament bans smartphones for soldiers
AP MOSCOW: The Russian Parliament on Wednesday voted to ban the country’s soldiers from using smartphones while on duty due to national security concerns, the BBC reported. The new bill forbids soldiers from using phones that come with the ability to take photos and videos, and use the internet. The new move also bans Russian soldiers from writing about the military or talking to the media, according to the news report. AGENCIES
Egypt executes nine over assassination of prosecutor
CAIRO: Egypt on Wednesday executed nine suspected Muslim Brotherhood members convicted of involvement in the 2015 assassination of the country’s top prosecutor. The nine were found guilty of taking part in the bombing that killed Hisham Barakat, the first assassination of a senior official in Egypt in a quarter century.
AP
Six charred to death in karaoke bar fire in Malaysia
IPOH: Six people, including three foreigners, were killed in a fire on Wednesday in a karaoke centre in Ipoh, with rescuers describing scenes of chaos as the blaze engulfed the building. The fire erupted before dawn on the fourth floor of an eight-storey building.