Posts published in “International,Business,Diplomacy”

Washington, July 8 (IANS) A US service member has been killed and two others injured in what appears to be an insider attack in Afghanistan, NATO said.
The attack took place in southern Afghanistan on Saturday, a statement from the NATO-led Resolute Support mission said, BBC reported.
It was not immediately clear who carried out the attack, or whether they had been apprehended.
However, the statement said it was "an apparent insider attack".
The two wounded service members are in a "stable" condition, NATO said, adding it would not be releasing any further details until next-of-kin had been informed.
But a police officer said the shooting happened at the airport in Tarinkot, the capital of Uruzgan province - although they were unable to confirm this detail with any NATO officials.
The Taliban have also released a statement, saying an Afghan soldier opened fire on US soldiers in Uruzgan.
The attack comes a year after three US special forces soldiers were shot dead by one of their Afghan colleagues. It was claimed by the Taliban.
However, these kind of attacks -- where local troops turn on international forces and often referred to as "green on blue" incidents -- are not necessarily the work of militants infiltrating the security forces.
Cultural misunderstandings and combat stress have also been named as the cause in previous attacks.
The US still has an estimated 14,000 troops in the country helping support the Afghan military, despite NATO's combat mission in Afghanistan officially ended in 2014.
--IANS<br>pgh/

Mumbai, July 8 (IANS) The shooting of Jeetu Joseph's film "Body", featuring Emraan Hashmi and Rishi Kapoor, has been wrapped up.
The film also features Sobhita Dhulipala and Vedhika. Its shooting was wrapped after they shot a 45-day schedule in parts of Mumbai and Mauritius, read a statement.
"Body" marks the directorial debut of Joseph, who directed Malayalam film "Drishyam".
It is produced by Sunir Kheterpal for Azure Entertainment and Viacom18 Motion Pictures.The post-production of the film will begin next month.
--IANS<br>rb/pgh/<br>

London, July 8 (IANS) Critics of a so-called soft Brexit have given their reactions to British Prime Minister Theresa May's proposals for a future trade deal with the European Union after Britain leaves the bloc next year.
May's senior ministers, summoned to her country retreat at Chequers, all backed the soft-Brexit plan she aims to send to Brussels for EU approval. Brexit-supporting Conservative MPs were quick to voice their concerns on Saturday, Xinhua news agency reported.

Jacob Rees-Mogg, who is leader of the influential European Research Group of pro-Brexit Conservatives, told the BBC early morning Today programme: "It is possible that this deal is worse than a no deal Brexit."

Rees-Mogg, once spoken of as a successor to May as Prime Minister, said he was waiting to see the full details of the proposals, adding: "If it turns out that it is a punishment Brexit, that it is keeping us in the European Union in all but name, I will stick to the Conservative party's manifesto commitments and will not vote for it."

Media reports on Saturday said May had told her cabinet ministers they were now have to adhere to the convention of cabinet responsibility. This would prevent any of them from speaking against the proposals agreed at her Chequers meeting.

It was also seen, according to the media, as a stark warning to Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson that he would lose his job is he makes any outspoken comments.

John Longworth, one-time director general of the British Chambers of Commerce and co-chairman of the pro-Brexit group Leave Means Leave, pulled no punches with his message, saying: "Those who campaigned for Leave but have not resigned will see their reputations in tatters."

Writing in the Daily Telegraph, Longworth accused May of totally misleading the 17.4 million British people who voted leave, "and left it as late as possible to reveal that she remains a stubborn Remainer".

"We are faced with becoming a vassal state of the EU, they have us exactly where they want us - unable to compete, taking enormous quantities of their products at inflated prices, protected from global competition by the fortress Europe tariff and regulatory wall and impeded from doing trade deals around the globe," added Longworth.

Elsewhere there was a sigh of relief that the government finally had a proposed deal to present to Brussels.

Conservative MP Andrea Leadsom, who is Leader of the House of Commons, said on her social media site: "As a passionate Brexiteer with huge optimism about future as a free trading nation, I agree with the PM (May) that keeping the UK together is vital. Alignment on goods, with Parliament sovereign on each decision, free to trade, no more vast payments, ending free movement - good for UK."

--IANS
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Los Angeles, July 8 (IANS) Rapper Nicki Minaj has teamed up with singer Ariana Grande for a new music video "Bed", which shows her dressed as a mermaid.
In the clip, Minaj writhes on the beach as a topless mermaid and showcases a skimpy swimsuit in a private swimming pool and sexy lingerie on a bed, while Grande dances seductively in white fuzzy lingerie on a grassy hill by the sea, reports eonline.com.
They then unite together on rocks by the ocean, wearing bikinis and short cover-ups and join two men, played by Odell Beckham Jr and Brad Wing, on daybeds.
The single "Bed" was released in June.
Minaj and Grande have had several music collaborations in the past.
--IANS<br>rb/pgh/<br>

Tehran, July 8 (IANS) Iran has executed eight persons linked with the Islamic States (IS) attacks in the capital city of Tehran last year, the media reported.<br> <br>"The death penalty for the eight terrorists was carried out according to legal and religious principles because of their involvement in attacks on the Mausoleum of Imam Khomeini and the Iranian parliament on June 7, 2017," Tehran Prosecutor's Office said in a statement, IRNA news agency reported.<br> <br>Those executed collaborated directly with the key elements who killed and injured innocent civilians during the terrorist attacks, the statement read on Saturday, Xinhua news agency reported.<br> <br>"They also provided arms and financial support to terrorists," it added.<br> <br>In the 2017 IS twin attacks, 17 civilians were killed and six IS militants shot dead.
--IANS<br>pgh/

Tehran, July 8 (IANS) Iran's Petroleum Minister said US President Donald Trump has recently made "interfering" remarks on the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC).
"Political issues should not interfere in the crude market, and supply and demand should determine the final oil price," Bijan Namdar Zanganeh said, Press TV reported on Saturday.

"But some political measures and instabilities spark concerns in the oil market and increase its price, including Trump's insulting order to some OPEC members," Zanganeh said.

Trump's order for oil producing countries to raise output "is very insulting to the people of these countries and would undermine their national sovereignty and destabilize the oil market," he said.

On June 30, Trump said Saudi Arabia had pledged to increase its oil output by two million barrels per day "to compensate for falling output in Venezuela and Iran", Xinhua news agency reported.

On Wednesday, Trump said OPEC is "driving oil prices higher", urging the cartel to reduce the price at the soonest.

Zanganeh said Trump's anti-OPEC remarks are the causes of the increase in the prices in the oil market over the past days.

Hossein Kazempour Ardebili, Iran's ambassador to the OPEC, said the strong rhetoric by Trump against OPEC and oil producers could soon push up crude prices to as high as $100 per barrel.

--IANS
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Kazan (Russia), July 8 (IANS) Neymar has described Brazil's elimination from the FIFA World Cup as the "saddest moment" of his football career.
The five-time world champions and tournament favourites exited football's showpiece event after a 1-2 quarter-final loss to Belgium on Friday, reports Xinhua news agency.

"I can say that it's the saddest moment of my career," Neymar said on his Instagram account on Saturday. "It cuts deep because we knew that we could go far and make history, but it wasn't to be this time."

The Paris Saint-Germain star, who spent three months on the sidelines with a broken metatarsal before the tournament, struggled to capture his best form in Russia with just two goals in five matches.

He was also widely lambasted for his behaviour on the pitch amid claims that he resorted to play-acting to trick referees.

The 26-year-old refused to speak to journalists after Friday's match and made no mention of the criticism on Instagram.

"I'm very happy to be a part of this team," the post continued. "I am proud of everyone. Our dream was interrupted but it remains in our minds and in our hearts."

Brazil's players and officials left their hotel in Kazan on Saturday afternoon and are due to arrive in Rio de Janeiro on Sunday morning.

--IANS
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London, July 8 (IANS) Led Zeppelin may be working on a stage show and movie with Hollywood funnyman Jack Black, the legendary rock band's lead singer and lyricist Robert Plant has hinted.
Plant, who was honoured with the Outstanding Achievement Award at the Silver Clefs here, said: "I have very funny ideas that I'll keep under wraps. I've been talking to Jack Black."
Black is known for making "School Of Rock", and getting him involved would create one of the more unusual rock star musicals, reported dailystar.co.uk.
Plant said: "There's been some very funny rock and roll films over the years.
"It's all about something that happened (in the band). (We) sort of gave up 38 years ago so whatever we go back to that's kinda where we left off as a real entity."
Led Zeppelin celebrate their 50th anniversary soon.
Who would play Plant in a potential musical or movie?
"Clement Freud is gone," he quipped, and added: "There were a lot of pretenders but I think a lot of them have gone back to their day jobs now."
--IANS<br>rb/pgh/