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Waqas Dar

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Blog Entries posted by Waqas Dar

  1. Waqas Dar
    Anusha Rahman addressing media in Islamabad ISLAMABAD: PML-N leader and Minister of State for IT and Telecommunication, Anusha Rahman, has rubbished the report by the Joint Investigation Team (JIT), labeling it ?trash? based on ?dishonesty?.
    Speaking to the media as the Supreme Court resumed hearing the Panama case on Wednesday, Rahman said the JIT?s findings were not final and questioned if another JIT would be formed to investigate the allegations against the existing JIT.
    ?The JIT report has lost its [standing] in front of the Supreme Court. It?s a trash basket and uses harsh, condescending language. Will [they] now form another JIT to investigate the allegations against this JIT,? she remarked.
    Claiming that the JIT went beyond its mandate, the PML-N leader alleged that the JIT members abused their authority.
    ?JIT members are government employees and abused their powers. The JIT chairman gave the nation?s money to his relative,? she said.
    ?The JIT presented Ishaq Dar?s statements and records in the wrong way. Nothing was presented regarding Prime Minister?s property,? she said, claiming that the trial against the PM was ?one-sided?.
    ?What kind of a JIT is this, that its report was made public and is even available on the internet?? she questioned.
    ?Nawaz Sharif is the Prime Minister now and will remain the Prime Minister tomorrow,? she added.
    As the Panama Papers case hearing went underway on Wednesday, the Supreme Court repeatedly inquired from Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif's counsel regarding the money trail of the London properties.  
    Khawaja Harris argued before the bench that the prime minister was not asked about any of his assets. "If the JIT had something [related to his assets], they would have asked questions," he said.

    Panama case: Money trail question still unanswered, observes bench
    Counsel for the premier's children is also expected to initiate his arguments today
    The counsel said the premier has no assets other than those he has declared.
    Justice Ijaz remarked that the prime minister said he would provide a money trail of all the properties but he did not explain when he bought the properties and where he generated funds for their purchase.
    Everything is clear except for the ownership of the London properties, observed the bench.


  2. Waqas Dar
    [embed_video1 url=http://stream.jeem.tv/vod/67fa809d2a723072aea31888b837f61e.mp4/playlist.m3u8?wmsAuthSign=c2VydmVyX3RpbWU9Ny8xOS8yMDE3IDY6Mzk6MzEgQU0maGFzaF92YWx1ZT15NVZuTzFMRTBzUk5hR2Izc1YyQlVRPT0mdmFsaWRtaW51dGVzPTYwJmlkPTE= style=center] ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leader Naeemul Haque on Wednesday used strong words to condemn Pakistan Muslim League ? Nawaz (PML-N) allegations on party chief Imran Khan.

    ?I say Nawaz Sharif does not come to court because he fears arrest?he is the biggest criminal in the country?s history,? Haque said.
    Before the Supreme Case hearing on the Panama Case went under way, State Water and Power Minister Abid Sher Ali had claimed that Khan does not come to court out of fear of arrest.
    ?Imran Khan is present in his house, order the police to arrest him,? Haque said, challenging the authorities. ?But you won?t dare to implement Pakistan?s laws because even the police won?t listen to you anymore because Nawaz Sharif is neither morally nor constitutionally the prime minister of this country anymore.?

    The PTI leader went on to state that it is only a matter time before the premier will face the murder trial for the 14 citizens, who lost their lives in the Model Town, Lahore incident.
    In an angry tirade, Haque fumed that PML-N had broken all records of using inappropriate language.
    He alleged that Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam (F) chief Maulana Fazl-ur-Rehman, Balochistan Prime Minister Nawab Sanaullah Zehri and Pakhtunkhwa Milli Awami Party chief Mahmood Khan Achakzai have taken undue favours from the premier to ?sell their conscience'.
    He added that these individuals are only standing with the premier because they are ?aware their corrupt designs will end forever if Nawaz Sharif is removed'.
    Addressing the media outside the court, PTI leader Fawad Chaudhry emphasised that the Sharif family is duping the entire nation.
    ?Hopefully, this case will be concluded by Friday,? Chaudhry said. 


  3. Waqas Dar
    A movement to project a positive image of Pakistan to the world, started by cricketer Shoaib Malik, has captured not just the hearts of patriotic Pakistanis but also the chaotic world of social media.
    #PakistanZindabad, the hashtag defining the movement, is dominating Twitter, becoming among the top trends as enthusiastic Twitterati show off to the world the many facets of their motherland they are proud of and hold dear.
    ?Let?s do our part in showing the world the side of Pakistan we all love, cherish and share every day. We are Pakistan?s ambassador ? to the people around, or on social media, print, or where ever we have influence, however far our voices reach...? says the description of the #PakistanZindabad movement on Shoaib Malik?s website.
    ?So here?s an idea; what if we all tweet once per day on something great about Pakistan, it could be a picture, or a quote, a moment, about history, achievements, records, a fact, anything that we love our country more for ? using #PakistanZindabad ? for at least 40 days. Why 40? the current record for the longest trend is 39 days smth hours,? the post reads.
    Malik's teammates threw their support behind the movement.
    People flocked to the call and started tweeting about the things they love about Pakistan:












  4. Waqas Dar
    Members of the Pakistan Bar Council (PBC) are observing a countrywide strike today (Wednesday) to seek the resignation of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, Punjab Chief Minister Shehbaz Sharif and Finance Minister Ishaq Dar, in light of the damning report of the Panama case Joint Investigation Team (JIT).
    Legal proceedings remain suspended at the Lahore High Court and lower courts in Karachi, Lahore and other cities as lawyers register their protest to demand a premier's resignation.
    "The protest will continue till the Prime Minister resigns," Secretary Supreme Court Bar Aftab Bajwa said.
    PBC Vice Chairman stated that All Parties Conference and Lawyers Convention will be held in case the premier decides against resignation.
    Addressing a press conference with PBC office bearers on Tuesday, PBC Vice Chairman Ahsan Bhoon urged the disqualification of those nominated in the high-profile Panama Papers case and expressed confidence that the Supreme Court will take the case to its logical conclusion.
    The members called for the resignation of Nawaz, Shehbaz, Dar and their ?accomplices? in light of the JIT?s findings and demanded ?punitive action against them under the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) laws and their prosecution for perjury?.
    The members also assured support of the legal fraternity to the Supreme Court and said they ?will not hesitate to foil any attempt on the part of the ruling party to influence and undermine the dignity and prestige of the apex court?.
    Bhoon also blamed Dar for paralysing the country?s economy during his tenure as the finance minister and urged punitive action against ?all those who submitted fake documents? in the apex court.


  5. Waqas Dar
    Dilruwan Perera and Asela Gunaratne celebrate after steering Sri Lanka to victory/AFP COLOMBO: Niroshan Dickwella and Asela Gunaratne guided Sri Lanka to a record 388 target to beat Zimbabwe by four wickets Tuesday in a pulsating end to their one-off Test.
    A crucial 121-run sixth-wicket stand between Gunaratne (80 not out) and Dickwella (81) secured Sri Lanka´s best-ever run chase.
    Their previous best was against South Africa in 2006, when they reached 352. Tuesday´s chase was also the highest in Asia and fifth best in all Tests.
    Man-of-the-match Gunaratne anchored the pursuit to perfection after Dickwella´s departure, putting on an unbeaten 67-run partnership with Dilruwan Perera (29) to take the hosts to victory.
    The win was a boost for new Test captain Dinesh Chandimal and eased Sri Lanka´s pain after a shock defeat in the one-day series against the minnows.
    "It´s always tough when you´re batting in the fourth innings but I told the team that they should play their normal game and they played some outstanding innings, especially Dickwella and Asela," Chandimal said.
    "It´s always challenging as a captain but it´s about doing the right things on and off the field," said Chandimal, who took over after Angelo Mathews quit because of the ODI loss.
    Zimbabwe skipper Graeme Cremer claimed four wickets with his leg-spin to return overall figures of 9-275 at Colombo´s R. Premadasa Stadium.
    But Gunaratne, an all-rounder who played most of the Test only as a batsman after injuring his hamstring in the first innings, tackled the Zimbabwe spinners with ease during his 151-ball stay.
    Wicketkeeper-batsman Dickwella rode his luck to reach 81 before being caught behind off left-arm spinner Sean Williams while attemping an audacious reverse sweep.
    Stumping reprieve
    When he was on 37 he survived a stumping chance off Sikandar Raza´s off-spin, and was dropped by wicketkeeper Regis Chakabva on 63.

    Dinesh Chandimal and Graeme Cremer shake hands after the match/AFP The stumping reprieve cost Zimbabwe dearly. It was referred to the third umpire, who ruled him not out despite replays showing his toe was on the crease -- a case in which the batsman can be given out.

    "From what I saw, I honestly didn´t see any doubt why it should be not out, but it´s just one of those things," Cremer said of the decision by Indian umpire Chettithody Shamshuddin.
    "I suppose you have technology and it clearly shows... it´s tough when those things go against you when you are trying to win a Test match on the last day."
    Earlier, Cremer sent overnight batsman Kusal Mendis trudging back to the pavilion for 66 after Sri Lanka resumed on 170-3.
    Cremer struck again to have Mathews caught and bowled for 25. The visitors scented victory but it was not to be for the 10th-ranked side.
    "We knew Sri Lanka had to play well batting on the last day chasing 388. We tried hard," said Cremer.
    "We have missed a few opportunities, but I am very proud about the way the guys played.
    "To win the ODI series and to push them in the Test match, taking it to the last day, was a very good effort from the boys," he added.
    Sri Lanka´s veteran left-arm spinner Rangana Herath took the man of the series award for his overall match figures of 11-249.
    Zimbabwe batsman Craig Ervine´s 160 in the first innings and all-rounder Raza´s 127 in the second were among the notable performances for the tourists.
    Sri Lanka host the number-one ranked India for three Tests, five one-day internationals and a single Twenty20 starting this month.


  6. Waqas Dar
    Pro-Russian rebels march in the centre of Donetsk during the WWII Victory Day parade/AFP KIEV: Russian-backed rebels fighting against Kiev on Tuesday announced a plan to create a new "state" they said would take the place of Ukraine and have its capital in their territory.
    Ukraine´s pro-Western authorities immediately ridiculed the idea as a Kremlin project that they would never allow to get off the ground.
    Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov in turn called the plan the "personal initiative" of rebel leader Alexander Zakharchenko and said that "Moscow learnt about it this morning from media", in comments to Russian news agency RIA Novosti.
    The separatists said the proposed country would be founded after a referendum and called Malorossiya, a tsarist-era name meaning "Little Russia" that once described most of the area covering modern-day Ukraine.
    A constitution presented by rebel leader Zakharchenko said his self-declared Donetsk People´s Republic, neighbouring rebel-held Lugansk and other regions had agreed to "declare the establishment of a new state, which is the successor of Ukraine."
    The document -- released by the separatists´ news agency -- said rebel bastion Donetsk would become the capital, while Kiev would be reduced to the status of a "historical and cultural centre".
    The proposal seems to stand no chance of gaining traction and the insurgents themselves appeared unable to agree on it.
    The press service for Lugansk rebel chief Igor Plotnitsky said he had not been consulted on the project.
    Ukraine´s Foreign Minister Pavlo Klimkin quickly derided the plan on Twitter as another "show" by the insurgents´ "Kremlin puppet masters".
    "We and our partners will not let this happen," he vowed.
    ´Violation´
    The surprise announcement of Malorossiya could, however, further dent an already stalled peace process that has failed to end more than three years of fighting that has claimed the lives of around 10,000 people.
    A deal brokered by the leaders of Ukraine, Russia, France and Germany in the Belarusian capital Minsk in 2015 has hit a wall but is still viewed by those involved as the only way of unwinding Ukraine´s war.
    France´s foreign ministry called on Moscow "to denounce" the rebel announcement, which it described as a "violation" of the peace deal.
    "Russia has to intensify its efforts to put an end to this conflict," a statement said.
    Kremlin spokesman Peskov insisted later that Moscow remains committed to the Minsk accords.
    The proposal by the rebels echoed language used by the Kremlin in the early days of the conflict that promoted fears Russia was looking to annex swathes of mainland Ukraine after its seizure of the Crimea peninsula.
    Moscow used the tsarist-era name "Novorossiya" (New Russia) to refer to the areas the rebels had seized, but the term was later dropped.
    Ukraine and the West say Moscow has funnelled troops and arms across the border to fan the flames of the war in Europe´s backyard.
    Moscow has denied the allegations despite overwhelming evidence that it has been involved in the fighting and its explicit political support for the rebels.


  7. Waqas Dar
    Protesters hold up signs in the audience section before a US House Intelligence Committee hearing on the potential changes to the foreign intelligence surveillance act (FISA) on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC, US on October 29, 2013. Photo: Reuters   WASHINGTON: Facebook Inc, Alphabet Inc's Google, Apple Inc, and other major technology firms are largely absent from a debate over the renewal of a broad US internet surveillance law, weakening prospects for privacy reforms that would further protect customer data, according to sources familiar with the matter.
    While tech companies often lobby Washington on privacy issues, the major firms have been hesitant to enter a fray over a controversial portion of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA), industry lobbyists, congressional aides and civil liberties advocates said.
    Among their concerns is that doing so could jeopardise a trans-Atlantic data transfer pact underpinning billions of dollars in trade in digital services, the sources said.
    Technology companies and privacy groups have for years complained about the part of FISA known as Section 702 that allows the US National Security Agency (NSA) to collect and analyse emails and other digital communications of foreigners living overseas. Though targeted at foreigners, the surveillance also collects data on an unknown number of Americans - some privacy advocates have suggested it could be millions - without a search warrant.
    Section 702 will expire at the end of the year unless the Republican-controlled Congress votes to reauthorize it. The White House, US intelligence agencies and many Republican senators want to renew the law, which they consider vital to national security, without changes and make it permanent.
    A coalition of Democrats and libertarian-leaning conservatives prefer, however, to amend the law with more privacy safeguards.
    Reform Government Surveillance, a coalition of tech firms established after the 2013 leaks by former NSA contractor Edward Snowden, said reforming the law remains a priority. A spokeswoman declined to comment further but referred to two letters sent earlier this year by technology companies urging Congress to consider changes to the law.
    Snowden exposed the spy agency's program that collected US phone call metadata in bulk and also the extent of spying under Section 702, embarrassing some US technology firms.
    The companies, working with privacy rights activists, successfully lobbied Congress two years ago to pass legislation that curtailed the NSA's bulk collection of call records. For example, Facebook chief executive Mark Zuckerberg wrote on his Facebook page that he had personally called then-President Barack Obama to express "frustration over the damage the government is creating for all of our future."
    Now, however, Silicon Valley's reduced involvement frustrates civil liberties groups because of a widely held view that Section 702 poses a far greater threat to privacy than the telephone program, which did not harvest actual content.
    Facebook declined to comment. Google and Apple did not respond to requests for comment.
    Privacy Shield Agreement
    The companies' relative inactivity is explained by several legal challenges in Europe to an agreement between the United States and the European Union, known as the Privacy Shield, the sources said. The litigation hinges on whether US surveillance practices afford enough privacy safeguards. A coalition of human rights organisations has urged Europe to suspend Privacy Shield unless Section 702 is substantially reformed.
    US technology companies have privately bristled at those efforts, three industry lobbyists said, in part because expectations that 702 reforms will pass Congress are low.
    "If you link them and you lose one, you lose both," said one of the lobbyists, who like the others requested anonymity to discuss private conversations with technology companies.
    The lobbyist added that several major firms were more interested in making deals with the Trump administration that could affect their bottom lines, such as tax repatriation, than getting caught in politically charged fights over government surveillance.
    Another industry lobbyist said Section 702 surveillance is "not a C-suite issue" that concerns chief executives in Silicon Valley like other issues, including encryption.
    Companies have also been limited in how they can lobby for changes to the law because no comprehensive reform bill has been introduced yet in Congress, said Alex Abdo, a privacy advocate and staff attorney at the Knight First Amendment Institute at Columbia University.
    A bipartisan group of lawmakers in the House Judiciary Committee is not expected to introduce such legislation until after Congress returns from its August recess.
    The schism between tech companies and privacy groups was on display earlier this year in litigation in Ireland - Facebook argued customer data was sufficiently protected from US spying programs, while an attorney for the American Civil Liberties Union testified that more protections were needed.
    Snowden's leaks showed that Section 702 collects content of digital communications directly from the internet backbone and through a program formerly code named Prism where the NSA gathered data directly from several companies, including Facebook, Google, Apple and Microsoft Corp (MSFT.O).
    The statute also allows the FBI and others to query pools of data collection for US information in what critics have derided as a "backdoor search loophole" that evades traditional warrant requirements.
    The tech industry may become more engaged once the public debate becomes clearer, Abdo said. He added that a stronger position "would be enormously helpful to those that want to impose meaningful constraint on NSA surveillance."


  8. Waqas Dar
    RAHIM YAR KHAN: At least five people were killed and nine others injured in a collision between a passenger bus and a car in Rahim Yar Khan early Wednesday.
    The bus was headed to Sadiqabad from Lahore when it crashed into the car near the village of Kot Samaba, resulting in the tragedy.
    According to reports, the bus was over-speeding due to which the accident occurred. The driver of the bus fled from the scene.
    Oil tanker flips over in Rahim Yar Khan; crash site sealed
    Security officials sealed the crash site in order to prevent any unfortunate consequence
    Late Tuesday night, Rahim Yar Khan was also the scene of yet another crash as an oil tanker overturned here in the Zafarabad area. Motorway police officials reached the crash site moments later and sealed it in order to prevent any unfortunate consequence, a spokesperson for the motorway police revealed.


  9. Waqas Dar
    Photo: Web Rain-thunderstorm (with isolated heavy falls) and gusty winds are expected at scattered places in Punjab (Gujranwala, Lahore, Faisalabad, Sahiwal, Multan, Bahawalpur, D.G. Khan divisions), Sindh, eastern Balochistan (Zhob, Kalat, Sibbi, Quetta, Naseerabad divisions), Bannu, D.I. Khan division, FATA and Kashmir in the next 24-hours.

    Rain-thunderstorm is expected at isolated places in upper Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (Malakand, Hazara, Peshawar, Mardan, Kohat divisions), Rawalpindi, Sargodha divisions, Islamabad and Gilgit-Baltistan.
    Seasonal low lies over north Balochistan on Wednesday. Monsoon currents continue to penetrate in the country and likely to continue during the next few days, the Pakistan Meteorological Department said. A shallow westerly wave is still affecting northern parts of the country and likely to persist during next three days, the PMD said.

    Past weather
    On Tuesday, rain-thunderstorm occurred at scattered places in Islamabad, Punjab, upper KP, lower Sindh and Kashmir, while at isolated places in Kalat, Makran divisions and Gilgit-Baltistan.
    Rainfall (mm) in the last 24-hours
    Punjab: Mangla 87, Sialkot (Cantt 80, A/P 18), Jhelum 56, Lahore (A/P 55, Punjab University 06, PBO 02), Sahiwal 40, T.T. Singh 35, M.B.Din 28, Kamra 21, Kasur, Gujrat 20, Chakwal 18, Islamabad (Golra 16, Bokra, Saidpur 05, Z.P 03), Kot addu 12, Bhakkar 08, Murree 07, Mianwali 05, Sargodha 03, Rawalpindi (Chaklala, Shamsabad 02), Multan, Layyah 02, Gujranwala, Joharabad 01, Sindh: Badin 63, Mirpurkhas 45, Diplo 35, Hyderabad, Thatta 02, Karachi (Gulshan-e-Hadeed, Saddar, Masroor 01), Jacobabad, Mithi 01, Kashmir: Muzaffarabad 29, Garhi Dupatta 15, Rawalakot 04, Kotli 03, KP: Peshawar (City 11, PAF 02), Kakul 11, Malamjabba 09, Balakot 05, Kakul, Bannu 01, Balochistan: Lasbella 12, GB: Bagrote, Astore 01.
    Yesterday's highest maximum temperatures
    Turbat 46°C, Sibbi 45°C, Dalbandin 43°C, Sukkur 42°C.


    Data Courtesy: Pakistan Meteorological Department


  10. Waqas Dar
    LONDON: With a woman to play the role of sci-fi TV character Doctor Who for the first time in 54 years, British betting companies on Monday cut the odds on a female taking up another of the other most famous fictional male roles ? James Bond.
    For while Doctor Who fans were divided over 35-year-old Jodie Whittaker becoming the 13th and first female Time Lord, bookmakers said this could be a sign of wider changes to come.
    Two major betting firms shortened their odds on a female James Bond ? with Gillian Anderson, best known for her role in "The X-Files", the frontrunner amongst the bookmakers.
    William Hill cut its odds to 12/1 from 20/1 on a female Bond while Ladbrokes cut its odds to 10/1 from 12/1. Anderson, 48, was the frontrunner for the role at 16/1 with Paddy Power and 33/1 with William Hill.
    "Jodie Whittaker getting the nod is just what the doctor ordered and there's no doubt [it has] sparked plenty of speculation on whether the next James Bond role will go to a female," Paddy Power spokesman Lewis Davey told the Thomson Reuters Foundation.
    "We've certainly been shaken and stirred by the news and have already significantly cut the odds on X-Files star Gillian Anderson to be 007."
    However, it was seen as unlikely that any change would be quick for Britain's most notorious spy with Paddy Power running odds at 1/50 for the new James Bond to stay male, with Tom Hardy the favourite to take over from the current Daniel Craig.
    To date, there have been seven actors play James Bond in 26 films dating back to 1962.
    "It would certainly shake and stir things up if James Bond became Jane Bond; however, at this stage, it remains an outside chance," said Labrokes spokeswoman Jessica Bridge.
    ?via Thomson Reuters Foundation


  11. Waqas Dar
    Greater ups and downs of hemoglobin A1c (HbA1c), a marker of long-term blood sugar levels, are associated with a higher number of symptoms of depression in elderly individuals with type 2 diabetes, a recent Israeli study finds.
    ?The results suggest that maintaining stability in glycemic (?blood sugar?) control may be important for prevention of depressive symptoms in elderly diabetic patients,? Dr Ramit Ravona-Springer from Sheba Medical Center, Ramat Gan, and Tel-Aviv University told Reuters Health.
    People with type 2 diabetes are twice as likely as people without diabetes to develop depression, which affects as many as a third of individuals 65 years and older. Variability in HbA1c has been associated with complications of diabetes, but there is little information about its relationship with depression, the study team writes in Diabetes Care.
    Ravona-Springer?s team analysed about nine years? worth of data on 837 people with type 2 diabetes whose average age was nearly 73 years. The information included around 18 HbA1c measurements over the years for each participant, and results from a depression assessment at the start of the study period.
    Average HbA1c was not associated with depressive symptoms, but the variability of HbA1c measurements was, such that each 1 percent increase in variability was associated with a 29 percent increase in the number of depressive symptoms, researchers found.
    The relationship between HbA1c variability was true regardless of HbA1c level, but it was strongest among people whose HbA1c was above 7 percent, a common target for blood sugar control.
    The researchers admit that the results just show an association and don't necessarily mean that blood sugar variability causes symptoms of depression.
    Nevertheless, they conclude that better long-term stability of HbA1c - in other words, more consistent blood sugar control - might help to prevent depression in elderly people with type 2 diabetes.
    ?This study is ongoing,? Ravona-Springer said. ?We thus expect to have even better understanding of the directional relationships of glycemic control and other diabetes-related characteristics with depression as we start analysing longitudinal data,? she said in an email.
    "The study hints at the importance of achieving stable A1c values at a certain age/point in a patient?s diabetes history in contrast to trying to reduce A1c,? said Dr Dominic Ehrmann from the Research Institute of the Diabetes Academy Mergentheim (FIDAM) in Bad Mergentheim, Germany, who has also studied the link between depression and diabetes.
    ?But (and this is a big but) this must be weighed against other clinical and medical objectives (e.g., complications, comorbidities, cognitive functioning),? he said by email.
    ?Depression/depressive symptoms should be an important factor in clinical decision making in elderly patients,? concluded Ehrmann, who wasn?t involved in the current study. ?That is, the impact of therapy adjustments or changing treatment goals on depressive symptoms should be considered in clinical practice.?


  12. Waqas Dar
    US President Donald Trump smiles as he speaks during a "Made in America" products showcase event at the White House in Washington, US, July 17, 2017. REUTERS/Carlos Barria The US stock market gave a muted response to the overnight collapse in the US Senate of legislation to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act, as earnings ? including from Goldman Sachs and Netflix ? took the market's focus on Tuesday.

    Analysts say the knee-jerk reactions in stocks in the wake of President Donald Trump's election on November 8, fueled by the hopes for his agenda of cutting taxes, infrastructure spending and reducing regulations, have partly or fully unwound and investors are no longer pricing in any business-friendly legislation in 2017.
    "The expectation for this administration to get anything passed is low. You had zero room for error on a (health care) bill that?s hard to get passed. The revelation isn?t shocking," said Art Hogan, chief market strategist at Wunderlich Securities in New York.
    "It's hard to do a tax reform in the style that it was campaigned on. The healthcare hurdle pushes everything in Trump's agenda to 2018."
    Stocks have continued to rise, with the S&P 500 hitting a record high last Friday. But several of the early stock winners of the Trump era have faded. Here is a look at four "Trump trades," how they fared in the aftermath of Trump's election in November and how that compares to their performance since he took office in January.
    Obamacare Repeal & Replace
    Barometer: Index of five hospital stocks (HCA Holdings (HCA.N), Tenet Healthcare (THC.N), Universal Health Services (UHS.N), Community Health Systems (CYH.N), LifePoint Health (LPNT.O))
    Election to inauguration: -7.1 percent
    Inauguration to present: +10 percent
    President Trump's vow to immediately repeal the Affordable Care Act, which benefited hospitals by expanding insurance coverage, sent those stocks reeling.
    The immediate repeal did not materialise and subsequent efforts to replace the legislation have failed. After two Republicans said on Monday they would not back the latest Obamacare rollback bill, Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell threw in the towel and said he would schedule a vote in coming days on a two-year transition to simply repealing the 2010 health care law with no replacement.
    A third Republican US senator on Tuesday said she could not back any legislation to repeal Obamacare without a replacement plan, effectively blocking McConnell's plan.
    Infrastructure
    Barometer: Index of six infrastructure-related stocks (Caterpillar (CAT.N), Terex (TEX.N), Vulcan Materials (VMC.N), AECOM (ACM.N), Granite Construction (GVA.N), Nucor (NUE.N))
    Election to inauguration: +13 percent
    Inauguration to present: -1.8 percent
    Trump's vow to spend $1 trillion on infrastructure helped lead to a windfall for many investors in industries such as construction, engineering, building materials and steel in the immediate aftermath of the election.
    The performance of the stocks has levelled off as infrastructure seems to be a non-urgent matter in Congress. Steel got a bump last week after Trump said he is considering quotas and tariffs to deal with the "big problem" of steel dumping from China and others.
    Banks
    Barometer: S&P 500 banks index
    Election to inauguration: +20.8 percent
    Inauguration to present: +6.2 percent
    Perhaps no sector benefited as much from President Trump's election as banking in the immediate aftermath of his win. Optimism over his ability to roll back regulations boosted the group. Expectations that his agenda would stimulate the economy, promoting inflation and higher interest rates, also energised investors in banking stocks.
    But the sector's gains have slowed under the weight of soft economic data -and importantly as inflation fails to pick up. Low inflation and a low neutral rate may leave the Federal Reserve with diminished leeway to keep raising rates, Fed Chair Janet Yellen said last week.
    Tax Cuts
    Barometer: Russell 2000 index of small-cap stocks
    Election to inauguration: +12.6 percent
    Inauguration to present: +5.9 percent
    Trump's plan to cut taxes broadly and reform the tax code gave investors reason to be optimistic about US equities after his election, particularly investing in smaller companies that tend to be more domestically focused.
    But the failure of the health care bill pushes the expectation of an 'as-promised' tax reform even lower.


  13. Waqas Dar
    Gilead Sciences Inc said on Tuesday that the US Food and Drug Administration has approved its hepatitis C drug for patients who had failed to respond to prior treatments.
    Vosevi is the first drug to be approved for hepatitis C patients already treated with Sovaldi or other drugs, which inhibit a protein called NS5A, the FDA said in a separate release.
    The approval is based on data from two late-stage studies, which evaluated 12 weeks of the drug in previously treated patients, the company said.
    However, the approval comes with a boxed warning about the risk of hepatitis B virus being reactivated in patients infected with both hepatitis C and B.
    Gilead, whose growth has been fueled by its arsenal of hepatitis C drugs, had warned earlier this year that sales of its high-priced drugs were declining due to fewer patients being deemed eligible for treatment and rising competition.
    First-quarter sales of the company's hepatitis C drugs, Sovaldi, Harvoni, and Epclusa, slumped from $4.3 billion a year earlier to $2.6 billion.
    Hepatitis C causes inflammation of the liver that can lead to diminished organ function or its failure.
    An estimated 2.7 million to 3.9 million people in the US have chronic hepatitis C infection, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.


  14. Waqas Dar
    Amazon.com Inc has done away with a controversial clause in its cloud computing contracts that prohibited customers from suing the company over patent infringement, according to an updated version of the Amazon Web Services customer agreement released on Thursday.
    The so-called ?non-assert? clause had been a point of friction for years for numerous companies that were interested in using Amazon Web Services but were reluctant to trust Amazon with their intellectual property.
    Amazon Web Services, a cloud computing pioneer, now provides computing and data storage services for a wide variety of customers. It faces growing competition from others including Alphabet Inc's Google and Microsoft Corp.
    The decision to remove the clause makes Amazon ?appear more user friendly, and it smoothes over a major objection point corporate counsel have been raising,? said Phil Davis, CEO of PhilStockWorld.com, an investment advisory service.
    Amazon has also introduced a new policy that will protect customers if they are sued for patent infringement over services that run on Amazon Web Services. Microsoft has offered a policy with similar protections since February.
    Calvin French-Owen, co-founder and CTO of Segment, a customer data management startup in San Francisco that has been an Amazon Web Services customer since May 2011, praised the moves.
    ?It?s cool that they are willing to defend companies on their platform against patent trolls,? he said.


  15. Waqas Dar
    LOS ANGELES: R&B singer R. Kelly on Monday denied an article by US media outlet BuzzFeed News that he was keeping a household of young women in a "cult" atmosphere.

    "Mr. Robert Kelly is both alarmed and disturbed at the recent revelations attributed to him. Mr. Kelly unequivocally denies such allegations and will work diligently and forcibly to pursue his accusers and clear his name," Kelly's attorney Linda Mensch said in a statement.
    Kelly has not been charged with any crime.
    BuzzFeed said in an emailed statement, "We stand fully behind the story, which was based on nine months of interviews and old-fashioned investigative reporting."
    The BuzzFeed article became one of the top-trending items on social media on Monday. The article cited interviews with two families and three former associates of Kelly.
    The article cited one mother saying the set-up was a "cult".
    The article said all of the women were over the age of consent. Some family members cited in the article expressed frustration at limited communications with their daughters.
    BuzzFeed reported that two families had sought help from police but the women have rebuffed attempts by authorities or their parents to investigate or to bring them home.
    Kelly is one of the most successful R&B artists of the last two decades, with three Grammy awards, 12 studio albums, and some 40 million records sold worldwide.
    COVER IMAGE: Singer R. Kelly arrives at the 41st American Music Awards in Los Angeles, California November 24, 2013. REUTERS/Mario Anzuoni


  16. Waqas Dar
    Vice Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff US Air Force General Paul Selva speaks at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington, US, October 28, 2016. REUTERS/Gary Cameron WASHINGTON: North Korea does not have the ability to strike the United States with "any degree of accuracy" and while its missiles have the range, they lack the necessary guidance capability, the vice chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff said on Tuesday.

    Earlier this month, North Korea said it had conducted its first test of an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM), and that it had mastered the technology to mount a nuclear warhead on the missile.
    But General Paul Selva, speaking before the Senate Armed Services Committee, said the July 4th test stopped short of showing North Korea had "the capacity to strike the United States with any degree of accuracy or reasonable confidence of success".
    Pyongyang's state media said the test successfully verified the atmospheric re-entry of the warhead, which experts say may be able to reach the US state of Alaska.

    "What the experts tell me is that the North Koreans have yet to demonstrate the capacity to do the guidance and control that would be required," said Selva, the second highest-ranking US military official.
    South Korea's intelligence agency also does not believe North Korea has secured re-entry capabilities for its ICBM program.
    South Korea on Monday proposed military talks with North Korea, the first formal overture to Pyongyang by the government of President Moon Jae-in, to discuss ways to avoid hostile acts near the heavily militarised border.
    The United States has remained technically at war with North Korea since the 1950-53 Korean conflict ended in an armistice rather than a peace treaty and the past six decades have been punctuated by periodic rises in antagonism and rhetoric that have always stopped short of a resumption of active hostilities.
    Tensions have risen sharply after North Korea conducted two nuclear weapons tests last year and carried out a steady stream of ballistic missile tests.
    When asked about preemptive military operations against North Korea, Selva said he believed that "we have to entertain that potential option."
    "We need to think seriously about what the consequences of that action might be," Selva said.


  17. Waqas Dar
    File MOSCOW: Russia said on Tuesday that it reserved the right to retaliate against the United States after a meeting in Washington ended without an agreement to return Russian diplomatic property the US had seized.
    Barack Obama, then US president, ordered the seizure of two Russian diplomatic compounds in New York and Maryland and the expulsion of 35 Russian diplomats in December over what he said was their involvement in hacking the 2016 US presidential election campaign, something Russia flatly denies.
    President Vladimir Putin decided not to retaliate at the time, saying he would wait to see what the new administration of Donald Trump would do.
    But Trump, besieged by a regular stream of questions about his associates' purported links to Russia, has scant room for manoeuvre. He risks being accused of being overly friendly to Moscow if he hands back the compounds without getting something politically substantial in return.
    Moscow had said a lot would depend on the outcome of a meeting in Washington on Monday between Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov and US Undersecretary of State Thomas Shannon. The meeting ended without agreement.
    The Russian Foreign Ministry said its patience was wearing thin.
    "The Russian side stressed (in the meeting) that if Washington does not remove this and other irritants, including continued obstacles to the work of our diplomatic institutions, we reserve the right to take retaliatory measures based on the principle of reciprocity," it said in a statement.
    Russia has complained that US officials are not issuing visas to its diplomats, preventing it from replacing its staff who were expelled in December.
    Deputy Foreign Minister Ryabkov said he had submitted a list of things that needed to be done to improve battered US-Russia ties. Reports of a breakthrough being close were wide of the mark, he said.
    "To say we are on the brink of finding a solution and sorting out this situation would be an exaggeration," Ryabkov told the TASS news agency. "Such unacceptable and contradictory actions cannot be left without a response."
    The US State Department said that the talks on areas of mutual concern had been "tough, forthright, and deliberate, reflecting both parties? commitment to a resolution."
    But though it said the talks had reflected a spirit of goodwill, it said it was clear "that more work needs to be done."
    It said an agreement had been reached to hold talks focusing on strategic stability and the reduction of strategic arms, however.


  18. Waqas Dar
    GENEVA: The frozen remains of a Swiss couple that went missing 75 years ago in the Alps have been found on a shrinking glacier, Swiss media said on Tuesday.
    Marcelin and Francine Dumoulin ? the parents of seven children ? had gone to feed their cattle in a meadow above Chandolin in the Valais Canton on August 15, 1942.
    "We spent our whole lives looking for them, without stopping. We thought that we could give them the funeral they deserved one day," their youngest daughter Marceline Udry-Dumoulin told the Lausanne daily, Le Matin.
    "I can say that after 75 years of waiting, this news gives me a deep sense of calm," added the 79-year-old.
    In an overnight statement, Valais cantonal police said that two bodies bearing identity papers had been discovered last week by a worker on Tsanfleuron Glacier near a ski lift above Les Diablerets resort at an altitude of 8,600 feet. The remains were partly submerged in a hole in the ice.
    An autopsy and DNA testing would be carried out to confirm the identities of the couple.
    "The bodies were lying near each other. It was a man and a woman wearing clothing dating from the period of World War Two," Bernhard Tschannen, director of Glacier 3000, told the paper.
    "They were perfectly preserved in the glacier and their belongings were intact."
    "We think they may have fallen into a crevasse where they stayed for decades. As the glacier receded, it gave up their bodies," he told the daily Tribune de Geneve.
    The pair were among 280 people listed as missing in the Alps or rivers of the Valais since 1925, officials said.
    Bettina Schrag ? cantonal head of forensic medicine ? told Swiss public radio RTS, "Given the current shrinking of glaciers, we have to expect more and more such findings."
    Marcelin Dumoulin, 40, was a shoemaker, while 37-year-old Francine was a teacher. They left five sons and two daughters.
    "It was the first time my mother went with him on such an excursion. She was always pregnant and couldn't climb in the difficult conditions of a glacier," Udry-Dumoulin said.
    "After a while, we children were separated and placed in families. I was lucky to stay with my aunt," she said. "We all lived in the region but became strangers."
    "For the funeral, I won't wear black. I think that white would be more appropriate. It represents hope, which I never lost."


  19. Waqas Dar
    Donald Trump Jr. speaks at the 2016 Republican National Convention in Cleveland, Ohio, US, July 19, 2016. REUTERS/Mario Anzuoni/File Photo  WASHINGTON: A congressional panel wants to interview President Donald Trump's eldest son, his former campaign chairman and all others who were at a June 2016 meeting with Russian nationals, part of investigations into allegations that Moscow meddled in the US election campaign, senators said on Tuesday.

    The meeting in Trump Tower in New York has grabbed the spotlight in the saga of possible collusion between Moscow and Trump's campaign as media reports of more participants than originally known have emerged. Russia denies interference in the election, and Trump says there was no collusion.
    Donald Trump Jr., who runs the Trump Organization family business, released emails last week in which he eagerly agreed to meet a woman he was told was a Russian government lawyer who might have damaging information about Democratic election rival Hillary Clinton as part of Moscow's official support for his father's campaign.
    The meeting appears to be the most tangible evidence of a connection between Trump's campaign and Russia, investigators in Congress have said.
    "Sure, sure," the US Senate Intelligence Committee chairman, Republican Senator Richard Burr, told reporters when asked if he wanted the committee to call in the attendees.
    "Any intelligence out there that suggests that somebody is of interest to us, we have to pursue it," Burr said. "We've now got an email chain that makes that (the meeting) a very important aspect to get into."
    Senator Mark Warner, the panel's Democratic vice chairman, said some of the questions he wanted to be answered were, "Why were all those individuals there? What was really the purpose? What was the discussion?"
    US Special Counsel Robert Mueller and congressional panels are investigating allegations by US intelligence agencies that Russia interfered to help Trump, a Republican, win the presidency. The allegations have dominated Trump's first six months in office.
    Trump Jr.'s lawyer, Alan Futerfas, did not immediately respond to requests for comment on Tuesday. A representative of the Trump Organization also did not immediately respond to a request for comment.


  20. Waqas Dar
    File A small unit on a tower building at Ghana's Parliament caught fire on Tuesday but the blaze did not cause any major damage or disrupt the use of the facility, the national fire service said.
    The fire started in a printing room on the 10th floor of the "Job 600" complex and spread to an adjoining kitchenette, fire service spokesman Billy Anaglate said.
    "We have put it out and everything is under control. It's not a threatening situation and we expect the complex to open for business tomorrow," Anaglate said.
    Firemen and other officials are investigating what may have started the fire, he added.
    Tuesday's fire was the second to have occurred in the 12-storey building, following a similar incident on the fifth floor in 2012 when the structure was undergoing its first major refurbishment.
    The tower was originally built by Ghana's first president Kwame Nkrumah to serve as the venue for a 1965 meeting of the Organization of African Unity, now the African Union.
    It now houses 252 offices and related facilities for members of parliament and their staff after refurbishment and expansion works were completed in 2015.


  21. Waqas Dar
    Madonna attempted on Tuesday to stop an upcoming auction of a prison break-up letter from rapper Tupac Shakur and a note in which she called singer Whitney Houston and actress Sharon Stone "horribly mediocre".

    The "Rebel Heart" singer filed a request in New York Supreme Court for a temporary restraining order against New York auction house Gotta Have It Collectibles to halt the sale, due to start on Wednesday.
    Madonna said in court documents that she was not aware until reading press reports that many of the items listed for auction, including the letter from her former boyfriend Shakur, were no longer in her possession.
    The items were consigned to auction by Darlene Lutz, whom Madonna described in court documents as a former friend and art consultant and said she had "betrayed my trust in an outrageous effort to obtain my possessions without my knowledge or consent".
    A representative for the auction house and Lutz said in an emailed statement that Madonna's effort to stop the sale was "a completely baseless and meritless action," and they would challenge her claims in court.
    ?We believe that her intent is nothing more than to besmirch the good reputations of the auction house and Ms Lutz," the statement said.
    In a letter dated January 1995 and written to Madonna by Shakur while he was in prison for sexual assault, the rapper said he ended their romance because he felt that dating a white woman could jeopardise his career.
    "I felt due to my 'image' I would be letting down half of the people who made me what I thought I was. I never meant to hurt you," he said. Shakur was killed at age 25 in a drive-by shooting in Las Vegas in September 1996.
    Also among the 20 items, Madonna is seeking to remove from the sale are a pair of her panties, an old chequebook, a hairbrush, and personal photos.
    In another letter from the early 1990s, Madonna voiced her frustration at not having a music career like Houston or film career like Stone.
    "Not because I want to be these women ? because I'd rather die, but they're so horribly mediocre and they're always being held up as paragons of virtue (or) some sort of measuring stick to humiliate me," she said in the letter.
    Houston drowned in a Beverly Hills hotel bathtub in 2012.
    Stone said in a Facebook post last week that she is friends with Madonna, adding, "I love and adore you; won't be pitted against you by any invasion of our personal journeys."
    COVER IMAGE: Singer Madonna arrives at the Metropolitan Museum of Art's Gala, 'Rei Kawakubo/Comme des Garcons: Art of the In-Between' in New York City, US, on May 1, 2017. REUTERS/Lucas Jackson/File Photo



  22. Waqas Dar
    Nobel laureate Malala Yousafzai speaks during an exclusive interview with Reuters in Maiduguri, Nigeria, July 18, 2017. Reuters/Afolabi Sotunde  ABUJA: Nobel laureate Malala Yousafzai condemned China's treatment of her fellow peace prize-winner Liu Xiaobo following his death of liver cancer in custody last week.

    Liu, 61, was jailed for 11 years in 2009 for "inciting subversion of state power" after he helped write a petition known as "Charter 08" calling for sweeping political reforms in China.
    Liu's incarceration meant he was unable to collect his Nobel Peace Prize in 2010, and he became the second winner of it to die in state custody ? the first being Carl von Ossietzky in Germany in 1938.
    Liu's wife Liu Xia, however, remains under effective house arrest.
    "I condemn any government who denies people's freedom," 20-year-old Yousafzai ? a Pakistani education activist who came to prominence when a Taliban gunman shot her in the head in 2012 ? told Reuters at a school in the northeastern Nigerian city of Maiduguri.
    "I'm hoping that people will learn from what he (Liu) did and join together and fight for freedom, fight for people's rights and fight for equality," she said.
    Yousafzai's trip to Nigeria was aimed at raising awareness of education problems in Africa's most populous country where over 10.5 million children are out of school, more than anywhere else in the world.
    The issue is felt more severely in the mainly Muslim north. The south has over the decades seen greater investment and a system of schools started by Christian pastors affiliated with British colonists.
    Nigeria needs to "increase spending on education and they need to make it public, the rate of spending planned and how much they're spending", said Yousafzai.
    Since her first trip to Nigeria three years ago, the proportion of the budget allocated to education has dropped from above 10 percent to around 6 percent, she said.
    The eight-year militant insurgency of Boko Haram, whose name roughly means "Western education is forbidden," has compounded problems with education in Nigeria's north.
    The militants have destroyed hundreds of schools and uprooted millions, forcing them into refugee camps which often lack the most basic necessities, let alone decent schooling.
    On Monday, Malala called on Nigeria's acting president, Yemi Osinbajo, to call a state of emergency for the country's education. "Nigeria in the north has been suffering through conflicts as well and extremism," she said.
    "So it is important in that sense as well that they prioritise education in order to protect the future."


  23. Waqas Dar
    Fidget spinners are displayed for sale in a window of a toy shop in the Brooklyn borough of New York City on May 5, 2017. AFP/Drew Angerer/File Photo  MOSCOW: Russia's state consumer watchdog warned Tuesday over possible harmful effects on children from an addiction to fidget spinners, the craze sweeping playgrounds around the world.

    It came after state TV said the toys could make people susceptible to the messages of the political opposition.
    The Rospotrebnadzor watchdog said it had noted "the aggressive promotion of so-called spinners around children and teenagers" and was aware of concern from parents and teachers.
    It said it would ask scientists to "study the effects of the influence of spinners on children's health, including possible negative consequences".
    The announcement, accompanied by warnings not to buy spinners on the street and to check them for chemical smells, came after fear-mongering over the toys on state television.
    A show called Virus on Rossiya 24 television on July 12 called spinners an "instrument for zombifying" and a "form of hypnosis".
    Spinners "often have a negative effect on the psyche and make a person susceptible to manipulation", the presenter warned.
    "Possibly it is not by chance that they have started selling spinners" at opposition rallies, he added.
    The Life News pro-Kremlin news site on Tuesday ran a feature on "Seven tragedies that happened to children because of spinners," including a six-year-old boy who got one stuck on his finger.
    The move to check spinners prompted plenty of ridicule.
    "How would you check this? Make 1,000 children play with 1,000 spinners for 1,000 hours and then make them write a test?" wrote video blogger and comedian Yury Khovansky on Twitter.
    The toys first became popular in the United States this spring before hitting Europe. They have been banned at some schools in the US, France, and Britain.


  24. Waqas Dar
    RAHIM YAR KHAN: An oil tanker overturned here in the Zafarabad area late Tuesday night, motorway police officials stated.

    The security officers reached the crash site moments later and sealed it in order to prevent any unfortunate consequence, a spokesperson for the motorway police revealed.

    Following the incident and the subsequent sealing of the connecting road, the traffic going towards the site of the accident was halted temporarily and rerouted to alternative roads, the spokesperson added.
    The oil tanker was on way from Karachi to Mehmood Kot, motorway police explained, adding that almost 40,000 litres of petrol were being transported in the overturned tanker.
    Oil tanker en route to Punjab overturns on National Highway
    The vehicle was carrying 50,000 litres of fuel
    In a similar incident on Saturday, a mini truck carrying oil overturned on Multan Road near Manga Mandi.

    The truck ? that was reportedly speeding ? overturned after one of its wheels dismantled, following which its oil tank started leaking.
    Earlier on July 13, an oil tanker overturned on the National Highway near Rahim Yar Khan.
    The tanker ? transporting around 40,000 litres of fuel ? skidded off the road after the driver dozed off while passing by Koochi Muhammad Khan, according to officials.
    Reckless driving: Oil tanker overturns near Rahim Yar Khan
    The tanker, transporting around 40,000 litres of fuel, skidded off the road after the driver dozed off
    A similar incident was witnessed in Vehari when an oil tanker crashed on the roadside and locals gathered to pilfer oil from it.
    In one of the biggest national tragedies in the past month, over 200 people died and scores injured after an oil tanker overturned and caught fire in Bahawalpur's Ahmedpur East town on June 25.
    Most victims were residents of nearby localities who had rushed to the scene of the incident to collect the leaking fuel after the tanker toppled, said rescue sources. 


  25. Waqas Dar
    LEFT: Ike Kaveladze. Image courtesy: NY Daily News; RIGHT: A photo, taken on January 17, 2017, shows Donald Trump Jr. arriving at Trump Tower in New York. AFP/John Moore/File Photo  WASHINGTON: An eighth person who attended a controversial meeting with President Donald Trump's eldest son has been identified as a top official of a company founded by a Russian billionaire with links to the Trumps, CNN said Tuesday.
    The confirmation is the latest development in the burgeoning scandal over the Trump campaign's contacts with Russia after it was revealed that Donald Trump Jr. attended the June 2016 meeting during the campaign hoping to get dirt on his father's rival Hillary Clinton.
    Trump Jr. had been told over email that a "Russian government attorney" would provide damaging details. Trump campaign manager Paul Manafort and son-in-law Jared Kushner also attended.
    The latest confirmed participant is Ike Kaveladze, the senior vice president of the Crocus Group ? a real estate business headed by Aras Agalarov, the Azerbaijani-Russian mogul who has done business with the Trumps ? according to CNN, citing Kaveladze's lawyer for confirmation of his identity.
    According to the lawyer, Scott Balber, Kaveladze is a US citizen who went to the meeting at Trump Tower under the impression that he would translate for Russian lawyer Natalia Veselnitskaya, who was thought to have the potentially incriminating information.
    "The eighth person has been identified by prosecutors and we are cooperating fully with prosecutors as a result of the investigation," Balber told CNN, referring to special counsel Robert Mueller's probe into suspicions that Russia meddled in the 2016 US election.
    Also at the meeting was Briton Rob Goldstone, a music publicist who arranged the encounter.
    Goldstone is close to pop star Emin Agalarov, who is Aras Agalarov's son and who performed during the 2013 Miss Universe beauty competition that was organised by the Trumps.
    Also in attendance was a Russian-American lobbyist and Veselnitskaya's translator.


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