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4 Aug 2018; AFP; North Korea on Saturday said the US was acting with "alarming" impatience on the issue of denuclearisation, after Secretary of State Mike Pompeo stressed the need to maintain full sanctions pressure on Pyongyang.

The contrasting comments at a security forum in Singapore came after a new UN report showed Pyongyang was continuing with its nuclear and missile programmes and evading sanctions through ship-to-ship oil transfers.

4 Aug 2018; AFP; President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Saturday said Turkey would impose sanctions on two US officials as retaliation for a similar move by Washington, hitting back in an unprecedented row between the NATO allies.

Turkey's holding of pastor Andrew Brunson on terror-related charges for almost two years has sparked one of the most intense crises between Washington and Ankara since the Turkish invasion of Cyprus in 1974.

5 Aug 2018; AFP; Moscow has appointed US actor Steven Seagal as a special envoy, dealing with humanitarian links with the United States, the Russian foreign ministry announced Saturday.

"Stephen Seagal has been appointed special representative of the ministry of foreign affairs of Russia on Russian-American Humanitarian Ties," the foreign ministry said on its website

"The task is to promote the further development of Russian-American relations in the humanitarian sphere, including interaction in the field of culture, art, public and youth exchanges and more," it added.

5 Aug 2018; AFP; Asian countries have voiced concern about the potentially devastating impact of a US-China trade war, with ministers calling for the acceleration of talks for a gigantic Beijing-backed free-trade deal that excludes the United States.

5 Aug 2018; AFP; China's foreign minister said Saturday that his country's threat to impose retaliatory tariffs on $60 billion of American goods in an escalating trade spat was "fully justified".

Beijing threatened Friday to bring in the levies on products ranging from beef to condoms, after US President Donald Trump's administration upped the ante in its plans for additional tariffs on Chinese goods worth $200 billion.

Panaji, Aug 4 (PTI) The Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) has stated that the Goa government's "incorrect working" of stamp duty on 13 mining leases had led to a loss of over Rs 108 crore to the state Exchequer.

The CAG report, for the fiscal 2016-17, said that the stamp duty of these 13 leases from January 5, 2015 to February 16, 2016 should have been Rs 169.72 crore, as per proper calculations, instead of Rs 66.45 crore that the state's Directorate of Mines and Geology (DMG) collected.

Chandigarh, Aug 4 (PTI) The Punjab revenue department has made online 19 templates of documents related to property registration that can be downloaded free of cost, a minister said.

Punjab Revenue Minister Sukhbinder Singh Sarkaria said these documents can be easily amended according to the customer's need.

A questionnaire with answers has also been uploaded on the department's website to make registration process easier and people friendly, he added.

New Delhi, Aug 4 (PTI) Indian IT firm Wipro today said it has settled a lawsuit with National Grid US for USD 75 million and formalities for withdrawal of the lawsuit are expected to be completed shortly.

"Wipro Limited has effected a settlement for the release of all claims under the lawsuit with National Grid US and a stipulation of discontinuance of the lawsuit has been filed in the US District Court for the Eastern District of New York," Wipro today said in a regulatory filing.

Kolkata, Aug 4 (PTI) In the long-term, Goods and Services Tax (GST) slabs may come down to three, in addition to the exempted category, Sanjeev Sanyal, Principal Economic Adviser to the Finance Ministry, today said.

The three slabs could be a low of 5 per cent, a central 15 per cent (merging 12 per cent and 18 per cent slabs that exist now) and a top rate of 25 per cent, he said here at an interactive session organised by the Bharat Chamber of Commerce.

The U.S.-Israel Security Assistance Authorization Act of 2018 was approved by US Senate on Wednesday will codify into law the $38 billion defense aid package for Israel.

The $38 billion deal, negotiated in the final days of the Obama administration in 2016 is the most generous ever to Israel. The American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) has been instrumental in securing this deal.