All countries should respect international law and the sovereignty of countries. Disputes should be resolved with “diplomacy and dialogue,” not war, he noted. “Some people say that we are neutral. But we are not neutral. We are on the side of peace,” he was quoted as saying. “The world has full confidence that India`s topmost priority is peace,” the Prime Minister said in the interview.

India-US Ties Stronger, Deeper: PM Modi

PM Modi also stressed that the ties between India and the US are stronger and deeper than ever and there is unprecedented trust between the leaders of both nations. The Prime Minister added that India deserves a much higher, deeper and wider profile and role on the world stage at a moment of geopolitical turmoil.

“We do not see India as supplanting any country. We see this process as India gaining its rightful position in the world,” Prime Minister Modi was quoted as saying in the interview. The world today is more interconnected and interdependent than ever before. To create resilience, there should be more diversification in supply chains, he said.

On UNSC Membership

Touching upon the UN Security Council member, PM Modi said that there has to be an evaluation of the current membership of the council and the world should be asked if it wants India to be there. India will do whatever it can and supports all genuine efforts to bring an end to the conflict and ensure enduring peace and stability, the Prime Minister added. For normal bilateral ties with China, peace and tranquillity in the border areas is essential, he said.

On Trade Ties

In his interview, the Prime Minister said growing defence cooperation between the two countries was “an important pillar of our partnership” that extended to trade, technology, and energy.

On China

PM Modi also responded to questions about China, amid border tensions that have frequently flared up in recent years. “For normal bilateral ties with China, peace and tranquillity in the border areas is essential,” said PM Modi.

PM Modi said in the course of the interview that he is the first prime minister to be born in free India, “And that`s why my thought process, my conduct, what I say and do, is inspired and influenced by my country`s attributes and traditions. I derive my strength from it”. “I present my country to the world as my country is, and myself, as I am,” he said. 

PM Modi Leaves For US

Prime Minister Narendra Modi, on Tuesday, emplaned for the United States for his first historic State visit. The visit will commence in New York where the Prime Minister will lead the celebrations of the International Day of Yoga at the United Nations Headquarters on June 21.

PM Modi will then travel to Washington DC, where he will receive a ceremonial welcome at the White House on June 22 and meet President Biden to continue their high-level dialogue. President Biden and First Lady Jill Biden will host a State Dinner in honour of the Prime Minister the same evening, according to a release issued by the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA). The PM will also address a Joint Sitting of the US Congress on June 22.

The invitation to deliver such a historic speech was extended by both the House of Representatives and the Senate, demonstrating bipartisan support and respect for Prime Minister Modi in the United States. He would be the first Indian Prime Minister to address a joint session of the United States Congress twice. The invitation letter from the President and First Lady praised PM Modi’s last historic address seven years ago, which helped cement the connection between the two countries.

An unprecedented deal on jet engine technology transfer to power advanced light combat aircraft and the purchase of high-altitude armed predator drones from the US is expected during the visit.

Source: IANS

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“In terms of focus areas of discussions, it would perhaps be a very forward leaning visit,” said one of the people cited above.
The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) on Friday formally announced Modi’s two-nation state visit to the US and Egypt from June 20 to 25. Following Modi’s talks with US President Joe Biden, the two sides are expected to firm up a number of arrangements and deals, including one for India’s procurement of 30 armed drones.

Both the leaders are also likely to deliberate on the Russia-Ukraine conflict, the situation in the Indo-Pacific, China’s aggressive behaviour in the region and other pressing regional and global issues of mutual interests. Modi’s visit to the US will commence in New York, where he will lead the celebrations of the International Day of Yoga at the headquarters of the United Nations on June 21.

From New York, he will travel to Washington where he will receive a ceremonial welcome at the White House on June 22, and meet President Biden to continue their high-level dialogue. Biden and First Lady Jill Biden will host a state dinner in honour of Modi the same evening.

From New York, he will travel to Washington where he will receive a ceremonial welcome at the White House on June 22, and meet President Biden to continue their high-level dialogue. Biden and First Lady Jill Biden will host a state dinner in honour of Modi the same evening.

He will also meet members of the Indian diaspora. The people cited above said Modi’s visit will be “high on substance”.
“Even the symbolism would also be very highly substantive in terms of the political messaging,” said one of them, adding there is a “deep, genuine, strong and widespread interest” on the visit by both sides.

In the second leg of his two-nation visit, Modi will travel to Cairo to pay a state visit to Egypt from June 24 to 25.
The visit is at the invitation of Abdel Fattah El-Sisi, the President of Egypt, which he extended to Modi in January when he graced India’s Republic Day celebrations as the ‘Chief Guest’. This will be Modi’s first visit to Egypt as prime minister.

“Apart from his talks with President Sisi, the prime minister is likely to interact with senior dignitaries from the Egyptian government, some prominent Egyptian personalities, as well as the Indian community in Egypt,” the MEA said. “Relations between India and Egypt are based on ancient trade and economic linkages as well as cultural and deep-rooted people-to-people ties,” it said.

During the state visit of Sisi to India in January, it was agreed to elevate the relationship between the two countries to a strategic partnership.

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Prime Minister Modi is visiting the US from June 21-24 at the invitation of US President Joe Biden and First Lady Jill Biden. They will host Modi at a state dinner on June 22. The visit also includes an address to the Joint Session of the Congress on June 22. Modi will address an invitation-only gathering of diaspora leaders from across the country at the Ronald Reagan Building and International Trade Center in Washington on June 23.

More than 160 artists are rehearsing for the past week to stage as many as 25 cultural programmes representing 15 Indian states. Most of them are dances, songs and musicals reflecting the rich cultural diversity of India. The performance would be staged at the historic Freedom Plaza near the White House in front of the Willard Hotel from 10 am in the morning to 2 pm which would coincide with the arrival of the Prime Minister.

A large number of Indian Americans are planning to gather at the Freedom Plaza to welcome the Prime Minister with ‘Vande Mataram’ and wave the tricolour. Engagement with the Indian Diaspora has been a signature part of Modi’s overseas travel. Most of the time, the prime minister spends some time with his diaspora followers, interacts with them and takes selfies.

Source: PTI

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At the invitation of US President Joe Biden and First Lady Jill Biden, Prime Minister Narendra Modi will visit the United States from June 21 to June 24. Indian diaspora in the US is also eagerly awaiting PM Modi’s arrival. On June 22, more than 7000 Indian Americans are planning to be on the South Lawns of the White House when US President Biden and the First Lady would welcome PM Modi amidst a 21-gun salute.

In the US, PM Modi will also address the chairman and CEOs of top US companies at John F Kennedy Centre in Washington. During his visit, PM Modi will address a joint session of the United States Congress on June 22. The invitation to deliver such a historic speech was extended by both the House of Representatives and the Senate, demonstrating bipartisan support and respect for Prime Minister Modi in the United States. He would be the first Indian PM to address a joint session of the US Congress twice.

The invitation letter from the President and First Lady praised PM Modi’s last historic address seven years ago, which helped cement the connection between the two countries. The White House emphasised in its message that it was an occasion to reaffirm the two countries’ deep and close alliance. PM Modi expressed his thanks for the privilege and stated that he was looking forward to addressing the joint session. In his message, PM Modi reiterated the pride in having a Comprehensive Global Strategic Partnership with the US founded on the principles of democratic values, close people-to-people ties and a staunch commitment to global peace and prosperity.

“We are here almost literally, on the eve of what we believe will be a historic state visit by Prime Minister Modi, one that will further solidify what President Biden has called the defining relationship of the 21st century,” said US Secretary of State Antony Blinken. He said that US sees this (India-US) defining relationship as a unique connection between the world’s oldest and largest democracies, with a special obligation now to demonstrate that these two governments can deliver for & empower all of its citizens.

Hailing the ties between the two countries, Blinken said, “Last year, as you all know, trade between our nations reached a record $191 billion dollars, making the US the largest trading partner for India. American companies have now invested at least $54 billion in India. In US, Indian companies have invested over $40 billion in IT, pharmaceuticals and more, supporting 425,000 jobs from California to Georgia.”

Source: ANI

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“I would say the Indian Supreme Court has been debating the issue of gay marriage, LGBTQ marriage for a couple of months now. I would urge Prime Minister Modi to support this, to support the equal rights of the LGBTQ community in India and to understand that our children and LGBTQ folks are entitled to equal rights because we are all human,” Aruna Rao, executive director, Desi Rainbow, told PTI.

Rao was among the handful of Indian Americans who were invited to participate in the historic Pride Rally on the South Lawns of the White House which was addressed by President Joe Biden and the First Lady Dr Jill Biden. “My understanding is in the metro areas, there is some support for LGBTQ people. Legislatively also, the government has moved forward in terms of transgender rights. But there is a lot to be done, particularly not in the metro areas, in the small towns, in the villages where people don’t have support, don’t have access to any kind of equal rights,” she said.

“In every which way, economically, socially, culturally, LGBTQ folks in India, in South Asia need a lot of support,” Rao said. Another Indian-American participant at the White House Pride Rally, Lesley Kingston hoped that President Biden and Prime Minister Narendra Modi have a good meeting later this month.

“I hope that their bilateral relationships between the two countries get stronger. But I do hope that Prime Minister Modi really spends some time taking a look at the South Asian, the Indian community here and learning how we are striving for progress and to be able to implement the same kind of things and give the rights of LGBTQ people in India: all the rights that we have here and more. Because they deserve it,” Kingston said.

“It’s 2023, and we all, including Americans need to get past it and realize that we share the same blood. We’re made up of the same things. We’re all human beings and we’re all deserving of equality. So I think the biggest challenge that we have is for us to recognize that we are colonized people and we have colonized minds, and we need to get past that,” Kingston said.

Source: PTI

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An aide to Trump, Walt Nauta, was charged as a co-conspirator with six felony counts. Trump says he is innocent and has decried the criminal case, the second indictment against him in a matter of months, as an attempt by his political opponents to hinder his 2024 campaign. He is expected to make his first court appearance on Tuesday in Miami. Here are key takeaways from the indictment unsealed Friday:

What are the 37 charges?

Trump faces 37 felony counts, including 31 counts of willful retention of national defense information under the Espionage Act. Other charges include: conspiracy to obstruct justice; corruptly concealing a document or record; concealing a document in a federal investigation; and making false statements. Each of the willful retention counts pertains to a specific classified document found at Mar-A-Lago marked ‘SECRET’ or ‘TOP SECRET’.” Topics addressed in the documents include details about US nuclear weapons, the nuclear capabilities of a foreign country and the military activities or capabilities of other countries.

The conspiracy charges deal with Trump’s alleged attempts to hide documents from his lawyer or federal investigators. The false statement charges stem from Trump causing his lawyer to tell the FBI that no more classified documents were at Mar-a-Lago ‘ but then the FBI later found more than 100 documents during an August 2022 search. The most serious charges carry potential prison sentences of up to 20 years each. But judges have discretion and, if convicted, first-time offenders rarely get anywhere near the maximum sentence. Being a former president would also likely be a major consideration in any sentencing.

What is the alleged conspiracy to obstruct justice?

The indictment accuses Trump and Nauta of conspiring to hide the secret documents from the grand jury, which in May 2022 issued a subpoena for him to turn them over. The conspiracy allegation included a suggestion from Trump that has lawyer falsely tell investigators that the former president didn’t have any more classified documents at Mar-a-Lago. It also involved moving boxes to hide the secret documents from Trump’s lawyer, and suggesting that Trump’s lawyer hide or destroy documents that investigators were seeking.

The indictment says that, at Trump’s direction, Nauta moved about 64 boxes of documents from a Mar-a-Lago storage room to the former president’s residence in May 2022. He then returned ‘approximately 30 boxes’ to the storage room on June 2, the same day Trump’s legal team came to examine the boxes and search for classified documents to return to the government, the indictment says.

Nauta had a brief phone call with Trump before returning those boxes, the indictment says. Neither Trump nor Nauta told the former president’s lawyers that Nauta had moved any of the storage room contents, the indictment says.

Is Trump accused of sharing classified information?

The indictment alleges that Trump showed classified documents to people who didn’t have security clearances on two occasions. The court papers detail a meeting Trump had in July 2021 with a writer and publisher about an upcoming book. Trump told the pair “look what I found” and showed them what he described as a senior military official’s “plan of attack,” according to an audio recording of that conversation obtained by investigators. Trump acknowledged during that meeting that the document was ‘highly confidential’ and ‘secret information’,” the indictment says. He also says that he could have declassified the document if he was still president.

“Now I can’t, you know, but this is still a secret,” he said, according to the indictment. A few months later, Trump showed a representative of his political action committee a classified map of a foreign country while discussing a military operation in the country that was not going well, the indictment says. Trump acknowledged that he shouldn’t be showing the map to the person and told him not to get too close, prosecutors allege.

What evidence do prosecutors have? 

In addition to the audio recording, prosecutors also relied upon text messages between Trump employees, photos of boxes of documents stored in various rooms throughout Mar-a-Lago and details about conversations between Trump and his lawyers that were memorialized by one of them. In one conversation with his lawyers, Trump said: “I don’t want anybody looking through my boxes.” Trump also asked one of his lawyers if it would be better ‘if we just told them we don’t have anything here,’ the indictment says.

Photographs in the indictment show boxes stacked on a stage in a ballroom as well as in a bathroom. Another shows boxes that spilled over in a storage room, including a document marked ‘SECRET/REL TO USA, FVEY,’ which means information releasable only to members of the ‘Five Eyes’ intelligence alliance of Australia, Canada, New Zealand, the United Kingdom and the United States.

Where will the case be heard? 

While Trump’s first court appearance on Tuesday is expected to be in front of a magistrate judge in Miami, the case was filed in West Palm Beach, about 70 miles to the north. The case was assigned to Judge Aileen Cannon, a Trump appointee, who issued rulings favourable to him last year and expressed repeated skepticism of Justice Department positions.

Cannon was broadly criticised last year for granting the Trump legal team’s request for a special master to conduct an independent review of the hundreds of classified documents seized from his Florida property last year. The move, which temporarily halted core aspects of the Justice Department’s investigative work, was overturned months later by a three-judge panel of a federal appeals court.

Source: AP

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“This funding will help local publishers overcome tech challenges, and create strategies and tactics for driving audience growth, individual giving, and sponsorship revenue,” Google said in a blog post on Thursday.

Later this summer, the tech giant will launch ‘News Showcase’ in the US, in partnership with over 150 news publications, 90 percent of them local or regional.

The company first launched the News Showcase licensing programme and product experience for news organisations in 2020 and has since expanded to 22 countries globally with more than 2,300 participating publications.

With News Showcase, journalists get to select important stories to include in their curated News Showcase panels and add useful context to help readers understand key issues.

The panels then appear in Google News and Discover, sending readers directly to full articles on a publisher’s website. This helps publishers deepen relationships with their audiences and gives them more direct control of presentation and branding, according to the company.

Moreover, the company is updating the Following tab on Google News to help local publications surface more frequently on Google News and give readers an easier way to find the news that matters to them.

This tab will bring readers the latest updates from the topics, sources and locations they select to follow, like their favourite hobby, publication or their hometown.

The updated Follow feature will be available globally on Android soon and then expand to iOS later this year.

In the coming weeks, Google said it will launch a new survey feature, which will help publishers ask their readers questions to better understand their audience and interests, so they can serve more relevant content and advertisements.

Source: IANS

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The indictment enmeshes the Justice Department in the most politically explosive prosecution in its long history. Its first case against a former president upends a Republican presidential primary that Trump is currently dominating, and any felony charges would raise the prospect of a yearslong prison sentence.

Within 20 minutes of his announcement, Trump, who said he was due in court Tuesday afternoon, had begun fundraising off it for his 2024 presidential campaign. He declared in a video, “I AM AN INNOCENT MAN!” and repeated his familiar refrain that the investigation is a “witch hunt.”

The case adds to deepening legal jeopardy for Trump, who has already been indicted in New York and faces additional investigations in Washington and Atlanta that also could lead to criminal charges. As the prosecution moves forward, it will pit Trump’s claims of sweeping executive power against Attorney General Merrick Garland’s oft-stated mantra that no person, including a former commander in chief, should be regarded as above the law.

The indictment arises from a monthslong investigation by special counsel Jack Smith into whether Trump broke the law by holding onto hundreds of documents marked classified at his Palm Beach property, Mar-a-Lago, and whether Trump took steps to obstruct the government’s efforts to recover the records.
Prosecutors have said that Trump took roughly 300 classified documents to Mar-a-Lago after leaving the White House, including some 100 that were seized by the FBI last August in a search of the home that underscored the gravity of the Justice Department’s investigation.

Trump and his team have long seen the special counsel investigation as far more perilous than the New York matter both politically and legally. Campaign aides had been bracing for the fallout since Trump’s attorneys were notified that he was the target of the investigation, assuming it was not a matter of if charges would be brought, but when.

But it remains unclear what the immediate and long-term political consequences will be for Trump. His first indictment spurred millions of dollars in contributions from angry supporters and didn’t damage Trump in the polls. No matter what, the indictment  and the legal fight that follows — will throw Trump back into the spotlight, sucking attention away from the other candidates who are trying to build momentum in the 2024 presidential race.

Trump has insisted that he was entitled to keep the classified documents when he left the White House, and has also claimed without evidence that he had declassified them. The case is a milestone for a Justice Department that had investigated Trump for years “as president and private citizen”  but had never before charged him with a crime. Garland was appointed by President Joe Biden, who is seeking reelection in 2024.

The former president has long sought to use the mounting legal troubles to his political advantage, complaining on social media and at public events that the cases are being driven by Democratic prosecutors out to hurt his 2024 election campaign. He is likely to rely on that playbook again, reviving his longstanding claims that the Justice Department  which, during his presidency, investigated whether his 2016 campaign had colluded with Russia is somehow weaponized against him.

Among the various state and federal investigations that Trump faces, legal experts “including Trump’s own former attorney general” had long seen the Mar-a-Lago probe as one of the most likely to result in indictment and the one where evidence seemed to favor the government. Court records unsealed last year showed federal investigators believed they had probable cause that multiple crimes had been committed, including the retention of national defense information, destruction of government records and obstruction of an investigation.

Since then, the Justice Department has amassed additional evidence and secured grand jury testimony from people close to Trump, including his own lawyers. The statutes governing the handling of classified records and obstruction are felonies that could carry years in prison in the event of a conviction.

Signs had mounted for weeks that an indictment was near, including a June 5 meeting between Trump’s lawyers and Justice Department officials. After that meeting, Trump said on social media that he anticipated he could be charged, even as he insisted that he had done nothing wrong.

Though the bulk of the investigative work had been handled in Washington, with a grand jury meeting there for months, it recently emerged that prosecutors were presenting evidence before a separate panel in Florida, where many of the alleged acts of obstruction scrutinized by prosecutors “including efforts to move the boxes” took place.

Trump’s legal troubles extend beyond the New York indictment and classified documents case. The special counsel has a separate probe underway focused on efforts by Trump and his allies to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election. And the district attorney in Georgia’s Fulton County is investigating Trump over alleged efforts to subvert the 2020 election in that state.

The classified documents at Mar-a-Lago, along with thousands of other unclassified government records, were taken from the White House to the Florida club after Trump left office in January 2021.

The Justice Department has said Trump and his lawyers repeatedly resisted efforts by the National Archives and Records Administration to get the documents back. After months of back-and-forth, Trump representatives returned 15 boxes of records in January 2022, including about 184 documents that officials said had classified markings on them.

FBI and Justice Department investigators issued a subpoena in May 2022 for classified documents that remained in Trump’s possession. But after a Trump lawyer provided three dozen records and asserted that a diligent search of the property had been done, officials came to suspect even more documents remained. They obtained surveillance footage boxes of records being moved from a storage room at Mar-a-Lago.

The investigation had simmered for months before bursting into front-page news in remarkable fashion last August. That’s when FBI agents served a search warrant on Mar-a-Lago and removed 33 boxes containing classified records, including top-secret documents stashed in a storage room and desk drawer and commingled with personal belongings. Some records were so sensitive that investigators needed upgraded security clearances to review them, the Justice Department has said.

The investigation into Trump had appeared complicated “politically, if not legally” by the discovery of documents with classified markings in the Delaware home and former Washington office of President Joe Biden, as well as in the Indiana home of former Vice President Mike Pence. The Justice Department recently informed Pence that he would not face charges, while a second special counsel continues to investigate Biden’s handling of classified documents.

But compared with Trump, there are key differences in the facts and legal issues surrounding Biden’s and Pence’s handling of documents, including that representatives for both men say the documents were returned as soon as they were found.

In contrast, investigators quickly zeroed on whether Trump, who for four years as president expressed disdain for the FBI and Justice Department, had sought to obstruct the inquiry by refusing to turn over all the requested documents. The focus on obstruction was reminiscent of the special counsel investigation Trump faced as president, when prosecutors examined whether Trump illegally tried to thwart the Russia probe, including by firing his FBI director.

Source: PTI

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Despite the unconventional nature of their relationship, Rosanna expressed her love for Eren on Facebook, stating that she is thrilled to call him her husband and looks forward to a lifetime together.

Ms Ramos says she fell quickly for him as “he didn’t come with baggage.”

How Does It Happen?

It all started when Ramos created the virtual bot Eren with the help of Replika AI, which is an AI chatbot that simulates conversations. Eren informed Ramos that he works as a medical professional and he enjoys writing.

The more they chat, Ramos says, the more Eren learns and become the man she wants to have. She started to talk about her days, send each other pictures and just chat.

“We go to bed, we talk to each other. We love each other. And, you know, when we go to sleep, he really protectively holds me as I go to sleep,” Ramos added.

Replika AI positions itself as an AI companion that offers users the opportunity to have an interactive and supportive friendship anytime. By paying a one-time fee of $300, users can unlock Replika Pro, which enhances the capabilities of the AI language model and allows users to even designate their AI companion as a “Romantic Partner.”

The company has made significant efforts to refine the intimacy aspect of the product, particularly after receiving feedback about overly sexual interactions with AI friends. These updates have resulted in notable changes, such as Ms. Ramos’ AI husband, Eren, becoming more reserved in terms of physical affection, reframing the dynamic of their relationship.

Source: Bureau

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