2 May 2019; DW: Poland should stop treating the European Union as a source of financing and start making more of a financial contribution to the bloc, European Commission Vice President Jyrki Katainen said on Wednesday.

"The EU is not just a money machine, a cow that you can milk. We are expecting a more substantial contribution from Poland for the future of Europe," Katainen told journalists in Warsaw.

LONDON, May 2. /TASS/: The next hearing on the extradition of WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange is scheduled for May 30, a TASS correspondent reported from the Westminster Magistrates Court on Thursday.

Presiding Judge Michael Snow also ruled that the expanded hearing on the Assange case will be held on June 12. The WikiLeaks founder said via a video link-up that he did not want to be extradited to the US.

WASHINGTON, May 1 (Xinhua): U.S. President Donald Trump said on Wednesday he intended to nominate U.S. envoys to Colombia and the African Union.

According to a statement issued by the White House, Trump announced his intent to nominate Philip S. Goldberg to be the ambassador to Colombia, and Jessica Lapenn to be the U.S. representative to the African Union with the rank and status of ambassador.

The statement indicated that Goldberg is a career diplomat and "the Senior State Department Fellow at the Institute for the Study of Diplomacy at Georgetown University."

TASS, May 2: The Israeli military carried out a series of air attacks against Hamas targets in the Gaza Strip in response to the launch of air balloons containing flammable and explosive substances in the direction of the State of Israel, IDF (Israel Defense Forces) reported in its Twitter account on Thursday.

"In response to the explosive and arson balloons launched from Gaza to Israel earlier today, our Air Force recently struck a number of Hamas terror targets in Gaza. We hold Hamas responsible," the IDF Tweeted.

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump and his team are still twisting the findings of the special counsel’s report on the Russia investigation.

At a Senate hearing Wednesday, Attorney General William Barr echoed Trump’s refrain of “no collusion” between the Trump campaign and Russia, insisting that any and all allegations of collusion have been “proven false.” That’s not the case.

Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Lindsey Graham also got it wrong when he asserted that special counsel Robert Mueller had asked Barr to make a ruling on whether Trump obstructed justice.

New Delhi; 2 May 2019; GANASHAKTI: Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi on Wednesday appeared before the in-house committee led by Justice Sharad Bobde, looking into allegations of sexual harassment against him levelled by a former staffer of the Supreme Court, said an official source familiar with the proceedings.

The source said the committee had asked the Chief Justice Gogoi to appear for the in-camera proceedings. "He met the committee regarding the allegations levelled against him," said the source.  

Ex-BSF Tej Bahadur Yadav’s, who filed his nomination against Narendra Modi for Varansi LS seat, got his nomination rejected by the Election Commission.

According to India Today, Tej Bahadur had filed nomination as an Independent but was later named by the Samajwadi Party-Bahujan Samaj Party alliance as the candidate from the seat, and was supported by Arvind Kejriwal of AAP, who had taken on PM Modi in 2014 and got more than 2 lakh votes.

Rae Bareli (UP), May 2 (PTI) Far from the rough and tumble of hectic electioneering, Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra on Thursday met snake charmers in Raebareli constituency of Uttar Pradesh and boldly held a reptile, saying "it's fine".

Photojournalists covering Vadra's election campaign caught the rare sight on camera as she halted at Kuchariya village in an obscure nook on her way to Belavela, another village in the constituency, represented by her mother, Sonia Gandhi.

Ahmedabad, May 2 (PTI) A special CBI court here Thursday discharged former police officers D G Vanzara and N K Amin in the Ishrat Jahan alleged fake encounter case.

Vanzara and Amin had filed discharge applications in the court after the Gujarat government refused to grant sanctions to the CBI to prosecute the two former police officers.

Special CBI court judge J K Pandya said that since the government has not sanctioned their prosecution, their discharge pleas are allowed and proceedings against them will be dropped in the case.

Mumbai, May 1 (PTI) At least 16 persons, including 15 security personnel, were killed in an IED blast triggered by Naxals in Maharashtra's Gadchiroli district Wednesday, police said

The blast followed Naxals torching 25 vehicles belonging to a road construction contractor earlier in the day, police said

Those killed were members of the Quick Response Team (QRT) of Gadchiroli police, which was on way to inspect the torched vehicles, an official said.

The blast took place as the vehicle reached Lendhari nallah in Kurkheda area, the official said

Sukma, May 1 (PTI) Six Naxals, four of them carrying rewards on their heads, were arrested Wednesday in Chhattisgarh's Sukma district, police said.

They were held near Kindrelpad village under Konta police station limits when a team of district police force was out on a search operation, an official said.

The team had launched the operation from Konta and was proceeding towards interior forests. Near Kindrelapad, 500 km from Raipur, they spotted a group of suspected Naxals.

New Delhi, May 2 (PTI) The Congress is happy the process of designating JeM chief Masood Azhar a global terrorist has concluded successfully, senior party leader P Chidambaram said on Thursday, while also asking why Pakistani premier Imran Khan wants Narendra Modi to continue as India's prime minister.

In a huge diplomatic victory for India, the UN Sanctions Committee on Wednesday designated Azhar a global terrorist after China lifted its hold on a proposal to ban him.