New Delhi, May 1 (PTI) In a dig at the Congress over Priyanka Gandhi Vadra's comments that her party will cut into the votes of the BJP that will help the grand alliance in Uttar Pradesh, the BJP said on Wednesday that the grand old party has become a "vote katua" party.

The BJP said these remarks of the Congress general secretary show that her party has accepted defeat.

TBILISI, May 2. /TASS/: Georgian President Salome Zourabichvili’s official visit to the United States has not been canceled and efforts are underway for holding it, the Foreign Ministry told TASS on Thursday.

"The report that allegedly the Georgian side’s request on the Georgian president’s visit to the US has been rejected, does not correspond to reality. The work on the president’s visit via diplomatic channels is underway. It’s early to say about the date of the visit," the ministry said.

New Delhi, May 1 (PTI) Two African nationals were arrested for allegedly smuggling cocaine, police said Wednesday.

The accused were identified as Tine Mustafa (29) and Innocent Aghadiobi (40), both residing at Tilak Nagar, they said.

New Delhi, May 2 (PTI) The ED Thursday filed its first direct charge sheet against controversial Islamic preacher Zakir Naik on charges of money laundering, officials said.

The agency filed the prosecution complaint under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) before a special court in Mumbai and said it has identified proceeds of crime worth Rs 193.06 crore.

This is the second charge sheet in the case by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in this case, but the first against Naik underlining his role in the matter.

KUNMING, May 2 (Xinhua): Southwest China's Yunnan Province exported 7,108 tonnes of tea worth 33.1 million U.S. dollars in 2018, the provincial agriculture and rural affairs department said.

The planting area of tea in Yunnan reached 420,000 hectares, with a total yield of 16.7 billion yuan (about 2.5 billion U. S. dollars), said Wei Min, deputy head of the department.

Yunnan is a major tea production base in China, with the locally produced Pu'er tea being especially popular in China and abroad.

Muzaffarnagar (UP), May 2 (PTI) The Muzaffarnagar district administration in Uttar Pradesh's has carried out a surprise inspection at government hospitals and health centres, and found over 200 staff absent, an official said Thursday.

Acting on a complaint, a team led by sub-divisional magistrates and senior officers conducted the drive on Wednesday. As many as 202 officials, including 23 doctors and 21 nurses, were found absent, District Magistrate Ajay Shanker Pandey told PTI.

KIEV, May 2. /TASS/: Ukraine’s military has occupied 24 square kilometers of Donbass territory, including in three villages, Joint Forces Commander Sergey Nayev told a briefing on Thursday, stressing that there were no violations of the Minsk peace deal.

Bhopal, May 1 (PTI) A young man was arrested here Wednesday for allegedly raping and killing a 12-year-old girl.

Avinash Sahu (18) was arrested for offences of rape and murder under the IPC and under the provisions of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act, police said.

The girl was visiting a Jain temple with her 16-year-old aunt Tuesday evening when Sahu, who knew the latter, took the girl away to a secluded spot when the aunt was not around, police said.

CHICAGO (AP) — A multiday sentencing hearing began Monday in Chicago and focused on whether FBI agents manipulated a mentally fragile teenager to participate in a terrorist plot or whether he had long before shown an eagerness to kill.

Prosecutors called an FBI agent to the witness stand to tell Adel Daoud’s sentencing judge that Daoud posted social media comments inquiring about attacking non-Muslims more than a year before undercover agents ever engaged him as part of a sting.

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) — A shooting that killed two and wounded four at a North Carolina university left students scrambling for shelter and prompted fresh calls for ways to keep campuses safe.

A vigil was planned for Wednesday on the campus of the University of North Carolina-Charlotte, where the shooting on Tuesday upended the last day of class. The governor vowed a hard look at what happened in order to prevent future shootings.

WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) — New Zealand’s major media organizations pledged Wednesday not to promote white supremacist ideology when covering the trial of the man charged with killing 50 people at two mosques.

The five organizations that signed the agreement said they were aware that accused gunman Brenton Tarrant might try to use the trial as a platform to promote white supremacist or “terrorist” views.

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. (AP) — The public defenders representing the former student charged with the Florida high school massacre are set to ask a judge to remove them from the case.

The Broward County Public Defender’s Office will ask Judge Elizabeth Scherer on Wednesday to order Nikolas Cruz to hire a private attorney with the $432,000 he may receive from his late mother’s life insurance policy. The office made the surprise announcement last week.