WASHINGTON, March 13 (Xinhua) -- A longtime U.S. observer on China has said the draft foreign investment law being deliberated in Beijing is "definitely a step forward" in the country's continued reform and opening-up.

David Dollar, a senior fellow in the John L. Thornton China Center at the Brookings Institution, told Xinhua in an interview on Monday that he believes the draft law will attract more foreign investment.

Bengaluru, Mar 13 (PTI) The Congress will contest 20 seats and JDS eight in the Lok Sabha polls in Karnataka under a deal finalised by the two ruling coalition partners Wednesday, the JDS said.

The seat sharing was hammered out at a meeting betweenCongress president Rahul Gandhi and JD(S) secretary generalDanish Ali at Kochi in Kerala this evening, party sources said.

Guwahati, Mar 13 (PTI) The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has finalised its alliances in the Northeast, setting a target of winning at least 22 of the 25 Lok Sabha seats from eight states of the region, party general secretary Ram Madhav claimed on Wednesday.

KANPUR: There is no stop in death cases in Ghatampur hooch tragedy which has risen to eight now, as news reports said. As many as four villagers are still in critical condition. A pall of gloom pervades in three villages of Ghtampur owing to deaths occurring daily. All the victims had consumed liquor being sold illicitly through the grocery shops in several villages of Ghatampur.

KANPUR: Even when we talk about casting our votes at the certain polling booth, we tend to talk about it with much hint than realism. Sure, we know that voters seek basic facilities at the booth. Despite strict instructions on the part of Election Commission, the booths still lack water and electricity facilities in all the ten assembly constituencies. Out of 3514 polling booths in the district, as many as 57 booths have no electricity connection. As regards proper drinking water arrangement at the polling booths, it is too poor.

Gurgaon, Mar 12 (PTI) The Gurgaon police Tuesday arrested two persons for allegedly molesting a woman in Manesar, a police officer said.

Rajesh Kumar (24) and Inderjeet (28) were arrested from Manesar area. They had on Monday allegedly molested the woman, he said.

LONDON, March 12 (Xinhua) -- It was yet another loss on Tuesday night for British Prime Minister Theresa May, as her Brexit deal was firmly rejected by Parliament.

A result of 391 to 242 votes was a devastating blow to May and could potentially delay the United Kingdom (UK) leaving the European Union (EU), threaten May's hold on power or derail Brexit entirely.

The vote has left the nation with little idea of a way forward, just 17 days before the UK is due to leave the EU.

BEIJING, March 12 (Xinhua) -- President Xi Jinping on Tuesday stressed fulfilling the set targets and tasks of national defense and military development as scheduled.

Xi, also general secretary of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and chairman of the Central Military Commission, made the remarks when attending a plenary meeting of the delegation of the People's Liberation Army (PLA) and armed police force at the second session of the 13th National People's Congress, China's national legislature.

WASHINGTON, March 12 (Xinhua) -- The United States and Taliban wrapped up their talks in Doha, the capital city of Qatar, with "meaningful progress" made, said the U.S. State Department on Tuesday.

"We've received reports back from Special Representative (Zalmay) Khalilzad that they've had meaningful progress," Robert Palladino, the State Department's deputy spokesperson, told reporters at a daily briefing.

BERLIN, March 12 (Xinhua) -- Following a warning letter by the U.S. ambassador in Berlin, German Chancellor Angela Merkel said on Tuesday that it "goes without saying" that the German government would define its own security standards in its 5G expansion.

Merkel added that security in the expansion of Germany's 5G mobile network was a "precious asset" for the German government, and security standards would be discussed with Germany's partners in Europe and the United States.

SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — Michelle Aldana gave birth to her first child chained to a hospital bed.

Then serving time at the Utah state prison on a drug charge, she says she labored through the difficult 2001 birth for nearly 30 hours, her ankles bleeding as the shackles on both her legs and one arm dug in. “I felt like a farm animal,” she says.

MOSCOW, March 12 (Xinhua) -- The United States is attempting to buy allies in Europe and elsewhere and to turn them against Russia, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Tuesday.

"I don't know how much the countries, which are the recipients of this initiative, will like an attempt to be bought," Lavrov said at a press conference after talks with his Austrian counterpart Karin Kneissl.