12 Feb 2019; AFP: US lawmakers announced late Monday an agreement in principle to avoid another government shutdown, with nearly $1.4 billion in money for construction of a wall on the border with Mexico, as President Donald Trump pushed his politically explosive crusade at a rally in the frontier city of El Paso.

LONDON; 12 Feb 2019; AA: Turkey is a center for multiculturalism and it is the precursor of the European Union, a representative for the Catholic congregation in Turkey said.

"I suggest [European countries] to follow the example of Ottomans and Turkey" in multiculturalism, said Rinaldo Marmara, spokesman for Istanbul's Catholic Episcopal Church.

Lucknow, Feb 11; PTI/GANASHAKTI: Making her political debut as Congress general secretary, Priyanka Gandhi on Monday roared into Uttar Pradesh with thousands cheering as her cavalcade slowly made its way through the city during a roadshow, being seen as launch of the party's campaign in the state ahead of the Lok Sabha polls.

Accompanied by Congress president Rahul Gandhi and incharge of the western region, Jyotiraditya Scindia, the beaming 47-year-old sported a kurta and a stole, and waved at the teeming party workers jostling for a glimpse.

Washington, Feb 12 (PTI) China and Russia have developed robust and capable space services and the two countries pose a challenge and threat to the space capabilities of the US, the Pentagon has said.

Chinese and Russian military doctrines indicate they view space as important to modern warfare and counterspace capabilities as a means to reduce US and allied military effectiveness, the Pentagon said in a report released by the Defense Intelligence Agency.

Washington, Feb 12 (PTI) India and China are leading the global greening effort, which is quite contrary to the general perception worldwide, a latest NASA study said Monday, observing that the world is a greener place than it was 20 years ago.

The NASA study based on data received and analysed from its satellite said that India and China are leading in greening on land. "China and India account for one-third of the greening but contain only 9 per cent of the planet's land area covered in vegetation," said lead author Chi Chen of Boston University.

New Delhi, Feb 11 (PTI) The Congress on Monday said the Rafale deal is "unravelling" faster than the government thought, with issues such as "parallel negotiations" by the PMO and changes in the standard defence procurement procedure coming to the fore.

Bengaluru, Feb 11 (PTI) Karnataka Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy Monday announced a comprehensive SIT probe into an audio clip he released showing BJP chief B S Yeddyurappa in a purported conversation to lure a JD (S) MLA in his alleged attempt to topple the Congress-JDS government.

As the audio row rocked the assembly, Kumaraswamy accepted an "advice" by an emotional Speaker Ramesh Kumar to constitute a Special Investigation Team to probe the episode.

Raipur, Feb 12 (PTI) The newly-formed Congress government in Chhattisgarh has rechristened five schemes named after late Jan Sangh leader Pandit Deendayal Upadhyaya by the previous BJP-led dispensation.

These schemes of the urban administration and development department have now been named after former prime ministers Indira Gandhi and Rajiv Gandhi and architect of the Indian Constitution Dr B R Ambedkar.

The opposition BJP, however, expressed unhappiness, saying the step indicated "political vindictiveness".

New Delhi, Feb 11 (PTI) The Supreme Court Monday said it will hear in July a plea of Zakia Jafri, challenging the SIT's clean chit to the then Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi in connection with the 2002 Godhra riots.

A bench headed by Justice A M Khanwilkar listed the matter for hearing in the month of July.

12 Feb 2019; DW: Germany needs at least 260,000 new migrant workers per year until 2060 in order to meet labor shortages caused by demographic decline, according to a study published on Tuesday.

Of that number, 146,000 people each year would need to immigrate from non-EU member states, the research published by the Bertelsmann Foundation said.

Kolkata , February 11; GANASHAKTI: Over 2.5 lakh Jute Mill workers  of the state in West Bengal  is set to start an indefinite strike for wage revision and implementation of minimum wages act in the Jute Industry from 1st March. The slated strike, which will be effective in all the mills of the  state , will also affect over 4.5 million Jute growers, as the strike will paralyze the entire sector in the state, for an indefinite period.

12 Feb 2019; DW: A fifth day of anti-government protests raged in the Haitian capital and other cities on Monday, paralyzing much of the country amid rising violence.

Schools, shops and municipal offices were largely shuttered in Port-au-Prince and many roads were closed by barricades erected by protesters.

Thousands of protesters poured out of the capital's slums towards wealthier neighborhoods in the city center, where there were reports of rioting and looting alongside peaceful protests.