China’s Prime Minister Li Keqiang says the country faces a tough struggle while he laid out plans to prop up the country’s economy.

Inaugurating the annual session of China’s parliament, Prime Minister Li forecast a slower growth of 6 percent to 6.5 percent this year, which is down from a target of around 6.5 percent last year, agency reports said.

China, which has been struggling with a slowing economy and trade war with the US, plans to boost spending. It also plans to increase foreign firms’ access to its markets, as well as cut billions of dollars in taxes, according to reports.

He said China now must be prepared for a tough struggle adding the country will face a “graver and more complicated environment”, risks and challenges. (Agencies)

WASHINGTON/NEW DELHI: US President Donald Trump is all set to end preferential trade treatment for India that allows duty-free entry for $ 5.6 billion worth of the country’s exports to the United States.

According to US tofficials, it would take at least 60 days for the country to scrap the concessions following notifications to Congress and the Indian government.

Trump Administration had been urging India to reduce the tariffs to cut the country’s trade deficits.

“I am taking this decision after India did not assure the United States that it would provide equitable and reasonable access to the markets of India,” Trump said in a letter to congressional leaders.

If US removed India from its participation in the GSP program, it would be the strongest action for the South Asian nation since Trump took office in 2017.

A helicopter crashed in northern Kenya, killing four American tourists and their Kenyan pilot, local media have said.

According to officials, the helicopter reportedly crashed in Central Island National Park.

The cause of the crash is still not known. (Agencies)

US President Donald Trump is in hot water. He has been alleged of abusing his power, obstructing justice, and corruption.

The US House of Representatives has sought documents from Trump and his aides even though Trump has been consistently denying any wrongdoing.

Chairman of Judiciary Committee Jerrold Nadler has alleged Trump for obstructing justice and that 60 individuals, entities would be receiving requests from Monday, according to international news agencies.

On the other hand, President Trump has repeatedly accused Democrats of a ‘witch hunt’.

He came down heavily on Special Counsel Robert Mueller for railing against the inquiry into the alleged collusion between Russia and his campaign.

Reports said the Judiciary Committee will seek documents from more than 60 individuals and organizations to begin probe into possible obstruction of justice and abuse of power by Trump, reports said.

Nadler said they will initiate investigations into power abuses, into corruption and into obstruction of justice as part of their job to protect the rule of law.

According to him, President Trump has obstructed justice. He, however, maintained it would be too early to consider whether impeachment should be pursued. Consider what Nadler had to say: “Before impeaching someone, one has to persuade the American people that it ought to happen.”

Meanwhile, Trump has said the Democrats’ decision to interview lawyer Michael Cohen on the day of summit with North Korea’s Kim Jong Un might have contributed to the North summit ending with no deal.

Former Trump aide Cohen had earlier accused Trump of instructing him to make threats for him more than 500 times over the last 10 years.

Meanwhile, the judiciary committee is also said to examine ‘potential promises of pardons’ as well as the witness tampering and the President’s attacks on the press and the investigations.

Trump has repeatedly denied the allegations against him.

(With inputs from Agencies)

Huawei’s chief financial officer is suing Canada over her arrest. She was arrested at the Vancouver airport last year at the request of the US.

China’s tech giant Huawei’s chief financial officer Meng Wanzhou was detained in last December on suspicion of fraud and breaching US sanctions on Iran. Meng has denied all the charges against her.

Meng has filed a civil claim against the Canada government, agency reports said. She has filed the claim against the border agency and police for seriously breaching her civil rights. (Agencies)

ALABAMA: At least 23 people, several children, died after a tornado swept through Lee County in Alabama.

Authorities have said the death toll was expected to rise, according to media reports. Several houses have been destroyed, trees fell, they said.

According to authorities, the challenge is the volume of the debris where all the homes have been located.

Storms uprooted trees and destroyed several homes in Georgia as well, report said.

JERUSALEM: Palestinians drove a car into a group of Israeli soldiers in the occupied West Bank. Three attackers have been shot by troops, the military stated.

Media reports said two of the attackers were ‘neutralized’ after they ‘ran over’ a number of Israeli soldiers. According to Israeli media, two of the attackers were dead.

The Israeli military, however, did not comment on the condition of the soldiers hit by the car, some 10 km northwest of the Palestinian city of Ramallah.

SYRIA: Islamic State has unleashed suicide attackers and car bombs against the Syrian Democratic Forces in its last-ditch effort to stave off defeat in its final patch of territory, agencies have said.

According to fighters from the U.S.-backed force, the IS have been making efforts to ward off Syrian forces. There was no sign of the battle being over by this evening.

Officials said IS fighters have been using car bombs and suicide vests to slow down the Syrian Democratic Forces’ offensive. (Agencies)

SYRIA: The U.S.-backed Syrian force expects a ‘decisive battle’ on the last patch of Islamic State (IS) territory near the Iraqi border.

For the U.S.-backed Syrian force, capturing Baghouz — an eastern Syrian village on the bank of the Euphrates River — will be a milestone in international efforts to roll back the IS militants, according to agencies.

The Syrian Democratic Forces fought with IS for nearly 18 hours inside Baghouz on Sunday, according to Marvan Qamishlo, an SDF military media official.

Qamishlo said their forces are advancing at a slow pace to avoid complications.

The IS militants holed up in the area are mostly foreigners, Qamishlo said. (Agencies)

MEXICO: A large group of Central American migrants entered the United States asking for refuge and to be reunited with their kids.

The US authorities had separated these parents from their children last year, according to reports.

As many as 50 people entered the US at the international border crossing from Mexico into California. These parents were met by agents from U.S. Customs and Border Patrol.

These parents, who seemed to be nervous, crossed the pedestrian bridge, some with children and carrying luggage, according to Reuters. They were also accompanied by lawyers from immigration advocacy group Al Otro Lado. (Agencies)