Trump tried to seize control of Mueller probe; Jet Airways was grounded

Trump tried to seize control of Mueller probe: Report

Public at last, special counsel Robert Muellers report revealed to a waiting nation on that President Donald Trump had tried to seize control of the Russia probe and force Muellers removal to stop him from investigating potential obstruction of justice by the president. The report said that in June 2017, Trump directed White House Counsel Don McGahn to call the acting attorney general and say that Mueller must be ousted because he had conflicts of interest. McGahn refused deciding he would rather resign than trigger what he regarded as a potential Saturday Night Massacre of Watergate firings fame. For all of that, Mueller said in his report that he could not conclusively determine that Trump had committed criminal obstruction of justice. The Justice Department posted a redacted version of the report online Thursday morning, 90 minutes after Attorney General William Barr offered his own final assessment of the findings.

Mueller probe found ‘no evidence’ of collusion between Trump campaign and Russia: AG

Russia tried to interfere in the 2016 US presidential polls, according to Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s probe which did not find any evidence that members of the Trump campaign “conspired or coordinated” with Moscow, Attorney General William Barr said on April 18.

The special counsel’s report states that his “investigation did not establish that members of the Trump Campaign conspired or coordinated with the Russian government in its election interference activities,” Barr told reporters at a crowded news conference here.

Briefing reporters on the details of the recently concluded Mueller investigations, a copy of which was now headed to the Congress and a redacted version also being made public, Barr said the report makes clear, the Russian government sought to interfere in American elections.

Commenting on the 400-page report, Trump said that Russia probe was a “hoax.” “No collusion, no obstruction,” Trump said. “There never was, by the way, and there never will be. And we do have to get to the bottom of these things. This hoax. It should never happen to another president again.”

Assange friend jailed by Ecuador says case will collapse

A Swedish programmer friendly with WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange says he’s confident the allegations that have him jailed in Ecuador lack substance and “will collapse.” Privacy activist Ola Bini also says in a statement provided by his attorney that he’s being held under “the best of circumstances,” but that prison conditions are “despicable.”

“He’s sleeping on the floor without a mattress” in Quito’s overcrowded Inca Provisional Detention Center, attorney Carlos Soria said on April 18, and has not yet received a visit from a Swedish consular official a week after being arrested boarding a fight for Japan.

A judge ordered Bini held for 90 days while prosecutors prepare a case. Soria said they have presented no evidence of any wrongdoing. Ecuador’s president, Lenin Moreno, said Tuesday in Washington that Bini hacked cellphones and online accounts belonging to private citizens and the government. Interior Minister Paula Romo originally said Bini was involved with two unnamed Russian hackers in a plot to blackmail Moreno. No details were given. She said in a televised interview Thursday that authorities wanted to know why “an expert in encryption, in security” had purchased $250,000 in digital storage in Ecuador.

Air India offers special fares to Jet Airways stranded int’l passengers

Coming to the rescue of the stranded international passengers hit by the abrupt grounding of Jet Airways, government-run Air India on April 18 offered special fares to such passengers. The “special stranded” fares have been offered to passengers at overseas airports such as Paris, London Heathrow, Singapore, Dubai, Hong Kong, Abu Dhabi, Jeddah, Dammam, and Muscat, among others, Air India said in a statement.

‘As a gesture of goodwill and to mitigate the hardship of the Jet Airways flight at international stations, Air India will be offering special fares to such passengers,” it said. Passengers holding confirmed RT tickets on Jet Airways will be allowed to avail special stranded passenger fares from the destinations common with Air India, it said. After flying for over 25 years, Jet Airways was grounded on April 17 night when its final flight, a Boeing 737, touched down at the Mumbai airport.

I-T dept proposes new norms for taxing MNCs in India

The income tax department on April 18 proposed change in the methodology for taxing multinational companies, including digital firms, having permanent establishment in India by giving weightage to factors like domestic sales, employee strength, assets and user base.

The CBDT Committee on ‘Profit Attribution to Permanent Establishment (PE) in India’ also said MNCs that are incurring global losses or a global profit margin of less than 2 per cent and have operations in India will be deemed to have made a profit of 2 per cent of Indian revenue or turnover and will be taxed accordingly.

The CBDT committee report has proposed that sales, employees (manpower and wages) and assets in India of a multinational corporations (MNCs) should be taken into account for determining domestic tax liability.

Toddler in coma after being beaten up; mother arrested

A three-year-old boy has slipped into coma after being allegedly subjected to torture by his mother near here for being ‘disobedient’, police said on April 18.

The toddler, who suffered severe brain injury, underwent a surgery at a private hospital in Aluva near here where his condition was stated to be critical, they said. The woman, who hails from Jharkhand, has been arrested under IPC sections 307 and Section 75.

Police said the woman had allegedly beaten up the child and tortured him as he was disobedient, adding investigations were on.

Pakistan will not be ‘pressured’ by anyone on Masood Azhar: FO

Pakistan will not be “pressured” by anyone on the issue of banning Masood Azhar, a top official here said on April 18, a day after China dismissed reports that the US, the UK and France have served an ultimatum to Beijing to lift its “technical hold” on designating the JeM chief as a global terrorist by the UN.

Foreign Office spokesman Mohammad Faisal said that Pakistan has a clear stance on Azhar. Asked about China putting a technical hold to prevent Azhar from being designated a global terrorist at the UN, Faisal said, “Whatever decision Pakistan takes in this regard will be in its national interest. Pakistan will not be pressured by anyone”.