The Department of Justice (DoJ) and Trump’s attorneys were also asked to submit a joint filing by Friday that includes a proposed special master candidate list…reports Asian Lite News
A federal judge has granted former President Donald Trump’s request to appoint a “special master” to review materials that Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) agents seized from his Mar-a-Lago residence last month.
District Judge Aileen Cannon wrote in a court order that it “authorises the appointment of a special master to review the seized property for personal items and documents and potentially privileged material subject to claims of attorney-client and/or executive privilege”, Xinhua news agency reported.
Besides, Cannon blocked investigators from further reviewing or using the seized documents in their investigation until the special master completes their review.
The Department of Justice (DoJ) and Trump’s attorneys were also asked to submit a joint filing by Friday that includes a proposed special master candidate list.
Trump has accused the FBI of searching Mar-a-Lago in Palm Beach, Florida, for political purposes, while claiming that some of the documents were protected by attorney-client privilege and executive privilege.
The DOJ had argued that a special master appointment would stall its investigation into alleged Trump’s mishandling of classified documents and that he did not have the authority to claim executive privilege from his time in the White House since he is no longer in office.
A preliminary triage of the documents taken from Mar-a-Lago on August 8 by the FBI was said to have found 184 unique documents bearing classification markings, including 67 documents marked as “CONFIDENTIAL,” 92 documents marked as “SECRET,” and 25 documents marked as “TOP SECRET,” according to a redacted affidavit.
Trump has denied any wrongdoing and claimed all the seized documents were declassified.
Earlier, Russia also received shipments of Iranian-made drones in the first signal of the throttling influence of sanctions on the country…reports Asian Lite News
Russia could be buying millions of artillery shells and rockets from North Korea, New York Times reported citing newly declassified American intelligence. This signals the impact of global sanctions that Moscow faces after its February invasion of Ukraine. As sanctions impact supply chains, Russia seems to be turning to pariah states for military supplies, the report said.
Earlier, Russia also received shipments of Iranian-made drones in the first signal of the throttling influence of sanctions on the country.
The New York Times report said that the declassified documents provided few details of the exact weaponry, timing or size of the shipment from Iran adding that Moscow was looking forward to purchasing additional equipment from North Korea.
“The Kremlin should be alarmed that it has to buy anything at all from North Korea,” said Mason Clark, who leads the Russia team at the Institute for the Study of War told New York Times.
North Korea has attempted to strengthen relations with Russia as much of the world has pulled away from the country. Russian president Vladimir Putin, and the North Korean leader, Kim Jong-un also recently exchanged letters in which they called for “comprehensive” and “strategic and tactical” cooperation between the countries.
The new information on Russia-North Korea plans also points out the struggles that Russia and its military faces amid the Ukraine war.
Ukraine has, meanwhile, stepped up its assault on Russian ammunition depots.
Putin seeks closer ties with India, China
President Vladimir Putin on Monday approved a new foreign policy doctrine based around the concept of a “Russian World”, a notion that conservative ideologues have used to justify intervention abroad in support of Russian-speakers.
The 31-page “humanitarian policy”, published more than six months into the war in Ukraine, says Russia should “protect, safeguard and advance the traditions and ideals of the Russian World”.
While presented as a kind of soft power strategy, it enshrines in official policy ideas around Russian politics and religion that some hardliners have used to justify Moscow’s occupation of parts of Ukraine and support for breakaway pro-Russian entities in the east of the country.
“The Russian Federation provides support to its compatriots living abroad in the fulfilment of their rights, to ensure the protection of their interests and the preservation of their Russian cultural identity,” the policy said.
Chinese President Xi Jinping with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin
It said that Russia’s ties with its compatriots abroad allowed it to “strengthen on the international stage its image as a democratic country striving for the creating of a multi-polar world.”
Putin has for years been highlighting what he sees as the tragic fate of some 25 million ethnic Russians who found themselves living outside Russia in newly independent states when the Soviet Union collapsed in 1991, an event he has called a geopolitical catastrophe.
Russia has continued to regard the former Soviet space, from the Baltics to Central Asia, as its legitimate sphere of influence – a notion fiercely resisted by many of those countries as well as by the West.
The new policy says Russia should increase cooperation with Slavic nations, China, and India, and further strengthen its ties to the Middle East, Latin America and Africa.
It said Moscow should further deepen its ties with Abkhazia and Ossetia, two Georgian regions recognised as independent by Moscow after its war against Georgia in 2008, as well as the two breakaway entities in eastern Ukraine, the self-styled Donetsk People’s Republic and the Luhansk People’s Republic.
Sheikh Hasina appreciated PM Modi’s leadership that continues to provide momentum to bilateral relations….reports Asian Lite News
Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, during the joint press statement at Hyderabad House, expressed hope that the issue of Teesta water sharing with India will be resolved soon.
She highlighted the ties between both the countries and called India the most important and closest neighbour of Bangladesh.
“The two countries have resolved many outstanding issues and we hope that all outstanding issues, including Teesta water-sharing treaty, would be concluded at an early date,” she said in a joint statement with PM Narendra Modi.
The Teesta river dispute is an important point of bilateral talks between India and Bangladesh. Both countries signed an agreement in 2011 to share surface waters at the Farakka Barrage near their mutual border.
Sheikh Hasina appreciated PM Modi’s leadership that continues to provide momentum to bilateral relations.
“I appreciate Modi ji’s visionary leadership that continues to provide added momentum to our bilateral relations. India is the most important & closest neighbour of Bangladesh. India-Bangladesh bilateral relations are known to be a role model for neighbourhood diplomacy,” she said.
Hasina began her four-day visit to India on Monday. She held bilateral talks with PM Modi to further strengthen the relationship between both countries at Hyderabad House.
“Today PM Modi and I have just concluded another round of fruitful discussions, the outcome of which will bring benefits to the people of both countries. We had the meeting in a spirit of close friendship and cooperation,” she said. Sheikh Hasina further extended her best wishes as India moves forward to attaining the resolutions made for Aatmanirbhar Bharat.
“At the new dawn of the Amrit Kaal for the next 25 years, I extend our best wishes as India moves forward to attaining the resolutions made for Aatmanirbhar Bharat,” she said, thanking the Indian government for the warm hospitality.
India and Bangladesh signed seven memorandums of understanding (MoUs) today. (ANI)
The troops effectively engaged the terrorists’ location as a result of which four terrorists were killed….reports Asian Lite News
An officer and four soldiers of the Pakistan Army were killed in an exchange of fire with terrorists that took place when security forces conducted an intelligence-based operation in the Boyya area of North Waziristan tribal district, the military said.
During the conduct of the operation, an intense exchange of fire took place between the troops and the terrorists, Dawn news quoted the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), the military’s media affairs wing, as saying.
The troops effectively engaged the terrorists’ location as a result of which four terrorists were killed.
Weapons and ammunition were recovered from the killed terrorists.
The killed terrorists remained actively involved in terrorist activities against security forces and killing of innocent citizens, the ISPR said.
Sanitisation of the area is being carried out to eliminate any other terrorists found there.
Meanwhile, the security forces conducted an IBO in Mir Ali area of North Waziristan district during which an intense exchange of fire took place between the troops and terrorists, The News reported.
Weapons and ammunition were also recovered from the killed terrorist.
Tufail remained actively involved in terrorist activities against the security forces, preparation of improvised explosive devices and killing of innocent citizens.
He was mastermind of major terrorist activities in Mir Ali and surroundings.
The sanctions imposed by the US, the EU and some other nations on Russia over its ongoing war in Ukraine have backfired causing a spike in energy prices and record inflation across the West….reports Asian Lite News
The world is about to experience major turbulence as a result of illogical moves by Western nations, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov has said.
“Most likely, a huge global storm is starting,” RT News quoted Peskov as saying in an interview.
“In many ways, there are objective reasons for that, but there are also subjective reasons for this beginning storm, which are linked to absolutely illogical and often absurd decisions and actions of the authorities in the US, Europe, the EU and individual European countries,” he said.
The sanctions imposed by the US, the EU and some other nations on Russia over its ongoing war in Ukraine have backfired causing a spike in energy prices and record inflation across the West.
In this situation, Russia “still manages to maintain macroeconomic stability. Very intense, thoughtful and consistent work is being carried out in order to achieve that”, Peskov noted.
“As restrictions are being artificially introduced in the West, (Russia’s) trade and economic relations are understandably starting to focus more on the East,” he added.
However, the Kremlin press secretary, who was speaking at the launch of the Eastern Economic Forum in Vladivostok, insisted that “it was completely unfair to say that we have turned to the East just now…”
“The Asia-Pacific region has always been a very important component for trade and economic relations, and energy dialogue, and other areas.”
The longlist was chosen from a vast range of submissions by writers from sixteen states writing in eight languages including English, published between 1st August 2021 and 31st July 2022…reports Asian Lite News
The 5th edition of the longlist is announced for the 2022 JCB Prize for Literature. The list of ten novels was selected by a panel of five judges: A.S. Panneerselvan, (Chair) journalist and editor, Amitabha Bagchi, author; Rakhee Balaram, author, and academician; Dr. J. Devika, translator, historian, and academician; and Janice Pariat, author.
The longlist for 2022 is dominated by 6 translations. Amidst titles in Bengali and Malayalam, titles in Urdu, Hindi, and Nepali have been featured in the longlist for the first time. A truly diverse representation of what Indian fiction has to offer, the 2022 longlist brings forth stories from Nagaland, Arunachal Pradesh, Kalimpong, Punjab, Kolkata, Kerala, and the heartland.
The longlist was chosen from a vast range of submissions by writers from sixteen states writing in eight languages including English, published between 1st August 2021 and 31st July 2022.
Commenting on the longlist for 2022 and the overall reading experience, A.S. Panneerselvan, Chair of the jury observed, “This year’s deliberation to select the novels for the JCB prize for the 2022-long list was an enriching experience. It was a rich collection, the translations from different languages showed how writers were pushing the linguistic and creative boundaries to document our lives. These ten novels are in a sense a metaphor of contemporary India, where each language is permitted to shine; its intrinsic beauty is not subsumed by the other.”
The 2022 longlist are:
Rohzin by Rahman Abbas, translated from Urdu by Sabika Abbas Naqvi (Vintage Books, 2022)
Imaanby ManoranjanByapari, translated from the Bengali by Arunava Sinha(EKA, 2021)
Escaping the Land by Mamang Dai (Speaking Tiger, 2021)
Paradise of Food by Khalid Jawed, translated from Urdu by Baran Farooqi (Juggernaut, 2022)
Song of the Soil by ChudenKabimo, translated from Nepali by AjitBaral(Rachna Books, 2021)
Spirit Nights by EasterineKire (Simon &Schuster, 2022)
Crimson Spring by Navtej Sarna (Aleph Book Company, 2022)
The Odd Book of Baby Names by Anees Salim (Penguin Hamish Hamilton, 2021)
Tomb of Sandby Geetanjali Shree, translated from Hindi by Daisy Rockwell(Penguin Random House India, 2022)
Valli by Sheela Tomy, translated from Malayalam by JayasreeKalathil (Harper Perennial, 2022)
The JCB Prize for Literature is now in its fifth year, and the 2018 Prize was granted to Benyamin for his Jasmine Days, which was translated from Malayalam by Shahnaz Habib. Madhuri Vijay won the prize in 2019 for her film The Far Field. The Prize was awarded in 2020 to S. Hareesh for his Moustache, which was translated from Malayalam by JayasreeKalathil, and in 2021 to M.Mukundan for Delhi: A Soliloquy, which was translated by Fathima E.V. and Nandakumar K.
Talking about the journey of the JCB Prize for Literature and the support it has had from the industry, MitaKapur, Literary Director, said, “The JCB Prize is chuffed with pride to announce a Longlist of ten books that are bracing, vigorous, transformative, experimental in voice and story. Elemental to storytelling, each book takes soaring flights of imagination even as it is strongly rooted in India. The Prize enters its fifth year, marking 50 Long-listed titles that catch the pulse of our literary traditions. This journey, of course, would be incomplete without the publishers who bring these stories to light, the bookstores, online and offline, that give them a platform, and the readers who open themselves to the new worlds these books create.”
The JCB Prize for Literature is awarded each year to a distinguished work of fiction by an Indian writer. The jury will announce the shortlist of five titles in October. The winner of the Rs 25-lakh JCB Prize for Literature will be announced on 19th November. If the winning work is a translation, the translator will receive an additional Rs 10 lakh. Each of the 5 shortlisted authors will receive Rs 1 lakh; if a shortlisted work is a translation, the translator will receive Rs 50,000.
Christie’s is honored to present the dedicated online auction Thoughts Across The Waters: Asian Art From the David Drabkin Collection taking place during Asian Art Week in New York on 14-28 September…reports Asian Lite News
Christie’s New York celebrates Asian Art Week with nine auctions, five live and four online. Explore this sweeping landscape of offerings, featuring fine Himalayan bronzes, samurai armor, Japanese swords and a selection of early ceramics, Imperial porcelain, huanghuali furniture, jade and hardstone carvings from China. Encounter diverse artistic traditions, beginning with Indian court paintings, Tibetan art and fine woodblock prints by Toshusai Sharaku, Kitagawa Utamaro and Katsushika Hokusai. Discover how modern South Asian artists like Maqbool Fida Husain, Ram Kumar, Francis Newton Souza, Arpita Singh and Manjit Bawa interpret narrative figuration. Experience a range of highlights from important private and institutional collections, including The John C. and Susan L. Huntington Collection, the T. Eugene Worrell Collection, the J. M. Hu Zande Lou Collection, the David Drabkin Collection, the Collection of Romi Lamba, The Ehime Bunkakan Collection, Kaisendo Museum Collection and others.
South Asian Modern + Contemporary Art
21 September 2022 | 12:30PM
This various-owner sale presents a significant group of works from South Asia and its diaspora in the 20th and 21st centuries. Highlights include remarkable early paintings by Ram Kumar, Maqbool Fida Husain, Francis Newton Souza, Vasudeo S. Gaitonde, George Keyt and Anwar Jalal Shemza, held for years in private collections and appearing at auction for the first time. Also included are exceptional works by Narayan Shridhar Bendre, Tyeb Mehta, Sayed Haider Raza, Jagdish Swaminathan and Krishen Khanna and important works on paper by Nandalal Bose, Jamini Roy, Bikash Bhattacharjee, Nasreen Mohamedi, Zarina and Bhupen Khakhar. Centering the Figure: South Asian Modern + Contemporary Art from the Collection of Romi Lamba
21 September 2022 | 10:00AM
The significant collection from which this selection is drawn was assembled over the last thirty years by Romi Lamba and his wife Sagiri, longtime collectors, supporters and patrons of the arts based in Hong Kong. Highlights include important paintings of Arpita Singh, Manjit Bawa, Anjolie Ela Menon and Jogen Chowdhury, largely unseen in public and appearing at auction for the first time. Also included in the catalogue is an exceptional collection of contemporary Indian photography by artists such as Dayanita Singh, Pushpamala N. and Vivan Sundaram, and contemporary negotiations with figuration by Anju Dodiya, Atul Dodiya, Jitish Kallat and Ravinder Reddy among other artists.
Japanese and Korean Art
20 September 2022 | 10AM
Our diverse offerings of Japanese and Korean art are highlighted by an array of important arms and armor of the samurai, including rare Japanese swords from the Kaisendo Museum. Other highlights include, fine woodblock prints by Toshusai Sharaku, Kitagawa Utamaro and Katsushika Hokusai from private and museum collections; innovative Japanese modern and contemporary art by Shinoda Toko, Suda Kokuta and Iwasaki Eri; exceptional lacquerware, sculptures, paintings, screens and important Korean works of art and paintings.
The John C. and Susan L. Huntington Collection
21 September 2022 | 8:30AM
The John C. and Susan L. Huntington Collection, comprises works of art from across the Himalayas and South Asia. Noted scholars in the fields of Buddhism and Asian art history, Susan L. Huntington and her late husband, John C. Huntington, made immeasurable contributions to the field over the course of four decades as professors at The Ohio State University. Many of the works in their collection are published in their seminal publications, including The Circle of Bliss and Leaves from the Bodhi Tree, representing their passion and interest in every work they collected. Highlights from the collection include a fifteenth-sixteenth-century Tibetan Vajravali mandala painting, an inscribed Pala-period stele of standing Buddha, and an idyllic painting from the late eighteenth-century ‘Bharany’ Ramayana series. Further works from this collection will be offered in a concurrent online sale, Indian and Himalayan Art Online featuring The John C. and Susan L. Huntington Collection.
Important Chinese Ceramics and Works of Art
22 – 23 September 2022 | 8:30AM
This sale features works from important private collections and institutions such as the J. M. Hu Zande Lou Collection, the T. Eugene Worrell Collection, the David Drabkin Collection, and the Ehime Bunkakan Museum. Highlights of the sale include a very rare and large gilt-decorated Yongzheng-mark-and-period celadon-glazed vase, ganlanping; a rare and important Yuan dynasty molded and biscuit-reserved Longquan celadon octagonal vase, meiping; a rare Yongzheng mark-and-period Ge-type vase from an important private collection; a very rare huanghuali round-corner tapered cabinet from an important private New York collection; a rare pair of Qianlong mark-and-period green jade gu-form vases from a Hong Kong collector, and a selection of rank badges from the David Hugus Collection.
Online Sales:
Japanese and Korean Art Online
14-27 September 2022 | Online
This season’s Japanese and Korean Art online offers our selections over diverse genres. From a Kamakura Period sculpture to a Joseon Dynasty two-tier chest, this auction presents an exciting set of armor, woodblock prints including a fine selection of surimono and works by Harunobu, Hiroshige and Hasui; edition works by Shinoda Toko; selections of paintings, sagemono, sculptures.
Thoughts Across the Waters: Asian Art from the David Drabkin Collection
14-28 September 2022 | Online
Christie’s is honored to present the dedicated online auction Thoughts Across The Waters: Asian Art From the David Drabkin Collection taking place during Asian Art Week in New York on 14-28 September. The collection was assembled over decades by David Drabkin, spanning major dynasties and across a wide range of media including primarily Chinese works of art, Chinese paintings and Japanese art. Highlights include a 16th century monumental landscape attributed to Wang Shichang, a Jichimu corner leg table and Kano School screens, as a testament to the collector’s unfailing curiosity and wide-ranging interests.
Indian & Himalayan featuring The John C. and Susan L. Huntington Collection
14-28 September 2022 | Online This fall, Christie’s presents Indian and Himalayan Art Online featuring The John C. and Susan L. Huntington Collection. Headlining the sale is the John C. and Susan L. Huntington Collection, which will include a large selection of Tibetan paintings and Indian and Himalayan works of art collected by the noted scholars over the course of their career. The sale with also include property from other esteemed private collections, including a vast offering of Indian court paintings, South Asian sculpture, fine Himalayan bronzes, and Tibetan paintings. With estimates ranging between $600 and $120,000, this sale presents opportunities for both burgeoning and established collectors. Highlights from The John C. and Susan L. Huntington Collection will also be offered in a live sale on 21 September.
Art of China Online
14-29 September 2022 | Online
This season’s Art of China online features a diverse selection, from ceramics and jades to textiles and landscape paintings. Highlights of the sale include a pair of huali-inset boxwood square stands, an embroidered midnight-blue silk Daoist robe, and a large blue and white ‘phoenix and qilin’ jar, as well as rank badges from the David Hugus collection.
The biennial youth tournament, scheduled to be held between October 11 to 30, will see the best young female footballers across the world showcasing their talents in India…reports Asian Lite News
Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium in Shillong is hosting a FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup India 202 legacy initiative, the Coaches Education Scholarship Programme where 23 aspiring coaches — all females — are undertaking an E-License grassroots course to become officially certified football coaches.
This, eleventh edition of the programme, being conducted between September 4 to 7, will train participants, in both, the theoretical and the practical aspects of the game while also equipping the participating women with leadership qualities.
“Meghalaya has witnessed a boom in football among girls and women through the efforts of the Meghalaya Football Association and affiliated The district associations with the assistance of the AIFF, AFC and FIFA and we are grateful that Meghalaya has been chosen as a venue for the E-Licence course as part of the FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup 2022 legacy programme. We believe it will greatly aid us in our efforts to create a sustainable football infrastructure for boys and girls, men and women,” said Larsing Sawyan, President of the Meghalaya Football Association.
Meanwhile, in a joint statement, project directors of the Local Organising Committee (LOC) for the FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup, Nandini Arora and Ankush Arora said, “It is our vision that the lasting legacy of the FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup India 2022 be the accelerated growth and development of women’s football. With an increase in the number of female coaches across the nation, equal participation at the grassroots can be achieved. This course, conducted in one of India’s leading football-loving regions, represents a major step in the direction of comprehensive progress of women’s football in India.”
The biennial youth tournament, scheduled to be held between October 11 to 30, will see the best young female footballers across the world showcasing their talents in India.
Pegula, who had reached the quarterfinals both at the Australian Open and at Roland Garros, lost in the third round at Wimbledon…reports Asian Lite News
No. 8 seed American Jessica Pegula won six games in a row in the second set to beat two-time Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova in straight sets and storm into the women’s singles quarterfinals at the Arthur Ashe Stadium here on Monday.
Down 0-2 in the second set after winning the first easily. Pegula stormed back to take control of the match and won six games in a row in their fourth-round clash halted once by rain on Monday.
The 28-year-old American won the match 6-3, 6-2 in one hour and 13 minutes to make the quarterfinals for the first time in the US Open.
Pegula capitalised on her solid returns — 27/44 points won on return (61 percent) as compared to Kvitova who claimed 22/53 points (42 percent). She also made fewer unforced errors — 13 as against 24 by Kvitova and won six of the seven break points that ame her way whereas Kvitova could manage to win only two of the six chances she bagged. Though Kvitova had 18 winners as against seven by her American opponent, the 32-year-old from Czech Republic served five double faults to none by Pegula.
Pegula, who had reached the quarterfinals both at the Australian Open and at Roland Garros, lost in the third round at Wimbledon.
Coco Gauff and Caroline Garcia had advanced to their first US Open quarterfinals on Sunday.
The outgoing leader added that the Conservative Party leadership contest was an unexpected relay race and the rules were changed halfway through, “but never mind that for now”…reports Asian Lite News
Outgoing UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson on Tuesday bade farewell in an address outside 10, Downing Street, just before his successor Liz Truss takes office.
He began his televised addressed to the nation by saying “this is it folks”, reports the BBC.
Johnson said that in a couple of hours he will be in Balmoral to see the Queen and the torch will be passed to a new leader, in what he says was a relay race where they “changed the rules half way through”.
The outgoing leader added that the Conservative Party leadership contest was an unexpected relay race and the rules were changed halfway through, “but never mind that for now”.
Touting his successes, he said that it was his government that got Brexit done, delivered the fastest vaccine rollout in Europe, and delivered a rapid vaccine roll-out.
Johnson added the supply of weapons to Ukraine could very well have changed the course of the war.
He went on to say that despite the “naysayers”, the new government led by Truss, who was his Foreign Secretary, will get through people through the energy crisis.
Taking an aim at Russian President Vladimir Putin, the outgoing leader said that “he can’t blackmail or bully the British people over the energy crisis”, reports the BBC.
Putin is “utterly deluded” to think he can, Johnson says, adding that the “compassionate” Conservative government led by Truss will get people through the crisis.
He also mentioned his other successes, including making streets safer, more police on the streets, the building of hospitals and recruiting thousands more nurses.
He added there was a record funding for education and three new high speed railways.
On the subject of “bouncing around in future careers”, Johnson likened himself to “one of those booster rockets” that “has fulfilled its function”.
“I’d be gently re-entering the atmosphere and splashing down invisibly in some remote and obscure corner of the Pacific,” the BBC quoted him as saying.
In conclusion, he said: “We are one whole and entire United Kingdom… (The) union is so strong that those that want to break it up will keep trying, but they will never, ever succeed.”
He also thanked “everyone who looked after him and his family over the last three years” and also gave a special mention to his dog Dilyn and Larry, the Downing Street cat.
On Monday, Truss was named as the new Conservative leader and she will take over as the Prime Minister on Tuesday.
As Truss takes office, she faces one of the toughest in-trays in decades, with inflation fears mounting as gas prices soar again and the pound slides further.
