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10:16  Paris climate deal: Obama accuses Trump of rejecting the future:   Former US President Barack Obama lamented the decision of President Donald Trump to withdraw from the Paris climate accord saying the deal was meant to “protect the world we leave to our children.”

Accusing Trump for “rejecting the future” by pulling out of the Paris climate deal, the former president warned that the US would risk missing out on the economic benefits of being a part of the Paris agreement, CNN reported.

Obama’s office released the statement in the middle of Trump’s Rose Garden announcement that the US would be withdrawing from the landmark climate pact.

“The nations that remain in the Paris Agreement will be the nations that reap the benefits in jobs and industries created,” read the statement.

Adding, “This Administration joins a small handful of nations that reject the future.”

Obama said the US “should be at the front of the pack” when it came to lowering emissions and developing green technology.

“For the nations that committed themselves to that future, the Paris Agreement opened the floodgates for businesses, scientists, and engineers to unleash high-tech, low-carbon investment and innovation on an unprecedented scale,” he said.

President Donald Trump announced his decision to withdraw the US from the Paris climate accord, a sweeping step that fulfills a campaign promise while seriously dampening global efforts to curb global warming.

He said the deal “hamstrings” America by giving foreign nations an “economic edge”, adding, “that’s not going to happen”.

While Italy, France and Germany have issued collective statement regretting President Donald Trump ‘s decision of United States quitting from the Paris climate accord and dismissed his suggestion that the global pact could be renegotiated.

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10:15  Will the BJP make India Veg?:  “The BJP and RSS may realise that it is much easier for the ICHR to rewrite textbooks and for the ICSSR to float its bizarre interpretations on social themes than to keep people away from their favourite dishes,” says Amulya Ganguli. Read more

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10:06  Drop in GDP a temporary affair: BJP:  Retorting to opposition’s criticism against the recent GDP percentage, the BJP on Friday said that the drop in economic activity is a temporary affair and that they will be disappointed soon.

Asserting that the opposition is entitled to criticize the government, BJP leader S Prakash said, “The drop in the GDP is a temporary phenomena, they will be disappointed in coming days.”

Treading on the same path, another BJP leader Meenakshi Lekhi said, the Congress must not forget that during their tenure, the GDP was as low as 4.25 percent.

“All these people should remember the time when they were in government and the kind of corruption which was going on. They must remember what kind of GDP the Congress government inherited from the BJP government and where they brought it. Would like to remind them that the GDP in their time was 4.25 percent,” Lekhi said.

Former finance minister P. Chidambaram yesterday said the economy is going down rapidly under the Narendra Modi-led government.

“Economy is going down rapidly and if corrective measures are not taken then economy will decline further,” Chidambaram said.

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10:04  1984 anti-Sikh riots: Order on Tytler’s lie-detector test today :  In national news, The Delhi Court on Friday will pronounce its order on the CBI plea, seeking permission to conduct a lie-detector test on Congress leader Jagdish Tytler in the 1984 anti-Sikh riots case.

Earlier, the court had asked arms dealer Abhishek Verma, who is a witness in the case, to explain the conditions for undergoing the polygraph test.

On May 22, Tytler refused to undergo lie detector test before the court.

Tytler and arms dealer Abhishek Verma were earlier asked by the court to appear in person or file an affidavit stating if they wanted to undergo lie detector test or not.

Verma’s counsel informed the Karkardooma Court that the former was not well and hence, sought more time to appear. The court then fixed June 2 for his personal appearance.

On May 9, the court gave two weeks time to Tytler and Verma to file their contentions and appear before the court about their consent on conduction of lie-detector test and provision of security.

Earlier in April also, Tytler refused to undergo a lie-detector test in connection with the case.

In February, the CBI had sought the court’s permission for lie-detector tests on Tytler and Verma.

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09:33  UPDATE: Spelling ‘marocain’, 12-yr-old Ananya Vinay wins US Spelling Bee:  

Twelve-year-old Ananya Vinay has won the 90th Scripps National Spelling Bee.

The sixth-grader from Fresno, California, won by spelling ‘marocain’, a French word for dress fabric made of ribbed crepe. She gets more than $40,000 in cash and prizes.

Runner-up Rohan Rajeev missed the word ‘marram’, a Scandinavian-derived word for beach grass.

Ananya’s victory was the first time since 2013 that the bee has declared a single champion. It ended in a tie for three consecutive years.

The bee added a written tiebreaker test this year, but it didn’t come into play.

09:30  JUST IN: Sensex hits all-time high of 31,332.56; Nifty climbs to new peak of 9,673.50

08:53  The Paris Climate Deal: What You Need to Know:  

“We’re getting out.” It was with these words that Donald Trump signified the United States’ break from the Paris Agreement​.

In a statement from the Rose Garden in Washington DC, Trump announced that the United States would be withdrawing its support from the Accord, but would begin negotiations to re-enter the Paris Agreement or an entirely new transaction that would be more “fair” to the U.S economy.

But for those who don’t know what the Paris accord is or needs to brush up on it, here’s all you need to know. 

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08:44  Cartoon by Tom Toro for the New Yorker. 

Image courtesy: New Yorker/Instagram

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08:35  New York, California and Washington say they’ll stick to Paris deal as Trump backs out:  

Three Democratic governors said they won’t let the US back away from a commitment to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, despite US President Donald Trump’s decision to withdraw from an international pact.

“This is an insane move by this president,” California Governor Jerry Brown said, blasting the decision as “deviant behaviour from the highest office in the land.”

Brown joined Governor Jay Inslee of Washington state and Governor Andrew Cuomo of New York to form the US Climate Alliance to uphold the Paris climate agreement, a pact involving nearly 200 nations aimed at slowing the warming of the planet.

The three states already belong to an emissions reduction pact of states and cities worldwide, but Thursday’s action marked a direct stand against the Trump administration and a formal commitment to upholding the targets of the Paris agreement.

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08:25  Top CEOs tell Trump: You’re wrong on Paris:  Dozens of top executives urged Trump not to pull the US out of the Paris climate agreement. Now, many are voicing their displeasure.

“Disappointed with today’s decision on the Paris Agreement. Climate change is real. Industry must now lead and not depend on government,” said General Electronic CEO Jeff Immelt on Twitter. 

Elon Musk, the CEO of Tesla and SpaceX, announced that he’s quitting the president’s business advisory councils because of the decision.

“Am departing presidential councils. Climate change is real. Leaving Paris is not good for America or the world,” he said on Twitter.

Google CEO Sundar Pichai also weighed in.

“Disappointed with today’s decision. Google will keep working hard for a cleaner, more prosperous future for all,” he said.

Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg shared his own chagrin.

“Withdrawing from the Paris climate agreement is bad for the environment, bad for the economy, and it puts our children’s future at risk,” Zuckerberg said.

In recent months, hundreds of companies had lobbied the Trump administration to remain in the agreement. Apple, Starbucks, Gap , Nike, Adidas, L’Oreal and Monsanto all voiced their support for the Paris deal.

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08:14  5 effects of US pullout from Paris climate deal:  There’s no doubt that US President Trump’s withdrawal will make it more difficult for the world to reach the goals that it set for itself in the Paris agreement – keeping global temperature rises well under 2 degree Celsius. The US contributes about 15 per cent of global emissions of carbon, but it is also a significant source of finance and technology for developing countries in their efforts to fight rising temperatures.

07:58  UN chief dismayed over Trump pulling out of Paris Accord:  

UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres has expressed disappointment over President Donald Trump’s decision to pull out of the Paris Accord, saying he is confident all other parties to the ambitious pact will continue with their efforts to reduce the emissions.

“The decision by the United States to withdraw from the Paris Agreement on climate change is a major disappointment for global efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and promote international security,” according to a statement read by Guterres’s spokesperson Stephane Dujarric said. 

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02:31  Exiting Paris deal would see US ‘reject the future’: Obama:  Former President Barack Obama slammed his successor President Donald Trump today for pulling out of the Paris climate deal, warning that the move would see the United States ‘reject the future’ by not abiding by the agreement. 

‘Even in the absence of American leadership; even as this administration joins a small handful of nations that reject the future; I’m confident that our states, cities, and businesses will step up and do even more to lead the way, and help protect for future generations the one planet we’ve got,’ Obama said in a statement. 

European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker also lashed at Trump’s decision.

Juncker tweeted that the withdrawal — announced by Trump in a highly anticipated statement from the White House rose Garden — was ‘a seriously wrong decision’. — Agencies

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01:16  US withdraws from Paris climate deal:  United States President Donald Trump has announced withdrawal from the Paris climate deal. 

He, however, said that the US will begin fresh negotiations to enter either the Paris deal or a totally new climate deal.

Announcing the withdrawal, he said the deal caused major job loss to the US while making other countries gain a financial advantage over the US.

He said the deal put the US to a ‘very, very severe’ economic disadvantage.

He called the deal a ‘self-inflicted major economic wound’ on the US.

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00:19  Firing at casino complex in Manila, IS claims responsibility:  Gunfire was reported at a hotel and a casino resort in the Philippine capital on Thursday night, the operator of the complex said, and the Islamic State group quickly claimed responsibility.

‘Resorts World Manila is currently on lockdown following reports of gunfire from unidentified men,’ the company said on its Twitter account.

Philippine media reports that police, firetrucks and SWAT team are in the area.

Resorts World Manila on lockdown. — Agencies

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Source: Rediff