International news brief: Nepal President Bidya Devi returns citizenship amendment Bill

India

pti-Deepika S

Kathmandu,
Aug
14:
Nepal’s
President
Bidya
Devi
Bhandari
on
Sunday
returned
the
country’s
first
Citizenship
Amendment
Bill
to
the
House
of
Representatives
for
reconsideration,
a
month
after
it
was
passed
in
Parliament.
Spokesperson
of
the
Office
of
President
Sagar
Acharya
said
since
it
was
felt
necessary
to
review
the
bill
in
the
House
and
has
been
sent
back.

The
bill
was
presented
to
the
president
for
authentication
after
being
endorsed
by
the
House
of
Representatives
(HoR)
and
the
National
Assembly
(NA).
The
bill
was
to
amend
the
Nepal
Citizenship
Act
2063
BS.

It
has
sparked
controversy
after
lawmakers
of
the
main
opposition
CPN-UML
raised
questions
on
some
of
its
provisions
including
granting
citizenship
certificates
immediately
to
foreign
women
married
to
Nepali
citizens.

‘You
are
next’:
Author
JK
Rowling
receives
death
threat
over
Salman
Rushdie
tweet

The
police
in
Scotland
on
Sunday
said
they
are
investigating
an
online
threat,
believed
to
be
from
Pakistan,
made
to
Harry
Potter
author
J
K
Rowling
in
the
wake
of
her
support
for
Mumbai-born
writer
Salman
Rushdie
following
his
stabbing
at
a
literary
event
in
New
York
state.
Rowling,
57,
shared
screenshots
of
a
Twitter
message
stating:
“Don’t
worry,
you
are
next”.
The
same
Twitter
account,
believed
to
be
based
in
Pakistan,
also
posted
messages
praising
the
man
who
attacked
Rushdie,
75,
on
stage
at
the
event
in
New
York
state.

Despite
public
anger,
no
progress
in
Iraq
political
deadlock

Weeks
after
followers
of
an
influential
cleric
stormed
parliament,
Iraq’s
political
crisis
shows
no
signs
of
abating,
despite
rising
public
anger
over
a
debilitating
gridlock
that
has
further
weakened
the
country’s
caretaker
government
and
its
ability
to
provide
basic
services.
Iraq’s
two
rival
Shiite
political
camps
remain
locked
in
a
zero-sum
competition,
and
the
lone
voice
potentially
able
to
end
the
rift
–
the
revered
Grand
Ayatollah
Ali
al-Sistani
–
has
been
conspicuously
silent.

Taiwan
thanks
India
and
other
countries
for
calls
to
de-escalate
tensions
in
Taiwan
Strait

Taiwan
on
Sunday
expressed
gratitude
to
India
and
several
other
countries
for
their
calls
for
exercising
restrain
and
avoiding
unilateral
actions
to
change
the
status
quo
in
the
Taiwan
Strait
in
the
face
of
China’s
belligerent
military
posturing
following
US
House
Speaker
Nancy
Pelosi’s
visit
to
the
island.

With
Beijing
launching
a
diplomatic
overdrive
seeking
reiteration
of
support
by
countries
across
the
world
for
its
‘One
China’ policy
in
the
backdrop
of
the
current
crisis,
Taiwan
said
it
is
entitled
to
maintain
relations
with
other
nations.
Pelosi’s
visit
to
Taiwan
around
10
days
back
drew
a
furious
response
from
China
which
launched
its
biggest-ever
military
exercise
around
the
self-governing
island
and
blamed
the
US
for
escalating
the
tension
in
the
region.

with
agency
inputs