President Donald Trump’s administration has asked Congress for $33 billion to secure the US-Mexico border of which $18 billion will be spent on the border wall, the media reported.

According to a Customs and Border Protection (CBP) document that was sent to lawmakers on Friday night, the remaining $15 billion would cover technology, personnel and readiness, reports CNN.

Titled “Critical CBP Requirements to Improve Border Security”, the document says the agency has identified what a 2,026-mile border wall system would entail — about 864 miles of new wall and about 1,163 miles of replacement or secondary wall.

It said the $18 billion investment will cover 722 miles of border wall — about 316 new miles of primary structure and about 407 miles of replacement and secondary wall.

The administration does not envision the investment happening all at once, laying out the investment costs over 10 years, breaking down the totals desired per year.

The fiscal year 2018 request would have 60 miles of primary wall and 14 miles of secondary wall to the tune of $1.6 billion.

Congress is yet to agree to appropriate any of the administration’s requested funds for a border wall, reports CNN.

The fiscal year 2017 omnibus budget package passed by Congress last year required a comprehensive plan from CBP on securing the border, which was due in August but had not been delivered before Thursday.

Members of Congress, including Senate Republican Whip and Texan John Cornyn, have called on the administration to present a coherent border strategy as opposed to individual yearly requests for border funds.

An administration official told CNN that the budget estimate “only covers one aspect — the border security needs — of the President’s previously stated immigration policy priorities and was delivered to the Hill to meet a specific request from negotiating team members.

“The border wall needs to be fully funded by Congress but the other priorities, such as improved immigration enforcement measures and a merit-based immigration system, must also be part of the larger immigration reform package.”

Actor Mark Wahlberg says he is a big fan of filmmaker Ridley Scott and always wanted to work with him.

The actor added that working with Scott on All the Money in the World was a “win-win” situation as he got to learn so much from him.

“I was always fascinated by the story (of the film) itself but the real draw was Ridley Scott. I’ve always wanted to work with him; we’ve been friendly over probably the past 20 years,” Wahlberg said in a statement.

“I’ve always been a huge fan and I was in the middle of shooting another movie. I had five days in between two films. I checked with my wife just to let her know what a unique opportunity it was to play this particular part, and also to work with a guy that I admire so much,” he added.

The actor continued: “And when I read the part, I was even more eager because it’s not the kind of role I usually get to play. Ridley said, you know, no guns, no teddy bears, and I didn’t beat anybody up. It was nice to play a well-educated guy who does a lot of interesting things for Mr. Getty.”

All The Money In The World revolves around oil tycoon J. Paul Getty. It follows Getty’s grandson John Paul Getty III, who was kidnapped by an organised crime regime, and his mother Gail’s (Michelle Williams) attempts to convince his wealthy grandfather to pay the ransom. Wahlberg is seen as Getty’s lawyer.

The film, brought to India by PVR Pictures, was released on Friday.

Talking about working with Scott, Wahlberg said: “To see a guy and to be a guy who is always aspired to make films, both in front and behind the camera and get to learn from him, it was a win-win for me. I work with him but I also get to learn from him and observe him.”

A day after he was attacked by party colleague Gopal Rai for making “attempts to bring down the Delhi Government”, AAP founder member Kumar Vishwas on Friday hit back, saying Rai should take delight in the contribution of “new Guptas” and not comment on him.

“I request him to take pleasure in the contribution made by the two new (in the party) Guptas who have come from the BJP and Congress and not comment on me.

“I went with him (Rai) to (his constituency) Baburpur to hold rallies for him. This time, do rallies for Sushil Gupta from there. Become a parliamentarian, and then become the Prime Minister from that constituency,” he said in a sarcastic manner.

Vishwas also quipped that Rai should become the United Nations Secretary General.

“(North Korean leader) Kim Jong-un seems to have bothered him as well like the rest of the world. He should also head the UN and help in bringing world peace.”

His remarks came in the wake of Rai’s accusation that Vishwas conspired against the party in an attempt to topple the Delhi government after the municipal polls.

AAP’s Delhi Convener alleged that both Vishwas and sacked minister Kapil Mishra were behind a plan to harm the party.

When the AAP on Wednesday named veteran leader Sanjay Singh, businessman Sushil Gupta and chartered accountant Narain Dass Gupta as its debutants for the Rajya Sabha, Vishwas expressed his disappointment over not being considered for the Upper House and claimed he was being “punished” for speaking the truth.

Actress Jennifer Lawrence says her parents never threw her a birthday party when she was growing up.

Lawrence was asked to recall her favourite birthday party in an interview with W magazine, however the Oscar winner said she never had one before she was famous, reports femalefirst.co.uk.

“Definitely my 25th birthday when my friends surprised me with Kris Jenner holding my birthday cake. I don’t want to sound like — I know that’s a famous person story — but when I was a kid my parents would be like, ‘It was your birthday yesterday’,” Lawrence said.

“We didn’t have like parties, so my only birthday parties are after I’m famous, so s**k my d**k,” she added.

Filmmaker Karan Johar says he will be happy to have actress Kangana Ranaut as a guest for his upcoming show “India’s Next Superstars”. Asked if Kangana will make an appearance in the show, Karan said in a press conference on Friday: “I am sure if Star Plus invites Kangana Ranaut, we will be very happy to have her. Our hearts are big, our home is open…”

The filmmaker added: “If we send an invite, we will welcome them with all due respect and love.” Kangana had sparked the infamous debate by calling Karan a “flagbearer of nepotism” during her appearance on his chat show “Koffee With Karan” in 2017.

Karan will be seen co-judging “India’s Next Superstar” along with filmmaker Rohit Shetty. Actress Priyanka Chopra will be seen making an appearance in the Star Plus’s show. Karan and Rohit will be judging 20 budding talents from which two — male and female talents will be given an opportunity to work with the ace filmmakers. The show will air from January 13.

North Eastern Warriors edged past Bengaluru Blasters 3-2 in a Premier Badminton League (PBL) clash at the Jawaharlal Nehru Indoor Stadium here on Friday.

The men’s doubles pair of Mathias Boe and Kim Sa Rang defeated Kim Gi Jung and Shin Baek Cheo 15-12, 7-15, 15-12 to give Bengaluru their opening point.

Ajay Jayaram then edged past Chong Wei Feng 15-8, 15-13 in Bengaluru’s ‘Trump Match’ to give the Guhawati-based side its first point. With this defeat, the southern side lost their sole point earned by Boe and Sa Rang.

In the women’s singles match, Michelle Li defeated Kirsty Gilmour 7-15, 15-14, 15-13 in NE Warriors’ ‘Trump Match’ to make it an unassailable 3-0.

Bengaluru’s reigning world champion Viktor Axelsen battled past Wang Tzu Wei 9-15, 15-13, 15-14 as the southern side trailed 1-3.

In the mixed doubles match, Bengaluru’s Manu Attri and N. Sikki Reddy got the better of Prajakta Sawant and Shin Baek Cheol 12-15, 15-8, 15-9 to reduce the deficit to one.

Real Madrid confirmed on Friday that central defender Sergio Ramos will be out of action for between two to three weeks after tearing a muscle in his left calf.

The player suffered the injury on Thursday in a training session for the squad members who did not play in the King’s Cup tie away to Numancia, which Real Madrid won 3-0 the same evening with the help of two penalties.

Ramos will at least miss the return leg of the Cup next week, as well as the first leg of the quarter finals the following week assuming Madrid qualify, Xinhua news agency reported.

He is also certain to miss Sunday’s Liga Santander visit to play Celta Vigo and the following weekend’s match at home to Villarreal, as well as being a doubt to face Deportivo la Coruna on January 20.

Ramos’ injury poses an extra problem for coach Zinedine Zidane on Sunday given that full back Dani Carvajal is suspended for the trip to Vigo following his sending off against FC Barcelona on December 23.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday wished Himchal Pradesh Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur on his 53rd birthday and prayed for his “long and healthy life”.

“On his birthday, I convey my greetings to Himachal Pradesh’s energetic Chief Minister Shri Jai Ram Thakur. May Almighty bless him with a long and healthy life,” tweeted Modi.

https://x.com/narendramodi/status/949499163758112769

Thakur, who turned 53 on Saturday, is five-time legislator was sworn in as the 13th Chief Minister of Himachal Pradesh on December 27, 2016.

Hailing from the Rajput community with a significant presence in the hill state, Thakur won from Seraj constituency in the assembly polls where the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) wrested power from the Congress, winning close to two thirds majority.

In the 68-member assembly, the BJP won 44 seats while the Congress bagged 21 seats.

Seamer Bhuvneshwar Kumar on Friday conceded that the road won’t be so smooth for the Indians, tottering at 28/3 at stumps on Day 1 of the first cricket Test, despite bowling South Africa out for 286 at Newlands here.

The Meerut-born pacer (4/87) starred with the cherry in the morning session, ripping through the South African top order after the Proteas won the toss and elected to bat.

Bhuvneshwar picked the wickets of openers Dean Elgar (0) and Aiden Markram (5), and then Hashim Amla (3). Later, he also accounted for the wicket of dangerman Quinton de Kock (43).

Despite that, the pacer acknowledged that the road ahead will not be that easy for the Indians, who lost their top three batsmen in the brief 11-over stint towards the end of the day.

“It was an amazing day, that’s how Test cricket is. It’s gonna be tough (the way forward). We knew these are the situations we’ll have to tackle with,” he said after the day’s play.

Bhuvneshwar also felt that the visitors could have restricted the Proteas to a lower total if they stuck to the line throughout the innings.

“To be honest, we could have bowled better. We gave 25-30 runs extra, just wanted to bowl in good areas. We wanted to get the batsmen out caught behind or in the slips.

“We knew it doesn’t swing much in South Africa. Never felt the wicket would be slow. We thought there would be lateral movement and that’s what happened. Overall we’re happy with the way we’ve bowled,” he said.

Commenting on the wicket of the dangerous Hashim Amla, Bhuvneshwar said: “In Test cricket, the top of off-stump is an area where every batsman is vulnerable. He’s (Amla) the kind of batsman who can make big hundreds if he gets going. It was very pleasing to get him out.”

Hailing former South Africa skipper AB de Villiers, who top scored with 65 runs, Bhuvneshwar said: “AB is best in the world. You have to be at your best to bowl to him. His counter-attack hurt us.”

Extreme cold wave conditions prevailed in most parts of Uttar Pradesh on Saturday. Lack of night shelters and amenities have already led to the death of over 70 homeless and poor people.

Phone calls to senior officials, including Director Information Anuj Jha have remained unanswered.

Twenty two deaths have been reported from Poorvanchal; three each in Brij and Bareilly divisions; 11 in Allahabad division and 28 in Bundelkhand region.

Two persons – Ram Kishore Rawat, 40, and Mahesh, 35, have died in Barabanki district due to the severe cold. One person died in Harchandpur in Faizabad, an infant in Ambedkarnagar, one in Rae Bareli’s Makhdoompur and one in Unchahaar.

A government official said that adequate arrangements have been made for bonfires and night shelters, though the ground realities were in stark contrast to these claims.

At many places in the state capital here, the claims have fallen flat in the last 48-hours.

Reports suggest that most bonfires have been taken over by “VVIPs” and were being lit outside the bungalows of Ministers, political leaders and the who’s who in power.

Allegations by people and social groups have forced Lucknow Mayor Sanyukta Bhatia to call for explanation from the city Commissioner on this bias in log wood distribution.

She has admitted that she has been getting calls of biased distribution of wood meant for bonfires at public places.

Sultanpur district remained the coldest in the past 24 hours with the mercury dipping to 2.8 degrees Celsius.

Lucknow shivered at three degrees Celsius. Friday was incidentally the coldest day of the season as well.

The weatherman has predicted that the cold wave would not subside for the next few days and the temperatures were only likely to improve after January 10.

Bahraich recorded 3.4 degrees Celsius, Muzaffarnagar (4.9), Kanpur (4.2), Barabanki (3.4), while Varanasi, Meerut and Lakhimpur Kheri were all at five degrees Celsius.

The Congress has accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Finance Minister Arun Jaitley of ignoring economic wisdom and dealing a “catastrophic” blow to India’s growth story.

Party communication in-charge Randeep Surjewala claimed that the double whammy of “Modi Made Disaster of Demonetisation” and the implementation of a flawed GST were responsible for the economy’s downturn.

“An arrogant Prime Minister Narendra Modi and a failed Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, hell bent upon ignoring economic wisdom, have dealt a catastrophic blow to India’s growth story as proved by the latest GDP estimates slumping from 7.3 per cent to 6.5 per cent,” he said on Friday.

He claimed the truth was that investment had stagnated, job creation was abysmal, exports were in dire straits, stalled projects were burgeoning, inflation remained unchecked and rural distress was at an all time high.

“Hype, hyperbole and headline management cannot be a substitute to the grim reality on the ground,” he said.

He alleged that 6.5 per cent GDP growth “detailed the failed promise of the prime minister and explained the abject failure of Modinomics”.

He claimed that job creation was the biggest failure of the BJP government and said the labour bureau data showed that job creation was the lowest in 8 years.

“As the government completes four years of its term, the people are seeing through the long distance between rhetoric and reality,” he said, adding the people were watching and would give a befitting political reply when the time arrived.

It was a cold and foggy Saturday morning in the national capital with the minimum temperature recorded at 4.2 degree Celsius, three notches below the season’s average.

Visibility at 8.30 a.m. was 400 metres.

The Railways had to cancel 18 trains while 49 were delayed and 13 rescheduled due to fog in several parts of northern India.

Operations at the Indira Gandhi International (IGI) Airport here were affected due to the low visibility.

“Due to poor visibility in #fog at Delhi, Patna, Varanasi, Chandigarh and Lucknow some of our flights are affected,” Jet Airways tweeted.

While early in the morning, SpiceJet, in a tweet, said: “Due to bad weather at Delhi, all departures/arrivals and their consequential flights may get affected. All passengers are requested to cross-check their flight status before leaving for the airport.”

The sky will remain clear during the day, an India Meteorological Department official said.

The maximum temperature is likely to hover around 18 degrees Celsius.

Friday’s maximum temperature settled at 18.1 degrees Celsius, one notch above the season’s average while the minimum was recorded at recorded at 7.2 degrees Celsius, the season’s average.

US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said that the ongoing investigation into alleged collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia has had no impact on his work with overseas counterparts, the media reported.

“It has had no impact,” Tillerson told CNN in an interview on Friday. “I’ll say that it’s had none.”

Tillerson’s statement contradicts President Donald Trump, who told The New York Times last month that the investigation “makes the country look very bad, and it puts the country in a very bad position”.

“It never comes up in our conversations or in my bilats or my dialogues with world leaders elsewhere.

“The domestic issues around the Russia involvement in our elections are not part of our dialogue elsewhere… I think the rest of the world recognises it is a domestic issue, it’s an important one.”

During the interview, Tillerson discussed the challenges of the US’ relationship with Russia, now intractably complicated by the ongoing investigations by Special Counsel Robert Mueller and by multiple congressional committees.

“It has been a difficult year with Russia,” Tillerson told CNN.

“I’ve said clearly, the president stated clearly, our two nations should have a more productive relationship. Today it’s very strained for all reasons that I think the American people well understand.”

Despite that, Tillerson said, “we have maintained a constant engagement with Russia, very active engagement”.

The Secretary of State said that when he does talk to the Russians, he raises the issue of Moscow’s interference in the 2016 election campaign, but “it brings them no benefits”.

Asked if he thinks Russia will meddle again in November’s midterm elections, the Tillerson told CNN that there was no evidence of that yet.

“I hope they don’t… But we do know that Russia has involved themselves in other (European) elections.”

As former Bihar Chief Minister Lalu Prasad Yadav braces for the fodder scam verdict, likely to be delivered in the afternoon, the RJD will on Saturday hold a crucial meeting to chalk out a plan for the path ahead in the absence of party patriarch.

The special Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) court hearing the fodder scam case is likely to announce the quantum f punishment to Lalu at 2 pm on Saturday via video conferencing.

Hearing over quantum of sentence for five accused, including Lalu Prasad Yadav, was completed at Ranchi special CBI court earlier on Friday.

On Friday, Lalu had moved an application before the court on health grounds and sought minimum punishment in the case.

In a plea filed in the court of Justice Shivpal Singh, Lalu’s lawyer has pleaded to the court have mercy on his client who is a heart patient and also has diabetes.

The plea further said that the Birsa Munda jail in Ranchi, where Lalu is lodged at present doesn’t have clean drinking water which could be harmful to Lalu’s health.

Moreover, there’s no provision for any medical care in case of an emergency, the court was told.

Therefore, the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) chief should be let off with minimum punishment.

The request comes a day after Lalu told the court that he felt very cold in the jail to which the judge replied play ‘tabla’.

Interestingly, the judge on Thursday revealed that he was getting phone calls from “Lalu’s men” about the case indicating that he was being threatened.

On 2 January, the former Bihar CM’s lawyer had urged the court for minimum punishment owing to the RJD chief’s age.

Lalu is likely to get three to seven years’ punishment, as per reports. If he is awarded three years’ sentence, he will be able to get bail soon.

The fodder scam relates to fraudulent withdrawal of Rs. 89.27 lakh from Deoghar treasury 21 years ago.

Meanwhile, top party leaders are expected to attend RJD’s “emergency meeting” under the leadership of former Bihar Chief Minister Rabri Devi to plan the way forward in the absence of Lalu.

The United Nations has approved $50 million to meet the humanitarian needs in Yemen, said a UN spokesman on Friday.

The money is the largest ever allocation by the Central Emergency Response Fund, Xinhua quoted Farhan Haq as saying.

UN undersecretary-general for humanitarian affairs and emergency relief coordinator, Mark Lowcock, who approved the allocation on Friday, said there must be reduction both in fighting on the ground and airstrikes, which have greatly intensified in recent weeks.

He also stressed the need to have all ports open without interruption so that humanitarian supplies can be shipped into Yemen.

Lowcock said he remained deeply concerned by the deterioration in the humanitarian situation in the country although there has been progress in the past month in opening Yemen’s critical Red Sea ports to commercial fuel and food shipments, as well as the resumption of humanitarian shipments and flights.

Lowcock stressed that the Yemeni people need an end to the conflict so that they can begin to rebuild their lives.

For this to happen, the parties to the conflict must cease hostilities and engage meaningfully with the United Nations to achieve a lasting political settlement.

The Saudi-led military coalition, which is launching airstrikes against Houthi rebels in Yemen, sealed off Yemen after Saudi Arabia intercepted a ballistic missile launched by Houthi rebels toward the Saudi capital city of Riyadh in early November.

The blockade was later partially lifted.

Reality TV star Khloe Kardashian, who is expecting her first child with basketball player Tristan Thompson, says she has been getting a lot of pregnancy counselling from her sisters Kim and Kourtney Kardashian.

Khloe, who is currently six months pregnant, said besides her fans, she also kept her family in dark regarding the big news, reports dailymail.co.uk.

“I was nauseous, not feeling well and then he had to leave the country and I took a pregnancy test. I was like screaming. It’s so weird and surreal,” Khloe said on TV show “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” on Thursday.

She shared that Kim and Kourtney have been giving her a lot of pregnancy advice, though “most of it is unwanted”.

Khloe said she and Thompson “knew for a few weeks” that she was pregnant, but she didn’t share the news with her family.

“He was out of the country and we wanted to tell everyone together. It’s actually all caught on ‘Keeping Up With The Kardashian’ which I’m excited about. They get to see all the stuff I was going through without them knowing,” she said.

An ex-Governor of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) had pointed to the risks in the practice of political parties promising loan waivers during poll campaigns to the Election Commission, Parliament was informed on Friday.

In a written reply submitted to the Lok Sabha during Question Hour, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said that as a consequence of such poll promises, loan beneficiaries stopped making payments due even if they were in a financial position to do so.

While addressing a conference organised by NABARD and SIDBI, the former Governor in question had also said that loan waivers and subsidies “distort the credit discipline,” he added.

The Minister made the statement, however, without revealing the name of the former Governor concerned.

He said the Governor had written to the Chief Election Commissioner noting “the risk of promising loan waivers by political parties at election time, as beneficiaries stop making payment even if they are financially in a position to make them and that this affects the banking sector as well as the state finances.”

Last year, the current RBI Governor Urjit Patel had spoken of the damaging effects of farm loan waivers on the budgets of state governments.