WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Donald Trump’s pick to head the FBI, Christopher Wray, on Wednesday said he would refuse to pledge loyalty to Trump, rejected his description of the probe into Russian election meddling as a “witch hunt,” and vowed to quit if asked by the president to do something unlawful. Wray, nominated by Trump on June 7 to replace the fired James Comey as Federal Bureau of Investigation director, sought to stake out independence from the president and protect the agency from partisan political influence. Wray even said it would be “highly unlikely” he would agree to meet Trump in a one-on-one situation, as Comey reluctantly did. Wray, who seemed headed for U.S. Senate approval to fill the 10-year post, testified during a 4 1/2-hour hour Judiciary Committee confirmation hearing amid an uproar in Washington over 2016 emails released on Tuesday involving the president’s son, Donald Trump Jr. The emails showed the Republican president’s son agreeing last year to meet a woman he was told was a Russian government lawyer who might have damaging information about Democratic White House rival Hillary Clinton as part of Moscow’s official support for his father. Wray deflected specific questions from Republican Senator Lindsey Graham about the president’s son’s emails, saying he had not read them. But Wray said, “Any threats or effort to interfere with our election from any nation-state or any non-state actor is the kind of thing the FBI would want to know.” Trump’s son did not notify the FBI and wrote “I love it” about the Russian’s offer of information on Clinton. Trump fired Comey on May 9, igniting a political firestorm, and later cited the “Russia thing” as his reason. The Justice Department eight days later named Robert Mueller to serve as special counsel to investigate alleged Russian interference in the 2016 presidential race to help Trump win and potential collusion between Moscow and Trump associates. The Russia matter has dogged Trump’s first six months in office. Wray said he had no reason to doubt the U.S. intelligence community’s conclusion that Russia interfered in part by hacking and releasing emails damaging to Clinton, a claim Moscow denies. Wray worked at the Justice Department under Republican former President George W. Bush when Comey was deputy attorney general and Mueller was FBI director. Wray also represented New Jersey Governor Chris Christie in a political scandal. Trump has called the Russia probe a “witch hunt.” “I do not consider Director Mueller to be on a witch hunt,” Wray told Graham. Wray said he was “very committed” to supporting Mueller’s investigation, calling him a “consummate straight shooter and somebody I have enormous respect for.” Democratic Senator Dianne Feinstein asked Wray to inform the committee “if you learn about any machinations to tamper with” Mueller’s probe. “Understood,” Wray responded. Wray said no one at the White House had asked that he pledge loyalty to Trump, as Comey said the president demanded of him on Jan. 26. Wray said he would not give such an assurance if asked. “My loyalty is to the Constitution, to the rule of law and to the mission of the FBI. And no one asked me for any kind of loyalty oath at any point during this process, and I sure as heck didn’t offer one,” Wray said. Comey previously told the same committee Trump pressed him in a one-on-one session to drop the FBI investigation into former national security advisor Michael Flynn’s ties to Russia. Comey said he felt he was fired in a bid by Trump to undercut the Russia probe. Democratic Senator Patrick Leahy asked Wray, “If the president asks you to do something unlawful or unethical, what do you say?” “First, I would try to talk him out of it. And if that failed, I would resign,” Wray replied. The allegation involving Trump pressing Comey on Feb. 14 over the Flynn probe raised questions about whether Trump’s behavior amounted to obstruction of justice, a potential issue in any potential future effort in Congress to impeach the president and remove him from office. Wray sought to differentiate himself from Comey. Wray was asked about Comey’s July 2016 news conference announcing that no criminal charges were planned against Clinton over her use of a private email server to handle classified information but faulting her conduct. “I can’t imagine a situation where as FBI director I would be giving a press conference on an uncharged individual, much less talk in detail about it,” Wray testified. Graham questioned Wray about a January report by the U.S. news organization Politico that a Ukrainian-American operative who was consulting for the Democratic National Committee had met with Ukrainian embassy officials in Washington in a bid to help Clinton and expose links between Trump, top campaign aide Paul Manafort and Russia. Wray said it would be wrong for Ukraine to meddle in the election and “I’d be happy to dig into it.”

Summary: ट्रम्प के एफ. बी. आई. चयन ने स्वतंत्रता की शपथ ली, कहा कि रूस की जांच कोई 'विच हंट' नहीं है


WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama cannot select the most liberal possible candidate for the U.S. Supreme Court and should seek a “consensus” pick who could attract Republican support, Vice President Joe Biden said on Thursday. A fierce political fight is brewing as the Democratic president prepares to name a successor to conservative Justice Antonin Scalia, who died on Saturday. Obama’s nominee could change the court’s balance of power. Scalia’s death left it with four conservative and four liberal justices. Senate Democratic leader Harry Reid told MSNBC in an interview that he spoke with Obama on Thursday about the nomination and expected the president to name his choice in “a little over three weeks.”  Many Republicans, led by Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, have said the seat should remain vacant until Obama’s successor takes office next January so voters can have a say in the selection when they choose a new president in the Nov. 8 election.     “The Senate gets to have a say,” Biden, a former senator, told Minnesota Public Radio in an interview broadcast on Thursday. “In order to get this done, the president is not going to be able to go out, nor would it be his instinct anyway, to pick the most liberal jurist in the nation and put them on the court.” The Senate, whose Republican majority would be unlikely to embrace any selection seen as particularly liberal, must confirm nominees picked for lifetime appointments to the nation’s highest court.  “There are plenty of judges who are on high courts already who have had unanimous support of the Republicans. This should be someone who, in fact, is a consensus and whereby we can generate enough support to get a person passed,” Biden said. In a separate interview broadcast on MSNBC, Biden said he would be deeply involved in advising Obama but that he had no desire himself to be named to the high court. Biden told MSNBC the president had sought his advice but they had yet to discuss potential candidates. White House spokesman Josh Earnest told reporters Obama would draw on Biden’s perspective, noting the vice president had served as Senate Judiciary Committee chairman and presided over confirmation hearings for past Supreme Court nominees. Those included the contentious 1991 hearings for Justice Clarence Thomas.  Separately, retired Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O’Connor, the first woman to serve on the court and a nominee of Republican President Ronald Reagan, took issue with Republicans who are demanding that Obama’s successor pick the person to fill Scalia’s vacancy. “I don’t agree,” O’Connor, 85, told an Arizona television station. “We need somebody in there to do the job - and just get on with it.”  Some Republican senators have urged their leaders at least to allow the customary Judiciary Committee confirmation hearings to proceed on any Obama nominee. “I do believe that the nominee should get a hearing,” Senator Lisa Murkowski told reporters in her home state of Alaska on Wednesday.  She added: “That doesn’t necessarily mean that ends up in a vote” by the Senate to confirm the nominee. Senators Dean Heller of Nevada and Thom Tillis of North Carolina this week also indicated support for allowing the Senate to consider Obama’s nominee. Obama will not attend Scalia’s funeral on Saturday, a decision that provoked criticism from some conservatives. Earnest rebuked critics who he said “want to use the funeral of the Supreme Court justice as some sort of political cudgel.” Earnest noted Obama would pay his respects by going to the Supreme Court building on Friday when Scalia’s body will be lying in repose, and Biden would represent the Obama administration at the funeral. Obama’s presence at public events requires a massive retinue of Secret Service agents and security measures, while Biden’s “security footprint” is a little bit lighter, Earnest said, noting the White House had sought a “respectful arrangement.”  A CBS News poll and a Wall Street Journal/NBC News poll showed Americans closely split along partisan lines on whether Obama should name Scalia’s successor.

Summary: बाइडन का कहना है कि ओबामा 'सबसे उदार न्यायविद' का चयन नहीं कर पाएंगे


WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer plans to meet on Monday afternoon with Leandra English, the Democrats’ pick to lead the U.S. Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. Schumer and Senator Elizabeth Warren will meet jointly with English, who on Friday was named temporary head of the agency by outgoing Director Richard Cordray, according to Warren’s office.  President Donald Trump is challenging English’s bid to serve as acting director, naming his budget director, Mick Mulvaney, to serve in an interim role. English has filed a lawsuit in federal court seeking a temporary restraining order barring Mulvaney from leading the regulator.

Summary: सीनेट के शूमर सी. एफ. पी. बी. का नेतृत्व करने के लिए कॉर्ड्रे द्वारा नामित अधिकारी से मिलेंगे


BEIJING (Reuters) - One of Australia s largest independent publishers said it decided to delay the publication of a book that alleges widespread Chinese government influence in Australian institutions due to legal concerns. Sydney-based Allen & Unwin said in a statement on Sunday it had decided to delay publication of the book,  Silent Invasion , following  extensive legal advice . It said the book s author, Clive Hamilton, was unwilling to delay publication and requested the return of the book s rights.   Hamilton said the publisher s chief executive, Robert Gorman, sent him an email on Wednesday saying the reason for the delay was due to concerns over possible legal action from Beijing. The email from Gorman, which was reviewed by Reuters, said the scheduled publishing date of April next year  was too soon to publish the book and allow us to adequately guard against potential threats to the book and the company from possible action by Beijing .  The email cited fears of a  defamation action . Allen & Unwin s statement on Sunday, from Louise Cornege, its head of publicity, did not specify which court cases it was referring to. Gorman did not respond to requests for comment. Hamilton, an Australian who has previously published eight books with Allen & Unwin, said the  shadow cast by Beijing is enough to make them so nervous about the consequences of publishing criticism of the Communist Party . Australian Foreign Minister Julie Bishop said on Monday that, while she was unaware of the specific contractual details between the author and publisher, she  would be concerned if there were any attempts to stifle free speech in Australia, particularly at the behest of a foreign government . China s State Council Information Office, which doubles as the ruling Chinese Communist Party s spokesman s office, did not immediately respond to a request for comment sent on Sunday.  Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang said at a daily news briefing on Monday that he was unaware of the issue, but that China was committed to developing exchanges and cooperation with Australia in all areas on the basis of mutual respect and equality. Concern in Australia that Beijing may be extending its influence in the country has become a topic of political debate and media coverage over the past year. In June, Australian Broadcasting Corporation and Fairfax Media, publisher of the Sydney Morning Herald and The Age newspapers, published reports saying that there was a concerted campaign by China and its proxies to  infiltrate  the Australian political process and institutions to promote Chinese interests. China has denied the claims in the reports, which the Chinese Foreign Ministry has said were  totally unfounded and irresponsible . Fairfax and the ABC declined to comment. Australia s Attorney-General George Brandis said in June that  the threat of political interference by foreign intelligence services is a problem of the highest order and is getting worse . He said the Australian government had conducted a  comprehensive review  and planned to strengthen the country s espionage and foreign interference laws. Hamilton said his book was the  first comprehensive national study of Beijing s program of exerting influence on another nation . The book documented the influence and penetration of the Chinese Communist Party in Australian political parties, universities and cultural organizations, as well as the Chinese diaspora in Australia, he said in a telephone interview. The delay of the book comes after two international publishing houses - Springer Nature, which publishes science magazines Nature and Scientific American, and Cambridge University Press - were criticized recently for restricting access to articles on sensitive subjects in China. In August, Cambridge University Press, which had initially blocked online access to hundreds of scholarly articles in China reversed its position and reposted the material, following an outcry over academic freedom. Cambridge University said at the time that the move to block content had been a  temporary decision . Springer said early this month that it had pulled access to a small number of articles in China to comply with regulations, adding that it viewed the move as regrettable but necessary. Beijing has said all publications imported into China must comply with Chinese laws and regulations.

Summary: ऑस्ट्रेलियाई प्रकाशक ने ऑस्ट्रेलिया में चीन के प्रभाव का आरोप लगाते हुए पुस्तक में देरी की


WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump is poised to tap a Republican media relations firm owner to oversee his White House communications, according to media reports on Friday. Crossroads Media founder Mike Dubke is expected to be named White House communications director, CNN, NBC and Fox News reported, a move that could help spokesman Sean Spicer, who has handled both duties since Trump took office last month. Reuters could not immediately confirm the reports, and Crossroads Media did not immediately respond to a request for comment.   CNN, citing two administration officials, said the announcement could come as soon as Friday, adding that Dubke did not respond to a request for comment.    The appointment would help round out Trump’s communications team, which also includes Hope Hicks, director of strategic communications, and Dan Scavino, director of social media. Trump’s previous choice to serve as director of communications, Jason Miller, declined the job in December. Dubke’s appointment could help shore up Trump’s messaging efforts.  Spicer and Trump adviser Kellyanne Conway gave differing accounts on Monday before Michael Flynn resigned from his post as national security adviser amid controversy over his contacts with Russia. Conway told a television network that Flynn had Trump’s full confidence, while Spicer soon after told reporters that Trump was evaluating Flynn. Conway also publicly endorsed Ivanka Trump products in a recent television interview, prompting a call by the Office of Government Ethics for disciplinary action for appearing to violate government ethics rules.  A graduate of Hamilton College in New York, Dubke helped launch another communications firm in Virginia, the Black Rock Group, according to Crossroads’ website.

Summary: संचार चलाने के लिए रिपब्लिकन मीडिया फर्म के मालिक को नामित करेंगे ट्रम्पः रिपोर्ट


NEWARK, N.J. (Reuters) - In December 2013, as the “Bridgegate” scandal was unraveling, New Jersey Governor Chris Christie’s chief spokesman learned the truth: that lanes had been closed at the George Washington Bridge to punish a local mayor for political reasons. That was the testimony from former Port Authority of New York and New Jersey executive David Wildstein on Wednesday, who told jurors in Newark federal court he informed Christie’s press secretary Michael Drewniak that he executed the scheme with the approval of Christie aides. Wildstein has said several key figures in Christie’s inner circle knew about the plot as it was occurring or soon afterward - including Christie himself, who was told of the closures by Wildstein as they unfolded in September 2013, according to Wildstein’s testimony on Tuesday. Christie, who is not accused of wrongdoing, has repeatedly denied any knowledge of the plot at the time, but Wildstein’s testimony has bolstered the government’s assertion the governor knew about the scandal earlier than he has acknowledged.  The scandal helped derail Christie’s bid for the 2016 Republican presidential nomination and could endanger his best chance at a political future: a role in Donald Trump’s administration should the Republican presidential candidate win a Nov. 8 election. The governor’s former deputy chief of staff, Bridget Kelly, and a former Port Authority executive, Bill Baroni, are charged with deliberately creating gridlock in Fort Lee, New Jersey, after the town’s mayor declined to endorse Christie’s 2013 re-election bid. Wildstein said on Wednesday he met with Drewniak on Dec. 4 and offered to resign. “I told him the stories were out of control,” Wildstein said. “This wasn’t going away.” Drewniak has previously confirmed that Wildstein told him of the closures, but has denied knowing it was political payback. Wildstein also said he met with Christie’s chief counsel, Charlie McKenna, two days later and told him about the scheme, though he did not say whether he disclosed the motivation for the plot. Wildstein previously said he informed Michael DuHaime, a Christie adviser, in November. He has also testified that Christie’s campaign manager, Bill Stepien; David Samson, the chairman of the Port Authority; and a board member, Pat Schuber, were aware of the plot beforehand. Stepien’s lawyer has said he had no role in the scheme, while Samson and Schuber have denied advance knowledge. Defense lawyers began questioning Wildstein on Wednesday and sought to portray him as the true mastermind of the scheme, even though Baroni was nominally his superior. Michael Baldassare, a lawyer for Baroni, also suggested Wildstein’s testimony was biased because he is seeking a reduced sentence after pleading guilty to two counts of conspiracy.

Summary: 'ब्रिजगेट' के गवाह ने एन. जे. गवर्नर क्रिस्टी के इनकार पर और संदेह जताया


WASHINGTON (Reuters) - James Clinger, picked by President Donald Trump in June to head the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, announced on Wednesday he was withdrawing his name from consideration. He has asked to be removed as the president’s pick to head the U.S. bank regulator, citing family-related issues.  “It is ... with a sense of regret that I have asked the White House to withdraw my nomination. I did so after concluding that the family-related obligations that prompted me to leave government service earlier this year - which have grown more challenging in the interim - are incompatible with the demands of leading an important federal agency like the FDIC,” Clinger said in a statement. Clinger, who spent two decades as a Republican staff member of the House Financial Services Committee, was nominated for the post in June. His withdrawal is a setback for the Trump administration, as the president has said his top priorities include easing rules on the banking sector to spur economic growth. The FDIC chairman plays a key role in supervising banks as well as determining if large financial institutions have credible “living wills,” detailing how they could be taken apart in a financial crisis. Martin Gruenberg, the current FDIC chairman who was appointed by President Obama, plans to serve until his term expires in November. Before leaving the committee in November, Clinger had served as the committee’s chief Republican counsel since 2007, and his time as a staffer to the panel going back to 1995. He spent two years serving as a deputy assistant attorney general at the Justice Department from 2005 to 2007. Shortly after Clinger was nominated, a senior administration official touted his extensive experience with banking policy in a briefing call with reporters, while describing him as a pragmatic and well-informed policymaker.

Summary: अमेरिकी बैंक नियामक का नेतृत्व करने के लिए ट्रम्प का चयन वापस ले लिया गया


WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Democrat Dianne Feinstein, the oldest current U.S. senator, said on Monday she was “all in” to run for re-election next year in her home state of California. In a post on Twitter, Feinstein, 84, said there is “lots more to do: ending gun violence, combating climate change, access to healthcare. I’m all in!” Feinstein, who was first elected to the Senate in 1992, is the top Democrat on the Senate Judiciary Committee and the first woman to hold that role. She is also a senior member of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence and was the first woman to lead that panel, from 2009 through 2015.  Feinstein has been a leading advocate for stricter gun safety laws for decades, and last week introduced legislation that would ban so-called bump stocks. The devices, which were used in the attack that killed 58 people at an outdoor concert in Las Vegas on Oct. 1, enable some rifles to be used like automatic weapons. Feinstein is the oldest U.S. senator but among several octogenarians, including Republicans Chuck Grassley, Orrin Hatch, Richard Shelby, Jim Inhofe, Pat Roberts and John McCain.

Summary: डेमोक्रेटिक सीनेटर फीनस्टीन, 84, फिर से चुनाव पर 'सभी में'


WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Senate Banking Committee’s top Democrat tussled with Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin during a hearing on Thursday over the flow of information from his agency, and later asked if President Donald Trump, a Republican, had ordered him to restrain communications with Democrats. “Are you aware of any White House guidance formal or informal urging administration officials not to respond to or to delay in responding to Democratic senators?” Senator Sherrod Brown, a liberal Democrat, asked Mnuchin toward the end of the hearing. “I am not,” Mnuchin answered. Brown said earlier in the hearing that he had written to Mnuchin on March 2 asking about “potential conflicts of interest and ownership in the administration,” but did not receive a response. He then pressed Mnuchin to send the committee “a complete list of Trump business associates and financial ties.”  Mnuchin said that before the hearing he had checked that Treasury staff “had fully responded to all the inquiries from you and the committee” and asked Brown to send a note reminding him to deliver the list. While other senators began questioning Mnuchin, the two took the argument off-line, with Treasury emailing reporters a brief statement saying that it had responded to Brown’s letter on March 31. Brown’s office then circulated the response it had received, which generally discussed compliance with conflict of interest laws and lacked any details. Brown’s office said Treasury’s brief letter had not answered his questions. The senator also did not seem reassured that Treasury was not dragging its feet in communicating with Democrats. After he asked about possible guidance from the White House, Brown pressed: “Will you commit to responding to...members of both parties of this committee in a timely manner to all requests for information?” “I will,” Mnuchin responded. A Treasury spokesman did not replay to questions about any formal or informal White House orders on communication.

Summary: डेमोक्रेटिक सीनेटर ने संचार को लेकर अमेरिकी ट्रेजरी सचिव के साथ झगड़ा किया


NEW DELHI (Reuters) - India s foreign minister defended the country s ties with North Korea and Iran during talks on Wednesday with Secretary of State Rex Tillerson aimed at building robust relations between the two giant democracies. The Trump administration has launched a new U.S. effort to deepen military and economic ties with India as a way to balance China s assertive posture across Asia.   At the talks with Indian Foreign Minister Sushma Swaraj, both sides pledged to strengthen anti-terrorism cooperation and Tillerson said Washington stood ready to provide India with advanced military technology.   The United States supports India s emergence as a leading power and will continue to contribute to Indian capabilities to provide security throughout the region,  Tillerson told a joint news conference with Swaraj.  But the talks also touched on India s diplomatic ties with North Korea, Swaraj said, at a time when the United States has stepped up efforts to isolate Pyongyang over its nuclear and missile programs. Swaraj said she told the top U.S. diplomat that some level of diplomatic presence was necessary to keep open channels of communication.   As far as the question of embassy goes, our embassy there is very small, but there is in fact an embassy,  she said.  I told Secretary Tillerson that some of their friendly countries should maintain embassies there so that some channels of communication are kept open.  India and North Korea maintain diplomatic offices in each other s capitals, though New Delhi recently banned trade of most goods with the country, except food and medicine. Trade was minimal, Swaraj said. The focus on North Korea comes as U.S. President Donald Trump heads to China next month, where he is expected to urge President Xi Jinping to make good on his commitments to try to rein in North Korea. Tillerson, who flew in from Pakistan which he called an important U.S. ally in the restive region, also held talks with Prime Minister Narendra Modi who is driving closer ties with the United States. But India, a former leading light of the Non-Aligned Movement and which was on the opposite side of the United States during the Cold War, still remains wary of any alliances with major powers lest it affect its autonomy. India has also maintained ties with Iran which is being targeted by the Trump administration for its alleged military support of extremist groups in the Middle East and for its ballistic missile programme. India has long sourced its oil from Iran, but in recent years the two sides have been also collaborating on key infrastructure projects.  New Delhi is pushing hard for the development of Chabahar port on the Iranian coast as a hub for its trade links to the resource-rich countries of central Asia and Afghanistan but the Trump administration s tough stance has raised new concerns over the future of that project.   But Tillerson struck a conciliatory stance on India s ties with Iran, saying it wouldn t come in the way of countries doing legitimate business there.   It is not our objective to harm the Iranian people nor is it our objective to interfere with legitimate business activities that are going on with other businesses, whether they be from Europe, India or agreements that are in place or promote economic development and activity to the benefit of our friends and allies,  he said.  America s disagreements were with the Iranian regime, and in particular the Iran Revolutionary Guard, he said.  India is especially keen on the Chabahar port as a way to bypass long-time foe Pakistan which does not allow easy trade and transit arrangements to Afghanistan and beyond. Tillerson said the U.S. stood should-to-shoulder with India in the fight against terrorism which New Delhi has long said is centered in militant groups operating from inside Pakistan.  He said militant groups were a threat to everyone in the region, including Pakistan itself.  Quite frankly my view - and I expressed this to the leadership of Pakistan - is we also are concerned about the stability and security of Pakistan s government as well.  The United States has been urging Pakistan to act against the groups that operate in Afghanistan, India and inside Pakistan itself.  Terrorist safe havens will not be tolerated,  Tillerson said. Pakistan says it is doing all it can to fight the militants.

Summary: भारत ने टिलरसन के साथ बातचीत में उत्तर कोरिया के साथ संबंधों का बचाव किया


ISTANBUL (Reuters) - Turkish police have detained prominent activist and businessman Osman Kavala at Istanbul s Ataturk Airport, Turkish media and a senior European parliamentarian said on Thursday. Kavala, whose Anadolu Kultur center says it campaigns for rights and cultural diversity including Kurdish issues, was taken to the city s counter-terrorism police department, the T24 news website cited his lawyer as saying. Istanbul police declined to comment and there was no immediate statement from the government.  Very disturbing news that Osman Kavala has been detained in Istanbul,  The European Parliament s rapporteur on Turkey, Kati Piri, wrote on Twitter. T24 said he was detained on Wednesday evening as he returned from a meeting in the southeastern city of Gaziantep after an order was issued for him to be detained for seven days. Police took computers from Anadolu Kultur s offices, it added. U.S. State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert said Kavala s arrest was an example of a  very alarming trend  of detention of civil society leaders, human rights defenders, journalists, academics and activists in Turkey.  We have expressed to the Turkish government our concerns on many occasions about this trend ... It remains a major concern of ours,  she told reporters in Washington. France s foreign ministry said on Thursday it was worried by the arrest of Kavala, calling him  one of the most important and respected figures of the Turkish cultural scene and of civil society .   France like other European countries, regularly cooperate with Mr Kavala, who is a regular interlocutor to our embassy. (We) will be very attentive to developments in this case,  foreign ministry spokeswoman Agnes Romatet-Espagne told reporters.

Summary: तुर्की पुलिस ने प्रमुख कार्यकर्ता को हवाई अड्डे पर हिरासत में लियाः यूरोपीय संघ के अधिकारी


UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - India responded with irritation on Saturday to Pakistani allegations of brutality in Kashmir, saying that while India had made substantial progress since independence, all Pakistan had achieved was a reputation as the  pre-eminent export factory for terror.  Addressing the annual United Nations General Assembly, Indian Foreign Minister Sushma Swaraj rejected allegations by Pakistani Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi at the world body earlier in the week in which he accused India of state-sponsored terrorism, and violating human rights.  Those listening had only one observation:  Look who s talking! ,  Swaraj said.  A country that has been the world s greatest exporter of havoc, death and inhumanity became a champion of hypocrisy by preaching about humanity from this podium.  Swaraj said Pakistanis should look at the progress India had made since the two countries emerged on independence from Britain in 1947.  Why is it that today India is a recognized IT superpower in the world, and Pakistan is recognized only as the pre-eminent export factory for terror?  she said. On Friday officials from both sides said shelling along the disputed border between Pakistan and India killed six civilians and wounded 30 more people in the latest confrontation between the two nuclear-armed countries. The firing took place across the frontier separating Pakistan s Punjab province from Indian-administered Kashmir s Jammu region, and most of the casualties were reported on the Pakistani side. On Thursday in New York, Abbasi urged the U.N. secretary general to appoint a special envoy for Kashmir and accused India s military of brutality in a crackdown against anti-India activists. He said hundreds of Kashmiris had been killed or injured and shotgun pellets have blinded and maimed others. India rejected the allegation. It accuses Pakistan of backing several anti-India militant groups and helping them infiltrate Kashmir to stoke violence and carry out terrorist acts. Pakistan denies this charge. Both countries claim Kashmir, and have fought two of their three wars over the Himalayan region, which they have disputed since partition and independence in 1947.

Summary: संयुक्त राष्ट्र में भारत ने पाकिस्तान को 'आतंकवाद का प्रमुख निर्यात कारखाना' बताया


MEDELLIN, Colombia (Reuters) - Pope Francis on Saturday travels to Medellin, once notorious as the stomping grounds of drug lord Pablo Escobar, to find a city transformed since his predecessor Pope John Paul visited in 1986. Violence between cartels, paramilitary groups and guerrillas raged in the poor  comuna  neighborhoods on its outskirts and the late pontiff was moved to decry drug violence. Instead, Francis is expected to honor the commitment and sacrifice of those who dedicate themselves to religious vocations when he says mass for a crowd expected to draw hundreds of thousands of people near an airport. He also visits a home for children who were victims of violence and addresses priests, nuns, seminarians and their families at the La Macarena bullring. In the 1980s and early 1990s, violence between cartels, paramilitary groups and guerrillas raged in the poor  comuna  neighborhoods on its outskirts and the visiting pontiff was moved to decry drug violence. The city is now heralded as a model of urban development. It has installed cable cars up the steep Andean slopes that surround it to save working-class residents a punishing climb home and built libraries in neighborhoods once host to gun battles. Feared drug trafficker Escobar, Medellin s most infamous resident, was gunned down in the city in a U.S.-backed operation in 1993. He was recently resurrected as a character in the popular Netflix series Narcos. During his visit to the city, Francis will highlight those who choose the habit and the cassock over secular careers, as the number of new entrants to vocations in the Roman Catholic Church has slumped. At the La Macarena meeting, Francis will also pray before the relics of Mother Laura Montoya, a nun who was the first female Colombian saint. Montoya was a teacher and prolific author who hosted classes in her own home when the 1895 civil war forced schools to close. The leader of the world s 1.2 billion Roman Catholics has brought a message of national reconciliation as the country tries to heal the wounds left by the conflict and bitter disagreements over a peace deal with guerrillas agreed last year. On Friday in the tropical city of Villavicencio, he urged Colombians skeptical of a the deal with the FARC guerrillas to be open to reconciliation with those who have repented, speaking hours after a top rebel leader asked the pontiff for forgiveness.. He visits the city of Cartagena on Sunday before leaving for Rome that night.

Summary: पोप एक ऐसे मेडेलिन को देखेंगे जिसने अपने अतीत में नशीली दवाओं के युद्धों को जन्म दिया है


WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Anthony Scaramucci, a Republican fundraiser and founder of Skybridge Capital, is President Donald Trump’s choice to become ambassador to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, a White House official said on Thursday. Scaramucci was an adviser to Trump during the presidential campaign last year and Trump’s transition to the White House. He had been seen as someone headed for a White House position but a job never came to fruition. The OECD position is in Paris.

Summary: ओ. ई. सी. डी. में राजदूत के लिए धन जुटाने वाले स्कारामुची को चुनते हैं ट्रंपः अधिकारी


WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. (Reuters) - A North Carolina sheriff’s office said on Monday it would not charge Republican presidential front-runner Donald Trump or his campaign with “inciting a riot” at a rally in the state last week. North Carolina is one of five states holding Republican and Democratic primary elections on Tuesday in the race to select candidates for November’s U.S. presidential election. The Cumberland County Sheriff’s Office, based in Fayetteville, earlier had said it was reviewing whether Trump or his campaign incited a disturbance at a rally last Wednesday. At the rally in Fayettsville, John McGraw, a 78-year-old white Trump supporter, was arrested on a misdemeanor assault charge after he was seen on video punching a 26-year-old black protester in the face. On Monday evening, the Sheriff’s Office said in a statement it would not seek a warrant or indictment for Trump or his campaign over the incident. “The Sheriff’s Office legal counsel advised, and the Sheriff concurred, that the evidence does not meet the requisites of the law as established under the relevant North Carolina statute and case law to support a conviction of the crime of inciting a riot,” the office said. In North Carolina, “inciting to riot” is a legal charge that can apply to a public disturbance and does not necessarily involve a full-scale riot. The offense can be classified as a misdemeanor or a more serious felony. During a trip on Monday to North Carolina, Trump rejected suggestions that his language was to blame for recent clashes at his rallies. The 69-year-old New Yorker leads a field of four Republican candidates vying for the party’s presidential nomination.

Summary: ट्रम्प पर उत्तरी कैरोलिना में 'दंगा भड़काने' का आरोप नहीं लगाया जाएगा


LAGOS (Reuters) - Nigeria s President Muhammadu Buhari told members of his party before he was first elected that he would only seek one term, implying he did not intend at that time to run in 2019, the minister of women s affairs told Reuters on Wednesday. The comments by Aisha Alhassan could heighten uncertainty over whether Buhari plans to contest the next election. Buhari took power in 2015 but has been absent for much of this year due to illness. He is yet to say if he will seek a second term.  In 2014/2015 he said he was going to run for only one time to clean up the mess that the (previous) PDP government did in Nigeria. And I took him for his word that he is not contesting in 2019,  Minister of Women Affairs Alhassan said. Alhassan said in the interview she would resign if Buhari seeks re-election and would support former vice president Atiku Abubakar if he decides to run. Alhassan s portfolio ranks relatively low down in Nigeria s cabinet. Abubakar was vice president from 1999 to 2007 as part of the People s Democratic Party (PDP). He joined the All Progressives Congress (APC), Buhari s party, in 2014. She said Buhari made the comments in 2015 to APC members but gave no further details. The president s two spokesmen declined to comment on the minister s remarks.  Buhari, 74, returned on Aug. 19 from three months of medical leave in Britain for an unspecified ailment. It was his second stint of sick leave this year following a break between January and March.  Many people say they doubt whether Buhari is well enough to serve another term in Nigeria, which is Africa s most populous country and has the continent s biggest economy.  If today Mr. President says he is running in 2019 I will go to him respectfully and thank him for giving me an opportunity to serve and then tell him that I have to resign because my political father may be running,  said Alhassan.

Summary: नाइजीरिया के बुहारी ने कहा कि वह 2019 में फिर से चुनाव नहीं लड़ेंगेः मंत्री


BERLIN (Reuters) - Germany needs a stable government as soon as possible in order to respond to proposals for reforming the European Union and to deal with an uncertain global environment, Chancellor Angela Merkel told a news conference on Monday. Speaking after a meeting of her Christian Democrat (CDU) party s leadership, she said she would hold meetings with the Social Democrats (SPD), leader of the Social Democrats (SPD), who have agreed under pressure to enter coalition talks with Merkel s camp after first refusing to do so.  There are European elections in 2019 ... so there is a big expectations that we take positions,  she said, referring to European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker s and French President Emmanuel Macron s proposals on the future governance of the currency and economic union. She also mentioned conflict in the Middle East, tensions with Russia and relations with the U.S. as factors that meant Germany needed to be  capable of acting .

Summary: यूरोप, वैश्विक वातावरण का मतलब है कि जर्मनी को स्थिर सरकार की आवश्यकता हैः मर्केल


FLINT, Mich. (Reuters) - Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders told residents of Flint, Michigan, on Thursday their “horrific” water contamination crisis should be a wake-up call about the country’s crumbling infrastructure and required an emergency response. “If there is any silver lining out of this tragedy, it is my hope that the American people will look at Flint and say, ‘never again,’” Sanders said on his first campaign visit to the city, where a cost-saving decision to switch the water supply has led to a public health crisis from lead contamination. “We are looking at children being poisoned - if that is not an emergency, I just don’t know what an emergency is,” Sanders, a U.S. senator from Vermont, told about 300 people jammed into a Flint church for a meeting that at times featured a freewheeling exchange with shouting residents. Sanders, who has made his call for a $1 trillion investment in U.S. infrastructure a key part of his campaign agenda, said Flint’s water crisis illustrated the need for a long-term commitment to rebuilding dilapidated water systems across the country. “While Flint may be the canary in the coal mine, there are a lot of other canaries all around the country. The truth is our infrastructure is collapsing,” Sanders said. “I hope that out of the tragedy will come fundamental changes.” Sanders’ Democratic campaign rival, Hillary Clinton, visited the predominantly black city weeks ago and frequently highlights the crisis as an example of racial inequity as the two candidates vie for African-American support. Sanders has called for the resignation of Michigan Governor Rick Snyder, a Republican, and met recently with some Flint activists during a visit to Michigan. He told the Flint crowd that hearing their stories of suffering was “horrific.” “Clearly this is part of a long-term trend of starving communities of color,” he said. The crisis was triggered when a city manager installed by Snyder switched the city’s water supply from Lake Michigan to the nearby Flint River. The change corroded Flint’s aging pipes and released lead and other toxins into the water supply. President Barack Obama declared a state of emergency in Flint in January, authorizing federal emergency management officials to coordinate relief efforts. Lawmakers in Congress have wrestled with the size of a federal funding package to replace aging pipes. Sanders and Clinton will return to Flint on March 6 for their next nationally televised debate ahead of the Michigan primary on March 8.      (Editing by Tom Brown) This article was funded in part by SAP. It was independently created by the Reuters editorial staff. SAP had no editorial involvement in its creation or production.

Summary: फ्लिंट में सैंडर्स का कहना है कि जल संकट को जगाने का काम करना चाहिए


NEW YORK (Reuters) - As century-old Wall Street brokerages have agonized over the fate of a major U.S. regulation on retirement advice, younger Silicon Valley counterparts have coolly shrugged their shoulders.     At issue is when and how the federal government will implement the so-called “fiduciary rule” handed down by the U.S. Labor Department last year. The rule, which aims to protect retirees by eliminating conflicts of interest for the brokers paid to advise them, was set to go into effect in April, but is being challenged by the Trump administration.   The rule is now on track to be delayed by 180 days – creating a great deal of uncertainty about its future.    Big wealth managers and insurers most affected by the rule have welcomed signs that the new White House may roll it back. They have fought hard against the rule in court and on Capitol Hill, arguing that it would raise compliance and technology costs, while restricting brokers’ ability to charge commissions and sell certain high-fee products.  Critics have said the additional costs would force brokerages to dump less well-heeled clients in favor of wealthier ones. Startups offering digital wealth management services have taken the opposite tack, saying the rule would benefit retirees and their own businesses. Investors abandoned by big firms might move to digital providers, which offer transparent, lower-cost alternatives, the thinking goes.     In interviews since Trump instructed the Labor Department to review the rule earlier this month, executives at “robo-advisers,” which manage investor money with algorithms, brushed off the impact of the rule on their business.  Although the rule might have sped up a broader shift of investor money to “robo-advisers,” the trend had been gathering momentum anyway, they said.     “An expansion of the fiduciary rule would be nice for our business, but in no way affects our ultimate success,” said Andy Rachleff, chief executive officer of Wealthfront, one of the largest robo-advisers that deals directly with investors.     Wealthfront competitor Betterment has encouraged Democrats in recent weeks to fight efforts to delay or gut the rule. Nonetheless, Betterment’s Associate General Counsel Seth Rosenbloom said any regulatory changes would have little impact on the company’s growth.     “We are sad that it looks like ... the rule might go away, be delayed or watered down,” Rosenbloom said. “But we are optimistic that the attention around the issue will make for better informed investors in the long run.” Among robo-advisers that provide services to brokerages, Mike Sha, co-founder and chief executive of robo-adviser SigFig, said he did not expect the rule’s delay to impact its business or partnerships at all. Wealth units of Wells Fargo & Co and UBS Group AG use SigFig’s technology and offer its online investing tools to their clients.     Robo-advisers represent a small piece of the wealth management industry, overseeing roughly $200 billion of client assets in 2016, according to consulting firm A.T. Kearney. It expects the total to surge to $2.2 trillion by 2020.     Interrupting the fiduciary rule could slow that growth for some companies. Last week, for instance, LPL Financial Holdings, said if the rule was delayed, it might move more slowly in rolling out some compliance plans, which include its robo-adviser and other new technology.     But the shift to less expensive digital options began before the rule was formalized, driven primarily by customer demand for more digital options. That trend is unlikely to be stopped with or without the rule, analysts said.     “By all projections, there is unbelievable demand for digital advice and solutions,” said Kendra Thompson, a managing director in the financial services group at the consultancy Accenture. The rule is “an accelerator for digital, not an originator,” she said.

Summary: रोबो-सलाहकारों ने यू. एस. प्रत्ययी शासन हबब को हटा दिया


MOSCOW (Reuters) - Advance units of the Syrian government army have crossed the Euphrates river and taken up position on the eastern bank, a Russian foreign ministry spokeswoman said on Friday. U.S.-backed Syrian militias opposed to President Bashar al-Assad had set the Euphrates River as a red line, saying they would not allow government forces to cross onto the east bank.   After a major victory near Deir al-Zor, the Syrian government army continues to clear Islamic State terrorists from the eastern regions of the country,  ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova told a news conference.  The suburbs of this provincial center have been liberated. Advance units have successfully crossed the Euphrates and are holding positions on its eastern bank.

Summary: रूसः सीरिया की सरकारी सेना अब यूफ्रेट्स नदी के पूर्वी तट पर है


WASHINGTON/NEW YORK (Reuters) - Two high-ranking Democrats in the U.S. Senate asked the Trump administration on Wednesday to provide information on any plans to cut refugee admissions to historically low levels, saying Congress had not yet been consulted as required by law. “To date, we have not received a proposed refugee admissions plan for fiscal year 2018 or received any cooperation from your agencies in scheduling the refugee consultation,” Senator Richard Durbin and Senator Dianne Feinstein wrote in a letter seen by Reuters. The letter was sent on Wednesday to Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, Acting Secretary of Homeland Security Elaine Duke, and Secretary of Health and Human Services Tom Price. “We request that the proposed refugee admissions report be transmitted to Congress promptly and that we immediately begin the process of scheduling the consultation,” the letter said. By law, the president is required to consult with members of Congress about the number of refugee admissions before the start of each fiscal year, which is Oct. 1. A White House spokeswoman declined to discuss specific numbers but said the administration’s approach to refugee resettlement would be guided by the “safety and security of the American People, the protection of U.S. taxpayers, and the application of U.S. resources in a manner that stretches our dollars to help the most people.” The Department of Homeland Security declined to comment. The State Department and Department of Health and Human Services did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Since the U.S. Refugee Act was signed in 1980, the ceiling has never been set below 67,000 and in recent years has hovered around 70,000 to 80,000. The number of refugees actually admitted to the country can fall below the cap, and dropped to its lowest level in the fiscal year after the Sept. 11, 2001 terror attacks with only around 27,000 admitted. (For a graphic on refugee admissions click on: tmsnrt.rs/2f5Y7Ds) For fiscal 2017, which ends Sept. 30, former President Barack Obama established a cap of 110,000 refugees for permanent resettlement in the United States. After taking office, President Donald Trump issued an executive order lowering the maximum number to 50,000 for fiscal 2017, saying that more would be “detrimental to the interests of the United States.”     “There have been a lot of signals that Trump has set his sights on a presidential determination of 50,000” for 2018, said Anna Greene, a senior director at the International Rescue Committee. “But we have been concerned that the more ideological wing of the White House is trying to drive that number to much, much lower.”     The proposed RAISE Act, which the White House has endorsed, calls for lower immigration overall and a statutory limit on the number of refugees offered permanent residency to no more than 50,000.      Reports that the 2018 cap might be set below 50,000 raised alarm bells for Democrats in the House of Representatives and the Senate.     “By any measure, Donald Trump’s reported consideration of a refugee ceiling of 50,000 or lower is extreme. But it is particularly reprehensible given the current global refugee and humanitarian crisis,” said Democratic U.S. Representatives John Conyers, Jr. and Zoe Lofgren in a statement on Wednesday.  If the United States slashes refugee admissions, other countries could decide to do so as well, said Robert Carey, the former director of the Office of Refugee Resettlement under the Department of Health and Human Services in the Obama administration.     “Lives will be lost, people will die. The people who are being resettled, they are the most vulnerable people,” said Carey who left government in January and is working as a consultant.     “There is a running misperception that these are not thoroughly vetted individuals,” he said. “These are the most thoroughly vetted individuals who will enter the U.S. under any status.”     Groups that support lower levels of immigration overall say that the refugee resettlement program should be reevaluated. “There are security concerns for refugees from some places and we also need to consider the cost of resettlement to communities where refugees are being resettled,” said Jessica Vaughan, of the Center for Immigration Studies, which aims to limit immigration.

Summary: डेमोक्रेट्स ने ट्रम्प प्रशासन से शरणार्थी निर्णय पर परामर्श करने को कहा


MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russia s FSB security service said on Friday it had detained seven members of an Islamic State cell who had been planning attacks in public places, the Interfax news agency reported, citing an FSB statement. The members of the group had been detained in St Petersburg on Dec. 13-14, the FSB said, according to Interfax.

Summary: रूस ने इस्लामिक स्टेट प्रकोष्ठ पर हमले की योजना बना रहे सात सदस्यों को हिरासत में लियाः इफैक्स


GREEN BAY, Wis./WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump on Monday cited studies he said showed rampant voter fraud, saying the Nov. 8 election was “rigged” against him even as Republican lawyers called his allegations unfounded. Trump, a New York businessman making his first run for public office, has sought to raise fears of a flawed election as he has fallen in opinion polls against Democrat Hillary Clinton. “They even want to try to rig the election at the polling place,” Trump told a rally in Green Bay, Wisconsin. “So many cities are corrupt and voter fraud is very, very common.” Trump cited Pew Trusts research from 2012 that called for updates to the voter registration system because about 24 million registrations were inaccurate. (bit.ly/1HN4uTF) He also referred to a 2014 article by two political scientists in the Washington Post that said non-citizens who voted could have accounted for Democratic victories in a few close elections in 2008, although the authors acknowledged the sample size of their study was small. (wapo.st/1pX17Bf) Numerous studies have shown that voter fraud in U.S. elections is very rare. Republican campaign lawyer Chris Ashby said Trump’s charges could foment unrest and were “unfounded” and “dangerous.” “When you say an election is rigged, you’re telling voters, your supporters, their votes do not matter,” Ashby said in an interview. “I think some of Donald Trump’s comments could cause unrest at the polls.” Some Republicans have urged Trump to drop the assertions. Early voting and voting by mail have already begun in many states. Mark Braden, partner at Baker and Hostetler and former chief counsel for the Republican National Committee, said that any sort of election rigging at the national level “just is impossible,” citing the various systems in place that would make such an endeavor complicated and unfeasible.  “Our system is principally a system based upon each side watching the other side,” Braden said in an interview. “Our system is dependent on local volunteer participation. Our system has worked very well because we have people who get involved in the process and perform these functions.” Trump also pounced on the release on Monday of Federal Bureau of Investigation documents that he alleged showed “felony corruption.” The documents cited an FBI official as saying a senior State Department official sought to pressure the bureau in 2015 to drop its insistence that an email from Clinton’s private server contained classified information.. Clinton’s decision to use a private server while secretary of state from 2009 to 2013 has drawn criticism that she was careless with national security. “This is worse than Watergate, what’s going on with this,” said Trump. He also proposed a package of ethics reforms, saying that if elected he would ban his administration officials from lobbying government for five years after leaving government. Clinton campaign manager Robby Mook said Trump’s assault on the voting system was an act of desperation. “He knows he’s losing and is trying to blame that on the system. This is what losers do,” Mook told reporters. The RealClearPolitics average of national opinion polls shows Clinton currently leading Trump by 7.1 percentage points, at 46 percent to 38.9 percent. The country’s top elected Republican, House of Representatives Speaker Paul Ryan, tried to counter Trump’s message about election fraud. Spokeswoman AshLee Strong said Ryan “is fully confident the states will carry out this election with integrity.”  In the traditionally hard-fought state of Ohio, the top elections official, a Republican, said concerns about widespread voter fraud were simply not justified.  “I can reassure Donald Trump: I am in charge of elections in Ohio and they’re not going to be rigged, I’ll make sure of that,” Ohio Secretary of State Jon Husted told CNN.  In a report titled “The Truth About Voter Fraud,” the Brennan Center for Justice at New York University School of Law cited voter fraud incident rates between 0.00004 percent and 0.0009 percent. An August study by the Washington Post found 31 credible cases of impersonation fraud out of more than 1 billion votes cast in elections from 2000 to 2014. Arizona State University studies in 2012 and 2016 found similarly low rates. A number of Republican-led states, citing the need to prevent voter fraud, have passed laws with stricter ID requirements. But several have been struck down by courts that ruled they were designed to hinder minority voting. Trump’s campaign has been shaken since the release 10 days ago of a 2005 tape showing him lewdly bragging about kissing and touching women without their permission. A series of women have since come forward with allegations about such behavior on his part, but he has denied those accusations. “They want to put nice sexy headlines up even though nothing happened,” Trump said, blaming the media for trying to “poison the minds of the voters.” On Monday, the allegations were in the headlines again after Trump’s wife, Melania Trump, spoke publicly for the first time about the “Access Hollywood” tape. A former model who has mainly stayed off the campaign trail, Trump told CNN she was surprised by her husband’s language and said she thought he had been “egged on” to “say dirty and bad stuff,” calling it “boy talk.”  Melania Trump told CNN that the allegations of unwanted touching from women were “all organized from the opposition” and said media did not “check the background of these women.” In a separate interview with Fox News Channel, she said she had forgiven her husband for the comments in the tape. “Those words, they were offensive to me and they were inappropriate. And he apologized to me,” Melania Trump said in an excerpt released by Fox News Channel. “I accept his apology. And we are moving on,” she said.

Summary: ट्रम्प ने रिपब्लिकन वकीलों द्वारा विवादित 'धांधली' के आरोपों को तीखा किया


WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump will tell leaders on a five-nation Asia tour the world is “running out of time” on North Korea’s nuclear crisis and that he will give his strategy to isolate Pyongyang a few months before making adjustments, a top aide said on Thursday. Trump leaves on Friday for Hawaii, the first stop en route to Asia where he will visit Japan, South Korea, China, Vietnam and the Philippines. It will be the longest Asia tour by an American president in more than 25 years. His goal will be to increase international support for an  effort to deprive North Korea of resources as leverage to coerce it to give up nuclear weapons. “The president recognizes that we’re running out of time (to deal with North Korea) and will ask all nations to do more,” White House national security adviser H.R. McMaster told reporters at a briefing. As part of the U.S. effort to push China, North Korea’s neighbor and main trading partner, to put more pressure on Pyongyang, the U.S. Treasury issued a formal ruling on Thursday cutting off from the U.S. financial system a Chinese bank it accused of laundering money for North Korean concerns. In June, the Treasury Department declared the Bank of Dandong a “primary money laundering concern” for serving as a gateway for North Korea to access the U.S. and international financial systems despite U.S. and U.N. sanctions. [nL1N1JQ1I4]  South Korea’s spy agency told lawmakers on Thursday that North Korea may be planning a new missile test, after brisk activity was spotted at its research facilities. [L4N1N83MN] The U.S. military is keeping a close eye on North Korea, which conducted its last missile test on Sept. 15 and its sixth and largest nuclear test on Sept. 3. Two Guam-based U.S. B-1B bombers flew through South Korean airspace and over the country’s Pilsung Range in an exercise on Thursday, the U.S. Air Force said. [nL2N1N827P] “The bilateral continuous bomber presence mission was planned in advance ... and was not in response to any current event,” the Air Force said in a statement. McMaster said Trump would urge countries with the most influence over Pyongyang to “convince its leaders that the pursuit of nuclear weapons is a dead end” and that it must denuclearize. “And he will remind friend and foe alike that the United States stands ready to defend itself and our allies using the full range of our capabilities,” said McMaster. China will be perhaps Trump’s most critical stop in Asia. There he will ask Chinese President Xi Jinping to do more to rein in North Korea. Senior U.S. officials say China considers North Korea a strategic asset and is reluctant to cut off resources to Pyongyang for fear of triggering a refugee wave. McMaster said Trump, who has approved a variety of sanctions against North Korea, is at the beginning of his drive for Pyongyang to give up nuclear weapons. Trump has warned he would “totally destroy” North Korea if it threatened the United States or its allies. “I think we have to be a little patient here for at least a few months to see what more we and others can do, including China,” said McMaster. “I don’t think we need to reassess our strategy now. I think we have to give it a couple of months, a few months, and then see what adjustments we might need to make.” Trump is expected to press Xi to reduce oil exports to North Korea and coal imports from Pyongyang and limit financial transactions. The Chinese leader is newly ascendant after consolidating power at a Communist Party congress.

Summary: उत्तर कोरिया पर दुनिया का समय खत्म हो रहा है, ट्रंप एशिया को बताएँगेः व्हाइट हाउस


(Reuters) - The public relations specialist who arranged a meeting last year between President Donald Trump’s son, Donald Trump Jr., and a Russian attorney said on Monday he did so at the request of singer-songwriter-businessman Emin Agalarov, a Moscow-based client of his. Public relations specialist Rob Goldstone said in a statement that Agalarov asked him to help facilitate a meeting between Trump’s son and Russian lawyer Natalya Veselnitskaya, who he said had apparently claimed to have information regarding illegal campaign contributions to the Democratic National Committee. Goldstone said Veselnitskaya opened the meeting with the younger Trump with a few remarks on campaign funding before switching to the issue of a ban on U.S. adoption of Russian children, at which point Trump halted the meeting. “Nothing came of that meeting and there was no follow up between the parties,” Goldstone said.

Summary: पीआर विशेषज्ञ का कहना है कि एक मुवक्किल के अनुरोध पर ट्रम्प के बेटे और रूसी वकील के बीच बैठक की व्यवस्था की गई


WASHINGTON (Reuters) - John Anderson, a former Republican congressman who challenged the party’s conservative drift by taking on its chief symbol, Ronald Reagan, and ran for president as an independent in 1980, died on Sunday. He was 95. Anderson had been ill for some time, family friend Dan Johnson told Reuters in a telephone interview. Anderson’s wife, Keke, and his daughter Diane were at his side when he died in Washington, Diane Anderson said by phone.  Anderson finished a distant third with almost 7 percent of the vote in the 1980 presidential election but gave almost 6 million voters an alternative to the conservative Reagan - who won the election - and the unpopular Democratic president, Jimmy Carter. But Anderson did not win a single precinct and political analysts said he ultimately may have contributed to Reagan’s electoral landslide by taking votes from Carter. Anderson’s first venture into politics came in 1956 when he was elected as a state attorney in Illinois. In 1960, he won the first of 10 terms in the U.S. House of Representatives running as a conservative. He later moved to the left, breaking with conservatives in 1968 by voting for a bill to outlaw racial discrimination in housing. Anderson served as chairman of the House Republican Conference for the next 10 years even as he became more critical of Republican President Richard Nixon, especially on his handling of the Vietnam War. He was one of the first Republican House members to call for Nixon’s resignation over the Watergate scandal. “He’s the smartest guy in Congress, but he insists on voting his conscience instead of party,” Republican U.S. Representative Gerald Ford, who later become president, said of Anderson in 1973. In 1980, with Carter low in the opinion polls and his administration mired in the Iran hostage crisis, many Republicans, including Anderson, jumped into the party’s presidential primaries for a chance to oppose the Democrat in the November election. Reagan, who had come close to winning the Republican presidential nomination in 1976, quickly moved to the front of the race, with his main opponent being former U.N. Ambassador George H.W. Bush. Anderson dropped out of the Republican primaries in the spring of 1980 and announced he was running as an independent. When he entered the race, he was enthusiastically greeted as an alternative to the major parties, getting around 25 percent support in at least one poll. But his poll numbers began sliding, even though he was seen as having bested Reagan in surveys after a televised debate with the Republican presidential nominee. Carter boycotted that debate and refused to face Reagan if Anderson was included. Carter finally agreed to a debate with Reagan shortly before the election, when the sponsoring League of Women Voters agreed not to invite Anderson. Four years later, Anderson’s break with conservative Republicans was complete and he supported Democratic presidential nominee Walter Mondale, who lost to Reagan in a landslide. Born in Rockford, Illinois, on Feb. 15, 1922, Anderson was educated at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign and Harvard Law School. He served in the Second World War and joined the foreign service, stationed in Germany, his family said in a statement.  After his presidential defeat, Anderson became a visiting professor at various universities, wrote extensively and served on many boards including FairVote, a voting rights organization formerly known as the Center for Voting and Democracy. In the 2000 presidential election, Anderson was seen as a possible presidential candidate for the Reform Party founded by Texas billionaire Ross Perot, but he ended up endorsing Ralph Nader.	 Diane Anderson said her father believed the two-party system was broken and was appalled by what happened with the Republican Party.  “Everything he wanted to prevent unfortunately came to pass,” she said.

Summary: रीगन को चुनौती देने वाले उदारवादी रिपब्लिकन जॉन एंडरसन का 95 वर्ष की आयु में निधन हो गया


MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - Mexico and the United States will be stuck at an impasse unless they solve U.S. President Donald Trump’s “unacceptable” demand of payment for a border wall, Economy Minister Ildefonso Guajardo said on Friday. Fresh home from failed talks in Washington, Guajardo also expressed concern about Trump’s “unpredictability” and habits on Twitter. President Enrique Pena Nieto on Thursday canceled a scheduled visit to the United States next week following Trump’s insistence that Mexico “respect” the United States and pay for a new wall on the southern U.S. border.  “Sincerely, there is clear disagreement at the moment because of a campaign promise he made that from the Mexican perspective is unacceptable,” Guajardo told Mexican television network Televisa.  “It is serious, because it leaves us at an impasse until we find a mechanism to resolve it,” the minister said, adding that  Trump should not underestimate Mexico’s resolve on the issue.  “Mexicans are not going to pay.” He said communication with Trump’s team remained open.   The White House on Thursday floated the idea of imposing a 20 percent tax on goods from Mexico to pay for a wall at the southern U.S. border, sending the peso tumbling and deepening the crisis between the two neighbors. Guajardo said the United States and Mexico could reach mutually beneficial improvements to the North American Free Trade Agreement if the issue of paying for the wall was resolved.   Trump had tweeted on Thursday that it would be better for the Mexican leader not to come to Washington if Mexico would not pay for the wall. Guajardo joined Foreign Minister Luis Videgaray in meetings with White House senior officials on Wednesday. He said that the meetings had been productive, but that Trump’s later tweet had forced Mexico to cancel due to the question of “dignity.”  “That unpredictability of reaction creates problems,” Guajardo said, referring to Trump’s Thursday tweet even as he praised a constructive attitude of other members of Trump’s team including Trump strategist Stephen Bannon.  “Their attitude to work, to plan, to see solutions is extraordinary, Believe me” Guajardo said.  Trump kept up his criticism of Mexico on Friday saying the United States’ southern neighbor had taken advantage of it long enough and demanding that “Massive trade deficits & little help on the very weak border must change NOW!”

Summary: वार्ता के बाद मेक्सिको ने कहा, दीवार के भुगतान को लेकर ट्रम्प के साथ 'गतिरोध'


RIYADH (Reuters) - Lebanon s Christian Maronite Patriarch, visiting Saudi Arabia in an historic visit to the ultra-conservative Muslim kingdom, expressed support on Tuesday for the reasons behind Lebanese Prime Minister Saad al-Hariri s resignation. Hariri, a Saudi ally, resigned abruptly on Nov. 4 in a move Lebanese political leaders ascribed to pressure from Riyadh. Hariri said his resignation had been prompted by an assassination plot and accused Iran and Hezbollah of sowing strife in the region. He denies there are any constraints on his movement. Patriarch Bechara al-Rai met Hariri as well as King Salman and Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman as part of a trip that was planned well before the Lebanese political crisis brought on by Hariri s resignation.  Hariri is returning as fast as possible and I support the reasons for his resignation,  Rai was quoted as saying by Saudi-owned Al Arabiya television. Hariri said he was fine and would return to Lebanon in the next two days. On Twitter, he urged Lebanese to remain calm and said his family would stay in Saudi Arabia, calling it  their country . The events have thrust Lebanon back to the forefront of the conflict between Sunni Saudi Arabia and Shi ite Iran. Rai s trip has come under heightened scrutiny in light of Hariri s resignation, but an official visit to Saudi Arabia by such a senior non-Muslim cleric is significant as a rare act of religious openness by the conservative Muslim country. The kingdom hosts the holiest sites in Islam and bans the practice of other religions, forcing Christians to risk arrest by praying in private homes. Prince Mohammed says he wants Saudi Arabia to open up more to the world. In addition to imposing radical economic reforms, the 32-year-old heir-apparent has pledged to relax strict social norms and revive a  middle-of-the-road, moderate Islam open to the world and all religions, traditions and people . Rai heads the Maronite church, which has a presence in Lebanon, Syria and Cyprus and follows an Eastern rite of the Roman Catholic Church. Flanked by Catholic clerics wearing vestments and gold crosses, Rai discussed religious tolerance and combating extremism with the king and his son, the Saudi state news agency said. Prince Mohammed has taken a harder line on Iran since taking on wide-ranging authorities two years ago including as defense minister, with the kingdom waging a two-year-old war in Yemen against Houthi fighters aligned with Iran. He has also pushed for more social freedoms in a country where authority has rested for decades on an enduring accommodation between the royal family and clerics who control the hardline Wahhabi strain of Islam that originated in Saudi Arabia. The powers of the Saudi religious police have been curbed, enforcement of gender segregation has been relaxed and women have been granted some more freedoms, including the right to drive cars starting next year. Rai is the second Christian patriarch to visit the country, after another such trip in 1975. He said the original invitation had been extended in 2013 by the late King Abdullah.

Summary: लेबनान के संरक्षक, सऊदी में, कहते हैं कि हरीरी के पद छोड़ने के कारणों का समर्थन करते हैं


WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Pentagon on Friday updated its law of war manual after a previous version came under fire for appearing to allow commanders to treat journalists as belligerents or spies. The U.S. Department of Defense manual, the first and most comprehensive of its kind, was first released last June. It compared some of the tasks of journalism to spying or other hostile actions by an enemy. The manual said some journalists may be considered “unprivileged belligerents” — a legal category with fewer protections than combatants, such as prisoner-of-war status. “Reporting on military operations can be very similar to collecting intelligence or even spying,” one passage of the manual said. Press freedom advocates said the manual’s wording blurred the line between journalists and combatants and gave commanders the authority to detain reporters without charge. They also warned that it would erode U.S. credibility abroad at a time when journalists are being targeted by governments and militant groups. Sixty-nine journalists were killed for their work in 2015, according to the Committee to Protect Journalists, up from 61 in 2014. In 2015, 199 journalists were being detained worldwide, compared to 221 in 2014. After the manual’s release last year, news organizations including Reuters met with Pentagon officials to protest the language and ask for changes.  The revised manual provides greater detail on the legitimate purposes that journalists serve and makes clear that journalists have all the rights of civilians. Press freedom groups, including CPJ and Reporters Without Borders, praised the revisions. Advocates said the new manual acknowledged journalists’ right to interview enemy combatants and placed the onus on commanders to discern between the actions of reporters and combatants. “These are major changes,” said Frank Smyth of the CPJ. “This affirms the rights and the practice of open and independent reporting on the battlefield.” The Pentagon eliminated the passages comparing reporting to spying or hostile acts, but gives specific examples of how an act of reporting could result in the loss of civilian status. Journalists could still be considered unprivileged belligerents, the manual states, if they were a member of a non-state armed group and were carrying out propaganda “or other media activities.” Journalists could also lose their civilian status in certain cases, such as relaying target coordinates for an artillery strike against opposing forces, the manual said.  The new manual also eliminates language that called for journalists to seek permission from “relevant authorities” for their work “to avoid being mistaken for spies.” That passage drew criticism for setting an unrealistic standard for war reporting, in which frontlines can shift quickly. To cover conflicts in Libya or Syria, for instance, reporters often have to cross borders illegally. Pentagon officials also said they would be willing to revise the manual again if needed. “The department’s mission is to defend the very freedoms that journalists exercise,” the Pentagon’s top lawyer, Jennifer O’Connor, said in a statement. “We have learned a lot during this process, and the department and the manual are better off for the experience.”

Summary: पेंटागन ने प्रेस व्यवहार की आलोचना के बाद युद्ध नियमावली के कानून में संशोधन किया


WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States issued about 50 percent fewer visitor visas in April to citizens of seven countries covered by President Donald Trump’s temporary travel bans than it did in an average month last year, according to a Reuters analysis of preliminary government data released on Thursday. The total number of U.S. non-immigrant visas issued to people from all countries was about 15 percent lower in April compared with the 2016 monthly average. The April data shows the continuation of a trend identified in data for the month of March, which the State Department released last month. That data showed that citizens of the seven Muslim-majority countries under the bans - Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen - received about 40 percent fewer visitor visas in March than in an average month last year.  [nL1N1HZ2PJ] Trump’s travel bans have been blocked by the courts. Citizens of the seven countries received about 2,800 non-immigrant visas in April 2017, compared with about 5,700 on average per month during the 2016 fiscal year and more than 6,000 on average per month in 2015 and 2014. Data from previous years is only available in aggregate by fiscal year, rather than month-by-month. (tmsnrt.rs/2p8EFbm) The State Department released the data to comply with a directive from Trump asking it to publish monthly breakdowns of the number of visas issued around the world. The agency did not release data on the number of visa applications, so it is unclear whether the lower number of visas is because of a higher rate of rejections or other factors, such as fewer applicants or slower processing times. “Visa demand is cyclical, not uniform throughout the year, and affected by various factors at the local and international level,” said William Cocks, a spokesman for the State Department’s Bureau of Consular Affairs. Trump, who has said the travel bans were intended to make Americans safer from attacks, signed an executive order on Jan. 27 barring people from the seven countries from entering the United States for 90 days. After the order was blocked by federal courts, the Trump administration replaced it with a revised, narrower ban which dropped Iraq from the list. Courts have also halted parts of the second order. On Thursday, a U.S. appeals court refused to reinstate the travel ban, calling it discriminatory and setting the stage for a showdown in the Supreme Court. [nL1N1IR1FY] Although visitor visas were down across the board for the seven targeted countries compared with last years’ averages, Iraqis in April received 349 immigrant visas, which are typically given to those with jobs or family members in the United States, compared with 305 in an average month in 2016. Syrians also received more immigrant visas in April - 268 versus an average of 219 per month last year. All other countries targeted by one of Trump’s bans received fewer immigrant visas in April than in an average month last year.

Summary: ट्रम्प यात्रा प्रतिबंध वाले देशों के नागरिकों को जारी किए गए अमेरिकी वीजा में गिरावट जारी है


ABOARD AIR FORCE ONE (Reuters) - Barack Obama starts his last trip to Asia on Saturday as U.S. president, aiming to put a final stamp on his signature policy shift toward the Pacific but distracted by crises ranging from Brexit to the battle against Islamic State. With the clock ticking down on his presidency, Obama will attend a G20 summit in China, a visit that will underscore the challenges he has faced with a rising world power that is both an economic partner and strategic rival. His final meetings in the region with Chinese President Xi Jinping could set the tone for his White House successor, who will be elected in November and take office in January. Obama will seek to highlight his legacy of stronger ties with Southeast Asia, particularly during the first-ever U.S. presidential visit to Laos, and his success in elevating the issue of climate change on the world stage. But there will be few bright spots in talks with fellow world leaders, who are grappling with the sagging global economy, fallout from Britain’s vote to leave the European Union, increasing suspicion of globalization, the fight against Islamic State militants and territorial disputes in East Asia. During his past nine trips to Asia, Obama has sometimes been distracted by other international developments from the emphasis he sought to place on boosting U.S. military and economic ties to the fast-growing region, leading critics to doubt whether the U.S. commitment will last.   The latest visit coincides with the race to succeed Obama in the Nov. 8 presidential election, where Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton, his former secretary of state and co-architect of his Asia strategy, has opposed his Trans-Pacific Partnership trade deal, raising concerns among the 12 nations in the pact. Republican nominee Donald Trump has alarmed allies like Japan and South Korea by suggesting they should pay more for their security and even develop their own nuclear weapons to protect against the threat posed by North Korea. Derek Chollet, a former defense adviser to Obama, said one of the challenges the United States faces is reassuring  governments in Asia that the United States means what it says when it comes to rebalancing towards the region. “Asia partners are suspicious that even if we really mean it, that we’re easily sidetracked,” said Chollet, author of “The Long Game,” a book about Obama’s foreign policy. LOW EXPECTATIONS FOR OBAMA-XI TALKS Obama will start his visit on Saturday with China’s Xi. The leaders have forged cooperation on combating climate change and curbing Iran’s nuclear drive but have failed to narrow their countries’ main differences.  Irritants include U.S. accusations of Chinese cyber hacking, disputes over trade and Beijing’s pursuit of contested claims in the South China Sea. Michael Green, a top Asia adviser to former Republican President George W. Bush, said he did not expect the Obama-Xi meeting to yield much. “No grand joint declaration as we saw early in the administration, no celebration - perhaps some agreements on climate change - but a pretty rough and scratchy relationship,” Green said. Obama faces another tricky meeting when he holds talks with NATO ally Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan, with relations strained over strategy on Syria’s civil war and concerns about Erdogan’s crackdown on opponents after July’s failed coup. White House aides have left open the prospect of an informal encounter with Russian President Vladimir Putin, which whom Obama is sharply at odds over Syria and Ukraine. China will closely watch Obama’s first meeting with brash new Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte, slated for Tuesday at an East Asia summit in Laos. In July, the Philippines, with U.S. backing, won a challenge against China’s South China Sea claims at an international arbitration court. Despite the longtime U.S.-Philippines alliance, Duterte recently insulted the U.S. ambassador, calling him a “gay son of a whore.” Evan Medeiros, Obama’s former top Asia adviser, said such comments plus Duterte’s skepticism about the U.S. relationship meant that trust needed to be rebuilt.  The White House has said Obama will not pull his punches over human rights concerns, which include thousands of extra-judicial killings since Duterte took office two months ago, according to date released this week.  Strains with Duterte could add to Obama’s difficulties in forging a united front on the South China Sea with Southeast Asian partners. China may see an opportunity to “drive a wedge” between the United States and Philippines as Beijing seeks a bilateral arrangement with Manila over the South China Sea, Medeiros said. Western diplomats in Beijing, however, said the Chinese government had its own difficulties reading Duterte. “He seems to change his mind every 24 hours,” said one senior Western envoy, referring to Duterte’s China policy.

Summary: एशिया शिफ्ट पर हस्ताक्षर करने के ओबामा के प्रयास से अलग-अलग संकट विचलित हुए


MANCHESTER, New Hampshire (Reuters) - Democratic presidential hopefuls Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders are fighting to be best in class on an issue that resonates loudly with young Americans - runaway student debt. Days ahead of the Iowa caucuses and the New Hampshire primary election that kick off the party nomination process, the  White House contenders are shopping rival plans that would make college more affordable. Sanders is pitching a scheme to make public colleges and universities tuition-free, and Clinton is promoting one that would ensure students pay what they can without taking on crippling loans.  “It’s important (to address student debt), so I can actually do something with my life,” said Selena Alcantara, a 17-year-old freshman at Southern New Hampshire University, who estimates she will graduate $70,000 in the red. U.S. student debt has surged about 24 percent to around $1.2 trillion since 2012, according to the latest figures from the New York Federal Reserve, leaving many graduates with mortgage-sized tabs before they enter the workforce.  The problem is acute in New Hampshire - which stages its primary on Feb. 9. There, college debt runs about $33,410 per student, 15 percent above the U.S. average, according to The Institute for College Access and Success, a nonprofit advocacy group. Only Delaware has a higher figure, at $33,808.  While Sanders is leading Clinton in New Hampshire polls, they are in a dead heat in Iowa. Nationwide, Clinton has an edge with support from 55 percent of her party compared to 36 percent for Sanders, in the fight to win the party nomination for the November election. But voters aged 18-49, most likely to be affected by student debt, are nearly evenly split between the two, according to recent polls.     Democratic candidates have targeted the issue of student debt more aggressively than their Republican counterparts. Donald Trump and rival Ted Cruz, for example have not issued formal proposals on the subject.  TUITION-FREE VS DEBT-FREE     Sanders, who polls show is the favorite to win New Hampshire, has a plan that would make all state colleges and universities tuition-free, a $75 billion per year project that his campaign says would be funded by a tax on Wall Street speculation. “This country made a commitment a very long time ago to provide tuition free education from kindergarten to the 12th grade,” said Warren Gunnels, a policy adviser to Sanders. “And right now a college education is just as important as a high school degree was 50 years ago.” Critics have questioned whether the estimates for both the costs and financing are realistic. When Sanders outlined the plan at Southern New Hampshire University this month, the crowd of several hundred clapped and cheered loudly, even though SNHU is private and not under the purview of Sanders’ proposal. In contrast, Clinton has pushed a more cautious plan targeting “debt-free” college education, with proposals to increase access to tuition grants, push for income-based repayments, and - like Sanders - to allow graduates to refinance student loans at lower interest rates. Addressing a crowd of around 1,000 people in Manchester, New Hampshire last week, Clinton asked how many people carried student debt. “Oh my goodness. Yeah, me too, me too,” she said as hands shot up around the room. Her plan would require students to work about 10 hours a week and would require higher-income families to contribute. Her campaign estimates it would cost $350 billion over 10 years - less than half of Sanders’ price tag. “I’m a big proponent personally that the kids should have to have some skin in the game,” said Scott McGilvray, the president of the New Hampshire branch of the National Education Association, which has endorsed Clinton. Jennifer and David Speidel, an adult couple from New Hampshire, worry their children’s student loans will hit shortly after they pay off their own. “There’s no break,” Jennifer said. They are not the only adults who, for one reason or another, are dealing with student debts. About a fifth of households headed by people 45 to 54 years old have them, according to a 2014 study from the Government Accountability Office.  For students already enrolled in college, though, the debts are mounting even as the candidates campaign. “I try not to think about that too much,” said May Mullen, 19, another freshman at SNHU.  (Editing by Richard Valdmanis and Frances Kerry) SAP is the sponsor of this coverage which is independently produced by the staff of Reuters News Agency.

Summary: सैंडर्स और क्लिंटन कॉलेज योजनाओं के साथ युवाओं के वोट के लिए लड़ते हैं


LONDON (Reuters) - British Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson will meet with U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson in London on Thursday to discuss issues including Hurricane Irma, North Korea and Libya, his office said. Johnson, who this week visited the British territories of Anguilla and the British Virgin islands to see the devastation caused by Irma, will discuss the international response with Tillerson and French Political Director Nicolas de Riviere.  I ve seen firsthand the devastation Hurricane Irma has caused people in the Caribbean. Close coordination with our allies is vital for both the short-term and long-term recovery efforts,  Johnson said in a statement ahead of the meeting. The three will also discuss the situation in North Korea, which carried out its sixth and largest nuclear test earlier this month. The U.N. Security Council voted unanimously to boost sanctions on North Korea on Monday, but U.S. President Donald Trump has said they were a small step and nothing compared to what would have to happen to deal with the country s nuclear program. Johnson will also host a meeting on Libya, attended by Tillerson and other international representatives including Italian Foreign Minister Angelion Alfano, Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry and U.N. Libya envoy Ghassan Salame.

Summary: ब्रिटेन के विदेश मंत्री जॉनसन लंदन में अमेरिकी विदेश मंत्री टिलरसन के साथ बातचीत करेंगे


MOSCOW (Reuters) - Moscow and Washington should re-establish direct contacts between their military and foreign policy chiefs, Russia’s new ambassador to Washington, Anatoly Antonov, said on Wednesday. “The time has come to resume joint meetings of Russia’s and the United States’ foreign and defence ministers in a ‘two plus two’ format,” Antonov said in an interview published on the Kommersant business daily’s web site. Military contacts between Moscow and Washington were frozen in 2014 due to the Ukraine crisis. Antonov also called for meetings between the heads of Russia’s Federal Security Service and Foreign Intelligence Service and the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation and Central Intelligence Agency.  A “working cooperation” between Russia’s Security Council and the U.S. National Security Council could also help fight terrorism, cyber threats and help strategic stability, he said. Antonov, a former deputy foreign minister, is subject to European sanctions over his role in the conflict in Ukraine.  (This story has been refiled to remove an extraneous word in first paragraph)

Summary: अमेरिका में नए रूसी राजदूत ने सैन्य संपर्क फिर से शुरू करने का आह्वान किया


DUNWOODY, Ga. (Reuters) - Democrat Jon Ossoff no longer talks about making President Donald Trump furious. But he may be on the verge of doing just that. Ossoff, a political newcomer who launched his congressional campaign in the Republican-leaning northern suburbs of Atlanta by urging supporters to “make Trump furious,” now speaks in the measured tones of a moderate consensus builder and rarely mentions the president by name. Local economic development and cutting wasteful government spending are Ossoff’s talking points in a race against Republican Karen Handel that has shattered records as the most expensive congressional contest in U.S. history. Polls show it is headed for a tight finish in Tuesday’s special election. An Ossoff victory would rattle Republicans already nervous about next year’s congressional midterm elections, and offer Democrats a template on how to campaign in suburban swing districts as they try to erase the 24-seat Republican majority in the House of Representatives. “It would send a very strong message across the country that we can win these kinds of seats,” said Representative Dan Kildee, a Michigan Democrat who campaigned with Ossoff in Georgia this week. Democrats have much riding on the outcome. On the surface, conditions seem ripe for a nationwide Democratic renaissance, with a historically unpopular Republican president entangled in an investigation for possible obstruction of justice and the Republican agenda largely stalled in Congress. But Democrats lost two special House elections earlier this year in conservative Kansas and Montana districts that Trump won by double digits last November. A failure in a more competitive district in Georgia, which Trump carried by just 1 percentage point, would be a morale killer for a party that has struggled to develop a coherent message beyond “We’re not the party of Trump.” Democrats have steadily lost ground in recent years in state and local races. Republicans not only control the White House and both chambers of Congress, but also hold 33 governor’s offices, the most in nearly a century. Infighting between grass-roots progressives and the party’s more mainstream wing has plagued Democrats, who have appeared increasingly vulnerable to Republican attacks portraying them as coastal elites out of touch with working-class Americans. Ossoff’s “Make Trump Furious” slogan quickly endeared him to national anti-Trump activists and pushed him well ahead of 17 rivals in polls in April’s non-partisan primary in a district represented by Republicans for decades. It wasn’t enough. The 30-year-old former congressional staffer and documentary filmmaker fell just short of a majority, and outright victory, forcing a closely watched run-off against Handel for the House seat vacated by Tom Price, the new secretary of health and human services who was first elected to the House in 2004.  But the grassroots enthusiasm has made Ossoff a fundraising machine. He raised a stunning $24 million by the end of May, five times the amount raised by Handel, a former Georgia secretary of state. Republican outside groups have helped her make up some of the difference, spending nearly $9 million on her behalf, according to fundraising reports. Total spending has approached $40 million, obliterating the previous record of $30 million for a Florida congressional race in 2012. While he benefits from the grassroots anti-Trump fervor, Ossoff has deliberately avoided making the race a referendum on Trump. On the campaign trail and in ads, he promises to work with Republicans and focuses on his plans to bolster local economic development, protect access to healthcare, particularly for women, and cut wasteful spending to pay for new priorities. Ossoff said voters in the district are not demanding that he lead an anti-Trump resistance. “I think voters are more concerned with accountability and results than they are with political drama,” he said in an interview after a meeting with millennial supporters. While voters’ concerns about the administration have grown, he said, “Fundamentally what folks are looking for is representation that will work across the aisle to deliver a higher quality of life.” Handel, who also rarely mentions Trump and has argued that the race should be about who has the values and experience to best serve the district, says Ossoff is misrepresenting himself. “He’s trying to portray himself as something that he is not. He is Nancy Pelosi’s hand-picked candidate,” Handel told reporters this week after greeting diners at a local hamburger restaurant, repeating a line about House Democratic leader Pelosi that has featured prominently in attack ads against Ossoff by outside groups. “He is an ultra-liberal. His values do not align with this district,” she said. Some of her supporters agree. Terry Anderson, 67, a retired IT worker from Cobb County, said he did not believe Ossoff was sincere. “He sounds more like a moderate Republican all the time,” he said. But Brenda Carswell, 61, a retired American Express employee from the city of Tucker who said she typically has switched back and forth between Republicans and Democrats - “I’ve voted for some Bushes and I’ve voted for some Clintons” - said she is backing Ossoff. “He’s been mostly discussing issues that people care about. The problems in our area are more important than most of what they talk about in Washington,” she said. Trump, who visited Georgia to raise money for Handel in late April, is watching closely. On Twitter, he criticized Ossoff, and after Ossoff was forced into a runoff he crowed that Democrats “failed in Kansas and are now failing in Georgia.” Trump called the race “Hollywood vs. Georgia.” Several recent polls have given Ossoff a slight edge heading into Tuesday, while showing that there are few voters who are still undecided. Democrats say the increasingly diverse area exemplifies the sort of educated and affluent suburban district that Democrats will need to win to recapture the House. Georgia-based Democratic strategist Tharon Johnson said Ossoff’s non-ideological messaging should be a model for a party that needs moderates, independents and disaffected Republicans next year. “He’s done a good job of positioning himself as a sensible Democrat,” he said. “He doesn’t need to tell voters what is wrong with Trump - people see the drama and the problems every day.”

Summary: जॉर्जिया में सदन की दौड़ में, डेमोक्रेट सत्ता के लिए नए रास्ते की तलाश कर रहे हैं