NAIROBI (Reuters) - The United States is suspending food and fuel aid for most of Somalia s armed forces over corruption concerns, a blow to the military as African peacekeepers start to withdraw this month. African Union (AU) troops landed in Mogadishu a decade ago to fight al Shabaab Islamist militants and Somali forces are supposed to eventually take over their duties. But the United States, which also funds the 22,000-strong peacekeeping force, has grown frustrated that successive governments have failed to build a viable national army. Diplomats worry that without strong Somali forces, al Shabaab could be reinvigorated, destabilize the region and offer a safe haven to other al Qaeda-linked militants or Islamic State fighters. The U.S. suspension of aid came after the Somali military repeatedly failed to account for food and fuel, according to private correspondence between the U.S. and Somali governments seen by Reuters.  During recent discussions between the United States and the Federal Government of Somalia, both sides agreed that the Somali National Army had failed to meet the standards for accountability for U.S. assistance,  a State Department official told Reuters last week, on condition of anonymity.   We are adjusting U.S. assistance to SNA units, with the exception of units receiving some form of mentorship, to ensure that U.S. assistance is being used effectively and for its intended purpose,  the official said. The U.S. suspension comes at a sensitive time. The AU force - with troops from Burundi, Djibouti, Ethiopia, Kenya and Uganda - is scheduled to leave by 2020. The first 1,000 soldiers will go by the end of 2017. The State Department official said Washington would continue to support small, Somali special forces units mentored by U.S. personnel and would work with the Somali government to agree criteria that could restore support to other units.  It is true that some concerns have been raised on how support was utilized and distributed. The federal government is working to address these,  Somali Minister of Defence Mohamed Mursal told Reuters. Documents sent from the U.S. Mission to Somalia to the Somali government show U.S. officials are increasingly frustrated that the military is unable to account for its aid. The documents paint a stark picture of a military hollowed out by corruption, unable to feed, pay or arm its soldiers - despite hundreds of millions of dollars of support. Between May and June, a team of U.S. and Somali officials visited nine army bases to assess whether the men were receiving food the United States provides for 5,000 soldiers.  We did not find the expected large quantities of food at any location ... there was no evidence of consumption (except at two bases),  the U.S. team wrote to the Somali government.   At one base, less than a fifth of the soldiers listed by Somali commanders were present. The best-staffed base had 160 soldiers out of 550. Only 60 had weapons.  Many appeared to be wearing brand new uniforms. This implied they were assembled merely to improve appearances,  the letter, seen by Reuters, said. An ongoing assessment of the Somali military this year by the Somali government, African Union and United Nations drew similar conclusions.  The joint report seen by Reuters said many soldiers lacked guns, uniforms, food, vehicles or tents. Troops relied on support from AU forces or local militias to survive.  The SNA is a fragile force with extremely weak command and control,  the report said.  They are incapable of conducting effective operations or sustaining themselves.  Most units don t have radios, leaving soldiers to rely on runners to get help when mobile networks go down, the report said. Troops lacked paper to write reports, toilets, boots and medical equipment such as tourniquets. Many slept under trees.  SNA units were at 62 percent of their authorized strength on average. Only 70 percent of them had weapons, the report said. Although the report was deeply critical, diplomats praised the government for trying to quantify the scope of the problem.   The government deserves massive praise for doing it and being willing to talk about it,  Michael Keating, the U.N. s top official in Somalia, told Reuters. The United States also suspended a program paying soldiers $100 monthly stipends in June after the federal government refused to share responsibility for receiving the payments with regional forces fighting al Shabaab. Washington has spent $66 million on stipends over the past seven years but has halted the program several times, concerned the money was not going to frontline soldiers. One Somali document seen by Reuters showed members of a 259-strong ceremonial brass band were receiving stipends this year meant for soldiers fighting militants. The State Department s watchdog said in a report published in October there were insufficient checks on the program and U.S. stipends could fund forces that commit abuses - or even support insurgents.  Officially, Somalia s military is 26,000 strong, but the payroll is stuffed with ghost soldiers, pensioners and the dead, whose families may be receiving their payments, diplomats say.  Intermittent payments from the government have forced many active soldiers to sell their weapons, ammunition or seek other work - practices the U.S. stipends were designed to curb. Washington has whittled down the number of troops it pays to 8,000 from over 10,000 but there is still no reliable payroll, said a Mogadishu-based security expert.  Defence Minister Mursal said the United Nations is creating a biometric database and plans to help the Somali government make cash payments directly to soldiers via mobile phones.  The new government will also set up a separate system for widows, orphans, and the wounded so the payroll would adequately represent military strength, he said. The weakness of Somali forces has deadly consequences. The insurgency is striking with ever larger and more deadly attacks in the capital Mogadishu and major towns. A truck bomb killed more than 500 people in October and a suicide bomber killed at least 18 at a police academy on Thursday. Yusuf, a 35-year-old Somali soldier stationed near the Indian Ocean port of Kismayu, knows what it s like to depend on local militias and AU forces to stay alive. On Sept. 26, insurgents attacked his base at Bula Gadud, killing 15 colleagues and wounding scores more before the local Jubaland militia and AU peacekeepers saved them.   We lost several key members in that battle especially my close friend,  he told Reuters.  We tried to retreat ... after using all the ammunition we had.   A senior Somali security source said when the attack happened, the battalion of more than 1,000 soldiers had only been issued 300 guns.  Defence Minister Mursal said the Somali troops at Bulagadud have since been sent more weapons. Somalia s national security plan calls for a military of 18,000 soldiers, funded by the central government and operating country-wide.  Getting there will be hard. Security experts say the military is dominated by a powerful clan, the Hawiye, which would be reluctant to lose control of the lucrative security assistance revenue stream.  Many regional governments within Somalia already see the Hawiye-dominated federal forces as rivals rather than allies. The government s ability to push reforms depends on balancing demands from federal member states, lawmakers, clan leaders and international partners, the U.N. s Keating said.  It s going to take a long time and its going to run into massive clan resistance,  he said.  Some clans are very dominant in the security forces.  Somalia s partners also need to get serious and coordinate better, said Matt Bryden of the think-tank Sahan Research. According to Sahan, donors - including the EU, AU, Turkey and Uganda - have trained more than 80,000 Somali soldiers since 2004. Bryden said records are so poor it was not clear if many had taken multiple courses, or just quit afterwards.   It s like sand through your fingers   where are they all?

Summary: एक्सक्लूसिवः अमेरिका ने भ्रष्टाचार को लेकर सोमालिया की पस्त सेना को सहायता रोक दी


WASHINGTON (Reuters) - More than 90 people have been arrested so far in protests in the nation’s capital during demonstrations across the city as U.S. President Donald Trump was sworn into office, CNN reported on Friday. Protesters and police clashed just blocks from the parade route and the White House, with some demonstrators smashing storefront windows and cars, and police in riot gear responding.

Summary: वाशिंगटन में विरोध प्रदर्शन में 90 से अधिक गिरफ्तारः सीएनएन


October 31 (Reuters) - Although the sale of marijuana is a federal crime, the number of U.S. banks working with pot businesses, now sanctioned in many states, is growing, up 45 percent in the last year alone. Still, marijuana merchants say there are not nearly enough banks willing to take their cash. So many dispensaries resort to stashing cash in storage units, back offices and armored vans. Proponents believe the Nov. 8 election could tip the balance in favor of liberalizing federal marijuana laws, a move seen as key to getting risk-averse banks off the sidelines.  Measures on ballots in California, Florida and seven other states would bring to 34 the number of states sanctioning pot for medical or recreational use, or both. That could push annual sales, by one estimate, to $23 billion. The prospect for a market of such scale is adding urgency to calls for a national approach to marijuana that expands banking options. Law enforcement and Federal Reserve officials have expressed concern about the fraud and crime associated with un-bankable cash. Nearly 600 dispensary robberies have been reported in Denver since recreational pot was legalized in Colorado three years ago. “There’s not a single human being who thinks there is any benefit at all in forcing marijuana business to be conducted on an all-cash basis,” said Rep. Earl Blumenauer, a Democrat from Oregon who has called for the decriminalization of marijuana since coming to Congress in 1996. The U.S. Justice Department said in 2014 it would not prosecute banks for serving state-sanctioned marijuana businesses. At the same time, the Treasury Department requires banks to report suspected drug crimes. At last count, 301 banks were serving marijuana businesses, according to the Treasury Department. Many more have avoided the sector out of fear that making the wrong call could put them at risk, said Robert Rowe, a vice president at the American Bankers Association. The National Cannabis Association is pressing Congress for a law that would hold banks harmless for handling pot cash, said Michael Correia, a lobbyist for the trade group. If California legalizes recreational use next week, the nation’s biggest Congressional delegation will have a big stake in the issue. In lieu of federal action, some states have tried their own fixes. Colorado created a credit union system for state-sanctioned marijuana businesses. But it fell apart when the Kansas City Federal Reserve denied a Colorado pot credit union access to the national payments system, which distributes currency and clears checks and electronic payments. California has no such plans, said Tom Dresslar, spokesman for the state’s Department of Business Oversight. “This was a problem created by federal law,” Dresslar said, “and it needs a federal solution.” In northern California, where growers serve state-sanctioned medical dispensaries as well as the black market, the Community Credit Union of Southern Humboldt stopped opening pot business accounts because of the red tape and uncertainty, said senior vice president Janet Sanchez. “We’re not being asked to go over to the gun dealer and ask them if they’re making appropriate background checks,” she said. Dispensary operators unable to find willing banks tell tales of subterfuge, recordkeeping nightmares and armies of security guards. Many open bank accounts and submit credit card charges in ways that obscure their true enterprise, such as “spa services.” Susana de la Rionda has run a Los Angeles medical marijuana dispensary for 12 years and has had to find a new bank about once a year and submit to tax audits twice as often. “I feel like a gangster,” she said. Denver Relief dispensary founder Ean Seeb said operators always are trying workarounds to get cash into banks, including washing bills in fabric softener to hide the odor of pot. For a time, he said, one automated teller machine near a Denver mall drew lines every night of marijuana merchants, each depositing the maximum $500 in cash. Partner Colorado Credit Union began working with state-sanctioned dispensaries two years ago and has developed elaborate protocols to minimize risk, including an initial vetting that can take three weeks. It uses armored trucks to take cash deposits directly from dispensaries to the Denver branch of the Federal Reserve Bank. When the credit union spots a red flag, Chief Executive Sundie Seefried dispatches employees to pay the dispensary a visit, and she has closed two accounts for compliance problems. Seefried encourages operators to visit by keeping fine cigars in her office, and she stays in touch with regulators. “Our program is designed with eyes on the business, eyes on the owner, eyes on the money,” she said. With 95 dispensary members, Seefried said the credit union is at capacity, and she hopes more bankers will get involved. She fields calls for advice, speaks to industry groups and, earlier this year, shared what she’s learned in a book. Despite the safeguards, Seefried said she takes nothing for granted. Every few months, she said she drills her staff to make sure they know what to do in the event of her arrest. “What calls are you going to make?” she said she asks them. “If you don’t have a little fear going into this because of the illegality at the federal level, you’re probably not the person to do this job,” she said.

Summary: बैंक मिला? चुनाव मारिजुआना नकदी की बाढ़ पैदा कर सकता है जहाँ जाने के लिए कोई जगह नहीं है


SACRAMENTO, Calif. (Reuters) - California Governor Jerry Brown on Thursday nominated U.S. Congressman Xavier Becerra to be attorney general, a high-powered pick that signals the state’s readiness to defend its progressive policies as Republicans consolidate power in Washington. In choosing Becerra, 58, Brown is tapping a pragmatic and reliably progressive Democrat with a deep knowledge of Washington politics as the state’s top lawyer. He will replace Democrat Kamala Harris, who was elected last month to the U.S. Senate, at a time when California is positioning itself to respond to anticipated conservative policies from Republican President-elect Donald Trump. “California’s prosperity and people are currently under threat by a hostile Trump administration,” California Senate leader Kevin de Leon said on Thursday. “Xavier will serve as a guardian of the Constitution and an ultimate check and balance against the forces of division and scapegoating that are mobilizing in Washington.” Brown, a Democrat who is particularly concerned that Trump and congressional Republicans will try to roll back environmental protections and reduce the U.S. role in efforts to combat climate change, cited Becerra as someone who could battle such efforts. “Xavier has been an outstanding public servant – in the State Legislature, the U.S. Congress and as a deputy attorney general,” Brown said in announcing the appointment. “I’m confident he will be a champion for all Californians and help our state aggressively combat climate change.”  The appointment also takes Becerra out of the running to become the ranking member of Congress’s powerful Ways and Means committee. In a statement released on Thursday, outgoing ranking member Sandy Levin, a Michigan Democrat, indicated the position would be filled by U.S. Representative Richard Neal of Massachusetts.  A Stanford-trained lawyer, Becerra served as California’s deputy attorney general before winning a seat in Congress representing the northeastern section of Los Angeles in 1992. In Congress, Becerra rose to chair the House Democratic Caucus and  also served on the Ways and Means Committee and the National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform. “California right now is ahead of the country when it comes to clean energy, commonsense treatment of immigrants, real health security and so much more,” Becerra said. The Sacramento native said in a conference call with reporters he would welcome friendly overtures from Trump and the Republicans who control Congress, but promised sharp pushback if the federal government tries to undo progressive policies on immigration, the environment, worker protections and other issues. “If you want to take on a forward-leaning state that is prepared to defend its rights and interests, then come at us,” Becerra said. If approved by the Democratic-majority state legislature, Becerra will replace Harris after she resigns from the post to join the Senate in coming weeks. Harris, also a Democrat, replaces U.S. Senator Barbara Boxer, who is retiring.

Summary: कैलिफोर्निया के गवर्नर ने अमेरिकी प्रतिनिधि बेसेरा को अटॉर्नी जनरल के रूप में चुना


WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Secretary of State Rex Tillerson has written to the leaders of the U.S. Senate urging the ratification of Montenegro as the newest member of the NATO alliance, saying it is “strongly in the interests of the United States.” In a letter dated March 7 and seen by Reuters on Tuesday, Tillerson argued that Montenegro’s membership in the alliance would support greater integration, democratic reform, trade, security and stability among its neighbors. Moscow opposes any further expansion of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, and the delay in U.S. approval of Montenegro’s accession has fueled questions about whether President Donald Trump’s administration and his Republican Party will stand up to Russia despite Trump’s desire for better relations. The letter emerged amid a flap over the new secretary of state’s relationship with the alliance. Reuters reported on Monday that Tillerson planned to skip a meeting with NATO foreign ministers next month in order to stay home for a visit by China’s president, while planning a visit to Russia later in April. On Tuesday, the administration reversed course and proposed new dates for the meeting, which had been set for April 5 and 6 in Brussels. Montenegro, a former Yugoslav republic with a population of 650,000, hopes to win the required approval of all 28 NATO allies in time to become a full member at a summit in May. By early this month, it had been approved by 24. NATO members see Montenegro’s accession as a way to counter Russia’s efforts to expand its influence in the Balkans. Objections from at least two Republican senators, Rand Paul and Mike Lee, have blocked a quick vote in the full U.S. Senate for months and Senate leaders have not scheduled a more time-consuming roll-call vote. Paul has questioned the wisdom of angering Russia and taking on the potential expense of approving NATO membership for a tiny country that could not play a significant role in defending the United States. In his letter to the Senate’s Republican majority leader, Mitch McConnell, and copied to Chuck Schumer, the chamber’s top Democrat, Tillerson said it would be “immeasurably helpful” if the Senate scheduled a floor vote to complete ratification procedures in time for Trump’s participation in the May NATO summit. “Montenegro’s participation in the May NATO Summit as full member, not as an observer, will send a strong signal of transatlantic unity,” Tillerson added. “It is strongly in the interests of the United States that Montenegro’s membership in NATO be ratified,” he wrote. A spokesman for McConnell said on Monday that no vote had yet been scheduled. Montenegro’s NATO membership has already been approved by the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. Paul and Senator John McCain, one of the leading Russia hawks in the U.S. Congress, had a heated exchange about the issue in the Senate last week. McCain said Paul was working for Russian President Vladimir Putin by blocking a quick vote on Montenegro. Paul called McCain “unhinged” and “past his prime.”

Summary: एक्सक्लूसिवः टिलरसन ने सीनेट से मोंटेनेग्रो की नाटो सदस्यता की पुष्टि करने का आग्रह किया


TORONTO (Reuters) - A former Canadian police chief and several colleagues who fought against making marijuana use legal have switched sides and embraced the looming legalization of cannabis with a leap into business. With Canada s legalization of a multi-billion dollar marijuana industry set for next year, former police officers who once argued for mandatory jail time for minor marijuana offences are among those in line to capitalize on the change. The most high profile is Julian Fantino, a former Toronto police chief and Conservative cabinet minister who fought against the legalization of pot and who said he now sees the value of a legal medical pot industry.  For a lot of us, until you get into this thing, all we know is the stigma associated with marijuana. And there is that, of course, but ... it s only a matter of time, before it becomes a recognized, therapeutic, prescribed drug,  Fantino said in an interview. Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau promised to legalize recreational marijuana use in his 2015 election campaign and new legislation will let adults grow, buy or possess small amounts of marijuana as of July 1, 2018. Under the new law, private or government retailers will be able to sell marijuana and licensed producers will be able to grow it. The Canadian cannabis black market is estimated to be worth between C$7 billion ($5.77 billion) and C$10 billion a year, with rates of youth use among the highest in the world. Analysts expect it will take time for legal trade to push aside unsanctioned competition. Fantino and his partners - a former Royal Canadian Mounted Police officer, a former fire chief and a former member of parliament - are promoting their company Aleafia, which provides patients with authorizations for medical marijuana, as well as other medical services. Medical marijuana is already legal. Fantino said he would  absolutely  be pursuing the business even if Canada was not legalizing the lucrative recreational industry. But his change of heart has met with skepticism in some circles. Toronto Star newspaper columnist Royson James wrote  the hypocrisy stinks to high heaven.  On Twitter, pot activist Jodie Emery called the news  infuriating.   The Canadian Broadcasting Corp introduced an interview with Fantino by noting he had  once compared weed to murder.  Fantino said the quote was taken out of context and he  did what I could to apply the laws of the land with conscience.  Other ex-cops are getting into the business side of marijuana. Former deputy Toronto police chief Kim Derry has been involved in medical marijuana businesses since 2012. Derry is president of Met-Scan Canada, which he said provides security for about half a dozen marijuana growers. He expects that number to grow once recreational production becomes legal.  From a background of criminal activity, I certainly know how (grow operations) operated in the past,  Derry said.  I know all the pieces, through a chain of supply, where there s weaknesses.  The government s effort to legalize marijuana is headed up by another former Toronto police chief, Bill Blair, who succeeded Fantino in 2005 before they both turned to politics. Blair said retired police officers have been getting calls for advice on medical marijuana production since related laws came into effect in 2013.   I think many are being sought out for their expertise in public service and regulatory law and security around these things,  he said, adding he does not think its unseemly for police officers to make money off cannabis.  For me, it s entirely consistent with my life s work and I wouldn t comment on anyone else s history or motives.  Pot possession remains illegal until July and Canadians continue to be prosecuted for it - 17,733 people in 2016, according to Statistics Canada. Studies have found marginalized communities are disproportionately targeted. The government is developing ways to track each marijuana plant from seed to point of sale and test for quality. It has yet to draft detailed advertising rules or finalize tax levels.

Summary: जैसे ही कनाडा कानूनी पॉट के लिए तैयारी कर रहा है, पूर्व पुलिसकर्मी व्यवसाय में आ जाते हैं


ATHENS (Reuters) - A mental health emergency is unfolding in migrant camps on Greece s islands, fueled by poor living conditions, neglect and violence, charity Doctors Without Borders (MSF) said on Tuesday. Medical staff have seen a sharp increase in people trying to get help after attempting suicide, harming themselves or suffering psychotic episodes, it said in a report. More than 13,000 migrants and refugees, mostly Syrians and Iraqis fleeing years of war, are living in five camps on Greek islands close to Turkey, government figures show.  Four of those camps are holding two to three times as many people as they were designed for.  Every day our teams treat patients who tell us that they would prefer to have died in their country than be trapped here,  said Jayne Grimes, manager of MSF s mental health activities on the island of Samos. The charity said six or seven new patients had visited its clinic on the nearby island of Lesbos each week over the summer following suicide attempts, self-harm or psychotic episodes, 50 percent more than the previous three months. Violence which many experienced on the journey or in Greece was one factor aggravating mental distress, MSF said.   I know I need to find hope, but when the night falls and I see where I am, I feel like I m going crazy,  it quoted a Syrian man as saying. The 25-year-old said he was haunted by the images of people dying of hunger in front of him in the long-besieged town of Madaya.  I still remember the taste of the leaves and the smell of death,  he said. On Samos, more than 3,000 people are crammed into facilities designed to hold 700, and about 400 live in the woods. In one Lesbos camp, about 1,500 people are in makeshift shelters or tents without flooring or heating, the U.N. refugee agency says. In August, MSF found nearly three-quarters of new mental health patients on Lesbos needed to be referred to a psychiatrist, up from just over a third in the nine months from October 2016 to June 2017. The report quoted a 41-year-old man, who said he had been tortured in a Syrian prison. When he visited a Lesbos hospital, he said he was told he would have to wait eight months to see a psychiatrist.  When I heard that, I felt like dying,  he said. A 29-year-old Syrian woman, on Lesbos with her family, told the MSF researchers the uncertainty over the future was  crushing us. It is killing us inside.  While the number of arrivals to Greece has slowed significantly since a European Union deal with Turkey to block the route in March last year, a recent sharp rise in arrivals has put pressure on government-run facilities.

Summary: 'मुझे लगता है कि मैं पागल हो रहा हूँः' ग्रीस में प्रवासी स्वास्थ्य बिगड़ता है


WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. House of Representatives on Tuesday approved a measure that would for the first time require the Homeland Security department to use testimonials from former extremists to counter recruiting messages from militant groups. “Terrorists are radicalizing our citizens online and across borders, which is why we need this legislation,” said House Homeland Security Committee Chairman Michael McCaul. The measure was approved 322 to 79. International allies of the United States such as Britain have long used testimony by disillusioned former extremists to discourage young people from joining militant groups. Despite support for the technique from U.S. officials including President Barack Obama, the United States has not used it. Lawmakers clashed because the proposal suggests using testimonials to counter “foreign terrorist organizations” but does not mention domestic extremists.  Concern about domestic extremism has grown more intense since the December shootings by an Islamic State-inspired couple in San Bernardino, California, and the occupation of a wildlife refuge in Oregon by domestic anti-government militants earlier this year.  Republican supporters of the measure emphasized that the bill would not prevent using testimonials from former extremists to combat domestic recruitment.  Congressional aides said on Monday they expect partner legislation to be introduced this week in the Senate. The Department of Homeland Security declined to comment, but said in a March memo that such a program could place a “significant burden on already limited resources.”  The department also said in the memo that it already has the authority to use testimonials from former extremists, but that it wants to avoid giving the impression that its current community outreach efforts might be used to gather them.

Summary: चरमपंथियों की भर्ती का मुकाबला करने के लिए सदन ने विधेयक पारित किया


WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said on Monday the Senate will move to repeal President Barack Obama’s healthcare law shortly after Jan. 1, but declined to give a timeline for a plan to replace it. McConnell said the Senate would vote as soon as it returns from its year-end recess to repeal Obamacare. “And then we will work expeditiously to come up with a better program than current law, because current law is simply unacceptable and not sustainable,” he said. Asked repeatedly, McConnell did not give any timeline for when the Republicans would offer their own plan. He said they would be consulting with different “stakeholders.” Donald Trump’s election as U.S. president last month means Republicans will control the White House, Senate and House of Representatives in 2017. The new Congress goes to work on Jan. 3; Trump will be sworn in on Jan. 20. Republicans in both the Senate and House of Representatives say they want to repeal Obamacare early in 2017. But Republicans have not agreed on how quickly the Obamacare repeal should go into effect. A delay would give them time to work on a replacement, instead of throwing millions of Americans out of their health insurance with no substitute.

Summary: मैककॉनेल ओबामाकेयर प्रतिस्थापन के लिए समयसीमा नहीं देंगे


HANOI (Reuters) - Vietnamese police have ordered the prosecution of an official at scandal-hit state energy firm PetroVietnam over financial losses, the Ministry of Public Security said on Tuesday. PetroVietnam is at the heart of a sweeping high-level corruption crackdown in the communist state.  The ministry said in a statement that Phan Dinh Duc, a member of PetroVietnam s board of directors, would face prosecution on suspicion of  violation of state regulations on economic management, causing serious consequences . PetroVietnam told Reuters in an emailed statement it would cooperate with the authorities in the investigation.  Former PetroVietnam chairman Dinh La Thang, 56, was arrested on Dec 8. Thang, also a former member of Vietnam s politburo, was the most senior executive arrested in the scandal.   Police have said they are investigating alleged violations of state rules at PetroVietnam, which resulted in a loss of an 800 billion dong ($35.2 million) investment in local lender Ocean Bank. The corruption crackdown made global headlines in August when Germany accused Vietnam of kidnapping Trinh Xuan Thanh, a former chairman of PetroVietnam s construction unit, in Berlin after he applied for asylum there. Vietnamese police denied he had been kidnapped saying he had turned himself in and returned to Vietnam, where he is in detention. The Communist Party has said Thanh will go on trial next month.

Summary: वियतनाम ने भ्रष्टाचार की कार्रवाई में तेल कंपनी के अधिकारी के खिलाफ मुकदमा चलाने का आदेश दिया


WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. President Barack Obama’s fiscal 2017 budget would produce $6.9 trillion in deficits over the next decade if enacted, about $2.4 trillion less than under current tax and spending laws, congressional forecasters said on Tuesday. The Congressional Budget Office said in a new analysis, however, that its 10-year deficit estimate is $776 billion higher than the administration’s own forecast. This is largely the result of lower revenues resulting from the CBO’s projections for slower economic growth, lower wage and salary growth, and lower revenue gains associated with Obama’s tax proposals. Obama’s budget calls for limiting tax deductions for high-income taxpayers, increasing capital gains taxes, and imposing minimum taxes on foreign income and about a $10-a-barrel oil tax. The CBO’s estimate of a $2.8 trillion revenue gain through fiscal 2026 would also partly come from the enactment of immigration reforms, estimated to result in $386 billion in new revenue over the decade. Obama’s budget plan has no chance of passing in the Republican-controlled Congress. The House and the Senate are working on budget resolutions that are expected to adhere to spending limits agreed to in a two-year budget deal largely negotiated last year by former House Speaker John Boehner and the White House. Some Republican conservatives, however, have called for lower spending levels for government agencies or savings elsewhere in the budget.   The nonpartisan CBO said that spending outlays would also be higher in Obama’s budget by about $400 billion over the 10-year period than under current laws. In the near term, the agency said, the deficit under Obama’s budget for fiscal 2017 would be $433 billion, versus $550 billion under current law. In 2018, the deficit would fall to $383 billion, or 1.9 percent of gross domestic product, before steadily climbing to $972 billion, or 3.5 percent of GDP, in 2026 as costs associated with aging Baby Boomers mount.  Over the decade, the CBO said, the cumulative 10-year deficit would be 3 percent versus 4 percent with no changes in law. Many economists say deficits under 3 percent of GDP are considered sustainable. Debt held by the public in 2026 would be 77.4 percent of GDP under Obama’s budget versus the current trajectory of 85.6 percent.

Summary: ओबामा के बजट में अधिक करों से घाटे में कमी आएगीः सीबीओ


AMMAN (Reuters) - The Syrian army, supported by Russian jets and Iranian-backed militias, escalated bombing on Sunday of areas of the Syrian city of Deir al-Zor still held by Islamic State. Former residents and the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said there were heavy aerial strikes on eastern Syria s largest city as troops pushed towards the Hay al Umal area, which overlooks some of the remaining militant-held neighborhoods where an estimated 1,500 civilians are trapped. The Syrian army has gradually tightened the noose around the militants after it opened a land route into the city in September with the help of Russian air strikes and Iran-backed militias, breaking a siege that had lasted nearly three years.  The situation is catastrophic, there are families under the rubble and others who fled have no shelter,  said Sheikh Awad al Hajr, a tribal leader, referring to the plight of those remaining inside the city and in cities, towns and farms in the fertile strip along the Euphrates bordering Iraq. Fighting and relentless air strikes in Deir al-Zor province, the last stronghold of the Islamic State, have prompted tens of thousands of civilians to flee, former residents and aid workers say.  Relatives of some civilians and Syrian opposition figures accuse the Russian army of bombing boats and dinghies carrying families fleeing the western banks of the Euphrates. Moscow denies it targets civilians in its military operations in Syria and says it hits only militant hideouts and facilities.     Russia has thrown its military weight behind the Syrian army campaign to regain the strategic oil-rich province which has become the focus of Syria s more than six-year long civil war. They are racing with U.S- backed forces to grab territory from Islamic State. While the Syrian army appeared to make more gains inside Deir al-Zor city, the militants made a surprise offensive in the last 24 hours that pushed back pro-government and Iranian-backed militias from Albu Kamal, the last border post on the Syrian Iraqi border still in militant hands.[L8N1N25IJ]  The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights and former residents said the jihadists recaptured the strategic towns of al Qwaira and Makhan on Saturday in several deadly ambushes that inflicted heavy casualties on pro-government and Iranian Shi ite militias. The latest jihadist assault pushed back the army to the city of Mayadeen, further north along the Euphrates river that the militants lost earlier this month. [L8N1MX05W]  The Islamic State was able to push back the regime and its Iranian-backed militias to the heart of the city of Mayadeen,  said Amer Huweidi, an activist from the city in touch with locals and residents. Mayadeen is a strategic city that has been a base for the militants after they were driven out of their de facto Syrian capital in Raqqa city. The U.S.-led coalition against Islamic State is waging a separate campaign against the group in Deir al-Zor, focused on areas to the east of the Euphrates River which bisects the province.  The coalition secured the Omar oilfield, Syria s largest oilfield, this month.[L8N1MX05W]

Summary: सीरियाई सेना, सहयोगियों ने देइर अल-ज़ोर शहर में अंतिम आतंकवादी गढ़ पर हमले तेज किए


TOKYO (Reuters) - U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson stressed on Thursday the importance of the United States working with allies Japan and South Korea to counter perceived threats from North Korea. “Trilateral cooperation is critical as we address the issue of North Korea,” Tillerson told Japanese Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida in Tokyo at the start of his first trip to Asia as President Donald Trump’s top diplomat. He visits South Korea and China later in the week. In addition to reassurances on dealing with Pyongyang’s repeated missile and nuclear tests, the former oil executive is also expected to press China to help restrain North Korea, while America’s allies will be looking to see how the new U.S. administration deals with Beijing’s growing economic and military clout.

Summary: टिलरसन ने उत्तर कोरिया पर जापान, सियोल के साथ सहयोग को रेखांकित किया


BOSASSO (Reuters) - Musa Bihi Abdi of the ruling Kulmiye party was declared the winner of Somaliland s presidential election on Tuesday, by the election commission of the breakaway region. Situated at the northern tip of east Africa on the Gulf of Aden - one of the busiest trade routes in the world - Somaliland broke away from Somalia in 1991 and has been relatively peaceful since. The region of 4 million people has not been internationally recognized but it has recently drawn in sizeable investments from the Gulf. In the election, Abdi won just over 55 percent of the vote, while opposition leader Abdirahman Iro took nearly 41 percent, election commission chairman Iman Warsame said. Turnout was 80 percent. In a debate before last week s vote, Abdi pledged to boost women s participation in politics and introduce compulsory national service for high school and university graduates. There was no immediate comment from Iro, whose opposition party Waddani had accused Kulmiye of vote-rigging although it has not given evidence. A U.K. government-funded international observer mission said the poll  preserved the integrity of the electoral process  and concluded irregularities were limited and did not undermine the vote. The former British protectorate broke away from Somalia in 1991 following a bloody civil war. The poll had originally been scheduled for 2015 but was delayed by political spats and severe drought. Analysts say the region enjoys strong ties with neighboring Ethiopia and Djibouti as well as its growing investment from the Gulf. Earlier this year the government agreed to let the United Arab Emirates establish a military base in its port of Berbera. That came after Dubai s DP World last year signed a 30-year concession to develop the same port that will require an investment of $440 million. The company is pouring further funds into a project connecting the port to landlocked Ethiopia. This month DP World said it would also develop an economic zone in the region. [L5N1NC3CC]

Summary: सोमालीलैंड ने सत्तारूढ़ दल के उम्मीदवार को नया राष्ट्रपति चुना


MANILA (Reuters) - Two weeks ahead of a regional summit, Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte on Thursday urged greater cooperation to battle Islamist militancy, following military victories in Iraq, Syria and the southern Philippine city of Marawi. Philippine Foreign Minister Alan Peter Cayetano said Duterte would discuss the fight against terrorism, a key priority, with ASEAN leaders and regional partners, including U.S. President Donald Trump, gathering at a summit in Manila on Nov. 13.   The defeat suffered by the Islamic State in Iraq, Syria, and the Philippines does not mean the fight is over,  Cayetano said in a statement a day after an Islamic State-inspired attack in New York killed eight people and injured 11.   The terrorist attacks in New York and other places abroad during the past several weeks tell us the threat remains real.  In Marawi, soldiers killed two pro-Islamic State gunmen and arrested an Indonesian militant a week after the army declared victory over the Maute group, which occupied large parts of the lakeside city for five months.  It was the biggest security crisis in years for the Roman Catholic-majority Philippines, triggering concerns the island of Mindanao could become a magnet for Islamic State fighters driven out of Iraq and Syria. More than 1,100 people, mostly rebels, were killed in the battle and air strike have leveled the heart of the city of 200,000. Six army battalions are still in the ruined city hunting the remaining militants, who number about 40, based on information from the captured Indonesian, said Colonel Romeo Brawner, deputy commander of a military task force. Cayetano said the Philippines, during the ASEAN summit, want to deepen and strengthen its cooperation with allies, by stepping up efforts to share intelligence, training and build resources, among others. Also on the summit agenda are North Korea s ballistic missile tests and nuclear weapons program, overlapping claims in the South China Sea and wider regional trade pacts. The Philippines will urge its allies to step up efforts to hunt down Islamic State and affiliates worldwide. There are still two smaller pro-Islamic State militant groups in the southern Philippines.

Summary: मनीला दक्षिण पूर्व एशियाई शिखर सम्मेलन में आतंकवाद पर ध्यान केंद्रित करेगा, अधिक सहयोग का आग्रह करेगा


LONDON (Reuters) - British police said they had arrested two more men on Wednesday in connection with the bombing of a commuter train in London last week which injured 30 people, bringing the total in custody to five. The men, aged 48 and 30, were held under terrorism laws in Newport in south Wales. Another man was arrested in Newport on Tuesday night while two others, an 18-year-old and a 21-year-old, were held by counter-terrorism officers on Saturday.

Summary: लंदन ट्रेन बम हमले के मामले में पुलिस ने दो और लोगों को गिरफ्तार किया


WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. State Department on Thursday said it had belatedly begun informing Congress and others about groups associated with the Russian intelligence and defense sectors as required under a 2017 law tightening sanctions on Russia. The Countering America’s Adversaries Through Sanctions Act, which became law on Aug. 2, among other things imposes sanctions on Russia to punish Moscow because U.S. intelligence agencies concluded Russia carried out a hacking and propaganda campaign to meddle in the 2016 U.S. presidential election. The Kremlin has repeatedly denied the allegations.  The law calls on the president to impose sanctions on anyone  he identifies as having engaged “in a significant transaction with a person that is part of, or operates for or on behalf of, the defense or intelligence sectors” of the Russian government. The law required the Trump administration to “specify the persons that are part of, or operate for or on behalf of, the defense and intelligence sectors” of the Russian government by Oct. 1, a deadline the administration missed. U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson has now authorized the State Department to identify such people or entities, State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert told reporters. She said notification to Congress, as well as to industry, allies and partners, had begun and that public guidance on the matter would posted on the agency’s website soon, although she suggested this would not happen on Thursday. “We expect to post the full public guidance on state.gov shortly ... a lot of these conversations are still ongoing between Congress, industry, allies and also partners,” Nauert said at a briefing. Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Bob Corker this week said he wanted administration answers about why it failed to meet the deadline for implementing the sanctions on Russia. However, he said he spoke to Deputy Secretary of State John Sullivan by phone on Thursday and afterward said in a statement that the department’s guidance “is a good first step in responsibly implementing a very complex piece of legislation.”

Summary: अमेरिका ने देर से रूस प्रतिबंध कानून का पालन करना शुरू किया


TUNIS (Reuters) - Tunisia s navy has recovered 26 more bodies of Tunisian migrants who drowned when their boat sank last week in a collision with a navy vessel, bringing the death toll from the incident to 34. The incident has caused anger in Tunisia where the families of some of the migrants who drowned protested in two towns. In the southern town of Kebili, protesters burned a local government building last week. Last Monday, the navy recovered eight bodies after the collision 54 km (33 miles) off the coast, while 38 were rescued. The navy found 16 more bodies on Monday after recovering 10 more on Sunday, a navy spokesman said.  According to testimony from survivors, there were between 70 and 80 people on board, the International Organization for Migration has said. The number of migrants trying to reach Italy by boat has shot up in recent weeks as unemployed young people seek to escape poverty. Tunisia has been praised as an example of democratic transition since the overthrow of former president Zine El-Abidine Ben Ali in 2011 but young many young people lack job opportunities.

Summary: ट्यूनीशियाई नौसेना और प्रवासी नौका के बीच टक्कर में मरने वालों की संख्या बढ़कर 34 हुई


BERLIN (Reuters) - German Chancellor Angela Merkel told a newspaper she was looking forward to meeting U.S. President Donald Trump in Washington on Friday. “It’s always better to talk with each other than about each other,” Merkel told regional newspaper Saarbruecker Zeitung. Asked if both sides were curious, Merkel said: “There’s definitely curiosity. And also pleasure at meeting each other. At least from my side.” Merkel was on her way to the airport on Monday to fly to Washington for her first meeting with Trump when he rang her to postpone the trip due to the approach of a winter storm. Merkel said she wanted to speak with Trump, who was elected in November, about security and economic issues as well as about future international cooperation. Regarding concerns about a trade war between the United States and Germany or Europe, Merkel said: “Our countries benefit when we work together well and fairly.” The United States has repeatedly criticized Germany’s large current account surplus, but Merkel said there was also a lot of direct German investment in the United States. Carmaker BMW’s U.S. plant exports “more cars than GM and Ford together” from the United States, Merkel said. “I’ll make that clear,” she added.

Summary: मर्केल ने कहा, वाशिंगटन में ट्रम्प से मिलने के लिए उत्सुक हूंः पेपर


TOKYO (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump ramped up his tough rhetoric against North Korea when he arrived in Japan on Sunday, saying the United States and its allies are prepared to defend freedom and  no dictator  should underestimate U.S. resolve. Trump kicked off a 12-day Asian trip and is looking to present a united front with Japan against North Korea through meetings with Prime Minister Shinzo Abe amid heightened tensions over Pyongyang s nuclear and missile tests. He told reporters on Air Force One en route to Asia that North Korea would figure prominently in discussions, and also singled out trade, which he said had been  badly handled  in the region for years. Trump has rattled some allies with his vow to  totally destroy  North Korea if it threatens the United States and with his dismissal of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un as a  rocket man  on a suicide mission. A top aide said last week Trump intends to tell Asian leaders the world is  running out of time  in dealing with the nuclear crisis on the Korean peninsula.  No dictator, no regime, no nation should ever underestimate American resolve,  Trump told hundreds of cheering U.S. and Japanese troops in camouflage uniforms gathered at Yokota Air Base, just west of Tokyo, soon after he arrived.  Every once in a while, in the past, they underestimated us. It was not pleasant for them, was it?  said Trump, who wore a bomber jacket as he addressed the troops. North Korea s recent actions, including several missiles that flew over Japan and Pyongyang s sixth and largest nuclear test, have raised the stakes in the most critical international challenge of Trump s presidency. Recent drills over South Korea by two U.S. strategic bombers have further heightened tensions.  We will never yield, never waver and never falter in defense of our freedom,  Trump said. He told reporters earlier on Air Force One that a decision would be made soon on whether to add reclusive North Korea to a list of state sponsors of terrorism. Trump said his administration planned to take a different approach after years of what he termed  total weakness.    It s a big problem for our country and the world, and we want to get it solved.  In an apparent attempt to distinguish between North Korea s leadership and ordinary people, he said he thought North Koreans were  great people.   And I hope it all works out for everybody.  Abe told reporters before Trump s arrival that he welcomed the visit as a chance to deepen bilateral ties by building on the  friendship and trust  between the two leaders, fostered by several meetings that included a round of golf in Florida earlier this year.  I hope we will be able to have thorough discussions about international issues, including North Korea,  he said. Trump and Abe greeted each other with a handshake at a golf course to be used during the 2020 Olympic Games, changing clothes and heading out to play after what media said was a lunch of hamburgers. In an allusion to a Trump campaign slogan, they signed caps that said  Donald and Shinzo Make Alliance Even Greater.  They discussed North Korea and trade while playing nine holes with Hideki Matsuyama, the world no. 3 pro golfer. A senior White House official said the two leaders have developed a close bond since Trump took office in January.   Playing golf with Prime Minister Abe and Hideki Matsuyama, two wonderful people!  Trump tweeted. For his part, Abe took to Twitter to say he played golf  with a marvellous friend (President Donald J. Trump) full of spirited conversation.  The two leaders and their wives later dined on grilled Japanese premium beef at an upscale restaurant. In brief pre-dinner remarks, Trump said U.S.-Japan ties were closer than ever. But he added:  We ll have dinner tonight. I think we ll insult everybody by continuing to talk about trade.  Trump also said he planned to meet Russian President Vladimir Putin during his trip, the longest Asian tour by any U.S. leader since George H.W. Bush in 1992.  I think it s expected that we will meet,  he said.  We want Putin s help on North Korea.  Trump wants a united front with the leaders of Japan and South Korea against North Korea before he visits Beijing to make the case to Chinese President Xi Jinping that he should do more to rein in Pyongyang. Separately, Japanese Foreign Minister Taro Kono and U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson discussed that  now is the time to apply firm pressure on North Korea,  Kono told reporters. A senior U.S. State Department official traveling with Tillerson said the pressure was having an effect.   I think we have a better chance now than we ve had in the last couple of decades to solve this problem because the most important thing is to have the international community completely united in order to really choke off the lifeline for North Korea. It s got to be the way,  the official said. Trade will factor heavily during Trump s trip as he tries to persuade Asian allies to agree to policies more favorable to the United States, a point Trump emphasized. A centerpiece of the trip will be a visit to the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in Danang, Vietnam, where Trump will deliver a speech in support of a free and open Indo-Pacific region, which is seen as offering a bulwark in response to expansionist Chinese policies.  One of the things we re going to be very focused on is trade because trade has not been done well for 25 years by the United States with this part of the world, with any part of the world,  he said on Air Force One.  We re going to be discussing reciprocal trade. Fair, free but reciprocal,  he said.

Summary: जापान में ट्रम्प ने उत्तर कोरिया पर एकता पर जोर दिया; व्यापार पर भी बातचीत की


MANILA (Reuters) - Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte has declared a 10-day unilateral ceasefire with communist rebels to allow Filipinos to celebrate a  stress-free  Christmas season, two weeks after peace talks with the insurgents were formally scrapped. Presidential spokesman Harry Roque said Duterte had ordered the army and police to suspend offensive operations from Dec. 24 to Jan. 2  to lessen the apprehension of the public this Christmas season . He said he expected the Maoists and their political leaders to  do a similar gesture of goodwill.  There was no immediate comment from the communist rebel movement, whose top leaders and negotiators have been living in exile in The Netherlands since the late 1980s. Duterte restarted a stalled peace process and freed several communist leaders as a gesture of good faith when he came to office last year but he recently abandoned talks due to escalating rebel attacks.  He has vented his fury on a near-daily basis at what he considers duplicity by the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) and its armed wing, the New People s Army (NPA). He has collectively declared them a  terrorist organization  and has ended the three-decades peace process. The rebel forces, estimated to number around 3,000, have been waging a protracted guerrilla warfare in the countryside for nearly 50 years in a conflict that has killed more than 40,000 people and stifled growth in resource-rich areas of the Philippines. The guerrillas have been targeting mines, plantations, construction and telecommunication companies, demanding  revolutionary taxation  to finance arms purchases and recruitment activities. Duterte on Tuesday night said he only wanted Filipinos to celebrate a  stress-free  Christmas.  I do not want to add more strain to what people are now suffering,  he told reporters.

Summary: फिलीपींस के नेता ने क्रिसमस के लिए एकतरफा युद्धविराम की घोषणा की


NEW YORK (Reuters) - Pennsylvania Governor Tom Wolf, a Democrat, said on Wednesday that he would veto the latest Republican budget as lawmakers continue their months-long struggle to set a spending plan. The Pennsylvania Senate passed a $30 billion supplemental budget for fiscal 2016 on Wednesday, and the House is also expected to approve the same bill. “In its current form, I will veto this budget, and I urge Republicans in the legislature to stop the partisan games and come back to the table to negotiate a final budget that funds our schools and eliminates the nearly $2 billion deficit,” Wolf said in a statement. Using the Republicans’ own math, he said, the budget creates a deficit that would prompt big cuts to education and social programs and lead to higher property taxes. Though Wolf introduced a fiscal 2017 budget on Feb. 9, the state still has only a partial spending plan for this fiscal year, which began July 1. That makes a full 2016 budget nearly nine months overdue. During the impasse, school districts, colleges and social service agencies have all had to make due without state funding. The partial budget Wolf agreed to in December finally sent the first six months of aid flowing to schools, but by then they had gone almost that long without any state money. School districts borrowed a collective $1 billion across the state - incurring up to $50 million in interest and fees - to stay open through December. They are now warning, again, that they could soon have to consider shutting without state funds. The spending plan passed on Wednesday by the Senate does not raise sales or income taxes but restores most of the $6 billion in funding Wolf eliminated in his line-item vetoes in December. The bill would provide $5.95 billion for basic education, a $200 million increase from the previous year. It would also restore higher education funds, including for community colleges, The Pennsylvania State University and Temple University. Wolf took office in January 2015 pledging to restore the previous administration’s cuts to education funding. He wanted to pay for it in part with a tax on natural gas extraction, which some Republican legislative leaders have opposed.

Summary: पेनसिल्वेनिया के गवर्नर नवीनतम बजट पर वीटो करेंगे क्योंकि गतिरोध बढ़ता जा रहा है


SYDNEY (Reuters) - Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull on Saturday appointed his foreign minister as acting prime minister as he tried to stem the fallout of a citizenship crisis that has cost his government its parliamentary majority.  Turnbull delayed until Monday a long-planned trip to Israel and held an emergency Cabinet meeting to shore up support after Australia s High Court ruled on Friday that his deputy, Barnaby Joyce, and four other lawmakers should be expelled from parliament because they held dual nationality.  The court s shock decision had immediate ramifications, stripping the coalition government of the one-seat majority it holds in the lower house, forcing it to call a by-election in Joyce s seat and sending the Australian dollar lower. The opposition Labor Party has said it is considering a legal challenge to every decision made by Joyce since last year s election. Turnbull said on Saturday that the deputy position would remain vacant until after the Dec. 2 by-election for Joyce s seat. The position normally goes to a member of the National Party, the junior partner in the coalition government.  Foreign Minister Julie Bishop, a member of Turnbull s Liberal Party, would instead be acting prime minister when he travels to Israel on Monday, three days behind schedule.   Government goes on, good government goes on,  Turnbull told reporters in Sydney, dismissing suggestions that the inability to agree on a deputy indicated tensions within the coalition.  When times get tough, that s when you put your arms around your mates.  Turnbull now needs the support of one of three independent lawmakers to keep his minority government afloat, with two sitting weeks of parliament left until it recesses for the year. At least two independent lawmakers have promised initial support, but noted that it may be conditional. Turnbull is under particular pressure after refusing demands from the opposition to remove Joyce, who has renounced his New Zealand citizenship, from the cabinet while the court decided his fate.  Turnbull said the court s interpretation of the constitution, which bars dual citizens from parliament in a bid to prevent split allegiances, was  very strict  and  very hard . He added that he was considering whether to recommend a change to the constitution, noting that more than half of the country s population of 24 million was either born overseas or has a parent who was born overseas.   Our objective is to ensure parliament is open to everybody,  he said. A referendum would be needed to change the constitution. The High Court ruled on seven lawmakers, some of whom had already resigned. All seven accepted that they were dual nationals at the time of their election but claimed they were unaware of their status. Some were conferred a second nationality by birth, others by descent.  The others dismissed were all senators in the upper house and their seats can be assigned to party-appointed alternatives.

Summary: सरकारी संकट के बीच ऑस्ट्रेलियाई प्रधानमंत्री ने विदेश मंत्री को कार्यभार सौंपा


ABOARD THE PAPAL PLANE (Reuters) - Pope Francis on Saturday defended his strategy of avoiding the term  Rohingya  in Myanmar, saying he believed he got his message across to both the civilian and military leadership without shutting down dialogue. Speaking to reporters aboard the plane returning to Rome from Bangladesh, the pontiff also indicated that he had been firm with Myanmar s military leaders in private meetings about the need for them to respect the rights of Rohingya refugees. He also disclosed that he cried when he met a group of Rohingya refugees on Friday in Bangladesh, where he defended their rights by name in an emotional meeting.  For me, the most important thing is that message gets through, to try to say things one step at a time and listen to the responses,  he said.  I knew that if in the official speeches I would have used that word, they would have closed the door in our faces. But (in public) I described situations, rights, said that no one should be excluded, (the right to) citizenship, in order to allow myself to go further in the private meetings,  he said. Francis did not use the word Rohingya in public while on the first leg of the trip in Myanmar. Predominantly Buddhist Myanmar does not recognize the mostly Muslim Rohingya as an ethnic group with its own identity but as illegal immigrants from Bangladesh. Local Roman Catholic Church authorities had advised him not to say it because it could spark a backlash against Christians and other minority groups. The pope met Myanmar s military leaders privately on Monday, shortly after his arrival in the nation s biggest city, Yangon. The meeting had been scheduled for Thursday morning but the military pointedly asked at the last minute that it be pushed forward. The result was they saw the pope before the civilian leaders instead of the other way around, as had been planned. NON-NEGOTIABLE TRUTHS  It was a good conversation and the truth was non-negotiable,  he said of his meeting with the military leaders. The latest exodus from Myanmar to Bangladesh of about 625,000 people followed a Myanmar military crackdown in response to Rohingya militant attacks on an army base and police posts on Aug. 25. Refugees have said scores of Rohingya villages were burnt to the ground, people were killed and women were raped. The military have denied accusations of ethnic cleansing by the United States and United Nations. Asked if he used the word Rohingya during the private meeting with the military chiefs, the pope said:  I used words in order to arrive at the message and when I saw that the message had arrived, I dared to say everything that I wanted say . He then gave a reporter a mischievous grin and ended his answer with the Latin phrase  Intelligenti Pauca,  which means  Few words are enough for those who understand,  strongly hinting that he had used the word the military detests while in their presence. Human rights groups have criticized the country s de facto civilian leader, Aung San Suu Kyi, a Nobel Peace Prize winner who was under house arrest for a total of 15 years before the 2015 elections, for not taking a stand against the generals. But Francis, who met with her privately on Tuesday, appeared to give her the benefit of the doubt because of her delicate relationship with the generals who were once her jailers.  Myanmar is a nation that is growing politically, in transition,  Francis said in response to a question about Suu Kyi and budding democracy in Myanmar.  So things have to be viewed through this lens. Myanmar has to be able to look forward to the building of the country . On Friday in the Bangladeshi capital, Dhaka, Francis held an emotional encounter with Muslim Rohingya refugees from Myanmar  and then used the word Rohingya for the first time on the trip, although he had defended them by name twice from the Vatican earlier this year. He told the crowd where the Rohingya were that God s presence was within them and they should be respected.  I was crying and tried to hide it,  Francis said on the plane, recounting how moved he felt when the refugees recounted their ordeals to him.

Summary: पोप का कहना है कि म्यांमार में रोहिंग्याओं की रक्षा पूरी हो गई है


AH LEI THAN KYAW, Myanmar (Reuters) - Some 1,000 Rohingya Muslims desperate to leave Myanmar are camped on this exposed, sun-baked beach on the Bay of Bengal waiting for a boat to carry them to sanctuary in Bangladesh. Having kept northern parts of Rakhine State virtually off limits since it launched a counter-insurgency operation there in late August, Myanmar s military made a rare show of openness on Sunday by taking foreign journalists to see one of the beaches from which Rohingya are trying to escape. Well over 600,000 Rohingya have fled to Bangladesh to find shelter in the refugee camps, the living victims of what a top U.N. official has called  ethnic cleansing . Myanmar, a mostly Buddhist country, has denied such accusations, insisting the military s clearance operation was necessitated by national security concerns after Rohingya militants attacked 30 security posts in northern Rakhine on Aug. 25. For the Rohingya at Ah Lei Than Kyaw, some 5 km south of the mouth of the Naf river, the beach is a kind of purgatory. Mohammad Eidnou, a 19-year-old laborer, sold his house and belongings but he and his family have spent everything surviving for the past two months and have no money to pay the $50 a head that boatmen are demanding to take them to Bangladesh.   I don t want to go back to my village because there is nothing for us,  Eidnou told Reuters. We cannot survive.   Some have been stuck there for over a month, sweltering under the plastic sheeting used to make tents and existing on handouts proved by the Myanmar Red Cross Society. Others came just a few days ago, a sign that the flight of the Rohingya to Bangladesh is far from over. The International Rescue Committee reckons that two-thirds of some 300,000 left in Myanmar could leave in the next couple of months. On the beach at Ah Lei Than Kyaw, 30-year-old Sauli Mullahhe was thinking only of getting away. Like several other men, he described how things had got so bad that he could no longer go to work or his children to school. He could not get to a pharmacy when they fell sick, or go to a market to buy food and said the authorities had even stopped Rohingya leaving the village to fish.  I could not have survived anymore,  Mullahhe said.  I will not go back to my village, I really hope to cross the Naf river to get to Bangladesh.  Myint Kyaw, a police lieutenant-colonel, said his officers were leaving the Rohingya on the beach alone, and were not intervening when boats came to pick them up.  We don t really take any action against them, because we don t want them in trouble,  the policeman said.  They cannot go on living in the camp for very long because they can have so many health problems. That s why we don t interfere with them.   Rohingya among the hundreds who reached Bangladesh on rickety boats and rafts late last week told Reuters they had left thousands of others behind in miserable conditions on the Pa Nyaung Pin Gyi beach, at the mouth of the Naf. The military-arranged media trip did not extend that far up the coast. Many of the Rohingya living in the camps in Cox s Bazar, on the Bangladesh side of the Naf river, have recounted how their relatives were raped and murdered as they ran from villages set ablaze by Myanmar soldiers. Aung San Suu Kyi, the de facto leader of Myanmar s less than two-year-old civilian government, has said any allegations of atrocities need substantiating and should be investigated. Under Myanmar s transition to democracy, civilians still have to share power with the generals who ruled the country for nearly half a century, and Suu Kyi has no say over what the military does. She is currently on a mission explaining how Myanmar is working to stem the crisis to leaders of other Southeast Asian countries at a regional summit in Manila. On Wednesday, U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson will visit Myanmar for talks with the country s leadership, while senators back in Washington press for economic and travel sanctions against the military and its business interests. Suu Kyi has said preparations are being made for Rohingya to return, so long as they can prove they were resident.

Summary: म्यांमार से अंतिम निकास, रोहिंग्या समुद्र तट पर हफ्तों तक प्रतीक्षा करते हैं


BELGRADE (Reuters) - Serbia has extradited to Turkey a Kurdish political activist who had been seeking asylum, a police official said on Tuesday, defying a recommendation by the United Nations  Committee against Torture. Cevdet Ayaz requested asylum in Serbia earlier this year after fleeing Turkey, where he had been sentenced to 15 years in prison over alleged activities against the constitution, the Belgrade-based N1 TV quoted his lawyer Ana Trkulja as saying. It also quoted her as saying that Ayaz had been extradited to Turkey on Monday and that his brother had been asked to contact a police station in Istanbul where he was being held.  The U.N. Committee against Torture (UNCAT) issued a recommendation on Dec. 18 urging Belgrade to refrain from extraditing Ayaz. The Serbian police official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said Serbian courts had ruled that all preconditions for the extradition had been met and that Justice Minister Nela Kuburovic had acted accordingly.  The motion by the U.N. came after that (decision) ... The police only performed the extradition procedure,  the official said. Officials at Serbia s Justice Ministry, which approved Ayaz s extradition, were not immediately available for comment on the case. On Monday UNCAT chairman Jens Modvig warned Serbia, a candidate for European Union membership, to adhere to its international obligations.  Serbia is in the process of extraditing Mr. Ayaz to Turkey ... Serbia, please be aware of your UNCAT obligations,  Modvig wrote on his Twitter account.  Rights groups accuse Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan of using a state of emergency declared after the 2016 coup attempt to quash decades-long Kurdish dissent and political opposition. Turkey, which is also a candidate for EU membership, denies using torture. Serbia, the legal successor to the now-defunct Yugoslavia, has ratified the U.N. convention against torture, which came into force in 1987.  Serbia s President Aleksandar Vucic has sought to boost trade ties with Turkey, and Erdogan visited Belgrade in October.

Summary: संयुक्त राष्ट्र की चेतावनी के बावजूद सर्बिया ने कुर्द कार्यकर्ता का तुर्की को प्रत्यर्पण किया


WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump said on Wednesday he was “disappointed and surprised” by the criticism  and charges of racism he had received from Republican leaders for comments he made about the Mexican heritage of a federal judge. “I had just won more votes than anyone in the history of the party, so I was a little bit surprised when they said that,” Trump told Time. “I didn’t think it was necessary. But you know, they have to say what they have to say. I’m a big boy. They have to say what they have to say.”

Summary: न्यायाधीश की टिप्पणियों की रिपब्लिकन आलोचना से ट्रम्प 'निराश' हैं


SAN CARLOS, Colombia (Reuters) - Farmers who fled war in the Colombian Andes are returning to revive their abandoned land, cultivating coffee trees that are boosting global supplies of the highest-quality beans. Colombia s five-decade civil war, the longest in the Americas, displaced millions and disrupted farming for decades in areas that produce coffee for the most exacting consumer. The revival of coffee farming in the former conflict zones could help boost Colombia s coffee output by 40 percent, according to government estimates. That would raise global supplies of mild arabica beans by about 13 percent. The additional supply could reduce the cost of the raw material for the world s top roasters, many of whom are seeking to secure increased supply from Colombia. About 950 coffee-growing families have returned to the San Carlos area, representing about 60 percent of the 1,600 families who left during the war, according to data from the Colombian Coffee Growers Federation (FNC). The supply from this region, about 330 kilometers (205 miles) north west of the Colombian capital of Bogota, could expand further as farmers plant more of their land and more people return to the region to provide the needed labor. The area now has about 800 hectares of coffee farms, double the low of 400 hectares during the war. That s still only about half of the 1,500 hectares prior to the conflict, according to FNC data. Among those who returned was Libardo Garcia, who lost two brothers in the conflict - one was shot and the other killed by a landmine. He and his family moved back to their 12-hectare (30 acres) farm in 2015 after fleeing in 2001.   All the coffee trees were dead when we came back,  said Garcia, who has since planted 8,000 trees on two hectares of steeply sloped land. Arabica is the highest quality coffee bean, and Colombia is the world s top producer of mild arabica. To make that variety, beans are separated from the cherry then dried to increase quality. Arabica makes up about 60 percent of global coffee supplies, with lower-quality robusta beans accounting for the rest. While some coffee roasters add robusta to their highly secretive blends, premium brands are typically 100 percent mild arabica. A peace deal between the government and the rebel Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) in late 2016 paved the way for many to return to their homes and farms, including thousands of coffee growers. About 220,000 people died and millions were displaced in decades of fighting among leftist guerillas, paramilitary groups, criminal organizations and government forces. The conflict impacted large areas of the country, and the government struggled to exert control over highlands and remote jungle areas in the west and south of the country. Some farmers who stayed through the violence have also switched to coffee from growing coca and other illegal crops that they cultivated during the conflict. Coca is used for cocaine production, and the cash from growing it helped finance armed groups during the war. The combination of farmers returning to their abandoned land and others switching to coffee could help boost the country s total output to a record 20 million 60-kg bags by 2020, the government estimates, up from 14.2 million bags in 2016. In the Andean region of San Carlos, the revival in coffee production has advanced quickly since conflict in the region abated around 2014, when the peace deal was still being negotiated. The country s conflict with rebels began in 1964 and peaked in this region around 2000. After fleeing his farm, Garcia spent time in the city of Medellin and then in the town of San Carlos.  We came back because we love the land,  he said, leaning against the fence outside his home, a brick house adorned with baskets of flowers. Wearing a wide-brimmed hat, Garcia pointed out a former FARC stronghold in the distance, in tree-covered mountains about an hour s walk from his farm. Most of his neighbors have yet to return, he said, either because they are skeptical the peace will last or because they have made lives elsewhere. Before moving his family back, Garcia traveled the 13 kilometers from nearby San Carlos every weekend for three years to plant new coffee trees and remove the dead ones. Garcia has plenty of land to expand his farm further but cannot yet find the labor because too few people have returned to surrounding communities. New high-yielding trees have helped boost harvests, but the region is still far from reaching its potential because of the labor shortage, said Rosa Velasques, manager of the local cooperative where about 1,000 local farmers sell their beans. International roasters have jumped at the opportunity to buy more beans from Colombia, the world s third-largest coffee producer and the source of a third of the world s mild arabica supplies. Italian roaster illycaffe has expanded its buying to parts of the country that were unreachable during the violence.  Now they ve opened up,  said illycaffe Chairman Andrea Illy. The firm had increased purchases from the region by double digit percentages for the last two to three years, Illy said, and it expects growth to continue at similar rates. In 2016, Nestle Nespresso bought its first coffee from a post-conflict region of Colombia and launched it this year as a limited edition.  A lot of these regions, nobody had even been in and tasted the coffee until recently,  said Katherine Graham, Nestle Nespresso s corporate communications manager.   There are some areas with strong potential,  Graham said.  But it needs a lot of development, a lot of work.  Starbucks Co expanded its partnership with the United States Agency for International Development to give 1,000 farmers in post-conflict zones agricultural training. It also partnered with the Inter-American Development Bank to support 2,000 farmers in Colombia - mainly women - with a loan initiative. Colombian entrepreneur Gonzalo Navarro launched a roasting company called Piccolo Piacere in Medellin earlier this year, focusing on sourcing from small coffee growers, many in former conflict zones.  We have access to farmers who in the past were growing other things, such as coca,  he said. Back near San Carlos, farmer Rubiela Cuervo works a remote farm with her family. She fled to Medellin to escape the violence in 2005 but struggled to make a living and returned a year later despite the ongoing violence. She has expanded the farm as peace returned to the area in recent years.  We hope that peace will bring us more employment, more income for our work,  she said.  I m hoping not to be displaced again.  GRAPHIC: High-quality coffee output by country tmsnrt.rs/2zc9sau

Summary: शांति ने कोलंबियाई कॉफी को एक अतिरिक्त मौका दिया


JAKARTA (Reuters) - Indonesia s Mount Agung volcano in Bali has let out a puff of black smoke and ash in a small eruption, prompting Singapore to advise its citizens to be ready to evacuate the holiday island at short notice amid concern about a bigger eruption. Authorities have not changed the alert status on Agung, which remains at one level below the highest and there have been no reports of flight cancellations.  Singaporeans should defer non-essential travel to the affected areas of the island at this juncture,  Singapore s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a travel notice on Wednesday.  You should also be ready to evacuate at short notice.  Eruptions could result in ash clouds that could  severely disrupt air travel , it said. Agung looms menacingly over eastern Bali at a height of just over 3,000 meters (9,842 feet). It last erupted in 1963, killing more than 1,000 people and razing several villages. Indonesia has nearly 130 volcanoes, more than any other country. Many of them show high levels of activity but it can be months before an eruption. A spokesman for Indonesia s National Disaster Mitigation agency, said via a text message that there had been a  phreatic eruption  late on Tuesday with black smoke reaching 700 meters (2,300 ft), followed by falling ash, gravel and sand.  These types of eruptions   called phreatic   are the product of rock that already exists being shattered violently when water heated by the rising magma under Agung quickly turns to steam,  according to a blog post on the Discovermagazine.com website.  The disaster agency recommended against any activity within 6-7.5 km (3.7-4.6 miles) of the crater. It said that 29,245 people were staying in 278 evacuation camps. At one stage, after authorities put Agung s alert status at the highest level of four in September, more than 130,000 people  left their homes. The alert level was lowered to three on Oct. 29. Australia left its travel advice unchanged and told citizens to  monitor local media reports, follow the instructions of local authorities, and stay outside the existing exclusion zone . Bali, famous for its surf, beaches and temples, attracted nearly 5 million visitors last year, but business has slumped in areas around the volcano since September when Agung s volcanic tremors began to increase. Tourism, a cornerstone of Bali s economy, is Indonesia s fourth-biggest earner of foreign currency after natural resources like coal and palm oil.

Summary: बाली ज्वालामुखी में छोटे विस्फोट से सिंगापुर में यात्रा परामर्श जारी


(Reuters) - A U.S. House of Representatives committee on Tuesday approved an amendment to an agricultural funding bill that would make it easier for e-cigarettes to win regulatory clearance than currently proposed by the Food and Drug Administration. Under a proposed FDA rule, almost all e-cigarette and vapor products introduced after Feb. 15, 2007, would be required to meet regulatory standards that the industry considers excessively stringent. The House Appropriations Committee voted 31-19 on Tuesday in favor of easing the process. The amendment was offered by Republican Tom Cole of Oklahoma and Democrat Sanford Bishop of Georgia. A vote by the full House of Representatives on the spending bill has not yet been scheduled. “What happened today is a big boost of momentum for the industry,” said Arnaud Dumas de Rauly, treasurer of the Vapor Technology Association, which represents manufacturers and businesses. “We’re happy to have bipartisan co-sponsors because up until now we only had Republican buy-in. Now we have Democratic buy-in as well.” Public health advocates criticized the amendment, saying it benefits industry at the expense of public health.  The 2009 Tobacco Control Act allows a new tobacco product to be authorized for sale if it can be shown to be “substantially equivalent” to a product already on the market before February 15, 2007. If no such product exists, the new product must undergo a much more stringent review under the agency’s “premarket tobacco application” (PMTA) process. The vapor industry says almost all its products would be subject to PMTA review under the FDA’s proposal because only one e-cigarette was on the market in the United States before the grandfather date. Since then, some 100,000 new e-cigarette and vapor products have been introduced. Moving or invalidating that grandfather date would allow some or all of the products to act as “predicates” for future products, something public health advocates say would allow e-cigarettes and other tobacco products to escape a critical first-step review by the FDA. The American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network said in a statement changing the date would “make it easier for new products to stay on the market before it is determined whether they attract youth or otherwise harm public health.”     A premarket tobacco application requires a company to prove, with scientific data, that the new product will not harm the population as a whole. So far only one company, Stockholm-based Swedish Match AB, has cleared that bar. Last year the FDA authorized the sale of eight of its smokeless snus products. The FDA is expected soon to issue a final rule giving it authority for the first time to regulate e-cigarettes and vapor products, which generated $3.3 billion in U.S. sales last year. The agency already has authority to regulate cigarettes, smokeless tobacco and roll-you-own tobacco. The Tobacco Act gave it the option of extending its authority over other tobacco products after issuing a rule.

Summary: अमेरिकी सदन समिति ने ई-सिगरेट नियामक मार्ग को सुचारू बनाने के लिए मतदान किया


BEIJING (Reuters) - Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said on Monday that after two months of relative calm on the Korean peninsula, the resurfacing of tensions was regrettable.  Wang, speaking to reporters at a joint briefing with his  Mongolian counterpart, said that China has an open attitude on solutions to the North Korean nuclear issue, but that parties should be consultative. In late November, North Korea tested its most advanced intercontinental ballistic missile yet, putting the continental United States within range and increasing pressure on U.S. President Donald Trump to deal with the nuclear-armed nation. North Korea s Committee for the Peaceful Reunification of the Country called Trump  insane  on Sunday and said air drills between the United States and the South would  push the already acute situation on the Korean peninsula to the brink of nuclear war .

Summary: चीन ने कोरियाई प्रायद्वीप में फिर से तनाव बढ़ने को खेदजनक बताया


DUBAI (Reuters) - Three Gulf states advised their citizens against traveling to Lebanon on Thursday and asked those already there to leave as soon as possible, amid rising tensions between Saudi Arabia and Iran over Lebanon and Yemen. The official Saudi Press Agency, citing an official Foreign Ministry source, said the kingdom was asking citizens who were visiting or residing in Lebanon to leave as soon as possible.  Kuwait and the United Arab Emirates also warned nationals against travel to Lebanon via official news agencies later in the day. Bahrain had urged its citizens to leave Lebanon on Sunday. Lebanese Prime Minister Saad al-Hariri resigned on Saturday while in Saudi Arabia, accusing Iran and the Lebanese Shi ite group Hezbollah of sowing strife in Arab states and saying he feared assassination. On Thursday, two top Lebanese government officials accused Riyadh of holding Hariri captive. A third told Reuters that the Saudi authorities had ordered Hariri to resign and had put him under house arrest. Saudi Arabia and members of Hariri s Future Movement have denied reports that he is under house arrest. The Saudi minister for Gulf affairs has accused Lebanon of declaring war against the kingdom, and alleged that the Lebanese Shi ite group Hezbollah was involved in firing a missile at Saudi Arabia from Yemen on Saturday. Hezbollah s parliamentary bloc called on Saudi Arabia on Thursday to stop interfering in Lebanese affairs.  French President Emmanuel Macron announced that he would make a previously unscheduled trip to Saudi Arabia on Thursday to see Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and discuss  regional questions, in particular Yemen and Lebanon .

Summary: खाड़ी देशों ने नागरिकों को लेबनान की यात्रा न करने की सलाह दी


BRATISLAVA (Reuters) - Slovakia s government approved plans on Wednesday to build military armored vehicles with the Finnish defense industry company Patria to replace the NATO member s outdated armored personnel carriers, the defense minister said. State-owned defense company Konstrukta Defence will work with Patria, owned by the Finnish government and Norwegian firm Kongsberg Defence&Aerospace, to build 81 eight-wheeled armored personal carriers with an estimated value of 417 million euros that will be bought by the Slovak army, Defence Minister Peter Gajdos told reporters.

Summary: स्लोवाकिया फिनलैंड के पैट्रिया के साथ सैन्य कर्मियों के वाहक का निर्माण करेगा


NEW YORK/WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Tens of thousands of people marched through midtown Manhattan and dozens of U.S. cities on Saturday to demand that President Donald Trump release his tax returns and to dispute his claim that the public does not care about the issue. Organizers of “Tax March” in more than 150 cities across the country and beyond wanted to call attention to Trump’s refusal to disclose his tax history, as his White House predecessors have done for more than 40 years.  The marches coincide with the traditional April 15 deadline for U.S. federal tax returns, though the filing date was pushed backed two days this year. There were no reports of violence or arrests, in contrast to a clash between Trump supporters and opponents that erupted at a rally in Berkeley, California, where nine people were arrested. Two of the biggest tax marches took place in New York and Los Angeles, with each drawing about 5,000 people, according to estimates by Reuters reporters. No official estimates were immediately available.  In Manhattan, a good-natured crowd rallied at Bryant Park before marching up Sixth Avenue to Central Park. Among the marchers was an oversized inflatable rooster, sporting an angry expression and a sweeping metallic orange hairdo meant to resemble Trump’s signature style. “Thanks to Trump, I think that releasing your taxes when you run for president now has to be a law,” said New Yorker Marni Halasa, 51, who arrived in a tutu and leggings made of fake dollar bills and holding a sign that read “Show Me The Money!” In Washington, more than 1,500 protesters gathered on the front lawn of the U.S. Capitol, where members of Congress addressed the crowd before it marched to the Lincoln Memorial.  “We are taking the gloves off to say knock off the secrecy Mr. President,” said Senator Ron Wyden of Oregon, the ranking Democrat on the Senate Finance Committee, which would play a leading role in tax reform measures being considered in Congress. He described Trump’s refusal to release his taxes as being “like a teenager trying to hide a lousy report card.” Among the marchers was Melinda Colwell, 34, a stay-at-home-mother from Ledyard, Connecticut. She said she was concerned that conflicts of interest in Trump’s tax returns might foreshadow selfish interests in his tax reform policies. “I think it’s important to know how that could influence his decisions and how he could benefit from the decisions being made,” she said. As a candidate and as president, Trump has refused to release his tax returns, citing an ongoing audit by the Internal Revenue Service. The IRS has said that Trump can release his tax returns even while under audit. The White House could not be reached immediately for comment on the marches. Events were also planned in cities in Europe, Japan and New Zealand. The marches were launched by a single tweet, organizers said. A day after the massive Jan. 21 women’s march in Washington and other cities, comedy writer Frank Lesser tapped out on Twitter, “Trump claims no one cares about his taxes. The next mass protest should be on Tax Day to prove him wrong.” It has been retweeted more than 21,000 times.     In Los Angeles, television director Mike Stutz turned up at the march dressed in costume as a Russian general and said he was called General Bullshitski. He carried a sign that read: “What Tax Returns? Putin paid cash. Trust your oligarchs,” referring to allegations of contacts between Trump’s campaign and Russia, led by President Vladimir Putin. Joe Dinkin, spokesman for the Working Families Party, one of the groups organizing the marches, said investigations into the Trump campaign’s alleged connections to Russia underscore the need to disclose his returns. “Without seeing his taxes, we’ll never really know who he’s working for,” said Dinkin, who expects the marches to draw at least 100,000 protesters. There have been some glimpses into Trump’s tax history. Last month, MSNBC host Rachel Maddow reported on two pages of Trump’s 2005 return that were obtained by investigative reporter David Cay Johnston and released by DCReport.org. They showed Trump paid $38 million in taxes on more than $150 million in income.  And in October, The New York Times reported that Trump had declared a $916 million loss on his 1995 federal tax return, citing three pages of documents from the return.

Summary: ट्रम्प द्वारा कर विवरणी जारी करने की मांग को लेकर हजारों लोगों ने रैलियां कीं


ST PETERSBURG, Russia (Reuters) - President Vladimir Putin said on Friday that Donald Trump had run a better presidential campaign than Hillary Clinton and that U.S. intelligence agencies could have easily faked what he said was false evidence that Russia had hacked the Democratic Party. U.S. intelligence officials have said Russia tried to interfere in the U.S. election by hacking Trump’s opponents, a charge that has deepened a political scandal which has focused on whether Trump had improper ties with Moscow, something he flatly denies.  Putin, addressing the St Petersburg International Economic Forum, said on Friday that the hacking accusations were nothing more than “harmful gossip” which he complained was damaging international relations and the global economy.  He said he had personally reviewed the U.S. intelligence reports which made the hacking allegations against Russia, and that they contained no meaningful evidence. “I have read these reports,” said Putin. “Even in these reports there is nothing specific but only assumptions and conclusions based on assumptions.” The idea that the hacking had reportedly been carried out from Russian IP addresses which constituted meaningful evidence of anything was absurd, he said.  “Where are the finger prints? IP addresses can be faked. Do you know how many specialists there are who can make it look as if your children sent something from your home IP address? They can fake anything and then accuse anyone. It’s not evidence.” Putin, who is keen to repair battered U.S.-Russia relations and is expected to meet Trump for the first time at the G20 in Hamburg in July, said Trump had simply run a better campaign and better connected with voters than Clinton. He said her supporters were now trying to blame Russia for their failure. “But the problem is not with us, the problem is inside American politics,” said Putin. “The other (Clinton) team miscalculated. They don’t want to admit their mistake. It’s easier for them to say that they are not guilty, that the Russians are the guilty ones for interfering in our election. It reminds me of anti-Semitism.” Visibly irritated by having to discuss the matter, Putin was equally forthright about denying separate accusations that there had been some kind of secret deal between Moscow and the Trump team before his inauguration. “There was nothing concrete, zero. It’s just hysteria. Should I give you a pill?” Putin said to a moderator who asked him about the matter.

Summary: पुतिन ने ट्रम्प की प्रशंसा की, कहा कि अमेरिकी जासूसों के पास हैकिंग के नकली सबूत हो सकते हैं


LONDON (Reuters) - U.S. Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue met with British politicians on Thursday as the two countries eye the potential for increased farm trade once Britain leaves the European Union. Perdue talked to members of the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Select Committee (EFRA) in the House of Commons and is due to meet his British counterpart Michael Gove on Friday.  Britain is still part of the EU and we have to be respectful of that relationship but that doesn t preclude the fact we can begin the conversations on what would be in our best interests as two sovereign nations to pursue going forward,  Perdue told reporters after the meeting. There have been concerns in Britain about differing food safety standards with historic practices in the United States such as washing chicken carcasses in chlorine banned in the EU.  I think that is one of the things I m here to dispel. We don t process chicken with chlorine any longer,  he said, adding he wanted British consumers to be able to make decisions  based on sound science and facts, not perception or myth.  Committee members raised the importance of maintaining food standards in any trade deal.  We must ensure that a trade deal protects UK consumers and maintains a level playing field for our own producers. Food safety and animal welfare standards must upheld in any future Free Trade Agreement,  EFRA chair Neil Parish said. Perdue said would be premature to go into too much detail on future trade potential but added there might be scope for increased UK exports of lamb.  We think probably the UK is ahead of us in lamb and sheep production. There is big demand to have access to the U.S. market in those products,  he said. Parish said the domestic U.S. market presented significant opportunities for the UK food and farming industry and following Brexit the government  should focus on securing a great bilateral trade deal with our U.S. partners.

Summary: अमेरिका और ब्रिटेन ने ब्रेक्सिट के बाद के कृषि समझौते पर बातचीत शुरू की


WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. President-elect Donald Trump, asked for clarification his Thursday Twitter post about nuclear weapons, said: “Let it be an arms race,” MSNBC said on Friday. “We will outmatch them at every pass and outlast them all,” Trump said in an interview with MSNBC, the network reported, one day after the president-elect called for an expansion of U.S. nuclear capabilities in a tweet that alarmed nonproliferation experts.

Summary: परमाणु हथियारों के ट्वीट पर ट्रम्पः 'इसे हथियारों की दौड़ बनने दें'-एम. एस. एन. बी. सी.


(Reuters) - Lockheed Martin Corp received Pentagon approval on Tuesday to begin production of 200 new heavy cargo helicopters for the U.S. Marines, the Department of Defense said. The long-expected award for the CH-53K King Stallion will on average cost $87 million each and $105 million including spare parts and certain service contracts, a Defense Department official had told Reuters last week.  The approval of the $27 billion program, which includes more than $6 billion in research and development costs, is a major milestone for the largest U.S. defense contractor.  The new helicopter, developed by Lockheed’s Sikorsky helicopter business, can lift 36,000 pounds and would replace the CH-53E Super Stallion, which has operated as the backbone of field logistics for the U.S. Marines since the mid-1980s. The first four helicopters are scheduled for delivery next year, with another two to follow, the Defense Department said. The Marine Corps intends to transition eight active duty squadrons, one training squadron, and one reserve squadron from CH-53E to CH-53K, according to the statement.

Summary: लॉकहीड को 27 अरब डॉलर के हेलीकॉप्टर कार्यक्रम के लिए पेंटागन की मंजूरी मिली