PRISTINA (Reuters) - Kosovo accused Serbia of undermining a European Union-sponsored dialogue between the two countries by refusing to withdraw an international arrest warrant for Kosovo s prime minister.  Tensions between the states heightened early this year after Ramush Haradinaj, a former Kosovar guerilla leader who in September took over as prime minister, was arrested in France on an arrest warrant issued by Serbia. He was released after a French court rejected Belgrade s extradition request. Western officials based in Kosovo s capital of Pristina, as well as local security officials, fear Haradinaj could be arrested if he travels abroad for official visits if the arrest warrant is not withdrawn.  A visit to Brussels next week, Haradinaj s second trip to a foreign country since he took over two months ago, will be the next test.   Creating lists and accusing people with false evidences belongs to the dark times of the Serb state under (Slobodan) Milosevic,  Halil Matoshi, a political advisor to Haradinaj, said on Friday.  This does not contribute to the dialog between Kosovo and Serbia as two sovereign and neighboring states and the normalization of the relations between Belgrade and Pristina.   In September Serbian authorities said that the arrest warrant against Haradinaj remains in place.  Kosovo seceded from Serbia in 2008. Both states want to join the European Union but Brussels says they must normalize relations before their applications can go ahead. Both countries committed in 2013 to an EU-sponsored dialogue to resolve outstanding issues.  Serbia has charged Haradinaj with murdering Serbs in the late 1990s war. The 1998-99 conflict ended after NATO bombed the now-defunct Yugoslavia, then comprising Serbia and Montenegro, for 78 days to force a withdrawal of its troops from Kosovo and end a counter-insurgency campaign against ethnic Albanians.   Haradinaj, who has twice been tried and acquitted by the United Nations war crimes tribunal in the Hague, denies any wrongdoing.  Kosovo declared independence in 2008 but Serbia refuse to recognize its former breakaway province.  Backed by Russia and China, Serbia is blocking Pristina s membership in international organizations including United Nations and Interpol.   Pristina is constantly sending requests to Interpol to remove his name from the red notice but unfortunately that is not happening,  a senior Kosovo security source told Reuters.  These are politically motivated charges but any police officer at any border post will see his name in red notice and it is his or her obligation to respect that notice.  Kosovo is not a member of Interpol and any request to add or remove Kosovar nationals to watchlists goes through an office of United Nations in Pristina. A western diplomat in Pristina who asked not to be named said:  A quick solution must be found. This is a nonsense.

Summary: कोसोवो ने कहा कि प्रधानमंत्री के लिए 'झूठा' गिरफ्तारी वारंट सर्बिया के साथ बातचीत को कमजोर करता है


ISTANBUL (Reuters) - Turkey s European Union Affairs Minister Omer Celik said on Monday that any talk of ending his country s negotiations for EU accession amounted to an  attack on Europe s founding principles . His comments came a day after German Chancellor Angela Merkel said it was clear that Turkey should not join the EU and that she would talk to other EU leaders about ending its stalled accession process. Merkel s main challenger in Germany s Sept. 24 national election, Martin Schulz, has also promised to push for an end to Turkey s EU negotiations if elected chancellor.  They are building a Berlin wall with bricks of populism,  Celik tweeted. Turkey will  keep going with its head held high as a European country and a European democracy,  he said.

Summary: तुर्की का कहना है कि यूरोपीय संघ में उसके विलय को समाप्त करने की बात यूरोप को कमजोर करती है


WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Republican leaders are aiming to send their tax bill to President Donald Trump for his signature by the end of the year. To do that, negotiators from the U.S. House of Representatives and the Senate will need to iron out differences between their two versions of the legislation. Here are some of the main points they will need to address. The Senate bill repeals a provision of the Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare, that levies a penalty on taxpayers who do not purchase health insurance. The House bill did not repeal the mandate’s penalty but leaders there have indicated they would be open to doing so it if the Senate could pass it. The House bill consolidates seven individual income tax rates into four but keeps the top rate at 39.6 percent. The Senate version keeps seven brackets and sets the top rate at 38.5 percent.  PASS-THROUGH BUSINESSES The House legislation capped at 25 percent the tax rate on 30 percent of pass-through business income, with the remaining 70 percent taxed at individual wage rates. The House excluded taxpayers in professional services, who would continue paying individual tax rates on all income. The Senate bill leaves all pass-through income in the individual system but establishes a deduction for 23 percent of pass-through income. The Senate version allows those in services professions to use the deduction if their income is less than $250,000 per year, or $500,000 for a married couple. Pass-through businesses include partnerships and other companies not organized as public corporations, encompassing most American business enterprises from mom-and-pop concerns to large financial and real estate organizations. The House bill repeals the deduction for medical expenses that exceed 10 percent of a taxpayer’s annual income. The Senate version retains the deduction for two years and drops the threshold to 7.5 percent of income. The House bill repeals the individual and corporate alternative minimum taxes, or AMT, which are intended to make sure high-income taxpayers do not unduly lower their tax liabilities by combining numerous credits and deductions. The Senate bill repeals the individual AMT but keeps the 20 percent corporate AMT. By also cutting the corporate tax rate to 20 percent from 35 percent, some corporations have said this means they would not be able to use popular tax breaks such as the research-and-development credit. The House bill limited a popular individual tax deduction to interest on home mortgages of $500,000 or less. The Senate bill would allow taxpayers to deduct interest on mortgages of $1,000,000 or less. The House bill would allow companies to fully deduct the value of machinery and equipment and other costs for five years. The Senate bill allows businesses to do the same but then phases it out over five years.

Summary: फैक्टबॉक्सः अमेरिकी कर विधेयक के विवरण पर बातचीत में क्या देखना है


WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump said he believed the financial markets have not fully absorbed the tax cut changes in legislation expected to be passed by Congress on Wednesday. “They’re thinking that the market hasn’t fully digested what they’ve got here,” he said, referring to his economic advisers. “I don’t think the market has even begun to realize how good these are, like for instance, full expensing.”

Summary: बाजार ने कर कटौती परिवर्तनों को पूरी तरह से पचाया नहीं हैः ट्रम्प


COLOMBO (Reuters) - A Sri Lankan court on Thursday jailed and fined two top officials in former president Mahinda Rajapaksa s government for misappropriation of funds, a lawyer said, the first convictions in a series of investigations into official corruption. The government of President Maithripala Sirisena unseated Rajapaksa in 2015 on promises to expose corruption and is under pressure to follow through. Sirisena s administration has been probing money laundering and misappropriation of state property in more than 50 cases, but no one had been convicted until Thursday. Colombo High Court sentenced Lalith Weeratunga, former secretary to Rajapaksa, and Anusha Palpita, ex-head of the state-run Telecommunication Regulatory Commission, to three years of  rigorous imprisonment , or jail with hard labor, and fined them 52 million rupees ($340,760) each. Election monitors had complained that the state fund was used to influence voters ahead of 2015 presidential polls. Kalinga Indratissa, the lawyer who appeared on behalf of Weeratunga and Palpita, told Reuters the two would appeal. Two of Rajapaksa s sons, Namal and Yoshitha, have been arrested and released on bail over money laundering allegations.  His brother, Basil, who headed the economic development ministry, has also been arrested at least three times - twice over suspicion of misuse of anti-poverty funds and a once over suspicion of laundering money and released on bail. Rajapaksa and his family deny any wrongdoing.  Rajapaksa was president for a decade until January 2015 and is popular among ethnic majority Sinhala Buddhists who credit him with ending the 26-year-war against minority Tamil separatist rebels in 2009.

Summary: श्रीलंका की अदालत ने भ्रष्टाचार के आरोप में शीर्ष पूर्व वरिष्ठ अधिकारियों को जेल भेजा


GENEVA (Reuters) - The United Nations human rights office called on Australia on Friday to restore food, water and health services to about 600 interned refugees and asylum seekers in Papua New Guinea, which Canberra cut off three days ago. The detainees in the Manus Island Centre have defied attempts by the governments of both Australia and PNG to close the camp, saying they fear violent reprisals from the local community if they are moved to other  transit centers .  We call on the Australian government ... who interned the men in the first place to immediately provide protection, food, water and other basic services,  U.N. rights spokesman Rupert Colville told a news briefing. Australia has an obligation to do so under international human rights law and the 1951 U.N. Refugee Convention, he said. There was no immediate comment from Australia or its representatives in Geneva. Its government has said the camp had been ruled illegal by PNG authorities and it had committed to supply other sites for 12 months. Colville joined the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) in warning of an  unfolding humanitarian emergency  in the center where asylum seekers began digging wells on Thursday to try to find water as their food supplies dwindled. The remote Manus Island center has been a key part of Australia s disputed immigration policy under which it refuses to allow asylum seekers arriving by boat to reach its shores, detaining them instead in PNG and Naura in the South Pacific.       We repeat our overall concerns about Australian offshore processing centers which are unsustainable, inhumane and contradictory to its human rights obligations,  Colville said. Around 500 of the men have still not had their asylum claims  processed, he said.  And obviously the sooner the better, some of them have been there I think for four years,  Colville said.  So that s a very long time to sit in effectively a detention center disguised as a regional processing center without your case being processed.  The alternative accommodation being proposed is not finished or adequate to meet their needs, including security, he said.  We have conveyed to the Australian government and to the local government of Papua New Guinea as well that until the time the accommodation is ready, refugees should not be moved there,  UNHCR spokesman Babar Baloch said.  But also we have urged Australia and PNG to de-escalate the situation, resume basic services - water, electricity, medical services as well,  he said. The last food distribution was on Sunday, he said.  Australia s policy of deterrence by rescuing people at sea, mistreating them and abandoning them has become a notion of cruelty,  Baloch said.

Summary: संयुक्त राष्ट्र ने ऑस्ट्रेलिया से पी. एन. जी. शरणार्थियों को भोजन, पानी की आपूर्ति बहाल करने को कहा


SAN ANTONIO (Reuters) - A wine industry businessman and financial manager was sentenced to four years in prison on Wednesday for defrauding millions of dollars from former National Basketball Association star Tim Duncan. Charles Banks, 49, had faced up to 20 years in prison after he pleaded guilty in April to one count of wire fraud regarding an investment he urged Duncan to make in a firm called Gameday Entertainment, which Banks headed.  U.S. District Judge Fred Biery also ordered Banks pay $7.5 million to Duncan in restitution. San Antonio Spurs great Duncan, who is now retired, said in a statement he was afraid that without a strong sentence, financial advisers would feel they were free to prey on young, impressionable and suddenly wealthy athletes. “Judge Biery, you may not understand how difficult it is for me to be in the public light in this horrible way, as the poster child for a dumb athlete whose financial advisor took his money,” Duncan said in a statement read into the court record by prosecutors.  “I hate it and am embarrassed by it more than you can imagine.” Several NBA players were in the courtroom to support Duncan, including former teammates Tony Parker and Manu Ginobili.  After the hearing, Duncan told reporters he was satisfied with the sentence. In a brief statement before sentencing, Banks apologized to Duncan for “breaking his trust,” by tricking him into agreeing to make loans to a failing sports merchandise company headed by Banks.  According to court documents, Duncan’s losses totaled $13.5 million in investments and loan guarantees made to Gameday, which went out of business this year. Prosecutors said much of that money went into Banks’ pockets.Defense lawyers said in court in April that some of that money has been forgiven by the banks that provided the original loans. Banks is also the founder of Terroir Capital, a financial management fund that works in the wine and hospitality industry. Duncan retired at the end of last season after 19 seasons with the Spurs. The scam was discovered when Duncan’s divorce lawyer consulted a financial planner to put together a property settlement for the basketball star’s divorce, court documents said.

Summary: एनबीए के टिम डंकन को बिलिंग करने के लिए वित्तीय सलाहकार को चार साल की सजा सुनाई गई


CANBERRA (Reuters) - Australia s High Court said on Thursday it was aware of the need to rule on the eligibility of seven lawmakers quickly, but warned it could not guarantee a speedy resolution to a case that threatens the government s one-seat majority in parliament. Parliament was rocked in August when seven lawmakers, including the Deputy Prime Minister Barnaby Joyce and two other cabinet ministers, said they held dual-citizenship, potentially ruling them ineligible to hold elected office. The uncertainty has put the government s future under the spotlight.  The court is aware of the need for a speedy decision, but it is not always possible to do so immediately,  said chief justice, Susan Kiefel. The court s decision will determine whether Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull can maintain his shaky grip on power. Should the court rule that Joyce, the sole lower house lawmaker caught up in the crisis, is ineligible, Turnbull will need to win the support of one of three independent lawmakers to keep his minority government. The remaining six politicians embroiled in the case are senators and their seats would be assigned to alternatives from their political party. A potential deal with an independent politician would allow Turnbull s government to continue until a special election for Joyce s seat can be held, most likely in November. Joyce, popular among rural voters who dominate his local constituency, has already indicated he will stand for re-election after renouncing his New Zealand citizenship in August.  Special by-elections are extremely volatile but it is lucky for Turnbull that it is Joyce that may have to stand, as country Australians seem not to trust the prime minister,  said Nick Economou, senior lecturer in Australian politics at Monash University in Melbourne.     Support from rural voters, who overwhelmingly backed Turnbull in his razor thin re-election last year, has fallen to its lowest level in more than two years, a Newspoll for The Australian newspaper on Monday showed.

Summary: ऑस्ट्रेलियाई अदालत ने कहा कि नागरिकता संकट पर त्वरित निर्णय की कोई गारंटी नहीं है


MANILA (Reuters) - Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte said on Wednesday he would tell U.S. President Donald Trump to  lay off  if he raises the issue of human rights when they meet. Trump will be in Manila on the last leg of his 12-day Asian trip, which includes visits to Japan, South Korea, China, and Vietnam. Trump will attend the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in Danang, Vietnam, make a state visit to Hanoi and end his trip with the Association of South East Asia Nations summit in Manila. Duterte, who brooks no criticism of his human rights record and war on drugs, offered a comment on what he would tell Trump if he raised human rights.  You want to ask a question, I ll give you an answer. Lay off. That is not your business. That is my business. I take care of my country and I will nurture my country to health,  Duterte told reporters before leaving for Vietnam. More than 3,900 Filipinos have been killed in what the police called self-defense after armed suspects resisted arrest in Duterte s war on drugs. Critics dispute that and say executions are taking place with zero accountability, allegations the police reject. Duterte was infuriated by expressions of concern by former President Barack Obama s administration about extrajudicial killings in the Philippines. Human rights, rule of law and due process were among topics Trump and Duterte would likely discuss during their bilateral talks, Sung Kim, U.S. ambassador to Manila, said last month. But Trump, who has been criticized at home for neglecting rights issues in dealings abroad, in May praised Duterte for doing an  unbelievable job on the drug problem .

Summary: फिलीपींस के दुतेर्ते ने ट्रम्प से कहाः जब हम मिलेंगे तो मानवाधिकारों को 'हटा दें'


GAZA (Reuters) - Palestinian Islamist group Hamas s leader in Gaza said on Thursday a reconciliation deal with President Mahmoud Abbas s Fatah faction was collapsing, just 10 weeks after the agreement was reached. The rivals signed a deal brokered by Cairo on Oct. 12 after Hamas agreed to hand over administrative control of the Gaza Strip, including its border crossings with Egypt and Israel, a decade after seizing control of the enclave in a civil war. The deal bridged a deep gulf between Abbas s Western-backed mainstream Fatah and Hamas, an Islamist movement designated a terrorist group by Western countries and Israel. But continued disputes have delayed its implementation.  Yehya Al-Sinwar, Hamas s chief in Gaza and a key architect of the unity agreement, offered a bleak outlook on Thursday, suggesting the deal could suffer a similar fate to numerous reconciliation attempts over the past decade.  The reconciliation project is falling apart. Only a blind man can t see that,  Sinwar said in comments published by pro-Hamas media. One of the latest disputes came earlier this month when Hamas, according to Fatah officials, missed a milestone to complete the handover of Gaza to Abbas s West Bank-based government. Hamas says it has given up all administrative control in Gaza. Rami Al-Hamdallah, the prime minister, said Hamas had not transferred moneys as agreed, while Hamas said Hamdallah s government had not paid salaries in Gaza as agreed. Sinwar in the past has said his group would not go back to governing Gaza and that he was committed to making the deal succeed. Fatah officials declined immediate comment.  Reconciliation is collapsing because some people want to get from it the relinquishing of arms and the closing of tunnels,  said Sinwar without elaborating, but in apparent reference to Fatah. During the last Gaza war, in 2014, Hamas fighters used dozens of tunnels to blindside Israel s superior forces and threaten civilian communities near the frontier. Israel and the United States have called for Hamas to be disarmed as part of the pact between it and the Palestinian Authority, so that Israeli peace efforts with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, which collapsed in 2014, can proceed. Hamas has rejected the demand.

Summary: गाजा में हमास प्रमुख का कहना है कि फिलिस्तीनी एकता समझौता टूट रहा है


RABAT (Reuters) - At least 3 migrants, two of them women, died when their boat sank off Morocco late on Thursday, a Moroccan official said on Friday. Four migrants from sub-Saharan countries were rescued and were being treated in a Moroccan hospital, a hospital source who asked for anonymity said. A navy search operation for other possible survivors was underway, the official said. Another 28 people who were on their boat are still missing, Joel Millman, a spokesman for the U.N. International Organization for Migration said.  Millman said 174 people have already died on the route between North Africa and Spain this year, up from 121 in the same period of 2017, while the number of people arriving in Spain has reached 19,668 by Nov. 29. Morocco is, like other North African countries, a departure point for African migrants heading in makeshift boats for Europe.

Summary: मोरक्को में नाव दुर्घटना में तीन प्रवासियों की मौत


BERLIN (Reuters) - German parties exploring a coalition government have dealt an early blow to French President Emmanuel Macron s hopes for more expansive fiscal policies from Berlin, backing a balanced budget and rejecting the idea of a separate pot of cash for the euro zone. The Greens, seen as closest to Macron on economic policy and Europe, appeared to have caved in to demands by Chancellor Angela Merkel s conservatives and the Free Democrats (FDP) that a new government continue down a path of fiscal discipline. Merkel, whose conservatives placed first but lost seats in an election last month, is trying to forge a coalition with the pro-business FDP and the Greens, which requires bridging disagreements on taxes, immigration and foreign policy. In a joint paper agreed after late-night talks on Tuesday, the parties said they all supported a balanced budget. A senior Greens politician who participated in the talks also told Reuters that the parties were united in opposing Macron s idea for a euro zone budget.  None of the participating parties support a euro zone budget,  said Reinhard Buetikofer, a member of the European Parliament. The parties are expected to reconvene on Thursday to finalize a joint paper on Europe, after agreeing a rough blueprint for fiscal policy late on Tuesday. That blueprint included a pledge to respect  debt brake  legislation enshrined in the constitution since 2009, which forces the federal government to virtually eliminate structural budget deficits, limiting them to 0.35 percent of GDP. It also contained a commitment to provide relief to lower and middle income earners, dismantle the  solidarity tax  for poor eastern states and provide financial incentives to make German homes more energy efficient. Cem Ozdemir, a leader of the Greens who is seen as a possible foreign minister in the new government, highlighted a decision to re-examine plans to raise defence spending by the outgoing  grand coalition  of Merkel s conservatives and the Social Democrats (SPD), who are moving into opposition. Tax relief and investment needs would be finalised once more details on tax revenues become available next month, Ozdemir said, suggesting that the balanced budget commitment was not final. The Greens politician also said that a new coalition would have to provide a  pro-European  answer to proposals from Macron and European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker for closer cooperation in fiscal matters, defence and migration.  There are a lot of differences to overcome. But I am hoping for a clear commitment to Europe,  said Ozdemir in a video posted on the Greens website. Buetikofer said the Greens supported the idea of boosting investment within the framework of the existing EU budget. But their rejection of Macron s idea for a separate budget for the euro zone at such an early stage of the coalition talks was seen by some members of the party as an unnecessary  cave in  to Merkel s conservatives and the FDP. Macron has called for the creation of a euro zone budget of several hundred billions of euros to help the single currency bloc cope with economic shocks. One FDP participant who requested anonymity suggested that the Greens may have given away too much in the talks on Tuesday night and expressed concern that the leadership of the party could be forced to change tack in the days ahead by angry grass roots members. Former Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder, a Social Democrat who ruled with the Greens for seven years, accused the environmentalist party of  preparing Frau Merkel s bed  in a desperate attempt to re-enter government. Immigration could also be a contentious issue in the coalition talks as Merkel s conservatives row back on the open-door policy towards refugees that she adopted in 2015. This will also be on the agenda on Thursday.

Summary: जर्मन गठबंधन वार्ता समझौते से मैक्रों को यूरोप पर बड़ा झटका


BEIJING (Reuters) - Chinese President Xi Jinping and Russian President Vladimir Putin agreed Sunday to  appropriately deal with  the latest nuclear test by North Korea, state news agency Xinhua said.  The two leaders agreed to stick to the goal of denuclearisation on the Korean Peninsula and keep close communication and coordination to deal with the new situation,  Xinhua said in a brief dispatch. The two were meeting on the sidelines of a summit of the BRICS group of nations in the southeastern Chinese city of Xiamen.

Summary: शी, पुतिन N.Korea परमाणु परीक्षण के साथ 'उचित रूप से निपटने' के लिए सहमत हैंः सिन्हुआ


HARARE (Reuters) - Zimbabwe s political parties want to give voters another two months to sign up for next year s election after political turmoil disrupted the registration process, an opposition official said. The ruling party and opposition groups will ask electoral authorities on Wednesday to extend next week s voter registration deadline into February, said Douglas Mwonzora, the secretary general of the Movement for Democratic Change. The army forced former president Robert Mugabe out of office last month, ousting the only leader the country has known since independence.  The military coup disturbed a lot of things. During that period, many potential voters did not go out to register because there was serious political uncertainty in the country,  said Mwonzora, who also co-chairs an inter-party group monitoring voter registration.  So after taking all this into account we realized that we need to extend the registration exercise. If we don t we will see voter apathy next year,  he added. Zimbabwe started registering voters in September. But its Electoral Commision said on Tuesday just over 4 million voters out of a target of 7 million had signed up, eight days before the deadline to end the process. Part of the problem, said Mwonzora, was that thousands of potential voters - who are classified as aliens because their parents are from other countries in southern Africa - have only been able to register since last week, after a court ruling. Emmerson Mnangagwa, who took over from Mugabe, will be running to keep the job in the presidential and parliamentary elections due to take place by July.

Summary: जिम्बाब्वे में उथल-पुथल के बाद मतदाताओं को पंजीकरण के लिए और समय चाहिएः दल


LONDON (Reuters) - London Mayor Sadiq Khan said on Sunday that it would be wrong for Britain to host U.S. President Donald Trump on a state visit, describing some of the U.S. leader s views on Islam as  ignorant . Khan and Trump have a history. During the U.S. presidential election campaign, Khan was among many people who spoke out against Trump s proposed ban on Muslims entering the United States, an idea he said would play into the hands of extremists. Trump has criticized Khan, accusing the mayor of making a  pathetic excuse  over his statement urging Londoners not to be alarmed by the presence of additional police on the streets in response to an attack in June. At the annual conference of his opposition Labour Party, Khan told an audience with GuardianLive that he thought having a state visit, which Prime Minister Theresa May has said is still planned, was  wrong .  I sometimes think people are ignorant,  he said, adding that it was his job to educate them.

Summary: लंदन के मेयर ने कहा कि ब्रिटेन को राष्ट्रपति ट्रम्प की राजकीय यात्रा पर मेजबानी नहीं करनी चाहिए


WASHINGTON/LONDON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama will ask the U.S. Congress for more than $1.8 billion in emergency funds to fight Zika at home and abroad and pursue a vaccine, the White House said on Monday, but he added there is no reason to panic over the mosquito-borne virus. Zika, spreading rapidly in South and Central America and the Caribbean, has been linked to severe birth defects in Brazil, and public health officials’ concern is focused on pregnant women and women who may become pregnant. Obama’s request to Congress includes $200 million for research, development and commercialization of new vaccines and diagnostic tests for the virus. At least 12 groups are working to develop a vaccine. On Monday, the London-based European Medicines Agency (EMA), Europe’s drugs regulator, said it established an expert task force to advise companies working on Zika vaccines and medicines, mirroring similar action during the two-year-long  Ebola epidemic that started in December 2013 and the pandemic flu outbreak in 2009. There are no vaccines or treatment for Zika and none even undergoing clinical studies. Most infected people either have no symptoms or develop mild ones like fever and skin rashes. “The good news is this is not like Ebola; people don’t die of Zika. A lot of people get it and don’t even know that they have it,” Obama told CBS News in an interview aired on Monday. “But there shouldn’t be panic on this. This is not something where people are going to die from it. It is something we have to take seriously.” Most of the money sought by Obama, who faces pressure from Republicans and some fellow Democrats to act decisively on Zika, would be spent in the United States on testing, surveillance and response in affected areas, including the creation of rapid-response teams to contain outbreak clusters. At a White House briefing, Dr. Anne Schuchat, principal deputy director of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, said she was not expecting “large-scale amounts of serious Zika infections” in the continental United States as warmer months bring larger and more active mosquito populations. “We do think it’s likely that we will have limited local transmission in some of the southern states,” Schuchat said. Obama’s funding request to Congress includes $335 million for the U.S. Agency for International Development to support mosquito-control, maternal health and other Zika-related public health efforts in affected countries in the Americas. Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the U.S. National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, told the White House briefing a vaccine likely would not be widely available “for a few years.” Fauci said he anticipated beginning a so-called Phase 1 trial this summer for a Zika vaccine that would take about three months to test if it is safe and induces a good immune response before further studies can be conducted. The CDC said its Zika emergency operations center, with a staff of 300, has been placed on its highest level of activation, reflecting a need for accelerated preparedness for possible local virus transmission by mosquitoes in the continental United States. Some lawmakers have urged Obama to name a Zika “czar” to head U.S. efforts against the virus, but Fauci said he sees no need right now for such an appointment. Much remains unknown about Zika, including whether the virus actually causes microcephaly, a condition marked by abnormally small head size that can result in developmental problems. Brazil is investigating the potential link between Zika infections and more than 4,000 suspected cases of microcephaly.  Researchers have identified evidence of Zika infection in 17 of these cases, either in the baby or in the mother, but have not confirmed that Zika can cause microcephaly.  Word that Zika can be spread by sexual transmission and blood transfusions and its discovery in saliva and urine of infected people have added to concern over the virus.  The World Health Organization declared the outbreak an international health emergency on Feb. 1, citing a “strongly suspected” relationship between Zika infection in pregnancy to microcephaly. Brazil is grappling with the virus even as it prepares to host the Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro in August, with tens of thousands of athletes and tourists anticipated. The U.S. Olympic Committee has told U.S. sports federations that athletes and staff concerned about their health due to Zika should consider not going to the Olympics. The message was delivered in a conference call involving USOC officials and leaders of U.S. sports federations in late January. Former Olympian Donald Anthony, president and board chairman of USA Fencing, said, “One of the things that they immediately said was, especially for women that may be pregnant or even thinking of getting pregnant, that whether you are scheduled to go to Rio or no, that you shouldn’t go.” At the White House, Fauci said athletes would need to make a personal decision about whether or not to skip the Olympics.

Summary: ओबामा ने जीका से लड़ने के लिए धन मांगा, घबराने की कोई बात नहीं


MAIDUGURI, Nigeria (Reuters) - Nigeria s army said it had repelled an attack on Monday by suspected Boko Haram militants on the city at the center of the conflict with the Islamist insurgency. Major General Nicholas Rogers, who heads Nigeria s military operations against Boko Haram, told Reuters that the situation in Maiduguri, in the northeast of Nigeria, was under control. He did not give further details. The government says it is on alert for Boko Haram attacks during the Christmas period and other festivals for Christians and Muslims. Embassies regularly warn their nationals to be cautious and avoid public spaces at those times.  Heavy gunfire was heard in the Molai area on the outskirts of the city on Monday evening, prompting residents to flee the district, two residents and an officer in a local vigilante group had said. The vigilante commander, who asked not to be identified, said his group had joined the effort to repel the attackers. There were no immediate reports of casualties nor any immediate claim of responsibility. It was also not immediately possible to identify the target of the assault. Boko Haram has in the past targeted places of worship during religious celebrations, including attacking churches at Christmas or mosques during Muslim festivals or prayer times. The last major Boko Haram attack on Maiduguri, a mainly Muslim city with a Christian minority, was in June, when the group launched an assault on the eve of a visit by Vice President Yemi Osinbajo. President Muhammadu Buhari s administration has previously said Boko Haram was almost defeated but the latest attack shows the group s continued ability to stage hit-and-run raids, prompting a renewed government push against the militants. The Nigerian government approved the release of $1 billion last week from a state oil fund to help with the fight.  Nigeria s long-term plan is to corral civilians inside fortified garrison towns, a move that effectively cedes the rural areas to Boko Haram. Nigeria replaced its previous military commander of the fight against Boko Haram after half a year in the post. Military sources told Reuters this followed a series of  embarrassing  attacks by the militants.

Summary: नाइजीरियाई सेना का कहना है कि उसने संदिग्ध बोको हराम आतंकवादी हमले को पीछे हटा दिया है


CHICAGO (Reuters) - A bill to send $700 million to cash-starved social services providers breezed through the Illinois Legislature on Thursday, as the state once again turned to stopgap funding measures in lieu of a budget. The measure passed the House 111-0 and the Senate 56-0. There was no immediate comment from Governor Bruce Rauner’s office on whether he will sign it into law. A memo from his budget office expressed concerns that language in the bill could actually prevent funding for some programs. Democratic State Representative Greg Harris said the money would be taken from state funds outside of Illinois’ general revenue fund to cover 46 percent of what the state has failed to pay service providers due to the ongoing impasse over the fiscal 2016 budget. “This is a $700 million piece of legislation that would help the neediest at the time they need help the most,” he said. Despite the stalemate between the Republican governor and Democrats who control the legislature, about 90 percent of Illinois government is being funded through continuing appropriations, the enactment of a K-12 school bill, and court-ordered spending. But some parts of the government were left out in the cold. Earlier this month, dozens of unpaid social service providers sued Illinois, seeking more than $100 million. Andrea Durbin, chairman of the Pay Now Illinois coalition that filed the lawsuit, said that if enacted, the bill would not end the litigation. “It could provide a downpayment of the money we are owed, but it’s not a comprehensive solution for the Pay Now Illinois plaintiffs,” she said. In April, the legislature passed and Rauner signed a $600 million stopgap funding bill for state universities, community colleges, and student tuition grants that covered only 34 percent of the $1.7 billion that had been earmarked for higher education spending in the fiscal year that began on July 1. Illinois is the only U.S. state without a complete fiscal 2016 budget. Rauner earlier on Thursday acknowledged that some lawmakers are working on a budget framework. That framework involves higher taxes, spending cuts, and borrowing, according to local media reports.  “I’m cheering for bipartisan General Assembly members to come up with some solutions,” the governor told reporters.

Summary: इलिनोइस के सांसदों ने आंशिक रूप से सामाजिक सेवाओं का भुगतान करने के लिए $700 मिलियन को मंजूरी दी


LONDON (Reuters) - Iranian President Hassan Rouhani said on Wednesday that missile attacks by Yemen s Houthis targeting Saudi Arabian capital Riyadh were a reaction to what he called Saudi aggression.   How should the Yemeni people react to bombardment of their country. So they are not allowed to use their own weapons? You stop the bombardment first and see if the Yemenis would not do the same,  Rouhani was quoted as saying by Tasnim news agency. Rouhani also said Saudi Arabia had made a  strategic mistake  by considering the United States and Israel as friends and Iran as an enemy.

Summary: ईरान ने रियाद को निशाना बनाने वाले हौती मिसाइल हमले को सऊदी आक्रामकता की 'प्रतिक्रिया' बताया


WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A U.S. Senate committee will soon consider legislation on the country’s commodities and derivatives regulator that is intended to keep financial-sector restrictions in the Dodd-Frank Wall Street reform law from applying to farmers and ranchers because their derivatives trading helps them manage operational risks. On Thursday, the Agriculture Committee will mark up legislation reauthorizing the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, which oversees the $400 trillion U.S. swaps market as well as trading in agriculture, metals and energy.  Republicans, who are the majority in Congress and lead the committee, unveiled the bill late on Monday. A congressional source familiar with the legislation said lawmakers were open to negotiation and the bill could change before Thursday. The central aim of the Senate committee’s bill is to allow farmers, ranchers and energy providers to hedge their operational risks with derivatives, while maintaining regulation of financial swaps trading. The source said it was not an attempt to affect position limits that the CFTC sets on contracts or options.   The 2010 Dodd-Frank law strengthened oversight of swaps in order to prevent a repeat of the risky bets that contributed to the financial crisis. Republicans have said that rules the CFTC  put in place to carry out the law have spread regulation into areas outside of finance, which Congress did not intend. Nonetheless, the Senate bill would address some financial elements such as requiring electronic confirmation of customers’ account balances at banks and preventing firms from moving funds among accounts without notifying regulators. It would also strengthen protection for proprietary information submitted to the CFTC as part of required disclosures and create a judicial review process for the commission’s rulemaking. The bill unveiled on Monday would also require the commission to review and take action on the London Metal Exchange’s application to register as a foreign board of trade.  The CFTC has had to operate on year-by-year funding since the end of 2013 because Congress has not passed a new authorization for it. Lawmakers say this has created uncertainty in many markets. The House of Representatives passed its version of the CFTC authorization in June. Parts of that legislation that stirred controversy, such as a cost-benefit analysis requirement, were not included in this bill.

Summary: सीनेट समिति सी. एफ. टी. सी. पर विधेयक उठाएगी


The following statements were posted to the verified Twitter accounts of U.S. President Donald Trump, @realDonaldTrump and @POTUS.  The opinions expressed are his own. Reuters has not edited the statements or confirmed their accuracy.  @realDonaldTrump : - The United States Senate just passed the biggest in history Tax Cut and Reform Bill. Terrible Individual Mandate (ObamaCare)Repealed. Goes to the House tomorrow morning for final vote. If approved, there will be a News Conference at The White House at approximately 1:00 P.M. [0109 EST] - The Tax Cuts are so large and so meaningful, and yet the Fake News is working overtime to follow the lead of their friends, the defeated Dems, and only demean. This is truly a case where the results will speak for themselves, starting very soon. Jobs, Jobs, Jobs! [0932 EST] - I would like to congratulate @SenateMajLdr on having done a fantastic job both strategically & politically on the passing in the Senate of the MASSIVE TAX CUT & Reform Bill. I could have not asked for a better or more talented partner. Our team will go onto many more VICTORIES! [1139 EST] - Together, we are MAKING AMERICA GREAT AGAIN! [1230 EST] - We are delivering HISTORIC TAX RELIEF for the American people! #TaxCutsandJobsAct  [1309 EST] -- Source link: (bit.ly/2jBh4LU) (bit.ly/2jpEXYR)

Summary: ट्विटर पर ट्रम्प (20 दिसंबर)-कर विधेयक


DUBAI (Reuters) - The new U.S. immigration curbs have cast uncertainty over the futures of thousands of Iranian students in the United States, with many losing hope of being able to finish their studies or find a job in the country.   President Donald Trump’s executive order bans travelers from seven Muslim-majority countries including Iran for three months, and there is little certainty of what will happen after that. Many of the students have spent their families’ life savings to pay for an American higher education, which they hope will be a ticket to a well-paid job in the West or Iran.   Now they fear if they leave the country, they will not be allowed back in. They also do not know what status they will have after the three months are up, and whether they will be allowed to study, live or work in the United States.  Amin Amouhadi, 32, studies at the University of Georgia. His girlfriend, who is also Iranian, is about to finish her PhD in Canada. “We were planning to get married in a month and move in together but the current ban and its possible consequences have put the future of all our plans in jeopardy,” he told Reuters. “I might quit my PhD program, (and) try to find a university in Canada to apply for. I can’t think of any other plan.” The United States is the most popular destination for Iranians studying abroad, despite decades of hostility between the two countries. The trend goes right to the top; Iranian President Hassan Rouhani’s cabinet boasts more U.S. doctorates than did the cabinet of Trump’s predecessor Barack Obama.   About 8,700 Iranian students were at U.S. universities in 2014, a fifth of the estimated 50,000 Iranians studying abroad, according to the Washington Institute for Near East Policy. More than 3,000 Iranian students have received PhDs from American universities in the past three years, over 7,000 U.S. academics including 40 Nobel Laureates said in a petition against the order signed by Trump on Friday. They said the ban could lead to the departure of many talented individuals.  Mohammadreza Jalaeipour, a post-doctorate student at Harvard University, has canceled a study visit to Oxford University in Britain because he was afraid he would not be able to return. The 34-year-old said he was not hopeful of extending his studies in another American university or receiving a visa for a job in the United States. “This discriminatory and inhumane order is targeted to harm Iranian society. It shows that the U.S. government is dishonest when it says they have no problem with the Iranian people and they are only against the Iranian government,” he said. Medical students could be among the hardest hit. Roozbeh Esfandiari is an Iranian who studied medicine in the United States before gaining a job as a researcher at Harris County psychiatric center in Houston.  He said U.S. medicine school qualifications could not be easily transferred to other countries, so it would be a major blow for Iranian graduates if they were unable to work in the United States after several years of study.   “This news (Trump’s order) is a headache for Iranian doctors applying for residency,” he said. The Educational Commission for Foreign Medical Graduates said on its website that it was aware of the executive order and was evaluating the potential impact on international medical students and graduates.   Even before Trump’s order, the road to American higher education has always been a tough one for Iranians. Since there is no U.S. embassy in Iran, students must travel to embassies or consulates in other countries to apply, which can cost them thousands of dollars. Student visas can take many months to secure. Because of security concerns, Iranians can face background stiff checks. Zahra Razavi, a computer science student at the University of Rochester, said her husband had applied for a U.S. visa several times under the Obama administration, with no success. The Trump order has crushed their lingering hopes of living together in the United States, she added. “This disaster has caused depression and deep anxiety in me. It’s impossible to continue this way. I have no choice but to say goodbye to my dreams and quit my studies.” Shirin Sajadi, an Iranian psychotherapist in Boston, wants to help shell-shocked students from her homeland by offering them free psychotherapy sessions.  “There’s a sense of facing crisis and the need to make sense of the chaos surrounding us,” she told Reuters.  “Many immigrants have come to this country when they had nothing but hope for a better life. They’ve worked hard, played by the rules and hoped to succeed. But now that hope is gone.”

Summary: ईरानी छात्रों को लगता है कि उनके अमेरिकी सपने लूट लिए गए हैं


BEIRUT (Reuters) - The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights war monitoring group said on Monday that air strikes on a market had killed at least 29 people in a rebel-held area of northwest Syria. Three air raids hit the town of Atareb, west of the city of Aleppo, the Britain-based observatory said. It said the death toll was likely to rise.  Atareb is inside what is known as a  de-escalation  zone under a deal agreed between Turkey, Russia and Iran to reduce violence in the area.

Summary: उत्तरी सीरिया के बाजार में हवाई हमलों में 29 लोगों की मौतः निगरानी समूह


MANILA (Reuters) - Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte attacked Canada’s Justin Trudeau at the end of a summit of Asian and Western nations for raising questions about his war on drugs, a topic skirted by other leaders, including U.S. President Donald Trump. At the traditional news conference by the host nation at the end of the summit on Tuesday, Duterte was asked how he had responded to the Canadian prime minister raising the issue of human rights and extra-judicial killings in his anti-drugs drive. “I said I will not explain. It is a personal and official insult,” the Philippines president said in the course of a rambling answer, although he did not refer to Trudeau by name. “I only answer to the Filipino. I will not answer to any other bullshit, especially foreigners. Lay off.” Earlier in the day, Trudeau told a news conference that during his meeting with Duterte “the president was receptive to my comments and it was throughout a very cordial and positive exchange”. Human rights activists had been hoping that leaders at the summit, including Trump, would raise the issue of the thousands of users and small-time pushers killed in the campaign that was launched by Duterte after he took office in mid-2016. His government says the police act in self-defense during drug-busts, but critics say executions are taking place with no accountability. There was no pressure from Trump on the drugs war when he met Duterte on Monday and the U.S. president later said the two had a “great relationship”. A joint statement after the meeting only said the two sides “underscored that human rights and the dignity of human life are essential, and agreed to continue mainstreaming the human rights agenda in their national programs.” Duterte cursed Trump’s predecessor, Barack Obama, last year for raising concerns about the war on drugs and he subsequently declared that he was breaking ties with the United States, a close ally of the Philippines since World War Two. The relationship appears to have got back on track after the bonhomie between him and Trump. Trudeau also said that he raised the issue of the exodus of Rohingya during a meeting with Myanmar leader Aung San Suu Kyi, another sensitive topic bypassed by most other leaders, although he did not mention the Muslim minority by name. “This is a tremendous concern to Canada and to many, many countries around the world,” he said. The government in mostly-Buddhist Myanmar regards the Rohingya as illegal immigrants from Bangladesh and does not recognize the term. Over 600,000 Rohingya have fled to refugee camps in Bangladesh since military clearance operations were launched in response to attacks by Rohingya militants on Aug. 25.  The plight of the Rohingya has brought outrage from around the world and the United Nations has called the operations ethnic cleansing. There have been calls for democracy champion Suu Kyi to be stripped of the Nobel peace prize she won in 1991 because she has not condemned the military’s actions. Some countries in the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), particularly Muslim-majority Malaysia, have voiced strong concern over the issue recently. However, in keeping with ASEAN’s principle of non-interference in each others’ internal affairs, it appeared to have been put aside at the summit, which brought Southeast Asian nations together with the United States, Russia, Japan, China, India, Australia, New Zealand and Canada. Duterte reported that China had agreed at the summit to work on a code of conduct in the South China Sea with ASEAN nations to ease tensions over disputed claims to the busy and resource-rich waterway. The group also signed agreements on protecting migrant labor and fighting terrorism and cybercrime. Trump skipped the plenary session of the summit because of scheduling delays, but he said his marathon trip to Asia had been a “tremendous” success. He told reporters on Air Force One that he had delivered his prepared remarks during a lunch before the summit meeting.  Trump said at least $300 billion, possibly triple that figure, of deals had been agreed in the trip. He did not elaborate. “We’ve explained that the United States is open for trade but we want reciprocal, we want fair trade for the United States,” he said. Trade and concern about possible protectionism under Trump’s “America First” agenda have come up during his visit to the region, which included stops in Japan, South Korea, China, Vietnam before concluding in the Philippines. After Trump left Manila, a group of Asia-Pacific nations pursuing a separate Beijing-backed trade deal that does not include the United States agreed to “intensify efforts” in 2018 to bring their negotiations to a conclusion. The Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) appeared to have been given new impetus at the summit by Trump’s withdrawal from the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) trade agreement, to which China is not party. The two trade deals are not mutually exclusive. ASEAN is joined in the RCEP talks by China, India, Australia, New Zealand, Japan and South Korea.

Summary: फिलीपींस शिखर सम्मेलन के अंत में दुतेर्ते ने कनाडा के राष्ट्रपति ट्रूडो को लताड़ा


BEIRUT (Reuters) - Syrian troops crossed to the eastern side of the Euphrates in Deir al-Zor on Monday, state media and a monitoring group said, increasing their presence in an area where U.S.-backed militias have also advanced. The rival forces are conducting offensives against Islamic State and have generally stayed out of each other s way, with the river often acting as a dividing line.  However, incidents this year have raised tension between the government side, backed by Russia, and the U.S.-backed forces. Talks have been under way to extend a formal demarcation line, officials have said. A commander in a militia of the U.S.-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) confirmed Syrian army units had crossed and said his fighters were ready to drive them back.  If there are clashes between us and them - we re ready for those if the forces of the regime don t go back to the other bank,  Ahmed Abu Khawla of the SDF s Deir al-Zor military council said. Russia s foreign ministry said on Friday Syrian government forces crossed the river for the first time in their offensive against the jihadist group in Deir al-Zor province. Monday s crossing took place near a southern suburb of the city seized by the army on Saturday, the British-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said. Syrian state news agency SANA said heavy fighting took place against Islamic State in the area. The militant group said via its online Amaq news agency that it had deployed at least two suicide car bombs against government forces. The convergence of the Syrian army offensive from the west and the SDF operation from the east has led to increased tensions. The SDF said they came under attack from Syrian forces and Russian jets backing them on Saturday, after Abu Khawla said they would not allow the army to cross the river and would consider shots fired in their direction as an attack. The SDF has advanced to within kilometres of the river, while the Syrian army has retaken much of the city, most of it on the western side. President Bashar al-Assad has vowed to recapture all of Syria. Assad controls the main urban centres in the west of the country.  The SDF, dominated by the Kurdish YPG militia, controls much of Syria s northeast. Syrian rebel groups which have fought against Assad since 2011 hold pockets of territory in western Syria. Islamic State s shrinking territory includes much of oil-rich Deir al-Zor province.

Summary: सीरियाई सेना ने यूफ्रेट्स में U.S.-backed बलों के पास और अधिक सैनिक भेजे


WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Senate Democratic leader Harry Reid said on Thursday he believed Hillary Clinton would stick with President Barack Obama’s Supreme Court nominee if she won the Nov. 8 presidential election. Some Republican conservatives were concerned that if Democratic presidential candidate Clinton won the White House, she would pick a more liberal judge than Obama’s nominee,  Merrick Garland, for a lifetime appointment to the high court. Garland is a centrist federal appeals court judge whom a number of Republicans have praised. “I would think that she and all the people around her would say, ‘Why do we need to rock the boat here? Let’s get him confirmed quickly and move on to the next one, whenever that comes,’” Reid said on a conference call with reporters. Clinton has urged the Senate to confirm Garland. Her  campaign did not immediately return a request for comment on Reid’s remarks. Senate Democrats may try to force a vote on procedural motions that, if successful, would lead to a vote on Garland before the new president takes office in January, Reid said. He invited along Republicans who want to distance themselves from their party’s controversial presidential candidate, Donald Trump. “We have a couple of options and we are deciding when to do that. And if we should do that. When and if,” Reid said. The leader of the Republican-controlled Senate, Mitch McConnell, has refused to schedule hearings on the nomination of Garland, saying the winner of the Nov. 8 presidential election should choose the Supreme Court justice. Obama nominated Garland on March 16 to replace conservative Justice Antonin Scalia, who died on Feb. 13. “The majority leader has been clear: the next president will make the nomination for this vacancy,” Don Stewart, deputy chief of staff for McConnell, said in an email. A number of Republican senators in tough re-election fights are trying to distance themselves from their party’s controversial nominee, yet they refuse to hold a vote on Garland, Reid said.  He said those Republicans should call on McConnell to confirm Garland, not hold the Supreme Court seat for someone as “radical and unfit” as Trump, a New York businessman who has never held public office. “They spend a lot of time these Republicans, spending a lot of energy trying to separate themselves from Donald Trump. But as long as they’re holding a Supreme Court seat open for him, they’re his minions. They’re his enablers,” Reid said.

Summary: क्लिंटन सुप्रीम कोर्ट के लिए नामित गारलैंड के साथ बने रहेंगेः रीड


MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - An emboldened Mexico hardened its opposition to President Donald Trump on Friday by saying it would retaliate if the United States imposed a border tax and that it can afford to lose financial aid that might be pulled to pay for a border wall. Foreign Minister Luis Videgaray said Mexico could respond to any tax the United States were to unilaterally impose on imports from its southern neighbor to finance the wall with levies on select goods, aimed at U.S. regions most dependent on exports south of the border. “Without a doubt, we have that possibility, and what we cannot do is remain with our arms crossed,” Videgaray said in a radio interview. “The Mexican government would have to respond.” The statements by Videgaray and Interior Minister Miguel Angel Osorio Chong, who minimized the potential impact of the rumored loss of U.S. security aid, toughened the defiant tone from Mexico since President Enrique Pena Nieto last month canceled a trip to meet Trump over the wall dispute. Mexicans are angry at Trump’s calls for U.S. firms not to invest south of the border, insults to immigrants and threats to make Mexico finance the border wall. The peso currency has weakened on concerns he will hurt Latin America’s No. 2 economy.  Pena Nieto had faced criticism he was too accommodating with Trump but got a much needed ratings boost after cancelling the summit. A plan to deport third-country nationals to Mexico fueled outrage this week. Mexican officials were publicly blunt with U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and Homeland Security John Kelly over Trump’s immigration and trade proposals in a visit to Mexico on Thursday.  Osorio Chong told local radio that Mexican officials’ rejection of Trump’s bid to send non-Mexican illegal migrants from the United States to Mexico was “very clear.” “They asked us if (non-Mexican illegal immigrants) could be here while they are going through the legal process there. We said that there was...absolutely no way.”  Videgaray said the trade strategy would replicate a 2009 campaign of retaliatory tariffs that helped Mexico win a dispute with the United States. On Wednesday, the minister mentioned Iowa, Texas and Wisconsin as states that could be targeted in a conversation with lawmakers leaked to two newspapers. “This is not our preference,” he said. “Mexico believes in free trade.” A U.S. executive order on Jan. 25 that mandated the construction of a border wall also required government agencies to report the financial assistance they gave Mexico in the past five years, leading to speculation Trump wants to redirect the aid to pay for its construction.  Osorio Chong said on Friday that Mexico had no need for such financial aid from the United States, signaling that it would not come close to paying for the estimated $21.6 billion cost of the wall.  Like in other middle-income emerging economies, many in Mexico consider it humiliating to take aid from wealthy countries. A large part of U.S. aid to Mexico comes through the Plan Merida program, under which the U.S. Congress allocated $2.6 billion to security assistance between 2008 and 2016.  Of that, $1.6 billion had been disbursed by November 2016, according to the U.S. Congressional Research Service. “When they realize what’s left of Merida, they will understand that it’s not even that significant,” Osorio Chong told local radio. “We don’t object to them moving these resources... Mexico now has its own capabilities,” he said. The U.S. Customs and Border Protection agency said on Friday it will accept proposals next month for the design of Trump’s wall, a first step in picking vendors. Videgaray said a meeting of Tillerson, Kelly and Pena Nieto in Mexico City was a short courtesy visit.  He said in a more substantial meeting of the ministers, Kelly told him that deportations of undocumented immigrants from the United States would not be militarized, after Trump characterized the process as a “military operation.”

Summary: मेक्सिको ने शुल्क की चेतावनी दी, ट्रम्प द्वारा समीक्षा के तहत अमेरिकी सहायता को अस्वीकार किया


(Reuters) - President Donald Trump has added a veteran Washington lawyer to the team representing him in the investigations of possible collusion by the Trump campaign with Russia, including the criminal probe being led by special counsel Robert Mueller. John Dowd, who has represented key figures in a variety white-collar criminal matters and investigations, has joined the president’s defense team led by New York lawyer Marc Kasowitz, Mark Corallo, a spokesman for the team, said on Friday. Another well-known white-collar Washington lawyer will likely join the team shortly, according to a person familiar with the matter. Dowd, 76, represented U.S. Senator John McCain on congressional ethics charges in the “Keating Five” banking scandal in the late 1980s and early 1990s. McCain was cleared in the matter. In 1989, Dowd’s investigation on behalf of Major League Baseball led to former Hall of Famer Pete Rose being banned from the sport for betting on games while he was manager of the Cincinnati Reds. Dowd also defended Galleon Group hedge fund founder Raj Rajaratnam in a 2011 trial brought by federal prosecutors in New York over insider trading. Rajaratnam was found guilty and sentenced to 11 years in prison. Earlier in his career, Dowd served in the U.S. Marine Corps and was part of a U.S. Department of Justice organized crime unit. He went into private practice in 1978. He worked for many years at the law firm of Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld, retiring in 2015. Along with Kasowitz and Dowd, the other lawyers on Trump’s team so far are Jay Sekulow, a conservative activist with a radio call-in show, and Michael Bowe, a longtime partner in Kasowitz’s firm.  Mueller is investigating possible ties between Trump’s campaign and the Russian government, which U.S. officials have said meddled in the 2016 election. Russia has denied such interference. The White House has denied any collusion with Moscow. The special counsel also is looking into whether Trump has sought to obstruct the investigation, a person familiar with the inquiry said on Thursday. Former FBI Director James Comey testified earlier this month that Trump asked him to drop the bureau’s investigation of former national security adviser Michael Flynn. The Senate and House Intelligence Committees are also investigating possible ties between Russia and the Trump campaign.

Summary: ट्रंप ने वाशिंगटन के वकील जॉन डाउड को अपनी कानूनी टीम में शामिल किया


WASHINGTON (Reuters) - More than 400 U.S. Marines and their artillery are leaving Syria after helping to capture the city of Raqqa from Islamic State, the U.S.-led coalition fighting the militant group said on Thursday.  Last month, U.S.-backed militias declared victory in Raqqa, Islamic State s former headquarters in Syria, after months of fighting with the help of the U.S.-led coalition.  With the city liberated and ISIS on the run, the unit has been ordered home. Its replacements have been called off,  the coalition said in a statement, using an acronym for Islamic State.  We re drawing down combat forces where it makes sense, but still continuing our efforts to help Syrian and Iraqi partners maintain security,  Brigadier General Jonathan Braga, the director of operations for the coalition, said in the statement.  Our remaining forces will continue to work by, with, and through partner forces to defeat remaining ISIS, prevent a re-emergence of ISIS, and set conditions for international governments and NGOs to help local citizens recover from the horrors of ISIS  short-lived rule,  he said. Officially, the Pentagon says there are 503 troops in Syria. However, as of last week, U.S. officials said there were closer to 2,000 U.S. troops in the country. The latest announcement would reduce that number. As that campaign against Islamic State winds down, it is unclear how many, if any, U.S. troops will remain in Syria. Most of them are special operations forces, working to train and advise local partner forces, including providing artillery support against Islamic State militants. Separately, Russia said it was already preparing to withdraw its military contingent from Syria, Russian news agencies reported.

Summary: 400 से अधिक अमेरिकी सैनिक सीरिया छोड़ रहे हैंः गठबंधन


MANILA Reuters) - In a teeming prison for undertrials in the Philippines  capital Manila, Rody Lacanilao, an inmate for 18 months, says he prays for clear weather at night. A downpour, he says, will prevent him and hundreds of fellow prisoners in the Quezon City jail from sleeping on plywood mats in an outdoor hallway. The cells themselves are overflowing with an influx of detainees from President Rodrigo Duterte s year-long war on drugs. Thousands of people have been killed in Duterte s campaign, mainly drug users and small-time peddlers. Tens of thousands of others have been thrown into jail, and both prisons and courts in the Southeast Asian nation are creaking under the pressure.  Since the war on drugs started, it became harder to sleep,  Lacanilao told a Reuters team allowed access to the Quezon City jail.  We have no place to go to when it rains.  The 37-year-old is facing trial on a drugs charge. The prison was initially built for 262 inmates, but now has 2,975, three-quarters of them jailed for drug-related offences.  At night, its basketball court, chapel, classrooms and walkways become sleeping areas for detainees. Inmates who spoke to Reuters said living conditions were unbearable, made worse by the prospect that it could be years before their trials are decided. Many of them are not eligible for bail or cannot afford to pay the bond.  Prisoners came in one after the other. If you have money, you can buy a spot in the sleeping quarters,  said Junjun Vallecer, who says he has been in the jail for four years for possession of drugs but is still being tried. He says he has to wait four to six months between court appearances. The Bureau of Jail Management and Penology (BJMP) put the prison population in the country, including undertrials and convicts, at 137,417 as of the end of June, up 22 percent since Duterte took office at the end of June last year.  Police and the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency arrested 96,703 suspected pushers, users and chemists from July last year until earlier this month, according to police data. A staggering 94 percent of people jailed for drug offences are still undertrials, according to BJMP. Police in Manila arrest nearly 100 drug suspects each day, says Oscar Albayalde, the capital s police chief.   Whether they are minor charges or not, we have to arrest these people,  Albayalde told Reuters.  We make these arrests that contribute to the over-congestion of the detention cells ... but what can we do?  Including a backlog, the BJMP says 303,534 narcotics cases were at trial or being processed as of June. Most of the cases are defended by the Public Attorney s Office (PAO), a legal aid agency attached to the Department of Justice. At the end of 2016, the agency had a backlog of 303,000 drugs cases, compared to about 82,000 at the end of June 2016, just before Duterte unleashed his fierce anti-drugs campaign.  The agency says it has 1,665 lawyers to handle a total of 709,128 criminal cases currently pending, meaning an average of 426 cases for each of them.  We have tons of work,  said public defender Karen Jay Sabugo, eating a meal of instant noodles at her desk.  There are times when I return to the office so exhausted that I can t speak with colleagues anymore.  The 30-year-old, in her first year as a trial lawyer, told Reuters she attends more than a dozen court hearings a day.  In the morning, we attend court hearings and in the afternoon, we prepare pleadings and meet clients. I go to jails to prepare our defense.  Boxloads of documents are piled up inside the PAO s office in Quezon City. Most are related to cases, but some are applications for about 750 new positions the government has agreed to create in the agency in the next two years to handle the overflow of cases. Typically, trials in the Philippines begin some years after arrest, said Maria Socorro Diokno, executive director of the Free Legal Assistance Group (FLAG), an organization of human rights lawyers. Trial last two to three years on average in regional courts, and another two or three years are taken up by appeals. Even before Duterte s anti-drugs crackdown, the Philippines had the third-most-congested prison system in the world after Haiti and El Salvador, according to the London-based Institute for Criminal Policy Research. An average of six inmates occupy a space of 4.7 square meters, the space intended for one prisoner, data from the BJMP showed. One Philippine prison officer watches over 63 prisoners on average, far from the stipulated one-to-seven ratio, and there are insufficient numbers of guards to escort suspects to court hearings, the data showed.  The ratios are really wild,  said Martin Perfecto, deputy director of the Philippines Bureau of Corrections. FLAG lawyer Alex Padilla says judicial reform is not a priority in the Philippines because there is scant sympathy for those accused of crimes. Duterte is extremely popular because people are fed up with crime and many support the killings in his campaign, he said.  Judicial reform is the last reform because it s dirty,  Padilla said.  These are criminals ... they are the garbage of the society.  (GRAPHIC: Lawyers, jails inundated by Duterte's war on drugs - tmsnrt.rs/2vNCFW4)

Summary: फिलीपींस में मादक पदार्थों के खिलाफ युद्ध तेज होने के साथ जेल, न्याय प्रणाली चरम पर


LONDON (Reuters) - An attempt to change the law in Northern Ireland to allow abortions in cases of rape, incest or serious malformation of the fetus started in the UK Supreme Court on Tuesday with harrowing accounts of women s experiences. A socially conservative province where the Catholic and Protestant faiths exert strong influence, Northern Ireland allows abortion only when a mother s life is in danger. The penalty for undergoing or performing an unlawful abortion is life imprisonment. As a result, women facing tragic circumstances such as a pregnancy resulting from rape or a diagnosis of fatal fetal abnormality, meaning that a baby will not survive outside the womb, have been forced to carry their pregnancies to term.  The impact of the criminal law in Northern Ireland does amount to inhuman and degrading treatment by the state,  said Nathalie Lieven, lead counsel for the Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission which is spearheading the legal action. The commission, an independent body, launched legal action against Northern Ireland s government in 2014, arguing that the law violates the human rights of women and girls. The case has been working its way through the courts ever since. A panel of seven Supreme Court judges in London will hear arguments for and against the proposed changes during a three-day hearing. They will give their judgment at a later date. Lieven began by giving the judges an overview of detailed evidence provided by several women and girls. One of them, Ashleigh Topley, was told when she was four-and-a-half months pregnant in 2013 that her baby s limbs were not growing and she was going to die. Topley was told there was nothing to be done and she had to carry on with the pregnancy until her baby died inside the womb, or until she went into labor which would cause the baby to die. Topley had to endure 15 weeks of anguish as the pregnancy progressed. She has described how people would ask her if it was her first child, if she wanted a boy or a girl, and other well-meaning questions which exacerbated her suffering. In the end, Topley went into labor at 35 weeks and the baby girl s heart stopped. Other cases described to the judges included that of a girl under 13 years old who was pregnant as a result of sexual abuse by a relative. After police and social services got involved, the distraught girl had to be taken outside of Northern Ireland for the first time in her life to have an abortion. Northern Ireland s elected assembly voted against changing abortion laws in February 2016. The law is far less restrictive in the rest of the United Kingdom, and hundreds of Northern Irish women travel to England every year to have unwanted pregnancies terminated. As well as the parties in the case, the court will hear from organizations that support changing the law, such as Humanists UK, Amnesty International and a United Nations working group on discrimination against women.  It will also hear from groups who oppose any reform, such as Catholic bishops from the province and the Society for the Protection of Unborn Children, which describes the legal action as a  crusade against disabled babies . (This version of the story includes updates with details from the hearing)

Summary: ब्रिटेन के सर्वोच्च न्यायालय ने उत्तरी आयरलैंड गर्भपात कानून को बदलने के प्रयास की सुनवाई की


WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Donald Trump’s disavowal this week of a bipartisan agreement to stabilize Obamacare has further eroded the already minimal trust congressional Democrats had in him, complicating prospects for gaining their cooperation on a range of issues. Trump’s fellow Republicans who control Congress will need at least some Democratic support to pass critical legislation in the coming months to avert a government shutdown and prevent an unprecedented U.S. debt default. “I’ve been here with every president since Jerry Ford,” said Democratic Senator Patrick Leahy, who was first elected to the U.S. Senate in 1974 and is its longest-serving member. “I’ve always been willing to negotiate with anybody because they always keep their word. If you have a president who doesn’t keep his word, it makes it more difficult,” Leahy said when asked about Trump’s interactions with Congress. Trump initially backed the bipartisan deal announced on Tuesday by Democratic Senator Patty Murray and Republican Senator Lamar Alexander for shoring up insurance marketplaces established under Obamacare for two years by reviving federal subsidies to private insurers that Trump has scrapped. A day later, Trump disowned it. Going forward, Democratic Senator Jeanne Shaheen said that while more collaboration with Trump is possible, “I think we have to know that we can’t count on him.” Trump enraged Republicans in September with his collaboration with top Senate Democrat Chuck Schumer and top House of Representatives Democrat Nancy Pelosi. Trump cut a short-term spending deal with them, blindsiding Republican leaders, and then discussed with them the outlines of a plan to revive protections for young adult immigrants dubbed “Dreamers” brought into the United States illegally as children. On both healthcare and Dreamers, Trump has shown that while he relishes deal-making, he is quick to row back in the face of a conservative backlash. The president also has sent signals over the past few weeks that he is wavering on working with Democrats to help the Dreamers, making demands that could be a deal-breaker. Republicans have worked seven years to get rid of Obamacare, Democratic former President Barack Obama’s signature legislative achievement, and many of them vehemently opposed the Alexander-Murray deal. It remains unclear whether it will ever come to a vote in the Senate or House. Because spending legislation requires a super-majority of 60 votes in the 100-seat Senate and there are 52 Republican senators, it cannot pass without at least eight Democrats backing it. Because hard-line House conservatives often oppose spending bills, Democratic support is expected to be needed there as well.  A Dec. 8 deadline is looming for passing the spending measure needed to prevent a shutdown. Democrats could demand a steep price for their support, potentially an Obamacare fix and action to help the Dreamers. Under a budget resolution passed by the Senate on Thursday night, Republicans need only a simple majority to pass Trump’s proposed major tax cuts, though he has urged Democrats to support the overhaul. Schumer, who Trump earlier in the year called the Democrats’ “head clown” before their thaw last month, this week vented his frustration about the president, saying he “keeps zigging and zagging so it’s impossible to govern.” “This president cannot govern if, whenever the hard right frightens him and says ‘jump,’ he says ‘how high?’” Schumer told reporters on Wednesday. Schumer and Pelosi dined at the White House with Trump last month, and left feeling as if they had a deal on a proposal to help continue protections for the Dreamers that the president has moved to end effective in March. Within a day, Trump began distancing himself from that deal, with the White House later floating a series of hard-line immigration “principles,” including money for a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border fiercely opposed by Democrats, that have thrown the entire effort into doubt. Pelosi and Schumer argue their deal with Trump is still salvageable, as the president himself has not called it off. Pelosi spokesman Drew Hammill acknowledged that the principles “don’t help” the effort. But Hammill said that would not stop Pelosi, a former House speaker first elected to the chamber in 1987, from engaging Trump in the future. “It was always a case-by-case thing. It was never ‘the switch was on’” full-time, Hammill said. There will be plenty of cases to come in the weeks ahead, giving Trump an opportunity to improve his relations with Democrats if that is what he wants, Hammill said. As Congress and the White House approach the December deadline for settling fiscal affairs, Hammill said Trump can use that opportunity to stabilize Obamacare and shield Dreamers from deportation. “If he’s unable to do that, we’re unable to work with him on his priorities,” including taxes, Hammill said.

Summary: ट्रम्प का ओबामाकेयर बदलाव डेमोक्रेट के साथ काम करने की क्षमता को जटिल बनाता है


WASHINGTON (Reuters) - New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio warned Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump on Thursday against embracing the “stop and frisk” police tactic that he said would worsen relations between police and community in the country. Trump has praised the anti-crime tactic in which police stop, question and search pedestrians for weapons or contraband and said on Fox News on Thursday it “massively changed” the crime statistics in New York City. “Stop and frisk worked,” Trump said on Fox & Friends on Thursday. He said the crime-ridden city of Chicago needed to adopt the tactic.  De Blasio rejected that claim and attributed the sharp drop in crime to another strategy adopted by Bill Bratton, the city’s longtime police commissioner who retired less than a week ago. Bratton championed the “broken windows” policing strategy that emphasizes pursuit of crimes no matter how minor. In his resignation letter he attributed the decline in crime in New York City, the nation’s largest with 8.5 million people, to additional officers and an emphasis on building bonds within neighborhoods.  “Donald Trump talks about stop and frisk like he knows the facts,” de Blasio said in an interview with CNN. “He has had no experience with policing, no experience with public safety.  “He should really be careful because if we reinstitute stop and frisk all over this country, you would see a lot more tension between police and community.” Police tactics and deadly encounters with African-Americans, many of them unarmed, have sparked protests and unrest across the country. A state of emergency was declared in Charlotte, North Carolina, after a second night of unrest sparked by the fatal police shooting of a black man. There have also been protests in Tulsa, Oklahoma, in recent days demanding the arrest of a police officer seen in a video last week fatally shooting an unarmed black man who had his hands in clear view at the time.  The stop and frisk policy gained traction in New York City under Mayor Rudy Giuliani, now a top Trump supporter. De Blasio promised to end the practice during his 2013 mayoral campaign. De Blasio also credited the continued drop in crime in New York City in recent decades to a crime reduction strategy adopted by Bratton called CompStat, which adopts statistical strategies to achieve more effective policing. “That’s what changed things in New York City,” de Blasio said, adding crime has gone down in the three years since his administration curtailed the use of stop and frisk. (Fixes ninth paragraph to say protesters demanding arrest, officer not arrested.)

Summary: न्यूयॉर्क सिटी के मेयर ने ट्रम्प को चेतावनी दीः 'रुको और तेज़' चीजों को बदतर बना देगा


WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Ford Motor Co (F.N) Executive Chairman Bill Ford Jr. said on Wednesday he has met with Donald Trump to talk about the Republican presidential candidate’s extensive criticism of the automaker’s investments in Mexico. Ford told the Economic Club of Washington that he thought Trump’s criticism of the No. 2 automaker’s foreign investments were “infuriating and “frustrating” because of the company’s extensive investments and employment in the United States. Trump has threatened if elected to impose hefty tariffs on Ford imports from Mexico. Ford told reporters after the event that the session with Trump was a “great meeting” that took place a few months ago. “He was very thoughtful, asked good questions,” Ford said of Trump. “He certainly knows the facts.” Asked if Trump had changed his mind about his criticism, Ford did not directly answer but said, “The campaign trail is a different animal than anything I’m ever familiar with.” A person briefed on the matter said the meeting took place in New York this summer at the real estate mogul’s Trump Tower. The automaker had previously invited Trump to visit its headquarters at Dearborn, Michigan but he has not taken the company up on the offer. Ford rejected the criticism from Trump, noting that it employs more U.S. workers and builds more vehicles in the United States than its rivals. “We should be celebrated I think in some ways as the great American car company,” Ford said. “We make more cars and trucks here than anyone else.” Ford announced last month that all of the company’s small-car production would be leaving U.S. plants and heading to lower-cost Mexico, drawing another rebuke from the White House hopeful.  Ford has repeatedly said no U.S. jobs will be lost because of the move — and it will produce two new vehicles at a Detroit area plant that built the small cars. Trump called Ford’s decision “horrible.” He has criticized Ford’s Mexican investments for more than a year and vowed to pressure the automaker to reverse course if elected. “We shouldn’t allow it to happen,” Trump said. Trump has also repeatedly misstated Ford’s plans at times, wrongly suggesting last month Ford would “fire all of their employees in the United States.” Many major automakers have announced big expansions in Mexico, where labor rates are much lower than what U.S. workers make. A spokeswoman for Trump did not immediately comment. Last year, Ford said that chief executive Mark Fields had written to Trump to explain its investments in Mexico.

Summary: मेक्सिको की टिप्पणियों पर फोर्ड के अध्यक्ष ने की ट्रम्प से मुलाकात


WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Justice Department, in a shift from its stance under former President Barack Obama, is dropping a discrimination claim against a Texas law that required voters to present identification at the polls, according to a draft court filing the agency sent the law’s opponents on Monday. The Campaign Legal Center, one of several private groups alleging that the 2011 voter ID law was meant to discriminate against black and Hispanic people, said it received a notification from the Justice Department on Monday that the department would withdraw its discriminatory intent claim.  The Justice Department is doing so because the Texas legislature is considering changing the law in ways that might “cure the deficiencies” in it, according to a draft copy of the motion that the department sent to the Campaign Legal Center. The Justice Department declined to comment. The Texas attorney general’s office, which is defending the law, also declined to comment. A hearing in the case was scheduled for Tuesday in federal court in Texas. A federal appeals court in July ordered Texas to fix the law’s discriminatory effects against minorities, and told a federal district court to assess whether the law was passed with discriminatory intent. Voting rights advocates accused the Justice Department under President Donald Trump of backing away from its previous defense of the Voting Rights Act.  “This case will go forward with or without the Justice Department. It’s just disappointing that they’re abandoning their enforcement of voting rights,” said Danielle Lang, deputy director of voting rights at the Campaign Legal Center.

Summary: अमेरिका ने टेक्सास मतदाता पहचान पत्र कानून के खिलाफ कुछ दावे किए रद्द


WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Michael Caputo, who was an adviser to President Donald Trump’s presidential campaign, said he told a U.S. House of Representatives committee on Friday that he never heard of anyone in the campaign talking with Russians. “Today I spent my time in front of the committee detailing the fact that I had no contacts with Russians and I never heard of anyone in the Trump campaign talking with Russians,” Caputo, a political consultant, told reporters after testifying at a closed meeting of the House Intelligence Committee.

Summary: ट्रम्प के पूर्व सलाहकार का कहना है कि उन्होंने कभी भी रूसियों के साथ अभियान संपर्क के बारे में नहीं सुना


WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Donald Trump’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner, emerged from behind the scenes on Monday to tell Senate investigators he had no part in any Kremlin attempt to meddle in the U.S. election despite having met Russians four times last year. “All of my actions were proper and occurred in the normal course of events of a very unique campaign,” Kushner later told  reporters outside the White House. “I did not collude with Russia, nor do I know of anyone else in the campaign who did.” Kushner, 36, a senior White House adviser, met Senate Intelligence Committee staff behind closed doors for about two hours. Two sources with knowledge of what Kushner told them said the session was pleasant and conversational. In an 11-page written statement Kushner made public before the meeting, the real estate businessman portrayed himself as new to politics when he became a top adviser to Trump’s 2016 campaign. The letter was his fullest account to date of contacts with Russian officials. A businessman married to Trump’s eldest daughter Ivanka Trump, Kushner has rarely spoken in public since his father-in-law launched his presidential campaign in mid-2015. “I am not a person who has sought the spotlight,” he wrote in the letter. Trump prevailed over his Democratic rival Hillary Clinton in November 2016 because he ran a “smarter campaign” and to suggest otherwise “ridicules those who voted for him,” Kushner said at the White House. He took no questions. The congressional committee is one of several investigating the conclusion of U.S. intelligence agencies that Russia, under President Vladimir Putin, engaged in a hacking and propaganda campaign to try to tilt the November election in Trump’s favor. Russia denies the accusation and Trump denies his campaign colluded with Moscow. Special counsel Robert Mueller is leading a separate probe into the Russia matter.  A steady drip of information, much of it leaked to the news media, about contacts that Trump aides had with Russians has raised questions about possible collusion with Moscow, viewed by many of Trump’s fellow Republicans and rival Democrats as a hostile power trying to undermine U.S. interests around the world. Trump, who has called the Russia probes politically motivated, lashed out at the investigations in Twitter messages on Monday.  Kushner did not initially disclose any meetings with Russians on forms he filed to get a government security clearance for his work in the White House. He has since revised those forms several times. According to the sources with knowledge of Monday’s meeting, Kushner told the investigators that his lawyers and staff had not handled his security clearance form properly but they informed the FBI immediately when they realized it had been sent before it was complete, and then submitted a complete version. He said in his written statement that the initial form omitted not just Russian contacts but also all foreign contacts. In his written statement Kushner said he first met Russian Ambassador Sergei Kislyak in Washington in April 2016 and they shook hands.  He said that in a Dec. 1 meeting with Kislyak, the Russian ambassador asked if there was a secure line in Trump’s transition office to facilitate a discussion with Russian generals about Syria, and Kushner replied there was not.  Kushner said he asked if there was an existing communications channel at the Russian Embassy that could be used, but Kislyak said that was not possible and they agreed to follow up after the inauguration. “Nothing else occurred. I did not suggest a ‘secret back channel,’” Kushner said. Kushner said he met on Dec. 13, with Sergei Gorkov, the head of Russian state-owned Vnesheconombank, because of Kislyak’s insistence and because the Russian had a “direct relationship” with Putin. “He introduced himself and gave me two gifts - one was a piece of art from Nvgorod, the village where my grandparents were from in Belarus, and the other was a bag of dirt from that same village,” Kushner said. He said that neither sanctions imposed by Democratic former President Barack Obama’s administration nor Kushner’s business activities were discussed. Vnesheconombank has been subjected to U.S. economic sanctions since mid-2014 over Russia’s annexation of Crimea from Ukraine. Relations between the United States and Russia deteriorated under Obama and Trump has said he wants to improve ties with Moscow, at times expressing admiration for Putin. U.S. lawmakers have said they want to hear about a June 2016 meeting involving Russian lawyer Natalia Veselnitskaya and Trump’s eldest son, Donald Trump Jr. The younger Trump has released emails that showed he welcomed the prospect of receiving damaging information from the Russian government about Clinton. Kushner and former Trump campaign manager Paul Manafort were also at the meeting but Kushner described it as a waste of time and said there was no discussion about the campaign during the time he was there. “I actually emailed an assistant from the meeting after I had been there for ten or so minutes and wrote ‘Can u pls call me on my cell? Need excuse to get out of meeting.’” Kushner is scheduled to address the House intelligence panel on Tuesday.

Summary: जारेड कुशनर ने रूस के संपर्कों का विवरण दिया, मिलीभगत से इनकार किया


PARIS (Reuters) - France s budget rapporteur on Thursday asked the government to spell out how much the rich stood to gain if a wealth tax was scrapped, as unease over President Emmanuel Macron s plan within his own party bubbles up. Macron made good in early October on a campaign pledge to abolish the tax, earning him a  president of the rich  tag among critics. Joel Giraud, a lawmaker from Macron s Republic on the Move (LREM) party in charge of steering the 2018 budget bill through the lower house, sought details of how the wealthiest 1 percent would benefit.  In the light of the discussion of the 2018 budget law, it would be particularly useful for me to have a study of the impact of the tax and budget measures on the wealthiest French,   Giraud said in a letter to Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire, seen by Reuters. Le Maire had on Wednesday declined to respond to a similar request from the opposition. The LREM s lawmakers, who hold a clear majority of 313 in the 577-strong assembly, have largely toed the party line since June, conscious of how closely their fortunes and Macron s are linked. But with Macron s approval ratings on the wane and polls showing four in five French voters consider his policies slanted towards the rich, LREM lawmakers   many of whom initially come from the left   have started making their voices heard. Last week they proposed an amendment to the budget bill to increase taxes on luxury yachts and precious metals. One of them, Brigitte Bourguignon, a former Socialist who heads parliament s social affairs committee, last week told Le Parisien newspaper that she was one of a number who were pushing the government to do more on welfare, though she insisted she was no rebel. The 2018 budget aims to cut both taxes and spending as France seeks to restore its fiscal credibility with its European neighbors. Macron s Socialist predecessor Francois Hollande saw much of his reform program undermined by rebellion within his party.

Summary: धन कर संबंधी चिंताओं के बीच मैक्रों के सांसद ने 'अमीरों की सूची "का अध्ययन करने की मांग की


MADRID (Reuters) - A Spanish court has ordered the imprisonment of a former El Salvadoran army colonel for participating in the murder of five Spanish Jesuits in 1989 during the Central American country s civil war, a court ruling showed on Thursday. The ruling comes after the United States deported Colonel Inocente Orlando Montano Morales to Spain, where he is facing charges related to the massacre of six Roman Catholic priests. He arrived in Madrid on Wednesday and was taken into custody. Montano, who is being prosecuted for murder and crimes against humanity, will formally be notified of his charges next Monday, according to the ruling from the Spanish High Court. Montano, 74, had been in U.S. custody since 2011 when he was arrested outside Boston on immigration fraud charges after the Spanish government indicted 20 former Salvadoran army officers for the killings of the Jesuit priests, their housekeeper and her daughter. The group was targeted because one of the priests, Father Ignacio Ellacuria, was a prominent critic of the U.S.-backed right-wing government. The massacre was one of the most notorious acts of a decade-long civil war during which 75,000 people were killed and 8,000 went missing. Spanish judge Manuel Garcia Castellon said in his ruling on Thursday that Montano  actively participated in the decision and design of the murder of the Spaniards and Jesuits of an El Salvadoran University, Ellacuria, Ignacio Martin, Segundo Montes, Amando Lopez and Juan Ramon Moreno.  Montano, who has proclaimed his innocence, is also accused of overseeing a radio station that urged the priests  murder and participating in meetings a day before the deaths when a colleague gave the order to kill the men. The massacre occurred early on Nov. 16, 1989, when a group of soldiers from the U.S.-trained Atlacatl Battalion entered the campus of the Central American University where Ellacuria was rector. At the time, a battle was raging across the capital San Salvador as part of a nationwide offensive launched by the left-wing Faribundo Marti National Liberation Front (FMLN). Ellacuria had advocated a negotiated settlement to the war and the international revulsion at the murders helped to push through such a solution. The war ended in 1992. After a criminal investigation, two army officers were convicted for the Jesuit murders and jailed, but later released after an amnesty law passed in 1993.

Summary: स्पेन की अदालत ने पादरियों के नरसंहार के मामले में पूर्व साल्वाडोरन अधिकारी को जेल भेजने का आदेश दिया