LISBON (Reuters) - Wikileaks founder Julian Assange said on Tuesday the group’s publication of material linked to Hillary Clinton was not based on any desire to influence the U.S. election. “In recent months, WikiLeaks and I personally have come under enormous pressure to stop publishing what the Clinton campaign says about itself to itself,” Assange said in a statement released by his legal adviser at the Web Summit, a tech conference in Lisbon. “This is not due to a personal desire to influence the outcome of the election.” WikiLeaks has in the past few months published thousands of emails hacked from John Podesta, Democrat candidate Clinton’s campaign manager.  Assange said Wikileaks had obtained no inside information about Republican candidate Donald Trump. “We cannot publish what we do not have,” he said. “We are seen as domain experts on Clinton archives. So it is natural that Clinton sources come to us,” Assange said. “No-one disputes the public importance of these publications,” he added. “It would be unconscionable for WikiLeaks to withhold such an archive from the public during an election.” Assange said WikiLeaks would continue to publish sensitive information regardless of who wins the U.S. election. “The Democratic and Republican candidates have both expressed hostility towards whistleblowers,” he said. Assange has been living in Ecuador’s London embassy since mid-2012. A few weeks ago Ecuador’s government acknowledged it had restricted his Internet access, arousing speculation it had been pressured by the United States because of the Clinton material.

Summary: असांजे का कहना है कि विकिलीक्स अमेरिकी चुनाव को प्रभावित करने की कोशिश नहीं कर रहा है


UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - The United States urged the Myanmar government on Monday to end military operations in Rakhine state, grant humanitarian access, and commit to aiding the safe return of civilians to their homes, said U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Nikki Haley.   People are still at risk of being attacked or killed, humanitarian aid is not reaching the people who need it, and innocent civilians are still fleeing across the border to Bangladesh,  Haley said in a statement. Haley s remarks came after she attended a ministerial meeting hosted by British Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson on Myanmar on the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly.

Summary: अमेरिका ने म्यांमार से आक्रामक बंद करने, नागरिकों को लौटने की अनुमति देने का आग्रह किया


WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. lawmakers criticized environmental officials at a hearing on Wednesday for not acting sooner when they saw a report that drinking water in Flint, Michigan was polluted with dangerously high levels of lead. “I never thought this could happen in America,” and in a state, “surrounded by fresh water of the Great Lakes,” Brenda Lawrence, a Democrat of Michigan, said at a House Oversight panel examining the water crisis in Flint, a city of 100,000. The panel issued subpoenas to officials who did not show up to testify about water found to have lead levels that hamper brain development and cause other health problems. Thousands of children are believed to have ingested the polluted water in Flint, a mostly African American and Latino suburb near Detroit. Lawrence asked Keith Creagh, head of the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality, why his agency did not act on a report by a federal Environmental Protection Agency expert that showed the water was polluted. She did not get a clear answer. “We all share responsibility in the Flint water crisis, whether it is the city the state or the federal government, we all let the citizens of Flint down,” said Creagh, who took the job last month. Marc Edwards, a water engineer who first raised the issue of Flint’s lead contamination, told the panel the EPA broke laws by not notifying the public about a report of tainted water. “If it’s not criminal, I don’t know what is.” EPA water official Joel Beauvais said he did not know why his agency did not tell the public. Representative Elijah Cummings of Maryland, the top Democrat on the committee, complained that the Republican-led panel did not invite Michigan Governor Rick Snyder, a Republican, to testify at the hearing. Representative Matt Cartwright of Pennsylvania criticized Snyder and his hand-picked emergency managers for Flint who were responsible for switching the source of Flint’s tap water from Detroit’s system to the Flint River, a dumping area, in April 2014. Flint is grappling with the health and political fallout over the switch after the more corrosive river water leached lead from old pipes into the system. “He got caught red handed poisoning the children of Flint,” Cartwright, a Democrat, said of Snyder. “There’s no two ways about it. That’s the headline here.” A Snyder spokesman responded in an email: “It’s unfortunate when people who are not working toward a solution inject partisan politics and incendiary rhetoric into an emergency that can best be addressed by people working together.” Snyder will ask state lawmakers in his next budget proposal to approve a $30 million water payment relief plan for Flint residents to keep their water service on and reimburse them for lead-contaminated water they cannot drink, his office said. A busload of Flint residents traveled to Washington to attend the hearing. “We’re serious about making sure that the people responsible for this manmade disaster are held accountable,” said Bernadel Jefferson, a bishop. Lawmakers also slammed the EPA for not sending Administrator Gina McCarthy to Flint until this week, even though the agency has known about the crisis for months. An EPA spokeswoman said the agency had formed a Flint task force last October, and has had a team there for weeks. The head of the oversight panel, Representative Jason Chaffetz of Utah, a Republican, said he subpoenaed EPA’s Susan Hedman to appear at a deposition in Washington later this month. Hedman, who announced last month that she would resign on Feb. 1, had played down the memo by the EPA’s Miguel del Toral that said tests had shown high levels of lead, telling Flint and Michigan administrators it was only a draft report.  The EPA has agreed to provide all of Hedman’s emails by the end of the week, Chaffetz said.  Chaffetz said his panel had also issued a second subpoena to Darnell Earley, who was Flint’s state-appointed emergency manager when the city switched from Detroit’s system. A. Scott Bolden, Earley’s lawyer, said his client has not been given enough time to respond to the initial subpoena, which was served last night. Bolden said Earley is “not hiding anywhere” and will honor a subpoena issued with a reasonable response time. Earley only implemented the plan to change the city’s water source that others had put in place before he started, Bolden said. “There was nothing put before him by the environmental folks, the water testers or anyone connected to ensuring the quality of the water to suggest in any way that a water disaster was looming.” Political fallout over the crisis could also hold up a wide-ranging bill on energy. Democrats in the Senate threatened to block a bipartisan energy bill if it fails to include immediate aid for Flint.  Federal authorities including the FBI have started a criminal probe into the contamination.

Summary: अमेरिकी सांसदों ने फ्लिंट संकट पर सभी स्तरों पर अधिकारियों को दंडित किया


WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The gunshots that ripped through a congressional Republican team practice early Wednesday on a Virginia baseball field not only shook the U.S. Capitol but also upended what many Americans consider a symbol of fair play and summer fun. Before he was killed, a gunman shot and wounded a senior Republican House leader and several others getting ready on an Alexandria, Virginia, field for a charity game between Republicans and Democrats on Thursday in nearby Washington, D.C. The annual Congressional Baseball Game charity event, where Senate and House members from both parties face off together, has raised $600,000 for the Boys and Girls Club, the Washington Nationals Dream Foundation and the Washington Literacy Center, according to several lawmakers and event organizers. The game at Nationals Park may be one of the last vestiges of cooperation between the two sides in the nation’s capital, where some believe partisan politics is at an all-time high.   “There’s such a hatefulness in what we see in American politics and policy discussions right now ... this has got to stop,” Representative Rodney Davis, a Republican team member, told CNN in an interview while still wearing his baseball cleats and practice clothes. Davis said the congressional game was a great demonstration that Democrats and Republicans could still get along. “We have fun,” said a visibly upset Davis. “I never thought I’d play a baseball game for charity, got to practice at 6:30 in the morning and have to dodge bullets.” The gun violence early on Wednesday scarred what is for many almost sacred American ground - the baseball field. Considered America’s so-called national pastime, the game dates back to the 1800s even as it now competes heavily with other popular sports including football and basketball. “I’ve always felt safe on a baseball field, and now I don’t know if I’ll ever feel safe on a baseball field again,” Representative Chuck Fleischmann, also at the shooting scene, told CNN.  The grassy field once known for roasted peanuts and hot dogs now instead conjures images of a battlefield, fellow Republican Brad Wenstrup, an Army Reserve officer, said on Twitter.  “You never expect a baseball field in America to feel like being back in a combat zone in Iraq, but this morning it did,” wrote Wenstrup, a congressman from Ohio.  When congressional members were told in a bipartisan briefing that Thursday’s baseball game would still be held despite the shooting, they leapt to their feet in a standing ovation, Republican Representative Martha McSally told Reuters. “Tomorrow we’ll go out on the field, we’ll root for our team,” U.S. House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi later told lawmakers from the chamber floor. “We will use this occasion as one that brings us together and not one that separates us further.”

Summary: बेसबॉल के मैदान में गोलीबारी ने निष्पक्ष खेल के अमेरिकी प्रतीक को हिलाकर रख दिया


DUBLIN (Reuters) - Ireland is open to adding to a tentative Irish border agreement that collapsed on Monday but movement will be needed by the end of the week if Brexit talks are to move onto the next phase this year, the country s European Affairs Minister said on Wednesday. A deal on the border, which is required if negotiations are to progress to trade talks, was agreed on Monday with Dublin s blessing after Brexit negotiators guaranteed  regulatory alignment  on both sides of the border that Ireland shares with the British province of Northern Ireland.  While the Northern Irish party propping up the British government rejected the deal, Dublin insists it will not accept any change to the substance of the agreement ahead of a meeting of EU leaders on Dec. 15 to decide whether to open trade talks.  The text that has been agreed, we feel it s appropriate, it s workable, there is compromise on both sides and addresses our concerns of upholding what we ve all been asking for, that there would be no return to a hard border,  Helen McEntee told Reuters in an interview.  If there is clarification needed on the text, if there is possibly additional wording that would clarify what s already in the text that would be agreeable to us... I wouldn t see how that would be a problem.  The Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) has said it cannot allow any divergence in regulation between Northern Ireland and other parts of the United Kingdom. Dublin is waiting for the British government to come back to the EU s negotiating team with any suggestions or a request for further clarity, McEntee said. EU diplomats and officials say Britain must deliver its Brexit divorce package offer this week and McEntee added that if it s felt by Monday that a deal is not going to happen, then she would expect chief Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier to inform the General Affairs Council of EU ministers of that a day later. However, she said the huge amount of work officials put in last weekend to bring the sides to the brink of a deal on Monday showed how much progress can be made in a few short days.  Realistically you would want things to be moving by the end of the week and there to be some sort of agreement coming into the general affairs council,  she said.   I think the fact that it was agreed shows most people were happy with that and I think it s just to move from there and I would be hopeful that we would be able to reach that agreement by next week.

Summary: आयरलैंड सीमा पाठ में जोड़ने के लिए खुला है लेकिन घड़ी टिक टिक कर रही है


WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The top Republican in the U.S. House of Representatives is expected to reassure business leaders on Tuesday that tax reform is on track for this year, despite repeated delays and a string of political distractions from President Donald Trump. In what is billed as a major speech, House Speaker Paul Ryan will seek to dispel the notion that tax reform is adrift by describing what a U.S. tax code overhaul will look like, according to a source close to Ryan’s office.  The speaker will emphasize the importance of permanent reforms and reject the notion that legislation should do little more than reduce tax rates, the source said. He will underscore the need for international corporate tax reforms in remarks to the National Association of Manufacturers. Aides said he is not expected to delve into the details of tax proposals. The Wisconsin Republican delivered a similar optimistic message to lobbyists and campaign donors in Virginia over the weekend, adding that he expected Congress to finalize legislation to dismantle Obamacare by mid-summer, according to a source familiar with the Speaker’s comments. Originally expected to unveil tax reform legislation in the spring, Republicans are under pressure from business lobbyists to make good on campaign pledges to reform the tax code and pass healthcare legislation. Lawmakers also need legislative victories to stave off Democratic challenges in next year’s congressional mid-term elections.          “What Ryan needs to do is refocus folks on the rationale for having tax reform, not just the political rationale, but the economic rationale,” said Jeff Kupfer, a former economic adviser to President George W. Bush. Markets have been anticipating lower taxes. Major stock indexes have hit multiple record highs from Trump’s election to the end of the first quarter, on bets he would improve economic growth by cutting taxes and boosting infrastructure spending. The tax reform debate has largely moved behind closed doors, where Ryan is trying to hammer out an agreement with Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, White House economic adviser Gary Cohn and Republican chairmen of the two congressional tax committees. The aim is to unveil tax reform legislation in September.  Outside those discussions, lawmakers have begun to talk about legislation that would do little more than cut taxes, with temporary reductions financed by the federal deficit.

Summary: इस साल कर सुधार की संभावनाओं पर सदन के अध्यक्ष आशावादीः सूत्र


BUDAPEST (Reuters) - Hungarian prosecutors said on Friday they had launched an investigation into the financial reporting practices of the main opposition party, Jobbik, prompting a furious accusation of political bias from the radical nationalist party. Political tensions are rising in Hungary ahead of an April 2018 parliamentary election, in which Prime Minister Viktor Orban s ruling conservative Fidesz party is expected to defy the challenge from Jobbik and win a fresh four-year mandate. The State Audit Office (ASZ) requires all parliamentary parties to report on their finances, and has made routine biannual checks at half a dozen opposition parties for 2015 and 2016. But ASZ, which is headed by former Fidesz lawmaker Laszlo  Domokos, has also asked Jobbik to provide paperwork for the first half of 2017. ASZ spokesman Balint Horvath told Reuters it made that decision after receiving reports of possible financial irregularities behind a spring poster campaign conducted by Jobbik. In its ad campaign Jobbik accused Orban and some of his associates of corruption, using the advertising space of Lajos Simicska, an estranged key Orban ally. Both the party and Simicska have declined to say how much Jobbik paid for the ads. Jobbik, which denies any financial impropriety, said it had agreed to let ASZ check its books for this year. But it said the inspectors had visited its office when it was shut and had then promptly asked the prosecutors to get involved.  Only stinking third-world dictatorships use nominally independent authorities, actually subordinated to party politics and a thieving government, to neuter the main opposition force, which in Hungary is Jobbik,  said party vice-chairman Janos Volner. ASZ said Volner s comment was  a politically motivated attack on our independence . Hungary s chief prosecutor, Peter Polt, is also a former Fidesz member who was twice appointed to his post by Fidesz-dominated parliaments. Jobbik, which has somewhat modified its right-wing, anti-immigrant rhetoric in recent years, is expected to come second in next year s election, after Orban s Fidesz but ahead of the centre-left Socialists.

Summary: हंगरी के अभियोजक विपक्षी जोबिक पार्टी के खातों की जांच कर रहे हैं


LIMA (Reuters) - Peruvian President Pedro Pablo Kuczynski acknowledged that he worked as a financial adviser for an irrigation project owned by the Brazilian builder Odebrecht [ODBES.UL] on Saturday, contradicting his previous denials of having any links to the company. Odebrecht is at the center of Latin America s biggest graft scandal and has admitted to paying about $30 million in bribes to secure contracts in Peru over a decade. Kuczynski worked in the Cabinet of former President Alejandro Toledo, who prosecutors say took a $20 million bribe from Odebrecht during his 2001-2006 term. However, Kuczynski has not been named as a suspect in the far-reaching graft probe by the attorney general s office. In a televised interview with local broadcaster RPP, Kuczynski denied being a partner in an investment fund that allegedly had links to Odebrecht. However, he said he had worked as a financial adviser for several companies that needed to raise funds for big projects, including an Odebrecht firm.  They use bankers,  said Kuczynski, a 79-year-old former Wall Street banker elected president in 2016.  I ve been a banker, in New York, for a very prestigious bank. I ve been one of the founders of what s called project financing. So sometimes, I was hired. For H2Olmos, an irrigation project.  Odebrecht owns H2Olmos SA, which was formed in 2009 to build and operate one of its landmark projects in Peru - carving a 20-kilometer (12-mile) tunnel through the Andes to transport water to irrigate agricultural fields in the desert. Kuczynski s comments could provide more ammunition for the opposition-controlled Congress as it targets him in its probe into Odebrecht s links to politicians. Kuczynski had previously denied reports in local media that Odebrecht hired him as an adviser a decade ago to mend ties with him after he opposed highway contracts awarded to the company in Toledo s government. Kuczynski did not provide additional details about his work for H2Olmos, and his office did not respond to requests for comment. However, he stressed in the interview that the advising work was done when he was a private citizen and denied favoring any company while in public office. Odebrecht reached a deal to sell H2Olmos to Brookfield Infrastructure Partners LP and Suez SA a year ago. However, the sale has not closed. While the attorney general s office reopened a preliminary probe related to Odebrecht and Kuczynski a year ago, it has not accused Kuczynski of wrongdoing.

Summary: पेरू के कुजिंस्की ने स्वीकार किया कि उन्होंने ओडेब्रेक्ट परियोजना को सलाह दी थी


MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - When a devastating earthquake rocked Mexico City on Tuesday, 32 years to the day after another deadly temblor, the city s traumatized inhabitants struggled to understand why disaster had struck twice on the same date.  Just two hours after a city-wide seismic drill to mark the earlier tragedy, Mexico City was shaken by a magnitude 7.1 quake, its second major tremor in less than two weeks, which killed at least 100 people in the capital and 230 nationwide.  The annual drill is a legacy of the 1985 quake, a harrowing disaster imprinted on the national psyche after claiming over 5,000 lives in Mexico City. In a country with a long history of supernatural beliefs, the timing of the quakes triggered conspiracy theories and reopened old wounds.  It seems like a thing of the devil,  said Luis Pastrana, a 52-year-old industrial designer who lived through both tremors.  Another Cursed September 19,  Mexican daily El Economista proclaimed on its front page on Wednesday.  In Tlatelolco, a modernist housing project, residents gather every Sept. 19 for morning mass at the site where two tower blocks collapsed 32 years ago, killing hundreds.  On Tuesday, when the ground began to shake several hours after the service, locals swarmed the historic plaza where they congregate after each quake, crying and praying. Some suffered panic attacks. Some were positing that the Mexican government must have known the temblor was coming, and others speculated that North Korea was involved, said Antonio Fonseca, 66, a local history expert.   They believe fantastical things,  he said.  Since there is no explanation, there are lots of rumors.  Situated at the intersection of three tectonic plates, Mexico is one of the world s most earthquake-prone countries, and the capital is particularly vulnerable due to its location on top of an ancient lake bed. Tuesday s quake striking on the 1985 anniversary appeared to be purely coincidental, said Jana Pursley, a geophysicist with the United States Geological Survey, noting that the epicenters were hundreds of kilometers apart. But for some Mexico City residents, the timing may have made lingering anxieties more acute, said Elizabeth Willems, a local psychologist who has treated patients coping with post-traumatic stress disorder from the 1985 disaster.  In a phenomenon known as the  anniversary effect,  distress levels can spike as the date of a traumatic event approaches, Willems said. The repetition of the event would have compounded the stress, she added.  Willems said she had heard from some of her patients who were rattled by the latest quake. The trauma of the 1985 tremor frequently arises, she said.  It s almost like working with someone who was in Manhattan during the events of September 11. It s almost a question I ask automatically: Where were you that day?  she said. Maria del Carmen Herrera, a 60-year-old resident of the Juarez neighborhood who survived the 1985 quake, said she was struck by a premonition during the earthquake drill on Tuesday morning.   I was afraid. I thought, it s going to shake,  she said.  Those of us who survived 1985, we re left marked forever.  For Fonseca, nothing can compare to the devastation of the 1985 quake. But as he watched the ceiling trembling in his 10th-floor apartment on Tuesday, he feared the worst.  I say that coincidences don t exist,  he said.  This was something I don t know how to classify.

Summary: 1985 के भूकंप की वर्षगांठ पर मेक्सिको के लोग बार-बार होने वाली गड़गड़ाहट से घबरा गए


NEW YORK (Reuters) - Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton leads Republican rival Donald Trump by 8 percentage points among likely voters, according to a Reuters/Ipsos opinion poll released on Friday. The Aug. 14-18 survey showed 42 percent of Americans supported Clinton ahead of the Nov. 8 general election. That compares with 34 percent support for Trump. Another 23 percent of likely voters would not pick either candidate.  Clinton has led Trump in the poll throughout most of the 2016 campaign, and has maintained her advantage following last month’s Republican and Democratic conventions. Since late July, support for the former secretary of state has ranged between 41 percent and 44 percent of likely voters, while Trump’s support has varied between 33 percent and 39 percent. The race was tighter at this point in the 2012 election, with Democratic President Barack Obama ahead of Republican nominee Mitt Romney by less than 2 percentage points.     Clinton also led a separate Reuters/Ipsos poll that asked people to choose between Clinton, Trump, Libertarian candidate Gary Johnson and Jill Stein of the Green Party. Some 41 percent supported Clinton and 34 percent supported Trump. Among alternative-party candidates, Johnson came in third with 7 percent and about 2 percent supported Stein.  Clinton and Trump have both struggled to inspire American voters this year. According to the poll, neither candidate is regarded favorably by most Americans, and two-thirds of U.S. adults believe the country is on the wrong track.  Clinton continues to face questions about her handling of classified emails while serving as Obama’s secretary of state, while Trump’s off-the-cuff remarks about immigrants, women and Muslims have rankled members of his own party. Republican leaders, including former members of Congress, have called for the Republican National Committee to stop helping Trump and refocus its resources on helping candidates win down-ballot races for the House of Representatives and the Senate. Earlier this week, Trump reshuffled his campaign leadership while his campaign chief, Paul Manafort, faced increased scrutiny over his work with pro-Russian political groups in the Ukraine. Manafort resigned on Friday. The Reuters/Ipsos poll was conducted online in English in all 50 states. It surveyed samples of 1,119 and 1,118 likely voters, respectively, and has a credibility interval, a measure of accuracy, of 3 percentage points.

Summary: क्लिंटन ट्रम्प से आठ अंकों से आगेः रॉयटर्स/इप्सोस पोल


MANILA (Reuters) - Around half of Filipinos believe many people killed in the country s war on drugs were neither drug dealers nor violently resisted arrest as police maintain, according to an opinion poll released on Wednesday. The survey of 1,200 Filipinos by Social Weather Stations (SWS) conducted in late June also showed that 50 percent of respondents felt many victims were falsely identified by their enemies as drug users and pushers, and were then killed by police or shadowy vigilantes. Thousands of mostly urban poor Filipinos have been killed during President Rodrigo Duterte s 15-month-old war on drugs, either during police operations or by mysterious gunmen. The crackdown has come under unprecedented scrutiny in recent weeks, due largely to the high-profile Aug. 16 killing of a 17-year-old student, among the 90 people killed in less than a week of intensified police raids. [nL4N1LA686] The latest SWS poll predates those events. Forty-nine percent of respondents believed many of those killed by police were not drug dealers, and 54 percent felt many victims had not resisted arrest. The survey suggests doubts among Filipinos about the official stance of the Philippine National Police, which states those killed in anti-drugs operations were dealers, and had refused to go quietly. Police say that has been the case in more than 3,800 incidents in which deaths occurred. The poll also indicates some scepticism about the methods and effectiveness of intelligence-gathering and community campaigns to identify drug users in need of rehabilitation, some of whom, activists say, have been killed after their names appeared on  watch lists . [nL3N1CD133] Duterte s crackdown has caused international alarm, though domestic polls have shown Filipinos are largely supportive and believe it has made the streets safer. Duterte s office frequently cites polls, including SWS, as a sign of his public support. But presidential spokesman Ernesto Abella cast doubts about the accuracy of the latest survey, saying it contained  leading and pointed questions that may have unduly influenced the answers .  We expect pollsters to exercise prudence and objectivity to arrive at a closer approximation of public sentiment,  he said in a statement. Activists accuse the PNP of executing drug suspects under the guise of sting operations, or of colluding with hit men to kill drug users, allegations the PNP vehemently denies. Duterte s political opponents say he has made bellicose statements that incite police to commit murder, which he rejects, arguing that his instruction to security forces has always been to kill only when their lives were in danger. Only a fifth of those polled by SWS disagreed with the statement that police had killed many people who had posed no threat to them. A quarter were undecided. Twenty-three percent of respondents believed those killed were drug pushers, as police report, and 27 percent were undecided. Half of those surveyed believed false accusations of drug involvement were behind many killings by police, while 21 percent disagreed with that and 28 percent were undecided. The survey showed higher percentages of those polled in Manila, which has borne the brunt of the drugs killings, felt many victims had neither sold drugs nor fought police, and were being falsely linked to the trade. Phelim Kine, deputy Asia director at Human Rights Watch, said the survey results were not surprising given the  critical mass of compelling evidence  gathered by his group and investigative journalists, which had clearly demonstrated there was  an unlawful killing campaign under the cynical veneer of  anti-drugs operations .

Summary: फिलीपींस के आधे लोग नशीली दवाओं के युद्ध में मौतों के पुलिस खातों पर विश्वास नहीं करते हैंः सर्वेक्षण


MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - Guatemala s attorney general and a United Nations-backed anti-corruption body will investigate the nation s political parties on suspicion of illegal campaign financing during the 2015 presidential election campaign, the groups said on Thursday.  We have agreed with the attorney general to initiate an investigation into the electoral campaigns of all political parties in the 2015 cycle,  said Ivan Velasquez, head of the International Commission Against Impunity in Guatemala (CICIG). The CICIG has become a thorn in the side of Guatemalan President Jimmy Morales since it kicked off a graft probe focused on his elder brother and one of the president s sons. In 2015, the CICIG was instrumental in removing Morales  predecessor Otto Perez from office after identifying him as a key player in an alleged multimillion-dollar corruption racket. Perez is now in prison on trial with his former vice-president. Morales, a former comedian who won office in 2015 on a pledge to fight corruption, is scheduled to meet tomorrow with U.N. Secretary General Antonio Guterres in New York. Two government officials told Reuters on Wednesday Morales plans to ask Guterres to replace Velasquez, a Colombian whose tenure as CICIG chief is set to run out in 2019. A Guatemalan government spokesman declined to say whether Morales would seek Velasquez s removal, but did state that the president would discuss improving the CICIG with Guterres, and also propose a new model for combating crime.

Summary: ग्वाटेमाला के अभियोजक अभियान के वित्तपोषण पर पक्षों की जांच करेंगे


WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. Defense Secretary Jim Mattis on Tuesday played down an apparent split between the U.S. president and his top diplomat over outreach to North Korea, saying America’s focus was still on finding a diplomatic solution to the dispute with Pyongyang. President Donald Trump, who has traded insults and threats with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un in recent weeks, said on Sunday Secretary of State Rex Tillerson was “wasting his time” trying to negotiate with North Korea over its nuclear weapons program. Tillerson, during a trip to China on Saturday, said the United States had direct channels of communication with the North and was probing Pyongyang to see if it was interested in dialogue. He expressed hope for reducing tensions with North Korea, which is fast advancing toward its goal of developing a nuclear-tipped missile capable of hitting the U.S. mainland. “I do not see the divergence as strongly as some ... have interpreted it,” Mattis said. Both Mattis and Marine General Joseph Dunford, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, broadly backed Tillerson’s efforts as they testified at the hearing before the Senate Armed Services Committee. “President Trump’s guidance to both Secretary Tillerson and me has been very clearly that we would ... pursue the diplomatic effort to include with the various initiatives with China,” Mattis told a Senate hearing. “I believe that Secretary Tillerson is accurately stating that we are probing for opportunities to talk with the North. All we’re doing is probing. We’re not talking with them, consistent with the president’s dismay about not talking with them before the time is right.” Trump has vowed to halt North Korea’s nuclear ambitions and tensions have escalated in recent months, with Pyongyang conducting its sixth and largest nuclear test on Sept. 3. It has also threatened to test a hydrogen bomb over the Pacific. Dunford, the top U.S. military officer, strongly backed Tillerson’s efforts to tighten an economic squeeze on North Korea. The international community’s sanctions will need to be strong enough to convince Kim he cannot survive in power unless he changes course, he said. Dunford said Kim sees possession of ballistic missiles and a nuclear capability as inextricably linked to regime survival, adding: “What I think Kim Jong Un needs to realize is that he cannot survive with ballistic missiles and nuclear weapons because the international community will not allow him to survive.” Dunford said Kim was particularly sensitive to the flow of oil into North Korea, saying when there has been a cut-off in the past “there’s been a change in Kim Jong Un’s behavior.” “The fact is he needs economic resources external to the country to survive,” he said. U.S. Senator Jack Reed questioned whether some degree of communication was vital between Washington and Pyongyang, given the risks of miscalculation by either side that could lead to conflict. Mattis suggested that the Trump administration was exploring a host of ways to influence the North, including through diplomacy. “I think the president dispatching Secretary Tillerson to Beijing here within the past several days to carry messages and to look at the way we can work with them is the most accurate answer to your question, that in fact this is part of a whole ... integrated effort that we have underway right now,” Mattis said. It was not the first time the White House and State Department have seemed at odds on policy issues, but the White House has said Trump still had confidence in Tillerson. Trump has vowed to halt North Korea’s nuclear ambitions and tensions have escalated in recent months, with Pyongyang conducting its sixth and largest nuclear test on Sept. 3. It has also threatened to test a hydrogen bomb over the Pacific. The fate of Americans held in North Korea is also a bone of contention. The Trump administration has demanded North Korea release three U.S. citizens it has detained: missionary Kim Dong Chul and academics Tony Kim and Kim Hak Song. The Trump White House and State Department have taken divergent stances on other foreign policy issues. When a dispute over Qatar erupted this year, Trump strongly backed Gulf Arab leaders who accuse Qatar of supporting Iran as well as Islamist militants.  Trump accused Qatar of being a “high-level” funder of terrorism even as the Pentagon and Tillerson cautioned against the military, commercial and humanitarian effects of a boycott imposed by Arab states. Months into the dispute, Trump adopted a position more in line with that of the State Department.

Summary: मैटिस ने उत्तर कोरिया पर ट्रंप और टिलरसन के बीच मतभेद को तवज्जो नहीं दी


WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. Republican vice presidential candidate Mike Pence on Wednesday said he endorsed U.S. House Speaker Paul Ryan, who is seeking re-election in a primary contest next week. Pence made the comments in an interview on Fox News, one day after Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump declined to endorse Ryan in the Wisconsin race.

Summary: अमेरिकी रिपब्लिकन उपराष्ट्रपति पद के उम्मीदवार पेंस ने सदन के अध्यक्ष रेयान का समर्थन किया


NEW YORK (Reuters) - New York Governor Andrew Cuomo on Sunday launched an initiative to combat hate crimes and protect civil rights, saying the divisive U.S. presidential campaign had prompted a wave of disturbing incidents across the state and the country. In a speech at the Abyssinian Baptist Church in New York City, Cuomo said he would form a hate crimes unit of the state police, propose legislation increasing protections against discrimination for public school students and establish a private-public legal defense fund for impoverished immigrants. “The ugly political discourse of the election did not end on Election Day,” Cuomo, a Democrat, told the well-known African-American congregation. “In many ways it has gotten worse, (growing) into a social crisis that now challenges our identity as a state and as a nation and our people.” Civil rights groups including the ACLU have expressed concern over reports of a spate of incidents that appear motivated by racism, bigotry and sexism since Republican Donald Trump won the presidential election on Nov. 8.  Those reports include a swastika painted on a baseball dugout in the western New York village of Wellsville with the words “Make America White Again,” a racist version of Trump’s slogan, “Make America Great Again.” Several New York officials were scheduled to appear on Sunday at a rally organized by The Beastie Boys at Brooklyn’s Adam Yauch Park, which was named for the late member of the hip-hop group. The musicians called for the event after swastikas were found drawn at the park. On Friday, U.S. Attorney General Loretta Lynch said the Justice Department is investigating whether any of the incidents constituted hate crimes, which would trigger harsher penalties for the perpetrators. Cuomo, whose name has been floated as a possible Democratic presidential candidate in 2020, joined other officials in his party who have denounced the attacks since Election Day. Mayors in a number of large cities, including New York, Chicago and San Francisco, have insisted in recent weeks that their communities would remain so-called “sanctuary cities,” despite Trump’s campaign pledge to cut off federal funding for such municipalities. In sanctuary cities, local law enforcement generally do not help federal authorities search for undocumented immigrants.

Summary: न्यूयॉर्क के कुओमो ने अधिकार पहल का अनावरण किया, कहा कि चुनाव ने 'सामाजिक संकट' को जन्म दिया


BRASILIA (Reuters) - Brazil s government will issue a new decree changing the country s definition of slavery following an earlier order that was widely criticized as a reversal in the fight against forced labor, a presidential aide said on Friday. In Brazil, forced labor has been defined as a form of modern-day slavery. This includes debt bondage, degrading work conditions, and long work hours that pose a risk to a worker s health or life, and violate their dignity. Human rights campaigners said a decree issued by the labor ministry on Monday changed the way slavery was defined, limiting it to a victim s freedom of movement but disregarding other abuses. The new decree, sought by Brazil s powerful farm lobby, would derail enforcement efforts that have freed 50,000 workers from slavery-like conditions since 1995, according to federal prosecutors and labor inspectors.  Responding to the criticism, President Michel Temer said on Friday the decree would be modified but not revoked.  In an interview with the Poder360 news website, Temer said the measure would be  perfected  with suggestions by prosecutors, among them the creation of a police department for slave labor crimes. A presidential aide later said the suggestions would be used to reissue a new decree.  The president instructed the labor minister to study them and see which can be incorporated in a new decree,  the spokesman said. Rights groups estimate hundreds of thousands of people work in slave-like conditions on farms, sugar cane plantations and cattle ranches across Brazil s remote and jungle areas, as well as in urban factories and construction sites. The government decree as issued would close 506 of 706 working conditions cases under investigation, which would no longer be considered slave labor, a spokesman for Brazil s federal prosecutors office said. Temer bowed to pressure from the farm lobby to modify the decree at a time when he is relying on the group s votes in Congress to block corruption charges next week. The farm lobby praised the decree for clarifying the definition of slave labor and eliminating  excesses  by inspectors. Temer told Poder360 the decree needed changing because it contained irrelevant details for defining slavery, such as the need for a soap bar holder or a ladder to a top bunk in workers  sleeping quarters.

Summary: ब्राजील सरकार विवादास्पद गुलामी आदेश पर फिर से काम करेगी


OTTAWA (Reuters) - Canada laid down a tough line ahead of talks on modernizing NAFTA on Monday, suggesting it could walk away if the United States pushed to remove a key dispute-settlement mechanism in the trade deal. Foreign Minister Chrystia Freeland, giving the most substantive outline yet of Canada’s goals, said she was “very optimistic” the negotiations would be a success.  North American Free Trade Agreement members Canada, Mexico and the United States hold their first session in Washington on Wednesday. Canada, heavily reliant on exports to the United States, opposes Washington’s push to scrap the so-called Chapter 19 dispute settlement mechanism, under which binational panels make binding decisions on complaints about illegal subsidies and dumping. The United States has frequently lost such cases. “Canada will uphold and preserve the elements in NAFTA that Canadians deem key to our national interest – including a process to ensure anti-dumping and countervailing duties are only applied fairly when truly warranted,” Freeland said in a speech at the University of Ottawa. Noting that Canada had withdrawn its chief negotiator from 1987 talks on a bilateral trade treaty with the United States over the same issue, Freeland said “our government will be equally resolute.” Freeland later sidestepped reporters’ questions about whether maintaining Chapter 19 was a make-or-break issue for Canada, saying she would let her U.S. counterparts know how important the matter was to Ottawa. Trade among the three nations has quadrupled since NAFTA came into effect in 1994, surpassing $1 trillion in 2015. But U.S. President Donald Trump regularly calls the treaty a disaster and has threatened to walk away from it unless major changes are made, citing U.S. job losses and a trade deficit with Mexico. Toronto trade lawyer Mark Warner said there few surprises in Freeland’s announcement, given Ottawa had already signaled its stance on major issues. “It’s the beginning of a negotiation. Everybody expects posturing,” he said by phone, noting Washington had reacted calmly to previous Canadian statements about the importance of dispute settlement. Freeland, who predicted there would be moments of drama during the talks, said Canada wanted a progressive trade deal featuring stricter environmental and labor standards as well as a focus on climate change, a concept Trump has little time for. Canada, like Mexico, sends the majority of its exports to the United States and would be hurt by U.S. protectionist moves. The United States runs a slight surplus in trade of goods and services with Canada, which has mounted a major outreach campaign to persuade U.S. business leaders and politicians that NAFTA is a success. “American partners have been listening,” Freeland said. “They understand ... our relationship, the greatest economic partnership in the world, is balanced and mutually beneficial.” Freeland stressed that Canada would protect tariffs and quotas that keep domestic dairy prices high and imports low. U.S. dairy farmers strongly dislike the system. A modernized NAFTA should take into account technological advances and make it easier for professionals to move from one member nation to another, she added.

Summary: कनाडा का सुझाव है कि वह विवाद तंत्र पर नाफ्टा वार्ता छोड़ सकता है


BATON ROUGE, La. (Reuters) - Republican John Neely Kennedy, a candidate for the U.S. Senate,  won a runoff election in Louisiana on Saturday against Democrat Foster Campbell in a race that gives the Republicans a 52-seat majority in the chamber. Campbell told his supporters in the state capital of Baton Rouge that he had called Kennedy to congratulate him on his victory. Kennedy, the state treasurer and the favorite going into the runoff, had slightly less than 61 percent of the vote with all 3,904 precincts reporting, according to the state Secretary of State’s office. Turnout was relatively low. Kennedy, who said he will not move to Washington D.C. after a campaign spent railing against “insiders,” told supporters “I’d rather drink weed-killer than be anywhere else tonight,” a reference to a widely reported campaign quote in which he said he “would rather drink weed-killer than support Obamacare.” Kennedy will fill the seat held by outgoing Republican Senator David Vitter, who is retiring. In conceding, Campbell vowed “I’ll never stop fighting for working families, I’ll never stop working for what’s right.” Louisiana Governor John Bel Edwards, a Democrat, congratulated Kennedy on his victory.  “I look forward to working with him to secure additional funding for flood relief, to make long term investments in our infrastructure and to bring Louisiana’s federal tax dollars home to help our people,” Edwards said in a statement.  With Kennedy’s victory, the Republicans will have a 52-seat majority in the 100-seat U.S. Senate. Going into the general election on Nov. 8, Republicans had a 54-seat majority. Kennedy had campaigned on the popularity in his state of President-elect Donald Trump, who easily won Louisiana. Trump flew to Baton Rouge for an election-eve rally on Kennedy’s behalf, and Vice President-elect Mike Pence earlier  stumped for Kennedy as well. Kennedy, 65, was a Democrat until he switched party affiliation in the conservative-leaning state in 2007.  He had consistently polled well ahead of Campbell since placing first in the state’s 24-candidate free-for-all primary, which included former Ku Klux Klan leader David Duke. Celebrities including Patton Oswalt and John Leguizamo both actively supported Campbell’s losing bid. Under Louisiana law, all candidates are pitted against each other in the November general election. If no candidate claims a majority, the top two candidates move to a runoff. Also on Saturday, Republicans Mike Johnson, a state representative, and Clay Higgins prevailed in Congressional runoffs, replacing representatives who made unsuccessful bids for the Senate seat won by Kennedy.

Summary: रिपब्लिकन ने लुइसियाना में सीनेट रनऑफ़ जीता, पार्टी को 52 सीटें दीं


WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Iran, U.S. allies in Europe and Russia on Friday defended the 2015 nuclear agreement with Tehran and said they would stick by it, after U.S. President Donald Trump threatened to terminate the agreement. Trump said in a Washington speech that he would not certify that Iran is complying with its agreement with six world powers and the European Union, despite a determination by the U.N.’s nuclear watchdog that Tehran is meeting the deal’s terms. The Republican president threw the issue to the U.S. Congress, which has 60 days to decide whether to reinstate U.S. sanctions. He warned that if “we are not able to reach a solution working with Congress and our allies, then the agreement will be terminated.” Trump’s actions appeared to leave the United States relatively isolated on the world stage. His hawkish new stance toward Iran, including steps against the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, received strong backing only from Israel and Gulf states such as Saudi Arabia. Iranian President Hassan Rouhani said Iran will remain committed to the multinational deal as long as it serves the country’s national interests. Trump’s decision to decertify the deal will isolate the United States, as other signatories of the accord remained committed to it, Rouhani said in a live television address. The deal was not renegotiable, he said. The agreement, negotiated by Trump’s Democratic predecessor Barack Obama, eased sanctions on Tehran in returns for strict limits on its nuclear program. Trump’s stance put him at odds with key U.S. allies, including Britain, France and Germany who, along with Russia and China, negotiated the deal with Iran alongside the European Union. In Brussels, EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini said Washington could not unilaterally cancel the agreement. “We cannot afford as the international community to dismantle a nuclear agreement that is working,” said Mogherini, who chaired the final stages of the landmark talks. “This deal is not a bilateral agreement. “The international community, and the European Union with it, has clearly indicated that the deal is, and will continue to be, in place,” Mogherini told reporters in Brussels. The leaders of Britain, France and Germany issued a joint statement warning the United States against taking decisions that could harm the nuclear deal such as re-imposing sanctions. The three leaders also said they shared U.S. concerns over Iran’s ballistic missile program and regional destabilizing activities and were ready to work with Washington to address those concerns. French President Emmanuel Macron’s office said he had spoken with Rouhani by telephone and assured him of France’s commitment to the deal, but that Tehran must strictly comply with it. Russia’s foreign ministry said there was no place in international diplomacy for threatening and aggressive rhetoric, and said such methods were doomed to fail, in a statement issued after Trump’s speech. The ministry said Trump’s decision to de-certify the deal would not have a direct impact on implementation of the agreement but that it ran counter to its spirit. There was no immediate reaction from China, though Alexei Pushkov, a pro-Kremlin lawmaker in the upper house of the Russian parliament, said neither Moscow nor Beijing backed Trump’s stance. “Russia of course does not support the U.S. position, nor does China. So Trump will be left in proud isolation in an attempt to improve his image among his own supporters,” Pushkov told Russia’s state-run Rossiya-24 TV station.  The head of the U.N.’s International Atomic Energy Agency said Iran was complying with the accord, formally known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, under the world’s “most robust nuclear verification regime.” “The nuclear-related commitments undertaken by Iran under  the JCPOA are being implemented,” Yukiya Amano, director general of the IAEA said in a statement. “What has been agreed ... must be fully implemented. It is a very important deal, I’m sorry to see what is now happening,” former United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon told reporters at the United Nations on Friday. Ban, who stepped down at the end of 2016, was U.N. chief when the deal was agreed. Trump received support from Israel, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain, all of which oppose what they say are Iran’s expansionary moves in the Middle East. “President Trump has just created an opportunity to fix this bad deal, to roll back Iran’s aggression and to confront its criminal support of terrorism,” Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a video statement. In their comments, the Gulf states focused on Trump’s overall Iran policy rather than the nuclear deal itself. Saudi Arabia welcomed what it called Trump’s “decisive strategy” toward Iran and said lifting sanctions had allowed Tehran to develop its ballistic missile program, step up its support for militant groups including Hezbollah and the Houthis in Yemen, and attack global shipping lanes.     The Riyadh government said in a statement it had supported the nuclear agreement, “but Iran took advantage of the economic gain from raising sanctions and used it to continue destabilizing the region”. The United Arab Emirates said it fully supported the new U.S. policy toward Iran and renewed its commitment to work with Washington to counter Iran’s support of extremism, the state news agency WAM reported. “The UAE announces its full support to the new U.S. strategy to deal with the Iranian policies undermining security and  stability,” WAM said on its Twitter account.

Summary: ईरान, यूरोपीय संघ और रूस ने ट्रम्प की धमकी के बाद परमाणु समझौते का बचाव किया


DES MOINES (Reuters) - Texas Senator Ted Cruz was victorious in the first Republican nomination contest of the 2016 White House race, but there was another big winner in Iowa on Monday night: Florida Senator Marco Rubio and the Republican establishment.  For months, Cruz and Donald Trump’s brand of angry, scorched-earth, insurgent politics defined the race for the Republican presidential nomination, while more moderate candidates tussled with themselves to try to mount a challenge to them.  The hope among Republican party leaders has long been for a champion to emerge. And on Monday, that person was Rubio, who finished a hair behind Trump and only a few points behind Cruz. When Rubio took the stage in a hotel ballroom after the final results were announced, he gave what amounted to a victory speech. “This is the moment they said would never happen,” the first-term senator said. “For months, they told us we had no chance.” The fight for the nomination has unmistakably entered a new phase.  “We have a three-way race,” said Craig Robinson, the former political director of the Iowa Republican Party. Rubio’s night shocked Iowa political observers like Robinson, who had predicted Rubio would wind up far behind Trump and Cruz, with perhaps around 15-18 percent of the vote. He finished with 23 percent. Rubio’s performance will strengthen his argument that supporters of other moderate, establishment candidates such as former Florida Governor Jeb Bush, New Jersey Governor Chris Christie, and Ohio governor John Kasich should throw their support, and their money, behind him. Rubio could use the extra cash. His campaign committee raised just over $14 million from donors in the fourth quarter of 2015, putting him well behind Cruz, who brought in more than $20 million. To date, his campaign has raised nearly $40 million, while Cruz has raised $47 million.  Rubio’s Super PAC, which can raise unlimited funds as long as it does not coordinate directly with him, also trails the PACs supporting Cruz. It pulled in $30.5 million last year, while Cruz’s PACs raked in $42 million. Trump, a billionaire, largely self-funds his campaign.  Rubio’s third place finish in Iowa means he “is the consensus establishment candidate,” said Douglas Gross, a Republican strategist in Des Moines.  Rubio flew to New Hampshire on Monday evening and will likely begin making that argument to voters there ahead of the state’s primary, or early nominating contest, on Feb. 10.  On the campaign trail in Iowa, Rubio railed at many of the same targets as Cruz and Trump: Islamic State, immigration and President Barack Obama’s healthcare overhaul, popularly known as Obamacare. But he embedded his criticism within a more optimistic, inclusive message. The American-born son of Cuban immigrants, Rubio would be the first Hispanic president.  “It’s not enough to just be angry,” Rubio told voters during last-minute campaigning in the weekend before the caucus vote. “Anger is not a plan. Anger is not solution.” Iowans who supported Rubio at the caucuses told Reuters they responded to his positive message and viewed him as the best candidate to beat Hillary Clinton in the November election, should she be the Democratic nominee.  “I’ve been looking for someone who really will be an agent for change and I think Marco Rubio will be that guy,” said Kevin Huerkamp, 56, of Clive, Iowa. According to election returns, Rubio swamped both Cruz and Trump in Iowa’s urban areas - Des Moines, Iowa City, Davenport -suggesting that he could prosper when the Republican race progresses to denser, more populated states such as Florida and Ohio.  (This story has been refiled to replace Rubio’s name in last paragraph with Trump’s)

Summary: मार्को रुबियो पस्त रिपब्लिकन प्रतिष्ठान के चैंपियन के रूप में उभरे


PHILADELPHIA (Reuters) - When Hillary Clinton first ran for president in 2008 she was badly stung by a backhanded compliment from rival Barack Obama, who called her “likable enough” before going on to win the Democratic nomination and the White House. Eight years later, with her party’s nomination to succeed Obama firmly in hand, the question of her likability, trustworthiness and honesty still hangs over her bid to become America’s first woman president, this time in a Nov. 8 election against Republican Donald Trump. The Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia this week is, in part, an effort to reintroduce her to American voters, more than half of whom view her unfavorably, according to Reuters/Ipsos polling. The criticisms have dogged her for years: She can appear stiff in front of crowds, struggling to show off the compassion her supporters say she shares in private and leaving some voters with the impression she is not giving straight answers to tough questions. Clinton recognizes the problem, aides say. “She knows that she has work to do to earn people’s trust,” said Jennifer Palmieri, Clinton’s communications director. “She also realizes there aren’t some magic words you can say to earn that trust overnight.” Speaker after speaker at the convention took the stage on Monday and Tuesday to offer testimonials on her behalf, including her husband, former President Bill Clinton, who filled his prime-time speech on Tuesday with anecdotes and private moments shared by America’s best-known political couple. Gay basketball player Jason Collins told of the support she offered when he went public with his homosexuality; a grandmother described how her daughter’s battle with drug addiction inspired Clinton to address the drug crisis. A parade of others offered behind-the-scenes glimpses of the former first lady, U.S. senator and secretary of state, describing how she drove through a blizzard to attend a funeral, planned birthday parties and visited survivors of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks.  Clinton’s personal image, which has fluctuated during her 25 years in the public eye, slumped after a divisive Democratic primary, a lingering controversy over her use of a private email system while serving as the top U.S. diplomat, and repeated Republican attacks on “crooked Hillary.” Reuters/Ipsos polling showed 55 percent of Americans had an unfavorable view of Clinton. Trump is even less popular, with 61 percent holding an unfavorable view. Many Americans think both candidates struggle with the truth. Some 59 percent of Americans believe she is not “honest and truthful,” while 53 percent think the same of Trump, according to the poll. Republican strategist John Feehery said it was too late to rehabilitate Clinton’s image. “You only get one decade to make a first impression,” he said.  Instead, a  better strategy would be to focus on tearing down Trump, given that his negatives surpass her own, Feehery added. Clinton’s campaign appears to be trying just that, running an ad in which Trump can be seen in newsclips, as children watch, swearing, condemning Mexican immigrants as rapists and drug dealers, and mocking a disabled journalist. Clinton, 68, has been a lightning rod for conservative attacks for more than two decades and Republicans serenaded speakers at their convention in Cleveland last week with chants of “Lock Her Up” and signs touting “Hillary for Prison.”  For many Democrats who back Clinton, the poor polling numbers are the result of those relentless attacks - along with a strong dose of sexism toward a woman seeking power. “If you have somebody who is out there pounding you and pounding you and pounding you, eventually it’s going to take a toll,” Richard Trumka, head of the AFL-CIO labor federation, said. “I’ve said this and I’ve said it publicly: Hillary Clinton has to do A+ work to get a C-.” For Democrats, this week affords perhaps their best chance before the election to fortify her against inevitable attacks by Trump that could further dent her image. Praise came from invitees ranging from party superstars (First Lady Michelle Obama) to unknowns (former White House interns).    In one video broadcast to delegates, Clinton embraces and comforts an 11-year-old girl who fears her parents will be deported. In another, shown before the appearance of the Mothers of the Movement - mothers who lost children to gun violence or in police-involved incidents - she encourages them in a private meeting to band together and speak out. “A 30-minute meeting turned into two hours because she listened to us. Nobody else listened to us,” said Sybrina Fulton, mother of Trayvon Martin, a 17-year-old whose fatal shooting death by a neighborhood watch volunteer in 2012 launched a series of protests around the country. Actress Eva Longoria said it was time for Democrats to rally to Clinton’s defense. “She’s had a 25-year smear campaign run against her. It’s understandable Americans are confused about what is true and what is not,” she told a women’s delegate caucus on Tuesday.

Summary: हिलेरी को फिर से पसंद करने योग्य बनाएँः डेमोक्रेट हिलेरी को फिर से चुनना चाहते हैं


JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Israel s Supreme Court on Tuesday canceled legislation exempting Jewish religious seminary students from military service, angering ultra-Orthodox lawmakers who could destabilize Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu s coalition. A panel of nine justices ruled that parts of the conscription law that exempt seminary students from service were  unreasonable and unconstitutional . It gave the government a year to resolve the matter. For decades, the exemption from military service on religious grounds for seminary students has caused friction in Israeli society, where most Jewish men and women are called up for military service when they turn 18. The ultra-Orthodox say that their study of the Torah is vital for the continued survival of the Jewish people and also fear that young men serving in the army would come into contact with women and with less pious elements in society.  Several hundred ultra-Orthodox men have, however, enlisted in special units that cater to their religious needs.  Legislation was enacted in 2014 to replace arrangements that had previously expired. It was prompted by then-coalition member Yair Lapid s secular, centrist Yesh Atid party which ran on a platform of  sharing the national burden . That legislation angered ultra-Orthodox parties who rejoined  Netanyahu s subsequent government in 2015 when Lapid s party went into opposition and they managed to effect a watering down of the law. Eight of the nine justices ruled the law should be scrapped and Supreme Court President Miriam Naor, wrote that the most recent arrangement that was made to appease the ultra-Orthodox parties  deeply harms equality in a way that damages the constitutional right to human dignity.  Since Israel s founding in 1948, ultra-Orthodox politicians have campaigned vigorously against the conscription of members of their community, who make up about 10 percent of Israel s population of 9 million.  Netanyahu s government, which controls 67 of the Knesset s 120 seats, includes both ultra-Orthodox parties, but two other influential factions oppose a further relaxation of the legislation against conscription. Interior Minister Aryeh Deri, the leader of the ultra-Orthodox Shas party, said in response to the ruling that the justices were  completely detached from our heritage and tradition and from the people.  He encouraged seminary students to continue their Bible studies and said:  Do not despair, continue to study the Torah, we will stand firm and will do everything to fix this situation.  Lapid, whom opinion polls have shown to be a possible challenger to Netanyahu in future elections, convened a news conference to praise the court s decision, saying it had  delivered a verdict that would force equality among communities.  This is why we have come to politics. Conscription for everybody, work for everybody. Benjamin Netanyahu can no longer continue to wriggle out all the time. Military conscription is for everybody, not only for the suckers who don t have a party in his coalition,  Lapid added.

Summary: इज़राइल की सर्वोच्च अदालत ने जबरन भर्ती छूट कानून को रद्द कर दिया


SANTIAGO (Reuters) - Conservative Sebastian Pinera took an early lead in Chile s presidential election on Sunday evening, garnering 36.13 percent of votes, with 6.44 percent of ballots counted, Chile s electoral agency Servel said. Center-left Alejandro Guillier had 22.62 percent and leftist Beatriz Sanchez had 20.78 percent. Chileans were voting for a successor to President Michelle Bachelet. Sebastian Pinera, a former president, has long been the favorite to come in first but is not forecast to win the 50 percent of votes needed to avoid a December runoff.

Summary: चिली के चुनाव में पिनेरा 36 प्रतिशत मतों के साथ आगे चल रहे हैं।


WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The White House will not speculate on who might be behind the hacking of the Democratic National Committee, a spokesman said on Monday amid concerns hackers working for Russia may be attempting to influence the U.S. presidential election. “We know that there are a variety of actors, both state and criminal, who are looking for vulnerabilities in the cyber security of the United States and that includes Russia,” said White House spokesman Josh Earnest. The administration would let law enforcement take the lead on releasing findings about the cyber intrusion, he said.

Summary: डेमोक्रेटिक ईमेल हैकिंग की जांच पर व्हाइट हाउस कोई टिप्पणी नहीं करेगा


WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The deputy director of the U.S. National Security Agency, the intelligence agency in charge of electronic surveillance and code-breaking, is retiring, an NSA spokesman said on Friday. Richard Ledgett, who just turned 59, will retire in the spring, spokesman Michael Halbig said in an emailed statement. “It has been anticipated that he would retire in 2017 and he decided the time is right this spring after nearly 40 years of service to the nation.” Ledgett played a central role in the agency’s response to massive leaks of U.S. surveillance programs by former NSA contractor Edward Snowden. Ledgett is among the many top U.S. intelligence officials who have announced they are leaving since Donald Trump’s victory in the Nov. 8 election. In the UK, the head of NSA’s British counterpart agency  GCHQ, Robert Hannigan, announced two weeks ago that he was stepping down for family reasons. The NSA has faced continued challenges since Snowden’s 2013 revelations, believed to be the largest leak in the secretive agency’s 65-year history. Another NSA contractor, Harold Thomas Martin, is facing espionage charges for allegedly stealing vast amounts of classified information. In November, the head of the Pentagon and the U.S. intelligence community recommended to then-President Barack Obama that NSA’s director, Navy Admiral Michael Rogers, be removed from his post, sources familiar with the matter said. Obama took no action in the matter, which the Washington Post first reported.

Summary: अमेरिकी राष्ट्रीय सुरक्षा एजेंसी के उप निदेशक सेवानिवृत्त हो रहे हैं


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 :     - With the ridiculous Filibuster Rule in the Senate, Republicans need 60 votes to pass legislation, rather than 51. Can’t get votes, END NOW![0637 EDT] - Another attack in London by a loser terrorist. These are sick and demented people who were in the sights of Scotland Yard. Must be proactive! [0642 EDT] - Loser terrorists must be dealt with in a much tougher manner. The internet is their main recruitment tool which we must cut off & use better! [0648 EDT] - The travel ban into the United States should be far larger, tougher and more specific-but stupidly, that would not be politically correct! [0654 EDT] - We have made more progress in the last nine months against ISIS than the Obama Administration has made in 8 years. Must be proactive & nasty! [0700 EDT] - ESPN is paying a really big price for its politics (and bad programming). People are dumping it in RECORD numbers. Apologize for untruth! [0720 EDT] - CHAIN MIGRATION cannot be allowed to be part of any legislation on Immigration![0900 EDT] - WEEKLY ADDRESS bit.ly/2wgKaKi [1209 EDT]  - Frank “FX” Giaccio- On behalf of @FLOTUS Melania & myself, THANK YOU for doing a GREAT job this morning! @NatlParkService gives you an A+! bit.ly/2wheSmx [1249 EDT] - NEVER forget our HEROES held prisoner or who have gone missing in action while serving their country. Proclamation: 45.wh.gov/POWMIARecognitionDay [1502 EDT] - Our hearts & prayers go out to the people of London, who suffered a vicious terrorist attack.... [1654 EDT] - We will defend our people, our nations and our civilization from all who dare to threaten our way of life...cont: here  [1858 EDT] - HAPPY 70th BIRTHDAY to the @USAirForce! The American people are eternally grateful. Thank you for keeping America PROUD, STRONG and FREE! [1954 EDT] -- Source link: (bit.ly/2jBh4LU) (bit.ly/2jpEXYR)

Summary: ट्विटर पर ट्रम्प (15 सितंबर): लंदन हमला, चेन माइग्रेशन, ईएसपीएन, अमेरिकी वायु सेना


PHILADELPHIA/MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - The White House on Thursday floated the idea of imposing a 20 percent tax on goods from Mexico to pay for a wall at the southern U.S. border, sending the peso tumbling and deepening a crisis between the two neighbors. Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto announced on Twitter around midday on Thursday that he was scrapping a planned trip to meet with U.S. President Donald Trump, who has repeatedly demanded that Mexico pay for a wall on the U.S. border. Later in the day, White House spokesman Sean Spicer sent the Mexican peso falling to its low for the day when he told reporters that Trump wanted a 20 percent tax on Mexican imports to pay for construction of the wall. Spicer gave few details, but his comments resembled an existing idea, known as a border adjustment tax, that the Republican-led U.S. House of Representatives is considering as part of a broad tax overhaul.  The White House said later its proposal was in the early stages. Asked if Trump favored a border adjustment tax, White House Chief of Staff Reince Priebus said such a tax would be “one way” of paying for the border wall. “It’s a buffet of options,” he said. The plan being weighed by House Republicans would exempt export revenues from taxation but impose a 20 percent tax on imported goods, a significant change from current U.S. policy. “If you tax exports from Mexico into the United States, you’re going to make things ranging from avocados to appliances to flat-screen tvs, you’re going to make them more expensive,” Mexican Foreign Minister Luis Videgaray told reporters at the Mexican Embassy in Washington on Thursday night. Countries like Mexico would not pay such taxes directly. Companies would face the tax if they import products made there into the United States, potentially raising prices for American consumers. The idea is unpopular with retailers and businesses that sell imported goods in the United States. It also has met opposition from some lawmakers worried about the impact on U.S. consumers. Trump himself appeared to pan the idea in a Wall Street Journal interview last week, saying the House border adjustment provision was “too complicated.” Even after Trump’s comments, congressional Republicans have continued to discuss the issue with White House officials in an effort to bring them on board with the idea. Trump, who visited Republican lawmakers at their policy retreat in Philadelphia, told them he would use tax reform legislation to pay for the border wall. “We’re working on a tax reform bill that will reduce our trade deficits, increase American exports and will generate revenue from Mexico that will pay for the wall if we decide to go that route,” he said. Trump, who took office last week, views the wall, a major promise during his election campaign, as part of a package of measures to curb illegal immigration. Mexico has long insisted it will not heed Trump’s demands to pay for the construction project. He signed an executive order for construction of the wall on Wednesday. The move provoked outrage in Mexico. A planned meeting between Videgaray and U.S. Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly was canceled, a department spokeswoman said.  Videgaray said Mexico would work with Trump but that paying for the wall was out of the question. “There are things that go beyond negotiation,” he said. “This is about our dignity and our pride.” Pena Nieto, who had been under pressure to cancel the summit, tweeted on Thursday: “We have informed the White House that I will not attend the working meeting planned for next Tuesday with @POTUS.” Trump had tweeted earlier that it would be better for the Mexican leader not to come if Mexico would not pay for the wall. He said later the meeting was canceled by mutual agreement. Relations have been frayed since Trump launched his presidential campaign in 2015, characterizing Mexican immigrants as murderers and rapists. His trade rhetoric has hit the Mexican economy, causing consumers to rein in spending and foreign businesses to wait on new investments, according to the International Monetary Fund. Trump has vowed to renegotiate the North American Free Trade Agreement with Mexico and Canada and slap high tariffs on American companies that have moved jobs south of the border. Mexico ships 80 percent of its exports to the United States, and about half of Mexico’s foreign direct investment has come from its northern neighbor over the past two decades. The United States runs a $58.8 billion trade deficit with Mexico, according to the latest U.S. government figures. But Mexico is also the United States’ second-largest export market.

Summary: U.S.-Mexico संकट गहरा हुआ क्योंकि ट्रम्प के सहयोगी ने सीमा कर का विचार रखा


WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Donald Trump said on Friday that evangelical Christians would love his choice to fill an open seat on the Supreme Court, adding that he is pretty certain who it will be but “not 100 percent.” “I think the person I pick will be big, big,” Trump said, according to a partial transcript of a Christian Broadcasting Network interview set to air in full on Sunday. “I think evangelicals, Christians will love my pick.” Trump has said he would make his decision this week and announce it next Thursday.

Summary: ट्रम्प का कहना है कि इंजीलवादी उनकी सुप्रीम कोर्ट की पसंद को पसंद करेंगेः टीवी साक्षात्कार


ISLAMABAD (Reuters) - Two young boys kneel over small white tables, intently studying the Koran at a madrassa in Pakistan. The Al-Nadwa Madrassa in the hill station of Murree, 30 kilometers (19 miles) from the capital, Islamabad, is part of an established alternative system of education in the South Asian nation. Private schools, charitable institutions and religious seminaries are stepping in to supplement government-run schools to help meet the education needs of an estimated 50 million school-age children. Despite 220,000 schools nationwide, more than 20 million children are not in school, the government said in a 2016 report. The government has pumped money into schooling, with the education budget swelling by 15 percent every year since 2010, according to education consultancy Alif Ailaan. The United Nations estimates Pakistan s current education budget at 2.65 percent of GDP, roughly $8 billion, or around $150 per student.    Private educators say the country s education problems are not only due to a lack of funds but also inadequate teaching.  It s not the number of schools, it s the quality, the attitude,  said Zeba Hussain, founder of the Mashal Schools which teaches children displaced by war in the country s north. Hussain started the charitable Mashal Schools after she met a group of refugee children while visiting the hill areas surrounding Islamabad.  Federal education director Tariq Masood said blaming teachers was unfair. He said population growth and funding were the biggest challenges faced by government schools.  Masood said government schools adhered to a nationwide curriculum that was being constantly reworked and improved.   No one who is underqualified can enter the government system. There are fewer checks in the private system,  he said.  The country s poor often send their children to one of the thousands of religious madrassas (the Arabic word for school) where students live and receive Islamic instruction.     Most operate without government oversight and some madrassas have been criticized for their hardline teachings of Islam. The madrassas say they provide shelter, three full meals, and a good education to young people whose families are unable to make ends meet.   In certain cases people send their kids because they can t even afford to feed them,  said Irfan Sher from the Al-Nadwa Madrassa.  He said Pakistan s future hinged on education for its youth.   The overall policy should be changed...they should understand that if they want to change the country the only way is to spread quality education,  he said.

Summary: शिक्षा की कमी को कैसे भरा जाए, इस पर पाकिस्तान में बहस


LONDON (Reuters) - A giant mural of Donald Trump locked in a kiss with former London mayor Boris Johnson in the style of a legendary Soviet-era image has been unveiled by a group campaigning for Britain to stay in the European Union. Painted on the side of a building in Bristol, southwest England - home of the celebrated graffiti artist Banksy - the image reprises a 1979 photograph of Soviet leader Leonid Brezhnev and East German President Erich Honecker kissing, which was later turned into a mural on the Berlin Wall.  It was commissioned by pro-EU campaign group “We are Europe” as what they call a warning of things to come if Britons vote to leave the 28-member bloc on June 23, as advocated by both Johnson and Trump, the presumptive Republican candidate in November’s U.S. presidential election. Johnson is the “Out” campaign’s best-known leader and Trump has said Britain would be “better off without” the EU, which he has blamed for Europe’s migration crisis. The 15-foot (4.5 meter) mural is accompanied by the slogan “Not #IN for this?” and a plea for people, especially the young, to register to vote by a June 7 deadline. “People need to look at this image and think - is this the future I want,” said Harriet Kingaby, a spokesperson from We Are Europe. Galvanizing the youth vote is a key issue for the “In” camp. Surveys show young people are far more likely to be in favor of remaining in the EU but also much less likely to bother to vote. A survey of 2,000 students this month found that 63 percent did not know the exact date of the referendum, while 54 percent were not aware it was being held in June.

Summary: यूरोपीय संघ समर्थक समूह ने पूर्व मेयर जॉनसन को चूमने वाले ट्रम्प के सोवियत शैली के भित्ति चित्र का अनावरण किया


WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Donald Trump is expected to announce soon that he will decertify the landmark international deal to curb Iran s nuclear program, a senior administration official said on Thursday, in a step that potentially could cause the 2015 accord to unravel. The official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said Trump is also expected to roll out a broader U.S. strategy on Iran that would be more confrontational. The Trump administration has frequently criticized Iran s conduct in the Middle East. Trump, who has called the pact an  embarrassment  and  the worst deal ever negotiated,  has been weighing whether it serves U.S. security interests as he faces an Oct. 15 deadline for certifying that Iran is complying with its terms.  We must not allow Iran ... to obtain nuclear weapons,  Trump said during a meeting with military leaders at the White House on Thursday, adding:  The Iranian regime supports terrorism and exports violence, bloodshed and chaos across the Middle East. That is why we must put an end to Iran s continued aggression and nuclear ambitions. They have not lived up to the spirit of their agreement.  Asked about his decision on whether to certify the landmark deal, Trump said:  You ll be hearing about Iran very shortly.  Supporters say its collapse could trigger a regional arms race and worsen Middle East tensions, while opponents say it went too far in easing sanctions without requiring that Iran end its nuclear program permanently. Iranian authorities have repeatedly said Tehran would not be the first to violate the accord, under which Iran agreed to restrict its nuclear program in return for lifting most international sanctions that had crippled its economy. If Trump declines to certify Iran s compliance, U.S. congressional leaders would have 60 days to decide whether to reimpose sanctions on Tehran suspended under the agreement. Whether Congress would be willing to reimpose sanctions is far from clear. While Republicans, and some Democrats, opposed the deal when it was approved in 2015, there is little obvious appetite in Congress for dealing with the Iran issue now. The prospect that Washington could renege on the pact, which was signed by the United States, Britain, France, Germany, Russia, China, the European Union and Iran, has worried some of the U.S. allies that helped negotiate it.  We, the Europeans, we have hammered this: the agreement is working,  said a European diplomat who asked to remain anonymous.  We as Europeans, have repeated ... it s impossible to reopen the agreement. Period. It s impossible.  French President Emmanuel Macron said last month there was no alternative to the nuclear accord, formally known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA). A senior Iranian diplomat told Reuters on Thursday the end result of Trump s expected move would be to isolate the United States since the Europeans would continue to support it.  Many foreign investors told us that they will not be scared away from Iran s market if Trump de-certifies the deal,  the diplomat said. Trump has long criticized the pact, a signature foreign policy achievement of his Democratic predecessor Barack Obama.  The administration was considering Oct. 12 for Trump to give a speech on Iran but no final decision had been made, an official said previously. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, a close ally of Trump, last month said that unless provisions in the accord removing restrictions on Iran s nuclear program over time are eliminated, it should be canceled.  Fix it, or nix it,  Netanyahu said in a speech at the U.N. General Assembly annual gathering of world leaders on Sept. 19. Many of Trump s fellow Republicans who control Congress also have been critical of the deal. Trump blasted the deal in his speech to the U.N. General Assembly, also on Sept. 19.  We cannot abide by an agreement if it provides cover for the eventual construction of a nuclear program,  Trump said, adding that Iran s government  masks a corrupt dictatorship behind the false guise of a democracy.  Trump is weighing a strategy that could allow more aggressive U.S. responses to Iran s forces, its Shi ite Muslim proxies in Iraq and Syria and its support for militant groups. Trump s defense secretary, Jim Mattis, told a congressional hearing on Tuesday that Iran was  fundamentally  in compliance with the agreement. He also said the United States should consider staying in the deal unless it were proven that Tehran was not abiding by it or that it was not in the U.S. national interest to do so. When Mattis was asked by a senator whether he thought staying in the deal was in the U.S. national security interest, he replied:  Yes, senator, I do.  Last week, Iran s foreign minister said Tehran may abandon the deal if Washington decides to withdraw.  A State Department official said the Trump administration was  fully committed to addressing the totality of Iranian threats and malign activities and seeks to bring about a change in the Iranian regime s behavior.  The official said that behavior includes ballistic missiles proliferation,  support for terrorism,  support for Syrian President Bashar al-Assad,  unrelenting hostility to Israel,   consistently threatening freedom of navigation in the Persian Gulf,  cyber attacks against the United States and its allies, human rights abuses and  arbitrary detentions of U.S. citizens.   The JCPOA was expected to contribute to regional and international peace and security, and Iran s regime is doing everything in its power to undermine peace and security,  the State Department official added. The move also would represent another step by Trump that would undo key parts of Obama s legacy. If Trump moves to decertify the accord, it would mark another example of walking away from international commitments as he pursues his nationalist  America First  agenda. He previously announced plans to abandon the Paris climate accord and the ambitious 12-nation Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) trade deal, two key Obama achievements.

Summary: ईरान परमाणु समझौते की पुष्टि रद्द कर सकते हैं ट्रंपः अधिकारी


WOODBRIDGE, Va. (Reuters) - Legislative candidate Jennifer Carroll Foy’s first bid for office puts her on the front lines of a Virginia statewide election being watched for early hints on how voters feel about President Donald Trump. Citing Trump’s victory as a tipping point that pushed her to run, the 35-year-old public defender is one of 49 Democrats vying for Republican-held seats in the state’s House of Delegates, up from 29 two years ago. The races will test whether Democrats can convert Virginians’ unfavorable opinion of the Republican president in polls into votes and start clawing back some of the almost 1,000 legislative seats lost nationwide under Democratic President Barack Obama. Foy, long frustrated by her state legislature’s attitude toward women’s rights, is seeking a suburban Washington seat in one of the 17 Republican-controlled districts that voted for Democrat Hillary Clinton last year. “Trump was just confirmation that we’re regressing and not progressing,” Foy told Reuters. “Enough is enough. If it’s not me (to run), then who? If it’s not now, then when?” Republicans hold a 66-34 advantage in the lower house of the Virginia legislature. Stephen Farnsworth, a political analyst at the University of Mary Washington in Fredericksburg, expects Democrats will make significant gains, especially by focusing on suburban districts. But a takeover of the chamber would require a collapse of Trump supporters, he told Reuters. “A Democratic majority in the House of Delegates is going to require a tidal wave,” Farnsworth said. The national mood has made Virginia Democrats hopeful. Opposition to Trump has galvanized hundreds of thousands of Americans and fueled huge turnouts at street protests since the  New York real estate developer’s January inauguration.  A poll by the Washington Post and George Mason University’s Schar School out May 22 showed 59 percent of Virginia voters disapproved of Trump’s performance, compared with 36 percent who approved. “We’ve got two things going for us in this upcoming election, and that’s going to keep energy high,” said David Toscano, Democratic leader in the Virginia House. “Voting for somebody, and also voting against somebody.” Mark Walter, president of the national Republican State Leadership Committee, said his party was watching Virginia but that it was difficult to tell how voter feelings about Trump would affect the races.  In New Jersey, the only other state holding statewide elections this fall, Democrats already control both chambers. The Virginia Republican Party is unfazed by the surge of challengers. Republicans had $6.5 million for House races by the end of March, compared with the Democrats’ $2.8 million, according to the most recent numbers from the state elections department.     “We’re doing what we’ve always done,” Chairman John Whitbeck said in an interview with Reuters. “Raise a lot of money, knock on a lot of doors and win a lot of seats.”     Toscano, the House Democratic leader, said his party’s candidates would use congressional Republicans’ efforts to repeal the Affordable Care Act, Obama’s signature domestic legacy, as a campaign issue, as well as Trump’s brief hiring freeze for most federal workers. The party also will cite Democratic Governor Terry McAuliffe’s legacy of adding thousands of new jobs and billions in capital investment as a selling point, Toscano said.  McAuliffe cannot run again due to term limits, but the edge fellow Democrats have in the race to replace him is expected to give the party’s House hopefuls a boost. Democrats consider the 2nd District, home to sprawling housing subdivisions, strip malls and the Quantico Marine base, one of the party’s best bets to pick up a seat.     Clinton won the district by 21 points in November, helping her win a state that was once reliably Republican in presidential elections. Foy and fellow Democrat Josh King will compete in the June 13 primary. The winner will face Republican Laquan Austion in November for the seat being vacated by the Republican incumbent, who is not seeking re-election. All three candidates say voters are more concerned about local issues, such as traffic jams, education and pollution from power plant coal ash, than Trump. “Obviously, the Trump effect is in the air, but we’re focusing the energy into what we can do locally,” said King, 36, a deputy sheriff who narrowly lost the 2015 election for the seat.

Summary: डेमोक्रेट्स का लक्ष्य वर्जीनिया में ट्रम्प विरोधी भावना को वोटों में बदलना है


CAIRO (Reuters) - The death toll in a militant attack on a mosque in Egypt s north Sinai region has risen to 235, Egyptian state television reported, quoting the public prosecutor.

Summary: मिस्र की उत्तरी सिनाई मस्जिद में हमले में मरने वालों की संख्या बढ़कर 235 हुईः सरकारी टेलीविजन


WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson should meet with “democratically-minded” activists in Russia as well as government officials during his visit there later this month, two senators urged him in a letter released on Wednesday. Tillerson is due to visit Russia for talks expected to touch on the nation’s annexation of Crimea, its deployment of a land-based cruise missile and its role in Syria’s civil war. While there, he should also meet with civil society activists, Democratic Senator Jeanne Shaheen and Republican Senator Marco Rubio said in the letter. The senators sit on the subcommittee that oversees the State Department budget. “We feel strongly that democratically-minded Russians should know that the U.S. supports their aspirations, and as our nation’s top diplomat, you are in a unique position to communicate this message,” the letter said. Tillerson, who has taken four trips abroad during his two months in office, has so far not engaged in the “public diplomacy” in which previous Republican and Democratic secretaries of state took part. Such events might include meetings with activists as well as town halls with youths and interviews with local journalists. A State Department spokesman did not respond to a request for comment. In Turkey last week, Tillerson met with Norine Brunson, the wife of jailed American pastor Andrew Brunson, a missionary held there since October. In a visit to China last month, Tillerson made brief mention of human and religious rights but had no known meetings with activists or engagements with civil society representatives. By contrast, former secretary of state Hillary Clinton ended her 2009 visit to China with services at a state-sanctioned church, a conversation with women’s rights activists and a brief Web chat with Chinese internet users. Russian opposition activist Vladimir Kara-Murza told a Senate hearing last month that it was important that the world pay attention to voices in Russia besides those of President Vladimir Putin’s government. “Russia is so much bigger and so much more diverse than the Putin regime,” Kara-Murza said. In Moscow, both Republican and Democratic secretaries of state have met with civic leaders at Spaso House, the U.S. ambassador’s stately residence. In 2007, Condoleezza Rice, secretary of state under Republican President George W. Bush, used such a visit to encourage Russian activists to build democratic institutions that protect human rights.

Summary: सीनेटरों ने टिलरसन से रूस में कार्यकर्ताओं से मिलने का आग्रह किया


TAIPEI (Reuters) - Taiwan will allow visa-free entry for visitors from the Philippines in hopes that the Southeast Asian nation will reciprocate the gesture, a spokesman for the self-ruled island s cabinet said on Thursday.  Taiwan does not have formal diplomatic relations with the Philippines, which recognizes the  one China  policy under which Manila acknowledges the Chinese position that there is only one China and Taiwan is part of it.  China considers Taiwan a renegade province to be taken back by force, if necessary. Whether the visa-free policy takes effect in October or November is to be decided by the foreign ministry, said Hsu Kong-yung, the spokesman of Taiwan s executive yuan, or cabinet.  After we open up the visa-free arrangements, in view of equal mutual benefits, we also hope they will make visa-free arrangements with Taiwan,  he told a news conference. Taiwan already has visa-free arrangements with Australia, Malaysia, New Zealand and Singapore. The government is continuing this year with a pilot scheme with Brunei and Thailand kicked off last year.   It is also considering visa-free arrangements with Indonesia and Vietnam, according to a government document seen by Reuters. A government spokesman did not immediately answer telephone calls from Reuters to seek comment on the Indonesia and Vietnam plans.

Summary: ताइवान फिलीपींस के आगंतुकों को वीजा मुक्त प्रवेश की अनुमति देगा


WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Republican Donald Trump wants his campaign finance chairman, Steven Mnuchin, to be his Treasury secretary if he wins next week’s U.S. presidential election, Fox Business Network reported on Thursday, citing sources. Mnuchin, a former partner at Goldman Sachs Group Inc who also founded and runs the hedge fund company Dune Capital Management LP, joined Trump’s campaign in May as his chief fundraiser. Fox Business Network, citing unnamed sources from inside the Trump campaign, said the New York businessman has told his team he wants Mnuchin to lead the U.S. Treasury Department if he wins the Nov. 8 election.  Representatives for the Trump campaign did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Trump largely funded his own campaign during the primary contest for Republican presidential nomination but moved to join with the Republican National Committee to jointly fundraise his general election campaign against Democrat Hillary Clinton. He has still contributed millions of his own funds.   Trump has faced a significant fundraising deficit compared with his Democratic rival Hillary Clinton. Trump raised a total of $255 million, including about $56 million of his own money, compared to Clinton’s $513 million for the entire election cycle through Oct. 19. Last week, Trump pledge to donate an additional $10 million of his own personal funds. Mnuchin previously spent 17 years at Goldman Sachs and has helped finance numerous Hollywood movies, according to Bloomberg. He also previously worked for Soros Fund Management LLC, a hedge fund firm led by George Soros, a Clinton backer. Over the years, Mnuchin has donated thousands to Republicans as well as Democrats, according to federal campaign finance records, including to Clinton’s 2008 presidential campaign and her earlier Senate races.   Mnuchin, a graduate of Yale University who serves on several boards, resigned last year from the board of CIT Group Inc.

Summary: ट्रम्प चाहते हैं कि गोल्डमैन के पूर्व साथी म्नुचिन यू. एस. ट्रेजरी चलाएँः फॉक्स बिजनेस