NEW YORK (Reuters) - A U.S. news channel and a newspaper will host a debate for the Democratic presidential contenders in New Hampshire a few days before the state’s primary election, but it remained unclear whether the party will relax its rule banning candidates from non-sanctioned debates. The news channel MSNBC and the New Hampshire Union Leader will hold the debate on Feb. 4 in New Hampshire, the second state in the nation to vote for parties’ presidential nominees following the Iowa caucuses on Monday, the Union Leader said on its website on Tuesday. But the Democratic National Committee (DNC) raised doubts about whether it would proceed, saying in a statement it had no plans to sanction this debate. It left open the question of whether it would punish any participants by excluding them from the remaining two sanctioned ones. Spokesmen for Hillary Clinton, the former secretary of state who leads most polls, and Martin O’Malley, a former Maryland governor, said their candidates would be happy to take part, at least in theory. “Hillary Clinton would be happy to participate in a debate in New Hampshire if the other candidates agree, which would allow the DNC to sanction the debate,” Jennifer Palmieri, a Clinton spokeswoman, said in a statement. A spokesman for U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont did not respond to a request for comment. Both Sanders and O’Malley have criticized the DNC for organizing a relatively skimpy debate schedule. The DNC scheduled only six debates for its 2016 candidates, and, contrary to its practice in previous election years, forbade candidates from taking part in debates not sanctioned by the party. There were 25 Democratic primary debates in 2008 and 15 in 2004, both sanctioned and unsanctioned. DNC Chairwoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz has dismissed criticisms from within her party that she organized relatively few debates and scheduled them at times when viewership might be lower than average in order to protect former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s position as the long-standing front-runner for the nomination. Sanders has recently been drawing near or even, overtaking Clinton in some opinion polls as the first voting draws near, beginning with caucuses in Iowa on Feb. 1 and the New Hampshire election on Feb. 9. “We have no plans to sanction any further debates before the upcoming First in the Nation caucuses and primary,” Wasserman Schultz said in a statement, “but will reconvene with our campaigns after those two contests to review our schedule.”  (Editing by Jonathan Oatis and Richard Chang) SAP is the sponsor of this coverage which is independently produced by the staff of Reuters News Agency.

Summary: डेमोक्रेटिक पार्टी के राष्ट्रपति पद के उम्मीदवारों को सातवीं बहस का मौका मिला


WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Senate Appropriations Committee passed a spending bill on Thursday evening that includes $10 million to help fund the United Nations’ climate change body that oversees the Paris Climate Agreement, despite President Donald Trump’s decision to stop funding it. The 30-member Senate panel, which allocates federal funds to various government agencies and organizations, approved a $51 billion spending bill for the State Department and foreign operations, which included an amendment to continue funding the U.N. Framework Convention on Climate Change as well as the scientific body the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. The amendment passed even though the 2018 budget proposal that Trump, a Republican, introduced earlier this year eliminated support of any mechanism to finance climate change projects in developing countries and organizations. The United States is still a party to the 1992 UNFCCC, which oversees the Paris agreement, although Trump announced in June that he would withdraw the nation from the global climate pact and cease funding the Green Climate Fund, which supports clean energy and climate adaptation projects in vulnerable countries.  The United States has usually contributed to around 20 percent of the UNFCCC budget. Democratic Senator Jeff Merkley of Oregon, the amendment’s author, said on Twitter on Thursday: “Despite @RealDonaldTrump’s dangerous #ParisAgreement decision & unwillingness to act, we can & will fight back to combat #climatedisruption.” The amendment passed 16-14. Republican Senators Susan Collins of Maine and Lamar Alexander of Tennessee voted in favor, as did all committee Democrats except for West Virginia’s Joe Manchin.  Although the United States announced it would no longer be a party to the Paris Climate Agreement, a pact that nearly 200 countries approved in 2015 to combat global warming, it has said it will continue to observe the ongoing negotiations. In a diplomatic cable that Reuters obtained last month, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said U.S. diplomats should sidestep questions from foreign governments on how the United States plans re-engage in the global Paris climate agreement. The cable also said diplomats should make clear that the United States wants to help other countries use fossil fuels, which have been linked to global warming. [L1N1KU0UP]

Summary: ट्रम्प की अवहेलना करते हुए, सीनेट पैनल ने संयुक्त राष्ट्र जलवायु निकाय के लिए धन को मंजूरी दी


BRUSSELS (Reuters) - German Chancellor Angela Merkel said on Friday that the European Union could only agree to enter the next phase of Brexit negotiations in December if Britain provided specific assurances about its readiness to settle financial obligations to the bloc. Speaking to reporters at the end of a two-day EU summit in Brussels, Merkel said it was  very clear  what British Prime Minister Theresa May had to do to break a deadlock in the talks that has prevented a discussion about Britain s post-Brexit relationship with the bloc, known as  phase two .   We hope that by December we have moved along enough to allow phase two to begin but that depends on the extent to which Great Britain makes progress so that we can say that it is sufficient on the core themes of phase one,  Merkel told a news conference at the end of an EU summit. She said that the main obstacle was Britain s failure so far to signal a readiness to settle financial obligations to the bloc that EU officials estimate at around 60 billion euros. May, under severe domestic pressure after a botched election in June that saw her Conservatives lose their majority, has said that Britain will stand by its financial commitments to the EU without offering figures.  I think it is very clear what additional steps need to be taken,  Merkel said. Asked about suggestions from May that Britain could pursue a two-year transitional deal once it leaves the bloc in 2019 in order to buy time to clinch a more comprehensive agreement, Merkel said this was not the primary focus for now.       The two-year transition phase is an interesting idea, no question. But it is not part of phase one of the negotiations,  she said.  So it is there in the room and will be discussed at the proper time.

Summary: मर्केल का कहना है कि गतिरोध को तोड़ने के लिए ब्रिटेन को ब्रेक्सिट विधेयक पर आगे बढ़ना चाहिए


LONDON (Reuters) - A spokesman for British Prime Minister Theresa May warned on Wednesday against the idea that discussions with Northern Ireland s Democratic Unionist Party to resolving a Brexit row could involve the Northern Irish budget.  I d warn you against speculating in that direction,  the spokesman told reporters when asked if talks involved financial issues and Northern Ireland s budget. He said the government would not be providing further details of a telephone call between May and DUP leader Arlene Foster earlier in the day.

Summary: ब्रिटेन के प्रधानमंत्री मे के प्रवक्ता ने डीयूपी ब्रेक्सिट विवाद में शामिल धन के 'अटकलों' के खिलाफ चेतावनी दी


(Please note: Story contains strong language in final paragraph) (Reuters) - Republican Maine Governor Paul LePage on Monday sued the state’s Democratic attorney general, contending she had abused her power by joining legal opposition to early moves by President Donald Trump that LePage’s office supported. LePage, a fiery conservative now in his second term, challenged Attorney General Janet Mills for joining a legal brief opposing Trump’s executive order banning immigration from a half-dozen majority Muslim countries. The governor said he supported Trump’s order, which has been blocked by courts and which the White House says is necessary to protect national security. “It is no secret that Attorney General Mills and I have differing political views, but that is not the issue,” LePage said in a statement. “The problem is she has publicly denounced court cases which the executive branch has requested to join and subsequently refuses to provide legal representation for the state.” He said Mills had refused to represent the state in other cases where she disagreed with LePage’s political position and prevented his office from filing its own brief in support of Trump, a charge that Mills denied. “Instead of signing onto another party’s brief at no cost to the taxpayers, however, or hiring a lawyer to draft his own brief, the governor has wasted state resources by hiring a lawyer to file a frivolous lawsuit, complaining that he cannot do exactly what we have told him he can do,” Mills said in a statement. Maine is the only one of the 50 U.S. states where the attorney general is elected by the state legislature, rather than elected by voters or appointed by the governor.      The nation’s 22 Democratic attorneys general emerged in the first months of the Trump administration as a major opposition force to his policies, successfully suing to block his executive orders on travel and also challenging environmental policy moves. Maine is one of eight U.S. states that have a Republican governor and a Democratic attorney general, setting the stage for the conflict that resulted in Monday’s lawsuit, filed in Kennebec County Superior Court. LePage was first elected to office in 2010 on a wave of Tea Party support and was re-elected in 2014. Both victories came in three-way races.  He was an early supporter of Trump and came under intense public pressure last year after calling a Democratic lawmaker a “little son-of-a-bitch, socialist cocksucker,” in a voicemail message that was widely circulated.

Summary: मेन के गवर्नर ने ट्रम्प नीति विवाद में राज्य के अटॉर्नी जनरल पर मुकदमा दायर किया


LONDON (Reuters) - British Prime Minister Theresa May said she intended to speak to U.S. President Donald Trump about the status of Jerusalem, which she said should be determined as part of a settlement between Israel and the Palestinians. May said the ancient city should ultimately be shared between Israel and a future Palestinian state. She said there should be a sovereign and viable Palestinian state as part of a two-state solution.  I m intending to speak to President Trump about this matter,  May said.  The status of Jerusalem should be determined in a negotiated settlement between the Israelis and the Palestinians.   Jerusalem should ultimately form a shared capital between the Israeli and Palestinian states,  May said.

Summary: पीएम मे जेरूसलम पर ट्रम्प से बात करेंगे, कहते हैं कि इसकी स्थिति बातचीत से निर्धारित की जानी चाहिए


BEIJING (Reuters) - China on Saturday appointed a new top official for the southern export powerhouse province of Guangdong, whose former leader sources say is likely to be promoted to a vice premier, part of a reshuffle after the end of a Communist Party Congress. President Xi Jinping on Wednesday unveiled a new senior leadership at the end of the twice-a-decade congress, with new members appointed to the three elite party bodies that run China. Over the next few weeks and months, a series of other reshuffles will take place as the party moves people into new party and government positions and as others retire. In a brief statement, the official Xinhua news agency said that Li Xi had been moved from his post as party boss in the northeastern province of Liaoning to run Guangdong province as its party chief, replacing the incumbent, Hu Chunhua. Guangdong, which borders the former British colony of Hong Kong, is one of China s most economically important provinces. Xinhua did not say what position Hu would assume, but sources with ties to the leadership said he is likely to be promoted to become one of China s vice premiers. Hu, who spent a large part of his career working in restive Tibet, had been considered a candidate for the Standing Committee, the seven-man party body that is China s elite ruling body headed by Xi, but failed to make it on. Three sources with leadership ties told Reuters that Jiangsu party boss Li Qiang is tipped to replace Han Zheng as Shanghai party secretary.  Li is (one of) Xi Jinping s men,  one source said. Li, 58, a native of the eastern coastal province of Zhejiang, was secretary general of the provincial party committee under Xi when the latter was Zhejiang party boss from 2002 to 2007. Li will be a strong contender to be further promoted to the Standing Committee at the next congress in 2022, another source said.  He was appointed to the 25-member Politburo, which is under the Standing Committee, on Wednesday. Former Shanghai leader Han, 63, is likely to become executive or first ranked vice premier next March at the annual meeting of parliament, the sources said.  The State Council Information Office, which doubles as the party s spokesman s office, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Summary: चीन के गुआंगडोंग को पार्टी का नया प्रमुख मिला, पूर्व नेता को पदोन्नति मिलने की संभावना


WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency said on Wednesday it will review how bedrock laws like the Clean Air Act and Clean Water Act affect energy industry job losses, one of several measures U.S. agencies will take to “reduce unnecessary regulatory burdens” on business. The measure was one of four initiatives proposed by the EPA to help carry out an executive order issued by President Donald Trump in March. He directed cabinet chiefs to identify ways to ease regulatory burdens on energy development. EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt, Energy Secretary Rick Perry and Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke each announced separate lists of measures they sent to the president to carry out his order. “We are working to curb unnecessary and duplicative regulatory burdens that do not serve the American people,” Pruitt said in a statement. Environmental groups said the plans submitted by the agency heads are putting U.S. natural resources in the hands of polluters. “The Trump Administration is intent on putting oil, gas and coal companies in charge of when, where and how they exploit taxpayer-owned resources,” said Kate Kelly, public lands director for the liberal Center for American Progress. The EPA will conduct a study to weigh how its regulations affect job losses in sectors like coal. A federal court has ruled that the EPA did not need to conduct such an assessment. The EPA will also create a task force to simplify the permit process for building new polluting facilities, weigh options to revamp national ambient air quality standards and launch a “smart sectors” program to engage with industries as it crafts regulations. The Energy Department said it will focus on streamlining natural gas exports, review its national laboratory policies, review National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) regulations for approving major infrastructure projects and reviewing the agency’s popular household appliance standards program.  The Interior Department submitted what it called an “energy burdens” report to the president, which outlines some Obama-era regulations it has started to reverse or reform, or has plans to. This includes lifting the moratorium on coal leases on federal land, reviewing regulations on fracking on federal and tribal land, developing a five-year plan for offshore drilling and streamlining the federal leasing program and permitting process.

Summary: ई. पी. ए. समीक्षा करेगा कि स्वच्छ वायु, जल कानून ऊर्जा क्षेत्र की नौकरियों को कैसे प्रभावित करते हैं


BRUSSELS (Reuters) - The European Union s chief Brexit negotiator said on Thursday he was worried by Britain s plans for the border arrangement with Ireland after it leaves the EU and urged London to come up with  creative proposals . The comments from Michel Barnier highlighted the gulf between the two sides on one of the trickiest issues thrown up by Brexit - how it will affect the currently seamless movement of people and goods between the Republic of Ireland, which is an EU member, and British-ruled Northern Ireland. Britain said last month that there should be no border posts or immigration checks along the 500 km (300 mile) frontier after Brexit. Some 30,000 people make the crossing each day, and businesses from farming to brewing depend on easy movement of goods between north and south. While Brussels and Dublin also say they want to keep an open border, they say Britain has failed to explain how it would square this with its stated intention to leave the EU s customs union.  What I see in the UK s paper on Ireland and Northern Ireland worries me,  Barnier told a news conference in Brussels.  The UK wants the EU to suspend the application of its laws, its customs union and its single market at what will be a new external border for the EU, and the UK wants to use Ireland as a kind of test case for the future EU-UK customs relations. This will not happen,  Barnier said. The EU is also concerned that Britain could use the border between the two Irelands as a way to circumvent tariffs that could be imposed in a post-Brexit EU-UK trade deal. Barnier s remarks coincided with the publication of a set of  principles from the European Commission, the EU s executive, on how the Irish issue should be dealt with. It explicitly stated that the  onus to propose solutions  on Ireland fell on Britain. The paper also made it clear that a hard border between Ireland and Northern Ireland should be avoided to protect peace on the island. It said that  any physical border infrastructure  should be ruled out, but that required  flexible and imaginative solutions . Nearly three months into Brexit talks, EU and Britain negotiators have made little progress on the Irish border and the other issues - expatriate citizens  rights and the bill that London should pay its EU partners to settle existing financial commitments - that Brussels wants broadly solved before talks on a future trading relationship can start.  The Irish government called on Britain to make  substantive commitments  and provide  workable solutions . Prime Minister Leo Varadkar reiterated that for all sides to achieve their aim of avoiding a hard border, Britain needed to stay in the customs union or in a similar arrangement for at least a post-Brexit transition phase. Britain seized on the EU comments about the need for an open border as evidence that British and EU objectives were  closely aligned .  In particular the commitment to avoid any physical infrastructure at the border is a very important step forward,  a government spokesman said, adding that the position papers from both sides  clearly provide a good basis on which to continue to make swift progress.

Summary: यूरोपीय संघ के बार्नियर आयरिश सीमा के लिए ब्रिटेन की ब्रेक्सिट के बाद की योजना से चिंतित हैं


PHNOM PENH (Reuters) - A Cambodian court on Saturday charged two journalists with espionage for filing news reports to a U.S.-funded radio station, which can carry a prison term of up to 15 years. Prime Minister Hun Sen, the strongman who has ruled Cambodia for more than three decades, has taken a strident anti-American line in an increasingly tense run-up to a 2018 election and there has been a crackdown on critics, rights groups and independent media. The United States announced it was ending funding for the election, and promised more  concrete steps , after the Supreme Court dissolved the main opposition Cambodia National Rescue Party (CNRP) on Thursday at the request of the government, on the grounds it was plotting to seize power. The party denied the accusation.     The two journalists, Uon Chhin and Yeang Sothearin, had in the past worked for the Washington-based Radio Free Asia (RFA) which broadcast in the Khmer language until it shut down in September. The two were charged with  providing information that is destructive to national defense to a foreign state , when they were caught filing stories to RFA, said Ly Sophana, a spokesman at Phnom Penh Municipal Court.  They will be sent to an investigating judge for further procedures,  Ly Sophana told Reuters. RFA has said it had no ties to the two journalists since it shut its Phnom Penh office in September.  In charging two former RFA journalists with espionage, Cambodian authorities have opened the door to more serious forms of intimidation worthy of despots and dictators,  RFA spokesman Rohit Mahajan said in emailed comments. A lawyer for the two said the charges were too serious and they had merely been doing their jobs as journalists.  This is not dangerous to the country,  said the lawyer, Keo Vanny.   The charges carried up to 15 years in prison if the men were convicted, he said. Hun Sen has been fighting a deepening war of words with the U.S. embassy and State Department over his government s crackdown on the opposition. CNRP leader Kem Sokha was arrested on Sept. 3 and charged with treason for an alleged plot to take power with U.S. help. He denied any such pot. The U.S. State Department called on Friday for Cambodia to release him and reverse the decision to ban his party. Western countries, which for decades supported Cambodia s emergence from war and isolation, have shown little appetite for sanctions in response to the government s crackdown, but the European Union has raised the possibility of Cambodia losing vital trade preferences.

Summary: कम्बोडिया की अदालत ने दो पत्रकारों पर जासूसी का आरोप लगाया


ZURICH (Reuters) - The Swiss government urged voters on Monday to keep the annual license fee that finances public broadcasters, saying taxpayer money played a crucial role in supporting cultural diversity and political discourse in the media. Its call seeks to defuse support for the  No Billag  initiative that comes to a binding vote on March 4 and which opinion polls show has around 57 percent support. Proponents want to scrap the  Billag  fee that last year raised 1.37 billion Swiss francs ($1.38 billion) as the financial lifeblood for public broadcasters at the federal, regional and local levels. National broadcaster SRG, which operates in the four national languages, gets 75 percent of its budget from the fee.  A varied media offering is important for a small, polyglot country like Switzerland with its direct democracy,  President Doris Leuthard said in a statement. Switzerland says it would be the first country in Europe to abolish fees for public broadcasting should the measure be adopted. This would push advertising revenue to mostly foreign-controlled commercial media. The government is cutting the fee   levied on homes with a radio or TV set   to 365 francs per private household from 2019 from around 450 now. Businesses will pay up to 35,590 francs a year based on a sliding scale of annual sales.  ($1 = 0.9915 Swiss francs)

Summary: स्विस मतदाताओं से सार्वजनिक प्रसारकों के लिए शुल्क रखने का आग्रह करता है


WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Donald Trump’s eldest son and a former business associate of the president are due to testify to the U.S. House of Representatives Intelligence Committee, as it continues its investigation of possible Russian involvement in the 2016 election, sources familiar with the schedule said. Donald Trump Jr. will appear before the committee on Wednesday and Felix Sater, a Russian-American who was a former Trump business associate who claimed deep ties to Moscow, as soon as Thursday, the sources said. Neither session will be public. Donald Trump Jr.’s attorney declined a request for comment on his Wednesday appearance, which was first reported by CNN. An attorney for Sater, Robert Wolf, did not respond to a request for comment. Another source said his session with the panel had been set for Thursday but might be rescheduled. Committee aides declined to comment. It is the Intelligence Committee’s policy not to comment on the schedule for closed meetings. The panel is one of the three main congressional committees, as well as Justice Department Special Counsel Robert Mueller, investigating Russia and the 2016 U.S. presidential election, and the possibility of collusion between Trump associates and Moscow. Separately, Senator Dianne Feinstein, the top Democrat on the Senate Judiciary Committee, said on Monday she had made requests to three more people for information related to the Russia investigation. Feinstein, who has made public similar requests, said she wrote to Rick Dearborn, a deputy White House chief of staff; Maria Butina, a former assistant to Alexander Torshin, a deputy governor of the Russian central bank; and Rick Clay, an advocate for conservative Christian causes. She asked all three for interviews and for documents related to what she described as efforts by Torshin to arrange a meeting between Putin and Trump when he was a presidential candidate. The Russian government has denied any effort to affect the election and Trump has dismissed talk of collusion. A range of Trump associates has been called to testify during the investigation. Last week, U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions spoke to the House panel behind closed doors, as did Erik Prince, who founded the military contractor Blackwater and was a supporter of Trump’s campaign. A transcript of Prince’s testimony could be released as soon as Monday. There are no plans to release Sessions’ testimony. Among other people with ties to Trump who are expected to appear in Congress are Jared Kushner, the president’s close adviser and son-in-law, who had testified to the House committee behind closed doors in July. Representative Adam Schiff, the top Democrat on the House panel, said last week that it would “very likely” be necessary for Kushner to testify again. Led by Trump’s fellow Republicans, congressional committees have also called to testify some aides to former Democratic President Barack Obama and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, Trump’s 2016 opponent. On Monday, Clinton’s former campaign manager John Podesta testified before the committee, The Hill reported, citing Republican Representative Mike Conaway, the Republican leading the investigation. A Conaway spokeswoman did not response to a request for comment.

Summary: ट्रम्प के बेटे, पूर्व साथी इस सप्ताह हाउस पैनल के सामनेः सूत्र


BRUSSELS (Reuters) - European Council President Donald Tusk said he would meet with British Prime Minister Theresa May in London next Tuesday to discuss Brexit, days after she is due to make a keynote speech on her vision for future ties with the EU. He made the comment in a tweet after meeting May at the United Nations General Assembly. The London meeting between the pair will come at a sensitive time - just after her speech in Florence on Friday and before an EU heads of state dinner on Sept. 28 in Tallinn, Estonia. The Financial Times said May s top EU adviser has told his counterparts in several European that she would in Florence offer to fill a post-Brexit EU budget hole of at least 20 billion euros. The newspaper cited officials briefed on the discussions. Senior EU officials have given talk of such offers short shrift. They have dismissed suggestions floated in British media that an offer of up to 30 billion euros payable during a transition period after Brexit would be acceptable to Brussels.  It could not be, they have said, an alternative to the 60 billion or so that the EU executive has estimated may be payable before Brexit in March 2019. Brussels negotiators acknowledge privately that it may help the British government  sell  its settlement to domestic voters if London can meld the exit payments with transition payments to reduce the headline  divorce bill . EU officials told Reuters there would be no discussion of Brexit at the Tallinn dinner but that May might take the opportunity to brief the bloc s other 27 leaders on her position. Talks on Brexit have made little progress and deepened rifts in May s party, setting up the Florence speech as a chance to put negotiations back on track and reassert her authority. While Tusk is coordinating the 27 EU leaders on Brexit, only Michel Barnier is negotiating with the British and they have made clear to London that he is the only point of contact for Brexit talks. Barnier s negotiating directives have frustrated his British counterparts, who want to move the talks from divorce issues such as the EU departure bill and Irish border to future relations. Barnier first wants to see progress on the terms of Britain s exit.

Summary: यूरोपीय संघ के टस्क, ब्रिटेन के मे अगले मंगलवार को ब्रेक्सिट पर बात करेंगे


WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Senate on Monday rejected four measures restricting gun sales after last week’s massacre in an Orlando nightclub, dealing a bitter setback to advocates who have failed to get even modest gun curbs through Congress despite repeated mass shootings. A group of senators was still hoping to forge a compromise for later in the week aimed at keeping firearms away from people on terrorism watch lists, although that effort faced an uphill battle with critics in both parties skeptical about its chances. Last week’s massacre, the deadliest mass shooting in modern U.S. history, had intensified pressure on lawmakers, who moved swiftly to take the issue to the Senate floor. But the gun-control measures lost in largely party-line votes that showed the lingering political power in Congress of gun rights defenders and the National Rifle Association. Republicans and their allies in the NRA gun lobby said the Democratic bills were too restrictive and trampled on the constitutional right to bear arms. Democrats attacked the Republicans’ two proposals as too weak and accused them of being in the thrall of the NRA. “What am I going to tell the community of Orlando?” asked Democratic Senator Bill Nelson of Florida after the votes. “Sadly, what I’m going to tell them is the NRA won again.” Chris Cox, executive director of the National Rifle Association Institute for Legislative Action, attacked the Democrats’ amendments and thanked Republicans for rejecting them. “Today, the American people witnessed an embarrassing display in the United States,” he said. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, a Kentucky Republican, said the Democratic measures were ineffective and Republican senators “are pursuing real solutions that can help keep Americans safer from the threat of terrorism.” As the parties remain largely locked in their positions,  polls show Americans are increasingly in favor of more restrictions on guns in a country with more than 310 million weapons, about one for every citizen.  The issue is already a prominent one for voters in November elections. Presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton supports new gun restrictions, while Republican Donald Trump expressed a willingness to talk to the NRA about the issue. After the votes, Clinton issued a one-word statement: “Enough.” It was followed by the names and ages of the dead in Orlando. Gun control efforts failed after mass shootings at an elementary school in Newtown, Connecticut, in 2012 and a conference center in San Bernardino, California, in 2015. But some senators see resistance to gun restrictions softening as national security looms larger in the debate. The Orlando gunman, Omar Mateen, pledged allegiance to the militant group Islamic State as he killed 49 people in a gay nightclub.  “This country is under attack ... it’s not a plane or an explosive device, it’s an assault weapon,” said Connecticut Senator Chris Murphy, a Democrat who led a 15-hour filibuster last week to draw attention to the effort to restrict guns. Murphy walked off the floor after the Senate votes and embraced Erica Smegielski, the daughter of Dawn Hochsprung, a Sandy Hook principal killed during the Newtown shooting. “He said, the good thing about me and you is we’re young, we’ll be at this a long time,” said Smegielski, 30. A Reuters/Ipsos poll conducted last week found that 71 percent of Americans favor at least moderate regulations and restrictions on gun sales. That compared with 60 percent in late 2013 and late 2014. Senior Senate aides left open the possibility of other votes later in the week on unspecified gun control proposals. Some Republicans pinned hopes on a proposal by Senator Susan Collins, a Maine Republican, which was not one of the four bills being considered on Monday. Collins’ plan would restrict gun purchases to a narrow group of suspects, including those on a “no-fly” list or a “selectee” list of people who require additional screening at airports.. But Democratic aides said people credibly suspected of involvement in terrorism would not be covered by the weapons ban under Collins’ bill, and a Republican aide indicated it would not do enough to protect the constitutional rights of gun buyers. Even if the Senate approved a gun compromise, it would also have to be passed by the more conservative, Republican-majority House of Representatives. House Republican leadership aides did not comment on the possibility that any bills proposing gun restrictions would be considered on the House floor this week. On Monday, all four of the measures to expand background checks on gun buyers and curb gun sales to those on terrorism watch lists - two put forth by Democrats and two by Republicans - fell short of the 60 votes needed for passage in the 100-member chamber. Gun-control advocates expressed disappointment after the vote and vowed to take revenge on lawmakers at the ballot box in November. “Shame on every single senator who voted against these life-saving amendments and protected the rights of terrorists and other dangerous people to buy guns,” said Dan Gross, president of the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence. “The Brady Campaign will expose these politicians for who they really are and call out their failure to disarm hate in America.”

Summary: ओरलैंडो गोलीबारी के बाद सीनेट ने बंदूक नियंत्रण उपायों को खारिज किया


CAIRO (Reuters) - Egyptian authorities have detained 15 people pending an investigation into an attack on an unlicensed Coptic Christian church in a village south of Cairo, a security source said on Sunday. Dozens of Muslims from the village of Kafr al-Waslin attacked the church after Friday prayers, smashing the windows and breaking everything inside, the archdiocese of Atfih said in a statement. The diocese had applied to legalize the status of the church, which has housed worshippers for 15 years after a church building law was passed in 2016, the statement said. Those detained are accused of stirring sectarian strife, harming national unity and destroying private property, one judicial source told Reuters.  The owner of the building was also in custody pending inquiries into the operations of the facility by state security and the interior ministry, the source added. Egyptian Christians make up about a tenth of the country s almost 95 million population and are the Middle East s largest Christian community. They have long complained of discrimination in the majority-Muslim country. The government does not make the official number of Christians public in its census and Christians have long complained of being undercounted.  Some Muslims object to turning this building into a church because there s a really big mosque beside it,  one villager who asked not to be named told Reuters.   There are strong social ties between the Muslims and Christians [in our village,  he added.

Summary: मिस्र ने काहिरा के दक्षिण में कॉप्टिक चर्च पर दर्जनों हमलों के बाद 15 लोगों को हिरासत में लिया


PANMUNJOM, South Korea (Reuters) - U.S. Defense Secretary Jim Mattis emphasized diplomatic efforts to resolve the North Korean missile and nuclear crisis as he stood at the tense and heavily fortified border between North and South on Friday, saying:  Our goal is not war.  His remarks came before U.S. President Donald Trump - who has threatened to destroy the North if necessary - leaves on his first trip to Asia next week, including a stop in South Korea to meet President Moon Jae-in. For his part, Moon, after talks with Mattis, said the  aggressive deployment  of U.S. strategic assets in the region, which have included overflights by U.S. bombers, had been effective in deterring the North Korean threat. Tension between North Korea and the United States has been building after a series of nuclear and missile tests by Pyongyang and bellicose verbal exchanges between Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, stoking fears any miscalculation could lead to an armed confrontation.   North Korean provocations continue to threaten regional and global security despite unanimous condemnation by the United Nations Security Council,  Mattis said in prepared remarks as he visited the demilitarized zone (DMZ).  As Secretary of State Tillerson has made clear, our goal is not war, but rather the complete, verifiable, and irreversible denuclearization of the Korean peninsula.  Standing alongside Mattis, South Korean Defense Minister Song Young-moo said:  We together will continue to defend peace through strong will and strong might.  Ahead of Trump s visit to Asia, Mattis has emphasized diplomatic efforts to find a peaceful solution to the crisis during his week-long trip to the region.  That s really what it was all about   to keep the (North Korea) effort firmly in the diplomatic lane for resolution,  Mattis said earlier this week after three days of meetings with Asian defense chiefs in the Philippines.  At the same time, the U.S. and South Korean militaries are looking for ways to deter Pyongyang and bolster the South s defenses. Washington s top military officer, Marine General Joseph Dunford, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, met with his South Korean counterpart, General Kyeong Doo Jeong, a U.S. military statement said. Dunford renewed U.S. warnings of retaliation to further provocations.   (Dunford) reaffirmed that any attack by North Korea would be met with a response that will be overwhelming and effective, using the full range of U.S. military capabilities,  the statement said. The United States flew Air Force bombers over waters east of North Korea last month in a show of force. The U.S. Navy, in what it says was a long-planned maneuver, will have three U.S. aircraft carrier strike groups in the Pacific in the coming days.  Last week, CIA chief Mike Pompeo said North Korea could be only months away from developing the ability to hit the United States with nuclear weapons, a scenario Trump has vowed to prevent.  U.S. intelligence experts say Pyongyang believes it needs the weapons to ensure its survival and have been skeptical about diplomatic efforts, focusing on sanctions, to get Pyongyang to denuclearize. The United States on Thursday imposed sanctions on seven North Korean individuals and three entities for  flagrant  human rights abuses, including killings, torture, forced labor and the hunting down of asylum seekers abroad. In a speech last month at the United Nations, Trump threatened to destroy North Korea if necessary to defend the United States and allies. Kim has blasted Trump as  mentally deranged.  Despite the rhetoric, White House officials say Trump is looking for a peaceful resolution. But all options, including military ones, are on the table.   Do we have military options in defense for attack, if our allies are attacked? Of course we do. But everyone is out for a peaceful resolution,  Mattis told reporters traveling with him this week.  No one s rushing for war.  Separately, North Korea released a South Korean fishing boat which had been found to be in North Korean waters illegally, state media said. The crew of 10 - seven South Koreans and three Vietnamese - were released on Friday evening, a spokesman for South Korea s coastguard told Reuters. The return of the boat, which had been reported as missing from Saturday, may have eased already strained relations between North and South. The two sides are technically still at war because their 1950-53 conflict ended in a truce, not a peace treaty. The North regularly threatens to destroy the South and the United States.

Summary: ट्रंप के एशिया दौरे से पहले मैटिस ने उत्तर कोरिया पर कूटनीति पर की चर्चा


WASHINGTON (Reuters) - After years of focusing divided Iraq on a shared fight against the Islamic State group, the United States is now straining to leverage its limited influence to avoid a full-blown conflict between the Iraqi and Kurdish forces it has armed and trained. Experts say that a path toward reconciliation, in some form, exists. But it will be a long, arduous test of nerves that could expose the U.S.-backed war effort in Iraq to risks from insurgents and from militia backed by neighboring Iran. U.S. President Donald Trump declared on Monday that the United States was not taking sides in the internal conflict between Baghdad and independence-seeking Kurds, as Iraqi government forces captured the Kurdish-held oil city of Kirkuk.  We don t like the fact that they re clashing. We re not taking sides,  Trump told reporters at the White House.   We ve had for many years a very good relationship with the Kurds as you know and we ve also been on the side of Iraq,  he said. That neutral approach met a cool reception from the Kurdish government representative in Washington, Bayan Sami Abdul Rahman. In particular, she said the United States had already helped isolate the Kurds by publicly calling for them to postpone the Sept. 25 referendum on independence that triggered the dispute with Baghdad.  With every step (Washington) emboldened Baghdad, Iran and Turkey ... each one of them thinking:  Well, so the Kurds are on their own, we can do whatever we like ,  she told Reuters. The Iraqi government s capture of Kirkuk was the most decisive step yet by Baghdad to block the Kurd s independence bid. It also put Washington in the awkward position of recognizing the Iraqi government s authority while maintaining ties with its close Kurdish allies. Kurdish Peshmerga forces said Baghdad would be made to pay a heavy price for triggering  war on the Kurdistan people.  U.S.-led coalition military support for Iraqi and Kurdish forces was decisive during the most critical phases of the war against Islamic State. However, Washington s leverage has yet to be fully tested after the recapture of major cities from the militant group. It is unclear, in particular, how much influence the United States has with Kurdish leader Masoud Barzani after already failing to delay the independence referendum, in which the Kurds voted to secede. Paul Salem, from the Middle East Institute think tank in Washington, said Barzani was learning that he had  very few friends and he is a much weaker player  than he thought before the Sept. 25 vote.  (The U.S.) has some leverage,  Salem said. Michael Knights, an expert at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, said the United States needed to take steps to avoid alienating the Kurds in the region. Those steps included sending a U.S.-led military coalition officer to a key military base there and pressing for an interim Kurdish governor of Kirkuk.  This would maintain the basic power-sharing compact negotiated by Kirkuk community leaders in 2007,  Knights said. The Pentagon confirmed that U.S. forces had a presence in the vicinity of Kirkuk but declined to say where. Such a presence could help deter further conflict, a tactic it used in Syria to keep Kurds and Turks from fighting each other. The U.S. State Department urged all sides to  restore calm  and warned that the dispute was distracting from the battle against Islamic State, which swept through Iraq in 2014 by  exploiting the country s vast ethnic and political divisions.   We strongly urge all parties to avoid provocations that can be exploited by Iraq s enemies who are interested in fueling ethnic and sectarian conflict,  it said in a statement. Former U.S. ambassador to Iraq, James Jeffrey, said he believed Iran - which backs Shi ite Iraqi militia - was positioned to gain influence because of the Iraqi-Kurdish conflict. He said the United States needed to make certain that Iranian-backed forces don t  surge forward  into the Kirkuk area to challenge Kurdish Peshmerga fighters.  The United States has to make it very clear: We are not going to defend Kirkuk ... but if the Iranian militias move forward, then we will help the Peshmerga,  if necessary, Jeffrey said. Trump unveiled last week a more aggressive U.S. approach to Iran, whose elite Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps backs the militias in Iraq. Abdul Rahman was wary of Iran s role in the unfolding crisis and criticized the U.S. military s characterization of an exchange of fire early on Monday as a  misunderstanding,  downplaying the loss of life.  I think the U.S. needs to be very, very aware of the statements that it makes and the statements that it doesn t make,  she said. The threat of Iraqi and Kurdish forces turning U.S.-supplied weapons against each other has raised alarms in Congress. Senator John McCain, the chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, warned Iraq s government of  severe consequences  over any further misuse of U.S.-provided weaponry against Kurdish forces.  The United States provided equipment and training to the government of Iraq to fight (Islamic State) and secure itself from external threats - not to attack elements of one of its own regional governments,  McCain said.

Summary: एक विभाजित इराक इस्लामिक स्टेट के खिलाफ लड़ाई के रूप में अमेरिकी प्रभाव का परीक्षण करता है


HARTFORD (Reuters) - Connecticut, home to hedge fund billionaires alongside cities mired in poverty, is racing against the clock to pass a budget or face further spending cuts to education and municipal aid across the state.  Nearly two months without a budget, Connecticut is getting crushed by a burdensome debt load that has squeezed spending and amplified legislative discord. State lawmakers must agree on a biennial budget soon or else Governor Dannel Malloy’s executive order to slash state aid to municipalities and eliminate school funding for some districts will go into effect in October. The state faces a $3.5 billion deficit over the next two years.      Among the wealthiest in the United States, Connecticut has been strained by already high taxes, outmigration, falling revenues and $50 billion of unfunded pension liabilities.   Some $23 billion of outstanding municipal debt has also constrained spending. Bondholders must be paid ahead of most other expenses like non-essential services and payments to vendors.     The $2.85 billion of principal and interest the state paid on its bonds in fiscal 2017 was the highest in six years, according to preliminary unaudited information from State Treasurer Denise Nappier’s office that has not yet been published. “The state invested in the wrong things for a period of time. It allowed its higher educational institutions to suffer while it sought to placate communities with respect to other forms of local reimbursement,” Malloy told Reuters during an interview in his office on Thursday. “We built too many prisons, which we’re still paying off even while we’re closing them,” he said. The Democrat took office in 2011 and is not seeking a third term.  Further, the state’s budget crunch is threatening its cities including the state capital of Hartford, which is considering bankruptcy due, in part, to its dependence on state aid. Connecticut has borrowed for decades to fund school construction, whereas nearly all other states typically borrow at the local level for those projects. Lack of county governments means some other local costs are picked up by the state, including for all of its detention facilities.  Connecticut has piled on debt to bolster its public pensions, selling $2.3 billion of bonds in April 2008. And again in December 2009, the state sold $916 million of economic recovery notes to close a budget deficit after depleting its rainy day fund during the Great Recession.   By many measures, Connecticut’s debt levels are the worst of the 50 U.S. states. It has the most net tax-supported state debt per capita in the nation at $6,505, versus a median of $1,006, according to Moody’s Investors Service.     It has the highest debt service costs as a portion of state revenues, as well as debt relative to gross domestic product, Moody’s said.  Connecticut was downgraded by all three major Wall Street credit rating agencies in May. Both Republicans and Democrats in the state legislature have proposed solutions, including a hard cap on annual bond sales. Democratic legislators met with Millstein & Co., the same restructuring firm that advised Puerto Rico over its suffocating debt burden, according to The Connecticut Mirror newspaper. Nappier proposed a new tax-secured revenue bond program in lieu of general obligation debt, which she says will lower borrowing costs and boost reserves. But until lawmakers craft a budget, the state’s fiscal uncertainty is causing havoc among municipalities. Some are considering whether to delay the start of school or dip into reserves. And for Hartford, the longer the state goes without a budget, the closer the city comes to a possible bankruptcy filing, said Hartford Mayor Luke Bronin, a 38-year-old former U.S. Treasury official. “The lack of a state budget... makes a liquidity challenge come that much faster,” he said.

Summary: कर्ज में डूबे कनेक्टिकट को बजट संकट का सामना करना पड़ रहा है


WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Senate Banking Committee Chairman Richard Shelby on Tuesday started to ease the backlog of 16 Obama administration nominees stalled before the panel, scheduling a March 15 confirmation hearing for two Securities and Exchange Commission nominees. The move follows Shelby’s resounding Republican primary victory in Alabama a week ago for a sixth term in the Senate.  The committee will question Lisa Fairfax and Hester Peirce for the SEC positions at the hearing as well as Matthew Jeppson to be director of the U.S. Mint. But 13 other nominations remain, including for two Federal Reserve Board governors, the U.S. Treasury’s top anti-terrorist finance official and a U.S. Export-Import Bank board member. Without the EXIM board member approved, the trade bank cannot approve large loans or guarantees above $10 million, effectively locking it out of deals for Boeing Co commercial aircraft or major power equipment made by General Electric. Conservatives, including Shelby, had waged a major campaign to close the trade bank last year, idling it for more than five months before Congress voted to renew its charter. He told Reuters in December that the EXIM nomination would be a “lower priority for him.”   The Fed nominees, former community banker Allan Landon and University of Michigan economist Kathryn Dominguez, would restore the central bank’s board to its full capacity of seven members.  Many had written off their chances of being confirmed, in part because of the testy relationship between Congress and the Fed, which has opposed Republican bills it says would curb its independence.

Summary: सीनेटर शेल्बी ने बैंकिंग उम्मीदवार के गतिरोध को तोड़ना शुरू किया


WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A leading Republican lawmaker warned on Tuesday that Congress will not be able to lower the U.S. corporate tax rate to the 15 to 20 percent range sought by President Donald Trump unless a controversial “border adjustment” proposal remains part of tax reform. The proposal, known as border adjustability, represents a dramatic departure from current U.S. policy. It would exempt export revenues from taxation but impose a 20 percent tax on imports.  Escalating the war of words over a measure opposed by retailers, oil refiners and automakers, House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Kevin Brady said there would be “severe consequences” for tax reform, U.S. competition and Trump’s job creation goals if special interests succeed in blocking border adjustability. “Tax rates on businesses would have to increase significantly from the proposed 15 percent and 20 percent rates, undercutting our ability to make America competitive again,” the Texas Republican told the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. Brady was speaking a day after Trump said his administration is trying to get the current 35 percent corporate tax rate down to between the 15 percent rate he has proposed and the 20 percent rate contained in the tax reform blueprint unveiled last June by Brady and House Speaker Paul Ryan. Analysts say Trump could have trouble getting the rate much below 30 percent without border adjustability. The provision would also go far to pay for lower tax rates by raising more than $1 trillion in revenues over a decade, according to independent analysts. House Republicans have billed the provision as a way to attract foreign investment and keep U.S. companies and jobs from moving overseas. “This is something that we think is clearly going to get our system re-set so that American jobs and American businesses and American companies stay in this country,” Ryan told reporters. But it has powerful adversaries including billionaire industrialists Charles and David Koch, who spend heavily to support Republican candidates and conservative policies. Trump himself poured cold water on the proposal in a recent Wall Street Journal interview, calling it “too complicated” and worrying that it would result in “a bad deal” for America.  Critics claim the measure would raise consumer prices for goods from apparel and electronics to gasoline, while potentially violating international trade rules.  House Republicans say the measure would neutralize higher import costs by strengthening the dollar and insist that it would pass muster with trade authorities.

Summary: अमेरिकी रिपब्लिकन ने सीमा समायोजन के लिए व्यापार कर की दर को कम किया


WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. State Department on Wednesday advised U.S. citizens to delay or cancel unnecessary travel to mainland Honduras  due to ongoing political protests and the potential for violence.  The travel alert, which the department said in a statement expires on Dec. 31, follows a dispute over the result of a Nov. 26 presidential election that has sparked deadly protests and a night-time curfew in the poor, violent Central American country.

Summary: अमेरिका ने विरोध प्रदर्शनों के कारण होंडुरास की यात्रा के खिलाफ नागरिकों को चेतावनी दी


MOSCOW (Reuters) - A Kremlin aide said on Wednesday it was entirely logical that Russian President Vladimir Putin would speak with U.S. counterpart Donald Trump during multi-lateral events taking place at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit in Vietnam this week.   It s entirely logical that they will shake hands, that they will discuss certain issues,  Kremlin aide Yuri Ushakov told reporters.  We are also ready to hold a separate, exhaustive bilateral meeting. The time frame for such a separate meeting has not been agreed upon, but the possibility is being assessed.

Summary: क्रेमलिन ने कहा कि 'तर्कसंगत' है कि पुतिन, ट्रम्प वियतनाम शिखर सम्मेलन में बात करेंगे


TOKYO - Tokyo Governor Yuriko Koike has made no secret of her desire to be Japan s first female prime minister - she even named her pet terrier  Sori , Japanese for  premier . But Koike, 65, whose fledgling Party of Hope poses a growing threat to Prime Minister Shinzo Abe s ruling bloc in an election this month, faces a tough choice: run now for a seat in parliament to become eligible for the top job, or wait and bet her party positions itself to win the next national poll. Abe called the Oct. 22 poll in hopes his Liberal Democratic Party-led bloc could keep its majority in the lower house, where it now holds a two-thirds  super majority , but Koike s party has upended forecasts.  If Koike resigns as governor little more than a year after defying Abe s LDP to run successfully for that post, she would risk a backlash from voters. Waiting might let her best shot at the premiership slip through her fingers.  If she thinks of the nation, it is important that she boldly announce her candidacy, present her ideas about important matters ... and debate policies head on,  Abe s ally, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga, told reporters on Monday. Koike, a media-savvy former LDP member and defense minister, has said she would not resign as governor to run now, especially ahead of the 2020 Olympic Games, which Tokyo will host. But her carefully phrased remarks have failed to kill speculation that she will run. Candidates must register on Oct. 10, when the campaign officially starts. Koike is certain to be watching opinion polls as she weighs her decision.  A TV Asahi survey published on Monday showed 72 percent of respondents were negative about her potential candidacy. A separate NHK poll showed that support for Abe dropped seven points to 37 percent. Voters were split on Koike s new party, with about 47 percent having hopes for it, versus the same percentage with little or no expectations. Further complicating the outlook, Yukio Edano, an executive  of the failed opposition Democratic Party -  which last week decided to run no candidates of its own and have members run on the Party of Hope ticket - announced on Monday the formation of a new Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan with fellow liberals. It was not essential that Koike run this time around, her close ally, Masaru Wakasa, said on Sunday.   If there is a firm prospect of a change in government, party chief Koike might run for parliament, but if we can achieve a change in the  next, next  election, she doesn t have to run now,  Wakasa said during a debate on NHK. Koike, however, has already once blindsided Wakasa, who led   efforts to form the new party, by announcing, on the day Abe called the snap poll, that she would lead the Party of Hope herself, not entrust it to allies. On Monday, she told Jiji news agency her party aimed to run more than the 233 candidates needed to take a majority in the 465-seat lower house.  If you don t buy a lottery ticket, you can t win,  she said. But she again denied she would seek a seat in parliament now.  I was in national politics for 24 years and I have no intention to go back to a place where you can achieve nothing despite spending so much time,  she said. A former TV announcer who speaks Arabic and English and peppers her speeches with foreign words, Koike wants to build a  pro-reform, conservative  party to compete with the LDP, in part by cannibalizing the failed main opposition Democratic Party and luring smaller parties to her side. Her cool, polished demeanor belies a steeliness beneath.  She can take a punch with a smile and sharpen her knives at the same time,  said Jesper Koll, head of equity fund Wisdom Tree, who has followed Japanese politics for years. Like former prime minister Junichiro Koizumi, one of her past mentors, Koike promises to  break free of vested interests , a slogan that resonates with voters looking for an alternative to the LDP - although critics question just how different that alternative would be from Abe s LDP. To differentiate her party from the LDP, Koike has adopted popular policies, such as an end to atomic power amid public safety worries after the 2011 Fukushima nuclear crisis, and proposes to freeze a planned sales tax hike from 2019. But she also backs Abe s push to expand the role of the military overseas and his goal of revising the post-war constitution - although recently she has avoided focusing on the divisive issue of amending its pacifist Article 9. She has also said in the past that Japan should consider having nuclear weapons, breaking a taboo in the only country to suffer an atomic attack, and, like Abe, has visited the Yasukuni Shrine for war dead, seen in China and South Korea as a symbol of Japan s past militarism. Koike entered politics in a small reformist party and migrated through several other groups before joining the LDP and in 2008 became the first woman to run for head of the conservative party. She came in a distant third.

Summary: दौड़ें या प्रतीक्षा करें? टोक्यो के कोइके को 22 अक्टूबर के मतदान से पहले दुविधा का सामना करना पड़ता है


YAOUNDE (Reuters) - Cameroon s government has ordered thousands of villagers to leave their homes in the Anglophone Southwest region as it deploys troops to root out armed separatists who have vowed to loosen President Paul Biya s long grip on power. The deployment marks an escalation of Biya s year-long crackdown on peaceful protests in the English-speaking Northwest and Southwest regions that has killed dozens of civilians and forced thousands to flee their homes in fear of reprisals. Now, the government is using force to confront an insurgency that has sprung up alongside the civil unrest. The separatists have killed at least eight soldiers and policemen over the past month as part of their campaign to break from the capital Yaounde in Francophone Cameroon and form a separate state called Ambazonia. Authorities of the Manyu Division in the Southwest on Dec. 1 gave the order to evacuate 16 villages across the region. They warned that anyone deciding to stay  will be treated as accomplices or perpetrators of ongoing criminal occurrences.  Motorbikes, a preferred mode of transport for separatist attackers, were ordered off the roads between 7 p.m. and 6 a.m.  People ran helter skelter when they saw the statement,  said Agbor Valery, a lawyer in Mamfe, which is near some of the evacuated villages. He said people were afraid of being rounded up and put in jail, as has happened since September in other areas of the English-speaking part of the country.   If you go to the villages, everyone has fled. Only the old people stayed. The streets are quiet. It is highly militarized. At night, you hear gunfire.    Valery said he saw hundreds of troops and truck loads of military equipment arrive in Mamfe on Sunday that were then deployed to the surrounding villages.  Reuters was unable to independently verify his account but two military sources in the city of Bamenda in Northwest region confirmed that additional security forces have been deployed in the English-speaking regions.   The separatist movement compounds problems for 84-year-old Biya, who has ruled Cameroon since 1982 and plans to stand for another term next year. The economy has slowed sharply since 2014, while attacks in the Far North region by Islamist militant group Boko Haram have strained the military. The fall last month of Zimbabwe s leader Robert Mugabe after decades in power highlights the potential vulnerability of Africa s long serving rulers amid a growing grassroots push for strict term limits for presidents. Last week Biya vowed to flush out secessionists, whom he called  criminals . Defense minister Joseph Beti Assomo said on Monday the new deployment would  prevent terrorists from harming others . Violence has spiraled since last year when government forces crushed peaceful protests by Anglophone teachers and lawyers protesting their perceived marginalization by the French-speaking majority. The heavy-handed government response fuelled support for the separatist movement, which has existed on the fringes of Cameroonian politics for decades. The response has also forced thousands out of their homes. More than 5,000 have fled Anglophone Cameroon across the border to Nigeria since Oct. 1, the United Nations said. Nigeria is also English speaking. The U.N. refugee agency (UNHCR) said it is making preparations for up to 40,000 refugees.  Refugees  stories have been slow to emerge because of government-imposed internet outages that have blocked messaging and social media sites like Facebook and Whatsapp. But they are beginning to shed light on what new refugees will likely face. Abia David told Reuters that he left Bamenda in Northwest Cameroon on Oct. 27 amid widespread arrests in the town. He heard from friends that the police were coming to arrest him because he is a member of an opposition political group. To escape Bamenda, and avoid its increasingly crowded jail, he cycled 16 kilometers into the countryside to the head of a bush road. From there he walked some 100 km (62 miles) alone north through a series of remote villages towards Nigeria.   There was no time to carry food. I had one change of clothes but I lost that.  He slept on strangers  floors and arrived in Nigeria a week later, where he fell ill with malaria. He said NGOs on the border had estimated an extra 1,000-odd people had arrived since the weekend.  The UNHCR is offering provisions like mosquito nets and is helping refugees find housing. So far there is no central camp for refugees and they rely on the hospitality of Nigerians for room and board.  For David, it beats going home. Asked if he planned to return, he said:  Go home to where? Go home to be killed? To go to jail without trial? I can only go back once this is resolved.

Summary: कैमरून ने अंग्रेजी बोलने वाले अलगाववादियों पर सैन्य कार्रवाई तेज की


BEIRUT (Reuters) - Lebanon could face economic sanctions from Arab countries or worse if Hezbollah does not stop meddling in regional conflicts, a Lebanese Sunni politician said on Friday.  Former Justice Minister Ashraf Rifi, who rose to prominence with vocal opposition to Shi ite Hezbollah, is closely aligned to the Saudi position in Lebanon and more hawkish than long-established Sunni leaders.   We can expect economic repercussions. At the political level too, at the level of our Lebanese-Arab relations. And it s open to all the possibilities, unfortunately,  he said. His comments to Reuters echo recent statements by Saad al-Hariri, who quit abruptly as Lebanese prime minister in a broadcast from Saudi Arabia two weeks ago.     The shock resignation thrust Lebanon into a regional rivalry between Riyadh and its allies against an Iranian bloc, which includes the Hezbollah militant group and political party.     Rifi said he has been in touch with Saudi officials recently over Lebanon s crisis and is familiar with Riyadh s thinking.       A political rival of Hariri, Rifi defeated a Hariri-backed list in local elections in the mostly Sunni city of Tripoli last year, though he lacks the premier s country-wide standing.   Today, Lebanese officials have a big responsibility. All the Lebanese officials have to be careful about good relations with the Arab world,  Rifi told Reuters.  There is no more leniency towards Hezbollah...using its illegitimate arsenal  in Middle East conflicts.   Lebanon s heavily armed Hezbollah, a part of the political fabric, wields great influence in the country. It also has sent thousands of fighters into Syria to battle alongside the Damascus government against mostly Sunni rebels and militants.  Lebanese politicians and bankers have said they fear Saudi Arabia corralling Arab allies to economically blockade Lebanon as they did with Qatar.      Lebanon cannot live without the Arab countries,  Rifi said.  We know how many Lebanese work in Saudi Arabia or in the Gulf and how much revenue they bring...to the Lebanese economy.       Up to 400,000 Lebanese work in the Gulf, and remittances flowing into the country are a vital source of cash to keep its economy afloat and the heavily-indebted government functioning. Political sources have said that potential sanctions include a ban on flights, visas, exports and transfer of remittances.    Saudi Arabia and its Arab allies have now drawn a line in the sand, Rifi said.  That there is no place for (Hezbollah) in (Lebanon s) future government, if it keeps choosing to be a security and military arm for Iran.  The Lebanese state will have to distance itself in  a real and practical  way from regional wars  so that we don t bear the repercussions of Hezbollah s acts,  he added.  In his resignation speech, Hariri said he feared assassination, railing against Iran and Hezbollah. A Sunni Muslim leader and long-time Saudi ally, Hariri has yet to return to Beirut. In his public comments after quitting, Hariri warned of possible Arab sanctions and a danger to the livelihoods of Lebanese in the Gulf. Hezbollah must stop intervening in regional conflicts, particularly Yemen, he said.   Lebanon s President Michel Aoun has called Hariri a Saudi hostage, refusing to accept his resignation unless he returns to Beirut, and stressing that the government still stands. Saudi Arabia and Hariri say he is a free man. Hariri became prime minister last year in a power-sharing deal that made Aoun, a Hezbollah political ally, president and his coalition government includes Hezbollah.  Rifi criticized Aoun s stance, as well as other Lebanese accusations that Riyadh forced Hariri to quit, as  surprising and unprecedented.  He considered Hariri s resignation constitutional and said Lebanon would have to form a new,  more balanced  government in the near future.  Rifi, a former police chief, resigned as justice minister in 2016 in protest at what he described as Hezbollah s dominant role. He had also heaped criticism on Hariri for nominating another Hezbollah ally to fill the vacant presidency.  From the moment the prime minister uttered his desire to quit, the government became a resigned one,  he said.

Summary: लेबनान के सुन्नी राजनेता ने हिज़्बुल्लाह पर अरब प्रतिबंधों की चेतावनी दी


YANGON (Reuters) - Some human rights advocates say press freedom is under attack in Myanmar, even though decades of rule by a junta that tightly controlled the media has given way to a government led by Nobel peace laureate Aung San Suu Kyi. Myanmar has detained at least 29 journalists in the 20 months since Suu Kyi came to power. While most have since been released on bail, the frequency of arrests - along with the detention last week of two Reuters reporters - has rekindled worries among some journalists trying to cover violence in Rakhine State.  There are too many risks being added to journalists,  said Sonny Swe, chief executive officer and co-founder of Yangon-based magazine Frontier.  I feel that we are not moving forward, but going back in time for freedom of press and speech.  As of December, there were five reporters, including the Reuters pair, behind bars. Reporters Wa Lone and Kyaw Soe Oo - who had worked on Reuters coverage of the crisis in Rakhine - were arrested on Dec. 12 in Yangon. The Ministry of Information said they had  illegally acquired information with the intention to share it with foreign media . They face up to 14 years in prison under the Official Secrets Act. Myanmar authorities have said the case has nothing to do with press freedom.  There are different views, based on where you stand ... There s press freedom in Myanmar as long as you follow the rules and regulations,  Kyaw Soe, director general of the Ministry of Information, told Reuters by phone on Thursday. He declined to comment further. A vibrant domestic media has sprung up since the transition from military rule began in 2011 and pre-publication censorship was lifted in 2012. Nevertheless, this year Myanmar was ranked 131 out of 180 nations for press freedom by Reporters Without Borders - in the bottom third, but ahead of seven countries in the region: Cambodia, Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore, Brunei, Laos and Vietnam.  The authorities continue to exert pressure on the media and even intervene directly to get editorial policies changed,  Reporters Without Borders said in a report this year. Kyaw Zwa Moe, editor of Irrawaddy s English edition, said in a commentary last week that Myanmar does have press freedom,  but with an invisible line .  No one can know where that line is because it s unseen. When you touch or cross it, you re finished,  he wrote. Although she is Myanmar s de facto leader, Suu Kyi is forced to share power with the military, which runs security-related ministries and the police.  Suppression of the media has hardened, rights groups say, since October 2016, when Rohingya Muslim militants attacked security posts in Rakhine state, triggering a military crackdown that right groups say included killings, rape and arson. After further strikes by insurgents on Aug. 25, the military campaign intensified, touching off a mass exodus of Rohingya to Bangladesh, where more than 800,000 now live in refugee camps.  Some local journalists say they cannot report independently from Rakhine State due to harassment and threats from both the authorities and local people, while foreign reporters are denied access to the conflict zone. When Moe Myint, a 29-year-old journalist for the online news site Irrawaddy heard about their arrest, his first thought was:  It could ve been me .  What if the police found out that I carry any controversial document?  he said.  It s a deliberate arrest in order to muzzle media coverage on conflicts in northern Rakhine.  Phil Robertson, deputy Asia director for New York-based Human Rights Watch, said Suu Kyi has  shown scant understanding of the role an independent press plays in a democracy .  The ethnic cleansing in Rakhine state has made the government even more intolerant,  he said. Suu Kyi s spokesman, Zaw Htay, declined to comment on Myanmar s press freedom, but he told Reuters on Sunday:  Your reporters are protected by the rule of the law.  Myanmar has denied most allegations against its security forces in Rakhine, rejecting charges by the United Nations, the United States and others that a campaign of  ethnic cleansing  was waged against the Rohingya. The authorities have accused international media of putting out  fake news  about rights abuses in Rakhine and of  working hand-in-glove  with insurgents. In October last year, spokesman Zaw Htay singled out English-language newspaper Myanmar Times special investigations editor Fiona MacGregor for criticism on his Facebook page.  Days later MacGregor, who had written a report about alleged gang rape by soldiers, was sacked by the paper. When contacted this week, MacGregor declined to add to the comment she made in an interview with Reuters last year, when she said it was  unacceptable that representatives of the democratically elected government would use social media and bullying tactics to suppress stories . Zaw Htay said at the time that he was sorry she had been fired. He said he had  just highlighted she didn t reach other reliable sources and it led to a one-sided news article based on unreliable sources . Rights monitors say the erosion of press freedoms has not been limited to coverage of the Rakhine crisis.  Since April 2016, 21 journalists have been charged or arrested under a telecommunications law that broadly prohibits the use of telecommunications networks to  extort, defame, disturb or intimidate . Critics say it is used to curb criticism of the authorities and reporting of corruption. Suu Kyi s spokesman did not respond to further Reuters requests for comment.

Summary: रॉयटर्स की गिरफ्तारी के बाद, म्यांमार के कुछ पत्रकारों को डर है कि 'यह मैं हो सकता था'


NEW YORK (Reuters) - Anthony Weiner, the disgraced former U.S. congressman, has emerged as an unexpected figure in the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s inquiry into Hillary Clinton’s handling of classified government information on a private email server she used while secretary of state. The FBI said on Friday it is examining newly discovered emails related to the server investigation, giving new life to a scandal less than two weeks before Clinton stands as the Democratic candidate in the U.S. presidential election. The FBI called Clinton’s handling of government secrets “extremely careless” in July after a year-long investigation, but recommended against criminal charges. FBI agents have now found emails on devices belonging to Huma Abedin, one of Clinton’s closest aides, and Weiner, Abedin’s estranged husband, according to unnamed law enforcement officials. A Brooklyn native, Weiner, 52, represented parts of New York City in the U.S. House of Representatives for more than a decade, and his marriage to Abedin was officiated by Bill Clinton, the former U.S. president and Hillary Clinton’s husband. Weiner was best known for his fiery speeches and acerbic, combative wit until 2011, when he was forced to step down after he posted a photograph of his crotch on Twitter. He admitted the picture was a private communication made public by mistake, and that he had been exchanging sexually charged pictures and messages with multiple women. After atoning in press interviews for the strain he placed on his marriage with Abedin, Weiner re-entered public life in 2013 as a candidate for mayor of New York City. The city’s voters for a while embraced his comeback, and he was atop the public polls when revelations broke he had never shaken his sexting habit. He admitted he had continued to swap messages and pictures with women using the alias Carlos Danger. Abedin, who has worked for Clinton since she was 19, decided against joining her husband at the polling booth on the day of Weiner’s loss in the mayoral race, but remained married to him as they raised their young son together. While a diminished Weiner worked as a television commentator, Abedin, who had left the State Department with Clinton in 2013, focused on Clinton’s forthcoming presidential campaign, for which she was appointed vice chairwoman. Clinton rarely appears in public without Abedin somewhere nearby. Multilingual, intensely private and with a glamour validated by Vogue magazine photo shoots, Abedin became a star in her own right as Clinton campaigned across the country, obliging countless requests by Clinton supporters to pose for their smartphone cameras.  No, and this year it reached a breaking point. In August, Abedin announced she was separating from Weiner after a newspaper published a picture Weiner sent to a woman of him lounging on his bed in his underwear; Weiner’s and Abedin’s four-year-old son could be seen at his side. The FBI began investigating after it emerged that one of his sexting partners was 15 years old, a legal minor. The agency seized devices used by both Weiner and Abedin, finding the new email cache soon after. Investigators are looking to see if yet more classified information appears in the new cache. Yes. Clinton’s Republican rival for the presidency has devoted his last few rallies to reveling in the news, a diversion from accusations by multiple women that Trump groped them. Clinton, who remains ahead in public polls, argued on Friday that most voters may have already decided whether or not Clinton’s mishandling of classified information in her emails is disqualifying. Clinton has called Abedin, 40, a surrogate daughter, and the aide was at Clinton’s side even after the news broke on Friday. Her loyalty to Clinton is unmistakable in the hundreds of emails of hers that have already been made public. Abedin has spent more than two decades accruing knowledge of Clinton’s habits, preferences, scheduling and alliances, and may be viewed as irreplaceable.

Summary: फैक्टबॉक्स-कैसे कार्लोस डेंजर क्लिंटन ईमेल घोटाले में उलझ गए


CAPE TOWN (Reuters) - South Africa s main opposition party walked out of parliament on Thursday, saying President Jacob Zuma was refusing to answer questions on how much the state had spent on legal fees fighting corruption allegations against him. The walkout was led by Democratic Alliance leader Mmusi Maimane who asked how much had been spent since 1 May 2009 to defend 783 corruption charges against Zuma that were dropped by the National Prosecuting Authority.  The charges were reinstated by the High Court last year. Zuma lost an appeal to have the charges dropped and is still trying to prevent the NPA from filing the charges.

Summary: जुमा के सवालों के बीच दक्षिण अफ्रीका में विपक्ष ने संसद से वॉकआउट किया


SAN FRANCISCO/WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A U.S. judge on Wednesday refused to block President Donald Trump’s decision to end subsidy payments to health insurers under Obamacare, handing Trump a victory against Democratic attorneys general who have regularly challenged the president’s policies in court. U.S. District Judge Vince Chhabria in San Francisco said the federal government did not have to make the payments while litigation over the subsidies unfolds. Chhabria, appointed by former Democratic President Barack Obama, wrote that although the case appeared to be a close call, “it appears initially that the Trump administration has the stronger legal argument.” The Trump administration this month terminated the payments to the insurers, which help cover medical expenses for low-income Americans, as part of several moves to dismantle Obama’s signature healthcare law formally known as the Affordable Care Act. Democratic attorneys general have repeatedly opposed Trump in court this year over immigration, the environment and healthcare.  After Trump’s decision to end the insurance subsidies, 18 states and the District of Columbia asked for an immediate order halting Trump’s move while the case is being litigated. They argued that terminating the payments harmed customers by raising insurance rates. In his ruling, Chhabria said the kind of emergency order requested by the states was not necessary.  “The truth is that most state regulators have devised responses that give millions of lower-income people better health coverage options than they would otherwise have had,” Chhabria said.  “This is true in almost all the states joining this lawsuit,” the judge added. U.S. Justice Department spokeswoman Lauren Ehrsam said the subsidy payments usurped Congress’ spending power and that the department was pleased with Chhabria’s ruling. California Attorney General Xavier Becerra, who is leading the lawsuit, said in a statement that Trump’s decision undermined payments that keep healthcare affordable. “Without an emergency order halting the Trump action, swift action in this litigation becomes even more compelling,” he said. U.S. Senator Patty Murray, a Washington state Democrat, said the ruling “only makes it more critical” that the Senate pass a bipartisan agreement she co-authored, which would authorize the subsidies. Earlier on Wednesday, the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office found that the proposal would cut the U.S. deficit by $3.8 billion over the next decade. The subsidies were amounting to nearly $600 million a month. They were due to cost $7 billion this year and were estimated to grow to $10 billion for 2018, according to congressional analysts. With the beginning of enrollment for 2018 insurance policies on Obamacare exchanges set for Nov. 1, Chhabria suggested that the states focus on communicating the message that they have devised a response to the subsidy cuts that prevents harm to a large number of people.  “If the states are so concerned that people will be scared away from the exchanges by the thought of higher premiums, perhaps they should stop yelling about higher premiums,” Chhabria wrote. Insurers say they do not profit from the subsidies under the Affordable Care Act, but pass them on directly to consumers to reduce deductibles, co-payments and other out-of-pocket medical expenses for low-income people. Premiums for Obamacare “silver” plans, generally the most popular type of health insurance plan on the individual health insurance market, rose 34 percent on average for 2018, according to an analysis published on Wednesday by Avalere Health, a research and consulting firm.

Summary: न्यायाधीश ने ओबामाकेयर सब्सिडी को पुनर्जीवित करने के लिए 18 राज्यों की बोली को खारिज कर दिया


NAIROBI (Reuters) - Nurses in Kenya have ended a five-month-old strike over delays to agreed wage rises, a union official said on Thursday, just as university lecturers began a similar action over their pay and benefits. The nurses  strike had brought health services to a halt in many parts of the country, with patients being sent away from some government-run hospitals. Their pay deal was meant to have been approved in June by the union, the national government and county governments, but the state commission that advises on public sector pay rejected it shortly afterwards.  We have asked all nurses to resume duty latest by Friday,  union head Seth Panyako told Reuters, adding that an agreement had been reached with the government. Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta won a second term in a re-run election on Oct. 26 after his initial victory in August was nullified by the electoral commission because of procedural irregularities. Panyako said a collective bargaining agreement would be signed in 30 days  time. Kenyan public servants often strike over pay inequalities. The country s members of parliament are among the world s most well-paid, taking home around 1.2 million shillings  ($11,577.42) per month, including allowances, says Justine Musila of the parliamentary watchdog website Mzalendo. In contrast, basic salaries for lecturers at public universities range from 69,000 shillings to 200,000 shillings each month, before allowances. A newly-qualified doctor typically earns about 156,000 shillings a month.     On Thursday, lecturers also launched a strike to protest against what they described as the government s continued failure to implement a deal signed in March to boost salaries and housing allowances. That pact, which provided for a pay hike of 17.5 percent and an increase of 3.9 percent in housing allowances, ended a previous 54-day strike over pay that also affected the more than half a million students in Kenya s 31 public universities.   All academic staff at the 31 public universities are on strike from November 1,  Constantine Wasonga, secretary general of the University Academic Staff Union, said in a statement seen by Reuters on Thursday.  The strike remains in force until the collective bargaining agreement is implemented in total.

Summary: केन्या की नर्सों ने अपनी हड़ताल वापस ले ली क्योंकि व्याख्याताओं ने कार्रवाई की


DANANG, Vietnam (Reuters) - Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Saturday he had a normal dialogue with U.S. leader Donald Trump at a summit in Vietnam, and described Trump as civil, well-educated, and comfortable to deal with. Putin said that a mooted bilateral sit-down meeting with Trump did not happen at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit, citing scheduling issues on both sides and unspecified protocol issues. Putin, at a briefing for reporters at the end of the summit, said there was still a need for further U.S.-Russia contacts, both at the level of heads of state and their officials, to discuss issues including security and economic development.

Summary: वियतनाम शिखर सम्मेलन में ट्रंप के साथ उपयोगी बातचीत हुईः पुतिन


WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Seven email chains from the private server Hillary Clinton used when she was U.S. secretary of state are being withheld from public release for containing “top secret” material, the Associated Press reported on Friday, without citing a source. The U.S. State Department is scheduled to release another batch of emails from Clinton’s server on Friday. Clinton, who is seeking the Democratic presidential nomination, has been embroiled in a controversy about her use of a private server for government business.

Summary: क्लिंटन सर्वर से सात ईमेल श्रृंखलाओं में 'शीर्ष गुप्त' सामग्री हैः एपी


ISTANBUL (Reuters) - Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan leapt to the defence of an Ottoman military commander on Wednesday after the United Arab Emirates foreign minister retweeted accusations that Ottoman forces looted the holy city of Medina during World War One. Erdogan appeared to be responding to a tweet shared on Saturday by UAE Foreign Minister Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahayan, which said Ottoman troops led by Fakhreddin Pasha stole money and manuscripts from Medina in 1916. The tweet also said Turkish forces abducted residents of Medina and took them to Istanbul.  These are Erdogan s ancestors, and their history with Arab Muslims,  read the tweet,  originally posted by someone identifying themselves as an Iraqi dentist from Germany. Medina, now part of Saudi Arabia, was part of the Ottoman territory for centuries until the empire s collapse at the end of World War One. In a speech to local administrators, Erdogan said Fahreddin Pasha had not stolen from Medina or its people, but strived to protect the city and its occupants during a time of war.  Those miserable people who are delirious enough to shamelessly and tirelessly say Erdogan s ancestors stole sacred items from there and brought them to Istanbul - it was to protect them from the people that came to invade,  he said. The United Arab Emirates, a close U.S. ally, sees Erdogan s Islamist-rooted ruling party as a friend of Islamist forces which the UAE opposes across the Arab world. Relations were further strained by Ankara s support for Qatar after Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Bahrain and Egypt imposed sanctions on the Gulf emirate in June. Two months later, Sheikh Abdullah criticised what he called Turkey and Iran s  colonial  actions in Syria, even though Turkey and the UAE have both opposed Syria President Bashar al-Assad. Erdogan s spokesman Ibrahim Kalin has also responded to Sheikh Abdullah s comments, saying it was a shame that he  retweets this propaganda lie that seeks to turn Turks & Arabs against one another, again.   Is attacking President Erdo an at all costs the new fashion now?  Kalin tweeted on Tuesday.

Summary: तुर्की के एर्दोगन ने संयुक्त अरब अमीरात के मंत्री की आलोचना को रीट्वीट करने के बाद तुर्क कमांडर का बचाव किया


LONDON (Reuters) - British ministers rallied around Boris Johnson on Sunday, saying the foreign secretary was doing a  great job  and had no reason to resign over remarks that critics say may prompt Iran to extend the prison sentence of a jailed aid worker. The coordinated defense is part of attempts to shore up the government of Prime Minister Theresa May, weakened by a series of scandals and gaffes involving her top team of ministers as she negotiates Britain s departure from the European Union. The leader of Britain s main opposition Labour Party, Jeremy Corbyn, called on May to sack Johnson, writing in the Observer newspaper on Sunday that  we ve put up with him embarrassing and undermining our country through his incompetence ... for long enough. It s time for Boris Johnson to go . Corbyn, and London Mayor Sadiq Khan, also a Labour member, said Johnson had offended states and religions before  bungling  the case of Iranian-British aid worker Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe, in prison after being convicted of plotting to overthrow Iran s clerical establishment. She denies the charges. But two of his allies, Brexit minister David Davis and environment minister Michael Gove, defended Johnson, who last week said he could have been clearer in his remark that Zaghari-Ratcliffe had been teaching people journalism before her arrest in April 2016. Zaghari-Ratcliffe s employer, the Thomson Reuters Foundation, a charity organization, said Johnson s comment made on Nov. 1 was incorrect, while opposition British lawmakers said the remarks could land the aid worker a longer term in jail. The Thomson Reuters Foundation is independent of Thomson Reuters and operates independently of Reuters News.  Why would you want to sack him? He s a good foreign secretary,  Davis told Sky News.  Gove urged critics to stop focusing on Johnson s role in the case and instead to question the motivation of what he called  the Iranian regime  in jailing Zaghari-Ratcliffe.  There is no reason, no excuse and no justification for her detention and she should be released,  he told the BBC s Andrew Marr show. A Foreign Office source later said Johnson had held a  very constructive  phone call with her husband, Richard Ratcliffe, who has called on the minister to visit his wife in jail. The show of support for Johnson from fellow Brexit campaigners demonstrates the difficulties May faces in keeping her cabinet unified on a range of issues. She lost two of her ministers in a week: Michael Fallon quit as defense minister in a growing sexual harassment scandal and then Priti Patel was forced out of her job as aid minister over undisclosed meetings with Israeli officials.  Forty members of the Conservative Party have agreed to sign a letter of no-confidence in the prime ministers, eight short of the number needed to trigger a leadership contest, the Sunday Times newspaper reported.

Summary: ब्रिटेन के मंत्रियों ने ईरान को लेकर विदेश मंत्री जॉनसन के आसपास रैली की


WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Democratic Republic of Congo s electoral commission is expected to announce in the coming days that a vote to replace President Joseph Kabila cannot take place until the end of 2018 at the earliest, people familiar with the process said. If confirmed, the decision could anger Congo s political opposition, which had struck a deal with Kabila for a ballot by the end of 2017. Kabila s refusal to step down at the end of his second elected term in December 2016 sparked protests that killed dozens of people and raised fears that the chronically unstable country could slide back into civil war. Term limits preclude him from running again. The independent commission believes it cannot complete preparations to ensure a secure, transparent election until December 2018, said the two sources from Congo, who spoke to Reuters in Washington on condition of anonymity ahead of an official announcement. Even that 2018 date presumes that there will be significant domestic and international support for the election, which is expected to cost $526 million to carry out, excluding expenses for registering voters. Without sufficient support, preparations for the election could take even longer, pushing the vote to May or July of 2019, the first source said. One of the big challenges is a lack of trust within Congo about the political process itself, the sources said. Securing international support for the new date will also be vital, since a global backlash could trigger more infighting in Congo.  There is mistrust between actors, especially political actors,  the first source said.  No one trusts nobody. And this mistrust is ... also even toward the electoral process.   For example, any U.S. decision to contest the new date could  put in motion contestations of the calendar and delay, again, the elections,  the second source said.  Government spokesman Lambert Mende said the electoral commission was independent of the administration and had sole responsibility for setting the election calendar. The stakes are high. Resource-rich Congo, which gained independence from colonial power Belgium in 1960, has never had a peaceful transition of power. Kabila s opponents have long suspected he intends to repeatedly delay elections until he can organize a referendum to let himself stand for a third term, as his counterparts in the neighboring Congo Republic and Rwanda have done. Kabila denies those accusations, saying the election delays stemmed from budgetary constraints and the challenge of registering millions of voters. Congo is moving toward  credible, transparent and peaceful elections,  he told the United Nations last month. The first source also cited several hurdles to preparing for the next election, including completing a $400 million effort to register Congo s 45 million voters and ensure that none of them can cast more than one ballot. Some 42 million people have been registered so far. Once registration is complete, Congo s parliament must approve a law on distribution of parliamentary seats that will also be up for election. Then the country s hundreds of political parties need to nominate candidates for the posts, the first source said. As a result, voters are likely to have to choose from tens of thousands of candidates for hundreds of parliamentary and provincial government seats on the presidential ballot.  Millions of newspaper-sized packets of ballot paper need to be printed, probably in China or South Africa, and distributed, the sources said. Congo will need logistics support as well, including leased aircraft from the United Nations. The nation must also guarantee security for voters, which is no small task.  In the central Congo Kasai provinces, an insurrection by the Kamuina Nsapu militia, which demands the withdrawal of Congolese forces from the area, has driven 1.4 million people from their homes and killed more than 3,000 since August 2016. A rebel spokesman in eastern Congo said on Sept. 29 that his forces intended to march across the country to the capital Kinshasa to depose Kabila.      No security, no election in that area,  the first source said. U.S. President Donald Trump said last month that the United States was deeply disturbed by violence in South Sudan and Democratic Republic of Congo and that he would send U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley to Africa to discuss conflict prevention.     Kabila took power in 2001 after the assassination of his father, Laurent Kabila, an ex-rebel who had forced out President Mobutu Sese Seko. Joseph Kabila won elections in 2006 and 2011, but both were marred by violence. People are also restless over the state of the economy. Although it has big reserves of gold, cobalt, diamonds, tin and coltan, which is used in laptops and mobile phones, the vast country has been hit by the fall in global commodity prices.

Summary: एक्सक्लूसिवः कांगो चुनाव को 2018 के अंत तक पीछे धकेलने के लिए तैयार है-सूत्र