KABUL (Reuters) - With so much riding on American support, Afghanistan is waiting anxiously to see if President-elect Donald Trump matches his maverick image and reverses policy or keeps to a path that has cost billions and committed thousands of troops to propping up a fragile ally. Much to the private annoyance of officials in Kabul, America’s longest war barely featured in the election campaign, but few were expecting the billionaire property developer to beat former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. “It’s been a complete surprise,” said one senior Afghan official closely involved in national security issues. “I think everyone was expecting the opposite result. “It (Afghanistan) wasn’t a priority in the campaign, that’s obvious. No one talked about Afghanistan at all. At least with Mrs. Clinton, though, you knew more or less what you were getting.” Afghanistan will nonetheless present the incoming Trump administration with one of its most intractable foreign policy challenges. The United States has spent some $115 billion in aid for Afghanistan, but 15 years after the hardline Islamist Taliban were toppled after the Sept. 11 attacks, a third of the country is out of government control and security forces are struggling. As recently as last week two U.S. service members were killed fighting the Taliban near the northern city of Kunduz, and expectations that Afghan security forces could survive without extensive foreign assistance have proved illusory. Faced with a mounting Taliban insurgency, Obama dropped his original aim of pulling out of Afghanistan entirely. In July, he decided to keep 8,400 U.S. troops in Afghanistan, shelving earlier plans to bring the numbers down to 5,500 and leaving it to his successor to decide how to move forward. Before the election, U.S. officials told partners that Afghanistan, whose war-ruined economy depends heavily on billions of dollars in foreign aid, will not be neglected by the new administration and that ties will remain strong and close. “You can be assured that Afghanistan will remain at the highest levels of our foreign policy agenda,” Ambassador Michael McKinley told an election day party at the U.S. embassy in Kabul, before the final results of the ballot were in. However, Trump’s “America First” doctrine has left many wondering if he will be willing to continue spending billions of dollars funding Afghanistan, particularly given his declaration that: “We’re getting out of the nation-building business”. Among Afghans who use social media, a sense that the incoming president is opposed to their old enemy Pakistan made some hope his election would be good for Afghanistan, but there is little to go on for those trying to parse his public remarks. So far, he has shown little interest in Afghanistan, although his most recent comments suggested he favored keeping troop numbers at around 5,500, the level they were intended to reach by the end of the year before Obama shelved the plan and set the number at 8,400. But in other comments, he has described America’s involvement in Afghanistan as “a terrible mistake” and appeared to set conditions on the U.S. commitment to NATO, which leads the Resolute Support advise-and-assist mission in Afghanistan. Security officials in Kabul say the threat that Islamic State militants could build their presence in Afghanistan should act as an incentive to keep a U.S. force in place, although they admit they remain in the dark about Trump’s intentions. “As Trump promised during his campaign that he would eliminate Daesh (Islamic State), we don’t think he would withdraw American forces from Afghanistan as Daesh is a new threat for Afghanistan and the region,” said one official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the issue. “But we are still in a state of uncertainty and we will wait and see what Trump has for Afghanistan,” he added. The decision will be vital for a country that is likely to depend on American support for years to come. “The United States will almost certainly continue to be the leading source of both military and civilian reconstruction aid to Afghanistan for years to come,” the latest report from the Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction, a Congressional oversight body, said only last month. In an interview with CNN television last year, Trump himself appeared to accept that it was too late to pull U.S. forces out. “And at this point, you probably have to stay because that thing will collapse about two seconds after they leave,” he said, in the interview in October, 2015.

Summary: अनिश्चित अफगानिस्तान सैनिकों, सहायता पर निर्णय के लिए ट्रम्प की ओर देख रहा है


WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States and Russia have agreed to continue diplomatic efforts to resolve the crisis over North Korea s development of nuclear missiles capable of hitting the United States and emphasized that neither accept Pyongyang as a nuclear power, the U.S. State Department said on Wednesday. State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert said Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov spoke by telephone on Tuesday, after Washington and the United Nations both announced sanctions against North Korea in recent days.  The two discussed concerns related to the DPRK s destabilizing nuclear program and emphasized that neither the United States nor Russia accepts the DPRK as a nuclear power,  Nauert said in a statement, using the acronym for North Korea s official name, the Democratic People s Republic of Korea. She said both sides agreed to continue working toward a diplomatic way to achieve a denuclearized Korean peninsula. On Tuesday, Russia reiterated an offer to mediate to ease tensions between Washington and Pyongyang that have raised fears of a new conflict on the peninsula. Moscow said Lavrov told Tillerson  Washington s aggressive rhetoric  and beefing up of its military presence in the region had heightened tension and was unacceptable. Russia has repeatedly called for talks to resolve the crisis and said Lavrov underscored the need for  the fastest move to the negotiating process from the language of sanctions.  Tillerson has emphasized diplomacy but the administration of President Donald Trump has repeatedly warned that all options, including military ones, are on the table regarding North Korea. In October, Trump said Tillerson was  wasting his time  trying to negotiate with North Korea and this month the White House followed up an offer by the secretary of state to begin talks with no pre-conditions by saying that no negotiations could be held until North Korea improves its behavior. Washington announced sanctions on two of the most prominent officials behind North Korea s ballistic missile program on Tuesday, its latest steps in a global campaign aimed at forcing North Korea to abandon its weapons programs. On Friday the U.N. Security Council agreed on new sanctions in response to North Korea s Nov. 29 test of a missile that Pyongyang said put all of the U.S. mainland within range of its nuclear weapons. North Korea declared the U.N. steps to be an act of war and tantamount to a complete economic blockade.

Summary: टिलरसन, लावरोव उत्तर कोरिया की कूटनीति जारी रखने के लिए सहमतः अमेरिकी विदेश विभाग


WILMINGTON, N.C. (Reuters) - Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump suggested on Tuesday that gun rights activists could act to stop Democratic rival Hillary Clinton from nominating liberal U.S. Supreme Court justices, igniting yet another fire storm of criticism just as he sought to steer clear of controversy. “If she gets to pick her judges, nothing you can do folks,” Trump said at a rally. “Although the Second Amendment people, maybe there is, I don’t know,” he continued. The U.S. Constitution’s Second Amendment guarantees the right to bear firearms. Before the remark, Trump had been emphasizing his case against Clinton, who is leading in national opinion polls in the race for the Nov. 8 election. Some in the audience in North Carolina who were seated behind Trump could be seen wincing when he made the comment. Clinton’s campaign called the remark “dangerous.” “A person seeking to be the president of the United States should not suggest violence in any way,” it said.   When asked to clarify what Trump meant, his campaign said he was referring to getting supporters of the Second Amendment to rally votes for Trump in the election. “It’s called the power of unification – 2nd Amendment people have amazing spirit and are tremendously unified, which gives them great political power,” the Trump campaign said in its statement. Immediately after Trump made his comment, many on social media accused him of effectively calling for Clinton’s assassination. In just three hours, 2nd amendment became the top trending topic on Twitter, with more than 60,000 posts mentioning the term. Introducing Trump later at another rally in North Carolina, in Fayetteville, former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani accused the news media of taking the remark out of context to help Clinton get elected. “What he meant by that was you have the power to vote against her,” Giuliani said to cheers. “You have the power to speak against her. You know why? Because you’re Americans.” “It proves that most of the press is in the tank for Hillary Clinton,” he added. “They are doing everything they can to destroy Donald Trump.” The U.S. Secret Service, which provides security details for both Trump and Clinton and rarely comments on political matters, when asked for a response on Trump, said: “The Secret Service is aware of the comment.”      Trump later told Fox News Channel’s “Hannity” program that “nobody in that room” thought he meant anything other than to rally support against Clinton. “This is a strong powerful movement, the Second Amendment,” Trump said. “Hillary wants to take your guns away. She wants to leave you unprotected in your home.  This is a tremendous political movement.” By day’s end, Trump was drawing criticism on several fronts, another chapter in a campaign marked by bitterness and  partisanship. Michael Hayden, a former CIA director who on Monday was among 50 Republican national security experts to denounce Trump in a letter, said on CNN, “You’re not just responsible for what you say. You are responsible for what people hear.” U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren, a liberal firebrand who loves tweaking Trump, tweeted that the Republican nominee “makes death threats because he’s a pathetic coward who can’t handle the fact that he’s losing to a girl.” Trump senior adviser Kellyanne Conway fought back in a tweet of her own, calling Warren a “disgrace.” Gun rights, which have long stirred strong emotions in America, have been a particularly potent issue in the 2016 presidential campaign as violence has convulsed some U.S. cities. Trump has planted himself firmly on the side of gun owners with a “law and order” campaign. Before his remark about Clinton on Tuesday, he had said Islamic State militants who killed 130 people in France last year could have been stopped if some of the victims had been armed. The Clinton campaign has challenged Trump when in the past he has accused her of planning to abolish the Second Amendment if elected president. Clinton, in her acceptance speech at the Democratic National Convention, said, “I’m not here to repeal the Second Amendment,” saying she wanted “common-sense reforms” to gun laws. Tuesday’s speech came on the heels of a discordant week on the campaign trail for Trump, a businessman seeking his first public office. He came under fire from within his party for belatedly endorsing fellow Republicans in re-election races and a prolonged clash with the parents of fallen Muslim American Army captain Humayun Khan. On Monday, Trump seemed to be heeding Republican advice to stick to a message of criticizing Clinton and other Democrats while putting forward economic policy proposals in a speech in Detroit. Trump’s vice presidential running mate, Mike Pence, asked if he believed Trump was inciting violence toward Clinton, told NBC’s Philadelphia affiliate: “Of course not. No.” But Democrats called Trump’s remarks another sign of a candidate unfit for the White House. “Don’t treat this as a political misstep. It’s an assassination threat, seriously upping the possibility of a national tragedy & crisis,” U.S. Senator Chris Murphy, a Democrat, said in a tweet. Overall sentiment on social media posts on Trump’s remarks was more negative than positive, at a ratio of 2.5 to 1, according to the social media analytics firm Zoomph. #ProtectHillary was also one of the top trending hashtags on Twitter. The 50 prominent national security officials said in their letter on Monday that Trump would be “the most reckless president in American history.” “He appears to lack basic knowledge about and belief in the U.S. Constitution, U.S. laws and U.S. institutions, including religious tolerance, freedom of the press, and an independent judiciary,” their statement said.

Summary: बंदूक अधिकारों पर ट्रम्प की टिप्पणी, क्लिंटन ने की आलोचनाओं की झड़ी


WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump intends to nominate attorney Kevin McIntyre to be chairman of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, the White House said on Thursday. McIntyre, an attorney with the Jones Day firm, would need to be confirmed by the Senate. FERC regulates interstate transmission of electricity, natural gas and crude oil.

Summary: एफ. ई. आर. सी. की अध्यक्षता के लिए वकील केविन मैकइंटायर को नामित करेंगे ट्रम्पः व्हाइट हाउस


BRUSSELS (Reuters) - European Union leaders sought to minimize Spain s crisis with Catalonia on Thursday and avoid encouraging separatists across the bloc, describing Barcelona s secession bid as a domestic issue and declining a mediation role.  Leaders did not hold a discussion of Catalonia s bid to break away from Spain and judged they had nothing to gain by angering Madrid, diplomats said.  It is not on our agenda,  European Council President Donald Tusk told reporters during the EU summit.  All of us have our own emotions, opinions, assessments but formally speaking there is no space for an EU intervention.  The approach contrasted with EU strategies on almost every other major issue over the past decade, including Greece s financial crash and mass migration flows from Syria. On countless occasions, EU leaders have used late-night summits to press for a common decision or joint policy statement.  It s an internal Spanish matter,  Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte told reporters, a position echoed by French President Emmanuel Macron, who held a private meeting with Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy on the sidelines of the summit.   He (Macron) has complete confidence in Rajoy to resolve the situation,  a French diplomat told Reuters. Spain s government is set to suspend Catalonia s autonomy and impose direct rule after the region s leader threatened to go ahead with a formal declaration of independence if Madrid refused to hold talks. Rajoy kept a low profile at the summit while his fellow leaders held news conferences on Thursday. German Chancellor Angela Merkel said she hoped there were solutions  on the grounds of the Spanish constitution.  Despite some disquiet over the way Rajoy handled a Catalan independence referendum on Oct. 1, which Madrid said was illegal and sent in police to disrupt voting, countries fear making any remarks that could embolden separatists at home. From Scotland to Flanders and Lombardy, the 2007-09 financial crisis, unemployment and migration have allowed separatists, anti-EU and populist parties to feed off discontent with political elites and reopen regional divisions.  As Britain negotiates its exit from the EU, few leaders want to wade into another highly complex negotiation bringing new economic uncertainty and legal disruption. Smaller EU countries such as Slovenia that emerged as sovereign states after the end of the Cold War are equally uncomfortable about inspiring secessionists across the bloc. They rely on Spain, a large euro zone economy, for investment. Even in Western Balkan countries aspiring to join the European Union, there is a reluctance to fuel calls for regional autonomy at home. Spain is one of five EU countries that has yet to recognize Kosovo s independence.  There is not much to gain from backing Barcelona and a lot to lose from angering Madrid,  said a senior EU diplomat at the EU summit.

Summary: कैटेलोनिया को यूरोपीय संघ के नेताओं के बीच कोई दोस्त नहीं मिला


ANKARA (Reuters) - Turkish authorities arrested four people over Wednesday s explosion in a storage tank at a Tupras refinery which killed four people, the state-run Anadolu news agency said on Saturday. The explosion occurred following maintenance work at the refinery in the western Turkish province of Izmir, wounding two other workers, but had no impact on production. On Thursday, authorities had detained seven people over the blast, of which four have been formally arrested and three have been released on probation. The report gave no details of what charges the four may face.

Summary: तुर्की ने टुप्रास रिफाइनरी में विस्फोट के मामले में चार लोगों को गिरफ्तार कियाः अनादोलु


DALLAS (Reuters) - Former U.S. President George W. Bush on Tuesday entered the debate over the Trans-Pacific Partnership, hosting a forum at his presidential library extolling his successor’s Asian free trade deal. Bush, who signed several such accords during his two terms in office, met with U.S. Trade Representative Michael Froman before the event to promote the strategic benefits of the agreement. President Barack Obama is still pushing for Congress to approve the 12-country TPP following the Nov. 8 presidential election, even though both Republican Donald Trump and Democrat Hillary Clinton oppose it.  Bush, who has largely stayed out of the campaign - in which Trump’s anti-trade rhetoric fueled his rise to the Republican nomination - did not attend the forum at the George W. Bush Institute in Dallas. “I’m very grateful for him welcoming me to this institute and having the institute host this important conversation,” Froman told the audience of largely business people after his meeting with Bush. “And I’m very grateful for his support of free trade as well.”  Ken Hersh, director of the Bush Institute, called TPP “a no-brainer on a whole host of fronts.”  The forum followed a similar event on Monday night in Houston where Froman enlisted the help of another Republican free-trader, James Baker, who served the administrations of Ronald Reagan and George H.W. Bush as secretary of the Treasury and secretary of state, respectively. “Both major party candidates for the presidency oppose the Trans-Pacific Partnership, or TPP. And guess what? They’re both wrong,” Baker, 86, said at the Rice University institute that bears his name. “I’ve often found myself in disagreement with President Obama. But on TPP I am with him, and I am with him 100 percent,” Baker added. In a speech at the Houston event, Froman emphasized the need for TPP as a counterbalance to China’s growing economic and political influence in Asia, citing its own regional trade deal and more assertive stance in the South China Sea.   “If we don’t act, it will create a vacuum. These economies aren’t going to stand still. Beijing will step in to fill the void,” Froman said.   At the Bush Institute, Susan Schwab, who served as George W. Bush’s last trade representative, said failure to pass TPP would mark an abdication of U.S. leadership. “There are countries out there that would dearly love to see the United States fall on its face by not enacting, by not ratifying this deal,” she said.

Summary: पूर्व राष्ट्रपति जॉर्ज डब्ल्यू बुश ने अमेरिकी व्यापार बहस में पैर रखा


ANKARA (Reuters) - Turkey summoned the German ambassador to Ankara on Saturday over what it said was a Kurdish militant rally in Cologne, the foreign ministry said, in a further sign of strained relations between the NATO allies.  We condemn the organization of a rally in the German city of Cologne by the extensions of the PKK terrorist organizations, and the allowing of terror propaganda. We have voiced our reaction in a strong manner to Germany s ambassador to Ankara, who was called to the ministry,  it said. State-run Anadolu news agency said some 3,000 Kurdish supporters demonstrated in Cologne on Saturday carrying posters calling for the release of Abdullah Ocalan, the jailed leader of the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), which is listed as a terrorist group by the European Union and the United States, and is banned in Germany. Turkey has accused Germany of not doing enough to stop PKK activities.  The double standard approach Germany has been following with regards to the global fight against terrorism is worrying. We call on Germany to show a principled stance against all kinds of terror,  the ministry said. Relations with Europe, particularly Germany, have been strained since President Tayyip Erdogan launched a crackdown after a failed coup last year. More than 50,000 people have been jailed pending trial and some 150,000 people, including journalists and opposition figures, have been sacked or suspended from their jobs. Germany has criticized the mass arrests, refused to extradite people Turkey says were involved in the putsch attempt and demanded the release of around a dozen German citizens arrested in recent months.

Summary: तुर्की ने कोलोन में कुर्द रैली को लेकर जर्मन राजदूत को तलब किया


BANGKOK (Reuters) - In his dark suit, Thai junta leader Prayuth Chan-ocha cut an incongruous figure guiding a rice tractor across a muddy paddy field in front of cameras and watching villagers. The prime minister s latest photo opportunity won applause from farmers watching in straw hats and his visit to Suphan Buri on Monday brought a call from a local political bigwig for him to stay in power for another decade. Political activities in Thailand have been suspended since Prayuth s 2014 coup, but Thai politicians are asking whether what looks like campaigning is exactly what it seems. The trips to the countryside, a new Facebook account and a chorus of political groups offering support are raising suspicions of a plan to keep Prayuth in power even if long-promised elections happen next year.  It s not beyond expectations that he is out campaigning in the provinces to prepare to become prime minister again,  said Chaturon Chaisang, a leader of the Pheu Thai party, which under various names has won every election for a generation. Since August, Prayuth has visited six provinces, including places traditionally considered important battlegrounds for elections. Such trips with his cabinet will now be monthly. In the previous three years, he had only taken two such trips outside Bangkok.  I am not here to make people love me, but I want everyone to love the country,  Prayuth, 63, told farmers in Suphan Buri, 100 km (60 miles) north of Bangkok.  Said 60-year-old farmer Samruay Tongpratet:  If the prime minister can truly help the poor then he can stay as long as he wants.   Prayuth s office declined to comment on any plan to keep him in power.  Politics will not resume until well after the cremation next month of the revered King Bhumibol Adulyadej, who died last October, and the subsequent coronation of his son, King Maha Vajiralongkorn.  In the meantime, Prayuth has the field to himself.   That s why he needed to hold these mobile cabinet meetings in the provinces, act more like a politician, hold rallies, and meet the people,  said Thitinan Pongsudhirak, director of the Institute of Security and International Studies at Chulalongkorn University, noting the signs that Prayuth wants to stay longer.  Last month, Prayuth set up a Facebook page with pictures of him walking with his arm around a farmer s shoulder and giving alms to monks. It now has nearly 11,000 likes. A poll in June showed that 53 percent of Thais would like Prayuth to serve another term. Although Thailand s economic growth lags other countries in Southeast Asia and dissent is strongly repressed, surveys show that Prayuth s backers welcome the stability since the coup. Whether that calm survives electioneering is another question after over a decade of turmoil between colour-coded factions that Prayuth said he sought to end with his coup. On one side is the  yellow  Democrat Party, which is popular with middle-class voters and has strong support in Bangkok and parts of the south. On the other side is the  red  movement of ousted Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, whose parties appeal to poorer voters, particularly in the populous northeast. Thaksin s sister, Yingluck Shinawatra, was overthrown by Prayuth in the 2014 coup and last month fled Thailand ahead of a verdict in a corruption trial - eliminating a charismatic party figurehead who might also have rallied opposition to Prayuth. Although he cannot technically stand for election because he would have needed to resign by July, a new constitution drawn up at the junta s behest does offer him a route.  He could be chosen as an  outside prime minister  - foreseen under the constitution if the winning party fails to get enough votes for its candidate in the 500-member lower house of parliament. In such a case, the upper house would also have a say - its 250 members will be picked by the military. Prayuth would still need support from at least half the lower house, however. Although neither of Thailand s two main political parties has said it would endorse him, smaller players are mobilizing. Paiboon Nititawan, a former member of a now-defunct reform council, has set up an office for a new People s Reform Party to back Prayuth.  Suchart Chantharachotikul, a classmate of Prayuth from military school, told Reuters he is coordinating smaller parties to form a grouping to back the junta leader.   Prayuth s military government isn t perfect, but they took care of problems like unrest. It wouldn t be so strange if he stays on for another four years,  Suchart said. A composer of sentimental ballads, Prayuth has dropped hints in his music of a longer term political future. His latest song,  Bridge , repeats a message that he will stay as long as it takes to steer Thailand through troubled waters.  My two hands won t let you go,  says one refrain.

Summary: थाई जुंटा नेता, समर्थकों ने सत्ता में बने रहने की योजना के संदेह को हवा दी


LONDON (Reuters) - British lawmakers on Tuesday voted in favor of the government s proposed timetable for debating legislation designed to sever political, financial and legal ties with the European Union. Many had complained that the eight days set out by the government for line-by-line scrutiny of the EU withdrawal bill was not long enough for such an important piece of legislation. But lawmakers voted by 318 to 301 to support the so-called program motion, which sets out the timetable for the remaining stages of the bill s progress through parliament s lower House of Commons.

Summary: ब्रिटेन के सांसदों ने यूरोपीय संघ से वापसी विधेयक पर बहस के लिए सरकार की प्रस्तावित समय सारिणी का समर्थन किया


LONDON (Reuters) - Britain has suspended its training program for military in Myanmar due to the violence in Rakhine state, a British government spokesman said on Tuesday. Human rights monitors and fleeing Rohingya say the army and Rakhine Buddhist vigilantes have mounted a campaign of arson aimed at driving out the Muslim population.  In light of the ongoing violence in Burma s Rakhine State, the growing humanitarian crisis it has caused, and our deep concern about the human rights abuses that are taking place, we have decided to suspend the educational courses provided to the Burmese military until there is an acceptable resolution to the current situation,  the spokesman said in a statement.  We call on the Burmese Armed Forces to take immediate steps to stop the violence in Rakhine and ensure the protection of all civilians, to allow full access for humanitarian aid.

Summary: हिंसा के बाद ब्रिटेन ने म्यांमार की सेना के प्रशिक्षण को निलंबित किया


MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russia designated Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL) and Voice of America (VOA) as  foreign agents  on Tuesday, a move aimed at complicating their work in retaliation for what Moscow says is unacceptable U.S. pressure on Russian media. Russia s broadside is likely to further sour battered U.S.-Russia relations and is part of the fallout from allegations that the Kremlin meddled in the U.S. presidential election last year in Donald Trump s favor, something Moscow denies.  U.S. intelligence officials accused the Kremlin of using Russian media it finances to influence U.S. voters, and Russian state broadcaster RT last month reluctantly complied with a U.S. request to register a U.S.-based affiliate as a  foreign agent  under the Foreign Agent Registration Act.  The Kremlin called the move an attack on free speech and says the new media law in Russia, which Western critics have called a disproportionate response, is retaliation. Moscow s response was widely trailed. Russian lawmakers rushed through the necessary legislation last month and President Vladimir Putin signed off on it on Nov. 25. Russia s justice ministry said in a statement on its website on Tuesday it had now formally designated U.S. government-sponsored VOA and RFE/RL, along with seven separate Russian or local-language news outlets run by RFE/RL, as  fulfilling the role of foreign agents . RFE/RL President Thomas Kent said in a video statement his organization was committed to continuing its journalistic work in Russia, but was expecting  even more limitations on the work of our company .  So far the full nature of these limitations is unknown,  said Kent.  We will study carefully all communications from the ministry and other Russian official organizations.  VOA Director Amanda Bennett told Reuters her organization also thought it was unclear what new curbs it would face.  The new designation subjects affected U.S.-backed news outlets to the same requirements that are applied to foreign-funded non-governmental organizations under a 2012 law. Under that law,  foreign agents  must include in any information they publish or broadcast to Russian audiences a mention of their  foreign agent  designation. They also must apply for inclusion in a government register, submit regular reports on their sources of funding, on their objectives, on how they spend their money, and who their managers are. They can be subject to spot checks by the authorities to make sure they comply with the rules, according to the 2012 law, which has forced some NGOs to close. One of the seven outlets on the justice ministry list provides news on Crimea, which Russia annexed from Ukraine in 2014, one on Siberia, and one on the predominantly Muslim North Caucasus region. Another covers provincial Russia, one is an online TV station, another covers the mostly Muslim region of Tatarstan, and the other is a news portal that fact-checks the statements of Russian officials.

Summary: रूस ने रेडियो फ्री यूरोप और वॉयस ऑफ अमेरिका को 'विदेशी एजेंट' के रूप में नामित किया


HAVANA (Reuters) - North Korea s foreign minister will arrive in Cuba on Monday, in search of support amid unprecedented pressure from the United States and the international community to cease its nuclear weapons and missile programs. The Cuban foreign ministry, in a brief note on its web page, said Foreign Minister Ri Yong Ho would meet with his Cuban counterpart Bruno Rodriguez, among other unspecified activities. North Korea is pursuing nuclear weapon and missile programs in defiance of U.N. Security Council sanctions and has made no secret of its plans to develop a missile capable of hitting the U.S. mainland. It has fired two missiles over Japan. Cuba and North Korea have maintained warm political relations since 1960, despite Havana s often-stated opposition to nuclear weapons. President Donald Trump has also increased pressure on Cuba since taking office, rolling back a fragile detente begun by predecessor Barack Obama and returning to the hostile rhetoric of the Cold War. The visit provides an opportunity for North Korea to demonstrate, just 90 miles from the United States, that it is not completely isolated, and for Cuba that it will not buckle under U.S. pressure. At the same time, diplomats said Cuba was one of the few countries that might be able to convince North Korea to move away from the current showdown with the United States that threatens war.  We often ask the Cubans if they can talk to them,  an Asian diplomat said. The two Communist-run countries are the last in the world to maintain Soviet-style command economies, though under President Raul Castro, the Caribbean nation has taken some small steps toward the more market-oriented communism of China and Vietnam. Cuba maintains an embassy in North Korea, but publicly trades almost exclusively with the South. Last year, trade with the latter was $67 million and with the North just $9 million, according to the Cuban government. However, in 2013, Panama discovered a load of Soviet vintage weapons hidden under 10,000 tonnes of Cuban sugar on a North Korean vessel, in violation of U.N. sanctions and appearing to confirm suspicions that the two countries worked together to circumvent them. Cuba claimed the weapons were going to North Korea for repairs and were to be sent back.

Summary: उत्तर कोरिया के विदेश मंत्री क्यूबा के लिए रवाना


(Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump’s commission to investigate possible election fraud on Monday put a freeze on its effort to collect sensitive voter data from states in the face of growing legal challenges. In an email, the panel’s designated officer, Andrew Kossack, asked state elections officers to “hold on submitting any data,” the commission said in court filings.  Several state elections officials confirmed receiving a letter from the panel stating that it would provide further instructions after a federal judge had ruled on a complaint filed by a watchdog group, the Electronic Privacy Information Center (EPIC), which is seeking a temporary restraining order. Earlier on Monday, the American Civil Liberties Union sued the Presidential Advisory Commission on Election Integrity, alleging violations of federal law requiring transparent government. The bipartisan panel, led by Vice President Mike Pence and Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach, asked the 50 U.S. states for a host of voter data, including birth dates and the last four digits of voters’ Social Security numbers.  Most U.S. states have rejected full compliance, which many called unnecessary and a violation of privacy.  “This has been a misadventure from the get-go,” Massachusetts Secretary of State William Galvin, who had refused to give the commission any data, said by phone. In Wisconsin, elections officials halted plans to inform the commission how it could purchase for $12,500 its public voter data, not including Social Security numbers or birth dates.  “We’re just putting everything on hold,” said Reid Magney, spokesman for the Wisconsin Elections Commission. Arkansas, however, had already sent in a limited batch of publicly available data, according to the office of Secretary of State Mark Martin, In a court document, the government said it would not download the information from Arkansas and would instead delete it. Representatives for the White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment.         The commission last week said it would meet on July 19 in Washington near the White House. On Monday, critics cheered the move and expressed hope the commission would permanently abandon efforts to collect voter data. “The commission has effectively conceded,” EPIC President Marc Rotenberg said by phone. State officials from both parties and election experts widely agree that voter fraud is rare. Civil rights groups called the commission a voter suppression tactic by Trump.  The Republican president created the panel in May following his claim, without evidence, that millions of people voted illegally in the 2016 election.

Summary: ट्रम्प के चुनाव पैनल ने मतदाता डेटा अनुरोध पर रोक लगा दी


WASHINGTON (Reuters) - More than 50 female Democratic lawmakers in the U.S. House of Representatives called on Monday for a congressional investigation into allegations by various women of sexual misconduct against President Donald Trump, who has denied the accusations. “We cannot ignore the multitude of women who have come forward with accusations against Mr. Trump,” the lawmakers wrote in their letter, though a formal inquiry was unlikely to result because Republicans control the agenda in Congress. The letter, spearheaded by the Democratic women’s working group, which is composed of all the party’s female members in the House, was signed by 56 lawmakers. It followed a call earlier on Monday by three women who have accused Trump of sexual misconduct for a congressional investigation into his behavior. The lawmakers’ request for a probe was sent to leaders of the Oversight and Government Reform Committee, the main investigative committee in the House.  Over the past two years, more than a dozen women have accused Trump of making unwanted sexual advances against them in the years before he entered politics. Monday’s letter from the Democrats said there were at least 17 accusers and listed names. “The president’s own remarks appear to back up the allegations,” the letter said, saying Trump had boasted “that he feels at liberty to perpetrate such conduct against women.”  “The president should be allowed to present evidence in his own defense,” said the lawmakers. The letter was addressed to oversight panel Chairman Trey Gowdy, a Republican, and top Democrat Elijah Cummings. Trump last year apologized for talking about groping women in a 2005 tape recording that surfaced weeks before the presidential election, and said he had not done the things he talked about. More recently, Trump has told allies that the voice on the recording was not his, The New York Times reported recently. Trump and White House officials have denied the sexual misconduct allegations against him, some of which date back to the 1980s. “These false claims, totally disputed in most cases by eyewitness accounts, were addressed at length during last year’s campaign, and the American people voiced their judgment by delivering a decisive victory,” a White House spokesperson said in a statement on Monday.

Summary: अमेरिकी हाउस डेमोक्रेटिक महिलाओं ने ट्रम्प के कदाचार के आरोपों की जांच की मांग की


WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Former Trump campaign adviser Carter Page on Thursday delivered subpoenaed documents he described as “irrelevant and unnecessary” to two congressional committees investigating alleged Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election. Page, an oil industry consultant with numerous contacts in Russia, told Reuters in a text message that he delivered the documents to the Senate and House intelligence committees. “Just dropped irrelevant and unnecessary documents off for the Witch Hunt,” Page said in his text. “On to bigger and better things now.” Page delivered the documents two weeks after acknowledging in an appearance before the House panel that he had not provided all relevant documents sought by a subpoena, including emails in which he and another former Trump campaign foreign policy adviser, George Papadopoulos, were included. According to a transcript of his testimony released last week, Page said that he had not turned over the emails because he assumed that the committee “most likely would have received them from others already.” He agreed to submit them. Under subsequent questioning, Page first cited his Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination as a reason for withholding documents relevant to the committee subpoena. He then said that, “Nothing would directly incriminate me,” but added that he was concerned about discrepancies between documents he withheld and materials collected by a government eavesdropping operation under a secret Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act warrant.  Papadopoulos pleaded guilty last month to a charge of lying to the FBI about his efforts to arrange a meeting during the 2016 campaign between then-Republican candidate Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin. Papadopolous also agreed to cooperate with the investigation led by Special Counsel Robert Mueller of possible collusion between the Trump campaign and Moscow. Russia denies interfering in the 2016 campaign. Trump denies there was any collusion between his campaign and what U.S. intelligence agencies charge was a Russian influence operation that was intended to sway the vote to Trump over his Democratic challenger, Hillary Clinton.

Summary: ट्रम्प के पूर्व अभियान सलाहकार ने कांग्रेस की समितियों को 'अप्रासंगिक' दस्तावेज सौंपे


MECCA/RIYADH (Reuters) - A few steps away from Mecca s Grand Mosque, a dozen empty towers rise into the sky above the holy city visited by millions of Muslim pilgrims every year. Hilton and Marriott logos adorn the site, heralding the $3.2 billion Jabal Omar complex that is being built to bring hotels, restaurants and luxury malls to the pilgrimage experience.  All these hotels and buildings around the mosque will bring more business, God willing,  said Awad al-Arshani, beckoning customers into his Dates of the Two Holy Mosques shop. Pilgrimage is the backbone of a plan to expand tourism under Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman s economic reform program, announced a year ago to diversify the economy away from oil. The haj, a journey every able-bodied Muslim who can afford it must perform once in a lifetime, is a profound experience for those who undertake it. It is also big business for Saudi Arabia. The haj and the year-round lesser pilgrimage, umrah, generate $12 billion in revenues from worshippers  lodging, transport, gifts, food and fees, according to BMI Research. But there are still big questions about how Saudi Arabia will cater to its most active tourism market, especially as the kingdom eschews tourist visas. Pilgrimage visas currently bar travel outside the holy cities of Mecca and Medina. Authorities plan to relax the restrictions, but have not specified to what extent and have raised the visa cost for return pilgrims to more than $500. Most of the kingdom s tourism development so far targets the affluent end of the market, while the biggest and fastest-growing pilgrim populations come from modest means. Additionally, worshipping at shrines is considered idolatry under Saudi Arabia s austere official Wahhabi school of Islam and it is unclear which Islamic historical sites pilgrims might be lured to after years of neglect. The Saudi tourism commission has pledged to rehabilitate four sites in Mecca: Jabal al-Nour, Jabal Thawr, Hudaybiyyah and Mohammed s migration path from Mecca to Medina. But there is scant sign of any restoration in Mecca so far, said Irfan Alawi, founder of the Islamic Heritage Research Foundation. Religious police still sit outside some of the sites, shooing away pilgrims with warnings about idolatry, he said. Dozens of other sites were demolished to make way for the redevelopment. Pilgrims comprise the bulk of Saudi Arabia s 20 million annual foreign visitors, apart from workers and business travelers. Nearly 2.4 million came for this year s haj, up from 1.9 million last year, and 7.5 million performed umrah in 2016. Officials aim to increase the number of umrah and haj pilgrims to 15 million and 5 million respectively by 2020, and hope to double the umrah number again to 30 million by 2030. In addition, they hope pilgrims will be attracted to spend money at museums, luxury resorts and historical sites. Some pilgrims are encouraged by the moves.  We love this country because it s the cradle of Islam, the land of the revelation and the Prophet, peace be upon him,  Nasser al-Zein, a Turkish-German car dealer from Frankfurt, told Reuters as he performed haj.  We d love to spend our money here, more than in the West. Here, it s an Islamic country.  Others find the costs prohibitive.  The problem is the visa. If they were to extend it perhaps we could stay and visit places other than Mecca and Medina,  said Zawaoui Daraji, 50, a trader from Algeria.  The hotels charge you 25,000 riyals ($6,666.31) for your stay. It s too much for us,  he said. Such concerns have not deterred Saudi officials. Long before last year s reform announcement, they began investing tens of billions of dollars in mega-hotels, public transit and a Grand Mosque expansion in Mecca. The $15 billion Abraj al-Beit golden clocktower complex, completed in 2011 with seven towers of hotels and malls, already looms over the mosque. Joining it soon will be 40 new towers from the Jabal Omar development, begun in 2008, and the $3.5 billion Abraj Kudai complex, which will be the world s largest hotel and come complete with four rooftop helipads. A new airport in Jeddah and the high-speed Haramain rail system, both set to open next year, will whisk visitors between cities along the Red Sea Coast. Despite a funding crunch for existing projects in the last year, authorities have announced new leisure mega-projects outside the holy cities. One of these, the Faisaliah project, will run from Mecca s edge out to the Red Sea. It aims to attract 10 million visitors to seaside getaways and Islamic research centers by 2050. Further north, the Red Sea Project hopes to attract luxury travellers to island resorts and pre-Islamic ruins in a closed visa-free zone. The King Abdullah Economic City, one of the stops on the rail line, is planning resorts and theme parks, too.

Summary: सऊदी अरब ने विरासत, परंपरा की परीक्षा में इस्लामी पर्यटन को बढ़ावा देने की मांग की


HAVANA (Reuters) - U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry was encouraged by progress in the Colombian peace process after meeting on Monday in Havana with representatives of Colombia’s Marxist FARC guerrilla group and the Bogota government, a State Department spokesman said. Kerry, in Cuba as part of U.S. President Barack Obama’s historic visit to the Communist-run island, met the two sides separately and called for them to redouble their efforts to resolve the remaining issues in the talks, spokesman Mark Toner said in a statement. Kerry told both sides he was “encouraged that the ‘end of conflict’ issues are now front and center in the negotiations, including a formal bilateral ceasefire monitored by the U.N. Security Council, a timetable for disarmament, and security guarantees post-conflict for all lawful political actors,” according to the statement. His involvement at the request of Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos marked the first time a U.S. secretary of state had met with negotiators from the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia since peace talks started in Havana more than three years ago.  The meeting between the Colombian government delegation and Kerry was “very productive,” lead government negotiator Humberto de la Calle told journalists. “There were extraordinarily concrete elements,” de la Calle said. “For example, the announcement of help from the United States relating to the security of people who lay down arms, which is a critical subject at the talks.”  The FARC thanked the U.S. for its support of the peace talks and said they hope to reach a final peace agreement in the coming months. “On a not-distant date we will give good news to the country and the world - that Colombia has reached peace,” the rebel group said in a statement on its website. Last year, the two sides agreed a March 23 deadline for a final accord, but negotiators have said a deal by that date now looks unlikely. Washington designated the FARC a foreign terrorist organization in 1997, and many of its leaders have been indicted in the United States on charges of cocaine trafficking. The United States sees the Colombian peace talks hosted by Cuba as an example of how restoring normal relations with Havana can help it achieve its wider goals in Latin America. The Colombian war is the region’s longest-running conflict, with some 220,000 people killed and millions of others displaced since 1964.

Summary: हवाना बैठक के बाद कोलंबिया शांति वार्ता से प्रोत्साहित हुए केरी


(Reuters) - U.S. Attorney General Loretta Lynch will testify before the House Judiciary Committee on July 12 on a number of issues facing the Justice Department, including the FBI’s probe into Hillary Clinton’s use of a personal email server, the panel said on Wednesday. Committee Chairman Bob Goodlatte said in a statement that the FBI’s decision to not recommend charges against Clinton, the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee, raised questions. The panel is also expected to question Lynch on the attacks in Orlando, Florida, and San Bernardino, California.

Summary: अमेरिकी अटॉर्नी जनरल 12 जुलाई को हाउस पैनल के समक्ष गवाही देंगे


BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Iraq has asked the United States to reconsider the travel ban on its citizens, the foreign ministry said on Monday, taking a more diplomatic line than the Iraqi parliament which had demanded the government “retaliate”.     “It is necessary that the new American administration reconsider this wrong decision,” the foreign ministry said in a statement. Noting their cooperation in fighting the Islamic State group, the statement added: “We affirm Iraq’s desire to strengthen the strategic partnership between the two countries.” By executive order on Friday, President Donald Trump banned U.S. entry for people from seven Muslim-majority countries – Iran, Iraq, Syria, Libya, Somalia, Sudan and Yemen – and temporarily halted the admission of refugees.

Summary: इराक ने ट्रम्प प्रशासन से यात्रा प्रतिबंध पर 'पुनर्विचार' करने को कहा


NEW YORK (Reuters) - U.S. presidential candidate Ted Cruz’s support among Republicans is about even at a national level with party front-runner Donald Trump, according to Reuters/Ipsos polling, as the U.S. senator picked up a victory in Wisconsin’s primary. Cruz’s gains in the polling mark the first time since November that one of Trump’s rivals has threatened his lead in support among Republicans in the race to be party nominee for the Nov. 8 election. The gains coincided with a bumpy patch for Trump, who was forced to backtrack last week after saying women who had abortions should face punishment if the procedure is outlawed, and who voiced support for his campaign manager after he was charged with misdemeanor assault for allegedly grabbing a reporter.  Cruz, a senator from Texas, got 35.2 percent of support to Trump’s 39.5 percent, the poll of 568 Republicans taken April 1-5 found. The numbers put the two within the poll’s 4.8 percentage-point credibility interval, a measure of accuracy.  Cruz and Trump were also briefly about even early last week. But as recently as a month ago, when Senator Marco Rubio was also still a candidate, Cruz trailed Trump in the Reuters/Ipsos polling by about 20 points. Ohio Governor John Kasich, the only other candidate left in  the race for the Republican Party nomination, placed third in the April 1-5 poll with 18.7 percent. Trump’s support has faltered among women in particular in recent weeks. More than 70 percent of likely women voters said they had an “unfavorable” opinion of Trump, according to the rolling poll average for the five-day period ended April 5. In the Democratic race, front-runner Hillary Clinton held a nationwide lead in the poll of about 7 points over U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont. Cruz and Sanders easily won their Wisconsin presidential primary contests on Tuesday night. Sanders would still face a difficult task overtaking Clinton as the nominating contest, but Cruz’s double-digit win over Trump was seen as a breakthrough for Republican Party forces battling to block him.

Summary: एक्सक्लूसिवः क्रूज़ रिपब्लिकन राष्ट्रपति पद की दौड़ में ट्रम्प के साथ भी हैं-सर्वेक्षण


(Reuters) - Philadelphia District Attorney Seth Williams said on Friday he would not run for reelection this year, saying he made “regrettable mistakes” when he accepted gifts that resulted in the city ethics board ordering him to pay a record fine. Williams, a Democrat, had already been expected to face several challengers in the May primary election for the top law enforcement position in the fifth-most-populous U.S. city. Last month, Williams agreed to pay $62,000 in civil penalties to end an investigation by the Philadelphia ethics board into his failure to disclose gifts including NBA basketball tickets, cash and lodging. The ethics board said it was the largest amount in penalties it had imposed in its 10-year history.  The gifts prompted the FBI to interview members of the prosecutor’s staff and at least one of the gift-givers, and the bureau is investigating a nonprofit Williams founded, the Philadelphia Inquirer reported. An FBI spokeswoman declined to comment on Friday. Williams apologized at a televised news conference. “My decisions to accept gifts and fail to report them brought much embarrassment, shame and adverse publicity to me and, unfortunately, to the office which I love,” he said. “For this, I will always hold deep regret in my heart.” Another top Pennsylvania prosecutor, former state attorney general Kathleen Kane, resigned in August after she was convicted of leaking confidential grand jury information and then lying about it to investigators. Kane, a Democrat, was sentenced to 10 to 23 months in prison. Williams, first elected in 2009 and reelected in 2013, is the first black district attorney in the history of Pennsylvania.  His 600-person office handles 40,000 criminal cases a year, from minor crimes to murders. He said he was proud of changes he had made in the office, such as involving senior prosecutors in the earliest stages of cases.

Summary: फिलाडेल्फिया अभियोजक नैतिकता ठीक होने के बाद फिर से चुनाव की मांग नहीं करेंगे


LIMA (Reuters) - Neither of Peru s two vice presidents would open the door to new elections by resigning if President Pedro Pablo Kuczynski was forced from office, Second Vice President Mercedes Araoz told Reuters late on Sunday. Araoz said she was confident Kuczynski was innocent of wrongdoing regarding recently-disclosed links he once had with Odebrecht, a Brazilian construction company at the center of Latin America s biggest graft scandal. If Kuczynski is as expected unseated by the opposition-run Congress in a vote on Thursday, First Vice President Martin Vizcarra would immediately replace him.  New national elections would only be called if both Vizcarra - a former governor of a copper-rich mining region and Peru s current ambassador to Canada - and Araoz resigned or left office before the scheduled end of Kuczynski s term in 2021. But Araoz ruled out that scenario.  We re going to ensure that this government continues in power. Peru elected the three of us and both of us vice presidents are going to defend our mandate,  Araoz said in a brief phone interview. Araoz  remarks were the first explicit assurance by Kuczynski s center-right government that it would not abandon the presidency, and will likely soothe investor fears about the prospect of elections that could sweep anti-establishment candidates to power as the graft scandal roils the country. Odebrecht has sent shockwaves through Latin American politics since admitting a year ago that it had won lucrative public work contracts in Peru and nine countries in the region through a network of bribes and kickback schemes. The scandal has landed elites in jail from Colombia to the Dominican Republic, but has hit particularly hard in Peru, where Odebrecht once had an outsized presence. With Kuczynski, a 79-year-old former Wall Street banker, and two former presidents engulfed in the scandal and several opposition leaders under investigation, a majority of Peruvians want Kuczynski and lawmakers in Congress to leave office and prefer new elections to be called, a poll by Ipsos showed on Sunday. But Araoz said that would risk derailing progress Peru has made since its return to democracy at the turn of the century.  We want our economy to keep growing, we want to maintain democracy, we want to avoid dictatorial actions,  Araoz said in a veiled swipe at the opposition. Congress is controlled by a right-wing opposition party headed by media-shy Keiko Fujimori, the daughter of former authoritarian leader Alberto Fujimori, who is in prison for graft and human rights violations. Over the past year, Fujimori s foes have alleged that her party would use its majority in Congress to unseat Kuczynski in retribution for unexpectedly defeating her in the 2016 election - warnings that Kuczynski was now seizing on.  There s an attack on democratic order,  Kuczynski said late on Sunday in a televised interview with a group of local journalists.  We have to defend democracy because it s the only tool that guarantees us a path to prosperity... I implore all to continue our trajectory.  Fujimori s surrogates have denied she has sought to unseat Kuczynski for political reasons and describe a motion passed on Friday to start  presidential vacancy  proceedings as part of her party s fight against corruption. Kuczynski once denied having any links to Odebrecht.  But last week Odebrecht sent Congress a requested report that detailed $4.8 million in deposits it made over a decade-long period starting in 2004 to companies owned by Kuczynski or a close business associate of his. The payments include about $600,000 in financial services Kuczynski provided for an Odebrecht project as a private citizen and about $800,000 transferred to a company owned by him during and shortly after holding senior government posts. Kuczynski apologized to Peruvians for not having explained his links to Odebrecht properly. He denied taking bribes or anything improper about the business transactions.  I m absolutely sure. There was no corruption here,  Kuczynski said.

Summary: पेरू के उपराष्ट्रपति ने कहा कि अगर राष्ट्रपति को अपदस्थ किया जाता है तो वे शासन करने के लिए प्रतिबद्ध हैं


MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - President Donald Trump on Tuesday proposed drastically slashing U.S. foreign aid spending in Mexico and Central America, which are struggling with drug violence, graft and poverty that prompts many from the troubled region to migrate north. Trump’s austere 2018 budget proposal, which seeks to trim $3.6 trillion from government spending over the next decade and is unlikely to get legislative approval in its current form, envisages steep cuts in most federal departments, but particularly the State Department. Ever since launching his presidential campaign in 2015, Trump has attacked Mexico, threatening to rip up the North American Free Trade Agreement, build a Mexico-funded southern border wall and ramp up deportations of those living without documents in the United States.  Tuesday’s proposal foresees 2018 Mexican aid of $87.66 million, down more than 45 percent from the 2016 outlay. The proposed spending cuts comes as the United States leans on Mexico to do more to prop up its poor Central American neighbors, where poverty and gangs are the main drivers pushing migrants to the United States. The budget proposes scrapping most U.S. money for the Mexican military, along with counterterrorism funds and some governance programs. Narcotics and law enforcement spending would fall from $100 million in 2016 to $60 million. In Guatemala, U.S. aid would drop almost 40 percent from 2016, to $80.66 million, while in Honduras and El Salvador it would fall nearly a third. In a call with reporters, U.S. officials stressed the cuts would not prevent them from tackling their regional objectives.  “That is a reduction. However it really prioritizes our programs that focus on disrupting the activities of transnational criminal organizations, strengthening border security and combating corruption … we’re going to continue addressing those root causes as part of our Central America strategy,” an official said. Mexico, which is struggling with rising crime, will be co-hosting a June meeting in Miami where the U.S. government hopes to drum up more private sector support to improve employment and security conditions in Central America. Although the number of migrants arriving on the southern U.S. border has fallen drastically since Trump took office, history suggests the decline may prove short-lived if he fails to realize his tough policies. Well over 100,000 people have died in drug-related violence in Mexico since 2006, and the 2017 murder tally could be the highest ever as legacy drug cartels splinter into ever more violent factions.

Summary: ट्रम्प ने मेक्सिको, मध्य अमेरिका में अमेरिकी खर्च में भारी कटौती का प्रस्ताव रखा


WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Donald Trump tried to rally Republican lawmakers behind a plan to dismantle Obamacare on Tuesday as U.S. stock markets showed their worst one-day performance since the November election.  Trump is trying to win the first major legislative battle of his presidency. Pressure is growing on the businessman-turned politician to deliver as investors become worried that a failed healthcare push could also portend trouble for promised tax cuts and relaxed regulation that have propelled the market to record highs in recent months. In one of the few visits he has made to the U.S. Capitol since taking office two months ago, Trump told fellow Republicans in the House of Representatives on Tuesday morning they would face “political problems” for opposing the bill that takes apart Obamacare and partially replaces it. Later in the day, Trump hosted roughly a dozen lawmakers in the Oval Office to listen to their concerns. “The president was really clear: He laid it on the line for everybody,” House Speaker Paul Ryan, the leading proponent of the bill, told reporters. “We made a promise. Now is our time to keep that promise. ... If we don’t keep our promise, it will be very hard to manage this.” The S&P 500 and Dow Jones Industrial Average lost over 1 percent in their worst one-day performances since before Trump’s election victory on Nov. 8. The S&P financial index sank 2.87 percent, its biggest daily fall since June. “You have this back and forth in Congress with the new healthcare plan and you have this belief that if the healthcare plan can’t pass, then they can’t move on to taxes. There’s this feeling that if things don’t get done, then maybe what the market has been anticipating gets held up,” said Mark Kepner, managing director at Themis Trading in Chatham, New Jersey.  Some conservative lawmakers believe the healthcare bill does not go far enough, while moderate Republicans worry that millions of Americans will be hurt by the dismantling of the 2010 Affordable Care Act, Democratic former President Barack Obama's signature healthcare legislation. (For a graphic on how U.S. healthcare stacks up under the ACA and AHCA click tmsnrt.rs/2n0ZMKf)  Party leaders hope to move the bill to the House floor for debate as early as Thursday. But the administration and House leadership can afford to lose only about 20 Republican votes or risk the bill failing since Democrats are united against it. Republican Representative Mark Meadows, chairman of the conservative House Freedom Caucus, said the roughly three dozen members have decided not to vote as a bloc. As many as 21 currently plan to vote no on the legislation, according to a CNN report. Republican Representative Walter Jones said Trump told lawmakers in the closed-door meeting at the Capitol that if the Republican bill does not pass, they would face “political problems.” Jones said he thought Trump meant lawmakers could lose their seats. Repealing and replacing Obamacare was one of Trump’s main campaign promises and has been a goal of Republicans since it was enacted.  While Trump predicted that Republicans could face challenges in primary contests ahead of the 2018 midterm elections if they do not gut Obamacare, there is also danger to them in doing so. If the Republican bill is passed, millions of voters might lose their healthcare coverage. The Congressional Budget Office said last week that 14 million people would forfeit coverage under the House bill over the next year, although that number could change based on the most current version of the legislation.  Nancy Nielsen, associate dean for health policy at the University at Buffalo’s Jacobs School of Medicine, said Republican leaders were in a tough spot. “It is a not-so-delicate balancing act, as they have to win over the most conservative House and Senate members without causing an outrageous backlash from voters now or in the next election,” Nielsen said.  Democrats oppose the Republicans’ plan, saying it would hurt the elderly, poor and working families while giving tax cuts to the wealthy.     Republican leaders tweaked the bill this week to try to satisfy critics, mainly from their own party.  Republican chairmen for two key committees said late Monday they proposed more funding for tax credits, which conservatives have opposed, that would give the Senate flexibility to help older people afford health insurance. Additionally, Obamacare’s taxes would be eliminated in 2017 instead of 2018. The amendments also addressed Medicaid, which is the country’s largest health insurance program and covers about 70 million people, mostly the poor. The changes would allow states to implement work requirements for certain adults, an idea championed by many conservatives, and to decide how they receive federal funds.     Congressman Dan Donovan, who attended the Oval Office meeting on Tuesday, said Trump did “more listening than directing.” There was some “political talk” but “no threats,” he said. Donovan, who has not announced whether he will support the bill, cited people losing Medicaid and the defunding of women’s healthcare provider Planned Parenthood as concerns in his New York district.  The Club for Growth, an influential conservative lobby group, said it would spend at least $500,000 for ads on television and digital platforms urging Congress members to defeat the bill. The Senate also will vote on the legislation, and more changes could be made. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said that if the House approved a healthcare bill, he would try to bring it to the Senate floor next week.

Summary: ट्रम्प ने स्वास्थ्य सेवा विधेयक के लिए समर्थन जुटाने की कोशिश की


MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russian President Vladimir Putin suggested on Thursday that allegations of a state-sponsored doping program in Russia were an attempt to sow discontent ahead of the country s presidential elections.  Reports commissioned by the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) have raised allegations of the existence of a state-run program that included tampering with Russian athletes  positive tests by laboratory and security officials at the 2014 Sochi Games.  The International Olympic Committee (IOC) is now investigating the allegations and has banned six cross-country skiers for life from the Olympics over doping violations at Sochi.   This is what is bothering me: the (Pyeongchang Winter) Olympics start in February, and when are our presidential elections? In March,  RIA Novosti state news agency quoted Putin as saying.  There are big suspicions that all this is being done to create for someone the necessary conditions for discontent among sport lovers, athletes.  Putin, widely expected to stand in and win the elections, also suggested the United States  influence in international sports organizations could be having a deleterious effect on Russia. Putin said the United States was home to  the main companies that order and pay for television rights, the main sponsors and advertisers  of major sporting events.   In retaliation for our alleged meddling in their election, they (the United States) want to create problems in the election of the president of Russia,  Putin said.  Last month, Putin said the IOC was being pressured by the United States to prevent Russia taking part in the 2018 Pyeongchang Winter Olympics. Russia escaped a blanket ban at the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro although it was, and remains, barred from competing in international athletics events. The country s Paralympic Committee and anti-doping agency RUSADA are also still suspended over the doping scandals. Despite repeated calls for cooperation with international bodies to help rid Russia of doping, the authorities have always denied the state s role in the scandal. The IOC has said it will decide during its executive board meeting being held on Dec. 5-7 on the participation of Russian competitors at the 2018 winter games.

Summary: रूस के खिलाफ डोपिंग के आरोपों का मतलब असंतोष फैलाना हैः पुतिन


WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Trump administration on Thursday issued a final rule that will shorten the Obamacare enrollment period and give insurers more of what they say they need in the individual insurance market, likely making it harder for some consumers to purchase insurance, healthcare experts said.  It could also raise out-of-pocket medical expenses, the experts said, because it gives insurers more flexibility in determining the value of their coverage. The rule, which takes effect later this year, comes as President Donald Trump and Republicans in Congress have renewed efforts to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act, commonly known as Obamacare, after an effort to pass a bill in the U.S. House of Representatives failed last month.  Issued by a division of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and first proposed in February, the rule aims to aid insurers, who have lost hundreds of millions of dollars in the individual insurance markets set up by Obamacare. Several major insurers, including Humana Inc and Aetna Inc, have announced plans to exit some state exchanges in 2018.  Insurers welcomed the rule but said there is still too much uncertainty in the market. On Wednesday, Trump told the Wall Street Journal that he may withhold Obamacare payments to insurers that amount to about $7 billion a year to force Democrats back to the negotiating table.  Marilyn Tavenner, president and chief executive of America’s Health Insurance Plans, said in a statement that funding for the payments must continue uninterrupted. Otherwise, she said premiums will rise 20 percent across the market and more insurers would drop out of the exchanges.   The changes under Thursday’s final rule include a shortened open enrollment period for Obamacare plans. They also make it harder for people to enroll outside that period, which is allowed under certain circumstances such as a pregnancy or a move.  The rule could also allow insurers to collect unpaid premium payments and make it tougher for people to move in and out of insurance plans, according to healthcare industry experts.  Insurers say “gaming the system” has created an unprofitable mix of healthy and sick customers. The rule also gives states broader authority by removing the federal government’s role in overseeing doctor and hospital networks included in insurance plans. Republicans have said any healthcare reform or overhaul must give states more flexibility. The Affordable Care Act enabled 20 million Americans to gain insurance, mostly through the individual insurance markets set up by the law or through an expansion of Medicaid, the government health insurance program for the poor and disabled.

Summary: ट्रम्प प्रशासन ने सख्त ओबामाकेयर नामांकन पर अंतिम नियम जारी किया


MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - With a tight general election looming next year, Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto faces a tough choice on whether to pursue a graft probe involving a prominent ally and Brazilian construction firm Odebrecht. Mexico s top prosecutor, acting Attorney General, Alberto Elias Beltran, on Friday fired the federal attorney general responsible for electoral crimes, adding fuel to a case that may complicate the president s efforts to shake off allegations of corruption in the run-up to the July 2018 presidential vote. The dismissal of top electoral prosecutor, Santiago Nieto, came two days after he accused Emilio Lozoya, the former boss of state oil firm Pemex, and a longtime ally of President Pena Nieto, in a newspaper interview of writing to him to ask to be declared innocent of funneling Odebrecht cash to political campaigns. In Brazil, Odebrecht has admitted to paying bribes in several countries in Latin America, including Mexico.  President Pena Nieto s party, the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI), has been the dominant force of Mexican politics for the best part of a century, but has long been a byword for corruption. Mindful that the issue of corruption has become central to the 2018 election, the unpopular PRI has overseen the arrest of various former state governors, but Lozoya poses a more difficult challenge, given his proximity to the president.   If they investigate (Lozoya) deeply, I think it would be the end of the party in power. If they don t, they stir up more public anger,  said Paulo Diez, an anti-corruption lawyer who has taken on the government in high-profile graft scandals. Four days after becoming acting Attorney General, Alberto Elias Beltran dismissed Santiago Nieto on the grounds he had broken the office s code of conduct for public officials, his office said on Friday. The dismissal was attacked by the conservative National Action Party (PAN) and the leftist Party of the Democratic Revolution (PRD), opposition parties which questioned the impartiality of Pena Nieto s government.      Santiago Nieto told newspaper Reforma on Wednesday that Lozoya s letter was a bid to secure  impunity  and that Odebrecht money had entered political campaigns. Nieto s office confirmed the letter s existence, as well as the investigation into the former Pemex chief executive, when contacted by Reuters. Lozoya said in a press conference that he is innocent of all accusations and that he did not funnel cash to President Pena Nieto s campaign.  President Pena Nieto has also previously denied Odebrecht bribes made their way into his party s coffers.  Lozoya s lawyer, Javier Coello, denied his client had written seeking leniency interviews.  Coello also shared with Reuters a letter sent to Santiago Nieto, in which Lozoya asked to be informed of any criminal investigation into him, and to be called to testify if needed. That letter did not mention any appeals for clemency. Odebrecht has admitted to U.S. and Brazilian prosecutors that it paid $10.5 million in bribes in Mexico. Details of the payments have not been made public, though in August, Brazilian and Mexican media reported that Lozoya had asked Odebrecht executives for bribes in 2012 in return for contracts, citing testimony from Odebrecht employees.  On Monday this week, Attorney General Raul Cervantes stood down, telling Senators his office had concluded investigations into Odebrecht. However, the details have yet to be published.

Summary: मेक्सिको के राष्ट्रपति के सहयोगी के खिलाफ भ्रष्टाचार की जांच चुनाव से पहले मुश्किल चुनौती पेश करती है


WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Congress could act within weeks to kill a new rule that bars financial companies from blocking consumers who wish to file class-action lawsuits, according to a key Republican senator. Senator Tom Cotton, a member of the Senate Banking Committee writing legislation to tackle the rule, said Wednesday he was optimistic that Congress could pass a resolution revoking the new regulation authored by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) within weeks. “I’m going to do all I can to repeal this regulation in the next three weeks of this congressional session,” he said at an event hosted by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. Cotton is drafting legislation that would repeal the CFPB’s new ban on mandatory arbitration clauses often found in financial contracts. Under the Congressional Review Act, Congress can pass legislation repealing any new regulations with a simple majority.  Mandatory arbitration clauses, found across a range of financial contracts, require consumers to resolve any disputes through arbitration instead of joining together in class-action lawsuits. Consumer advocates have hailed the CFPB rulemaking, arguing that the fine print frequently found in financial contracts unfairly bars consumers from seeking that option. If Republican majorities in the House and Senate rally around the bill, they would be able to eliminate the new rule, which the CFPB formally finalized on Tuesday. Cotton said he was working with Senate Banking Committee Chairman Mike Crapo on the bill, and was optimistic it would garner broad support. He went so far as to predict “half a dozen or so” Democrats in the Senate could join Republicans in eliminating the rule, although Democrats are generally supportive of the CFPB’s regulatory work and no Democratic senator has publicly criticized the rule. The House is expected to move first on a repeal bill, passing a measure next week, according to Cotton.  Republican efforts to repeal the regulation via legislation is one of several fronts in an attack on the CFPB initiative. Other financial regulators could consider challenging the rule, and business groups have indicated a legal challenge is on the way as well. “The agency has shirked its obligation to properly study the arbitration issue, as it was mandated by Congress,” said Lisa Rickard, president of the Chamber of Commerce’s Institute for Legal Reform. “The courts will have their say.”

Summary: रिपब्लिकन सीनेटर को हफ्तों के भीतर वर्ग-कार्रवाई नियम को खत्म करने की उम्मीद है


WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Senate Budget Committee on Thursday voted to confirm Republican Congressman Mick Mulvaney as White House budget director under President Donald Trump. Senators narrowly approved Trump’s nominee along party lines in a 12-11 vote. Democrats criticized him for hard line fiscal positions on popular social programs and for failing to pay more than $15,000 in taxes in relation to a household employee until after he was nominated. His nomination will now move to the Senate floor for a full confirmation vote.  Mulvaney, a South Carolina Republican and a leading member of the conservative House Freedom Caucus, favors raising the Social Security retirement age to 70 and means-testing beneficiaries of the Medicare healthcare program. Budget committee Chairman Mike Enzi, a Wyoming Republican, told the panel Mulvaney is “uniquely qualified” to be budget director: “He is a proven budget hawk that’s been vocal about our need to rein in government spending and debt.”      But the nominee came under fire from Senator Bernie Sanders, an independent who ran for the Democratic presidential nomination last year.  The Vermont lawmaker warned that Mulvaney’s positions on Social Security and Medicare contradict Trump’s campaign statements to leave the programs untouched. Sanders also said his failure to pay taxes for a nanny he employed from 2000 to 2004 should disqualify him as a nominee.   Sanders and fellow independent Angus King of Maine voted with the committee’s nine Democrats to oppose Mulvaney.

Summary: सीनेट बजट समिति ने मुलवेनी को बजट निदेशक के रूप में मंजूरी दी


WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Republican Donald Trump pulled ahead of Democratic presidential rival Hillary Clinton in Florida and Pennsylvania in a Quinnipiac Poll released on Wednesday that included responses after the FBI released its findings on Clinton’s email use. Clinton lost ground on honesty and moral standards in the poll that showed tight races in Florida, Pennsylvania and Ohio, all swing states that could go to either party in November’s presidential election. The Quinnipiac Poll, taken from June 30 to July 11, showed Trump competitive in the three states a week before the start of the Republican National Convention in Cleveland that will formally nominate him as the party’s presidential candidate for the Nov. 8 election. Peter A. Brown, assistant director of the poll, said there was no definite link between Clinton’s drop in Florida from Quinnipiac’s June 21 survey and the FBI’s findings that she was careless in her handling of government emails while U.S. secretary of state. But he said Clinton lost ground to Trump on questions that measure moral standards and honesty. Clinton lost an 8-point lead in Florida, where Trump won 42 percent to Clinton’s 39 percent, according to the Quinnipiac Poll. In Ohio, the poll showed the candidates tied at 41 percent.  In Pennsylvania, the Quinnipiac poll showed Trump with 43 percent to Clinton’s 41 percent. A NBC News/Wall Street Journal/Marist poll released this week showed a very different result in Pennsylvania, with Clinton leading Trump 45 to 36 percent. The July 5-10 poll included 829 registered voters and has a margin of error of 3 percentage points. Nationally, Clinton leads Trump by 13 percentage points, according to a Reuters/Ipsos opinion poll released on Tuesday. The online poll showed that 46 percent of likely voters support Clinton while 33 percent support Trump. The July 8-12 included 1,146 likely voters and has a credibility interval, a measure of accuracy, of 3 percentage points. FBI Director James Comey said last week Clinton was “extremely careless” in the handling of classified information but the investigation found no evidence she or her colleagues intended to violate laws. Clinton, a former U.S. senator and first lady, has faced heavy criticism from Republicans for her use of private email servers for government business while she led the State Department from 2009 to 2013. The Quinnipiac poll was conducted by telephone with people who identified as registered voters. It included 1,015 people in Florida, 955 people in Ohio and 982 people in Pennsylvania. The margin of error was around three percentage points in all three states.

Summary: अमेरिका के दो प्रमुख राज्यों में ट्रम्प आगेः सर्वेक्षण


DEMILITARIZED ZONE, South Korea (Reuters) - As U.S. Defense Secretary Jim Mattis peered into North Korea from a lookout post on Friday, he was given a blunt reminder by his South Korean counterpart of the vast amount of North Korean artillery within range of Seoul.  Above the faint sound of North Korean propaganda music being blasted from across the border, South Korean Defense Minister Song Young-moo suggested that U.S. and South Korean missile defences simply could not stop all of them.  Defending against this many LRAs (long-range artillery) is infeasible in my opinion,  Song told Mattis, citing a need for strategies to  offensively neutralise  the artillery in the event of a conflict. Mattis replied:  Understood.  The brief exchange at the inter-Korean Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) - where U.S .President Donald Trump may visit in coming days - spoke volumes about the risks of any miscalculation as tension soars over Pyongyang s rapidly advancing nuclear weapon and missile programs. 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 sceptical about diplomatic efforts, focussing on sanctions, to get Pyongyang to willingly denuclearise. But, as the DMZ trip highlighted, North Korea s conventional weaponry poses such a risk to South Korea that any attempt to denuclearize the North by force could easily escalate into a devastating conflict. Mattis was keen to emphasise efforts to peacefully resolve the crisis, including at the DMZ, as he addressed reporters with his back to the dividing line between North and South.   Our goal is not war, but rather the complete, verifiable, and irreversible denuclearisation of the Korean peninsula,  Mattis said, as North Korean soldiers kept watch. Mattis said he and Song also made clear their mutual commitment  to a diplomatic solution to address North Korea s reckless, outlaw behaviour,  when they met this week at a gathering of Asian defence chiefs in the Philippines. He carried that same message after his helicopter flight back to Seoul, where he addressed a small group of U.S. and South Korean soldiers.  It comes down to you to make it work, my fine young troops ... and we ll buy time for our diplomats to solve this problem,  he said. The emphasis on diplomacy came before Trump departs next week on a trip to Asia. He has declined to say whether he will visit the DMZ when he stops in South Korea, telling reporters on Wednesday:  You ll be surprised.  Trump, in a speech last month at the United Nations, threatened to destroy North Korea if necessary to defend the United States and its allies. Kim has blasted Trump as  mentally deranged.  The bellicose verbal exchanges have stoked fears of a military confrontation, but White House officials say Trump is looking for a peaceful resolution. At the same time, the U.S. and South Korean militaries are looking for ways to deter Pyongyang, and bolster its defences. As Mattis at one point met some of the roughly 28,000 American forces stationed in South Korea, he said the role of U.S. and South Korean troops was essential.  We re doing everything we can to solve this diplomatically, everything we can. But ultimately our diplomats have to be backed up by strong soldiers, sailors, airmen and Marines, so they speak from a position of strength,  he said.  So thanks for standing watch, for holding the line.

Summary: जैसे ही मैटिस उत्तर कोरिया की ओर बढ़ता है, उसे तोपखाने पर चेतावनी मिलती है


VIENNA (Reuters) - Austria s Social Democrat Chancellor Christian Kern and conservative Foreign Minister Sebastian Kurz on Thursday rejected European Commission chief Jean-Claude Juncker s vision to expand eastward the euro and a border control free zone. In his annual State of the European Union speech, Juncker sketched out a vision of a post-2019 EU where some 30 countries would be using the euro, with an EU finance minister running key budgets to help states in trouble. French, German and eastern European officials have made positive comments about the speech. Kern, who is running against Kurz in parliamentary elections on Oct. 15, told ORF radio there was no point in expanding the euro and Schengen zone as long as tax fraud, the practice of contracting out work to lower-cost eastern European firms and breaches of limits for government debt had not been vanquished.  It simply makes no sense to enlarge the euro zone before this has not been dealt with, because (otherwise) problems would get bigger,  Kern said, pointing to Greece s struggle for years on the verge of bankruptcy as a prime example of such problems.  If you like this is an expansion of the problems at the end of the day and not a plus in European cooperation. I think this concept is not thought through.  Kurz also pointed to Greece as a bad example of including countries which do not fulfil the conditions for public finances the EU has set for itself.  The euro and the Schengen zone is open for everybody, but only for those that fulfill the criteria... We must avoid another situation like the one in Greece,  Kurz said.

Summary: ऑस्ट्रिया के नेताओं ने यूरो के विस्तार के लिए जंकर के दृष्टिकोण को अस्वीकार कर दिया


BEIJING (Reuters) - South Korean President Moon Jae-in will visit China from Dec. 13-16, China s official Xinhua news agency said on Wednesday, citing Foreign Ministry spokesman Lu Kang. Xinhua did not give further details but the visit will come at a time of heightened tensions on the Korean peninsula.  The two countries are seeking to mend ties frayed by a year-long spat over the deployment of a U.S. anti-missile system in South Korea. The anti-missile system was deployed amid growing concern over North Korea s nuclear and missile programs.

Summary: दक्षिण कोरिया के राष्ट्रपति मून चीन की यात्रा करेंगे दिसंबर 13-16: सिन्हुआ


WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Donald Trump’s decision to ban transgender individuals from serving in the U.S. armed forces was a military decision, and the White House will have to work with the Pentagon to decide how to implement the policy, a spokeswoman said on Wednesday. “Implementation of the policy is going to be something that the White House and the Department of Defense have to work together to lawfully determine and ... I would imagine the Department of Defense will be the lead on that,” White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders told a briefing.

Summary: सैन्य ट्रांसजेंडर नीति के विवरण पर काम किया जा रहा हैः व्हाइट हाउस


WASHINGTON (Reuters) - An internal dispute among Donald Trump’s advisers broke out into the open on Sunday when his campaign manager warned that the president-elect could face an intense backlash from supporters if he chose Mitt Romney to be his secretary of state. Trump has been weighing whether to pick Romney, the 2012 Republican presidential nominee who spent much of the past year criticizing Trump, or former New York City mayor Rudy Giuliani, who backed the real-estate mogul’s insurgent presidential run. Giuliani would fit with the other loyalists and conservative hardliners that Trump has picked to fill out his administration so far, but he has drawn criticism for working as a consultant to foreign governments.  Trump could help unite his party and win over skeptical establishment Republicans if he chooses Romney for the post. Though the debate has largely played out behind closed doors, campaign manager Kellyanne Conway warned that Trump could anger his supporters if he picked Romney, who called him a “fraud” and a “phony” in speeches this year. “They feel betrayed to think that you can get Romney back in there after everything he did - we don’t even know if he voted for Donald Trump. He and his consultants were nothing but awful to Donald Trump for a year,” she said on NBC’s “Meet the Press.” “I am all for party unity but I am not sure that we have to pay for that with the Secretary of State position,” Conway said on CNN. Conway said she would support Trump if he decided to pick Romney for the position, but other Republicans criticized her for making her case on television, rather than talking to Trump directly. “Astounding to hear K. Conway, who has the ability to tell Trump privately, trash possibility of Romney as Sec of State publicly,” Republican strategist Ana Navarro wrote on Twitter.

Summary: ट्रम्प के सलाहकार ने उन्हें रोमनी को विदेश मंत्री के लिए नहीं चुनने की चेतावनी दी


ATHENS (Reuters) - A potential deal with the United States to upgrade dozens of Greece s F-16 fighter jets is not expected to harm its fiscal progress and should not worry its EU lenders, a Greek  government spokesman said on Thursday. Defense spending has been reduced during Greece s seven-year debt crisis, which shrank the size of its economy by more than a quarter and drove its jobless rate to nearly 28 percent.   It (the deal) is not expected to impact in any way the country s progress on fiscal targets or the fiscal balance of its budget,  spokesman Dimitris Tzanakopoulos told reporters. Discussions have progressed but the deal over the Lockheed Martin fighter jets upgrade has not yet been sealed, Tzanakopoulos said. Greece has about 160 F-16 fighter jets. Any deal would involve ugrading about 85 to 95, he added.  The upgrade is not expected to cost more than 1.1 billion euros ($1.3 billion), a sum which would be paid in annual instalments of about 110 million euros over a decade.  It is the cheapest and most appropriate solution to upgrade our air defense,  he said, adding that Athens has paid dozens of billions euros in past decades to purchase such jets. Greece s current EU bailout programme, its third since 2010, ends in August and the leftist-led government has cut pensions, increased taxes and implemented unpopular reforms to meet targets.   Greek media reported on Thursday that European Union lenders were concerned about the possible arms deal. Asked about the reports, Tzanakopoulos said Athens was ready to provide any information to the Commission.  There is no reason for any concern,  he said.  It is logical that the EU Commission would want to be briefed and it will get all the necessary information, if requested.  The potential deal came to light during Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras s visit to the White House this week. Greece spends about 2 percent of its gross domestic product - roughly 3.5 billion euros - on defence, more than the EU s average, largely due to long-standing tensions with its neighbor and fellow NATO member Turkey. Spending on arms is expected to reach 475 million euros in 2018, according to Greece s 2018 draft budget.    Asked whether Greece, as it emerges from crisis, was returning to past habits of overspending on arms, Tzanakopoulos said:  The government has no intention to reiterate the mistakes of the past.

Summary: ग्रीस ने किसी भी एफ-16 जेट सौदे के वित्तीय प्रभाव को कम किया


PARIS (Reuters) - The head of a Saudi-based organization that for decades was charged with spreading the strict Wahhabi school of Islam around the world has said those times were over and his focus now was aimed at annihilating extremist ideology. Former justice minister Mohammed al-Issa, appointed secretary-general of the Mecca-based Muslim World League (MWL) just over a year ago, told Reuters during a European tour that his organization would no longer sit by and let Islam be taken hostage by extremists.  The push for a more moderate Islam underscores efforts by Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman to modernize the kingdom, which finances groups overseen by the organization, and cleave to a more open and tolerant interpretation of Islam. The ambitious young prince has already taken some steps to loosen Saudi Arabia s ultra-strict social restrictions, scaling back the role of religious morality police, permitting public concerts and announcing plans to allow women to drive next year.  The past and what was said, is in the past. What happened in the past and the way in which we worked then, is not the subject of debate,  Issa said in an interview late on Thursday.  We must wipe out this extremist thinking through the work we do. We need to annihilate religious severity and extremism which is the entry point to terrorism. That is the mission of the Muslim World League.  Saudi Arabia has used the MWL to export its strict Wahhabi version of Islam since it was set up in 1962 as a bulwark against radical secular ideologies.  The missionary society controls mosques and Islamic centers around the world, which critics say promote hatred and intolerance of other sects and religions - a charge the group has denied. Issa said the MWL would be much more hands on now and aim to tackle any sign of extremism in areas where it operates, but also if it became aware of any other schools, centers or mosques where an extremist ideology was being propagated. While he declined to give specific details, a week earlier he was in Geneva where he vowed to reform the city s largest mosque after French and Swiss authorities raised concerns that it had become a hub of extremism. The mosque is supported by the MWL.  Every time we spot such a message, we won t keep our arms crossed, we will do everything to annihilate this ideology,  the 52-year-old said through a translator.  What we are doing and want to do is purify Islam of this extremism and these wrong interpretations and give the right interpretations of Islam,  he said.  Only the truth can defeat that and we represent the truth.     The emergence of Islamic State in Syria and Iraq with its thousands of foreign fighters has highlighted how Europe in particular has become a breeding ground for angry and fragile people to turn to radical Islam.  In France alone, a string of attacks that saw hundreds of people killed since 2015 were in large part carried out by French Muslims. Issa said part of his work was to address the difficulties Muslims may have in adapting their religion to non-Muslim nations.  We try to bring answers to face down these messages that change the reality of Islam. We want to offer the real interpretation of the sacred texts that have been taken hostage and interpreted in a wrong way,  he said.  As part of those efforts, Issa said he was also working with other faiths. After the Lebanese Maronite patriarch made a historic visit to Riyadh last week, Issa visited religious officials at Paris  landmark Notre Dame Cathedral, but also Paris  Grand Synagogue.   We have a common objective to end hatred,  he said.  The Muslim World League really believes that we can accomplish that, and religions are very influential in doing that.

Summary: चरमपंथी विचारधारा को 'मिटाना' मेरा मिशन हैः सऊदी स्थित मुस्लिम निकाय के प्रमुख


RIO DE JANEIRO (Reuters) - Brazilian Former President Luiz In cio Lula da Silva and right-wing congressman Jair Bolsonaro would make it to a second round of voting in the 2018 presidential elections if they were held today, an Ibope poll showed on Sunday. The poll, published in the O Globo newspaper, showed center-left Lula winning 35 to 36 percent of the vote in the October 2018 race regardless of the candidates he theoretically runs against.  Law-and-order congressman Bolsonaro, whose popularity has been spurred by rising violence in cities like Rio de Janeiro that were hard-hit by the country s troubled economy, would win 15 percent if he faced off against Lula. Marina Silva, Former Environmental Minister for Lula, would take third placed in any voting field that included Lula as a candidate with 8 to 11 percent of the vote. Silva would tie with Bolsonaro for first place if Lula were out of the picture. Despite Lula s popularity, his political future hangs in the balance after he was convicted in July of receiving bribes from a construction firm in return for help winning government contracts. In August, he said his Workers Party might have to run a different candidate. Ibope s poll of 2,000 people in all of Brazil s states was conducted between Oct. 18 and 22. It has a margin of error of two percentage points.

Summary: ब्राजील के लूला, बोल्सोनारो 2018 के चुनावों के लिए अच्छी स्थिति में हैंः सर्वेक्षण


PRETORIA (Reuters) - South Africa s High Court ruled on Wednesday that an inquiry into alleged state influence-peddling in President Jacob Zuma s government should be established as recommended by the anti-graft watchdog in a report released a year ago. Zuma had challenged the right of the report s author to call for a judicial inquiry and the appointment of a judge to head it by the Chief Justice. Zuma said it was his prerogative to set up such an inquiry.

Summary: दक्षिण अफ्रीका की अदालत ने प्रभाव डालने पर जांच स्थापित करने की निगरानी संस्था की सिफारिश को बरकरार रखा