NEW YORK (Reuters) - The largest program of the Clinton Foundation, the family philanthropy of U.S. Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton, is still weighing whether to continue accepting foreign donations should Clinton be elected, a spokeswoman said on Friday. It was reported on Thursday that the Clinton Foundation would no longer receive donations from foreigners or corporations if Clinton wins the election in November, an effort to defuse criticism that donors to the globe-straddling charity might inappropriately seek White House favors in return. But representatives of the charities confirmed on Friday that the new guidelines would only apply to a small portion of the foundation’s activities, including its work on climate change and some of its work on economic development. The Clinton Health Access Initiative (CHAI), the foundation’s flagship project credited with reducing the cost of life-saving HIV medicines in the developing world, is yet to decide if it will similarly introduce new limits on donors. “CHAI is a separate legal entity from the Clinton Foundation with its own Board,” Regan Lachapelle, a CHAI spokeswoman, said in an email. “The CHAI Board will be meeting soon to determine its next steps.”  CHAI accounts for nearly 60 percent of the $250 million the foundation spent in 2014, according to the foundation’s most recent annual report posted on its website. CHAI files separate tax returns from the Clinton Foundation, but is included in the foundation’s audited expenses, annual reports and other promotional literature. Similarly, a Canadian offshoot of the foundation, the Clinton Giustra Enterprise Partnership (Canada), or CGEP, will not be bound by the foundation’s donor limits, but said it will instead become an “independent entity” if Hillary Clinton becomes president. CGEP, which says Canadian law prevents it from disclosing its donors’ names without their permission, was founded by Bill Clinton, the former U.S. president, and Canadian businessman Frank Giustra in 2007 to improve work opportunities for people in poor countries.  “If Secretary Clinton wins the election, we plan to spin CGEP into an independent entity to continue this important work,” Giustra said in a statement. “President Clinton and I believe it is important that we continue the work of alleviating poverty around the world.” The statement did not specify Bill Clinton’s future role. A spokesman for Clinton’s campaign declined to answer questions about the foundation. The charities have received praise from public health experts for their work alleviating the spread of HIV, and Clinton’s campaign has said any donor expecting political favors in return would be misguided. The family renamed their foundation the Bill, Hillary & Chelsea Clinton Foundation in 2013, although Hillary Clinton stepped down from her board position last year after announcing her presidential bid. Her husband and daughter remain board members. In 2008, Hillary Clinton signed an ethics agreement governing her family’s charities in order to become President Barack Obama’s secretary of state. She promised that her family’s charities would name all their donors on an annual basis and seek clearance from the U.S. State Department before accepting new donations from foreign government money. Last year, the charities said they did not comply with these promises, blaming “oversights.” On Tuesday, the Boston Globe said in an editorial that the foundation should shut down. “Even if they’ve done nothing illegal, the foundation will always look too much like a conflict of interest for comfort,” the editorial board wrote.

Summary: क्लिंटन फाउंडेशन स्वास्थ्य परियोजना अभी भी विदेशी दान पर विचार कर रही है


(Reuters) - U.S. Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross is expected to announce a new probe into imported aluminum, CNBC reported on Wednesday. The probe will be similar to the one the White House launched last week regarding steel, CNBC reported, citing an administration official. (cnb.cx/2q8oDQl) Ross on Tuesday told the Wall Street Journal the Trump administration may undertake trade actions to protect the U.S. semiconductor, shipbuilding and aluminum industries, citing national security concerns.

Summary: अमेरिकी वाणिज्य कार्यालय रॉस आयातित एल्यूमीनियम की जांच की घोषणा करेगाः सीएनबीसी


LITTLE HOCKING, Ohio (Reuters) - While revelations that Donald Trump Jr. welcomed Russian help in last year’s presidential election roil Washington, asking about it along southern Ohio’s Appalachian Highway can draw some pretty strange looks. In the mostly rural, heavily Baptist and predominately Trump-supporting terrain, the collective reaction ranges from   ignorance about the Russia investigation, to a belief that some media want to destroy Republican President Donald Trump and his  family, to complete disinterest.  Many of the 20 people interviewed in several Ohio towns were dismissive of the barrage of headlines about a June 2016 meeting between Trump’s eldest son Donald Jr. and a woman he was told was a Russian government lawyer who might have damaging information about Democratic election rival Hillary Clinton. The revelation was made when Trump Jr. released a series of emails on Tuesday amid investigations of U.S. intelligence agency conclusions that Moscow sought to help Trump win. Russia has denied allegations of interfering in the election and Trump has denied his campaign colluded with Russian officials, sometimes dismissing the notion as “fake news.” In Little Hocking, Ohio, Lisa Walker, 54, runs a small thrift shop. Wearing a t-shirt emblazoned with the American flag, she says her husband has expressed fears that somebody is going to try and assassinate Trump. She and her husband voted for Trump. She has followed the revelations about the younger Trump on the news. She sees the Russia investigation as proof that “people are out to get Trump. I would hope they have better things to do than play games and attack Trump.” Similarly, in Jackson and Piketon, Ohio, Donald Trump Jr.’s troubles appeared to strengthen support for his father and Trump family members who many in the area see as embattled victims. In Hillsboro, the county seat of Highland County, the editor of the Hillsboro Times Gazette, Gary Abernathy, says many people in the county believe the media is trying to destroy Trump. “It just plays into the belief here that the media is fixated on all things Russia,” said Abernathy, whose newspaper was one of only six in the United States to have endorsed Trump for president during the election campaign. “I don’t mind Donald Trump being treated critically or aggressively, but not in a way that is an effort to drag him down. Donald Trump Jr. had one 20 minute meeting with a lawyer from Russia and it’s wall-to-wall coverage.” Trump won Highland County with more than 76 percent of the vote, 12 points more than the 2012 Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney won, part of a surge in votes for Trump in many Midwestern rural counties that was a significant factor in his victory. Donald Jr.’s meeting stirred more questions and reporting about possible collusion or whether any U.S. laws were broken. Under the U.S. Federal Election Campaign Act, it is illegal for a foreign national to contribute to a U.S. political campaign. Before the latest disclosures, Americans overall were  sharply divided on what to make of reports about Trump and Russia. According to a Reuters/Ipsos poll in June, 50 percent agreed “that President Trump or someone from his campaign worked with Russia to influence the 2016 election” while 33 percent disagreed and the remainder were unsure. Republicans, however, mostly expressed the opposite view: 66 percent said they disagreed that Trump or his campaign worked with Russia while 20 percent agreed and the rest were unsure. In the Bob Evans diner in Jackson, three workers from Walmart were sitting down for lunch. They were Trump supporters. Asked about the Russia investigation, they stared back blankly. “I have never heard anything about it,” said Chastity Banks. Neither had her two colleagues.

Summary: ट्रम्प के ओहायो गढ़ में, समर्थकों ने डोनाल्ड जूनियर पर हंगामे को खारिज कर दिया।


WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday handed a victory to President Donald Trump by reviving parts of a travel ban on people from six Muslim-majority countries that he said is needed for national security but that opponents decry as discriminatory. The justices narrowed the scope of lower court rulings that had completely blocked key parts of a March 6 executive order that Trump had said was needed to prevent terrorism attacks, allowing his temporary ban to go into effect for people with no strong ties to the United States. [tmsnrt.rs/2seb3bb] The court issued its order on the last day of its current term and agreed to hear oral arguments during its next term starting in October so it can decide finally whether the ban is lawful in a major test of presidential powers. In a statement, Trump called the high court’s action “a clear victory for our national security,” saying the justices allowed the travel suspension to become largely effective. “As president, I cannot allow people into our country who want to do us harm. I want people who can love the United States and all of its citizens, and who will be hardworking and productive,” Trump added. Trump’s March 6 order called for a blanket 90-day ban on people from Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen and a 120-day ban on all refugees while the government implemented stronger vetting procedures. The court allowed a limited version of the refugee ban, which had also been blocked by courts, to go into effect. Trump issued the order amid rising international concern about attacks carried out by Islamist militants like those in Paris, London, Brussels, Berlin and other cities. But challengers said no one from the affected countries had carried out attacks in the United States. Federal courts said the travel ban violated federal immigration law and was discriminatory against Muslims in violation of the U.S. Constitution. Critics called it a discriminatory “Muslim ban.” Ahmed al-Nasi, an official in Yemen’s Ministry of Expatriate Affairs, voiced disappointment. “We believe it will not help in confronting terrorism and extremism, but rather will increase the feeling among the nationals of these countries that they are all being targeted, especially given that Yemen is an active partner of the United States in the war on terrorism and that there are joint operations against terrorist elements in Yemen,” he said. Groups that challenged the ban, including the American Civil Liberties Union, said that most people from the affected countries seeking entry to the United States would have the required connections. But they voiced concern the administration would interpret the ban as broadly as it could. “It’s going to be very important for us over this intervening period to make sure the government abides by the terms of the order and does not try to use it as a back door into implementing the full-scale Muslim ban that it’s been seeking to implement,” said Omar Jadwat, an ACLU lawyer. During the 2016 presidential race, Trump campaigned for “a total and complete shutdown” of Muslims entering the United States. The travel ban was a signature policy of Trump’s first few months as president.  In an unusual unsigned decision, the Supreme Court on Monday said the travel ban will go into effect “with respect to foreign nationals who lack any bona fide relationship with a person or entity in the United States.”  A lack of a clearly defined relationship would bar from entry people from the six countries and refugees with no such ties. Hawaii Attorney General Douglas Chin, who successfully challenged the ban in lower courts, said that students from affected countries due to attend the University of Hawaii would still be able to do so. Both bans were to partly go into effect 72 hours after the court’s decision. The Department of Homeland Security and the State Department pledged to implement the decision in an orderly fashion. “We will keep those traveling to the United States and partners in the travel industry informed as we implement the order in a professional, organized, and timely way,” a State Department spokeswoman said. Trump signed the order as a replacement for a Jan. 27 one issued a week after he became president that also was blocked by federal courts, but not before it caused chaos at airports and provoked numerous protests. Even before the Supreme Court action the ban applied only to new visa applicants, not people who already have visas or are U.S. permanent residents, known as green card holders. The executive order also made waivers available for a foreign national seeking to enter the United States to resume work or study, visit a spouse, child or parent who is a U.S. citizen, or for “significant business or professional obligations.” Refugees “in transit” and already approved would have been able to travel to the United States under the executive order. The case was Trump’s first major challenge at the Supreme Court, where he restored a 5-4 conservative majority with the appointment of Neil Gorsuch, who joined the bench in April. There are five Republican appointees on the court and four Democratic appointees. The four liberal justices were silent. Gorsuch was one of the three conservative justices who would have granted Trump’s request to put the order completely into effect. Fellow conservative Justice Clarence Thomas wrote a dissenting opinion in which he warned that requiring officials to differentiate between foreigners who have a connection to the United States and those who do not will prove unworkable.  “Today’s compromise will burden executive officials with the task of deciding - on peril of contempt - whether individuals from the six affected nations who wish to enter the United States have a sufficient connection to a person or entity in this country,” Thomas wrote. The state of Hawaii and a group of plaintiffs in Maryland represented by the American Civil Liberties Union argued that the order violated federal immigration law and the Constitution’s First Amendment prohibition on the government favoring or disfavoring any particular religion. Regional federal appeals courts in Virginia and California both upheld district judge injunctions blocking the order.

Summary: सुप्रीम कोर्ट ने ट्रंप के यात्रा प्रतिबंध में नई जान फूंक दी


BERLIN (Reuters) - German police detained a 29-year-old man suspected of trading narcotic drugs internationally over the internet through anonymous websites and sending them by mail to customers in Germany, police said on Wednesday. In cooperation with Dutch authorities, police seized 400,000 euros ($470,840) and 75 kg (165 lb) of ecstasy, marijuana, cocaine, amphetamine and heroin at the apartments of the suspect and at his mother in the Netherlands. The dealer and his partners, using the pseudonyms  Mr. Drug Commander  and  Drugs Squad , were receiving orders mostly from German customers on black market websites such as  Hansa Market  and  Dream Market , federal criminal police said. The man, who was not identified, was arrested on Nov. 9 while entering Germany to mail 34 shipments of drugs. A day earlier, in Ingolstadt in Bavaria, police had arrested a man who had ordered marijuana and amphetamines.  Dutch authorities are still looking for other gang members. Police said online drug shops are boosting drug consumption and trafficking, requiring a shift in approach by German authorities.  The supposedly anonymous ordering on the Internet motivates more young people to buy, consume or even sell drugs for profit,  said federal criminal police in a statement. Police said the investigation began in August, leading to the initial arrest in October of six people in the Bavarian town of Coburg, which in turn helped identified 12 other buyers. German customs police in July said they expected far more cocaine to flood into Europe in the future, and had seized nearly five tonnes of the drug in northern sea ports so far this year, more than three times their total in 2016. [L5N1KF3CV]

Summary: जर्मन पुलिस ने वैश्विक ऑनलाइन नशीली दवाओं के गिरोह में संदिग्ध को हिरासत में लिया


(Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump on Tuesday stood by his criticism of pay TV and wireless company AT&T’s deal to buy movie and TV show maker Time Warner Inc, which the Justice Department has sued to stop. “I’m not going to get involved in litigation, but personally I’ve always felt that that was a deal that’s not a good deal for the country,” the president said on the lawn of the White House as he left for Florida. “I think your pricing’s going to go up, I don’t think it’s a good deal for the country.” The case will be more closely watched than other merger challenges because Trump has been a vocal critic of Time Warner’s CNN, and opposed AT&T’s purchase of Time Warner on the campaign trail last year, saying it would concentrate too much power in AT&T’s hands. Until Tuesday, he had not repeated that criticism. The U.S. Department of Justice on Monday sued AT&T, arguing that it would use Time Warner’s content to force rival pay-TV companies to pay “hundreds of millions of dollars more per year for Time Warner’s networks.” The Justice Department pushed back any suggestion that the decision to sue was done because of “political considerations.” “This is a law enforcement decision, not a political one. The DOJ has reached the end of a year-long investigation by a large, capable staff of expert lawyers and economists,” a Justice Department spokesperson said in an email comment. “The division concluded on the merits that the merger is illegal under the antitrust laws because it will hurt competition.” AT&T has vowed to defend the $85.4 billion deal in court. The Department of Justice’s move to block it was “foolish” because the deal posed no threat to consumers, the wireless carrier’s trial lawyer, Dan Petrocelli, told CNBC on Tuesday. "We want to go to court as soon as possible," Petrocelli told CNBC, saying the burden of proof was on the government. cnb.cx/2AjiOVw AT&T will ask the court for an expedited trial next week, a source familiar with case said.  The case has been assigned to Judge Richard Leon, a senior judge on the District of Columbia District Court, who was appointed by President George W. Bush in 2002. Time Warner shares went higher when Leon’s assignment was announced as investors bet the judge would be more likely to allow the deal to proceed.  Republican-appointed judges are generally, but not always, more business-friendly than those appointed by Democrats. Shares of Time Warner closed up 2.1 percent at $89.56 on Tuesday, signaling that investors believe the deal has a better chance of being approved. AT&T closed down less than 1 percent at $34.33. The merger challenge is unusual since the two companies do not compete directly.  The Justice Department has not successfully litigated to stop a vertical deal - where the merging companies are not direct competitors, as is the case with AT&T and Time Warner - since the 1970s, when it prevented Ford Motor Co from buying assets from spark-plug maker Autolite.

Summary: टाइम वार्नर को खरीदने की एटीएंडटी की योजना 'अच्छा सौदा नहीं': ट्रंप


WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A vote on gun control measures in the U.S. Senate seeking to prevent the sale of firearms to potential terrorists is likely to be held on Tuesday, Senator Dianne Feinstein of California said on Thursday.

Summary: मंगलवार को सीनेट में बंदूक नियंत्रण उपायों पर मतदान होने की संभावनाः फीनस्टीन


WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The White House’s top economic adviser, Jason Furman, said on Tuesday that the United States has ample capacity to boost spending to cushion any future economic downturn. Furman, at a news conference on President Barack Obama’s final budget proposal, said that gross domestic product growth may be slowing somewhat, but that is being offset in a fiscal context by lower unemployment and lower-than-expected interest rates, and a continued decline in healthcare costs. “Our country has the fiscal room, if and when it is ever needed at some hypothetical future date, to use fiscal policy as one of the tools that we would deploy in those circumstances,” Furman said.

Summary: अमेरिका के पास खर्च के साथ भविष्य की किसी भी मंदी से लड़ने की गुंजाइश हैः फुरमैन


NAIROBI (Reuters) - Kenya lurched deeper into political confusion on Wednesday as a court ruling and a parliamentary vote appeared to ease Uhuru Kenyatta s path to a second term as president, a day after his chief rival quit an election they were to contest. Kenyatta and Raila Odinga were due to face off in a repeat election on Oct. 26, after the Supreme Court annulled their August ballot - in which the president was declared the winner. But Odinga pulled out of the re-run on Tuesday, fuelling doubts about whether it would be contested at all. Wednesday s interventions by the judiciary and legislature added to the uncertainty. As police used teargas to disperse opposition protesters demanding electoral reform, the High Court approved a petition by Ekuru Aukot, who polled less than 1 percent in the August vote, to contest the second ballot. The election board later issued a statement saying that all eight candidates who competed in August would be on the ballot. It also said although Odinga had notified them of his withdrawal by letter, he had not yet submitted the official form to do so.  The developments suggested that the second election would go ahead, with Kenyatta the likely winner against a plethora of weaker candidates. No challenger except Odinga polled more than 1 percent. Further muddying the political waters, parliament passed an election law amendment stating that if one candidate withdrew from the re-run vote, the remaining one would automatically win. The vote was boycotted by opposition lawmakers.  The law aimed to ensure Kenyatta could be declared president if he faced no challengers. The events stoked confusion among voters and fears that politically-driven violence might escalate. Months of political uncertainty have already blunted growth in East Africa s richest nation, a long-time ally of the West.   There s a real atmosphere of confusion and uncertainty. There seems to be dozens of opinions of what should come next,  said Murithi Mutiga, a senior Horn of Africa analyst for the global thinktank International Crisis Group.  Justifying his pullout on Tuesday, Odinga said the election would not be free and fair and renewed calls for the electoral board (IEBC), which he blamed for the procedural irregularities identified in the first ballot, to be replaced. Opposition supporters on Wednesday renewed their protests for electoral reform.  Demonstrators lit bonfires in Kisumu, an Odinga stronghold in the country s west, while more than a thousand supporters marched through the central business district in the capital Nairobi. Police used teargas to disperse them in both cities, witnesses said. Juliana Otieno, the chief executive of the Oginga Odinga Hospital in the city, said 17 people had been admitted with injuries suffered during the protests. A Reuters witness counted at least five of them with bullet wounds. Kisumu s police commander, Titus Yoma, said he had no information on the bullet wounds and his officers were still quelling the protests, which were centered around two slums in the lakeside city. At least 37 people were killed in protests immediately following the August vote, almost all of them by police, a Kenyan rights group said on Monday. Ethnic clashes killed 1,200 people following a disputed presidential poll in 2007.  We want a reformed IEBC,  said Elisha Odhiambo, an opposition legislator, referring to the electoral board, which has frequently relied on riot police dispersing protests outside its offices in recent weeks.  Mombasa Governor Ali Hassan Joho, a key opposition player, told protesters in Uhuru Park:  Our voices must be heard. We have no war with anyone but we will not allow anyone to stifle us.  After the High Court ruling in his favor, Aukot told reporters that he still had concerns about the board and would issue a statement in a day or two giving clarity about his plans.  It was unclear if other candidates from the first ballot with little support would also seek to be included, but the election board said it still had time to print ballot papers.  The Sept. 1 Supreme Court judgment that nullified Kenyatta s 1.4 million vote win also stipulated elections had to be held within 60 days.  If that schedule is not met, the constitution provides for the speaker of parliament, a member of Kenyatta s party, to take power.  With two weeks to go until the elections, it is still unclear who will stand.   I would expect one of the parties will try to seek an authoritative announcement from the Supreme Court,  International Crisis Group s Mutiga said. Amid the political uncertainty, the government has trimmed this year s GDP growth forecast from 5.9 percent to 5.5 percent last month. The country s equity markets slid further on Wednesday. Kenya s all share index closed down 0.67 percent while the blue chip index fell 1.41 percent.

Summary: ओडिंगा के इस्तीफे के बाद संकट गहराने पर केन्या में मतदान संतुलन में


ISTANBUL (Reuters) - A Turkish court released prominent journalist Kadri Gursel from jail pending trial late on Monday, in a case that targets the opposition Cumhuriyet newspaper and has been condemned by critics of President Tayyip Erdogan as an attack on free speech. Television footage showed Gursel hugging his wife and colleagues as he emerged from jail at Silivri, west of Istanbul after some 330 days in custody.  This is not something to be really happy about. There are Cumhuriyet staff who have been jailed due to unjust, baseless allegations,  Gursel told reporters outside the jail. Prosecutors say Cumhuriyet was effectively taken over by supporters of Fethullah Gulen, a U.S.-based cleric blamed by the government for last year s attempted coup, and that the paper was used to target Erdogan and  veil the actions of terrorist groups.  The newspaper and staff have denied the charges. Four more prominent staff of Cumhuriyet, correspondents and executives, remained in custody after the third hearing in the case, including editor-in-chief Murat Sabuncu. The rest of the 17 defendants are free pending trial. Prosecutors are seeking up to 43 years in jail for the newspaper staff, who stand accused of targeting Erdogan through  asymmetric war methods.  Social media posts comprised the bulk of evidence in the indictment, along with allegations that staff had been in contact with users of Bylock, an encrypted messaging app the government says was used by Gulen s followers. Rights groups and Turkey s Western allies have complained of deteriorating human rights under Erdogan. In the crackdown since last July s failed coup, 50,000 people have been jailed pending trial and some 150,000 detained or dismissed from their jobs. Around 150 media outlets have been shut down and 160 journalists jailed, the Turkish Journalists Association says.

Summary: तुर्की की अदालत ने विपक्षी अखबार मामले में जेल में बंद पत्रकार को रिहा कर दिया


BAGHDAD (Reuters) - The Iraqi government accused Kurdish authorities on Sunday of bringing fighters from Turkey s separatist Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) to the disputed oil-rich city of Kirkuk, and said it considered the move a  declaration of war.  Vahal Ali, a media assistant to Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) President Masoud Barzani, denied the accusation.  This is false, there are no PKK in Kirkuk, only Peshmerga,  he told Reuters, referring to KRG military forces. In a statement published after a meeting chaired by Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi in Baghdad, and attended by top military and security commanders, the government said it would seek to impose its authority over Kirkuk and other disputed areas. Iraq s Kurdish leadership rejected on Sunday a demand by the Iraqi government to cancel the outcome of an independence referendum as a precondition for talks to resolve the dispute. Barzani and other Kurdish leaders, who met to discuss the crisis in the town of Dokan, renewed their offer to  resolve peacefully  the crisis with Baghdad. They rejected what they described as  military threats  from Iraqi forces against Kurdish Peshmerga fighters, and pledged to defend Kurdish-held territory in the event of an attack. The KRG and the Shi ite-led central government in Baghdad have been at loggerheads since the Sept. 25 referendum and its loud call for Kurdish independence. Tensions between the two parties have flared around the multi-ethnic oil city of Kirkuk, which Peshmerga forces took in 2014 when Iraqi security forces collapsed in the face of an Islamic State onslaught. The Peshmerga deployment prevented Kirkuk s oilfields from falling into jihadist hands.

Summary: इराक का कहना है कि कुर्द 'युद्ध की घोषणा' में पीकेके लड़ाकों को लाए हैं


WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A friend of former FBI Director James Comey said on Tuesday he is turning over to the FBI any memos he has of Comey’s conversations with President Donald Trump, MSNBC reported. It said the friend, Columbia Law School professor Daniel Richman, confirmed to NBC News that “he’s now turning over any Comey memos that he has in his possession to the FBI.” Comey, fired by Trump last month, said in congressional testimony last week that he gave a memo describing his conversations with Trump to a close friend and told him to share its contents with a reporter. MSNBC said Richman also said Robert Mueller, special counsel leading an inquiry into possible links between the 2016 Trump campaign and Russia, has been in touch with the Senate Judiciary Committee to discuss how the panel can get access to the memos. The MSNBC report came as U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions appeared on Capitol Hill for a high-profile public session with lawmakers to answer questions about his dealings with Russian officials. Sessions is the most senior member of Trump’s administration caught up in the controversy over whether associates of the president colluded with Russia to help Trump win the election. Attention in Washington has turned to whether Trump might seek to fire Mueller, the former FBI director named last month by the Justice Department to head the federal probe into the Russia issue. Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein, who would be responsible for carrying out any such dismissal, told a different congressional panel on Tuesday he would not fire Mueller without good cause and he had seen no such cause. Sessions appeared before the intelligence committee just five days after Comey, whom Trump fired on May 9, told the panel Trump ousted him to undermine the agency’s investigation of the Russia matter.

Summary: कोमी के दोस्त का कहना है कि वह एफ. बी. आई. को कोमी के ट्रम्प ज्ञापन सौंप रहे हैंः एम. एस. एन. बी. सी.


BRUSSELS (Reuters) - The European Commission will ask EU member states on Wednesday to take a stand on whether the Polish government is abusing democratic standards, three sources told Reuters, as the bloc  steps up pressure on Warsaw. Poland has been in a deepening dispute with Brussels and other European Union states over upholding the rule of law since the nationalist-minded, eurosceptic Law and Justice (PiS) party won power in late 2015.  PiS denies that it is undermining democratic standards in the largest ex-communist EU country but Brussels - along with many other member states, the Polish opposition and rights activists - has been sounding the alarm for months.  After German Chancellor Angela Merkel offered rare public criticism of Warsaw last week, the bloc is seen more likely to head toward an unprecedented punishment of Warsaw. Three sources said the executive Commission will ask all EU states on Wednesday to discuss the situation in Poland again at a ministerial meeting in Brussels on Sept. 25. The meeting is not expected to trigger the so-called Article 7 punitive procedure yet but the discussion will measure the willingness of the other 27 EU countries to move ahead. At the heart of the dispute is a PiS reform of the judiciary in Poland which puts the courts and judges under tighter government control.

Summary: यूरोपीय संघ की कार्यपालिका बुधवार को पोलैंड पर दबाव बनाएगीः सूत्र


WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A U.S. Senate committee approved legislation on Thursday that would broaden sanctions on North Korea over its nuclear program, human rights record and cyber activities, the latest bid by U.S. lawmakers to crack down on Pyongyang after its fourth nuclear test. The Senate Foreign Relations Committee passed the measure by unanimous voice vote and members said they expected it would be approved by the full Senate within weeks, and signed into law by President Barack Obama. U.S. lawmakers have been clamoring for a clampdown on North Korea since Pyongyang earlier this month tested a nuclear device which it said was a hydrogen bomb. The U.N. Security Council is also discussing more action against the country, although it is not clear what would be supported by China, North Korea’s lone major ally and main business partner. The Senate bill would sanction anyone who engages in, facilitates or contributes to North Korea’s proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, arms-related materials, luxury goods, human rights abuses, activities undermining cyber security and the provision of metals or coal for use in such activities. Penalties include the seizure of assets, visa bans and denial of government contracts. Committee members said they wanted to make Washington’s resolve clear not just to Pyongyang, but to other governments. They said they expected the House of Representatives would back the Senate legislation. “We must also send a strong message to China,” said Republican Senator Cory Gardner, chairman of the panel’s Asia subcommittee and co-author of the legislation. An Obama administration official said the administration does not oppose the legislation, saying it is deeply concerned about North Korea’s recent actions and sees the most recent test as a “serious setback.” U.S. officials told Reuters on Thursday the United States had seen increased activity around a North Korean site suggesting preparations for a possible space launch in the near future, raising concerns that the country was seeking to develop an inter-continental ballistic missile. North Korea conducted a nuclear test on Jan. 6 that it said was the explosion of a hydrogen bomb, although the United States and other governments and experts voiced scepticism that it had made such a technological advance. The House passed its own, less extensive, bill to broaden sanctions on Jan. 12 by a near unanimous 418-2 vote. The Senate is due to begin considering the bill approved by the foreign relations committee during the week of Feb. 8.

Summary: सीनेट पैनल ने उत्तर कोरिया पर प्रतिबंधों को व्यापक बनाने के उपाय को मंजूरी दी


WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. House of Representatives Speaker Paul Ryan on Tuesday  attacked the decision by FBI Director James Comey to not recommend charges against Democrat Hillary Clinton for use of a private email server, saying it “defies explanation.” “Declining to prosecute Secretary Clinton for recklessly mishandling and transmitting national security information will set a terrible precedent,” Ryan, a Republican, said in a statement. “The findings of this investigation also make clear that Secretary Clinton misled the American people when she was confronted with her criminal actions.”

Summary: स्पीकर रयानः क्लिंटन पर मुकदमा चलाने से इनकार करना गलत मिसाल है


WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A powerful U.S. lawmaker on Wednesday demanded Secretary of State John Kerry provide an explanation of a $1.7 billion claim settlement paid to Iran just as Tehran released American prisoners last month. Republican Ed Royce, chairman of the House of Representatives Foreign Affairs Committee, wrote that the timing of the settlement and the administration’s failure to brief Congress “has led some to express concern that the payment represents a de facto ‘ransom’ for the release of American hostages.” Royce asked Kerry to provide by Feb. 17 information including lists of all U.S. officials who participated in negotiations with Iran over the settlement agreement, the prisoner release and the nuclear agreement announced in July. He also asked for legal analyses of the dispute, a timeline of negotiations over the dispute and an explanation of how the interest payment in the settlement was calculated, among other information. On Jan. 17, the State Department said the United States and Iran had settled a longstanding claim at the Iran-U.S. Claims Tribunal, releasing to Tehran $400 million in funds frozen since 1981 plus $1.3 billion in interest. State Department spokesman John Kirby said Kerry would respond to the letter. He did not offer further specifics on when and how. “We can confirm receipt of Chairman Royce’s letter, and as with all Congressional correspondence, we’ll respond as appropriate,” Kirby said. U.S. Republican lawmakers, who are strongly critical of Democratic President Barack Obama’s Iran policy, have been questioning the payment for weeks. No Republican supported the nuclear agreement when Congress had the opportunity to review it last year. After the settlement was announced, Obama said it was a better alternative than letting more interest accumulate while waiting for a legal judgment.

Summary: अमेरिकी रिपब्लिकन ने ईरान को 1.70 करोड़ डॉलर के भुगतान, बंधक की रिहाई के समय पर सवाल उठाए


NEW YORK (Reuters) - Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan said on Thursday Turkey will deploy troops in Syria s northern Idlib region as part of a so-called de-escalation agreement brokered by Russia last month. The  de-escalation  zones, agreed by Turkey, Russia and Iran, would be further discussed in talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin during his trip to Ankara next week, Erdogan said in an interview with Reuters while he was in New York for the annual United Nations General Assembly.  Under the agreement, Russians are maintaining security outside Idlib and Turkey will maintain the security inside Idlib region,  Erdogan said.  The task is not easy ... With Putin we will discuss additional steps needed to be taken in order to eradicate terrorists once and for all to restore peace.  Erdogan also said Turkey was considering counter-measures, including imposing sanctions, against Kurdish northern Iraq over a planned referendum. Iraqi Kurdish authorities have defied growing international pressure to call off the referendum on independence. Iraq s neighbors fear it will fuel unrest among their own Kurdish populations and Western allies said it could detract from the fight against Islamic State. Turkey has brought forward a cabinet meeting and national security council session to Friday over the referendum, Erdogan said. He said that parliament would also convene for an extraordinary meeting on Saturday.  Without any further delay we are going to discuss what kind of sanctions should be imposed and when the sanctions will be imposed,  he said without elaborating on what they might be.     Turkish troops are also carrying out military exercises near the border and Erdogan said on Saturday the resolution on troop deployment abroad will be submitted to parliament for a vote.   Erdogan called on the United States to extradite U.S.-based cleric Fethullah Gulen, whom Erdogan accuses of orchestrating a failed coup attempt in Turkey, in which rogue soldiers commandeered tanks and fighter jets, bombing parliament and trying to abduct or kill Erdogan. Gulen denies any involvement in the July 2016 coup attempt, during which more than 240 people were killed.  Gulen s entire network is being run from the United States. Terrorists should not be harbored here. We need U.S. assistance on this matter,  Erdogan said. Since the failed coup, Turkish authorities have shut more than 130 media outlets and a press union says more than 150 journalists have been jailed, raising concerns about media freedom in Turkey. Turkey has also suspended or dismissed more than 150,000 judges, teachers, police and civil servants and has arrested nearly 50,000 others suspected of links to the Gulen movement. The EU and human rights organizations have expressed concern over Turkey s security crackdown since the failed coup.  Turkey says its crackdown is targeting supporters of Gulen.          Let me be very clear, in terms of freedom of press, there are no challenges in Turkey ... If journalists are supporters of terrorists, if they are double-agents, are we not supposed to do what is necessary against them?  Erdogan said.  Turkey is a state of law, within which the judiciary takes necessary measure ... This is sheer lie ... they were coup plotters.  Meeting Erdogan on the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly, U.S. President Donald Trump on Thursday praised his leadership and said he  has become a friend of mine.  Relations between Turkey and the United States were strained over Turkish security officials involved in street fighting with protesters during a visit to Washington in May. Turkey is part of the U.S.-led coalition against Islamic State (IS) in Syria and Iraq but Ankara s ties with Washington are strained over support provided by the United States to the Syrian Kurdish militia YPG. Viewed by Turkey as the Syrian extension of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), the YPG has been among the most effective partners on the ground in the U.S.-led fight against the Islamic State. Erdogan warned Washington that arming the YPG could end up hurting Washington and its allies.   Weapons are being deployed to YPG ... We are strategic allies with the United States ..., we should avoid helping YPG,  he said. At a critical time for Turkish-Germany relations, Erdogan said in the interview he hoped relations with Germany could be improved, praising German Chancellor Angela Merkel for refraining from criticizing Turkey and its policies.  I am quite hopeful relations will improve ... We have no problem with the German public. We have a problem with some officials  wrong attitude against Turkey,  he said. Merkel, who has been at odds with Erdogan on many fronts over the last year, has said that  the fact is clear that Turkey should not become a member of the EU . Merkel has said she will speak to other European Union leaders to end Turkey s EU accession talks.  Things never went well for the last 54 years regarding Turkey s EU membership ... We have been lingering at the doorstep of the EU and things have got worse. They have never kept their promises,  Erdogan said.

Summary: एक्सक्लूसिवः सीरिया के इदलिब में सैनिकों को तैनात करेगा तुर्कीः एर्दोगन


NEW YORK (Reuters) - Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton extended her lead over Republican rival Donald Trump to eight percentage points, according to a Reuters/Ipsos poll released on Tuesday, from six points on Friday. The bump for Clinton followed the Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia last week at which Clinton and her supporters painted an optimistic portrait of America, and came amid controversy over Trump’s comments about the parents of a slain Muslim U.S. soldier. About 43 percent of likely voters favor Clinton, 35 percent favor Trump, and 9 percent picked “Other,” according to the July 28-Aug. 1 online poll of 1,289 likely voters. The poll had a credibility interval of 3 percentage points.  Trump has faced a barrage of criticism in recent days from political allies as well as opponents after he criticized the parents of U.S. Army Captain Humayun Khan, who was killed in Iraq in 2004. The father, Khizr Khan, had harsh words for Trump at the Democratic convention where he spoke on Thursday night, saying the 70-year-old businessman and former reality TV star had “sacrificed nothing and no one” and railing against his calls to ban Muslim immigrants. Trump responded saying Khan “viciously attacked” him, and suggested the man was repeating lines fed to him by the Clinton campaign. New Jersey Governor Chris Christie, who dropped out of the Republican presidential primary race and endorsed Trump, said on Tuesday that Trump’s criticisms of the Khans was “inappropriate.” House Republican Richard Hanna of New York said it was “not enough to simply denounce his (Trump’s) comments,” and said he would support former Secretary of State Clinton instead. Trump had a short-lived bump in the polls after the Republican National Convention in Cleveland in late July, when Reuters polling showed him slightly ahead of Clinton for the first time since May.

Summary: क्लिंटन ने ट्रम्प पर 8 प्रतिशत अंकों की बढ़त बनाईः रॉयटर्स/इप्सोस


PARIS/BRUSSELS (Reuters) - France cast serious doubt on Tuesday on the prospects of an EU free trade deal with the United States, adding to opposition within Germany and growing scepticism among Americans. Washington and Brussels are officially committed to sealing the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) before U.S. President Barack Obama leaves office in January, but their chances of doing so are being eroded by approaching elections on both sides of the Atlantic and Britain’s vote in June to leave the European Union. “Everything is moving. In this situation it’s just not going to happen,” said Peter van Ham, senior research fellow at Dutch think tank Clingendael and author of a paper on Tuesday called “TTIP is dead, long live transatlantic trade”. French Trade Minister Matthias Fekl said he would request a halt to TTIP talks at next month’s EU trade ministers’ meeting in Bratislava after German Economy Minister Sigmar Gabriel declared at the weekend that talks were “de facto dead”. Observers say both are responding to public mistrust of a deal that critics say would lower environmental and food standards and allow foreign multinationals to challenge government policies.  Stop TTIP campaigns have been particularly vocal in Germany and Austria, which supporters of TTIP say are among the countries most likely to benefit from increased U.S. trade. In the United States, Obama has promoted the accord, saying it would fuel growth. But the public mood is turning increasingly negative, with Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump making attacks on international trade deals a cornerstone of his campaign, saying they have cost U.S. jobs.  His opponent, Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton, has also stepped back from her previous support for free trade when she was U.S. Secretary of State, and has questioned whether trade deals hold down U.S. wages.    German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier, of Gabriel’s Social Democratic Party (SPD), urged diplomats and business chiefs on Tuesday to counter anti-globalization sentiments that are fuelling opposition to free trade deals. Ahead of elections in France and Germany next year, politicians are keenly aware that TTIP is not a vote winner.  The Bertelsmann Foundation poll showed only 17 percent of Germans saw TTIP as a good thing in April, down from 55 percent two years earlier. “There may be an economic rationale, but everyone is scrapping for votes and you lose votes if you support TTIP,” Van Ham said, adding that any credit from potential free trade gains  would be two to three years away. Supporters say TTIP could boost each economy by $100 billion, creating jobs at a time of economic uncertainty as growth and consumption slow in China and emerging markets. EU leaders backed TTIP talks at a summit in June. Speaking to reporters in Washington, White House spokesman Josh Earnest admitted “significant aspects” of the deal were unresolved, but said U.S. Trade Representative Michael Froman would travel to Europe in an effort to push the talks forward. “I anticipate that when he travels to Europe in mid-September that they’ll be engaged in substantive discussions and hopefully will be able to make some additional progress,” Earnest said. Three years of negotiations have failed to resolve multiple differences, however, including over public procurement and rules to protect foods from particular regions, such as Parma ham, which the EU wants, and greater access to services and for its agricultural products, as demanded by the United States. “Practically there’s no real change. It’s been stuck for the better part of two years,” said Hosuk Lee-Makiyama, director of Brussels-based think tank ECIPE. EU trade chief Cecelia Malmstrom told journalists  negotiations had not failed and that many EU countries had said they still backed TTIP. They included Italy, whose trade and industry minister said it was essential for Italian exporters that the negotiations bore fruit. Germany’s Gabriel is the chairman of the SPD who share power with Chancellor Angela Merkel’s conservatives. Merkel backs the talks and her spokesman insisted on Monday that they should continue.   Malmstrom added that it made no sense to suspend talks in September because the two sides could still make advances in regulatory cooperation, agreeing standards that are important to industries such as the auto sector, and that could be picked up by Obama’s successor even if a deal was not sealed this year. “The more work we have done, the easier it is to resume,” she said before a planned video conference with Froman.  Froman has said Britain’s EU exit will affect TTIP because Britain consumes about a quarter of U.S. exports to the bloc. Trade analysts say that Washington may be preparing for the end of trade talks, which typically conclude with each side holding the other responsible for failure.  President Francois Hollande told ambassadors on Tuesday that talks were “bogged down” and “unbalanced” and it was an illusion to imagine that a deal could be sealed during Obama’s term. “Very soon you end in a blame game,” said Lee-Makiyama. “But trade negotiations never really die. They just go into a stock-taking phase.”

Summary: EU-U.S. व्यापार सौदा संदेह में है क्योंकि फ्रांस ने वार्ता समाप्त करने का आग्रह किया


WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Donald Trump, poised to restore the conservative majority on the Supreme Court, met with key senators on Tuesday and promised to unveil his nominee next week, with three U.S. appeals court judges among those under close consideration. Trump met at the White House with Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, Democratic leader Chuck Schumer and the top Republican and Democrat on the Judiciary Committee to discuss filling the court’s lingering vacancy caused by the death of conservative Justice Antonin Scalia more than 11 months ago. The lifetime appointment as a Supreme Court justice requires Senate confirmation. Leonard Leo, a conservative lawyer advising Trump, said the president “has definitely narrowed his focus” and is “looking very seriously” at a short list of candidates. Among the frontrunners are three conservative jurists: Neil Gorsuch, a judge on the Denver-based 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals; Thomas Hardiman, who serves on the Philadelphia-based 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals; and William Pryor, a judge on the Atlanta-based 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. “Judges Gorsuch and Hardiman and Pryor have received a lot of attention from the president. He knows who they are. He is familiar with their records. He’s clearly impressed with their backgrounds,” Leo said. All three were appointed to the bench by Republican former President George W. Bush. “I’ll be making my decision this week. We’ll be announcing next week. We have outstanding candidates, and we will pick a truly great Supreme Court justice,” Trump told reporters in the Oval Office. The leading candidates all have strong conservative credentials. Gorsuch joined a ruling in 2013 saying that owners of private companies can object on religious grounds to a provision of the Obamacare health insurance law requiring employers to provide insurance covering birth control for women.  Hardiman wrote an opinion in 2013 embracing a broad interpretation of the U.S. Constitution’s right to bear arms. Pryor has been an outspoken critic of the court’s 1973 landmark ruling that legalized abortion. Leo said all three are “very much in the mold of Justice Scalia,” who was among the most conservative members of the court. After the meeting with Trump, Schumer said he reiterated that the president “should pick a mainstream nominee who could earn bipartisan support” and that Democrats would fight any nominee they deem outside the mainstream. “I anticipate what we’re going to get from the president is a highly qualified, well-credentialed conservative jurist,” McConnell told reporters. Trump can name Scalia’s replacement because the Republican-led U.S. Senate, in an action with little precedent in U.S. history, last year refused to consider Democratic President Barack Obama’s nominee, appeals court judge Merrick Garland. Obama, who handed over power to Trump last Friday, nominated Garland on March 16, but Republican senators led by McConnell denied Garland the customary confirmation hearings and vote. Since Scalia’s death, the court has been deadlocked ideologically with four conservative justices and four liberals. A conservative replacement for Scalia would reinstate the court’s narrow conservative majority in place for decades. Trump’s fellow Republicans have a 52-48 majority in the  Senate. Democrats, irate over Garland’s rebuff, potentially could try to block the nomination using procedural hurdles.

Summary: ट्रम्प ने उच्च न्यायालय की खोज को संकुचित किया, अगले सप्ताह रूढ़िवादी का नाम लेंगे


BRUSSELS (Reuters) - Questions around nationhood, tax autonomy, international representation and policy powers are at the heart of Sunday s violence-marred independence referendum in Catalonia, Spain s wealthiest region.  Below please find brief description of how Catalonia compares with other regions with separatist leanings. A historic principality that became part of a united Spanish kingdom in the 15th century, it is one of 17 autonomous regions under Spain s devolved political system created after the death of dictator Francisco Franco in 1975. It has its own government, presidency, and parliament. The statute of autonomy defining Catalonia s powers refers to Catalonia as a  nationality .   Catalan and Spanish share status as official languages in Catalonia. Catalonia has its own flag and anthem. Half of the income tax and value-added tax (VAT) levied in Catalonia is returned to the region of 7.5 million people, with the central government in Madrid deciding how the rest is spent. Company taxes also go to Madrid.   Catalonia receives 58 percent of the proceeds of a number of other taxes, including on alcohol and fuel, raised there. Its tax-collecting agency also gathers some taxes on wealth, inheritance, gambling and transport and keeps all the proceeds.   Catalonia, with about 16 percent of Spain s population of 47 million, complains about the redistribution of tax revenues.   Each year, it pays about 10 billion euros ($12 billion) more in taxes to Madrid than it gets back, or around 5 percent of regional economic output, according to Spanish Treasury data.  The Catalan government has a number of delegations abroad, including in Brussels, London and Washington.   The Catalan government has broad powers in areas such as education, health, security, culture, urban development and the environment. It has its own police force, the Mossos d Esquadra.   The central government has powers over foreign, defense, immigration and broad economic policy. A kingdom occupying the northern half of the island of Great Britain from the 9th century, Scotland s monarch took the crown of England through dynastic succession in 1603 and in 1707 the two countries formed the state of Great Britain. It is now part of the United Kingdom, with England, Wales and Northern Ireland. After rejecting independence in a 2014 referendum, Scotland was allowed to raise a portion of its own taxes with the option to set what is currently half the level of income tax.  From this year, it has had the power to set rates and bands of income tax, and half of VAT receipts from Scotland are now assigned to the Scottish government to spend. The rest of Scotland s financing comes from the UK budget via a formula which takes into account population changes. In general, Scotland, with about 8 percent of the UK s 66 million population, is a net beneficiary from the central budget. Scotland has its own international soccer team and the Scottish government has offices in Brussels, Washington, Toronto and Beijing to promote its regional interests. Scottish Development International also has some 40 offices in about 20 countries aimed at promoting trade and investment. Decisions taken in Scotland s parliament at Holyrood in Edinburgh, which was created in 1999, encompass agriculture, health, education, transport, local government, law, social work, housing, tourism and economic development, sport and arts.  All other powers   such as immigration, defense and foreign policy - are reserved to the UK parliament at Westminster. After gaining independence from the Netherlands in 1830, Belgium later faced demands for equality from Dutch-speakers in a state dominated by the then-richer French-speaking south. Since World War Two, demands for independence for the now more numerous and richer Flemings were met with six rounds of constitutional change that left Dutch-speaking Flanders and French-speaking Wallonia highly autonomous within a complex federal structure. Most tax rates are set at federal level, though the regions have some powers, such as over car and property taxes. In general, Flanders with about 6 million of Belgium s 11 million people, is a net contributor to the federal budget. Regional governments are in charge of foreign trade and conduct separate trade missions in addition to those of the federal government. Wallonia nearly derailed an EU-Canada trade deal last year. Flanders has permanent representatives in several locations Europe, as well as New York and Pretoria.  Flanders, like Wallonia, is in charge of several policy areas, notably education, healthcare and agriculture. Mainly French-speaking since the days of British and French colonial rivalry in North America, Quebec, with a population of 8.2 million, is now one of 10 provinces of the federal state of Canada, whose population is 36 million. Independence referendums in 1980 and 1995 delivered majority votes in favor of remaining part of Canada. The Canadian parliament voted in 2006 to recognize Quebec as a  nation . All Canadian provinces have the power to levy provincial taxes and receive transfer payments from the federal government. Quebec, has its own delegations in the Unites States, Latin America, Asia, Europe and Africa. Quebec is also a member of its own right in some international organizations, including UNESCO, the U.N. education, science and culture arm. The province can make laws concerning provincial matters and is still bound by federal regulations.

Summary: फैक्टबॉक्सः कैसे कैटलन की स्वायत्तता अन्य क्षेत्रों के खिलाफ खड़ी हो जाती है


SEOUL (Reuters) - South Korea braced for a possible further missile test by North Korea as it marked its founding anniversary on Saturday, just days after its sixth and largest nuclear test rattled global financial markets and further escalated tensions in the region.  Throughout the week, South Korean officials have warned the North could launch another intercontinental ballistic missile, in defiance of U.N. sanctions and amid an escalating standoff with the United States. Pyongyang marks its founding anniversary each year with a big display of pageantry and military hardware. Last year, North Korea conducted its fifth nuclear test on the Sept. 9 anniversary. Tension on the Korean peninsula has escalated as North Korea s young leader, Kim Jong Un, has stepped up the development of weapons, testing a string of missiles this year, including one flying over Japan, and conducting its sixth nuclear test on Sunday. Experts believe the isolated regime is close to its goal of developing a powerful nuclear weapon capable of reaching the United States, something U.S. President Donald Trump has vowed to prevent. Celebrating its founding anniversary, a front-page editorial of the Saturday edition of North Korea s official Rodong Sinmun said the country should make  more high-tech Juche weapons to continuously bring about big historical events such as a miraculous victory of July 28. . The July date refers to the intercontinental ballistic missile test.  Juche is North Korea s homegrown ideology of self-reliance that is a mix of Marxism and extreme nationalism preached by state founder Kim Il Sung, the current leader s grandfather.      South Korean nuclear experts, checking for contamination, said on Friday they had found minute traces of radioactive xenon gas but that it was too early to link it to Sunday s explosion. The Nuclear Safety and Security Commission (NSSC) said it had been conducting tests on land, air and water samples since shortly after the North Korean nuclear test on Sunday. Xenon is a naturally occurring, colourless gas that is used in manufacturing of some sorts of lights. But the NSSC said it had detected xenon-133, a radioactive isotope that does not occur naturally and which has in the past been linked to North Korea s nuclear tests. There was no chance the xenon  will have an impact on South Korea s territory or population , the agency said. Trump has repeatedly said all options are on the table in dealing with North Korea and on Thursday said he would prefer not to use military action, but if he did, it would be a  very sad day  for North Korea.  Military action would certainly be an option. Is it inevitable? Nothing is inevitable,  Trump told reporters.  If we do use it on North Korea, it will be a very sad day for North Korea.  Even as Trump has insisted that now is not the time to talk, senior members of his administration have made clear that the door to a diplomatic solution is open, especially given the U.S. assessment that any pre-emptive strike would unleash massive North Korean retaliation. North Korea says it needs its weapons to protect itself from U.S. aggression and regularly threatens to destroy the United States.  South Korea and the United States are technically still at war with North Korea after the 1950-53 Korean conflict ended with a truce, not a peace treaty. The USS Ronald Reagan, a nuclear-powered carrier, left its home port in Japan for a routine autumn patrol of the Western Pacific, a Navy spokeswoman said. That area included waters between Japan and the Korean peninsula, she added, without giving any further details.  The Ronald Reagan was out on routine patrol from May until August, and was sent to the Sea of Japan with the another carrier, the USS Carl Vinson, to take part in drills with Japan s Self Defense Forces as well as the South Korean military.  North Korea vehemently objects to military exercises on or near the peninsula, and China and Russia have suggested the United States and South Korea halt their exercises to lower tension. While Trump talked tough on North Korea, China agreed on Thursday that the United Nations should take more action against it, but it also pushed for dialogue. The U.N. Security Council is expected to vote on a new set of sanctions soon. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said that it was too early to draw conclusions about the final form of the U.N. resolution, Russia s Interfax news agency quoted Lavrov as saying at a news conference on Friday. The United States on Friday told the U.N. Security Council that it intends to call a meeting on Monday to vote on a draft resolution establishing additional sanctions on North Korea for its missile and nuclear program, the U.S. Mission to the United Nations said in a statement. U.S. ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley said last Monday that she intended to call for a vote on Sept. 11 and then the United States circulated a draft resolution to the 15-member council on Wednesday. The United States wants the Security Council to impose an oil embargo on North Korea, ban its exports of textiles and the hiring of North Korean laborers abroad, and to subject Kim Jong Un to an asset freeze and travel ban, according to a draft resolution seen by Reuters on Wednesday. It was not immediately clear how North Korean allies China and Russia would vote, but a senior U.S. official on Friday night expressed scepticism that either nation would accept anything more stringent than a ban on imports of North Korean textiles. Chinese officials have privately expressed fears that imposing an oil embargo could risk triggering massive instability in its neighbor.  North Korea offered fresh vitriol against the pending sanctions, specifically targeting Haley, who this week accused Kim of  begging for war .  There is nothing more foolish than thinking we, a strong nuclear state, will endure this evil pressure aimed at overthrowing our state,  the North s official news agency said in a commentary.  Even if Nikki Haley is blind, she must use her mouth correctly. The United States administration will pay for not being able to control the mouth of their U.N. representative.  China is by far North Korea s biggest trading partner, accounting for 92 percent of two-way trade last year. It also provides hundreds of thousands of tonnes of oil and fuel to the impoverished regime.   China s economic influence has been felt by South Korea as well. The two countries have been at loggerheads over South Korea s decision to deploy a U.S. anti-missile system, the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense, which has a powerful radar that can probe deep into China. Shares in South Korean automaker Hyundai Motor (005380.KS) and key suppliers slid on Friday on worries over its position in China after highly critical Chinese state newspaper comments. The military section of China s Global Times newspaper on Thursday referred to THAAD as  a malignant tumor .

Summary: दक्षिण कोरिया ने उत्तर कोरिया के स्थापना दिवस के अवसर पर संभावित नए मिसाइल परीक्षण की तैयारी की


LUSAKA (Reuters) - Zambia fears a looming humanitarian crisis after more than 6,000 refugees fleeing turmoil in neighboring Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) entered its territory in one month, the presidency said on Friday. Thousands of people have been killed and more than one million forced to flee their homes in the DRC s eastern Kasai region since the start of an insurrection nearly a year ago by the Kamuina Nsapu militia, which is demanding the withdrawal of military forces from the area. Zambia currently hosts some 59,195 refugees and other aslylum seekers, mostly from Angola, the DRC, Rwanda, Burundi, Somalia and Uganda, the United Nations refugee agency says. Zambian President Edgar Lungu raised the matter with South African President Jacob Zumba and will also discuss it with Angola s new president, Lungu s spokesman Amos Chanda told Reuters.  Zambia is concerned that the refugee situation could escalate and lead to a serious humanitarian crisis,  Chanda said.  In the last week 500 people have been entering every day, mainly in Luapula province. We have had in excess of 6,000 in just one month,  he added, referring to the refugees. They have been fleeing into northern Zambia to escape clashes between Congolese and different militias around the towns of Pweto and Moba, the UN refugee agency said.   The government and the UN refugee agency have managed so far to provide basic essentials and to settle the refugees in protected areas, Chanda said. The insurgency poses the most serious threat yet to the rule of Congo s President Joseph Kabila, whose refusal to step down at the end of his constitutional mandate last December was followed by a wave of killings and lawlessness across the vast central African nation. Zuma, Lungu and outgoing Angolan President Jose Eduardo dos Santos are worried about the deteriorating political situation in the DRC, Chanda said.  (The three leaders) desire to ensure that a retired African president be appointed to lead a process that must lead to a free and all-inclusive election in the DRC to help heal the tensions that are heightening conflicts leading to the refugee crisis,  he said.

Summary: ज़ाम्बिया को मानवीय संकट का डर है क्योंकि कांगो शरणार्थियों की आमद बढ़ रही है


HONOLULU (Reuters) - A federal judge in Hawaii indefinitely extended on Wednesday an order blocking enforcement of President Donald Trump’s revised  ban on travel to the United States from six predominantly Muslim countries. U.S. District Judge Derrick Watson turned an earlier temporary restraining order into a preliminary injunction in a lawsuit brought by the state of Hawaii challenging Trump’s travel directive as unconstitutional religious discrimination.  Trump signed the new ban on March 6 in a bid to overcome legal problems with a January executive order that caused chaos at airports and sparked mass protests before a Washington judge stopped its enforcement in February. Trump has said the travel ban is needed for national security. In its challenge to the travel ban, Hawaii claims its state universities would be harmed by the order because they would have trouble recruiting students and faculty. It also says the island state’s economy would be hit by a decline in tourism. The court papers cite reports that travel to the United States “took a nosedive” after Trump’s actions. The state was joined by a new plaintiff named Ismail Elshikh, an American citizen from Egypt who is an imam at the Muslim Association of Hawaii and whose mother-in-law lives in Syria, according to the lawsuit. Hawaii and other opponents of the ban claim that the motivation behind it is based on religion and Trump’s election campaign promise of “a total and complete shutdown of Muslims entering the United States.” “The court will not crawl into a corner, pull the shutters closed, and pretend it has not seen what it has,” Watson wrote on Wednesday. Watson wrote that his decision to grant the preliminary injunction was based on the likelihood that the state would succeed in proving that the travel ban violated the U.S. Constitution’s religious freedom protection. Trump has vowed to take the case to the U.S. Supreme Court, which is currently split 4-4 between liberals and conservatives with the president’s pick - appeals court judge Neil Gorsuch - still awaiting confirmation.

Summary: हवाई में संघीय न्यायाधीश ने ट्रम्प यात्रा प्रतिबंध पर रोक लगाने वाले अदालत के आदेश को बढ़ाया


WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A federal court in the District of Columbia is due to hear arguments on Monday afternoon at 4:30 p.m. EST (2130 GMT) on the question of who should lead the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, the court said. Lawyers for the Trump administration and Leandra English, a CFPB official, are due to appear at a hearing to consider whether Mick Mulvaney, President Donald Trump’s pick to temporarily lead the agency, should be removed.

Summary: सी. एफ. पी. बी. का नेतृत्व कौन करेगा, इस पर अमेरिकी अदालत सोमवार को सुनवाई करेगीः आदेश


MONESSEN, Pennsylvania/WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump on Tuesday vowed to force Canada and Mexico to renegotiate the NAFTA trade agreement with the United States if elected, as part of an effort to protect and restore American jobs. Trump criticized the North American Free Trade Agreement as a U.S. job killer, saying he would be willing to scrap the pact if Canada and Mexico were unwilling to budge. He also tried to link Democratic rival Hillary Clinton to the deal on the eve of a meeting in Ottawa of the “three amigos,” the leaders of the three NAFTA signatories: the United States, Mexico and Canada.  In his most detailed speech on trade, the presumptive Republican nominee said he would pull the United States out of negotiations for a deal among 12 Pacific Rim nations and promised to use executive power to resolve trade disputes with China. Trump also pledged to revive the U.S. steel and aluminum industry, speaking at an aluminum scrap company in Monessen, Pennsylvania, nearly 30 miles (50 km) south of Pittsburgh, the one-time American steelmaking capital. Trump has identified Pennsylvania as a state he believes he can wrest from the Democrats in the Nov. 8 election. He also campaigned on Tuesday in Ohio, which like Pennsylvania is a Rust Belt state.  Democratic President Barack Obama won both states in 2008 and 2012, but manufacturing job losses have led to voter anxiety in the region. “I’m going tell our NAFTA partners that I intend to immediately renegotiate the terms of that agreement to get a better deal for our workers. And I don’t mean just a little bit better, I mean a lot better,” Trump said in Pennsylvania. If Canada and Mexico do not agree to renegotiate the pact, Trump said he would notify them under the agreement’s terms “that America intends to withdraw from the deal.” He tried to tie his Democratic rival to the pact, approved in 1993 during the administration of her husband, President Bill Clinton, as he called NAFTA one of the “worst legacies” of the Clinton years. On MSNBC after Trump’s speech, Clinton spokeswoman Kristina Schake called the wealthy New York businessman the “king of outsourcing,” in an apparent reference to Trump-branded products such as suits and ties made overseas.  “It was full of hypocrisy and misstatements and outright lies,” Schake said. Trade has been a vulnerability for Clinton, who struggled for white, blue-collar votes in her Democratic primary race against U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders, who criticized her for supporting trade deals and said she was too close to Wall Street.   TRANS-PACIFIC PARTNERSHIP Trump echoed Sanders’ criticism on Tuesday, saying Clinton supported the 12-nation Trans-Pacific Partnership, or TPP, while she was secretary of state and only opposed it once she was running for president. Clinton’s campaign said she opposed the agreement because it was not strong enough on currency manipulation and other areas.        Clinton has said she will evaluate each trade deal on its merits but does not believe the TPP is good for U.S. workers.        Sanders now says he will vote for Clinton in November, although he has not formally withdrawn from the race. Trump said he saw no way to fix the TPP, calling it a “death blow” for American manufacturing. Although China is not part of the agreement, Trump said Beijing might try to enter it “through the back door” later on. Later, during a rally in St. Clairsville, Ohio, Trump said the deal was “just a continuing rape of our country.” Just hours before Trump spoke, Clinton allies sought to pre-empt the planned trade speech by saying Trump’s policies amounted to empty promises. Earlier, AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka told a trade conference in Washington that “Trump embodies everything that is wrong with our current trade policy. He has consistently sent American jobs overseas to line his own pockets.” The AFL-CIO, which collectively represents more than 12 million workers, making it the largest U.S. labor federation, endorsed Clinton this month. Both Clinton and Trump have acknowledged that Britain’s vote to leave the European Union signaled a global economic frustration among working-class voters that could reverberate in the U.S. election. “There is a lot of legitimate anxiety, fear and even anger in many parts of our country because people feel like the economy has failed them,” Clinton said in Denver on Tuesday. “I think this is going to be one of the defining issues in this election.” Trump has seized on the historic Brexit vote to bolster his argument that voters are rising up against establishment leaders, saying Americans would reject the “global elite” and support his presidential candidacy. But Trump has broken with Republican Party orthodoxy in criticizing trade deals, and has threatened to slap tariffs on Mexican and Chinese imports. His rhetoric has drawn criticism from many economists, who say such practices could spark trade wars. As Trump spoke, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, which is usually in sync with prominent Republicans on trade policy, said on Twitter: “Under Trump’s trade plans, we would see higher prices, fewer jobs, and a weaker economy.”

Summary: ट्रम्प ने कनाडा और मैक्सिको के साथ नाफ्टा समझौते को फिर से खोलने या टालने का संकल्प लिया


WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Republican presidential front-runner Donald Trump vowed on Monday to pursue a strong U.S. alliance with Israel if elected president in November and said he would resist any attempt by the United Nations to impose its will on the Jewish state. In a speech to the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, Trump said he would side with Israel, a close U.S. ally, in any negotiations between the Israelis and the Palestinians. “The Palestinians must come to the table knowing that the bond between the United States and Israel is unbreakable,” he said. “They must come to the table willing and able to stop the terror being committed on a daily basis against Israel and they must come to the table willing to accept that Israel is a Jewish state and it will forever exist as a Jewish State,” Trump told the pro-Israel lobbying group. Trump also questioned the role of the United Nations in the peace process, saying any attempt by the international body to impose a Middle East agreement would be a disaster.

Summary: ट्रंप ने राष्ट्रपति चुने जाने पर इजरायल के साथ मजबूत संबंधों का वादा किया


WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday formally dropped plans to hear the last remaining challenge to an earlier version of President Donald Trump’s travel ban targeting several Muslim-majority countries and a ban on refugees, but a fight over the legality of his latest restrictions still could reach the nine justices. The high court said it will not hear the case brought by Hawaii over the bans, which have expired and been replaced with revised policies. Trump’s 120-day ban on refugees ended on Tuesday and is set to be replaced by a new set of restrictions. Two lower courts have blocked Trump’s new ban targeting people from eight countries, Trump’s third set of travel restrictions, and the issue could find its way back to the Supreme Court on appeal. The court on Oct. 10 disposed of the first of two travel ban cases — brought by the American Civil Liberties Union and others in Maryland — after Trump’s earlier 90-day ban on people entering the U.S. from six predominantly Muslim countries expired on Sept. 24. It was a replaced with a modified, open-ended ban involving eight countries. The justices had been scheduled to hear arguments in the two consolidated on Oct. 10. Among the issues raised by challengers was whether the travel ban discriminated against Muslims in violation of the U.S. Constitution’s prohibition on the government favoring or disfavoring a particular religion. The same arguments are being used against the new ban. Trump has said the restrictions were needed to prevent terrorism in the United States. The expired ban had targeted people from Iran, Libya, Syria, Yemen, Somalia and Sudan. The new ban removed Sudan from the list and blocked people from Chad and North Korea and certain government officials from Venezuela from entering the United States. If the new restrictions go into effect, they could block tens of thousands of potential immigrants and visitors to the United States. Trump had promised as a candidate “a total and complete shutdown of Muslims entering the United States.”

Summary: सुप्रीम कोर्ट ने ट्रंप के यात्रा प्रतिबंध को हवाई की चुनौती को खारिज किया


ROME (Reuters) - U.S. energy secretary Rick Perry has said nothing about the U.S. backpedaling on climate change commitments, French Minister of Ecology, Sustainable Development and Energy Segolene Royal said on Monday. In March U.S. President Donald Trump signed an order to undo Obama-era climate change regulations, keeping a campaign promise to support the coal industry. The order called into question U.S. support for an international deal to fight global warming, prompting environmental groups to call it dangerous and against the global trend toward cleaner energy technologies.  “Contacts with the new minister are very friendly,” she said, adding the U.S. administration was in the process of elaborating its new policies. Segolene Royal was speaking on the sidelines of a G7 meeting on energy in Rome.

Summary: फ्रांसीसी मंत्री का कहना है कि अमेरिकी ऊर्जा सचिव ने जलवायु परिवर्तन का संकेत नहीं दिया है


PHILADELPHIA (Reuters) - The White House said on Thursday that it would look for an opportunity to reschedule President Donald Trump’s meeting with Mexico’s president after Enrique Pena Nieto canceled a visit next week. “We will look for a date to schedule something in the future. We will keep the lines of communication open,” White House spokesman Sean Spicer said.

Summary: व्हाइट हाउस का कहना है कि वह मेक्सिको के राष्ट्रपति के साथ बैठक को पुनर्निर्धारित कर रहा है


CHISINAU (Reuters) - The Moldovan government said on Thursday it has sent 57 servicemen to Ukraine to participate in military exercises starting this week, deepening a row with the pro-Russian president who had vetoed the move.  The drills in western Ukraine from Sept. 8-23 will be conducted mainly by NATO member countries, including the United States, the United Kingdom and Turkey.  They coincide with war games known as  Zapad , or  West , by thousands of Russian troops in Belarus, the Baltic Sea, western Russia and the Russian exclave of Kaliningrad. The Russian exercises have worried NATO despite Moscow s assurances troops would rehearse a purely defensive scenario.    Moldova is governed by a pro-Western government and a pro-Moscow president, meaning frequent clashes over foreign policy, especially where relations with Russia and the European Union are concerned.  The government s plans to send troops were vetoed by President Igor Dodon, who argued that Moldova is bound by its constitution to stay neutral. The defense ministry ignored the president, who is also Moldova s commander-in-chief.  Officially I confirm that, despite all the obstacles, 57 servicemen of Moldova, as was planned earlier, just an hour ago went by bus to participate in NATO military exercises, which start on Friday in Ukraine,  Defence Ministry spokeswoman Diana Gradinaru said.  Earlier this year Dodon banned the participation of military personnel in NATO exercises in Romania, prompting complaints by the U.S. and Romanian ambassadors. Moldova has been governed by pro-Western governments since 2009 and signed a trade pact with the EU in 2014. Russia retaliated by halting imports of Moldovan farm produce, depriving the country of a key market for its wine, fruit and vegetables. Relations suffered further this year due to a dispute in March over the treatment of Moldovan officials traveling to or through Russia, and the expulsion of Russian diplomats in May. In August, Moldova declared Russian Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin persona non grata, accusing him of making defamatory remarks about Moldovan government officials.

Summary: राष्ट्रपति के वीटो के बावजूद मोलदोवा ने नाटो अभ्यास में सैनिकों को भेजा


BERLIN (Reuters) - Chancellor Angela Merkel said German parties face a difficult task to bridge their differences in crunch coalition talks on Thursday, but she believes they can reach an agreement to work together in a new government.   We have very, very different positions,  she told reporters.  If it works - I think it can work - there can be a positive result at the end of today s negotiations. But this is a difficult task.

Summary: मुश्किल जर्मन गठबंधन वार्ता एक समझौते पर पहुंच सकती हैः मर्केल


NEW YORK (Reuters) - U.S. presidential candidate Hillary Clinton said in a speech to a pro-Israel lobby group in Washington on Monday Iran still posed a threat to Israel and needed to be closely watched. Speaking to the annual policy conference of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, Clinton, the Democratic front-runner, also criticized her Republican rival Donald Trump for having a “neutral” stance on Israel.  She said U.S. leaders needed to show loyalty to its Mideast ally and “anyone who doesn’t understand that has no business being our president.”

Summary: अमेरिकी नेताओं को अभी भी ईरान पर 'अविश्वास' करना चाहिएः क्लिंटन


WASHINGTON/NEW YORK (Reuters) - The Trump administration will temporarily delay processing of most refugees from 11 countries identified as high-risk, while resuming refugee admissions for other countries, government officials said on Tuesday. Most of the affected countries are in the Middle East and Africa, according to documents seen by Reuters. The administration also will place on hold a program that allows for family reunification for some refugees resettled in the United States, according to a Trump administration memo seen by Reuters and sent to Congress on Tuesday. The resettling of so-called following-to-join refugees will resume, according to the memo, once screening  enhancements have been implemented.  U.S. officials said the changes were aimed at protecting U.S. national security, but refugee advocates said they amounted to a de facto ban on refugees from the 11 countries and were unnecessary, since refugees are already heavily vetted. The changes come at the close of a 120-day ban on most refugees ordered by President Donald Trump to allow a review of vetting processes. The 120 days ended on Tuesday, and Trump issued an executive order allowing the general resumption of the U.S. refugee program. The memo expressed concerns about admitting refugees from the 11 countries and said the government will conduct a 90-day review  to determine what additional safeguards, if any, are necessary to ensure ... the security and welfare of the United States.  Trump took office in January with a goal of sharply cutting refugee admissions, in line with promises he made during the 2016 election campaign. He quickly issued temporary bans on refugees and travelers from several Muslim-majority countries, which were challenged in court. Opponents of the bans argued that the policies were aimed at barring Muslims from the United States. The administration has denied any intent to discriminate and says its travel ban and security changes are meant to protect the United States from terrorist acts. The Supreme Court on Tuesday dismissed the last remaining challenge to an earlier version of Trump s travel ban. The 11 countries to face further hurdles are those whose refugees are currently required to undergo higher-level security screening known as Security Advisory Opinions, or SAOs.  As of the end of 2016, SAOs were required for most adult male refugees who were nationals of Egypt, Iran, Iraq, Libya, Mali, North Korea, Somalia, South Sudan, Sudan, Syria and Yemen, as well as Palestinians who lived in those countries, according to a State Department document seen by Reuters. Three sources familiar with refugee processing said that list was still current. Officials declined to name the 11 countries. A senior U.S. official told reporters on condition of anonymity that during the 90-day review period, refugees from the 11 countries can still be admitted to the United States on a case-by-case basis,  if it s deemed to be in the national interest and they pose no threat.    But the administration s memo, signed by Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, acting Department of Homeland Security Secretary Elaine Duke and Director of National Intelligence Dan Coats, said the government will reallocate resources used to process refugees from SAO countries to those from other locations where  the processing may not be as resource intensive.  Refugees International, an advocacy group, said the decision amounted to  a new and near-total ban on admission of refugees from 11 nationality groups.  Citizens of the 11 countries comprised 44 percent of the nearly 54,000 refugees admitted into the United States in the 2017 fiscal year, according to State Department data. Of the countries, Iraq, Syria, Somalia and Iran sent by far the most refugees to the United States. All but two of the countries, North Korea and South Sudan, are majority Muslim, though many of the refugees that come from those countries are religious minorities in their own states.  Of nearly 2,600 Iranian refugees resettled in the United States last year, for instance, a majority were Christian, according to State Department data.  The  follow-to-join  refugee program being put on hold allows refugees who have entered the United States to apply for close family members to join them. About 2,000 such refugee family members came to the United States in 2015, according to DHS data. In a separate State Department memo seen by Reuters and issued this week, the administration also laid out additional screening for all refugees seeking admission into the United States, including details of their whereabouts going back a decade, twice as long as before. Refugees will also have to provide more detailed information about their family members. The new requirements could put an additional burden on refugees fleeing war, famine or ethnic cleansing, whose lives have often been upended and whose family members may be scattered across the world, refugee advocates said.

Summary: ट्रम्प योजना के तहत, 11 देशों के शरणार्थियों को अतिरिक्त अमेरिकी बाधाओं का सामना करना पड़ता है


WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Republican presidential hopeful Marco Rubio has no plans to allow a vote on President Barack Obama’s nominee to be ambassador to Mexico, a spokesman said on Thursday, despite calls from his fellow Republicans and Democrats in the Senate to let her confirmation move ahead. The long delay in confirming career diplomat Roberta Jacobson has contributed to concerns about the state of U.S.-Mexico relations fueled by aggressive rhetoric against its citizens in the race to be the 2016 Republican nominee. Three Democratic and one Republican U.S. senator held a news conference on Thursday calling for her nomination to move ahead. There has been no U.S. ambassador in Mexico City for nine months. Donald Trump, the front-runner for the Republican nomination, has labeled Mexicans drug runners and rapists and called for a massive wall along the border. Rubio and fellow Republican Senator Ted Cruz have also proposed building a wall. Obama nominated Jacobson in June. She has faced resistance from Rubio and some other lawmakers, however, for reasons including her role in helping negotiate Obama’s easing of relations with Communist-ruled Cuba and what they say is the administration’s failure to prioritize human rights. Rubio, a Cuban-American from Florida, has been a leading opponent of the policy, saying Havana should improve its rights record before trade and travel restrictions are eased. The Senate Foreign Relations Committee approved Jacobson’s nomination in November, with Republican and Democratic support. But Rubio has been blocking her, under a Senate rule allowing any member to “hold” a nomination indefinitely. “Senator Rubio maintains his strong opposition to this nominee on the basis of her failure to be transparent during the confirmation process, inability to provide straightforward answers, and poor track record on a wide range of issues as the assistant secretary of state for Western Hemisphere affairs,” Rubio spokesman Alex Burgos said. Senators from states that border Mexico held a news conference with the U.S. Hispanic Chamber of Commerce calling for Jacobson’s confirmation, citing the importance of the U.S.-Mexico relationship. Mexico is the second largest market for U.S. exports and the country’s third-largest trading partner. “It’s extremely important,” said Republican Senator Jeff Flake of Arizona. Democrat Tom Udall of New Mexico, who tried to bring up Jacobson’s nomination in the Senate but was blocked by Republican Mike Lee on Rubio’s behalf, said he was confident Jacobson would be confirmed if a vote went ahead.

Summary: मेक्सिको में अमेरिकी राजदूत पर लड़ाई खत्म होने का कोई संकेत नहीं, रूबियो दृढ़ रहे


NAIROBI/MOGADISHU (Reuters) - The size and methods of the latest truck bombing in Mogadishu show how international and Somali government efforts to stop the killings are failing, partly because intelligence gathering to counter such attacks is so disjointed, security sources say.   More than 300 people were killed in the bombing in the heart of the capital on Saturday, the deadliest attack in the history of the Horn of Africa nation. The Islamist insurgency al Shabaab was blamed for the blasts, which happened when a car bomb and a truck bomb headed for the airport detonated prematurely.   Somali security services and the donor nations working with them are both to blame for disorganization in the divisions that are supposed to be working to detect and stop such attacks, said Hussein Moalim Mohamud Sheikh Ali, a former national security adviser to the president.   The national security architecture is in tatters,  he told Reuters.  The Shabaab attacks are a symptom of the greater political dysfunction of the state.   The increasing frequency and growing size of the attacks threaten the fragile security gains made in Somalia ahead of the withdrawal of African Union peacekeepers at the end of the year. They also are a concern for other countries in the region where al Shabaab is active, such as Kenya and Uganda. In 2016, 723 people died in 395 attacks in Somalia, up from 46 dead in 36 attacks in 2010, according to a confidential report produced earlier this year by Nairobi-based thinktank Sahan Research.  Initial swab tests at the site of the attack showed traces of potassium nitrate, a fertilizer component, indicating al Shabaab is now manufacturing explosives as well as buying them or harvesting them from munitions, experts say. Competing programs funded by different donor nations and the lack of a centralized database are hurting efforts to analyze intelligence related to improvised explosive devices (IEDs), four Western and one Somali security source told Reuters.  A letter from Somalia s minister of internal security addressed to the United States, Britain and the United Nations in May complained of competition and secrecy among agencies gathering intelligence.    Multiple actors involved means this process is highly disorganized ... causing a severe problem for the governmental counter-terrorism efforts,  said the letter, seen by Reuters.  The pressure is building on President Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed, who must ensure Somalia s fledgling security forces are ready to step in when the 22,000-strong AU force leaves. His government is already stalling on releasing a report into a joint U.S.-Somali raid on Bariire in August that residents say killed 10 civilians. Political disagreements threaten co-operation between Somalia s federal and regional forces.  Last week the minister of defense and army chief resigned, without giving reasons. The interior ministry spokesman resigned this week.  Somali police did not respond to requests for comment. HIGH-GRADE EXPLOSIVES Obtaining high-grade military explosives - the material that makes a bomb explode - involves harvesting them from captured munitions, or buying them from someone else.  Making their own explosive allows the insurgents to build more and bigger bombs, according to the Sahan report and an upcoming report from a U.N. panel of experts that monitors an arms embargo on Somalia. According to the U.N. report which is due to be published next month, the U.S. Terrorist Explosive Device Analytical Center, which is funded by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, has confirmed the presence of potassium nitrate in six major vehicle-borne bomb incidents since 2016.   The potential use of HME (home-made explosive) by al Shabaab would allow the group to rely less on the process of harvesting explosives from munitions, which is slow and laborious   allow(ing) the militant group to increase the frequency and explosive weight of its IEDs,  said the report.  Al Shabaab, which wants to overthrow Somalia s U.N.-backed government and impose strict Islamic law, has not yet claimed responsibility for Saturday s attack, in keeping with previous incidents in which large numbers of civilians have been killed. Mass civilian deaths have caused deep divisions among fighters, a security source with knowledge of discussions within the group said.  A former top al Shabaab commander, Mukhtar Robow Abu Mansur,  condemned the attack and was photographed by local media donating blood. Robow defected to the government in August after the U.S. government removed a $5 million bounty for his capture. Two Mogadishu-based security sources outlined the events leading up to the latest attack to Reuters. They said a car bomb and a truck bomb were deployed to hit Mogadishu International Airport, a warren of buildings ringed by barbed wire and blast walls that house contractors, diplomats and a European Union military training mission.   One bomb would have breached a checkpoint, opening the way for a larger bomb,  one of the Western security contractors told Reuters.  They also had fighters nearby ready to come inside the base.   The driver of the car bomb had been driving through checkpoints for a week ahead of the attack, paying small bribes and getting security forces used to his presence, he said.  A larger truck entered the city and passed through one checkpoint, but was stopped at one known as Kilometer Five. Panicking, he tried to force his way through, but got snarled in traffic next to a fuel truck.  I could see the truck speeding. I also heard few gunshots behind it. Police must have been chasing it,  said Mohamed Ali, 21, who was injured in the blast.   As it advanced it came to many cars in the street, then the truck driver swerved abruptly to the left lane, but its tyres got stuck in the highway divider. What followed was the blast and smoke.   The fireball tore through the intersection, incinerating hundreds of civilians. Many were too badly burned to be identified and were buried in mass graves.  The driver of the car bomb was detained at another checkpoint by soldiers who had taken him out for questioning before its bomb also detonated.  Three security sources told Reuters he identified himself as al Shabaab.

Summary: सोमालिया में घातक विस्फोट ने खुफिया प्रयासों में खामियों का खुलासा किया