(Reuters) - A New York comedian has been compelled to appear before a House Intelligence Committee investigating suspected Russian meddling in the 2016 U.S. election where he will likely face questions about acting as a go-between for Wikileaks and an ally of President Donald Trump.  Randy Credico, a political activist who hosted a radio show on New York radio, is scheduled to appear in front of the committee on Dec. 15, according to a photo of the subpoena posted on his Twitter account.  On several occasions over the last few years, Credico interviewed and met with WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, a man believed by some U.S. officials and lawmakers to be an untrustworthy pawn of Russian President Vladimir Putin.  Assange s group released Democratic emails during the 2016 presidential campaign that U.S. intelligence agencies say were hacked by Russia to try to tilt the election against Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton. He is regarded with distaste by many in Washington, although Trump, then the Republican candidate, supported the group s email releases last year. Credico has also interviewed Republican political consultant Roger Stone, a longtime Trump ally, who he worked with in the past to reform New York s drug laws, according to the New York Times.  Stone flatly denied allegations of collusion between the president s associates and Russia during the 2016 U.S. election in a meeting with House of Representatives Intelligence Committee in September.  During his appearance in front of the committee, Stone refused to identify an  opinion journalist  who had acted as a go-between between Stone and Assange. According to Stone s own account to Reuters, he  reluctantly  identified the journalist as Credico in written communication to the committee.  The committee has been interested in predictions that Stone made about damage the email release would have on Clinton s campaign, the Times reported.

Summary: अमेरिकी खुफिया समिति ने रूस के चुनाव में हस्तक्षेप की जांच में कॉमेडियन को सम्मन भेजा


Deir al Zor, SYRIA (Reuters) - U.S.-allied militias in northern Syria announced on Saturday the formation of a civilian council to govern the oil rich eastern province of Deir al Zor where they are racing with the Syrian army to capture territory held by Islamic State.  The Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), which includes Arab militias but is dominated by the powerful Kurdish YPG militia, launched an operation in Deir Zor province which borders Iraq earlier this month which captured its northern countryside and advanced east of the Euphrates River.  On Saturday they seized a major gas field in Deir al-Zor province from Islamic State militants in rapid advances that preempted the Syrian government that was also heading in that direction. In a separate offensive, Syrian army and Iranian backed militias with Russian air power had also this month broke a years-long Islamic State siege of government-held parts of Deir al-Zor on the other side of the Euphrates river. The advances against Islamic State have brought U.S.-backed forces and the Syrian government side, backed by Russia and Iran, into close proximity. The assaults by the Russian-backed Syrian army and the U.S.-backed SDF have at times raised fears of clashes that could stoke tensions between the competing world powers. The SDF appointed one hundred tribal figures to meet and elect a council to run the province on Sunday. In a final communique the council said its priority was the return of tens of thousands of displaced residents of the province who fled during the conflict and restoring basic utilities. It urged the U.S. led coalition to provide aid to the war-torn province.  We want to cement ties among the people of the province,  the statement of the newly formed Deir al-Zor civil council said. The extent of Kurdish control in the eastern province that lies at the heart of Arab tribal area is sensitive both for residents and for Ankara, which has fought a three-decade Kurdish insurgency inside Turkey and fears growing YPG ascendancy just over the border in northern Syria. Many local Arab tribes from the region also complain they are marginalized in decision making and blame the YPG for discrimination against them, including the forced conscription of their youths. The YPG denies these allegations. The establishment of a local council effectively run by the SDF expands a sphere of Kurdish influence that has grown in northern Syria during the multi-sided conflict. It would mirror governing arrangements put in place in other towns after the SDF repelled Islamic State.

Summary: अमेरिका के सहयोगी सीरियाई समूहों ने देइर अल-ज़ोर को चलाने के लिए नागरिक परिषद का गठन किया


BALTIMORE (Reuters) - A Maryland state senator backing law enforcement reform won a narrow victory on Tuesday in the Democratic nominating contest for the mayor of Baltimore, as the city recovers a year after rioting sparked by a black man’s death in police custody. The primary election in the mostly African-American city of 620,000 people comes as Baltimore residents confront rising violent crime and unrest sparked by the death of Freddie Gray in April, 2015.  The incident stoked a simmering U.S. debate on treatment of minorities by law enforcement officers and prompted the current mayor to decline to seek re-election.  While the Republican Party and other parties also held primaries, the Democratic race’s winner almost certainly will win November’s general election because Democrats outnumber Republicans 10 to one in Baltimore, about 40 miles (60 km) northeast of Washington. In the Democratic contest, state Senator Catherine Pugh, the chamber’s majority leader edged out former Mayor Sheila Dixon, 37 percent to 34 percent. Dixon was forced from office in 2010 for allegedly misappropriating gift cards for low-income families. Pugh defeated a field of 13 Democrats vying for the nomination, including DeRay Mckesson, a nationally known activist with the Black Lives Matter movement that sprang up after police killings of minorities in U.S. cities. Mckesson logged 12 percent of the vote. Pugh, Dixon, Mckesson and Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake are African-Americans. Pugh, who co-chaired a legislative working group on law enforcement reform, has called for greater accountability for Baltimore police and the use of mobile units to help residents find jobs.  Voters said they hoped the election would bring positive change to the port city. At 7.1 percent, Baltimore’s jobless rate is above the national average, and the city has been hit by a surge in murders. “I think it’s a very important election. It’s time for change,” retiree Diane McCants, 67, said at a polling place in West Baltimore. Tyrone Forney, a 52-year-old voter in northeast Baltimore, said the mayor’s race was critical. “We need new faces, new ideas,” he said. The onetime steelmaking city exploded into world headlines a year ago after Gray, 25, died from a broken neck suffered in police custody. His death sparked protests and a day of rioting. Six police officers - three black and three white - have been charged in Gray’s death. Rawlings-Blake, the mayor since 2010, came under fire for her handling of the crisis. She said in September that she would not seek re-election.

Summary: बाल्टीमोर के प्राथमिक मतदाताओं ने फ़्रेडी ग्रे अशांति के बाद महापौर के लिए सुधार उम्मीदवार का समर्थन किया


BERLIN (Reuters) - The German government is considering adding Turkey to a list of countries that pose high security risks for intelligence agents, police officers and military officials, the Sueddeutsche Zeitung newspaper and two broadcasters reported late on Tuesday. The reports come amid heightened tensions between the two NATO partners and vows by German officials to restrict arms sales to Turkey, in a move that Ankara said would hurt their joint fight against Islamic State. The newspaper and WDR and NDR broadcasters quoted a spokesman for the Interior Ministry as saying that the list was currently being reviewed.  As part of this process, the Interior Ministry is examining whether to add Turkey to the list,  the spokesman was quoted as saying. The list now includes China, Russia, Pakistan, North Korea and 26 other countries. Germany s Interior Ministry, contacted by Reuters, was not immediately available to comment. Some German intelligence agencies argued for viewing Turkey less as a partner than an enemy and called for expanding intelligence surveillance of Turkey s activities in the fight against Islamist groups, the media outlets said. Some agencies had also warned employees in recent months about the risks of traveling to Turkey and cautioned others not to travel there on vacation, they said. German officials have been enraged by Turkey s arrest of around a dozen German citizens, including the German-Turkish journalist Deniz Yucel, who has been held for over 200 days.

Summary: जर्मनी तुर्की को उच्च सुरक्षा जोखिम वाले राज्यों की सूची में शामिल करने पर विचार कर रहा हैः मीडिया


LONDON (Reuters) - Britain s Prince Harry and U.S. actress Meghan Markle announced on Monday they were getting married next year, saying their relationship had blossomed  incredibly quickly  after meeting on a blind date. Harry, 33, Queen Elizabeth s grandson and fifth-in-line to the British throne, and Markle, 36, best known for her role in the U.S. TV legal drama  Suits , said they had got engaged in London this month and will wed in the spring next year.   The fact that I fell in love with Meghan so incredibly quickly was confirmation to me that all the stars were aligned, everything was just perfect. This beautiful woman just tripped and fell into my life, I fell into her life,  Harry said in a broadcast interview. [L8N1NX5AE] The queen, who had to give her assent for the union, and her husband Prince Philip were delighted, Buckingham Palace said, while Harry also received the blessing of Markle s parents.  We re thrilled. I hope they will be very happy indeed,  his father, heir-to-the-throne Prince Charles said. Harry and Markle, who is a divorcee, met in July 2016 after they were introduced through a mutual friend, with both knowing little about the other.  I had never watched Suits, I had never heard of Meghan before and I was beautifully surprised when I walked into that room and saw her. I was like I m going to really up my game here,  Harry said. After just two dates, the couple decided to go on holiday together to Botswana but it was only months later that the prince, the younger son of Charles and his first wife Princess Diana, publicly confirmed their relationship in a rebuke to the media over its alleged intrusion into Markle s private life.   I did not have any understanding of just what it would be like,  she said.  Both of us were totally surprised by the reaction,  added Harry, who said they had had a frank conversation about what she was letting herself in for. It was not until September this year that they made their first public appearance together at the Invictus Games in Toronto, a sports event for wounded veterans. Earlier the couple posed for photographs in the grounds of Kensington Palace in central London where the couple will live in a cottage. Asked when he knew Markle was  the one , he replied:  The very first time we met.  Markle showed off a dazzling three-stone ring, designed by Harry himself with at its center a diamond from Botswana surrounded by two diamonds taken from the personal collection of his late mother Diana. Harry said she would have been  thick as thieves  with Markle.  It s so important to me to know that she s a part of this with us,  Markle said. The wedding is likely to attract huge attention across the world, as did the marriage of Harry s elder brother William to  Kate Middleton in 2011.  We are very excited for Harry and Meghan,  William and Kate said in a statement.  It has been wonderful getting to know Meghan and to see how happy she and Harry are together.   In his office s warning to the media, Harry referred to the sexism and racism directed at Markle, whose father is white and  her mother African-American.  We are incredibly happy for Meghan and Harry. Our daughter has always been a kind and loving person,  Markle s parents Thomas Markle and Doria Ragland said in a statement.  To see her union with Harry, who shares the same qualities, is a source of great joy for us as parents. We wish them a lifetime of happiness and are very excited for their future together.  Educated at the exclusive Eton College, Harry s teenage years were overshadowed by negative headlines, fostering an intense dislike which he and his brother harbored because of the way papers hounded their mother. She died in a Paris car crash in 1997 while being chased by paparazzi. Harry was portrayed as a royal wild child and playboy prince, and in 2002 he admitted smoking cannabis and getting drunk when underage in a pub near the royal family s country estate amid suggestions he had fallen in with a bad crowd. He later scuffled with paparazzi outside a London nightclub and drew outrage by dressing as a Nazi officer at a party. But he turned around his image after joining the army, where he spent 10 years and included two tours of duty in Afghanistan. He said it was a role where he felt he could be himself without media scrutiny or any other trappings of his gilded upbringing. Even when he was photographed partying naked and playing billiards in a private room in Las Vegas in 2012, the response was less critical and more understanding. He left the army in 2015 to focus on royal duties and charity work, particularly the welfare of military veterans, and continuing his mother s work helping those with AIDS, and mental health issues. His easy-going manner with the public has made him one of the most popular members of the Windsors. That has put him at the forefront of a rebranding of the monarchy as modern and relevant, a far cry from the perception of a hopelessly out-of-touch institution following the 1997 death of Diana. To coincide with the 20th anniversary of her death this year, Harry opened up about his own trauma at losing his mother at a young age, and was even quoted as saying he wanted out of the royal family altogether. Like William s wife Kate, Meghan will not become a princess in her own right after marrying Harry. However, Harry, like his brother, is likely to be made a duke when he marries, meaning Meghan would become a duchess. Markle was born in Los Angeles in 1981. Her father was a TV lighting director for soaps and sitcoms and her mother a clinical therapist. She made her first TV appearance in a 2002 episode of medical drama  General Hospital  has appeared in a number of TV shows and films, such as  Horrible Bosses , but achieved greatest fame for her starring part as Rachel Zane in the ongoing  Suits  series.  In 2011, she married film producer Trevor Engelson but they divorced two years later. She had her own lifestyle blog thetig.com, which she recently shut down, and like her future husband has become a prominent humanitarian campaigner. She also criticized U.S. President Donald Trump in a TV interview before last year s U.S. election, calling him misogynistic. Britain s royals are traditionally supposed to avoid making any political interventions and Harry said he had confidence that his wife-to-be would be able to handle the pressures her role would bring.  I know the fact that she ll be unbelievably good at the job part as well is obviously a huge relief to me because she ll be able to deal with everything else that comes with it,  he said.  We re a fantastic team. We know we are.  (This story has been refiled to remove extraneous words in lead)

Summary: ब्रिटेन के 'रोमांचित' प्रिंस हैरी ने अमेरिकी अभिनेत्री मेघन मार्कल से शादी करने की घोषणा की


SEOUL (Reuters) - North Korea s leader Kim Jong Un said on Friday the North will consider the  highest level of hard-line countermeasure in history  against the United States in response to U.S. President Donald Trump s threat to destroy the North. Calling Trump  mentally deranged  and his comments  the most ferocious declaration of a war in history,  Kim said his U.N. speech on Tuesday confirmed Pyongyang s nuclear program has been  the correct path .  His remarks ... have convinced me, rather than frightening or stopping me, that the path I chose is correct and that it is the one I have to follow to the last,  Kim said in the statement carried by the North s official KCNA news agency, promising to make Trump  pay dearly for his speech . Trump had warned the North Korean leader in his U.N. address on Tuesday that the United States, if threatened, would  totally destroy  the country of 26 million people and mocked Kim as a  rocket man  on a suicide mission. It was the U.S. president s most direct reference to military action so far against the North, which conducted its sixth and largest nuclear test on Sept. 3. In addition to the nuclear test, North Korea has launched dozens of missiles since Kim came to power in 2011. Two recent ballistic missiles flew over Japan as Pyongyang advanced toward its goal of creating nuclear warhead-tipped missiles that can hit the United States.     Kim said Trump would face  results beyond his expectation,  without specifying what action North Korea would take next.  I will surely and definitely tame the mentally deranged U.S. dotard with fire,  Kim said in the rare direct statement, referring to Trump. He offered more vitriol for Trump, saying he was  unfit to hold the prerogative of supreme command of a country, and he is surely a rogue and a gangster fond of playing with fire, rather than a politician.  A day after Trump s address, North Korea s Foreign Minister Ri Yong Ho had likened Trump to a  barking dog,  saying his comments were no threat to the North. Kim took a page out of Ri s book on Friday, saying  a frightened dog barks louder .  Now that Trump has denied the existence of and insulted me and my country in front of the eyes of the world.., we will consider with seriousness exercising of a corresponding, highest level of hard-line countermeasure in history,  Kim said.

Summary: उत्तर कोरिया के किम का कहना है कि संयुक्त राष्ट्र के भाषण के लिए 'विक्षिप्त' ट्रम्प को भारी कीमत चुकानी पड़ेगी


WINDHOEK (Reuters) - Namibia s government on Tuesday rejected accusations by the coordinator of the UN Panel of Experts on North Korea who accused the southern African nation of not complying with UN Security Council sanctions against Pyongyang.  Namibia said that it rejected allegations that it had not submitted a report for more than a year to the Security Council s sanctions committee on North Korea.  The Government of Namibia wishes to categorically state that it has submitted reports to the UN Security Council Sanctions Committee as required, the last having been submitted on 8 April 2017,  Lineekela Mboti, the permanent secretary in the Ministry of International Relations and Cooperation, said in a statement.  Hugh Griffiths, who is the coordinator of the body charged with monitoring sanctions enforcement on North Korea, said Namibia had contracted North Korean workers and state companies to construct an ammunitions factory in clear violation of UN sanctions dating back nearly a decade.  Griffiths alleged in a report on CNN that the UN panel had not received responses from Namibia to specific queries for more than a year.  It is not enough to talk in the media. It is not enough to say you have been exonerated by the UN for North Korean sanctions violations because that is not true,  Griffiths was quoted by CNN as saying. Mboti said Namibia terminated the contracts with Korea Mining Development Trading Corporation and Mansudae Overseas Projects in the southern African nation,  which will remain in place  for as long as the UN Security Council sanctions continued. She said Windhoek was committed to complying with all relevant UN resolutions on North Korea, and had invited the UN experts to visit Namibia to see for themselves.

Summary: नामीबिया ने उत्तर कोरिया संबंधों पर संयुक्त राष्ट्र विशेषज्ञ के दावों को खारिज किया


WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Top White House officials met moderate and conservative Republicans in the U.S. House of Representatives on Monday in an effort to revive a plan to repeal and replace Obamacare. Key members of the administration, including Vice President Mike Pence, invited a group of moderate Republicans known as the “Tuesday Group” to the White House. Pence then went to Capitol Hill to meet the Freedom Caucus, a group of House conservatives who last month derailed a healthcare bill backed by President Donald Trump. The White House would like to see a revised bill come up for a vote as early as week’s end, before the House breaks for a spring recess, and the text of the new proposal could be ready some time on Tuesday, lawmakers said. “It was clear the president would be very happy come Friday to have this passed,” said U.S. Representative Chris Collins, a member of the Tuesday Group and a Trump ally.  “This could move fairly quickly,” he said. Just 10 days ago, House Speaker Paul Ryan was forced to cancel a vote on a bill to replace the 2010 Affordable Care Act, popularly known as Obamacare, when it was clear he could not deliver the votes needed for it to pass. The defeat was a big political setback for Trump and fellow Republicans in Congress who were elected on pledges to repeal  and replace former Democratic President Barack Obama’s signature healthcare law. Freedom Caucus members said the Republican bill was too similar to Obamacare, while moderate Republicans balked at some of the changes conservatives sought. Trump attacked Freedom Caucus members on Twitter late last week for their opposition to the bill and threatened to work to defeat them in the 2018 congressional elections. At the weekend, he struck a more conciliatory tone, tweeting early on Sunday: “Talks on Repealing and Replacing Obamacare are, and have been, going on, and will continue until such time as a deal is hopefully struck.” After golfing with the president on Sunday, Republican Senator Rand Paul, a sharp critic of the Republicans’ previous healthcare bill, also expressed renewed hope the healthcare bill could be revised in a way that picked up support from the conservative and moderate factions of the Republican Party. Paul told reporters he was “very optimistic that we are getting closer and closer to an agreement repealing Obamacare.” Pence and White House Chief of Staff Reince Priebus laid out the administration’s revised healthcare plan during a 40-minute meeting with Freedom Caucus members, said Congressman Mark Meadows, the leader of the conservative group. Meadows said he was “intrigued” by the new plan, which would allow states to opt out of some of Obamacare’s mandates, possibly by obtaining waivers. “We’re encouraged ... but would certainly need a whole lot more information before we can take any action either in support or in opposition,” Meadows told reporters. He expected to see a detailed draft of the proposal within 24 hours, he said. In the earlier meeting with the moderate Tuesday Group, White House officials said the new plan would preserve Obamacare’s essential health benefits clause, or services and care that insurers must cover, but states could apply for a waiver if they could show it would improve coverage and reduce costs, according to Collins. Trump aides also discussed directing funds from the $115 billion stability fund for states into high-risk pools for people with pre-existing health conditions to better ensure insurance premiums come down in cost, Collins said. “It’s an acknowledgement that they were chasing votes with the Freedom Caucus and the Far Right and then ended up losing votes with those of us who are typically the most reliable votes,” Collins said of the proposal provisions discussed at the meeting.

Summary: ट्रम्प के सहयोगियों, सांसदों ने स्वास्थ्य सेवा विधेयक को पुनर्जीवित करने के लिए बातचीत की


WASHINGTON (Reuters) - An unprecedented pre-presidential inauguration feud between Donald Trump and intelligence agencies that soon will be under his command could harm U.S. security if not quickly defused, current and former government officials said. They said morale at the CIA and other agencies was already sagging because of disputes with Trump over whether Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered interference in the U.S. election and over leaks about an unsubstantiated dossier compiled by a private security firm suggesting Moscow had compromising information on Trump. Unless addressed, the disputes could prompt the departure of personnel and lead those who remain to take fewer risks to counter security threats, the officials said. In the last few months, Trump has expressed his willingness to deal with Putin and denigrated the work of the intelligence agencies. This week, the President-elect accused agencies of leaking the dossier’s information to the media, but Director of National Intelligence James Clapper said he did not believe intelligence officials were responsible for the leak. “People shooting at (the CIA) is pretty common. But usually it’s not the president,” one former senior U.S. official said. Trump’s transition team did not reply to email messages seeking comment. “I think it’s a recipe for disaster,” said Daniel Benjamin, who served in senior White House and State Department counter-terrorism posts under Democratic presidents. Benjamin, now at Dartmouth College, said there was a “strong chance” people would leave and they have “tremendous value” to the private sector. Complicating the situation just a week before Republican Trump is sworn in, two of his nominees for top security posts set a different tone at their Senate confirmation hearings, heaping praise on the men and women who work in the secret world of intelligence gathering. Republican congressman Mike Pompeo, nominee for Central Intelligence Agency director, said on Thursday that he has seen  CIA personnel “walk through fire.” Separately, Trump’s nominee for U.S. defense secretary, James Mattis, told senators that he had a “very, very high degree of confidence” in U.S. intelligence agencies.  Mattis also put Russia at the top of a list of threats to U.S. interests. A top official at one intelligence agency said a growing number of intelligence officers over the age of 50 and with at least 20 years of service, including at least five years overseas, have drafted and in many cases signed but not dated their resignation letters. “There is great anxiety here about the President-elect’s apparent disdain for the work we do and the dangers we face,”   a second senior intelligence official, at another agency, said. He and others spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss intelligence matters and morale at their agencies. The latest round of rancor began with a CNN report that Trump had been briefed Jan. 6 by intelligence and law enforcement chiefs on a two-page memo summarizing the unverified claims in the dossier. In blaming intelligence agencies for the leak, Trump wrote on Twitter: “One last shot at me. Are we living in Nazi Germany?” Spy chief Clapper called Trump before dinnertime on Wednesday to calm the waters. Trump and Clapper differed on what was said in the phone conversation. On Friday, Trump appeared to again blame U.S. spies for the leak. “Probably released by ‘intelligence’ even knowing there is no proof and never will be,” he said on Twitter. U.S. intelligence agency personnel “are kind of shell-shocked at being accused of being Nazis and intentionally leaking this stuff,” the former senior official said. The 17 U.S. intelligence agencies have combined budgets of more than $70 billion and tens of thousands of employees. They are responsible for everything from warning of terrorist attacks to supporting American troops on the battlefield and analyzing the impacts of global trends such as climate change. Several former U.S. officials said the tensions with Trump were the worst they could recall since President George W. Bush and the CIA traded blame in 2003 and 2004 over the failure to find weapons of mass destruction in Iraq.  But Douglas Wise, a former senior CIA official, said it will be harder for Trump to “beat up” on his own intelligence chiefs once they are in place instead of officials appointed by Democratic President Barack Obama. “I think things are going to change,” Wise said. Still, tensions seem likely to persist after Inauguration Day on Jan. 20. Retired Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn, who will be Trump’s national security adviser, led the Pentagon’s Defense Intelligence Agency until he was fired by Clapper. He has a long-time suspicion of the CIA, according to Wise and others who have worked with him. “What Pompeo said was somewhat reassuring, but it’s not at all clear whether that matters, or whether Trump’s apparent attitude and Flynn’s bitterness toward us is what counts,” the second senior intelligence official said.

Summary: अधिकारियों का कहना है कि जासूसी एजेंसियों के साथ ट्रम्प के झगड़े से सुरक्षा को बड़ा खतरा है


WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. House of Representative could move soon to consider a bill to fund the government for a week to avoid a shutdown at midnight on Friday and buy time to strike a deal for a long-term funding plan, a House Republican source said on Wednesday. A one-week bill would give lawmakers “a little breathing room” to complete negotiations on broader legislation, the source said. Democrats have said they would support a weeklong extension only if a deal on a longer-term plan was close to completion, and a senior House Republican suggested that was the case. “We could get there today, we are not very far away,” Representative Tom Cole, a member of the House Appropriations Committee, told reporters.

Summary: अमेरिकी सदन एक सप्ताह के लिए सरकार को धन देने के लिए विधेयक पर विचार कर सकता हैः सूत्र


TASHKENT (Reuters) - Uzbek dissident writer Nurulloh Muhammad Raufkhon said on Monday that anti-government propaganda charges against him were a mistake and he hoped to be cleared by an impartial probe. Raufkhon, 62, forced into exile after publishing a book critical of strongman leader Islam Karimov, last week became the first prominent dissident to return to the Central Asian nation since Karimov s death in September 2016. Police detained Raufkhon on arrival on Sept. 27 from Turkey and said he had been charged with calling for an unconstitutional change of the state order and spreading materials threatening public security. He was led away from the airport in handcuffs and underwent questioning the same day. The authorities released him from jail on Sunday, but said the charges were still being investigated.  The charges I face, spreading anti-government propaganda, I think it is a mistake,  Raufkhon said in an interview with Reuters at his home.  The idea raised in my book is about abiding by the constitution and I urged (the authorities) not to act against the constitution. I talked about mistakes in policies and tried to say what was wrong.  Raufkhon said an impartial review of his book would show  there is nothing against the state  in it.  I m hoping for the best,  he said. Raufkhon decided to return to the former Soviet republic after Karimov s successor, President Shavkat Mirziyoyev ordered some 16,000 people, including the writer, struck off a security blacklist of potential extremists and dissidents in August. Mirziyoyev has also taken steps to liberalize other policies, moving to ease restrictions on travel and foreign exchange, as he seeks to improve ties with the West and attract foreign investment.

Summary: उज़्बेक असंतुष्ट ने सरकार विरोधी प्रचार के आरोपों का खंडन किया


(Reuters) - A federal judge on Friday struck down a string of Wisconsin voting restrictions passed by the Republican-led legislature and ordered the state to revamp its voter identification rules, finding that they disenfranchised minority voters. U.S. District Judge James Peterson, ruling in a legal challenge to the laws by two liberal groups, said he could not overturn the entire voter ID law because a federal appeals court had already found such restrictions to be constitutional. But Peterson, in his 119-page ruling, said the requirements that Wisconsin voters show either a photo identification or go through a special petition process had unfairly burdened minorities and needed to be reformed or replaced before the November presidential election. “To put it bluntly, Wisconsin’s strict version of voter ID law is a cure worse than the disease,” the judge wrote.  Peterson left the voting rules intact for the Aug 9. primary elections for federal, state and local offices, saying to change them less than two weeks in advance would be disruptive.  But his ruling was expected to impact the November presidential election in Wisconsin, which could prove a crucial battleground state for Democrat Hillary Clinton and Republican Donald Trump. Peterson also struck down as unconstitutional limits on in-person absentee voting, residency requirements and a ban on using expired student identification. Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker said in a tweet that he was “disappointed in the decision by an activist federal judge” and expected to file an appeal. A spokesman for One Wisconsin Institute, one of the two groups which filed the challenge, hailed Peterson’s ruling as “a huge win not only for the plaintiffs but for democracy itself.”  Wisconsin is one of several Republican-led states that have passed such voter ID laws in recent years amid fear of fraudulent voting by illegal immigrants and others.  Among the nine states with the strictest laws, insisting on state-issued photo identification for voters, are Georgia, Indiana, Texas and Virginia. A U.S. appeals court judge earlier this month ruled the Texas law discriminatory. The judge sent the case back to the lower court to examine whether the law had a discriminatory purpose and also asked the court for a short-term fix for the November general election. Republicans say voter ID laws are needed to prevent voter fraud. Democrats say the laws are really intended to make it harder for poor African-Americans and Latinos, who tend to vote Democrat, to vote.

Summary: संघीय न्यायाधीश ने विस्कॉन्सिन मतदाता कानूनों के कुछ हिस्सों को खारिज कर दिया


WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Donald Trump’s Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin used his first senior staff meeting last month to tell his new aides he would not tolerate leaks to the news media, three sources familiar with the matter said. Current and former officials said that in a departure from past practice, access to a classified computer system at the White House has been tightened by political appointees to prevent some professional staffers from seeing memos being prepared for the new president.  And at the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), some officials told Reuters they believe a search is under way for the leaker of a draft intelligence report which found little evidence that citizens of seven Muslim-majority countries covered by Trump’s now-suspended travel ban pose a threat to the United States.  Washington career civil servants say the clampdown appears designed to try to limit the flow of information inside and outside government agencies charged with foreign policy and national security and to deter officials from talking to the media about topics that could result in negative stories. The White House did not immediately comment on Friday about why it is trying to crack down on leaks. Trump, who has been infuriated by some news reports of government dysfunction, has expressed his intention to prevent unauthorized disclosures to the media. “We’re going to find the leakers. They’re going to pay a big price for leaking,” he said in response to a reporter’s question during a meeting with lawmakers on Feb. 16. At a news conference the same day, Trump said he had asked the Department of Justice to look into leaks of “classified information that was given illegally” to journalists regarding contacts between some of his aides and Russian officials. Several officials in different government agencies who spoke to Reuters on condition of anonymity said some employees fear their phone calls and emails may be monitored and that they are reluctant to speak their minds during internal discussions. Reuters has no independent evidence of this happening. In another effort to deter leaks, White House spokesman Sean Spicer demanded that some aides there surrender their phones so they could be checked for calls or texts to reporters, Politico reported on Sunday.  Word of the inspection quickly leaked. Trump said later he supported Spicer. He added “I would have handled it differently than Sean. But Sean handles it his way and I’m OK with it,” he said in an interview with Fox News.  On Friday, Spicer did not respond to requests for comment on his reasons for demanding the phones from his staff. Two sources familiar with Mnuchin’s first meeting with senior Treasury staff said he told them that their telephone calls and emails could be monitored to prevent leaks. One of the sources said that staff were told that monitoring could become “policy.” Asked about Mnuchin’s comments to his senior staff, a Treasury spokesman said: “Secretary Mnuchin had a discussion with staff about confidential information not being shared with the media nor any other sources. In the course of that conversation, the idea of checking phones was not discussed.” Asked in a follow-up email whether Mnuchin had raised the possibility of monitoring phones or emails as a matter of policy, the Treasury spokesman replied: “It was not discussed.”  Attempts by Republican and Democratic presidents to limit leaks are not new. During Republican Richard Nixon’s administration, the FBI wiretapped White House aides and journalists. Trump’s predecessor, Democrat Barack Obama, aggressively pursued leaks to try to “control the narrative,” as White House aides put it. New York Times reporter James Risen, whose articles led to investigations of leaks, said the Obama administration prosecuted nine cases involving whistleblowers and leakers, compared with three by all previous administrations combined. Leonard Downie, a former executive editor of the Washington Post, said it was too early to make historical comparisons. He said it is rare to learn about an administration’s internal efforts to impose message discipline. At the State Department, the fear of getting caught in a leak investigation or running afoul of White House positions is so acute that some officials will discuss issues only face-to-face rather than use phones, email, texts or other messaging applications, two State Department officials said. “There is a climate of intimidation, not just about talking to reporters, but also about communicating with colleagues,” said one official, speaking on condition of anonymity. Acting State Department spokesman Mark Toner did not respond directly to the officials’ statements but said Secretary of State Rex Tillerson aimed to foster an open climate where new ideas are raised and considered on their merits. “There does have to be some degree of trust among colleagues in order to have those kinds of conversations,” Toner said.   There also is high anxiety in parts of DHS,  three officials there said. They said some officials fear phone calls and emails are being monitored to try to find who leaked the draft intelligence  report to the Associated Press. Reuters has no independent evidence that this is the case. The report found that being a citizen of countries covered by Trump’s Jan. 27 temporary immigration ban - Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen - was “an unreliable indicator of terrorist threat.” The DHS did not respond to several requests for comment. Before Trump’s Jan. 20 inauguration, National Security Council officials drafting memos, or “packages,” for the president on a classified computer system could choose other officials who should have input, several current and former officials said. Under a change made after Trump took office, staffers now cannot choose who may see and edit a memo. Instead, access is approved by the office of the NSC executive secretary, retired Army lieutenant general Keith Kellogg. Asked about the new restrictions, National Security Council spokesman Michael Anton said: “President Trump takes very seriously the criminal release of classified information critical to U.S. national security. Access procedures are designed to ensure that appropriate personnel see material relevant to their duties, while protecting sensitive information.” One U.S. official called the new system “inefficient,” saying Kellogg’s office may not know who has a stake in any given issue and may not share the drafts widely enough. Steven Aftergood of the nonprofit Federation of American Scientists’ Project on Government Secrecy, which works to limit official secrecy, said the policy change suggested the White House wants to tighten control over internal deliberations. He said restricting access to information adds friction to the decision-making process and predicted that “inferior policy decisions are a likely result.” Spicer did not immediately comment on Friday on whether the new procedure might harm policy-making. An administration official said the White House changed the access procedures about a month ago in reaction to leaks of the contents of Trump’s conversations with the president of Mexico and the prime minister of Australia. Asked if the change had made the NSC less efficient, this official replied: “No, because we are being conscientious about ensuring that all relevant staff members and experts are included on materials that they need to see.”

Summary: एक्सक्लूसिवः लीक को रोकने के लिए ट्रम्प के सहयोगियों की बोली ने कुछ सिविल सेवकों के बीच बेचैनी पैदा की


WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A U.S. Senate committee on Wednesday advanced legislation to make it easier to penalize operators of websites that facilitate online sex trafficking, the most concrete action from Congress this year to tighten regulation of internet companies.  The approval came after major U.S. internet companies  dropped their opposition to the measure, which amends a decades-old law that is considered a bedrock legal shield for the companies. In a unanimous voice vote, the Senate Commerce Committee passed a measure that gives states and sex-trafficking victims a means to sue social media networks, advertisers and others that fail to keep exploitative material off their platforms. The bill rewrites Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act, which generally protects companies from liability for the activities of their users. The changes, which have bipartisan support, will still need to pass the full Senate and the U.S. House of Representatives and be signed by President Donald Trump to become law. “This is a momentous day in our fight to hold online sex traffickers accountable and help give trafficking survivors the justice they deserve,” Republican Senator Rob Portman, who co-authored the bill, known as the Stop Enabling Sex Traffickers Act, said in a statement. After decades of little oversight from Washington, the internet industry is facing increased scrutiny from lawmakers in both parties over concerns about their size and how their platforms were used by Russia during the 2016 election. More than 40 senators have co-sponsored the bill, and Trump’s daughter, Ivanka Trump, has endorsed it. Internet companies had long objected to proposals in Congress to rewrite Section 230, arguing the measure had allowed innovation in Silicon Valley to thrive. But the Internet Association, an industry group whose members include Facebook (FB.O), Amazon (AMZN.O) and Alphabet’s Google (GOOGL.O), announced support for the Senate bill last week after a series of changes.  Those edits clarified that criminal charges would be based on violations of federal human trafficking law and that a standard for liability would require a website to “knowingly” assist in facilitating trafficking. Democratic Senator Ron Wyden on Wednesday placed a hold on the bill to prevent it from quickly getting a vote in the full Senate, saying it favored big tech companies at the expense of startups and would “stifle innovation.”  In a letter on Tuesday, a dozen civil liberties organizations said the bill would threaten free speech online and unevenly harm smaller companies with fewer resources to police their platforms.

Summary: अमेरिकी सीनेट पैनल ने ऑनलाइन यौन तस्करी पर कार्रवाई को आगे बढ़ाया


WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States sees value in the New START arms control treaty with Russia, despite Washington s concerns about Moscow s track record on arms control and other issues, senior U.S. officials said on Friday. The remarks by the Trump administration officials, speaking to reporters on condition of anonymity, suggest the treaty will remain in force and the door remains open to pursuing an extension of the accord, which is set to expire in 2021. The New Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty gives both countries until February 2018 to reduce their deployed strategic nuclear warheads to no more than 1,550, the lowest level in decades. It also limits deployed land- and submarine-based missiles and nuclear-capable bombers. Reuters has reported that President Donald Trump, in his first call with Russian President Vladimir Putin, criticized the New START treaty, saying it favored Moscow. But one of the Trump administration officials said on Friday the United States was not looking to discard New START. Senior U.S. officials, including U.S. Defense Secretary Jim Mattis, have questioned Russia s reliability on arms control, citing longstanding U.S. allegations that Russia has violated the Cold War-era Intermediate-range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty. Russia denies treaty violations and accuses the United States of them. The accusations come amid a nosedive in U.S.-Russian relations. U.S. intelligence agencies accuse Russia of meddling in the U.S. presidential election, which Moscow denies, and recent tit-for-tat exchanges between Washington and Moscow include moves to slash each others  diplomatic presence. The tensions have reached Syria, where the United States and Russia are backing different forces that are scrambling to claim what is left of Islamic State-held territory. Russia warned the United States on Thursday it would target U.S.-backed militias in Syria if Russian troops again came under fire. Still, a second senior Trump administration official said Friday the United States was seeking ways to improve communication with Moscow and build some degree of trust, which the official described as non-existent. Trump took office saying he wanted to improve ties strained since Moscow s 2014 annexation of Crimea and the separatist conflict in eastern Ukraine, which led Washington to impose sanctions on Russia. Ukraine s Petro Poroshenko met Trump on Thursday and said afterward that they had a shared vision of a  new level  of defense cooperation. But the second senior Trump administration official said there had been no decision on whether to provide defensive arms to Ukraine, something Kiev has long wanted.

Summary: तनाव के बावजूद, अमेरिका रूस के साथ न्यू स्टार्ट संधि का महत्व देखता है


WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Donald Trump grudgingly accepted new congressional sanctions on Russia, the top U.S. diplomat said on Tuesday, remarks in contrast with those of Vice President Mike Pence, who said the bill showed Trump and Congress speaking “with a unified voice.” The U.S. Congress voted last week by overwhelming margins  for sanctions to punish the Russian government over interference in the 2016 presidential election, annexation of Crimea and other perceived violations of international norms.  U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson told reporters that he and Trump did not believe the new sanctions would “be helpful to our efforts” on diplomacy with Russia. Trump has been clear that he wants to improve relations with Russia, a desire that has been hamstrung by findings of U.S. intelligence agencies that Russia interfered to help the Republican against Democrat Hillary Clinton. U.S. congressional panels and a special counsel are investigating. Moscow denies any meddling and Trump denies any collusion by his campaign. Tillerson, who did business in Russia when he was chief executive of Exxon Mobil, has said repeatedly that the world’s two major nuclear powers cannot have such a bad relationship. “The action by the Congress to put these sanctions in place and the way they did, neither the President nor I were very happy about that,” Tillerson said. “We were clear that we didn’t think it was going to be helpful to our efforts, but that’s the decision they made, they made it in a very overwhelming way. I think the president accepts that.” Tillerson stopped short of saying definitively that Trump would sign the sanctions, saying only that “all indications are he will sign that bill.” Vice President Mike Pence, at a press conference in Georgia with Prime Minister Giorgi Kvirikashvili, said unequivocally that “President Trump will sign the Russia sanctions bill soon.” Pence acknowledged that the administration objected to earlier versions of the sanctions bill because it did not grant enough flexibility to the administration, but said it “improved significantly” in later versions. “And let me say that in signing the sanction, our President and our Congress are speaking with a unified voice,” Pence said. White House spokeswoman Sarah Sanders said on Tuesday the sanctions bill was under review and would be signed. “There’s nothing holding him back,” Sanders said at a news briefing. Trump has until Aug. 9 to sign the bill, or veto it, or it will automatically become law. In retaliation for the sanctions, Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Sunday that the U.S. diplomatic mission in Russia must reduce its staff by 755 people. Russia is also seizing two properties near Moscow used by American diplomats. Tillerson said Putin probably believes his response was a symmetrical action to Washington seizing two Russian properties in the United States and expelling 35 diplomats last December. “Of course it makes our lives more difficult,” he said. Tillerson said he and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov would meet in Manila on the margins of next weekend’s meetings of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations.

Summary: ट्रम्प प्रशासन ने रूस के प्रतिबंधों पर परस्पर विरोधी संकेत भेजे


(Reuters) - Shares of Valeant Pharmaceuticals International Inc (VRX.N) fell on Thursday after the campaign of Democratic presidential contender Hillary Clinton posted a blog from an Iowa event detailing exorbitant price hikes for a migraine drug made by the company. At an Iowa town hall over the weekend, Clinton read from a letter saying that the list price for 10 vials of migraine drug D.H.E. 45 had increased to more than $14,000 in December, compared with just over $3,000 in June of 2014. “This is predatory pricing. It is unjustified. It is wrong,” Clinton said, according to the post. Officials at Valeant did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Shares of Valeant fell nearly 9 percent to close at $86.12 on the New York Stock Exchange. More than 3 million shares of Valeant traded in the last hour of trading; total volume on the day was 7.9 mln shares. Valeant, based in Canada, has been under pressure since last year as cracks appeared in its business model of acquiring older drugs, steeply increasing their U.S. price, and using aggressive methods to overcome insurer barriers to reimbursing its medicines. D.H.E. 45, or dihydroergotamine, is a generic, injectable  analgesic. Clinton, fellow Democratic candidate Bernie Sanders, and Republican presidential front-runner Donald Trump have hammered away at drug costs in recent months, raising investor concerns that future price cuts could hurt pharmaceutical and biotech companies. “I’m going after them. We are going to stop this,” Clinton said at the Iowa town hall. Trump said earlier this week that Medicare, the government-run healthcare plan for the elderly, could reap huge savings by negotiating with drugmakers on price. Medicare by law cannot directly negotiate drug prices. A U.S. congressional committee last week subpoenaed former Turing Pharmaceuticals Chief Executive Officer Martin Shkreli to testify at a hearing about that company’s decision last year to raise by 5,000 percent the price of a decades-old treatment for a rare, but dangerous, parasitic infection.  (Reporting By Deena Beasley; Editing by Tom Brown and Grant McCool) SAP is the sponsor of this coverage which is independently produced by the staff of Reuters News Agency.

Summary: क्लिंटन ने अभियान की उपस्थिति में वेलेंट की कीमतों में बढ़ोतरी पर निशाना साधा


DUBLIN (Reuters) - The Brexit agreement on the Irish border that assures Northern Ireland will remain aligned with the European Union s customs union and single market  puts a floor  under what is possible in negotiations on trade after Britain leaves the EU, Ireland s foreign minister said.  What it means is any deal that is done has to be better than the default position, otherwise we won t be able to agree it,  Simon Coveney told national broadcaster RTE after the deal was struck early on Friday.  I think what that does is, it puts a floor under what is possible in terms of the outcome that we can t fall below, so Ireland obviously has a huge interest in the phase two negotiations.

Summary: सीमा समझौता यूरोपीय संघ/ब्रिटेन व्यापार वार्ता के दायरे में आता हैः आयरलैंड के विदेश मंत्री


WASHINGTON (Reuters) - New Jersey Governor Chris Christie will end his campaign for the 2016 Republican presidential nomination, a senior aide said on Wednesday, a day after his disappointing sixth place showing in the New Hampshire primary. A senior aide confirmed to Reuters that Christie will end his campaign.  (Reporting by Ginger Gibson; Writing by Doina Chiacu; Editing by Eric Walsh) SAP is the sponsor of this content. It was independently created by Reuters’ editorial staff and funded in part by SAP, which otherwise has no role in this coverage.

Summary: न्यू जर्सी के गवर्नर क्रिस्टी ने 2016 की रिपब्लिकन पार्टी की राष्ट्रपति पद की दावेदारी वापस लीः सहायक


ABOARD AIR FORCE ONE (Reuters) - President Barack Obama remains confident in FBI Director James Comey’s ability to the lead the agency in the aftermath of the probe of Democrat Hillary Clinton’s use of a private email server, the White House said on Monday. “The president views Director Comey as a man of integrity, a man of principle,” White House spokesman Josh Earnest told reporters in a briefing. “The president’s views of him have not changed. ... He continues to have confidence in his ability to run the FBI.”  Comey has faced intense criticism for his decision to inform Congress days before Tuesday’s presidential election about newly discovered emails that might pertain to the investigation of Clinton’s use of a private server while secretary of state. He roiled the race again on Sunday when he told lawmakers that investigators had completed their review of the additional emails and there was no change to the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s July finding that there was no criminal wrongdoing in Clinton’s use of the server. The White House, which has attempted to remain neutral on Comey’s handling of the probe, said on Monday it had not been given any advance notice of the announcement on Sunday. “The president is entirely confident that Director Comey is not using his authority to advantage a particular political candidate or particular party,” Earnest said.

Summary: ओबामा एफ. बी. आई. निदेशक कोमी का समर्थन करना जारी रखेंगेः व्हाइट हाउस


WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump said on Monday Puerto Rico is in  deep trouble  after being hit by Hurricane Maria and that its billions of dollars of debt to the Wall Street and banks  must be dealt with.   Puerto Rico, which was already suffering from broken infrastructure & massive debt, is in deep trouble,  Trump wrote in a series of posts on Twitter.  It s (sic) old electrical grid, which was in terrible shape, was devastated. Much of the Island was destroyed, with billions of dollars owed to Wall Street and the banks which, sadly, must be dealt with.  Trump did not offer a pathway for dealing with Puerto Rico s debt. The U.S. territory, struggling with $72 billion in debt, filed the biggest government bankruptcy in U.S. history earlier this year. Maria, the most powerful hurricane to hit Puerto Rico in nearly a century, devastated the Caribbean island when it struck the U.S. territory with ferocious winds and torrential rains last week.  Puerto Rico Governor Ricardo Rossello on Monday asked for more government aid to avert a humanitarian crisis in the island, which is home to 3.4 million people. Puerto Rico s government on Monday asked a judge for up to four extra weeks to meet key deadlines in its bankruptcy case after Hurricane Maria brought its fragile infrastructure to its knees. White House spokeswoman Sarah Sanders told reporters in Washington that the administration was engaged in a fact-finding process to figure out how much help Puerto Rico needs.

Summary: तूफान के बाद प्यूर्टो रिको संकट में, कर्ज से 'निपटा जाना चाहिए': ट्रम्प


WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Defense Department needs to better manage its finances if it hopes to rebuild and modernize the U.S. Armed Forces, the Government Accountability Office said in a report released on Tuesday. The Pentagon needs to give its decision makers and weapons buyers more accurate budget and cost information so they can make better decisions as they modernize weapons systems, the report said.  U.S. President Donald Trump’s $4.1 trillion fiscal 2018 budget proposal included $603 billion in defense spending for the Department of Defense as well as nuclear weapons programs at the Department of Energy and other national defense priorities. The GAO report comes as U.S. Defense Secretary Jim Mattis presented lawmakers in the House and Senate with a $33 billion wish list of unfunded military needs. The report said despite increased defense funding under Trump, efforts “underway to rebuild readiness for portions of their military forces” are at risk without more comprehensive planning efforts at the Pentagon.  The federal agency, which oversees government resources, also said the Defense Department could police global hot spots with less expensive and more numerous regular troops instead of U.S. special forces.  “DOD has not taken steps to examine whether additional opportunities exist to reduce the high demand on these (special) forces by sharing some of their responsibilities with conventional forces,” the report said.  U.S. President Donald Trump’s fiscal 2018 budget proposal gave the military a modest boost to their budget, 3 percent more than what former President Barack Obama had sought in his long-term budget plan. The $574.5 billion for the Department of Defense would go to warfighting readiness and critical program requirements.  GAO said it has made approximately 3,100 recommendations to DOD since 2006. Of these about 1,037 have not been acted on, including 78 priority recommendations. The report released on Tuesday made no new recommendations.

Summary: अमेरिकी रक्षा विभाग को अपने वित्त का बेहतर प्रबंधन करने की आवश्यकता हैः जी. ए. ओ


MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov said on Friday it was “extremely troubling” that U.S. President Donald Trump was raising questions that had been settled when an international deal on Iran’s nuclear program was signed, RIA news agency reported. Ryabkov was quoted as saying that Russia sees its main task now as preventing the Iran nuclear deal from collapsing. He called on all sides to stay committed to the deal, the news agency reported.

Summary: रूस ने कहा, ईरान समझौते पर ट्रंप का रुख 'बेहद परेशान करने वाला' हैः आर. आई. ए.


(Reuters) - Former Federal Bureau of Investigation Director James Comey will testify on June 8 before a congressional committee investigating Russia’s alleged meddling in the 2016 U.S. presidential election. Comey is expected to tell the Senate Intelligence Committee that President Donald Trump asked him to drop an investigation into former White House national security adviser Michael Flynn’s ties to Russia. Trump fired Comey on May 9.  Legal experts say that Trump could invoke a doctrine called executive privilege to try to stop Comey from testifying. But such a maneuver would draw a backlash and could be challenged in court, they said. The following describes how executive privilege works and why it could backfire on Trump if he invokes it. What is executive privilege? Executive privilege is a legal doctrine that allows the president to withhold information from other government branches. The U.S. Supreme Court ruled in 1974 in U.S. v Nixon that executive privilege can only be used in limited circumstances, such as protecting national security or preserving the confidentiality of sensitive communications within the executive branch. How would Trump invoke the privilege to block Comey’s testimony? Before invoking executive privilege, the president typically obtains a written memorandum justifying the decision from the Office of Legal Counsel, a division of the Department of Justice. The White House counsel is often informally involved in the decision. After invoking the privilege, the president can direct current and former government officials to not divulge information.  Have presidents invoked executive privilege in the past? The term was not coined until the 1950s, but most presidents have invoked some version of it, said Mark Rozell, a professor of government at George Mason University. President Barack Obama asserted the privilege in 2012 to block Congress from seeing documents relating to an investigation into Fast and Furious, a botched gunrunning operation conducted by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. What are the odds that Trump would legally succeed in blocking Comey’s testimony? Legal experts said Trump would face an uphill climb if he asserted executive privilege to stop Comey from testifying before the congressional committee. Trump likely would argue that Comey’s testimony involves confidential conversations or matters of national security. But that claim would be undercut by the fact that the president has publicly discussed and tweeted about his conversations with Comey, said Rozell. Trump faces another hurdle if he tries to block Comey’s testimony. If Trump pressured Comey to drop the Flynn investigation, as Comey is expected to testify, then Trump may have engaged in obstruction of justice, according to some lawyers. Executive privilege cannot be used to “cover up government misconduct,” said Andrew Wright, a professor at Savannah Law School.  If Trump invoked the privilege, could Comey disregard it? Typically a president uses executive privilege to prevent government employees from releasing information. Comey is now a private citizen who does not have to worry about losing his job if he does not comply. Rozell said he knows of no legal sanction for ignoring an assertion of executive privilege, but that it would be “unprecedented” for an assertion of the privilege to be ignored.  Could Trump be challenged in court if he asserts executive privilege? The president and Congress typically hammer out a compromise when they disagree about whether privilege can be asserted, said Rozell.  But there are instances of executive privilege being challenged in court. When Obama cited the privilege to block the release of documents relating to Fast and Furious, Congress sued and asked a judge to direct then-Attorney General Eric Holder to comply with its subpoena. A judge ruled last year that the Justice Department’s public disclosures about the controversy undercut the president’s executive privilege claim, saying that the Justice Department had already publicly revealed much of the information it said should be kept private. It would be procedurally complicated to challenge a decision by Trump to block Comey’s testimony. First, Congress would have to issue a subpoena requiring Comey to testify. Then Congress would have to find Comey in contempt if he refused. Congress could then ask a federal judge to force Comey to comply with its subpoena. That litigation would lead to a ruling on whether Trump lawfully invoked executive privilege. “There is a path to judicial review, but a lot of things would have to take place,” Wright said. What are the political risks if Trump tries to assert privilege? Trump would surely face public criticism if he tries to stop Comey’s testimony, Rozell said. Critics could claim Trump is using privilege to thwart questions about potential ties between Russia and Flynn and Russia’s alleged influence on the election. “That’s the rub with executive privilege: It makes it look like you have something to hide,” Rozell said.

Summary: फैक्टबॉक्सः क्या ट्रम्प कोमी की गवाही को रोकने के लिए कार्यकारी विशेषाधिकार का उपयोग कर सकते हैं?


CARACAS (Reuters) - Venezuela s state prosecutor confirmed on Thursday that former oil bosses Eulogio Del Pino and Nelson Martinez were detained in the early hours of Thursday as part of a sweeping graft probe that is ridding the OPEC member of many of its top executives.  Del Pino was arrested for alleged participation in a $500 corruption scandal at the Petrozamora joint venture, while Martinez was held for allegedly allowing a refinancing deal for U.S.-based refiner Citgo to go ahead without government approval, prosecutor Tarek Saab said.

Summary: वेनेजुएला ने पूर्व तेल मालिक डेल पिनो, मार्टिनेज को हिरासत में लिए जाने की पुष्टि की


(In Nov 15 item, corrects third paragraph to say Dourson is a former professor at the University of Cincinnati) (Reuters) - North Carolina Senators Richard Burr and Thom Tillis said they will not support the Trump administration’s nominee to head the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) chemical safety office, media reports said. If one more Republican votes against Michael Dourson, he likely wouldn't be confirmed to the post, the Hill reported on Wednesday. bit.ly/2hv1xgN The Republican Senators raised concerns about the track record of Dourson, a former professor at the University of Cincinnati who has worked as a consultant for chemical companies, StarNews reported. bit.ly/2jvLPpR “With his record and our state’s history of contamination at Camp Lejeune as well as the current GenX water issues in Wilmington, I am not confident he is the best choice for our country,” StarNews quoted Senator Burr as saying. The U.S. Senate environment panel, on Oct. 25, approved Dourson and 3 other nominees to top posts at the EPA, in a 11-10 vote along party lines that was slammed by Democrats. Dourson, while a consultant, had assessed some chemicals, including PFOA, used to make Teflon non-stick surfaces, to be safe at levels far higher than considered acceptable by the EPA. Reuters could not reach the Senators for comment outside regular business hours.

Summary: सीनेटर बर, टिलिस ने ट्रम्प के ई. पी. ए. उम्मीदवार डौरसन का विरोध कियाः रिपोर्ट


(Reuters) - The New Black Panther Party, a “black power” movement, will carry firearms for self-defense during rallies in Cleveland ahead of next week’s Republican convention, if allowed under Ohio law, the group’s chairman said.  The plan by the group this weekend comes as police in Cleveland brace for an influx of groups that plan demonstrations before and during the presidential nominating convention.  During the attack last week in Dallas that killed five police officers, law enforcement officials said demonstrators carrying rifles led them to initially believe they were under attack by multiple shooters. Several other groups, including some supporters of presumptive Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump, have said they will carry weapons in Cleveland. “If it is an open state to carry, we will exercise our second amendment rights because there are other groups threatening to be there that are threatening to do harm to us,” Hashim Nzinga, chairman of the New Black Panther Party, told Reuters in a telephone interview.   “If that state allows us to bear arms, the Panthers and the others who can legally bear arms will bear arms.” Nzinga said he condemned the Dallas shootings. Officials in Ohio have said it will be legal for protesters to carry weapons at demonstrations outside the convention under that state’s “open carry” law, which allows civilians to carry guns in public.  “Black power” groups promote defense against racial oppression, with some advocating for the establishment of armed self-defense groups, black social institutions and a self-sufficient economy. The New Black Panther Party has long called for a separate black nation. But Nzinga said the movement was now focused on protecting black Americans’ rights. Academics say the New Black Panther Party remains marginal and largely representative of an older generation, in their 30s and 40s, rather than younger activists drawn to groups such as the anti-racism Black Lives Matter movement. The New Black Panther Party was founded in 1989 and adopted a more radical approach than the 1960s Black Panther Party. Members of the original group have denounced the New Black Panther Party as racist, but Nzinga says his movement includes original Black Panthers. The Southern Poverty Law Center, a hate group watchdog, describes the New Black Panther Party as “a virulently racist and anti-Semitic organization whose leaders have encouraged violence against whites, Jews and law enforcement officers.” The center tracks years of public statements by the New Black Panther Party and other groups. Nzinga denied the group was racist but said it was a fact that Jews control Hollywood and the U.S. media. The center said the group is not known to have carried out any violent attacks. The black shooter in the Dallas killings “liked” the New Black Panthers and other black nationalist groups on Facebook but was not a member.   Nzinga said he expected “a couple hundred” members of the New Black Panther Party to participate in and protect a black unity rally — the “National Convention of the Oppressed” — that is scheduled to begin in Cleveland on Thursday evening and end on Monday morning. Nzinga said he and the Panthers plan to leave Cleveland on Sunday, the day before the convention officially opens.  “We are there to protect ... We are not trying to do anything else,” he said. “We are going to carry out some of these great legal rights we have — to assemble, to protest and (to exercise) freedom of speech.” Nzinga says his group has grown amid racial tensions in the wake of a series of high-profile police killings of black men in the past two years. The Southern Poverty Law Center says the number of black militant chapters around the country grew from 113 in 2014 to 180 in 2015.  The center says there are 892 hate groups total nationwide. It says white hate groups, such as the Aryan Brotherhood, have a much longer track record of carrying out violent attacks than black nationalist groups. Nzinga said his group has 36 chapters nationwide but declined to reveal membership numbers. “I have people literally calling me saying this is the first time in my life I protested and I loved it.” Nzinga told Reuters. “They want to be a part of something. They tried to be a part of the system and the system let them down so they want to be part of a rebellion.”

Summary: न्यू ब्लैक पैंथर पार्टी का कहना है कि अगर कानूनी है तो क्लीवलैंड में हथियार ले जाएँगे


WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. President Barack Obama shortened the prison sentences for 98 convicts serving time for drug-related offenses in his latest round of commutations, including for 42 people serving life sentences, the White House said on Thursday. Obama has granted 688 commutations this year, for a total so far of 872 during his presidency, which ends on Jan. 20. “These are individuals - many of whom made mistakes at a young age - who have diligently worked to rehabilitate themselves while incarcerated,” White House Counsel Neil Eggleston said in a statement. The commutations are part of Obama’s push to reform the criminal justice system to reduce the number of people serving long sentences for non-violent drug offenses. Obama and a bipartisan group of lawmakers in the U.S. Congress had tried to work on legislation to reduce mandatory minimum sentences, but those efforts stalled ahead of the Nov. 8 presidential election.

Summary: ओबामा ने 98 दोषियों की जेल की सजा कम कीः व्हाइट हाउस


WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump lashed out at U.S. House Speaker Paul Ryan and other “disloyal” Republicans on Tuesday and vowed to campaign in whatever style he wants now that the party establishment has largely abandoned him. Trump, in a barrage of stinging Twitter posts, condemned the Republicans who have backed away from his White House run, deepening a dramatic rift in the party over his struggling campaign for the Nov. 8 election. “It is so nice that the shackles have been taken off me and I can now fight for America the way I want to,” Trump said on Twitter, adding he would engage Democratic rival Hillary Clinton on his own terms. Describing “disloyal” Republicans as more difficult than Clinton, he said: “They come at you from all sides. They don’t know how to win - I will teach them!” A string of Republican officials and officeholders have distanced themselves from Trump since a 2005 video surfaced on Friday showing him bragging crudely to a reporter about groping women and making unwanted sexual advances. Despite the turn away from Trump by some elected Republicans, a Reuters/Ipsos poll of likely voters, released on Tuesday, found 58 percent of Republicans wanted Trump to stay atop their party’s ticket and 68 percent said the Republican leadership should stand by him. The poll, which was conducted after the second presidential debate on Sunday, showed Clinton’s lead over Trump widening to 8 points from 5 points last week, before the release of the video.  Ryan, the top Republican in Congress, told party lawmakers on Monday he was breaking with Trump and would not campaign for him, all but conceding Clinton would win the presidency. The move angered some Trump supporters, although Ryan said he would not withdraw his endorsement of the New York businessman. Trump slammed Ryan as a “very weak and ineffective leader” and complained in another tweet that it was hard to do well with “zero support” from Ryan and others. He later said in an interview with Fox News host Bill O’Reilly he neither wanted nor needed Ryan’s support. Ryan’s spokesman, Brendan Buck, said on Tuesday that the speaker “is focusing the next month on defeating Democrats, and all Republicans running for office should probably do the same.” Trump also took aim at U.S. Senator John McCain of Arizona, the 2008 Republican presidential nominee, who said on Saturday that he could not vote for Trump. “The very foul mouthed Sen. John McCain begged for my support during his primary (I gave, he won), then dropped me over locker room remarks,” Trump said. There was no immediate reaction from McCain, who secured his primary election win in August.  Many Republicans worry that Trump’s chaotic campaign could hurt their chances of holding majorities in the House of Representatives and Senate in next month’s election, and will inflict long-term damage on the party. In an extraordinary party revolt, nearly half of all 331 incumbent Republican senators, House members and governors have condemned Trump’s lewd remarks on the video, and roughly one in 10 has called for him to drop out of the race, a Reuters review of official statements and local news coverage indicates. Unlike Ryan, Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus told RNC members on Monday that the committee, the party’s leadership and fundraising arm, still backed Trump, two RNC members told Reuters.  Trump’s vice presidential running mate, Indiana Governor Mike Pence, also reinforced his support in television interviews on Monday. New Jersey Governor Chris Christie, a former 2016 Republican presidential contender who has became a close ally of Trump, also reaffirmed his backing, although he called Trump’s comments in the 2005 video “completely indefensible.”  Trump, 70, who has portrayed himself as tough on national security, released a hard-hitting television advertisement on Tuesday featuring footage of Clinton, a 68-year-old former secretary of state, stumbling last month after leaving a service commemorating the Sept. 11 attacks. Her campaign said she had been diagnosed a few days earlier with pneumonia. “Hillary Clinton doesn’t have the fortitude, strength or stamina to lead in our world,” the ad’s narrator says. “She failed as secretary of state. Don’t let her fail us again.” Both Trump and Clinton headed to the key battleground state of Florida on Tuesday. Before her Florida rally with former Vice President Al Gore, Clinton told a Miami radio station that Trump had “insulted everyone.” “People need to understand what’s at stake in this election,” she told WMBM. The White House said on Tuesday that Trump’s remarks about groping women in the video amounted to sexual assault. President Barack Obama said Trump’s remarks would disqualify him from a job at a convenience store, and should disqualify him from becoming president.  Clinton, the first woman to be picked as a presidential nominee by a major U.S. party, tried to focus on Tuesday on issues that could win over undecided women voters, proposing to expand the child tax credit so that more low-income families can benefit and to increase by $1,000 a year the tax credit available to families for each child up to age 4.

Summary: ट्रम्प ने हाउस स्पीकर रेयान, मैक्केन को 'विश्वासघाती' बताया


MUMBAI (Reuters) - Rescuers in the Indian city of Mumbai wound down on Friday their search for victims in the ruins of a condemned building that collapsed, after pulling 12 survivors and 34 bodies from the rubble, emergency services said. The 117-year-old, six storey-building in a congested old neighborhood came crashing down early on Thursday after heavy rain had drenched the financial hub for days.  Rescue operations are in a demobilization phase. Two fire appliances and one ambulance will be on standby at site as a precautionary measure,  said P. S. Rahangdale, chief fire officer of the Mumbai Fire Brigade. Among the dead was a 20-day old baby, police said. The collapse was the second in Mumbai in little over a month. In July, 17 people were killed when a four-storey building came down after suspected unauthorized renovations. The cause of the latest collapse was not known but it came after several days of torrential rainy-season downpours that flooded parts of the city. Devendra Fadnavis, the chief minister of Maharashtra state, of which Mumbai is the capital, ordered an inquiry. The building had been declared unsafe by the housing regulator in 2011 but many people had stayed on living here. Neighbors said developers tasked with renovating properties in the area had not provided enough information about options for temporary housing. Officials from the housing regulator told media they had granted a neighborhood trust with  the right to redevelop the building and provide temporary housing to residents. The trust issued a statement on Thursday saying it had started relocating residents, and had moved seven families in 2014, but other residents had refused to leave.

Summary: भारतीय इमारत ढहने से बचाव कार्य समाप्त; 34 लोगों की मौत


NEW YORK (Reuters) - Americans are more concerned than they were before the 2016 U.S. presidential campaign began about the potential threat Russia poses to the country, according to a Reuters/Ipsos opinion poll released on Friday. The Jan. 9-12 survey found that 82 percent of American adults, including 84 percent of Democrats and 82 percent of Republicans, described Russia as a general “threat” to the United States. That’s up from 76 percent in March 2015 when the same questions were asked. The increased concern comes after a brutal election season during which Democrats and others raised questions about President-elect Donald Trump’s financial ties to Russia and the U.S. intelligence community accused Russia of engaging in cyber attacks during the election.  Trump, who has repeatedly praised Russian President Vladimir Putin as a strong leader and signaled during his campaign that he might take a softer line in dealing with Moscow, only recently accepted that Russia committed the hacks after receiving detailed briefings from intelligence officials.  Trump initially criticized the findings, saying the culprit could be China or “somebody sitting on their bed that weighs 400 pounds.”  The poll asked people to rate Russia and a slew of other countries on a 5-point scale ranging from “no threat” to “imminent threat.” It found that Americans were more likely to label Russia a threat than they were Iran, Syria, China, Saudi Arabia, Cuba or Yemen. Only North Korea ranked higher, with 86 percent of Americans labeling it as a threat. Some 25 percent of Americans gave Russia the highest concern, labeling it an “imminent threat.”  “Russia is back to the old days of the Cold War,” said Oneita Wilkins, 69, a Republican who lives in a suburb of New Orleans, who rated Russia an “imminent threat.”  Wilkins did not vote in the election. She said she did not trust Trump or Democratic rival Hillary Clinton and chose to not vote for the first time in more than 40 years. The latest reports about Russian hacking lowered her opinion of Trump even further. “Trump doesn’t have any experience with other countries,” Wilkins said. “I have a feeling that he’ll be easily influenced by Putin.” Trump, earlier this week in his first news conference since the election, defended his goal of better ties with Putin, saying, “If Putin likes Donald Trump, I consider that an asset, not a liability.” The Reuters/Ipsos poll was conducted online in English in all 50 states. It included 1,169 American adults, including 490 Democrats and 475 Republicans. The poll has a credibility interval, a measure of accuracy, of 3 percentage points for the entire sample and 5 percentage points for Republicans and Democrats.

Summary: 2016 के चुनाव अभियान के बाद, अधिक अमेरिकी रूस को एक खतरा मानते हैंः रॉयटर्स/इप्सोस पोल


BERLIN (Reuters) - German Social Democrat (SPD) leader Martin Schulz, whose party trails Chancellor Angela Merkel s conservatives by 17 points, said he was going into Sunday s television debate convinced he would win this month s elections.  I am not in the least bit nervous,  he told Bild newspaper in an interview conducted after media reports suggesting his predecessor as leader had given up hope of an SPD victory.  A successful duel can create momentum,  Schulz said in a separate interview with the RND network of newspapers.  Merkel, 63, has been chancellor since 2005 and is widely seen as Europe s most influential politician. She has weathered storms over mass immigration and financial and political turmoil  the European Union, while the SPD, Germany s oldest party, has struggled to promote a strong rival. Merkel told the Rheinische Post newspaper she expected the debate to spark great public interest.  I ll be happy if as many people as possible take the time to watch,  she told the newspaper in an interview to be published Saturday.  But she defended her decision to allow only one such two-way debate since voters in Germany s parliamentary system pick parties and direct candidates in their districts, rather than voting directly for a chancellor. Schulz s campaign got off to a promising start early this year, with thousands flocking to the party after he was chosen as candidate; but three crushing defeats at the hands of the conservatives in regional elections, including in its heartland of North Rhine-Westphalia, knocked him off course.  These were very difficult defeats for the SPD ... but nonetheless, 46 percent of voters have yet to make up their minds,  a weary-looking Schulz, 61, said in a live online interview with Bild. He said he would turn things around in the first and only televised debate between the pair ahead of the Sept. 24 election.   I believe we will certainly still win the election.   The SPD, which has stewarded Europe s biggest economy as junior partner to Merkel s conservatives for the last four years, was on 22 percent in an opinion poll published on Friday, while the conservatives were on 39 percent. Almost half the 61.5 million people eligible to vote are expected to tune into the debate, pollster Forsa found. Nearly two-thirds of Germans expect Merkel to win the contest while 17 percent expected Schulz to fare better, another poll showed. It also found that if there were to be a direct vote for chancellor, 49 percent of Germans would pick Merkel, who is seen as a steady pair of hands at a time of global uncertainty, with Donald Trump in the White House and Britain preparing to leave the European Union. Just 26 percent would opt for former European Parliament President Schulz, whose campaign focusing on social justice has struggled at a time when Germans are enjoying rising wages and record employment. In a bid to appeal to the younger generation, Schulz told Bild the biggest domestic policy difference between him and Merkel was on pensions.   If someone is in his early 40s, he will belong to the generation that pays ever more contributions and at the end will get the lowest pension in history from his pension insurance,  he said.

Summary: जर्मन टीवी टकराव से पहले मर्केल के सोशल डेमोक्रेट प्रतिद्वंद्वी में तेजी


ANKARA (Reuters) - Turkish authorities issued detention warrants on Saturday for 100 former police officers and have so far detained 63 of them, the state-run Anadolu news agency said, as part of a widening crackdown since last year s failed coup attempt. The suspects were believed to be users of ByLock, an encrypted messaging app which the government says was used by the network of U.S.-based cleric Fethullah Gulen, accused by Ankara of orchestrating last July s abortive putsch. Gulen, who has lived in self-imposed exile in Pennsylvania since 1999, denies involvement. Anadolu said security forces were seeking the suspects in 19 provinces across the country. Since the abortive coup, more than 50,000 people have been jailed pending trial over alleged links to Gulen, while 150,000 people have been sacked or suspended from jobs in the military, public and private sectors. Rights groups and some of Turkey s Western allies have voiced concern about the crackdown, fearing the government is using the coup as a pretext to quash dissent. The government says only such a purge could neutralize the threat represented by Gulen s network, which it says deeply infiltrated institutions such as the army, schools and courts.

Summary: तुर्की ने तख्तापलट के बाद की जांच में 100 पूर्व पुलिस अधिकारियों को हिरासत में लेने का आदेश दियाः अनादोलु


WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Two Republican senators proposed steps to slash the number of legal immigrants admitted into the United States by half on Tuesday, but the legislation, developed with the Trump administration, faces an uphill climb to get through Congress. Senators Tom Cotton and David Perdue said their bill would cut the number of immigrants granted U.S. residency each year to 500,000 from 1 million, through measures including cutting far back on which relatives can be brought into the country and eliminating a diversity visa lottery. The legislation does not address visas specifically tied to employment, such as the H-1B visas for skilled workers used by many technology companies. Cotton and Perdue said they had consulted Republican President Donald Trump, who vowed to crack down on both illegal and legal immigration during his campaign for the White House. Cotton said he had spoken to Trump about the bill by telephone as recently as Tuesday morning. The measure faces stiff opposition in Congress. Although Trump’s fellow Republicans control majorities in both the Senate and House of Representatives, several back comprehensive immigration reform, not a tough crackdown. Republican Senator John McCain said he disagreed with the bill. A long-time advocate for immigration reform, McCain praised the contribution of immigrants to the United States. “We need more Sergey Brins and people like that who were born outside of this country and came here, received an education and made enormous progress for all mankind,” McCain told reporters, referring to the Google co-founder, who came to the United States as a refugee from Russia. Any measure also would need Democratic support to advance in the Senate, and Democrats, who cite studies showing that immigrants boost the U.S. economy, are strongly opposed. Democratic Senator Jeanne Shaheen called it “wrong and senseless” to separate families and cut successful visa programs.  Perdue and Cotton acknowledged the bill would not come up any time soon, saying they hoped for a Senate vote this year. Senator John Cornyn, the No. 2 Senate Republican, said Congress first needed to address border security, but said the new measure “will be a helpful constructive proposal.” The bill would admit only immediate family members of immigrants, eliminating preferences for adult siblings or adult children. Cotton said it would exclude parents unless they were sick and the family promised not to rely on public benefits. The proposal came amid a larger immigration fight over Trump’s travel ban on people from seven Muslim-majority countries and refugees. Cotton said his goal was to stop competition that lowers wages for workers without high school or college degrees. “Unless we reverse this trend, we are going to create a near-permanent underclass for whom the American dream is always just out of reach,” he said. Asked if the White House would support the legislation and whether it was working with the senators, a spokesman said, “We are reviewing it.” U.S. companies often argue in favor of immigration. More than 100 filed a legal brief opposing Trump’s travel ban.

Summary: दो रिपब्लिकन सीनेटर कानूनी अमेरिकी आप्रवासन को कम करने की मांग करते हैं


WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A joint U.S.-South Korean military exercise will start on Aug. 21 as planned, the Pentagon said on Friday as the United States and North Korea traded threats of war. The annual joint military exercise, called Ulchi-Freedom Guardian, is expected to go ahead as originally scheduled and will start on Aug. 21, said Lieutenant Colonel Christopher Logan, a Pentagon spokesman.

Summary: U.S.-South कोरिया का सैन्य अभ्यास 21 अगस्त से शुरू होगाः पेंटागन


LONDON (Reuters) - Prime Minister Theresa May s attempts to keep her Brexit plans secret provoked a new row on Tuesday when lawmakers criticized her for failing to hand over complete studies on the economic impact of Britain leaving the European Union. The government had promised to share more than 50 studies on how Brexit would affect different economic sectors, but on Monday it gave lawmakers a hard copy of a report running to around 850 pages with parts redacted because of what ministers called commercial and confidential information. Lawmakers hit back, saying the government was riding roughshod over a democratically elected parliament - the latest tug of war over who should have influence over talks that will shape Britain s future standing in the world by unraveling more than 40 years of union with the bloc.  This is not a game. This is the most important set of decisions that this country has taken for decades,  Keir Starmer, Brexit policy chief for the opposition Labour Party, told parliament.  In my experience the biggest mistakes are made when decisions are not scrutinized.  With much redacted, Scotland s Brexit minister Michael Russell said the report did not contain  any actual impact analysis  which could offer an insight into what May s government had concluded over the likely impact of leaving the EU s single market and customs union.  It is essential that people across the UK fully understand the consequences of decisions being taken about their future,  he said in a letter sent to Damian Green, May s deputy, that was made public by the Scottish government. Arguments that the economy would suffer if Britain left the EU were rejected by many voters at last year s referendum when the country backed Brexit. But with the economy struggling with lower growth since the vote, some of those who argue that Britain should reverse its decision or at least strive for a softer Brexit that maintains close ties say knowledge of the impact could change minds. The government has been reluctant to share its impact assessments, with May saying she has to play her cards close to her chest to win the best available deal with the EU. Earlier this month, parliament used an archaic rule to force the government to hand over 58 impact studies, which earlier  Brexit minister David Davis had referred to as  57 studies (that) cover 85 percent of the economy - everything except sectors that are not affected by international trade . Late on Monday, Davis wrote to a parliamentary committee on Brexit that the papers had been redacted because he had not been given guarantees that lawmakers would keep the details secret, possibly undermining Britain s negotiating hand. A junior minister for Brexit, Robin Walker, told parliament the government had been  as open as possible  and had met the terms of parliament s demand despite lawmakers  misunderstanding over what the analysis was.  It is not a series of 58 impact assessments,  he said. But the move to limit the information, Labour and the Scottish National Party say, could place the government in contempt of parliament, which could lead to the suspension or expulsion of Davis from the House of Commons. Asked whether a charge of contempt could move forward, the parliamentary Speaker, John Bercow, said any attempt should take place after a meeting between Davis and the head of parliament s Brexit committee.

Summary: संशोधित ब्रेक्सिट रिपोर्टों ने ब्रिटेन की संसद के साथ नए रस्साकशी की शुरुआत की


WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Two Republican lawmakers told the U.S. Department of Justice on Tuesday that they want to question three senior FBI officials about an investigation of then-Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton over her handling of classified information while she was secretary of state. The lawmakers, who are leading a joint probe into the Clinton investigation, said in a letter to Attorney General Jeff Sessions and his deputy, Rod Rosenstein, that they wanted to speak with FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe, FBI Chief of Staff Jim Rybicki and FBI counsel Lisa Page beginning on Thursday. The FBI declined to comment on the letter and referred reporters to the Justice Department. The request to meet the FBI officials for “transcribed interviews” was made after Republicans obtained more than 300 text messages sent last year between Page and FBI agent Peter Strzok critical of then-Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump. The text messages called him an “idiot” and “a loathsome human,” among other things, according to copies reviewed by Reuters. Strzok later worked for Special Counsel Robert Mueller as part of the investigation into Russian efforts to interfere in the U.S. election and ties between Russian officials and the Trump campaign. Moscow denies U.S. allegations of election meddling and Trump denies any campaign collusion.  Strzok, who helped lead the investigation of Clinton’s handling of classified material, was removed from Mueller’s team after the special counsel became aware of the texts critical of Trump. Republican lawmakers have attacked Mueller, expressing concern about potential bias among his investigators. But Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein has testified to lawmakers that  he was “not aware” of any impropriety by Mueller’s team. Representative Bob Goodlatte, chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, and Representative Trey Gowdy, chairman of the House Oversight Committee, are conducting a joint review of the FBI’s handling of the Clinton investigation. In their letter to Sessions and Rosenstein, they said they were looking into several decisions by the FBI during the Clinton investigation, including then-FBI Director James Comey’s decision not refer Clinton’s case for prosecution.

Summary: क्लिंटन की जांच में एफ़. बी. आई. के अधिकारियों से पूछताछ करना चाहते हैं रिपब्लिकनः पत्र


BEIRUT (Reuters) - U.S. plans to move its Israel embassy to Jerusalem are a sign of incompetence and failure, Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said on Wednesday. U.S. President Donald Trump is expected to announce that the United States recognizes Jerusalem as the capital of Israel and will move its embassy there, breaking with longtime U.S. policy and potentially stirring unrest.  That they claim they want to announce Quds as the capital of occupied Palestine is because of their incompetence and failure,  Khamenei said, using the Arabic name for Jerusalem, according to his official website. He made the remarks to a group of top Iranian officials, regional officials and religious figures attending a conference in Tehran.  Iran has long supported a number of Palestinian militant groups opposed to Israel.   The issue of Palestine today is at the top of the political issues for Muslims and everyone is obligated to work and struggle for the freedom and salvation of the people of Palestine,  Khamenei said. At the same gathering, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani said,  Quds belongs to Islam, Muslims and the Palestinians, and there is no place for new adventurism by global oppressors,  according to Mizan, the news site for the Iranian judiciary. Iran wants  peace and stability  in the region but will not tolerate the violation of Islamic holy sites, Rouhani said.  No Muslim population, including Iran, will tolerate the violation of oppressors and Zionists against Islamic holy sites,  Rouhani said, according to Mizan. The United States has not been able to reach its goals and seeks to destabilize the region, Khamenei said.  On the issue of Palestine, (U.S.) hands are tied and they cannot advance their goals,  Khamenei said, saying the Palestinian people would be victorious.  American government officials have said themselves that we have to start a war in the region to protect the security of the Zionist regime (Israel),  Khamenei said. Certain rulers in the region are  dancing to America s tune  Khamenei said, an indirect reference to Iran s main regional rival Saudi Arabia.   Whatever America wants, they ll work against Islam to accomplish it,  he said.

Summary: इजरायल के दूतावास को स्थानांतरित करने की अमेरिकी योजना 'विफलता' का संकेत, ईरानी नेता ने कहा