NEW DELHI (Reuters) - India on Monday formed a panel of government officials to investigate cases that figure in the so-called Paradise Papers, a trove of leaked documents about offshore investments of wealthy individuals and institutions. Officials from government bodies and the central bank will carry out and monitor the investigation, the finance ministry said. The leaked documents were obtained by Germany’s Sueddeutsche Zeitung newspaper and shared with the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ) and some media outlets. Reuters has not independently verified the documents which relate to the affairs of individuals and institutions ranging from U.S. Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross to Britain’s Queen Elizabeth and trading firm Glencore (GLEN.L).

Summary: पैराडाइज पेपर्स लीक के बाद भारत ने दिए जांच के आदेश


WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Donald Trump said on Wednesday he would seek an investigation into what he believes was voter fraud in last  November’s election, despite an overwhelming consensus among state officials, election experts, and politicians that it is rare in the United States. The announcement drew rebukes from both Republicans and Democrats who said the Republican president’s unsubstantiated claims of large-scale fraud could undermine voting rights efforts as well as confidence in the new U.S. chief executive. In the Nov. 8 election, Trump lost the popular vote to Democrat Hillary Clinton by nearly 3 million ballots. Irked by that large figure, he has blamed voter fraud without citing evidence. “I will be asking for a major investigation into VOTER FRAUD, including those registered to vote in two states, those who are illegal and....even, those registered to vote who are dead (and many for a long time),” Trump said on Twitter. “Depending on results, we will strengthen up voting procedures!” In an interview with ABC News, Trump said none of the illegal votes would have been cast for him. “They would all be for the other side,” he said. White House press secretary Sean Spicer later told a news briefing that the probe would not focus on only the 2016 election. Three Democratic congressmen demanded proof of such fraud and sent a letter to election officials and attorneys general in all 50 U.S. states seeking examples of cases of fraud in November’s vote. Many of the state officials did not need prompting with election officers in several states rejecting Trump’s claims immediately.  “Easy to vote, hard to cheat #Ohio,” Ohio’s Republican secretary of state, Jon Husted, said in a Twitter post rebutting Trump’s claim that 3 million to 5 million illegal immigrants voted against him. “That’s impossible,” Democratic Secretary of State Alex Padilla of California said on CNN. There is no history of widespread voter fraud in U.S. elections. Leading Republicans, including the top Republican in Congress, House of Representatives Speaker Paul Ryan, have rejected the claims. Ryan, however, said in an interview Wednesday with MSNBC that if Trump believes there is widespread fraud “the right thing is to get an investigation to get the facts.” Trump won the state-by-state Electoral College tally that decides the presidency, but the historic popular vote gap and allegations of Russian meddling in the election on his behalf have led some to say his victory was not legitimate. Trump’s announcement that he will seek an investigation appeared to be prompted by a White House news briefing on Tuesday in which Spicer confirmed that the president continued to believe millions of illegal immigrants voted in the election.   Spicer initially said there was no investigation planned but changed tack after persistent questioning, saying “maybe we will ... anything is possible.” Federal investigations of voter fraud are rare. A five-year probe initiated by Republican President George W. Bush’s administration turned up no evidence of voter fraud and ended in resignations and more investigations for the Department of Justice which enforces federal voting rights laws. “Republicans have used claims of widespread voter fraud to discriminate and restrict access to the ballot box for years,” said Democratic U.S. Representative James Clyburn of South Carolina. Trump’s attorney general nominee, Republican Senator Jeff Sessions, has been criticized for his record on voting rights and race relations. A voter fraud case he prosecuted as a U.S. attorney in his home state of Alabama helped derail his confirmation as a federal judge in 1986. Voting rights experts at New York University’s Brennan Center for Justice urged Sessions to heed lessons of the past. “In 2007, the Justice Department was upended by scandal because it had pursued a partisan agenda on voting, under the guise of rooting out suspected ‘voter fraud,’” Adam Gitlin and Wendy Weiser wrote in a Jan. 7 report for the center. “DOJ political leadership fired seven well-respected U.S. attorneys, dismissing some top Republican prosecutors because they had refused to prosecute non-existent voter fraud,” they wrote. The firings scandal prompted the resignation of the attorney general, Alberto Gonzales, they said. Others expressed concern that Trump’s repetition of falsehoods, including the size of inauguration crowds as well as voter fraud, could undermine public confidence. U.S. Representative Adam Schiff, the top Democrat on the House intelligence committee, said Trump will need to be believed when he makes the case about a foreign threat and cannot reveal the intelligence behind it. “Our new president is doing deep damage to himself and to our country,” Schiff said on Wednesday at the Center for American Progress think tank.

Summary: मतदाता धोखाधड़ी की जांच के लिए ट्रम्प के आह्वान पर प्रतिक्रिया हुई


(Reuters) - About 270,000 Muslim Rohingya fleeing violence in Myanmar have sought refuge in Bangladesh in the past two weeks, a spokeswoman for the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees said on Friday.  This has brought to 357,000 the number of Rohingya who have sought refuge in Bangladesh since October 2016. The exodus has put pressure on aid agencies and communities already helping hundreds of thousands of refugees from previous violence in Myanmar. Following are some details on the crisis gathered from U.N. sources working in the Cox s Bazar district of Bangladesh, on the Myanmar border. - The number of new arrivals has increased considerably in part because of a survey carried out on Sept. 6 and 7, when inter-agency teams visited host communities previously left out of calculations. About 75,000 people were identified in previously unvisited communities at nine locations.  - There is immediate need for food for the majority of the new arrivals, who do not have, or have finished, their own supplies, and are getting food from host communities or refugees who came across the border last year. - Most of the food being distributed is high-energy biscuits with 47,522 new arrivals getting them. Supplies of rice are scheduled to go out from Sept. 9. - Water is scarce while sanitation and hygiene facilities in all makeshift settlements and refugee camps, especially at Shamlapur and Leda, where the number of fresh arrivals is increasing rapidly, are stretched. Limited space to build new facilities is a chronic problem. - There are serious concerns about malnutrition, especially among children under five and pregnant or lactating women, some of whom are being enrolled in targeted feeding programs.  - Many pregnant women are very hungry, some having not eaten for several days. Seven babies have been born. - There is also a need for safe spaces for women with eight reported cases of gender-based violence, including 2 cases of sexual violence. - As of Sept. 7, a total of 299 unaccompanied asylum-seeking children have been identified and registered since Aug. 25. - An estimated 51,100 children need schooling.

Summary: फैक्टबॉक्सः बांग्लादेश में मानवीय संकट, 270,000 रोहिंग्या म्यांमार से भागे


(This Nov. 1 story refiles to fix typo in author s name) By Tim Cocks and Abdoulaye Massalatchi NIAMEY (Reuters) - Niger has asked the United States to start using armed drones against jihadist groups operating on the Mali border, raising the stakes in a counter-insurgency campaign jolted by a deadly ambush of allied U.S.-Nigerien forces.       On Oct. 4, Islamist militants with sniper rifles and rocket propelled grenades killed four U.S. soldiers and at least four of their Nigerien partners in an ambush that exposed the dangers of an expanding U.S. presence in the largely desert nation.     What began as a small U.S. training operation has expanded to an 800-strong force that accompanies the Nigeriens on intelligence gathering and other missions. It includes a $100million drone base in the central Nigerien city of Agadez which, however, at present only deploys surveillance drones.      I asked them some weeks ago to arm them (the drones) and use them as needed,  Defence Minister Kalla Mountari told Reuters in an interview in his office. Asked if Washington had accepted the request, he said:  Our enemies will find out.      The deaths of the U.S. soldiers, at the hands of suspected insurgents with the Islamic State in the Greater Sahara group, shocked Americans, many of whom did not realize their country had such a large presence in Africa s Sahel region. The incident also highlighted the  mission creep  that has set in and expanded the U.S. role in landlocked Niger, one of the world s poorest and most insecure countries.      Mountari said the team of 12 U.S. Special Forces soldiers  and 30 Nigerien troops had been  right up to the Mali border and had neutralized some bandits  just before the ambush took place. He declined to give further details. The U.S. military has been adamant that the Oct. 3-4 mission was not intended to involve contact with enemy forces. Mountari said:  They (U.S.-Nigerien contingent) came back to Niger, they greeted the population, they gathered intelligence and it was inside the country, when they didn t expect anything, that the attack happened.      U.S. forces do not have a direct combat mission in Niger, but their assistance to its military does include intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance in their efforts to target violent Islamist organizations.    However, Mountari was clear he saw them as close partners.      The Americans are not just exchanging information with us. They are waging war when necessary,  he said.      We are working hand in hand. The clear proof is that the Americans and Nigeriens fell on the battlefield for the peace and security of our country.       But a growing U.S. role in Niger could prove unpopular both with Americans, many of whom are tired of costly and sometimes deadly foreign adventures, and in Niger, whose citizens have mixed feelings about foreign forces on their soil.     Drone strikes have been controversial in other parts of the world because of the risk of civilian casualties. At a protest rally over a domestic political issue on Sunday, dozens of demonstrators also began chanting against the presence of foreign troops in Niger, a Reuters witness said.

Summary: नाइजर के रक्षा मंत्री ने अमेरिका से आतंकवादियों के खिलाफ सशस्त्र ड्रोन तैनात करने को कहा


MADRID (Reuters) - At Jose Luis Sosa-Dias s factory near Madrid, lengths of bright red and yellow polyester are being steamed and pressed as workers rush to rebuild stocks of the Spanish flag after a huge surge in sales in the last few weeks. Patriotic displays of the flag are rare in Spain, where it still reminds many of the Franco dictatorship. But Catalonia s bid for independence has fired up national sentiment, and with it demand for flags.   We sold about 35,000 flags in 50 days. Normally we might sell 500 or 600 in a month,  said Sosa-Dias, who is originally from Uruguay.  In the 38 years I have been in Spain it is the first time I have seen so many flags on balconies and houses, and at demonstrations as Spaniards said  I am Spanish .  Such displays reflect a rising nationalism that is encouraging Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy to stick to his tough line against Catalonia. It also makes it harder to reach a compromise with the region. That nationalism was on display when hundreds of thousands of Spanish unionists staged protests in Madrid and Barcelona in support of unity after Catalonia s illegal independence referendum on Oct. 1 triggered a constitutional crisis and clouded prospects for Europe s fifth-largest economy. According to a monthly official opinion poll, the level of concern among Spaniards over the situation in Catalonia increased threefold in September compared with August. And while a majority say they feel they have both national and regional identities, 66 percent support Rajoy s refusal to offer more autonomy to the country s 17 regions, according to the poll. Among voters who back Rajoy s People s Party, this number jumps to 86 percent.  Conflict around national identity is moving from Catalonia to the rest of the country,  said Lluis Oriols, associate professor of politics at Carlos III University in Madrid. He said the government could therefore conclude there are gains to be made from taking a hard line. This new willingness to wave the national flag has not been accompanied by a resurgence in far-right nationalism, despite attempts by Catalan secessionists to associate Spanish nationalism with Franco-style fascism. Only a very few people parading with the national flag have given fascist salutes and the unionist demonstrations were instead attended by families with children draped in the flag. The flag has a long history. Its basic design of broad red and yellow stripes has been the same since 1785, with changes confined to its coat of arms. But until now it has been rare to see it displayed by the public, except on sports-related occasions. Flag sellers in the capital say demand during the Catalan crisis has far exceeded sales when Spain won the soccer World Cup in 2010 and sports fans filled the streets.  We have doubled, tripled, quadrupled what we sold for the World Cup, honestly we lost count,  said Angel Paniagua, who owns the Fieltros Olleros textile shop near Madrid s central Calle Mayor.  We sold out four or five times, everyone buying flags, it has been amazing.  As vans from Sosa-Dias s factory rushed thousands of flags to the demonstrations in Madrid and in Barcelona, many ordinary citizens said they simply wanted to show they stood behind the state and its institutions. David Rodriguez, 40, who owns an information technology company, said he hung a flag outside his home in Escorial, in the province of Madrid, after police were criticized for using rubber bullets and batons to thwart the independence vote.  I wanted to support the security forces. It was a simple gesture of solidarity,  he said. With Madrid now planning to suspend Catalonia s autonomy,  others said they wanted to show support for the  silent majority  of Catalans who prefer a united Spain.  When it s about soccer, everyone wears the Spanish flag and it doesn t seem strange, but when it s about politics people get scared,  said Raimundo Nieto, a 65-year-old retired finance director.  Spain s unity is at stake right now.

Summary: स्पेन का झंडा लहराने से कैटेलोनिया पर राजॉय की सख्त नीति को बल मिलता है


WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The White House said on Thursday that Donald Trump Jr. was on solid legal ground when he refused to answer questions from a congressional committee about a conversation he had with his father, President Donald Trump, about emails relating to a meeting he attended with Trump associates and Russians. Spokeswoman Sarah Sanders said the White House believed there was a “legitimate reason and basis for not answering those questions.” She declined to provide details.

Summary: राष्ट्रपति के बेटे के पास हाउस पैनल के सवालों का जवाब नहीं देने के वैध कारण थेः व्हाइट हाउस


WELLINGTON (Reuters) - New Zealand National Party leader Bill English said on Saturday the nationalist New Zealand First Party would play a role in determining the next government after a hotly contested parliamentary election.  National, which was set to win the largest share of the vote, would start speaking with New Zealand First  in the next few days , English said from his party s campaign function in Auckland. Votes cast for the National Party reached 46.1 percent with 98.6 percent of results counted by the Electoral Commission, while the opposition Labour Party won 35.8 percent support.  Each Party would likely need New Zealand First s support to form a government, based on those results. The final result that includes overseas votes will not be released until Oct. 7.

Summary: न्यूजीलैंड के राष्ट्रीय नेता का कहना है कि वे अगले कुछ दिनों में किंगमेकर पीटर्स से बात करेंगे


TUNIS (Reuters) - Islamic State has claimed an attack in the Libyan city of Misrata in which at least three people were killed on Wednesday, the militant group s news agency Amaq said. It said fighters loyal to the group had attacked a court building in the city where shooting and an explosion were reported.

Summary: इस्लामिक स्टेट ने लीबियाई शहर मिसराता में हमले की जिम्मेदारी लीः बयान


TOKYO (Reuters) - Diplomacy backed by military power is needed to deal with North Korea s missile and nuclear development, the head of the U.S. military s Pacific Command said on Thursday. North Korea has launched dozens of missile tests under the leadership of Kim Jong Un as it accelerates a weapons program designed to give it the ability to target the United States with a nuclear-tipped missile. In recent months, it has fired two missiles over Japan and conducted its sixth and largest nuclear bomb test, stoking regional tension.  Clearly, while diplomacy must be the main effort with North Korea, it has to be diplomacy backed by credible military power,  Admiral Harry Harris said in Japan at the beginning of a meeting with Defence Minister Itsunori Onodera. U.S. President Donald Trump visited China this month seeking its help to rein in North Korea and a senior Chinese diplomat will visit the North from Friday.  China is sending an Envoy and Delegation to North Korea - A big move, we ll see what happens!  Trump wrote on Twitter on Thursday. China has repeatedly pushed for a diplomatic solution to the crisis, but in recent months it has had only limited high-level exchanges with North Korea. The last time China s special envoy for North Korea visited the country was in February last year. On Thursday, China said a  dual suspension  proposal   under which the United States and South Korea would stop major military exercises in exchange for North Korea halting its weapons programs   was the best way forward. Japan s Onodera told Harris that he believed a recent joint military exercise involving Japanese forces and three U.S. aircraft carriers had sent a  very strong message  to North Korea. Harris separately told Prime Minister Shinzo Abe that the joint exercise in the Sea of Japan during Trump s visit to the region was  an example of how our militaries work together . Two Indian warships also took part.

Summary: अमेरिकी प्रशांत कमांडरः उत्तर कोरिया से निपटने के लिए सैन्य समर्थित कूटनीति की आवश्यकता है


CHARLOTTE, N.C. (Reuters) - Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump apologized on Thursday for past remarks that “may have caused personal pain” as he sought to refocus his message in the face of falling opinion poll numbers in his first speech since shaking up his campaign team this week. “Sometimes, in the heat of debate and speaking on a multitude of issues, you don’t choose the right words or you say the wrong thing,” Trump told a crowd in Charlotte, North Carolina. “I have done that, and I regret it, particularly where it may have caused personal pain. Too much is at stake for us to be consumed with these issues.” Trump did not cite any examples of such remarks. The New York businessman has made his “tough talk” and brash style a selling point of his campaign for the Nov. 8 election, rarely apologizing in the face of criticism even from within his own party for own party for comments insulting women, Muslims and Mexican immigrants. In his presidential announcement speech last year, he described some Mexican immigrants as “criminals and rapists.” He recently faced a barrage of criticism for belittling the family of a Muslim American soldier who died in Iraq in 2004, after the soldier’s father spoke out against Trump at the Democratic National Convention last month. The campaign for his Democratic rival, Hillary Clinton, quickly dismissed Trump’s apology, saying: “Donald Trump literally started his campaign by insulting people. “We learned tonight that his speechwriter and teleprompter knows he has much for which he should apologize,” the campaign said in a statement. “But that apology tonight is simply a well-written phrase until he tells us which of his many offensive, bullying and divisive comments he regrets — and changes his tune altogether.” Trailing Clinton in national opinion polls, Trump has tried to reset his campaign, announcing on Wednesday a shake-up of his senior campaign staff for the second time in less than two months. In the past week, he has abandoned his free-wheeling style of campaigning, instead using a teleprompter at every rally. Trump also began adding non-rally events to his campaign schedule, visiting a police lodge on Thursday afternoon and hosting a roundtable on Wednesday morning. Previously, Trump had eschewed such events that historically comprise a significant portion of a candidate’s time. Trump’s speech on Thursday night, echoing remarks earlier in the week in Wisconsin, reached out to minority voters and accused Clinton of being dishonest. “So while sometimes I can be too honest, Hillary Clinton is the exact opposite: She never tells the truth,” Trump said. “In this journey, I will never lie to you. I will never tell you something I do not believe.” Trump’s new campaign manager, Kellyanne Conway, promised on Thursday he would stick to a more disciplined and uplifting message to voters in the final dash to Election Day without crimping his freewheeling style. Conway said the candidate’s White House bid could preserve his “authenticity” and still move past a long string of controversies to focus on issues. “We would like to take an uplifting, optimistic, policy-centric message directly to the American people,” Conway told CBS’s “This Morning,” adding she was confident the former reality television star could stick to a sharper message. Wednesday’s campaign reshuffle also brought on Steve Bannon, a combative conservative who headed the Breitbart News website, as chief executive officer, in a move seen as giving Trump a chance to emphasize his unconventional style. Conway said the more disciplined approach by Trump, who has never held elective office, would not mean jettisoning his more off-the-cuff and unpredictable style. “We’re going to make sure Donald Trump is comfortable about being in his own skin - that he doesn’t lose that authenticity that you simply can’t buy and a pollster can’t give you,” she said on CNN. “Let him be him, in this sense.” Trump has so far been unable to extend his appeal beyond white middle-class voters who pack his rallies. Conway said her rise to campaign manager showed Trump valued a more policy-driven approach that would appeal to women and independent voters. “The way to speak to women and all Americans is through issues. We’ve got to get away from this content-free campaign and on to the substance,” she said.     The campaign will put two ads on the air in five states this week, the first campaign ads Trump has aired in the general election, Conway said. He will also continue a series of policy-focused speeches after giving speeches in the past two weeks on jobs, national security and law and order. “He’s going to give these policy speeches,” she said on CNN. “You’ll see more of those. Next week is immigration week, followed by education week.”

Summary: व्यक्तिगत पीड़ा देने वाली पिछली टिप्पणियों पर खेद व्यक्त करते हैं ट्रंप


CAIRO (Reuters) - The death toll in a militant attack on a mosque in Egypt s north Sinai region has risen to 200, Egyptian state television and MENA state news agency said on Friday.

Summary: मिस्र की मस्जिद में हमले में मरने वालों की संख्या बढ़कर 200 हुईः सरकारी टेलीविजन


MOSCOW (Reuters) - Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro on Wednesday thanked Russian President Vladimir Putin for his political and diplomatic support in difficult times.  I thank you for all the support, political and diplomatic, in difficult times which we are living through,  Maduro told Putin at talks in the Kremlin.  I m very thankful for the agreement on grain, it has helped keep consumption in Venezuela stable,  Maduro said.

Summary: वेनेजुएला के मादुरो ने कठिन समय में समर्थन के लिए पुतिन को धन्यवाद दिया


WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Donald Trump complained on Thursday that the United States was being unfairly treated in the Paris Climate Agreement and told Reuters he would announce a decision in about two weeks on whether Washington would remain in the accord. The Republican Trump, elected in November, had vowed during his campaign to withdraw from the Paris accord within 100 days of becoming president, part of a broader plan to sweep away Obama administration environmental protections he said were hobbling the economy. He has since said he is open to staying in the pact if Washington gets better terms, and scores of large U.S. companies and several Republican lawmakers have urged him to stay in the deal as a way to protect American industry interests overseas. Trump, who will mark the 100th day of his presidency on Saturday, told Reuters in an interview he would announce his decision “in about two weeks,” but complained that China, India, Russia and other countries were paying too little to help poorer countries battle climate change under the agreement’s Green Climate Fund. “It’s not a fair situation because they are paying virtually nothing and we are paying massive amounts of money,” he said.  Asked for a hint of what his decision might be, he said: “I can say this, we want to be treated fairly.” An administration source told Reuters earlier that Trump administration officials would likely meet in May to decide whether to keep the United States in the climate deal, having had an initial meeting on Thursday at the White House. The group of advisers, which includes Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, Energy Secretary Rick Perry and national security adviser H.R. McMaster, was on track to make the decision before a Group of Seven summit on May 26, the source said. Tillerson, the former head of Exxon Mobil Corp, and Perry have said the country should remain in the agreement. McMaster shares that view, a source outside the administration said. Opponents of the pact include Environmental Protection Agency chief Scott Pruitt, the former attorney general of oil-producing state Oklahoma, and White House chief strategist Steve Bannon. Nearly 200 countries struck the Paris agreement to limit climate change by cutting carbon dioxide emissions and making investments in clean energy. Many companies such as BP Plc and Microsoft Corp have urged the United States to stay in the agreement to protect their competitiveness. A group of nine Republican lawmakers on Thursday urged Trump to stick to the pact, but to weaken the U.S. pledge to cut greenhouse gas emissions. Congressman Kevin Cramer of oil-producing state North Dakota and eight other Republicans in the House of Representatives sent a letter to Trump urging him to use the country’s “seat at the Paris table to defend and promote our commercial interest, including our manufacturing and fossil fuel sectors.” If the United States is to stay in the 2015 agreement, Washington should present a new emissions cutting pledge that “does no harm to our economy,” said the letter from Cramer, who advised Trump on energy and climate during his 2016 presidential campaign. Trump’s Democratic predecessor, former President Barack Obama, had pledged a 26 percent to 28 percent cut in U.S. greenhouse gas emissions from 2005 levels, by 2025. Most scientists say the world needs to curb greenhouse gas emissions to limit the effects of climate change, including rising seas, deadly heatwaves, and severe storms and droughts. The Republican lawmakers also said Washington should retain its seat on the Green Climate Fund but not make additional transfers to it. Obama pledged $3 billion to the fund in 2014, and gave $1 billion to it, with the last $500 million payment coming in his last days as president.

Summary: एक्सक्लूसिवः ट्रम्प कहते हैं कि अमेरिका जलवायु समझौते में उचित व्यवहार चाहता है


ANKARA (Reuters) - Turkey s parliament approved a law to allow some state-employed religious officials to administer civil marriages, a move opposition parties view as another blow to secularism and women s rights under President Tayyip Erdogan. The law, passed late on Thursday, will allow muftis - officials employed by the state s Religious Affairs Directorate - to perform civil marriages that were previously administered only by municipal officials. The secularist main opposition Republican Peoples Party (CHP) has vowed to take the law to the Constitutional Court  as soon as possible , while the leftist pro-Kurdish Peoples  Democratic Party (HDP) has also opposed it. Critics fear the new law could lead to an increase in underage marriages, citing the religious ceremonies practiced in rural areas where brides are sometimes under 18.  This paves the way for child brides because according to Islam, there is no age limit, a girl who has reached puberty can get married,  CHP Deputy Chairman Ozgur Ozel told Reuters.  Ozel said the law included  constitutional breaches  and disregarded the founding values of the constitutionally secular Turkish republic. Civil marriage under the age of 18 is illegal in Turkey, although in rural parts of the Sunni Muslim nation of 80 million religious ceremonies are common. HDP lawmaker Huda Kaya said the law was a  slightly formalized  version of a previous controversial proposal that critics said could allow men accused of sexually abusing girls to avoid punishment if they marry their victims. The proposal was retracted from parliament last year after a public uproar.  They say this is against secularism. The church does this in the West,  Erdogan said last week. Erdogan, whose roots are in political Islam, and his ruling AK Party say the law is designed to speed up the officiating of weddings, normally carried out by mayors at municipal offices. But one CHP lawmaker, Ali Seker, said each state official had on average fewer than one wedding to conduct per day last year, citing official statistics during a debate in parliament. The law states that the offices of muftis will be given the right to carry out weddings, meaning the religious officials could also appoint Muslim clerics or imams to officiate civil weddings - an authority that has never been granted to non-state employees in modern Turkey.  This is the act of legalising a social event that is part of Turkey s traditions. The spirit of the laws must be in harmony with the spirit of social life,  Justice Minister Abdulhamit Gul said. Erdogan has spent his political career fighting to bring religion back into public life in Turkey and has cast himself as the liberator of millions of pious Turks whose rights and welfare were neglected under the secular elite. Liberal Turks see Erdogan as attempting to roll back the work of Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, the Western-facing founder of modern Turkey.  This is a clear alternative to secularism. Even bringing this bill on the agenda is igniting a spark against secularism,  said Canan Gullu, chairwoman of the Turkish Women s Associations Federation, told Reuters.  No matter what they do, women s fight will continue, and democracy and secularism will survive.

Summary: तुर्की ने मुफ्तियों को शादी करने की अनुमति दी, वामपंथियों में हंगामा


ISTANBUL/ANKARA (Reuters) - Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan showed no retreat from a diplomatic row with the United States on Saturday, castigating Washington for what he said an  undemocratic  indictment against his security detail. His comments may further dash hopes of a quick resolution to an on-going diplomatic crisis between the NATO allies. Both Ankara and Washington have cut back issuing visas to each other s citizens as ties have worsened.  They say the United States is the cradle of democracy. This can t be true. This can t be democracy,  Erdogan said in a speech in Istanbul.   If arrest warrants are issued against my bodyguards in absentia ... in the United States, where I went upon invitation, excuse me but I will not say this is a civilized country.  A U.S. grand jury in August indicted 15 Turkish security officials over a brawl between protesters and Erdogan s security personnel during the Turkish president s visit to Washington in May. Erdogan has said the indictment was not binding for Ankara. The row deepened after Turkish authorities arrested two U.S. consular staff, both Turkish nationals. In May, a translator at the consulate in the southern province of Adana was arrested and two weeks ago a Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) worker was detained in Istanbul. Both are accused of links to last year  failed coup. The U.S. embassy has said the accusations are baseless. Turkish police want to question a third worker based in Istanbul. His wife and daughter were detained this month last week over alleged links to the network of U.S.-based cleric Fethullah Gulen, blamed by Ankara for orchestrating the abortive putsch. They were later released. Turkey has been angered by what it sees as U.S. reluctance to hand over the cleric Gulen, who has lived in Pennsylvania since 1999. U.S. officials have said its courts require sufficient evidence to order his extradition. Turkey has also been enraged by Washington s support for the Syrian Kurdish YPG militia in the fight against Islamic State. Turkey regards the YPG as an extension of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK). On Saturday, the U.S. embassy issued statement reiterating its stance on the PKK and its jailed leader, Abdullah Ocalan, in an apparent response to criticism from Erdogan.  The U.S. government works together with Turkey in the fight against terrorism and maintenance of stability in the region,  it said on Twitter.  The PKK is listed among foreign terror organizations. Ocalan has been jailed in Turkey for his actions related to the PKK. He is not a person to be respected.  On Friday, Erdogan criticized the United States over a huge banner of jailed Kurdish militant leader Abdullah Ocalan unfurled in Syria s Raqqa by U.S.-backed Kurdish forces. The banner was raised at a ceremony to mark Raqqa s capture from Islamic State in a campaign spearheaded by the YPG.  How can the U.S. explain the poster of Ocalan in Raqqa? Is this the way they are cooperating with us in the struggle against terror?  Erdogan said.  You are not standing by us against terrorism.  Ocalan has been in jail in Turkey since 1999 on a treason conviction. More than 40,000 people, most of them Kurds, have died in the fighting since the PKK took up arms against the state in 1984.  The PKK is considered a terrorist organization by the United States, Turkey and the European Union.

Summary: बयानबाजी तेज करते हुए तुर्की के एर्दोगन ने लोकतंत्र को लेकर अमेरिका को फटकार लगाई


ISLAMABAD (Reuters) - A Pakistani court on Friday delayed the extradition hearing of a Pakistani-American man accused of plotting attacks in New York City for Islamic State without fixing a new date, the man s lawyer said. Talha Haroon, 19, was arrested in Pakistan in 2016 after U.S. authorities identified him as one of three men, along with a Canadian citizen and a man from the Philippines, planning attacks on Manhattan s Times Square and the city s subway. His lawyer and family deny the charges. Haroon s lawyer termed the investigation a sting operation carried out by an investigating officer motivated by career advancement.   The FBI projected this as a high-level story, but these people don t have the qualifications to kill a monkey,  said the lawyer, Idrees Ashraf.  Ashraf said his client was only in contact with the investigating officer but never directly spoke with the co-accused, raising serious doubts about the nature of the investigation.   According to the criminal complaint, the FBI agent communicated with Talha online, and has said he was active in IS, but no proof of militant links has been provided,  Ashraf added.  One of the accused men, 19-year-old Canadian citizen Abdulrahman El Bahnasawy, has been in U.S. custody since May 2016. He pleaded guilty to terrorism charges in October 2016, prosecutors said. The third accused, 37-year old Russel Salic, was arrested in the Philippines in April, according to the office of Acting U.S. Attorney Joon Kim. Prosecutors say Salic maintained a pro-Islamic State social media presence, told the undercover officer he had been communicating with El Bahnasawy, and sent the officer about $423 from the Philippines to help pay for the attacks. Haroon has been in custody for more than a year without being charged. A bail plea will be filed for his release at the hearing once a date is set, his attorney said.   He was one of the best students in his school,  Haroon s father said, adding that Talha moved to Pakistan in 2014 after finishing high school.   He is naive and speaks from his heart,  Ashraf added.  He is not the sort of boy who can commit such brutal acts.   U.S. prosecutors said they expect Haroon and Salic to be extradited to face the charges, which include conspiracy to commit acts of terrorism and to support a terrorist organization. If convicted of the most serious charges, they face a maximum sentence of life in prison.

Summary: पाकिस्तानी-अमेरिकी को न्यूयॉर्क हमले की साजिश पर प्रत्यर्पण सुनवाई का सामना करना पड़ रहा है


WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Alabama Democrat Doug Jones, who won a bitter fight for a U.S. Senate seat this week, on Thursday called on his Republican opponent to concede the race and help heal the Southern state after a deeply divisive contest. Roy Moore, the conservative Christian Republican whose campaign was tainted by accusations that he pursued teenaged girls while in his 30s, made a second statement on Wednesday night in which he did not concede the election. Jones, a former federal prosecutor, will be the first Democrat to hold a Senate seat in Alabama in a quarter-century, narrowing Republicans’ majority in the Senate to 51 of 100 seats and potentially making it more difficult for them to pursue President Donald Trump’s agenda. With 99 percent of the vote counted, Jones had a lead of 1.5 percentage points over Moore, a former Alabama Supreme Court Justice. Alabama’s secretary of state, a Republican, has said the remaining ballots from Tuesday’s election were unlikely to shrink the victory to the half a percentage point margin required to trigger a recount. Jones said in an interview with NBC that he was confident of the outcome. “It’s time to move on,” he said. “The people of Alabama have now spoken ... Let’s get this behind us so the people of Alabama can get someone in there and start working for them.” Asked whether Moore should concede, White House spokeswoman Sarah Sanders told reporters, “I’m surprised. It sounds like it ... should have already taken place.” Jones on Wednesday said he had received congratulatory phone calls from Trump, who had endorsed Moore, as well as Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell and Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer. “The president’s already called and congratulated Doug Jones and expressed his willingness to work with him and meet with him when he arrives,” Sanders said.

Summary: अलबामा सीनेट रेस विजेता ने रिपब्लिकन प्रतिद्वंद्वी से 'आगे बढ़ने' का आग्रह किया


(Reuters) - Maine Governor Paul LePage apologized on Friday for an obscenity-laced voicemail he left for a lawmaker who he believed had called him a racist for remarks he made about drug dealers.  The incident followed a town hall meeting on Wednesday during which LePage said he kept a binder with photographs of drug dealers arrested in Maine and more than 90 percent of them were black or Hispanic, the Portland Press Herald reported.  The governor’s remarks triggered a barrage of criticism from political figures and the American Civil Liberties Union of Maine.  LePage left the voicemail message for State Representative Drew Gattine after a television reporter said the lawmaker was among several people who had called the governor a racist. According to a recording of the message obtained by the Portland Press Herald, LePage said in the message, “Mr. Gattine, this is Gov. Paul Richard LePage. I would like to talk to you about your comments about my being a racist, you cocksucker. I want to talk to you. I want you to prove that I’m a racist.   “I’ve spent my life helping black people and you little son-of-a-bitch, socialist cocksucker. You … I need you to, just friggin. I want you to record this and make it public because I am after you. Thank you.”  The governor later told local reporters that he wished he could settle the dispute with Gattine by means of an armed duel. Gattine did not respond immediately to calls for comment.     He told the Press Herald that LePage’s voicemail was “uncalled for” and that he never said the governor was a racist. An editorial in the Press Herald, speaking for the state’s voters, said Maine apologized to America for electing, then re-electing a “governor who is unfit for high office.” After the voicemail became public, LePage issued a statement apologizing to Maine citizens for calling Gattine “the worst word [he] could think of” in the voicemail. The governor defended his choice of language by saying the remarks were “simply a metaphor” that harkens back to the 1820s when political opponents “used to call each other out.” “I meant no physical harm to Gattine,” LePage said in the statement.  It is not the first time LePage has found himself the subject of controversy. Earlier this year, he said that drug dealers “come up here, they sell their heroin and they go home. Incidentally, half the time, they impregnate a young white girl before they leave.” He later said the comment was a “slip-up” and that he meant to say that drug traffickers get “young Maine girls” pregnant and that most residents of Maine are white. Also in January, LePage told Maine gun owners they should “load up and get rid of the drug dealers.”

Summary: मेन के गवर्नर ने अश्लीलता से भरे ध्वनि मेल के लिए माफी मांगी


(This January 3 story was corrected to remove reference in paragraph 8 to ConocoPhillips, which is not an integrated oil company) By David Morgan WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Big Oil could be in a unique position to protect its interests against a Republican proposal to tax imports, given that President-elect Donald Trump’s cabinet is studded with oil champions sensitive to the risk of higher gasoline prices.    Trump’s emerging leadership includes Exxon Mobil Corp Chief Executive Officer Rex Tillerson as secretary of state, former Texas Governor Rick Perry as energy secretary and  Oklahoma Attorney General Scott Pruitt as Environmental Protection Agency administrator. Trump himself has made no secret of his support for the energy sector.  And in Congress, both Republicans and Democrats have close industry ties, including House tax panel chairman Kevin Brady, a Texas Republican whose district takes in the northern Houston suburbs. House Republicans want to adopt a sweeping tax reform that would sharply reduce tax rates for corporations and end the taxation of U.S. corporate overseas profits.  But a provision known as border adjustability is stirring up controversy. Though intended to boost U.S. manufacturing by exempting export revenues from tax, the provision worries some industries because it would also tax imports. Because U.S. oil refiners import about half the crude oil they use to make gasoline, diesel and other products, analysts say the change could lead to higher gasoline prices and potentially undermine economic growth. Integrated oil companies such as Exxon, Chevron Corp, BP Plc and Royal Dutch Shell Plc could also be hit, depending on whether they are net importers.   But the industry’s allies would likely move to soften any rough edges, analysts say.  “I don’t see this mix of leadership figures in the House, Senate and the White House, doing something that has the effect of raising gasoline prices,” said Peter Cohn, an energy analyst with Height Securities, a Washington-based investment firm. The danger is that a move to protect the oil refiners could open the door to assistance for other industries, including retailers and automakers, which would also face higher costs if no longer able to deduct the cost of imports from their taxable income. Such a knock-on effect could prevent border adjustability from raising an expected $1 trillion in revenues to help pay for lower tax rates over the next decade.      “We hope that raising these concerns early in the process will allow members of Congress to consider the issues carefully,” Chet Thompson, president of the American Fuel and Petrochemical Manufacturers trade group, said in a statement. Brady said earlier this month that his committee was sensitive to the impact on specific businesses and “listening very closely to how we can make sure we smooth that out.” Moreover, some economists dismiss industry worries about higher import costs, saying the dollar’s value would rise in response to such sweeping tax changes and ultimately reduce the cost of imports. Currency markets would adjust to higher oil prices by lowering the dollar value of crude, they predict. “This argument by the oil industry is, frankly, all wrong,” said Douglas Holtz-Eakin, former director of the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office, who now heads the American Action Forum think tank. “Refiners are going to be basically held harmless. They’ll have a lower dollar price of oil. Net cost is the same. And they go about their business. I’m unsympathetic,” he added. Height Securities’ Cohn said Trump and his advisers could look for ways to soften any blow to refiners and their customers: “Trump doesn’t want to have refineries closing on his watch.”  Oil already benefits from several tax code provisions in place for decades that would be eliminated under the House Republican plan. But they stand to gain more than they will lose. For instance, an existing tax deduction for domestic production lets oil producers shave down their corporate tax rate to 32 percent from the top headline rate of 35 percent. Under the congressional Republicans’ plan, the corporate rate would be cut to 20 percent; under Trump’s plan, to 15 percent. Similarly, companies that now write off intangible drilling costs or get a tax allowance for asset depletion would be able to immediately expense capital investments.  Then there is a tax credit oil companies claim for fees from foreign countries. Congressional Republicans would eliminate foreign taxes altogether, while Trump would maintain taxation at a substantially lower rate.

Summary: कर सुधारों से निपटने में तेल कारोबार मजबूत स्थिति में दिख रहा है क्योंकि ट्रम्प कर सुधारों से निपट रहे हैं


REYKJAVIK/COPENHAGEN (Reuters) - Iceland s centre-right Independence Party has pulled ahead in an opinion poll before Saturday s parliamentary vote, the second snap election in a year after a string of political scandals. The Independence Party, which was part of every government from 1980 to 2009 and has been in power since 2013, got 24 percent support in a poll published on Thursday by Frettabladid, Iceland s largest newspaper. The Left-Green party polled at 19 percent, while the Social Democrats stood to get 14.3 percent of votes as the third-biggest party. Just a week ago, the Independence Party and the Left-Greens stood neck and neck in polls at just under 20 percent each. A victory for the Independence Party would give Prime Minister Bjarni Benediktsson the right to try to form a new government. The Pirate Party, which rode a wave of anger against the establishment to become the third-biggest party in elections a year ago, stood to get 9 percent of votes, Thursday s poll showed.

Summary: आइसलैंड की सत्तारूढ़ इंडिपेंडेंस पार्टी ने शनिवार के मतदान से पहले बढ़त बना लीः सर्वेक्षण


BRUSSELS (Reuters) - Britain will guarantee rights for as yet unborn children who join EU parents after Brexit and accept EU judges  rulings on such rights, according to a draft European Parliament resolution seen by Reuters on Thursday. The document, drafted on Monday for a vote next week before an EU summit that may launch talks on a future EU-UK free trade pact, also supports British Prime Minister Theresa May s call for an agreement from Brussels that British citizens in the EU will be able to live freely in any member state after Brexit   though an EU official said that would only be negotiated later. The resolution was prepared on the basis of an agreement May was about to sign on Monday before objections from her allies in Northern Ireland forced a postponement due to concerns on a plan to keep  regulatory alignment  between the province and the EU  to ensure no hardening of the border on the island of Ireland . It also lays out demands from the legislature, which must approve any treaty. These include limiting British benefits from any future agreement and an insistence London continue to abide by the European human rights convention. It also insists that Britain automatically adopt any new EU legislation passed after it loses its vote during a transition period after March 2019. The draft makes no mention of a point under discussion on Monday when talks were interrupted that would end supervision of EU citizens  rights by the European Court of Justice after a certain number of years. Two EU sources said that a compromise of 10 years - midway between a British offer of five and an EU demand of 15 years - appears the most likely solution. One EU source said the compromise may be presented as two years during the transition period plus eight years after that. May has insisted that the ECJ hold no more sway in Britain but the European Parliament has made the court s involvement one of its priorities in safeguarding the position of some 3 million citizens of other EU states now living in Britain. The parliamentary resolution, drafted by five parties which hold the vast majority in the chamber, notes British agreement in detail to honour financial commitments to the bloc and to avoid a  hard  Irish border, two of three conditions on which the EU wants  sufficient progress  toward a divorce deal before it will launch the negotiations May wants on a free trade pact. It goes into more detail on citizens  rights, notably on issues where London had been resisting lawmakers  demands. These included that  core family members and persons in a durable relationship currently residing outside (Britain) shall be protected by the Withdrawal Agreement and that this is also the case for children born in the future and outside (Britain) .  London, which does not grant its own citizens automatic rights to bring in foreign spouses, had sought to apply that to EU citizens after Brexit and also wanted to deny rights to British residence to any children born abroad after Brexit. Britain has also, according to the draft, accepted that EU citizens can  export all exportable benefits  as defined by EU legislation after the country leaves the European Union. And it has  accepted the competence of the (ECJ) in relation to the interpretation of the Withdrawal Treaty .  Citizens  rights will be guaranteed through a declaratory, light touch, proportionate procedure, consisting of a single form per family,  the resolution stated   going some way to addressing lawmakers  complaints that costs of hundreds of euros could be incurred by families making several declarations. Lawmakers are still pressing for the procedure to be free. In five months of negotiation, May has largely given way on EU demands. In one sign of a potential concession, the parliamentary resolution states that British citizens living in an EU state on Brexit Day, March 29, 2019, should retain their  right ... to reside and move freely in the whole EU .  However, an EU official familiar with the negotiations said Brussels had not yet confirmed this point and that it should be negotiated with the 27 member states in the next phase of talks. For now, Britons would only be guaranteed EU rights they already have if they remain living in the same EU state after Brexit. Setting out demands for the new phase of negotiations to be launched at the Dec. 15 summit if May confirms her offers, the parliament stressed that any transition period   of  not more than three years    to avoid a  cliff edge scenario  depends on a deal on the whole divorce package and would mean Britain being bound by all EU structures while no longer having a say on them. It ruled out  any trade off  in negotiations between British contributions to EU security and economic benefits for Britain and said the latter could not be as good as membership of the EU or of the EEA, whose members include Norway and Iceland. In any free trade agreement,  market access to services    a big part of British exports, notably in finance    will always be subject to exclusions, reservations and exceptions . Any security and defence cooperation would be subject to EU rules on data protection, the resolution added, reflecting concern among lawmakers that Britain will seek an exception in return for sharing its recognised prowess in intelligence. Seeking to meet a end-of-the-week EU deadline for a deal on divorce terms in order to give EU states time before the summit to agree their offer on opening trade talks, May plans to present tweaked proposals on the Irish border in the coming day, the Irish prime minister said. Should she miss it, senior EU officials say, it could be February before they return to the issue   raising concern that businesses will start switching more investment out of Britain. That delay, EU officials believe, could put May s own weak position in jeopardy, and throw new doubt on the process. A senior official closely involved in the talks said however that member states, including power couple Germany and France, seem in no mood to ease demands on Britain to ensure a quick accord.

Summary: एक्सक्लूसिवः यूरोपीय संघ की संसद ने अधिकारों पर ब्रिटेन की रियायतों का विवरण दिया


SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - A federal appeals court on Monday rejected a U.S. Department of Justice request to place on hold an appeal over President Donald Trump’s travel ban on people from seven majority-Muslim countries. The order from the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals could increase pressure on the Trump administration to clarify its intentions regarding the controversial executive order. The 9th Circuit suspended Trump’s travel ban earlier this month while litigation over the measure proceeds. Trump has said he will soon issue a new executive order that addresses concerns raised by the appeals court judges. The president’s Jan. 27 order caused chaos at airports around the world as visa holders heading to the United States were pulled off planes or turned around upon arrival at U.S. airports. Trump has said travel limitations are necessary to protect the United States from attacks by Islamist militants. His original order barred people from Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen from entering the country for 90 days. Refugees were banned for 120 days, except those from Syria, who were banned indefinitely. Americans were deeply divided over the measure, which was condemned by prominent U.S. companies and allies and challenged in court by the state of Washington.  The 9th Circuit had directed the Justice Department to file a legal brief defending the travel ban later this week. Given Trump’s intention to issue a new order, however, the Justice Department asked last week for the appeal to be placed on hold. In a response, the state of Washington said the Trump administration has said both that it would pursue an appeal, and that it would issue a new order. “Throughout these proceedings, there appears to have been a lack of communication between the Department of Justice and the White House,” the Washington attorney general’s office said in a court filing arguing that the 9th Circuit move forward now. Representatives for the Justice Department declined to comment.  After stating that a new travel ban would be issued last week, a White House official said on Wednesday that a new order would come sometime this week.

Summary: अमेरिकी अपील अदालत ट्रम्प यात्रा प्रतिबंध मामले पर रोक नहीं लगाएगी


UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - Russia blocked a Western-led effort at the U.N. Security Council on Wednesday to condemn last week’s deadly gas attack in Syria and push Moscow’s ally President Bashar al-Assad to cooperate with international inquiries into the incident. It was the eighth time during Syria’s six-year-old civil war that Moscow has used its veto power on the Security Council to shield Assad’s government.  In the latest veto, Russia blocked a draft resolution backed by the United States, France and Britain to denounce the attack in the town of Khan Sheikhoun and tell Assad’s government to provide access for investigators and information such as flight plans. The toxic gas attack on April 4 prompted the United States to launch missile strikes on a Syrian air base and widened a rift between the United States and Russia.  Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Wednesday that trust had eroded between the two countries under U.S. President Donald Trump.  U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson echoed that comment after meetings with Russian leaders in Moscow, saying that relations are at a low point with a low level of trust. Tillerson called for Assad to eventually relinquish power. U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations, Nikki Haley, called on Moscow to stop protecting Assad and said the United States wants to work with Russia toward a political solution for Syria. “Russia once again has chosen to side with Assad, even as the rest of the world, including the Arab world, overwhelmingly comes together to condemn this murderous regime,” Haley told  the 15-member Security Council. “If the regime is innocent, as Russia claims, the information requested in this resolution would have vindicated them.” Russia’s deputy U.N. envoy, Vladimir Safronkov, said the draft resolution laid blame prior to an independent investigation. “I’m amazed that this was the conclusion. No one has yet visited the site of the crime. How do you know that?” he said.  He said the U.S. attack on the Syrian air base “was carried out in violation of international norms.” Syria’s government has denied responsibility for the gas attack in a rebel-held area of northern Syria that killed at least 87 people, many of them children.  A fact-finding mission from the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) is investigating the attack. If it determines that chemical weapons were used, then a joint U.N./OPCW investigation will look at the incident to determine who is to blame. This team has already found Syrian government forces were responsible for three chlorine gas attacks in 2014 and 2015 and that Islamic State militants used mustard gas. China, which has vetoed six resolutions on Syria since the civil war began, abstained from Wednesday’s U.N. vote, along with Ethiopia and Kazakhstan. Ten countries voted in favor of the text, while Bolivia joined Russia in voting no. U.S. President Donald Trump, speaking at an event in the White House, said he was not surprised by China’s abstention. Britain’s U.N. Ambassador Matthew Rycroft told the Security Council that samples taken from the site of the April 4 attack had been analyzed by British scientists and tested positive for the nerve gas sarin. He said Assad’s government was responsible. Diplomats said that Russia has put forward a rival draft resolution that expresses concern at last week’s gas attack and condemns the U.S. strike on Syria. It was unclear if Moscow planned to put the text to a vote.

Summary: रूस ने सीरिया हमले की संयुक्त राष्ट्र सुरक्षा परिषद की निंदा को रोका


HARARE (Reuters) - Zimbabwe s former vice president Emmerson Mnangagwa will be sworn in as president on Friday following the resignation of Robert Mugabe, the parliament speaker said on Wednesday. Speaker Jacob Mudenda said the ruling party ZANU-PF had informed him it has nominated Mnangagwa to fill the vacancy of the office of president, replacing the 93-year-old Mugabe who had clung on for a week after an army takeover.

Summary: मनांगाग्वा शुक्रवार को राष्ट्रपति के रूप में शपथ लेंगेः जिम्बाब्वे के स्पीकर


VIENNA (Reuters) - The head of the U.N. nuclear watchdog said on Monday Iran was abiding by the rules set out in a nuclear accord it signed with six world powers in 2015, after Washington suggested it was not adhering to the deal. The State Department must notify Congress every 90 days of Iran s compliance with the deal. The next deadline is October and U.S. President Donald Trump has said he thinks by then the United States will declare Iran non-compliant. Yukiya Amano, the head of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), said Iran had not broken any promises and was not receiving special treatment.  The nuclear-related commitments undertaken by Iran under the (deal) are being implemented,  he said in the text of a speech to a quarterly meeting of the IAEA s 35-member Board of Governors.  Most sanctions on Iran were lifted 18 months ago under the deal and, despite overstepping a limit on its stocks of one chemical, it has adhered to the key limitations imposed on it. In April, Trump ordered a review of whether a suspension of sanctions on Iran related to the nuclear deal, negotiated under President Barack Obama, was in the U.S. national security interest. He has called it  the worst deal ever negotiated.  The U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, Nikki Haley, traveled to Vienna last month to speak with Amano about Iran and asked if the IAEA planned to inspect Iranian military sites, something she has called for. Iran dismissed the U.S. demand as  merely a dream . Amano declined to comment on Haley s statements when asked by reporters. Iran has been applying an Additional Protocol, which is in force in dozens of nations and gives the IAEA access to sites, including military locations, to clarify questions or inconsistencies that may arise.  We will continue to implement the Additional Protocol in Iran ... as we do in other countries,  Amano said, referring to so-called complementary access visits granted under the protocol, details of which Amano said were confidential.  I cannot tell you how many complementary accesses we have had, but I can tell you ... that we have had access to locations more frequently than many other countries with extensive nuclear programs.  He called verification measures in Iran  the most robust regime  currently in existence. In addition, the IAEA can request access to Iranian sites including military ones if it has concerns about activities or materials there that would violate the agreement, but it must show Iran the basis for those concerns. That means new and credible information pointing to such a violation is required first, officials from the agency and major powers say. There is no indication that Washington has presented such information.

Summary: संयुक्त राष्ट्र परमाणु निगरानी प्रमुख का कहना है कि ईरान नियमों के अनुसार खेल रहा है


WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Deputy U.S. Attorney General Rod Rosenstein does not see a need at this time for a special prosecutor to investigate allegations Russia meddled in the U.S. election and possible collusion between Russian officials and the Trump campaign, CNN reported on Friday, citing unnamed sources.

Summary: उप अटॉर्नी जनरल को रूस के विशेष अभियोजक की जांच की कोई आवश्यकता नहीं दिखतीः सीएनएन


(Reuters) - Washington Governor Jay Inslee on Tuesday signed a bill that paves the way for the state to create what is believed to be the first system in the United States to certify marijuana as organic. The sponsor of the bill, Republican Senator Ann Rivers, said marijuana certified as organically grown is likely to be on sale in Washington in about a year and a half. Washington is among a handful of U.S. states where voters approved the sale of recreational marijuana. Washington was the second state to begin legal recreational pot sales, in mid-2014, after its voters in 2012 approved it. “This is consumer-driven,” Rivers told Reuters by phone on Tuesday night. “As we have moved forward in the legal marijuana market, we’re hearing people say, ‘We don’t want any pesticides, fungicides, none of that stuff in our weed.’” The new law “creates a voluntary program for the certification and regulation of organic marijuana products,” to be administered by the Washington agriculture department, according to a state analysis of the new law. Rivers said the “heavy lifting” in certifying marijuana has been done by the system of doing the same for a multitude of food products on supermarkets shelves across America. That process just needs to be adapted for pot, she said. Rivers said that legal recreational marijuana is “the gift that keeps on giving....this year, we’ll make $768 million” in revenue for the state of Washington. This pays for drug education and drug addiction treatment as well as public education, she said. Organic pot was just one of a myriad of marijuana-related measures in the bill. Many state legislators wanted to vote for only one marijuana-related bill rather than have to go on the record favoring marijuana several times, Rivers said. The November 2012 measure to allow recreational marijuana in Washington passed 56 percent to 44 percent. While it is legal for adults to smoke marijuana in Washington, it is not legal to grow industrial hemp. The new law allows for the study of a method to allow hemp to be grown and used for industrial purposes. Last week, Vermont’s legislature approved a bill to legalize recreational use of marijuana. Unless the measure is vetoed, Vermont would be the first state to legalize pot without a public vote. Voters have approved legal recreational marijuana use in Colorado, Washington, Alaska, Oregon, California, Nevada, Maine, Massachusetts and the District of Columbia.

Summary: वाशिंगटन राज्य के कानून ने जैविक मारिजुआना बाजार के लिए मार्ग प्रशस्त किया


PARIS (Reuters) - With U.S. President Donald Trump tightly aligned with Saudi Arabia against Iran, France is positioning itself as a broker between the Sunni and Shi ite Muslim rivals, but neutrality may leave it with little leverage.  With tensions between Riyadh and Tehran rising sharply since Saad Hariri s resignation as Lebanon s prime minister, President Emmanuel Macron made an unscheduled stopover to meet Saudi s powerful Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman on Thursday. The move, made ahead of a possible visit by Macron to Iran next year, is in line with the young president s foreign policy style of being engaged but non-committal, trying to mediate between all sides without unsettling anyone.  There is a stronger capacity for initiative than before,  former foreign minister Alain Juppe told journalists on Friday.  It reminds me a little of (President Nicolas) Sarkozy leaving for Georgia in 2012. It s good that the president is getting his hands dirty. It s an initiative he has taken and may work.  During a visit to Dubai on Thursday, Macron was carefully balanced, calling for a firm international stance over Iran s nuclear and ballistic missile program while implicitly warning that Riyadh s approach toward its rival was excessive.  That tightrope walking may help protect French business ties in Iran and buy time with the Saudis, but diplomats are concerned the 39-year-old president, new to international affairs, may ultimately leave France exposed.  We should be reducing our exposure to the region. We have a lot of hits to take without having pressure points to weigh on them,  said a French diplomatic source.  I don t think it s in our interest to play a role in quarrels between powers.  Under Sarkozy and Francois Hollande, who respectively aligned themselves with Qatar and Saudi Arabia, France nurtured new links with the Sunni-ruled Gulf Arab states and adopted a tough stance on Iran during nuclear negotiations. But during his election campaign, Macron promised a different approach. He openly criticized Saudi Arabia and Qatar for their perceived support of Islamist groups across the region, and since the nuclear deal brought an end to sanctions, France has revived old business and investment ties to Iran. Yet over the same period, Saudi s 32-year-old crown prince has shaken up the landscape. He has forged close ties with Trump, adopted an ever more confrontational line against Iran and, in the past week, dramatically uprooted his own nation s political structures.   France is trying to act as a balance between Iran and Saudi Arabia,  said Dominique Mo si, special adviser in charge of international relations at the Paris-based Montaigne Institute.  At a time when the situation is worsening in the region, it is offering itself as an intermediary after Trump chose one camp over the other,  he said, referring to Trump s decision to decertify the Iran nuclear deal.  Macron has tried to be nuanced, offering something to everyone. He has vowed to stick to the nuclear deal with Iran, while talking up ties with Trump and Saudi Arabia. At the same time, he has threatened new sanctions against Tehran over its ballistic missile program and promised to address its growing hegemony in the region. Iran for one isn t buying it.  I don t think this policy works,  said a senior Iranian official speaking on condition of anonymity.  If a country like France tries to appease, the effect on someone like Trump will be contrary and will simply embolden the administration.   French officials insist Paris has a role to play in various international conflicts given its position as a veto-wielding member of the U.N. Security Council and its historical ties in the Middle East. They say that by remaining neutral, France will prove credible and consistent in the long-term. Since Macron took power he has offered to mediate in Libya, Ukraine, Syria, the Qatar crisis and even Venezuela, each time carefully trying to avoid taking sides. But it may not pay off.  France has understood full well that there is a leadership problem on the part of the Americans and it understands that it s potentially an opportunity to make a difference,  said Jalel Harchaoui, a geopolitics researcher at Paris 8 University.  But so far it seems that Macron and his team have been very distracted, in a hurry to announce big initiatives but delivering very little.

Summary: फ्रांस के मैक्रों ने ईरान-सऊदी खदान क्षेत्र में महीन रेखा पर कदम रखा


ABU DHABI (Reuters) - Saudi Arabia plans to extract uranium domestically as part of its nuclear power program and sees this as a step towards  self-sufficiency  in producing atomic fuel, a senior official said on Monday. Extracting its own uranium also makes sense from an economic point of view, said Hashim bin Abdullah Yamani, head of the Saudi government agency tasked with the nuclear plans, the King Abdullah City for Atomic and Renewable Energy (KACARE). In a speech at an international nuclear power conference in Abu Dhabi, he did not specify whether Saudi Arabia seeks to also enrich and reprocess uranium   steps in the fuel cycle which are especially sensitive as they can open up the possibility of military uses of the material. The world s top oil exporter says it wants to tap atomic power for peaceful purposes only in order to diversify its energy supply and will award a construction contract for its first two nuclear reactors by the end of 2018.  Regarding the production of uranium in the kingdom, this is a program which is our first step towards self-sufficiency in producing nuclear fuel,  Yamani told a conference organized by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).  We utilize the uranium ore that has been proven to be economically efficient.  Atomic reactors need uranium enriched to around 5 percent purity but the same technology in this process can also be used to enrich the heavy metal to higher, weapons-grade levels. This issue has been at the heart of Western and regional concerns about the nuclear work of Iran, Saudi Arabia s foe, and led to the 2015 deal in which Iran agreed to freeze the program for 15 years for sanctions relief. On Monday, IAEA chief Yukiya Amano said Iran was complying with the nuclear deal signed with world powers and which U.S. President Donald Trump has called into question. Under the agreement, Iran can enrich uranium to 3.67 percent purity, around the normal level needed for commercial power-generation. Saudi Arabia would be the second country in the Gulf Arab region to tap nuclear after the United Arab Emirates, which is set to start up its first, South Korean-built reactor in 2018. The UAE has committed not to enrich uranium itself and not to reprocess spent fuel. Industry sources have told Reuters Saudi Arabia is reaching out to potential vendors from South Korea, China, France, Russia, Japan and the United States for its first two reactors.  The plans have received extra momentum as part of Saudi Arabia s Vision 2030, an ambitious economic reform program launched last year by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. Yamani said Saudi Arabia will soon pass laws for its nuclear program and will have set up all of the regulations for its nuclear regulator by the third quarter of 2018.   The IAEA also has been requested to conduct an integrated review of our nuclear infrastructure during the second quarter of 2018,  he said, which will allow the agency to assess efforts to prepare Saudi infrastructure  to introduce nuclear power for peaceful purposes.  Saudi Arabia is considering building some 17.6 gigawatts of nuclear capacity by 2032, the equivalent of about 17 reactors, making it one of the strongest prospects for an industry struggling after the 2011 nuclear disaster in Japan. Preliminary studies have estimated Saudi Arabia has around 60,000 tonnes of uranium ore, Maher al Odan, the chief atomic energy officer of KACARE said at an electricity forum in Riyadh on Oct 11.

Summary: सऊदी अरब 'आत्मनिर्भर' परमाणु कार्यक्रम के लिए यूरेनियम निकालेगा


McAllen, Texas (Reuters) - Standing on the bluffs of Roma, Texas on a May afternoon two border patrol agents look out over the meandering Rio Grande River that separates Mexico from the United States and recall a time when the scene was far less tranquil.      Last fall, during the waning months of the Obama administration, hundreds of immigrants crossed the river on rafts at this point each day, many willingly handing themselves over to immigration authorities in hopes of being released into the United States to await court proceedings that would decide their fate.     Now, the agents look out on an empty landscape. Foot paths up from the water have started to disappear under growing brush, with only the stray baby shoe or toothbrush serving as reminders of that migrant flood.     The reason for the change, the agents say, is a perception in Mexico and Central America that President Donald Trump has ended the practice known as “catch-and-release,” in which immigrants caught in the United States without proper documents were released to live free, often for years, as their cases ran through the court system. Now, would-be border violators know “they’ll be detained and then turned right back around,” said one of the two agents, Marlene Castro. “It’s not worth it anymore,” she said.  Castro was simply echoing her boss, Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly, who said on a visit to El Paso, Texas in April, “We have ended dangerous catch-and-release enforcement policies.” But immigration attorneys, government statistics and even some officials from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, which falls under Kelly, suggest that despite the DHS chief’s statement, there has been no clear change to the catch-and-release policy. That’s in large part because there are legal constraints on who can be detained and for how long, due to a shortage of beds and a court ruling limiting the stay of women and children in custody to 21 days.      A separate court ruling limits detention time for immigrants whose countries refuse to repatriate them. And Kelly noted in a February memorandum that asylum seekers that have proven they have a “credible fear” of returning home could be candidates for release if they present “neither a security risk nor a risk of absconding.” Daniel Bible, ICE field office director for Southern Texas, told Reuters he and his colleagues have not been issued new directions, and so continue to release illegal immigrants deemed to be low security risks, usually with notices to appear in court. “We look at each case the same way we always have,” Bible said.  DHS spokeswoman Jenny Burke confirmed to Reuters that the agency has not issued new guidance for releasing migrants caught at the border.  Asked to explain why there had been no new guidance, given Kelly’s statement in April, Burke said, “ICE officers make custody determinations on a case-by-case basis, prioritizing detention resources.” In a memo made public in February, Kelly defined catch and release as any policy that allows immigrants to be released from detention while they await their court hearings, making it easy to abscond. Ending catch and release was one of Trump’s central promises during the 2016 presidential campaign. Some advocates who work with migrants say they have seen little change since Trump came into office. “Sure, people are still being released,” said Kevin Appleby, senior director of international migration policy at the Center for Migration Studies. “Not because they believe in releasing them, but because there are not enough beds at the moment.”  ICE declined to provide data on the number of migrants being released into the United States. But other ICE data not previously published and reviewed by Reuters shows the pool of people not in custody and awaiting court appearances is growing.  Since Trump took office in late January, the number of immigrants awaiting court proceedings while living freely in the United States has grown by nearly 30,000, rising by an average of about 7,500 per month, according to the ICE data. During the last seven months of President Barack Obama’s presidency, the rolls of those awaiting legal proceedings outside of custody grew more rapidly, at an average of about 20,600 people per month. Part of the slower rate under Trump can be traced to a 58 percent drop in apprehensions of people crossing the border. Still, the numbers suggest the Trump administration is a long way from ending catch-and-release.  NumbersUSA, a Washington-based organization that supports limited immigration, praised the Trump administration’s tough talk and its chilling effect on illegal immigration. “That impact will be temporary, though, unless the administration follows through by ending ‘catch and release’ for good,” it said. The Trump administration though has come up against the reality that there simply is not enough space in detention centers.  Congress has funded about 34,000 beds to detain immigration violators, and the average daily population of detainees has been near or above capacity since before Trump took office.       One way the administration hopes to free up detention space is to decrease the time it takes to resolve cases.  The Justice Department has requested funding to hire an additional 125 immigration judges over the next two years, an increase of 50 percent.  In the meantime, some border officials hope would-be migrants remain nervous. When told that ICE detention centers are still releasing many immigrants to live in the United States, Castro and her border agent colleague, who declined to be named, exchanged a look and then shrugged. “Don’t tell them that,” her colleague said. -See a related photo essay here reut.rs/2qZcutn

Summary: ट्रम्प द्वारा पकड़ना और छोड़ना बंद करने की प्रतिज्ञा के बावजूद, वह अभी भी हजारों प्रवासियों को मुक्त कर रहे हैं


DAR ES SALAAM (Reuters) - Tanzanian President John Magufuli has revealed he earns a salary of 9 million Tanzanian shillings ($4,000) per month, making him one of the lowest paid African leaders as he pursues a much-criticized policy of deep public spending cuts.  In a speech to local officials in the capital on Tuesday he also said his government had slashed salaries of executives at state-owned companies at 15 million Tanzanian shillings  ($6,700) a month   more than his own.   They can leave if they don t want it,  he said. He said abuse of public funds was  rampant  at state firms and that he had rejected requests from some local officials to more than double their allowances, saying he could not do so while many citizens lack access to water, health care and electricity. Since taking office in November 2015, Magufuli   nicknamed  the Bulldozer    has cut government spending by imposing measures such as restrictions on foreign travel for government officials and the removal of  ghost workers  from the state payroll.    Some critics say his cost-cutting measures are excessive and argue they could undermine growth in East Africa s second-biggest economy and some have slowed investment in critical sectors such as mining.  Magufuli s salary is a small fraction of that of other African leaders. He has no other publicly known sources of income and his government said last year it plans to submit a parliamentary bill that would prohibit public leaders from engaging in business to avoid conflicts of interest. By contrast Kenya s president earns a monthly salary of around $14,000. Jacob Zuma of South Africa is paid around $20,000 monthly, following a salary increase by parliament in 2015. Since 2009, Zuma has been embroiled in numerous scandals and allegations of abuse of office, including more than $500,000 of improper state spending on security at his private home. Others with more modest pay include President Muhammadu Buhari of Nigeria, who took a 50 percent pay cut when he took office in May 2015. The annual presidential salary was previously set at 14.1 million naira, which in mid-2015 was the equivalent of $70,000.   ($1 = 2,239.0000 Tanzanian shillings)

Summary: तंजानिया के राष्ट्रपति ने वेतन का खुलासा किया, जो अफ्रीकी नेताओं में सबसे कम है


WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President-elect Donald Trump plans to unveil his choice to fill the lingering U.S. Supreme Court vacancy around the time of his Jan. 20 inauguration after the Republican-led Senate refused to consider President Barack Obama’s nominee, a senior Trump aide said on Wednesday. The top U.S. court has been down one justice since the death of long-serving conservative Antonin Scalia on Feb. 13, leaving it ideologically split with four conservatives and four liberals. Obama nominated appeals court judge Merrick Garland for the post on March 16 but Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell blocked the customary confirmation process from proceeding. During an interview with conservative radio host Hugh Hewitt, Trump’s incoming White House Chief of Staff Reince Priebus said the president-elect had not yet had any in-person interviews with potential Supreme Court nominees. “I think that’s going to be something that we’re going to start after the new year,” Priebus said. “And certainly by the time we get to inauguration, either shortly before or shortly thereafter, we’ll reveal the name of who our nominee will be.” Scalia’s replacement could tilt the ideological balance of the court for years to come, restoring the long-standing conservative majority just at a time when it appeared liberals would get an upper hand on the bench. This could be pivotal in  wide range of issues including abortion, the death penalty, religious rights, presidential powers, transgender rights, federal regulations and others. Priebus said the age of the nominee will be a factor in Trump’s deliberations, possibly preferring a relatively young jurist for the lifetime post. Priebus said that “I tend to believe younger is better” and “certainly longevity’s a factor” but competence will be the most important component. Trump previously unveiled a list of 21 conservative jurists he would consider for the job and said this month he had whittled the list down to “probably three or four.” The U.S. Constitution calls on the president to nominate members of the Supreme Court, with confirmation of the selection in the hands of the Senate. McConnell’s Senate, in a move with little precedent in U.S. history, simply refused to consider the nomination, saying the winner of the Nov. 8 presidential election between Trump and Democrat Hillary Clinton should make the pick.

Summary: उद्घाटन के करीब सुप्रीम कोर्ट की पसंद का अनावरण करेंगे ट्रम्पः सहायक


LIMA (Reuters) - The government of Peruvian President Pedro Pablo Kuczynski will likely object to a bill passed by Congress that aims to expand new anti-graft restrictions to Grana y Montero and other local partners of Brazilian builder Odebrecht [ODBES.UL], the prime minister said Thursday. Odebrecht has admitted to paying millions of dollars in bribes to officials in Peru over a decade-long period, and lawmakers want the financial constraints written to keep Odebrecht from evading payment of fines for bribery to apply to the companies it partnered with. But Prime Minister Mercedes Araoz said a new bill that sailed through the opposition-ruled Congress two weeks ago threatens to paralyze construction projects and likely violates due process.  I m not a lawyer but I do think that you always have to respect the presumption of innocence,  Araoz told foreign media in the capital Lima.  There are parts of it that we would have to take issue with.  Araoz said Congress has not yet sent the bill to the executive branch for passage and that the justice and economy ministries would study it thoroughly before taking any action. The legislation would restrict international asset transfers and the right to seize  ill gotten gains  of Grana and other Odebrecht partners. However, none of Odebrecht s local partners have been convicted of any crimes and deny taking part in Odebrecht s bribes. Grana, Peru s biggest construction group and Odebrecht s most important local partner, saw its shares drop nearly 23 percent to 2.4 soles ( 0.5573) after passage of the legislation. Grana did not immediately respond to requests for comment but has criticized the bill as unconstitutional and promised to take legal action if it becomes law. Lawmakers who back the legislation have said Odebrecht s partners likely had a hand in Odebrecht s kickback schemes and that prosecutors were working too slowly in finding other guilty parties. Grana is under investigation in the attorney general s office but has not been charged with any crime and has repeatedly denied wrongdoing. Araoz added that the government is planning to ask Congress for special legislative powers to make tax collection more efficient. However, she said the changes would be minor and ruled out any changes to tax rates.

Summary: पेरू के प्रधान मंत्री को भ्रष्टाचार विरोधी नियमों का विस्तार करने के लिए विधेयक के बारे में संदेह है


SANTIAGO (Reuters) - Chile will continue to pursue trade deals even though the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) is off the table after U.S. President Donald Trump withdrew the United States from the pact, Foreign Minister Heraldo Munoz told journalists on Monday. Munoz said that while another regional trade deal without the United States might be possible, “it wouldn’t be the TPP.” The South American country has invited ministers from other TPP members as well as China and South Korea to a summit in Chile in March to discuss how to proceed, and has received positive responses at a high level, Munoz said. “The TPP as it was going forward is off the table. That doesn’t mean that Chile is going to change tack. We are going to persist in the opening up of the world ... as we did in the past, with bilateral deals, and regional deals,” he said. Top copper exporter Chile has a small but open economy, with existing free trade deals with all the other TPP members. Earlier on Monday, Trump fulfilled a campaign promise by formally withdrawing the United States from the TPP, a 12-nation project that had been negotiated by former Democratic President Barack Obama’s administration but never approved by Congress. Mexico said it would immediately seek bilateral deals with other countries that signed the TPP.

Summary: चिली की नजर प्रशांत व्यापार समझौते के सदस्यों के साथ नए सौदों पर हैः मंत्री


WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Prominent Washington lobbyist Tony Podesta has stepped down from his lobbying firm Podesta Group as investigators’ examine his company’s ties to U.S. President Donald Trump’s indicted former campaign manager, a source familiar with the matter said on Monday. Podesta stepped down on the same day federal investigators probing Russian interference in the 2016 U.S. election campaign charged former Trump campaign manager Paul Manafort and a business associate, Rick Gates, with money laundering. Manafort, a longtime Republican operative, and Gates pleaded not guilty to a 12-count indictment with charges ranging from money laundering to acting as unregistered agents of Ukraine’s former pro-Russian government. The indictment against Manafort and Gates listed two unnamed  firms as “Company A” and “Company B” that lobbied several lawmakers on behalf of Ukraine at Manafort’s request. The indictment did not name Podesta Group. A spokesperson for the Podesta Group said after Podesta stepped down on Monday that it had been in contact with investigators on special counsel Robert Mueller’s team and was fully cooperating with the probe. The spokesperson also said the Podesta Group fully complied with the law in disclosing its lobbying on behalf of the European Centre for a Modern Ukraine, a group linked to Manafort and named in the indictment. Podesta Group filed lobbying disclosures with the Department of Justice in April and August saying it did work in 2012 for the same pro-Russian Ukrainian group for which Manafort had worked. Podesta Group work alongside another Washington lobbying firm, Mercury LLC, which also said on Monday that it was cooperating with Mueller’s team. No charges were filed against anyone with Podesta Group or Mercury.  Tony Podesta did not respond to requests for comment on Monday. Podesta was the head of the firm that bore his name. It did  $10.7 million in lobbying in the first nine months of 2017, according to disclosures the firm filed with the U.S. Congress. He is the brother of John Podesta, who served as chairman of the presidential campaign of Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton, and as a senior White House adviser to Democratic former President Barack Obama. Mueller’s team has been investigating alleged Russian meddling in the 2016 campaign, but neither Trump nor the campaign were mentioned in the indictment against Manafort and Gates.  While Podesta Group is seen as a mainly Democratic lobbying firm, Mercury is viewed as mainly a Republican shop. Mercury is a subsidiary of Omnicom Group and does public relations work in addition to lobbying. Omnicom did not reply to a request for comment. Podesta is listed as a lobbyist on several of the firm’s largest accounts including Wells Fargo, Lockheed Martin, Oracle, Wal-Mart, Textron and General Dynamics.  Wells Fargo, Wal-Mart, Oracle, General Dynamic and Lockheed Martin all declined to comment. Textron did not respond to a request for comment.

Summary: मैनफोर्ट जांच के बीच अमेरिकी लॉबिस्ट टोनी पोडेस्टा ने कंपनी छोड़ी


WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Puerto Rico, the U.S. commonwealth that recently declared a historic default, could be shut out of debt markets for two more years as it battles with fiscal challenges, the island’s governor said on Tuesday. Governor Alejandro Garcia Padilla said emergency fiscal measures in response to a $70 billion debt were not sustainable and that “Puerto Rico will not endure any more austerity.”   He said a new law enacted by Washington allowing the federal government to appoint a control board would undercut self-government, but added it would help the island confront its fiscal problems. “Our challenges are not over and prosperity will not return overnight,” the governor said during a discussion at the Brookings Institution, a think tank in Washington. “It will take maybe two years until the market opens back to Puerto Rico if we do the right thing,” Garcia Padilla said, adding the government had been producing fiscally sound budgets that would help win back creditors. The island has been shut out of debt markets for about a year. Citing falling debt levels, he said it was a “moment of opportunity” in Puerto Rico, which has struggled with high debt loads and a weak economy for years.  Puerto Rico defaulted on $779 million of constitutionally backed debt on July 1, among its most senior bonds, opting to pay for essential services for its citizens over obligations to creditors.  Garcia Padilla said the Puerto Rican government would take steps on its own to get its fiscal affairs in order, therefore minimizing meddling by the oversight board. For example, he said that if the island’s government passed responsible budgets on its own, the control board would not need to impose its own fiscal plans. Garcia Padilla said, however, that while the government must become more efficient to improve its fiscal situation, that should be done through attrition rather than laying off workers. Asked by a reporter about steps that could be taken to shore up the Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority, or PREPA, and the Puerto Rico Aqueduct and Sewer Authority, or PRASA, Garcia Padilla said: “PREPA is pretty advanced. We’ll be able to reduce a lot the debt related to PREPA. We want to do the same with PRASA. I think we’ll be able to do it.”

Summary: प्यूर्टो रिको की वित्तीय चुनौतियों का अंत नहीं हुआः गवर्नर


LONDON (Reuters) - Wayde van Niekerk duly qualified for the World Championship 400 meters final on Sunday but the defending champion and world record holder looks to have a real battle on his hands after some searing semi-final performances. The South African was desperately trying to conserve energy as he bids for a 200/400m double but was forced to go deeper than he would have liked by Botswana’s Baboloki Thebe in the second of three semi-finals, eventually clocking 44.22 seconds. By that stage two 21-year-olds had fired out a warning with massive personal bests. Steven Gardiner improved his own Bahamas national record and went under 44 seconds for the first time, clocking a 43.89 which he might pay for in the final on Tuesday. Nathon Allen also set a Jamaican record, taking almost half a second off his best with 44.19. Botswana’s Isaac Makwala looked very comfortable in winning his heat in 44.22 seconds. Van Niekerk was originally drawn in the opening heat but organizers changed the lineup, which pleased the South African. “Whoever changed it, thank you, I wasn’t ready for 43 seconds,” he said. “It seems like every time we go on the track someone breaks 44 seconds. It is good competition but it just means I always have to be on my game. “I’m just trying to get through the rounds as conservatively as I can.”  American’s big hope Fred Kerley scraped into the final as a fast loser but former Olympic and world champion LaShawn Merritt, another man to serve a doping ban though unlike compatriot Justin Gatlin loudly cheered by the London crowd,  failed to make it.

Summary: वान निकर्क को 400 मीटर के फाइनल में पहुंचने के लिए मजबूर होना पड़ा


WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. Defense Secretary Ash Carter said on Thursday he would support lifting restrictions on the sale of weapons to Vietnam, in the latest sign of thawing ties between former enemies whose focus has shifted in recent years to China’s military buildup. When asked by Senator John McCain, chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee and a former prisoner of war in Vietnam, if he would support lifting the restrictions, Carter said at a hearing: “We’ve discussed this in the past and I appreciate your leadership in that regard, chairman, and yes.” Carter did not elaborate, although his comments come ahead of a planned visit to Vietnam by U.S. President Barack Obama late next month. The United States partially lifted a long-time ban on lethal weapons sales to Vietnam in October 2014, nearly 40 years after the end of the Vietnam War, to help the country patrol and defend itself in the South China Sea in the face of growing naval challenges from China. At the time, U.S. officials said future sales could include airborne systems.  Carter pledged on a visit to Vietnam last year to provide it $18 million to help its coast guard buy U.S. patrol boats. But the United States has said that fully lifting the embargo will depend on improved human rights conditions in Vietnam.  “There are a number of factors that we must consider with regard to lifting the ban, including progress on human rights,” the State Department’s top human rights official, Tom Malinowski, said on Tuesday after an annual human rights dialogue with Vietnam on Monday.

Summary: पेंटागन प्रमुख वियतनाम को अमेरिकी हथियारों पर प्रतिबंध हटाने का समर्थन करेंगे