NAIROBI (Reuters) - A Kenyan court on Monday awarded a young woman four million shillings in damages after she was strip-searched by police who said they were looking for drugs. The incident in August 2015 provoked an outcry in the East African country after images of the half-naked 18-year-old schoolgirl were posted on social media. She pleaded guilty to possession of marijuana shortly after the incident and was sentenced to 18 months on probation. In the lawsuit she later filed jointly with a child rights group, the young woman said the photos humiliated her and sought legal compensation.  Kenyan high court judge John Mativo said in his ruling that the student was entitled to the four million shillings ($38,815) because her constitutional rights to dignity had been violated. The student had been traveling with more than 40 others on a bus home for the holidays when she was stopped by the police.  The court s ruling is a rare victory in the East African country s legal system against the police. Although no police officers were tried or found guilty in the case, the ruling was an acknowledgment of wrongdoing.  A government civilian body exists to oversee the police, but few officers are charged and convictions are extremely rare.

Summary: केन्या की अदालत ने पुलिस द्वारा निर्वस्त्र तलाशी लेने वाली लड़की को 40 लाख शिलिंग का पुरस्कार दिया


MINYA, Egypt (Reuters) - Coptic Christians in the south of Egypt renewed calls on local authorities for an end to discrimination, after a number of churches have been closed down in recent weeks.  Two churches in two separate villages in the southern province of Minya have been shut down by the authorities, a statement by the Minya diocese said.  It said worshippers were harassed at both churches and pelted with rocks at one of them.    We have kept quiet for two weeks after the closure of one of the churches, but due to our silence the situation has worsened ... it is as if prayer is a crime the Copts must be punished for,  the statement, dated Saturday, read. A third church was closed following rumors of a pending attack, but the diocese said no attack has taken place since and the church remains closed.  The Minya security directorate spokesman declined to comment. The governor s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Coptic Christians, who make up 10 percent of Egypt s population of nearly 95 million, say they have been persecuted for years. Many feel the state does not take their plight seriously enough. Nonetheless, the Copts are vocal supporters of President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, who has vowed to crush Islamist extremism and protect Christians. He declared a three-month state of emergency in the aftermath of two church bombings in April which has since been renewed. Though Islamic State has long waged a low-level war against soldiers and police in Egypt s Sinai peninsula, it has stepped up its assault on Christian civilians in the mainland. In an attack claimed by the group in May, gunmen ambushed a group of Coptic Christians traveling to a monastery in Minya, killing 29 and wounding 24.

Summary: दक्षिणी मिस्र में चर्च बंद होने पर कॉप्टियों ने की कार्रवाई की मांग


NEW YORK (Reuters) - Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump said on Tuesday he is willing to talk to North Korean leader Kim Jong Un to try to stop Pyongyang’s nuclear program, proposing a major shift in U.S. policy toward the isolated nation. In a wide-ranging interview with Reuters, Trump also called for a renegotiation of the Paris climate accord, said he disapproved of Russian President Vladimir Putin’s actions in eastern Ukraine, and said he would seek to dismantle most of the U.S. Dodd-Frank financial regulations if he is elected president. The presumptive Republican nominee declined to share details of his plans to deal with North Korea, but said he was open to talking to its leader.  “I would speak to him, I would have no problem speaking to him,” he said.  Asked whether he would try to talk some sense into the North Korean leader, Trump replied, “Absolutely.”  North Korea’s mission to the United Nations did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Trump’s remarks.     Trump, 69, also said he would press China, Pyongyang’s only major diplomatic and economic supporter, to help find a solution. “I would put a lot of pressure on China because economically we have tremendous power over China,” he said in the interview in his office on the 26th floor of Trump Tower in Manhattan. “China can solve that problem with one meeting or one phone call.”     A Chinese official said dialogue was needed to resolve issues on the Korean peninsula. “China supports direct talks and communication between the United States and North Korea. We believe this is beneficial,” Foreign Ministry spokesman Hong Lei told reporters. Trump’s preparedness to talk directly with Kim contrasts with President Barack Obama’s policy of relying on senior U.S. officials to talk to senior North Korean officials. Obama has not engaged personally with Kim, but he has pushed for new diplomatic overtures to Iran and Cuba that produced a nuclear deal with Tehran and improved ties with Havana. Sitting at his desk with an expansive view of Central Park, Trump spoke at length about his economic and foreign policy ideas in the half-hour interview. Facing him on his desk is a framed photograph of his father, the late Fred Trump. A wall displays framed photos of Trump with various celebrities, as well as numerous magazine covers on which he has appeared. On Russia, Trump tempered past praise of Putin, saying the nice comments the Russian leader has made about him in the past would only go so far. “The fact that he said good things about me doesn’t mean that it’s going to help him in a negotiation. It won’t help him at all,” he said. An adviser to Hillary Clinton, the leading Democratic presidential candidate, criticized Trump’s foreign policy comments, noting they came soon after Trump said he was unlikely to have a good relationship with British Prime Minister David Cameron.  “Let me get this straight: Donald Trump insults the leader of our closest ally, then turns around and says he’d love to talk to Kim Jong Un?” Clinton’s senior foreign policy adviser, Jake Sullivan, said in a statement. Trump “seems to have a bizarre fascination with foreign strongmen like Putin and Kim. But his approach to foreign policy makes no sense for the rest of us,” he said. In the Reuters interview, Trump said he thought Cameron’s criticism of him was inappropriate but “I’m sure I’ll have a good relationship with him.” Trump said he is “not a big fan” of the Paris climate accord, which prescribes reductions in carbon emissions by more than 170 countries. He said he would want to renegotiate the deal because it treats the United States unfairly and gives favorable treatment to countries like China.  “I will be looking at that very, very seriously, and at a minimum I will be renegotiating those agreements, at a minimum. And at a maximum I may do something else,” he said. A renegotiation of the pact would be a major setback for what was hailed as the first truly global climate accord, committing both rich and poor nations to reining in the rise in greenhouse gas emissions blamed for warming the planet. Trump has been criticized for offering far fewer specific policy proposals than Clinton, his likely rival for the Nov. 8 presidential election. The New York billionaire said he planned to release a detailed policy platform in two weeks that would propose dismantling nearly all of Dodd-Frank, a package of financial reforms put in place after the 2007-2009 financial crisis. “Dodd-Frank is a very negative force, which has developed a very bad name,” he said. Trump took a dim view of Clinton’s stated desire to put her husband, former President Bill Clinton, in charge of building up the U.S. economy.  “The wife wants to make him in charge of the economy,” he said. Clinton described Trump’s idea of dismantling Dodd-Frank as reckless. “Latest reckless idea from Trump: gut rules on Wall Street, and leave middle-class families out to dry,” she said on Twitter. Trump said he perceived a dangerous financial bubble in the tech start-up industry, with some companies selling shares at high valuations without ever turning a profit. “I’m talking about companies that have never made any money, that have a bad concept and that are valued at billions of dollars,” he said. Silicon Valley investors responded on Twitter by poking fun at Trump’s campaign slogan “Make America Great Again!” by repeating the phrase, “Make Bubbles Great Again.” On the U.S. Federal Reserve, Trump said that while he eventually wants a Republican to head it, he is “not an enemy” of current chair Janet Yellen, who was appointed by Obama. “I’m not a person that thinks Janet Yellen is doing a bad job. I happen to be a low-interest rate person unless inflation rears its ugly head, which can happen at some point,” he said, adding that inflation “doesn’t seem like it’s happening any time soon.”     The real estate mogul said he would maintain the current level of benefits for Social Security recipients, a position championed by former Republican presidential candidate Mike Huckabee. Trump said he would not raise the retirement age or impose a sliding scale of benefits depending on income levels. Some Republican lawmakers have pushed for structural reforms to Social Security to extend its solvency. The depleted Social Security Trust Fund, Trump said, would be replenished by the increased tax revenue that would flow into the government from the higher job growth spurred by his economic policies.

Summary: एक्सक्लूसिवः ट्रम्प उत्तर कोरिया के किम से बात करेंगे, जलवायु समझौते पर फिर से बातचीत करना चाहते हैं


WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. congressional panels in the House and Senate on Thursday approved - with bipartisan support - a handful of bills aimed at helping companies raise capital, a sign that Congress may be able to approach financial regulatory reform on a piecemeal basis without awaiting a blockbuster bill. In separate meetings, the Senate Banking Committee led by Idaho Republican Chairman Mike Crapo and the House Financial Services Committee led by Texas Republican Jeb Hensarling approved a series of identical bills, paving the way votes by the full Senate and House of Representatives. It is not yet known when both chambers may take up the bills. The move is part of an effort by Congress to streamline the U.S. financial sector, and it comes at the same time that U.S. President Donald Trump is pushing to repeal or replace regulations which he contends could impede economic growth. The bills won broad bipartisan support in both committees, with minimal dissent. Sherrod Brown, the Senate panel’s ranking Democrat, praised the bipartisan work and said he was optimistic “there are additional common sense measures” that can tackled next. The bills propose changes to U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission’s regulations, such as raising the dollar amount of stock options that private companies can award employees in a given year to $10 million from $5 million and easing restrictions to allow brokers to publish research on the global $3.7 trillion exchange-traded fund market. Other changes in the bills would raise the number of people who can invest in venture capital funds without triggering a requirement to register with the SEC; subject mutual funds in Puerto Rico to the same rules funds already face on the U.S. mainland, and credit stock exchanges for any fees and assessments they may have overpaid to the SEC in the last decade. The House Financial Services Committee also on Thursday approved a sixth bill that would require the SEC to formally consider and respond to regulatory proposals that are made annually by the agency’s Government-Business Forum on Small Business Capital Formation. The Senate panel did not consider that bill on Thursday, but Banking Committee spokeswoman Amanda Critchfield said she expects it will be considered in the future. Pennsylvania Republican Senator Pat Toomey, who co-sponsored the bill involving private company stock options, said on Thursday he is hopeful the measure “will be considered by the full Senate soon.” The dual committee meetings were the first time since the November election that the Republican-led Congress has convened to consider financial legislation. The House Financial Services Committee, meanwhile, is also separately preparing to unveil a more comprehensive rewrite of the 2010 Dodd-Frank financial reform legislation, which will also include measures to boost capital formation. Trump’s choice to lead the SEC, Wall Street deal-making attorney Jay Clayton, has previously discussed ideas with Trump privately on how to help spur capital formation. All of the bills approved by the two panels on Thursday have been considered in prior congressional years, but were never passed into law.

Summary: कांग्रेस की समितियों ने एस. ई. सी. पूंजी गठन विधेयकों को मंजूरी दी


CAIRO (Reuters) - Egypt praised on Tuesday U.S President Donald Trump’s criticism of Western media for what he said was their limited coverage of some militant attacks around the world, a statement from the Foreign Ministry said. “The Foreign Ministry hailed the U.S. administration stance in this regard, referring to Egypt’s repeated calls upon the international community to adopt a comprehensive, coordinated and  non-selective strategy to combat terrorism at all levels; security, political, cultural, media and others,” the statement said.

Summary: मिस्र ने हमलों के मीडिया कवरेज की ट्रम्प की आलोचना की सराहना की


NEW YORK (Reuters) - In April, Reuters photographer Zohra Bensemra was sent to cover the drought in Somalia. Once there, she looked for ways to humanize the plight of more than 2 million people trying to survive the famine amid fields of withered crops and the brittle skeletons of livestock.  See her portfolio of work here In a makeshift camp for displaced people, Bensemra met Zeinab, a 14-year-old girl forced to marry an older man offering $1,000 as her dowry. Zeinab had wanted to become an English teacher, but that small fortune made it possible for her extended family to travel to a Somali town on the Ethiopian border where international aid agencies providing food for drought refugees. Bensemra found similar stories during a nearly two-week trip through the Horn of Africa.  Photography opens eyes to what s going on in the world,  says Bensemra, who was named agency photographer of the year by the Guardian, a U.K.-based newspaper.  It s not about nationalism or religion but about human beings.   The Guardian recognized Bensemra s 2017 work covering some of the planet s most dire situations: the fight against Islamic State in Iraq and Syria; the Rohingya refugee crisis; and the drought in Somalia, among others.  Read the story here In Bensemra s role as an eyewitness to war, human rights abuses and other atrocities, she says it is crucial to remain unbiased.  It s important to stay neutral if we want people to believe us and trust us,  Bensemra says.  We have to be in the middle. We don t take sides.  Read her photographer profile here Based in Algeria, Bensemra says she believes being a woman in the field has its advantages. For one, people are more likely to open up to her and share their stories.  One of her most memorable photographs of the year shows an exhausted Khatla Ali Abdallah, 90, fleeing a battle with Islamic State outside Mosul in February. Bensemra had tears in her eyes as she shot the photograph, imagining the woman as her own grandmother, but unable to help.  When you see people suffering and living very, very hard lives, I imagine myself in their place,  she says.

Summary: द गार्जियन की वर्ष की फोटोग्राफरः रॉयटर्स की जोहरा बेंसेमरा


WASHINGTON (Reuters) - After a tumultuous opening month in the White House, President Donald Trump is heading to a friendlier, familiar and potentially rejuvenating place: the campaign trail. Beset by vicious fights over his Cabinet, legal setbacks over his immigration orders, the resignation of his national security adviser and an investigation into possible links between his campaign and Russian intelligence, Trump is turning to the winning formula that vaulted him into the White House: big, adoring crowds and fiery, angry speeches. He has replaced Hillary Clinton, his former Democratic presidential rival, with a new foil: newspapers and TV news outlets that have reported unflattering revelations of dysfunction or other problems in the White House. He has described them as “lying”, “corrupt”, “failing” and, late on Friday, as “the enemy of the American people.” On Saturday, he holds a campaign rally in an airport hangar in Melbourne, Florida, just up the coast from his Mar-a-Lago resort where he will spend the weekend. The event gives Trump a chance to bypass what he says is an unfair media and take his message straight to his supporters. “It will remind people that he still has a lot of support out there, and he probably needs the reminder,” said Republican strategist John Feehery. “When you are inside the bubble, it’s not a bad idea to reconnect with your supporters and get re-energized.” Trump’s race against Clinton was marked by big, boisterous rallies, and the event in Florida is likely to be the first of many as he tries to appeal directly to his most passionate supporters and reframe his image following growing questions over his temperament and ties between his campaign and Russian intelligence. Shortly after an unusually long and combative 77-minute presidential news conference on Thursday, Trump’s campaign sent out a fundraising email featuring a “media accountability survey” asking supporters about coverage. “I’ve made it a point to cut through the media’s noise and go straight to the American people. It worked during the campaign, and it will work again over these next four years,” Trump said in the email. Democrats countered with their own fundraising email, seeking donations to ensure “Trump is a one-term president.” “First he had Republican primary opponents, then he had Hillary Clinton, and now he has the evil media,” said Republican strategist Rich Galen. “He’s very comfortable in this kind of campaign mode.” The Florida rally marks an extraordinarily early start to the 2020 White House campaign for Trump, who filed re-election papers with the Federal Election Commission (FEC) five hours after he was sworn in as president on Jan. 20. His predecessor, Barack Obama, filed the same form in April 2011, more than two years into his first term as president. The paperwork was not a formal declaration of Trump’s candidacy, but allowed him to continue raising funds, including the money received from sales of his popular red “Make America Great Again” hats. The Trump campaign raised $9.6 million in December and had about $7.6 million on hand at the end of the year, the last time it was required to file a report with the FEC. Obama and other presidents have traditionally held campaign-style events to support their legislative initiatives, but they were organized and paid for by the White House. Saturday’s rally will be organized and run by the campaign, the White House said. Obama hit the road frequently in early 2009 to rally voters behind his economic stimulus package. But he was also supported by an outside group called Organizing for America that filled some of the role of a campaign organization by building  grassroots backing for his policies. By keeping his campaign intact, including his campaign website, Trump has made the concept of a “permanent campaign” into reality. The website, which features a photo of the inauguration, stresses Trump’s campaign cannot stop because “we still have much work to do.” Trump’s first presidential event outside Washington was on Friday in North Charleston, South Carolina, where he visited an airplane plant operated by Boeing Co to celebrate the unveiling of its latest Dreamliner jet. On Air Force One after the Charleston event, White House spokeswoman Sarah Sanders said Trump is headed back on to the campaign trail because the media does not always deliver his message well, and “he can do that very effectively by taking the stage and talking to the people of America.” Trump’s early re-election campaign start has created some confusion for federal workers worried about possibly violating a U.S. law prohibiting them from engaging in political activity in the workplace. The U.S. Office of Special Counsel, an independent government agency that protects federal bureaucrats from unfair personnel practices, issued guidance to federal workers last week after it said it received “numerous” questions about whether they can express their views on Trump given his intention to run for re-election. Federal workers would violate the law if they start calling for his re-election or defeat while on duty, the memo said, but since the election is still three years away workers can express approval or disapproval of his policies or actions but “may not display signs in their office that read ‘Reelect Trump in 2020’ or express” views on his candidacy while in the workplace. Once he formally announces his candidacy, the memo said, workers who are on duty or in the office cannot do anything “directed at the success or failure of his candidacy.”

Summary: ट्रम्प अपने आराम क्षेत्र में जाते हैंः प्रचारक-इन-चीफ


MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russia wants an emergency meeting of the U.N. Security Council to discuss U.S. missile strikes on Syria, the Russian Foreign Ministry said on Friday, describing the action as “thoughtless”. The ministry said in a statement that Russia was also suspending a Syrian air safety agreement with the United States, saying: “This is not the first time the United States has resorted to such a thoughtless step, which merely exacerbates existing problems and threatens global security.”  Russia has dismissed Western accusations against Syrian  President Bashar al-Assad who Washington says was responsible for a chemical gas attack that left scores dead in the Syrian province of Idlib. The foreign ministry said it was clear that the U.S. missile strikes were prepared before the Idlib incident.

Summary: सीरिया पर अमेरिकी हमलों के बाद रूस ने संयुक्त राष्ट्र की आपात बैठक बुलाई


WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. Senate Democrats on Thursday pressed Ben Carson, Donald Trump’s nominee to lead housing policy, on potential conflicts of interest between the agency he is set to run and properties in which the president-elect may hold a financial stake. The Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) hands out billions of dollars each year to developers and landlords. Democrats grilling Carson during his confirmation hearing for the post expressed concerns that some of that taxpayer money could end up directed to Trump or members of his family. “The president-elect is hiding his family businesses interests from you, from me, and the rest of America,” Senator Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts, one of Trump’s most vocal critics, told Carson. “He can divert taxpayer money into his own pockets without the American people knowing about it.” Trump, a New York businessman who got his start in real estate, has refused to release his tax returns or provide detailed information about his holdings across the globe. On Wednesday, he announced that he would turn control of his business empire over to his two oldest sons and move his assets into a trust. Those moves, however, have not assuaged some critics who argue that, as president, Trump will still have undisclosed financial interests that could affect his policies. Pushed on the issue by Democrats, Carson at one point vowed he would monitor any potential conflicts of interest but said  he was unsure about how to go about it. Asked how he would prevent conflicts, the retired neurosurgeon and former Republican presidential candidate told the Senate Banking Committee, “I would hope what would happen with this committee is that we could come up with a suggestion that might be acceptable to all sides.” Trump reportedly has an interest in the massive Starrett City housing project in the New York City of Brooklyn, which has received HUD funds. But Trump’s real estate career has focused mainly on luxury housing, commercial real estate and resort properties. Earlier in the hearing, Carson was noncommittal when Warren asked him to ensure that no HUD programs would benefit Trump.  “If there happens to be an extraordinarily good program that is working for millions of people and it turns that someone you’re targeting is going to gain $10 from it, am I going to say, ‘No, the rest of you Americans can’t have it?’” Carson responded. Carson is widely expected to be confirmed by the Republican-controlled Senate committee and full Senate. Much of Thursday’s hearing focused on Carson’s long-standing antipathy toward social-welfare programs, with some senators asking him whether he, in fact, supports HUD’s mission to provide housing assistance to millions of Americans. “I think the rental assistance program is essential,” Carson replied. He later, added, however that social programs have to operate within financial constraints.  Much of Carson’s remarks focused on his well-documented background growing up poor in inner-city Detroit, saying he learned young what “housing insecurity” means. He provided few details in terms of U.S. housing policy or how he would revamp the agency, suggesting only that he was interested in making it more efficient. If confirmed as HUD secretary, Carson would oversee an agency with a roughly $40 billion budget that not only helps the poor but underwrites mortgage loans for middle-class families. HUD’s Federal Housing Administration (FHA) stands behind roughly one in five home loans and at least $1.1 trillion in debt - a number that Carson said was troubling. Outgoing HUD Secretary Julian Castro this week slashed HUD fees for mortgage default insurance, which he said would save the average HUD-backed homeowner $500 a year. Carson suggested that he would consider reversing that surprise move. “Certainly, if confirmed, I am going to work with the FHA administrator and other financial experts to really examine that policy,” he said.

Summary: डेमोक्रेट्स ने संभावित ट्रम्प संघर्षों पर अमेरिकी आवास उम्मीदवार कार्सन पर दबाव डाला


WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Obama administration issued a fresh warning on Thursday about the dangers of Congress failing to pass its Asian trade deal, saying that millions of U.S. jobs could be at risk if a rival China-led trade pact is enacted. As they gear up for one last push to persuade Congress to pass the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP)in the two months following Tuesday’s elections, senior administration officials said 35 U.S. industrial sectors would lose substantial ground to Chinese competitors in the Japanese market alone. In a new study, the White House Council of Economic Advisers estimated that China’s Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RECAP) trade deal would likely lower Japanese tariffs on Chinese goods by five to 10 percentage points. If TPP is shelved, U.S. companies would be stuck with Japanese tariffs averaging twice as high as their Chinese competitors. Obama administration officials have long argued that China would seize economic leadership in Asia and write lower-standard trading rules for the region if TPP fails. The White House study seeks to quantify the argument by examining the effect of likely RCEP tariff cuts by Japan.  China is negotiating RCEP with 16 Asian countries, seven of which are also signatories to the TPP agreement: Japan, Australia, New Zealand, Vietnam, Malaysia, Singapore and Brunei. “If TPP is not passed and RCEP is enacted, which is what all these countries say they are planning to do, then U.S. businesses would face a direct loss of competitive position,” said Jason Furman, the chair of the Council of Economic Advisers.  This would displace U.S. goods and be worse than simply maintaining the trade status quo, Furman said. The study identifies 35 industrial sectors employing 4.7 million people with $5.3 billion in sales to Japan that would face such a disadvantage. A broad manufacturing sector stretching from sporting goods to office supplies could see $720 million in annual sales to Japan at risk, the study said.  The administration faces an uphill battle to get a vote for TPP in Congress’ post-election “lame duck” session, due to strong anti-trade rhetoric in the presidential campaign and House Speaker Paul Ryan’s recent comments that the trade deal lacks the votes for passage. But U.S. Trade Representative Michael Froman said he is continuing to press the TPP case with individual members and working with Senate Finance Committee Chairman Orrin Hatch to ease his concerns about patent protections for biologic drugs. Froman said these efforts have been met with “a lot of receptivity”.

Summary: व्हाइट हाउस अध्ययनः चीन व्यापार समझौते ने टी. पी. पी. की विफलता से नुकसान को और बढ़ा दिया


SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - The Vietnamese government restricted access to Facebook Inc inside Vietnam for several days this week as part of a broader crackdown on human rights and political dissidents during a visit by President Barack Obama, two activist organizations said on Thursday.  Officials of Access Now, a digital rights organization, and Viet Tan, a Vietnamese pro-democracy group, said the social media site was restricted and at times blocked inside Vietnam from Sunday to Wednesday, citing reports from people inside the country on Twitter and to Access Now’s digital security help service.  The move coincides with a trend toward restrictions on Facebook in countries including China, Uganda and Turkey during politically sensitive times as the 1.6 billion-person social network grows more powerful.  Obama’s three-day visit to Vietnam ended on Wednesday. Obama largely focused on normalizing relations with Vietnam. But he also promoted human rights and chided Vietnam about restrictions on political freedoms after critics of its communist-run government were prevented from meeting him. The Facebook shutdown was part of a stepped-up campaign by the Vietnamese government to limit use of the social network for political protests, activists said in phone interviews.  Facebook was blocked several times earlier this month as street protests erupted over an environmental disaster that resulted in mass fish deaths, the two groups said. The social media site was also unavailable inside Vietnam ahead of parliamentary elections on Sunday as pro-democracy activists called for a boycott, members of the two groups said. Facebook declined to comment. Vietnamese government officials did not immediately respond to a request for comment submitted via a government website.  Uganda’s government blocked Facebook and Twitter Inc in February during presidential elections. In March, after a deadly bombing in Turkey, an Ankara court ordered a ban on access to Facebook and Twitter. And during the 2011 Arab Spring in Egypt, Tunisia and Libya, social networks were repeatedly shut down.  Facebook is often shut down in Vietnam during politically sensitive times, Angelina Huynh, advocacy director for Viet Tan, which has members around the world, including in Vietnam, said in a phone interview.  “People were using Facebook to call for protests. They did not want people to take to the streets,” Huynh said.

Summary: ओबामा की यात्रा के दौरान वियतनाम ने फेसबुक तक पहुंच प्रतिबंधित कीः कार्यकर्ता


GENEVA (Reuters) - Myanmar authorities have agreed to allow the United Nations to resume distribution of food in northern Rakhine state which was suspended for two months, the World Food Programme (WFP) said on Friday. The agreement, whose details are still being worked out, came as UNICEF reported that Rohingya refugee children fleeing into Bangladesh were arriving  close to death  from malnutrition. The WFP was previously distributing food rations to 110,000 people in northern Rakhine state - to both Buddhist and the minority Muslim Rohingya communities. Rohingya insurgent attacks on police stations triggered an army crackdown, that the United Nations has called  ethnic cleansing , and U.N. humanitarian agencies have not been able to access northern Rakhine to deliver aid since then. WFP deliveries have continued to 140,000 people in central Rakhine.  WFP has been given the green light to resume food assistance operations in northern part of Rakhine. We are working with the government to coordinate the details,  WFP spokeswoman Bettina Luescher told journalists in Geneva. She had no timeline or details on the proposed distribution of rations to northern Rakhine, and said it was still being discussed with the authorities in Myanmar.  We just have to see what the situation on the ground is. It s very hard to say these things if you can t get in,  Luescher said. Some 604,000 Rohingya refugees have fled to Bangladesh in the past two months, bringing the total to 817,000, the International Organization for Migration (IOM) said. Malnutrition rates in Maungdaw and Buthidaung townships in Rakhine, where the vast majority of the Rohingya refugees originate, were already above emergency threshold rates before the crisis, the U.N. Children s Fund (UNICEF) said.  Since August 25, we have had to stop treating 4,000 children with severe acute malnutrition in northern Rakhine because we have had no access,  UNICEF spokeswoman Marixie Mercado told the briefing. UNICEF has screened nearly 60,000 Rohingya refugee children arriving in Bangladesh, nearly 2,000 of whom have been identified as having severe acute malnutrition, with another 7,000 moderately acutely malnourished, she said. The agency screened 340 children among recent arrivals, a  rough and rapid exercise  that found 10 percent to be severely acutely malnourished, she said.   This is an extremely small number of children so these numbers are not representative,  Mercado said.  But what they do tell us is that some of the children are close to death by the time they make it across the border.

Summary: म्यांमार ने रखाइन को खाद्य सहायता फिर से शुरू करने के लिए हरी झंडी दिखाईः संयुक्त राष्ट्र


NEW YORK (Reuters) - Fifteen states and the District of Columbia filed a lawsuit on Wednesday challenging President Donald Trump’s decision to end protections and benefits for young people who were brought into the United States illegally as children. The multistate lawsuit filed by a group of Democratic attorneys general on Wednesday to protect beneficiaries of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program argues their state economies will be hurt if residents lose their status. The lawsuit seeks to block Trump’s decision and maintain DACA. The lawsuit claims Trump’s decision was “motivated, at least in part, by a discriminatory motive” against Mexicans, who are the largest beneficiary of the program. It points to his statements from the 2016 presidential campaign.   The attorneys general also argue the government has not guaranteed DACA recipients that their application information will not be used “for purposes of immigration enforcement, including identifying, apprehending, detaining, or deporting non-citizens.” New York’s Attorney General Eric Schneiderman took the lead filing the case in the Eastern District of New York. He said that 42,000 New Yorkers participate in DACA, and the end of the program will be “devastating” for them and would cause “huge economic harm” to the state.   In commenting on the suit, the U.S. Department of Justice noted that DACA was implemented under an executive order by former President Barack Obama, not through congressional action. “While the plaintiffs in today’s lawsuits may believe that an arbitrary circumvention of Congress is lawful, the Department of Justice looks forward to defending this Administration’s position,” spokesman Devin M. O’Malley said. Trump’s decision on Tuesday to end the five-year-old program instituted by former President Barack Obama plunged almost 800,000 young people, known as “Dreamers,” into uncertainty. The move drew criticism from business and religious leaders, mayors, governors, Democratic lawmakers, unions and civil liberties advocates.  Trump, who delayed the end of the program until March 5, shifted responsibility to a Congress controlled by his fellow Republicans, saying it was now up to lawmakers to pass immigration legislation that could address the fate of those protected by DACA.   But the governor of Washington, whose state joined the lawsuit, criticized Trump for distancing himself from a final decision on the program.  Trump said Tuesday he still has “great heart” for the dreamers. “The president has tried to shirk responsibility for this, but let’s be clear, it is his hand on the knife in these people’s backs,” said Washington Governor Jay Inslee at a press conference announcing the suit. “He can’t just put it on Congress. It is his responsibility to fix this.” Other claims in the lawsuit are based on the Administrative Procedure Act, arguing the White House did not follow the correct process in changing the policy.  Legal experts have said that court challenges to Trump’s actions could face an uphill battle, since the president typically has wide authority when it comes to implementing immigration policy.

Summary: राज्यों ने ड्रीमर्स पर ट्रम्प के फैसले को चुनौती देते हुए मुकदमा दायर किया


BARCELONA (Reuters) - Catalonia s regional leader opened the door to a unilateral declaration of independence from Spain on Sunday after voters defied a violent police crackdown and, according to regional officials, voted 90 percent in favor of breaking away. Despite Spanish police using batons and rubber bullets to disrupt the banned referendum, which was declared unconstitutional by Madrid, the Catalan government said 2.26 million people had cast ballots, a turnout of about 42 percent. Carles Puigdemont s comments followed a television address by Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy who ruled out independence and accused separatists of trying to  blackmail ... the whole nation . He offered all-party talks on the region s future. Catalan officials say more than 800 people were injured in clashes with Spanish riot police during the referendum, which has pitched the country into its deepest constitutional crisis in decades and deepened a rift between Madrid and Barcelona.  On this day of hope and suffering, Catalonia s citizens have earned the right to have an independent state in the form of a republic,  Puigdemont said in a televised address.  My government, in the next few days will send the results of today s vote to the Catalan Parliament, where the sovereignty of our people lies, so that it can act in accordance with the law of the referendum,  he said. The law of the referendum, deemed unconstitutional by Madrid, foresees a unilateral declaration of independence by the Catalan parliament if the majority votes to leave Spain. The law does not set a minimum turnout for the outcome to be valid. The results announced early on Monday were not a surprise, given that many unionists were not expected to turn out to vote. Earlier in the day, the streets of Catalonia, an industrial and tourism powerhouse accounting for a fifth of Spain s economy, erupted into violence as national police burst into polling stations with batons, dragging voters away. The action drew criticism at home and abroad. British Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson voiced worries over the violence while backing Madrid s view that the vote was unconstitutional. Spain s deputy prime minister said force used by the police had been proportionate.  The absolute irresponsibility of the regional government has had to be met by the security forces of the state,  said Soraya Saenz de Santamaria. The euro lost about a third of a U.S. cent after the violence-marred vote before steadying. It touched a low of $1.1776 in thin Asian trade but soon steadied at $1.1801. In the run-up to the referendum, Puigdemont had said he would move to a declaration of independence within 48 hours of a  yes  vote. But the fragmented nature of the polling, with many voting stations closed, could complicate any move to a formal declaration. Puigdemont called on Europe to step in to make sure fundamental rights were fully respected. In another sign tensions would endure beyond the vote, secessionist groups and trade unions in Catalonia called a general strike for Tuesday, La Vanguardia newspaper said. Catalan officials said 844 people had been injured in the police crackdown and the Spanish Interior Ministry said 12 police officers had been hurt.   I propose that all political parties with parliamentary representation meet and, together, reflect on the future we all face,  Rajoy said in his televised address. Opinion polls had shown around 40 percent of the northeastern region wanted independence from Spain although a majority were in favor of a referendum on the issue.     National police sent in to Catalonia for the referendum swept into polling stations, hitting people with batons, firing rubber bullets into crowds and forcibly removing would-be voters from polling stations, some dragged away by their hair.  Regardless of views on independence, we should all condemn the scenes being witnessed and call on Spain to change course before someone is seriously hurt,  Scotland s pro-independence leader, Nicola Sturgeon, said on Twitter. Despite the national police action, some polling stations remained open, especially in areas supervised by the Catalan police force which adopted much milder tactics.  I m so pleased because despite all the hurdles they ve put up, I ve managed to vote,  said Teresa, a 72-year-old pensioner in Barcelona who had stood in line for six hours to vote. The ballot will have no legal status as it has been blocked by Spain s Constitutional Court which ruled it at odds with the 1978 constitution that effectively restored democracy in Spain after the dictatorship of General Francisco Franco.

Summary: कैटलन नेता ने मतदान के बाद स्पेन से अलग होने के लिए दरवाजे खोले


WASHINGTON/CHICAGO (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump’s administration has moved since he took office last week to curb the flow of information from several government agencies involved in environmental issues, in actions that may have been designed to discourage dissenting views. Employees at the Environmental Protection Agency, the Interior Department, the Department of Agriculture and the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) have seen directives from the newly minted leadership seeking to limit how they communicate to the public, according to multiple sources. The moves have reinforced concerns that Trump, a climate change doubter, could seek to sideline scientific research showing that carbon dioxide emissions from burning fossil fuels contributes to global warming, as well as the career staffers at the agencies that conduct much of this research. All of the agencies affected by the actions have some input on issues related to the environment and have been involved in various efforts related to climate change, including effects on natural resources and human health. On Tuesday, a source at the EPA said that staff had been told by members of the Trump administration not to speak to reporters or publish any press releases or blog posts on social media. EPA staff have also been asked not to publicize any talks, conferences, or webinars that had been planned for the next 60 days, the staffer said, asking not to be named. Asked if the EPA had been gagged, White House press secretary Sean Spicer said on Tuesday: “I don’t know ... we’re looking into it. ... I don’t think it’s a surprise we’re going to review the policies, but I don’t have any info at this time.” The agency also was asked by the White House on Monday to temporarily halt all contracts and grants pending a review, according to multiple sources. The EPA awards billions of dollars worth of grants and contracts every year to support programs around environmental testing, cleanups and research. “EPA staff have been reviewing grants and contracts information with the incoming transition team,” EPA spokeswoman Julia Valentine said in a statement. “The goal is to complete the grants and contracts review by the close of business on Friday, Jan. 27.” Environmental groups reacted with outrage. New York’s attorney general, Eric Schneiderman, said in reaction to the freeze that his office “will examine all legal options to ensure the EPA meets its obligations to keep our state’s air and water safe.” U.S. Department of Agriculture employees on Monday were also  informed in a memo seen by Reuters that all communications with the media should be approved by the administration, and social media posts should be reviewed by managers “to remove references to policy priorities and initiatives of the previous Administration.”   The department, meanwhile, disavowed another email sent on Monday to its scientific research unit ordering the suspension of releasing “any public-facing documents,” including news releases and photos, saying it was sent without permission and should not include a ban on publication of peer-reviewed scientific papers.  Officials at HHS also received a memo ordering them not to send “any correspondence” to other public officials.  Instead, they must refer any requests for information to senior leaders, who are not to do anything until they have received instructions from the White House staff on its policies, according to a source who read the memo.  Last week, staff at the Interior Department were told to stop posting on Twitter after an employee retweeted posts about the relatively low attendance at Trump’s inauguration, and about how the issues of climate change and civil rights had disappeared from the White House website. The department has since resumed tweeting - though some tweets have been deleted. On Tuesday, Badlands National Park, located in South Dakota and part of the Department of Interior, posted a series of Tweets about climate change: “Today, the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere is higher than at any time in the last 650,000 years. #climate,” one of the tweets read. By Tuesday afternoon, the tweets were gone. A National Park Service official said the tweets had been posted to the Badlands National Park account by a former employee who was not authorized to use it. “The park was not told to remove the tweets but chose to do so when they realized that their account had been compromised,” the official said. National Park Service social media managers are being encouraged to use Twitter to post public safety and park information but not content related to national policy issues, the official said. Trump has promised to promote oil drilling and mining by cutting regulation, including by targeting former President Barack Obama’s initiative to combat climate change. Trump also has suggested pulling the United States out of a global pact on climate change signed by nearly 200 countries last year.  Trump’s nominees to run the EPA, Interior and the Department of Agriculture - Oklahoma Attorney General Scott Pruitt, Representative Ryan Zinke of Montana and former Georgia Governor Sonny Perdue, respectively - are awaiting Senate confirmation.  Trump has drawn heavily from the energy industry lobby and pro-drilling think tanks to build a team charged with preparing the EPA for its new leadership, according to a list of the newly introduced 10-member team seen by Reuters on Monday. An EPA spokesman did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Summary: ट्रम्प प्रशासन अमेरिकी एजेंसी के कर्मचारियों का मुंह बंद करना चाहता है


MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russia s Defense Ministry said on Thursday that the U.S. military presence in the Baltic states contradicts the Russia-NATO agreement, RIA news agency quoted it as saying. The ministry was quoted as saying that the United States has, in effect, deployed a division of its forces in the Baltic states, near Russia s borders.

Summary: रूस का कहना है कि बाल्टिक में अमेरिकी सेना रूस-नाटो समझौते का खंडन करती हैः आरआईए


WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump’s dismissal of FBI Director James Comey has raised questions about the future of the agency’s probe into Russian attempts to sway the 2016 presidential election and possible collusion with Trump’s campaign. The Justice Department announced on May 17 that Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein had appointed former Federal Bureau of Investigation Director Robert Mueller as a special counsel to lead an independent probe. Here is what to expect: * The FBI’s investigation will continue.  Comey’s firing did not end the FBI’s investigation into Moscow’s role in the 2016 election. The career FBI staffers Comey put in charge of the probe will likely continue it, legal experts told Reuters, even as the White House interviews new directors. * Probes underway in the U.S. Congress will also continue. Investigations already underway in the Senate Intelligence Committee and House Intelligence Committee and other panels will progress. Congress could also create a special commission or appoint a special master separate from the committee probes even after Mueller’s appointment, experts said. Senate Republicans, including some from leadership, previously argued that the appointment of a special counsel could imperil ongoing congressional probes. Mueller will not have the authority to demand Congress halt a probe. Though criminal probes can at times complicate congressional matters, legal experts said the complications would be indistinguishable from those created by the already ongoing FBI investigation. * Mueller will steer a parallel probe at the Justice Department.  Mueller will interview relevant witnesses, subpoena documents and, if the evidence merits, work with the FBI to bring criminal charges related to the probe. *Mueller will operate with a high degree of independence from the Trump administration. Rosenstein appointed Mueller to head the department’s Russia probe citing department regulations that allow attorney generals to appoint a special counsel from outside the federal government.  The department regulations are “not quite as robust” as a law related to the appointment of a special prosecutor that lapsed in the 1990s, according to Justin Levitt, a professor at Loyola Law School in Los Angeles. But “the regulations are designed to give the special counsel a great degree of independence - decisions can be overridden but if they are, to make sure that Congress knows about them,” Levitt said. Rosenstein appointed Mueller because Attorney General Jeff Sessions had to recuse himself from involvement in Russia-related probes because he had not told Congress about his own contacts with Russian officials. *It would be difficult to fire Mueller from the job. Only the attorney general - or in this case Rosenstein, as the acting attorney general in matters related to Russia - has the authority to fire a special counsel. Justice Department regulations state that a special counsel can only be removed “for cause,” such as misconduct, conflict of interest or dereliction of duty, Levitt said. Though Rosenstein, like Comey, serves at the pleasure of the president and could be removed without cause at any time, Levitt cautioned that doing so in order to jeopardize Mueller’s probe would come at a high political cost. “Each of those actions will come with increasing public and congressional scrutiny,” Levitt said.

Summary: फैक्टबॉक्सः अमेरिकी न्याय विभाग की रूस की विशेष सलाहकार जांच


NEW YORK (Reuters) - Add the juggernaut that is Donald J. Trump to the list of what-ifs that is worrying Wall Street. A growing realization that the unpredictable New York real estate developer is in a position to win the Republican nomination and then battle Hillary Clinton for the White House in November’s election has caused some investors to sell U.S. stocks. They fear having such a wild-card president could trigger trade wars, hurt the economy and add a lot of market volatility. “As the market rarely feasts on lack of predictability - Trump represents a nightmare for investors this year,” said hedge fund manager Douglas Kass of Seabreeze Partners Management Inc, who said last week that he was adding to his existing short bet on the U.S. stock market in part because of Trump’s increasingly strong position in the race.  Trump’s statements on business and Wall Street don’t neatly fit into one ideological worldview, but if anything, they are seen as isolationist in a globally connected world. He can also suddenly pick on businesses over various issues, such as his call for a boycott of Apple Inc’s (AAPL.O) products after the tech giant refused to help the FBI unlock the iPhone used by one of the San Bernardino shooters.      “The election this year is the height of uncertainty,” said Phil Orlando, a senior portfolio manager and chief equity strategist at Federated Investors in New York, which manages $351 billion. He said political concerns - personified by Trump’s emergence as a frontrunner - are one of the main reasons why he began reducing equity exposure in mid-January.  There are, of course, plenty of other factors having an impact on U.S. financial markets. U.S. stocks rallied on Tuesday after strong U.S. factory and construction data suggested the economy was regaining momentum. That was even as investors contemplated expectations that Trump would do very well in 11 states holding Republican primary or caucus elections on this Super Tuesday.      Trump’s rhetoric mixes populist criticism of immigration policy, Wall Street behavior, and other countries’ trade policies, while also citing support for business-friendly efforts such as lower taxation. The lack of detail from Trump about his policies and how he would implement them is a particular worry for investors.      “Trump has been light on policy substance so it’s very difficult for the markets to handicap,” said Dave Lafferty, chief market strategist at Natixis Global Asset Management, which manages $870.3 billion in assets. He expects market volatility to rise if Trump extends his lead in Tuesday’s elections.     Some investors are particularly concerned about Trump’s nationalist rhetoric, saying it is potentially destructive to a global economy that is already struggling. If it reduces trade flows then it could also hamper U.S. and global growth and hurt U.S. company profits. The real estate investor proposes labeling China a currency manipulator and ending what he calls China’s illegal export subsidies and theft of U.S. intellectual property. He also wants to penalize companies who move jobs from the U.S. to Mexico by hitting them with high tariffs if they want to export back to the U.S., as well as build a wall at the Mexican border to prevent the flow of illegal immigrants. “In areas of trade policy and foreign affairs lies the greatest uncertainty,” Kass said. “Trump is not likely to be market-friendly in any of these policy areas.” In response, Trump’s spokeswoman Hope Hicks said in an email to Reuters that the same crowd criticizing the Republican Party’s top candidate had been responsible for causing the last worldwide recession and economic meltdown in 2007-2008.      “They have zero credibility,” said Hicks. “Mr. Trump will restore confidence to the global markets by ending runaway spending and borrowing, restoring trade balance and fairness, and bringing wealth to America’s middle class.” Investors had, for some time, been concerned about the strength of Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders’ insurgent campaign for the Democratic nomination against former Secretary of State Clinton, given he declares himself to be a democratic socialist and has said Wall Street’s business model is fraudulent. With recent losses to Clinton in Democratic contests in South Carolina and Nevada, he is now seen as less likely to win the nomination. Trump’s plans include ideas that traditionally come from Republican candidates, such as lowering the corporate tax rate, simplifying the tax code, and as his web site puts it, cutting the deficit through “eliminating waste, fraud and abuse” and “growing the economy to increase tax revenues.”      “I think markets will like Trump on the taxes issue since he favors lower rates and a permanent change in repatriation rules,” said David Kotok, chairman and chief investment officer at Cumberland Advisors in Sarasota, Florida, which manages $2 billion in assets. Still, financial advisers say that Trump’s plans to do away with the so-called carried interest tax loophole - which gives hedge fund and private equity managers preferential tax treatment on much of their income - would prompt more selling if he begins to climb in national polls against Clinton.     Jeffrey Gundlach, the co-founder and CEO of bond investing and trading powerhouse DoubleLine Capital, said that Trump has a history of being “comfortable with a lot of debt and leverage,” and that won’t impede him from spending heavily. He said he believes Trump’s pledge to spend heavily on the military makes defense stocks a good investment play.     Others see such spendthrift tendencies more darkly.     David Ader, chief government bond strategist at CRT Capital Group in Stamford, Connecticut, said Trump’s history raises questions about his ability to run an organization as unwieldy and complex as the government. The businessman has in the past filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection for the Trump Taj Mahal casino and Trump Plaza Hotel.  Ader says the uncertainty would cause investors to flock to safe-haven U.S. Treasuries should Trump take office.  “It’s one thing to run casinos that have gone bankrupt, it’s another to run a country and its foreign policy,” he said.      Whether he would enjoy the support of the Senate and House of Representatives is a critical question, and will determine how many of his policy pronouncements can be turned into legislation. Congress could act as a brake if Trump gets the presidency and behaves as wildly as Trump the candidate. He clearly does not have the full support of a number of key Republican senators and would be unlikely to get much Democratic support for many measures.         Todd Morgan, senior managing partner at wealth management firm Bel Air Investments Advisors in Los Angeles, said that the increasing likelihood that Trump will be the Republican nominee is one reason why he has raised cash in some client portfolios over the past four months. He would likely sell more if it looks like Trump will win the general election, he said.      “It’s like a scale and you keep dropping more weights on the balance everyday, and the political uncertainty is becoming a bigger and bigger weight,” he said.      For more on the 2016 presidential race, see the Reuters blog, "Tales from the Trail" (here).

Summary: वॉल स्ट्रीट की बड़ी लघु फिल्मः राष्ट्रपति डोनाल्ड जे. ट्रम्प


SAN FRANCISCO/WASHINGTON (Reuters) - More than a dozen Democratic attorneys general on Thursday sought to intervene to defend a key part of the Obamacare healthcare law - subsidy payments to insurance companies - which is under threat in a court case. The 16 attorneys general, led by California Attorney General Xavier Becerra and New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman, filed a motion to intervene in the case pending in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. The case, which dates back to the Obama administration, was filed by the Republican-led House of Representatives against the federal government in an effort to cut off subsidy payments to insurers for the individual plans created by the Affordable Care Act, often called Obamacare. The subsidies payments help cover out-of-pocket medical expenses for low-income Americans. “The stakes are very high. In Maryland we have more than 400,000 people who depend on the Affordable Care Act to get normal healthcare. It sounds alarming, but it’s true: lives are at stake,” said Maryland Attorney General Brian Frosh, who signed on to the filing. Trump has repeatedly threatened to withhold the payments to insurers, which amount to about $7 billion this year, and referred to them as a “bailout.”  The attorneys general cited in the court filing Trump’s own words vowing to let Obamacare “explode” as part of the reasoning for their intervention. Trump has made it clear he views decisions on health insurance for millions of Americans “as little more than political bargaining chips,” the court filing said. The situation is extremely urgent, the Democratic officials argued, because state insurance regulators are making critical choices that will shape their insurance markets for the next year. Several insurers, including Aetna (AET.N) and Humana (HUM.N), have largely left the Obamacare exchanges, citing a pool of patients who are sicker than expected and therefore more expensive. Insurers have also repeatedly called on the Trump administration to fund the cost-sharing subsidies.  Attorneys general and proponents of Obamacare have said the threats to withhold the payments have already wreaked havoc in the marketplaces and are part of the reason some healthcare consumers have seen double-digit rate increases.  Democratic attorneys general have emerged as significant opponents to the Trump administration. They took a lead role to successfully block Trump’s executive orders restricting travel from some Muslim-majority countries, and they are also resisting efforts to roll back environmental regulations. The attorney general from Kentucky, a deeply conservative state, is among those Democrats joining the court filing even as the state’s Republican governor has pledged to rollback a Medicaid expansion made possible by Obamacare.  In May 2016, a U.S. judge ruled in favor of the Republicans in the subsidies case, finding that the Obama administration needed explicit congressional approval. The Obama administration appealed before Trump took office, leaving the new administration to ponder how to proceed. The appeals court put the litigation on hold after the November presidential election at the request of the Republican House lawmakers.  The motion to intervene may not be granted by the court. In February, the same court rejected a similar motion filed by Democratic attorneys general seeking to help defend the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau in a legal battle that could defang the agency. The litigation could become moot if Congress passes new healthcare legislation to replace Obamacare. The House passed a bill, called the American Health Care Act, earlier this month. The Senate recently began writing its own version of the bill but has warned it could take months to pass.  The Trump administration has taken action over the past several months to undercut Obamacare through regulatory authority. It backed off enforcing the individual mandate, which requires everyone to purchase health insurance or else pay a penalty, tightened enrollment in Obamacare markets and has enabled people to sign up for insurance plans outside of healthcare.gov, the flagship site of Obamacare that the Obama administration heavily advertised.

Summary: डेमोक्रेटिक अटॉर्नी जनरल ने ओबामाकेयर मामले में हस्तक्षेप करने की मांग की


WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Donald Trump’s choice for national security adviser, retired Vice Admiral Robert Harward, has turned down the offer, a senior White House official said on Thursday. Harward was offered the job after Michael Flynn was fired by Trump on Monday for misleading Vice President Mike Pence over his conversations with Russia’s ambassador to the United States. The White House official said Harward cited family and financial reasons for opting not to take the job. Harward is a senior executive at Lockheed Martin. Two sources familiar with the decision said Harward turned down the job in part because he wanted to bring in his own team. That put him at odds with Trump, who had told Flynn’s deputy, K.T. McFarland, that she could stay. Trump appeared to refer to Harward earlier in the day at a presidential news conference, saying: “I have somebody that I think will be outstanding for the position.” The president also made clear why he asked Flynn to resign, saying it was because the retired lieutenant general had not been completely truthful with Pence about his conversations with the Russian ambassador to the United States, Sergei Kislyak. “The thing is, he didn’t tell our vice president properly, and then he said he didn’t remember. So either way, it wasn’t very satisfactory to me,” Trump said.

Summary: राष्ट्रीय सुरक्षा सलाहकार के लिए ट्रम्प के चयन ने प्रस्ताव को ठुकरा दियाः व्हाइट हाउस अधिकारी


MOSCOW (Reuters) - Opposition leader Alexei Navalny announced on Wednesday a series of rallies across Russia in January to press home his call for a boycott of next year s presidential election, a move likely to draw a sharp response from the Kremlin and police. Navalny unveiled his plan hours after President Vladimir Putin, who polls suggest is a shoo-in for re-election, registered his candidacy at the central election commission ahead of the March 18 vote.  The commission ruled on Monday that Navalny was not eligible to run against Putin due to a suspended prison sentence.  A furious Navalny, who says the sentence was part of a fabricated case designed to thwart his political ambitions, responded by calling for an election boycott. That prompted the Kremlin to demand an investigation to determine whether his statement broke the law. On Wednesday, Navalny upped the ante, saying he and his supporters would organize nationwide rallies on Jan. 28 in 85 towns and cities, including Moscow and St Petersburg, to support his call for an election boycott.  We refuse to call the reappointment of Putin an election,  Navalny said in a statement on his website.   We are not going to vote and will convince everyone around us not to vote. We are going to campaign (for a boycott) with all our might.  A boycott could pose a problem for the Kremlin which is keen to ensure a high turnout in the election to help confer legitimacy on Putin s expected victory amid some signs of apathy among voters. Under Russian law, the time and place of rallies must be agreed with the authorities who have often declined to authorize them in the past, citing conflicting events or security concerns. When the opposition has gone ahead anyway, the police have broken up rallies by force and detained attendees.        Polls show that Putin, who has led Russia for 18 years as either president or prime minister, is on course to comfortably win another six-year term, allowing him to rule until 2024, when he ll turn 72. The former KGB officer is running as an independent, a move seen as a way of strengthening his image as a  father of the nation  rather than as a party political figure. The ruling United Russia party, which he once led and which controls three quarters of seats in the lower house of parliament, has said it will support him, as will Just Russia, a pro-government center-left group. Allies laud Putin for restoring national pride and expanding Moscow s global clout with interventions in Syria and Ukraine. But Navalny says Putin has been in power too long and that his support is artificially maintained by a biased state media and an unfair system which excludes genuine opponents.   Navalny has made a name for himself by successfully leveraging social media and conducting high profile corruption investigations into senior officials. He has also organized some of the biggest anti-government protests in years. Opinion polls, whose accuracy Navalny dismisses, put his support in single digits while giving Putin an approval rating of around 80 percent.

Summary: पुतिन के आलोचक नवलनी ने चुनाव बहिष्कार रैलियों का आह्वान किया


COPENHAGEN (Reuters) - Swedish journalist Kim Wall died when she was accidentally hit by a heavy hatch cover on board a home-made submarine, the Danish owner of the vessel testified in court on Tuesday. Peter Madsen, who denies killing Wall, said he was holding the hatch for her but it slipped and hit her head as they sailed in the strait between Denmark and Sweden last month on the UC3 Nautilus submarine he had built.  Madsen, 46, was speaking in court after being charged with killing the Swedish journalist on the submarine and mutilating her body   a case bearing many of the attributes of the region s popular Nordic Noir books and films. It could mean a sentence of five years to life in prison for Madsen, if found guilty. The court on Tuesday ordered a psychiatric evaluation and that Madsen be kept in custody for four weeks. In its preliminary investigation, the court had ordered Madsen detained until Tuesday on the lesser charge of involuntary manslaughter. Madsen said Wall s death was an accident. With the vessel at the surface, he said he had crawled out through the hatch and was standing on top, while holding it open  to let Wall follow him. At that moment, the submarine was rocked by a wave from another boat.  I lose my foothold and the hatch shuts,  he told the Copenhagen court, saying Wall was knocked to the floor.  There was a pool of blood where she had landed.  A prosecutor also read earlier testimony from behind closed doors in which Madsen said the impact had fractured the journalist s skull and killed her. Madsen said he tried to bury her at sea but denied mutilating her body, and added that he had contemplated killing himself while still on board. Wall, a 30-year-old freelance journalist who was researching a story on Madsen, went missing after he took her out to sea in his 17-metre (56-foot) submarine on Aug. 10. On Aug. 23, police identified a headless female torso that washed ashore in Copenhagen as Wall s. The cause of her death has not been determined. In court, Madsen denied having amputated her limbs and said he dropped her  whole  body into the water, several hours after her death, after having a sleep because he was  tired and exhausted . He admitted that he wanted to  bury her at sea  by attaching metal to the body in order for it to sink.   I had no contact with the body and didn t want a dead body in my submarine,  Madsen told the court.  I put a rope around her feet to drag her out of the hatch,  he said, adding that he was crying during this operation.  I am suicidal at this stage (and) thought a fitting end for Peter Madsen would be on board the Nautilus,  he said.  I was in a condition where I decided I couldn t continue the life I had been living.  He changed his mind, he said, because he wanted to see his wife and three cats. The submarine is one of three Madsen had built and one of the largest privately built ones in the world. It could carry eight people and weighed 40 tonnes fully equipped. A day after taking Wall out to sea, Madsen was rescued in a navy operation after deliberately sinking the vessel.

Summary: 'आत्मघाती' डेनिश पनडुब्बी के मालिक का कहना है कि हैच कवर से पत्रकार की हत्या कर दी गई


WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. House of Representatives Speaker Paul Ryan, the top Republican in Congress, said he does not want President Donald Trump to work with Democrats on new legislation for revamping the country’s health insurance system, commonly called Obamacare. In an interview with “CBS This Morning” that will air on Thursday, Ryan said he fears the Republican Party, which failed last week to come together and agree on a healthcare overhaul, is pushing the president to the other side of the aisle so he can make good on campaign promises to redo Obamacare. “I don’t want that to happen,” Ryan said, referring to Trump’s offer to work with Democrats. Carrying out those reforms with Democrats is “hardly a conservative thing,” Ryan said, according to interview excerpts released on Wednesday. “I don’t want government running health care. The government shouldn’t tell you what you must do with your life, with your healthcare,” he said. On Tuesday, Trump told senators attending a White House reception that he expected lawmakers to reach a deal “very quickly” on healthcare, but he did not offer specifics. “I think it’s going to happen because we’ve all been promising - Democrat, Republican - we’ve all been promising that to the American people,” he said. Trump said after the failure of the Republican plan last week that Democrats, none of whom supported the bill, would be willing to negotiate new healthcare legislation because Obamacare is destined to “explode.”

Summary: रयान ने स्वास्थ्य सेवा पर डेमोक्रेट के साथ काम करने के लिए ट्रम्प का विरोध किया


WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Even as thousands of additional American troops head to Afghanistan, a U.S. government watchdog is warning that tens of billions of dollars could be wasted unless changes are made in the training of Afghan security forces. Deficiencies in the Afghan forces, including the military and police, are getting renewed attention after U.S. President Donald Trump s administration decided to send more than 3,000 additional troops to the country where the United States has been engaged in its longest war. Washington has spent $70 billion training Afghan forces since 2002, and is still spending more than $4 billion a year, according to a report from the Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction, or SIGAR, published on Thursday.  Despite those sums, Afghan security forces are struggling to prevent advances by Taliban insurgents more than 16 years after the United States invaded Afghanistan to topple the Islamist Taliban government that gave al Qaeda the sanctuary where it plotted the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks. According to U.S. estimates, government forces control less than 60 percent of Afghanistan, with almost half the country either contested or under the control of insurgents. The report said U.S. forces focused on carrying out military operations during the initial years after the 2001 invasion, rather than developing the Afghan army and police. When the United States and NATO did look to develop the security forces, they did so with little input from senior Afghan officials, according to the report. At one point, the report said, training for Afghan police officials used Power Point slides from U.S. and NATO operations in the Balkans.  The presentations were not only of questionable relevance to the Afghan setting, but also overlooked the high levels of illiteracy among the police,  the report said. John Sopko, the head of SIGAR, said that one U.S. officer watched TV shows such as  Cops  and  NCIS  to understand what to teach Afghan officials. Sopko said the U.S. government approach to Afghanistan lacked a  whole of government approach  in which different agencies such as the State Department and Pentagon coordinate efforts. The inability of embassy officials in Kabul to venture far outside their secure compound also affected oversight and coordination, he said. The goal of U.S. policy remains enabling local forces to defeat the Taliban and secure the country so economic development can proceed.  Victory would look like people in the Government of Afghanistan (being able to) handle this threat from the terrorists, using their own security forces, with international mentors probably there for many years to come,  U.S. Defense Secretary Jim Mattis said recently. Michael Kugelman, a South Asia specialist at the Woodrow Wilson Center, a Washington think tank, said that while the Afghan forces had major shortcomings, including their ability to collect intelligence and hold territory, their progress should not be overlooked.   It is easy to forget the progress that the security forces have made amid all the doomsday rhetoric, but there have been very real improvements in the Afghan security forces. For instance, the special forces have become jewel of the Afghan security forces,  Kugelman said. Afghan President Ashraf Ghani said on Wednesday the country s army was not only better trained and profiting from a new generation of soldiers but had gained experience after huge cuts in the U.S.-led international force under former U.S. President Barack Obama forced Afghans to assume a bigger role in the fighting.

Summary: अमेरिकी सरकार की निगरानी संस्था ने अफगान प्रशिक्षण प्रयासों में बदलाव का आह्वान किया


PARIS/ALGIERS (Reuters) - French President Emmanuel Macron is likely to use a visit to Algeria on Wednesday to look to the future and turn the page on  the colonial past, but stop short of apologizing for his country s actions as some demand. The trauma of the 1954-1962 independence war, in which  hundreds of thousands of Algerians were killed and tortured was used on both sides, has left deep scars. Former French leader Francois Hollande sought a more conciliatory tone describing his country s colonization of Algeria as  brutal and unfair  and Macron is unlikely to go further. With President Abdelaziz Bouteflika rarely seen in public since a 2013 stroke, Macron will focus on the generational shift and importance of enhanced economic and security within that context.  On a visit to Algeria in February as a candidate, Macron, 39, already shocked many at home when he said France s 132-year colonial rule was a  crime against humanity.   The president had strong words. It was appreciated by Algerians, but today the idea is to turn the page and build a new relationship with Algeria,  a French presidential source said, adding that youth was his key message. During a three-day tour in Africa last week Macron again addressed the colonial past. While recognizing the crimes of the European colonizers, he also pointed to the positives of the era and made clear that his generation should not be blamed. Facing high unemployment, low oil prices, austerity and political uncertainty, Algeria s youth is likely to warm to Macron s call to look to the future more than the war veterans.  It s very difficult to have a relationship between one partner (Macron) that is young, vibrant and wants renewal and the other partner (Bouteflika) who represents such a severe contrast,  said Pierre Vermeren, a North Africa specialist at the Paris Sorbonne university. Economic ties between the two countries have marginally progressed since 2012 and France is now behind China as the main partner. Annual trade stands at about 8 billion euros compared with 6.36 billion five years ago. More than 400,000 Algerians are given visas for France annually, almost twice as many as in 2012.   If Macron makes it easier to get a visa, that will be great for me. As for the history stuff I really don t care,  said Slimane Khalifa, 25 who is an engineer at a state firm. POST-BOUTEFLIKA TEST Political jostling around Bouteflika has intensified as his health has waned, fuelling questions about the transition if he steps down before his term ends in 2019. With more than 4 million people of Algerian origin in France, all with ties to the North African state, any upheaval across the Mediterranean would have a serious impact on Paris.   Macron s biggest foreign policy test could be Algeria because the state of Bouteflika s health is a worry and potentially what happens after could have huge ramifications on us,  said a French diplomat. Macron s  friendship  visit, downgraded from an official visit, is also an opportunity to appease some anger in Algiers after he traveled first to arch-rival Morocco earlier this year, a taboo for previous French leaders. Many hope Macron will go one step further when it comes to the past.  France should not only apologize, but also pay for its crimes during occupation,  Lakhdar Brahimi, retired diplomat and close friend of the 80-year-old Bouteflika said last week. Brahimi, like Bouteflika, belongs to the war veterans who fought against French occupation and among that generation Macron is seen as his last chance for history to remember Bouteflika as the man who obtained an official apology. However, it remains a sensitive issue across France and Macron s comments in February led to a drop in poll ratings and uproar across various strands of society forcing him to clarify his stance. With the generational change yet to take place, Macron for now needs Algeria to help resolve the crisis in neighboring Libya and to prevent Islamist militants from stoking problems in the Sahel region, where some 4,000 French troops, roam close to the Algerian border.  All the Algerians want is for France and the Barkhane force to get out of Mali and away from its border,  said a senior French diplomat.

Summary: अल्जीरिया का भविष्य अनिश्चित होने के कारण मैक्रों की यात्रा के दौरान अतीत पर ध्यान देने की संभावना नहीं है


WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. House Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi said on Thursday that Representative John Conyers should resign after sexual harassment allegations were brought against him, saying “zero tolerance means consequences for everyone.” Pelosi said the situation with Conyers, the longest-serving member in the U.S. House of Representatives, was “very sad” but the allegations against him were “serious, disappointing and very credible” and “the brave women who came forward are owed justice.” “Congressman Conyers should resign,” Pelosi said.

Summary: अमेरिकी सदन की डेमोक्रेट नेता पेलोसी ने कहा कि कॉनयर्स को इस्तीफा दे देना चाहिए


(Reuters) - A gift-wrapped package addressed to U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin’s home in a posh Los Angeles neighborhood that was suspected of being a bomb was instead filled with horse manure, police told local media. The package was found Saturday evening in a next-door neighbor’s driveway in Bel Air, the Los Angeles Police Department told the Los Angeles Times and KNBC television, the NBC affiliate in Los Angeles. The package also included a Christmas card with negative comments about President Donald Trump and the new U.S. tax law signed by Trump last week. Reuters could not reach LAPD officials for comment on Sunday. An LAPD bomb squad X-rayed the package before opening it and found the horse manure inside, police told local media. Aerial footage from KNBC showed officers investigating a large box in wrapping paper, then dumping a large amount of what they later identified as the manure and opening the card that was included inside.  Mnuchin, who KNBC said was not home when the package was discovered, is a former Goldman Sachs Group Inc executive and Hollywood film financier. A road in Bel Air was closed for about two hours, KNBC reported. The U.S. Secret Service is also investigating the incident, according to the TV station.

Summary: कोष सचिव म्नुचिन को घोड़े की खाद का उपहार में लपेटा हुआ डिब्बा भेजा गया थाः रिपोर्ट


LONDON (Reuters) - Prime Minister Theresa May will make a speech on Britain s future relationship with the European Union on Sept. 22 in the Italian city of Florence, her spokesman said on Wednesday. The speech will focus on what kind of ties Britain wants to have with the EU after it leaves the bloc in March 2019 - something British negotiators have been keen to discuss with a so-far reluctant Brussels.   The prime minister wanted to give a speech on the UK s future relationship with Europe in its historical heart,  May s spokesman told reporters.  She will underline the government s wish for a deep and special partnership with the European Union once the UK leaves the EU.  Negotiations on the terms of the divorce with the EU have made limited progress since May started a two-year countdown to Brexit. That has prompted warnings from the EU that discussions on the future relationship between the two could be pushed back from their intended start time of October. The September round of Brexit talks has been pushed back by a week until the end of the month, in what EU diplomats said was a move designed to allow May to make her speech. Britain said the rescheduling was to allow both sides more time to make progress. May s speech could add weight to the British push to move talks forward, which ministers say is a crucial step in providing certainty for businesses worried about how Brexit will affect their ability to trade across borders. Her choice of venue - a city celebrated as the birthplace of the Renaissance period and made wealthy by international trade and banking - is a nod to the kind of free-trading relationship Britain wants to maintain with Europe and develop globally. Sceptics have said the British approach amounts to cherry picking the benefits of EU membership without paying for them.  The UK has had deep cultural and economic ties spanning centuries with Florence - a city known for its historical trading power,  the spokesman said.   As the UK leaves the EU we will retain those close ties. As the prime minister has said many times, we are leaving the EU, not Europe.

Summary: ब्रिटेन के प्रधानमंत्री 22 सितंबर को इटली में ब्रेक्सिट भाषण देंगेः प्रवक्ता


(Reuters) - Growing numbers of U.S. states are seeking to ensure that women have continued access to free birth control in case the insurance benefit is dropped as part of President-elect Donald Trump’s vow to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act. The 2010 law, popularly called Obamacare, requires most health insurance plans to provide coverage for birth control without a patient co-payment, which can be as much as $50 per month for birth control pills or $1,000 for long-acting contraceptives such as intrauterine devices. California, Maryland, Vermont and Illinois since 2014 have enacted statutes codifying the Affordable Care Act’s contraception mandate in state law and expanding on the federal law’s requirements. Democratic lawmakers in New York, Minnesota, Colorado and Massachusetts said they are pursuing similar measures this year, with Obamacare under mortal threat in Washington. New York’s Democratic attorney general, Eric Schneiderman, on Wednesday introduced such a measure in his state’s legislature that would expand on the Obamacare contraception mandate. “Women across New York are very concerned that Republican efforts to repeal the ACA will mean the loss of the contraception on which they rely,” Schneiderman said. “I won’t hesitate to act to protect New Yorkers’ rights - including the right to choose, and the right to birth control - no matter what a Trump administration does,” Schneiderman added, referring to abortion rights. Trump, who succeeds Democratic President Barack Obama on Jan. 20, and his fellow Republicans in Congress have made dismantling Obamacare their “first order of business,” as Vice President-elect Mike Pence put it on Jan. 4. [nL1N1EU0RW] Republicans in Congress have not presented a detailed proposal for repealing and replacing the law but many Republicans and religious conservatives have opposed the Obamacare contraception mandate. [nL1N1EU0RW] Twenty-eight of the 50 states currently have laws requiring private insurers to provide coverage for birth control. But not all the laws affect all insurance plans, and only a few mandate cost-free birth control. OUT-OF-POCKET EXPENSES The Obamacare contraception mandate has applied since 2012 to most new insurance plans including employer-provided coverage. In 2013, for example, the mandate saved U.S. women more than $1.4 billion in out-of-pocket expenses for birth control pills, according to a report by University of Pennsylvania researchers. Almost 6.9 million privately insured U.S. women used the pill that year. The legislative move by some states, most of them Democratic governed, is designed to clear up uncertainty for some of the 55 million women who now have access to free contraceptives and related treatments under the Affordable Care Act. Conservatives also have chipped away at the Obamacare mandate in court. The U.S. Supreme Court ruled in 2014 that forcing family-owned businesses to pay for employee insurance coverage for birth control ran afoul of another federal law safeguarding religious freedom. The Supreme Court last May sent another legal challenge by nonprofit Christian employers back to lower courts to reconsider the matter after tossing out their rulings favoring the Obama administration. [nL2N18D0PL] “I think it is even more important now,” said Colorado state Representative Susan Lontine, who last year co-sponsored a contraception coverage bill in her state’s legislature that did not get passed but she expects to be resurrected in 2017. “We don’t know what will happen on the federal level.” California in 2014 became the first state to pass a contraception mandate that went further than the Obamacare language. Maryland, Vermont and Illinois last year passed laws that also eliminated co-pays for vasectomies and allowed women to fill a birth control prescription for at least six months rather than one to three.  The New York legislation would allow women to fill multiple months of a birth control prescription, prohibit private insurers from “medical management” reviews that could limit or delay contraception coverage, and provide coverage for vasectomies without a co-pay. Within a matter of months, the Trump administration even without congressional action could drop contraception from Obamacare’s list of preventive services that health insurance plans must cover without out-of-pocket costs, said Laurie Sobel, senior policy analyst at the nonprofit Kaiser Family Foundation. If repealed, some employers might choose to maintain the coverage without a co-pay because it is a relatively inexpensive benefit popular with employees. The proportion of privately insured women who paid nothing out of pocket for birth control pills increased from 15 percent in the fall of 2012 to 67 percent in the spring of 2014 during the time when the coverage went into wide effect, according to the Guttmacher Institute research organization. The no-cost contraceptives coverage also spurred women to switch to long-acting methods such as the IUD, which is offered in the United States by Bayer, Teva, Allergan and Medicines360, studies have found. More than 77 percent of women and 64 percent of men support the no-cost contraceptives coverage, according to a 2015 Washington Post/Kaiser Family Foundation survey.

Summary: अमेरिकी राज्यों ने गर्भनिरोधक कवरेज पर विचार किया क्योंकि ओबामाकेयर निरस्त कर रहा है


DHAKA (Reuters) - Bangladesh and Myanmar agreed on Monday to set up a  working group  to plan the repatriation of more than half a million Rohingya Muslim refugees who have fled to Bangladesh to escape an army crackdown, the Bangladeshi foreign minister said. The United Nations has called the exodus of 507,000 Rohingya since late August the world s fastest-developing refugee emergency, and says Buddhist-majority Myanmar is engaging in ethnic cleansing against its Rohingya Muslim minority. Myanmar denies that. It says its forces are battling Rohingya  terrorists  who triggered the latest wave of violence with coordinated attacks on the security forces on Aug. 25. Myanmar says more than 500 people have been killed since, most of them insurgents, whom it has accused of attacking civilians and setting most of the fires that have reduced to ashes more than half of more than 400 Rohingya villages in the north of Rakhine State. Bangladesh Foreign Minister Abul Hassan Mahmood Ali said he and Myanmar official Kyaw Tint Swe had agreed in their talks to set up the working group to draw up plans for repatriation.  We are looking forward to a peaceful solution to the crisis,  Ali told reporters.  Kyaw Tint Swe did not speak to the media and government spokesmen in Myanmar were not immediately available for comment. Waves of Rohingya have taken refuge in Bangladesh over the years complaining of persecution, in particular in the late 1970s, the early 1990s and in October last year, following smaller insurgent attacks on the security forces. The neighbors have agreed on repatriation plans before, but the fundamental problem - the status of Rohingya in Myanmar - remains unsettled. The Rohingya are denied citizenship and classified as illegal immigrants, despite claiming roots in Myanmar that go back centuries, with communities marginalized and subjected to bouts of communal violence over the years. Ali, asked about agreements in the past having little impact, said:  This time we want to be hopeful.  In Geneva, U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees Filippo Grandi told a meeting problems of statelessness had to be tackled.  Nowhere is the link between statelessness and displacement more evident than with the Rohingya community,  he said. The crisis over the treatment of the Rohingya is the biggest problem Myanmar leader Aung San Suu Kyi has had to face since forming a government last year after winning a landmark 2015 election. The Nobel peace laureate, in an address to the nation last month, said Myanmar was ready to start a verification process under a 1993 agreement with Bangladesh and  refugees from this country will be accepted without any problem . But many refugees are gloomy about the prospects of going back, fearing they will not be able to furnish the documents they anticipate Myanmar will demand to prove they have a right to return. Myanmar has refused to grant access to a U.N. fact-finding mission but Suu Kyi last year appointed a team led by former U.N. secretary-general Kofi Annan to draw up recommendations on solving problems in Rakhine. The commission presented its recommendations on Aug. 24, a day before the insurgent attacks, among them a review of a law that links citizenship and ethnicity and leaves most Rohingya stateless. The panel also recommended that the government punish rights violations, ensure the right to freedom of movement and invest in infrastructure to lift the state out of poverty. Suu Kyi, in her address to the nation last month, said she was committed to the recommendations. There were already about 300,000 Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh before the latest exodus. In Myanmar, the government took a group of diplomats and senior U.N. officials to Rakhine to let them see the situation.  Maungdaw feels like a ghost town,  Swiss ambassador Paul Seger said on Twitter, as he arrived in a main town in the north of Rakhine. Myanmar has blocked most aid workers and the media from the area, despite calls from Western countries for access to deal with what aid groups fear is an unfolding humanitarian crisis. The diplomats were taken to various places including the Rohingya village of Ah Nauk Pyin, which Reuters reported last month was cut off and threatened by hostile Rakhine Buddhist neighbors. An itinerary of the trip referred to the report. After the visit, the United Nations repeated a call for an end to the violence, for access to the conflict zone for aid workers and for the safe return of refugees.   The U.N. delegation reiterated the need for a greater access for humanitarian and human rights actors to conduct comprehensive assessments the situation,  it said in a statement. It also said the media should have access. Suu Kyi has been accused by Western critics of not speaking out strongly enough on behalf of the long-persecuted minority and of defending the army action. She has no power over security policy under a military-drafted constitution.

Summary: बांग्लादेश और म्यांमार ने शरणार्थियों के प्रत्यावर्तन के लिए योजना तैयार करने पर सहमति व्यक्त कीः मंत्री


PRAGUE (Reuters) - Czech President Milos Zeman declared on Wednesday he was “very happy” with Donald Trump’s election victory, saying he cut through political correctness and addressed key issues like migration. Zeman, who is head of the NATO and European Union member state but does not steer day-to-day policies, endorsed Trump in September. “I would like to cordially congratulate Donald Trump. I had, as one of few European politicians, declared public support for this candidate... because I agree with his opinions on migration as well as the fight against Islamic terrorism,” Zeman told reporters in a rare press briefing at the Prague Castle. Zeman’s reaction chimed with Hungarian leader Viktor Orban but contrasted with shock in many European capitals. Unlike the current Czech center-left administration, Zeman shares Trump’s warm relations toward Russian leader Vladimir Putin and opposition to liberal and academic elites. “I appreciate Donald Trump’s public demeanor, he speaks clearly, sometimes roughly, but understandably, and avoids what is sometimes called political correctness,” Zeman said. He said the election showed American voters’ resistance to manipulation by the media, another frequent target of both Trump and Zeman. The Czech president said he had sent congratulations to Trump and invited him to visit the Czech Republic, the birthplace of Trump’s ex-wife Ivana. Earlier on Wednesday, Prime Minister Bohuslav Sobotka said Trump had won on “aggressive populism” but added he believed the United States would remain a reliable partner and ally.

Summary: चेक राष्ट्रपति ट्रम्प की जीत से बहुत खुश हैं, उन्होंने अपने विचार साझा किए


WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump renewed his threat to scrap NAFTA and ripped on trading partners Canada and Mexico in a tweet early on Sunday, days before the three countries were scheduled to hold a second round of negotiations on rewriting the 23-year-old agreement. “We are in the NAFTA (worst trade deal ever made) renegotiation process with Mexico & Canada. Both being very difficult, may have to terminate?” he wrote. In a separate Sunday morning tweet, Trump repeated his pledge that Mexico will eventually pay for his proposed border wall, saying the barrier is needed due to Mexico’s high crime rate. In response, Mexico’s foreign ministry issued a statement Sunday afternoon reiterating the country’s position that it will not “in any way or under any circumstance” pay for Trump’s signature border wall. The ministry added that overcoming violent crime associated with cross-border drug trafficking is the responsibility of both nations, pointing to the high demand for drugs in the United States from Mexico and other countries.   Trump, a Republican, promised during his campaign to build the wall and overhaul or eliminate the North American Free Trade Agreement, which he cast as killing jobs and exacerbating the U.S. deficit, and to adopt a more protectionist stance for trade generally.  The first five-day round of talks between the three countries concluded last Sunday, with all sides committing to follow an accelerated process in revamping the agreement, which was originally signed by former President Bill Clinton, a Democrat whose wife, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, ran against Trump in the 2016 election. The second round of NAFTA talks will kick off on Friday in Mexico City. Mexico’s negotiating position will continue to be “serious and constructive” and the country’s negotiators will not hash out differences “via social media or the press,” the foreign ministry’s statement said. Going into the next round of NAFTA talks, Trump has kept the heat turned up. Both Mexico and Canada have dismissed his musing in a Tuesday speech that “we’ll end up probably terminating NAFTA at some point” as a negotiating tactic.

Summary: ट्रंप ने अगले दौर की वार्ता के लिए नाफ्टा को रद्द करने की धमकी दी