WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Donald Trump on Tuesday scrapped an Obama-era program that protects from deportation immigrants brought illegally into the United States as children, delaying implementation until March and giving a gridlocked Congress six months to decide the fate of almost 800,000 young people. As the so-called Dreamers who have benefited from the five-year-old program were plunged into uncertainty, business and religious leaders, mayors, governors, Democratic lawmakers, unions, civil liberties advocates and former Democratic President Barack Obama all condemned Trump’s move. The action was announced not by Trump but by Jeff Sessions, his attorney general, who called the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program an unconstitutional overreach by Obama. There will be an “orderly, lawful wind-down,” Sessions said. Trump later issued a written statement saying that “I do not favor punishing children, most of whom are now adults, for the actions of their parents. But we must also recognize that we are (a) nation of opportunity because we are a nation of laws.” He denounced Obama’s program as an “amnesty-first approach” toward illegal immigrants and pressed his nationalist “America First” message, saying that despite concerns voiced by his critics about the fate of the Dreamers, “Above all else, we must remember that young Americans have dreams too.” On Tuesday evening, the Republican president tweeted that lawmakers now had six months to “legalize DACA” and that if they did not, he would “revisit this issue!” Obama issued his own statement calling Trump’s action a political decision, defending DACA’s legality and urging Congress to protect Dreamers. “This is about young people who grew up in America - kids who study in our schools, young adults who are starting careers, patriots who pledge allegiance to our flag. These Dreamers are Americans in their hearts, in their minds, in every single way but one: on paper,” Obama said. The Trump administration said nobody covered by the program, which provided work permits in addition to deportation protection and primarily benefits Hispanics, would be affected before March 5. Most people covered by DACA are in their 20s. Trump shifted responsibility to a Congress controlled by his fellow Republicans and said it was now up to lawmakers to pass immigration legislation that could address the fate of those protected by DACA who would be in danger of deportation. Trump and Sessions offered no details of the type of legislation they would want to see, and Trump’s spokeswoman offered only a broad outline. “I have a love for these people (DACA recipients), and hopefully now Congress will be able to help them and do it properly,” Trump later told reporters at the White House, adding: “I think it’s going to work out very well.”  Since Trump took office in January, Congress has been unable to pass any major legislation, most notably failing on a healthcare overhaul, and lawmakers have been bitterly divided over immigration in the past.  “President Trump’s decision to end DACA is a deeply shameful act of political cowardice and a despicable assault on innocent young people in communities across America,” said Nancy Pelosi, the top Democrat in the House of Representatives. The Democratic attorney general of Massachusetts, Maura Healey, said a coalition of states planned to file suit in the coming days to defend DACA, and one advocacy group announced its own legal action. “This is a sad day for our country,” added Facebook Inc (FB.O) founder Mark Zuckerberg. “The decision to end DACA is not just wrong. It is particularly cruel to offer young people the American Dream, encourage them to come out of the shadows and trust our government, and then punish them for it.”  Brad Smith, president of Microsoft Corp (MSFT.O), urged Congress to “put the humanitarian needs of these 800,000 people on the legislative calendar” before tax-cut legislation sought by Trump. Nearly 800,000 people stepped forward, admitted their illegal immigrant status and provided personal information to the government to apply for the DACA program. They now face the prospect of being deported starting in March. Dreamers are a fraction of the roughly 11 million illegal immigrants in the United States. “The cancellation of the DACA program is reprehensible,” the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops said in a statement. But White House spokeswoman Sarah Sanders said: “It’s not cold hearted for the president to uphold the law.” Trump said DACA recipients would not be deportation priorities unless they were criminals or gang members. Ending DACA was the latest action by Trump sure to alienate Hispanic Americans, a growing segment of the U.S. population and an increasingly important voting bloc. Most of the immigrants protected by DACA came from Mexico and other Latin American countries. The Mexican government said it “profoundly laments” Trump’s decision to end DACA and pledged to strengthen efforts to guarantee consular protections for affected Mexican citizens. The Homeland Security Department will provide a limited window - until Oct. 5 - for some DACA recipients whose work permits expire before March 5 to apply to renew those permits. In addition, the department will adjudicate any new DACA requests, or renewal requests, accepted as of Tuesday. That would mean that some beneficiaries of DACA could work legally in the country through 2019. The administration said the president’s decision was prompted in part by a threat from several Republican state attorneys general, led by Texas, to file legal challenges in federal court if Trump did not act to end DACA. Late on Tuesday, Texas state Attorney General Ken Paxton said he withdrew the 10-state suit after Trump’s decision. House Speaker Paul Ryan called on lawmakers to find a long-term solution for the young people affected by the reversal of the program. Republican Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said Congress “will continue working on securing our border and ensuring a lawful system of immigration that works.” Republican Senator Lindsey Graham said there could be a winning formula by coupling legislation to provide legal status for Dreamers with additional border security measures, although he said support was lacking in Congress for Trump’s proposed border wall. Trump made a crackdown on illegal immigrants a centerpiece of his 2016 election campaign, promising to deport every illegal immigrant. The decision to end DACA is the latest action by Trump to erase key parts of his Democratic predecessor’s legacy. That includes pulling the United States out of the Paris climate accord, abandoning a 12-nation Pacific trade deal, seeking to dismantle the Obamacare healthcare law, rolling back environmental protections, reversing parts of Obama’s opening to Cuba and removing protections for transgender people.

Summary: ट्रम्प ने 'ड्रीमर' आप्रवासन कार्यक्रम को समाप्त किया, कांग्रेस पर जिम्मेदारी डाली


MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russian property developer Sergei Polonsky, who has been convicted of defrauding investors, plans to run in next year s presidential election, his campaign manager said on Wednesday. Polonsky is one of Russia s most flamboyant tycoons, known for once eating his tie after losing a wager and for pouring scorn on anyone worth less than a billion dollars. He is a divisive figure, with many Russians viewing him as a symbol of capitalist excess.  Russian President Vladimir Putin is the strong favorite to win the election, opinion polls show, though he has yet to announce his intention to run. Maxim Shingarkin, a former member of the Russian parliament, said he had signed up to be Polonsky s campaign manager.   Sergei Polonsky has confirmed that he is running for president of Russia,  Shingarkin said in a Twitter post.  I can promise a bone-rattling election campaign.   Russian news media quoted Polonsky as saying he was planning a presidential bid. In July a Moscow court found him guilty of fraud but allowed him to walk free, saying that too much time had elapsed since the crime for the sentence to have legal force. He had spent two years in detention in Moscow awaiting trial. It was not immediately clear if Polonsky s conviction would disqualify him from running for the presidency.   Other people planning to run in the presidential election in March next year are television personality Ksenia Sobchak, whose late father was Putin s boss in the early 1990s, and journalist Ekaterina Gordon.

Summary: जेल से रिहा हुए रूसी उद्योगपति ने राष्ट्रपति पद की दावेदारी की घोषणा की


WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. intelligence community has not initiated an assessment of the significance or impact of any information that President Donald Trump revealed in a meeting with Russia’s foreign minister, a top U.S. official said on Tuesday. “We have not initiated an assessment of that. There are procedures that we go through to determine when assessments … need to be made,” Director of National Intelligence Dan Coats told the Senate Armed Services Committee. Reuters reported a week ago that Trump disclosed highly classified information to Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and Russian Ambassador Sergei Kislyak about a planned Islamic State operation.

Summary: रूस को दिए गए ट्रम्प के किसी भी खुफिया खुलासे पर अमेरिका ने मूल्यांकन शुरू नहीं कियाः कोट्स


WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Senate Finance Committee on Thursday delayed a scheduled vote on President Donald Trump’s nominee for U.S. Trade Representative due to the lack of a quorum among committee members. Republican Senator Orrin Hatch, the committee’s chairman, said he hoped the nomination of Robert Lighthizer for the administration’s top trade negotiating job could be taken up after Congress’ two-week Easter break ends on April 24.     Senate confirmation of Lighthizer’s nomination has been delayed partly by demands from Democrats that the Finance Committee first advance a bill aimed at protecting retired coal miners’ pensions and health care benefits. Only one Democrat, Senator Ron Wyden, showed up for the start of the panel’s meeting on Thursday. Also contributing to delays were questions over whether Lighthizer, a veteran trade lawyer and Reagan-era deputy USTR, needs a congressional waiver from a 1995 law prohibiting USTR candidates from working on behalf of foreign governments. After leaving USTR but well before that law was passed, Lighthizer did some work for Brazil’s agriculture department in the late 1980s and assisted a law firm colleague who was advising a Chinese electronics industry group in the early 1990s. Lighthizer has strong support from both parties because of his pledges to strengthen enforcement of U.S. trade laws to stop unfairly dumped and subsidized imports, but the waiver issue has become a leverage point for Democrats on the miners’ pension bill. That measure seeks to transfer certain pension obligations to the federal government and provide funding to prevent some 22,800 retired coal miners from losing healthcare benefits at the end of April. Wyden said Democrats’ concerns needed to be addressed, but he was “confident that we can find a way to have a positive, strongly bipartisan markup of Mr. Lighthizer.”

Summary: सीनेट पैनल ने ट्रम्प के व्यापार उम्मीदवार लाइटहाइज़र पर मतदान में देरी की


(Reuters) - A U.S. judge in Wisconsin on Friday rejected a request by President-elect Donald Trump supporters to stop a recount of election votes while the Michigan Supreme Court denied an appeal by Green Party candidate Jill Stein to restart the state’s recount. The results of the Nov. 8 election have been challenged in three states by Green Party candidate Jill Stein, who finished fourth in the presidential poll. In Pennsylvania, the third state, a judge said he would rule on Monday on whether to allow a recount to go forward. Even if the recounts were carried out, they would be extremely unlikely to change the outcome of Trump’s win over Democrat Hillary Clinton. In Wisconsin, the Great America political action committee and Stop Hillary PAC had called on the court to halt the recount, which is more than 88 percent complete, according to the state elections commission. A commission spokesman said in an email that the recount was expected to be completed on Monday.  “The recount is an inherent part of what ensures the integrity of elections,” U.S. District Judge James Peterson said, according to court transcripts. Also on Friday, the Michigan Supreme Court, in a 3-2 ruling, denied Stein’s request to restart a recount, affirming a lower court ruling that she did not have grounds to mount the challenge. Although Clinton won the national popular vote, by 2.6 million according to the latest count, she lost to Trump in the Electoral College, the 538-person body chosen state-by-state that actually selects the president. Trump, who won a projected 306 electoral votes to Clinton’s 232, takes office on Jan. 20. Neither Stein nor Libertarian Party candidate Gary Johnson won any Electoral College votes. The three “Rust Belt” states narrowly supported Trump. The New York businessman and former reality TV star who has never previously held public office won by more than 68,000 votes in Pennsylvania and about 11,600 votes in Michigan, according to state figures. U.S. District Judge Paul Diamond in Philadelphia said at a hearing that he would return a ruling “first thing Monday morning” on whether he would grant a request for a partial recount of paper ballots and a forensic examination of voting computer systems before the national Dec. 13 certification deadline. Lawyers for the Green Party, the Trump campaign and the state argued the matter for three hours, with Stein’s supporters saying the state’s election process was so disorganized that state officials had not known the recount petition filing deadlines for some counties.

Summary: विस्कॉन्सिन के न्यायाधीश ने चुनाव की फिर से गिनती रोकने की कोशिश को खारिज कर दिया


WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. House of Representatives Speaker Paul Ryan said on Thursday he expected to have legislation to replace, as well as repeal, the Affordable Care Act this year. “Our legislating will occur this year,” Ryan, a Wisconsin Republican, said at a news briefing. “What date all of this gets phased in on is something we do not now know,” partly because the administration is not in office yet.

Summary: रयान का कहना है कि इस साल ओबामाकेयर की जगह कानून बनने की उम्मीद है


BRUSSELS (Reuters) - The EU executive urged Spain to talk to Catalan separatists on Monday, condemning violence but also calling for unity, a day after Spanish police beat people trying to vote in an independence referendum in Catalonia. Edging into a minefield it has tried hard to avoid, despite a danger for stability in Spain and the euro zone, the European Commission issued a cautiously balanced statement. It voiced trust in Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy s ability to manage this  internal matter , but also called for dialogue and reminded Madrid of a need to respect citizens  basic rights.  We call on all relevant players to now move very swiftly from confrontation to dialogue. Violence can never be an instrument in politics,  the Commission said in a statement read out by chief spokesman Margaritis Schinas, just before Catalan leader Carles Puigdemont asked for EU mediation. Pressed by reporters, Schinas declined to say specifically that the EU was condemning Spanish police tactics, though it was their actions at polling stations on Sunday which mostly shocked fellow Europeans and generated public pressure that saw other governments including Germany and France call for more dialogue. Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker spoke to Rajoy later on Monday after being in contact over the weekend, though the EU spokesman declined to say whether the Union would mediate, an unusual step for Brussels to take within one of the bloc s own member states. Aides said Juncker spelled out the Commission position and was also  in a listening mode . Donald Tusk, the former Polish prime minister who chairs summits of EU national leaders, said after his own conversation with Rajoy that he shared the Spanish premier s constitutional arguments but also appealed to him to find ways to prevent a further escalation and the use of force. The Commission statement also supported Madrid s line that the vote, which Catalan leaders said recorded a huge result for independence, was  not legal  under Spain s constitution. Brussels has in the past given little or no encouragement to separatist movements inside the European Union, whether those of the Catalans, Scots, Flemings or others.  These are times for unity and stability, not divisiveness and fragmentation,  it said. Any breakaway state would have to leave the EU and re-apply to join, the statement also noted. Even that could only happen if the split were amicable. This distinguishes Scotland, which held a referendum agreed with London in 2014, from Catalonia, where Spain s Constitutional Court has said the 1978 constitution forbids secession. For all the reluctance of other Europeans to be drawn into the dispute in public, there has been growing unease in Brussels about the way the conservative government in Madrid has handled the confrontation with Barcelona, reviving emotions rooted in 20th-century civil war and dictatorship. As pictures of heavily armoured Spanish police clubbing women on the ground stunned Europe on Sunday, the few governments that spoke out included those of Scotland, Slovenia, which emerged from the bloody collapse of Yugoslavia, and Belgium, where repeated rounds of devolution have averted a final split between French- and Dutch-speakers. On Monday, Berlin joined the calls for dialogue, warning against a  spiral of escalation . Germany s BDI industrial federation warned that splitting the highly industrialised region from Spain would be very damaging for both sides.

Summary: यूरोपीय संघ ने स्पेन से कैटलन से बात करने का आग्रह किया, हिंसा की निंदा की


WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump on Thursday agreed to expand the use of disaster aid to help rebuild Puerto Rico’s power grid and other infrastructure wrecked by Hurricane Maria, the White House said. In a unique agreement recognizing both the massive devastation on the island and its dire financial problems, aid from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) for infrastructure projects will be released in a faster, more flexible way than is typical after disasters, a senior White House official told Reuters. The plan, agreed to with Puerto Rico Governor Ricardo Rossello, will also provide for third-party advisers to estimate how much money is requires for big-ticket projects, and how it is spent - a provision aimed at protecting taxpayer dollars in what is expected to be a massive, long-term effort to rebuild the island. “We’re doing it in a way that grants flexibility, but also imposes a mutually agreed upon set of controls,” the official said in an interview. The new agreement will see FEMA cover 90 percent of the costs for rebuilding public infrastructure, up from the typical level of 75 percent. Puerto Rico - home to 3.4 million Americans - is in bankruptcy, struggling with $72 billion in debt. Its finances were put under federal control last year. Six weeks after Hurricane Maria hit, only about 30 percent of Puerto Rico’s power grid has been restored. Private sector estimates of total damage from Maria have ranged as high as $95 billion. The White House is expected to deliver a new request for disaster aid to the U.S. Congress in mid-November to help defray costs from Maria and two other major hurricanes - Harvey and Irma - as well as damage caused by wildfires in the western United States. It is not yet clear how big the federal tab for Puerto Rico will be. “Obviously it’s going to be a big dollar figure,” the official said. “I know there won’t be any balking at the amount of money needed from the administration.” Even with FEMA covering 90 percent of the costs, it could be difficult for the territorial government to put up its 10 percent. On top of its fiscal constraints, the storm has ground its economy - and tax revenues - to a halt. The federal government provided a $150 million loan in an aid package approved by Congress last month that can be used to help cover its share, the official said.         “We didn’t want to create the precedent of giving 100 percent in the grant program and then disincentivizing good stewardship,” the official said. The federal government will also use relatively new procedures created in 2013 after Hurricane Sandy known as “Section 428” in the Stafford Act, the law that provides for federal disaster aid. “It’s not been used on this scale before,” the official said. The procedures will allow Puerto Rico to estimate the costs of big projects up front - with help from third-party advisers - and draw down from approved grants, eliminating the slow and cumbersome process of being reimbursed for upfront spending on each segment. The agreement will also allow Puerto Rico to access hazard mitigation grants - normally tapped only outside of disasters - while rebuilding the creaky power grid and other infrastructure so that the structures are more resilient to future hurricanes. “We’re going to build them back smarter,” the official said.

Summary: एक्सक्लूसिवः ट्रम्प ने प्यूर्टो रिको के पुनर्निर्माण के लिए आपदा सहायता को बढ़ावा दिया


WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. Senate Republicans offered a bill on Thursday to overhaul Obamacare, the next phase in the party’s long war against the 2010 law enacted by then-Democratic President Barack Obama. The legislation met a wall of opposition from Democrats and initial skepticism among some Republicans, leaving Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell a narrow path to passage. The bill would roll back an expansion of the Medicaid health program for the poor and disabled over three years, cut its federal funding beginning in 2025, restructure Obamacare’s tax credits for low-income Americans, and repeal several taxes.  To pass the bill, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell can only afford to lose two Republican votes. The Senate is comprised of 52 Republicans, 46 Democrats and two independents who caucus with the Democrats (In the event of a deadlocked vote, Republican Vice President can vote to break the tie.)     Several Republicans on Thursday expressed reservations or opposition to the bill: Rand Paul of Kentucky, Ron Johnson of Wisconsin, Ted Cruz of Texas and Mike Lee of Utah said in a joint statement: “We are not ready to vote for this bill. ... There are provisions in this draft that represent an improvement to our current health care system, but it does not appear this draft as written will accomplish the most important promise that we made to Americans: to repeal Obamacare and lower their health care costs.” The four said they were open to negotiation, with Cruz saying in a separate statement that he wants to “get to yes.” Richard Burr of North Carolina said outside the Senate: “I’m supportive of it. I think it strikes a balance.” He added that the blueprint “can still be amended and probably will.” Three members of the Senate Republican leadership - John Cornyn of Texas, John Thune of South Dakota, and John Barrasso of Wyoming - all put out supportive statements, saying the bill would help improve the affordability of healthcare. Barrasso said the bill was not perfect, and “we will be working to improve on this draft.” UNDECIDED - LEANING YES Patrick Toomey of Pennsylvania said he was “still studying it but it strikes me as a good first step in what will be an ongoing process of fulfilling a commitment we made to the American people.” Richard Shelby of Alabama: “We’re looking at it. My plan is to support the thrust of the bill. If it’s a good bill overall, I’m going to support it.” Lamar Alexander of Tennessee listed a number of benefits for his constituents in the draft, including that it makes no change in Medicare benefits. “I’m going to stay focused on it next week as the bill goes to the Senate floor ... and my focus will be on how it affects Tennesseans.” Shelley Moore Capito of West Virginia: “I will review the draft legislation released this morning ... to evaluate whether it provides access to affordable health care for West Virginians.” Bill Cassidy of Louisiana: “I’m undecided. I have to read the text.” Marco Rubio of Florida said he will “decide how to vote on health care on the basis of how it impacts Florida.” Dean Heller of Nevada said he had “serious concerns” about the bill’s impact on Medicaid in his state. Susan Collins of Maine said it was “too soon” to judge the bill and she has some concerns about cuts to Medicaid after 2025 and defunding of Planned Parenthood. Rob Portman of Ohio said in a statement that he continued to have “real concerns” about the Medicaid policies in the bill, especially those that affect drug treatment. He said his decision will depend on what is in the final version of the bill. Lisa Murkowski of Alaska said, “I’m going to read it.” James Risch of Idaho: “It’s a work in progress. Ask me again when we see the final product.” John McCain of Arizona said he is reading the bill. “It’s a big thing, we just found out about it. I am just waiting until I can absorb the entire bill.” Thom Tillis of North Carolina said in a statement that any replacement plan must be a net improvement over Obamacare, and he would be “reviewing the draft legislation over the next several days.” Tom Cotton of Arkansas said, “no comment.”

Summary: फैक्टबॉक्सः जहां प्रमुख अमेरिकी रिपब्लिकन सीनेटर स्वास्थ्य सेवा विधेयक पर खड़े हैं


WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell on Tuesday announced a delay in the Senate’s planned August recess until the third week of the month to provide more time to work on legislation and approve nominees. “In order to provide more time to complete action on important legislative items and process nominees that have been stalled by a lack of cooperation from our friends across the aisle, the Senate will delay the start of the August recess until the third week of August,” McConnell said in a statement.

Summary: अमेरिकी सीनेट रिपब्लिकन नेता ने सीनेट के अगस्त अवकाश में देरी की


KUALA LUMPUR (Reuters) - Thousands of protesters gathered at an unsanctioned rally on Saturday to demand action against Prime Minister Najib Razak over the mismanagement of billions of dollars by a state fund. Malaysia s opposition are counting on the 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) scandal to turn as many voters as they can against Najib, who can call for national polls anytime between now and the middle of next year. The prime minister has so far been able to weather the scandal, consolidating power by clamping down on dissenters and curbing local media and activists even as he faces a fierce challenge from his former mentor, Mahathir Mohamad. But rising living costs and a broad-based consumption tax are leaving people like Hasmurni Tamby, a 42-year-old single mother of five, fed up with the way things are going under Najib.  Prices of everything have gone up but not our salaries. We can t save. So we don t want this leader anymore,  said Hasmurni, who traveled several hours north from her home state of Malacca to attend the evening rally. Saturday s rally was touted as the finale of a two month-long anti-kleptocracy roadshow, a platform set up by the opposition Pakatan Harapan (PH) coalition to convince the majority Malay-Muslim voters in rural battleground areas that the country has suffered from Najib s handling of 1MDB. Najib s popularity took a hit from persistent bad press linked to 1MDB, especially after the U.S. Department of Justice filed civil suits to recover over $1.7 billion alleged to have been misappropriated from the 1MDB fund. A rebounding economy and strengthening ringgit currency, however, are working in Najib s favor. The prime minister is expected to announce plenty of people-centric initiatives later this month when he tables his last budget before the polls. Just a few months prior, he announced billions in housing and cash aid for the Malay community. But Mahathir, who saw through Malaysia s industrialization as its longest-serving prime minister, warned that nothing good will come out of allowing his former protege to continue to rule.  Never before have we had a prime minister who is a thief. He steals so he can have a comfortable life,  Mahathir told the crowd when delivering the final speech of the night.  We need to bring down kleptocracy in our country... Najib s fate is in our hands. We can get rid of him, just by voting PH,  the former prime minister said.

Summary: मलेशिया के प्रधानमंत्री नजीब को हटाने के लिए हजारों लोगों ने किया प्रदर्शन


WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Two former top U.S. intelligence officials said on Sunday they fear President Donald Trump is being manipulated by Russian President Vladimir Putin, after Trump said he believed Putin was sincere in denying Russian meddling in the 2016 election. Former CIA Director John Brennan and ex-National Intelligence Director James Clapper both said Trump was mishandling Moscow ties even as a special counsel investigates possible collusion between Trump s campaign team and Russia.      I think Mr. Trump is, for whatever reason, either intimidated by Mr. Putin, afraid of what he could do, or what might come out as a result of these investigations... It s either naivet , ignorance or fear in terms of what Mr. Trump is doing vis- -vis the Russians,  Brennan said in an appearance with Clapper on CNN s  State of the Union.    Clapper added that foreign leaders who roll out the red carpet for Trump are able to manipulate Trump.  I do think both the Chinese and the Russians think they can play him,  Clapper said. Their comments came after Trump told reporters over the  weekend that he had spoken with Putin again over allegations of Russian meddling in the presidential election and that the Russian president again denied any involvement.  I really believe that, when he tells me that, he means it,  Trump told reporters.  I think he is very insulted by it, which is not a good thing for our country.  Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin said on the same show that the criticism leveled against Trump s management of relations with Russia and China was  ridiculous.   President Trump is not getting played by anybody,  Mnuchin said.     Trump also took a swipe at Obama-era intelligence officials  Brennan, Clapper and former FBI Director James Comey, calling  them  political hacks  and questioning the findings of a U.S. intelligence report that concluded that Russians sought to tilt  the election in Trump s favor. Facing sharp criticism, Trump walked back from some of those comments on Sunday, saying he has faith in the intelligence leaders he has hired. Brennan on Sunday called Trump s criticism of him a  badge of honor,  and Clapper suggested said Trump s denial of Russian interference in the election  poses a peril to the country.  When asked, Brennan declined to say whether he knows of any intelligence to suggest that the Russians have compromising or damaging information on Trump. A dossier penned by a former British spy contains unverified  claims that Russia does have embarrassing information on Trump.

Summary: पूर्व खुफिया अधिकारियों का कहना है कि ट्रम्प को पुतिन द्वारा हेरफेर किया जा रहा है


(Reuters) - The Republican-controlled Wisconsin State Assembly voted 59-30 on Thursday to approve a bill that paves the way for a $3 billion incentives package for a proposed liquid-crystal display plant by Taiwan’s Foxconn. The plan still needs to be approved by the joint finance committee, which has both Assembly and Wisconsin State Senate members, as well as the state Senate before going to the governor. The finance committee and state Senate are also controlled by Republicans.

Summary: विस्कॉन्सिन फॉक्सकॉन विधेयक ने पहले विधायी सदन को मंजूरी दी


COX S BAZAR, Bangladesh (Reuters) - Four Rohingya Muslims, a man, woman and two children, drowned when a small wooden fishing boat carrying dozens of refugees fleeing ethnic violence in Myanmar capsized off the Bangladesh coast on Tuesday, police said. Residents of the coastal strip south of the Bangladesh port of Cox s Bazar fished 37 survivors out of the water and 11 have been admitted to hospital in a critical condition, said police officer Mohammad Abul Khair of the area s Ukhiya police station. The boat had keeled over in choppy seas as rain fell. According to survivors they had paid 50,000 kyat ($37) to be taken to Bangladesh, having abandoned their homes in Buthidaung, in the strife-torn north of Myanmar s Rakhine State. In a separate incident at the southernmost tip of the Cox s Bazar district, three Rohingya infants drowned as they slipped from their mothers  clutches when the boat bringing them from Myanmar reached the Bangladesh shore, police official Main Uddin Khan of the region s Teknaf police station told Reuters. The babies, aged between three and 10 months, were lost in the waves pounding the beach. The bodies of two were found on Monday evening, and the third on Tuesday. More than 600,000 Rohingya have fled to neighbouring Bangladesh since the military in predominantly Buddhist Myanmar launched a counter-insurgency operation after attacks on security posts by Rohingya militants in late August. United Nations officials have described the Myanmar military s action as  ethnic cleansing , an accusation that Myanmar denies. Around 200 Rohingya refugees have drowned since late August, while making the perilous sea and river crossing to the safety of predominantly Muslim Bangladesh.

Summary: बांग्लादेश जाते समय सात रोहिंग्या शरणार्थियों की डूबने से मौत


ANKARA (Reuters) - Political infighting among Iran s ruling elite has moved on to a new battleground - the relief effort after an earthquake that killed at least 530 people and injured thousands. Hardline media are accusing the government of pragmatist President Hassan Rouhani of reacting too slowly to last weekend s quake, while highlighting aid work by the Revolutionary Guards - a rival power center. While the government said enough help had been sent to the thousands of people left homeless by the devastation, media affiliated to Rouhani s hardline rivals painted a different picture with reports from villages where survivors complained about a lack of shelter from the bitter cold. Rouhani allies say this reflects a long-running struggle between the president and those who oppose his drive to boost the economy by improving relations with the outside world, notably through sealing a nuclear deal with world powers.  Rouhani is very popular,  one Rouhani ally told Reuters.  It is so sad to see that even under these sad circumstances when we need unity, they are attacking his government and trying to say that the government is incompetent to help people.  Shortly after the magnitude 7.3 quake, Iran s worst in more than a decade, state TV aired scenes from the devastated villages in the western Kermanshah province.  Iran has so far declined offers of foreign assistance, saying planeloads of tents, blankets, mattresses and emergency food rations had arrived in areas where at least 30,000 houses have been damaged and several villages completely destroyed.  The hardline semi-official Tasnim and Fars news agencies both carried reports of the role of the Revolutionary Guards - an elite force loyal to Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei - and its affiliated Basij militia force in helping the survivors. Khamenei has called on the state agencies to speed up their efforts.  This disaster is a test for authorities to perform their duties,  he said on Tuesday. His representative, cleric Abdolhossein Moezi, told state TV after visiting Kermanshah province that more relief was needed. Editorials in hardline newspapers adopted a sharp tone, accusing the government of failing to learn the lessons of the Bam earthquake in 2003, in which 31,000 people were killed.  State TV covered how the Iranian Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) had restored some degree of normality in one of the worst hit towns, Sarpol-e Zahab.  Immediately after the quake, the IRGC rushed to the area to help,  said Brigadier General Hossein Salami, deputy head of the Guards.  We set up shelters, field clinics ... We will not leave until all survivors have a permanent shelter. Our commanders have been working around the clock.  Commanders of the IRGC, which also runs a business empire in Iran, have repeatedly criticized Rouhani s failure to improve the economy despite the official lifting last year of most international sanctions under the 2015 nuclear deal.  In some areas, no building was left standing, elsewhere, survivors have left homes that remain standing, fearing they could come crashing down due to aftershocks. Houses in poor Iranian villages are often made of concrete blocks or mudbrick that can quickly crumble and collapse. Many of the heavily damaged buildings in Sarpol-e Zahab were part of an affordable housing scheme, initiated in 2011 by Rouhani s hardline predecessor, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.  Angry survivors said the low-quality construction in the Mehr scheme had caused the high death toll in the town, nestled in the Zagros Mountains along the border with Iraq. Rouhani has ordered an investigation.  It s clear there has been corruption in construction contracts,  he told a cabinet meeting on Wednesday, state media reported.  Anyone responsible will be punished.  Ahmadinejad s adviser Ali Akbar Javanfekr denounced the accusations.  Heavy waves of propaganda against Mehr are aimed at covering up the weakness and inefficiency of the (Rouhani) administration in helping quake-hit people,  he said. Major towns and cities in the Kermanshah province appeared to have escaped heavy damage, witnesses said, while many villages were destroyed.   My mother told me to buy yogurt for dinner .... As soon as I left the house everything started to collapse,  13-year-old   Dozan told Reuters by telephone from Sarpol-e Zahab.  I ran back but my parents and sisters were dead - only rubble and dust and no home.   Rouhani has promised more help and low-interest loans to survivors to rebuild their collapsed homes. State TV showed Iranians around the country gathering goods and warm clothes and blankets for the survivors.  We need shelter ... it is getting colder. They have distributed some tents but it was not enough,  Ahmad Irandust, 75, told Reuters from Salas Babajani village by telephone. He said his children have slept outdoor in the freezing cold since Sunday.  Don t leave us alone. Don t forget us.

Summary: ईरान के गुट सत्ता संघर्ष को आगे बढ़ाने के लिए भूकंप राहत प्रयासों का उपयोग करते हैं


KABUL (Reuters) - Afghan President Ashraf Ghani s bid to oust one of the country s most powerful provincial governors has run into strong resistance that has deepened political uncertainty just as Washington steps up its campaign against the Taliban insurgency. Atta Mohammad Noor, governor of the strategically important northern province of Balkh, has refused to leave office, a week after Ghani s office said the president had accepted his resignation and named a replacement. The standoff has underlined how uncertain central government control remains outside the capital and how volatile the political situation has become as maneuvering begins ahead of a presidential election scheduled for 2019. One of a number of powerful regional leaders who command strong local loyalty while acting semi-independently of the government, Atta Noor has long sought a role on the national stage and is a potential candidate in the 2019 election. Allies have warned that unless Ghani reverses his decision, he risks civil unrest that will threaten security and allow Taliban and Islamic State militants to gain a foothold in Balkh, a major economic hub which sits on lucrative trade routes to Central Asia.  If President Ghani does not show flexibility, he will be responsible for the consequences,  said Farhad Azimi, a member of parliament from Balkh province. However he said no side had any interest in a confrontation that would cause violence or threaten security. The standoff, which has alarmed Afghanistan s Western partners, has re-opened divisions that were only partially covered up by the U.S.-brokered agreement creating Ghani s unity government following a disputed presidential election in 2014. After widespread claims of fraud by both sides in the election, Ghani was finally installed as president alongside his former rival Abdullah Abdullah from the Jamiat-i Islami party, who took the specially created post of chief executive. Atta Noor, who has built a strong regional power base as Balkh governor, has received the backing of the party, which is supported mainly by ethnic Tajiks from northern Afghanistan, many of whom still resent Ghani, an ethnic Pashtun.  Atta Mohammad Noor is the strongest figure in Jamiat,  said Bresha Rabeh, another member of parliament from Balkh.  He will not back down.  However he has clashed bitterly with his party rival Abdullah, whom he called a  serpent  whose teeth he would break. After days of silence, Abdullah confirmed on Monday that he had backed the decision to remove Atta Noor. The dispute comes as U.S. forces have stepped up air strikes against the Taliban and other militant groups as part of a beefed-up strategy aimed at forcing the insurgents to accept a peace settlement after 16 years of war. U.S. commanders say the campaign has had significant success against the Taliban but the impact risks being diluted by political turmoil that has undermined public confidence in the Western-backed government. As the turmoil has deepened, tensions between Tajiks and Pashtuns, Afghanistan s two largest ethnic groups, have intensified, undermining attempts to build national unity. Parliamentary elections, officially scheduled for next year, are in doubt and opposition groups have stepped up pressure on the government, with former president Hamid Karzai calling for a  loya jirga , or council of elders and political leaders.

Summary: अफगानिस्तान में राजनीतिक संकट गहराया, अपदस्थ गवर्नर ने जाने से किया इनकार


(Reuters) - Former FBI Director James Comey, who was fired by U.S. President Donald Trump, has signed a deal for a book on leadership and decision-making that will come out in spring 2018, the publisher said on Wednesday. The book deal with Macmillan’s Flatiron Books comes three months after Comey’s firing raised questions about whether Trump tried to interfere with the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s probe into Russia’s alleged meddling with the U.S. presidential election.  Russia denies any interference, and Trump has denied collusion with Russia and interfering with the investigation. The book, which has not yet been given a title, will discuss “what good, ethical leadership looks like and how it drives sound decisions,” Bob Miller, president of Macmillan’s Flatiron Books, said in a statement on Wednesday. Flatiron won the rights to the book after an auction and did not immediately respond to a request for comment.  In addition to reflections on Comey’s interactions with Trump this year, the book will feature anecdotes from his role in leading an investigation into the use of a private email server by Democrat Hillary Clinton during her 2016 presidential campaign.  Comey’s announcement that the FBI was reopening the Clinton email investigation days before the November election led to accusations by some Democrats that he was unfairly influencing the outcome. The FBI eventually closed the probe without taking any action.

Summary: एफ. बी. आई. करियर के अचानक अंत के बाद कोमी ने पुस्तक सौदे पर हस्ताक्षर किए


XIAMEN, China (Reuters) - Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov said on Monday that Washington’s actions towards Russian diplomatic facilities in the United States could be described as “state hooliganism”. “I am inclined to call what is happening state hooliganism,” he told reporters at a BRICS summit in China.

Summary: रूस का कहना है कि उसके वाणिज्य दूतावासों के खिलाफ अमेरिकी कार्रवाई 'राज्य गुंडागर्दी' है


BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Iraqi forces announced on Thursday they had captured Islamic State s last stronghold in northern Iraq, leaving the militant group holed up near the Syrian border as its self-proclaimed  caliphate  shrinks further. The town of Hawija and the surrounding areas fell in an offensive by U.S.-backed Iraqi government troops and Iranian-trained and armed Shi ite paramilitary groups known as Popular Mobilisation. Some fighting took place to the north and east of the town where the militants were surrounded.  With the fall of Hawija, which lies near the Kurdish-held oil city of Kirkuk, the only area that remains under control of Islamic State in Iraq is a stretch alongside the western border with Syria, where the militant group is also in retreat. The capture of Hawija was a boost for the Iraqi government, which faces a separate crisis in the north of the country, where the Kurdish minority last month voted overwhelmingly in support of independence for their autonomous region. In Hawija, state TV showed footage of Iraqi forces raising flags in one of the town's squares while Humvees patrolled empty streets littered with car wrecks, houses riddled with bullets and shattered storefronts. (Graphics on 'Iraqi Kurds' independence push' - here)  The army s 9th armored division, the Federal Police, the Emergency Response division and ... Popular Mobilisation liberated Hawija,  said a statement from the joint operations commander, Lieutenant-General Abdul Ameer Rasheed Yarallah. Thick black smoke rose from areas surrounding Hawija, from oil wells set on fire by the militants to prevent air detection.   The capture of Hawija brings Iraqi forces into direct contact with Kurdish Peshmerga fighters who control Kirkuk, a multi-ethnic region claimed by both Baghdad and the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG). Kirkuk shaped up as a flashpoint last month when the KRG included the city in the referendum on Kurdish independence in northern Iraq.   We don t want any aggression or confrontations but the federal authority must be imposed in the disputed areas,  Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi told a news conference in Paris with French President Emmanuel Macron. Macron offered to mediate between the Iraqi government and Kurdish regional authorities, and promised to maintain a military presence there until Islamic State was defeated. The Iraqi government has imposed sanctions in response to the independence vote, but Abadi said he could understand the Kurds   aspirations , provided they were expressed in accordance with the constitution. The outcome of the referendum has raised concerns in Iraq and abroad that a conflict might break out there along ethnic lines, potentially weakening the campaign against Islamic State. Turkey, which is battling a three-decade-old insurgency by its own Kurdish militants, has led regional opposition to the Iraqi Kurds  independence hopes. Stepping up his rhetoric on the issue, President Tayyip Erdogan said Turkey would soon close its border with northern Iraq and shut its air space in response to the referendum. He added that Turkey, Iran and Iraq would jointly decide on closing the flow of oil from northern Iraq, a vital source of earnings for Iraqi Kurdistan. On Wednesday, Russian President Vladimir Putin, whose country has big energy interests in Kurdistan, said it was in no one s interest to cut off oil supplies from the territory.  But Erdogan said that  if a decision will be made on closing oil taps in the region, that will be made by us. Turkey, Iran and Iraq s central government will do so together . Erdogan s stance has been backed by Iran. After meeting Erdogan in Tehran on Wednesday, Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said Iran and Turkey should prevent the Iraqi Kurds from declaring independence. Relations have been cool between Shi ite Iran and mainly Sunni Turkey. But both have been alarmed by the independence vote, fearing it will encourage separatism among their own Kurdish populations. The Kurds are the region s fourth-largest ethnic group, spread across Iran, Turkey, Syria and Iraq, all of which oppose any moves towards a Kurdish state. Iraq launched an offensive on Sept. 21 to dislodge Islamic State from the Hawija area, where up to 78,000 people were estimated to be trapped, according to the United Nations.  The militants control the border town of al-Qaim and the region surrounding it.  They also hold parts of the Syrian side of the border, but the area under their control is shrinking as they retreat in the face of two different sets of hostile forces - a U.S.-backed, Kurdish-led coalition and Syrian government troops with foreign Shi ite militias backed by Iran and Russia. Islamic State s cross-border  caliphate  effectively collapsed in July, when U.S.-backed Iraqi forces captured Mosul, the group s de facto capital in Iraq, in a grueling battle which lasted nine months. The militants  leader, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, who declared the caliphate from Mosul in mid-2014, released an audio recording last week that indicated he was alive, after several reports he had been killed. He urged his followers to keep up the fight despite setbacks.

Summary: इस्लामिक स्टेट को उत्तरी इराक के अंतिम गढ़ से खदेड़ा गया


WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump urged Republican senators on Wednesday to work out their differences and pass healthcare legislation before leaving Washington for their August recess. A day after the latest version of legislation to replace Obamacare fell victim to squabbling among Republicans who control the Senate, Trump gathered Republican senators for a lunch and told them, “We are so close.” He said Republicans had promised Americans they would repeal and replace President Barack Obama’s signature healthcare law for seven years and that now is the time to act. “We have to stay here. We shouldn’t leave town,” Trump said.

Summary: ट्रम्प ने रिपब्लिकन सीनेटरों से कहाः स्वास्थ्य सेवा कानून पारित होने तक शहर न छोड़ें


WASHINGTON (Reuters) - White House spokesman Sean Spicer on Monday defended his statement that President Donald Trump’s inauguration was the most-watched ever, citing viewership on television and other media and insisting that “our intention is never to lie to you.” “I believe that we have to be honest with the American people. I think sometimes we can disagree with the facts,” Spicer told a news briefing. “I’m going to come out here and tell you the facts as I know them. And if we make a mistake, we’ll do our best to correct it,” he added. Spicer had been sharply criticized for his comments on Saturday by media, which noted photographs from former President Barack Obama’s first inauguration showed much larger crowds than Trump drew on Friday.

Summary: व्हाइट हाउस ने ट्रम्प के उद्घाटन के लिए दर्शकों पर बयान का बचाव किया


WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. President Barack Obama on Wednesday said he was cautious about raising expectations regarding the agreement to pause hostilities in Syria. But, if some progress is made in Syria, then that will lead to a political process to end the five-year-old civil war in the country, Obama told reporters after a meeting with Jordan’s King Abdullah in the Oval Office. Obama said the United States is committed to helping Jordan deal with the refugees who have fled to its borders to escape the conflicts in Syria and Iraq.

Summary: ओबामा ने कहा, सीरिया समझौते की उम्मीदों को लेकर सतर्क रहें


(Reuters) - Presidential candidate Ted Cruz says he is the most consistent conservative left in the Republican race. The senator from Texas promises to cut taxes, slash regulations, crack down on illegal immigration and stick up for gun owners if he wins the White House. Here is a look at how Cruz has pledged to handle major issues should he become the Republican nominee and then win the Nov. 8 election. The policies are drawn from a review of his website, stump speeches, debates, legislative proposals and televised interviews. Cruz would boost border security by completing 700 miles (1,130 km) of priority fencing along the U.S.-Mexico border, tripling the number of Border Patrol agents and adding aircraft for border surveillance. He would rescind President Barack Obama’s executive orders on immigration, which allow certain undocumented immigrants to stay in the country without fear of deportation. Cruz would ramp up deportations and would expand U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention space in the United States. He would withhold federal funding from “sanctuary cities” that do not prosecute undocumented immigrants. The candidate would end birthright citizenship, in which children born in the United States are automatically citizens. Cruz introduced legislation placing a moratorium on accepting Syrian refugees and letting states opt out of accepting refugees. He supports prioritizing Syrian Christians for refugee status. Cruz opposes the Export-Import Bank, which finances U.S. exports. He opposes the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) trade agreement, saying in a March debate that the United States is “getting killed” in international trade. He voted against giving Obama fast-track authority to secure the TPP, which Cruz said became enmeshed in backroom political deals. Cruz would abolish the Internal Revenue Service. He would establish a flat personal income tax of 10 percent, keeping deductions for charitable contributions and mortgage interest payments and the Child Tax Credit. He would eliminate the corporate income tax and payroll taxes, replacing them with a flat business tax of 16 percent that critics say resembles a value-added tax. Cruz would repeal the healthcare plan commonly known as Obamacare, and would eliminate other regulations. He would audit the Federal Reserve and move to a rules-based monetary policy. Cruz would repeal the Iran nuclear deal, and would recognize Jerusalem as Israel’s capital. He has said he would “carpet bomb” the Islamic State militant group. Cruz has said he would oppose efforts to oust foreign dictators, which he says create power vacuums and enable terrorists.

Summary: फैक्टबॉक्सः 'कारपेट-बम' आईएसआईएस, फेड का ऑडिट करें। राष्ट्रपति क्रूज़ क्या करेगा


LONDON (Reuters) - After months of Brexit talks that have made little progress and deepened rifts in her party, British Prime Minister Theresa May will try this week to put the negotiations on track and reassert her authority.  In a speech in the Italian city of Florence, May will set out on Friday her vision for future ties with the European Union and try to fill an apparent policy vacuum that has left her Brexit team adopting what Brussels regards as wrecking tactics in the talks on unraveling four decades of union. The 60-year-old leader has deliberately chosen an EU city to deliver the speech so that she can speak directly to the other 27 nations in the bloc, but has her work cut out in seizing back the initiative. May has been largely quiet on Brexit since her Conservative Party lost its parliamentary majority in a June election that she need not have called, saying little beyond expressing her support for  a deep and special partnership  with the bloc once Britain leaves in March 2019. But days before the speech, foreign minister Boris Johnson laid out his own Brexit vision, challenging her more cautious approach and exposing the fault lines in her party and government. EU negotiators are also frustrated with what they see as Britain s policy drift. At talks in August, British officials spent almost three hours picking holes in the legal basis for the bill that the EU expects London to pay to leave.  Sources familiar with the presentation   so detailed it stretched for 11 pages and was illustrated with 23 slides   called it a show of legal muscle. But, as Brexit minister David Davis said, the meeting was even  tetchier than the one before .  The reason lawyers gave a two-and-a-half hour presentation is because no government minister had made a decision on policy,  said Andrew Hood, who was a legal adviser to former prime minister David Cameron and still has contact with lawyers in several government departments. The August talks were almost canceled by the EU side because of Britain s lack of position, Hood told Reuters.  I always thought when I was in the foreign office that if you ever need to revert to lawyers you ve probably lost,  he said. Hood now advises companies on their Brexit strategy for law firm Dechert but took part in meetings with the EU under Cameron, who resigned last year after Britons voted for Brexit. The financial settlement with Brussels is one of the most difficult parts of the Brexit negotiations, but the lack of movement so far on even the mechanics of how to calculate the sum shows the difficulties facing Britain. May is walking a tightrope between hardline Conservative Brexit supporters who want to make sure any payment is as small as possible, and some top ministers who believe Britain must pay to keep ties as close as possible. Until now, she has largely let her government do the talking by setting out a wishlist for future relations with the bloc that aims for the closest of ties without the costs. May has also stuck to a belief that by playing her cards close to her chest, Britain will force EU negotiators into concessions. But her silence has allowed other voices to emerge. The main opposition Labour Party says it would keep Britain in the single European market and customs union during a transitional period, the Liberal Democrats are demanding a second referendum and the Scottish National Party wants Scotland to remain part of the EU. Their opposition is to be expected, but criticism from May s own team is not, and has raised eyebrows.  In a weekend newspaper article, Johnson wrote that he did not expect Britain to pay for access to the EU s market, putting him at odds with finance minister Philip Hammond and May, who has spoken of paying in. At the August talks, left without clear policy direction, Davis and his team s detailed dissection of the EU s arguments on the Brexit bill left the bloc s main negotiator Michel Barnier wondering whether  we can build trust and start discussing a future relationship . Weeks earlier, a former aide to May had praised the emerging agreement in her cabinet over the need for a transition deal and a divorce settlement   something that seemed remote after last year s Brexit referendum.  But though there may be agreement on this in principle, the difference lies in the detail and has opened a deep rift.  Hammond wants a transition as close as possible to the status quo while others, such as trade minister Liam Fox, do not want to stay in the single market or pay for access. Pro-Brexit lawmakers have also balked at suggestions Britain should pay 60 billion euros ($72 billion) for the divorce, and May s aides have poured cold water on reports that there could be a compromise to reduce the headline figure by paying 10 billion pounds a year to the EU during a transition. In a move that appeared intended to tighten her control over the Brexit talks, May appointed the top official at the Brexit ministry as her EU adviser on Monday. But resetting the talks is a tough order, and aides are silent on whether May will use the Florence speech to try to break the deadlock on the financial settlement.  Officials in Brussels are not holding their breath.  The EU has taken the black veil off and is getting on with its life,  one EU official said after the August talks.  The Brits are either completely overconfident or completely overwhelmed.

Summary: नियंत्रण वापस लेना? ब्रिटेन की मे उच्च दांव वाला ब्रेक्सिट भाषण देगी


BEIRUT (Reuters) - Hundreds of civilians left a besieged Islamic State enclave in central Syria after the Syrian government and Islamic State reached an evacuation deal, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said on Friday. The Syrian army could not be reached for comment but a Syrian military source quoted on state media later said that the army and its allies had captured several areas in the enclave.  An insurgent source in northwestern Syria said the civilians - mostly shepherds - from the enclave, straddling the border between Hama and Homs provinces, had arrived in rebel-held Idlib province. The Syrian army - supported by Russian air power and Iranian-backed militias - isolated the pocket, Islamic State s last presence in central Syria, in August during its eastward drive against the jihadists. The military source said the army had captured the areas of Mazin al-Baqr, al-Mushirfa al-Shomalia, Rasm al-Tawil and Jawra al-Nazal, .  The Observatory reported that the government and Islamic State had finalised the deal on Thursday, allowing Islamic State fighters, their families and civilians to leave the pocket and cross government areas into areas held by Islamist groups. Some crossed to areas held by Tahrir al-Sham, a jihadist alliance that includes the former Nusra Front group, in northern Hama and eastern Idlib provinces, it said. Others moved to camps set up west of the enclave in government-held areas in accordance with tribal deals, the British-based monitor said. Last week, jihadists launched an offensive against government-held parts of northern Hama province, advancing south from rebel-held Idlib. The Syrian government has responded with strikes on rebel-held positions. Russia, Iran and Turkey had previously struck a tripartite deal to deploy an observer force on the edge of a designated  de-escalation zone  in Idlib. The Islamist militants who hold sway in Idlib rejected the diplomatic effort. The Syrian army s main focus has been its offensive against Islamic State in the east of the country, where the Islamist group is also facing an offensive by the U.S.-backed Syrian Democratic Forces.

Summary: निकासी समझौते के बाद नागरिक पूर्वी सीरिया में आईएस-क्षेत्र छोड़ रहे हैंः निगरानी


WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump told The Wall Street Journal on Wednesday that he might consider withholding billions of dollars of Obamacare payments to health insurers to force Democrats back to the negotiating table on healthcare. Insurers and major medical groups have warned that not funding the payments, called cost-sharing reduction subsidies, which help cover out-of-pocket medical expenses for low-income Americans, could wreak havoc in the individual insurance markets. Trump told The Wall Street Journal that by withholding the payments, Democrats will call him to negotiate.  Major medical and insurance groups penned a letter to Trump on Wednesday urging him to maintain funding for the subsidies, which amount to about $7 billion a year and are paid directly to insurers. They help cover premiums, deductibles and other medical expenses for about 7 million people who purchase health insurance on the individual health insurance market. House of Representatives Republicans sued the Obama administration for funding the subsidies, which they argue have to be appropriated by Congress. A federal judge in May 2016 ruled in favor of the Republicans, prompting an appeal by the Obama administration. The case is pending in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. Major insurers, including Humana Inc and Aetna, have left or announced their intention to leave the Obamacare exchanges, citing multi-million-dollar losses and patient populations that are far costlier and sicker than they expected. They warned that withholding the subsidies would destabilize the market further and leave millions of consumers with little or no choice in picking a health insurance plan.

Summary: डेमोक्रेट को स्वास्थ्य देखभाल पर चर्चा करने के लिए मजबूर करने के लिए ट्रम्प बीमाकर्ता के भुगतान को रोक सकते हैं


NEW YORK (Reuters) - Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton’s probability of winning the White House got a modest bump in online betting markets on Tuesday, a day after her debate with Republican Donald Trump. The price for a contract favoring Clinton on the popular PredictIt betting market was up 2 cents from Monday’s post-debate closing and implied a 68 percent probability that she would win the Nov. 8 election.  Although during the debate Clinton was as high as 70 percent, her Monday night closing of 66 matched the highest closing number since her health took a stumble on Sept. 11. A pro-Trump contract on Tuesday indicated his probability for victory was 34 percent. Trading in both contracts remained brisk on the heels of the first of three debates. PredictIt contracts are priced from 0 to 100 cents, with the contract price equating to a probability a candidate will win the election. Initially, the price swings for both candidates were the largest since early August, though a substantial portion of Clinton’s gain and Trump’s fall had been retraced by early afternoon on Tuesday. The swing following the debate put the brakes on a big Trump price rally on PredictIt that coincided with a tightening in most public opinion polls. On PredictIt, the implied probability of him winning had risen to 38 percent heading into the debate from 28 percent at the end of August.  Clinton’s prospects also showed comparable improvement on betting sites based in Ireland and the United Kingdom. UK-based Betfair called the debate for Clinton based on odds movements on its platform, where more than 3 million pounds were bet during the event.  The implied probability of a Clinton win in November climbed to 69 percent on Betfair, the strongest it has been since her prospects took a hit over her pneumonia diagnosis this month. Trump’s probability fell to 30 percent from 37 percent. On Ireland’s PaddyPower, Clinton’s odds also had shortened, or improved, to 2-to-5 from 1-to-2 in the early moments of Monday’s debate. Trump’s odds, which initially lengthened following the debate, had shortened modestly to 2-to-1.

Summary: बहस के बाद ऑनलाइन सट्टेबाजी के घंटों में क्लिंटन के लिए एक मामूली उछाल


DUBLIN (Reuters) - The two independent cabinet ministers that support Prime Minister Leo Varadkar s minority government said the uncertainty over the future of his deputy prime minister was  very grave .  The situation is very grave. We will make our views known to the taoiseach (prime minister) at cabinet this morning,  the Independent Alliance group s Finian McGrath told reporters. He would not comment on whether the deputy prime minister should resign.

Summary: आयरलैंड के स्वतंत्र मंत्रियों का कहना है कि राजनीतिक स्थिति 'बहुत गंभीर' है


WASHINGTON (Reuters) - In revamping the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), the Trump administration will seek tax equality and the ability to reimpose tariffs if a flood of imports from Canada and Mexico causes “a threat of serious injury” to U.S. industry, a draft of negotiating objectives shows. The administration also will seek to eliminate a requirement in the 23-year-old trade deal that anti-dumping and anti-subsidy disputes be settled via a special dispute panel. Some U.S. industries including lumber have complained that the mechanism is ineffective in stopping unfair subsidies. The objectives are contained in a draft notification letter circulated by the U.S. Trade Representative’s office to members of Congress for review. The letter, seen by Reuters, is part of  the legal process required to start negotiations to revamp the NAFTA. President Donald Trump called NAFTA a “disaster” throughout the 2016 election campaign, but the plan outlined in the letter would keep many of its provisions in place, including a settlement system for other disputes that circumvents local courts. “The persistent U.S. deficit in goods trade with Canada and Mexico demands that this administration take swift action to revise the relationship to reflect and respond to new 21st century challenges,” Acting USTR Stephen Vaughn said in the letter, which is subject to revisions before it is finalized.  The draft negotiating objectives will “seek to level the playing field on tax treatment,” a broad statement that Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross told CNBC would be aimed at solving the problem of many countries exempting exports from value-added taxes, while the United States has been unable to offer such credits.  “We will be using NAFTA as a partial means of addressing that,” he said. Both Canada and Mexico have value-added taxes, while the Trump administration is considering a border adjustment tax levied on imports. Another draft objective says the administration wants “to establish rules that require government procurement to be conducted in a manner that is consistent with U.S. law and the administration’s policy on domestic procurement preferences,” This could allow for Trump’s “Buy American” plan, but also cause U.S. companies to lose business in Mexico and Canada.  The document also calls for protections of digital trade and commerce, tougher intellectual property enforcement and requirements that state-owned companies operate in a commercial fashion. After revisions to the document, Ross said he hopes next week to trigger a 90 day consultation period leading to NAFTA talks.

Summary: नाफ्टा सुधार में शुल्क 'स्नैप-बैक', कर समानता की मांग करेंगे ट्रम्पः पत्र


BRUSSELS (Reuters) - Britain s Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson called on the United States on Wednesday to present its proposal to revive the Middle East peace process  as a matter of priority.  Before a meeting with U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson at NATO, Johnson said the U.S. decision to move its embassy to Israel  makes it more important than ever that the long-awaited American proposals on the Middle East peace process are now brought forward,  he said.   That should happen as a matter of priority,  he said.

Summary: ब्रिटेन ने अमेरिका से मध्य पूर्व शांति योजना के साथ आगे आने का आग्रह किया


UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - The United States accused Iran on Tuesday of supplying Yemen s Houthi rebels with a missile that was fired into Saudi Arabia in July and called for the United Nations to hold Tehran accountable for violating two U.N. Security Council resolutions.  U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley said information released by Saudi Arabia showed the missile fired in July was an Iranian Qiam, which she described as  a type of weapon that had not been present in Yemen before the conflict.  Saudi-led forces, which back the government in neighboring Yemen, have been targeting the Iran-allied Houthis in a more than two-year war. Saudi Arabia s crown prince on Tuesday described Iran s supply of rockets to the Houthis as  direct military aggression  that could be an act of war. Haley said that by providing weapons to the Houthis, Iran s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corp s had violated two U.N. resolutions on Yemen and Iran. She said a missile shot down over Saudi Arabia on Saturday  may also be of Iranian origin.       We encourage the United Nations and international partners to take necessary action to hold the Iranian regime accountable for these violations,  Haley said. It was not immediately clear what action the United States was calling for.  Saudi U.N. Ambassador Abdallah Al-Mouallimi echoed Haley s call for U.N. action against Iran in a letter to the U.N. Security Council and Secretary-General Antonio Guterres later on Tuesday, seen by Reuters.  He said the missile fired on Saturday  may amount to a war crime  and that Saudi Arabia was  taking appropriate measures to respond to these terrorist acts.  Iran s U.N. Ambassador Gholamali Khoshroo also wrote to the Security Council and Guterres on Tuesday, rejecting the accusations by Saudi Arabia as  baseless and unfounded.   Iran calls for self-restraint and wisdom instead of provocation and threat that may bring further instability to this already volatile region,  Khoshroo wrote in the letter, seen by Reuters.  Under a U.N. resolution that enshrines the Iran nuclear deal with world powers, Tehran is prohibited from supplying, selling or transferring weapons outside the country unless approved in advance by the U.N. Security Council. A separate U.N. resolution on Yemen bans the supply of weapons to Houthi leader Abdul-Malik al-Houthi, two Houthi commanders, Yemen s former President Ali Abdullah Saleh, his son, and  those acting on their behalf or at their direction.  The United States could propose people or entities to be blacklisted by the Security Council s Yemen sanctions committee, a move that would need consensus approval by the 15-members.  Or it could put forward a new Security Council resolution to impose sanctions on Iran. To pass, a resolution needs nine votes in favor and no vetoes by the United States, Britain, France, China or Russia.

Summary: अमेरिका ने यमन मिसाइल पर ईरान के खिलाफ संयुक्त राष्ट्र की कार्रवाई की मांग की


WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A U.S. congressional committee on Thursday set a Nov. 2 deadline for the Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority (PREPA) to provide information related to its $300 million contract with a small Montana firm to repair damage to the utility’s infrastructure caused by Hurricane Maria. “Specifically, the size and terms of the contract, as well as the circumstances surrounding the contract’s formation, raise questions regarding PREPA’s standard contract awarding procedures,” the chairman of the House Natural Resources Committee, Rob Bishop, said in a letter to PREPA’s executive director, Ricardo Ramos. Media reports that Whitefish Energy Holdings entered the contract with PREPA to fix the utility’s power grid raised questions among Democrats in Congress and others when it was disclosed that the Montana firm won the contract without a competitive bidding process. The two-year-old company had only two full-time employees and was rapidly hiring workers to tackle the job of patching up the destroyed power grid that has left most of the U.S. territory without electricity for weeks following the destructive hurricane. While Bishop’s letter said emergency circumstances could “necessitate” emergency relief contracts, “Transparency and accountability in government contracting, however, is not to be compromised.” Separately, U.S. Representatives including Greg Walden, a Republican, and Frank Pallone, a Democrat, asked Whitefish in a letter to provide documents related to the contract to the Energy and Commerce committee before Nov. 9.    Whitefish founding partner Ken Luce said his company appreciated the efforts to gather information so lawmakers have “confidence in the overall process to support the people of Puerto Rico” and Whitefish’s capabilities.  And two Democratic U.S. senators urged the head of a congressional watchdog office to probe the PREPA contract, saying they were concerned about the bidding process and potential high costs.  Senators Maria Cantwell and Ron Wyden wrote a letter to Eugene Dodaro, the U.S. comptroller general at the non-partisan Government Accountability Office, a copy of which was seen by Reuters. The senators said they were also concerned about reports of “contemporaneous communications between Whitefish and senior members of the federal executive branch, including Secretary of the Interior Ryan Zinke,” as the contract was being discussed.     A Washington Post report this week said the chief executive of Whitefish, Andy Techmanski, and Zinke acknowledged that they know each other and that one of the secretary’s sons worked at one of Techmanski’s construction sites. Both Zinke’s office and Techmanski said the secretary had no role in Whitefish securing the contract.       The Interior Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the senators’ letter.  Puerto Rico Governor Ricardo Rossello has defended the contract saying it was necessary to put workers in place quickly. Whitefish, which has hired workers mostly through subcontracts, has called criticism “unfounded.”

Summary: हाउस पैनल ने प्यूर्टो रिको उपयोगिता सौदे पर दस्तावेज मांगे


(Reuters) - Highlights of the day for U.S. President Donald Trump’s administration on Friday: Trump, scheduled to speak by phone with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Saturday, says he is in the early stages of considering whether to lift U.S. sanctions on Russia, but British Prime Minister Theresa May, other foreign officials and U.S. lawmakers say such a move would be premature. The United States’ and Mexico’s leaders speak by phone after relations between the two countries frayed further over Trump’s border wall plan, with the U.S. president calling the talk friendly but still demanding reworked trade and other ties. Nikki Haley, the new U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, pledges to overhaul the world body and warns U.S. allies that if they do not support Washington, then she is “taking names” and will respond. Trump signs an executive order he says will impose tighter vetting to prevent foreign terrorists from entering the United States. Trump says Syrian Christians will be given priority when it comes to applying for refugee status in the United States. Trump’s executive order taking away federal funding from “sanctuary cities” has an exemption for one of his favorite constituencies, the police, who would be protected from cuts. Opponents say that could be grounds for a legal challenge. Vice President Mike Pence fires up tens of thousands of anti-abortion activists in Washington for the 44th March for Life, celebrating a political shift in their favor with Trump’s election. Pence reportedly tells Republicans a “full evaluation of voting rules” will likely be part of the Trump administration’s investigation into what the president claims is widespread voting fraud. Defense Secretary James Mattis orders cost-cutting reviews of two major aircraft programs, Lockheed Martin’s F-35 fighter jet and Boeing’s next-generation Air Force One presidential plane, according to Pentagon memos. Trump’s Cabinet is worth a combined $14 billion, and they have been catching flak in recent weeks for confessing an inability to keep track of their vast wealth. Trump’s move to revive the Keystone XL oil pipeline is part of his plan to boost U.S. drillers and create new U.S. jobs, but the project’s biggest winners may be Canadian.

Summary: हाइलाइट्सः ट्रम्प प्रेसीडेंसी 27 जनवरी को शाम 6.11 बजे ईएसटी/2311 जीएमटी


MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Wednesday after holding talks with U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson that some progress had been made on Syria and that a working group would be set up to examine the poor state of U.S.-Russia ties. Lavrov, addressing a news conference, said President Vladimir Putin had said Moscow was ready to restore an air safety agreement covering Syria which it had suspended after last week’s U.S. missile strikes on Syria. Moscow and Washington had also agreed to continue cooperating to try to find a political solution for Syria, he said.

Summary: रूस का कहना है कि टिलरसन मॉस्को वार्ता के बाद सीरिया पर कुछ प्रगति हुई है


MANILA (Reuters) - Philippine troops shelled positions held by a small group of pro-Islamic State militants in southern marshland on Friday, as the military pushed on with a new offensive after the country s biggest urban battle in decades. The army estimated 2,000 villagers had been displaced by several days of operations in a region straddling two provinces on the island of Mindanao, as the army went after the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters (BIFF), a small and splintered rebel group inspired by Islamic State. The latest operation follows the end last month of what was the Philippines  biggest battle since World War Two, in which troops took five months to crush an alliance of Islamic State loyalists including BIFF fighters in Marawi City. The occupation of the city by the militants and their dogged resistance spread alarm in the region about the rise of extremism and radical aspirations to create an Islamic State  caliphate. Captain Nap Alcarioto, spokesman for the 6th Infantry Division, said troops were shelling BIFF gunmen in support of ground attacks in an area of marshland between the provinces of Maguindanao and Cotobato, about 170 km (106 miles) from Marawi.  We are still awaiting results of operations,  he said. The army said it was fighting a BIFF faction led by Abu Toraypie, a man allied with the Maute group, the biggest militant group in an alliance that led the Marawi conflict. Toraypie and some of his men had escaped from Marawi and the army was trying to prevent them from regrouping, the army said. Military aircraft dropped bombs on another BIFF wing in a town close by. The BIFF broke away  from the separatist Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) a decade ago after becoming disillusioned with a protracted process with the government to grant autonomy to what is the mainly Catholic country s only predominantly Muslim region.  Separately, army spokesman Major-General Restituto Padilla said Marawi was clear of militants who had been hiding in the ruins of the pummeled city, but unexploded munitions and booby traps had yet to be cleared.  The last firefight we had was on November 5 when we killed nine terrorists,  he told a news conference, adding all top militant leaders had been killed, although that was subject to DNA confirmation.

Summary: फिलीपींस के सैनिक दल दलदली भूमि में आतंकवादियों का शिकार कर रहे हैं, गोलाबारी, हवाई हमले


WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Pentagon inspector general has launched an investigation into whether Michael Flynn, U.S. President Donald Trump’s former national security adviser, accepted money from foreign entities without the required approval, according to a letter released by House Democrats on Thursday. The new probe compounds the legal problems Flynn faces for taking hundreds of thousands of dollars from the state-run Russia Today (RT) television network and a firm owned by a Turkish businessman after the former Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) director retired as an Army lieutenant general in 2014. Senior lawmakers said this week that Flynn likely broke the law by failing to request and receive permission to accept $45,000 to speak at a 2015 RT gala dinner at which he sat with Russian President Vladimir Putin. If substantiated, such a failure would violate regulations rooted in the Constitution that bar current and retired military officers from accepting “emoluments” from foreign powers, the letter said.   White House spokesman Sean Spicer told reporters on Thursday that the inspector general’s probe was “appropriate.” “If they think there’s wrongdoing, then the department’s inspector general should look into that,” he said.    Spicer said Flynn did not undergo a security review before he was named Trump’s first national security adviser. “Why would you rerun a background check on someone who was the head of the Defense Intelligence Agency that had and did maintain a high-level security clearance?” he said. However, a former senior White House official familiar with ethics and security clearance issues said that during the administration of former President Barack Obama, the White House Counsel’s office always conducted its own background investigations of candidates for senior White House jobs, even if they already held security clearances. These reviews included questionnaires and interviews, and would have included issues such as whether the candidate had drug problems, had hired prostitutes, or had personal or financial problems, the former official said.  Flynn is also the subject of congressional probes into Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election that U.S. intelligence agencies have said was intended to sway the vote in favor of Trump, the Republican candidate, over his Democratic rival, Hillary Clinton. Russia denies the allegation. The Defense Department inspector general is investigating whether Flynn “failed to obtain required approval prior to receiving any emolument from a foreign government,” according to an April 11 letter released by Democrats on the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee. If substantiated, such a failure would violate military regulations that apply a constitutional provision that bars current and retired officers from accepting “emoluments” from foreign powers, the letter said. Representative Elijah Cummings, the House committee’s top Democrat, released other Defense Department documents on Thursday showing that the DIA found no evidence that Flynn requested permission to accept foreign funds, despite a 2014 warning against taking such payments. One document, a redacted version of a letter the DIA sent to the committee on April 7, said the agency had not found “any records referring or relating to LTG (Lieutenant General) Flynn’s receipt of money from a foreign source.” Flynn’s attorney, Robert Kelner, said in a statement that Cummings mischaracterized the DIA letter, saying a partially redacted section confirmed that Flynn gave the Pentagon “information and documents on a thumb drive” about the RT event. The materials included documents that Flynn used a speakers bureau for the event, said Kelner, adding that the former national security adviser also briefed the Pentagon before and after the Moscow visit. He called on the DIA to release the unredacted letter and details of the briefings. Kelner’s statement, however, did not address the issue of whether Flynn requested and received permission to accept foreign government payments. Separately, the committee’s Republican chairman, Representative Jason Chaffetz, asked the acting Army secretary for a “final determination” about whether Flynn violated the law by accepting foreign payments, according to a letter released by his office on Thursday. In addition to looking into the RT funds, the House committee is scrutinizing Flynn’s work last year as a foreign agent hired to promote Turkish government views by a Netherlands-based company owned by a Turkish businessman. The company paid Flynn’s now-defunct firm, Flynn Intel Group, a total of $530,000 beginning in August, when he was the Trump campaign’s top foreign policy adviser. Flynn registered as a foreign agent with the Justice Department only in March, weeks after he resigned as Trump’s national security adviser following his failure to disclose his contacts with Sergei Kislyak, Russia’s ambassador to the United States, before Trump took office.

Summary: पेंटागन ने विदेशी भुगतान पर ट्रम्प के पूर्व सलाहकार फ्लिन की जांच की


LONDON (Reuters) - Around half of Britons believe U.S. President Donald Trump’s planned UK state visit should go ahead, even though a similar number would not like to see his controversial migrant ban implemented in Britain, according to a poll on Wednesday. Trump’s executive order to temporarily ban refugees entering the United States and limit migration from seven Muslim-majority  countries has drawn widespread protest in Britain, and nearly 1.8 million people have signed a petition to stop his state visit, planned for later this year. But the YouGov poll found 49 percent of Britons believe the state visit should go ahead and that only 36 percent want it to be canceled. A state visit would involve lavish displays of royal pageantry and a banquet hosted by Queen Elizabeth. The invitation was conveyed by Prime Minister Theresa May when she visited Washington last week, just hours before the travel ban was introduced. Britons would not like to see a similar migrant ban introduced in the UK, however, with 32 percent saying they would feel “appalled” by such a move and 17 percent “disappointed”. Only 15 percent were “delighted” by the prospect of similar immigration restrictions in Britain, while 13 percent said they would be “pleased”. The petition to stop the visit will be debated in the British parliament on Feb. 20, although such debates are usually symbolic. May has stood by the decision to invite Trump. The poll was conducted between Jan. 30-31. In all, 1,705 people were asked their views on the state visit and 6,926 were asked about any immigration ban in Britain.

Summary: लगभग आधे ब्रिटेनियों ने ट्रम्प की राजकीय यात्रा का समर्थन कियाः यूगॉव सर्वेक्षण


WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States on Friday urged supporters of the Syrian government to press it to  participate fully  in negotiations with the opposition, saying a lack of a political resolution in the war-torn country threatened indefinite instability. In a statement, a spokeswoman for the State Department said the United States wanted the government s supporters  to use their leverage to urge the regime to participate fully in tangible negotiations with the opposition in Geneva.   The United States urges all parties to work seriously toward a political resolution to this conflict or face continued isolation and instability indefinitely in Syria,  spokeswoman Heather Nauert said in a statement. A United Nations negotiator characterized a round of peace talks that ended on Thursday as a missed opportunity, and he laid most of the blame at the feet of Syria s government.

Summary: अमेरिका का कहना है कि वह चाहता है कि सीरियाई सरकार विपक्ष के साथ 'गंभीरता से' बातचीत करे


HAVANA (Reuters) - Cuba marks the first anniversary of the death of revolutionary leader Fidel Castro on Saturday with a week of vigils nationwide, as the island embarks on a political cycle that will end 60 years of the Castro brothers  rule. Fidel, a towering figure of the 20th century who built a Communist-run state on the doorstep of the United States and defied U.S. efforts to topple him, died aged 90 on Nov. 25 last year. The Cold War icon had already been largely out of public view for around a decade, having formally ceded the presidency to his younger brother, Raul Castro, in 2008 due to ill health. Cubans say his death changed little on the island. The pace of reforms instigated by Raul to update the Soviet-style command economy has continued as hesitantly as before. Cuba s relationship with the United States, meanwhile, has actually worsened due to U.S. President Donald Trump s more hostile stance. More significant politically, analysts say, will be the electoral cycle that starts Sunday with a municipal vote and will end with the selection of a new president in late February. Raul, 86, has said he would step down at the end of his two consecutive terms. The transition is expected to be gradual as Raul will remain head of the Communist Party. It comes, however, as the country faces a tricky time with a decline in aid from ally Venezuela, weaker exports and a resulting cash crunch.  Not even we know what our future will be,  said Ariadna Valdivia, 45, a high school teacher.  Raul is ending his term in 2018, Fidel is already history, and I don t really see any way of improving things.   Salaries are the same, food is always getting more expensive and now we have Trump tightening the embargo.  By the time of his death, Castro had been out of the public limelight since an intestinal ailment nearly killed him in 2006, occasionally writing columns and receiving foreign dignitaries at his home. His death last year plunged Cuba into nine days of national mourning. A funeral cortege carried his ashes on a three-day journey from Havana to his final resting place in the east of  the island, where he had launched the Cuban revolution.  I am Fidel  became a nationwide chant, as many Cubans pledged to stay faithful to the revolution he led that in 1959 overthrew a U.S.-backed dictator.  He was the best we ve had as a leader,  said Rene Perez, a Havana taxi driver, echoing the feelings of many Cubans who miss Fidel s leadership, especially at times of crisis. Raul did not appear in public after Hurricane Irma thrashed the island in September. In keeping with his wishes to avoid a personality cult, no statues have been made of Fidel or public places named after him in Cuba. Even his tomb is a sober affair, a large granite boulder in Santiago de Cuba s Santa Ifigenia Cemetery with a plaque simply reading  Fidel.  Galas and vigils in honor of Fidel will be held around the country this week, according to state-run media. Cultural institutions like the national ballet are dedicating their shows to his memory, and state television is running archived footage on a loop. The municipal vote on Sunday, the only part of the electoral process with direct participation by ordinary Cubans, is being cast in state media as a show of support for his ideas. Posters of Fidel hung at assemblies where neighborhoods nominated candidates over the last two months. It will be followed by provincial and national assembly elections in which candidates are selected from slates by commissions. The new National Assembly will then in late February select a successor to Castro, widely expected to be First Vice President Miguel Diaz-Canel. Eduardo Torres, the director of Cuba s National Library, said there were several politicians well placed to become president but there would never be another Fidel and the country faced a generational transition.  Raul had the weight of the historic generation,  said Torres.  When he leaves, it is another generation and another history we will start to build.

Summary: क्यूबा ने फिदेल की मृत्यु की वर्षगांठ मनाई क्योंकि कास्ट्रो के बाद का युग निकट आ रहा है


WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States suggested on Tuesday it could cut U.S. aid to Pakistan or downgrade Islamabad’s status as a major non-NATO ally to pressure the South Asian nation to do more to help it with the war in Afghanistan. A day after President Donald Trump committed to an open-ended conflict in Afghanistan and singled out Pakistan for harboring Afghan Taliban insurgents and other militants, U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said Washington’s relationship with Pakistan would depend on its help against terrorism. “We are going to be conditioning our support for Pakistan and our relationship with them on them delivering results in this area,” Tillerson told reporters.  U.S. officials are frustrated by what they see as Pakistan’s reluctance to act against groups such as the Afghan Taliban and the Haqqani network that they believe exploit safe haven on Pakistani soil to launch attacks on neighboring Afghanistan. Pakistan denies it harbors militants fighting U.S. and Afghan government forces in Afghanistan. Tillerson said the United States could consider withdrawing Pakistan’s status as a major non-NATO ally, which provides limited benefits such as giving Pakistan faster access to surplus U.S. military hardware, if cooperation did not improve. “We have some leverage that’s been discussed in terms of the amount of aid and military assistance we give them, their status as non-NATO alliance partner - all of that can be put on the table,” he said. In a televised speech on Monday offering few specifics, Trump promised a stepped-up military campaign against Taliban insurgents who have gained ground against the U.S.-backed Afghan government and he singled out Pakistan for harboring militants. U.S.-backed Afghan forces overthrew the Taliban’s hard-line Islamist government in late 2001 because it sheltered al Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden, architect of the Sept. 11 attacks on New York and Washington that year.  U.S. forces have been bogged down since in a war that has vexed three American presidents. About 2,400 U.S. troops have died there in America’s longest military conflict.   (For a graphic on U.S. troops and contractors in Afghanistan click tmsnrt.rs/2xm6CxQ)  The Afghan government welcomed Trump’s speech, but the Taliban said it would make the country a “graveyard for the American empire.”     Successive U.S. administrations have struggled with how to deal with nuclear-armed Pakistan, which has a porous border with Afghanistan. Washington fumes about inaction against the Taliban, but Pakistan has cooperated on other U.S. counterterrorism efforts, including against al Qaeda and Islamic State militants. The Pakistani Foreign Ministry said it was “disappointing that the US policy statement ignores the enormous sacrifices rendered by the Pakistani nation” in fighting terrorism.  “As a matter of policy, Pakistan does not allow use of its territory against any country,” it said.      A senior U.S. official said on Tuesday significant measures were under consideration, including possibly sanctioning Pakistani officials with ties to extremist organizations. Trump also called for Pakistan’s great rival India to play a bigger role in Afghanistan, a prospect that will ring alarm bells for Pakistan’s generals.     “Trump’s policy of engaging India and threatening action may actually constrain Pakistan and lead to the opposite of what he wants,” said Zahid Hussain, a Pakistani security analyst. The United States has little choice but to use Pakistani roads and air corridors to resupply its troops in landlocked Afghanistan, giving Islamabad considerable leverage. U.S. officials fret that if Pakistan becomes an active foe, it could further destabilize Afghanistan and endanger U.S. soldiers.     Defense Secretary Jim Mattis said on Tuesday he was awaiting a plan from the U.S. military’s chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, General Joseph Dunford, before deciding how many more troops to send to Afghanistan. “When he brings that to me, I will determine how many more we need to send in,” Mattis told reporters in Baghdad. “It may or may not be the number that is bandied about.” U.S. officials have said Trump has given Mattis authority to send about 4,000 additional troops to add to the roughly 8,400 already in Afghanistan. The U.S. Air Force may intensify its strikes in Afghanistan and expand training of the Afghan air force following Trump’s decision, its top general told Reuters on Tuesday. Most U.S. troops in Afghanistan work with a NATO-led training and advising mission, with the rest part of a counterterrorism force that mostly targets pockets of al Qaeda and Islamic State fighters.

Summary: अमेरिका ने अफगान युद्ध में मदद के लिए पाकिस्तान पर और दबाव डाला