ASPEN, Colo. (Reuters) - National Security Agency Director Mike Rogers on Saturday rebuffed the prospect for a U.S.-Russia cyber unit, a proposal which has been greeted with incredulity by several senior U.S. lawmakers and which President Donald Trump himself appeared to back down from after initially indicating interest. U.S. intelligence agencies have assessed that Russia meddled in the 2016 U.S. presidential election by hacking Democrats’ emails and distributing online propaganda to help Trump win the election over Democratic rival Hillary Clinton. Moscow has denied any interference, and Trump has said that  his campaign did not collude with Russia. A Russian presidential envoy said this week that Moscow and Washington were in talks to create a joint cyber security working group. Asked whether it was a good idea to set up a cyber security cell with the Russians, Rogers told the annual Aspen Security Forum: “I’m not a policy guy here. .... I would argue now is probably not the best time to be doing this.” Trump said earlier this month that he had discussed the idea of creating such a group with Russian President Vladimir Putin at the Group of 20 summit in Hamburg. Senior Republicans criticized the idea, saying Moscow could not be trusted, and Trump later appeared to back away, saying in a post on Twitter: “The fact that President Putin and I discussed a Cyber Security unit doesn’t mean I think it can happen. It can’t.” Widespread concern and confusion about the possible cyber working group reflects the Trump administration’s struggles to articulate a clear approach to international cyber security issues amid inconsistent statements by the president and ongoing personnel changes. Rogers said such a unit was “something that you might want to build over time were we to see changes in (Russia’s) behavior.” (Story refiled to amend dateline)

Summary: NSA प्रमुख Russia-U.S. साइबर इकाईः अब 'सबसे अच्छा समय नहीं' है


NEW YORK (Reuters) - Within minutes of Jeb Bush dropping out of the presidential race Saturday night, some of his donors were preparing to throw their financial support behind Marco Rubio, who has emerged as the strongest candidate among the establishment wing of the party. “Jeb’s network is already naturally migrating to Marco,” said Gaylord Hughey, a top Bush fundraiser from Texas, echoing what four other top donors told Reuters. “It’s the clear path.” “It’s a stampede,” added another donor, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because he wanted to give Bush some time after dropping out before he went public with his support of Rubio, the U.S. senator from Florida. Three other Bush donors, who declined to be named, also said they now planned to support Rubio.   Although he has failed to win any of the first three nominating contests, Rubio is considered by many political strategists as the best positioned to challenge frontrunner Donald Trump, a billionaire political outsider, and Senator Ted Cruz of Texas, who has campaigned on an anti-Washington message. The likelihood that some of Bush’s deep-pocketed donors will back Rubio comes at an opportune time for his candidacy, as he heads into a series of contests in March that will be crucial for building momentum. Brian Ballard, who raised money for Bush last year but switched allegiances last summer to Rubio, said: “It’s flooding tonight. Ninety-five percent of Jeb’s money is going to end up with Marco.”  Rubio had only $5 million in cash on hand at the end of January, federal campaign finance reports released Saturday night show, a slim buffer by modern campaign standards.  Conservative Solutions, a political spending group that supports his campaign, had $5.6 million on hand at the end of January, but spent an additional $9.3 million on advertising in the first 19 days of February.  By contrast, Right to Rise, Bush’s political spending group,  had $24.5 million on hand at the end of January but spent $6.6 million of that in February on ads. And his network of donors have proven their financial might, helping Bush at one point to amass a war chest of $150 million. Even before Bush dropped out, some donors privately complained about the missteps of the campaign, expressing concern about the strength of Trump’s candidacy and Bush’s lackluster debate performances.  In January, a dozen top Bush donors interviewed by Reuters said they were angry that Bush was using their money to lob attack ads at Rubio, damaging the candidate they thought had the best chance to win.  They also said they had privately signaled to the Rubio campaign that they would support him once Bush dropped out. But they wouldn’t go public at the time because they feared displeasing the Bush dynasty.       In addition to the Bush money, Rubio is expected to reap the support of the billionaire industrialist Koch brothers and their donor network, which is expected to spend $400 million in the presidential race, according to several network donors and Koch political organization officials.  The Koch brothers are also in the midst of planning efforts to undercut Trump’s candidacy, network officials and members said at a recent private retreat in California. Their focus group research has shown that when voters learn more about how Trump’s past business behavior has hurt ordinary people, they sour on him, according to the sources, who spoke on the condition of anonymity.   (Reporting By Michelle Conlin; Editing by Paul Thomasch and Mary Milliken) This article was funded in part by SAP. It was independently created by the Reuters editorial staff. SAP had no editorial involvement in its creation or production.

Summary: बुश के हटने के बाद अमीर दानदाताओं ने रुबियो व्हाइट हाउस के लिए बोली लगाई


MOSCOW (Reuters) - U.N. special envoy on Syria Staffan de Mistura will arrive in Kazakhstan s capital on Friday to take part in Syria peace talks, the Kazakh Foreign Ministry said on Thursday, according to Russia s state news agency RIA. De Mistura will fly to Astana after talks in Moscow on Thursday with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov. Kazakhstan is hosting negotiations that aim to end the Syria crisis. Discussions in the past few months have focused on establishing de-escalation zones in Syria.

Summary: संयुक्त राष्ट्र मध्यस्थ डी मिस्टुरा शुक्रवार को सीरिया वार्ता में भाग लेंगेः रिपोर्ट


WASHINGTON (Reuters) - White House chief of staff John Kelly said on Thursday his role was not to control President Donald Trump or his Twitter habit. “I was not brought to this job to control anything but the flow of information to our president so that he can make the best decisions,” Kelly told reporters. “I was not sent in to or brought in to control him and you should not measure my effectiveness as a chief of staff by what you think I should be doing,” he said.

Summary: व्हाइट हाउस के चीफ ऑफ स्टाफ का कहना है कि उनका काम ट्रम्प को नियंत्रित करना नहीं है


NEW DELHI (Reuters) - Nikki Haley may have been born in the United States but her extended family back in India is thrilled that the South Carolina governor has been named by U.S. President-elect Donald Trump as ambassador to the United Nations. Haley’s parents hail from rural Punjab, in northwestern India. They moved to Amritsar - home to the Golden Temple that is the most holy place of the Sikh religion - before emigrating to North America in the early 1960s. Haley, 44, was born Nimrata Randhawa in Bamberg, South Carolina - she was called “Nikki” as a child and took the family name of husband Michael when they married in Sikh and Methodist ceremonies in 1996. Kanwaljit Singh Randhawa, a 70-year-old cousin, told Reuters family and friends were delighted by Haley’s appointment and said it could help improve relations between the United States and India. “It is a great achievement for Punjab and India. We are proud of the fact that (Nikki) has achieved this success,” Randhawa told Reuters by telephone. Randhawa, a retired lecturer, said he was in regular touch with Nikki’s father, Ajit Singh Randhawa, who grew up in the village of Pandori Ran Singh, south of Amritsar. India’s foreign ministry said it was happy to hear news of Haley’s appointment, describing her as a supporter of closer U.S.-India ties who had met Prime Minister Narendra Modi when he visited Washington in June. “We know Governor Haley very well,” said spokesman Vikas Swarup. India’s foreign secretary visited the United States earlier this month and interacted with “very senior levels” of the Trump transition team, he also said. Haley came only once to India as a four-year-old child, doesn’t speak Punjabi and has converted to Christianity. But she has visited India more recently in an official capacity, going to Amritsar in November 2014 on what she called “an emotional and very personal day”. “I always yearned to see Punjab - my motherland - and now I am so proud to be here after almost 40 years,” she told TV reporters at the time, her voice choking with emotion as she steadied herself with nips from a water bottle. Her biography is similar to that of Richard Verma, the first U.S. ambassador to New Delhi of Indian origin. He was born in the United States into a Punjabi family but visited often as a child. Verma was mobbed by relatives and locals when he visited his ancestral home in early 2015. Haley has little foreign policy experience, while Trump has expressed favorable views toward India, where he has real estate interests. The tycoon-turned-TV reality star told one cultural event put on by diaspora Republicans during the presidential campaign that he loved the country and its people. Trump’s stated intention of banning immigration by Muslims from countries that are a source of Islamist militancy has played well with many in India, a majority Hindu nation that has long been at odds with Muslim-majority Pakistan. Much of the diplomacy over the rivalry between India and Pakistan, both nuclear-armed powers, plays out in the corridors of UN headquarters in New York and Haley’s appointment is likely to be seen positively in New Delhi in that light. India, the world’s largest democracy, is also lobbying to be made a permanent member of an expanded UN Security Council, although it’s doubtful this would be a priority for Trump. Back in Punjab, relatives and old family friends are planning a major celebration to mark the elevation of Haley to the top diplomatic post.  “We are going to the Golden Temple in Amritsar to pray for her success,” said Randhawa. “And we will speak to our friends and villagers to have a function in the next few days.”

Summary: भारत के पंजाब में हेली के रिश्तेदारों ने संयुक्त राष्ट्र के दूत के रूप में नियुक्ति का स्वागत किया


WASHINGTON (Reuters) - White House Chief of Staff John Kelly said on Monday a special counsel should be appointed to investigate Democrats over a uranium deal during the Obama administration and a dossier compiled on Donald Trump during the 2016 presidential campaign. “I think probably as a layman looking at this kind of thing we need to find someone who is very, very objective who can get to the bottom of these accusations,” Kelly said in an interview on Fox News. A special counsel would be appointed by the Justice Department. Republicans in Congress last week launched an investigation into an Obama-era deal in which a Russian company bought a Canadian firm that owned some 20 percent of U.S. uranium supplies. Some Republicans have said Hillary Clinton’s State Department approved the deal after her husband’s charitable foundation received a $145 million donation. The New York Times has reported that Clinton, a Democrat who lost to Republican Trump in the 2016 election, did not participate in the decision. Republicans have also raised questions about whether Democrats funded a dossier put together during last year’s presidential campaign that detailed accusations about Trump’s ties to Russia.  The Washington Post reported last week that Marc Elias, a lawyer for Clinton, used campaign funds to hire Fusion GPS, the firm behind the dossier. Kelly’s call for a special counsel to investigate Democrats comes as a probe by special counsel Robert Mueller into possible collusion between the Trump campaign and Russians produced its first charges and a guilty plea. A grand jury impaneled by Mueller indicted former Trump campaign manager Paul Manafort and aide Rick Gates on Monday. A third former Trump adviser, George Papadopoulos, pleaded guilty in early October to lying to the FBI, it was announced on Monday.

Summary: व्हाइट हाउस के चीफ ऑफ स्टाफ ने डेमोक्रेट्स की जांच के लिए विशेष वकील की मांग की


BERLIN (Reuters) - Most Germans are wary of anything that smacks of nationalism given their Nazi history but the concept of  Heimat  (homeland) is enjoying a renaissance driven by rising anxiety about migration and globalization. President Frank-Walter Steinmeier used the resonant word 18 times in marking the 27th anniversary of German reunification on Tuesday, saying the nation needed honest dialogue about immigration after taking in over a million migrants since 2015.  Cem Ozdemir, head of the environmental Greens party, applauded Steinmeier for reclaiming the word from the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD), which emphasized nationalist and anti-immigrant themes to capture around 13 percent of the vote in the Sept. 24 national election. Germany s post-war history included migration from Italy, Turkey, Greece and eastern Europe, but it has resisted thinking of itself as a country of immigrants. That is changing now amid calls for a proper immigration law to differentiate between political refugees and economic migrants. Along with that has come new soul-searching about what it means to be German, as well as resurgent demand for dirndls (traditional Alpine dresses), cuckoo clocks, local foods and mystery novels set in regions like the northern island of Sylt.  Raed Saleh, a Berlin politician whose Palestinian parents moved to Germany from the Israeli-occupied West Bank when he was five, said he was reminded of his own identity struggles when he spoke at a high school in Berlin s Wedding district - where 90 percent of the students come from immigrant families.  I saw really talented, engaged people and I want them - and all children in Germany - to feel that they belong here,  said Saleh.  I didn t have that feeling myself for a long time.  In his book,  German Me: The New Guiding Culture  published earlier this year, Saleh called for a more inclusive  common vision  for Germany and its 82 million people. His book is one of over a dozen published over the past year that explore German identity and the concept of homeland. Susanne Weingarten, who oversaw production of a special issue of Der Spiegel magazine dedicated to  Heimat , said interest by both rightists and liberal young  hipsters  pointed to a certain rootlessness in Germany that had been exacerbated by digitalization, globalization and the migration crisis.  In Germany, it s a scorched concept because of National Socialism,  she said, referring to Nazism.  The attempt to define  Heimat  for oneself is difficult. That s something that only the young generation born 50 to 60 years after the Holocaust can do unselfconsciously.  Christian Schuele, whose book  Heimat: A Phantom Pain  was published this spring, says the trend and support for far-right parties is driven by a sense of loss of national identity as immigration has surged, especially for those whose towns have shriveled and where local traditions have died out. The current debate is long overdue, he says, noting the election revealed deep cracks in society caused by the lack of integration of many from the country s formerly communist east, and others, such as those with backgrounds in Russia and Turkey.  It s definitely a topic that moves people,  said Bianca Kroemer, spokeswoman for Berlin s Dussmann bookstore, which has a whole section focused on the issue.  Heimat  is in vogue,  agreed Juergen Kron, managing director of the Duesseldorf-based Droste Verlag, whose focus on regional titles had kept sales up despite the overall drop in the publishing market. National pride became acceptable for the first time since the Nazi era during the summer of 2006, when Germans reveled in their hosting of the soccer World Cup by waving flags long associated only with the far-right. In recent years, the  buy local  movement has fueled interest in regional books of all kinds, Kron said. Next week s Frankfurt Book Fair will feature nearly a dozen events related to the subject of homeland. Dorothea Suh, a 33-year-old music teacher in Hamburg whose parents came from South Korea two years before her birth, worries that the discussion about German identity comes too late and that other parties will ultimately co-opt the AfD s agenda. Stung by recent experiences - including a neighbor yelling  Foreigners out,  Suh is actively planning to emigrate.  Germany is my home. I don t want to leave, but I m starting to feel like a stranger in my own country,  Suh said.  I don t want to wait too long and then find myself facing closed doors.

Summary: वैश्वीकरण, प्रवास की आशंकाओं ने 'हीमत' में जर्मनों की रुचि को फिर से जगाया


WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States lifted long-standing sanctions against Sudan on Friday, saying it had made progress fighting terrorism and easing humanitarian distress, and also secured Khartoum s commitment not to pursue arms deals with North Korea. In a move that completes a process begun by former President Barack Obama and which was opposed by human rights groups, President Donald Trump removed a U.S. trade embargo and other penalties that had effectively cut Sudan off from much of the global financial system. The U.S. decision marked a major turnaround for the government of President Omar Hassan al-Bashir, who once played host to Osama bin Laden and is wanted by the International Criminal Court on charges of orchestrating genocide in Darfur. However, Sudan will stay on the U.S. list of state sponsors of terrorism - alongside Iran and Syria - which carries a ban on weapons sales and restrictions on U.S. aid, U.S. officials said. Sudanese officials also remain subject to United Nations sanctions for human rights abuses during the Darfur conflict, the officials said, speaking on condition of anonymity. The lifting of sanctions reflects a U.S. assessment that Sudan has made progress in meeting Washington s demands, including cooperation on counter-terrorism, working to resolve internal conflicts and allowing more humanitarian aid into Darfur and other rebellious border areas, the officials said. State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert said the sanctions relief was in recognition of Sudan s  sustained positive actions  but that more improvement was needed. The Trump administration also secured a commitment from Sudan that it would  not pursue arms deals  with North Korea, and Washington will apply  zero tolerance  in ensuring Khartoum s compliance, one of the officials said. But they said Khartoum s assurances on North Korea were not a condition for lifting sanctions, some of which had been in place for 20 years and have hobbled the Sudanese economy. Sudan has long been suspected of military ties with North Korea, which is locked in a tense standoff with Washington over its missiles and nuclear weapons programs. But the official said Khartoum was not believed to have diplomatic relations with Pyongyang and that was not expected to change. Sudan also has recently distanced itself diplomatically from Iran, another U.S. arch-foe. U.S. officials have said that sanctions relief, which will unfreeze Sudanese government assets, could benefit a range of businesses in Sudan, including its key energy sector. The economy has been reeling since South Sudan, which holds  three-quarters of former Sudan s oil wells, seceded in 2011.  Sudan looks forward to building  normal relations with the United States,  the foreign ministry said in a statement.  However, this requires lifting Sudan from the list of state sponsors of terrorism because it does not apply (to Sudan).  Central bank governor Hazem Abdel Kader said removing sanctions would allow Sudan s banking system to  reintegrate into the global economy,  and Agriculture Minister Abdul Latif Ajimi said it would bring exchange rate stability that would boost agricultural development, according to state news agency SUNA. Shortly before leaving office, former U.S. President Barack Obama temporarily eased penalties against the east African nation. In July, the Trump administration postponed for three months a decision on whether to remove the sanctions completely, setting up an Oct. 12 deadline. Rights groups see the sanctions removal as premature.  It sends the wrong message to lift these sanctions permanently when Sudan has made so little progress on human rights,  said Andrea Prasow, deputy director of the Washington office of Human Rights Watch. Democratic U.S. Representative Jim McGovern said the sanctions decision  legitimizes the murderous actions of the Sudanese government  and warned that  any back-sliding will likely result in Congress reinstating sanctions.  The United States first imposed sanctions on Sudan in 1997, including a trade embargo and blocking government assets, for human rights violations and terrorism concerns. Washington layered on more sanctions in 2006 for what it said was complicity in the violence in Sudan s Darfur region.

Summary: अमेरिका ने सूडान से प्रतिबंध हटाए, उत्तर कोरिया के साथ हथियारों के सौदे के खिलाफ प्रतिबद्धता हासिल की


PESHAWAR/ISLAMABAD, Pakistan (Reuters) - Pakistan on Wednesday told medical charity Medecins Sans Frontieres  (MSF) to stop work and leave its impoverished tribal areas that border Afghanistan, the health organization said, ending its 14 year stay in the volatile region. MSF works out of two health facilities in the Kurram district of Pakistan s Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) region, which has been plagued by militancy over the past decade and was the location of many U.S. drone strikes targeting commanders from al Qaeda and other militant groups. Though security has improved in FATA in recent years, sectarian militant attacks, primarily targeting Shi ite Muslims, still occur. Twin blasts in the Kurram s most populous town, Parachinar killed more than 75 people in June.  Local officials say MSF provides essential healthcare facilities in FATA, an area with some of Pakistan s poorest healthcare and lowest literacy rates.  We have been asked to close our medical activities in Kurram Agency,  MSF said in a statement to the media, adding that Pakistan had refused to issue a No Objection Certificate (NOC) for the charity to work in the tribal areas.   MSF is saddened by the decision from the authorities responsible for NGOs working in Kurram Agency. The closure brings to and end 14 years of MSF working with the FATA Health Services in Kurram Agency,  country representative Catherine Moody said in the statement.   Foreign nationals and organizations working in Pakistan require NOCs to operate in certain areas. Pakistani NGOs and journalists also face restrictions when working in the tribal areas.  MSF provides diagnosis and treatment facilities to the community for Leishmaniasis, immunization for children, as well ... responding to emergencies, disease outbreaks and mass casualties,  the organization said.  The region s health directorate did not respond to requests for comment but Dr. Mohammad Ishaq, who works there, said MSF was asked to leave because they did not have a valid NOC.   I personally think MSF was doing a great job for the patients in FATA,  he said, adding that he did not know why its license to work there was revoked.   We have been working in FATA since 2004. We were never denied an NOC in  the past. This will affect many patients in the area,  one MSF employee said, asking not to be identified. He added that the organization had 70 staff members working at the two health facilities.  The official who notified MSF that their operations would need to be shut down added:  I did what I was directed to by my bosses in Peshawar but really don t know the reason behind MSF being stopped.

Summary: पाकिस्तान ने देश के आदिवासी क्षेत्र से मेडिकल चैरिटी एमएसएफ की शुरुआत की


NEW YORK (Reuters) - Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton on Thursday will unveil proposals to help small businesses fight fraudulent practices by larger firms, tactics her campaign will compare to the business record of her Republican rival, Donald Trump.   The plan would enhance legal protections for small businesses when large firms don’t pay their bills, increase federal regulatory enforcement, and expand working capital for small businesses, according to a Clinton official. The proposal comes a day after Clinton, in Atlantic City, lambasted Trump for what she described as profiting from exploiting workers in the slumping seaside town. A Reuters special report last year found Trump sometimes refuses to pay bills from contractors he has hired and then forces them to negotiate the final figure down. The new plan from the former secretary of state highlights a major division in the Democratic and Republican campaigns for the Nov. 8 presidential election.  Trump, a New York real estate developer, often highlights his businesses as among his biggest qualifications for office, promising to do for the country what he says he has done for his companies.  But Clinton and others have harshly criticized Trump’s business practices and argue that running a country is a far different proposition from running a private enterprise.  Clinton and several campaign surrogates will take her new small business proposal to 10 states, including key election battlegrounds of Florida and Nevada, pointing to Donald Trump’s Atlantic City casino bankruptcies as a warning sign for voters.

Summary: डेमोक्रेट क्लिंटन छोटे व्यवसायों की सुरक्षा के लिए योजना का प्रस्ताव रखेंगी


GENEVA (Reuters) - An estimated 270,000 Rohingya refugees have fled Myanmar in the past two weeks and sought refuge in Bangladesh, where two existing refugee camps are  bursting at the seams , the U.N. refugee agency UNHCR said on Friday.  The exodus of the minority Rohingya was triggered by insurgent attacks on Aug. 25 and an army counter-offensive. Myanmar says its forces are fighting a legitimate campaign against terrorists responsible for a string of attacks on the police and army since last October. Officials blame Rohingya militants for killing non-Muslims and burning their homes.  The two refugee camps in Cox s Bazar in southeast Bangladesh   home to nearly 34,000 Rohingya refugees before this influx   are now bursting at the seams. The population has more than doubled in two weeks, totaling more than 70,000. There is an urgent need for more land and shelters,  UNHCR said in a briefing note for reporters in Geneva.  The vast majority are women, including mothers with newborn babies, families with children. They arrive in poor condition, exhausted, hungry and desperate for shelter.  The United Nations was expecting a total refugee influx of 300,000, up from a previous estimate of 120,000, an official told Reuters on Wednesday. The International Organization for Migration said the estimate of new arrivals had increased considerably partly because of an assessment on Sept. 6, when humanitarian workers visited more locations, and found 75,000 newly arrived people in nine locations.  There were 130,000 people in the registered refugee camps and three makeshift settlements, 90,000 in host communities, and  nearly 50,000 in new spontaneous settlements which are expanding quickly with people still searching for space to make temporary shelters , an IOM statement said.      While most of Rohingya refugees arrive on foot, mostly walking through the jungle and mountains for several days, thousands are braving long and risky voyages across the rough seas of the Bay of Bengal,  UNHCR said. At least 300 boats arrived in Cox s Bazar on Wednesday, IOM said.

Summary: संयुक्त राष्ट्र का कहना है कि पिछले दो हफ्तों में 270,000 रोहिंग्या म्यांमार से भाग गए


RIYADH (Reuters) - Saudi Arabia s King Salman bin Abdulaziz said on Wednesday his government was determined to confront corruption with  justice and decisiveness , signalling continued support for a crackdown on sleaze involving mass arrests of top Saudis including royals. In a televised speech to the country s consultative Shura  council, Salman also said the world s largest oil exporter will work to enable the private sector to become a partner in the kingdom s economic diversification drive away from petroleum. Saudi security forces rounded up hundreds of members of the political and business elite, including princes and tycoons, in early November: Riyadh said it was a crackdown on corruption but the move was also widely seen as helping Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman tighten his grip on power. The purge has caused concern about damage to the economy, especially among foreign investors the kingdom is seeking to attract. But the government has insisted it is respecting due process and that the companies of detained businessmen will continue operating normally. In a speech focused on economic issues, Salman said the kingdom was pushing ahead with its  Vision 2030  economic reform plan to find new sources of revenue for the OPEC powerhouse. But he said that corruption was one of the main threats to economic development.  We have decided, with God s help, to confront it (corruption) with justice and decisiveness so that our country can enjoy the renaissance and development that every citizen aspires for,  he said. Signaling his support for the campaign of arrests, he said that he had ordered the formation of a higher committee against corruption headed by the crown prince.  Thanks be to God that those are a few (people),  he said, referring to the number of arrestees. The public prosecutor said last week that most of those detained in the anti-corruption campaign have agreed to settlements to avoid prosecution, while the rest could be held for months. Salman said the restructuring the kingdom was undertaking did not contradict its Islamic values, which he said were based on moderate Islam.  There is no place among us for an extremist who sees moderation as deviation, or who would exploit our benevolent faith to achieve his goals,  he added. Salman also reiterated Saudi Arabia s condemnation of President Donald Trump s decision to recognize Jerusalem as Israel s capital and move the U.S. embassy to the city. In an apparent reference to arch-foe Iran, Salman also said Saudi Arabia was working with its allies to confront any  tendency for external interference in the internal affairs and fan the flames of sectarian sedition, and undermine regional security and stability . He did not elaborate.

Summary: सऊदी अरब के शाह सलमान ने कहा-भ्रष्टाचार का सामना करने के लिए दृढ़ संकल्पित


WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Disagreement among U.S. congressional Republicans is already swirling around a tax cut plan unveiled days ago by President Donald Trump, who has proposed repealing the tax on inheritances and eliminating a deduction for state and local tax payments. The discord shows the difficulty of overhauling the complex U.S. tax code. This task has defied Washington since 1986, the last time a comprehensive rewrite was completed despite lobbyists who defend each tax break. Trump has yet to score a major legislative win since taking office in January and is pushing hard for a tax code revamp. But his plan is meeting the same internal Republican tensions between moderates and conservatives that have sunk his efforts this year to repeal the Obamacare health law. “There’s a lot of give and take,” Trump economic adviser Gary Cohn told Fox Business Network on Friday.  Members of the administration “have been meeting everyday with the tax writers trying to figure out where they need to end up to get the votes ... we’re going to make sure the president gets what he asks for,” he added. One obstacle is the projected fiscal impact of the plan, which would slash U.S. revenues and expand the federal deficit and the national debt, which now exceeds $20 trillion. Republican lawmakers from high-tax states such as New York exited meetings this week with Kevin Brady, chairman of the House of Representatives’ tax-writing committee, saying there would be some sort of compromise on repealing the deduction for state and local tax payments. Separately, some Republican senators were questioning the repeal of a 40 percent inheritance tax levied on estate assets worth more than $5.5 million, or $11 million for married couples. That tax affects only about 0.2 percent of estates, according to the Tax Policy Center, a Washington think tank. “That is not a priority for me as we seek to craft this tax bill,” Senator Susan Collins, who has often been a key Republican vote, said in a statement on Thursday. Republicans want to use a procedure known as budget reconciliation to pass eventual tax legislation, which allows passage with a simple majority in the 100-seat Senate. Republicans hold 52 Senate seats and can only afford to lose support from two senators, with Vice President Mike Pence able to cast a tie-breaking vote. Democrats will likely oppose the legislation.  One Republican fiscal hawk, Senator Bob Corker, has already said he cannot support tax legislation that adds to the annual federal deficit. “We remain very bearish on any tax legislation passing this year - or next,” Cowen and Co analyst Chris Krueger said in a Friday research note. The Trump plan, made public last week, calls for up to $6 trillion in tax cuts over 10 years. Without accompanying spending reductions, the budget would hugely expand the deficit, according to some estimates.  The administration contends tax cuts would spur so much economic growth that the resulting new revenues would help offset the cost. In addition, Republicans are proposing “revenue raisers,” such as ending the deduction for payments of state and local tax, known as SALT. Doing that would raise about $1.3 trillion over a decade, the Tax Policy Center said. Almost 30 percent of taxpayers currently deduct state and local taxes. In New Jersey, for example, 41 percent of tax filers, meaning individuals or married couples, claimed the deduction, which averaged $17,850, according to a Government Finance Officers Association analysis of Internal Revenue Service data. Although the deduction disproportionately benefits people in high-tax states and localities, individuals in all states claim it. In Georgia, for example, 33 percent of tax filers claim an average deduction of $9,158, the report said. Republican Representative Chris Collins of New York, a Trump ally, told reporters earlier this week that lawmakers from high-tax states, such as his own, were discussing “ways to level the playing field,” including capping the amount of the deduction or putting other limits on it. “There are many districts with Republican members where state and local deduction is used by a large portion of the taxpayers,” said Frank Sammartino, a senior fellow at the Tax Policy Center. “So it’s not surprising that it’s not strictly a blue state/red state thing.” Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer called the state and local tax deduction the “Achilles’ heel” of tax reform and said his party would oppose any move to repeal it. He dismissed compromise plans as unfeasible. Brady said on Thursday that at this point there has been no change to the framework, but tax writers are “listening very carefully” to lawmakers’ concerns. “It’s got to be frustrating when you’re in a state where local and state officials really put the screws to taxpayers,” Brady told reporters. “We are determined to provide tax relief to every American, regardless of where they live.”

Summary: रिपब्लिकनों के बीच मतभेद पहले से ही ट्रम्प की कर योजना पर भारी है


NEW YORK (Reuters) - Rex Tillerson, the former oil executive under consideration for U.S. secretary of state, is trying to avoid giving testimony in a federal lawsuit over climate change, according to a lawyer for a group of teenagers who filed the suit. Lawyers for the teenagers, who sued the federal government claiming it violated their constitutional rights by causing global warming, were scheduled to depose Tillerson, the former chief executive of Exxon Mobil, in his capacity as a board member of the American Petroleum Institute, a trade group.  The lawyers planned to ask Tillerson when he first learned of the impact the burning of fossil fuels was having on the Earth’s atmosphere.  His answers might then be used to prove the government, working with the energy and manufacturing industries, continued to allow activities harmful to the environment despite knowing the risks to future generations, said Julia Olson, a lawyer in Eugene, Oregon, who is executive director of Our Children’s Trust and representing the teenagers. Tillerson’s deposition was set for Jan. 19, a day before President-elect Donald Trump’s inauguration. But Olson said the API’s lawyers told her in a letter that Tillerson should not have to testify because he is no longer affiliated with the group. Her team has asked API to prove Tillerson had left the group on Dec. 28, when they sent notice of their intent to depose him. “If he was still on the board on the date of notice of deposition, he can still be deposed,” Olson said.   The lawsuit, brought in federal court in Oregon, says the U.S. government helped to cause climate change through its policies, thus denying a group of young people their constitutional right to life, liberty and property.  The API and two other industry groups intervened in the case, claiming a judgment requiring the government to tighten environmental regulations would harm their business interests. Tillerson announced he was retiring from ExxonMobil on Dec. 14, a day after Trump announced his nomination as secretary of state. The API has not announced any change to Tillerson’s role in its organization, but its president released a statement congratulating Tillerson on his nomination on Dec. 13.  An API spokesman, lawyers for the API and a spokesman for the Trump transition team did not immediately respond to a request for comment.  The case is Juliana v. U.S., U.S. District Court, District of Oregon (Eugene), No. 15-cv-01517.        (This version of the story was refiled to say the API’s lawyers told her in a letter, not that they told her by telephone,  in paragraph six)

Summary: अमेरिकी विदेश विभाग के नामित टिलरसन ने जलवायु निक्षेपण से लड़ाई लड़ी


WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The sudden and shocking death of Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia opened a new and incendiary front in the already red-hot 2016 presidential race, one that promises to divide Democrats and Republicans and, perhaps, Republicans from themselves.  The vacancy on the court, which is now evenly split 4-4 between its conservative and liberal wings, had Republicans calling on President Barack Obama to refrain from choosing a successor to the right-leaning Scalia while Democrats urged Obama to do as the U.S. Constitution requires and put forward a candidate to face confirmation in an albeit hostile Senate. The prospect of such a battle drew swift and furious comment from candidates vying to be elected president in November. Facing off in a debate only hours after the 79-year-old Scalia’s death was announced, some Republican presidential candidates seized the moment to caution voters that their party’s front-runner, billionaire businessman Donald Trump, could not be trusted to nominate a stalwart conservative.  “If Donald Trump is president, he will appoint liberals,” charged U.S. Senator Ted Cruz of Texas during the debate in South Carolina, which holds a Republican nominating contest  next Saturday. “Two branches of government hang in the balance, not just the presidency, but the Supreme Court,” Cruz said. “If we get this wrong, if we nominate the wrong candidate, the Second Amendment, life, marriage, religious liberty, every one of those hangs in the balance.” Senator Lindsey Graham of South Carolina also took a shot at Trump. “Donald Trump is not a conservative, so I don’t trust him to pick a judge,” Graham said before the debate. A real estate mogul, Trump has supported Democratic politicians in the past. Trump, who also has taken several positions at odds with Republican orthodoxy, joined other candidates at the debate in insisting that Senator Mitch McConnell, Republican majority leader in the Senate, stand by his promise to block any Obama high court choice.  “It’s up to Mitch McConnell and everyone else to stop it,” Trump, a former reality TV show host, said. “It’s called delay, delay, delay.” Under the U.S. system, the president nominates justices for the nine-member court and the Senate confirms them. The last justice to be approved by the Senate of the opposite party during an election year was Justice Anthony Kennedy in 1988.  Obama has already indicated that he intends to send a choice to the Senate in coming weeks, meaning that the nominee will be heavily scrutinized by presidential candidates in both parties - and more than likely be opposed by the majority of Republicans.  “The court may genuinely be a major issue this year,” said David Axelrod, a former top political adviser to Obama. “It will be a hell of a fight.” Criticism of the court, which in recent years has upheld Obama’s sweeping healthcare plan and legalized same-sex marriage, has already been a thread running through several Republican candidates’ campaigns.  The conservative majority on the court had appeared poised to invalidate Obama’s immigration and climate-change policies. The loss of Scalia, considered to be a lodestar of conservative legal thought, and the potential swing of the court to the left, ensures that whatever drama plays out in the Senate this year will be mirrored on the campaign trail. “There is no more clarifying debate in politics these days than when it comes to Supreme Court nominees,” said Jim Manley, a Democratic strategist and former aide to Senator Harry Reid of Nevada. “This now is for all the marbles.” Reid was majority leader of the Senate when it confirmed previous Obama court nominees Sonia Sotomayor and Elena Kagan. Manley called McConnell’s threat not to allow a vote on a potential Scalia replacement “completely beyond the pale.” Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton seemed inclined to make McConnell’s threat a campaign issue.  “The Republicans in the Senate and on the campaign trail who are calling for Justice Scalia’s seat to remain vacant dishonor our Constitution,” Clinton said in a statement.  Axelrod said that the issue could help Clinton, locked in a tight race with U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont.  “I think it will make electability and experience in this realm more important,” he said.   Rick Hasen, a law professor at the University of California, Irvine, and a longtime observer of the Supreme Court nomination process, said Obama likely has two options. “He could nominate a more liberal candidate who would have no real chance of getting through a Republican Senate - in which case this would become a salient political issue in 2016,” Hasen said. Or he could nominate a more moderate candidate who might gain enough Republican support to gain approval, he said.  There are risks to both approaches: A Republican obstruction of a liberal nominee would animate the Democratic Party’s progressive base in an election year but would leave the court without a potentially tie-breaking vote for perhaps a year. That same Democratic base might view a moderate nominee as a betrayal, while conservative Republican voters likely would frown on any senator who voted to approve an Obama choice.  Manley said that McConnell has already shown that he is unwilling to support any choice made by Obama and that the White House must act aggressively. “The president should go forward and nominate the most liberal candidate possible,” he said.  Given the need to fire up its most passionate voters, that might just be exactly what Republican candidates want as well. (This version of the story was refiled to fix the mistyped word “then” to “than” in paragraph 16.)  (Writing by James Oliphant; Reporting by Ginger Gibson and James Oliphant; Additional reporting by Steve Holland and Jeff Mason; Editing by Howard Goller) SAP is the sponsor of this content. It was independently created by Reuters’ editorial staff and funded in part by SAP, which otherwise has no role in this coverage.

Summary: सुप्रीम कोर्ट में राष्ट्रपति पद की दौड़ बढ़ी


KHARTOUM (Reuters) - Turkey and Sudan have agreed to set up a  strategic cooperation council  to strengthen economic ties, their presidents said at a news conference in Khartoum on Sunday after the first visit by a Turkish leader to the African nation. The countries hope gradually to increase bilateral trade ties to $10 billion a year from the current $500 million, and signed 12 agreements on military, economic and agricultural cooperation. Sudan s economy has been struggling since the south seceded in 2011, taking with it three-quarters of the country s oil output. In recent years, Turkey has boosted investments in Sudan.

Summary: सूडान, तुर्की 'रणनीतिक सहयोग परिषद' की स्थापना करेंगे, व्यापार संबंधों को बढ़ावा देंगे


DUBAI (Reuters) - Iranian and Iraqi central government forces are to hold joint military exercises near their borders, Iran s state television reported on Saturday, as part of Tehran s effort to support Baghdad after the Kurdish independence referendum. State television quoted a military spokesman as saying the decision to hold the war games was taken at a meeting of Iranian military commanders which also  agreed on measures to establish border security and receive Iraqi forces that are to be stationed at border posts .

Summary: ईरानी, इराकी सरकारी बल संयुक्त सीमा अभ्यास करेंगे-ईरान टीवी


WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. Republicans and Democrats have reached agreement on legislation that allows new sanctions against Russia, Iran and North Korea, leading congressional Democrats said on Saturday, in a bill that would limit any potential effort by President Donald Trump to try to lift sanctions against Moscow.      The Countering Iran’s Destabilizing Activities Act, which was passed by the Senate a month ago, was held up in the House of Representatives after Republicans proposed including North Korea sanctions in the bill. The House is set to vote on Tuesday on a package of bills on sanctions covering Russia, Iran and North Korea, according to House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy’s office. The measure will “hold them accountable for their dangerous actions,” McCarthy said in a statement Saturday. Under the proposed bill, Trump must submit to Congress a report on proposed actions that would “significantly alter” U.S. foreign policy in connection with Russia, including easing sanctions or returning diplomatic properties in Maryland and New York that former President Barack Obama ordered vacated in December. Congress would have at least 30 days to hold hearings and then vote to uphold or reject Trump’s proposed changes. Many lawmakers hope the bill will send a message to Trump to keep a strong line against Russia.  Trump, who met Putin at the Group of 20 summit in Hamburg earlier this month and said it was an “honor” to meet him, has been criticized for seeking to reset U.S.-Russian relations. His administration has been bogged down by ongoing investigations of possible ties between his 2016 campaign and Russia. With the bill, Republicans and Democrats are seeking to punish Russia for its 2014 annexation of Crimea, a peninsula belong to Ukraine, and for meddling in the 2016 presidential election. Putin has denied any meddling in the U.S. democratic process last year. Trump has said that his campaign did not collude with Russia. House Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi said Russia’s “outrageous and unacceptable” behavior in the 2016 U.S. election and in Europe “demand that we have strong statutory sanctions enacted as soon as possible.” Even so, she expressed concerns that by including North Korea the legislation could face procedural delays in the Senate. Senior Republican lawmakers did not immediately comment on the latest bill. In Brussels, the European Union sounded an alarm about the U.S. moves to step up sanctions on Russia, urging Washington to coordinate with its Group of 7 partners.  The European Commission, the EU’s executive body, warned of possibly “wide and indiscriminate” “unintended consequences,” notably on the EU’s efforts to diversify energy sources away from Russia. McCarthy and Ed Royce, chair of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, said in a statement the revised bill helps “bolster the energy security of our European allies by maintaining their access to key energy resources outside of Russia.” Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer said a strong sanctions bill “is essential,” and said in a statement that he expects “the House and Senate will act on this legislation promptly, on a broad bipartisan basis.” Senator Ben Cardin, the top Democrat on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said the agreement was reached after “intense negotiations.” “A nearly united Congress is poised to send President Putin a clear message on behalf of the American people and our allies, and we need President Trump to help us deliver that message,” he said in a statement.

Summary: अमेरिकी सांसदों ने रूस प्रतिबंध विधेयक पर समझौता किया, ट्रम्प के लिए सीमाएँ बनाईं


SOCHI, Russia (Reuters) - The size of Russia s military force in Syria is likely to be significantly reduced and a drawdown could start before the end of the year, the chief of the Russian military general staff said on Thursday. Russia s military support of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, notably through air strikes, has been crucial in defeating Islamic State and Syrian opposition forces.  There is very little left to do before the completion of military objectives. Of course, a decision will be made by the supreme commander-in-chief and the deployment will be reduced,  Valery Gerasimov told reporters on the sidelines of a meeting between President Vladimir Putin and military top brass in the Black Sea resort of Sochi. Gerasimov said forces would likely be  substantially  reduced but leave Russia with two military bases, a ceasefire-monitoring center and  a number of necessary structures to support the situation which has developed  in Syria.   Putin hosted Assad in Sochi on Monday and discussed moving from military operations to a search for a political solution to Syria s conflict. [nL8N1NR0K3] On Wednesday, Putin won the backing of Turkey and Iran to host a Syrian peace conference, taking the central role in a major diplomatic push to finally end Syria s civil war, now in its seventh year. [nL8N1NS5RQ] In March last year Putin said Russia had achieved its goals in Syria and ordered the withdrawal of the  main part  of its forces. However, a U.S.-led coalition operating in Syria said that after that statement Russia s combat power was largely intact.

Summary: रूस वर्ष के अंत से पहले सीरिया में सैनिकों की संख्या कम कर सकता हैः सैन्य प्रमुख


LONDON (Reuters) - Fourteen people had to be airlifted from a British seaside tower after a mobile observation capsule became stuck, rescue services reported.    The Jurassic skyline tower in the southern resort of Weymouth offers 360-degree views of the surrounding area. Video footage shows the trapped visitors being winched to safety by rescuers dangling from a helicopter above the 53-metre tower. Dorset and Wiltshire Fire and Rescue Service was alerted on Tuesday afternoon after engineers failed to free the stuck capsule. The tower s operator said on twitter that the gondola had become stuck due to a mechanical issue.

Summary: दक्षिणी इंग्लैंड में समुद्र तटीय मीनार से चौदह लोगों को बचाया गया


WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Republican U.S. Representative Trey Gowdy, who was among 11 people being considered for director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, said on Monday he is not interested in the job. Gowdy said in a statement that he told Attorney General Jeff Sessions he “would not be the right person” to lead the agency. President Donald Trump touched off a political firestorm last week by firing FBI Director James Comey, who was leading a probe of alleged Russian meddling in the 2016 U.S. election and possible ties between Moscow and the Trump campaign.

Summary: रिपब्लिकन प्रतिनिधि गौडी का कहना है कि उन्हें एफ. बी. आई. की नौकरी में कोई दिलचस्पी नहीं है


WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Education Department has left thousands of student-loan borrowers who were defrauded by Corinthian Colleges Inc in limbo by prolonging a process created by the Obama administration that was supposed to speedily cancel their debts, according to 20 state attorneys general and regulators. In the final months that President Barack Obama, a Democrat, was in office the department finalized a regulation easing the way for students from struggling for-profit colleges such as Corinthian and ITT Tech to quickly receive debt relief that they were entitled to by law.  In a letter sent on Monday to U.S. Education Secretary Betsy DeVos, the state attorneys general said they were concerned about growing backlogs of applications for the relief and of loans approved for discharge that simply need a sign-off. The letter, signed by the top lawyers of Illinois, California, Massachusetts and other states, was released on Tuesday. They said they were particularly troubled that some borrowers had been notified their loans were eligible for fast discharge under the regulation but that the cancellation has not yet happened. According to the letter, the Department stated in January it had notified 23,000 borrowers that their loan forgiveness should be complete within the 60 to 120 days, but in many cases loans have not been canceled.  That means some of Corinthian’s students could still be on the hook for monthly payments or possibly face debt collection. Work on discharging loans that have been approved is underway, according to Education Department Press Secretary Liz Hill. “We are working with servicers to get these loans discharged as expeditiously as possible,” Hill said in a statement. “Some borrowers should expect to obtain discharges within the next few weeks.” Virginia Attorney General Mark Herring said about 5,000 past Corinthian students in the state received letters last December directing to apply on-line for relief. Since then, his office has received queries about delays in the process.    “Delay in canceling this debt, especially for students who have already been approved, could put even greater financial strain on students in Virginia and around the country,” he said in a statement. Amid federal and state investigations in 2015 into its post-graduation rates, for-profit Corinthian filed for bankruptcy and abruptly closed its 28 schools.

Summary: कोरिंथियन कॉलेज के पूर्व छात्र ऋण राहत का इंतजार कर रहे हैंः अमेरिकी राज्य


WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. President Barack Obama surprised Vice President Joe Biden on Thursday by awarding him the Presidential Medal of Freedom with Distinction in an emotional White House ceremony that celebrated their partnership over eight years in office. “This is an extraordinary man,” Obama said of his friend and running mate at a surprise ceremony with staff, family and friends of the vice president.  “For the past eight years, he could not have been a more devoted or effective partner in the progress that we’ve made.” Biden, who was unaware that the ceremony would take place,  became visibly moved when Obama said he would bestow on him the highest civil honor in the United States.  It will be the last such award that Obama gives before he and Biden leave office on Jan. 20.  “I had no inkling,” Biden, 74, said after receiving the medal. “I get a lot of credit I don’t deserve,” he said, proceeding to give a roughly 20-minute impromptu speech thanking Obama and honoring the extended Biden family. Biden and Obama became close friends during their time in the White House. Biden was a U.S. senator from Delaware when Obama chose him to be his running mate in his 2008 presidential campaign. The vice president told an anecdote about Obama offering to help the Bidens financially during Biden’s son Beau’s illness. Beau Biden died of brain cancer at age 46 in 2015. First lady Michelle Obama and the Obamas’ daughters, Malia and Sasha, also attended the ceremony.

Summary: ओबामा ने उपराष्ट्रपति बाइडन को मेडल ऑफ फ्रीडम देकर चौंका दिया


PARIS (Reuters) - Barely six months into office, President Emmanuel Macron is already preparing for his third visit to sub-Saharan Africa. Yet while the energetic young leader is eager to reshape France s relationship with the continent, old problems die hard. His Nov. 28-30 trip to Burkina Faso, Ghana and Ivory Coast is aimed at boosting cooperation on education, the digital economy and the environment. The visit will be capped by an EU-Africa summit in Abidjan, when migration will top the agenda.   Africa is not just the continent of migration and crises. It s a continent of the future,  the 39-year-old president told French ambassadors in August. But even then, French forces were being sucked deeper into a years-long battle to quell Islamist militancy in Mali. Last month, a raid by French special forces in the Malian desert illustrated how deep that quagmire is becoming. French troops stormed an Islamist training camp, killing 15 suspected militants. French officials said the operation was based on intelligence the camp housed Malians who had joined the Islamists. Mali said government soldiers held hostage by the Ansar al-Dine group were among the dead. As recriminations flew, a defense official spoke of  a real trust problem . Laurent Bigot, a former under-secretary in the French foreign ministry, was blunt:  Mali is a disaster,  he said.  We re repeating mistakes made in Iraq and Afghanistan.  That assessment underlines just how much work Macron faces if he is to strengthen security and migration policy without getting bogged down in costly military ventures. More than 7,000 French troops are already deployed across Africa.  Macron will make his first stop in Ougadougou, Burkina Faso, where he will set out his vision for Franco-African relations in his favored style - a speech. Language and tone are critical. French presidents usually make early visits to Africa, but some have misjudged. Nicolas Sarkozy declared  the tragedy of Africa is that the African has not fully entered into history . The comment has haunted him. A presidency official said Macron would emphasize education and investing in youth across the continent, themes he has touched on in his first six months in power.  In Ghana, a former British colony where France has ramped up investment, including in oil, telecoms and technology, Macron is to promote the digital economy and a broadening of French education initiatives.  In Ivory Coast, environment will be the main topic, before EU and African leaders meet to discuss security and migration, with both Macron and Germany s Angela Merkel keen to limit the flow of migrants to Europe by introducing tighter checks and controls on African soil, not in Europe.   Macron s proposals to bolster African growth and create jobs echo Germany s call for a  Marshall Plan for Africa . He also promises to raise France s aid budget from 0.38 percent of national income to 0.55 percent by 2022.    After French colonialism ended in the 1950s and 60s, France wielded a tight grip over its former dominions, using military might to install leaders in return for French companies securing lucrative contracts   a policy dubbed  Francafrique . But French diplomats say the days of France throwing its weight around for commercial favors are over.  Macron, born months after Djibouti became the last French colony to gain independence, has shown little inclination to revive the old networks that linked French businessmen and intelligence agents with African politicians.   We have a president who has never known the colonies and never had those close links to the region s leaders. He has more freedom to say what he thinks,  said one diplomat. Macron has created an African Presidential Council to help shape his thoughts. Its 11 members are mostly young, dual-national entrepreneurs with backgrounds in art, media, finance and ecology. It reports directly to the president, irking some in diplomatic circles.  France s shift away from Francafrique has eroded the privileges once enjoyed by companies such as Total, Orange and Areva, just as globalization has opened the field to China and India. French business group Medef is lobbying Macron for a greater role for the private sector in his vision for Africa, although some acknowledge French companies face huge competition and can still suffer an image problem.  Africa is a fast growing continent, business opportunities are not a problem,  said Patrice Fonlladosa, president of Veolia Africa & Middle East and head of Medef s Africa committee.  The problem is being chosen as the partner of choice.

Summary: फ्रांस के मैक्रों ने अफ्रीका संबंधों के नवीनीकरण की मांग की, लेकिन पुरानी समस्याएं बनी हुई हैं


SINGAPORE (Reuters) - Singapore said on Thursday it has detained a Singaporean man and a woman for affiliations to radical Islamist groups under the country s tough security law that allows for detention without trial.  The man, 25 year-old Abu Thalha bin Samad, is a member of the Southeast Asian Islamist group, Jemaah Islamiyah (JI), and was educated and trained in JI-linked schools in the region, the Ministry of Home Affairs said in a statement.   The Singapore government worked with  a regional government  to deport him back to Singapore for his arrest, the ministry said, but it did not disclose from which country.   He was duty-bound to carry out whatever instructions the JI leaders had for him, including performing armed jihad and sacrificing his life for the JI s violent cause,  the ministry said.  The woman detained is Islamic State supporter Munavar Baig Amina Begam. The 38-year-old Singaporean housewife is originally from India and the second woman in Singapore to be detained under the Internal Security Act.  She is an ISIS (Islamic State in Iraq and Syria) supporter and harbored the intention to make her way to the conflict zone to join ISIS,  the ministry said in the statement.   To influence others to support ISIS, Amina shared materials promoting terrorism on social media, which ... encouraged others to fight and die as martyrs,  it added. Neither of the two was available for comment.  Last week, Singapore banned two popular foreign Muslim preachers from entering the city-state because, it said, their views bred intolerance and were a risk to social harmony. As concern grows about the spread of militancy, there has been a significant rise in the number of detentions under the country s security law. At least 14 radicalized Singaporeans have been put under restriction or detention orders under the ISA since 2015, up sharply from 11 cases between 2007 and 2014, according to data from the ministry. Diverse, affluent Singapore is majority ethnic Chinese with sizeable minority ethnic Malay and ethnic Indian communities, and numerous foreign workers from Asia and beyond. Singapore said late last year it had deported nearly 70 foreigners including five maids for suspected radicalism over the previous two years. Authorities in neighboring Indonesia, which has the world s largest Muslim population, said last year they had arrested six Indonesian suspects with links to Islamic State who were plotting attacks on Singapore.

Summary: सिंगापुर ने 'आतंकवाद से संबंधित' गतिविधियों के लिए दो लोगों को हिरासत में लिया


ABOARD AIR FORCE ONE (Reuters) - President Barack Obama will not speak with Hillary Clinton about the FBI’s investigation of Clinton’s use of private email servers while secretary of state, the White House said on Tuesday. “The president all along has believed that it is important for the Department of Justice to conduct their investigation free from any sort of perceived influence of the White House or anyone else in the federal government,” White House spokesman Josh Earnest said. Obama and Clinton, the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee, are traveling together on Air Force One to North Carolina on Tuesday for their first joint campaign rally for the 2016 election.

Summary: व्हाइट हाउस ने कहा कि ओबामा क्लिंटन के साथ एफ. बी. आई. जांच पर चर्चा नहीं करेंगे


ABUJA (Reuters) - Nigeria has convicted and jailed 45 Boko Haram suspects, the government said on Friday, the first sentences it has handed down in a set of mass trials that have drawn criticism for being held behind closed doors. The trials are the biggest to date in the eight-year-old militant Islamist insurgency, which has left at least 20,000 people dead and driven 2 million from their homes in northeastern Nigeria. Those convicted were sentenced to between three and 31 years in jail, Lai Mohammed, the information minister said in a statement. He did not specify what they had been convicted of. Of the rest of the 575 suspects arraigned in the first trial the court  discharged 468 suspects who had no case to answer,  threw out 34 cases, and remanded 28 for trial in Abuja or Minna, he said.  The court ordered that the 468 discharged persons should undergo deradicalization and rehabilitation programs before they are handed over to their respective state governments,  it said. The other trials have been adjourned until January. In all, about 1,670 suspects are due to appear in court, many of whom have been held for years in pre-detention in alleged violation of their rights. The proceedings that began on Monday were cautiously welcomed by rights groups and experts. But both they and the United Nations have criticized the trials for handling too many cases at once, and all behind closed doors with no media or public observers allowed.  We have serious concerns that the conduct of the proceedings may deny the defendants the right to a fair trial and an effective defense,  said a UN High Commissioner for Human Rights spokesman on Friday.  The lack of transparency regarding these trials is worrying, and we note that Nigeria s National Human Rights Commission is not allowed to attend and monitor proceedings,  he said. Amnesty International also complained about the trials being held without scrutiny but said on Wednesday:  These trials should provide a much-needed opportunity to deliver justice for the many victims of human rights abuses and crimes allegedly committed by Boko Haram members.

Summary: नाइजीरिया में गुप्त रूप से आयोजित सामूहिक मुकदमे में बोको हराम के 45 संदिग्धों को जेल भेजा गया


WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Senate confirmed private equity executive William Hagerty on Thursday as President Donald Trump’s ambassador to Japan, filling a post considered especially crucial in light of neighboring North Korea’s recent missile tests. The vote was 86 to 12 in the 100-member Senate.  Hagerty, founder of the private equity firm Hagerty Peterson, spent several years in Japan with the Boston Consulting Group and later served in the White House under former President George H.W. Bush. Trump’s choice of Hagerty was taken as a sign of the interest in economic ties to Japan by the Republican president, a real estate developer and reality television star, who had never held public office when he was elected in November. North Korea has been worrying and frustrating neighboring countries and U.S. officials with a series of missile tests, more so since Pyongyang last week test-launched its first intercontinental ballistic missile. Trump has been criticized for being slow to name ambassadors to important U.S. allies like Japan, especially in light of the crisis. There is still no new U.S. ambassador to South Korea. Hagerty succeeds Caroline Kennedy, an attorney and daughter of the late U.S. President John F. Kennedy, who held the position from 2013 until Trump took office in January 2017.

Summary: अमेरिकी सीनेट ने व्यवसायी हैगर्टी को जापान में राजदूत के रूप में नियुक्त करने की पुष्टि की


WASHINGTON/KUALA LUMPUR (Reuters) - President Donald Trump has invited Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak, who is dogged by a corruption scandal being investigated in the United States, to the White House on Sept. 12, officials from both countries confirmed on Thursday. The U.S. Justice Department is conducting a criminal probe into 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB), a state fund founded by Najib that has lost billions of dollars.  The Justice Department has also launched civil lawsuits to seize some $1.7 billion in assets it says were bought with misappropriated 1MDB funds, making it the largest action by the department under its kleptocracy asset recovery initiative. Najib, who is expected to seek re-election in a poll due by 2018, has consistently denied any wrongdoing related to 1MDB since the scandal first erupted in 2015. Filings in the civil cases identified several individuals close to “Malaysian Official 1”, a term Malaysian and U.S. government officials have previously confirmed refers to Najib. Aside from the United States, 1MDB is the focus of money-laundering investigations in at least five other countries, including Switzerland and Singapore. The White House said in a statement that Trump looks forward to “discussing ways to strengthen and broaden our bilateral relationship and expand regional cooperation with one of America’s closest partners in Southeast Asia.” Relations between Malaysia and the United Stated soured in the last months of the Obama administration after the Justice Department filed the lawsuits.  The Malaysian leader has tried rebuilding ties with the  Trump administration, and he was among the first world leaders to congratulate Trump on his election victory. A U.S. Justice Department filing in May showed that Najib had hired a former campaign aide to Trump to lobby with the U.S. government, but Najib has denied this. Najib has talked to the local media about playing golf with Trump in the past, and claimed he has a picture of the two, with Trump signing off on it saying “To my favorite Prime Minister”. A meeting with Trump could help Najib bolster support within his party ahead of an upcoming election, and refute claims that he would be arrested if he travels to the United States. Najib’s critics fear he could use the meeting to try to derail further investigations into 1MDB. Najib had sought to strengthen ties with China as relations with the United States became strained last year, and Malaysian media has reported that Chinese President Xi Jinping is  expected to visit the Southeast Asian country in the coming months, though this has not been officially confirmed. The United States sees Malaysia as an important regional partner in standing up to Beijing’s territorial claims in the South China Sea. The United States has long valued Malaysia’s support in its fight against the spread of Islamist militancy, and Washington has also sought Kuala Lumpur’s backing for its policy toward North Korea. “The two leaders are expected to discuss areas of mutually beneficial cooperation, including national security, the global fight against terrorism and extremism, and trade and investment that will benefit our nations and our peoples,” Malaysia’s foreign ministry said in a statement. Malaysia had backed the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), the trade agreement that Trump withdrew from earlier this year, dismaying the United States’ Asian partners.

Summary: ट्रम्प सितंबर में घोटाले से प्रभावित मलेशियाई नेता से मिलेंगे


WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Congress should launch a bipartisan investigation if there were any inappropriate contacts between President Donald Trump’s campaign and Russian officials, fellow Republican U.S. Senator Lindsey Graham told Fox News on Wednesday. “If there were contacts between Russian officials and Trump campaign operatives that was inappropriate, then it would be time for the Congress to form a joint select commission to get to the bottom of all things Russia and Trump,” Graham said. The New York Times has reported that members of Trump’s presidential campaign had repeated contacts with senior Russian intelligence officials before the election.

Summary: अमेरिकी सीनेटरः यदि अनुचित ट्रम्प अभियान, रूस संपर्कों की जांच शुरू करें


WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Department of Homeland Security has temporarily halted trips by staff to interview refugees abroad as it prepares for a likely shakeup of refugee policy by President Donald Trump, two sources with knowledge of the decision said on Thursday. The decision effectively amounts to a pause in future refugee admissions, given that the interviews are a crucial step in an often years-long process. The DHS leadership’s decision to halt the interview trips was communicated to those involved in the U.S. refugee admission process on Wednesday, one of the sources said.  It means that though Trump has not yet ordered a temporary  halt to the refugee program, future admissions are likely to be delayed.  Trump is expected to sign an executive order that would include a temporary ban on all refugees, and a suspension of visas for citizens of Syria and six other Middle Eastern and African countries. White House spokesman Sean Spicer told reporters on Thursday that Trump could sign several executive orders on Friday, but that the nature of those had not been decided yet. Becca Heller, director of the International Refugee Assistance Project at the New York-based Urban Justice Center, said she was informed of the decision to halt the overseas interviews by several people in and outside of government. Gillian Christensen, a spokeswoman for U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, which is part of the Department of Homeland Security and which conducts the interviews, said the agency had delayed “a number of upcoming trips” but that they had not been “officially canceled.” DHS officers regularly visit countries such as Jordan, Malaysia, El Salvador, Kenya and Ethiopia to interview refugees seeking to enter the United States. It is usually one of the last steps in the refugee resettlement process. Heller said the decision to halt the overseas interviews would cause delays in refugee processing even if Trump decides to maintain the refugee program or re-start it after a temporary closure. “In the past, when we’ve frozen the refugee program to re-examine security issues, it’s been really important to continue processing even if you can’t admit people, because processing times in this program can be two to three years,” Heller     said. During the election campaign, Trump decried former President Barack Obama’s decision to increase the number of Syrian refugees admitted to the United States over fears that those fleeing the country’s civil war would carry out attacks.  Obama approved allowing up to 110,000 refugees in the 2017 fiscal year, compared with 85,000 the prior year. Trump said during the election campaign that there was no proper system to vet refugees. In addition to the interviews, refugees hoping to be resettled in the United States undergo extensive security screening by multiple U.S. agencies as well as vetting by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees.

Summary: एक्सक्लूसिवः ट्रम्प की कार्रवाई की उम्मीद करते हुए, अमेरिका ने शरणार्थी पुनर्वास साक्षात्कार को निलंबित कर दिया


WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Donald Trump’s son Donald Trump Jr. said on Monday he would be happy to share what he knows with the Senate Intelligence Committee if it decides to look into a meeting he had with a Russian lawyer during his father’s campaign. “Happy to work with the committee to pass on what I know,” he said on Twitter, after a Republican member of the committee said the panel should interview him.

Summary: ट्रंप के बेटे ने कहा, रूस पर सीनेट की खुफिया समिति के साथ काम करके खुश हूं


WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton will call for higher trade standards at a Saturday campaign stop in Youngstown, Ohio, to ensure that automakers that use largely foreign parts are not given preference for producing “made in America” cars. Her campaign said Clinton will tell supporters she will take a stand against weak “rules of origin” and will say the pending Trans Pacific Partnership, a trade compact with 12 nations, is not stringent enough. The TPP, which is being finalized by the Obama administration, sets the content threshold for “made in America” cars at 45 percent. Clinton has said she opposes the TPP because it does not do enough to protect U.S. workers. International trade deals have become a flash point in the U.S. presidential race.

Summary: क्लिंटन ओहायो अभियान स्टॉप पर सख्त 'मूल नियमों' का आह्वान करेंगी


(Reuters) - Late birdies from Thomas Pieters and Zach Johnson gave the duo a share of the lead after the third round of the World Golf Championship-Bridgestone Invitational on Saturday. Pieters, looking to become the first Belgian winner on the PGA Tour, birdied the 18th hole for a four-under-par 66 that moved him to nine-under-par 201 at Firestone Country Club in Akron, Ohio. His late birdie moved him level with twice major winner Johnson, who moments earlier had also birdied the last for a five-under-par 65 that briefly gave him the outright lead. The pair are one shot clear of Australian Scott Hend (63), with Japan’s Hideki Matsuyama (67) two shots back, and Rory McIlroy (68) tied with two others another shot further adrift. “If I would have walked off today with a 65 or a 66, I would have felt that was a fair reflection of how I played,” said McIlroy.  “But only three behind going into tomorrow, I can get off to a fast start and try and put a bit of pressure on the guys up ahead of me.” Overnight leader Jimmy Walker fell back after mixing two double-bogeys with two bogeys and two birdies for a four-over 74 that left him six back in a share of 10th with Bubba Watson (66), Jason Day (70) and U.S. Open champion Brooks Koepka (67). Day was frustrated after following a birdie at the par-five 16th with two bogeys that left him with much more work to do in the final round. “I’m pretty angry right now, to be honest,” said Day. “Going bogey-bogey is pretty poor coming down the stretch. I’ve got to do something special tomorrow so I get my chances back to try and win this thing.” British Open champion Jordan Spieth (71) saw his hopes fade after two bogeys over his final three holes left him seven shots back in a share of 16th. Pieters started the round two shots back of Walker and got off to a sizzling start with four birdies in his first five holes but started to unravel down the stretch. The long-hitting Belgian made a pair of bogeys starting at the 13th that dropped him back into a share of the lead. He did well to make birdie two holes later but then fell back into a share of the lead again after a bogey at the 17th. Hend’s 63, the lowest round of the day by two shots, was built on four birdies on each nine with his only blemish coming in the form of a three-putt bogey at the par-three seventh.

Summary: ज़ैक जॉनसन और पीटर्स ने फ़ायरस्टोन में बढ़त बनाई


STOCKHOLM (Reuters) - A man was jailed for 10 years for rape by a Swedish court on Thursday for forcing 27 children from the United States, Canada and Britain to perform sex acts on themselves or with other children that he viewed over the internet.  The case, heard in Uppsala, marked the first time in Sweden that a person has been convicted of rape without having met the victim - setting a precedent for such crimes over the internet to be treated as seriously as if they were committed in person.  The district court makes a very important assessment here. It states clearly what is required for an act performed by a girl on her own body to be regarded as rape when the perpetrator is not in the same room,  prosecutor Annika Wennerstrom told TT news agency.  This may lead to a different level of priority and status from the police in criminal investigations with these types of crimes.   The 41-year-old Swede found the girls via social media and threatened to rape them and kill their families unless they committed the sex acts on themselves, on other children or with animals.  The children, most under the age of 15, either streamed the acts to the man over the internet or recorded them and sent them later.  The man was also sentenced for a large number of acts of online sexual abuse of children and child pornography.  As a result of this case, Wennerstrom said the means of investigation and the penalties could change.  We will be given the opportunity to use other types of methods with this legal classification, penalties will be longer and the chances for compensation for victims will increase,  she said.

Summary: सबसे पहले अदालत में बच्चों के ऑनलाइन बलात्कार के मामले में स्वीडन के नागरिक को जेल


WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. (Reuters) - A three-judge panel has sided at least temporarily with North Carolina Democratic Governor Roy Cooper in his fight against a Republican-backed attempt to curtail his powers by requiring legislative confirmation of cabinet appointments. The law was among a series of measures approved by lawmakers in December limiting Cooper’s executive authority after he defeated incumbent Republican Governor Pat McCrory. Cooper sued to block it, arguing that requiring Senate consent to his cabinet secretaries was unprecedented and unconstitutional. In an order Tuesday evening, the trio of state judges said the governor was likely to succeed in his challenge. “The court is absolutely correct in their decision and should not be intimidated by threats from legislative leaders,” Cooper said in a statement on Wednesday. Eight of the 10 cabinet secretaries for the state have been appointed and sworn in. The temporary restraining order halted a hearing set for Wednesday to review Cooper’s appointee for secretary of the Department of Military and Veterans Affairs.  Republican lawmakers vowed they would eventually meet to review the cabinet members’ qualifications and potential conflicts of interests. Republicans have said such confirmation hearings were lawful and would serve as a check on executive power.  Senate leader Phil Berger and House Speaker Tim Moore, both Republicans, said the judges were legislating from the bench and called on them to reverse their order. “In a gross misreading of the Constitution and a blatant overstep of their Constitutional authority, three Superior Court judges attempted to dictate to the legislature when it could or could not hold committee meetings and what it could or could not consider in those meetings,” the lawmakers said in a joint statement. “If these three men want to make laws, they should hang up their robes and run for a legislative seat.” The judges said they would hear the governor’s motion for a preliminary injunction on Friday. A trial on the issue is scheduled for March 7.

Summary: उत्तरी कैरोलिना के गवर्नर को मंत्रिमंडल को लेकर लड़ाई में शुरुआती जीत मिली


BRUSSELS (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump and French President Emmanuel Macron barely know each other but they seemed to have a hard time letting go when they first met on Thursday. Each man gripped each other’s right hand so firmly that their knuckles turned white and their jaws seemed to clench as they sat down for a face-to-face meeting. Images from the photo session at the U.S. ambassador’s residence in Brussels showed Trump finally giving up, his fingers loosened while Macron is still holding on tightly. Macron’s determination may be a lesson for German Chancellor Angela Merkel, who on a recent visit to the Oval Office tried and failed to get Trump to shake her hand. The symbolic face-off continued later in the day at a NATO summit, as Macron approached a group of other leaders and made Trump wait, firstly exchanging greetings with Merkel, the head of the Western military bloc, and others.  When Trump finally seized Macron’s hand, he pulled it so hard that the French president had to use his other arm to set himself free, their second awkward moment that was caught on cameras and went viral in just one day.

Summary: ट्रम्प, मैक्रों ने हाथ मिलाने की कूटनीति में हाथ मिलाया


MOSCOW (Reuters) - Any U.S. decision to supply Ukraine with lethal weapons would set back peace efforts and escalate tensions, the Kremlin said on Tuesday. The Kremlin was referring to an interview given by U.S. special envoy on Ukraine, Kurt Volker, to Britain’s broadcaster BBC, in which he said that Washington was actively reviewing whether to send weapons to help those fighting against Russian-backed rebels. The Kremlin said a possible delivery of U.S. weapons to Ukraine could destabilize the situation along the frontline in the east of the country. “We have already said more than once that any action which escalates tension ... and further aggravates the already complicated situation will only move us further and further away  from the moment of settling this internal issue of Ukraine,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told a conference call with reporters.

Summary: क्रेमलिनः यूक्रेन को अमेरिकी हथियारों की आपूर्ति शांति प्रयासों को बाधित करेगी


CHISINAU (Reuters) - Moldova s pro-Russian President Igor Dodon has blocked government plans to send troops to Ukraine to participate in military exercises starting this week and which coincide with Russian drills across the border in Belarus.  Dodon s move on Wednesday underscores divisions within the ex-Soviet nation, where the president is frequently at odds on foreign policy with the government, which favors closer ties with the European Union and the United States.  The government had planned to send 57 servicemen to take part in exercises by mostly NATO countries, including the United States and Turkey, in western Ukraine from Sept. 8-23. Russia will meanwhile hold drills from Sept. 14-20 in western Russia, Belarus and Russia s exclave of Kaliningrad. Moscow has dismissed fears in neighboring nations that the drills may be used as a precursor for an invasion. Dodon exercised his presidential veto to block the decision, arguing Moldova was bound by its constitution to stay neutral.   The participation of Moldovan servicemen in military exercises outside the country is not acceptable,  Dodon wrote on his Facebook page. A Ukrainian defense ministry spokesman said Kiev had not been formally notified that Moldova was withdrawing its personnel.  Earlier this year Dodon banned the participation of military personnel in NATO exercises in Romania, prompting complaints by the U.S. and Romanian ambassadors in Chisinau. Speaking at a televised cabinet meeting, Prime Minister Pavel Filip said he was baffled by Dodon s decision:  No one wants an unprepared and weak army.  Moldova has been governed by pro-Western leaders since 2009 and signed a trade pact with the EU in 2014. Russia retaliated by halting imports of Moldovan farm produce, depriving the country of a key market for its wine, fruit and vegetables. Relations suffered further this year due to a dispute in March over the treatment of Moldovan officials traveling to or through Russia, and the expulsion of Russian diplomats in May. In August, Moldova declared Russian Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin persona non grata, accusing him of making defamatory remarks about Moldovan government officials.

Summary: मोलदोवा के राष्ट्रपति ने नाटो देश के अभ्यासों में भाग लेने पर वीटो लगा दिया


WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Republican presidential debate scheduled for next week in Utah has been canceled, host Fox News said on Wednesday, after party front-runner Donald Trump told the network he would not participate. Trump, who has clashed with Fox News throughout his campaign, told the network in an interview on Wednesday he would not appear at the event, scheduled for Monday, because he thought the Republicans had “had enough debates.” Ohio Governor John Kasich said afterward he would also skip the debate unless Trump changed his mind and decided to come.  U.S. Senator Ted Cruz of Texas, the third remaining Republican candidate seeking the party’s nomination for the Nov. 8 presidential election, criticized Trump on Twitter, calling him #DuckingDonald and urging his supporters to tell Trump to attend. “He’s scared to debate,” Cruz said in an interview on Fox News. “He’s afraid of being challenged.” Fox News, part of the Twenty-First Century Fox Inc (FOXA.O) broadcast media and entertainment company controlled by Rupert Murdoch, earlier this week announced the debate, to be held in Salt Lake City, its latest in the primary season. Utah holds its presidential primary next Tuesday. “Ted Cruz has expressed a willingness to debate Trump or Kasich - or both. But obviously, there needs to be more than one participant,” Fox News Channel’s executive vice president of news, Michael Clemente, said in a statement. “So the Salt Lake City debate is canceled.” After the cancellation, Trump posted on Twitter that he would make a “big speech” the night of the debate, “but I wish everyone well.” The brash New York billionaire skipped a Fox News debate in Iowa in January after complaining he had been mistreated by the network. He has long clashed with anchor Megyn Kelly and revived criticism of her on Tuesday, saying on Twitter she was “crazy” and “unwatchable.”  The Iowa debate went on as scheduled, despite Trump’s decision to host a rally at the same time. But back in January, the Republican field was much larger, with Trump among eight contenders who qualified to participate in the Iowa debate, and four others qualifying for an earlier “undercard” debate. Wednesday marked the first time either party has canceled a debate. Trump’s participation in the debates has helped networks draw record audiences. Two previous debates this election cycle hosted by Fox News attracted the two largest U.S. audiences for non-sports cable TV programs in history. Some 24 million Americans tuned in for the first Republican presidential debate last August, while another in Detroit earlier this month attracted 16.9 million viewers. In February, CBS (CBS.N) Chief Executive Les Moonves spoke candidly about the advertising money the Republican front-runner was bringing to the network. “The money’s rolling in and this is fun,” Moonves said at a telecommunications conference in San Francisco, according to the Hollywood Reporter. “I’ve never seen anything like this, and this is going to be a very good year for us,” Moonves said. “Sorry. It’s a terrible thing to say. But bring it on, Donald. Keep going.”

Summary: ट्रंप के हटने के बाद फॉक्स न्यूज ने रद्द की रिपब्लिकन बहस


NEW YORK (Reuters) - Donald Trump Jr., the president’s son, has hired New York lawyer Alan Futerfas to represent him in connection with Russia-related investigations, the lawyer and Trump Jr.’s office said on Monday. Futerfas, a sole practitioner who specializes in criminal defense, would not say when he was retained or whether he had any input into the statements Trump Jr. made over the weekend about a meeting with a Russian lawyer.

Summary: एक्सक्लूसिवः डोनाल्ड ट्रम्प जूनियर ने रूस की जांच के लिए एन. वाई. वकील को नियुक्त किया


WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee plans a closed briefing and a public hearing on the Russia hacking issue as soon as the Senate returns from its year-end recess in the first week of January, a spokeswoman said. “The committee plans to systematically look at this issue and will begin with both a classified briefing and an open hearing in early January when the Senate returns,” said Micah Johnson, a spokeswoman for the panel’s Republican chairman, Senator Bob Corker.

Summary: सीनेट पैनल जनवरी में रूस हैकिंग पर सुनवाई की योजना बना रहा हैः प्रवक्ता


LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - A federal judge declared a mistrial on Thursday in the obstruction of justice case against former Los Angeles County Sheriff Lee Baca, ruling that jurors were hopelessly deadlocked, a spokesman for the U.S. Attorney’s Office said. Baca, aged 74 and suffering from the early stages of Alzheimer’s disease, was standing trial on charges of trying to thwart a federal corruption probe that overshadowed the final years of his tenure as chief custodian of the nation’s largest county jail system. U.S. District Judge Percy Anderson’s determination of a hung jury came during the fourth day of deliberations following a series of confidential “sidebar” talks between Anderson and the attorneys, joined at times by Baca and one of the jurors. After a final 30-minute round of deliberations, the 12-member panel said it could not reach a unanimous verdict and that further efforts were fruitless. Anderson then pronounced the jurors “hopelessly deadlocked” and dismissed them, according to Thom Mrozek, a spokesman for prosecutors. Jurors said afterward they had split 11-1 in favor of acquittal, local media reported. Anderson set a hearing for Jan. 10 on how to proceed. Prosecutors must decide whether to seek a retrial of Baca on charges of obstruction of justice and conspiracy to obstruct justice. The case stems from a wide-ranging federal investigation of inmate abuse by sheriff’s deputies and other wrongdoing, including cover-up attempts, at two downtown Los Angeles jails. The defense contended that Baca was unaware of efforts inside his department to impede the investigation and that his former second-in-command, Paul Tanaka, was to blame.  Tanaka is serving a five-year sentence for his role in the corruption scandal, the highest ranking of 17 officials convicted in related cases. Baca has been slated to stand trial separately on a charge of making false statements to federal investigators, for which he plans to raise Alzheimer’s as a defense. Baca pleaded guilty last February to the false statement charge but withdrew his plea in August after a judge ruled that the six-month prison term prosecutors recommended as part of the deal was too lenient.  He was indicted days later on all three charges of obstruction, conspiracy and making false statements, for which he could face 20 years in prison if convicted. Baca was the top elected law enforcement official in Los Angeles for 15 years before retiring in January 2014 amid the corruption probe at the county jail system, which houses some 18,000 inmates.

Summary: लॉस एंजिल्स के पूर्व शेरिफ के खिलाफ भ्रष्टाचार के मामले में मुकदमा घोषित


NEW YORK (Reuters) - Two nephews of Venezuela s first lady were sentenced to 18 years in prison on Thursday following their convictions in New York on U.S. drug trafficking charges. U.S. District Judge Paul Crotty sentenced the two men, Franqui Francisco Flores de Freitas, 32, and Efrain Antonio Campo Flores, 31, at a hearing in federal court in Manhattan. The two are cousins, both nephews of Cilia Flores, Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro s wife. Lawyers for both defendants had asked for a shorter sentence of 10 years, while prosecutors had sought 30. Crotty said 30 years would be excessive, noting that Flores de Freitas and Campo Flores had no previous criminal history.  What moves me is that Mr. Campo Flores and Mr. Flores de Freitas were perhaps not the most astute drug dealers who ever existed,  he said.  They were in over their heads.  Both cousins spoke briefly before being sentenced.  I know that I have made very serious mistakes in this case,  Campo Flores said, going on to apologize to his wife and children.  I ve always been a good person,  Flores de Freitas said.  Even in jail I tried to help those who were in a worse psychological situation than I find myself in.  He asked that the judge allow him to return to Venezuela soon to be near his son. Lawyers for the two men had no immediate comments after the sentencing. Flores de Freitas and Campo Flores were arrested in Haiti in November 2015 in a U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration sting operation. Prosecutors said in a court filing they tried to make $20 million through drug trafficking to help keep their family in power. Campo Flores and Flores de Freitas were convicted in November 2016 by a jury of conspiring to import cocaine into the United States. Lawyers for the two men said in a court filing earlier this year that prosecutors had proven only  bungling discussions of a drug plot that could never actually have been executed.  Days after the conviction, Maduro blasted the case in a speech as an instance of  U.S. imperialism.  Maduro has frequently cast U.S. accusations of drug trafficking as a pretext for meddling in Venezuela and trying to topple him. Under Maduro, oil-producing Venezuela has fallen into an economic and political crisis in which more than 120 people have died in four months of protests. The United States announced new sanctions against Maduro s government in July.

Summary: वेनेजुएला की प्रथम महिला के भतीजों को अमेरिकी नशीली दवाओं के मामले में 18 साल की सजा सुनाई गई