WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Only one member of President-elect Donald Trump’s transition team is dealing with the CIA and the 16 other offices and agencies that make up the U.S. intelligence community, four U.S. officials said Wednesday. Geoffrey Kahn, a former House intelligence committee staffer, is the only person named so far to Trump’s intelligence community “landing team,” they said.  As a result, said one senior career intelligence officer, briefing books prepared by the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, the National Security Agency, the National Counterterrorism Center, and 13 other agencies and organizations are “waiting for someone to read them.””It seems like an odd time to put issues like cyber security and international terrorism on the back burner,” said the official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity.Previous administrations, the official said, were quicker to staff their intelligence teams, in part because they considered intelligence issues critical to setting foreign policy, defense and budget priorities. The intelligence community has some 200,000 employees and contractors and an annual budget of more than $70 billion. It collects and analyzes information on a vast array of subjects, from national security threats such as terrorism and climate change to global conflicts and the foreign, defense and trade policies of foreign governments.     Kahn has been in periodic contact with the CIA, said two of the officials, adding that they did not know if he had been in touch with the other intelligence agencies. In addition to reviewing potential candidates for top posts, Kahn is responsible for coordinating briefings for nominees and helping prepare them for Senate confirmation hearings. Trump has announced that he intends to nominate U.S. Representative Mike Pompeo of Kansas to succeed CIA Director John Brennan, who will step down in January.  He has yet to tap nominees for other senior positions, including a successor to Director of National Intelligence James Clapper, the top U.S. intelligence officer. Clapper, 75, will leave the government when Trump is sworn as president on January 20.  Trump on Tuesday received only his third intelligence briefing since he won the Nov. 8 presidential election, despite an offer from President Barack Obama of daily briefings, three of the officials said. Vice President-elect Mike Pence has been receiving intelligence briefings daily or nearly every day, one of the officials said. Trump’s decision to forgo daily briefings and his delay in designating more transition advisers to engage with the intelligence agencies may reflect his focus on filling the top economic positions in his administration. However, said the senior career official, it also may reflect the disinterest and distrust in U.S. intelligence Trump has expressed during and after his presidential campaign. Asked on Aug. 17 if he trusted U.S. intelligence, Trump replied: “Not so much from the people that have been doing it for our country. I mean, look what’s happened over the last 10 years.” After his first classified briefing as the Republican presidential candidate, Trump said he “didn’t learn anything” that prompted him to rethink his view about how to fight Islamic State. On the other hand, he said, “When they call it intelligence, it’s there for a reason.”On other occasions, he has contradicted or ignored what his briefers told him. After being briefed that U.S. intelligence had concluded that the Russian government was behind the hacking of U.S. political institutions, he said that “maybe there is no hacking” or than maybe it was China or “somebody sitting on their bed that weighs 400 pounds.”Trump’s attitude contrasts with those of his predecessors. In his book “Getting to Know the President,” veteran CIA officer John Helgerson wrote that former President Jimmy Carter asked for longer briefings and Bill Clinton asked the CIA to expand his daily briefs to include economic and environmental issues.

Summary: अमेरिकी जासूसी एजेंसियों के लिए सिर्फ एक ट्रम्प संक्रमण सहायकः अधिकारी


HELSINKI (Reuters) - Supporters of the far right in Finland and anti-facists staged rival marches in the capital on Wednesday as the country celebrated 100 years of independence. Police in riot gear reinforced by security personnel from around the country made 10 arrests due to scattered fights and misbehavior. Around 2,000 people joined the anti-facist march while demonstrations by two far right groups also gathered up to 2,000 people, the police said. Anti-immigrant sentiment has been on the rise in the Nordic EU member country of 5.5 million. About 32,500 migrants and refugees arrived during Europe s migrant crisis in 2015. The number came down to 5,600 last year.  No nazis in Helsinki!  shouted anti-fascist demonstrators. Far-right marchers held a slogan saying  Towards freedom  and many carried torches. Last week, a court banned a neo-Nazi group called Nordic Resistance Movement but it took part in a march as the decision is yet to be implemented. Finland was part of the Russian Empire and won independence during the 1917 Russian revolution, then nearly lost it fighting the Soviet Union in World War Two.

Summary: हेलसिंकी में दूर-दराज़, फासीवाद विरोधी प्रदर्शनों में हजारों लोगों ने मार्च किया


WASHINGTON (Reuters) - South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley, in the Republican response to President Barack Obama’s State of the Union address on Tuesday, seized the spotlight to set herself apart from her party’s field of presidential candidates, calling for tolerance on immigration and civility in politics. In what some saw as a rebuke of Republican front-runner Donald Trump, Haley said: “During anxious times, it can be tempting to follow the siren call of the angriest voices. “We must resist that temptation. No one who is willing to work hard, abide by our laws, and love our traditions should ever feel unwelcome in this country.” The 43-year-old daughter of Indian immigrants is being mentioned as a possible Republican vice presidential candidate. “Immigrants have been coming to our shores for generations to live the dream that is America,” she said. Haley spoke from Columbia, South Carolina, where she gained national attention last year by leading an effort to remove the Confederate battle flag from the state Capitol grounds after the killing of nine black churchgoers in Charleston. Her remarks on Tuesday sparked a backlash from some conservatives. Ann Coulter, a conservative columnist and frequent television talk show guest, tweeted, “Trump should deport Nikki Haley.”     Immigration has been a dominant theme in the Republican presidential campaign for the Nov. 8 election to replace Obama. Trump has aroused controversy with his fiery comments, saying that if elected, he would build a wall on the border with Mexico to keep out illegal immigrants and force Mexico to pay for it. The billionaire businessman has said he will deport the country’s 11 million illegal immigrants. He began his campaign in June by saying Mexico was sending criminals and rapists to the United States. Haley, whose televised remarks came minutes after Obama delivered his final State of the Union speech to Congress, issued many standard Republican attacks against the president, criticizing his fiscal policy and landmark healthcare law, known as Obamacare.  She promised that if a Republican wins the November election, working families’ taxes will be cut and “runaway” spending will be constrained. The State of the Union response by the incumbent president’s political opponents is a tradition dating back to 1966. It is a tough assignment, lacking the theater of the State of the Union itself, which takes place in the historic House of Representatives chamber, filled with lawmakers, diplomats, Supreme Court justices and sometimes celebrity guests. A hodge-podge of politicians have been assigned to the duty, ranging from then-Democratic Governor Bill Clinton in 1985, who went on to serve two terms as president, to ex-Republican Governor Bob McDonnell of Virginia in 2010, who is now appealing a 2014 conviction on corruption charges. Unlike Coulter, others lauded Haley. Democratic strategist Donna Brazile tweeted praise for the governor’s recounting of  the response to the Charleston church shooting. Michael Needham, head of the conservative Heritage Action group, said Haley offered “a winsome message” and “painted an authentically optimistic vision for America’s future.” On foreign policy, Haley said the United States faced “the most dangerous terrorist threat our nation has seen since September 11th, and this president appears either unwilling or unable to deal with it.” Lethal attacks by militants last year, including in Paris and San Bernardino, California, have made national security a major campaign issue. Trump reacted to the California shootings by saying Muslims should be temporarily banned from entering the United States.    Another Republican contender, Texas Senator Ted Cruz, has said Christians, but not Muslims, should qualify for refugee status. Haley made no gaffes in her speech of less than 10 minutes, which was delivered in a relaxed, sometimes monotone voice. David Woodard, a political science professor at Clemson University in South Carolina, noted Haley touched on religious and social issues that will “help some with the GOP base.” But he said the speech was too light on foreign policy concerns, including the Middle East, that voters worry about, and lacked “edge.” In some of her most eloquent remarks, Haley recalled the Charleston shootings. “Our state was struck with shock, pain and fear. But our people would not allow hate to win. We didn’t have violence, we had vigils. We didn’t have riots, we had hugs.” In a criticism of acrimony in U.S. politics, Haley advised: “Some people think that you have to be the loudest voice in the room to make a difference. That is just not true ... when the sound is quieter, you can actually hear what someone else is saying. And that can make a world of difference.”

Summary: दक्षिण कैरोलिना की हेली ने ओबामा को रिपब्लिकन के जवाब में सहिष्णुता और सभ्यता का आग्रह किया


WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Sanctions on Myanmar and withholding of U.S. aid are among options for pressing that country s government to stop attacks on Rohingya Muslims, U.S. officials said on Thursday, adding that they must be careful to avoid worsening the crisis.  We don t want to take actions that exacerbate their suffering. There is that risk in this complicated environment,  Deputy Assistant Secretary of State Patrick Murphy told a U.S. House of Representatives Foreign Affairs Committee hearing. Hundreds of thousands of Rohingya Muslims have fled Myanmar s Rakhine state since security forces responded to Rohingya militants  attacks on Aug. 25 by launching a crackdown the United Nations has denounced as ethnic cleansing. Myanmar rejects that accusation, insisting action was needed to combat  terrorists  who killed civilians. But it has left the world community counting the cost as international organizations and the government of Bangladesh, which has taken in the vast majority of the refugees, race to provide food, water and medical care. Many U.S. lawmakers have clamored for a strong U.S. response to the crisis and criticized government leader Aung San Suu Kyi, a Nobel peace laureate once hugely popular in Washington, for failing to do more. Representative Ed Royce, the Foreign Affairs committee s Republican chairman, said her recent statement denying that the military had conducted  clearance operations  was  factually false  and said she should speak out.  Those responsible for these atrocities must face justice. She and the military generals must rise to this challenge. This is ethnic cleansing,  Royce said. Representative Eliot Engel, the committee s top Democrat, was one of several committee members who said Washington should reconsider its decision to ease sanctions on the country and military. In particular, they called on Myanmar to allow international inspectors access to Rakhine State.  We re sitting here in our white shirts and our suits and these people are being slaughtered and thrown out of their country,  Republican Representative Scott Perry said.  Somebody needs to take action,  he added. Murphy said efforts were under way to identify individuals responsible for rights violation. Representative Ted Yoho, chairman of the panel s Asia subcommittee, asked if it would be effective to suspend aid to Myanmar s government until they allowed U.N. inspectors into Rakhine state. Kate Somvongsiri, a witness from the U.S. Agency for International Development, said that would be considered.  With the gravity of the situation, we obviously need to look at all the possible tools of leverage on the table,  she said.

Summary: अमेरिकी अधिकारियों ने रोहिंग्या संकट से निपटने में सावधानी बरतने की आवश्यकता का हवाला दिया


BEIJING (Reuters) - A peaceful settlement of the North Korean nuclear issue is in line with the common will of the international community, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi told U.S. Vice President Mike Pence, state news agency Xinhua said on Thursday. Wang and Pence  acknowledged the important consensuses both sides have on the denuclearization of the peninsula  and agreed to enhance communication over the issue, Xinhua said of the meeting on Wednesday on the sidelines of a United Nations meeting in New York.

Summary: चीन ने कहा, उत्तर कोरिया मुद्दे का शांतिपूर्ण समाधान चाहिए


WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump’s selection of Jeffrey Bossert Clark to be the Justice Department’s top environmental lawyer has raised concerns by Gulf coast environmental groups as he was the lawyer for international oil company BP Plc in the aftermath of the company’s 2010 drilling rig explosion.   Trump named Clark on Wednesday to be Assistant Attorney General for environment at the Department of Justice, representing the U.S. government on environmental regulation and enforcement issues. Clark, a partner at Kirkland & Ellis, represented BP after the 2010 Deepwater Horizon drilling rig explosion and Macondo oil well rupture that killed 11 workers and caused the largest offshore environmental disaster in U.S. history. The accident polluted large parts of the Gulf, killing marine wildlife and harming businesses. Along the U.S. Gulf coast, local communities are still grappling with cleanup and restoration, and had relied on the federal government and EPA to protect them against climate change and oil and gas company accidents, said Cynthia Sarthou, director of the Gulf Restoration Network in Louisiana. “I think the enforcement of any pollution laws is going to be at risk right now,” Sarthou said. “Bossert (Clark) is unlikely to hold the oil and gas industry accountable for pollution.” Sarthou added that most of the oil and gas infrastructure along the U.S. Gulf coast is aging, putting local environmental groups on alert for future accidents. “While this administration continues to choose profits over people, South Louisiana residents continue to struggle to recover from the economic, health and environmental impacts of the BP oil drilling disaster,” said Colette Pichon Battle, of the Human Rights Network, a lawyer who represented local communities affected by the BP accident. According to a White House statement, Clark is a “complex trial and appellate litigator with especially deep experience in administrative law.”  In addition to practicing law in private practice, he also served worked as deputy assistant attorney general for environment at the Justice department from 2001 to 2005. As an attorney, Clark also represented industry groups in several challenges against the previous administration’s Environmental Protection Agency. This includes a lawsuit to revoke the “endangerment finding,” the scientific finding that gives the agency authority to regulate greenhouse gas emissions and one to challenge California’s ability to set its own stringent greenhouse gas emission standards for vehicles.   Clark was not available for comment.

Summary: अमेरिकी खाड़ी तट समूह चिंतित हैं क्योंकि ट्रम्प ने डी. ओ. जे. के शीर्ष पद के लिए बी. पी. के वकील को चुना है


LONDON (Reuters) - British customs authorities will be able to cope even if the government is unable to reach a deal with the European Union to smooth Britain s departure from the bloc, finance minister Philip Hammond said on Tuesday.  (Customs agency) HMRC is preparing for all eventualities, including for a no-deal scenario,  Hammond told the economic affairs committee of Britain s upper legislative chamber.  We recognize that the timescales are very challenging, and in a no-deal scenario, not everything we would want to put in place will be in place on day one. But we will have a working system in place on day one, I have that assurance from HMRC.  Hammond said the government was seeking the smoothest possible customs arrangements as part of a negotiated exit from the EU, which is due to take place in March 2019.

Summary: ब्रिटेन के वित्त मंत्री ने कहा, 'कोई सौदा नहीं' ब्रेक्सिट के लिए सीमा शुल्क तैयार


(Reuters) - Highlights of the day for U.S. President Donald Trump’s administration on Tuesday: Trump’s order temporarily banning U.S. entry to people from seven Muslim-majority countries comes under intense scrutiny from a federal appeals court that questions whether the ban unfairly targets people over their religion. Homeland Security chief John Kelly tells a congressional panel he should have delayed Trump’s travel ban on people from seven Muslim-majority countries and on all refugees so he could brief Congress on the executive order. Two Republican senators plan to unveil legislation to curb legal immigration by halving the number of people allowed to live as legal permanent residents. Trump is planning to issue an executive order targeting a controversial Dodd-Frank rule that requires companies to disclose whether their products contain “conflict minerals” from a war-torn part of Africa, according to sources familiar with the administration’s thinking. The Senate confirms billionaire Betsy DeVos as education secretary, with Vice President Mike Pence casting an unprecedented tie-breaking vote, and another controversial nominee, Jeff Sessions for attorney general, wins committee approval. The Senate’s top Democrat accuses Trump’s Supreme Court pick of avoiding answering questions “like the plague” and dodging efforts to gauge his judicial independence during a meeting that deepened his concerns about the nominee. Andrew Puzder, Trump’s choice to lead the Labor Department, admits to employing an undocumented immigrant, a revelation of the type that has derailed Cabinet nominees in previous administrations. Ayatollah Ali Khamenei dismisses Trump’s warning to Iran to stop its missile tests, saying the president has shown the “real face” of American corruption. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Trump, seizing on an Iranian missile test, are nearing common ground on a tougher U.S. policy toward Tehran ahead of their first talks at the White House. Trump reiterates “U.S. support to Turkey as a strategic partner and NATO ally” during a phone call with Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan, the White House says. China’s foreign minister, seeking to diminish tension with the United States after Trump’s election, says there would be no winner in a conflict between the two nations. Trump says there is no reason to curb law enforcement agencies that seize cash, vehicles and other assets of people suspected of crimes, a practice that some lawmakers and activists have criticized for denying legal rights.

Summary: 7 फरवरी को 9.47 बजे ईएसटी पर ट्रम्प का राष्ट्रपति पद


HELSINKI (Reuters) - Finnish President Sauli Niinisto is set to be elected for a second six-year term in January elections by a wide margin, a poll commissioned by public broadcaster YLE showed on Thursday. Known for cultivating good relations with Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin, 69-year-old Niinisto   an independent candidate who previously represented the conservative National Coalition Party   had the support of 76 percent in the poll. Fourteen percent of respondents backed lawmaker Pekka Haavisto from the Greens of Finland while five others had in total around 10 percent. The president is in charge of Finland s foreign and defense policy together with the government, but otherwise the post has become largely ceremonial in the past few decades. Following the Ukraine crisis and chilly East-West relations, Niinisto has taken an active role in maintaining relations with neighboring Russia by regular contacts with Putin. Finland is an EU member but it has stayed out of the NATO  military alliance under its tradition of avoiding confrontation with Russia. The two countries share a 833 mile (1,340 km) border and a difficult history.  I don t easily declare myself as an advisor... But my message to Moscow, Brussels, Washington and any other place is: you should have dialogue,  Niinisto told reporters last week. The election will take place on January 28. If no candidate gets half of the votes, there will be a second round in February. If Niinisto and Haavisto met in a second round, Niinisto would win 82 percent of that vote, the poll showed.  The numbers are exceptional. Incumbent presidents always have an advantage, but we ve never seen one s popularity grow as the election gets closer,  said Johanna Vuorelma, political scientist at University of Helsinki.  With the current tensions in the Baltic Sea region, it seems people look for a safe and familiar candidate, and don t even want to consider alternatives.  The poll by Taloustutkimus surveyed 1,470 Finns last week.

Summary: फिनलैंड के राष्ट्रपति को जनवरी के चुनावों से पहले मजबूत चुनावी बढ़त हासिल है।


WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Senate unanimously backed President Barack Obama’s nomination of Eric Fanning as secretary of the Army on Tuesday, making him the first openly gay leader of a U.S. military service branch. Fanning was previously undersecretary of the Air Force and chief of staff to Defense Secretary Ash Carter. Fanning was confirmed by unanimous voice vote, eight months following his nomination, after Senator Pat Roberts said Deputy Defense Secretary Robert Work told him that it was now too late for the administration to transfer prisoners from the detention center at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, to Roberts’ home state, Kansas. Work did not confirm Roberts’ account of that conversation, saying that no option was off the table. “I explained to Senator Roberts that we are trying to achieve the goal of closure with the support of Congress and we recognize that there is limited time left to achieve that support, both in terms of lifting Congressional restrictions and winning approval of funds to execute closure,” Work said in a statement.  Roberts had held up Fanning’s nomination for months to  underscore his opposition to any possible transfer of detainees. His opposition had frustrated fellow Republican John McCain, chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee and a strong supporter of Fanning’s nomination. On Tuesday, McCain and Roberts appeared in the Senate together as Roberts announced that he had released his “hold” on Fanning and spoken to Fanning. McCain noted that this year’s National Defense Authorization Act ensures that the Obama administration does not have the authority to release or transfer Guantanamo detainees to the U.S. mainland. Roberts said Work told him during a meeting last week that he would be unable to fulfill an order to move Guantanamo detainees to the United States before Obama leaves office in January 2017. “The clock has run out for the president,” Roberts said.

Summary: सीनेट ने सेना सचिव के रूप में फैनिंग का समर्थन किया


TOKYO (Reuters) - The Kremlin said on Friday that President Vladimir Putin had given President Barack Obama “a really clear response” to U.S. allegations that Moscow had interfered in the U.S. presidential election by hacking Democratic Party organizations. Russia’s TASS news agency cited Kremlin aide Yuri Ushakov as telling reporters in Tokyo that Putin had explained Russia’s stance on the issue to Obama on the sidelines of the G20 summit in September. “There was a tete-a-tete conversation and different themes were discussed,” Ushakov was cited as saying. “This theme was touched upon.  A really clear reply was given by our side which perhaps did not fit with what Obama was trying to explain to us.” Three U.S. officials said on Thursday that Putin had supervised his intelligence agencies’ hacking of the U.S. presidential election and turned it from a general attempt to discredit American democracy to an effort to help Donald Trump.

Summary: पुतिन ने अमेरिकी हैकिंग के आरोपों का स्पष्ट जवाब दियाः टीएएसएस ने क्रेमलिन का हवाला दिया


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

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


NAIROBI (Reuters) - Kenyan opposition leader Raila Odinga says he will make the mismanagement of last month s annulled presidential vote the focus of his new election campaign, linking it to a series of political scandals.  The Supreme Court last week nullified the Aug. 8 election, ruling that incumbent president Uhuru Kenyatta s win by 1.4 million votes was invalid due to flaws in the tallying process.   Right now, we are basically dealing with the rigging of elections, which is basically an extension of corruption,  Odinga told Reuters in an interview on Thursday, repeating his allegation, rejected by the court, that Kenyatta had deliberately manipulated the vote.  Odinga has threatened to boycott the re-run unless a series of demands are met.  The court ruling sent shockwaves through Kenya, East Africa s richest country per capita and a relatively stable ally of the West in a region beset by conflict.  Although it caused political uncertainty, many hope it will eventually reduce the chance of political violence by rebuilding trust in Kenya s battered public institutions.  The election commission set the re-run for Oct. 17, but Odinga reiterated his stance that he would not take part unless some electoral officials were fired and the opposition were given access to voting data that they say will prove their allegation of deliberate rigging. The board has said different staff will be in charge of the re-run, but has not opened up the election records for scrutiny or announced any disciplinary measures.   This election shows that Jubilee (the ruling party) have taken corruption to the stratosphere in our country ... it is very regrettable, it is actually shameful that a government can preside over this fraud.  The judges said Kenyatta was not at fault and the blame lay with the election commission, which had not followed procedures designed to allow a transparent vote. A more detailed ruling is expected this month. Jubilee has also denied manipulating the vote. But Odinga s words may resonate with Kenyans tired of the corruption scandals that have dominated front pages in recent years, including allegations that tens of millions of dollars went missing from the Health Ministry and National Youth Service.  The auditor-general regularly issues scathing reports about missing funds, but action is rarely taken. No top official has been successfully prosecuted.  Odinga, who presents himself as a champion of the poor, built his previous campaign on criticism of high inflation and shortages of the staple maize flour after a regional drought.  He has criticized government borrowing, and promised to lower the deficit by improving revenue collection and slashing graft. He said he would preserve the large infrastructure projects that were the centerpiece of Kenyatta s re-election campaign.  Odinga also plans to substantially reshape Kenya s policy towards its neighbors if he wins, setting a timeline to withdraw Kenyan troops from Somalia and calling for the release of South Sudanese rebel leader Riek Machar, currently under house arrest in South Africa, to participate in peace talks.

Summary: केन्याई विपक्षी प्रमुख चुनाव में भ्रष्टाचार पर ध्यान केंद्रित करेंगे


SANTIAGO (Reuters) - When Chile s President Michelle Bachelet leaves office in March, it will mark the end of a generation of women leaders in Latin America, leaving the region without a female head of state as it shifts to the right politically. At the start of this decade, women held the top jobs in Argentina, Brazil, Costa Rica and Chile, collectively representing about 40 percent of the population in a region better known for its machismo. But conservative Sebastian Pinera s victory in the second round of Chile s presidential election on Sunday drew that period to a close. Bachelet was the first of her female counterparts to rise to power in a leftist tide that swept South America during a commodities-fueled economic boom. She served as president from 2006 to 2010 before winning re-election in 2013. Together with Brazil s Dilma Rousseff and Argentina s Cristina Fernandez, Bachelet embodied the major strides made by women across a region that has passed laws deterring rampant violence against women and set quotas for political participation that have given Latin American women a bigger share of parliamentary seats than in Europe. But now some worry that progress on women s rights could stall.  We re seeing a shift to conservative politics that is questioning the advances of the last 15 to 20 years,  said Eugenia Piza-Lopez, who works on gender in Latin America for the United Nations Development Program. Conservative groups are targeting gender equality across the region, said Piza-Lopez. Protests over curriculums aimed at empowering girls to rise above traditional female duties have helped topple education ministers in Peru and Colombia. During campaigning in Chile, Pinera voiced concerns about the country s declining birth rate as he took aim at changes to abortion laws under Bachelet, who loosened a strict ban to make exemptions for rape, unviable fetuses and the risk of death during labor. While there is no definitive study showing female leaders do more to advance women s wellbeing than men, Farida Jalalzai, a political scientist at Oklahoma State University, said her research on Latin America suggested that was the case.  Dilma (Rousseff), for example, would take a policy that was already in existence and reframe it in ways that made it clear it was a women s issue, whether it was poverty or home ownership,  Jalalzai said. Piza-Lopez said Fernandez, who ruled Argentina from 2007 to 2015, helped narrow the gender poverty gap with her generous spending on social programs aimed at women.  Stella Zervoudaki, head of the European Union delegation in Chile, pointed to Bachelet s creation of a ministry of women,  her programs to finance companies led by women and work for marriage equality.  I m not sure this would have been as forceful without a woman leader,  Zervoudaki said. She said Bachelet had pressed for a chapter on gender in an update to an EU trade agreement that called for progress on equal pay, fair maternity leave and better access to technology for women. In a region where corruption scandals often hurt presidencies, South America s women leaders were no honorable exception. Rousseff was removed from office in 2016 on accusations she manipulated budget laws and was later charged with graft. A judge in Argentina has charged Fernandez, now a senator who is also under investigation for graft, with treason for allegedly covering up Iran s possible role in a 1994 bombing. Both women deny wrongdoing. Rousseff recently visited Fernandez in her apartment in Buenos Aires to commiserate, and has said sexism played a role in her own impeachment. Brazil s conservative President Michel Temer appointed an all-male cabinet after Rousseff s exit. She was voted out after lawmakers held up signs saying  bye, dear!  In contrast, Pinera said on Monday he would announce the  women and men  who would form his team, a sign he would create a balanced cabinet, perhaps taking his lead from Bachelet, whose first cabinet was exactly half men and half women. Bachelet s own approval ratings were hit hard after her daughter-in-law was accused of using political ties to get access to a bank loan. Although Latin America is poised to hold six elections next year - in Costa Rica, Paraguay, Colombia, Venezuela, Mexico and Brazil - the chances for another female president are slim. In Mexico, leftist frontrunner Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador has repeatedly referred to his rival Margarita Zavala as  the wife of Felipe Calderon  - her husband and a former president - angering her supporters, who charge it is sexist. She is polling around 10 percent of votes. In Brazil, Marina Silva, who has lost the presidency twice, recently joined the race and lies third in most polls. A number of female candidates are expected to compete in Colombia s presidential race, though none is expected to win. Maria Eugenia Vidal, the governor of Argentina s largest province of Buenos Aires, is the country s most popular politician, according to several polls, but is not expected to run for president in 2019. Still-rampant sexism and sexual harassment in politics remain deterrents to women who want to rise to the top, said Mercedes Araoz, Peru s Prime Minister and a former presidential candidate.   I ve been a victim (of sexual harassment),  Araoz recently told journalists.  It s important to realize how discouraging it can be.

Summary: चिली चुनाव ने लैटिन अमेरिका में महिला राष्ट्रपतियों के युग का अंत किया


WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Senior Trump administration officials said on Sunday that the United States was committed to remaining part of the Iran nuclear accord for now, despite President Donald Trump’s criticisms of the deal and his warnings that he might pull out. Nikki Haley, U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, said that Tehran is complying with the 2015 nuclear accord intended to increase Iran’s accountability in return for the lifting of some economic sanctions. “I think right now, you’re going to see us stay in the deal,” Haley told NBC’s “Meet the Press.” In a speech on Friday, Trump laid out an aggressive approach on Iran and said he would not certify it is complying with the nuclear accord, despite a determination by the United Nations’ nuclear watchdog that Tehran is meeting its terms. The Republican president threw the issue to the U.S. Congress, which has 60 days to decide whether to reinstate U.S. sanctions. He warned that if “we are not able to reach a solution working with Congress and our allies, then the agreement will be terminated.” So far, none of the other signatories to the deal - Britain, France, Germany, Russia, China, Iran and the European Union - have cited serious concerns, leaving the United States isolated. In her “Meet the Press” interview, Haley said the United States was not saying that Iran was in breach of the agreement, but she raised concerns about its activities that are not covered by the pact, including weapons sales and sponsorship of militant groups such as Hezbollah. Haley said that other countries were “turning a blind eye” to these Iranian activities in order to “protect” the nuclear agreement. She said the United States needed to weigh a “proportionate” response to Tehran’s actions on the world stage. “The goal at the end of the day is to hold Iran accountable,” Haley said in the interview, which mainly focused on the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, as the nuclear deal is formally known. Haley and U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson hammered away at the need to address what they see as shortcomings in the two-year-old international accord while simultaneously placing pressure to rein in Iranian activities outside the scope of that deal. Tillerson, alluding to other signatory countries’ opposition to reopening the Iran pact, raised the possibility of “a second agreement” to run parallel to the existing one. Among the “areas of concern” he mentioned were its sunset provisions and Tehran’s ballistic missile program. Haley also said the reason the United States was looking closely at the Iran nuclear deal is because of escalating tensions over North Korea’s nuclear weapons development. “What we’re saying now with Iran is don’t let it become the next North Korea.” On Friday, Trump also said he was authorizing the U.S. Treasury to sanction Iran’s Revolutionary Guards, and on Sunday Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said he was planning to move ahead. Mnuchin, interviewed on Fox News’ “Sunday Morning Futures,” said he has spoken about Iran with his counterparts attending World Bank and International Monetary Fund meetings in recent days. He did not provide any details on possible sanctions.   U.S. Senator Susan Collins, appearing on ABC’s “This Week,” noted that Trump could have taken a more extreme step by withdrawing from the agreement. But in words of support for Trump, the moderate Republican lawmaker said, “Instead, he put a spotlight on two troubling deficiencies in the agreement,” referring to a lack of limitations on Iran’s tests of ballistic missiles and a “pathway to developing a nuclear weapon” down the road. While many U.S. allies strongly criticized Trump’s decision not to recertify the Iran deal, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu praised the move, saying the current terms of the Iran nuclear accord would allow it to have a nuclear stockpile within a decade. “We cannot allow this rogue regime 30 times the size of North Korea’s economy to have a nuclear arsenal,” Netanyahu said on CBS’ “Face the Nation.”

Summary: अमेरिकी अधिकारी इस चिंता को कम करने की कोशिश कर रहे हैं कि ट्रम्प ईरान समझौते को छोड़ सकते हैं


HANOI (Reuters) - The United States and Vietnam on Tuesday signed an agreement allowing the U.S. Peace Corps to work in the country for the first time. The signing, which comes amid a historic three-day visit by President Barack Obama, follows more than a decade of negotiations between the two countries to establish a Peace Corps operation in Vietnam. The program, which is expected to begin over the next two years, allows Peace Corps volunteers to teach English in schools in the country’s two largest cities, Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City, said Peace Corps Director Carrie Hessler-Radelet, who signed the agreement with Vietnam’s ambassador to the United States, Pham Quang Vinh. U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry, who was present for the signing, said the agreement marked a further normalizing of relations between the United States and Vietnam. “For 20 years now we have had what we call a normal relationship,” said Kerry, who in 1968 served as a young U.S. naval officer in the Vietnam War.  “This is normal, having the Peace Corps being able to move forward, having young Americans come here, not always young, to be able to teach English in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh is the next step forward to building the relationship between the United States and Vietnam,” he added. After the signing, Hessler-Radelet turned to Kerry saying: “You’ve waited for this for a long time.”

Summary: अमेरिका, वियतनाम पहली बार वियतनाम में शांति दल को अनुमति देने के लिए सहमत हुए


BARCELONA (Reuters) - Hundreds of thousands of Catalan independence supporters clogged one of Barcelona s main avenues on Saturday to demand the release of separatist leaders held in prison for their roles in the region s banned drive to split from Spain. Wearing yellow ribbons on their lapels to signify support, they filled the length of the Avenue Marina that runs from the beach to Barcelona s iconic Sagrada Familia church, while the jailed leaders  families made speeches. Catalonia s two main grassroots independence groups called the march, under the slogan  Freedom for the political prisoners,  after their leaders were remanded in custody on charges of sedition last month. The protest is seen as a test of how the independence movement s support has fared since the Catalan government declared independence on Oct. 27, prompting Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy to fire its members, dissolve the regional parliament and call new elections for December. An opinion poll this week showed that pro-independence parties would win the largest share of the vote, though a majority was not assured and question marks remain over ousted regional head Carles Puigdemont s leadership of the separatist cause.   Look at all the people here,  said 63-year-old Pep Morales.  The independence movement is still going strong.  Barcelona police said about 750,000 people had attended, many from across Catalonia. The protesters carried photos with the faces of those in prison, waved the red-and-yellow striped Catalan independence flag and shone lights from their phones. The Spanish High Court has jailed eight former Catalan government members, along with the leaders of the Catalan National Assembly (ANC) and Omnium Cultural, while investigations continue. The High Court last week issued arrest warrants on charges of rebellion and sedition for Puigdemont, who flew to Brussels after being deposed, and four other former government members who went with him.  Your light reaches us in Brussels and illuminates the path we must keep following,  Puigdemont tweeted during the protest. On Thursday, the Supreme Court ruled to release on bail the Catalan parliament s speaker Carme Forcadell and four other lawmakers, who enabled the declaration of independence by overseeing a parliamentary vote. Another lawmaker was released without bail. Forcadell left jail on Friday after agreeing to renounce any political activity that went against the Spanish constitution, in effect banning her from campaigning for independence in the December election. Those terms threaten to undermine the independence movement just as cracks are starting to appear and tensions rise between the grassroots and their leaders. Puigdemont s PDeCAT party has failed to agree on a united ticket to contest the election with another secessionist party, the ERC, denting the pro-independence camp s hopes of pressing ahead after the election. On Saturday, the ERC said its leader, jailed former Catalan vice-president Oriol Junqueras, would be its candidate in December and he would campaign from behind bars. Pepita Sole, a 61-year-old pensioner in the crowd on Saturday, said she understood the Oct. 27 declaration was symbolic but now wanted the real thing.  They better understand that we re not faking.

Summary: अलगाववादी नेताओं की रिहाई की मांग को लेकर बार्सिलोना में प्रदर्शनकारियों की बाढ़ आ गई


NEW YORK (Reuters) - Hawaii grandmother Teresa Shook wanted to share her outrage with other women the night after Donald Trump was elected president, but she had few options in her remote island community. So she went on Facebook and in a popular political group wrote the first thing that came to mind: I think we should march. Four weeks later, organizers credit Shook’s quiet plea with igniting what could be the largest demonstration in the nation’s capital related to a presidential election. More than 125,000 people from across the country have signed up to march in Washington on Jan. 21, the day after Trump’s inauguration in support of women’s rights. Sister protests are planned in London and Frankfurt and online interest has grown to hundreds of thousands. “I didn’t have a plan or a thought about what would happen,”  Shook told Reuters by phone from the island of Maui. “I just kept saying, I think we should march.” After a bruising election campaign marked by Trump’s comments on women, organizers say his presidency could threaten access to women’s healthcare, erode protection against sexual violence and roll back aid to struggling mothers. “I was in such shock and disbelief that this type of sentiment could win,” said Shook, a retired lawyer from Indiana with four grandchildren. “We had to let people know that is not who were are.” Shook first floated the idea of a women’s march in a private Facebook group, Pantsuit Nation, which became a widely popular discussion page for supporters of Trump’s rival, Hillary Clinton. After getting a response to her post from a single woman in the chatroom, Shook said she created a private Facebook event page for the march and invited a few dozen online friends to join before going to sleep. Overnight, a link to Shook’s event page was posted in Pantsuit Nation and possibly sent to similar groups. “When I woke, up it had gone ballistic,” Shook said.  More than 300,000 people are now “interested” in the event on Facebook, including many of those who said they would participate. Women from across the United States contacted Shook and began to guide the effort.     Supporters say they were galvanized by Trump’s insults against high-profile women, as well as by fresh fears the U.S. Supreme Court ruling Roe v. Wade legalizing abortion could be at risk when Trump appoints the next Supreme Court justice. And they were outraged when a 2005 video surfaced in which he bragged about kissing women without permission and grabbing their genitals. Trump apologized for the comments. But the remarks opened wounds for assault victims, and they were followed by several women who accused him of sexually assaulting or harassing them. Trump denied the allegations.  “Going through the whole election cycle was traumatizing for so many women,” said one of the early organizers, Fontaine Pearson. “I think it politicized or woke up a lot of them.” While support for the march grew quickly, it also drew criticism for lacking diversity. Nearly all of the initial organizers were white. The name, which started as the “Million Women March,” was bashed on social media for mirroring the title of a march in Philadelphia 20 years ago to empower black communities.  In response, the name was changed to the “Women’s March on Washington” and several veteran protest organizers working on behalf of minority groups were enlisted as national co-chairs. They included Tamika Mallory, who led a criminal justice reform march from New York to Washington last year.  “Women of color needed to be included,” Mallory said. Bernice King, whose father Martin Luther King Jr. famously delivered his “I Have a Dream” speech in a march on Washington a half-century ago, encouraged women’s march organizers in a phone call last week, the organizers said. The march’s mission was also expanded to include concerns about racism, xenophobia, and the targeting of Muslims and gay people. The alt-right movement, which includes white supremacists and anti-Semites, has been emboldened by Trump winning the White House. The Southern Poverty Law Center reported a sharp spike in hate crimes following Trump’s victory.     The route, security and speaker lineup, as well as permitting by the National Park Service have yet to be finalized, said march spokeswoman Breanne Butler. But that has not deterred many who plan to attend. Hotels in the Washington area have received calls from many prospective marchers, said Solomon Keene, president of the Hotel Association of Washington, DC. “It’s just about showing up,” said Gretchen Kryss, 29, a trainee psychologist who is driving to the rally from Cleveland with her fiancé and a group of friends. The only other similar demonstration in recent memory was at the first inauguration of George W. Bush in 2001, but the several thousand who turned up were focusing on the contested election, not the new president. This time, the focus appears to be Trump himself, said Mark Peterson, chair of the Department of Public Policy at the University of California, Los Angeles.   Peterson, a Washington native who is an expert on politics and political campaigns, said logistical challenges, including heightened security during presidential inaugurations, could hamper the women’s march. But the level of anger voiced by many women over Trump’s comments, including calling a former Miss Universe “Miss Piggy” and saying women should face punishment for abortions, could drive the demonstration to success, he said. “My hope for this march is that for people who are scared, who are marginalized in America, will feel safer and know they have allies,” said Lisa Fetterman, a 29-year-old San Francisco resident flying to Washington to march with her husband.

Summary: हवाई की दादी की याचिका ने वाशिंगटन में महिलाओं का मार्च शुरू किया


LOME (Reuters) - Security forces in Togo fired bullets and teargas on Thursday, wounding at least seven people as they sought to break up violent protests against the 50-year ruling family dynasty in the West African banking and transport hub. Activists have been demonstrating since August against President Faure Gnassingbe s refusal to give a clear date for stepping aside and to allow opposition parties to flourish in the region s only country that still does not accept presidential term limits. A Reuters cameraman saw trucks carrying armed paramilitary gendarmes drive into crowds and fire volleys of teargas. Protesters in the Lome suburb of Be, flanked by rundown buildings and palm trees, set up barricades, burned tyres and threw stones at the security forces.  We ve received seven people wounded by bullets so far,  said a doctor at the Social Medical Centre in Be, where some were being wrapped in bandages. The former French colony of 8 million people is home to several large firms, including Ecobank and regional airline ASKY, and has undergone major port upgrades as the president has sought to turn the resource-poor nation into a commercial hub. But a history of repression and the monopoly of power by one family - Faure took power in 2005 upon the death of his father Gnassingbe Eyadema, who had ruled for 38 years - threaten its stability.  Ghassingbe s opponents says reforms announced last month, in response to August s protests, will still allow him to run the West African country until 2030.

Summary: टोगो बलों ने प्रदर्शनकारियों पर गोलीबारी की, सात घायल


MADRID (Reuters) - Two former members of the Catalan government held in custody over their roles in Catalonia s banned independence drive have asked to be released from custody after accepting Madrid s control of the region, according to appeals published on Monday. Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy sacked the Catalan government and took control in October, hours after the Catalan parliament made a unilateral declaration of independence in a vote boycotted by the opposition and declared illegal by Spanish courts. Lawyers for Jordi Turull and Josep Rull have lodged requests with the High Court to be released, saying they had not shown any resistance to Rajoy instigating direct rule over Catalonia by activating Article 155 of the Spanish constitution. Six other ex-members of the Catalan government and the leaders of the two main pro-independence grassroots groups are also in jail awaiting trial at the High Court on charges of rebellion and sedition. Catalonia s independence movement has deeply divided Spain, dragging it into its worst political crisis since the return of democracy four decades ago and fuelling anti-Spanish sentiment in Catalonia and nationalist tendencies elsewhere. Rajoy has called a Dec. 21 election in Catalonia, which he hopes will lead to a unionist majority in the regional parliament. Separatist parties failed to agree to run on a united ticket, knocking their chances of retaining control.  In their requests to the court, Turull and Rull s lawyers  said there was no risk their clients would hide or alter or destroy evidence.  My client has accepted the application of Article 155 of the constitution by the Spanish Government,  they said. Earlier this month, Spain s Supreme Court released the Catalan parliament speaker Carme Forcadell on bail of 150,000 euros after she agreed to renounce any political activity that went against the Spanish constitution.  Ousted Catalan leader Carles Puigdemont is in Belgium, and Spain has issued a European arrest warrant for him. He said a week ago he might consider a solution to the crisis that did not involve Catalonia s secession.

Summary: हिरासत में लिए गए कैटलन सरकार के सदस्यों का कहना है कि वे मैड्रिड के नियंत्रण को स्वीकार करते हैं


(Reuters) - President Donald Trump’s nominee to the U.S. Supreme Court, due to be named on Tuesday, could have an immediate impact on cases already pending before the justices. The nine-seat court has been operating with only eight justices since the death of conservative Antonin Scalia on Feb. 13, 2016, with four liberals and four conservatives. The court has ended up with 4-4 split decisions in several cases. The new justice could cast the deciding vote in some cases being considered by the justices in their term that ends in June. Here is a look at some cases in which the new justice could be pivotal. Gloucester County School Board v. G.G. A major transgender rights dispute over whether a public school district in Virginia can prevent a female-born transgender student who identifies as male from using the boys’ bathroom. Trinity Lutheran Church v. Pauley A religious rights case from Missouri in which a church contends the state violated the U.S. Constitution’s First Amendment guarantee of religious freedom by denying it funds for a playground project due to a state ban on aid to religious organizations. Epic Systems Corp v. Lewis A significant case for business and labor on whether companies can head off costly class action lawsuits by forcing employees to give up their right to pursue work-related legal claims in court as a group. Microsoft Corp v. Baker A class action case on Microsoft Corp’s bid to fend off claims by Xbox 360 owners who contend that the videogame console has a design defect that causes game discs to be gouged.

Summary: फैक्टबॉक्सः ट्रम्प यू. एस. सुप्रीम कोर्ट का चयन लंबित मामलों को प्रभावित कर सकता है


WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. President-elect Donald Trump has recently spoken with the leaders of Greece, Hungary, Panama, Slovenia and Sweden, his transition team said in a statement on Friday.  The leaders of the five nations talked to Trump in recent days and congratulated the Republican on his Nov. 8 victory in the U.S. presidential election, the statement said.

Summary: ट्रंप ने पांच देशों के नेताओं से की बात, उनकी टीम ने कहा


KANSAS CITY, Mo. (Reuters) - U.S. Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton reflected on her religious faith on Thursday during the first of a series of speeches her campaign said would focus on her values and vision rather than those of Republican opponent Donald Trump. The shift comes as opinion polls tighten between Clinton, the former secretary of state and U.S. senator, and Trump, a New York businessman, ahead of the Nov. 8 election. Clinton has focused many of her public remarks on criticism of Trump, including his provocative comments on illegal immigrants, Muslims and women. Trump has criticized Clinton’s record in public office and questioned her honesty and qualifications for the White House. But the Clinton campaign acknowledged she had to spend more time focusing her remarks on herself so voters could see the “aspirational” vision she hopes to enact if she becomes the first woman elected U.S. president. “We believe we have to work extra hard to make sure that the positive notion of what she wants to do breaks through given the amount of interest that there is (in Trump) and what he says and also in what we say about him,” Clinton’s communications director, Jennifer Palmieri, told reporters on her plane. Clinton will do that with speeches on the economy, children and families, and national service in the coming weeks.  She started on Thursday night with an address to the National Baptist Convention, made up primarily of African-Americans, that focused on her own religious life. Clinton spoke of teaching the occasional Sunday school class and being married for more than 40 years to former President  Bill Clinton, a Southern Baptist, despite being a lifelong Methodist herself. She told the crowd about her gruff Navy father praying by his bed every night and her mother, who experienced love during a tough childhood that grounded her faith. Reflecting on her Christianity, Clinton said Jesus Christ’s greatest command was to love. “We’re not asked to love each other. Not urged or requested. We are commanded,” she said. “Some days it’s really hard for me,” she said to laughter. Clinton does not speak frequently about her faith, although she discussed its importance to her in a televised town hall event in February during her battle with U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders for the Democratic presidential nomination. Her words on Thursday seemed to connect with members of the mostly black audience, who applauded and raised their hands in affirmation of many of her comments. Clinton polls strongly among black voters. “I’ve learned to be grateful not just for my blessings but also for my faults, and there are plenty,” she said, noting the importance of humility among leaders.

Summary: जैसे-जैसे चुनाव कड़ा होता जा रहा है, क्लिंटन ने अपना ध्यान ट्रम्प के बजाय खुद पर केंद्रित कर लिया है


PHOENIX (Reuters) - A judge on Tuesday tossed out a legal challenge to a problem-plagued presidential preference election in Arizona, ruling that the woes at the polls were not due to fraud. Maricopa County Superior Court Judge David Gass said there were insufficient grounds for granting the request to void the results of the March 22 nominating election, which was marked by long lines and controversy.  In a ruling from the bench, Gass said there were glitches and possible missteps by election officials but that the results would not have changed. “Elections are human endeavors. They are never, ever perfect,” Gass said. “Glitches are always something that we need to wary of and we need to work hard, and we need to fix them.... But they don’t rise to the level of fraud.” Gass issued his verbal decision following a two-day hearing on the lawsuit brought by Tucson resident John Brakey, who alleged that election officials committed misconduct. The lawsuit argued officials improperly handled voter registration requests and permitted illegal votes to be cast in the election. He also said erroneous ballots were counted and the number of polling locations were inadequate. He sought a repeat of the election, easily won by Democrat Hillary Clinton and Republican Donald Trump. Brakey’s attorney Michael Kielsky told Reuters on Tuesday night that he was disappointed in the ruling, but that it likely will not be appealed. The election brought widespread criticism to Arizona, which saw frustrated voters wait in line for as long as five hours to cast their ballots at a drastically reduced number of polls.  In a cost-cutting move, county election officials slashed the polling locations to 60, compared with 200 in the election in 2012.  Officials immediately took the blame for the mistake, saying the decision was based on past voter turnout and an increase in mail-in votes. The election also faces a separate federal court challenge by the state and national Democratic parties, along with the Clinton and Sanders campaigns. Justice department officials additionally have launched a probe into the handling of the election.

Summary: न्यायाधीश ने एरिजोना के राष्ट्रपति पद के चुनाव के लिए नामांकन की चुनौती को खारिज कर दिया


LONDON (Reuters) - British interior minister Amber Rudd said on Thursday she hoped Britain s condemnation of U.S. President Donald Trump for retweeting material from a British far-right group would have an impact.   I think we all listen more carefully, perhaps, to criticism from our friends than from people who we don t have a relationship with. So, I hope that the prime minister s comments will have some impact on the president,  Rudd told parliament. British Prime Minister Theresa May said on Wednesday that Trump was wrong to have retweeted posts from the Britain First group.

Summary: ब्रिटिश मंत्री को उम्मीद है कि ट्रम्प के ट्वीट की निंदा का प्रभाव पड़ेगा


SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - When Gokul Gunasekaran was offered a full scholarship for a graduate program in electrical engineering at Stanford University, he saw it as the chance of a lifetime. He had grown up in Chennai, India, and had a solid job offer with a large oil company after getting his undergraduate degree. He came to America instead, got the Stanford degree and now works as an engineer at a data science startup in Silicon Valley. But for the past five years, he has been waiting for a green card that would give him full legal rights as a permanent resident. In the meantime, he is in a holding pattern on an H1-B visa, which permits him to live and work in the United States but does not allow him easily to switch jobs or start his own company. “It was a no-brainer when I came to this country, but now I’m kind of regretting taking that scholarship,” said Gunasekaran, 29, who is also vice president with a non-profit group called Immigration Voice that represents immigrants waiting for green cards.  Immigration Voice estimates there are some 1.5 million H1-B visa holders in the country waiting for green cards, many of whom are from India and have been waiting for more than a decade. Many of these immigrants welcomed President Donald Trump’s executive order this week to the federal departments overseeing the program to review it, a move that may lead to H1-B visas being awarded to the highest-paying, highest-skilled jobs rather than through a random lottery. Their hope is that merit-based H1-Bs might then lead to merit-based green cards. “I think less random is great,” said Guru Hariharan, the CEO and founder of Boomerang Commerce, an e-commerce startup. Hariharan, who was previously an executive at Amazon.com Inc and eBay Inc, spent 10 years waiting for his green card and started his own company as soon as he got it. Green cards can be a path to naturalization and Hariharan expects to become a U.S. citizen soon. H1-B visas are aimed at foreign nationals in occupations that generally require specialized knowledge, such as science, engineering or computer programming. The U.S. government uses a lottery to award 65,000 such visas yearly and randomly distributes another 20,000 to graduate student workers. The H1-B and the green card system are technically separate, but many immigrants from India see them as intimately connected. The number of green cards that can go to people born in each country is capped at a few percent of the total, without regard to how large or small the country’s population is. There is a big backlog of Indian-born people in the line, given the size of India’s population - 1.3 billion - and the number of its natives in the United States waiting for green cards. That leaves many of those immigrants stuck on H1-B visas while they wait, which they say makes them almost like “indentured servants,” said Gaurav Mehta, an H1-B holder who works in the financial industry.  Mehta has a U.S.-born son, but he could be forced to take his family back to India at any time if he loses his job and cannot find another quickly. “He’s never been to my country,” Mehta said of his son. “But we’ll have no choice if we have to go. Nobody likes to live in constant fear.”  The H1-B visa is tied to a specific employer, who must apply for the visa and sponsor the employee for a specific job laid out in the visa application. To switch employers, the visa holder must secure their paperwork from their current employer and find another employer willing to take over their visa. Some H1-B holders suspect that employers purposely seek out Indian immigrants because they know they will end up waiting for green cards and will be afraid to leave their employers. But changing the green card system away from country caps to a merit-based system would require an act of Congress. Some  executives also worry that allocating H1-Bs and green cards based on salary - while it would be done to counter the argument that immigrants undercut American workers - would hurt startups that cannot afford high wages. In the meantime, H1-B holders like Nitin Pachisia, founding partner of a venture capital firm called Unshackled Ventures, are taking more practical measures. His firm specializes in taking care of the legal paperwork so that H1-B holders can start their own companies, a process that is possible but tricky. Pachisia is hopeful that changes to the H1-B visa program could revive interest in making the entire system, from H1-B visas to green cards and eventual citizenship, more merit-based and focused on immigrants who are likely to start companies and create jobs. “If the purpose of our high-skilled immigration program is to bring in the most talented people, let’s use that as a lens. From that perspective, it’s a good thing we can focus on the most talented, and I’d say most entrepreneurial, people,” he said. (This version of the story has been refiled to add missing word “startup” in paragraph two)

Summary: ग्रीन कार्ड का इंतजार कर रहे भारतीय वीजा धारकों को ट्रंप की समीक्षा में उम्मीद नजर आ रही है


WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Republican Senator Rand Paul said on Tuesday he would vote to open debate on a healthcare overhaul to supplant the Affordable Care Act after the Senate majority leader, Mitch McConnell, told him they planned to take up a clean repeal vote. “This morning, @SenateMajLdr informed me that the plan for today is to take up the 2015 clean repeal bill as I’ve urged,” Paul wrote in a series of Twitter posts. “If that is the plan, I will vote to proceed to have this vote. I also now believe we will be able to defeat the new spending and bailouts.”

Summary: रिपब्लिकन होल्डआउट रैंड पॉल स्वास्थ्य विधेयक पर शुरुआती बहस के लिए मतदान करेंगे


OTTAWA (Reuters) - Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau will hold his first talks with U.S. President Donald Trump on Monday amid tensions over whether the administration plans protectionist measures that could cripple Canada’s economy. The two leaders also have differing views about immigration from predominantly Muslim nations and Trump is likely to press his Canadian counterpart to ramp up defense spending and thereby help shore up NATO. Although the progressive 45-year-old Trudeau has little in common with the 70-year-old Republican businessman president, he needs to make a good impression on Trump, who wants to  renegotiate the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). Canada sends 75 percent of its exports to the United States and is keen to avoid becoming the target of extra tariffs or other damaging measures. Trump says NAFTA, which also includes Mexico, has been disastrous for American workers. Foreign Minister Chrystia Freeland sounded a note of caution on Wednesday, saying Canada opposed the idea of the United States imposing new border tariffs and would respond appropriately to any such move. Although neither administration released details of Monday’s meeting at the White House, two people familiar with the talks said it would be wide-ranging. “They will discuss everything - trade, the border, security and defense,” said one person, who asked to remain anonymous because of the sensitivity of the matter. Defense, particularly NATO, is a likely sticking point. Although Alliance nations have committed to spending 2 percent of gross domestic product on their militaries, Canada contributes barely half that.     Trudeau’s office, asked about the agenda, said more details would become known later. “President Trump and Prime Minister Trudeau look forward to a constructive conversation on strengthening the relationship between our two nations,” the White House said in a statement. Several senior Canadian government ministers visited Washington this week to meet their U.S. counterparts as part of a charm offensive designed to persuade the Trump team not to single out Canada during the NAFTA talks. The Trump administration is not necessarily all bad news for the Canadian economy. Last month, the president cleared the way for TransCanada Corp’s (TRP.TO) proposed Keystone XL pipeline from the Alberta oil sands to U.S. refineries. If built, the project could help a Canadian energy sector struggling with low crude prices.

Summary: व्यापार, आप्रवासन पर तनाव के बीच कनाडा के प्रधानमंत्री से मिलेंगे ट्रंप


WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell on Thursday said he expects congressional analysts to unveil their review of the cost and impact of House Republican’s healthcare plan by Monday. In an interview with Politico, McConnell said senators will have plenty of opportunities to amend the plan, adding that U.S. President Donald Trump was “all in” the party’s efforts to roll back the Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare.

Summary: अमेरिकी सीनेट के नेता को सोमवार तक स्वास्थ्य सेवा विधेयक की समीक्षा की उम्मीद है


LIMA (Reuters) - Peruvian President Pedro Pablo Kuczynski pardoned former authoritarian leader Alberto Fujimori late on Sunday, clearing him of convictions for human rights crimes and graft before completion of a 25-year prison sentence. Kuczynski s office said in a statement that a medical review showed that Fujimori, 79, who governed Peru from 1990 to 2000, suffered from  a progressive, degenerative and incurable disease.   The pardon comes just days after a faction of Fujimori s supporters in the opposition-controlled Congress saved Kuczynski from a motion that would have forced him from office in the wake of a graft scandal. [nL1N1OL160]

Summary: पेरू के राष्ट्रपति ने पूर्व नेता फुजीमोरी को उनके स्वास्थ्य का हवाला देते हुए क्षमा कर दिया


CHICAGO (Reuters) - Illinois must increase payments to Medicaid providers despite an ongoing budget impasse, after a U.S. District Court judge on Wednesday ruled the minimal payments made by the state do not comply with federal consent decrees.  Judge Joan Lefkow ordered renewed negotiations between Illinois and health care advocates for the poor, setting a June 20 deadline to be in “substantial compliance” with the decrees.     Lawyers representing the state’s 3 million Medicaid recipients had asked the judge to give precedence to payments to managed care organizations participating in the state and federal health care program for the poor and disabled over the state fully funding other priorities, including debt service on bonds and pensions.  Lefkow said Illinois Comptroller Susana Mendoza, who pays the state’s bills, has not offered a “lawful basis” for not paying the Medicaid providers the $2 billion they are owed. “Although the court means no disrespect to the comptroller, who faces an unenviable situation, it finds that minimally funding the obligations of the decrees while fully funding other obligations fails to comply not only with the consent decrees, but also with this court’s previous orders,” the judge’s latest order stated. Illinois is limping toward the June 30 end of a second-straight fiscal year without a complete spending plan due to a political stalemate between its Republican governor and Democrats who control the legislature. Lawmakers ended their spring session on May 31 without a fiscal 2018 budget deal, triggering downgrades that pushed Illinois’ credit ratings from S&P and Moody’s Investors Service to a step above junk. As a result of the stalemate, Illinois’ backlog of unpaid bills reached $14.9 billion this week.  Mendoza said the real solution is enacting a budget.  “The lack of a budget for the last two years has created a situation in which we now have more court-ordered and state-mandated payments than we have revenues to cover them,” she said in a statement. Tom Yates, executive director of the Legal Council for Health Justice, who is representing Medicaid recipients in court, said more money is being sought at this time to ensure access to medical care, not an immediate payment in full. “I think the talks will have little different tenor now because the judge makes it pretty clear she expects more money to flow to Medicaid providers,” he said.  The consent decrees, which require the state to continue to make Medicaid payments despite its budget problems, stem from two 1992 cases.

Summary: इलिनोइस को मेडिकेड फंडिंग बढ़ाने के लिए 20 जून की समय सीमा मिली


WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Overuse of harsh sanctions like those deployed against Iran to limit its nuclear program risks driving business activity from the United States and a move away from the dollar as the world’s reserve currency, U.S. Treasury Secretary Jack Lew said on Wednesday. Sanctions have emerged as a favored policy tool of choice for the United States, which has used them against challenges as varied as drug trafficking, cyber attacks, jihadist financing, and Russian actions in Ukraine. The economic measures enable the U.S. government to blacklist people and organizations, banning U.S. and sometimes even foreign citizens from dealing with them and effectively barring them from the international financial system. For example, the United States was able to induce buyers of Iranian oil to sharply curtail their purchases, and international banks cut ties with Iran for fear of losing access to the U.S. financial system. Iran reached a deal with the United States and other world powers last July that lifted the harshest measures in return for curbs on its nuclear program. But “sanctions overreach” risks encouraging businesses to avoid the U.S. financial system and could erode the power of the U.S. dollar as the pre-eminent reserve currency, Lew said during a speech in Washington. “The more we condition use of the dollar and our financial system on adherence to U.S. foreign policy, the more the risk of migration to other currencies and other financial systems in the medium-term grows,” Lew said. In particular, so-called secondary sanctions should be wielded in the most “exceptional” circumstances, Lew said. Those measures bar even non-U.S. citizens from dealing with sanctioned individuals or companies, and were the type of sanctions levied against Iran. “They are viewed even by some of our closest allies as extra-territorial attempts to apply U.S. foreign policy to the rest of the world,” Lew said, adding that the Iran nuclear sanctions should not be viewed as a “starting point” for other sanctions programs. Republicans in Congress and on the presidential campaign trail have criticized the removal of sanctions on Iran, and legislators have tried to restrict President Barack Obama’s ability to lift sanctions under the nuclear deal. But because Iran had “kept its end of the deal,” Lew said, the United States should uphold the sanctions relief it has promised. In recent weeks, Iranian leaders have complained that U.S. policies have forced major banks and corporations to stay away from Iran despite the formal lifting of sanctions in January.

Summary: प्रतिबंधों 'ओवररीच' से अमेरिका से व्यवसाय को चलाने का जोखिमः ट्रेजरी के ल्यू


WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama will make his first visit as president to a U.S. mosque next week in a defense of religious freedom, the White House said, following a rise in anti-Muslim rhetoric in the United States. Obama will visit on Wednesday the Islamic Society of Baltimore mosque, where he will hold a roundtable with the community and deliver remarks, a White House official said on Saturday.  At the mosque, the president will “reiterate the importance of staying true to our core values – welcoming our fellow Americans, speaking out against bigotry, rejecting indifference, and protecting our nation’s tradition of religious freedom,” the official said.  He has visited mosques outside the United States on his trips abroad.  Obama, a Democrat in his last year as president, has appealed to Americans to reject anti-Muslim comments by politicians, most notably Republican presidential hopeful Donald Trump. Trump, who is leading the Republican field in opinion polls, called for a ban on Muslim visitors to the United States after a Muslim couple inspired by Islamist militants killed 14 people in a shooting in San Bernardino, California, in early December.  According to a Gallup poll in December, Americans are now more likely to name terrorism as the top issue facing the United States than any other issue.

Summary: ओबामा अगले सप्ताह अमेरिकी मस्जिद की पहली यात्रा करेंगे


WASHINGTON (Reuters) - African countries should do more to pile pressure on South Sudan s political leaders, who seem incapable of resolving the country s four-year civil war, a top U.S. diplomat said on Wednesday.  We think there is more our African colleagues can and should be doing at this point, especially in terms of focusing on leadership, that from our point of view is behaving in a way that is very irresponsible,  Tom Shannon, U.S. under-secretary for political affairs at the State Department, told reporters. Shannon, speaking on the sidelines of a U.S-African Partnerships event at the U.S. Institute of Peace, said Washington had grown  intolerant  of South Sudan s leaders and the challenge was to work with African countries which are interested in seeing an end to the conflict.  This is a manmade conflict of horrific dimensions, which is about political leaders measuring each other through force at the cost of their populations,  said Shannon. His remarks come after the new USAID administrator, Mark Green, traveled to Juba on Sept. 2 to meet with South Sudan s President Salva Kiir and deliver a message from Washington that the United States was reviewing its relationship with his government.  The Trump administration last week imposed sanctions on two senior South Sudanese officials and the former army chief for their role in the conflict, atrocities against civilians and  attacks against international missions in South Sudan.  South Sudan became the world s newest nation when it gained independence from Sudan in 2011. War broke out in late 2013 and more than a quarter of its population of 12 million have fled their homes.  A confidential report by the United Nations last week said competing efforts to end South Sudan s civil war were allowing Kiir s government to exploit divisions among the international brokers. East African leaders said in June they want the warring sides to recommit to a peace deal they abandoned more than a year ago. . Among the international bodies trying to end the conflict are regional block IGAD, the U.N. Security Council, a troika of South Sudan s main Western backers prior to independence and an African Union panel.

Summary: संघर्ष को समाप्त करने के लिए दक्षिण सूडान के नेताओं पर दबाव बनाने के लिए क्षेत्र को और अधिक करना चाहिएः अमेरिकी राजनयिक


PHNOM PENH (Reuters) - Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen said on Thursday he was suspending cooperation with the United States to find the remains of Americans killed in the Vietnam War in the latest ratcheting up of tensions between the two countries. Hun Sen has accused the United States of plotting treason with opposition leader Kem Sokha, an accusation rejected by the U.S. embassy, which has called for the release of the prime minister s main rival.  The search cooperation is postponed until a number of issues are resolved between Cambodia and the United States,  Hun Sen said according to pro-government website Fresh News. Hun Sen said that a total of 80 American soldiers had gone missing in Cambodia during the war in neighboring Vietnam and that half of them had been found. Hun Sen said the suspension will be lifted after Cambodia-U.S. ties are restored. Washington announced on Wednesday that it would stop issuing some visas after Cambodia refused to accept Cambodian citizens deported from the United States after being convicted of crimes there. Hun Sen said the policy of deporting them back to Cambodia  break them up as families, as parents and children, and it s an inhumane (situation) in which some have committed suicide . The Vietnam War that ended in 1975 remains an emotive issue in Cambodia.  Hun Sen says the United States has never apologized for its role in bombing his country to try to kill Vietnamese communist guerrillas and should forgive debts built up by a pro-U.S. junta that ruled until it was ousted by the genocidal Khmer Rouge. On a separate issue, Cambodia s Foreign Affairs Ministry said it would accept deportees from the United States. The U.S. Embassy in Phnom Penh declined to comment.

Summary: कंबोडिया ने युद्ध के अवशेष खोजने में अमेरिका के साथ सहयोग निलंबित किया


RIYADH (Reuters) - “Where are you, Oh Arabs, Oh Muslims, while we are being slaughtered?”  An old man’s cry, in a video posted online from Aleppo’s ruins, poses an uncomfortable question for the mainly Sunni Muslim Arab states backing rebels fighting President Bashar al-Assad and his allies Iran and Russia.  For Saudi Arabia, locked in a regional struggle with Iran, Assad’s capture of the rebel haven reflects a dangerous tilt in the Middle East balance of power toward Tehran. Dismayed by this boost to Iranian ambitions for a “Shi’ite crescent” of influence from Afghanistan to the Mediterranean, Riyadh is determined to reverse Tehran’s gains sooner or later. Countering Iran, buoyed by its 2015 nuclear deal with world powers, remains central to Gulf Arab policy but it is not clear how this might be achieved, especially when other concerns are multiplying. Beset by low oil prices, at war in Yemen, and ties with Egypt strained, Riyadh and Gulf allies are questioning how much armed help they should now give the rebels, diplomats say. The monarchies are frustrated with President Barack Obama’s light touch approach to the war - relying on local fighters instead of large U.S. military deployments or missile strikes. President-elect Donald Trump poses an intriguing contrast. Seen as more decisive than Obama, Trump’s choices of James Mattis, a retired Marine general distrustful of Iran, as Defense Secretary, and oil man Rex Tillerson as Secretary of State, have pleased Gulf Arab energy exporters. But much remains uncertain, not least Trump’s admiration for Russian President Vladimir Putin, an Assad ally. “What we have learned from the U.S. election is to wait for actions, not words,” said former Saudi intelligence chief Prince Turki al-Faisal. A senior Western diplomat said Saudi officials were curious to see how Trump translates into policy his campaign criticism of Iran and his praise of Putin. Saudi Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir said he had spent time in the United States to sound out the next administration.  Officials said Gulf states were asking Trump associates about Syria, to assess whether he would pursue a U.S.-led effort with Gulf states, Turkey and Western nations to arm the rebels. Trump has indicated he may abandon the rebels to focus on fighting Islamic State.  Gulf Arab states want to test that view, said one Western official. A Gulf state foreign ministry official described Trump as “a businessman with whom you can make a deal”. Gulf humanitarian aid will remain: Sunni Arab societies will not accept curbs on relief to the mostly Sunni country, after a war that has forced 5 million Syrians to flee and killed 300,000. But the extent of their armed support appears in question. Qatar, with Saudi Arabia the most enthusiastic backer of the rebels, says it would prefer to continue military aid but insists this should remain a collective effort.  Proclaiming “great faith” in Trump, Asaad al-Zoubi, Saudi-based chief negotiator for the main opposition body, the High Negotiations Council, said some rebel backers had met Trump advisers to explain their cause. “They did not receive an answer from Trump’s people. They (the advisers) wanted to listen more than they wanted to answer,” he said. Sami alFaraj, a security adviser to the Gulf Cooperation Council of six Gulf Arab states, told Reuters that the Gulf countries “need to regroup, have a strategic pause and look at how we pursue our objectives in the time ahead.” “The Syrian case has not been closed,” he said. They would push for a transitional administration in Syria - something neither Assad nor Tehran accepts. Any notion of Gulf Arab leverage in future negotiations   seems far-fetched, given the determination of Assad, Moscow and Tehran to carve out territorial gains. But Jubeir told the Arab League in Cairo that if world powers failed to constrain Assad there would be no political solution to the war. “If we cannot find an effective way to pressure the Syrian regime, we will not reach a political solution and the killing, displacement, and injustice in Syria will go on,” Jubeir said. While drawn to Trump, the Gulf monarchies feel his views are not fully formed, and they want to do nothing that might cause him to harm their interests. AlFaraj said he expected Trump to deal favorably with Gulf states, which have the wealth to help create U.S. jobs. He believed a suggestion by Trump that Gulf states pay for safe zones in Syria was worth considering. “If he wants to create jobs there is no better field than selling weapons,” alFaraj said. “We are the only people who have surplus cash.” However, Arab resentment at Western inaction over Syria appears deep and enduring. Sheikh Khalifa bin Salman al Khalifa, foreign minister of Bahrain, an ally of Riyadh, told Reuters: “The whole thing in Syria was because of disengagement from world powers about how to deal with the matter. So with all the changes in the political leadership (in the West) let’s hope for some new commitment for Syria.” Asked if it was realistic to back rebels who had lost their major urban stronghold, he replied: “Do you think its realistic that we should also allow such bloodshed and people dying to go on and on and on. What’s the next city after Aleppo?”

Summary: ईरान की सीरिया में जीत से परेशान खाड़ी अरबों को ट्रम्प में संभावना नजर आ रही है


WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Shortly after Donald Trump won the U.S. presidential election in November, Vice President-elect Mike Pence visited the country’s largest manufacturing lobby group, six blocks from the White House, to brainstorm about Trump’s legislative agenda. The conversation at the National Association of Manufacturers was friendly, with a lot of “give and take,” said Aric Newhouse, NAM’s senior vice president of government relations. The business group felt Pence spoke their language and that it would be full-steam ahead on long-sought goals such as simplifying the tax code and repealing Obamacare, President Barack Obama’s signature legislation that aimed to extend health insurance to cover more Americans. But over the past week, Trump has sown confusion about some of his legislative aims. He criticized a key element of his Republican Party’s tax plan, known as the border adjustment tax. He also seemed to muddy the waters on his promise of repealing Obamacare by calling for healthcare insurance for all. While NAM was not unduly alarmed, the episode highlights the challenge facing Pence, 57, who will serve as chief emissary to Capitol Hill for Trump after the New York businessman is sworn in as the 45th U.S. president on Friday. Pence spent a dozen years as a congressman beginning in 2001, forging a number of personal relationships, especially with conservatives. While he does not have a reputation on the Hill as a deal-maker, lawmakers, Hill aides and lobbyists describe him as affable and a good communicator who is respectful in his dealings with both friend and foe.  But the NAM experience shows that Pence’s biggest obstacle in striking deals in Congress may be Trump himself. That’s because people negotiating with Pence may not always know if he speaks for his boss. Pence and Trump are a study in contrasts. Where Trump is combative and chases the limelight, Pence, most recently governor of Indiana, is even-keeled and calm, a man described by Republicans and Democrats as articulate and upbeat. Few vice presidents in modern U.S. history have occupied the central role in legislative affairs that Pence will have. Former Vice President Dick Cheney cut deals and cajoled lawmakers for President George W. Bush, but Pence’s assignment may be broader. In Trump’s first 100 days in office, Pence will be “leading the charge” on a number of initiatives in Congress, such as rewriting Obamacare and overhauling the tax code, senior Trump  adviser Kellyanne Conway told Reuters. “He has the assurance and the green light to do so from President Trump,” Conway said. “He is a major part of every serious conversation and important decision that is made, especially when it comes to the legislative agenda,” she said. While Pence certainly appears to be part of Trump’s inner circle, it’s far from clear who is closest to the new president, or whether they will tend to agree with Pence. Even though Republicans control both chambers of Congress, Pence will need plenty of political finesse to rally the party’s sometimes unruly rank-and-file lawmakers behind Trump’s agenda, once it is more fully fleshed out. From the conservative Tea Party faction to the moderate Republicans, the party remains divided. Many Republicans differ with Trump on issues such as free trade and worry he might be too willing to spend money that could increase budget deficits. In his home state of Indiana during the 1990s, Pence honed his communication skills as a talk radio host. But his low-key style stood in stark contrast to many conservative radio hosts. He has called himself “Rush Limbaugh on decaf,” referring to the influential right-wing talk show host famous for his flame-throwing statements.  Pence, who was raised Catholic and later became an evangelical Christian, would sometimes host Bible studies in his office in the House of Representatives. Texas Representative John Carter attended those meetings and recalled that Pence “had a little setup of a radio station” there in a reminder of his former career. During Republican President George W. Bush’s administration, Pence firmly established himself as a fiscal hawk. He resisted initiatives that he viewed as government overreach, including the 2002 “No Child Left Behind” education reform that emphasized standardized testing as a way of gauging how well schools were doing in raising student performance. Pence’s staunch opposition to big government made him one of the “forerunners” to what later became the Tea Party, said Michael Steel, a former spokesman for House Speaker Paul Ryan’s predecessor, John Boehner. Republican Senator Jeff Flake, who served in the House with Pence during the 2000s, said the two of them fashioned themselves as self-appointed fiscal watchdogs. They kept a close eye on late-night sessions where other lawmakers would seek to get more government spending approved without anyone noticing. “Mike and I would have to wait up all night and rush to the (House) floor and burst through the doors” to object to those measures, Flake recounted in an interview. “Somebody said at one point when we burst through it looked like the saloon doors in ‘Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid,’” Flake said, referring to the 1969 film about the two Wild West outlaws. Representative Jim Jordan of Ohio, a leading conservative voice, said Pence has been a role model for other Republicans on how to advance conservative principles without being hard-edged.     “I always remember the line Pence had: ‘I’m a conservative and I’m not mad about it’ ... It’s a line I’ve used many times, saying that Mike Pence always used to say that,” Jordan said. Pence calls Speaker Ryan, who has struggled with staunch conservatives in his caucus, a close friend. Their ties may help to smooth over some of the tensions that arose between Ryan and Trump during the 2016 campaign.  Cultivating Republicans won’t be Pence’s only job. If Republicans in the House of Representatives can rally around Trump’s agenda, Democrats will have few tools to block them. But in the Senate, Democrats can use procedural moves to stop legislation that does not otherwise have support from 60 senators. Republicans control 52 votes in the 100-member chamber. Pence’s smooth demeanor will go only so far given his ideological gulf with congressional Democrats. He has raised the ire of Democrats with his outspoken stance against abortion, his work against gay rights, his opposition to measures aimed at women’s pay equity in the workplace and his determination to repeal Obamacare.  Republican Senator Roy Blunt of Missouri, who was part of the House Republican leadership during the mid-2000s, said he expected Pence would stick to his conservative principles, even if they clashed with Trump’s. “I don’t think he’d be very effective arguing against his own feelings,” Blunt said. “But I think he’d be smart enough to go to the president and say, ‘I can be supportive of this because you are the president and I am the vice president, but I am not going to be a good salesman’” on that particular issue.

Summary: कांग्रेस में ट्रम्प दूत के रूप में, माइक पेंस को संभावित बाधाओं का सामना करना पड़ सकता है-उनके बॉस


MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russia’s next ambassador to Washington will be Anatoly Antonov, a former defense official who is subject to European sanctions over his role in the conflict in Ukraine, the Kremlin announced on Monday. Antonov takes over from Sergei Kislyak, whose contacts with members of President Donald Trump’s campaign team made him a central figure in the row over Russian influence over the U.S. presidential election. The incoming ambassador, 62, is a diplomat by training and is currently a deputy foreign minister. Between 2011 and 2016, he served as deputy defense minister, a period which coincided with Moscow’s annexation of Ukraine’s Crimea peninsula. The European Union added him two years ago to its list of officials who are subject to Ukraine-related sanctions, citing his involvement in supporting the deployment of Russian troops to Ukraine. Since becoming deputy foreign minister last year, Antonov has acted as a liaison between the foreign ministry and the military. The armed forces have growing influence over foreign policy, especially since Moscow launched its military operation in Syria. A  person who has dealt with Antonov said that he was a tough, military-style man. The name of outgoing ambassador Kislyak has emerged in relation to several of Trump’s associates as a special counsel and congressional panels investigate Russian meddling and possible ties with the Trump campaign.  U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions recused himself in March from matters connected to an investigation by the FBI following his admission he had talked to the Russian envoy. Michael Flynn, a former White House national security adviser, was forced to resign in February after it became known he had failed to disclose the content of conversations he had with Kislyak and had misled the vice president about their meetings. Jared Kushner, a White House advisor and Trump’s son-in-law, met Kislyak on two occasions in 2016, the White House has disclosed. Kushner also had phone calls with Kislyak between April and November 2016, Reuters reported. Moscow has denied any interference, and Trump has said his campaign did not collude with Russia.

Summary: रूस ने सर्गेई किसलियाक को वाशिंगटन में राजदूत के रूप में नामित किया