SEOUL (Reuters) - Former U.S. presidential candidate Hillary Clinton said on Wednesday that “cavalier” threats to start war on the Korean peninsula were “dangerous and short-sighted”, urging the United States to get all parties to the negotiating table. Clinton also called on China to take a “more outfront role” in enforcing sanctions against North Korea aimed at curbing its missile and nuclear development. “There is no need for us to be bellicose and aggressive (over North Korea),” Clinton told the World Knowledge Forum in the South Korean capital of Seoul, stressing the need for more pressure on North Korea and diplomacy to bring Pyongyang to talks. Tension between Pyongyang and Washington has soared following a series of weapons tests by North Korea and a string of increasingly bellicose exchanges between U.S. President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un. “Picking fights with Kim Jong Un puts a smile on his face,” Clinton said, without mentioning Trump by name. Clinton also indirectly referred to Trump’s social media comments on North Korea, saying, “The insults on Twitter have benefited North Korea, I don’t think they’ve benefited the United States”. The war of words has seen Trump call the North Korean leader “little rocket man” on a suicide mission, and vow to destroy the country if it threatens the United States or its allies. In turn, the North called Trump “mentally deranged” and a “mad dog”. Talks between the adversaries have long been urged by China in particular, but Washington and its ally Japan have been reluctant while Pyongyang continues to pursue a goal of developing a nuclear-tipped missile to hit the United States. On Tuesday, Deputy Secretary of State John J. Sullivan said the United States did not rule out the eventual possibility of direct talks with North Korea.  The situation on the Korean peninsula was now touch-and-go point “and a nuclear war may break out any moment”, North Korea’s Deputy U.N. Ambassador Kim In Ryong had told a U.N. General Assembly committee on Monday.     In Seoul, the vice foreign minister said on Wednesday South Korea was considering levying its own sanctions on the North, although no decision has been made yet. Clinton, a former U.S. secretary of state, said Washington’s allies have increasingly been expressing concern over the reliability of the United States, advising Washington to avoid becoming distracted with North Korean threats and be “as forcefully patient” as possible. Regarding China’s role in reining in North Korea, Clinton said Beijing would be better off trying to “tighten and absolutely enforce sanctions” against North Korea. North Korea’s relationship with its main ally and trading partner China have been strained by its rapid pursuit of weapons programs, with many of Pyongyang’s recent tests coinciding with major Chinese events. There had been fears that North Korea would conduct another test to coincide with the start of China’s five-yearly party congress on Wednesday. Instead, Pyongyang sent Beijing a congratulatory message. The central committee of the North’s ruling Workers’ Party of Korea said China had made “great progress in accomplishing the cause of building socialism with Chinese characteristics” under the guidance of the Communist Party of China. “We are greatly pleased over this,” the party central committee said in the message carried by the official KCNA news agency, adding that it “sincerely wished” the China congress “satisfactory success”. Chinese President Xi Jinping did not mention North Korea in his more than three-hour-long address at the opening of a key Communist Party Congress. Clinton said retaliatory actions by China over the deployment of a U.S. anti-missile system in South Korea, which targeting the latter’s firms doing business in China, would be unnecessary had Beijing done a better job reining in the North. China says the powerful radar of the Terminal High Altitude Area Defence (THAAD) system could be used to pierce its territory, and has taken aim at South Korea’s businesses. South Korea and the United States have repeatedly told China that THAAD aims only to defend against North Korea’s missile threats. “The Chinese can’t have it both ways,” Clinton said. “They can’t do less than they could to tighten economic pressures on North Korea and same time discount the real threat South Korea and its citizens face.”

Summary: हिलेरी क्लिंटन ने कहा कि उत्तर कोरिया के साथ युद्ध की अमेरिकी धमकियां 'खतरनाक, अदूरदर्शी' हैं


BEIJING (Reuters) - No free fruit in hotel rooms, no free hair cuts and no prawns on the menu - delegates at this week s Communist Party Congress in China can expect austere treatment in keeping with President Xi Jinping s pledge to crack down on corruption and extravagance. Part of Xi s fight against deep-seated graft has been to ensure officials are not seen abusing their positions and wasting public money, after a series of scandals involving high-living bureaucrats ignited public anger. Wang Lilian, who has helped oversee hospitality for delegates at three previous party Congresses, told state radio in remarks reported on Sunday that this time, things are going to be very different. Delegates will, for example, find their hotels bereft of the large welcoming banners and displays of flowers common in previous years. But the biggest difference will be with their rooms and food, Wang said.  There won t be any more fruit put out in rooms, whereas previously there were for delegates and staff. There s none of that this time,  he said. The food was also going to be home-style and simple, Wang said.  There s no sea cucumber, prawns or the like. It s all buffet style.  Delegates won t get free hair cuts or beauty treatments and there won t be any gift shops.  There s none of these services this time,  Wang said. Xi himself has lead the way in promoting simple living, with state media widely reporting on the basic food he eats when on trips around the country, and giving extensive coverage to cases where officials are found to have hoarded gold, owned multiple houses or had a fondness for banquets. Xi has warned, like others before him, that if corruption is not tackled it could affect the party s grip on power. The once-in-five-years Congress opens on Wednesday with a major speech by Xi.

Summary: चीन की कठोर पार्टी कांग्रेस में मेन्यू से हटाए गए फल, झींगे


(Reuters) - Highlights of the day for U.S. President Donald Trump’s administration on Friday: DODD-FRANK Trump orders reviews of major banking rules put in place after the 2008 financial crisis, drawing fire from Democrats who said his order lacked substance and squarely aligned him with Wall Street bankers. Wealth managers from Wall Street to Wisconsin have spent the last six years lobbying against the retirement advice rule that Trump began killing off with a swipe of his pen. The United States ratchets up pressure on Iran, putting sanctions on 13 individuals and 12 entities days after the White House put Tehran “on notice” over a ballistic missile test. Instead of tearing up the Iran nuclear deal, the Trump administration is exploring how to tighten its enforcement and renegotiate key terms, but it may be impossible to get other major powers and Iran to consider revisions. A federal judge in Boston declines to extend a temporary restraining order that allowed some immigrants into the United States from certain countries despite being barred by Trump’s recent executive order. Tens of thousands of visas were revoked under Trump’s travel ban, the State Department says. U.S. immigration officials have postponed interviews with asylum seekers in an Australian camp since Trump’s executive order on immigration, suggesting Washington is already blocking progress on a controversial refugee resettlement deal. Chief executives of major U.S. companies met with Trump at the White House, with some expressing concern about the ban on people from seven Muslim-majority countries traveling to the United States. Congressional Republicans repeal a securities disclosure rule aimed at curbing corruption at energy and mining companies and vote to ax emissions limits on drilling operations, part of a push to remove Obama-era regulations on extractive industries. Trump’s agenda to repeal Obamacare and punish “sanctuary cities” for resisting him on immigration is making its presence felt in the $3.8 trillion municipal bond market. European Union leaders agree to stick together in dealing with Trump, but at their first summit since he took office they are at odds on how far to confront or engage with him. The Trump administration is in the midst “of a full review of all U.S. policies towards Cuba” with a focus on its human rights policies.

Summary: हाइलाइट्सः ट्रम्प प्रेसीडेंसी 3 फरवरी को शाम 6.25 बजे ईएसटी/2325 जीएमटी


SEOUL/WASHINGTON (Reuters) - North Korea displayed trademark defiance on Wednesday over new United Nations sanctions imposed after its sixth and largest-ever nuclear test, vowing to redouble efforts to fight off what it said was the threat of a U.S. invasion. U.S. President Donald Trump said the sanctions, unanimously agreed on Monday by the 15-member U.N. Security Council, were just a small step toward what is ultimately needed to rein in Pyongyang over its nuclear and missile programs. North Korea s Foreign Ministry said the resolutions were an infringement on its legitimate right to self-defense and aimed at  completely suffocating its state and people through full-scale economic blockade .  The DPRK will redouble the efforts to increase its strength to safeguard the country s sovereignty and right to existence and to preserve peace and security of the region by establishing the practical equilibrium with the U.S.,  it said in a statement carried by the official KCNA news agency. The Democratic People s Republic of Korea (DPRK) is North Korea s official name. The statement echoed comments on Tuesday by DPRK s Ambassador to the United Nations in Geneva, Han Tae Song, who said Pyongyang was  ready to use a form of ultimate means .  The forthcoming measures ... will make the U.S. suffer the greatest pain it ever experienced in its history,  Han said. The North s Rodong Sinmun newspaper also accused South Korea of being Washington s  puppet , criticizing Seoul s agreement with the United States to amend an existing bilateral guideline that will now allow the South to use unlimited warhead payloads on its missiles. The U.N. Security Council agreed to tighten sanctions on North Korea, banning its textile exports and capping fuel supplies, and making it illegal for foreign firms to form commercial joint ventures with North Korean entities. The U.N. resolution was triggered by North Korea s test of what it said was a hydrogen bomb. Damage to mountainous terrain at the North s nuclear test site in Punggye-ri seen in satellite imagery taken after the latest test was more extensive than anything seen after the five previous tests, said 38 North, a Washington-based project which monitors North Korea. There was also activity at another location in the Mount Mantap site involving large vehicles and mining equipment that suggests  onsite work could now be changing focus to further prepare those other portals for future underground nuclear testing , 38 North said. The North accuses the United States, which has 28,500 troops in South Korea, a legacy of the 1950-53 Korean War, of continual plans for invasion. North Korea has also tested a missile capable of reaching the United States, but experts say it is likely to be at least a year before it can field an operational nuclear missile that could threaten the U.S. mainland. A U.S. official, speaking on the condition of anonymity, said intelligence agencies had observed North Korea moving a mobile missile launcher in the past 48 hours which could potentially indicate a possible missile launch by the North in the coming days. The official did not comment on the location or the type of missile, but emphasized that while a launch was possible, North Korea could simply be moving the launcher. Trump has vowed not to allow that to happen. A tougher initial U.S. draft resolution was weakened to win the support of China and Russia, both of which hold veto power on the U.N. Security Council. Significantly, it stopped short of imposing a full embargo on oil exports to North Korea, most of which come from China.  We think it s just another very small step, not a big deal,  Trump told reporters at the start of a Tuesday meeting with Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak.  I don t know if it has any impact, but certainly it was nice to get a 15-to-nothing vote, but those sanctions are nothing compared to what ultimately will have to happen.  U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin also warned China, North Korea s main ally and trading partner, that Washington would  put additional sanctions on them and prevent them from accessing the U.S. and international dollar system  if it did not follow through on the new measures. Another senior administration official told Reuters that any such  secondary sanctions  on Chinese banks and other companies were on hold for now to give Beijing time to show it was prepared to fully enforce the latest and previous rounds of sanctions. Washington has so far mostly held off on new sanctions against Chinese banks and other companies doing business with North Korea, given fears of retaliation by Beijing and possibly far-reaching effects on the world economy. Russia and China both say they respect U.N. sanctions and have called on the United States to return to negotiations with North Korea. They have also said they could kick-start talks with North Korea if the United States halts joint military drills with South Korea, which Washington has rejected. An article carried on the front page of the People s Daily, the official paper of China s ruling Communist Party, said the Korean Peninsula had reached the  moment of choice  where the United States and North Korea must break from the cycle of nuclear tests and sanctions.   All parties involved in the peninsula have their own strategic considerations, but not being able to see beyond this vicious cycle is not in anyone s interest,  the article said. Asked about the North Korean and U.S. rhetoric, China s Foreign Ministry reiterated a call for restraint and a return to dialogue.   We hope all relevant parties can be rational and maintain restraint and not take actions that could further increase tensions on the peninsula , ministry spokesman Geng Shuang said at a regular briefing.  In another show of force, South Korea s Air Force conducted its first live-fire exercise of Taurus long-range, air-to-surface missiles on Tuesday, the Defence Ministry said, as practice for precision bombing North Korean facilities. U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley said the new sanctions could eventually starve North Korea of an additional $500 million or more in annual revenue. The United States has said that a previous round of sanctions agreed in August was aimed at cutting North Korea s $3 billion in exports by a third.

Summary: उत्तर कोरिया ने संयुक्त राष्ट्र के प्रतिबंधों की अवहेलना की क्योंकि ट्रम्प ने कहा कि सख्त कदम उठाने की आवश्यकता है


FORT WORTH, Texas (Reuters) - Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump said on Friday he expects his party’s 2012 nominee, Mitt Romney, to back his rival Senator Marco Rubio, and that he would not even accept Romney’s support if offered. “If he wanted to support me, I probably would not accept his support,” Trump told a rally of supporters.  (Reporting by Emily Stephenson; Writing by Tim Ahmann; Editing by Mohammad Zargham) This article was funded in part by SAP. It was independently created by the Reuters editorial staff. SAP had no editorial involvement in its creation or production.

Summary: ट्रम्प को उम्मीद है कि 2012 के रिपब्लिकन उम्मीदवार रोमनी रूबियो का समर्थन करेंगे


JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Israeli authorities approved on Wednesday a major expansion of a Jewish settler enclave in the heart of a Palestinian neighborhood of East Jerusalem, issuing building permits  for 176 new housing units. The construction, which a Jerusalem municipal spokeswoman said was approved by the city s planning committee, was swiftly condemned by the Palestinians as a violation of international law. Construction of the new units will nearly triple the number of settler homes in the Nof Zion settlement, which currently has 91 dwellings and is surrounded by Palestinian houses in the Jabel al-Mukaber neighborhood. The area is located in territory that Israel captured and annexed in a 1967 Middle East war and which Palestinians seek as part of a state they want to establish in the occupied West Bank and the Gaza Strip, with East Jerusalem as its capital.  We are unifying Jerusalem through actions on the ground,  Jerusalem Mayor Nir Barkat said in a statement about the settlement s expansion. Israel s claim to all of Jerusalem as its capital has not won international recognition, and many countries regard the settlements it has built on occupied land as illegal and obstacles to any future land-for peace deal. Israel disputes this. Wasel Abu Yousif, a member of the Palestine Liberation Organization, called the construction plans in Jabel al-Mukaber  a challenge to all the calls by the international community  to halt settlement building. Last week, Israel announced approval for the construction of several hundred additional homes for settlers in the West Bank, drawing condemnation from Palestinians and the European Union. Israeli-Palestinian peace talks have not been held since 2014, with settlement building one of the issues that led to their collapse. Some 500,000 Israelis live in the West Bank and East Jerusalem, areas that are home to more than 2.6 million Palestinians. (This version of the story corrects the name of settlement, paragraph 3)

Summary: इज़राइल ने पूर्वी यरुशलम में 176 नए बसने वालों के घरों को मंजूरी दी


(Reuters) - North Korea has opened a second internet connection with the outside world, this time via Russia, a move which cyber security experts said could give Pyongyang greater capability to conduct cyber attacks. North Korea has been blamed by Western governments for several major cyber attacks in recent years, including against banks and Sony Pictures (6758.T), as well as the WannaCry ransomware attack that froze computers unless their owners sent cash. Pyongyang has denied any involvement. Tensions have risen in recent weeks as North Korea s leader Kim Jong Un and U.S. President Donald Trump have traded war-like threats and insults over the North s nuclear and missile development programs, leading to an intensification of diplomatic efforts and a renewed push on sanctions against it. Dyn Research, which monitors international internet traffic flows, said it had seen Russian telecommunications company TransTeleCom routing North Korean traffic since about 0908 GMT on Sunday. Previously traffic was handled via China Unicom (0762.HK) under a deal dating back to 2010. TransTeleCom now appears to be handling roughly 60 percent of North Korean internet traffic, while Unicom transmits the remaining 40 percent or so, Dyn said. The new external connection was first reported by 38 North, a project of the U.S.-Korea Institute at Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS). TransTeleCom declined to confirm any new routing deal with the North Korean government or its communications arm. In a statement, it said:  TransTeleCom has historically had a junction of trunk networks with North Korea under an agreement with Korea Posts and Telecommunications Corp signed in 2009.  North Korea s internet access is estimated to be limited to somewhere between a few hundred and just over 1,000 connections. These connections are vital for coordinating the country s cyber attacks, said Bryce Boland, chief technology officer for the Asia-Pacific region at FireEye, a cyber-security company.  Boland said the Russian connection would enhance North Korea s ability to command future cyber attacks.  Having internet routes via both China and Russia reduces North Korea s dependence on any one country at a time when it faces intense geo-political pressures, he said. Many of the cyber attacks conducted on behalf of Pyongyang came from outside North Korea using hijacked computers, Boland said. Those ordering and controlling the attacks communicate to hackers and hijacked computers from within North Korea.  This will improve the resiliency of their network and increase their ability to conduct command and control over those activities,  Boland said. The Washington Post reported earlier that the U.S. Cyber Command has been carrying out denial of service attacks against hackers from North Korea designed to limit their access to the internet. (wapo.st/2yRbg8w)

Summary: रूसी कंपनी ने उत्तर कोरिया को दिया नया इंटरनेट कनेक्शन


WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Flush with cash, political groups outside the White House are aggressively coming to President Donald Trump’s aid as he battles low public approval numbers, questions about his election campaign’s ties to Russia and a stalled legislative agenda. Through television attack ads and online campaigns normally seen only during the tumult of an election, the groups are helping Trump to strike back against his perceived enemies and boost his agenda, adding to the firepower of his Twitter account and the bully pulpit of the White House. On Tuesday, one of the groups, America First Policies, launched an attack ad against a senator from Trump’s own Republican Party who had balked at a Senate plan to overhaul healthcare that would leave millions more Americans uninsured. The attack angered Senate leader Mitch McConnell, who is struggling to rustle up the votes for the plan. It is the first time that a U.S. president has had Super PACs - political action committees that can raise unlimited amounts of money and typically operate during elections - or political non-profits, which do not have to disclose their donors or where they spend their money, actively working to support him after the dust of campaigning has cleared.  The pro-Trump groups are prohibited from coordinating with the White House, which declined to comment for this story. The New York Times reported that McConnell had complained to White House chief of staff Reince Priebus about America First Policies’ ad. The group later pulled the ad. America First Policies and the other pro-Trump groups were set up to promote Trump and his legislative agenda - healthcare reform, building a wall along the Mexican border, and pushing for lower taxation and deregulation. They are not allied to the Republican Party, which can pose a problem for Republican leaders as Tuesday’s attack ad showed. With Trump’s approval ratings sagging and his agenda now overshadowed by a federal investigation into his 2016 campaign’s ties to Russia, the groups are pouring resources into protecting Trump’s image, demonizing his opponents and amplifying his message that he is the victim of a witch-hunt. “The establishment is shaken, angry, losing control,” begins another new ad by America First Policies, which says on its website that it is a non-profit organization “supporting key policy initiatives.” Images of the U.S. Capitol, Democratic Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and liberal MSNBC host Rachel Maddow flash in the background.  “Desperately waging an all-out war to protect their interest,” the narrator continues. “They lie, they leak, they leech onto power.” America First Policies is comprised of more traditionally conservative Republicans and was founded after the election by a close ally of Vice President Mike Pence, Nick Ayers.  The group said in a statement their mission was to promote Trump’s agenda and that they were not afraid to push House Republicans through grassroots and advertising to support the healthcare overhaul. The groups’ shift from policy promotion to attack mode, does not surprise Marjorie Hershey, a political science professor at Indiana University. “A lot of research tells us that negative ads tend to be more attention-getting than positive ads, and because Super PACs themselves aren’t on the ballot, they can afford to risk the unsavory reputation that negative advertisers often get,” Hershey said.  Strategists and political scientists say it is hard to know if the groups are actually moving public opinion. But the groups point to their fundraising as evidence of their success – much of it raised not from millionaires, but in small donations from voters. “Great America Alliance” - which was set up as a sister organization to a Super PAC created by Trump supporters Rudy Giuliani and Newt Gingrich - has spent $400,000 on an ad attacking former FBI Director James Comey, the group’s director, Eric Beach, told Reuters.     The video tried to discredit Comey, who was fired by Trump over his handling of the Russia probe, the week he testified before the Senate Intelligence Committee. “Just another DC insider in it for himself,” the ad concludes. The group launched a new ad this week featuring conservative media star Tomi Lahren attacking Robert Mueller, the special counsel now leading the Russia investigation. Mueller is investigating whether Trump may have attempted to obstruct justice by pressuring Comey to drop his inquiry.  On its website the group says its mission is “to advocate for a stronger economy, a more secure nation, and a society with less government intrusion and more freedom for American citizens.” Asked to reconcile its stated mission with the attack ads, the group’s director, Eric Beach, said, “Our goal is to really get on the ground and fight back. Our supporters want to get out there and fight ... the mischaracterization of not just Donald Trump’s rhetoric but also his policies.”  Alison Dagnes, a political science professor at Shippensburg University who specializes in Super PACS, said the well-resourced groups play a key role in spreading Trump’s message that what his supporters are reading or seeing in the media is false.  “They’re saying we see what’s happening now and you shouldn’t believe it.” The Committee to Defend the President, another Super PAC, launched an ad calling on supporters to “defend” Trump. The group’s leader, Ted Harvey, said unfair attacks on Trump had forced his group to shift their focus to defending the president instead of promoting his policies.  “Certainly, I would rather be talking about policies than talking about made-up lies that the Democrats and the mainstream media cabal have put together to discredit the administration from moving forward on its agenda,” said Harvey. (For a graphic on Super PAC spending for Trump versus Obama click tmsnrt.rs/2seIbj1)

Summary: ट्रम्प समर्थक समूह संकटग्रस्त राष्ट्रपति की मदद के लिए किसी भी कैदी को जल्दबाजी में नहीं लेते हैं


WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump raised the firing of his FBI director in a meeting with Russia’s foreign minister to explain why he had been unable to find areas of cooperation with Moscow, the White House national security adviser said on Sunday. “The gist of the conversation was that the president feels as if he is hamstrung in his ability to work with Russia to find areas of cooperation because this has been obviously so much in the news,” H.R. McMaster said in an interview on ABC’s “This Week with George Stephanopoulos.” Reports that Trump boasted to Russian officials of firing former FBI director James Comey to relieve “great pressure” from a law-enforcement probe into Russian meddling in the 2016 election engulfed his administration in turmoil just as Trump left for his first foreign trip as president on Friday. “I just fired the head of the FBI. He was crazy, a real nut job,” Trump said during a May 10 meeting with Russian officials, according to a report by The New York Times that cited a document summarizing the meeting and an unnamed U.S. official. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov denied that Comey had come up during the meeting, according to Interfax news agency. McMaster also said in Sunday’s interview that the central purpose of Trump’s conversation with Lavrov and Russia’s ambassador to Washington was to confront Russia on areas where the United States considers them disruptive, such as Syria. McMaster criticized sources who told reporters that Trump had disclosed highly classified information to the Russian officials in the meeting about a planned Islamic State operation. “In a concern about divulging intelligence they leaked actually not just the information from the meeting, but also indicated the sources and methods to a to a newspaper. I mean it doesn’t make sense,” McMaster said.”

Summary: रूसियों के लिए ट्रम्प की एफ. बी. आई. टिप्पणियों का उद्देश्य सहयोग थाः मैकमास्टर


WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President-elect Donald Trump has asked 50 government employees in critical posts to stay on in his administration, including Deputy Defense Secretary Robert Work and Brett McGurk, the U.S. envoy for countering Islamic State, a spokesman said on Thursday. Drug Enforcement Administration Administrator Chuck Rosenberg, National Counterterrorism Center Director Nick Rasmussen, Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs Tom Shannon and Adam Szubin, acting under secretary for terrorism and financial intelligence for the Treasury Department are also among them, Trump spokesman Sean Spicer said at a news briefing.

Summary: पेंटागन, राज्य सहित 50 महत्वपूर्ण संघीय कर्मचारियों को रखेंगे ट्रम्प


OTTAWA (Reuters) - A planned meeting of foreign ministers to discuss the North Korean crisis is not scheduled to take place before the Christmas break in late December, a Canadian official said on Tuesday.  Foreign Minister Chrystia Freeland announced Canada would co-host the meeting with the United States on Canadian soil. At least a dozen foreign ministers will be involved, said the official, who asked to remain anonymous given the sensitivity of the situation. U.S Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, condemning a North Korean missile test earlier in the day, said the meeting would include South Korea, Japan and other affected nations, to discuss  how the global community can counter North Korea s threat to international peace.  Freeland had been discussing North Korea with counterparts in recent months, including those from the United States, South Korea, Japan, Australia and China, said the Canadian official. Canada was a good choice to host a meeting because it was less directly involved in the crisis than the United States, Japan, South Korea or China, said the official.  There are fewer implications to us convening a constructive conversation,  added the official, saying no decisions on a venue or who would be invited had been made.

Summary: उत्तर कोरिया संकट पर क्रिसमस के बाद कनाडा में होगी बैठकः सूत्र


BERLIN (Reuters) - German intelligence agencies have warned German companies that Iran is still trying to circumvent restrictions on the sale of dual-use items for its rocket and missile technology program, according to a document seen by Reuters on Wednesday. The BfV domestic intelligence agency reminded German firms in the document that sales of certain technologies remained illegal despite sanctions relief triggered by the landmark Iran nuclear deal of 2015.  It is important to note that Iran continues to pursue an ambitious rocket and missile technology program which is not affected by the sanctions relief,  the document said. It said the reminder was triggered by  current events  but gave no details. German Foreign Minister Sigmar Gabriel on Monday told reporters that Berlin remains concerned about Iran s behavior in the Middle East and its missile development program, but stressed that Tehran was sticking to the nuclear agreement. European countries are scrambling to pull together a package of measures to keep the nuclear deal on track if U.S. President Donald Trump decertifies the nuclear pact. Under that pact, Iran agreed to freeze its nuclear program for 15 years in exchange for sanctions relief. Trump is expected to declare this week that Iran is not complying with the pact and to unveil a tough new strategy toward Iran. The BfV document said German intelligence agencies were continuing to investigate  intensively  whether Iran was attempting to circumvent existing regulations to acquire products or know-how in Germany. It had reported in June that Iran had sharply scaled back efforts to buy items for its nuclear program, but said attempts to buy items for its development program remained unchanged. It gave no details about the number of such attempts.  Germany s most populous state and its industrial heartland, North Rhine-Westphalia, provided details in its own intelligence report for 2016 that was released on Tuesday. It said it had detected 32 attempts to buy equipment that were probably or definitely proliferation-related in 2016, down from a record 141 attempts seen a year earlier. Most of those attempts were related to Iran s missile program, although some were also linked to Pakistan, it said. The lion s share of the cases did not result in delivery of any equipment because state intelligence officials were able to warn companies in time, or companies recognized suspicious inquiries. It said Iran used a variety of front companies to acquire items, often sending goods through Turkey, the United Arab Emirates and China.

Summary: ईरान अभी भी मिसाइल विकास के लिए सामान खरीदने की कोशिश कर रहा हैः जर्मनी


WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The White House said on Monday it planned later this week to establish four “Skype seats” for its regular media briefings to allow news organizations outside of Washington to participate. “We’re excited to open up into ... the fold here a diverse group of journalists from around the country who may not have the convenience or funding to travel to Washington,” White House spokesman Sean Spicer told reporters. “I think this can benefit us all by giving a platform for voices that are not necessarily based here.”

Summary: ट्रम्प का व्हाइट हाउस गैर-वाशिंगटन मीडिया के लिए ब्रीफिंग खोलेगा


BEIRUT (Reuters) - Lebanese President Michel Aoun s office said on Saturday that Saad al-Hariri had phoned him  from outside Lebanon  to resign as the country s prime minister and that Aoun awaited Hariri s return to hear the  circumstances of the resignation .

Summary: लेबनान के राष्ट्रपति का कहना है कि प्रधानमंत्री हरीरी ने विदेश से इस्तीफा देने के लिए फोन किया था


WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The top U.S. House of Representatives intelligence committee Democrat said on Wednesday he had “grave concerns” about the committee’s ability to conduct a credible investigation after its Republican chairman suggested President Donald Trump’s communications may have been collected during surveillance. “I have expressed my grave concerns with the Chairman that a credible investigation cannot be conducted this way,” U.S. Representative Adam Schiff said in a statement. The House intelligence panel is conducting one of the main congressional investigations of possible ties between Trump associates and Russia during the 2016 U.S. president election. Republican Representative Devin Nunes, the committee’s chairman, announced at a news conference on Wednesday that an anonymous source had provided him with information that communications by associates of Trump’s and possibly Trump’s had been swept up during routine surveillance.

Summary: हाउस डेमोक्रेट का कहना है कि रिपब्लिकन ने खुफिया जांच को कमजोर किया


GUATEMALA CITY (Reuters) - Guatemala s Congress on Monday voted overwhelmingly to preserve President Jimmy Morales  immunity from prosecution after the attorney general submitted a request to investigate him over suspected financing irregularities during his 2015 election campaign. The vote to protect Morales from possible prosecution was lopsided, with only 25 of the 158 members of Congress voting to strip Morales  of his legal protections. Presidential immunity can only be lifted with the backing of at least two-thirds of the chamber, or 105 members. Backers of Morales argued their vote to stop the probe from advancing favored political stability in the Central American nation.  Democracy isn t built by changing the president every two years,  said Congressman Raul Romero, head of the Fuerza party, referring to the corruption cases that led to the 2015  resignation of Morales  predecessor, Otto Perez Molina. The vote in Congress was a blow to the U.N.-backed International Commission against Impunity in Guatemala (CICIG), which was pushing to determine the origin of some $800,000 in funds Morales managed as secretary general of the conservative National Convergence Front (FCN) party he led from 2015 to 2016. It was widely believed that those in favor of stripping Morales of his impunity would struggle to win enough support in Congress to green light an eventual prosecution as CICIG is also investigating all the major parties in Guatemala over suspected illegal financing.  Members of Congress are making a pact of corrupt officials now that they are afraid of being investigated themselves for illegal electoral financing,  said Alvaro Montenegro, head of the anti-corruption organization Justicia Ya. Morales, who has denied any wrongdoing, issued a statement late on Monday praising the vote as a sign of the country s unity and  democratic maturity  of its institutions.   I call for an end to the political and ideological confrontations and together we ll continue to build the Guatemala we all desire,  the statement said.  The congressional vote reversed the recommendation of a Guatemalan congressional committee on Sunday that Morales  immunity be revoked. Last month, Guatemala s attorney general and CICIG jointly sought to investigate Morales, a former comedian, over the illegal financing allegation. Two days later, Morales declared the head of the U.N. body  persona non grata.  Under the leadership of Ivan Velasquez, a veteran Colombian prosecutor, CICIG has caused problems for Morales, first investigating his son and brother, and then training its sights on him. The Guatemalan president won office in 2015 running on a platform of honest governance after Perez Molina was forced to resign and imprisoned in a multi-million dollar graft case stemming from a CICIG investigation.

Summary: ग्वाटेमाला के राष्ट्रपति ने भ्रष्टाचार की जांच में अभियोजन से प्रतिरक्षा बरकरार रखी


PALO ALTO, Calif. (Reuters) - U.S. President Barack Obama on Friday tried to limit the fallout from Britain’s vote to leave the European Union, which threatens to harm the U.S. economic recovery, derail his trade agenda and  distract U.S. allies from global security issues.    Obama, who had argued passionately against Britain leaving the EU in a trip to the country this year, vowed that Washington would still maintain both its “special relationship” with London and close ties to Brussels.           “While the UK’s relationship with the EU will change, one thing that will not change is the special relationship that exists between our two nations. That will endure,” he told an event at Stanford University, referring to close ally Britain. “The EU will remain one of our indispensable partners,” Obama said. He spoke to outgoing British Prime Minister David Cameron and German Chancellor Angela Merkel after the stunning result of Thursday’s referendum, the biggest blow to the European project of greater unity since World War Two. Obama said he was sure Britain’s exit would be orderly and vowed that the United States and Britain would “stay focused on ensuring economic growth and financial stability.”  The Brexit result rattled Wall Street and many other financial markets, with global stock markets losing about $2 trillion in value on Friday.     “I must say we had looked for a different outcome. We would have preferred a different outcome,” U.S. Vice President Joe Biden, traveling in Ireland, said on Friday. The historic divorce launched by the Brexit vote could sink hopes of a massive U.S.-EU free trade deal before Obama leaves the White House in January.               Negotiations on the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership, or TTIP, were already stalled by deeply entrenched differences and growing anti-trade sentiment on both continents.     As well as the global economic consequences, Brexit makes it more difficult for Obama and the United States to corral its Western allies into joint action against challenges such as Islamic State, Russia and the rise of China. Britain’s exit could present the next U.S. president with a decision on whether to turn to other key European partners like Germany and France, essentially downgrading the United States’ special bond with Britain, whose foundation was laid in World War Two. Senator Ben Cardin of Maryland, the top Democrat on the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations, called on Washington’s partners in Europe to keep their eye on foreign policy threats. “We must maintain our trans-Atlantic consensus on how to deal with a resurgent Russia and the growing threat of ISIS,” he said. “I urge leaders in London, Brussels and across Europe to not lose sight of these threats and remain coordinated in our response.”  The U.S. presidential election candidates are casting an eye across the Atlantic at the unlikely success of Britain’s “Leave” campaign, which has similarities with Republican Donald Trump’s insurgent bid for the Nov. 8 election. Trump’s rise was sustained by a similar brew of anti-establishment and anti-globalization sentiment and concern about immigration that helped the Leave vote.  “This is a protest vote against globalization and there is one presidential candidate who won the nomination who has put globalization in his crosshairs - and that’s Donald Trump,” Republican strategist John Feehery said.                  Biden, in remarks prepared for a speech at Dublin Castle, took a swipe at Trump without mentioning him by name. He warned against “politicians and demagogues peddling xenophobia, nationalism, and isolationism.”         Brexit supporter Trump called the result a “great thing.”     “People want to take their country back. They want to have independence in a sense. You see it with Europe, all over Europe,” Trump, 70, said in Turnberry, Scotland where he reopened a golf course.  Republican Senator Jeff Sessions said Britain’s electoral shock showed that national leaders will be punished if they do not “first ensure they have protected the safety and legitimate interests of their own people.” “Brexit is a warning for America,” said Sessions, a Trump supporter who criticized “radical trade policies that erode the power of the people to control their lives.”            Obama had warned British voters against Brexit, in an unusually strong intervention into British politics in April. The White House said on Friday that he stands by a comment made then that Britain would move to the back of the queue when it comes to trade deals with the United States if it left the EU.        Obama hopes his former secretary of state Hillary Clinton will win the November election and safeguard his legacy but economic volatility in the United States after Brexit could hurt her chances of beating Trump. In response to Britain’s decision to leave, Clinton said the United States must first safeguard against any economic fallout at home at “this time of uncertainty” and underscore its commitment to both Britain and Europe.      The U.S. Federal Reserve sought to calm global financial markets by saying it was ready to provide dollar liquidity following the British vote. U.S. financial regulators said the country’s financial system is functioning in an “orderly manner.”  The Financial Stability Oversight Council - which includes the heads of the U.S. Treasury, Securities and Exchange Commission and Federal Reserve - “noted that the U.S. financial system continues to function in an orderly manner, and that the Council will continue to monitor ongoing developments,” according to a summary released after a phone call among members. After Brexit, the U.S. central bank’s ambitions for two rate rises this year now look unlikely. Traders of U.S.-interest rate futures even began to price in a small chance of a Fed rate cut, and now see little chance of any hike until the end of next year. “One can forget about rate hikes in the near term,” said Thomas Costerg, New York-based economist at Standard Chartered Bank. “What I’m worried about is that the Brexit vote could be the straw that breaks the back of the U.S. growth picture.”

Summary: ओबामा ने ब्रिटिश यूरोपीय संघ से बाहर निकलने के मतदान के नतीजों को सीमित करने की कोशिश की


TEHRAN (Reuters) - Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Wednesday that the situation in Syria and peace talks to resolve the crisis were developing positively. Speaking alongside the presidents of Iran and Azerbaijan in Tehran, Putin stressed that no one country could resolve the Syrian crisis on its own.

Summary: रूस के पुतिन ने कहा कि सीरिया में स्थिति सकारात्मक रूप से विकसित हो रही है


WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. State Department will allow people with valid visas into the United States, a department official said on Saturday, in order to comply with an opinion from a federal judge in Seattle barring President Donald Trump’s executive action.  “We have reversed the provisional revocation of visas,” the State Department official said in a statement. “Those individuals with visas that were not physically canceled may now travel if the visa is otherwise valid.”

Summary: विदेश विभाग ने वीजा प्रतिबंध को उलट दिया, वीजा वाले यात्रियों को अमेरिका में प्रवेश की अनुमति दीः अधिकारी


TOKYO (Reuters) - Emperor Akihito will hand over all public duties to his heir  after retiring in what will be Japan s first abdication in nearly two centuries, the monarch s younger son said, responding to worries a former emperor might weaken his successor s status. Japan s constitution defines the emperor as a symbol of the state and the people, without political power. His duties include Shinto religious ceremonies and constitutionally-defined tasks, such as the opening of parliament. The octogenarian Akihito s 29-year reign has also been marked by travels to domestic disaster sites to cheer survivors, and overseas to soothe the wounds of a war fought in the name of his father, Emperor Hirohito, who was considered divine until Japan s defeat in World War Two. Some experts, recalling past examples when ex-emperors kept their influence, had feared the former monarch s existence would undercut the symbolic status of his heir, Crown Prince Naruhito.  The emperor all along has intended to pass all his public duties including state acts to the next emperor,  Naruhito s younger brother, Prince Akishino, said in remarks published to mark his 52nd birthday on Thursday.  Even if there are concerns about  dual authority , if that expression is appropriate, I can clearly say that it is impossible,  he added. A law enacted in June allows Akihito, who turns 84 on Dec. 23, to step down, but details have yet to be worked out. A special panel will discuss possible dates on Friday, with the cabinet to make a final decision. The abdication is expected to take place in 2019. Akihito, who has had heart surgery and treatment for prostate cancer, said in rare remarks last year that he feared age might make it hard to fulfill his duties. Akishino, who is next in line to the throne after the 57-year-old Naruhito, said he wanted his father to rest after retiring.  I hope the emperor will spend relaxing time as much as possible after the abdication,  he said. Akishino said he was willing to take on the crown prince s duties as much as possible after Naruhito ascends the throne but would need to consult his older brother.   This is unprecedented, so there are many things I can not imagine,  he said. Akishino s 11-year-old son, Prince Hisahito, is the emperor s only grandson and will be second in line to the throne after the abdication. Naruhito s daughter, Princess Aiko, who turns 16 on Friday, cannot inherit the males-only throne.

Summary: जापान के सम्राट गद्दी छोड़ने के बाद सभी सार्वजनिक कर्तव्यों को सौंप देंगेः राजकुमार


WARSAW (Reuters) - Poland is ready to defend its decision in the European Union s top court to refuse to accept migrants from Africa and the Middle East under an EU plan to redistribute them, Deputy Foreign Minister Konrad Szymanski said. He spoke after the EU executive sued Poland, Hungary and the Czech Republic in the European Court of Justice on Thursday for their refusal to host these migrants.  Poland is ready to defend its position in the Court,  Szymanski told state news agency PAP.  No one will lift the duty  of providing public safety from the Polish government.  The government of Poland s right-wing Law and Justice (PiS) party has said it will not admit migrants, citing security concerns amid deadly Islamist attacks in western Europe and problems with ascertaining the identify of migrants. The Foreign Ministry said on Wednesday it had signed a deal with the European Investment Bank to give 50 million euros to help countries and territories affected by the migration crisis, mainly Lebanon, Jordan and the West Bank. Foreign Minister Witold Waszczykowski said that Poland - a country of 38 million - is already hosting migrants as it had issued more than a million work permits for people from neighboring Ukraine last year alone.

Summary: यूरोपीय संघ की शीर्ष अदालत में प्रवास के रुख का बचाव करने के लिए पोलैंड तैयार


BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Iraq s top Shi ite cleric Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani on Friday called on the government to protect the Kurdish population in northern Iraq. Sistani s call, issued at the Friday prayer in the holy Shi ite city of Kerbala by one of his representatives, came amid reports of abuses against Kurds in Kirkuk and other areas taken by Iraqi forces since Monday.

Summary: इराक के शीर्ष शिया धर्मगुरु सिस्तानी ने सरकार से कुर्दों की रक्षा करने को कहा


WASHINGTON (Reuters) - North Carolina on Monday asked the U.S. Supreme Court to allow a state law requiring voters to show identification to remain in effect for the Nov. 8 U.S. election despite an appeals court decision that the measure discriminates against minority voters. Lawyers for Republican Governor Pat McCrory said the status quo should be maintained so close to the election, citing court precedent in their favor. The law, which also limited early voting, was enacted in 2013.     The Richmond, Virginia-based 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled on July 29 that the law intentionally discriminated against minority voters. The same court refused to put its decision on hold for the November election. Critics say such laws, passed in Republican-governed states, make voting harder for minorities such as African-Americans and Hispanics, who tend to support Democrats. Backers say the laws are necessary to prevent voter fraud. The state directed its request to Chief Justice John Roberts, who has responsibility for emergency requests arising from the federal appeals court that covers the state. The state is not seeking to restore all provisions of the law that were invalidated, meaning some provisions will not be in effect for the election whatever the high court does.

Summary: नॉर्थ कैरोलिना ने सुप्रीम कोर्ट से मतदाता पहचान पत्र कानून को बहाल करने को कहा


NAIROBI (Reuters) - Legislators from Kenya s ruling party and opposition exchanged blows on Thursday, after polls closed in a controversial repeat presidential election.  Live national television showed MPs tumbling into a hedge at Nairobi s Panafric Hotel when the two sides clashed after attempting to hold near-simultaneous news conferences at the same venue. One lawmaker shouted profanities on camera, prompting nervous giggles from anchors.  The fistfight reflected larger tensions within the country, that saw polling stations in some counties unable to open after opposition leader Raila Odinga called for a boycott of the Oct. 26 poll, saying it would not be free and fair.  Odinga s withdrawal left President Uhuru Kenyatta as the only serious contender for the presidency, although six other candidates were also on the ballot. Kenyatta won a presidential poll on Aug. 8 that was later nullified by the Supreme Court on procedural grounds.   They (the government MPs) came here, instead of addressing their own issues, they started attacked Raila,  Anthony Oluoch, opposition MP for Mathare constituency, told Reuters at the Panafric Hotel after the brawl.  I was not engaging in physical violence, I was attacked by more than 10 or 15 people.   Opposition MPs said a joke against Odinga from Senator Kipchumba Murkomen from the ruling Jubilee party sparked the brawl, but the senator blamed the other side for the violence.   We met the ODM (opposition) MPs in the gallery, they asked me to buy them drinks, I bought them drinks. These people are just violent,  he said.

Summary: केन्या के विपक्ष और सत्तारूढ़ दल के सांसदों ने प्रतिद्वंद्वी समाचार सम्मेलनों में हाथापाई की


WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The fight for control of the U.S. consumer watchdog agency intensified on Monday as Mick Mulvaney, President Donald Trump’s pick to run the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), imposed a hiring freeze and halted any new regulations. In a partisan showdown over the CFPB, which was created to crack down on predatory financial practices, Mulvaney is being sued by Leandra English, an Obama-era appointee to the agency who argues that she is the consumer bureau’s rightful leader. The conflict began on Friday when Richard Cordray, a Democrat appointed CFPB director by then-President Barack Obama, formally resigned and named English, his chief of staff, as acting director. Hours later, Trump named Mulvaney, the current director of the White House budget office, as temporary head of the CFPB. The Republican president has a right to name a permanent CFPB director, officials agree. There are dueling claims, however, about who gets to lead the agency in the meantime. Both sides presented their arguments during an emergency U.S. District Court hearing in Washington on Monday. Timothy Kelly, a Trump-appointed judge who is presiding over the case, said the issues raised were “extremely important and complicated.” The judge as well as the two sides said they hoped to see the case decided within the next few days. The next step is for the Trump administration to submit its response to English’s suit. The fight to control the 1,600-employee agency lays bare deep divisions between Republicans and Democrats over how to regulate Wall Street and protect consumers, following the 2007-2009 financial crisis that cost taxpayers $700 billion in bailouts. Republicans loathe the CFPB, saying it wields too much power and burdens banks and other lenders with unnecessary red tape. Mulvaney, who sought to dismantle the CFPB when he was a Republican congressman, acknowledged at a news briefing on Monday afternoon that the Trump administration had a “dramatically different” interpretation of the 2010 Dodd-Frank law that created the CFPB. He said there would be a 30-day freeze on hiring at the agency and no payments from the CFPB’s civil penalties fund for that amount of time as well, except as required legally. All new regulations would also be frozen, he said.     “The president has made it very clear he wants me here. ... I want to be here. I don’t want anything coming out of here that I don’t know about,” Mulvaney said. Earlier on Monday, English welcomed staff back from the Thanksgiving holiday in a morning email and signed off as “acting director.” Around the same time, Mulvaney arrived at Cordray’s former office, bringing doughnuts for the staff.     “Please disregard any instructions you receive from Ms. English in her presumed capacity as Acting Director,” he wrote in an all-staff email seen by Reuters that he also signed “acting director.” Mulvaney advised staff members to inform the agency’s general counsel if they heard additional communications from English. As Mulvaney was getting settled in, a source told Reuters, CFPB general counsel Mary McLeod sent a memo agreeing with the U.S. Justice Department that Trump had the power to appoint Mulvaney as temporary leader of the watchdog. English went to the CFPB in the morning, according to her lawyer. She then met on Capitol Hill with Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer and Democratic Senator Elizabeth Warren, who conceived the CFPB. English told reporters that “Mulvaney has no authority” at the agency. Schumer said on the Senate floor that the Dodd-Frank law, which he helped to write, set up a “clear” succession process for the CFPB that made English the acting director. Schumer said Mulvaney was chosen by the Trump administration simply to “rock the agency from the inside.” Trump campaigned for president saying Wall Street “gets away with murder,” but he also promised to defang or abolish the CFPB.     Since taking office, Trump has tried to undo a number of his Democratic predecessor’s initiatives, mostly notably the 2010 Affordable Care Act that the Republican-controlled Congress has been unable to repeal and replace. Cordray developed a reputation for drafting aggressive rules curbing products such as payday loans, while issuing multimillion-dollar fines against large financial institutions such as Wells Fargo & Co (WFC.N).      Stock prices of major U.S. banks are trading near all-time highs. The KBW Bank Index .BKX has more than doubled since July 2011, when the CFPB opened for business. The drama over the CFPB came as the Senate was preparing to consider a bill that would significantly ease rules on some banks for the first time since the financial crisis.      Moderate Democrats and Republicans have come out in support of the package, aimed primarily at smaller and mid-sized banks, but analysts warned the CFPB fight could imperil that compromise. The Senate Banking Committee is supposed to take up the bill next week.

Summary: ट्रम्प द्वारा स्थापित उपभोक्ता एजेंसी के प्रमुख ने नियुक्तियों पर रोक लगाई, नए नियमों पर रोक लगाई


JAKARTA (Reuters) - Indonesia s parliament speaker, Setya Novanto, has been taken into custody by the anti-corruption agency after being arrested over his alleged role in causing state losses of $170 million linked to a national electronic identity card scheme. Novanto, clad in an orange vest worn by detainees of the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK), was transferred from a hospital on Sunday night into a KPK detention facility. He is one of the most senior politicians to be detained by the agency, popular among ordinary Indonesians for targeting members of the establishment suspected of abuse of power.  Novanto was arrested on Friday night but his detention was postponed while he received treatment for injuries suffered in a car crash the day before.  Delay of the arrest is no longer needed,  as a medical statement showed Novanto did not need further hospital treatment, Laode Muhammad Syarif, the deputy head of the agency, said in a video on its official Periscope page.   On Sunday night, Novanto told reporters he was still suffering from vertigo after the crash that he said had injured  a leg, an arm and his head.  I thought I would be given time for recovery, but I obey the law,  Novanto was quoted by news website Kumparan.com as saying. Novanto will be held for 20 days for questioning, said KPK spokesman Febri Diansyah. He will be detained in a sparsely-furnished holding cell with some mattresses and a shared toilet. Graft agency officials tried to arrest Novanto, the chairman of Golkar, Indonesia s second-largest party and partner in the ruling coalition, at his house in Jakarta late on Wednesday. But they failed to find him, sparking speculation that he had gone into hiding. Later, Novanto was involved in a car accident and his lawyer, Fredrich Yunadi, said a journalist was driving the vehicle and interviewing his client at the time. The car crash was found to be an accident, media cited Jakarta s deputy director of traffic police as saying, dismissing speculation that the mishap was staged.      Novanto has denied wrongdoing but has repeatedly missed summonses for questioning by the agency in recent months, saying he was ill and needed heart surgery. The agency is investigating state losses of about $170 million after allegations that sums ranging from $5,000 to $5.5 million, generated by marking up procurement costs for the ID cards, were divided up among politicians in parliament. Novanto was named a suspect on Nov. 10 again after he had used a controversial legal maneuver, a pre-trial motion, to get earlier charges dropped last month. President Joko Widodo told reporters on Monday that he had asked Novanto to  follow the legal process .  The KPK has been collaborating with the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation on the case, said agency spokesman Diansyah. The FBI has been investigating the activities of Johannes Marliem, a U.S.-based contractor for the ID card scheme, who later committed suicide in Los Angeles.    The parliament speaker s legal battle with the graft agency has gripped Indonesia, with newspaper front pages splashing the story and social media circulating memes mocking him. Novanto gained a measure of international fame in September 2015 when Donald Trump, then a U.S. presidential candidate, hailed him as a  great man  at a news conference.  Do they like me in Indonesia?  Trump asked after introducing Novanto to reporters at Trump Tower.  Yes, highly,  Novanto replied.

Summary: इंडोनेशिया की संसद के अध्यक्ष को भ्रष्टाचार रोधी एजेंसी ने हिरासत में लिया


WARSAW (Reuters) - Plans to overhaul Poland s judiciary would end the country s status as a democratic state based on the rule of law and should be scrapped, more than two dozen rights groups and non-governmental organizations said in a petition on Wednesday. The petition, backed by Amnesty International and the Helsinki Foundation for Human Rights among others, came as parliament started debating amendments agreed by President Andrzej Duda and the ruling Law and Justice party (PiS). The proposals give the parliament a virtually free hand in deciding the composition of the Supreme Court and how judges are selected and are  in gross conflict  with the constitution, the signatories said in their petition.  The introduction of these amendments will mean that Poland will definitely cease to be a democratic state of law,  it said.  We request the immediate stoppage of parliamentary work on (the bills) and demand the start of extensive public consultations on this.  The nationalist, eurosceptic PiS,  which has a parliamentary majority, says reform of the judicial system is needed because the courts are slow, inefficient and steeped in a communist-era mentality.  Duda had raised hopes among critics of the plans that they could be halted when he vetoed the original PiS proposals in July, following nationwide protests and warnings from the European Union.  The president, an ally of PiS, said then that the proposals gave too much power to one party and to the justice minister. But subsequent work on the amendments has been conducted in secrecy, spurring criticism from the United Nations and the European Commission that they could further damage Poland s judicial system. Jaroslaw Kaczynski, the leader of PiS and Poland s paramount politician, has met privately with Duda several times for talks. Details of those meetings have not been made public and it is not known what consensus has been reached.  The president gave us some hope that the constitution would not be so continually abused,  said Irena Kaminska, a judge and a member of the Themis association of judges.  For a moment I had hoped there would be a breakthrough, but that has not happened.  Stanislaw Piotrowicz, head of parliament s justice committee, told the PAP state news agency that lawmakers could complete work on the bills at the next session, planned for Dec. 6-8.  If the bills pass they could potentially allow PiS to tighten its control of the political system, its critics said. Marcin Matczak of the Batory Foundation in Warsaw, one of the NGO signatories to the petition, said PiS would be able to change the electoral system to its own advantage because the judges would no longer challenge them.  After the (court) laws are implemented the government will be able to rule eternally,  he said.  There will be no one to defend us.  The EU is pressing a legal case against Poland over its judicial reform plans and has suggested the country could forfeit some development funds if it refuses to change course. PiS says it has a democratic mandate for its reforms.

Summary: मानवाधिकार समूहों ने पोलैंड की न्यायपालिका में बदलाव को समाप्त करने का आग्रह किया


MOSCOW (Reuters) - The situation on the Korean Peninsula risks to move into a  hot phase , Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov warned on Monday, the Interfax news agency reported. Lavrov was speaking after a trilateral meeting between the foreign ministers of Russia, India and China. He said all three countries did not want tensions on the Korean Peninsula to escalate any further, Interfax reported.

Summary: कोरियाई प्रायद्वीप पर स्थिति 'गर्म चरण' में जाने का जोखिमः इफैक्स ने रूसी विदेश मंत्री का हवाला दिया


WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission Chair Mary Jo White on Monday defied requests by Senate Republicans to delay adopting new rules on everything from derivatives to mutual funds until after President-elect Donald Trump takes office. In a letter to the Senate Banking Committee’s top two Republicans, Chairman Richard Shelby and Mike Crapo of Idaho, White stressed it was “incumbent” on the SEC to “exhibit a spirit of firm independence” in performing its regulatory duties “without fear or favor.”  White’s Dec. 12 letter, which was reviewed by Reuters, comes in response to a request last month by Shelby and Crapo for the SEC to cease adopting rules until after Trump had a chance to review the agency’s agenda.  Republicans in Congress have been pressing agencies across the federal government to wind down their rulemaking activities.    Trump has vowed to kill many regulations put on the books during the Obama administration, including the Dodd-Frank Wall Street reform law.  White, an independent, is slated to step down from her post at the end of Democratic President Barack Obama’s term in January.  The Senate failed to confirm Obama’s two nominees for vacant commissioner slots at the SEC before it recessed last week, which means that after White departs next month, the SEC will only be left with two commissioners - one Democrat and one Republican.  Even before she leaves, she could still fail to get the rules passed if she cannot get a quorum of commissioners to agree. Trump has yet to announce a nominee for SEC chair, but many of the people working on his financial regulatory transition team, such as former SEC Commissioner Paul Atkins, have been highly critical of many of the SEC’s rules and Dodd-Frank more broadly. In White’s letter on Monday, she provided Shelby and Crapo with a list of all the rules currently ready for a vote.  Among the rules on the list are derivatives reforms mandated by Dodd-Frank, such as capital and margin requirements for swap dealers, as well as a more controversial one that would limit how mutual funds and exchange-traded funds use derivatives to leverage returns. The letter did not say when the SEC might vote on the rules. The agency could do it during an open meeting or behind closed doors. An SEC spokeswoman declined to comment on the timing. “I am not insensitive to the issues raised by your letter and have carefully considered what impact, if any, the election should have on the current work of the Commission,” White wrote. She added that she had confirmed that the SEC “historically has proceeded with its work during comparable post-election periods.”     In support of her position, White included footnotes in her letter citing prior statements by Republican SEC Commissioner Mike Piwowar, who is poised to become acting chair in January, in which he voiced support for completing new derivatives rules. This is not the first time the SEC has faced criticism on efforts to complete rules before a change in leadership at the regulator. In 2005, a federal appeals court sided with the U.S. Chamber of Commerce in a dispute with the SEC over controversial rules requiring the majority of mutual fund board directors to be independent. The court sent the rule back to the SEC with a directive to consider its costs.  Then-SEC Chairman William Donaldson promptly scheduled a meeting and the SEC re-adopted it a day before his resignation, saying the rule would not be overly costly. The rule was subsequently overturned a second time, and the court chided the SEC for failing to follow proper rulemaking procedures. Even if White is successful in adopting final rules in the coming weeks, Congress may have a way to undo them when Trump takes office on Jan. 20. By law, Congress can vote to reverse regulations within 60 legislative days of them becoming final - which could be easier to accomplish under a Republican-controlled Congress and White House.

Summary: एसईसी चेयर व्हाइट ने नियम बनाने को रोकने के रिपब्लिकन अनुरोधों की अवहेलना की


FLORENCE, Italy (Reuters) - Britain is not prepared to pay for access to the European Union s single market during a post-Brexit transition period, a UK government source said on Friday. During a speech in Florence Prime Minister Theresa May called for Britain to stay in the single market under its current terms during a roughly two-year transition period. Following the speech, a government source said Britain was categorically not prepared to pay for single market access, and that a commitment to honor Britain s obligations referred only to specific programs during the transition period.

Summary: ब्रिटेन संक्रमण के दौरान यूरोपीय संघ की एकल बाजार पहुंच के लिए भुगतान करने के लिए तैयार नहीं हैः सरकारी सूत्र


WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Republican Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said repealing the Obamacare health insurance system is a “pretty high item on our agenda” for the new Congress that was elected on Tuesday, calling it the “single worst piece of legislation” from the first two years of the Obama administration. McConnell told reporters he would like to see bipartisan comprehensive tax reform, and that border security should also be high on the to-do list. He expects president-elect Donald Trump to send the Senate a Supreme Court nominee soon, and to review environmental regulations put in place by Obama, including on coal.

Summary: सीनेट के मैककोनेल का कहना है कि ओबामाकेयर को निरस्त करना एजेंडे में सबसे ऊपर है


BEIRUT (Reuters) - Iran s president said on Thursday its nuclear accord with world powers cannot be renegotiated, after the Trump administration warned it was weighing whether the deal signed by its predecessor served U.S. security interests. Under the 2015 deal, Iran agreed to limit its disputed nuclear program in return for the easing of economic sanctions. U.S. President Donald Trump called the deal an  embarrassment  during his first speech at the United Nations on Tuesday.  There was some discussion by some people that the nuclear deal isn t very bad but shouldn t stay as it is. (That) it s a deal that s good but we should sit down again and debate to see if it can be improved. If it has flaws we can fix them,  Iranian President Hassan Rouhani said.  They were told clearly and definitively (by us) that the nuclear deal cannot be renegotiated,  he told a press conference in Tehran broadcast live on state television after his return from the U.N. General Assembly. Trump told reporters this week he had made a decision on what to do about the agreement, approved by his predecessor Barack Obama along with leaders of Russia, China, Britain, France and Germany, but would not say what he had decided. However, although Trump does not like the deal, his speech to the United Nations on Tuesday did not mean Washington would withdraw from the pact, Nikki Haley, U.S. Ambassador to the U.N., said on Wednesday. The prospect of Washington reneging on the deal has worried some of the U.S. allies that helped negotiate it, especially as the world grapples with another nuclear crisis, North Korea s nuclear and ballistic missile development. If Trump does not certify next month that Iran is complying with the accord, the U.S. Congress will have 60 days to decide whether to reimpose sanctions waived under the deal. U.N. inspectors have verified Iranian compliance with the terms. In contrast with Obama s policy of detente with Iran after decades of mutual hostility, Trump called Iran  a corrupt dictatorship  on Tuesday and accused it of supporting terrorism and destabilizing the Middle East.  (Trump) made big mistakes in this speech,  Rouhani said.  There were baseless and unfounded accusations. It wasn t worthy of the United Nations or an individual who sees himself as the president of a country.  Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the highest authority in the Islamic Republic, also criticized Trump during a meeting Thursday with the Assembly of Experts, a body tasked with choosing the next Supreme Leader.   This speech was not a sign of power but rather a sign of anger, frustration and stupidity,  Khamenei said, according to a report on his official website. In recent months, tensions have ramped up between Iran and the United States in the Gulf, with both sides accusing each other of provocative naval maneuvers.

Summary: ईरान परमाणु समझौते पर फिर से बातचीत नहीं की जा सकतीः रूहानी


FRANKFURT (Reuters) - Prosecutors and tax authorities on Tuesday raided the offices of several senior officials of Volkswagen (VOWG_p.DE), the German car-maker said. Investigators searched the offices of supervisory board chairman Hans Dieter Poetsch, finance chief Frank Witter, and human resources head Karlheinz Blessing, a Volkswagen spokesman said. Files and computers were seized. The raid was related to suspicions of overpayments for works council chief Bernd Osterloh, the spokesman said. Osterloh s office was also searched.  Neither the works council nor the prosecutor in Braunschweig were immediately available for comment. A person with knowledge of the matter said the tax authorities were acting on suspicion of tax evasion. That is because over-remuneration could result in overly high operating expenses and the payment of too little tax. It was revealed earlier that German prosecutors were investigating current and former executives at Volkswagen on suspicion that they paid works council chief Bernd Osterloh an excessive salary.  In Germany, wasting corporate funds is legally a breach of fiduciary duty.

Summary: फॉक्सवैगन का कहना है कि कर अधिकारियों और अभियोजकों ने सी. एफ. ओ., एच. आर. प्रमुख, अध्यक्ष के कार्यालयों पर छापा मारा


(Reuters) - Hewlett Packard Enterprise Co chief executive and Republican donor Meg Whitman reiterated her opposition to Donald Trump as the party’s presidential nominee and compared him to fascist leaders Adolf Hitler and Benito Mussolini, according to media and two sources. Whitman made the comment Friday at a conference hosted by previous Republican nominee Mitt Romney, while she challenged U.S. Speaker of the House of Representatives Paul Ryan on his endorsement of Trump, the Washington Post reported on Saturday. Two participants at the off-the-record session in Park City, Utah confirmed Whitman’s language to Reuters. Whitman could not immediately be reached for comment.      A billionaire and former supporter of failed candidate New Jersey Governor Chris Christie, Whitman has been actively working to stop Trump’s nomination, including fundraising for an anti-Trump Super PAC.  In February, the technology CEO called Trump “unfit” to be president. Since then, Trump has become the presumptive Republican nominee and is likely to run against Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton in the Nov. 8 election. Ryan, addressing the 300 attendees of the session, explained the difficulty he had with the decision to endorse, the Post said, including weathering pressure from House Republicans to lend his backing to Trump.   After weeks of holding out, Ryan endorsed the New York businessman in early June, breaking with a number of establishment Republicans who see Trump’s rhetoric as damaging to the party. The opponents include Romney, Republicans’ 2012 presidential nominee, who chose Ryan as his running mate. Romney has blasted Trump in recent weeks for attacks he has made on the Mexican-American judge presiding over a case against him, with Romney warning on Friday about the effect that “trickle-down racism” could have on the country. As the presumptive nominee, Trump now has to balance maintaining the outsider style that helped propel him to the nomination, while courting Republican insiders, who could be critical to financing a general election campaign against a well-funded Clinton.  Trump on Saturday showed no inclination to make peace with his critics. He went on Twitter to note how Romney “choked like a dog” when he lost to then-incumbent President Barack Obama in 2012 and reiterated it at his campaign stops.

Summary: एचपी के सीईओ व्हिटमैन ने ट्रंप की तुलना हिटलर, मुसोलिनी से की


MAR DEL PLATA, Argentina/BUENOS AIRES (Reuters) - Hopes that 44 crew members of a missing Argentine navy submarine may be found alive rose after the defense ministry said the vessel likely tried to communicate via satellite on Saturday as an international search mission was underway in the stormy South Atlantic. The ministry said seven failed  satellite calls  that it believes came from the ARA San Juan submarine were detected in a likely sign the crew was trying to reestablish contact. The signals, in the late morning and early afternoon, lasted between four and 36 seconds, the ministry said. Argentina is working on tracing the location with an unnamed U.S. company specialized in satellite communications, the ministry said. The satellite communications were believed to have failed because of foul weather, a source in the defense ministry who was not authorized to speak publicly told Reuters. It was not immediately clear what type of calls the vessel may have tried to make but submarines that are stricken underwater can float a location beacon known as an EPIRB to the surface that can then emit emergency signals via satellite. Whipping winds and more than 20-foot waves in the South Atlantic hindered the international search for the submarine. The last confirmed location of the German-built ARA San Juan was 432 km (268 miles) off Argentina s southern Atlantic coast early on Wednesday. The U.S. Navy said it was deploying a deep-sea rescue mission to Argentina from California to support the effort, with a remotely operated vehicle and two vessels capable of rescuing people from bottomed submarines set to arrive in coming days. As nations from Chile to South Africa offered help, Argentine sea vessels and planes scoured the southern sea. But a storm pitching powerful winds and waves more than 6 meters (20 feet) high has disrupted visibility and movement in the area, navy spokesman Enrique Balbi said. The submarine s color and design, which aim to camouflage the vessel in the ocean s surface, also posed a challenge.  The idea is to continue through the night and the early morning, depending on weather conditions,  Balbi told reporters. The weather was expected to be somewhat improved on Sunday, he said. A search of 80 percent of the area initially targeted for the operation turned up no sign of the vessel, but the crew should have ample supplies of food and oxygen, Balbi added. The dramatic search has captivated the nation of 44 million, which recently mourned the loss of five citizens killed when a truck driver plowed through a bicycle path in New York City. In the resort and fishing city of Mar del Plata, where the submarine had been destined to arrive before vanishing, a Catholic Mass was held in honor of the crew members. Many relatives of the crew members awaited news at the city s naval base.  We re hopeful this will end soon to remain only as a bad memory,  Maria Morales, mother of crew member Luis Esteban Garcia, told journalists. Messages of support poured in from around the world. Pope Francis, an Argentine, was praying  fervently  for the crew to return home soon, his office said. The Argentine navy said an electrical outage on the diesel-electric-propelled vessel might have downed its communications. Protocol calls for submarines to surface if communication is lost. The episode could hold political implications for President Mauricio Macri. His center-right government has set an ambitious target for cutting government spending and told Reuters in March it had few funds available to replace an outdated military fleet beyond buying aircraft for training pilots. The ARA San Juan was inaugurated in 1983, making it the newest of the three submarines in the navy s fleet. Built in Germany by Nordseewerke, it underwent mid-life maintenance in 2008 in Argentina that required cutting its hull in half and sealing back it together again, according to state news agency Telam. Nordseewerke now belongs to German industrial group Thyssenkrupp AG (TKAG.DE), which could not be reached for comment outside of regular business hours. Carlos Zavalla, a navy commander, urged loved ones of crew members not to give up hope.  So far, the only concrete thing is the lack of communication,  Zavalla said on TV channel A24.  That s all.

Summary: अर्जेंटीना का कहना है कि लापता पनडुब्बी से संकेतों का पता चला है


WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A Democrat who sits on the U.S. Federal Election Commission (FEC) is planning to resign before her term expires amid frustrations about partisan gridlock, the New York Times reported on Sunday. FEC Commissioner Ann Ravel told the Times in an interview she intended to submit her letter of resignation this week, a move that would open the door for President Donald Trump to make his own appointment to the panel. “The ability of the commission to perform its role has deteriorated significantly,” Ravel told the newspaper.  “I think I can be more effective on the outside.” Ravel said she was particularly frustrated about split votes among the FEC’s three Democrats and three Republicans. The lack of consensus among the FEC’s members has made it impossible to rein in campaign abuses, she said. Ravel told the New York Times she planned to return to California, where she previously worked as a state regulator identifying dark money that flowed into state elections.

Summary: एफ. ई. सी. के डेमोक्रेट सदस्य जल्द बाहर निकलेंगेः एन. वाई. टी.


TRIPOLI (Reuters) - Libya s internationally recognized government has appealed to the United States to drop or ease a travel ban imposed on its citizens by U.S. President Donald Trump, the Foreign Ministry said on Thursday.  The Libyan Foreign Ministry, through its embassy in Washington, has begun to take measures to lift Libya from the list of countries and to ease the restrictions on Libyan citizens,  the ministry said in a statement. Libya is one of six Muslim-majority countries subject to the travel ban. This week the U.S. Supreme Court allowed the ban to take full effect while litigation over its ultimate validity continues. The ban was also discussed at a meeting between Libyan Foreign Minister Mohamed Siyala and U.S Deputy Secretary of Homeland Security Elaine Duke on Monday, the statement said.

Summary: लीबिया ने कहा कि वह ट्रम्प की यात्रा प्रतिबंध सूची से हटाने पर जोर दे रहा है


JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - South Africa s National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) said on Monday it had extended the deadline for President Jacob Zuma to submit arguments on why he should not be prosecuted for corruption.  They must submit their representation on the 31st of January,  said NPA spokesman Luvuyo Mfaku. The 783 charges against Zuma relate to a 30 billion rand ($2.20 billion) government arms deal arranged in the late 1990s. They were filed but then dropped by the NPA shortly before he ran for the presidency.  ($1 = 13.6572 rand)

Summary: S.African अभियोजकों ने ज़ूमा के लिए भ्रष्टाचार के आरोपों पर बहस दायर करने की समय सीमा बढ़ाई


AUSTIN, Texas (Reuters) - Texas plans to introduce a measure next year aimed at protecting women in bathrooms and locker rooms, a move that has raised concerns of activists who say the legislation is really an attempt to discriminate against transgender people. The office of Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick said on Tuesday that a state senator will file the so-called “Women’s Privacy Act” for consideration in the session that starts in January. Patrick’s office did not have any details of the bill, but the Republican lieutenant governor has been a supporter of only allowing access to facilities such as bathrooms based on gender at birth rather than the gender with which a person identifies. North Carolina in March became the first state to enact a law that restricts bathroom access for transgender people. The law prompted a federal civil rights lawsuit and has been blamed for hundreds of millions of dollars in economic losses and the relocation of major sporting events from the state. Patrick, one of the most powerful forces in the Texas legislature and a supporter of President-elect Donald Trump, called the measure in Texas one of his top priorities. “Starting in 2017, we will have a friend in the White House who was clearly elected because the people of this country believe in the conservative principles that have guided the way we govern in Texas,” Patrick said in a statement on Monday. Patrick has been an opponent of policies under President Barack Obama administration’s allowing transgender students to use the bathrooms of their choice, saying the guidelines represented federal overreach and could allow for sexual predators to attack women. Lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender advocacy groups say the current White House policies protect transgender students from discrimination and dismiss the safety concerns as rubbish. “It is a total misnomer because the legislation has nothing to do protecting women’s privacy,” said Chuck Smith, executive director of Equality Texas, a leading LGBT civil rights group in the state. “The purpose of the legislation is to allow discrimination against transgender children and adults.” Texas business leaders, a base of support for the Republican party, in October warned lawmakers in the Republican-dominated statehouse that measures targeting the LGBT community would hurt the state’s $1.8 trillion-a-year economy and make it difficult for employers to attract talent for crucial industries.

Summary: टेक्सास की नजर 'महिला गोपनीयता अधिनियम' पर है जो आलोचकों का कहना है कि ट्रांसजेंडर लोगों को लक्षित करता है


PALATKA, Fla. (Reuters) - At a town hall in his conservative Florida district this week, U.S. Representative Ted Yoho drew applause for defying his own Republican Party leaders to help derail a healthcare plan that was President Donald Trump’s first major legislative initiative. Far from paying a price back home, as Trump has threatened they would, Yoho and some of the other far-right members of the House Freedom Caucus appear to have support for standing their ground, based on their reception at several town halls during a two-week congressional recess. A handful of House Freedom Caucus lawmakers were facing constituents for the first time since last month’s defeat of Trump’s effort to repeal and replace Obamacare, which was also rejected by some Republican moderates. Many supporters made clear they expect them to work with Trump to make good on campaign promises to reform the nation’s health care system. “I want it done,” said Bob White, 74, after questioning Yoho on the issue during a town hall on Tuesday night in rural Putnam County, Florida. “Wield that big stick.”  The rebellious faction of conservatives in the House of Representatives was instrumental in toppling a plan supported by Trump to rewrite Obamacare, President Barack Obama’s signature healthcare law. Trump has singled out the group for blame. Many caucus members refused to back the Republican leadership’s bill because they considered parts too similar to Obamacare and said it would not have done enough to reduce insurance premiums. At town hall meetings, constituents pressed them to keep working to address problems such as high healthcare costs. The reception for Yoho and other caucus members at home could shape their approach to the Republican president and leadership controlling both chambers of Congress, said Matthew Green, an associate professor of politics at Catholic University of America, who studies congressional parties and leaders. “The Freedom Caucus members are either going to become more recalcitrant because they will be hearing from their constituents ‘good job,’” he said. “Or if they don’t hear that, they might be more willing to compromise.” Michigan Representative Justin Amash landed in the crosshairs of the feud when a White House adviser called on Twitter for Trump supporters to defeat him in a primary. But in the farming and manufacturing area he represents in the southwestern state, home to cereal maker Kellogg Co, the four-term congressman heard cheers in a high school auditorium in Battle Creek, Michigan on Tuesday night, where he held a town hall with about 100 people attending. “If I had to choose between Justin and Trump, I’d go with Justin for sure,” said construction worker Eric Smith, 34, who voted for both, but so far has found Trump lacking conservative principles. “At this point, I’d give Donald Trump a D.”  Retiree Cliff Ward, 72, told Amash that he was pleased with his role in the blocking the legislation, which polls showed to be unpopular and expected to end health coverage for millions. “Now we need you to work with Trump and the other Republicans to get this done,” he added.     Living in Georgetown, Florida, a community so remote that cell phone service is a chief concern, Trump voter Melvin Shebester knew little about the House Freedom Caucus. The faction of small-government conservatives came together in 2015 and since then have been a thorn in the side of more mainstream Republican leadership in the House, including an attempt to push out former Republican House Speaker John Boehner. The 84-year-old Shebester was impressed that his congressman, Yoho, stood up to the president on a bill that he saw as rushed. “It takes a lot of guts to stand up against your party,” said Shebester, attending Yoho’s town hall on Tuesday night at a government center in Palatka, Florida with his son and grandson. “We can’t go up there and tell Trump he’s wrong,” added his son, Steven Shebester, 56, who lives nearby.      Many Republicans have avoided public town halls, often open to anyone interested, since the meetings became a staging ground for liberal protests earlier this year.  But Yoho, a veterinarian first elected in 2012, has held several. His event in Gainesville, a college town, on Monday was crowded by left-leaning activists who at times shouted him down. On Tuesday night in Palatka, a small town in Yoho’s sprawling district in north central Florida lined with oaks and Spanish moss, he took questions from about 100 constituents in a politically mixed crowd. He told reporters his office received some 3,500 calls in the days leading up to the healthcare plan showdown, with only about 215 in support. And a phone survey of constituents found the Republican plan was as unpopular as Obamacare itself. He said constituents gave him a clear message: “Stay the course.” (This version of the story has been refiled to fix dropped letter in seventh paragraph)

Summary: घर में, विद्रोही रिपब्लिकन सांसदों को ट्रम्प की अवहेलना करने के लिए कोई कीमत नहीं चुकानी पड़ी


(Reuters) - A trio of U.S., Japanese and Russian astronauts arrived at the International Space Station on Tuesday, a NASA TV broadcast showed. Commander Anton Shkaplerov of Roscosmos and flight engineers Norishige Kanai of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency and Scott Tingle of NASA docked their Soyuz spacecraft about 250 miles (400 km) above Earth at 0839 GMT. The docking completes their two-day journey following Sunday s blast-off from the Baikonur cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. Shkaplerov, Kanai and Tingle join Alexander Misurkin of Roscosmos and Mark Vande Hei and Joe Acaba of NASA, who have been aboard the space station since September.

Summary: अमेरिकी, रूसी, जापानी चालक दल अंतरिक्ष स्टेशन पर पहुंचे


MANILA (Reuters) - Philippine authorities were on the lookout on Monday for a Malaysian who could be the new leader of pro-Islamic State groups in Southeast Asia, security chiefs said, following the deaths of several high-profile regional extremists. The army terminated combat operations in southern Marawi two weeks ago after killing what it believed were the last remnants of a rebel alliance that held parts of the lakeside city for five months. Following the country s biggest security crisis in decades, troops have made significant gains in the week since they killed Isnilon Hapilon, a leader of the Abu Sayyaf group and anointed  emir  of Islamic State in Southeast Asia. His assumed deputy, Malaysian Mahmud Ahmad, was also believe killed, as was Omarkhayan Maute, a top operative in the alliance.  We are still looking for Amin Baco,  Defence Secretary Delfin Lorenzana said, describing the Malaysian as the likely new  successor as the emir of those terrorists . More than 1,100 people - mostly militants - were killed and 350,000 displaced by the Marawi unrest, a crisis that shocked predominantly Catholic Philippines and led to unease about Islamic State gaining traction in Muslim parts of the island of Mindanao. Police chief Ronaldo dela Rosa said he received similar information that Baco, an expert bomb-maker, had assumed the role of Islamic State s point man. Experts say Baco was trained under Malaysian militant Zulkifli bin Hir, alias Marwan, who was killed in 2015 in a clash in marshlands in Maguindanao province that left 44 police commandoes dead. The information that Baco could be in charge came from an Indonesian arrested in Marawi last week, dela Rosa said. Despite declaring the end of operations, troops are still fighting some hold-outs hiding amid the ruins of a city battered by months of air strikes. Troops have since killed nine gunmen in Marawi, Colonel Romeo Brawner said on Monday, emphasizing why residents were being kept out of the pulverized battle zone. Baco was reported to have been killed in Marawi but intelligence sources said he had fled.  He could be somewhere on Jolo island or in nearby Maguindanao,  an army colonel familiar with Islamist militant groups in Mindanao, told Reuters. He said Baco had been in the Philippines for a long time and had links with regional extremist group Jemaah Islamiah. He was married to a daughter of a local militant sub-leader. As early as 2011, he was facilitating movements into the Philippines of funds, arms and fighters from Indonesia and Malaysia, but his links to the Islamic State network were not known to be strong, another military intelligence official said. He said Baco was in a position to take over because of his familiarity with extremists from various groups in Mindanao.

Summary: फिलीपींस दक्षिण पूर्व एशिया में संभावित नए इस्लामिक स्टेट 'अमीर' की तलाश कर रहा है


(Reuters) - The secretaries of the U.S. Treasury and Health and Human Services called for fast congressional action to help Puerto Rico out of its economic mess, and said a bipartisan task force report failed to go far enough on recommending a low-income tax credit for the commonwealth. In a letter to U.S. House Speaker Paul Ryan on Tuesday, Treasury Secretary Jacob Lew and Health and Human Services Secretary Sylvia Burwell reaffirmed calls to step up healthcare funding for Puerto Rico. “We write to underscore the need for additional legislation early in this (congressional) session to address the economic and fiscal crisis in Puerto Rico,” the letter said. They noted that 900,000 Puerto Ricans could risk losing healthcare unless Congress took action by April. The U.S. territory is hampered by $70 billion in debt, unemployment more than twice the U.S. average, a 45 percent poverty rate and a decreasing population as locals flock to the U.S. mainland. A congressional task force of U.S. senators and congressmen in December recommended several fixes for Puerto Rico, including boosting healthcare funding and exploring giving the island access to the federal Earned Income Tax Credit. The benefit for low- to moderate-income workers has been used to combat poverty, and the Obama Administration has proposed expanding it to Puerto Rico. If the credit exceeds a worker’s income tax liability, the government will refund the balance. The report did not go far enough with the tax credit, Lew and Burwell said, calling the benefit a “powerful economic driver.” The task force report described healthcare in Puerto Rico as “a serious and urgent issue,” but did not agree on solutions. For decades, the United States offered lower payments to most island residents under the federally sponsored Medicare and Medicaid insurance programs. Funding for the Medicaid program for the poor, for example, has been capped by Washington, spurring island officials to borrow heavily through municipal bonds. Read the Special Report here: reut.rs/2e4T00o

Summary: प्यूर्टो रिको को तत्काल कांग्रेस कार्रवाई की आवश्यकता हैः अमेरिकी कोषागार, स्वास्थ्य प्रमुख