BRUSSELS (Reuters) - The president of the European Parliament on Thursday called on Myanmar to protect media freedoms and urged its government to release two Reuters journalists arrested this week.  I hope the authorities in Myanmar will free them as soon as possible,  Antonio Tajani told reporters during an EU summit in Brussels.  Light should be shed on this case and human rights and press freedom should be respected.  A former journalist, the Italian conservative politician said the arrests of Wa Lone and Kyaw Soe Oo, who had been working on stories about a military crackdown on the Rohingya Muslim minority, increased the EU s concerns over the Rohingya crisis.  The EU has sanctions in place against Myanmar barring the sale of arms and equipment that can be used for repression. In response to the Rohingya crisis, in October it also suspended invitations to Myanmar military officers. The EU legislature has a limited role in foreign policy. The Union s executive is also looking into the arrests of the journalists. Its mission in Myanmar said in a statement:  We call on the Myanmar authorities to ensure the full protection of their rights. Media freedom is the foundation of any democracy.

Summary: यूरोपीय संघ की संसद ने म्यांमार से रॉयटर्स के पत्रकारों को रिहा करने का आह्वान किया


NEW YORK (Reuters) - Presidential candidate Donald Trump admires the late Douglas MacArthur and George Patton, both World War Two generals. They were winners,  unpredictable, and not especially nice guys, he says in campaign speeches. But Trump’s pledge to imitate their styles sets modern-day military experts on edge.  Although unquestionably in the pantheon of U.S. military heroes, MacArthur and Patton were also controversial figures remembered by historians as flamboyant self-promoters. The commander in the Pacific, MacArthur was eventually fired by President Harry Truman for speaking out against Truman’s policies in the Korean War, which followed World War Two. Before Patton died in December 1945, he questioned the need to remove Nazis from key posts in postwar German politics and society. As Trump edges closer to the Republican nomination for the Nov. 8 election, he likely will face more pointed questions about the policy ideas behind his sweeping statements. His main Republican rivals Ted Cruz and Marco Rubio have offered far more details about their foreign policy visions as has Hillary Clinton, front-runner for the Democratic nomination. Born in 1946, a year after World War Two ended, Trump often praises MacArthur and Patton for the blunt ways he says they commanded respect. “George Patton was one of the roughest guys, he would talk rough to his men,” Trump told an audience last week in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. “His men would die for him,” Trump added. “We don’t have that anymore.” He said Patton would wipe out Islamic State without hesitation were he still in command.  But military historians and retired generals say Trump has an inflated view of the two military men and especially their relevance to an era of modern warfare when armies rely more on technology and when battle successes and failures and civilian casualties are communicated far more rapidly than when MacArthur and Patton commanded troops 70 years ago. The candidate’s spokeswoman Hope Hicks said Trump made a habit of citing the two World War Two figures to “emphasize the need to strengthen the U.S. military, talk less and do more to protect America.” She declined to comment on the criticisms. She said Trump had consulted military experts, but declined to say how many, who they were or whether they were retired or active. Trump was unavailable for an interview. Interviewed by Reuters, recently retired military personnel voiced doubts about Trump’s grasp of U.S. military operations. One retired four-star general called Trump’s references to Patton and MacArthur “bumper sticker foolishness.” Another said Trump was comparing “apples to oranges” by likening America’s role in World War Two to the fight against Islamic State.  “He has no understanding of how it works, at least in my view,” said an aide to a third retired four-star general. “He makes these bold statements and one-liners, but that doesn’t     translate into understanding what it takes to be a military leader, what it takes to develop a plan.” All three criticized as inflammatory Trump’s recounting, at a Feb. 19 rally in Charleston, South Carolina, of a myth about World War One General John Pershing ordering the execution of alleged Muslim insurgents in the Philippines by shooting them with bullets dipped in pig’s blood, an extra offense to Muslims because Islamic law prohibits the consumption of pork.  Trump often says that in the spirit of MacArthur and Patton, he never wants to reveal his specific plans for military operations, since that would give the enemy a chance to prepare and counterattack. “I don’t want my generals being interviewed,” he said in Myrtle Beach.  Trump’s statement had an irony about it, given his oft-repeated comment that he knows what military experts have to say from their interviews on television. But historians said the comment also showed he has little understanding of just how often MacArthur and Patton spoke to the press.  “They were the media whores of their time,” said Daniel Drezner, a professor at International politics at the Fletcher School of Law & Diplomacy at Tufts University who often writes on national security. He said anyone vaguely familiar with Patton by way of the 1970 George C. Scott film “Patton” would know he got into trouble for remarks that were politically controversial.

Summary: द्वितीय विश्व युद्ध के जनरलों के प्रति ट्रम्प का जुनून इतिहासकारों के साथ खट्टा टिप्पणी करता है


LONDON (Reuters) - A financial transaction tax proposed by Britain s opposition Labour Party would risk the competitiveness of London s financial center, the City of London Corporation said on Sunday, calling for the proposal to be scrapped. The leftist Labour Party, which is holding its annual conference in southern English town of Brighton, has advocated a so-called  Robin Hood  tax to levy charges on bond and derivative trades. It says the tax could raise 4.7 billion pounds ($6.34 billion) to fund higher public spending.  But the City of London Corporation, the body which administers policy in the central London financial district, criticized the policy.  A financial transactions tax, however described, would be a unilateral policy which would weaken our hand and undermine our competitiveness,  said the corporation s Policy Chairman, Catherine McGuinness. Labour lost a general election in 2017, and one is not scheduled until 2022, but Labour is banking on Prime Minister Theresa May s government falling sooner and has briefed financial institutions on its plan in recent months. On the first main day of his party s conference, Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn was asked about his approach to taxation said:  I don t think I m worried about taxing the super rich and the super wealthy.   The objective surely has to be stronger economic base for everybody in this country and dealing with the waste of poverty and inequality,  he told the BBC.

Summary: लंदन के वित्तपोषकों ने ब्रिटेन की विपक्षी पार्टी से कहा, नए बैंकिंग कर के लिए योजना को रद्द करें


MANILA (Reuters) - Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte on Wednesday said he planned to raise the issue of conflicting claims in the South China Sea at an Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) meeting in Vietnam, and ask China its real intentions. He added that it was time for Manila to clarify with Beijing if Southeast Asian countries were allowed to freely navigate the disputed strategic waterway through which about $3 trillion in trade passes every year.  So it s about time, either in the bilateral or in the plenary, I should be bringing this important matter to the surface,  Duterte told a news conference prior to his departure for Vietnam s central city of Danang, the site of the meeting.

Summary: फिलीपींस के दुतेर्ते एशिया-प्रशांत शिखर सम्मेलन में चीन के साथ समुद्री विवाद उठाएंगे


JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - South Africa s ruling African National Congress (ANC) needs to put an end to scandals that are tarnishing its image, an ANC official said, after a court ruling that paved the way for President Jacob Zuma to face nearly 800 counts of corruption. Zweli Mkhize, one of the ANC s  top six  leaders, also called for an end to factionalism within the party at a public lecture late on Friday, saying it was playing into the hands of the opposition.  Mkhize is in the running to replace Zuma as ANC leader at the party s elective conference in December, and his campaign has been gathering momentum in recent weeks. The battle between the two frontrunners for ANC leader - Deputy President Cyril Ramaphosa and Nkosazana Dlamini Zuma, an ex-wife of Zuma and former chairwoman of the African Union - has bitterly divided the party that has governed South Africa since the end of white minority rule in 1994. Affable and a long-serving cadre, Mkhize is touted as a compromise candidate who could soothe tensions between the party s primary factions. He is also well-liked by investors unnerved by the party s swing toward populist policies.  We see fractions and divisions in the regions, at the national level. And you ve got court cases all over,  Mkhize told ANC supporters packed into a hall in the Kagiso township to the west of Johannesburg.   We need to say to each other enough is enough. ... The image of the African National Congress rests on the behaviour of its own leaders,  Mkhize said. Earlier on Friday, South Africa s Supreme Court of Appeal upheld a High Court ruling reinstating 783 corruption charges against Zuma from before he became president. Zuma, who has denied numerous other corruption allegations since taking office, has asked prosecutors to  consider representations  before deciding whether to proceed against him. Mkhize avoided mentioning Zuma by name in his speech in Kagiso. He hails from Zuma s home province of Kwa-Zulu Natal and was formerly a staunch Zuma supporter. Asked whether Zuma should step down as president after a new ANC leader is elected in December, Mkhize said that would be up to the party to decide.  Zuma s term as president ends in 2019, when South Africa next holds a general election, but his predecessor Thabo Mbeki was ousted before the end of his term in 2008 after losing out in a power struggle with Zuma.  We believe the ANC is strong enough to survive all of this, and we want to be able to show that the ANC is serious about acting on corruption,  Mkhize said.

Summary: दक्षिण अफ्रीका की एएनसी को घोटालों को समाप्त करने की आवश्यकता हैः अधिकारी


ANKARA (Reuters) - Iran accused France on Friday of fuelling tension in the Middle East by taking a  biased  stance on Tehran s regional policy, and President Emmanuel Macron said Tehran misunderstood its  balanced  position.     It seems that France has a biased view toward the ongoing crises and humanitarian catastrophes in the Middle East,  Foreign Ministry spokesman Bahram Qasemi was quoted as saying by state TV.  This view fuels regional conflicts, whether intentionally or unintentionally.  French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian said on Thursday France was worried about Iran s involvement in the Middle East crisis and its disputed ballistic missile program.   Iran s role and the different areas where this country operates worries us,  Le Drian told a joint news conference with his Saudi counterpart Adel Jubeir in Riyadh.  I am thinking in particular of Iran s interventions in regional crises, this hegemonic temptation and I m thinking of its ballistic program,  he said. Iran has repeatedly rejected France s call for talks on its missile program, saying it is defensive and unrelated to its 2015 nuclear agreement with world powers. Asked at an EU summit in Gothenburg about Iran s accusations, Macron said Tehran misunderstood France s  balanced  position of talking to everyone and not taking sides between Sunni and Shi ite Muslims.  Our wish is that Iran has a less aggressive strategy in the region and that we can clarify its ballistic missile strategy which seems to be uncontrolled,  he said.  Iran is a power that we wish to have a dialogue with and that we will continue to talk to.  Paris suggested this week that new European Union sanctions against Iran could be discussed over its missile tests. But EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini seemed to dismiss that idea on Tuesday. Shi ite-dominated Iran and its regional arch-rival Sunni Saudi Arabia are involved in proxy wars across the region, backing opposite sides in Syria, Yemen, Iraq and Lebanon. Jubeir told Reuters on Thursday that the kingdom s actions in the Middle East were a response to what he called the  aggression  of Iran. Qasemi said Jubeir was repeating baseless claims, the state news agency IRNA reported on Friday.   Saudi Arabia s foreign minister s gestures and his blame game will definitely not reduce the responsibility of this country in undermining the regional stability and security,  Qasemi said.

Summary: ईरान का कहना है कि फ्रांस का 'पक्षपाती' रुख मध्य पूर्व की स्थिरता के लिए खतरा है


BRASILIA (Reuters) - Brazilian President Michel Temer will shuffle his cabinet in March and likely exclude members of his main allied party after many of its lawmakers turned against him this week, a senior government source said on Friday. The source, who asked not to be named because he was not authorized to speak on the matter, said he did not expect the Brazilian Social Democracy Party (PSDB) to be part of the future government.  The reshuffle follows the biggest revolt yet against Temer s 13-month government when the majority of PSDB lower-house deputies on Wednesday voted to put him on trial over corruption charges. The PSDB plans to field its own presidential candidate next year and may well quit Temer s coalition of its own accord as the elections draw closer, the source said. Though the lower house voted to shelve a corruption case against Temer, the upheaval in his ruling coalition is likely to derail Temer s plans to plug a budget deficit to help Brazil recover from its worst ever recession.  The planned cabinet changes will take place as ministers have to leave the cabinet by April to run in October elections.  Smaller allied parties have asked Temer to eject the PSDB from his government. It currently holds four cabinet posts. The source said Foreign Minister Aloysio Nunes, a member of the PSDB, might stay on even if his party leaves the government. Temer, whose popularity is at rock bottom, has no plans to run for re-election. His centrist Brazilian Democratic Movement Party (PMDB), Brazil s largest, has generally entered governments through coalitions with other parties and rarely fielded its own presidential candidate. Government officials expect the economy to pick up and grow at 3 percent by mid-2018, which would improve the PDMB s chances should it choose to do so. Such a candidate would likely be someone from outside the party and have to be untarnished by the corruption scandals battering Brazil s political class, the source said.

Summary: ब्राजील के टेमर मार्च में मंत्रिमंडल में फेरबदल करेंगे, मुख्य सहयोगी बाहरः सूत्र


WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Republican Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said on Saturday that the next U.S. president should be the one to nominate a justice to fill the vacancy left on the Supreme Court by the death of Antonin Scalia. “The American people should have a voice in the selection of their next Supreme Court justice. Therefore, this vacancy should not be filled until we have a new president,” McConnell said in a statement.

Summary: सीनेट के नेता मैककोनेल कहते हैं कि स्कैलिया को बदलने का इंतजार करें


WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States on Thursday slapped sanctions on seven Iranian individuals and two entities, alleging involvement in either malicious cyber activities or enabling Tehran s ballistic missile program. The action, announced on the U.S. Treasury Department s website, freezes any assets they may hold in the United States and prohibits U.S. individuals from doing business with them. (Corrects first paragraph to say ballistic missile program, not nuclear program.)

Summary: अमेरिका ने सात ईरानी व्यक्तियों, दो संस्थाओं पर प्रतिबंध लगाए


MADRID (Reuters) - Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy on Friday ruled out calling a national election after Catalan separatists won a regional vote, thwarting his bid to resolve the country s biggest political crisis in decades.  Rajoy had gambled on unionist parties taking control of Catalonia s regional government, which he sacked in October for illegally pursuing independence from Spain. Rajoy, speaking at a news conference, said he would make an effort to hold talks with the new Catalan government. However, he did not clarify whether he would be willing to meet deposed Catalan President Carles Puigdemont, who is in self-imposed exile in Brussels and whose party retained its position as the largest separatist force.

Summary: स्पेन के राजोय ने कैटेलोनिया के नाराज होने के बाद राष्ट्रीय चुनाव से इनकार किया


BERLIN (Reuters) - A senior member of Germany s pro-business Free Democrats (FDP), a potential coalition partner for Chancellor Angela Merkel, generally welcomed French President Emmanuel Macron s European Union speech but criticized his proposal to create a joint euro zone budget.  This was a courageous speech by President Macron, even if not all of his proposals meet approval of the FDP,  said Alexander Graf Lambsdorff, FDP leader in the EU legislature. While Lambsdorff welcomed Macron s call to strengthen military cooperation in the EU and seize the opportunities of digitization, he rejected the idea of a join euro zone budget.  The problem in Europe is not a lack of public funds, but the lack of reform. A euro zone budget would set exactly the wrong incentives,  he said.

Summary: जर्मन एफ. डी. पी. ने संयुक्त यूरो क्षेत्र बजट बनाने के मैक्रों के आह्वान को अस्वीकार कर दिया


BRUSSELS (Reuters) - Austria s likely next chancellor assured European Union leaders on Thursday of his support for the EU, allaying concerns that his country would become a dissonant voice in the bloc with the far right expected to enter its government. Sebastian Kurz of the mainstream conservative OVP party won a parliamentary election on Sunday after campaigning on an anti-immigration platform, and a coalition with the far-right Freedom Party (FPO) is widely anticipated. Arriving at a meeting of conservative EU leaders, the 31-year-old Kurz said he would speak to all parties in the Austrian parliament before deciding on a governing partner.  Any government I form will be a pro-European one,  Kurz, who has been the Alpine republic s foreign minister since 2013, told reporters.  I m not just glad we have this European Union, but I also see it as the responsibility of my younger generation to actively engage and shape the EU in a positive way.   Kurz, who will not represent Austria at regular EU summits until he forms a government, also met European Council President Donald Tusk and European Commission chief Jean-Claude Juncker. Tusk, a former Polish prime minister, hailed Kurz on Twitter as a  truly pro-European winner of the Austrian elections . Austria became a member of the European Union in 1995 after a two-thirds majority voted to join the bloc. Recent opinion polls show three-quarters of Austrians want the affluent country to remain a member of the EU. The FPO, which won over a quarter of Austria s vote to the conservatives  nearly 32 percent, gained from public unease over a large influx of mostly Muslim migrants into Europe in 2015. Once anti-EU, the FPO now professes to be pro-Europe but wants Brussels to hand back more powers to member states.

Summary: चुनाव विजेता ने ब्रसेल्स से कहा, ऑस्ट्रिया यूरोपीय समर्थक बना रहेगा


BRUSSELS (Reuters) - British and EU negotiators talked up hopes for progress on Brexit as a new round of talks began in Brussels on Monday, three days after Prime Minister Theresa May tried to revive the process and improve the mood. But neither side disguised continued frustrations: the European Union s Michel Barnier dismissed talk of Britain diverging from EU rules during any post-Brexit transition 18 months from now; Brexit minister David Davis urged him to stop stalling talks on future trade relations if he wants London to settle its accounts.  The UK will honor commitments we have made during the period of our membership,  Davis told reporters as he met Barnier.  But it is obvious that reaching a conclusion on this issue can only be done in the context of and in accordance with a new deep and special partnership with the European Union.   We are laying down concrete proposals and there are no excuses for standing in the way of progress,  he said, echoing May s remark in Florence on Friday that other states would not lose out financially in the current EU budget cycle to 2020. Barnier said he wants to know this week what firm proposal Britain is making on settling its bills, one of the three main issues on which he is seeking  significant progress  before he will recommend that EU leaders launch talks on future relations. Barnier emphasized that a future deal and a transition to it were not foregone conclusions. And he rejected suggestions that some EU rules might no longer apply if Britain stays in the single market for a couple of years after Brexit.  Without exception,  he said, Britain would remain subject to EU budgets, judges and so on   a bitter pill for many Brexit supporters. He and Davis, meeting for the fourth round of talks in three months, both portrayed this week as an important moment; as it happens, the round is likely to wind up on Thursday just hours before May meets her fellow leaders at a summit in Estonia. The Estonian minister who chaired a preparatory meeting on Monday for that summit said during a news conference with Barnier that the 27 were entirely united and insisted on the negotiations going through Barnier. However, London hopes that progress in the talks can persuade leaders when they next meet in mid-October to give a green light to talks on future trade. Sunday s German election has raised questions on whether the weakening of Chancellor Angela Merkel, Europe s power broker, may affect the EU s calculations on Brexit. But EU officials saw no indication Berlin would stray from Merkel s call for close ties with Britain but rejection of special favors to London. In a bid to unblock the divorce talks, along with her words on settling budget commitments, May also offered a concession to EU concerns that the rights of their 3 million citizens living in Britain would be protected after Brexit. Davis said those rights, set out in the UK-EU withdrawal treaty, would be fully incorporated into British law   though the EU position remains that expatriates should be entitled to appeal to the EU court. The third key issue to be settled before the EU will agree to trade talks is on handling the sensitive border on the island of Ireland. Davis and Barnier renewed pledges to find solutions, though little detail has emerged on where those may lie and both sides acknowledge that much will depend on future trade terms.

Summary: मई के भाषण के बाद ब्रेक्सिट वार्ता फिर से शुरू होने की उम्मीद और निराशा


(Reuters) - New abortion regulations took effect on Tuesday in Missouri that critics argue will make it more difficult for women to access the procedure. A judge on Monday declined to block a requirement that physicians performing abortions inform their patients about abortion risks at least 72 hours before their procedure. Previously, a different provider could give that mandated information. That means repeat doctor visits for women seeking abortions, some of whom must travel hundreds of miles to reach one of Missouri’s three clinics, said Bonyen Lee-Gilmore, a spokeswoman for Planned Parenthood Great Plains. There is also a shortage of abortion doctors, she said. The organization had sued to stop the new regulations because of the provider requirement. “This is about making it as difficult as possible to obtain an abortion,” Lee-Gilmore said in a phone interview on Tuesday. “Abortion access is chipped away one seemingly moderate restriction at a time.” Missouri Attorney General Josh Hawley praised the law in a statement issued late on Monday, saying, “SB5 enacts sensible regulations that protect the health of women in Missouri and we will continue to vigorously defend these.” The provider restriction was part of broader abortion regulations that went into effect on Monday after they were passed by Missouri lawmakers during a July special session called by Republican Governor Eric Greitens.  Among other things, the law gives the attorney general power to enforce abortion laws, requires annual surprise inspections of clinics and exempts pregnancy resource centers, which counsel against abortions, from a local St. Louis law banning employers from discriminating against those who have had an abortion. Critics of the St. Louis ordinance believed it could require the centers to hire workers who favor abortion rights. The legislative session was called after a federal judge in April blocked requirements for clinics to meet standards for surgical centers and for doctors to have hospital privileges as unconstitutional barriers to access. Since then, doctors in Missouri, formerly one of seven states down to only one clinic providing abortions, have begun offering them at three locations, in St. Louis, Columbia and Kansas City. But the new regulation offsets the benefits of those new locations, Lee-Gilmore said. U.S. state legislatures enacted 41 new abortion restrictions in the first half of 2017, according to the Guttmacher Institute, a reproductive health think tank that supports abortion rights.

Summary: कानूनी लड़ाई के बाद मिसौरी में गर्भपात के सख्त नियम लागू हुए


BEIJING (Reuters) - China and the United States have common interests but the relationship needs careful handling, Chinese state-run media said on Wednesday ahead of U.S. President Donald Trump’s visit to Beijing. North Korea and trade are expected to dominate Trump’s trip, with the U.S. leader likely to push Chinese President Xi Jinping to do more to rein in Pyongyang’s nuclear and missile programs and address China’s large trade surplus with the United States. The ruling Communist Party’s official People’s Daily said in a commentary that as China becomes strong, it won’t repeat “old fashioned zero-sum thinking” in handling ties, but will work with the United States to construct a cooperative and mutually profitable relationship with no conflict. “In realizing the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula, and protecting peace and stability on the Korean Peninsula, China and the United States have common interests,” it said. “The two sides should respect one another’s interests, maintain close communication and consultation, and make unremitting efforts to promote a thorough resolution of the Korean Peninsula nuclear issue.” Trump heads to China later on Wednesday after visiting Japan and South Korea in the first legs of his marathon Asian tour. Trump’s attempt to make a surprise visit to the heavily fortified border separating North Korea and South Korea was aborted on Wednesday after dense fog prevented his helicopter from landing at the doorstep of the North Korean nuclear standoff. The China Daily, in an editorial which preceded the announcement of the abortive Trump trip to the border, said Trump not going to the Demilitarised Zone (DMZ) and North Korea not recently carrying out any nuclear or missile tests was a “hopeful sign that both prefer to find a peaceful solution to their predicaments”.  China has promised a “state visit plus” for Trump, and while having not released any details, Beijing is attaching great importance to the visit. Trump is expected to go to the Forbidden City, possibly guided by Xi. “Such hospitality is rarely seen in modern China,” influential tabloid the Global Times, published by the People’s Daily, said in its editorial.  “Beijing’s enthusiasm reflects the most positive part of the attitude that the diversified world holds toward the U.S., and the realistic international outlook of the rising China.”

Summary: ट्रंप की यात्रा से पहले अमेरिकी संबंधों को लेकर उत्साहित है चीनी मीडिया


(Reuters) - At least 12 women have accused U.S. Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump of sexual advances and groping. Among his accusers are a Miss Utah beauty pageant winner, a businesswoman, a reporter and a receptionist. He has denied the accusations. In a 2005 video that emerged on Oct. 7, Trump boasted about grabbing women by the genitals and kissing them without their consent. In a U.S. presidential debate on Oct. 9, he said he was embarrassed by what he called “locker-room talk” but had not engaged in the conduct he described in the video.  Trump has called “absolutely false” the allegations by several women of groping and other misconduct, reported by The New York Times and other news media. At a rally this month, after two more women made accusations of groping, he denounced all the recent allegations by a series of women, calling them fabrications and calling the women “sick.”  Following are some of the allegations against Trump:  Jessica Leeds, 74, recounted in a video interview posted on The New York Times website on Oct. 12 that Trump grabbed her breasts and tried to put his hand up her skirt on a flight to New York in or around 1980 when she was a 38-year-old traveling businesswoman. In a tweet and in a later speech on Oct. 13, Trump called the Times story a total fabrication. Kristin Anderson, in a video posted on the website of The Washington Post on Oct. 14, said Trump put his hand up her skirt in a crowded New York nightclub in the early 1990s in an unwanted advance, when she had never even met him. “He did touch my vagina through my underwear, absolutely,” Anderson said in the video interview. Jill Harth, a former Trump beauty pageant business associate, filed a $125 million lawsuit in 1997 against Trump alleging that on Jan. 24, 1993, at Trump’s Florida estate, Mar-a-Lago, Trump “forcibly removed plaintiff to a bedroom, whereupon defendant subjected plaintiff to defendant’s unwanted sexual advances.” A Trump spokesperson was quoted on Oct. 7 in The New York Times as saying, “Mr. Trump denies each and every statement made by Ms. Harth.” The lawsuit was dropped in May 1997. Temple Taggart, a former Miss Utah, said that Trump twice kissed her on the lips in greeting while she was a contestant for the Miss USA pageant in 1997, when she was 21 years old. “What he did made me feel so uncomfortable that I ended up cutting my trip short, bought my own plane ticket, flew home and never spoke to him again,” Taggart said at an Oct. 28 press conference in Salt Lake City with her attorney, Gloria Allred. Cathy Heller said that Trump in 1997 tried to kiss her during a Mother’s Day brunch at Mar-A-Lago. Heller, her husband, her three children and her in-laws attended the event. When she was introduced to Trump, “He took my hand, and grabbed me, and went for the lips,” she told The Guardian newspaper. She said she leaned backward to avoid him and almost lost her balance. “And he said, ‘Oh, come on.’ He was strong. And he grabbed me and went for my mouth and went for my lips.” She said she turned her head and Trump kissed her on the side of the mouth. Yoga instructor Karena Virginia, at a news conference in New York City in October, said Trump approached her outside the U.S. Open tennis tournament in 1998. They had never met, and she was 27 years old, she said. She alleged that Trump commented on her legs and then touched her breast before she was able to get into a car and be driven away. Trump campaign spokeswoman Jessica Ditto said the accusation was a publicity-seeking attack coordinated with Democratic opponent Hillary Clinton, and added: “Voters are tired of these circus-like antics and reject these fictional stories.” Mindy McGillivray was cited in an article published in The Palm Beach Post on Oct. 12 that while she was a 23-year-old   photographer’s assistant at a Jan. 24, 2003, event at Mar-a-Lago, Trump had grabbed her buttocks. The Palm Beach Post cited a Trump spokesperson as saying, “This allegation lacks any merit or veracity.” Rachel Crooks, formerly a receptionist at a real estate firm, told The New York Times in a report published on Oct. 12   that Trump “kissed me directly on the mouth” in 2005 at Trump Tower in Manhattan when she was 22. In a tweet and in a later speech on Oct. 13, Trump called the Times story a total fabrication. Natasha Stoynoff, a reporter, wrote a first-person account that described Trump kissing her without her consent in December 2005 at Mar-a-Lago while she was working on an article about him and his third wife, Melania, for People magazine. In the account published by People on Oct. 12, Stoynoff said “he was pushing me against the wall and forcing his tongue down my throat.” In a tweet and in a later speech on Oct. 13, Trump said the episode described did not happen. Summer Zervos, who was a contestant on Trump’s reality show “The Apprentice” in 2006, said at a news conference on Oct. 14 in Las Vegas that Trump tried to get her to lie down on a bed with him when she met him in 2007 to discuss a possible job. Zervos said she complied with a request to sit next to Trump, and, “He then grabbed my shoulder and began kissing me very aggressively and placed his hand on my breast.” Trump at a rally in North Carolina denounced the allegations made by a series of women in recent days, calling them fabrications. Ninni Laaksonen, a former Miss Finland, accused Trump of groping her in 2006 when she was representing her country in the Miss Universe beauty contest. Laaksonen told the Ilta-Sanomat newspaper that he had grabbed her behind before she appeared on a television show in New York with other contestants. “He really grabbed my butt. I don’t think anybody saw it but I flinched and thought: ‘What is happening?’,” she was quoted as saying in the newspaper.  Jessica Drake, an adult film actor, accused Trump of pressuring her to have sex with him 10 years ago when they met at a golf tournament. After, she said, a man, possibly Trump, called to offer her $10,000 if she would have sex with him, which she declined. Trump’s campaign said the accusations were false.

Summary: फैक्टबॉक्सः जिन महिलाओं ने ट्रम्प पर अनुचित व्यवहार का आरोप लगाया है


ERIMO, Japan (Reuters) - Ever since North Korea lobbed two missiles far above this windswept fishing town on Japan s northern island of Hokkaido, seaweed farmer Mitsuyo Kawamura says she s been on edge.  Now when I hear a loud sound, I look outside, I look out at the ocean,  68-year-old Kawamura said from her seaside cottage in Erimo, where she lays out long dark strands of kombu seaweed on stones to dry in the sun.  I feel anxious, like I never know when it will come again.  As Japan prepares to vote in Sunday s national election,   Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has called North Korea s escalating threats   it also conducted a sixth nuclear test last month   a  national crisis  that only he can lead Japan through. Yet the missiles that flew over Erimo on Aug. 29 and Sept. 15 created an eerie threat: No one saw or heard them. They streaked by several hundred kilometers above land, too high to see with the naked eye, before splashing into the Pacific more than 1,000 kilometers (600 miles) to the east.  Warnings of the missiles spread through sirens and government-issued  J-alerts  on millions of cell phones throughout Japan, jolting some out of sleep. Kawamura has since stocked up on extra food and keeps the radio on to listen for more warnings. Like many residents here   and across Japan   she feels helpless, unsure of how to protect herself.  When it s launched, it could land here just moments later,  she said.  There s nowhere to hide.  Abe s rhetoric has grown harsher as North Korea has threatened to  sink  Japan and seems intent on developing nuclear warheads that can reach the U.S. mainland. He has repeatedly backed U.S. President Donald Trump s  all-options-on-the-table  stance and says now is not the time for dialogue.  They promised in 1994 and again in 2005 that they would abandon their nuclear program. But they have broken their word and developed nuclear devices and missiles,  Abe said at a campaign rally last week.  We re not going to be deceived anymore.  To protect itself, Japan has deployed 34 Patriot PAC-3 anti-missile batteries around the country, including one in Hokkaido, and Aegis defense systems on several destroyers. U.S. forces in Japan also have ballistic missile defense equipment that can   if all goes well   take out a missile in mid-flight. The rockets thrust tiny Erimo, population 4,850, into the global spotlight. Maps on TV broadcasts showed the missiles  flight paths over nearby Cape Erimo, a jagged point that juts into the Pacific where seals frolic. At the town s docks, where fishermen sorted through the morning s haul of salmon, tossing them into vats of ice water, strong support for Abe was mixed with worries that he s too strident, putting Japan at risk.  Right now, no one s better than Abe,  said Satoru Narita, a 72-year-old fisherman. If anything, Japan has been too passive, said 23-year-old Ryosuke Kinoshita, who supports Abe s ruling Liberal Democratic Party.  Next time they launch one, I d almost like to see us fire one back,  he said.  We can t live in peace and safety.  But Haruki Suminoya, head of Erimo s fishing union, cautioned that being overly aggressive could provoke North Korea  into lashing out.  Abe s approach is too strong, too hardline,  he said.  A more restrained approach is better.  The recent war of words between Trump and North Korea unsettled many residents, who pointed out they were a much closer target than the United States. While pressure was needed toward North Korea, being too tough could be disastrous, said Mayor Masaki Ohnishi.  If North Korea does something serious, Japan is within shooting range.  So far, it seems that Abe is winning over voters. Nationwide polls show the LDP is headed for a big win this weekend. Erimo residents were divided on Abe s signature policy of  revising Japan s war-renouncing constitution to clarify the status of the country s military. Critics worry that it could lead to an expanded role for the armed forces overseas and entangle it in U.S.-led conflicts. But Shinto priest Hirotaka Tezuka, 39, said the constitution had grown outdated.  We need a constitution that s better suited to the present era.  Yoshihiro Naito, 77, opposed the idea.  The commitment we ve made not to wage war has kept Japan safe.  He plans to vote for an opposition party because he thinks Abe and the LDP have become too powerful.  Town officials said they have not taken any particular precautionary steps following the recent missile launches, nor do they plan any  duck and cover  drills that have been held elsewhere. The town has loud speakers on 50 tall poles to broadcast warnings for tsunamis, typhoons   and now missiles. In recent months, they have installed wireless units in 1,500 of the 2,200 homes so people can hear them when they are indoors.  Erimo also has emergency stocks of food, water and other supplies, the mayor said. That s particularly important for Erimo because it is linked to the rest of Hokkaido by only one coast-hugging road, which gets closed several times a year due to heavy rains or massive waves. Local fishermen are nervous about North Korea s warning that it might conduct a hydrogen bomb test over the Pacific, which they worry would contaminate the water like the Fukushima nuclear disaster did in 2011.  The radiation would make all the fish inedible,  said Narita, the elderly fisherman.  Like in Fukushima, we couldn t do our jobs.  The town s dwindling fishing industry has already been hit hard by a plunge in the salmon catch as well as by a dearth of youngsters to take over the trade. When young people move away to cities such as Sapporo, Hokkaido s capital, sometimes their parents follow them, residents said. Erimo s population, which peaked above 9,000 in the 1960s, has fallen to nearly half that level.  We re a fishing town,  said Naito,  so if we can t catch fish any more, we re finished.

Summary: 'अब छिपने के लिए कहीं नहीं': उत्तर कोरियाई मिसाइलों ने जापान के मछली पकड़ने वाले शहर में चिंता बढ़ा दी


WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Senate Intelligence Committee issued a subpoena on Wednesday demanding documents related to Russia from President Donald Trump’s former national security adviser Michael Flynn, ramping up its monthslong investigation of Moscow’s alleged meddling in the 2016 U.S. election. In a joint statement, Senators Richard Burr, the committee’s Republican chairman, and Mark Warner, its top Democrat, said the committee had first requested the documents from Flynn in a April 28 letter, but the retired lieutenant general had declined, through counsel, to cooperate with the committee’s request. It was the first subpoena announced by the committee in its investigation. Warner said on Tuesday that the committee has been receiving documents as it investigates allegations that Russia sought to influence the U.S. election, something Moscow denies. But he told Reuters that some people were not complying “so we were going to take next steps.” The Trump administration denies any collusion with Russia. Flynn has been a focus of investigations into Russia and the election. He was forced to resign in February as Trump’s national security adviser for failing to disclose the content of his talks with Sergey Kislyak, Russia’s ambassador to the United States, and then misleading Vice President Mike Pence about the conversations.  Former Acting U.S. Attorney General Sally Yates testified at a high-profile hearing on Monday that she had warned the White House in January that Flynn had been compromised and could have been vulnerable to blackmail by Russia. The subpoena was announced a day after Trump abruptly fired FBI Director James Comey, who had been leading the bureau’s investigation of Russia and the election. Comey’s firing prompted a storm of criticism from Democrats, who accused the president of seeking to stall the probe. Some of Trump’s fellow Republicans, including Burr, also expressed strong doubts about the timing of Trump’s action.

Summary: सीनेट समिति ने रूस को लेकर ट्रम्प के पूर्व सलाहकार फ्लिन को सम्मन भेजा


WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. presidential candidate Donald Trump on Wednesday escalated a fight with Fox News, using the word “bimbo” in a derogatory tweet about anchorwoman Megyn Kelly after pulling out of a debate only days before the first nominating contest of the 2016 campaign. Trump on Tuesday withdrew from the televised encounter, scheduled for Thursday night in Des Moines, Iowa, in irritation at host Fox News (FOXA.O) for allowing Kelly to moderate after her questioning angered him in a debate last year.     The real estate magnate, who is the Republican front-runner to win the nomination for the Nov. 8 presidential election, followed up with another round of insults on Wednesday. “I refuse to call Megyn Kelly a bimbo, because that would not be politically correct,” he wrote on Twitter. “Instead I will only call her a lightweight reporter!” In a later interview on Fox News’s “The O’Reilly Factor,” he told host Bill O’Reilly that she was “highly overrated.” “I have zero respect for Megyn Kelly. I don’t think she’s very good at what she does,” Trump said. Trump’s Republican presidential rivals were quick to criticize the former reality TV star, with U.S. Senator Ted Cruz of Texas blistering him in a series of tweets and accusing him of “trembling at being questioned by Kelly.” At an event in West Des Moines, Iowa, Cruz openly mocked Trump, calling him a “fragile soul” and “gentle,” and renewed his offer to debate Trump one-on-one Saturday evening. “It’s not that he’s afraid of me,” Cruz said to the crowd. “He’s afraid of you. He doesn’t want to answer questions from the men and women of Iowa about how his record doesn’t match what he’s selling.” Another Republican hopeful, U.S. Senator Rand Paul of Kentucky, told Fox News that he welcomed Trump’s absence from the debate stage because it means “we don’t have to put up with a lot of empty blather and boastfulness and calling people names.” Trump’s decision means the last televised debate before Monday’s Iowa caucuses - which kick off the state-by-state nominating race to choose candidates for the presidential election - will not feature the man who has dominated the Republican race for months and leads many opinion polls. It was seen as a bold gamble. Trump has said that in lieu of his debate participation he will hold a fundraiser for veterans. It will be held at Drake University in Des Moines and begin at the same time Thursday as the Fox debate, according to an invitation his campaign circulated Wednesday evening.  “It’s a risky move; it’s very high profile,” said Craig Robinson, a former Iowa state party official. “But I’m not sure  it will really change anyone’s mind about Trump.”        Trump has been feuding with Fox News since the network hosted the first Republican debate in August, in which Kelly asked Trump about his treatment of women, prompting a stream of insults from the candidate and complaints he was not being treated fairly. He did not renew his attacks on Kelly during an evening rally in Gilbert, South Carolina, but told supporters to watch a rerun of the Fox interview, which he called a “tough interview,” when they got home. Cruz, Trump’s main rival in Iowa, used the hashtag #DuckingDonald to make fun of Trump for ducking out of the debate and tweeted a mocked-up picture of Trump’s head on Scrooge McDuck’s body sitting on a pile of money. Cruz, a conservative and a debating champion in college, tweeted a link to “duckingdonald.com,” which asked visitors to sign a petition in favor of Cruz and Trump having a side debate. New Jersey Governor Chris Christie, another Republican presidential contender, described Trump’s decision at such a crucial time as “a big mistake” that calls into question his ability to be president. “Anytime you get a podium and a microphone and 15-20 million people watching in an election campaign, you should take it,” Christie told Boston Herald Radio. Another Republican candidate, U.S. Senator Marco Rubio of Florida, said he wanted to focus on keeping the party united in order to beat Hillary Clinton, the former secretary of state, if she becomes the Democratic nominee. “These kinds of theatrics by Ted Cruz and Donald Trump are an entertaining sideshow, but they have nothing to do with defeating Hillary Clinton,” Rubio said. Not every candidate was convinced Trump would follow through on his pledge to stay away. “He apparently is not going to come to the debate, although I’ve got a $20 bet he’ll show up,” former Florida Governor Jeb Bush said at a town hall meeting in response to a question. “Poor little Donald, being treated unfairly,” he said. Trump’s campaign manager, Corey Lewandowski, said Trump was not afraid to debate his rivals or take reporters’ questions. He added that Trump would be happy to debate Cruz if the contest, in which 12 Republicans are vying for their party’s nomination, narrows.  “If it comes down to a two-person race, Donald Trump would be happy to debate him,” Lewandowski told ABC’s “Good Morning America” program. Fox News, in a statement on Tuesday, said it would not “give in to terrorizations toward any of our employees,” but left the door open to Trump attending the debate. The event will be co-hosted by Alphabet Inc’s (GOOGL.O) Google.              “At the end of the day, Mr. Trump is going to have the last laugh,” Lewandowski told MSNBC. (This version of the story corrects 17th paragraph to say Scrooge McDuck, not Donald Duck)

Summary: फॉक्स न्यूज की बहस से पहले ट्रम्प ने 'बिम्बो' ट्वीट के साथ हमले तेज किए


NEW YORK/WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Hillary Clinton has found herself in the middle of a fight within the U.S. Democratic Party over the Pacific Rim trade pact, between President Barack Obama, who backs the deal, and opponents whose help is crucial to her White House bid. A showdown over trade is expected on Friday and Saturday when Democratic officials meet in Orlando, Florida, to negotiate language for the party’s 2016 platform, which sets policy priorities intended to guide campaign messages in the Nov. 8 election. Different factions of the party are deadlocked over platform language on the sweeping Trans Pacific Partnership, which Obama hopes to push through the U.S. Congress later this year. The current draft, which will be ratified at the July 25-28 Democratic convention in Philadelphia, acknowledges “a diversity of views” over the TPP. While the platform is not binding for candidates, it is a symbol of a party’s core values. Labor unions and other TPP critics have called for a clear condemnation of the pact, which they fear could lead to steep U.S. job losses in manufacturing. But some Democrats say that would risk undercutting Obama. U.S. Representative Luis Gutierrez of Illinois, a Clinton appointee to the platform committee, told the Washington Post that while he had a long history of opposing trade pacts, he did not want Democrats on the other side of the issue to think they are not important. Gutierrez also said he thought “disregarding the position of the president of the United States” was not right. The intra-party rift has created a quandary for Clinton, the Democrats’ presumptive nominee. She has staked out opposition to the TPP during her campaign after supporting it while she was secretary of state in the Obama administration. Presumptive Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump has accused her of waffling on trade. Trump has strongly condemned the deal, calling it “horrible.” If Clinton embraces platform language condemning the TPP, it would please unions while causing difficulties for Obama, one of her most enthusiastic supporters. Moreover, if the platform committee cannot come up with language that satisfies Bernie Sanders, the U.S. senator from Vermont who had also sought the nomination and still wields considerable clout, the fight might drag into the Philadelphia convention and create a messy spectacle where Democrats will formally nominate Clinton for the White House. Labor unions told the Clinton campaign of their frustrations in a closed-door meeting on June 30. One of a series of occasional sessions to update unions supporting her on campaign staffing, logistics and other issues, it concluded with a brief question-and-answer session where AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka asked about the pact. “The (platform’s) language now is unacceptable,” Hasan Solomon, the legislative director of the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers, told Reuters. The machinists were the first industrial union to endorse Clinton and remain strong backers of her candidacy. Union activists aligned with Sanders were even more blunt. “When I saw the language, my reaction was: ‘What are they thinking?’” said Rafael Navar, national political director for the Communications Workers of America, which endorsed Sanders. “The only way to challenge Trump’s appeal to millions of working-class voters in critical swing states is to be 100 percent crystal clear on opposing TPP and other job-killing trade deals.” Many union activists also voiced their opposition to the deal to Paul Booth, executive assistant to the president of the American Federation of State, County & Municipal Employees, at a private June 1 meeting hosted by the AFL-CIO. Booth is among the platform drafting committee members suggested by Clinton. To push for changes to the TPP platform language, Sanders has encouraged his millions of supporters in emails and texts to register their dissatisfaction. But Obama’s support for the deal makes it hard for the party to come out against it too forcefully, said Jamal Simmons, a Democratic political consultant with the Raben Group.  Meanwhile, the platform committee expects more amendments to be offered in Orlando.  “The point of this process,” said committee spokeswoman Dana Vickers Shelley, “is to hear what people’s concerns are.”

Summary: व्यापार समझौते पर अमेरिकी डेमोक्रेट की अंदरूनी लड़ाई ने क्लिंटन को बीच में डाल दिया


(Reuters) - Csx Corp said on Wednesday it has resumed normal train operations into Waycross and Savannah, in Georgia, and limited service into Jacksonville, Florida, where it has also reopened intermodal facilities. The No. 3 U.S. railroad also said engineering crews worked through the night to restore service in Georgia, South Carolina and Alabama but that customers should expect delays as backlogs are worked down.  The railroad said intermodal terminals in Jacksonville, central Florida, and Tampa have reopened, though train service delays are still expected.

Summary: सी. एस. एक्स. ने जॉर्जिया के कुछ हिस्सों में सामान्य ट्रेन संचालन फिर से शुरू कियाः बयान


WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Russia is a major threat to a wide range of U.S. interests because of its “highly-advanced offensive cyber program” and sophisticated capabilities, senior U.S. intelligence officials said on Thursday. “Russia is a full-scope cyber actor that poses a major threat to U.S. government, military, diplomatic, commercial and critical infrastructure,” James Clapper, the Director of National Intelligence, Marcel Lettre, Undersecretary of Defense for intelligence, and Admiral Michael Rogers, director of the National Security Agency, said in joint testimony prepared for a hearing of the Senate Armed Services Committee.

Summary: अमेरिकी खुफिया प्रमुखों ने रूस को अमेरिका के लिए 'बड़ा' साइबर खतरा बताया


WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. (Reuters) - North Carolina’s governor on Wednesday signed into law a measure that blocks local governments in the state from enacting ordinances to allow transgender people to use public bathrooms that match their gender identities. The legislation came in response to such a provision approved last month in Charlotte, the state’s largest city, as part of an expanded nondiscrimination ordinance that also added protections for marital and familial status, sexual orientation, gender expression and gender identity. The bill passed both chambers of the legislature during a one-day special session convened in Raleigh to address the Charlotte law. Republican Governor Pat McCrory, who signed the bill late on Wednesday, said the Charlotte measure “defies common sense.” “The basic expectation of privacy in the most personal of settings, a restroom or locker room, for each gender was violated by government overreach and intrusion by the mayor and city council of Charlotte,” McCrory said in a statement. Controversy over the bathroom component echoed similar fights across the country as transgender advocates push for the right to choose restrooms and locker rooms, including in schools, based on gender identity rather than birth gender. Republican lawmakers in North Carolina warned that the “radical” Charlotte measure would create a public safety issue by giving men, including sex offenders, access to women’s bathrooms if allowed to take effect on April 1. “This is a common sense bill that protects the privacy expectations of our citizens while clarifying local authority,” said Republican Representative Paul Stam. Lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender advocacy groups condemned the law’s passage and said they were exploring legal challenges. They say no public safety risks had resulted in the more than 200 U.S. cities that have enacted protections similar to those passed in Charlotte. “We are disappointed that Governor McCrory did not do right by North Carolina’s families, communities, and businesses by vetoing this horribly discriminatory bill,” said Chris Brook, legal director of the state’s American Civil Liberties Union. The bill requires multiple-occupancy bathrooms and locker rooms in public schools and government buildings to be used by people only according to their biological sex. The measure also creates North Carolina’s first statewide nondiscrimination policy for public places, including restaurants, hotels and taxis. But it limits the protections against discrimination to race, religion, color, national origin and biological sex. Local governments would be prohibited from passing anti-discrimination ordinances that extended the protections to include gender identity and sexual orientation.

Summary: एन. सी. गवर्नर ने शार्लोट ट्रांसजेंडर बाथरूम कानून को निरस्त करने वाले विधेयक पर हस्ताक्षर किए


(Reuters) - The UK has agreed to fully honor its financial commitments to the European Union, assuming liabilities worth up to 100 billion euros ($118.44 billion), as part of its agreement with the European Union on the Brexit divorce bill, the Financial Times reported on Tuesday. The UK's net payments on the liabilities, discharged over many decades, could fall to less than half that amount, FT said, citing several diplomats familiar with the talks. on.ft.com/2zwsRm3 Britain and the EU have reached agreement on a Brexit divorce bill of between 45 billion and 55 billion euros, the Daily Telegraph newspaper reported earlier on Tuesday. The newspaper also said that an agreement in principle has now been reached over the EU s demand for a 60 billion-euro  financial settlement. The European Commission declined to comment on the FT report.

Summary: ब्रिटेन यूरोपीय संघ के आगे झुकता है, 100 अरब यूरो तक की देनदारियां लेगा-एफटी


WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Wisconsin, Ohio, California and 10 other states said on Friday they were among 21 states that Russian government hackers targeted in an effort to sway the 2016 presidential election in favor of Donald Trump though no votes were changed. The Department of Homeland Security confirmed it had notified the states of the activity but declined to identify them. Russia has denied election meddling, and President Trump has denied any collusion with Russia. Alabama, Alaska, Colorado, Connecticut, Florida, Minnesota, Texas and Washington state also confirmed they were targeted by Russian hackers but said they were not successful. Arizona and Illinois confirmed last year that they were targets.  The Associated Press confirmed Iowa, Maryland, North Dakota, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Oregon, Oklahoma and Virginia were also targets, bringing the total states identified to 21. Those states did not immediately return messages seeking comment late Friday. “There remains no evidence that the Russians altered one vote or changed one registration,” said Judd Choate, president of the U.S. National Association of State Election Directors.  Wisconsin Elections Commission Administrator Michael Haas said Homeland Security told the states that “Russian government cyber actors” targeted state voter registration systems. Homeland Security officials have said that in most of the 21 states only preliminary activity was observed from hackers and a small number of networks were compromised. Some states had complained in June they had no idea if Russians had attempted to infiltrate their systems. California Secretary of State Alex Padilla said Friday that hackers had scanned state election systems but not breached the system. “It is completely unacceptable that it has taken DHS over a year to inform our office of Russian scanning of our systems, despite our repeated requests for information,” he said. Homeland Security spokesman Scott McConnell said in a statement the government believes “officials should be kept informed about cybersecurity risks to election infrastructure” but also wants to protect “the integrity of investigations and the confidentiality of system owners.” U.S. intelligence agencies have concluded the Kremlin orchestrated an operation that included hacking and online propaganda intended to help Trump win, Reuters reported in August. Senator Mark Warner, a Virginia Democrat who co-chairs the Senate Cybersecurity Caucus, said Friday in a statement it is “unacceptable that it took almost a year after the election to notify states that their elections systems were targeted.” He said officials must inform states of attempts to enter election systems “just as any homeowner would expect the alarm company to inform them of all break-in attempts, even if the burglar doesn’t actually get inside the house.” Colorado Secretary of State Wayne Williams said DHS told it that its systems were scanned in the weeks before the 2016 election. “A scan is similar to burglars jiggling the doors of a house and moving on when they realize the doors are locked,” the state said. Washington state’s top election official, Kim Wyman, said the state learned in 2016 of attempted intrusions from Russian internet addresses and immediately alerted the Federal Bureau of Investigation. The list of targets includes battleground states like Wisconsin, Ohio and Iowa, but other key states like Michigan said Friday they were told they were not targeted. It also included states that were not seriously contested like California and Texas.         Wisconsin was one of a handful of battleground Midwestern states that helped Trump win the presidency over Democratic rival Hillary Clinton. Trump carried the state by 22,748 votes, or about 0.8 of a percentage point. Many of the other states were not seriously in contention in the 2016 race. Several congressional committees are investigating and special counsel Robert Mueller is leading a separate probe into the Russia matter, including whether Moscow colluded with the Trump campaign.

Summary: 2016 की दौड़ में रूसी हैकर्स द्वारा लक्षित राज्यों में विस्कॉन्सिन, ओहियो, कैलिफोर्निया शामिल हैं


MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russia is  extremely concerned  by U.S. President Donald Trump s comments questioning the Iran nuclear deal and suspects that Washington itself may have violated a landmark arms control treaty, Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said.  Lavrov s comments, made to Russian reporters at the United Nations in New York and published by his ministry on Wednesday, illustrate how deeply Moscow and Washington are at odds over an array of issues and suggest any attempts to improve already battered relations face an uphill struggle.     Addressing the United Nations General Assembly on Tuesday, Trump said Iran s 2015 pact with six world powers to curb its nuclear program in return for loosening economic sanctions was  an embarrassment to the United States . Washington could not abide by an agreement  if it provides cover for the eventual construction of a nuclear program,  Trump said. Lavrov, whose country is a signatory to the deal, said Russia strongly disagreed with that stance.  It s extremely worrying,  he said.  We will defend this document, this consensus, which was met with relief by the entire international community and genuinely strengthened both regional and international security.  Trump s threat in the same U.N. appearance to  totally destroy  North Korea if it had to defend itself or it allies also went down badly with Russia, which shares a border with North Korea and believes negotiations and diplomacy are the only way to resolve a crisis over Pyongyang s missile program.  If you simply condemn and threaten, then we re going to antagonize countries over whom we want to exert influence,  said Lavrov, referring to Trump s comments.  He saved some of his harshest criticism however for what he said was a possible violation by the United States of a landmark 1987 arms control treaty which bans Russian and American intermediate-range missiles on land. A senior Trump administration official accused Russia earlier this year of violating the same pact   the Intermediate-range Nuclear Forces (INF) treaty   something Moscow denied. But Lavrov said it looked like it was Washington, which is in the midst of a $1 trillion, 30-year modernization of its aging ballistic missile submarines, bombers and land-based missiles, that was in breach of the same treaty.   We have suspicions on at least three fronts that the Americans are creating weapons systems which violate or could violate the treaty obligations,  said Lavrov, who said Moscow had relayed its concerns to the United States.  Lavrov has met U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson twice in New York this week.

Summary: रूस ने ईरान, उत्तर कोरिया पर ट्रम्प को फटकार लगाई, अमेरिका पर मिसाइल संधि के उल्लंघन का आरोप लगाया


WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump knew for weeks that national security adviser Michael Flynn had misled the White House about his contacts with Russia but did not immediately force him out, an administration spokesman said on Tuesday. Trump was informed in late January that Flynn had not told Vice President Mike Pence the whole truth about conversations he had before Trump took office with Russia’s ambassador to the United States, White House spokesman Sean Spicer said. Pence learned of the “incomplete information” that he received from Flynn when news reports surfaced late last week, spokesman Mark Lotter said on Tuesday. Flynn quit on Monday after Trump asked for his resignation, and the president hopes to pick a new national security adviser by the end of the week, Spicer said. The departure was another disruption for an administration already repeatedly distracted by miscues and internal dramas since the Republican businessman assumed the presidency on Jan. 20. The New York Times reported late on Tuesday that members of Trump’s campaign and other associates had contact with senior Russian intelligence officials in the year before the Nov. 8 presidential election, although U.S. officials told the newspaper they had not uncovered any evidence that Trump’s associates colluded to disrupt the election. U.S. lawmakers, including some leading Republicans, called for a deeper inquiry into not just Flynn’s actions but broader White House ties to Russia. Trump has long said that he would like improved relations with Russian President Vladimir Putin.  Representative Adam Schiff, the top Democrat on the House of Representatives Intelligence Committee, said Trump only moved against Flynn because of news media attention, not concern about any wrongdoing.  “The reason they lost faith or trust in General Flynn only last night when they knew for weeks that he had been lying was that it became public,” Schiff told MSNBC. A timeline of events outlined by Spicer and a U.S. official showed that Trump had known for weeks about Flynn misleading the vice president.  Trump, a former reality TV star whose catchphrase was “You’re fired!” has often boasted of his eagerness to get rid of subordinates. He was not quick to fire Flynn, a strong advocate of a better relations with Russia and a hard line against Islamist militants. The Justice Department warned the White House in late January that Flynn had misled Pence by denying to him that he had discussed U.S. sanctions on Russia with Ambassador Sergei Kislyak, a potentially illegal act, a U.S. official said.  Flynn did talk about sanctions with the diplomat, whose calls were recorded by U.S. intelligence officials, the official said. But Pence went on television in mid-January and denied that Flynn had discussed sanctions. The Federal Bureau of Investigation interviewed Flynn in his early days as Trump’s national security adviser regarding his conversations with the Russian ambassador, a White House official confirmed. Spicer stressed that the administration believed there was no legal problem with Flynn’s conversations with Kislyak, but rather an issue over the president’s trust in his adviser. The turning point, Spicer said, was a Washington Post story published on Thursday in which Flynn, through a spokesman, said for the first time he could not say with 100 percent certainty that he had not discussed sanctions with Kislyak. Spicer said the Justice Department sought to notify the White House counsel on Jan. 26 about the discrepancies in Flynn’s accounts.  “The White House counsel informed the president immediately. The president asked them to commit a review of whether there was a legal situation there,” Spicer told reporters, saying it was a “trust issue.” Flynn’s conversations with the ambassador took place around the time that then-President Barack Obama imposed sanctions on Russia, charging that Moscow had used cyber attacks to try to influence the 2016 presidential election in Trump’s favor. A U.S. official familiar with the transcripts of the calls with the ambassador said Flynn indicated that if Russia did not retaliate in kind for Obama’s Dec. 29 order expelling 35 Russian suspected spies and sanctioning Russian spy agencies, that  could smooth the way toward a broader discussion of improving U.S.-Russian relations once Trump took power.     Flynn’s discussions with the Russian diplomat could potentially have been in violation of a law known as the Logan Act, which bans private citizens from negotiating with foreign governments about disputes or controversies with the United States. There have been no modern prosecutions using the 1799 law. “The Logan Act is a red herring. The better question is whether he made any false statements to the FBI at any point, which would be a much bigger deal,” said University of Texas law professor Stephen Vladeck, adding the fallout would likely be “political” in nature. Flynn could also face legal trouble if it emerges that he violated other federal laws in his communications with the Russians, said Andrew Kent, a professor at Fordham University School of Law in New York. The Espionage Act criminalizes sharing information with foreign governments.        Democrats, who do not have control of Congress, clamored for probes into Flynn, and asked how much Trump knew about his connections to Russia. U.S. Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer called for an investigation of potential criminal violations surrounding the resignation of Flynn. “What I am calling for is an independent investigation with executive authority to pursue potential criminal actions,” Schumer told reporters, saying such a probe could not be led by newly installed U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions or White House lawyers. Two leading Senate Republicans, Bob Corker and John Cornyn, said the Intelligence Committee should investigate Flynn’s contacts with Russia.  But the highest-ranking Republican in Congress, House of Representatives Speaker Paul Ryan, sidestepped questions about whether lawmakers should look into Flynn’s Russia ties, saying he would leave it to the Trump administration to explain the circumstances behind Flynn’s departure. A broader investigation of the White House and its ties to Russia is not possible without the cooperation either of the Justice Department or the Republican-led Congress.  Russia’s aggression in Ukraine and Syria and Republican congressional opposition to removing sanctions on Russia make any White House attempt to embrace Putin problematic. Senator John McCain, a leading Republican voice on foreign relations, said Flynn’s resignation raised questions about the administration’s intentions toward Putin’s Russia.

Summary: ट्रम्प हफ्तों से जानते थे कि सहायक रूस पर गुमराह कर रहा थाः व्हाइट हाउस


MADRID (Reuters) - Armed police in Spain have raided several print works and newspaper offices in Catalonia in recent days in a hunt for voting papers, ballot boxes and leaflets to be used in an Oct. 1 independence referendum which Madrid vehemently opposes. The searches are part of a concerted effort by the government to prevent the ballot from going ahead, amid fears that a vote to break away could trigger a political crisis even if Spain does not recognize the outcome. On Friday, the government passed measures to tighten control over the region s spending to stop it using state cash to pay for the ballot, and earlier this week Madrid summoned over 700 Catalan mayors for questioning over their support for the vote.  They ve lost the plot,  said Albert Batet, mayor of the town of Valls and one of those summoned for questioning.  They are persecuting mayors, the press, printers. They are stretching the limits of democracy.  Catalonia s president Carles Puigdemont, who faces criminal charges for organizing the referendum, says he has over 6,000 ballot boxes ready to deploy next month, but their whereabouts are a secret.  Right now, we have no idea where they are,  said Toni Castejon, spokesman for the Catalan police force union. A spokesman for the Catalan regional government declined to say where the ballot boxes were or how the government was going to get them out of hiding to voting stations on Oct. 1. On Friday, police confiscated 100,000 campaign leaflets in a raid in Catalonia, the Interior Ministry said, without saying where. Catalonia s top court issued a warning on Friday to seven newspapers, many of them online, not to publish campaign notices for the referendum, a court spokesman said on Saturday. At the offices of Catalan newspaper El Vallenc in Valls, some 50 km west of Barcelona, six armed police knocked on the door last Saturday with a warrant to search the offices, said its editor, Francesc Fabregas. The search lasted five-and-a-half hours.  They didn t say what they were looking for,  Fabregas told Reuters, adding that he had not printed any voting papers. The raid led to an impromptu crowd gathering outside the building, with people singing the Catalan anthem and waving slips of paper chanting  Where are the ballot papers? .  When people saw that the streets had been cut off they started coming over with banners, they handed out roses to the police - the street turned into a party,  said Fabregas. For some supporters of the independence movement, the search for the ballot boxes and voting papers has become a symbol of what they see as state repression. Images of the Catalan police force - the Mossos d Esquadra - seizing what for many are symbols of democracy would be highly inflammatory, police say. The Mossos report to the Catalan regional government and are highly regarded by Catalans, particularly after their handling of the Islamist militant attacks in the region in August that killed 16. But Spanish state prosecutors have ordered all police - including the Catalan force - to act.  What no one wants is the image of the Mossos taking away the ballot boxes,  said Castejon of the police union.  That would lead to a lot of anger and even civil unrest.  Madrid has the constitutional power to take over a regional government or send in the police to force Catalonia to drop the vote, but either step would rock Spain s decentralized model of government where power is devolved to 17 self-governed regions. Although polls show less than half of Catalonia s 5.5 million voters want self-rule, most in the wealthy northeastern region want the chance to vote on the issue, causing unease that is beginning to be felt in financial markets. The Budget Ministry said that uncertainty created by the stand-off could damage the economy and push up sovereign borrowing costs. Some investors sold Spanish government bonds and switched to Italian debt earlier this week. Puigdemont and Barcelona mayor Ada Colau on Friday appealed to the Spanish government for dialogue to avert a crisis. But Puigdemont has shown no signs of backing down.  Does anyone think we re not going to vote? What kind of people do they take us for?  he said to cheering crowds from a stage in a bull-ring in Tarragona to launch the referendum campaign on Thursday.

Summary: कैटेलोनिया में जनमत संग्रह को विफल करने के लिए पुलिस छिपी हुई मतपेटियों की तलाश कर रही है


WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Congressional Budget Office said on Wednesday that repealing the Obamacare individual mandate would increase the number of uninsured by 13 million by 2027 and reduce the federal budget deficit less than initially forecast. The CBO, the nonpartisan budget-scoring agency, said that eliminating the Obamacare mandate that all Americans purchase health insurance or else pay a fine would lower the deficit by $338 billion over the next decade, not $416 billion as it estimated in December. The agency found that health insurance premiums would rise by about 10 percent in most years over the next decade in the individual market created by the Affordable Care Act, former Democratic President Barack Obama’s signature domestic policy achievement. It noted that markets in most areas of the country would remain stable. President Donald Trump and some Republicans favor including a repeal of the mandate in tax overhaul legislation. But lawmakers, Republican aides and lobbyists have said it would be difficult to include a repeal in a tax effort complicated by intraparty differences and intense business lobbying. The U.S. House of Representatives unveiled its tax plan last week, and the Senate’s plan is expected to be released on Thursday. The individual mandate is a central tenet of Obamacare that health policy experts and proponents say is essential to making the law work. It compels young and healthy people to join health insurance markets and help lower premiums by offsetting the costs of sicker patients. Americans must note on their tax returns whether they have health coverage. Yet it has proved to be among the most controversial portions of the law as Republicans, who say Obamacare is too expensive and an example of government overreach, argue that the federal government should not be able to require people to buy health insurance if they do not want it. The CBO said in its December report that the individual mandate increases the federal deficit by encouraging people to buy subsidized coverage, either through Medicaid, the government health insurance program for the poor and disabled, employer-provided plans, or through the Obamacare individual health insurance market.  Eliminating the mandate would lower the deficit by reducing federal spending on subsidized health insurance coverage, it said. The CBO said abolishing the requirement would cause premiums to rise because healthier people would be less likely to purchase insurance. It found that the resulting increases would cause more people to forego insurance.

Summary: व्यक्तिगत अधिदेश को निरस्त करने से बीमाकृत, प्रीमियम में वृद्धि होगीः सी. बी. ओ.


WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Department of Homeland Security said on Wednesday it is considering a request by members of Congress to waive federal restrictions on shipping to Puerto Rico, but has not received any formal requests from shippers or other branches of the federal government to waive the law. “We are considering the underlying issues and are evaluating whether a waiver should be issued,” said a senior Homeland Security official, who spoke to reporters on the grounds of anonymity. The Jones Act requires that all goods shipped between U.S. ports be carried by American owned-and-operated ships. Several U.S. lawmakers, including Representative Nydia Velazquez, on Monday asked DHS to waive the Jones Act restrictions for a year to help relief efforts in Puerto Rico where people are suffering from water and food shortages in the wake of Hurricane Maria. But a request from a member of Congress is not the usual pathway by which the department gets waiver requests, the DHS official said. Puerto Rico has long railed against the Jones Act, saying it raises the cost of imported basic commodities, such as food, clothing and fuel. But the official said that the Defense Department and FEMA have not indicated there is a lack of ships to get food and goods to the island. The official did not deny that the law can add costs to goods delivered to the island, an argument made by longtime opponent of the Jones Act, Republican Senator John McCain. But the DHS official said Jones Act exemptions are based solely on the interest of national defense.  “The real challenges happen to be on the island itself,” the official said, adding that there were plenty of U.S.-flagged barges and tugs available.  DHS has the ability to initiate a waiver to the shipping law, but the official said it is constrained by the national defense parameter.  “Right now, we do not have the authority to issue a waiver simply to make goods cost less,” he said.

Summary: अमेरिका ने प्यूर्टो रिको पर शिपिंग सीमा को माफ करने के लिए सांसदों के अनुरोध पर विचार किया


KIEV (Reuters) - A Ukrainian judge released the son of Ukraine s interior ministry from custody on Wednesday on the condition he appear in court as required in connection with an embezzlement case. On Tuesday, Ukraine s National Anti-Corruption Bureau (NABU) detained three people in connection with the suspected embezzlement of $521,000 through a contract to supply backpacks to the interior ministry. Ukrainian media reported former deputy interior minister Serhiy Chebotar and Interior Minister Arsen Avakov s son, Oleksandr, were among those taken into custody. According to news agency Interfax Ukraine, a Kiev district court ruled Oleksandr Avakov could be released provided  he appear as demanded by investigators and report on his movements.  The so-called  backpacks case  has been openly discussed in Ukraine since 2015, and the detentions were welcomed by anti-corruption activists as a sign that NABU is fulfilling its mandate to investigate high-profile graft cases linked to officials. Nevertheless, the detention of a senior cabinet minister s family member has also been interpreted as a sign of a possible power struggle within the political elite. In a statement, the interior ministry said the case was politically motivated, while Avakov said his son would fight all allegations in court.   Neither my son nor the firms he has founded have or had a single kopeck (cent) from the Ukrainian budget,  he said on Facebook. The individuals are suspected of allowing the interior ministry to be overcharged for a contract to purchase backpacks in 2015, according to the NABU investigation.  The goods were not delivered on time and did not meet the requirements set by the Ukrainian interior ministry, as a result of which the state was hit with a loss of over 14 million hryvnias ($521,000),  NABU said. NABU was established as part of Ukraine s Western-backed reform drive under which Kiev promised to root out graft and modernize the economy in exchange for billions of dollars in international funding. But Ukraine s backers have seen a failure to bring corrupt lawmakers and senior officials to justice as an indication the authorities may lack the commitment to eliminate the power of vested interests.

Summary: यूक्रेन के मंत्री के बेटे को भ्रष्टाचार के मामले में सशर्त रिहाई मिली


WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Top Republican lawmakers rallied to the defense of Jeff Sessions on Tuesday as allies of the attorney general said President Donald Trump appeared to be trying to pressure him to quit by repeatedly criticizing him on Twitter and in interviews. Trump said again he was frustrated that Sessions had recused himself from the federal investigation into possible collusion between Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign and Russia and said he would not have appointed him had he known he would do so. He stopped short of saying whether he would fire him. Two allies of Sessions told Reuters that Trump’s public attacks went beyond a president simply venting his frustration but were part of a deliberate campaign to encourage the attorney general to step down. They said Trump was likely reluctant to fire Sessions after his sacking of FBI Director James Comey backfired and led to the appointment of an independent special counsel, Robert Mueller, whose wide-ranging probe into contacts between Trump aides and Russian officials has cast a deep shadow over Trump’s presidency.   The Kremlin says it did not interfere in the election, and Trump has denied any collusion. Asked about Sessions’ future, Trump said at a news conference on Tuesday, “Time will tell. Time will tell.” The two allies of Sessions said the attorney general, who was the first Republican senator to back Trump’s presidential campaign, has been deeply offended by the public berating from his boss, but his resolve to stay is strong. It is not clear though whether that will be possible in the long term if Sessions’ relationship with the president irretrievably breaks down.  As Trump and top White House aides stepped up their attacks on Sessions on Tuesday, Republican lawmakers, stunned by the extraordinary scene of a president lambasting a member of his own cabinet, push backed strongly. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, the top Republican in the chamber, said Sessions “is doing a fine job and made the right decision to recuse himself from the Russia matter.” Some lawmakers also expressed disquiet with Trump’s public humiliation of Sessions, who has mostly stayed silent on his boss’s criticism. “Mr. President, maybe just try a meeting? This is beneath the office - of any held office - from city councilman to POTUS,” said Republican Representative Adam Kinzinger, using the presidential acronym.  The top Democrat in the Senate, Chuck Schumer, accused Trump of trying to “bully his own attorney general out of office.” He said if Trump fired Sessions, Democrats would fight any attempt to replace him during the August congressional recess. The split between Trump and Republicans in Congress is the latest test of a strained relationship. Lawmakers have expressed frustration that the upheaval in the White House is distracting from their legislative agenda. Republicans have little to show for Trump’s first six months in office. “We’re getting nothing done,” lamented Senator John McCain on the Senate floor on Tuesday. Trump said in a tweet on Tuesday that Sessions had “taken a VERY weak position” on investigating his former opponent in the 2016 presidential election, Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton, over her use of a private email server. On Monday, Trump had called his attorney general “beleaguered”.  Sessions recused himself in March from the Russia  investigation after failing to disclose at his confirmation hearing that he had held meetings last year with Russia’s ambassador in Washington. In publicly attacking Sessions, Trump has torn out yet another page from the Washington rulebook - typically a president would convey his displeasure with a cabinet secretary out of the public eye. “In an administration where a lot of unexpected things have happened, this may be the most unexpected. This has risen to a level that we have never seen before,” said Douglas Heye, a former top aide to former Republican House Majority Leader Eric Cantor.  RIGHT-WING BACKLASH? A third Sessions’ ally said an article published by the right-wing website Breitbart on Tuesday painting Trump as “weak” for criticizing a man who is tough on immigration was significant. Breitbart’s previous chairman, Steve Bannon, is one of Trump’s closest White House advisers. “That says to Trump, ‘If you do this, if you get rid of him right now, you will have to face the wrath of the far right,” said the ally. Sessions made a name for himself for his hardline views on immigration and criminal justice. He is aligned with groups that lobby for cutting the number of legal immigrants allowed into country each year, as well as programs to ensure that employers aren’t able to hire illegal workers. As attorney general, he has vowed to crack down on the violent El Salvadorian gang Mara Salvatrucha, known as MS-13, and strip Justice Department funding from so-called sanctuary cities that do not cooperate with federal immigration authorities.  At a news conference last Thursday, Sessions said he loved his job and planned to stay in it “as long as that is appropriate.” A Justice Department official said Sessions started his day on Tuesday with his usual early morning run on the treadmill in the department’s gym. Soon afterward, he got down to work.

Summary: ट्रम्प के दबाव बढ़ाने पर रिपब्लिकन सांसदों ने सत्रों के आसपास रैली की


TORONTO (Reuters) - A Canadian pastor whom North Korea released this month after two years of imprisonment escaped execution and torture during his captivity because of his nationality, he told CBC News in his first interview since his return. Hyeon Soo Lim, the pastor from Toronto, said in an interview broadcast on Saturday that he was never harmed and that he would not hesitate to go back to North Korea if the country allowed him. A transcript of the interview was posted on the Canadian public broadcaster s website.  If I m just Korean, maybe they kill me,  Lim said.  I m Canadian so they cannot, because they cannot kill the foreigners.   Lim, formerly the senior pastor at one of Canada s largest churches, had disappeared on a mission to North Korea in early 2015. He was sentenced to hard labor for life in December 2015 on charges of attempting to overthrow the Pyongyang regime. He said North Korea treated him well despite forcing him to dig holes and break coal by hand all day in a labor camp. Lim told CBC News that he was  coached and coerced  into confessing that he traveled under the guise of humanitarian work as part of a  subversive plot  to overthrow the government and set up a religious state. North Korea let him go on humanitarian grounds. The announcement came during heightened tensions between Washington and Pyongyang, although authorities have not said there was any connection between his release and efforts to defuse the standoff over North Korea s nuclear program. Lim said he felt no anger at the Kim Jong Un regime for sentencing him to prison.  No, I thanked North Korea,  he said.  I forgive them.

Summary: कनाडाई पादरी विदेशी नागरिकता के कारण फांसी से बच गएः सी. बी. सी.


WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Part of a U.S. State Department briefing video about secret U.S.-Iran nuclear talks was deliberately deleted at the request of an unknown official before it was posted to an online archive, the department said on Wednesday. The excised portion of the Dec. 2, 2013, briefing included a question about whether an earlier spokeswoman for the department had misled reporters about whether the United States was holding secret direct nuclear talks with Iran. The State Department initially said it believed a “glitch” caused the gap but on Wednesday said an internal inquiry found it was a deliberate omission. However, it said no rules were broken because none existed governing the integrity of the briefing transcript and video. Rules are now being put in place. The inquiry was carried out by the department’s Office of the Legal Adviser at the request of State Department spokesman John Kirby, who is also assistant secretary of the department’s Bureau of Public Affairs. “In so doing, they learned that a specific request was made to excise that portion of the briefing. We do not know who made the request to edit the video or why it was made,” Kirby told reporters at his daily briefing. The video editor who received the request by telephone “does not remember anything other than that the caller was passing on a request from someone else in the (Public Affairs) bureau,” Kirby added. Speaking on condition of anonymity, a U.S. State Department official said the editor discussed the request with her supervisor and concluded that it came from a “level of credibility and authority” high enough that they should act on the request. Kirby said the video had been replaced some time ago with a full version that was archived with the Defense Department. He said the transcript of the briefing had always been available online and had not been modified.

Summary: अर्काइव्ड स्टेट डिपार्टमेंट ब्रीफिंग वीडियो जानबूझकर काटा गया


ROME (Reuters) - Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi, who had openly supported Hillary Clinton, congratulated Donald Trump on his victory in the U.S. presidential elections and said Italy’s ties with the United States remained strong. “I wish him well. The Italo-American friendship is solid,” Renzi said at the start of a speech in Rome.  Renzi was one of the few world leaders to endorse Clinton and opposition politicians were swift to condemn him on Wednesday, saying that by doing so, he had weakened Rome’s international standing.

Summary: रेन्ज़ी ने ट्रम्प को बधाई दी, कहा कि अमेरिका के साथ इटली की दोस्ती मजबूत है


SYDNEY - (Reuters) - Thousands of people rallied around Australia on Saturday urging the legalization of same-sex marriage, one week before final ballots can be submitted in a contentious postal survey on the issue that has divided the country. The largest crowd was in Sydney, where organizers said between 5,000 and 10,000 people gathered in front of Central Station before marching along one of the city s biggest roads to Victoria Park.  It s a good reflection of the enthusiasm of people,  Australian Marriage Equality s Tiernan Brady said.  They are very determined, very positive and not complacent.  Other rallies in favor of same-sex marriage were held in the northern city of Brisbane and the central hub of Alice Springs. Rallies organized by the Coalition for Marriage, the lead campaigner against same-sex marriage, also were held across the country.  The coalition, which includes the Australian Christian Lobby and other religious groups, encouraged those who haven t returned their surveys to do so.  We re so pleased so many people have engaged with this process and we encourage those who haven t to tick  no  and put it in the post,  spokeswoman Monica Doumit said. Though the postal ballot is non-binding, a  yes  vote is expected to lead to the legalization of same-sex marriage which could further fracture the government of Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull. Ballots were mailed out from Sept. 12, with the Australian Bureau of Statistics recommending all votes be returned via the postal service by Oct. 27.  The latest update from the ABS, issued on Oct. 17, showed almost 11 million postal votes had been returned, about 68 per cent of the total distributed.  The result is expected on Nov. 15.

Summary: ऑस्ट्रेलियाई डाक मतदान बंद होने से पहले समलैंगिक विवाह के लिए हजारों लोगों ने किया प्रदर्शन


BUCHAREST (Reuters) - Romania s lower house of parliament, which is dominated by the ruling Social Democrats, approved a bill on Monday that will change the way magistrates are supervised and which critics say threatens judicial independence and efforts to fight corruption.   Thousands of Romanians have rallied in the capital Bucharest and other cities over the past weeks protesting against government plans to overhaul the judicial system in one of European Union s most graft-prone member states. Lawmakers approved the bill by 179 votes to 90 vote. Parliament has been debating the legislation, which the European Commission and thousands of magistrates have said would put the judicial system under political control, since mid-November. The parliamentary commission which has debated the changes is headed former justice minister Florin Iordache, who quit in February after a decree on graft that he drafted triggered the biggest rallies since the 1989 anti-communist revolution. Contested elements of the bill include changes to a judicial inspection unit which oversees the conduct of magistrates. It will also change the way in which chief prosecutors are appointed and strip the president of the right to vet candidates, as well as amending the definition of prosecutors  activity to exclude the word  independent .  Prosecutors carry out their work according to the principles of legality, impartiality, hierarchical control, under the authority of justice minister,  reads the bill.      The bill also refers to the finance ministry s obligation to recoup any losses triggered by a judicial error from the judge who issued the sentence, instead of from state funds. Experts have said this would could potentially distort court judgments. The bill will be sent to the upper house, the senate, for debates. A vote in the senate, which has the final say on the bill, could be scheduled for later this month. Transparency International ranks Romania among the European Union s most corrupt states and Brussels keeps Romania s justice system under special monitoring. In a Nov. 15 report the European Commission said justice reform has stagnated this year and challenges to judicial independence remain a persistent source of concern.

Summary: रोमानिया के निचले सदन ने विवादास्पद अदालत विधेयक को मंजूरी दी


BRASILIA (Reuters) - Brazilian President Michel Temer accepted the resignation on Friday of his minister of political affairs, whose party is abandoning the ruling coalition to ready for the 2018 election. Antonio Imbassahy of the Brazilian Social Democratic Party (PSDB) has handled the government s relations with Congress, keeping an unwieldy coalition united in blocking the prosecution of Temer on corruption charges earlier this year. However the PSDB, Temer s largest ally, has split over whether to stick with the unpopular president in the run-up to a general election next October, when the party plans to field its own presidential candidate. The PSDB will hold its national convention in Brasilia on Saturday, when it is expected to elect Sao Paulo Governor Geraldo Alckmin as its new party leader, replacing Senator Aecio Neves, who is under investigation for graft. That would make Alckmin the PSDB s most likely candidate in next year s presidential race. Allies say Alckmin plans to continue his party s disengagement from the Temer government, where the PSDB still has two ministers, including Foreign Minister Aloysio Nunes, who is expected to stay on the job based on personal conviction. Still, Alckmin is expected to mobilize PSDB support for Temer s signature legislation proposal, the overhaul of Brazil s costly social security system. Investors consider the measure crucial to closing a huge budget deficit that cost Latin America s largest economy its investment-grade credit rating. Temer needs the PSDB s 46 votes in the lower house of Congress to win passage of the pension reform bill, which is set for a vote the week of Dec. 18.

Summary: ब्राजील के राष्ट्रपति ने मंत्री खो दिया क्योंकि पीएसडीबी पार्टी ने गठबंधन छोड़ दिया


WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A U.S. State Department spokesman said on Monday that to his knowledge the FBI had not asked the department for anything in connection with its renewed scrutiny of emails linked to a private server used by former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. State Department spokesman John Kirby said as far as he knew, the FBI had not approached the State Department for anything related to its decision to look at additional emails connected to the server used by Clinton, now the Democratic presidential nominee.

Summary: विदेश विभाग का कहना है कि एफ. बी. आई. ने नए सिरे से ईमेल जांच में उससे संपर्क नहीं किया है