WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Democrats on Monday corralled enough support to hold up a Senate confirmation vote on President Donald Trump’s Supreme Court nominee but Republicans threatened to change the Senate rules to ensure conservative judge Neil Gorsuch gets the lifetime job. The Senate Judiciary Committee voted 11-9 along party lines to send Gorsuch’s nomination to the full Senate, setting up a political showdown this week between Trump’s fellow Republicans and the opposition Democrats that appears likely to trigger a change in long-standing Senate rules to allow his confirmation. Democrats, portraying Gorsuch as so conservative he is outside the judicial mainstream, have amassed 42 senators in support of a procedural hurdle called a filibuster requiring a super-majority of 60 votes in the Republican-led, 100-seat Senate to allow a confirmation vote. Even before the panel voted, committee member Christopher Coons put the Democrats over the threshold as the 41st senator backing the filibuster bid. (GRAPHIC - Where senators stand on bid to block Gorsuch vote tmsnrt.rs/2ov6ko0)  The Senate’s Republican leaders insist Gorsuch will be confirmed on the Senate floor on Friday regardless of what the Democrats do. Republicans hold a 52-48 Senate majority. In the face of the filibuster, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell would be expected to force a confirmation vote by having the Senate change its rules and allow for a simple majority vote for confirmation of Supreme Court justices, a move sometimes called the “nuclear option” that Trump favors. Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer, leading the filibuster effort, said McConnell should have the “vision and courage to see past this impasse” and not “go nuclear,” suggesting that Trump replace Gorsuch with a new consensus nominee chosen after meeting with Democrats. Senate confirmation of Gorsuch, 49, would restore the nine-seat high court’s conservative majority, fulfilling one of Trump’s top promises during the 2016 presidential campaign. Trump in January nominated Gorsuch, a conservative appeals court judge from Colorado. He could be expected to serve for decades. On the Senate floor, McConnell called the Democratic strategy “a new low,” saying there was no principled reason to oppose a judge as well qualified and widely respected as Gorsuch. He did not explicitly say he would use the “nuclear option,” but several Republicans said that would happen. White House spokesman Sean Spicer said the decision would be McConnell’s. Republican Senator John McCain, a long-time opponent of Senate rules changes, told reporters he would support the move. Judiciary Committee Republicans blasted Democrats for pursuing what they called the first “partisan filibuster” of a Supreme Court nominee - there was a successful bipartisan filibuster five decades ago against a Democratic president’s nominee - and said it would come to naught because of the threatened rule change. But it was Senate Republicans who last year refused to even consider Democratic former President Barack Obama’s nomination of appellate judge Merrick Garland to fill the same high court vacancy that Trump has selected Gorsuch to fill. “Democrats, including me, are still furious at the way Judge Merrick Garland was treated last year. But the traditions and principles that have defined the Senate are crumbling, and we are poised to hasten that destruction this week,” Coons said. Gorsuch was nominated to fill a vacancy created by the February 2016 death of conservative Justice Antonin Scalia. Democrats have accused Gorsuch of being insufficiently independent of Trump, evading questions on key Supreme Court rulings of the past including on abortion and political spending, and favoring corporate interests over ordinary Americans. Republicans control the White House and Congress for the first time in a decade. The inability of Senate Republicans to coax enough Democratic support to avoid the “nuclear option” reflected the intense partisan divide in Washington and the Trump administration’s failure to win the cooperation of the opposition party. Senators Dianne Feinstein, the committee’s top Democrat, and panel member Patrick Leahy, along with fellow Democrats Mark Warner and Ben Cardin, also announced filibuster support on Monday. Spicer accused Democrats of partisan obstruction that sets “a very dangerous precedent” and told a briefing that “we’re obviously disappointed that the overwhelming majority of them are still playing politics with the nation’s highest court.” The actual confirmation vote would be by a simple majority if the filibuster is stopped. To date, four Democrats oppose a filibuster, four short of the eight that Republicans needed. With the failure of Republican healthcare legislation in Congress and with courts blocking the president’s ban on people from several Muslim-majority nations from entering the United States, winning confirmation for Gorsuch has taken on even more importance for Trump. The 60-vote super-majority threshold that gives the minority party power to hold up the majority party has over the decades forced the Senate to try to achieve bipartisanship in legislation and presidential appointments. Republican committee member Lindsey Graham said, “If we have to, we will change the rules, and it looks like we’re going to have to. I hate that. I really, really do.” While Gorsuch’s opponents would fight a Senate rule change, it was the Democrats who in 2013 changed the Senate rules to limit filibusters after Republicans used the procedure against Obama’s appeals court nominees.  The Senate, then led by Democrats, barred filibusters for executive branch nominees and federal judges aside from Supreme Court justices. Even if Republicans do change the rules, legislation, as opposed to appointments, would still need to meet a 60-vote threshold.

Summary: डेमोक्रेट्स ने ट्रम्प सुप्रीम कोर्ट के चुनाव पर प्रदर्शन करने के लिए समर्थन जुटाया


WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama said on Saturday that the prevalence of guns in U.S. society is one factor behind American violence and the fact that there was a gun in the car contributed to the shooting of a black Minnesota man last week. “In Minneapolis, we don’t know yet what happened, but we do know that there was a gun in the car that apparently was licensed but it caused, in some fashion, those tragic events,” Obama told reporters. “We can’t just ignore that and pretend that that’s somehow political ... it is a contributing factor –not the sole factor – but a contributing factor to the broader tensions that arise between police and the communities where they serve.”

Summary: मिनेसोटा कार में बंदूक ने वहां के कार्यक्रमों में योगदान दिया होगाः ओबामा


MONROVIA (Reuters) - Former soccer star George Weah leads in partial presidential election results in 11 of Liberia s 15 counties, the electoral commission said on Thursday, after a vote meant to bring about the country s first democratic transfer of power in decades. Early results from Tuesday s poll read to reporters by the commission s chairman left Weah s camp confident he would win the outright majority he needs to avoid a run-off, even though most counties had reported tallies from less than a third of polling stations. The other favorite in the 20-candidate field, Vice-President Joseph Boakai, led in just one county, although he was running in second in most others.   I can say for sure that Ambassador George Manneh Weah is going to be the next president of the Republic of Liberia,  Weah s adviser Mulbah Morlu told Reuters.  The people of Liberia have spoken.  The final results must be announced by Oct. 25 and a run-off will be held next month if no one has won a majority.   Before the commission s announcement, parties backing three other candidates alleged fraud and vowed to contest the results. But international observers said they had seen no major problems with the vote.  The overall conduct of the voting was generally assessed as either good or very good,  the EU mission said in a statement on Thursday. Observers from the U.S.-based Carter Center and National Democratic Institute (NDI) also said they had not identified any major issues with the voting or subsequent counting. The allegations of irregularities centered on charges that extra ballots were printed in advance and marked with votes for Boakai from the ruling Unity Party of President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf. However, none of the parties provided evidence of cheating. A Unity Party leader declined to respond to the accusations. Earlier in the day, Johnson Sirleaf, who became Africa s first elected female president when she won a surprise victory in 2005 following a post-war transition, hailed the election as historic.   We believe that all Liberians are ready for this process. I thank them for participating in this process,  she told reporters. Liberia, Africa s oldest modern republic, was founded by freed U.S. slaves in 1847 but its last democratic power transfer occurred in 1944.

Summary: लाइबेरिया के राष्ट्रपति चुनाव में फुटबॉल स्टार वीआ ने अधिकांश काउंटी में बढ़त बनाई


LONDON (Reuters) - Europe s drugs regulator has issued a 31.8 million-pound ($42 million) tender for temporary workers and warned it could face a major budget hit as it struggles with the fallout of Brexit, which will uproot it from London. Based in London s Canary Wharf since 1995, with a staff of around 890, the European Medicines Agency (EMA) acts as a one-stop-shop for approving and monitoring the safety of drugs across Europe. The agency has been applauded by drug companies and patient groups for streamlining Europe s drug approval process but its ability to operate smoothly is now being challenged by the enforced move to a new location from March 2019.  EMA is anticipating staff losses which will not only challenge the agency s operability but could also result in a major deficit in its budget,  the organization said in a statement on Friday, after a meeting of its management board. If operations are delayed or have to stop there could be a  dramatic drop  in fee income from companies that pay to have their products reviewed, which could be exacerbated by the cost of replacing staff, many of whom are expected to quit rather than leave London.  Such shortfall would need to be made up from the (European) Union budget,  the EMA said. Executive Director Guido Rasi told Reuters in an interview earlier this week that crucial work, from approving new drugs to running safety checks, would be put at risk if politicians picked an unsuitable new location. Preparing for the fallout of the move and the impact of Britain leaving the European Union is already creating extra work for the EMA and forcing it to cut back on some non-critical activities. Although the EMA regularly employs temporary workers, the scale of the new staffing tender is unusually large. The tender documents call for bi-lingual and multi-lingual staff with administrative, scientific, regulatory and legal expertise to work in the EMA's current London office. (tinyurl.com/yc29jj7b) The agency must be based in an EU country and political leaders are set to decide in a vote on Nov. 20 on a new location among 19 cities vying to host the organization. A staff survey last week found that between 19 and 94 percent of employees were likely to leave after the move, depending on which location was chosen. Picking Amsterdam, Barcelona, Vienna, Milan or Copenhagen as the new headquarters would be the best option for retaining staff, the survey found.

Summary: यूरोपीय संघ की दवा एजेंसी, कर्मचारियों की तलाश में, ब्रेक्सिट बजट पर असर की चेतावनी दी


WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Marco Rubio emerged from a razor-thin second-place finish in South Carolina’s presidential primary on Sunday with the Republican field narrowed and his target clear: Donald Trump. Rubio squeaked by rival and U.S. Senate colleague Ted Cruz in a vote on Saturday that cemented the appeal of firebrand outsider Trump as well as the failure of a candidate from one of America’s political dynasties: Jeb Bush. The five remaining Republican candidates are now scrambling for voters in 12 states that hold nominating contests on March 1, also known as Super Tuesday, the next milestone on the road to the Nov. 8 presidential election.  Rubio, a first-term senator from Florida who himself has come under attack for lacking governing experience, turned that criticism on Trump, a billionaire businessman and former reality TV star who has never held elective office. Trump is long on rhetoric but short on specifics, Rubio said on CBS’s “Face the Nation,” challenging the front-runner, who finished 10 points ahead in South Carolina, to provide them. “If you’re running to be president of the United States, you can’t just tell people you’re going to make America great again - I think you need to begin to explain exactly how you’re going to do it, policy-wise,” Rubio said, referring to the Trump campaign slogan “Make America Great Again!”  Rubio criticized Trump on healthcare policy and said he found his view of Russian leader Vladimir Putin troubling. “I don’t think he fundamentally understands exactly who Vladimir Putin is and or exactly what he’s trying to do,” Rubio said, quickly adding, “This is not an attack or anything of that nature.” In several television appearances, Rubio stressed his intention was not to “go after” Trump but to discuss issues. Rubio has reason to be skittish. A hallmark of Trump’s campaign has been consistent and highly personal savaging of his political rivals - or anyone else he perceives has attacked him, including a milder rebuke of Pope Francis. His most notable target was Bush, whom he began characterizing early on as a “low-energy” loser. In television appearances on Sunday, Trump appeared uncharacteristically modest and took pains to lower expectations that his path to the Republican nomination was now clear. He responded to Rubio’s criticism without attacking Rubio himself, saying on CBS that he had “great knowledge” of foreign policy. Cruz, who had expected his appeal to conservative and evangelical voters to give him an edge in South Carolina, said he was the only candidate who has beaten and could beat Trump. Cruz told NBC’s “Meet the Press” he expects conservatives to rally behind him in his home state of Texas and other contests on Super Tuesday, which include Virginia, Tennessee, Alabama, Georgia, Arkansas and Oklahoma. The next Republican contest is on Tuesday in Nevada, where Trump is the runaway favorite. Cruz said Trump has embraced liberal ideas, including abortion rights and requiring healthcare coverage, as well as liberal politicians, including Democratic presidential front-runner Hillary Clinton. “Republicans want a real conservative,” Cruz said on ABC’s “This Week.”  Cruz and Rubio tried to draw voters away from Trump, a political outsider who has bucked the Republican Party establishment and caught its leaders off guard. Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus struggled to explain Trump’s appeal when asked on ABC’s “This Week,” if the South Carolina result was a rebuke to the party. “No, I don’t think so,” Preibus replied, saying he believed voters are sick and tired of politics in general. “But who the nominee is going to be is not my choice and - and obviously, uh, we’re going to support whoever that is.” Trump on Sunday looked to just that possibility. He said he believed Clinton, who is competing with Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont, would be the eventual Democratic nominee and said he was the only Republican who could win states like New York and Michigan, which lean Democratic. “I will win states that aren’t in play. I will win states that the Republicans don’t even think of,” he said on CNN’s “State of the Union.” Those sweeping predictions aside, Trump tried to contain expectations in several television appearances. He called both Rubio and Cruz talented men who could conceivably beat him for the nomination, along with the remaining Republican candidates: Ohio Governor John Kasich and retired neurosurgeon Ben Carson. He then quipped, “You know, crazy things happen in the world of politics.”  (Reporting by Doina Chiacu; Additional reporting by Megan Cassella; Editing by Jonathan Oatis) This article was funded in part by SAP. It was independently created by the Reuters editorial staff. SAP had no editorial involvement in its creation or production.

Summary: व्हाइट हाउस की दौड़ में ट्रम्प की जीत के बाद रूबियो ने तीखे हमले किए


HAVANA (Reuters) - Cuban President Raul Castro made it clear to a visiting U.S. congressional delegation that his country was intent on pursuing market reform and detente with the United States, U.S. Senator Patrick Leahy told a news conference on Wednesday. Leahy, a Democrat who has been key in efforts to normalize relations, was leading a bipartisan group of five U.S. senators and a representative on a three-day visit to the Communist-run island to discuss ties and explore business opportunities. Cuba watchers are looking closely for signs of how the fragile U.S. detente with Cuba will fare under Republican President Donald Trump, who has threatened to backtrack on it if he does not get “a better deal.” Analysts say Cuba has played its cards well so far by not responding shrilly to such provocation and demonstrating its continued willingness to engage under the new president. Castro “wants reform to continue, he wants the movement forwards to continue,” said Leahy at the news conference in the U.S. embassy, after meeting with the Cuban president on Tuesday. “The number of people he had from his administration talk to us made it very clear they want us to continue.” The delegation met with Cuba’s foreign, trade and agriculture ministers as well as with Castro. The group included Republican Senator Thad Cochran of Mississippi who on Monday oversaw the signing of agreements between Cuba and two Mississippi ports. “Increasingly this issue of normalizing relations with Cuba is bipartisan, this isn’t just Democrats, there are a lot of Republicans that believe we ought to do this as well,” said Representative James McGovern, a Democrat. Support for the detente was also growing among the business and academic communities, said McGovern, who was traveling with a group of U.S. biotech experts keen to explore the sector in Cuba. “The movement is more significant in the U.S.A. today than at any time in my career in the Senate,” said Leahy. “And I am the dean of the Senate, I have been there the longest,” added Leahy, who was first elected to the Senate in 1974.  The White House said earlier this month that the Trump administration was in the midst of “a full review of all U.S. policies towards Cuba.” The visit came as a diplomatic incident highlighted continuing concerns about restrictions on human rights on the island. Cuban authorities prevented the head of the Organization of American States (OAS), a former Chilean minister and an ex-president of Mexico from traveling to Cuba to attend an award ceremony on Wednesday hosted by dissidents. Cuba opposes anything that legitimizes dissidents, who it claims are mercenaries funded by foreign interests. It also views the OAS as an imperialist instrument of the United States. OAS chief Luis Almagro reported that Cuban authorities said they were “astonished” at his involvement in “anti-Cuban activities” which were “an unacceptable provocation.” A U.S. embassy official attended the ceremony, organized by the Latin American Network of Youth for Democracy, a group opposed to the Communist government. Almagro’s seat was left empty in symbolic protest. “It may not be the smoothest of paths but it will continue,” Leahy said of the U.S.-Cuban detente. “I would not be here today on one more trip if I didn’t think that continuation of that progress is inevitable.”

Summary: अमेरिकी सीनेटरों का कहना है कि क्यूबा के कास्त्रो हिरासत जारी रखने के इच्छुक हैं


SITTWE, Myanmar (Reuters) - Myanmar s army chief called on Thursday for people internally displaced by violence in Rakhine State to go home and rebuild communities, but he made no mention of 422,000 Rohingya Muslims who fled to Bangladesh to escape his force s operations. Senior General Min Aung Hlaing, in a major speech on his plans for Rakhine state on his first visit there since the latest strife erupted, said the military had handled the situation as best as it could after a wave of coordinated attacks by Rohingya insurgents on Aug. 25. The United Nations has said the military response to the insurgent attacks is ethnic cleansing aimed at pushing the Rohingya Muslim community out of Buddhist-majority Myanmar. Myanmar denies that, saying its forces are waging a legitimate campaign against Muslim terrorists who have been attacking and torching villages of Buddhists and other non-Muslims, some 30,000 of whom were internally displaced. Min Aung Hlaing did not mention the accusation of ethnic cleansing in his speech to business people, officials and some of the displaced, in Sittwe, the state capital.  Regarding the rehabilitation of villages of our national races, for the national races who fled their homes, first of all they must go back to their places,  he said.  National races  is a Myanmar term referring to members of officially recognized indigenous ethnic groups who make up the diverse nation. The Rohingya are not recognized as a  national race , and are instead seen as illegal immigrants and denied citizenship. Animosity between Buddhists in Rakhine state and the Rohingya goes back generations, but has seethed in recent years, fueled in part by a surge of Buddhist nationalism since nearly five decades of strict military rule came to an end.  The important thing is to have our people in the region. It s necessary to have control of our region with our national races,  Min Aung Hlaing said.  We can t do anything if there are no people from our national races ... that is their rightful place.  Min Aung Hlaing did not refer to the return of Muslims to their villages in the north of the state, almost half of which have been abandoned and torched. The crisis has drawn international condemnation and calls from the United Nations and U.S. President Donald Trump for the military to stop the violence and support diplomatic efforts for a long-term solution for the Rohingya. Myanmar leader Aung San Suu Kyi, in her first address to the nation on the crisis on Tuesday, said Myanmar was ready to start a verification process to take back refugees, under a 1993 arrangement with Bangladesh.  Refugees from this country will be accepted without any problem,  she said. Min Aung Hlaing did not mention the return of refugees from Bangladesh.

Summary: म्यांमार के सेना प्रमुख ने आंतरिक रूप से विस्थापित लोगों से राखीन लौटने का आग्रह किया


WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump said on Wednesday he will hold a news conference on April 27 to discuss veterans issues, as he tries to elevate an issue he campaigned on heavily last year. Trump made the statement as he signed into law the Veterans Choice Program Extension and Improvement Act, which allows veterans to obtain more access to healthcare outside the Department of Veterans Affairs system. The news conference was scheduled to be held as Trump nears the 100-day benchmark of his presidency on April 29. Trump spent a lot of time advocating for better treatment for veterans during his presidential campaign last year. He said that at the news conference he would discuss progress at the VA since he took office on Jan. 20.

Summary: अमेरिकी दिग्गजों के मुद्दों पर अगले सप्ताह संवाददाता सम्मेलन करेंगे ट्रम्प


WASHINGTON (Reuters) - One possible contender to replace Justice Antonin Scalia on the U.S. Supreme Court is an Indian-American appeals court judge, Sri Srinivasan, who has pro-business credentials and a stellar resume. If he was nominated his background may make it more politically challenging for Republicans as they plan to block anyone put forward by President Barack Obama. Srinivasan, 48, has served on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit since he was confirmed on a 97-0 bipartisan vote in the U.S. Senate in May 2013. Republican senators who supported him then would likely be asked to justify why they couldn’t back him for the Supreme Court.  Many names are likely under consideration and the White House has not tipped its hand, but recent Supreme Court appointments have tended to be appeals court judges and the appeals court in Washington on which Srinivasan serves has often been a springboard to the high court. Scalia himself served on the court, as did other Supreme Court members Chief Justice John Roberts, Justice Clarence Thomas and Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg.  The White House said on Sunday that Obama will wait until the U.S. Senate is back in session before making a nomination. The Senate returns from recess on Feb. 22. Republicans have called for Scalia’s seat to remain open so that the next president, who would take office in January 2017, can nominate a replacement. Other judges Obama could consider appointing include Paul Watford, a black man who serves on the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, and Jacqueline Nguyen, a Vietnamese-American woman who serves on the same court as Watford. Little is known about Srinivasan’s views on divisive social issues like abortion and affirmative action. But as a senior Justice Department lawyer in 2013, he was part of the legal team that successfully urged the high court to strike down the Defense of Marriage Act, a law that restricted the definition of marriage to heterosexual couples for the purposes of federal benefits. The ruling helped pave the way for the court’s ruling in June 2015 that legalized gay marriage nationwide. Srinivasan could not be reached for comment. In private practice, prior to his appointment to the appeals court, Srinivasan successfully represented former Enron Corp CEO Jeff Skilling in a Supreme Court case. The Supreme Court narrowed the reach of the so-called honest services fraud law, invalidating one theory used by prosecutors for Skilling’s conspiracy conviction and ordering further appeals court review. Despite the high court ruling, Skilling’s conviction was later upheld by an appeals court. Srinivasan also represented Exxon Mobil Corp in a lawsuit alleging human rights abuses in Indonesia, and mining giant Rio Tinto in a similar case about its activities in Papua New Guinea. Both cases concerned in part whether a law called the Alien Tort Statute allows such cases to be heard in U.S. courts. The Exxon case is still ongoing. The Rio Tinto lawsuit was dismissed. His work during two stints with the O’Melveny and Myers law firm prompted expressions of concern from liberal groups and unions that normally back Democratic judicial nominations when he was nominated to the appeals court in 2012. He has had a lengthy career in public service, serving in the Justice Department during both the Obama and George W. Bush administrations. Under Bush he had a junior role, while under Obama he was a political appointee serving as the top deputy to the solicitor general. Srinivasan was born in Chandigarh, India and grew up in Lawrence, Kansas, where his father was a professor at the University of Kansas. If appointed, he would be the first Indian-American to serve on the Supreme Court. He played basketball in high school and then attended Stanford for undergraduate, business and law degrees, yet never lost his allegiance to the University of Kansas Jayhawks. That was a theme of the judicial dignitaries that saluted him at his 2013 investiture for the appeals court, as was the fact that when he was an advocate before the Supreme Court, he carried in his pockets for good luck the socks his twin son and daughter wore when they were newborns. Srinivasan’s bipartisan credentials are lengthy. He was a law clerk to Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O’Connor, now retired, a 1981 appointee of Republican President Ronald Reagan. At Srinivasan’s confirmation hearing, he was backed by conservative Texas Republican Senator Ted Cruz, who is now running for president. “We have been friends a long time, so I am hopeful that our friendship will not be seen as a strike against you by some,” Cruz, who is known for having tense relationships with Senate colleagues, joked at the time. A spokesman for Cruz said the senator would not be commenting on any possible Obama nominee, reaffirming that Cruz believes the nomination should be left to the next U.S. president.

Summary: स्कालिया की जगह ले सकने वाले भारतीय-अमेरिकी न्यायाधीश ने व्यवसाय के लिए विवादास्पद मामलों पर काम किया


BERLIN (Reuters) - If the United States terminates the Iran nuclear deal or reimposes sanctions on Tehran it could result in Iran developing nuclear weapons and raise the danger of war close to Europe, Germany s foreign minister said on Saturday. U.S. President Donald Trump refused on Friday to formally certify that Tehran was complying with the 2015 accord even though international inspectors say it is. He warned he might ultimately terminate the agreement. German Foreign Minister Sigmar Gabriel told Deutschlandfunk radio that Trump had sent a  difficult and dangerous signal  when the U.S. administration was also dealing with the North Korea nuclear crisis.  My big concern is that what is happening in Iran or with Iran from the U.S. perspective will not remain an Iranian issue but many others in the world will consider whether they themselves should acquire nuclear weapons too given that such agreements are being destroyed,  Gabriel said.  And then our children and grandchildren will grow up in a very dangerous world,  he said. He said if the United States terminated the deal or if sanctions were reimposed on Tehran, it would give Iranian hardliners, who are against negotiations with the West, the upper hand.  Then they might revert to developing nuclear weapons,  Gabriel said, adding Israel would not tolerate that and  then we will be back where we were 10, 12 years ago with the danger of war relatively close to Europe . He urged the United States not to endanger the security of its allies and its own people for domestic policy reasons. Hailed by Trump s predecessor Barack Obama as key to stopping Iran from building a nuclear bomb, the deal was also signed by China, France, Russia, Britain, Germany and the European Union. European allies have warned of a split with Washington over the nuclear agreement and say that putting it in limbo undermines U.S. credibility abroad. Trump has given the U.S. Congress 60 days to decide whether to reinstate economic sanctions on Iran that were lifted in 2016.

Summary: ईरान परमाणु समझौते पर ट्रम्प के कदम के बाद जर्मनी ने युद्ध के खतरे की चेतावनी दी


NEW YORK (Reuters) - President Trump’s administration has drafted a plan to pause a program that allows family members join refugees already settled in the United States until they can undergo increased security checks, two sources with knowledge of the situation told Reuters. The measure is one of several being considered for refugees, the sources said.  The administration also may expand the use of intensive security checks by multiple federal agencies, called “security advisory opinions” (SAO) to apply to women from countries designated as high-risk by the U.S. government. Currently there are usually only mandatory SAOs, as they are called, for men from those countries, the sources said.  The administration is also considering expanding the categories of refugees required to be fingerprinted, the sources said. The proposals, if implemented, could significantly slow down refugee admissions and leave refugees who thought they were headed to the United States in perilous situations abroad, say refugee advocates and former officials.  David Lapan, a spokesman from the Department of Homeland Security said he could not comment on specific proposals that are still in the review process.   A State Department official also declined to comment while the review is underway and a White House spokeswoman said they have no announcements at this time.  Republican President Donald Trump came into office in January with a goal of sharply cutting refugee admissions and quickly issued temporary bans on refugees and travelers from several Muslim-majority countries that were challenged in court. A 120-day temporary ban on refugees, put in place to study current procedures, expires on Oct. 24.  The sources, who requested anonymity because they are not authorized to speak about the plans before they are announced, said the new measures could be announced at the end of the temporary ban. Trump has said “extreme vetting” of refugees and immigrants and visitors is needed to prevent terrorist attacks. The administration could pause the visa issuing process  for “following-to-join” spouses and children of refugees who have already made it to the United States, known as V93 cases, the sources said. In 2015, just 3 percent of the nearly 70,000 refugee arrivals were those types of beneficiaries, according to the Department of Homeland Security. “Reports on the type of vetting measures being considered for our refugee resettlement program are disturbing,” said Hans Van de Weerd, the Vice President of U.S. Programs at the International Rescue Committee.  They amount “to a desertion of victims of war and heinous persecution, who have done everything asked of them as they prepare to arrive to the US,” he said. Refugees currently undergo differing levels of security checks when applying for admission to the United States in a process that can take 18-24 months.  “When you put in additional security checks you can basically halt the system,” said Robert Carey, the former director of the Office of Refugee Resettlement under former President Barack Obama, a Democrat.  “Every check is only good for a finite period of time and they expire and the whole process has to start all over again,” he said, adding that the level of scrutiny is higher for refugees than most any other visa applicant to the United States. Trump also lowered the maximum number of refugees to be allowed into the United States in 2017 to 50,000 from the 110,000 originally set by Obama. The 2018 level has been set at 45,000, the lowest number in decades.

Summary: ट्रम्प प्रशासन अमेरिकी शरणार्थी परिवार के पुनर्मिलन कार्यक्रम को रोकने पर विचार कर रहा है


BERLIN (Reuters) - Germany s Christmas markets opened on Monday at the start of the holiday season, with security staff on hand and concrete barriers to protect shoppers, nearly a year after an Islamist militant killed 12 people by driving a truck into crowds. Some 2,600 markets, known for their sparkling Christmas trees and wooden stalls serving candied nuts, sausages, mulled wine and handicrafts, opened across Germany under tighter than usual security. The markets are beloved by Germans and a major tourist attraction for visitors this time of year. In the city of Bochum in Western Germany, organizers decorate concrete bollards, wrapping them up as Christmas presents with bows to make them appear festive. In Berlin, Petra Henne, who had been at the market in December last year just half an hour before Tunisian militant Anis Amri drove a hijacked truck into the crowd, came out for the opening this year to enjoy the festivities.  The extra security was  a bit oppressive , she said.  And it is awful, this violence that you can t do anything about. But Berliners are on good form and they carry on anyway. What else can one do?  An interior ministry spokesman said the risk of an attack in Europe and Germany is  continuously high . Organizers and business owners had complained that the government was reluctant to share the cost of extra security measures.  What could be done was done,  said Berlin s Mayor, Michael Mueller on Monday, noting that those measures still could not guarantee absolute security. The Alternative for Germany (AfD) far-right party asked members of the public to share pictures showing extra security measures at their local markets and post them on social media in protest against Chancellor Angela Merkel s decision in 2015 to open Germany s borders to more than a million asylum seekers. The AfD blames Merkel s immigration policy for what it says is a rise in crime and Islamist attacks. Klaus Schultheis, an expert in German Christmas markets who collects annual national data on the subject, said he knew of only two markets that were canceled over security concerns.  Christmas markets are a piece of the German culture that shouldn t disappear no matter what,  he said.  It goes on.

Summary: हमले के एक साल बाद कड़ी सुरक्षा के बीच खुले जर्मनी के क्रिसमस बाजार


LIMA (Reuters) - Peru’s President Pedro Pablo Kuczynski could end up the surprise winner of an attempt to oust him from power this week, after some opposition lawmakers broke ranks with party leaders to support him, opening a divide that might strengthen his hand. Despite having a Congressional majority, the rightwing opposition party Popular Force was unable to push through a motion to remove Kuczynski from office on Thursday, after 10 of its own lawmakers broke ranks to save the president. The vote cemented a growing divide in the opposition and looked to threaten its control over Congress, potentially aiding Kuczynski as he tries to restore political stability and revive investments in one of Latin America’s most robust economies. The surprise defection was the result of a deal struck between Kuczynski and Popular Force rebel lawmaker Kenji Fujimori to get his father and ex-president Alberto Fujimori out of prison, alleged Popular Force secretary general, Jose Chlimper. Over the past year, Kenji has courted Kuczynski’s center-right government while challenging his sister Keiko’s leadership of the rightwing populist movement that their father formed in the 1990s. In defiance of his sister, Kenji threw his support behind Kuczynski ahead of the vote on whether to remove him from office over unproven graft allegations. Nine other Popular Force lawmakers followed his lead. “This is the birth of a serious and formal split (in the Fujimori movement),” said Guillermo Loli, the head of political research for pollster Ipsos Peru. “Everything points to a pardon,” he added.     Kuczynski’s government denied that a pardon for Fujimori was part of its political negotiations. In an address to the nation late on Friday, Kuczynski said he would spend the coming days reflecting on his year and a half in office. “I’ll be announcing to you changes to make sure 2018 is not just a year of greater growth, but politically different,” Kuczynski said. Efforts to reach the Popular Force lawmakers who defected were not successful. One, Clayton Galvan, said on local TV channel Canal N that Alberto Fujimori called them from prison to ask them to help Kuczynski stay in power.     Alberto Fujimori, who is serving a 25-year sentence for graft and human rights crimes, is a deeply divisive figure in Peru. While many consider him a corrupt dictator, others credit him with ending an economic crisis and bloody leftist insurgency during his 1990-2000 term. Freeing him would likely anger the well-organized foes of the Fujimori clan - a mix of technocrats, leftists, human rights activists and academics. “The day (Kuczynski) signs a pardon, he loses all of those guys. Permanently,” said Harvard University political scientist Steve Levitsky. Support from the anti-Fujimori crowd was key to Kuczynski’s razor-thin victory over Keiko in last year’s presidential election, and to keeping the motion to oust him from succeeding. “Kuczynski was saved by two diametrically opposed political groups: Kenji’s group and the left, which opposes a pardon. He can’t please both of them,” said Levitsky. Kuczynski, a 79-year-old former investment banker, took office amid hopes he would usher in cleaner government and faster economic growth. Instead, a graft scandal roiling Latin America has stalled investments and ensnared him in allegations of wrongdoing. Before the vote on Thursday, Kuczynski fanned fears of a return to Peru’s authoritarian past and described the motion as part of a legislative “coup” attempt by Keiko’s supporters. Popular Force denies the charge and says the bid to remove him was part of its fight against corruption and within the bounds of the constitution. A hardline Popular Force lawmaker loyal to Keiko, Hector Becerril, said the Kenji faction represented “traitors.”  “If they have any sense of decency after this vote, the least they could do is present their resignations,” Becerril told journalists on Friday. “Hopefully today.” With 10 votes fewer, Popular Force would command 61 seats in the 130-member, single-chamber Congress, less than an absolute majority, though it would still be the biggest voting bloc. The political crisis has cost Kuczynski his interior minister, Carlos Basombrio, who announced his resignation on Friday. Kuczynski could make a decision about other Cabinet changes in coming days, his government said.

Summary: राष्ट्रपति को हटाने के लिए मतदान में विफलता ने पेरू की राजनीति को हिला दिया


BEIJING (Reuters) - China’s Foreign Minister Wang Yi urged North Korea to stop persisting on a dangerous course and called on the United States to stick to promises of non-aggression towards Pyongyang, according to a statement release by the ministry on Friday. “No matter the changes in circumstance, no matter how long it takes, not matter the difficulties we face, China will always persist in the goal of denuclearizing the peninsula, in moving towards talks,” Wang said, speaking at the U.N. General Assembly on Thursday.

Summary: चीन ने उत्तर कोरिया से खतरनाक रास्ते पर चलना बंद करने का आग्रह किया


KERBALA, Iraq (Reuters) - Chanting and flailing themselves in mourning for Imam Hussein, hundreds of thousands of Shi ite Muslims from around the world gathered in the Iraqi city of Kerbala on Friday for one of the most sacred rituals in their religious calendar. Arbain marks the culmination of a 40-day mourning period for Imam Hussein, a grandson of the Prophet Mohammed who was killed in a 7th century battle in Kerbala. Shi ites believe his remains are entombed there. Exhausted pilgrims, including women carrying their children, marched long distances to reach the shrines. Many, arriving by air from Iran, Pakistan or Bahrain, had landed in Baghdad several days earlier.  Kerbala, 80 km (50 miles) south of the capital, was cloaked in black because of the robes worn by pilgrims, and bedecked in a sea of flags. Saddam Hussein, a Sunni, banned Shi ite gatherings for religious events for decades. Pilgrims have gathered in sacred Shi ite cities including Kerbala and Najaf for religious duties since a U.S.-led invasion toppled him in 2003. But those gatherings were marred by suicide bombings carried out by Sunni militants, notably from al Qaeda and Islamic State, who regard Iraq s majority Shi ites as infidels.  Now that those groups have largely been defeated by U.S.-backed Iraqi security forces, Shi ite pilgrims may have more peace of mind during this year s Arbain, though security remains tight across the country. Groups of people build camps where they cook, share food with others, and display decorative objects. Banners featuring Imam Hussein s words are put up on walls and buildings.  The ritual is a time for sorrow and self-reflection.  Mourning Shi ites listen to recollections of how Hussein and his family were killed. The theme of martyrdom dominates, as pilgrims gash their foreheads with swords and beat themselves with chains. Hussein s death is interpreted by Shi ites as a symbol of the struggle against injustice and oppression.  Tents have been set up in Kerbala to provide a resting place for pilgrims, where men serve them cups of free tea. Others offer free massages to those arriving on foot from different cities, while tailors work on religious flags at a market.

Summary: इराक के केरबाला में शिया समुदाय के लोग शोक मनाने के लिए एकत्र हुए


WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. congressional Republicans on Tuesday resisted Democratic demands for a vote on gun-control measures and warned that some could face punishment for an unusual sit-in last month that tied up the House of Representatives for 25 hours. With Democrats already rejecting a Republican gun bill and warning of further protests, the Republican-controlled House appeared to be heading for renewed discord over gun restrictions following the June 12 mass shooting at a gay nightclub in Orlando, Florida. House Speaker Paul Ryan met for about 30 minutes on Tuesday with two Democrats who led the sit-in: Representatives John Lewis of Georgia and John Larson of Connecticut. The Democrats said they would ask Ryan for a vote on two Democratic-backed measures but left the meeting without speaking to reporters. “The path ahead ... will be discussed and determined by the majority in the coming days,” Ryan spokeswoman AshLee Strong said later in a statement. The measures sought by Democrats would expand background checks for gun purchases and allow the government to block gun sales to suspected extremists without first getting a judge’s approval.   Hours before the meeting, Ryan suggested a vote on the Democratic legislation was unlikely, telling a Milwaukee radio station: “The last thing we are going to do is surrender the floor over to these kinds of tactics when we know it’s going to compromise the constitutional rights of law-abiding citizens.” House Republican leader Kevin McCarthy said separately that he and Ryan would meet this week with the chamber’s top enforcement official to talk about reports that some Democrats at the June 22-23 sit-in engaged in “intimidation” while carrying out their protest. Ryan has announced that the House will vote this week on a measure intended to keep guns out of the hands of people the government suspects of involvement in violent extremism. But Democrats say the legislation is inadequate because authorities would have only three days to convince a judge that a gun sale should be blocked. “Ninety-one people die each day from gun violence in this country and the best Speaker Ryan can muster is a meaningless bill,” said House Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi aide Drew Hammill. Six people who said they lost family and loved ones to gun violence were arrested in the U.S. Capitol on Tuesday, after a protest demanding Congress reject the Ryan measure and vote on the Democratic measures.

Summary: अमेरिकी रिपब्लिकन ने डेमोक्रेटिक बंदूक-नियंत्रण प्रयासों को पीछे धकेल दिया


SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Russian hacking of the 2016 U.S. election included sophisticated targeting of state officials responsible for voter rolls and voting procedures, according to a top secret U.S. intelligence document that was leaked and published this week, revealing another potential method of attempted interference in the vote. The month-old National Security Agency document outlined activities including impersonating an election software vendor to send trick emails to more than 100 state election officials. Analysts at the NSA believed the hackers were working for the Russian military’s General Staff Main Intelligence Directorate, or GRU, according to the document. The document’s publication on Monday by The Intercept, a news outlet that focuses on security issues, received particular attention because an intelligence contractor, Reality Leigh Winner, was charged the same day with leaking it. U.S. intelligence agencies have previously said the Kremlin tried to influence the election outcome in favor of Republican candidate Donald Trump through leaks during the campaign of hacked emails from Democratic Party officials, aimed at discrediting Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton. The new revelations suggest that U.S. investigators are also still probing a more direct attempt to attack the election itself, and a federal official confirmed that is the case. However, there is no evidence that hackers were able to manipulate votes, or the vote tally. The document says at least one employee of the software vendor had an account compromised but does not cover whether any of the elections officials were also successfully compromised. If they did compromise the officials, hackers could have planted malicious software, then captured proof of the infection to suggest that there had been fraud on Clinton’s behalf, had she won the Nov. 8 election, experts said. “If your goal is to disrupt an election, you don’t need to pick the winner or actually tamper with tally result,” said Matt Blaze, a University of Pennsylvania computer science professor who has written on the security of voting machines. Simply casting doubt on the legitimacy of the results could achieve the goals of a government-sponsored hacking campaign, he said.  U.S. intelligence officials had previously stated that Russian intelligence had won access to “multiple” election officials but had said that compromised machines were not involved with vote tallies. But they had not said how sophisticated and extensive the effort was or how it worked. Russian President Vladimir Putin has strongly denied Russian government involvement in election hacking, though he said last week that “patriotic” Russians could have been involved. Trump has denied any collusion. SPEAR-PHISHING ON ELECTIONS OFFICIALS The newly leaked NSA report said the hackers used so-called “spear-phishing” techniques on election officials, trying to convince targets to click on links in emails that seemed to come from legitimate correspondents. The report describes just one phishing campaign, which hit state officials a week before the election, but does not give any locations or say if it was successful. Although there may have been many others, security experts said one coming so late in the game would be more likely to be about sowing chaos than  trying to alter vote counts.  The report did not say what the hackers were trying to accomplish, and any investigation of the computers of people who were targeted would be the jurisdiction of the FBI. An FBI spokeswoman declined to comment Tuesday, as did the office of the special counsel Robert Mueller, who is investigating possible collusion between Trump campaign officials and the Russian government. The “bait” used in the spear-phishing campaign involved software for managing voter registration rolls. The hackers might have been considering deleting some records and forcing officials to turn legitimate voters away, said elections technology security expert Alex Halderman, of the University of Michigan. There were no wide reports of mass rejections of voters, so perhaps that plan was abandoned or proved too hard to execute, he said. It is also possible that the idea was to get onto the machines of officials who oversaw both registration and voting software. Elections are run by counties in the United States.  “Depending on the county’s configuration and security practices and what is separated from what, they could have access to potentially every aspect, from lists of registered voters, to voting  machines, to firmware on those machines, to the ballots that are presented, to the software that controls the final tally,” Blaze said. “This is the holy grail of what an attacker would want to compromise.”  Members of Congress said they hoped to learn more about the hacking attempts. “It’s important that the American people understand that the Russian attempts to break into a number of our state voting processes - we talked about this in the fall - was broad-based,” Democrat Mark Warner, vice chairman of the Senate Intelligence committee, told reporters. “It’s my hope in the coming days that we can get more information out about that.”

Summary: अमेरिकी जासूसी एजेंसियां रूसी हैकिंग में एक और पहलू की जांच कर रही हैं


DAR ES SALAAM (Reuters) - Police in Tanzania have arrested a woman after a video clip showing her kissing and embracing another woman at a party was widely shared online, a senior official said. Homosexuality is a criminal offense in the East African nation, where a conviction for having  carnal knowledge of any person against the order of nature  can carry a life sentence. The woman, who police said resides in the northwestern Tanzanian town of Geita, was arrested after a video circulated on social media showing a woman kissing and hugging another woman and presenting her with a ring.  I can confirm that a Tanzanian woman is under police custody over that video clip. We will issue more details later after we conclude our investigation,  Geita police chief Mponjoli Mwabulambo told Reuters by telephone on Saturday. Tanzanian president John Magufuli s government has stepped up a crackdown against homosexuality since coming into power in 2015 and threatened in June to arrest and expel activists, as well as deregister all non-governmental organizations that campaign for gay rights. In October, authorities in the main city Dar es Salaam raided a meeting at a hotel, saying the gathering was promoting same-sex relationships, and arrested at least 12 men.  The arrest of the woman in Geita was thought to be the first arrest of a lesbian suspect in the recent crackdown and  police sources said authorities were also searching for the woman who was given the ring in the video clip. Reuters could not confirm where or when the video the filmed. The clip drew condemnation on social media platforms in the socially conservative nation, with some Tanzanians condemning the celebration as immoral.  Both of them should be arrested. Why did the woman accept an engagement ring from another woman?  Cosmas Alele, a resident of the northwestern town of Kagera said on Twitter, writing in Kiswahili. Since homosexuality is a criminal offense in Tanzania, rights groups are reluctant to speak publicly in defense of gay rights. The country s health ministry banned non governmental organizations last year from distributing free lubricants to gays as part HIV/AIDS control measures. Some health experts warn that shutting down HIV/AIDS outreach programs targeting gay people could put the wider population at higher risk of infections.  Around 1.4 million Tanzanians among a population of more than 50 million are living with HIV, the virus that causes AIDS, according to government estimates.

Summary: पुलिस ने तंजानिया में समलैंगिक चुंबन के वीडियो पर महिला को गिरफ्तार किया


OXFORD, England (Reuters) - U.S. Defense Secretary Ash Carter on Wednesday warned Russia against interfering with Western “democratic processes” and accused Moscow of aggressive behaviour aimed at eroding the international order.  Carter’s remarks follow hacking attacks on Democratic Party organisations in the run-up to the U.S. election on Nov. 8, some of which U.S. officials and cyber security experts have blamed on hackers working for the Russian government. Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton has blamed Russia and expressed concern about possible Russian interference in the election. The Kremlin has denied involvement in the hacks. “We don’t seek an enemy in Russia. But make no mistake – we will defend our allies, the principled international order, and the positive future it affords all of us,” Carter said in an address to students at Oxford University. “We will counter attempts to undermine our collective security. And we will not ignore attempts to interfere with our democratic processes.” Pressed by reporters, Carter said his concerns were not about “the United States only” but did not offer specifics, nor did he indicate whether he was referring to the hacking attacks, but he said that the NATO alliance has long worried about Russian meddling in other nations’ domestic affairs. U.S. Republican presidential nominee, Donald Trump, has praised Russian President Vladimir Putin and has called on Moscow to dig up tens of thousands of “missing” emails from Clinton’s time as head of the U.S. State Department. He later said his comments were meant to be sarcastic. Relations between Russia and United States hit a post-Cold War low in 2014 over the Ukraine crisis, and Washington and Moscow have since clashed over diverging policies in Syria. Carter sounded a pessimistic tone on diplomatic efforts between the two to try to agree a ceasefire and nudge the Syrian government towards a political transition to end the conflict. “Today’s news out of Syria is not encouraging. The choice is Russia’s to make ... and the consequences will be its responsibility,” he said. On another front, U.S. officials said a Russian fighter jet carried out an “unsafe and unprofessional” intercept of a U.S. spy plane over the Black Sea on Wednesday. Citing Russia’s “unprofessional behaviour” in the air, space and cyberspace, Carter said: “Russia appears driven by misguided ambitions and misplaced fears.” “It lashes out, alleging that it fears for its own viability and future, even though no nation - not the United States, not the United Kingdom - seeks to defeat it or constrain its potential,” he said.

Summary: अमेरिका ने रूस को पश्चिमी राजनीति में हस्तक्षेप करने के खिलाफ चेतावनी दी


LONDON (Reuters) - Tehran vowed on Tuesday to stand alongside Baghdad and Ankara  against the outcome of an independence referendum staged by Kurdish authorities in northern Iraq, a day after thousands of Iranian Kurds marched in support of the vote. State media also quoted an army commander as saying that new missile systems were installed on Tuesday, a day after the referendum, in western provinces that border Iraqi Kurdish areas to  firmly respond to any invasion . Iran, Iraq and Turkey - countries with Kurdish minorities - have all denounced the referendum as a threat to the stability of a region already beset by conflict, while the United States has expressed similar disquiet. Ali Akbar Velayati, the top adviser to Iran s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, stepped up the pressure as the Iraqi government ruled out talks on possible secession for Kurdish-held northern Iraq and Turkey threatened sanctions.  The Iraqi people won t stand silent. Iran and Turkey and other regional countries won t stand silent and will stand against this abhorrent deviation,  Velayati was quoted as saying by ISNA news agency.  The Muslim nations will not allow the creation of a second Israel.   Velayati did not say what action Iran had in mind. However, the country s media have compared the Kurds  desire for a homeland with the 1948 creation of Israel. The Islamic republic regards the Jewish state as its greatest enemy along with the United States. Initial referendum results indicated 72 percent of eligible voters had taken part and an overwhelming majority, possibly over 90 percent, had said  yes , Kurdish TV channel Rudaw said. Final results are expected by Wednesday. Undaunted by years of official suppression of dissent, residents in a number of mainly Kurdish cities in northwestern Iran danced in circles as night fell on Monday, chanting slogans praising Kurdish nationalist movements.  Videos posted on social media showed drivers beeping their car horns in celebration and people clapping in the cities of Marivan and Baneh. Many wore masks so as not to be identified by the security forces. About 30 million ethnic Kurds are scattered across the region but have no country of their own. With 8 to 10 million living in Iran, Tehran fears pressure for secession will grow among a minority which has a long history of struggle for its political rights. A strong police presence tried to control the celebrating crowd. There were reports of clashes between the demonstrators and security forces in the cities of Mahabad and Sanandaj. In Sanandaj the crowd waved the flag of Kurdistan, a banned symbol for the Kurds  desire for independence.  This referendum will encourage Iranian Kurds to be more determined to seek their rights,  said Zaribar, a Marivan resident and member of the Democratic Party of Iranian Kurdistan, a secular armed group which launches periodic attacks in Iran.   This referendum was not a threat to Iraq s neighbors, but it s a starting point to resolve the issues of Kurds, especially in Iran,  added Zaribar, who declined to give his full name. Tehran announced a ban on direct flights to and from Iraqi Kurdistan on Sunday at the request of the central government in Baghdad and called for a land blockade of the autonomous region by all neighboring countries. Media gave no further details of the newly-installed missile systems. However, Iranian fighter jets flew in a show of force over western provinces of Iran as part of a military drill, including the Kurdish cities of Sardasht and Oshnavieh. Although many Iranian Kurds would like to copy the referendum model, the road to autonomy or independence would be more difficult under the Islamic Republic s theocratic rule and its military might. The Revolutionary Guards have put down unrest in Kurdish areas for decades, and the hardline judiciary has sentenced many activists to long jail terms or death. Iran sent Guards Commander Qassem Soleimani to northern Iraq last week in a failed final effort to persuade the Kurdistan regional government from holding the referendum. One Kurd from Baneh, who gave his name as Arbaba, said he was exhilarated  from the bottom of my heart for victory in the referendum . However, he was worried it would increase pressure on Iranian Kurds to prevent them from going down the same path.  The Iranian regime will militarize the Kurdish areas even more,  Arbaba said. For the Iranian state the referendum of the Kurds  demand for state of their own was a  Zionist plot  aimed at bringing instability to the region.  This view that a wandering scattered nation would only find peace if they find a homeland, was the core philosophy for creation of Israel,  wrote the Kayhan, a hardline newspaper closely associated with Supreme Leader. Israel has backed Kurdish independence. It has maintained discreet military, intelligence and business ties with Kurds since the 1960s, viewing the minority as a buffer against shared adversaries.

Summary: ईरान ने इराकी कुर्दों के स्वतंत्रता अभियान के खिलाफ बगदाद, अंकारा के साथ खड़े होने का संकल्प लिया


WASHINGTON/NEW YORK (Reuters) - Congress has agreed to fund an additional 5,300 detention beds for illegal immigrants, the House of Representatives Appropriations Committee said on Monday, less than half the number requested by President Donald Trump. The additional detention space was negotiated by Republican leaders with Democrats as part of a spending package Congress will vote on later this week to fund the government through September, according to two congressional sources familiar with the agreement.  The new beds will be added despite a sharp decline last month in apprehensions of people crossing the southern border with Mexico illegally. Immigration detention centers at the U.S. border have been operating at below capacity in recent months. The agreement will increase the number of immigration detention beds to 39,324 from 34,000 currently, according to a summary provided by the House Appropriations Committee. The White House in March requested bringing the total number of beds up to 45,700, saying the additional capacity was necessary to achieve the president’s goal of “enhancing interior enforcement efforts and ending ‘catch and release’ for those apprehended at the border.”   The budget summary did not break out the specific cost of the additional 5,300 beds, but said they would be included in an overall $1.5 billion increase in immigration enforcement funding.  The spending also includes more electronic monitoring and GPS tracking alternatives to detention, as well 100 additional officers to enforce immigration laws and funding for programs that increase coordination with local authorities on immigration enforcement.   A spokesman for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), which runs detention facilities, said the agency would not comment on the contents of the spending bill while the legislation is pending. The House Appropriations Committee did not respond to a request for comment.  From April 1-22, an average of 36,235 immigrants were in detention per day, according to the most recent statistics provided by ICE.  If border crossings and apprehensions continue to stay low, the administration could struggle to fill additional detention beds, unless it increases “arrests of undocumented immigrants in the interior with no criminal convictions and cuts back on releases of asylum seekers found to have legitimate claims,” said Kevin Landy, who served as assistant director at ICE during the Obama administration.     “ICE is going to be under enormous pressure to fill those beds” to prove to Congress that the funding was needed, said Landy, who left his post in January. Democrats raised similar concerns during budget negotiations, a Congressional aide with knowledge of the negotiations told Reuters.  Some Republicans as well as Democrats also expressed worries during the negotiations that the Department of Homeland Security might redirect money allotted for detention centers to use on border wall construction if Congress appropriated more money than needed, the aide said.  In October, the first month of the 2017 fiscal year, 66,710 people were apprehended crossing the U.S.-Mexico border illegally. Apprehensions have fallen steadily since then.    In March, 16,600 individuals were apprehended, down 64 percent from the year-earlier month, according to statistics from Customs and Border Patrol.

Summary: सीमा पार करने में कमी के बावजूद कांग्रेस अधिक हिरासत बिस्तरों के लिए धन देगी


WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Three Republican U.S. lawmakers called on Friday for Robert Mueller to resign as special counsel investigating Russia and the 2016 U.S. election, the latest in a series of conservatives’ criticisms of the FBI and Justice Department during the probe of how Moscow may have influenced the campaign. Representatives Matt Gaetz, Andy Biggs and Louis Gohmert accused Mueller of a conflict of interest because he was director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation when former President Barack Obama’s administration approved an agreement allowing a Russian company to buy a Canadian company that owned 20 percent of U.S. uranium supplies. President Donald Trump’s fellow Republicans have been calling for an investigation into the Uranium One deal, amid news of Mueller’s first indictments of Trump associates as the special counsel investigates allegations that the Trump campaign colluded with Moscow. Moscow denies any effort to influence the election, and Trump has dismissed the investigation as a “witch hunt.” On Monday, the day the indictments became public, White House Chief of Staff John Kelly said a special counsel should be appointed to investigate Democrats over the uranium deal. Another group of Republican lawmakers, including House of Representatives Judiciary Committee Chairman Bob Goodlatte launched an investigation last week to examine issues including the role of former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, Trump’s 2016 opponent, in the uranium deal. Democrats have dismissed the Republicans’ activities as a partisan effort to distract from Mueller’s probe and from efforts to ensure that a foreign government, Moscow, does not influence future U.S. elections. Gaetz, Biggs and Gohmert are all members of the House Judiciary Committee, which has oversight over the FBI and Department of Justice. Gaetz has called for investigations of issues related to Clinton previously, including accusing former FBI Director James Comey of colluding with Mueller on the FBI’s investigation of Clinton’s emails.

Summary: रिपब्लिकन ने रूस की जांच से विशेष वकील को हटाने की मांग की


COX S BAZAR, Bangladesh (Reuters) - For 28-year-old Rohingya Muslim shopkeeper Mohammed Rashid, the evening phone call from organizers of the fledgling insurgent movement came as a surprise.   Be ready,  was the message. A few hours later, after meeting in the darkness in an open field, he was one of 150 men who attacked a Myanmar Border Guard Police post armed with swords, homemade explosives and a few handguns. At the end of a short battle, half a dozen men he had grown up with in his village were dead.  We had no training, no weapons,  said Rashid, from the Buthidaung area of Myanmar s Rakhine state, who had joined the group just two months earlier. Accounts from some of those, like Rashid, who took part in attacks by the Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army (ARSA) on dozens of police posts early on Aug. 25 paint a picture of a rag-tag band of hopeless, angry villagers, who were promised AK-47 rifles but ended up fighting with sticks and knives. Hundreds joined as recently as June, according to the accounts, and membership meant little more than a knife and messages from leaders on the popular mobile messaging app Whatsapp.  Reuters interviewed half a dozen fighters and members of the group now sheltering in Bangladesh, as well as dozens of others among the more than half a million Rohingya refugees who have fled across the border to escape a Myanmar army counteroffensive that the United Nations has branded ethnic cleansing. ARSA, which emerged in 2016, says in press releases and video messages from its leader, Ata Ullah, that it is fighting for the rights of the Rohingya, a stateless Muslim minority that has long complained of persecution in mainly Buddhist Myanmar. Myanmar says ARSA is a ruthless Islamist extremist movement that wants to create an Islamic republic in northern Rakhine. Despite the massive suffering inflicted on their communities in the weeks since the August attacks, most of the fighters now stuck in dirt-poor camps said they were determined to continue their fight and some refugees voiced support for the insurgency. Other refugees Reuters spoke to criticized the insurgents for bringing more misery upon them. Myanmar leader Aung San Suu Kyi s spokesman, Zaw Htay, said ARSA had killed many Muslims who had cooperated with the authorities and so  people have felt threatened and terrorized  into supporting it. He added that Myanmar s intelligence showed that religious scholars were prominent in recruiting followers. ARSA denies killing civilians, and did not respond to a request for comment this week. Analysts say the violence could galvanize ARSA members and supporters huddled in the refugee camps and among those Rohingya still in Myanmar, as people feel they have even less to lose.  A militancy like this finds fertile ground because of the desperation of the community,  said Richard Horsey, a Yangon-based analyst and former U.N. official.  They are willing to take suicidal steps because they don t see any other choice.  Transnational Islamist groups could also try to exploit the desperation in the camps to radicalize people, Horsey added. Al Qaeda last month called for support for the Rohingya. Reuters could not independently verify the individual insurgents  stories, but there were broad similarities in all of their accounts. One fighter, 35-year-old Kamal Hussain from a village in Rathedaung in Myanmar s Rakhine state, said he joined ARSA when a religious teacher stood in his village square in June, during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, and implored a crowd of hundreds to fight.   He said we have no choice but to attack Myanmar because our brothers and sisters are being killed day by day. I think everyone joined that day,  Hussain said, as he sat under a tarpaulin in a Bangladesh refugee camp.  We should attack again and again. I would go back to fight if I had the chance.  Unlike longer-serving fighters, most new joiners had little or no training or contact with the group s leaders, who communicated using Whatsapp and delivered rudimentary homemade explosives ahead of the assaults. A third fighter, his account supported by comments from two elders from his village interviewed separately, said he and about 60 men from Myin Hlut signed up three months ago.  The 26-year-old, who asked not to be named because he feared arrest by Bangladeshi authorities, said he was among 200 men who attacked another police checkpost in the early hours of Aug. 25.  We had only knives and sticks, no guns,  he said.  They promised us AK-47s but we got nothing. The explosives didn t work. We had two of them for the whole group, but when we threw them nothing happened.  About 40 fighters were killed, he said, but added that he would do it again if called on.  I still support ARSA,  he said.  If my leaders call me to go again and fight, I will go back.  According to two village-level commanders, there were Whatsapp groups restricted to leaders and others to members. Bigger groups, administered from overseas, were used to build broader community support for ARSA and the Rohingya cause.  On his phone, Shoket Ullah, an uncle of the 26-year-old fighter, scrolled through messages posted in the Whatsapp group  ARSA.G1 , administered through a Saudi phone number, where ARSA press releases, videos of alleged Myanmar military violence and messages of support for Rohingyas were shared. Another Whatsapp group on Ullah s phone,  Rohingya Desh Arakan , is administered by someone using a number from Malaysia. Tens of thousands of Rohingya live in both Saudi Arabia and Malaysia. Rohingya anger at Myanmar has long existed, but this is the first serious armed resistance in decades.  In the crowded Bangladeshi camps, several refugees voice support for ARSA.  I am disappointed and regret what happened but this was pre-planned by the Myanmar government,  said Shafi Rahman, a 45-year-old Burmese teacher whose village was burned to the ground the day after the attacks.  If ARSA didn t attack, they would have done this to us anyway.  Several refugees said some people had begun to sell cattle, vegetables and rice to raise funds for ARSA. Not everyone was supportive, however. When Kamal Hussain, the fighter, argued that ARSA needed to keep fighting, his neighbors in the camp shouted him down.  We have lost everything. Violence is not the answer,  shouted one elderly man, as muddy water spilled into the tent he now calls home.    It is not obvious how fighters would regroup and rebuild after so many have fled across the border or disappeared.  Three of the fighters who spoke to Reuters said they had been surprised by the ferocity of the Myanmar military s response, and within weeks commanders had told their men to put down their weapons and abandon their villages. Several said Whatsapp groups where regional and field commanders from ARSA, which before a rebranding this year called itself al-Yakin, or  Faith Movement , would post updates had gone quiet.   People who blame this on al-Yakin need to realize my people had to flee in 1978 and in the 1990s when there was no ARSA,  said one of the two village-level commanders, who grew up in Bangladesh after his family fled an earlier outbreak of violence, but returned to Myanmar in the 1990s.  We should continue to attack. Even women can join.

Summary: फिर से लड़ने के लिए तैयारः बेघर रोहिंग्या अभी भी म्यांमार विद्रोह का समर्थन कर रहे हैं


BOGOTA (Reuters) - A peace deal between Colombia and Marxist FARC rebels is being threatened by drug trafficking and cultivation of coca, the base ingredient for cocaine, a peace official said on Thursday, in the wake of a confrontation between coca farmers and police that killed seven.   Drug trafficking and illegal crops are the most important threats,  Rodrigo Rivera, the country s peace commissioner, told Reuters in his office inside the presidential palace.  While that element exists, it s like honey attracting bees, they re circling and it s creating new organized crime in the territories where the FARC no longer are,  Rivera said. The government of President Juan Manuel Santos and the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) rebels signed a peace accord last year to end their roles in a conflict that has killed at least 220,000 people.  Thousands of FARC fighters have demobilized under the deal and the group is now a political party, but crop substitution is already a thorn in the side of the government. Last week at least seven farmers protesting eradication were killed in a confused incident with police in Tumaco, in southwestern Colombia. The defense ministry accused dissident former FARC members of stoking a confrontation and then firing on the crowd, while farmer s groups have accused jittery police of shooting to disperse the protest. An investigation into the incident is ongoing. As well as dissidents from the rebel group, crime gangs have begun to take over coca areas, security sources say. The gangs often offer ex-combatants higher salaries than they are entitled to under the peace deal. The dissidents and gangs can be a  siren s call  for ex-rebels, Rivera said. Subsistence farmers have often been obliged by rebel groups, paramilitaries and crime gangs to plant coca. Some also choose to grow the crop because illegal groups will pay higher prices than farmers can earn with other products - a tempting possibility amid dire poverty. Coca cultivation reached levels not seen for a decade last year after the government banned aerial fumigation with glyphosate, an herbicide that has been linked to cancer. The prohibition has sparked criticism from the United States, which is set to give the Andean country more than $400 million in funding help for the FARC deal.  Coca is cultivated on about 188,000 hectares (464,000 acres) across Colombia and cocaine production capacity is up to 700 tonnes annually. The government wants to eradicate 100,000 hectares this year.

Summary: कोका, तस्करी कोलंबिया की शांति के लिए सबसे बड़ा खतराः अधिकारी


(Reuters) - Britain’s Sir Elton John will not perform at the inauguration of Donald Trump in Washington as U.S. president, the singer-songwriter’s spokeswoman said on Wednesday. Anthony Scaramucci, an economic adviser to Trump’s campaign, said John would be performing in a BBC radio interview during which Scaramucci also said the Republican president-elect had a pro-gay rights stance. “Elton John is going to be doing our concert on the Mall for the inauguration,” Scaramucci added in the interview for  “HARDtalk,” broadcast on Wednesday. “Elton will not be performing at Trump’s inaugural,” the singer’s publicist, Fran Curtis, responded. John, a prominent gay rights activist, performed at fundraisers for Democrat Hillary Clinton during the U.S. presidential election campaign. He also objected when Trump played his “Rocket Man” and “Tiny Dancer” songs without permission during rallies and campaign appearances earlier this year, saying that any use of his music “should not be seen as an endorsement of Donald Trump.” A spokesman for the Trump inauguration committee did not respond to a request for comment on Scaramucci’s claim.

Summary: एल्टन जॉन ने ट्रंप के शपथ ग्रहण समारोह में खेलने से किया इनकार


YANGON (Reuters) - The two Reuters journalists who were detained in Myanmar on Dec. 12 have appeared in court and been remanded in custody, a police spokesman said on Thursday.  Yes, they were sent to the court,  said police colonel Myo Thu Soe.  The remand has already been obtained. The case is under the Burma State Secrets Act ... so, for now, they are not allowed to meet with anyone and they are being investigated.  Reporters Wa Lone and Kyaw Soe Oo have been in detention for nine days with no detail on where they are being held. They have not had access to visitors or lawyers. Pan Ei Mon, Wa Lone s wife, said she was told by police on Thursday that both journalists were well and she was allowed to leave food and clothes for them. The authorities are investigating whether they violated the country s colonial-era Official Secrets Act, which carries a maximum prison sentence of 14 years. The two journalists had worked on Reuters coverage of a crisis in the western state of Rakhine, where an estimated 655,000 Rohingya Muslims have fled from a fierce military crackdown on militants. The Ministry of Information said last week that Wa Lone, 31, and Kyaw Soe Oo, 27, had  illegally acquired information with the intention to share it with foreign media . A spokesman for Myanmar leader Aung San Suu Kyi said on Wednesday that the police had almost completed their investigation, after which a court case would begin and the reporters would have access to a lawyer and be able to meet members of their families. The spokesman said he was told by the Ministry of Home Affairs and police that the two men were being detained in Yangon, Myanmar s largest city, were  in good condition  and had not been subject to  illegal questioning. A number of governments and human rights and journalist groups have criticized Myanmar s authorities for holding the pair incommunicado since their arrest, with no access to a lawyer, colleagues and family members. Myo Thu Soe, the police spokesman, said:  During the investigation by the police force, we are not torturing them nor doing anything that is not in line with human rights.

Summary: म्यांमार का कहना है कि रॉयटर्स के दो पत्रकारों को हिरासत में लिया गया है


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

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


NEW YORK (Reuters) - Top executives from Alphabet Inc, Apple Inc and Facebook Inc are among a small group of tech leaders invited to a summit to be held on Wednesday by U.S. President-elect Donald Trump, Recode reported, citing sources. Executives from Microsoft Corp, Intel Corp and Oracle Corp will also be among “a very heady group of less than a dozen, comprising most of the key players in the sector” to attend the summit, Recode said. Billionaire entrepreneur and Tesla Motors Inc  CEO Elon Musk will also be in attendance, the Wall Street Journal reported, citing people familiar with the matter. “I plan to tell the president-elect that we are with him and are here to help in any way we can,” Oracle Chief Executive Officer Safra Catz told Reuters in an emailed statement. “If he can reform the tax code, reduce regulation, and negotiate better trade deals, the U.S. technology community will be stronger and more competitive than ever.”  Amazon.com Inc CEO and founder Jeff Bezos was also invited and is likely to attend, Recode said citing sources with knowledge of the situation. Facebook, Apple, Amazon and Alphabet did not immediately respond to requests for comment. An Intel spokeswoman and a Microsoft spokesman declined to comment. The gathering will take place on Wednesday at Trump Tower in New York City, Recode said.

Summary: शीर्ष तकनीकी अधिकारी बुधवार को ट्रम्प शिखर सम्मेलन में भाग लेंगेः रिकोड


WASHINGTON (Reuters) - An overhaul of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac is highly unlikely to make it into this year’s legislative calendar, Congressional staffers say, possibly shifting the new administration’s immediate focus to allowing the mortgage financing institutions’ to rebuild depleted capital. Fannie and Freddie stocks soared late last year when President Donald Trump’s pick for Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin said the companies that have been in government conservatorship since the 2008 financial crisis should be privatized. Hedge funds and other investors have been lobbying for the removal of government controls over the mortgage giants’ profits, which since 2012 have been transferred to the Treasury, and their eventual privatization. The shares dipped when Mnuchin seemed to backpedal on the privatization pledge during his January confirmation hearing and suffered another setback last month when a court rejected investors’ suit against the dividend transfers. Congressional staffers say the Senate Banking Committee has begun weekly bipartisan staff briefings on Freddie and Fannie reforms, but it is starting from scratch. The House Financial Services Committee is focused on other legislation, such as renewing the flood insurance program and rolling back parts of the Dodd-Frank financial reform, pushing the mortgage giants’ revamp down the to-do list, they say.  Instead, investors’ focus is shifting to how Mnuchin and Federal Housing Finance Agency Director Mel Watt, an Obama Administration holdover, will manage the dividends transfers.  Analysts expect the two institutions to make a full $10 billion dividend payment for the fourth quarter on March 31.  But investors will be looking for any indication from Watt or Mnuchin about whether they plan to allow the mortgage firms to retain profits later on and begin the slow recapitalization process. Though rebuilding an adequate capital buffer would take years - as long as two to three presidential administrations, according to one analyst - it would eventually allow Fannie and Freddie to leave government conservatorship, returning value to their investors.  Watt has warned the mortgage giants have a dangerously thin capital buffer. Mnuchin said during his confirmation hearing he favored finding a “bipartisan fix.” The two will likely wait for congressional inaction to become a de facto impasse before letting Freddie and Fannie hold on to their profits, analysts said, estimating a decision could be made two or three quarters out. “Mnuchin has been out there talking about a bipartisan agreement,” Heights Securities analyst Edwin Groshans told Reuters. “That process will have to play out until it in essence fails. When that process fails, that would open the opportunity for Mnuchin and Watts to act.” Tim Pagliara, an investor who founded Investors Unite, a coalition of more than 1,000 Fannie and Freddie investors, told Reuters he did not expect an imminent legislative fix and called the situation in Congress “fluid.” “The focus is going to continue to be on the court cases and what the administration is going to do – and what they’ve said they’re going to do,” Pagliara added.  President Donald Trump’s administration generally supports transferring government programs to the private sector. Trump donor John Paulson runs three hedge funds in which the president has invested and which held stakes in the mortgage institutions. Mnuchin, under the terms of a government ethics agreement, divested between $1 million and $2 million he had in Paulson’s funds. Fannie and Freddie provide stability to the U.S. housing market by buying mortgages and bundling them into government-backed securities. During the financial crisis, they received $187 billion in government aid and by now have repaid $265 billion via dividend payments to the Treasury. FHFA’s Watt has warned the payments have depleted the companies’ capital buffer and that by January 2018 they will have “no ability to weather quarterly losses.” Fannie was required by law to keep a minimum capital reserve of about $33 billion and Freddie $29 billion headed into the 2008 bailout, which suspended those requirements. Industry analysts, shareholders and advocacy groups - both conservative and liberal - all believe that the same 2008 bailout law gives Watt the authority to allow the companies to begin rebuilding capital, without waiting for Congress.

Summary: फैनी, फ़्रेडी की इस साल सुधार की योजना की संभावना नहीं, लाभांश पर ध्यान केंद्रित किया गया


ANKARA (Reuters) - Iran said on Tuesday U.S. President Donald Trump cannot cause its nuclear deal with six major powers to collapse.   The nuclear deal will not collapse... Those who hope that Trump will cause its collapse, are wrong,  Iranian President Hassan Rouhani said in a speech broadcast live on State TV.  In October, Trump declined to certify that Iran was complying with the nuclear agreement reached among Tehran, the United States and other powers in 2015. His decision triggered a 60-day window for Congress to decide whether to bring back sanctions on Iran. Congress passed the ball back to Trump by letting the  deadline on reimposing sanctions on Iran pass last week. Trump must decide in mid-January if he wants to continue to waive energy sanctions on Iran. Under the deal, nuclear-related sanctions imposed on Iran were lifted last year, in return for Tehran curbing its nuclear program. Iran has said it will stick to the accord as long as the other signatories respect it, but will  shred  the deal if Washington pulls out.

Summary: ईरान का कहना है कि ट्रम्प परमाणु समझौते को ध्वस्त नहीं कर सकतेः टीवी


(Reuters) - Highlights of the day for U.S. President Donald Trump’s administration on Wednesday: The U.S. Senate votes to confirm Republican Senator Jeff Sessions as the next attorney general of the United States. Hillary Clinton and other Democrats flock to support U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren for criticizing Trump’s nominee for attorney general after being silenced by Republicans on the Senate floor. The White House says the directors of national intelligence and the Central Intelligence Agency will both be members of Trump’s Cabinet.  Trump fumes over what he calls too much politics in the U.S. judiciary, while a federal appeals court keeps him and the rest of the country waiting for its ruling on a suspension of his temporary travel ban on seven Muslim-majority countries. Trump’s nominee for the U.S. Supreme Court, Neil Gorsuch, describes the president’s Twitter attacks on the judiciary as “demoralizing” and “disheartening,” a spokesman for Gorsuch says. Trump blasts department store chain Nordstrom Inc (JWN.N) for dropping his daughter Ivanka’s clothing line, prompting critics to accuse him of misusing public office to benefit his family’s sprawling business empire. Intel Corp (INTC.O) chooses the Oval Office to announce a $7 billion investment in a new Arizona semiconductor factory, a move it says would create 3,000 new jobs when the plant is up and running. U.S. aviation executives will discuss the industry’s aging airports and air traffic control reform when they meet with Trump on Thursday, sources familiar with the matter say. Trump and Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan agree in an overnight phone call to act jointly against Islamic State in the Syrian towns of al-Bab and Raqqa, Turkish sources say. The Trump administration is considering a proposal that could lead to potentially designating Iran’s powerful Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps a terrorist organization, U.S. officials familiar with the matter say. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson meets his Canadian counterpart for the first time for talks that touch on the trilateral NAFTA trade agreement, which Trump wants to renegotiate. Senior U.S. senators call for the right to review any move the White House might make to ease sanctions on Russia, amid mounting concern in Congress - and among U.S. allies - that Trump will be too conciliatory toward Moscow. Friendly phone calls, an invitation to the White House, a focus on Islamist militancy and what Trump calls “chemistry” set the tone for warmer U.S.-Egyptian ties that could herald more military and political support for Cairo.

Summary: 8 फरवरी को रात 8.10 बजे ट्रम्प प्रेसीडेंसी ईएसटी


SYDNEY (Reuters) - Australia will not be allowed to walk away from legal, financial and moral responsibility for nearly 800 men when it closes its asylum seeker detention center in Papua New Guinea (PNG) on Tuesday, PNG s immigration minister said. Human rights advocates are warning of a looming humanitarian crisis when the Manus Island center closes if the men are not properly resettled, with hundreds of the detainees refusing to leave the center for fear of being targeted by locals. PNG Immigration Minister Petrus Thomas said late on Sunday that Australia will remain responsible for the welfare of the men that have been detained in the Australian-funded center for more than four years. Australia refuses to allow asylum seekers arriving by boat to reach its shores, detaining them in camps in PNG and Nauru in the South Pacific. The United Nations and rights groups have for years cited human rights abuses among detainees in the centers.  It is PNG s position that as long as there is one individual from this arrangement that remains in PNG, Australia will continue to provide financial and other support to PNG to manage the persons transferred under the arrangement until the last person leaves or is independently resettled in PNG,  Thomas said in an emailed statement. Australia has already said it would spend up to A$250 million ($195 million) housing the nearly 800 refugees and asylum seekers in Papua New Guinea for the next 12 months after its controversial detention center closes. The Manus center is scheduled to close on Tuesday, after being declared illegal by a PNG court, with 600 men set to be moved to three new transit camps. Just under 200 men have already relocated. Despite threats that basic services like electricity and water will be cut off, the remaining detainees are refusing to move, citing fears for their safety. Fears of violence have been stoked further after PNG sent extra security forces to the camp. The relocation of the men is designed as a temporary measure, allowing the United States time to complete vetting of refugees as part of a refugee swap deal. The United States has agreed to take up to possibly 1,250 refugees from Australia s two Pacific detention centers, but so far only 25 men from Manus have been resettled. In exchange, Australia said it will resettle Central American refugees. Australia has said those detainees not resettled in the United States will be allowed to stay in PNG or the tiny Pacific island of Nauru. But nearly all have refused invitations to settle permanently in both locations. Thomas said PNG will not force anyone to remain.  It is the responsibility of Australia to pursue third country options,  he said. Australia s acting Prime Minister Julie Bishop said on Monday that Canberra was exploring possible deals for resettlement, but added  those who have found not to be refugees should go home .  They ve been found by the (United Nations) not to be owed protection so they should return to their homes,  she said. The bulk of the detainees come from war-torn countries such as Syria and Afghanistan, and Pakistan, Iran, Sri Lanka and Myanmar.

Summary: पी. एन. जी. का कहना है कि हिरासत शिविर बंद होने पर सैकड़ों शरण चाहने वालों के लिए ऑस्ट्रेलिया जिम्मेदार है