(In this Dec. 8 story, corrects Peters’ affiliation in paragraph 12 to reflect company name change) By Jonathan Spicer and Rob Cox NEW YORK (Reuters) - The Federal Reserve Bank of New York will soon narrow its search for candidates to fill what is considered the Fed’s second-most powerful job after having scouted a diverse field, from a local business school dean to a former Fed governor. New York Fed President William Dudley steps down in mid-2018 and people in contact with the directors leading the search for his successor say they have so far considered several economists, academics, investors, bankers and policymakers. “They are looking beyond the traditional mold” of an expert in banking, markets or monetary policy, and plan to start trimming a preliminary list of candidates in coming days, said one person in contact with the directors.  The New York Fed president is at the intersection of U.S. monetary policy and financial markets, and is responsible for the policing of Wall Street and the diplomacy with central bank counterparts around the world.  Unlike other top roles with a permanent vote on policy, the New York Fed boss is nominated by the regional bank’s board of directors rather than the White House and does not require Congressional approval. Dudley’s successor could play an even greater role guiding the Fed through a historic leadership change in which U.S. President Donald Trump can fill six of the seven seats on the Fed Board of Governors. He has so far named Jerome Powell and Randal Quarles - lawyers, not PhD economists - to top positions in Washington, with Powell replacing Chair Janet Yellen who unlike her predecessors will only serve one term. Both men support the Republican push for Wall Street deregulation. Yet their relatively limited experience with monetary policy compared with their predecessors has raised questions over the Fed’s tightening plans and how it might tackle any severe economic downturn.  By now the New York Fed directors have kept open what an ideal candidate profile should look like, according to people familiar with the search. Two of those people, who declined to be named given the sensitivity of the process, said search firms have contacted among several others Peter Blair Henry, 48, dean of New York University’s Stern School of Business, and former Fed governor Kevin Warsh.  Warsh, 47, who was in the running for Fed Chair before Trump picked Powell last month, declined to be considered for the New York job, they said. One of these people said Henry appeared to be the early front-runner.  Henry and a spokeswoman for Warsh at Stanford University’s Hoover Institution, where he is a visiting fellow, did not respond to requests for comment.  The permanent-voting Fed governors need a White House nod and Senate approval. The other 11 district presidents vote every two or three years under a century-old rotation meant to emphasize New York's unique role as a counterbalance to the Washington-based board. Its president enjoys broad independence and also serves as vice chair of the central bank's rate-setting committee. (For a graphic of the Fed's ideological doves and hawks, see: goo.gl/5BpTex) “It’s a critical position and more important than the Fed’s vice chair from a market standpoint,” Greg Peters, senior investment officer at PGIM Fixed Income, which oversees $695 billion in assets, told Reuters.  Still, the Fed’s Board of Governors would need to approve the nominee chosen by New York’s four-member search committee led by liberal-leaning directors Sara Horowitz and Glenn Hutchins. Horowitz, founder of the Freelancers Union which advocates for independent workers, chairs the New York Fed’s board. Hutchins is co-founder of private-equity firm Silver Lake Partners and a noted public-policy philanthropist.  Several weeks before Dudley’s resignation announcement in early November, the two were already hitting the phones and holding meetings to cast a wide net for potential candidates diverse primarily in terms of professional background, but also race and gender, according to those familiar with the effort. The New York Fed declined to comment. In a video posted on its website last month, the search committee said they sought a range of attributes from team-building and sensitivity to local economic trends, to intellectual leadership and crisis management.  The initial search effort suggests the next New York Fed chief could have a different background than Dudley and his predecessors, who tended to be bankers or market economists with Wall Street or U.S. Treasury experience, and who were all white and male.   Dudley was chief economist at Goldman Sachs before joining the Fed where he became a key architect of its crisis response and later the No. 2 policymaker behind Yellen.  At the time of his departure, the New York Fed will have only begun the tricky task of trimming its currently $4.4-trillion portfolio of assets accumulated since the crisis, a task that would favor candidates with market experience.  Jamaica-born Henry, who will step down as Stern’s dean at year end, would instead bring his expertise in global trade and shore up the number of economists in the Fed’s upper ranks. A review of Henry’s public papers and comments reveal little about his views on U.S. monetary policy or financial supervision, though his expertise in capital flows could bolster the New York Fed’s role as foreign liaison. If chosen he would become the institution’s first black president. Those who have spoken to New York Fed directors said past and present insiders, as well as outsiders, were considered. Among them were: Simon Potter, the head of the New York Fed’s markets desk; Brian Sack, his predecessor in that role now at hedge fund D.E. Shaw; and Lorie Logan, Potter’s deputy.  They said the field also included Lael Brainard, one of four sitting Fed governors; former Fed governor and Harvard professor Jeremy Stein; and Mohamed El-Erian, the chief economic adviser at PIMCO-parent Allianz SE. All of those named declined to comment. It was unclear how much formal contact if any they have had with the New York Fed about the job. The bank has said the process should take six to nine months.

Summary: एक्सक्लूसिवः नंबर 2 फेड नौकरी के लिए उम्मीदवार उभरे, तलाश कम करने के लिए


The following statements were posted to the verified Twitter accounts of U.S. President Donald Trump, @realDonaldTrump and @POTUS.  The opinions expressed are his own. Reuters has not edited the statements or confirmed their accuracy.  @realDonaldTrump : - My experience yesterday in Poland was a great one. Thank you to everyone, including the haters, for the great reviews of the speech! [0259 EDT] - After Poland had a great meeting with Chancellor Merkel and then with PM Shinzō Abe of Japan & President Moon of South Korea. [0307 EDT] - Everyone here is talking about why John Podesta refused to give the DNC server to the FBI and the CIA. Disgraceful! [0340 EDT] - I look forward to all meetings today with world leaders, including my meeting with Vladimir Putin. Much to discuss. #G20Summit #USA [0342 EDT] - I will represent our country well and fight for its interests! Fake News Media will never cover me accurately but who cares! We will #MAGA! [0344 EDT] - #ICYMI: WSJ Editorial: "Trump's Defining Speech" in Warsaw, Poland: bit.ly/2sONzhM [1104 EDT] - Weekly Address - tune in! #MAGA [1209 EDT] -- Source link: (bit.ly/2jBh4LU) (bit.ly/2jpEXYR)

Summary: फैक्टबॉक्सः ट्विटर पर ट्रम्प (7 जुलाई)-पुतिन, जर्मनी, जी20 शिखर सम्मेलन


BERLIN (Reuters) - Germany called for reconciliation and respect for the constitution in Spain after separatists triumphed in Catalan regional elections on Thursday in a result that threatens to prolong political tensions there.  We hope that the current division in Catalan society can be overcome and that a common future can be found with all political forces in Spain,  government spokeswoman Ulrike Demmer told a regular government news conference on Friday.  Any government will have to act on the basis of the rule of law and the Spanish constitution,  she added.

Summary: जर्मनी ने स्पेन में सुलह, संविधान का सम्मान करने का आह्वान किया


HARARE (Reuters) - Zimbabwe President Robert Mugabe met military chiefs on Sunday for a second round of negotiations to encourage him to stand down after 37 years in power, according to The Herald state newspaper. In photos posted on its website, Mugabe was shown in a dark suit and tie and standing behind a wooden desk at State House as he shook hands with a procession of generals and the chief of police. Beside him was a television tuned in to Al-Jazeera.

Summary: मुगाबे ने सेनापतियों के साथ और बातचीत कीः सरकारी मीडिया


WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Republicans will consider using planned tax reform to eliminate one of the biggest taxes in Obamacare, if the Senate fails to overturn the healthcare law, a senior Republican in the U.S. House of Representatives said on Wednesday.  Kevin Brady, the top Republican on tax policy in the House as chairman of the Ways and Means Committee, said Republicans will look at the 3.8 percent Net Investment Income Tax in discussions aimed at unveiling a tax reform plan in September. The levy is a weight on economic growth, he said in an interview with Reuters. Efforts by Republicans to overhaul or repeal the Affordable Care Act, known as Obamacare, collapsed in the Senate on Tuesday in a major setback for Republican President Donald Trump. Given a wholesale repeal or overhaul now seems imperiled, Republicans are looking at other ways to attack a law they have vowed to overturn since it was signed by Democratic former President Barack Obama seven years ago. Brady said tax legislation was unlikely to be able to include the repeal of other Obamacare taxes. Doing so would result in about $1 trillion in additional revenue losses over a decade, cutting into efforts to avoid adding to the federal deficit in the overall tax package, he said.  “Will we look at the Net Investment Income Tax provision? Yes, mainly because it is incredibly anti-growth the way it is today,” Brady said. But he was cautious about a full repeal of the tax, given the large revenues involved and the fact that some Senate Republicans resisted overturning it as part of the healthcare bill that was under consideration. The tax raises $172.2 billion in revenue over 10 years to fund Obamacare, including health insurance subsidies for individuals.  Its repeal is viewed by critics, including some moderate Republicans, as a tax cut for the wealthy since the tax hits individuals who earn more than $200,000 a year and married couples with more than $250,000 in earnings. Brady said he was most concerned about the investment tax’s effect on small businesses.  “It doesn’t just affect high earners. It goes across a broad spectrum of small business and captures too much of their activity as well. So we will take a look at that,” he said. However, he noted, “You’ve got to ask the question: if it couldn’t pass the Senate in healthcare, can it pass the Senate in tax reform?”  But he added: “Leaving that in place, from an economic standpoint, is a mistake.”

Summary: एक्सक्लूसिवः रिपब्लिकन व्यापक कर सुधार में ओबामाकेयर कर को लक्षित कर सकते हैं-ब्रैडी


SYDNEY (Reuters) - Australian police will create a national photo database using existing identification records held by state authorities to identify terror suspects, Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull said on Thursday, fanning privacy concerns among rights groups. Turnbull said the database was intended to accelerate the process of identifying potential terror suspects, replacing a time-consuming system that could take up to a week when national authorities requested information from their state counterparts.  It shouldn t take seven days to be able to verify someone s identity or seek to match the photo of someone who is a person of interest,  Turnbull told reporters in Canberra.  It should be done seamlessly and in real time,  he said. The biometric database stops short of enabling real-time detection of suspects by scanning large crowds and alerting authorities when people on a security watch list are identified, similar to a system in place in China. China leads the world in the use of facial detection, even allowing education authorities to use the system to catch students cheating on exams, but Australia will limit the new database to police and intelligence agencies only. Turnbull said the system would not be connected to Australia s existing network of closed-circuit televisions, easing fears that authorities were seeking to create an automated system of detection. Australia, a staunch U.S. ally, is on heightened alert after a series of  lone wolf  attacks in recent years, and has sent troops to fight alongside the United States and other allies in Afghanistan and Iraq. It is also on alert for dozens of home-grown radicals returning after fighting for Islamic State and other extremist groups in Syria and Iraq. Turnbull said police were hampered by the current outdated, state-based system but Fergus Hanson, head of international cyber policy center at the Australian Strategic Policy Institute, said the new biometric system raised concerns about potential abuses of power.  I think most Australians would agree that using facial recognition to track down terrorists is a good idea,  he said.  People might say using it for tracking down murderers is a good idea, but what about people who haven t paid their parking fine?  Hanson said. The new database was unveiled as Turnbull met state leaders and announced Australia would now double the length of time terror suspects could be held by police to two weeks after their arrest. Australia s detention laws came into focus earlier this year with the arrest of four men on suspicion of planning an  Islamic inspired  plot to bring down a passenger plane.

Summary: ऑस्ट्रेलिया ने आतंकी संदिग्धों का पता लगाने में मदद के लिए फोटो आईडी डेटाबेस बनाया


SINGAPORE (Reuters) - Japanese Defence Minister Gen Nakatani said on Saturday that Japan and South Korea agreed to expand an emergency communication system between their defense ministries, including adding a new direct line between defense ministers. Tensions have been high in the region since early January when North Korea conducted its fourth nuclear test. It has followed that with a satellite launch and tests of various missiles, most recently a failed launch on Tuesday. “What it means is that we will make use of phones for emergency communication, when security-related emergencies such as a missile launch occur, and communication and coordination between the defense authorities of the two countries are needed,” Nakatani told reporters at the Shangri-La Dialogue, a regional security forum in Singapore. He said such emergency phone lines would be expanded to include a new direct link between the two countries’ defense ministers.  Nakatani said talks would continue on sharing and safeguarding sensitive information on Pyongyang’s missile and nuclear programs.  Under the framework, South Korea would pass relevant information to the United States, with which Seoul already has a legally-binding pact to share and safeguard intelligence called General Security of Military Information Agreement (GSOMIA). The United States would then pass the information on to Japan. It would work similarly the other way around since the United States has also signed a GSOMIA with Japan.  Some South Koreans have voiced concerns about signing a security pact with Japan, their one-time colonial ruler.  Besides historical issues stemming from Japan’s annexation of the Korean peninsula that ended in 1945, ties have been chilled by a long-running territorial dispute over a group of tiny islets.

Summary: जापान, दक्षिण कोरिया रक्षा मंत्रियों के बीच सीधी लाइन स्थापित करेंगे


WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump and members of his administration on Sunday goaded Republican senators to stick with trying to pass a healthcare bill, after the lawmakers failed spectacularly last week to muster the votes to end Obamacare. For the second day running, the Republican president tweeted his impatience with Congress’ inability to deliver on his party’s seven-year promise to replace the Affordable Care Act, President Barack Obama’s signature healthcare bill commonly known as Obamacare. Members of his administration took to the airwaves to try to compel lawmakers to take action. But it was unclear whether the White House admonishments would have any impact on Capitol Hill, where Republicans who control both houses signaled last week that it was time to move on to other issues. Republicans’ zeal to repeal and replace Obamacare was met with both intra-party divisions between moderates and conservatives and also the increasing approval of a law that raised the number of insured Americans by 20 million.   Polling indicates a majority of Americans are ready to move on from healthcare at this point. According to a Reuters/Ipsos poll released on Saturday, 64 percent of 1,136 people surveyed on Friday and Saturday said they wanted to keep Obamacare, either “entirely as is” or after fixing “problem areas.” That is up from 54 percent in January.   With the U.S. legislative branch spinning its wheels, the executive branch pledged to look at rewriting Obamacare regulations. Health and Human Services Secretary Tom Price told ABC’s “This Week” that he would change those regulations that drive up costs or “hurt” patients. Price sidestepped questions about whether there were administration plans to waive Obamacare’s mandate that individuals have health insurance, saying “all things are on the table to try to help patients.” But Price also told NBC he would implement Obamacare because it is the “law of the land.” That Obamacare was still law clearly angered Trump, who has no major legislative accomplishments to show for his first half-year in office. “Don’t give up Republican Senators, the World is watching: Repeal & Replace ...” the president said in a tweet on Sunday morning. On Friday, Senate Republicans failed to collect enough votes to repeal even a few parts of Obamacare. That capped a week of failed Senate votes on whether to simply repeal, or repeal and replace, the 2010 law, while Trump repeatedly berated lawmakers in a late attempt to influence the legislation.  “The president will not accept those who said, quote, ‘it’s time to move on,’” Kellyanne Conway, a senior counselor to Trump, said on Fox News Sunday. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, a Republican, had made exactly that comment before dawn on Friday morning after the failed healthcare vote.      The White House budget director, Mick Mulvaney, said on Sunday lawmakers should stay in session to get something done on healthcare - even if this means postponing votes on other issues such as raising the debt ceiling. “So yes. They need to stay. They need to work. They need to pass something,” Mulvaney said on CNN. The House of Representatives has already gone home for its August break and the Senate is expected to do the same by mid-August. Mulvaney also said Trump was seriously considering carrying out threats he tweeted about on Saturday, when the president said that “if a new HealthCare Bill is not approved quickly, BAILOUTS for Insurance Companies and BAILOUTS for Members of Congress will end very soon!”  That tweet appeared to be referring to the approximately $8 billion in cost-sharing reduction subsidies the federal government pays to insurers to lower the price of health coverage for low-income Americans.  The Saturday tweet also appeared to be a threat to end the  employer contribution for members of Congress and their staffs, who were moved from the normal federal employee healthcare benefits program onto the Obamacare insurance exchanges as part of the 2010 healthcare law. “What he’s saying is, look, if Obamacare is hurting the American people – and it is – then why shouldn’t it hurt insurance companies and more importantly, perhaps for this discussion, members of Congress?” Mulvaney said on Sunday on CNN. Some Republicans have said they are trying to find a way forward on healthcare. Senate Republican Susan Collins, one of three Republicans who voted against repealing parts of Obamacare on Friday, told NBC that Congress should produce a series of bills with bipartisan input on healthcare, including appropriating the cost-sharing subsidies.  The Senate has one vote scheduled when it reconvenes on Monday afternoon: whether to confirm a U.S. circuit court judge. Senate aides said they had no guidance for the agenda beyond that vote.

Summary: ट्रम्प ने रिपब्लिकन से स्वास्थ्य सेवा विधेयक पर वापस आने को कहा


WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump is close to a decision on how to respond to what he considers China’s unfair trade practices, a senior Trump administration official said on Tuesday. Trump is considering encouraging U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer to initiate an investigation of Chinese trade practices under the 1974 Trade Act’s section 301, the official said. An announcement could come as early as this week, the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity. Section 301 of the Trade Act of 1974 allows the president to unilaterally impose tariffs or other trade restrictions to protect U.S. industries from “unfair trade practices” of foreign countries, such as trade agreement violations, or “discriminatory” actions that burden U.S. commerce. The United States has a long list of grievances about China on trade, including accusations of steel dumping and theft of U.S. intellectual property. China has said that trade between China and the United States benefits both sides and that Beijing is willing to work with Washington to improve their trade relationship. Trump has long been a critic of Chinese trade practices but his interest in penalizing Beijing has risen because of his concern at what he perceives to be Chinese inaction on reining in increasingly belligerent North Korea. The United States has pressed China to exert more economic and diplomatic pressure on North Korea to help rein in its nuclear and missile programs. Beijing has repeatedly said its influence on North Korea is limited and that it is doing all it can. A senior Chinese official said on Monday there was no link between North Korea’s nuclear program and China-U.S. trade. Susan Thornton, acting assistant secretary of state for East Asia, told a congressional hearing on Tuesday that new U.S. sanctions aimed at curbing North Korean’s weapons programs, including measures aimed at Chinese financial institutions, could be expected “fairly soon.” Section 301 was used extensively in the 1980s to combat Japanese imports of motorcycles, steel and other products - an era during which Lighthizer served as deputy U.S. trade representative. The statute has been little used since the World Trade Organization was launched in 1995. The WTO provides a forum for resolving trade disputes, but Lighthizer and Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross have complained that it is extremely slow, often taking years to reach a conclusion, and that the Geneva-based organization has an inherent anti-U.S. bias. Both China’s Foreign Ministry and Commerce Ministry did not respond immediately to requests for comment. Chinese Premier Li Keqiang met Michigan’s governor Rick Snyder in Beijing on Tuesday, where he said the common interests of China and  the United States were bigger than any disputes. “China welcomes U.S. states, including Michigan, to ... enhance bilateral trade and investment, ... and consolidate and expand cooperative consensus to create better development opportunities and jobs for both countries’ peoples,” Li told Snyder, according to a Chinese government statement. “The Trump administration believes in free and fair trade and will use every available tool to counter the protectionism of those who pledge allegiance to free trade while violating its core principles,” Ross said in a Wall Street Journal opinion piece on Tuesday.  He tried to refute arguments that the Trump administration was taking a protectionist stance, saying that both China and Europe were more protectionist because they subsidized export industries and had “formidable tariff and non-tariff trade barriers against imports.” “China is not a market economy. The Chinese government creates national champions and takes other actions that significantly distort markets,” Ross wrote. “Responding to such actions with trade remedies is not protectionist.”

Summary: चीनी व्यापार प्रथाओं को संबोधित करने के फैसले के करीब हैं ट्रंप


WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The top Democrat in the U.S. Senate, Chuck Schumer, decried what he called undue haste to confirm President-elect Donald Trump’s nominations for various top posts, saying on Monday they needed more thorough vetting. Hearings start on Tuesday for the Republican president-elect’s choices for senior administration posts, beginning with U.S. Senator Jeff Sessions, nominated to be attorney general, and retired General John Kelly, Trump’s pick for secretary of homeland security. Schumer said Trump’s nominees, many of whom have extensive business backgrounds at companies such as Exxon Mobil Corp and Goldman Sachs, should be carefully scrutinized to be sure they avoid conflicts of interest.  “We’re not doing this for sport. Democrats feel very strongly that pushing for a thorough and thoughtful vetting process is the right thing to do,” Schumer said in a speech. Republicans, who control the majority in the Senate, are presenting the Democratic objections as political grandstanding, saying they moved quickly eight years ago to confirm Democratic President Barack Obama’s Cabinet picks, approving seven the day he began his first term. Schumer said some of Trump’s nominees have not completed a review process conducted by the U.S. Office of Government Ethics. Trump transition spokesman Sean Spicer said on Monday that every nominee with a hearing this week has turned in the required paperwork. “Everybody will be properly vetted as they have been in the past,” said U.S. Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell, speaking in New York after meeting with Trump on Monday. He said he hoped to confirm six or seven national security appointees by the time Trump takes office on Jan. 20. Trump needs to keep the 52 Republicans in the 100-seat Senate on his side to secure the simple majority votes needed for confirmations. One of the more contentious hearings could be over Rex Tillerson, nominated for secretary of state. Trump’s stated desire for warmer relations with Russia comes at a deeply sensitive moment, after U.S. intelligence agencies concluded that Moscow used cyber hacking and other methods to try to tilt the U.S. presidential election in Trump’s favor over Democrat Hillary Clinton. Republicans including U.S. Senator John McCain and U.S. Senator Lindsey Graham, veterans in foreign policy and security issues, have signaled concerns about Tillerson’s ties to Russia during his tenure as the chief executive of Exxon Mobil. Transition officials expressed confidence that Tillerson would win the pair’s support. Sessions is also likely to face a thorough grilling, with critics arguing he obstructed civil rights protections in the past. Democrats are likely to question nominees for positions related to national security about Trump’s proposal to build a wall along the U.S. border with Mexico and his pledge to temporarily suspend immigration from regions deemed to be exporting terrorism.   The Trump team has put the nominees through mock hearings that are standard practice ahead of such events. Questions have included the kind of everyday concerns that periodically upset nominees for high office, such as the price of a gallon of gas. Each mock-up has also included at least one disruptive pretend protester, a transition official said. Transition officials say they believe they could pick up Democratic votes from senators facing 2018 re-election bids in states Trump won on Nov. 8, such as U.S. Senator Claire McCaskill of Missouri. Trump voiced optimism about the process on Monday, telling reporters at his office and residence in New York, “The confirmation is going great. I think they’ll all pass.”

Summary: शीर्ष अमेरिकी सीनेट डेमोक्रेट का कहना है कि ट्रम्प के उम्मीदवारों को 'पूरी तरह से' जांच की आवश्यकता है


CHICAGO (Reuters) - A sexual abuse victim will continue to try to collect $1.8 million from former U.S. House Speaker Dennis Hastert, the victim’s attorney said on Tuesday, after an Illinois judge denied Hastert’s motion to dismiss a breach-of-contract lawsuit.  The plaintiff, identified in court documents as James Doe, claims that Hastert agreed to pay him $3.5 million as compensation for decades of pain and suffering caused by Hastert’s sexual abuse. Hastert, 74, the longest-serving Republican U.S. House speaker in history, pleaded guilty last year to the crime of structuring, which involves withdrawing a large sum of money in small increments to avoid detection. Hastert has not been charged with or convicted of sex abuse due to the statute of limitations, but at his sentencing hearing in April, he admitted to sexual abuse of boys when he was a high school teacher and coach in his hometown of Yorkville, around 50 miles (80 km) southwest of Chicago.  Hastert was sentenced to 15 months in federal prison, followed by two years of probation and sex-offender treatment.  He is serving his sentence in the Federal Medical Center in Rochester, Minnesota. Doe filed the lawsuit in Kendall County Circuit Court in northeastern Illinois in April, claiming Hastert owes him the unpaid portion of a $3.5 million deal they verbally agreed to in 2008.  “There is no public policy against an abuser agreeing to compensate his victim and the victim seeking to enforce that commitment to compensate him,” Kristi Browne, Doe’s attorney, said in a statement on Tuesday.  “We will proceed now to prove our claim by seeking documents from Mr. Hastert and others and taking his deposition.” Judge Robert Pilmer rejected Hastert’s motion to have the case dismissed on Monday and the decision was disclosed on  Tuesday, according to court documents. The plaintiff had established a basis for a “claim for contract,” Pilmer wrote in his order.  Hastert’s attorney did not immediately respond to request for comment.  Hastert’s attorney sought dismissal because the contract was not in writing, saying it would be void because Doe broke confidentiality by speaking about it, according to court documents  Doe said he was 14 when he was molested by Hastert, a trusted family friend, high school teacher and “beloved coach” of the state champion wrestling team in the town of Yorkville, Illinois, according to court documents. The next hearing in the contract case is scheduled for Jan. 18.

Summary: इलिनोइस दुर्व्यवहार पीड़ित का ex-U.S के खिलाफ मुकदमा। सदन के अध्यक्ष आगे बढ़ेंगे


WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Justice Department is developing plans to temporarily reassign immigration judges from around the country to 12  cities to speed up deportations of illegal immigrants who have been charged with crimes, according to two administration officials.  How many judges will be reassigned and when they will be sent is still under review, according to the officials, but the Justice Department has begun soliciting volunteers for deployment.  The targeted cities are New York; Los Angeles; Miami; New Orleans; San Francisco; Baltimore, Bloomington, Minnesota; El Paso, Texas; Harlingen, Texas; Imperial, California; Omaha, Nebraska and Phoenix, Arizona. They were chosen because they are cities which have high populations of illegal immigrants with criminal charges, the officials said. A spokeswoman for the Justice Department’s Executive Office of Immigration Review, which administers immigration courts, confirmed that the cities have been identified as likely recipients of reassigned immigration judges, but did not elaborate on the planning.  The plan to intensify deportations is in line with a vow made frequently by President Donald Trump on the campaign trail last year to deport more illegal immigrants involved in crime. The Department of Homeland Security asked for the judges’ reshuffle, an unusual move given that immigration courts are administered by the Department of Justice. A Homeland Security spokeswoman declined to comment on any plan that has not yet been finalized.  Under an executive order signed by Trump in January, illegal immigrants with pending criminal cases are regarded as priorities for deportation whether they have been found guilty or not. That is a departure from former President Barack Obama’s policy, which prioritized deportations only of those convicted of serious crimes. The policy shift has been criticized by advocate groups who say it unfairly targets immigrants who might ultimately be acquitted and do not pose a threat.                                 The cities slated to receive more judges have more than half of the 18,013 pending immigration cases that involve undocumented immigrants facing or convicted of criminal charges, according to data provided by the Justice Department’s Executive Office of Immigration Review.  More than 200 of those cases involve immigrants currently incarcerated, meaning that the others have either not been convicted or have served their sentence. The Justice Department did not provide a breakdown of how many of the remainder have been convicted and how many are awaiting trial.   As part of the Trump administration crackdown on illegal immigrants, the Justice Department is also sending immigration judges to detention centers along the southwest border. Those temporary redeployments will begin Monday. Former immigration judge and chairman of the Board of Immigration Appeals Paul Schmidt said the Trump administration should not assume that all those charged with crimes would not be allowed to stay in the United States legally. “It seems they have an assumption that everyone who has committed a crime should be removable, but that’s not necessarily true. Even people who have committed serious crimes can sometimes get asylum,” Schmidt said.  He also questioned the effectiveness of shuffling immigration judges from one court to another, noting that this will mean cases the judges would have handled in their usual courts will have to be rescheduled. He said that when he was temporarily reassigned to handle cases on the southern border in 2014 and 2015, cases he was slated to hear in his home court in Arlington, Virginia had to be postponed, often for more than a year.   “That’s what you call aimless docket reshuffling,” he said.  Under the Obama administration, to avoid the expense and disruption of immigration judges traveling, they would often hear proceedings from other courthouses via video conference. The judges’ reshuffling could further logjam a national immigration court system which has more than 540,000 pending cases.  The cities slated to receive more judges have different kinds of immigrant populations.  Imperial, California, for example, is in one of the nation’s largest agriculture hubs, attracting large numbers of immigrant farmworkers from Mexico and Central America.  Bloomington, Minnesota, near St. Paul, is home to a large number of African immigrants, many of whom traveled from war-torn countries like Somalia to claim asylum in the United States.

Summary: एक्सक्लूसिवः आप्रवासन न्यायाधीश निर्वासन में तेजी लाने के लिए 12 अमेरिकी शहरों की ओर बढ़े


WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. presidential race is tied going into the major parties’ national conventions and Democrat Hillary Clinton has been damaged by the FBI investigation into her email use while secretary of state, a new opinion poll showed on Thursday. The New York Times/CBS News poll showed 67 percent of voters surveyed said Clinton was not honest and trustworthy, up 5 percentage points from a CBS poll conducted last month before the FBI made its findings public. As Donald Trump prepares to accept the Republican presidential nomination next week, the poll showed him in a dead heat with Clinton in a general election matchup. Each candidate drew 40 percent of the vote, compared with the 6 percentage point lead enjoyed by Clinton in last month’s survey, the poll showed. The margin of error was 3 percentage points in the CBS News/New York Times poll, which was conducted by telephone July 8-12 among a random sample of 1,600 adults nationwide, including 1,358 registered voters.   The survey showed 62 percent of voters surveyed distrust Trump as well. “But Mrs. Clinton’s shifting and inaccurate explanations of her email practices at the State Department appear to have resonated more deeply with the electorate,” the Times wrote. FBI Director James Comey said last week Clinton was “extremely careless” in the handling of classified information but the investigation found no evidence she or her colleagues intended to violate laws. The Times/CBS poll echoes the finding of a Quinnipiac Poll released on Wednesday that showed Trump pulling just ahead of Clinton in the so-called swing states of Florida and Pennsylvania as the former U.S. senator and first lady lost ground on honesty and moral standards. In contrast to the New York Times/CBS News poll, a Reuters/Ipsos online opinion poll released on Tuesday showed Clinton leading Trump by 13 points at a national level, with 46 percent to Trump’s 33 percent support among likely voters. The election is on Nov. 8.

Summary: अमेरिकी राष्ट्रपति पद की दौड़ बराबरी पर, क्लिंटन ईमेल से आहत हैंः सर्वेक्षण


WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President-elect Donald Trump showed little appetite for instigating investigations of former Democratic presidential rival Hillary Clinton, although he did not take the option off the table, according to tweets from a New York Times reporter. Trump said “no” when asked if he would rule out investigating Clinton over her family’s charity or her use of a private email server while U.S. secretary of state, according to Twitter posts during his interview with the newspaper.  But he said he did not want to “hurt the Clintons” and wants to move on. “I’m not looking to go back and go through this,” Trump said, according to the Times reporter.

Summary: क्लिंटन की जांच शुरू करने पर ट्रम्प उदासीन हैंः न्यूयॉर्क टाइम्स


SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (Reuters) - Hundreds of stranded tourists and Puerto Ricans seeking to leave filled the sweltering halls of San Juan International Airport on Monday anxious for a seat on one of the few flights operating after Hurricane Maria devastated power and communications across the island. Fearful of checking out of hotels in case they could not get on the few flights available, worried visitors waited in long lines at Puerto Rico s main airport, struggling to reach loved ones and airlines by phone.  Everything is hearsay at the moment because there is no communication,  said 31-year-old Rene Kessler, a medical student from Baltimore, Maryland, preparing to spend the night in the terminal ahead of what he hoped would be a flight home. A microcosm of the storm-battered island, San Juan airport is a top priority in efforts by Puerto Rico s cash-strapped government to rebuild after Maria. Experts say the work will take months and likely cost tens of billions of dollars. The screens above American Airlines  desks were dark, while JetBlue s displays flowed with red rows of cancellations. Staff called out the names of passengers who won seats on the few departing planes.  Everyone is in the same boat, trying to get out,  said Leyla Colon, standing in line with her 4-year-old daughter at the JetBlue terminal. Without internet or cell service, she was unable to buy tickets before reaching the airport.  At this point I ll buy a ticket on any flight to get out of here,  Colon said. Carriers said downed infrastructure had caused operations to be scaled back sharply. In some cases, airlines used a nearby hospital to print flight manifests. And some customers were given handwritten boarding passes. Mike Henderson, a construction firm superintendent, was trying to return to his family in Detroit after his wife paid $2,000 dollars for a seat on a Delta flight. But airline staff were unable to tell him if he was on the passenger list, he said.  I m drained,  Henderson said with a sigh. Airlines on Sunday were restricted to one or two flights a day, and Transportation Security Administration workers manually inspected bags and patted down passengers.  Outside the airport, rows of diesel generators roared in the heat. They have been life-savers but have had their side effects too. Miguel Gonzalez, 42, said he was at the airport to get his asthmatic mother a flight to Florida. He was hospitalized for two weeks due to fumes from neighbors  generators that were fired up after Hurricane Irma hit the island early in September.  Maria dealt an even heavier blow to local infrastructure, putting immense pressure on medical services. Jessica Negron, a resident of Orlando, Florida, said she had been in the airport since Friday waiting for a Frontier flight.  They keep changing the story,  she said. Nearby, eating canned peaches with a plastic knife, were Allyson and Marcus Singletary from Georgia. They said the storm and airport chaos had ruined their anniversary trip.  This is the vacation from hell,  said Allyson, 31.  This is  The Walking Dead  without zombies.

Summary: निराश यात्रियों ने सीट आउट की उम्मीद में प्यूर्टो रिको हवाई अड्डे पर भीड़ लगा दी


WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Republican lawmakers introduced legislation on Tuesday to counter President Barack Obama’s bid to close the Guantanamo detention center, underscoring the difficulty he faces keeping a promise to close it before leaving office next year. Republican Representative Ed Royce, the chairman of the House of Representatives Foreign Affairs Committee, introduced a measure that would force the Obama administration to publicize plans for transfers from Guantanamo. Currently, the administration must inform Congress of plans for any transfers, but those notices are classified. Public notice of plans to move detainees would allow opponents more time to marshal opposition and potentially stop any transfers. “This legislation will bring much needed public scrutiny to the administration’s mad rush to transfer detainees out of Guantanamo Bay before President Obama leaves office,” Royce said in a statement.  Four other Republicans, Senators Richard Burr, Kelly Ayotte, Tom Cotton and Marco Rubio, a 2016 presidential hopeful, introduced a bill late on Monday that would bar Obama from returning the naval base at Guantanamo to Cuba without authorization from Congress. A similar bill was introduced in the House by Republican Representative David Jolly. “It’s clear that the threats to the United States are increasing, not decreasing, and we need every available military asset. As President Obama continues to court the Castro regime, I believe it is important that Congress makes clear that he cannot give up our base in such a strategic location,” said Burr, the chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee.  “President Obama’s aggressive push to close the detention facility at Guantanamo Bay is dangerous,” Burr said.

Summary: अमेरिकी सांसदों ने ओबामा की ग्वांतानामो योजना का मुकाबला करने के लिए विधेयक पेश किए


ADEN (Reuters) - The governor of President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi s interim capital Aden has resigned, citing what he said was government corruption that had undermined his efforts to restore basic services to the city. Abdulaziz al-Muflehi s resignation just six months after his appointment deals a blow to Hadi s government as it pushes its fight against the Iran-aligned Houthis who have seized much of northern Yemen since late 2014, forcing Hadi into exile. Officials from Prime Minister Ahmed Obeid bin Daghr s office did not respond to repeated requests for comment. The government denies charges of corruption and says it operates according to high standards of transparency. In a lengthy letter sent to Hadi, Muflehi said he had intended to focus on infrastructure building and activating state bodies such as the judiciary and police when he assumed office in May.  Unfortunately, I found myself caught in a bitter war against a huge camp of corruption whose brigades are well trained and fortifications are protected by guards led by Prime Minister Dr. Ahmed Obeid bin Daghr,  Muflehi wrote in his resignation letter, a copy of which was sent to Reuters. The letter was also published by local media, including online newspapers Aden News and Aden al-Ghad. As an example, he said bin Daghr had transferred more than 5.787 billion riyals ($13.4 million) from the province s account to the Communications Ministry, saying he wanted to give Yemen an internet service that rivals advanced countries. Muflehi said the country first needed to restore electricity services to areas like Aden, and said the move  hides avidities and corruption .  Muflehi had spent much of his time outside Aden since he was appointed by Hadi in May to replace Aydaroos al-Zubaydi, a local militia commander who had thrown his weight behind secessionists demanding the restoration of the former South Yemen that merged with the tribal north in 1990. Southerners have regularly complained of the domination of the more populous north in the union, including allegations of seizure of real estate and forced retirement of civil servants and military personnel under former President Ali Abdullah Saleh, who was forced to step down after mass protests in 2011. Hadi s government had pledged to restore sacked civil servants and military personnel and pay back salaries they had complained had been denied to them, but the outbreak of civil war in 2015 has derailed the plans.

Summary: यमन की अंतरिम राजधानी के राज्यपाल ने इस्तीफा दिया, प्रधानमंत्री पर लगाया भ्रष्टाचार का आरोप


(Reuters) - Myanmar stands accused by rights groups of ethnic cleansing and human rights violations after violence broke out in the northwestern state of Rakhine, triggering an exodus of about 400,000 Rohingya Muslims to southern Bangladesh.  At least 400 people have been killed, and thousands of homes and villages have been torched, since the military launched a counteroffensive against Rohingya insurgents in late August. Myanmar does not recognize the roughly 1.1 million Rohingyas as citizens, leaving them effectively stateless. The following are questions and answers on the violence:     The military says it is protecting Myanmar against attacks by the Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army (ARSA), which it has labeled a terrorist group and accuses of killings and destruction in Rakhine state.  Human rights monitors and fleeing Rohingya say the army and ethnic Rakhine Buddhist vigilantes have mounted a campaign of arson aimed at driving out the Rohingya. Rights groups say an independent investigation is required to determine possible abuses or violations by various parties.     Yes, according to United Nations officials and rights groups.   Top U.N. officials have said the violence in Myanmar is a case of  textbook ethnic cleansing .   The U.N. has in the past defined ethnic cleansing as  rendering an area ethnically homogeneous by using force or intimidation to remove persons of given groups from the area.        Ethnic cleansing is not recognized as a separate crime under international law. But allegations of ethnic cleansing as part of wider, systematic human rights violations have been heard in international courts against individuals - including former Bosnian Serb leader Radovan Karadzic, who was convicted of genocide. Phil Robertson, deputy director for Asia at Human Rights Watch (HRW), said initial investigations in Myanmar were  indicative of an ethnic cleansing campaign .  When an army is burning people out of their villages all over northern Rakhine state and using violence against civilians, it results in the kind of incredible refugee flows we re seeing,  he added. Myanmar has denied allegations of ethnic cleansing. ARE WE SEEING GENOCIDE, WAR CRIMES, CRIMES AGAINST HUMANITY? Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan has said the killing of hundreds of Rohingya amounted to genocide, but rights groups have so far stayed away from these labels, because all three categories are clearly defined and covered in international law. For the ongoing violence to be considered war crimes, the parties involved would have to be at war. Currently, experts say, Myanmar is not technically at war because it only has one party - the military - that is organized enough to carry out intensive fighting operations.     We have not yet been able to determine whether a  state of war  is present in Rakhine state,  said HRW s Robertson.   Crimes against humanity and genocide could be taking place even in the absence of war, but, under U.N. definitions, there would need to be proof of other conditions such as broader,  systematic attacks against the Rohingyas.         Human rights groups have accused Myanmar of laying anti-personnel mines along the border with Bangladesh to prevent Rohingya refugees from returning to Rakhine state.  Because the crisis is not currently defined as a war, this cannot be considered a war crime, according to experts.  However it would violate other international human rights laws, even though Myanmar is not party to the 1997 Mine Ban Treaty.   For nations that are not parties to the treaty, the use of anti-personnel mines violates customary international law, because the weapons are inherently indiscriminate and cause disproportionate long-term harm to civilians,  said Richard Weir, a legal expert at HRW.  A Myanmar military source told Reuters that landmines were laid along the border in the 1990s to prevent trespassing and the military had since tried to remove them, but that none had been planted recently. In international law, an individual can be held criminally responsible for when a state or military commits war crimes or crimes against humanity. Rights groups have called for an independent investigation of abuses by all parties, including ARSA. Many believe the government and the military should be held responsible.   Myanmar is systematically violating the rights of the Rohingya ... and both the government and the military now need to suffer serious consequences for this,  said HRW s Robertson. This depends on the findings of an independent investigation, if the Myanmar government allows one to take place, experts say. Rights groups have called for the U.N. Security Council to also reprimand Myanmar in other ways, for instance, by imposing sanctions such as an arms embargo. They have also urged countries, including the United States and Australia, to suspend bilateral military ties. The 1991 Nobel Peace Prize winner has faced widespread international criticism for not doing enough to protect the Rohingya community. Suu Kyi has no direct control over the military, which remains powerful under Myanmar s army-written constitution. But she is Myanmar s foreign minister and de facto civilian leader and has defended the military operation.  It s premature to speculate,  said Robertson, adding that individual responsibility should be based on an impartial investigation.  The International Criminal Court (ICC), based in The Hague, Netherlands, has the jurisdiction to prosecute crimes of genocide, war crimes, and crimes against humanity.  Myanmar is among the countries, which also include the United States and China, that are not signatory to the treaty that created the ICC, so it is not obligated to cooperate. But if the U.N. Security Council were to refer a case to the court then Myanmar, being a member of the U.N., would be subject to its jurisdiction. Ad hoc tribunals and commissions have been set up in the past to hear cases of mass human rights violations. For instance, the United Nations established the International Criminal Tribunals for Yugoslavia and Rwanda to deal with crimes that took place there. Rights groups say they are protected by various U.N. human rights treaties, primarily the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which Myanmar voted for in 1948. The document includes provisions for the right to life and right to a nationality - particularly relevant to the Rohingyas, who are effectively stateless. (Story amends headline.)

Summary: क्या म्यांमार की हिंसा मानवाधिकार अपराधों के बराबर है?


WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. President Barack Obama is expected to meet with Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte on Sept. 6, and plans to touch on human rights as well as security concerns, the White House said on Monday. “We absolutely expect that the president will raise concerns about some of the recent statements from the president of the Philippines,” White House Deputy National Security Adviser Ben Rhodes told a media briefing when asked whether inflammatory remarks by Duterte about women, journalists and others would be a topic of discussion. Rhodes said, however, that there were important security issues to cover as well, particularly tensions over navigation in the South China Sea. China has been incensed by a ruling against its claims in the South China Sea by an international court, a case initiated by Manila. The expected meeting between Obama and Duterte would take place in Laos, where the two leaders will be attending a summit of leaders from Pacific Rim nations.

Summary: ओबामा फिलीपींस के दुतेर्ते से मिलेंगे, मानवाधिकारों पर चर्चा करेंगे


BRUSSELS (Reuters) - The European Union said on Thursday it had made its position on climate change clear and was not engaged in last-minute lobbying of the Trump administration to keep the United States aboard the Paris climate accord. U.S. President Donald Trump is due to announce later on Thursday if he will quit the global climate deal. The Group of Seven summit in Italy on Friday and Saturday revealed a clear split between Trump and the other leaders over honoring the 2015 agreement.  “I don’t think there was any need for more contacts since ... world leaders were together for two days at a summit in an idyllic place,” a Commission spokesman said, referring to the venue in Taormina, Sicily. “This debate is well known, the position of Europe is well known too.... So there you have it, the die is cast,” he said. An EU official said Trump had not appeared persuaded of the merits of the Paris accord, deeming it unlikely that he would change course. “But as we all know, he is unpredictable,” the official said.

Summary: 'डाई कास्ट है': यूरोपीय संघ ने जलवायु पर ट्रम्प से देर से अपील से परहेज किया


BUENOS AIRES (Reuters) - The search for an Argentine submarine missing in the South Atlantic for more than a week has highlighted the dwindling resources and lack of training faced by the armed forces since the end of a military dictatorship in the early 1980s.  As South America s second-largest economy has lurched from one crisis to the next in recent decades, military funding has not been a priority for cash-strapped governments, and an incident like the disappearance of the ARA San Juan was a problem in the making, military and political analysts said.    Human rights violations perpetrated by the dictatorship broke the bond between society and the armed forces,  said Andrei Serbin Pont, research director at the CRIES think tank in Buenos Aires. He said a rethinking of the military s role in society was long overdue.   The majority of Argentines don t really care about the armed forces, therefore politicians aren t particularly interested in maintaining any sort of military policy or defense policy,  he said. Since the loss of the Falklands War to Britain in 1982 and the fall of the dictatorship the following year, military spending has fallen from 2.16 percent of gross domestic product (GDP) to a low of 0.87 percent in 2011, according to World Bank data.  While it inched up to 0.96 percent of GDP last year, spending remains well behind neighboring Brazil and Chile, which spent 1.3 percent and 1.9 percent of GDP on their militaries, respectively, the data show. It is too early to determine the cause of the disappearance of the ARA San Juan, and an intense search and rescue effort continued on Wednesday. But Argentina s submarine fleet has been among the areas of the military most plagued by a lack of funds.  In 2014, the fleet spent a total of just 19 hours submerged, versus the 190 days needed  for the fulfillment of operational and training needs,  according to a May 2016 report by specialist publication Jane s Sentinel.   The fact that you had so little use of the submarines was an indication that clearly they were a problem waiting to happen,  said Evan Ellis, a research professor focusing on Latin America at the U.S. Army War College Strategic Studies Institute. President Mauricio Macri pledged to improve the 26,000-strong armed forces  capabilities during his campaign in 2015. His administration s 2016  State of the State  report noted that 70 percent of the Defense Ministry s budget was spent on wages and pensions, rather than investment.  The conditions in which they work are practically impossible. I m talking about all the armed forces,  Elisa Carrio, a key member of Macri s Let s Change coalition, said in a recent television interview.  But since taking office in December 2015, Macri has not markedly improved the financing situation. The 2018 budget calls for a 14 percent increase in funding for the Defense Ministry, below inflation expected at 15.7 percent. In March, then-Defense Minister Julio Martinez told Reuters Argentina lacked money to buy aircraft or replace an aging fleet. The German-built ARA San Juan was launched in 1983 and underwent a local upgrade beginning in 2008 which included the replacement of its four diesel engines and its electric propeller engines, according to Jane s Sentinel. Shortly before giving its last location on Nov. 15, the submarine reported an electrical outage. Concerns about the state of the vessel surfaced when video was published by newspaper Perfil of a tense meeting between Macri and relatives of some of the 44 crew members.  Does someone have to die for things to change? Could you not have invested in this before?  one sailor s wife was recorded telling Macri. Macri said the ship s level of maintenance, not its age, was what mattered, and that authorities were convinced the submarine was in good condition. Argentine news media have reported that the search has sparked friction between the navy and the defense ministry, with civilian authorities concerned that the military has not been forthcoming with information. Navy officials have denied this. A ministry source, who was not authorized to speak publicly,  told Reuters the ministry has opened an investigation into the incident and has not ruled out criminal charges once the search operation is complete.

Summary: अर्जेंटीना की लापता पनडुब्बी ने सैन्य अल्प-वित्तपोषण के वर्षों को उजागर किया


UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley blamed Russia on Thursday for the recent surge of violence in eastern Ukraine and warned Ukraine-related sanctions against Russia will not be lifted until Moscow returns Crimea to Kiev. “I consider it unfortunate on the occasion of my first appearance here I must condemn the aggressive actions of Russia,” Haley said, making her first public remarks inside the Security Council since being sworn in as the United States’ representative to the United Nations last month. “It shouldn’t happen, or be that way. We do want to better our relations with Russia. However, the dire situation in eastern Ukraine is one that demands clear and strong condemnation of Russian actions.”  Her remarks came amid speculation over U.S. President Donald Trump’s intentions towards Moscow. Trump has praised Russia’s President Vladimir Putin and expressed a wish for improved relations between the two countries.  Haley made clear that tensions over the Ukraine would not end soon, including the matter of sanctions slapped on Russia related to the annexation of Crimea three years ago.      “Eastern Ukraine of course is not the only part of the country suffering because of Russia’s aggressive actions. The United States continues to condemn and call for an immediate end to the Russian occupation of Crimea,” Haley said.   “Crimea is a part of Ukraine. Our Crimea related sanctions will remain in place until Russia returns control of the peninsula to Ukraine.” The United States and other Western powers imposed sanctions on Russia in 2014 over its annexation of the Crimea peninsula from Ukraine and its support for pro-Russia separatists in eastern Ukraine. Russia’s ambassador to the United Nations, Vitaly Churkin, disputed Haley’s commentary on Crimea, but welcomed his American counterpart. “It was friendly enough, given the circumstances and given the subject we were discussing,” the Russian ambassador told reporters.  He noted the chance for a new start after ties between Russia and United States frayed in Obama’s second term. “If there is an opportunity to have better relations with the United States, if there is an opportunity for us to work better with the United States... then we should take this opportunity.”  He faulted the Obama administration for not doing enough to end the conflict in Ukraine and called on the Trump government to bring its influence to bear.   “Clearly they are the people who are listened to in Kiev.” Ukraine and Russia had blamed each other for a surge in fighting in recent days around the government-held industrial town of Avdiivka that has led to the highest casualty toll in weeks and cut off power and water to thousands of civilians on the front line. At the Thursday Security Council session, Ukraine’s U.N. ambassador, Volodymr Yelchenko, who holds the presidency of the Security Council for February, said the strife around Avdiivka started with artillery shelling by the Russian army and Russian-backed fighters from the two suburbs they control abutting the town. Churkin blamed Ukrainian security forces for starting the bloodshed. U.N. under-secretary-general for political affairs, Jeffrey Feltman, painted a grim picture of the situation on the ground. “Hundreds of thousand of civilians on both sides of the contact line are still at risk of losing all access to water, heating and electricity, bringing the specter of further displacements closer,” Feltman said.  “With every new day of fighting, the conflict becomes more entrenched and difficult to resolve. There is no military solution to this conflict.”

Summary: संयुक्त राष्ट्र में अमेरिकी राजदूत ने पूर्वी यूक्रेन में नई हिंसा के लिए रूस को दोषी ठहराया


WASHINGTON (Reuters) - In the middle of a confused three-day scramble by U.S. Republicans to save their plan to dismantle Obamacare, President Donald Trump telephoned a former small-town sandwich shop owner from the North Carolina mountains on Wednesday afternoon. Representative Mark Meadows took the call during a meeting of the Freedom Caucus, a conservative faction of the House of Representatives he chairs. His talk with Trump thrust Meadows into the eye of a legislative storm that led to a pivotal vote on the bill being postponed. Then, late on Thursday after Trump demanded action by the House, a final vote was set for Friday. Through it all, Meadows has been a key player in Trump’s first major legislative initiative, an effort as chaotic and unpredictable as his campaign for the White House, with its ultimate outcome still in doubt late on Thursday night. After promising for months as a candidate to repeal and replace Obamacare, Trump has still not produced his own plan to do so, choosing instead to support a rollback bill drafted by senior House Republicans, including House Speaker Paul Ryan. Financial markets have watched the drama over the bill nervously, concerned that defeat or delay for it could undermine Trump’s ability to carry through on promises to cut taxes and reduce regulation that have lifted U.S. stocks for weeks. In a schism among Republicans who now control Congress and the White House, moderates oppose Ryan’s bill, saying it goes too far. The non-partisan Congressional Budget Office has estimated it would result in 24 million fewer Americans having insurance by 2026 than if Obamacare remained in place intact. Meadows and the Freedom Caucus don’t like it either, but for very different reasons, making a compromise challenging. They say it doesn’t go far enough to repeal the healthcare law put in place in 2010 by former Democratic President Barack Obama.  To deal with this problem, Trump stepped in personally earlier this week to try to win over Meadows and his maverick conservative faction, according to interviews with dozens of lawmakers and congressional aides. But, even after marathon phone calls and meetings at the White House, Trump, who prides himself as a master negotiator, failed to secure the deal. Meadows told reporters on Thursday night he still opposed the bill, but was optimistic that a deal could be reached. “I am still a no,” he said, taking basically the same position he took on Wednesday afternoon after his phone call with Trump. When he embraced Ryan’s bill and then decided to intervene to try to save it, Trump opted for a strategy in which he would concentrate on winning over Meadows and the conservatives. Ryan and House leaders would deal with “everybody else,” Republican Representative Tom Rooney said Thursday. That strategic approach soon had embarrassing consequences. Trump’s push began in earnest on Tuesday, when he visited Capitol Hill seeking support for the plan among Republicans. On Wednesday, the House Rules Committee held marathon meetings to finalize the bill that would go to the floor. After his Wednesday phone call with the president, Meadows spent much of Wednesday night negotiating with Trump, said a Republican lawmaker. “Mark Meadows has been at the White House more in the last 48 hours than any other times in his life combined,” said one conservative lobbyist with knowledge of internal discussions. As Meadows and other Freedom Caucus members such as Representative Jim Jordan negotiated with Trump, more and more right-wing amendments were added to the bill to placate conservatives. The conservative concessions hurt moderates. “The vast majority of us in the Republican conference have been left out of these discussions,” Representative Bradley Byrne said Thursday. “That is a growing problem for our leadership and I think it’s a growing problem for the chances of this bill.” At some point, Ryan himself balked when he learned of the agreements struck between Trump and the conservatives, according to the conservative lobbyist, setting in motion a frantic push to save a vote on the bill that had been set for Thursday. By late afternoon, that rescue effort had collapsed and the vote was scrapped. Trump responded forcefully, dispatching top White House lieutenants to a meeting with lawmakers with a clear message: the president was done negotiating. The message was “it’s done tomorrow or Obamacare stays,” said Republican Representative Chris Collins. With that, lawmakers announced that a decisive vote on the bill would be held on Friday afternoon. Earlier, even as the vote that had been set for Thursday was falling apart, Trump was meeting with trucking industry representatives and gleefully climbed into the cab of an 18-wheeler. He said then that everyone would find out in a couple of hours whether Republicans had enough votes to pass the healthcare bill, unaware that the vote had already been delayed.

Summary: हेल्थकेयर स्क्रैम्बल ने ट्रम्प के 'आर्ट ऑफ द डील' में नया अध्याय लिखा


NEW YORK (Reuters) - Democratic Party activists in some U.S. states are using Donald Trump, the Republican presidential candidate who has stirred controversy with his comments about illegal immigrants and women, as the centerpiece of their “get out the vote” campaign for the November elections. In California, canvassers from the Orange County Democrats carry pictures of Trump when they knock on doors ahead of the June 7 California primary. They ask if people will vote in the primary, and warn that if they don’t help pick the strongest possible Democrat, “this guy will win,” said Henry Vandermeir, the local party chairman in Orange County, a traditionally Republican island in the state.  Democrats in New Hampshire have unveiled Trump/Sununu lawn signs, looking to tie Republican gubernatorial candidate Chris Sununu to the presumptive Republican presidential nominee on issues such as climate change (Trump is a skeptic) and healthcare. One sign reads: “Trump/Sununu. Because Health Care Is For Losers,” a swipe at Trump’s vow to repeal the Affordable Care Act, President Barack Obama’s signature healthcare law. “Every state party is trying to maximize what they can get out of this difference (between candidates) and to tie Trump to the Republicans in the state,” said Holly Shulman, a spokeswoman for the New Hampshire Democratic Party.  The Trump campaign did not respond to a request for comment. To be sure, Republicans appear likely to use Hillary Clinton, the frontrunner for the Democratic nomination who is also a polarizing figure, in a similar fashion.  “There is no better volunteer recruitment tool, fundraising pitch, or unifier for the Republican Party than the prospect of a Hillary Clinton presidency that will surely take us further backwards,” the Republican National Committee said in a statement. Democrats are also looking to tie Trump to Republican Senate candidates on the Nov. 8 ballot as they seek to regain control of the chamber they lost in the 2014 congressional elections. The Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee last week released so-called “Trump cards” online, equating several Republican senators’ policy positions with those of the New York developer.     For Pennsylvania Republican Pat Toomey and New Hampshire’s Kelly Ayotte, for example, the DSCC highlighted how they and Trump oppose a federal minimum wage hike.  The DSCC also launched a website in March, partyoftrump.com, which labeled some senators “Retrumplicans” and asked for donations to help fight senators who support Trump. Recent polls suggest that a Trump/Clinton matchup could be a tight race. The two candidates were in a dead heat in the three key swing states of Florida, Ohio and Pennsylvania in a Quinnipiac University poll earlier in May. And a Reuters poll this month showed that much of the backing for Clinton and Trump comes from people whose primary motivation is to stop the other side from winning, rather than any love for either of the two candidates or their policies.     The strategy of highlighting opposing candidates is not without risks, according to Bruce Newman, the author of “The Marketing Revolution in Politics: What Recent U.S. Presidential Campaigns Can Teach Us About Effective Marketing.” If Trump - who shocked pundits by beating 16 other Republican hopefuls for the nomination - proves more attractive to the general electorate than Hillary Clinton, then tying him to other Republicans could hurt Democrats “We don’t know how popular this guy is going to get,” Newman said. “This is just the beginning.” (This version of the story has been refiled to add dropped “to” in final paragraph)

Summary: डेमोक्रेट्स लोगों को वोट देने के लिए ट्रम्प को बोगीमैन के रूप में इस्तेमाल करते हैं


WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The White House on Sunday did not rule out that Attorney General Jeff Sessions may recuse himself from Justice Department investigations into allegations of Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election. Sarah Huckabee Sanders, a deputy White House press secretary, said congressional investigations into possible Russian hacking of Democratic groups would have to run their course before Sessions needed to decide whether to step aside from the FBI probes. Sessions was a top adviser to President Donald Trump, a Republican, during the 2016 presidential campaign.  “I wasn’t saying that he shouldn’t recuse himself or that he should,” Sanders told ABC’s “This Week.” “My point is I don’t think we’re there yet. Let’s work through this process.” U.S. intelligence analysts have concluded that Russia tried to help Trump win the White House by discrediting Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton and her party through cyber attacks. President Barack Obama, a Democrat, expelled Russian diplomats in retaliation in December.  Moscow has denied the accusations. The FBI is investigating alleged Russian election-related hacking and financial transactions by Russian people and companies believed to have links to associates of Trump, according to current and former government officials. Trump has dismissed the controversy about ties between his aides and Russia as a “ruse” perpetrated by a hostile news media. “Russia talk is FAKE NEWS put out by the Dems, and played up by the media, in order to mask the big election defeat and the illegal leaks,” Trump wrote on Twitter on Sunday. Trump fired his national security adviser, Michael Flynn, three weeks into the new administration after disclosures surfaced that Flynn had discussed U.S. sanctions on Russia with the Russian ambassador to the United States before Trump took office and misled Vice President Mike Pence about the conversations.  Democrats have been pushing for an independent investigation into whether there were links between the Trump campaign team and Russian officials.  “The attorney general must recuse himself,” House of Representatives Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi said on ABC.  Republican lawmakers echoed the White House, saying the investigations must take their course. Senator Tom Cotton said it was premature to talk about a special prosecutor. “If we get down that road, that’s a decision that Attorney General Sessions can make at the time,” he told NBC’s “Meet the Press.”

Summary: व्हाइट हाउस ने रूस की जांच से सत्रों के अलग होने की संभावना से इनकार नहीं किया


SEOUL (Reuters) - North Korea has reportedly replaced guards and fortified a section of its border with South Korea where a North Korean soldier defected last week, while South Korean and U.S. soldiers have been decorated for their role in the defector s rescue. The North Korean defector was shot and wounded by his fellow soldiers as he dashed into the South Korean side of the Joint Security Area (JSA) last week. The South Korean and U.S. soldiers who led a rescue attempt to drag the gravely injured soldier to safety have been awarded medals, according to U.S. Forces Korea. A group of senior diplomats based in Seoul visited the JSA on Wednesday morning where they saw five North Korean workers digging a deep trench in the area where the soldier had dashed across the line after getting his jeep stuck in a small ditch, a member of the diplomatic delegation told Reuters on Friday.  In a photograph of the visit posted to the Twitter account of acting U.S. ambassador to South Korea, Marc Knapper, North Korean workers could be seen using shovels to dig a deep trench on the North Korean side of the line as soldiers stood guard.  The workers were being watched very closely by the KPA guards, not just the two in the photo, but others out of shot behind the building,  said the diplomat, who asked not to be identified because of the sensitivity of the situation. According to an intelligence official cited by South Korea s Yonhap news agency, the North has replaced the 35-40 soldiers it had guarding the JSA at the time of the incident.   We re closely monitoring the North Korean military s movement in the JSA,  a South Korean defense ministry official told reporters, without confirming the reduction in border guards.  There are limits as to what we can say about things we know.  Reuters was unable to independently verify the reports, although photos taken by Knapper and other diplomats of soldiers guarding the area where workers were digging the trench showed them dressed in slightly different uniforms to the ones usually worn by North Korea s JSA guards. Two new trees had also been planted in the small space between the ditch and the line with the South, the diplomat told Reuters, in an apparent effort to make it more difficult for would-be defectors to drive across the ground. Meanwhile, in South Korea, U.S. Forces Korea (USFK) said it had awarded its own JSA soldiers - three South Korean and three U.S. soldiers - the Army Commendation medal in recognition for their efforts in rescuing the defector.  The medals were personally handed out by USFK Commander Vincent Brooks in a ceremony on Thursday, according to USFK s Facebook page.  The soldiers had been responsible for dragging the wounded North Korean soldier to safety in a daring rescue seen in security camera footage released by the United Nations Command earlier this week. Pyongyang has not commented on the defection of its soldier, who is now in stable condition despite sustaining multiple injuries sustained from gunshot wounds to his arm and torso. The young soldier, known only by his family name Oh, is a quiet, pleasant man who has nightmares about being returned to the North, his surgeon told Reuters on Thursday. (For a graphic, click reut.rs/2jfoZPI)

Summary: उत्तर कोरिया ने सैनिकों की जगह ली, दक्षिण कोरिया ने दलबदलू की सीमा पर टक्कर के बाद पदक प्रदान किए


DETROIT/WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President-elect Donald Trump on Tuesday threatened to impose a “big border tax” on General Motors Co (GM.N) for making some of its Chevrolet Cruze compact cars in Mexico, an arrangement the largest U.S. automaker defended as part of its strategy to serve global customers, not sell them in the United States. Trump’s comments marked his latest broadside aimed at an American company over jobs, imports and costs before he takes office on Jan. 20, signaling an uncommon degree of intervention for an incoming U.S. president into corporate affairs. “General Motors is sending Mexican made model of Chevy Cruze to U.S. car dealers-tax free across border. Make in U.S.A. or pay big border tax!” Trump said in a post on Twitter. Trump did not provide further details but previously vowed to hit companies that shift production from America to other countries with a 35 percent tax on their exports into the United States. He also has denounced the North American Free Trade Agreement between the United States, Mexico and Canada. Trump’s tweet came hours before GM’s rival Ford Motor Co (F.N) announced it would cancel a planned $1.6 billion factory in Mexico and would invest $700 million at a Michigan factory, after it also came under criticism from the Republican president-elect for its Mexican investment plans. Ford’s executive chairman, Bill Ford Jr., said he personally notified Trump of the decision, but after Trump’s early-morning GM tweet. GM, the world’s No. 3 automaker, said it sold about 190,000 Cruze cars in the United States in 2016. All of the sedan versions sold in the United States, or about 185,500, were built at its plant in Lordstown, Ohio. About 4,500 hatchback versions of the Cruze were assembled in Mexico and sold in the United States. “GM builds the Chevrolet Cruze hatchback for global markets in Mexico, with a small number sold in the U.S.” it said in a statement posed on its website.  The Cruze is one of GM’s best-selling cars, although its sales numbers were down significantly in 2016. Shares of GM (GM.N) rose 1 percent to $35.19 after falling about 1 percent following Trump’s tweet before the market opened. Since winning the Nov. 8 presidential election, Trump has targeted GM’s rival Ford Motor Co (F.N), United Technologies Inc (UTX.N), Boeing Co (BA.N) and Lockheed Martin Corp (LMT.N). Trump also has touted decisions by companies to keep some production in the United States, including United’s Carrier unit in Indiana. “In this case, the tweet was specific to General Motors. But I think you’ve seen an overall philosophy during the campaign and since he was elected to stand up for American workers and make sure that American companies don’t benefit from moving their companies overseas and leaving American workers behind,” Trump transition team spokesman Sean Spicer said. Last month, Trump announced the formation of a council to advise him on job creation comprised of leaders from a variety of major U.S. corporations including GM Chief Executive Officer Mary Barra. GM said in 2015 it would build its next-generation Chevrolet Cruze compact in Mexico as automakers look to expand in the Latin American nation to take advantage of low labor costs and free trade agreements. The company said in 2015 it would invest $350 million to produce the Cruze at its plant in Coahuila as part of the $5 billion investment in its Mexican plants announced in 2014, creating 5,600 jobs. GM said last year it would import some Cruze cars from Mexico.    Trump, a Republican who will succeed Democratic President Barack Obama, campaigned for president using tough rhetoric on trade and promises to protect American workers, and targeted several companies by name. According to Automotive News, GM began producing the Cruze in Mexico last year, making 52,631 cars there. In comparison, it built 319,536 of them in the United States. Previous versions of the Cruze sold in Mexico were made in a GM South Korea plant, it reported.    The shift is part of a larger trend among Detroit’s Big Three automakers to produce more small cars for the North American market in Mexico in an effort to lower labor costs, while using higher-paid U.S. workers to build more profitable trucks, sport utility vehicles and luxury cars. In November, GM said it planned in early 2017 to lay off 2,000 employees at two U.S. auto plants, including the one in Lordstown. U.S. small car sales have been hurt by lagging consumer demand and low gas prices. GM’s U.S. Cruze sales were down 18 percent through November. GM will halt the third shift at the Lordstown plant on Jan. 23, cutting 1,250 jobs.

Summary: ट्रम्प ने मेक्सिको में कार उत्पादन को लेकर जी. एम. पर हमला किया, कर लगाने की धमकी दी


The following timeline charts the origin and spread of the Zika virus from its discovery nearly 70 years ago: 1947: Scientists researching yellow fever in Uganda’s Zika Forest identify the virus in a rhesus monkey 1948: Virus recovered from Aedes africanus mosquito in Zika Forest 1952: First human cases detected in Uganda and Tanzania 1954: Virus found in Nigeria 1960s-80s: Zika detected in mosquitoes and monkeys across equatorial Africa 1969–83: Zika found in equatorial Asia, including India, Indonesia, Malaysia and Pakistan 2007: Zika spreads from Africa and Asia, first large outbreak on Pacific island of Yap 2012: Researchers identify two distinct lineages of the virus, African and Asian 2013–14: Zika outbreaks in French Polynesia, Easter Island, the Cook Islands and New Caledonia. Retrospective analysis shows possible link to birth defects and severe neurological complications in babies in French Polynesia March 2, 2015: Brazil reports illness characterized by skin rash in northeastern states July 17: Brazil reports detection of neurological disorders in newborns associated with history of infection Oct. 5: Cape Verde has cases of illness with skin rash  Oct. 22: Colombia confirms cases of Zika Oct. 30: Brazil reports increase in microcephaly, abnormally small heads, among newborns Nov. 11: Brazil declares public health emergency  November 2015-January 2016: Cases reported in Suriname, Panama, El Salvador, Mexico, Guatemala, Paraguay, Venezuela, French Guiana,  Martinique, Puerto Rico, Guyana, Ecuador, Barbados, Bolivia, Dominican Republic, Nicaragua, Curacao, Jamaica Feb. 1: World Health Organization (WHO) declares public health emergency of international concern Feb. 2: First case of Zika transmission in United States; local health officials say likely contracted through sex, not mosquito bite Feb. 5: U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says virus being actively transmitted in 30 countries, mostly in the Americas Feb. 8: U.S. President Barack Obama requests $1.8 billion to fight Zika Feb. 12: Brazil investigating potential link between Zika infections and 4,314 suspected cases of microcephaly. Of those, 462 confirmed as microcephaly and 41 determined to be linked to virus  Feb. 17: Brazil investigating potential link between Zika and 4,443 suspected cases of microcephaly. Of those, 508 confirmed as microcephaly and most of those cases are linked to the virus. WHO seeks $56 million to fight Zika. Feb. 18: CDC adds Aruba and Bonaire to countries and territories with active outbreaks, bringing total to 32. Feb. 23: CDC investigating 14 cases of possible sexual transmission of Zika. CDC also adds Trinidad and Tobago and Marshall Islands to countries and territories with active outbreaks, bringing total to 34. Feb. 25: Brazil says confirmed microcephaly cases number more than 580 and considers most of them to be related to Zika infections in the mothers. Brazil is investigating an additional 4,100 suspected cases of microcephaly. Feb. 27: France detects first sexually transmitted case of Zika.  Feb. 29: CDC adds St. Maarten, and Saint Vincent and the Grenadines to countries and territories with active outbreaks, bringing total to 36. March 1: Brazil says confirmed microcephaly cases rose to 641 and considers most of them to be related to Zika infections in the mothers. Brazil is investigating an additional 4,222 suspected cases of microcephaly. March 8: WHO advises pregnant women to avoid areas with Zika outbreak and said sexual transmission of the virus is “relatively common.” March 9: CDC adds New Caledonia to countries and territories with active outbreaks, bringing total to 37. March 15: Cuba reports first case of Zika contracted in the country. March 16: Cape Verde identifies first case of microcephaly. March 18: CDC says during Jan. 1, 2015 to Feb. 26, 2016, 116 residents of the United States had evidence of recent Zika virus infection based on laboratory testing. Brazil says confirmed microcephaly cases rose to 863 and considers most of them to be related to Zika infections in the mothers. Brazil is investigating an additional 4,268 suspected cases of microcephaly. March 19: CDC adds Cuba to countries and territories with active outbreaks, bringing total to 38. March 21: South Korea confirms first case of Zika. March 22: CDC adds Dominica to countries and territories with active outbreaks, bringing total to 39. Bangladesh confirms first case of Zika virus. Brazil says confirmed microcephaly cases rose to 907 and considers most of them to be related to Zika infections in the mothers. Brazil is investigating an additional 4,293 suspected cases of microcephaly. March 29: Brazil says confirmed microcephaly cases rose to 944 and considers most of them to be related to Zika infections in the mothers. Brazil said the number of suspected cases of microcephaly dropped slightly to 4,291. March 31: According to the World Health Organization, there is a strong scientific consensus that Zika can cause the birth defect microcephaly as well as Guillain-Barre syndrome, a rare neurological disorder that can result in paralysis, though conclusive proof may take months or years.  April 1: CDC adds Kosrae, Federated States of Micronesia to countries and territories with active outbreaks, bringing total to 40. April 4: CDC adds Fiji to countries and territories with active outbreaks, bringing total to 41. April 5: Vietnam reports first Zika infections. April 6: Brazil says confirmed microcephaly cases rose to 1,046 and considers most of them to be related to Zika infections in the mothers. The number of suspected cases of microcephaly dropped to 4,046. April 7: St. Lucia confirms first two cases of Zika, contracted locally. April 12: Brazil says confirmed microcephaly cases rose to 1,113 and considers most of them to be related to Zika infections in the mothers. The number of suspected cases of microcephaly dropped to 3,836. It was the second week in a row that the overall total figure fell. April 13: The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention concluded that infection with the Zika virus in pregnant women is a cause of the birth defect microcephaly and other severe brain abnormalities in babies. The CDC said now that the causal relationship has been established, several important questions must still be answered with studies that could take years. CDC adds St. Lucia to countries and territories with active outbreaks, bringing total to 42. April 14: Colombia confirms two microcephaly cases linked to Zinka. April 18: Peru reports first case of sexually transmitted Zika virus. CDC adds Belize to countries and territories with active outbreaks, bringing total to 43. April 19: Chilean authorities find Zika mosquito for first time in decades. April 25: Canada confirms first sexually transmitted Zika case. April 26: Brazil says the number of confirmed cases of microcephaly climbed to 1,198 from 1,168 in the week through April 23, but suspected ones under investigation continued to decline to 3,710 from 3,741 a week ago. Brazil registered 91,387 likely cases of the Zika virus from February until April 2, the health ministry said, in its first national report on the epidemic. April 29: Puerto Rico reports first death related to Zika, according to the CDC. The country also confirmed 683 Zika cases, including 65 pregnant women, and five suspected cases of Guillain-Barre syndrome from Zika, the CDC reported. May 4: Panama confirms four microcephaly cases tied to Zika. May 6: Spain gets first case of Zika-related brain defect in a fetus.       May 9: CDC adds Papua New Guinea, Saint Barthelemy and Peru to countries and territories with active outbreaks, bringing total to 46. Honduras suspects first case of microcephaly in Zika patient. May 11: Brazil says the number of confirmed cases of microcephaly dropped to 1,326 in the week through May 7 as doctors and Brazilian health officials find that some suspected cases of microcephaly are not the disorder. Suspected ones under investigation continued to decline to 3,433. May 12: CDC adds Grenada to countries and territories with active outbreaks, bringing total to 47. May 13: Puerto Rico reports first case of Zika-related microcephaly. May 20: WHO says an outbreak of Zika virus on the African island chain of Cape Verde is of the same strain as the one blamed for birth abnormalities in Brazil. May 24: Brazil reports the number of confirmed cases of microcephaly at 1,434 for the latest week to May 21. Suspected ones under investigation declined to 3,257. May 26: CDC adds Argentina to countries and territories with active outbreaks, bringing total to 48. June 9: WHO issues updated guidelines on prevention of sexual transmission of the Zika virus, including advising women living in areas where the virus is being transmitted to delay getting pregnant. June 14: El Salvador confirms first case of microcephaly linked to Zika. June 23: CDC reports seven babies in the United States with microcephaly or other Zika-related birth defects such as serious brain abnormalities, and five lost pregnancies from either miscarriage, stillbirth or termination. June 28: First baby with Zika-related birth defect microcephaly born in Florida. June 30: CDC adds Anguilla to countries and territories with active outbreaks, bringing total to 49. Guinea-Bissau confirms three cases of Zika, government says. Spain records first case of sexually transmitted Zika virus, health authorities said. July 8: CDC confirmed that a Utah resident’s death last month is the first Zika-related death in the continental United States. July 14: CDC adds Saint Eustatius to countries and territories with active outbreaks, bringing total to 50. July 15: New York City’s health department reports the first female-to-male transmission of the Zika virus. July 18: CDC reports that caregiver of Utah man who died of Zika tested positive for virus. July 19: Florida health officials are investigating a case of Zika virus infection that does not appear to have stemmed from travel to another region with an outbreak. July 21: CDC reports 400 pregnant women in U.S. with evidence of Zika infection, up from 346 a week ago. The health agency also reports three more babies born in U.S. with birth defects linked to the Zika virus, bringing total to 12. Florida Department of Health said it was investigating a non travel-related case of Zika in Broward County, marking the second such case in the U.S. July 22: New York City health officials reports first baby born with Zika-related birth defect. July 25: Spain reports first case in Europe of baby born with Zika-related defect. CDC issues updated recommendations for preventing and testing for Zika infection, warning that the virus can be transmitted through unprotected sex with an infected female partner. July 26: Honduras detects 8 cases of babies with Zika-related defect. CDC adds Saba to countries and territories with active outbreaks, bringing total to 51. July 27: Paraguay reports first cases of microcephaly linked to Zika. July 29: Florida authorities report what is believed to be the first evidence of local Zika transmission in the continental United States. Aug. 1: Florida identifies 10 more cases of Zika virus caused by mosquitoes, bringing total to 14. CDC issues guidelines for pregnant women who live in and traveled to affected area in a Miami neighborhood. Aug. 2: Health authorities in Florida add one more case of locally transmitted Zika, bringing total to 15. CDC adds Antigua, Barbuda, and Turks and Cacos to countries and territories with active outbreaks, bringing total to 54. Aug. 3: U.S. researchers said they launched Zika vaccine clinical trial. Aug. 4: Cuba reports two cases of locally transmitted Zika. Aug. 5: Florida health authorities report another locally transmitted case, bringing total to 16. Aug. 8: Florida said it was investigating new case of locally transmitted Zika in Palm Beach County. Aug. 9: Texas health officials said death of infant born with microcephaly is linked to Zika, the first casualty in the state associated with the virus. Cayman Islands reports two locally transmitted Zika cases. Florida announces four more cases of locally transmitted Zika, bringing total to 21. Aug. 11: Florida reports three additional cases of locally transmitted Zika, bringing total to 25.  SOURCES: World Health Organization, U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Reuters

Summary: समयरेखाः जीका की उत्पत्ति और वैश्विक प्रसार