AMMAN (Reuters) - The Syrian army and Iranian-backed militias backed by Russian air power stepped up a military campaign against rebels in eastern Hama province in a push towards the rebel stronghold of Idlib province in northwestern Syria, rebels and witnesses said.  They said dozens of aerial strikes believed to be conducted mainly by Russian jets in the last 48 hours hit opposition held villages and towns in the northeastern Hama countryside and the southern part of Idlib province.  The Islamist Hayat Tahrir al Sham and some Free Syrian Army (FSA) rebel faction in control of these areas said they were sending reinforcements to seize back a string of villages in the northeastern Hama countryside, near the town of Rihjan, that the army had earlier announced were captured in heavy fighting. The army said the villages of Um Turayka, Bilil, and Rujum al Ahmar were seized, forcing the rebels to flee to areas close to the administrative boundaries of Idlib province.  The Syrian army had lost the strategically located Idlib province to insurgents when the provincial capital fell to rebels in 2015. It has since become the only province that is fully under opposition control. The Syrian army s first goal was to retake strategic Abu al Dhour military airport, one of the largest airports in the north of the country that fell to rebels in 2015. It was heavily bombed on Sunday, a rebel source said.  The regime movements seek to besiege Idlib province with the help of Shi ite militias fighting with them,  said Colonel Mustafa Bakour, a commander in the Jaish al Izza rebel faction.    Tahrir al Sham, which is spearheaded by the former al Qaeda branch in Syria, is the main rebel force in the province, raising fears among civilians and rebels alike that Moscow and the Syrian army and its allies would soon turn it into a major battlefield. The strategically located province that borders Turkey is part of the Russian-led de-escalation zones that seek to shore up ceasefires in western Syria. Idlib has been a haven for tens of thousands of rebels and civilians who were forced to abandon their homes in other parts of western Syria that the government and its foreign military allies have recaptured from rebels. It has already been the target of intensive strikes by the Russia and Syrian air forces in the past year that have killed thousands of civilians and destroyed hospitals and civil defense centers. Tahrir al Sham also repelled simultaneously an offensive by Islamic State militants who have been for the last few weeks pushing into the opposition-controlled territory to extend a small enclave they have in that area, among the few they retain across Syria.  The ultra hardline militants also seized a string of villages that brought them within kilometers of Idlib province.  The Russian and Syrian army advance towards Idlib is also piling pressure on Turkey which had since October begun a major military deployment in the province it considers within its sphere of influence.  Ankara s intervention seeks to rein in Russian strikes and prevent Idlib from facing a similar fate to Mosul or Aleppo, according to a senior rebel commander briefed on Turkish policy.

Summary: सीरियाई सेना और ईरानी समर्थित मिलिशिया इदलिब प्रांत की ओर बढ़ रहे हैं


WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton thinks U.S. regulators should closely scrutinize AT&T’s (T.N) acquisition of Time Warner(TWX.N), her spokesman said on Sunday.  Clinton spokesman Brian Fallon told reporters on Sunday there were “a number of questions and concerns” about the deal “but there’s still a lot of information that needs to come out before any conclusions should be reached.” “But certainly she thinks regulators should scrutinize it closely,” Fallon said.

Summary: क्लिंटन को लगता है कि नियामकों को एटी एंड टी-टाइम वार्नर सौदे की जांच करनी चाहिएः प्रवक्ता


SEOUL (Reuters) - South Korean police have arrested the owner and the manager of a building where 29 people died in a fire last week, accusing the pair of multiple safety lapses, including blocked exits and malfunctioning sprinkler systems. On Thursday, a fire ripped through an eight-story high-rise in the small city of Jecheon. At least 20 of the victims were women who were overcome by toxic fumes in a second-floor sauna. Jecheon police have only identified the owner by his last name of Lee, and the manager by his last name of Kim. Both men are in custody in Jecheon after being arrested on Sunday, police announced on Tuesday. Lee faces two charges of violating fire safety regulations and committing involuntary homicide by professional negligence, while Kim also faces the involuntary homicide charge. If convicted of involuntary homicide, Lee and Kim could face up to five years in prison or 20 million won ($16,000) in fines.   The sprinkler system on the building s first floor did not work properly when the fire erupted,  a police detective, who asked not to be named as he was not authorized to speak on an ongoing investigation, told Reuters.  If the sprinkler system worked, the fire probably would not have spread as fast as it did.  Police said on Tuesday that Lee has retained a lawyer but declined to name the lawyer or firm. Police said Kim has not yet hired a lawyer. Photos released by the Yonhap news agency showed a smoke-stained stairwell and a fire exit filled with shelves and supplies on the second floor, where most of the deaths occurred.  The emergency exit on the building s second floor was blocked by iron shelves and other miscellaneous items,  the detective confirmed. Officials are still investigating the cause of the conflagration. According to police, both Kim and Lee had denied reports they were trying to remove ice on the ceiling of the first floor, where the fire appeared to have originated, but later changed their statements after police confronted them with evidence. The Korea JoongAng Daily newspaper reported on Tuesday that Lee had at one point told police he did not alert the women in the sauna because they were undressed, however, the police detective told Reuters he could not confirm that as investigations were ongoing. Anger mounted over the weekend at reports of shoddy construction, broken doors, blocked roads and other problems that may have contributed to the deaths. A number of cars parked along the narrow roads around the building impeded the ability of firefighters to reach the fire, an official with the Jecheon fire department told Reuters, but noted that none of the parked vehicles appeared to have violated parking rules.  Although vehicles can park there legally, it was quite difficult for fire trucks to go through to get to the scene, because the road was too narrow,  said the fire official, who declined to be named as he was not authorized to speak publicly. Visiting the scene on Friday, President Moon Jae-in promised a full investigation.  The government as a whole will thoroughly probe this accident s cause and process of response, and although after the fact, the investigation and measures will be such that, at least, there will not be lingering deep sorrow,  he said. On Monday, a separate fire at a construction site at an apartment complex south of Seoul killed one person and injured 14 others, according to Yonhap.

Summary: दक्षिण कोरिया में आग लगने से 29 लोगों की मौत, इमारत का मालिक और प्रबंधक गिरफ्तार


WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Hillary Clinton’s vow to regulate oil and gas fracking almost out of existence was met with skepticism Monday, failing to convince either industry or environment groups that she would - or could - end the controversial drilling practice if she becomes president. The front-runner for the Democratic party nomination used a debate in Flint, Michigan on Sunday night to oppose fracking anywhere local communities were against it, wherever it polluted air or water, and whenever companies refused to disclose what chemicals they use in the process.   “By the time we get through all of my conditions, I do not think there will be many places in America where fracking will continue to take place,” she said. But supporters and opponents of fracking dismissed her position as campaign rhetoric that would collide with the limited powers of a president to control an activity largely regulated at the state level. Defenders of fracking said no president would try to put the brakes on a drilling technique that has flooded the U.S. with cheap oil and gas. “Secretary Clinton’s answer is essentially campaign hyperbole, and meant to appease her environmental constituency,” said Bruce Bullock, director of the Maguire Energy Institute at Texas’ Southern Methodist University, in a blog post in the Dallas Morning News. “In reality, it has little substance to it.” Green groups welcomed Clinton’s shift from her past support for fracking. But they also urged her to stop laying down conditions and caveats. “Clinton will continue to struggle to convince climate advocates that she is serious about addressing the crisis until she comes out for a full ban on fracking,” said Yong Jung Cho, campaign coordinator of grassroots groups 350 Action. As secretary of state, Clinton supported fracking as a way to reduce U.S. dependence on imported energy, and even led a push to spread shale extraction to allies in Europe to wean them off Russian gas.[L1N0VX2JT] Her pledge in Flint to curtail the practice followed the blunt declaration against fracking by Senator Bernard Sanders, her sole rival for the nomination. Sanders’ challenge has shifted some of Clinton’s positions in the campaign, and her statement on fracking now comes closer to wider Democratic party sentiment. “Secretary Clinton has been pushed to the left by Senator Sanders,” said Kathleen Sgamma, vice president of government affairs at the Western Energy Alliance. Sgamma said Democrats from President Barack Obama to Colorado Governor John Hickenlooper support fracking and the economic benefits its brings to many states.  “Sometimes things said in the heat of a debate are later wisely set aside when faced with the economic and national security consequences of shutting down the technique that unlocks huge domestic sources of energy that would otherwise have to come from Russia, Saudi Arabia and Iran,” she said. The Clinton campaign said the candidate has previously criticized fracking when it clashed with local opposition. “If a local government says no (to fracking), not here, they should be able to do that,” Clinton said during a campaign stop in Keene, New Hampshire last October. But fracking for natural gas has also drastically reduced the amount of coal being burned to produce electricity, and has been mostly supported by the Obama administration.  David Koranyi, director of the Eurasian Energy Future Initiative at the Atlantic Council said Clinton’s “very circumspect” answer to the question in Flint actually reflected the Obama administration’s current approach to fracking, which  seeks to continue expanding shale production with more environmental oversight. “I believe wrapped in her strong statement is a pragmatic approach that recognizes the merits of natural gas as a bridge fuel in the process of decarbonization,” he said.  Clinton’s harder line did, however, delineate the clear differences between Democrats and Republicans on the issue. All Republican contenders have strongly defended fracking, leading Louis Finkel of the American Petroleum Institute to attack Clinton’s position as “a political stunt by those who are spouting populist rhetoric for political points.” The importance of fracking to the American economy, he said, means the Democrats “are not being honest with American voters.”  (Reporting by Valerie Volcovici; Editing by Bernard Orr) This article was funded in part by SAP. It was independently created by the Reuters editorial staff. SAP had no editorial involvement in its creation or production.

Summary: फ्रैकिंग पर अंकुश लगाने की क्लिंटन की प्रतिज्ञा असंबद्ध कानों पर गिरती है


WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Despite public promises of cooperation from Facebook and other social media companies, congressional investigators are battling over how much data the companies should hand over to them on Russian efforts to influence the 2016 U.S. presidential election. Congressional sources said this week that Facebook Inc (FB.O) has been slow to cooperate. The company and others have said they are turning over information, but also that they are legally obligated to protect their users  privacy. On visits to Capitol Hill on Wednesday and Thursday, Sheryl Sandberg, Facebook s chief operating officer, met with leaders of the House Intelligence Committee and said the company wanted to help investigators and would turn over more information.  Things happened on our platform that shouldn t have happened  in the lead-up to the election, Sandberg told the Axios website on Thursday. So far, however, the congressional sources said investigators have found it hard to extract all the relevant information from Silicon Valley about alleged Russian activity. But the committees have so far seen no need to issue subpoenas for the data, the sources added. Facebook and other major internet companies including Alphabet Inc s Google (GOOGL.O) and Twitter Inc (TWTR.N) have faced a stream of recent revelations about how Moscow sought to use their platforms to sow discord in the United States and influence the election in favor of the Republican White House candidate, Donald Trump. Facebook disclosed last month that it had found some 3,000 politically divisive advertisements believed to have been bought by Russia before and after the presidential campaign.  The company has now shared with congressional investigators the ads, information on how they were paid for, and how they were targeted, a Facebook spokesman said. Sandberg told congressional investigators on Thursday that in addition to the ads, the company would provide the rest of the information from accounts linked to Russia, the spokesman said.     The sources said investigators were also pressing Twitter, Google and other companies for similar data, and urging Twitter to conduct a more comprehensive search of its data banks.  We have a set of strict ads policies including limits on political ad targeting and prohibitions on targeting based on race and religion,  a Google spokeswoman said, asked about the issue.  We are taking a deeper look to investigate attempts to abuse our systems, working with researchers and other companies, and will provide assistance to ongoing inquiries.   A Twitter spokesperson did not respond to an email requesting comment.  Twitter has likely not released all potentially relevant data to congressional investigators in part because of their policy requiring a court order and their track record of defending user privacy by fighting such requests,  Adam Sharp, former head of news and government at Twitter, said in an interview. Twitter engineers are trying to regenerate some of the lost data, and may be able to retrieve some of it, said a person familiar with the company s technology. The use of social media platforms was part of what U.S. intelligence agencies have concluded was a broader Russian effort to meddle in the election campaign, an allegation the Kremlin has denied. Several congressional committees, as well as special counsel Robert Mueller, are investigating Russian interference, including any potential collusion between Trump associates and Moscow. Trump has denied any such collusion. In September, Facebook disclosed that it had evidence that an operation based in Russia had spent $100,000 on thousands of sponsored posts promoting divisive social and political messages in a two-year period through May 2017. Facebook said it believed the messages were likely bought by people in Russia before and after the 2016 election.     Sources familiar with Facebook s contacts with Congress said that as recently as July this year, company officials were denying the existence of any paid Russian messaging, and only later acknowledged that the company had found $100,000 in sponsored traffic linked to 478 Facebook accounts.       The sources said investigators think the paid messaging was generated by a group called the Internet Research Agency in St. Petersburg. U.S. officials have called it a  troll factory  that creates false identities or copies real ones to spread real, skewed, and fake information for the Kremlin. Congressional sources said some of the Facebook messaging went to groups with seemingly legitimate names such as Heart of Texas, Defend the Second, and United Muslims of America, which they said all had as many as 250,000 followers. These groups now appear to have been bogus, or set up to look like legitimate political organizations, and investigators want to learn more about the groups, their followers, and their origins, the sources said. They said Facebook lawyers have argued that turning over additional data could compromise its promise of privacy to its users. However, congressional investigators say that if Russian messengers used fake identities, they would have no legal claims to privacy.

Summary: रूस की जांच को लेकर अमेरिकी कांग्रेस ने फेसबुक और अन्य सोशल मीडिया कंपनियों के साथ हाथापाई की


SACRAMENTO, Calif. (Reuters) - California legislative leaders on Monday demanded detailed information from the Trump administration on immigration arrests and raids in the most populous U.S. state, amid growing concern that agents are targeting non-criminals for deportation. Citing reports that agents for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, or ICE, had gone to churches, schools and courthouses to find and arrest illegal immigrants, the legislature used the federal Freedom of Information Act to request all records of enforcement actions taken or planned since Republican Donald Trump was sworn in as president on Jan. 20. “Despite saying he’d only target dangerous criminals, President Trump’s executive orders target practically every undocumented person in California,” said Senate President Pro Tem Kevin de León, who signed the request along with Assembly Speaker Anthony Rendon. ICE did not immediately respond to a request for comment.      California is home to nearly 3 million illegal immigrants among a total non-citizen population of 5.4 million, according to the legislature and the Public Policy Institute of California,  making the state a crucible for Trump’s new get-tough immigration policies. Trump recently broadened the categories of people who could be targeted for immigration enforcement to anyone who had been charged with a crime, removing an Obama-era exception for people convicted of traffic misdemeanors. He has also proposed faster deportation for illegal immigrants who cannot show they have been in the country for more than two years. But Trump has also said agents are targeting dangerous criminals, not ordinary people, and that he will not take action against those protected by the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, or DACA, which protects young people brought to the United States as children. Earlier this month, immigration officers nationwide arrested more than 680 people in the country illegally in a broad enforcement action that alarmed many immigrant groups. U.S. Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly said on Feb. 13 that the operations, conducted in at least a dozen states, were routine. But immigrant rights advocates said the operations were more sweeping than those conducted during the administration of former Democratic President Barack Obama. Protests erupted in several states over the raids and other arrests. Among those arrested were an Arizona mother who was detained when she went in for a meeting with ICE, and a 23-year-old man detained near Seattle who held a work permit under DACA but who agents said had gang affiliations. In their letter, de Leon and Rendon said that 74 percent of California’s non-citizens live in households with citizens, meaning mass deportations could separate spouses from each other, or children from their parents. “All of these parents and children are potentially at risk of separation at the hands of ICE,” the lawmakers wrote.

Summary: कैलिफोर्निया ने ट्रम्प प्रशासन से आव्रजन गिरफ्तारी का विवरण मांगा


BEIJING (Reuters) - European Trade Commissioner Cecilia Malmstrom said on Monday that populism in Europe, the United States and elsewhere is a dangerous thing, and if populist politicians come to power it would be a recipe for isolation and failure. Speaking in Beijing, she said the debate in the United States was personified by Republican presidential hopeful Donald Trump and included criticism of globalization and trade.

Summary: ई. यू., यू. एस. में लोकलुभावनवाद एक 'खतरनाक' प्रवृत्ति हैः ई. यू. व्यापार आयुक्त


GENEVA (Reuters) - The Syrian government has accepted a Russian suggestion of a ceasefire in the besieged rebel-held enclave of Eastern Ghouta, U.N. Syria envoy Staffan de Mistura told reporters on Tuesday.  I was just informed by the Russians today at the P5 meeting that the Russians have proposed and the government has accepted a ceasefire on Eastern Ghouta because we were and are very concerned about it,  de Mistura said.  Now we need to see whether this takes place but it s not coincidental that this has actually been proposed and agreed upon just at the beginning of this session (of peace talks in Geneva).

Summary: सीरिया ने घेराबंदी वाले क्षेत्र में युद्धविराम की रूसी योजना को स्वीकार कियाः संयुक्त राष्ट्र


LONDON (Reuters) - Britain will pursue a balanced policy on immigration once it has left the European Union by seeking to attract high-skilled workers while driving the overall numbers down, Defence Secretary Michael Fallon said on Wednesday. The Guardian newspaper published a leaked government document late on Tuesday detailing plans to drive down the number of lower-skilled EU workers coming to Britain once it has left the EU in 2019.  We ll set out firm proposals later in the year,  Fallon told Sky News.  There is a balance to be struck, we want to attract to this country, not shut the door, on highly skilled people who want to come here and make a contribution to our society.   Equally we have to make sure that British companies are also prepared to train and train up British workers. The public are very clear, they want to see immigration not stopped but brought properly under control.   They also want to be clear that we implement what they voted for in the Brexit referendum.

Summary: ब्रिटेन ने कहा कि वह ब्रेक्सिट के बाद की संतुलित आव्रजन नीति को अपनाएगा


BUENOS AIRES (Reuters) - Argentine President Mauricio Macri said on Friday that the country s navy and foreign forces would continue the search for a submarine that went missing nine days earlier and said he expected the vessel to be found over the days ahead.

Summary: अर्जेंटीना के मैक्री को उम्मीद है कि आने वाले दिनों में लापता पनडुब्बी मिल जाएगी


BEIJING/NEW YORK (Reuters) - President-elect Donald Trump will nominate Iowa Governor Terry Branstad as the next U.S. ambassador to China, choosing a longstanding friend of Beijing after rattling the world’s second largest economy with tough talk on trade and a telephone call with the leader of Taiwan. The appointment may help to ease trade tensions between the two countries, the world’s two biggest agricultural producers, diplomats and trade experts said. Branstad has visited China at least six times, and Chinese President Xi Jinping has traveled to Iowa twice, including once while Branstad was governor. Branstad’s appointment also suggests that Trump may be ready to take a less combative stance toward China than many expected, the experts said. Trump in a statement cited Branstad’s qualifications including experience in government and longtime relationships with Xi and other Chinese leaders. The nomination, which will be formally made once the Republican president-elect is sworn in on Jan. 20, was well received, even among some Democrats. “He’s tenacious, and trust me, with the Chinese, you need to be tenacious,” U.S. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack, a former Iowa governor, said of Branstad. Trump, who defeated Hillary Clinton in last month’s election, has said that when he takes office he intends to declare China a currency manipulator, meaning it keeps the yuan artificially low to make its exports cheap, and has threatened to impose punitive tariffs on Chinese goods coming into the United States. Added to that, his unusual decision to accept a call from Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen last week prompted a diplomatic protest on Saturday from Beijing, which considers Taiwan a renegade province. Trump’s transition team played down the exchange as a courtesy call, but the White House had to reassure China that its decades-old “one-China” policy was intact. Branstad’s established personal connection with China could help smooth a relationship defined largely by international security matters and by bilateral trade, where the massive U.S. trade deficit with the country is a source of friction. “It means that the Trump team understands that it is important to have an ambassador who has access to Xi Jinping,”  Bonnie Glaser, a China expert at the Center for Strategic and International Studies think tank in Washington, said of the pick. Branstad called Xi a “longtime friend” when Xi visited Iowa in February 2012, only nine months before he became China’s leader. On Wednesday, Branstad said he and Xi have had a “30-year friendship” and added: “The president-elect understands my unique relationship to China and has asked me to serve in a way I had not previously considered.”  Before his nomination was announced, Foreign Ministry spokesman Lu Kang called Branstad an “old friend” of China when asked in Beijing about a Bloomberg report on the appointment, although he said China would work with any U.S. ambassador. “We welcome him to play a greater role in advancing the development of China-U.S. relations,” he told a daily news briefing. Xi’s ties to Iowa go back more than 30 years: He visited Iowa in 1985 on an agricultural research trip when he led a delegation from Hebei Province, returning 27 years later and reuniting with some of the people he had met. Trump’s stance on China has been in particular focus since Friday’s call with Tsai, the first such top-level contact with Taiwan by a U.S. president-elect or president since President Jimmy Carter adopted a “one-China” policy in 1979, recognizing only the Beijing government. China is the United States’ largest trading partner in goods. But imports from China far outstripped U.S. exports, making for a trade deficit with China of $336.2 billion in 2015, according to the U.S. Trade Representative. Specific U.S. trade concerns include allegations that China is dumping steel and aluminum in global markets below the cost of production, hurting American producers. In the agricultural sector, the United States has been unable to get Beijing to lift anti-dumping measures on U.S. broiler chicken products and an animal feed ingredient known as distillers’ dried grains (DDGS). China is one of Iowa’s biggest export markets, so Branstad is well placed to deal with China-U.S. trade issues, said Professor Huang Jing, an expert on Chinese politics at the National University of Singapore. “This really sends a message that Donald Trump wants to handle China at the bilateral relationship level,” he said. Branstad, 70, visited China most recently as the leader of a trade mission that made stops in Beijing and Hebei in November. He will be “somebody who clearly understands agriculture representing U.S. interests” in China, said Dale Moore, executive director for public policy at the American Farm Bureau Federation.

Summary: ट्रम्प ने बीजिंग के लंबे समय के मित्र को चीन में अमेरिकी राजदूत के रूप में चुना


(Reuters) - President Donald Trump opened the door on Tuesday to a broad overhaul of the U.S. immigration system and vowed to pursue massive tax relief for the middle class in a speech to Congress as he sought to rebound from a chaotic start to his presidency.     Trump said he was open to a broad overhaul of the U.S. immigration system, a shift from his hardline campaign rhetoric. He emphasized his desire to focus on problems at home by boosting the U.S. economy with tax reform, a $1 trillion infrastructure effort and an overhaul of President Barack Obama’s signature healthcare law, known as Obamacare.    BRIAN REYNOLDS, CHIEF MARKET STRATEGIST, NEW ALBION PARTNERS, NEW YORK “The speech showed the softer side of the President, but I think the media had let investors know this would be the case, so no surprise for markets on that front. “The speech lacked specifics as it related to financial markets. Again I don’t think that is a surprise. “With no surprises and few financial specifics, it is likely that equity investors will focus on how many of his themes can be passed by Congress given how late it is getting in the legislative calendar. Skepticism over the likelihood of policy enactment may create a brief pullback in stocks at some point. “There was nothing in the speech, or in the President’s agenda, that is likely to alter the behavior of corporate bond investors, who have been driving this equity bull market for eight years via debt-fueled buybacks. They bought a strong $18 billion of new corporate bonds on Tuesday in advance of the speech, and they will likely be back at work on Wednesday, putting their cash flows to work. I believe that these flows are likely to keep any stock market pullback brief and shallow.” BUCKY HELLWIG, SENIOR VICE PRESIDENT, BB&T WEALTH MANAGEMENT, BIRMINGHAM, ALABAMA: “The speech was a summary of Trump’s policies.  Stocks could move higher tomorrow as nothing has changed and stock investors are still expecting infrastructure build out, tax and regulatory relief, and changes in Affordable Care, but the timetable has not been clarified for these. Republican constituents may pressure Congress to step up the pace in moving the Trump agenda forward. “Some specifics: pressure on drug margins, completion across state lines for healthcare organizations, military expenditures increasing – but nothing new here. “Fed policy will get more attention this week and next.  Manufacturing PMI tomorrow and employment report next Friday (March 10) will be watched.  Yellen will be speaking this Friday.  Fed funds futures showing a higher probability of  an increase at the FOMC March 15 meeting.” J.J. FELDMAN, PORTFOLIO MANAGER AT MIRACLE MILE ADVISORS IN LA: “There was nothing really new,” he said. “It was a good speech in that it was more uniting than divisive but from the market perspective it was status quo,” “This probably wasn’t the venue but if new details on tax reform are not coming soon there’s going to be disappointment for sure.“ JUAN PEREZ, SENIOR CURRENCY STRATEGIST, TEMPUS CONSULTING, WASHINGTON: “Trump said a lot of things that are positive for financial markets such as spending a huge amount for infrastructure. Overall there were no real surprises as these are pronouncements that we have heard before. However, I expect that market gains from his speech would be subdued by the continued tone of protectionism in his statements. Anytime, you attack trade deals as Trump did, the market gets nervous.” PAUL CHRISTOPHER, HEAD GLOBAL MARKET STRATEGIST  AT WELLS FARGO INVESTMENT INSTITUTE IN ST. LOUIS, MO.  “I was impressed though, or at least relieved, that it wasn’t like his inauguration speech, it wasn’t a challenge or a gauntlet thrown down to the opposition or to other countries. It was a speech that was more balanced and more presidential-sounding.  “But even as a state of the union address, which it sounded a lot like, it wasn’t very specific. It especially and could have and didn’t prioritize all of these different things he was talking about. Some of the policies are going to be very expensive - a trillion dollars for infrastructure, $100 billion a year, extra defense spending - the budget may not have room for all of that.  “He didn’t talk at all about how they were going to fund any of that. He also didn’t talk about tax reform, which I expected he would give Congress some marching orders in terms of what he wants - he hardly said anything about tax reform.  “He talked about the Affordable Care Act but again he didn’t talk about any of the directives of are we going to repeal and replace now or repeal and replace later. He did say he wanted continuity but moderate Republicans are not convinced the conservative Republicans have that as a priority. So it may be even difficult to pass the ACA repeal in this budget bill.  “He was effective at reaching out to the other side, he was effective at times in being able to connect items. For example, connecting education as the way to break the cycle of poverty and then morphing or transitioning into violent crime and cutting down on that. Those were effective points and effective transitions.  But again not enough detail for investors and certainly the markets were chopping around while he was speaking. It wasn’t a big market mover and we still have to wait for the details. I don’t think we are going to see much change.  “There is no reason to sell, he didn’t throw water on any of the agenda, he simply didn’t clarify it any.” “I think the market is going to be positive. The market continues to see him as a good-for-business president. He’s very pragmatic when it comes to business. In terms of getting these grand visions done, I don’t think the market gives so much importance to that. When he spoke about cost cutting, that immediately resonates with everyone on Wall Street. That’s easy stuff. That’s low hanging fruit. It’s really hard to grow revenues. But it’s really easy to cut costs. There is so much fat. It’s so over regulated. This is easy stuff. He said enough of that during the speech that he will resonate well. “I think some people were probably looking for some meat on the bones. He definitely covered everything. It was more of a laundry list. There wasn’t a lot of details. “To me, the tax reform is something everybody wants. Repatriation of money abroad is something that ever wants. Why not take care of those and then take care of the dicey things? Like Obamacare and immigration.” OMER ESINER, CHIEF MARKET ANALYST AT COMMONWEALTH FOREIGN EXCHANGE IN WASHINGTON DC “(Trump’s) mention of historic treaties and NATO specifically was reassuring for our allies globally, and in that sense it was probably reassuring for global financial markets as well.” “(The speech) was still probably light on actual details on the fiscal side of things. We got mention of a trillion dollar infrastructure spending package. I think it’s very early so I wouldn’t necessarily hang my hat on that number. It was largely absent of any major focus on the tax side of things. In terms of overall details, on the fiscal side of the equation, it was probably pretty light. But I think despite that on some level the market might be reassured by the more or less balanced tone of the speech. It was much more presidential than some of the previous speeches and commentary we’ve gotten from the president.” PAUL NOLTE, PORTFOLIO MANAGER AT KINGSVIEW ASSET MANAGEMENT IN CHICAGO “The devil is going to be in the details and I think that’s why you didn’t see the futures move too terribly much. The markets are still, show me what you are going to do, how is this all going to work and how are we paying for it. That’s going to take probably a couple weeks to a couple months to get laid out.” “Everybody is looking for more details and we’re still waiting.”  “I think expectations right now are really high all the way around and it’s going to be a process. We’re going to have to wait to see some of this develop.” STEVE MASSOCCA, SENIOR VICE PRESIDENT AT WEDBUSH SECURITIES IN SAN FRANCISCO  “I thought it went pretty well, certainly no land mines or explosions.” “From an investor’s perspective there was no new information, no surprises good or bad. From the perspective of where money goes tomorrow, I don’t see what we have learned that’s new or different. ... But he burnished his image, so there’s a positive there. He’s a pro business president so that’s a good thing.” RANDY FREDERICK, VICE PRESIDENT OF TRADING AND DERIVATIVES FOR CHARLES SCHWAB IN AUSTIN, TEXAS “He pretty much didn’t say anything he hadn’t said before so markets have no reason to react overly positively or overly negatively ... Would the market have liked details sure, but I don’t think it was expecting them.”  “If anything the market might move moderately higher tomorrow. It pulled back moderately today. The uptick in volatility today was a preparation for the potential for a downside move ... It was a little bit of hedging going on before an event that could move the market.”  A key focus for Wednesday will be Personal Consumption Expenditures, a key inflationary measure that the U.S. Federal Reserve watches, Frederick said. BRIAN JACOBSEN, CHIEF PORTFOLIO STRATEGIST AT WELLS FARGO FUNDS MANAGEMENT IN MENOMONEE FALLS, WISCONSIN:  “He was surprisingly detailed about what to replace Obamacare with. It’s likely Congress will be able to take that up shortly as part of the 2017 budget and then quickly pivot to the 2018 budget which will deal with tax reform. That plan is much less developed, but he has time.” On taxes, Jacobsen said: “Every deduction and credit that would need to be eliminated to lower tax rates in a budget-neutral way has strong defenders. That’s how those deductions and credits got there. So, we’ll just have to watch and wait to see which special interests President Trump will take on.” TIM GHRISKEY, CHIEF INVESTMENT OFFICER OF SOLARIS GROUP IN BEDFORD HILLS, NEW YORK. “It seemed to be a somewhat kinder and gentler Trump. He wasn’t attacking individuals like he often does.” “This remains a very pro-growth agenda and the markets like that, but I didn’t hear anything new that would make it necessarily move ahead, except that he stuck to his guns to make his agenda items happen.” STOCKS: U.S. stock futures were stronger at the start of Trump’s address, with major indices 0.3 percent higher. They eased those gains as he spoke, with the S&P 500 E-mini futures last up 0.2 percent.  BONDS:  U.S. Treasury futures TYv1 dipped slightly ahead of his speech, and were last down 0.4 percent. FOREX: The dollar erased its earlier gains in Asia, with the market jittery as Trump’s speech was short on details on his economic stimulus. The dollar/yen eased to around 112.80 yen JPY= from the day’s high of 113.375 yen hit earlier, on hopes the Federal Reserve may raise interest rates this month.

Summary: ट्रम्प ने कांग्रेस के संबोधन में कर राहत, आप्रवासन में सुधार का वादा किया


BAGHDAD (Reuters) - The U.S.-led anti-Islamic State coalition said an Iraqi-Kurdish clash in the region of Kirkuk where Iraqi army took control on Monday of Kurdish-held positions was a  misunderstanding  and urged both sides to avoid escalation.  Coalition forces and advisors are not supporting Government of Iraq or Kurdistan Regional Government activities near Kirkuk, but are aware of reports of a limited exchange of fire during predawn hours of darkness,  it said in a statement on its website.  We believe the engagement this morning was a misunderstanding and not deliberate as two elements attempted to link up under limited visibility conditions,  it added.

Summary: U.S.-led इस्लामिक स्टेट विरोधी गठबंधन का कहना है कि किर्कुक में इराकी-कुर्दिश संघर्ष गलतफहमी है


DUBAI (Reuters) - A Western-backed Saudi-led coalition scored its first major gains in Yemen since former President Ali Abdullah Saleh was killed on Monday when local fighters captured an area on the Red Sea coast from Houthi rebels, residents said on Thursday. Saleh, who had made common cause with the Houthis after they captured the capital Sanaa in 2014, switched sides in an announcement last week that plunged the country deeper into turmoil. Residents said southern Yemeni fighters and allied local forces captured al-Khoukha district located some 350 km (220 miles) south-west of Sanaa after heavy fighting over Wednesday night which also involved coalition forces. Houthi forces control Sanaa and much of the rest of the  impoverished country, where three years of war has killed more than 10,000 people and brought it to the verge of famine. Saleh had helped the Houthis win control of Sanaa and much of the north and his decision to abandon them had major implications on the battlefield. The Houthis crushed a pro-Saleh uprising in the capital and shot him dead in an attack on his convoy on December 4. Saleh s body remained at a military hospital in Sanaa while the Houthis - who control the capital - and members of his party sparred over burial plans, sources close to the family said. The sources said the Houthis had demanded that Saleh s body be buried in a family ceremony at his home village of Sanhan, south of Sanaa, while the family was insisting that the Houthis hand over the body without any conditions. The Houthis said they had found stashes of gold and cash at Saleh s residence, which they had over-run and seized before his death on Monday, and confiscated it for the benefit of the state treasury. The group gave no details on the amount and the report could not independently be verified. U.N.-appointed investigators said in 2015 that Saleh was suspected of having corruptly amassed as much as $60 billion, equivalent to Yemen s annual GDP, during his 33 years in office. The U.S. and U.K.-backed Saudi-led coalition has stepped up air strikes on Yemen since Saleh s death as Houthi forces have tightened their grip on the capital. Residents said fighters known as the Southern Resistance, together with other local forces and backed by coalition advisers from the United Arab Emirates, launched attacks on al-Khoukha on Wednesday. At least 25 people from both sides were killed before Yemeni fighters captured the town of al-Khoukha and a small fishing port. A spokesman for the Houthi movement could not immediately be reached for comment. The Houthi-run Saba news agency has reported heavy air strikes by the coalition on Sanaa and in the Saada province in northern Yemen, but made no mention of any ground offensive in al-Khoukha area. Saba reported at least seven members of the same family killed in an air strike on their house in Nihem district outside Sanaa, including three children. It was not possible to independently verify the report.  A Saudi-led coalition air strike on al-Khoukha in March killed at least 22 civilians. When Saleh switched sides he announced he was ready to end a nearly three-year-old war - widely seen as a proxy war between regional rivals Saudi Arabia and Iran - if the Saudi-led coalition agreed to stop attacks on the country.

Summary: सऊदी समर्थित लड़ाकों ने यमन में हौथियों से तटीय क्षेत्र पर कब्जा कर लिया


GETTSYBURG, Pa. (Reuters) - U.S. Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump promised on Saturday to foil a proposed deal for AT&T to buy Time Warner if he wins the Nov. 8 election, arguing it was an example of a “power structure” rigged against both him and voters.  Trump, whose candidacy has caused ruptures in his party, listed his policy plans for the first 100 days of his presidency in a campaign speech in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, near the site of a Civil War battlefield and a celebrated address by President Abraham Lincoln. But he also defiantly raised personal grievances, describing how, if elected, he would address them from the White House in a way he said would benefit Americans. The speech was billed by his campaign as a major outlining of his policies and principles. Many of the policy ideas Trump listed on Saturday were familiar, not least his promise to build a wall on the border with Mexico to deter illegal immigration and to renegotiate trade deals and to scrap the Obamacare health policy.  Moments after promising Americans that he represented a hopeful break from the status quo, he promised to sue nearly a dozen women who have come forward in the last two weeks to accuse him of sexual assault, calling them liars.  And he added a new threat to his repeated castigation of U.S. media corporations, which he says cover his campaign unfairly to help Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton. “They’re trying desperately to suppress my vote and the voice of the American people,” Trump, who often rails against media outlets and journalists covering his events, told supporters in his speech. Trump has not provided evidence for his assertion that the election would be rigged.  “As an example of the power structure I’m fighting, AT&T is buying Time Warner and thus CNN, a deal we will not approve in my administration because it’s too much concentration of power in the hands of too few,” Trump said.  Telecommunications company AT&T Inc (T.N) has agreed in principle to buy Time Warner Inc (TWX.N), one of the country’s largest film and television companies, for about $85 billion and an announcement could be made as early as Saturday.  Trump also said he would look at “breaking” up the acquisition by Comcast Corp (CMCSA.O) of the media company NBC Universal in 2013. “Deals like this destroy democracy,” he said in explaining his apparent deviation from the traditional Republican position that seeks to minimize the taxation and regulation of American companies. Amazon.com Inc (AMZN.O), the online retailer, should also be paying “massive taxes”, Trump said, reminding voters that Amazon chief executive Jeff Bezos also owns the Washington Post, a newspaper whose coverage Trump dislikes. Trump, a wealthy New York building developer and television star, acknowledged in a debate with Clinton on Oct. 9 that he had used investment losses to avoid paying taxes. The New York Times reported on Oct. 1 that Trump’s declared loss of $916 million in 1995 was so large that he could legally have avoided paying any federal income taxes for up to 18 years. At a campaign event later on Saturday in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Clinton criticized Trump’s stance on news outlets, noting that she receives negative coverage too. “When he blows up at a journalist or criticizes the press and goes on and on and on – you know, I get criticized by the press,” she said. “I believe that’s part of our democratic system.” In a statement, Clinton spokeswoman Christina Reynolds described the speech as “rambling, unfocused, full of conspiracy theories and attacks on the media, and lacking in any real answers for American families.” Although Trump on Saturday described his plans at least in part as a response to his belief media organizations had treated him unfairly, he argued that less wealthy voters had even greater cause to worry. “When a simple phone call placed with the biggest newspapers or television networks gets them wall-to-wall coverage with virtually no fact-checking whatsoever, here is why this is relevant to you,” he said. “If they can fight somebody like me who has unlimited resources to fight back, just look at what they could do to you, your jobs, your security, your education, your health care.” Trump, who has said he may not accept the election’s outcome if he loses, is trailing Clinton in most polls - although he has narrowed the gap according to a Reuters/Ipsos poll released on Friday. Clinton maintained her commanding lead in the race to win the Electoral College, however, and claim the U.S. presidency, a Reuters/Ipsos States of the Nation project poll released on Saturday showed.     Trump has bluntly said that Mexico will pay for the wall, an idea the Mexican government has scoffed at. He tweaked his language on Saturday, saying the United States would fully fund the wall with the understanding that Mexico would reimburse the cost. Trump’s campaign was thrown into crisis two weeks ago when  a 2005 video was released showing him bragging about groping and kissing women, prompting several prominent Republicans to announce they would not vote for him. Since then, at least 10 women have said Trump made unwanted sexual advances, including groping or kissing, in incidents from the early 1980s to 2007, all of which Trump has denied. On Saturday, Jessica Drake, an adult film actor, accused Trump of pressuring her to have sex with him 10 years ago when they met at a golf tournament. After that, she said a man, possibly Trump, called her to offer her $10,000 if she would have sex with him, which she declined. Trump’s campaign said the accusations were false. Trump, 70, said he was being attacked because he was an outsider who had never previously run for office, which he argues is a virtue. “The fact that Washington and the Washington establishment has tried so hard to stop our campaign is only more proof that our campaign represents the kind of change that only arrives once in a lifetime,” he said.

Summary: ट्रम्प मीडिया पर हमला करने के लिए नीतिगत भाषण का उपयोग करते हैं, आरोप लगाने वालों पर मुकदमा करने का वादा करते हैं


ALMATY (Reuters) - Kazakh state prosecutors said on Wednesday they will re-investigate the 2004 death of a prominent banker after the man convicted of accidentally killing him said he had in fact been hired to do so by Mukhtar Ablyazov, a former oligarch turned opponent of President Nursultan Nazarbayev. The Central Asian nation s government has accused Ablyazov, who has been living in France, of embezzling billions of dollars from a local bank he used to run. A French court last year ruled against extraditing him, however, and set him free. The new probe may lead to a fresh extradition request from the former Soviet republic, setting the stage for another prolonged legal battle in European courts. Ablyazov, once a wealthy businessman who became a government minister, led an opposition political movement in the early 2000s until being convicted on corruption charges in 2002. Nazarbayev pardoned him in 2003. But Ablyazov fell out with the strongman leader again in 2009 when the government nationalized BTA, Kazakhstan s biggest bank at the time, of which Ablyazov was the chairman and majority shareholder. He then fled Kazakhstan, whose authorities have since unsuccessfully tried to have him brought back to the country on fraud and embezzlement charges while also seeking to seize his personal assets. On Tuesday, a businessman now in prison for an unrelated crime claimed in a television documentary that he had murdered Ablyazov s former associate in 2004 in a  hit job  ordered by the oligarch. At the time, the death was ruled involuntary manslaughter as the killer said he had accidentally shot banker Yerzhan Tatishev during a hunting trip. Tatishev was the chief executive of BTA; shortly after his death Ablyazov became the bank s chairman. The Prosecutor General s office said on Wednesday it was reopening the case and reclassifying it as murder. Although the prosecutors  statement did not mention Ablyazov, the latter accused the government in a Facebook post on Wednesday of forcing the alleged killer to falsely testify against him. Since a French court set him free last December, Ablyazov has regularly used social networks to criticize Nazarbayev, who has run the oil-rich nation of 18 million since 1989.

Summary: कजाकिस्तान 2004 के बैंकर की मौत की फिर से जांच करेगा, नज़रबायेव के आलोचक को निशाना बना सकता है


RIYADH (Reuters) - Saudi Arabia and the United States on Sunday played down media reports that Washington had decided to limit military support, including planned arms sales to the kingdom, over its war in Yemen. Saudi Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir said that Riyadh had not been officially informed of such decisions, which he described as contradicting the reality, while visiting U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry suggested the issue related more to a long procurement process than restrictions on military support. U.S. officials have said Washington decided to curb backing for Saudi Arabia’s campaign in Yemen, including halting the supply of some precision-guided munitions, because of concerns over widespread civilian casualties.  Yemen’s 20-month-old war has killed more than 10,000 people and triggered humanitarian crises, including chronic food shortages, in the poorest country in the Arabian peninsula. Jubeir, speaking in Arabic, told a joint news conference with Kerry: “This news that has been leaked contradicts reality. The reality is that converting regular bombs to smart bombs would be welcome because smart bombs are more accurate. “The kingdom has received nothing official from the American government in this regard,” he said in answer to a question on reported delays of U.S. weapons supplies. Kerry appeared to play down the reports of delays to weapons supplies, suggesting procurement was often a slow process, and adding he had worked hard to move sales “forward”. Kerry also said that he agreed in talks with Jubeir and other Gulf Arab foreign ministers to push for a “cessation of hostilities, which we all will work on in the next several days with hopes that within two weeks it might be possible to achieve it ...”. Saudi Arabia has been leading an Arab coalition that has been fighting against Iran-aligned Houthis who forced Yemeni President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi from power nearly two years ago. The conflict has displaced some three million people, according to the United Nations.  “Our immediate priority is to end the bloodshed and that’s why reestabilishing the ceasefire is so critical,” Kerry told the news conference.  “We think we’ve found the path to move forward and invite the parties, President Hadi, the Houthis and the supporters of both sides to take advantage of this moment to try to come to the table and to try to frame an end,” he added. Saudi Arabia has been subjected to frequent cross-border raids and missile attacks by the Houthi movement. Responding to a question on whether Saudi Arabia was reconsidering its investment strategy over risks in the United States related to Donald Trump’s election and potential lawsuits under the U.S. Justice Against Sponsors of Terrorism Act, known as JASTA, Jubeir said: “The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has tremendous investments in the United States and we review those investments on a regular basis. There are issues associated with risk, but our objective is to increase those investments. We won’t decrease them.” Jubeir also said he had spent time in the United States recently to try to get to know the policies and positions of the next administration.   He also said he had dealt with Congress to press for amendments of the JASTA law, which grants an exception to the legal principle of sovereign immunity in cases of terrorism on U.S. soil, clearing the way for lawsuits seeking damages from the Saudi government.

Summary: सऊदी अरब, अमेरिका ने सैन्य समर्थन पर प्रतिबंधों की रिपोर्टों को कम किया


OUAGADOUGOU (Reuters) - France s President Emmanuel Macron told African youths on Tuesday that he belonged to a new generation of French leaders who would build partnerships with the continent rather than tell it what to do. But a youth protest against him, stones pelting one of his delegation s vehicles and a botched grenade attack on French troops hours before his arrival in Burkina Faso s capital Ouagadougou showed the hostility that still lingers after decades of an often tense France-Africa relationship. Macron was also subjected to rowdy student questions at the university after his speech in Ouagadougou, and was sometimes left fruitlessly hushing as he struggled to get his answers heard above the crowd. In his speech, peppered with references to African nationalists such as Nelson Mandela and Burkina s revolutionary leader Thomas Sankara, Macron promised a break with a past in which France often seemed to call the shots to former colonies.  I am from a generation that doesn t come to tell Africans what to do,  Macron said, prompting applause.  I am from a generation for whom Nelson Mandela s victory is one of the best political memories.  The 39-year-old is on a three-day visit to Burkina Faso, Ghana and Ivory Coast aimed at boosting cooperation in education, the digital economy and migration.  I will be alongside those who believe that Africa is neither a lost continent or one that needs to be saved,  he said. The grenade attack missed the French soldiers but wounded three civilians hours before Macron arrived. No group claimed responsibility.  Stones were thrown at a delegation convoy, however Macron was far away from it at a meeting with his Burkina counterpart, Roch Marc Kabore in the presidential palace. Dozens of local youths clashed with security forces in the center of the capital throwing stones. Police responded with teargas. Protesters burnt T-shirts with images of Macron and carried slogans including  Down with new-colonialism  and  French military out of Burkina . It was not the first time a French president has promised to break with past French politics on the continent.  Macron s predecessor Francois Hollande declared while visiting Senegal in 2012 that  the time of La Francafrique is over , referring to a shadowy network of diplomats, soldiers and businessmen who manipulated African leaders for decades after independence.  But it comes at a tense time, when French troops are being sucked deeper into a years-long battle to quell Islamist militancy in the Sahel region.    France has 4,000 troops deployed there, and there are mixed feelings about their presence - highlighted in a bitter row between France and Mali over the deaths of 11 Malian troops being held captive by Islamist militants in a French air strike.    The French are pinning their hopes on the so-called G5 Sahel force being set up by regional country s with French and American backing. It launched a campaign on Oct. 28 amid growing unrest in the desert reaches of the region, where jihadists allied to al Qaeda or inspired by Islamic State roam undetected. Macron earlier told journalists G5 had been too slow to get established.   He said he would call for greater co-operation between Europe and Africa to tackle human trafficking and he touted a European initiative to rescue African migrants from being enslaved in Libya. The exchange with heckling students was typical Macron, who during his presidential campaign often managed to turn initially hostile crowds in his favor by answering questions head on.  You speak to me like I m a colonial power, but I don t want to look after electricity in Burkina Faso. That s the work of your president,  he retorted to one hostile questioner.  (Refiles to remove extraneous repeated references to capital)

Summary: मैक्रों के नए फ्रांस-अफ्रीका संबंधों के वादे ने हंगामा खड़ा कर दिया


WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Billionaire philanthropist Betsy DeVos, already known as one of the most controversial nominees for education secretary in U.S. history, now risks a rare congressional rejection. The deeply divided U.S. Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee on Tuesday agreed to send her nomination to the full chamber for a vote, the final step in the confirmation process.  But the committee’s executive session showed DeVos faces choppy waters ahead for a post for which there is typically little congressional debate or public attention. The chairman, Republican Lamar Alexander, acted as tie-breaker after all 11 Republicans voted for Republican President Donald Trump’s pick and all 11 Democrats voted against. Two Republicans - Maine’s Susan Collins and Alaska’s Lisa Murkowski - expressed grave misgivings about the charter school advocate’s limited experience with public schools. They said they voted yes only so the entire Senate can debate whether DeVos is the right fit. Murkowski said she may not support DeVos in the Senate vote. Democrats said the nomination was rushed, with DeVos providing answers they described as vague and noncommittal to hundreds of written questions only 24 hours before the vote.  After many of Trump’s nominees sailed through their confirmations in recent weeks, the names currently before the Senate were meeting resistance. The Senate’s 48 Democrats only need to pull three Republicans to their side to reject DeVos’ nomination. Just nine nominees have ever been turned down by the Senate. Public opposition to DeVos is unusually fierce, said Mary Kusler, lobbyist for the National Education Association, a large union that said constituents sent 1 million emails and placed 40,000 calls to senators decrying the nomination.  It was the biggest public outcry over an education secretary that Kusler has seen in her career of more than 20 years, she added. NEA and the American Federation of Teachers, another major union, say they will keep up their anti-DeVos fight during the Senate vote and expect voters will also maintain pressure. Public opinion of DeVos wobbled after her Jan. 17 hearing, where she suggested allowing guns at rural schools to fend off bear attacks.  At two rallies on Tuesday in Chicago, several hundred protesters gathered to demonstrate against DeVos’ nomination.   “I have one child in school, and my son will be (in school) in a little over a year,” said Chicago resident Mara Tierney, who attended a rally with her 3-year-old boy. “I want to do what I can to ensure DeVos is not confirmed.” Old-guard Republicans like former first lady Barbara Bush defended DeVos as a lifelong champion of low-income children, literacy and giving parents more choice in education. Democrats, meanwhile, blasted the nominee for supporting privatization in ways they said hurt poor students, not understanding basic education laws and issues, and courting potential conflicts of interest through her investments.

Summary: ट्रम्प के शिक्षा विभाग के चयन को सीनेट की लड़ाई का सामना करना पड़ सकता है


SEOUL (Reuters) - U.S. Defense Secretary Jim Mattis said on Friday there has been no change in U.S. policy protecting South Korea, in the face of missile and nuclear threats from the reclusive North, after a meeting with South Korean President Moon Jae-in. In a press release distributed by South Korea s presidential office after the meeting, Mattis was also cited as saying North Korea s obsession with its weapons programs presented a threat to the United States as well as South Korea.

Summary: मैटिस ने कहा, दक्षिण कोरिया की रक्षा के लिए अमेरिकी नीति में कोई बदलाव नहीं


(Reuters) - Former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg said on Monday he will not enter the race for U.S. president in November, because it was clear he could not win and he did not want to risk enabling a victory by Republicans Donald Trump or Ted Cruz. Last month the Financial Times quoted Bloomberg as saying he found the campaign discussions “distressingly banal” and considering running for president. Bloomberg said in a online column that in a three-way race, no candidate was likely to win a majority of electoral votes, handing the choice to the Congress.  (Reporting by Eric Walsh; Editing by Chris Reese) This article was funded in part by SAP. It was independently created by the Reuters editorial staff. SAP had no editorial involvement in its creation or production.

Summary: एनवाईसी के पूर्व मेयर ब्लूमबर्ग का कहना है कि वह राष्ट्रपति पद की दौड़ में शामिल नहीं होंगे


BEIRUT/PARIS (Reuters) - Hezbollah s leader said on Friday that Saudi Arabia had declared war on Lebanon and his Iran-backed group, accusing Riyadh of detaining Saad al-Hariri and forcing him to resign as Lebanon s prime minister to destabilize the country. France became the first Western country to indicate that Saudi Arabia was holding Hariri against his will, saying it wished for him to have  all his freedom of movement and be fully able to play the essential role that is his in Lebanon . Hariri s resignation has plunged Lebanon into crisis, thrusting the small Arab country back to the forefront of regional rivalry between the Sunni Muslim monarchy Saudi Arabia and Shi ite revolutionary Iran.     Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, the Hezbollah leader, said Saudi Arabia s detention of Hariri, a long-time Saudi ally who declared his resignation while in Riyadh last Saturday, was an insult to all Lebanese and he must return to Lebanon.      Let us say things as they are: the man is detained in Saudi Arabia and forbidden until this moment from returning to Lebanon,  Nasrallah said in a televised speech.  It is clear that Saudi Arabia and Saudi officials have declared war on Lebanon and on Hezbollah in Lebanon,  he said.     His comments mirror an accusation by Riyadh on Monday that Lebanon and Hezbollah had declared war on the conservative Gulf Arab kingdom. Riyadh says Hariri is a free man and he decided to resign because Hezbollah was calling the shots in his government.  Saudi Arabia considers Hezbollah to be its enemy in conflicts across the Middle East, including Syria and Yemen.    Western countries have looked on with alarm at the rising regional tension. U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson warned other countries and groups against using Lebanon as vehicle for a larger proxy fight in the Middle East, saying Washington strongly backed Lebanon s independence and respected Hariri as a strong partner of the United States, still referring to him as prime minister.  There is no legitimate place or role in Lebanon for any foreign forces, militias or armed elements other than the legitimate security forces of the Lebanese state,  Tillerson said in a statement released by the U.S. State Department. Tillerson told reporters on Friday there was no indication that Hariri was being held in Saudi Arabia against his will but that the United States was monitoring the situation. The French foreign minister said earlier on Friday that he also believed Hariri was a free man - a statement at odds with the later French foreign ministry comment that it wanted Hariri to have  all his freedom of movement . Hariri has made no public remarks since announcing his resignation in a speech televised from Saudi Arabia, saying he feared assassination and accusing Iran and Hezbollah of sowing strife in the Arab world. Two top Lebanese government officials, a senior politician close to Hariri and a fourth source told Reuters on Thursday that the Lebanese authorities believe Hariri is being held in Saudi Arabia.  Nasrallah said Saudi Arabia was encouraging Israel to attack Lebanon. While an Israeli attack could not be ruled out entirely, he said, it was unlikely partly because Israel knew it would pay a very high price.  I warn them against any miscalculation or any step to exploit the situation,  he said.  Saudi will fail in Lebanon as it has failed on all fronts,  Nasrallah said. Riyadh has advised Saudi citizens not to travel to Lebanon, or if already there to leave as soon as possible. Other Gulf states have also issued travel warnings. Those steps have raised concern that Riyadh could take measures against the tiny Arab state, which hosts 1.5 million Syrian refugees. Hariri s resignation is being widely seen as part of a Saudi attempt to counter Iran as its influence deepens in Syria and Iraq and as Riyadh and its allies battle Iranian-allied Houthi rebels in Yemen. Hariri s resignation unraveled a political deal among rival factions that made him prime minister and President Michel Aoun, a political ally of Hezbollah, head of state last year. The coalition government included Hezbollah, a heavily armed military and political organization. Aoun told Saudi Arabia s envoy on Friday that Hariri must return to Lebanon and the circumstances surrounding his resignation as prime minister while in Saudi Arabia were unacceptable, presidential sources said. An  international support group  of countries concerned about Lebanon, which includes the United States, Russia and France, appealed for Lebanon  to continue to be shielded from tensions in the region . In a statement, they also welcomed Aoun s call for Hariri to return.    In comments to Reuters, top Lebanese Druze politician Jumblatt said Lebanon did not deserve to be accused of declaring war on Saudi Arabia.  For decades we ve been friends,  he said.  We are a country that is squeezed between two antagonistic interests, between Saudi Arabia and Iran,  he said.  The majority of Lebanese are just paying the price ... Lebanon can not afford to declare a war against anybody.  The Saudi foreign minister accused Hezbollah of a role in the launching of a ballistic missile at Riyadh from Yemen on Saturday. Saudi Arabia s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman said Iran s supply of rockets to militias in Yemen was an act of  direct military aggression  that could be an act of war. Nasrallah mocked the Saudi accusation that Iran and Hezbollah were behind the firing of the missile from Yemen, saying Yemenis were capable of building their own missiles.

Summary: हिज़्बुल्लाह का कहना है कि सऊदी ने हरीरी की हिरासत के साथ लेबनान युद्ध की घोषणा की


NAIROBI (Reuters) - Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta said on Tuesday that any African can get a visa on arrival in Kenya, and will be free to settle in the country if they marry a Kenyan, removing restrictions on some nations.   If you wish and find a willing partner, you can marry and settle in Kenya,  he said during his inauguration address, saying the move was designed to cement African ties.  This commitment we make again with no requirement for reciprocity.

Summary: केन्या के राष्ट्रपति ने यात्रा प्रतिबंध हटाए, कहा कि सभी अफ्रीकियों को आगमन पर वीजा मिल सकता है


VIENNA (Reuters) - Austrian far-right leader Heinz-Christian Strache congratulated Donald Trump on his victory in the U.S. presidential elections on Wednesday. “The political left as well as the aloof and sleazy establishment are being punished by voters and voted out of various decision-making positions,” the head of the populist Freedom Party (FPO) said on Facebook. The FPO hopes for its own candidate Norbert Hofer to become the European Union’s first far-right head of state on Dec. 4. Hofer, 45, an anti-immigrant EU critic hopes to succeed former Green Party leader Alexander Van der Bellen in a re-run of an annulled May election.

Summary: ऑस्ट्रिया की धुर दक्षिणपंथी फ्रीडम पार्टी ने ट्रम्प को बधाई दी


KUALA LUMPUR (Reuters) - Two women accused of killing the estranged half-brother of North Korea s leader at the Kuala Lumpur international airport are expected to plead not guilty when their trial begins at a Malaysian court on Monday. Indonesian Siti Aisyah, 25, and Doan Thi Huong, 28, from Vietnam, are charged with murdering Kim Jong Nam at the airport on Feb. 13 by smearing his face with VX, a chemical the United Nations describes as a weapon of mass destruction. The pair, however, have told their lawyers they did not know they were participating in a deadly attack and believed they were carrying out a prank for a reality TV show. They face the death penalty if convicted.   They (the women) will maintain their innocence,  Hisyam Teh, Huong s lawyer, told Reuters.  Monday s much-anticipated trial is expected to run until Nov. 30 at the Shah Alam High Court on the outskirts of the Malaysian capital.          Lead prosecutor Muhamad Iskandar Ahmad declined to comment on details of the case, but said between 30 and 40 witnesses, including 10 experts, would be called to testify.  The prosecution is expected to call expert witnesses such as pathologists and chemists early on, Hisyam said.     He declined to comment on the defense s strategy, but said Huong was in good hands.   She (Huong) has a good defense and we have the evidence to support it,  he said, without elaborating. South Korean and U.S. officials have said that Kim Jong Un s regime was behind the murder.  Kim Jong Nam, who was living in exile in Macau, had criticized his family s dynastic rule of North Korea and his brother had issued a standing order for his execution, according to some South Korean lawmakers. Four other people, who have not been apprehended or named, have been charged along with Siti Aisyah and Huong. Four North Koreans, who police named as suspects in the case, left Kuala Lumpur for Pyongyang on the day of the killing. An Interpol red notice, an international alert just short of an arrest warrant, has been issued for the four, who were caught on airport CCTV cameras observing the murder, police said. Naran Singh, who is also on Huong s defense team, has asked prosecutors to release the names of the four suspects charged with the women. Gooi Soon Seng, Siti Aisyah s lawyer, did not respond to an emailed request for comment. He has previously said the presence of other suspects would change the case completely.    We believe the main suspects are the four North Koreans that have left the country. If we were able to arrest them, everything would be as clear as daylight,  Gooi told reporters after a pre-trial hearing in July.  The once cozy ties between Malaysia and North Korea have been frayed after North Korea questioned Malaysia s handling of the investigation into Kim Jong Nam s murder.  The Malaysian government expelled the North Korean ambassador. In response, Pyongyang barred all Malaysians from leaving the country. Malaysia only secured their release in exchange for returning Kim Jong Nam s body to North Korea and safe passage home for three North Korean men wanted for questioning in the case.   Malaysia on Thursday banned its citizens from traveling to North Korea, citing security concerns from Pyongyang s nuclear tests. The travel ban follows a visit earlier this month to Washington by Prime Minister Najib Razak, who told U.S. President Donald Trump Malaysia has stopped doing business with North Korea, in line with U.N. sanctions.  North Korea is not a member of Interpol, and Pyongyang was unlikely to entertain any request from Malaysia to return the suspects in the absence of an extradition treaty between the two countries, said Ahmad Martadha Mohamed, an associate professor at Universiti Utara Malaysia.    Indirectly, this will make it very difficult for Malaysia to put any pressure on North Korea to send the suspects back,  he said.

Summary: हाई-प्रोफाइल किम जोंग नाम की हत्या के मुकदमे में महिलाएं खुद को दोषी नहीं मानेंगी


JINHUA, China (Reuters) - There’s no masking the facts. One Chinese factory is expecting Donald Trump to beat his likely U.S. presidential rival Hillary Clinton in the popularity stakes. At the Jinhua Partytime Latex Art and Crafts Factory, a Halloween and party supply business that produces thousands of rubber and plastic masks of everyone from Osama bin Laden to Spider-Man, masks of Donald Trump and Democratic front-runner Hillary Clinton faces are being churned out. Sales of the two presidential candidates are at about half a million each but the factory management believes Trump will eventually run out the winner. “Even though the sales are more or less the same, I think in 2016 this mask will completely sell out,” said factory manager Jacky Chen, indicating a Trump mask. The firm was already beginning to stockpile the Republican candidate’s mask, he said. Just like with the sales of the $4-$5 masks, Trump is now running nearly even with Clinton among likely U.S. voters ahead of the November election, a Reuters/Ipsos poll from May 11 showed.  That is a big turnaround for the real estate billionaire once considered a fringe figure in the race, but now the Republican party’s presumptive presidential nominee. Trump has been less than positive in his comments about China, asserting that the world’s number two economy had waged “economic war” against the United States, and used crafty business practices to steal American jobs. China has largely refrained from responding to Trump’s barbs, but Finance Minister Lou Jiwei described him as “an irrational type” in an interview in April. Such issues are far removed from the Trump mask production line at the factory in Zhejiang province, south of Shanghai. Asked if he knew whose face he was making, 43-year-old worker Liu Dahua told reporters: “It’s the president of the U.S., right?” (This version of the story has been refiled to fix spelling of Clinton’s first name to “Hillary” instead of “Hilary” in first paragraph and spelling to “Spider-Man” instead of “Spiderman” in 2nd paragraph removes “expected” as description of candidates corrects description of Trump by removing “de facto” in fifth paragraph)

Summary: चीनी पार्टीटाइम फैक्ट्री में ट्रम्प की लोकप्रियता पर कोई पर्दा नहीं


CHARLOTTE, N.C. (Reuters) - Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump, in an appeal on Wednesday to African-Americans and working-class voters, promised “21st century” banking industry reforms and tax changes to spur job creation and investment in blighted communities. Delivering an urban policy speech two weeks before the Nov. 8 election, Trump highlighted his plan to ease access to bank credit for young blacks trying to start businesses and create jobs in their communities. The New York businessman, who trails Democrat Hillary Clinton in national opinion polls and is struggling to appeal to African-Americans and Latinos, also called for broader tax incentives to spur inner-city investment. The steps, coupled with efforts to reduce U.S. trade deficits and the outsourcing of jobs abroad, Trump said, would “raise wages at home, meaning rent and bills become instantly more affordable” for the poor. Trump flew to Charlotte, a major commercial hub in the U.S. South, after attending the formal opening in Washington of a Trump International Hotel just blocks from the White House. Trump’s detour from the campaign trail to plug his business drew criticism from some fellow Republicans, but the former reality TV star said the project, completed “under budget and ahead of schedule,” showed what he could accomplish if elected president. His Democratic rival, Clinton, said: “Donald Trump is actually paying more attention to his business than to the campaign. That’s his choice, but we’re going to keep working really hard to reach as many voters as possible.” Speaking to reporters during a flight to New York after campaigning in Florida, Clinton also said the proposed merger of AT&T Inc and Time Warner Inc “raises questions and concerns and they should be looked into.” In Charlotte, Trump provided few details of “21st century Glass-Steagall,” which would build on the 1933 Depression-era law requiring the separation of commercial and investment banking. Glass-Steagall was repealed in 1999 under then-President Bill Clinton, Hillary Clinton’s husband. The 2008 financial crisis prompted an overhaul of banking rules with the passage in 2010 of “Dodd-Frank” Wall Street reforms that many Republicans have criticized. “Dodd-Frank has been a disaster, making it harder for small businesses to get the credit they need,” Trump said. Trump, speaking to a mostly white audience after meeting with black religious leaders, said he would step up the police presence in U.S. cities so that “every poor African-American child” can walk on the streets in safety. “Safety is a civil right. The problem is not the presence of police but the absence of police,” he said. Last month, hundreds of demonstrators protested in Charlotte after the release of videos showing the fatal shooting of a black man by police officers. While Trump’s speech stuck mainly to policy initiatives, he also got in a jab at Clinton. “Honestly, she has less energy than Jeb Bush,” Trump said, criticizing Clinton’s stamina and harking back to his charges that Bush, a former rival for the Republican nomination, was “low energy.” Clinton told reporters that “there was not an ounce of complacency” in her campaign and said that if elected, she would reach out to Republicans and independents, including congressional leaders, “both before the inauguration and to continue afterwards.” Before Trump’s Charlotte speech, much of Wednesday’s media attention focused on Trump’s appearance at his new, 263-room luxury hotel. Republican strategist Steve Schmidt, who led 2008 Republican presidential nominee John McCain’s unsuccessful campaign, said the hotel stop was the latest inexplicable act from Trump and atypical behavior for someone trying to win the White House.     “The walls are collapsing,” Schmidt told MSNBC in an interview. “He is not doing any of the normal activities that you’d be doing 13 days out in a presidential race for somebody who’s competitive. You don’t take a time-out to tend to your business interests.” Trump, making his first run for elected office, often highlights his business accomplishments and has held numerous events at his properties since launching his White House bid last year, including a trip to Scotland to open a refurbished golf resort in June. Asked after the event why he was in Washington instead of campaigning in a battleground state, Trump told CNN it was “a very rude question” and said he worked hard on the trail every day. “I can’t take one hour off to cut a ribbon at one of the great hotels of the world? I mean, I think I’m entitled to it,” Trump told ABC News. He said there was a double standard, noting that Clinton was not criticized for taking time to see the singer Adele in concert on Tuesday night. Clinton campaigned on Wednesday in Florida, where many opinion polls show a tight race. An average of Florida polls compiled by RealClearPolitics showed Clinton at 46.4 percent compared with 44.8 percent for Trump in a race including third-party candidates. Clinton has a strong lead in the race to secure the 270 Electoral College votes - or tally of wins from the states - needed to capture the White House, according to results from Reuters/Ipsos States of the Nation project released on Saturday.

Summary: ट्रम्प ने नया होटल खोलने के लिए चक्कर लगाने के बाद शहरी नीति पर जोर दिया


KIEV (Reuters) - Ukrainian prosecutors said on Friday they were investigating a case that could involve the head of the national anti-corruption bureau, the latest in a merry-go-round of law enforcement officials taking action against each other.  Prosecutors are checking an audio recording of a man reading out a wiretapping transcript to unknown persons, which could constitute the illegal sharing of classified information.  They are trying to establish whether the voice belongs to bureau director Artem Sytnyk. Contacted for comment, a spokeswoman for the bureau said Sytnyk was traveling abroad. Ukraine s political leaders want to convince their international backers they are serious about tackling entrenched corruption but have made only limited progress, delaying billions in new loans.  An investigation into the possible disclosure of secret documents has been registered,  General Prosecutor Yuriy Lutsenko said in a televised briefing.  If it is confirmed that this document s status was secret and if it is confirmed that it was done by that law enforcement official, then he will have problems with the law,  he said. The bureau, known by its acronym NABU, and a sister anti-corruption agency known as NAZK were both set up after pro-Western leaders took charge of Ukraine in 2014, following a wave of unrest and the escape into exile of a Kremlin-backed former leader.  Lutsenko s statement caps a week of allegations flying around between different agencies.  On Monday, a senior prosecutor told Reuters that senior political leaders were trying to bury corruption investigations through a change to the criminal code that would result in NABU being overloaded with case work.  On Tuesday, NABU said it HAD opened a case against NAZK after allegations by a whistleblower, who also accused President Petro Poroshenko s office of exerting improper influence over the agency. The president s office denies the allegation. On Friday, as well as prosecutors announcing an investigation into NABU, NABU said it had opened a case in October against Lutsenko at the behest of a court, but gave no details of the investigation.   The investigation continues,  NABU spokeswoman Svitlana Olifira told 112 channel about Lutsenko s case.  There are no conclusions. The task is to check the facts.  Lutsenko dismissed the case as illogical, saying it concerned whether he should have declared two parking places belonging to his adult son in an online registry of officials  income and property.  I am confident in the legality of my position,  he said. Conflict between NABU and the general prosecutor s office is nothing new. In August 2016 prosecutors raided NABU offices and then later interrogated two NABU officials, sparking a protest from anti-corruption campaigners. Lutsenko said infighting between the agencies was unacceptable.  It seems to me that healthy cooperation between all law enforcement bodies is being destabilized,  he said.

Summary: अंतर-एजेंसी संघर्ष बढ़ने पर यूक्रेन के अभियोजकों ने मामला खोला


NAIROBI (Reuters) - It had all the trappings of a proper polling station - ballot-boxes, pots of indelible ink, registration lists and a dozen election officials dutifully seated behind school desks. The only things missing were the voters. In Nairobi s Kibera slum, a hot-bed of support for veteran opposition leader Raila Odinga, many young men failed to heed his call for a peaceful stay-away from Thursday s election, a re-run of an August presidential vote annulled by the courts. After opening six hours late because of a lack of security, the polling station at Kibera s Olympic Primary School came under attack from stone-throwing youths determined to ward off any voters. Police at the gates responded with volleys of tear gas followed by live rounds, sending gangs of youths chanting slogans against President Uhuru Kenyatta scurrying for cover in the warren of streets and tin-shacks next to the school walls. Riot officers then sealed off the area, making it impossible for even residents to get through, let alone would-be voters prepared to run the gauntlet of pro-Odinga peer pressure.  I don t want to vote. I just want to go to my home,  said 24-year-old Kevin Ouma-Sigiria, after being turned back by armed riot police blocking the rubble-strewn road 500 metres (1500 feet) from the school. As he spoke, another man tried to talk his way through the road-block, only to receive a prod in the chest from a wooden club, followed by a nonchalant whack around the ankles.  There is a crisis up there,  one of the riot officers, who idenitified himself only as Kevin, said.  If they come one-by-one, that s OK. But if they gather again, the crisis will get bigger.  Moments later, 35-year-old Said Mohammed scurried down the street in the opposite direction with his wife and three small children to pack them off to relatives living up-country.  It s not good for their health,  he said, clutching his children s hands as the pop of exloding tear-gas grenades echoed across the tin roof-tops. Other opposition strongholds in western Kenya saw similar unrest, causing the election commission to postpone voting there until the weekend - although there is little prospect of a 48-hour delay yielding a different outcome. In Kibera, polling station staff should have slept overnight at the Olympic school but were unable to do so because of fear of being attacked. As it was, they arrived under armed escort at 10am - four hours after voting was meant to start.  The ballot boxes, also escorted by a heavily armed police contingent, arrived an hour after that - not that there was any chance of them being used.  Nobody is going to vote here today,  said Olympic deputy presiding officer Jaqueline Onuko, blithely tucking into a sandwich as rocks clanged against the metal roof of the classroom-cum-polling station.  The first time around was very busy...They were here queueing at 3 in the morning. Now nobody is going to come. They are scared of both the police and their neighbors.

Summary: नैरोबी की झुग्गी बस्ती में पत्थर फेंकने वाले, पुलिस मतदाताओं को दूर रखती है


WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Jan 29 (Reuters) - Highlights of the day for U.S. President Donald Trump’s administration on Sunday: Trump fights back amid international criticism, outrage from civil rights activists and legal challenges over his abrupt order for a halt on arrivals of refugees and people from seven Muslim-majority countries. U.S. judges in at least four states block federal authorities from enforcing Trump’s executive order restricting immigration from seven Muslim-majority countries. German Chancellor Angela Merkel tells Trump that the global fight against terrorism is no excuse for banning refugees or people from Muslim-majority countries from entering the United States, her spokesman says. Prime Minister Theresa May says Britain does not agree with Trump’s curbs on immigration after coming under criticism from lawmakers in her own party for not condemning his executive order when initially questioned. Tens of thousands of people rally in U.S. East Coast cities to protest Trump’s executive order. Democratic attorneys general across the United States condemn Trump’s order and are discussing whether to challenge the administration in court. Trump’s temporary ban on Yemeni citizens traveling to the United States is “illegal and illegitimate,” authorities controlled by the Iran-allied Houthi group in Yemen’s capital say. A U.S. commando dies and three others are wounded in a deadly dawn raid on the al Qaeda militant group in southern Yemen, which was the first military operation authorized by Trump.

Summary: 29 जनवरी को शाम 4.12 बजे ईएसटी/2112 जीएमटी पर ट्रम्प प्रेसीडेंसी


NEW YORK (Reuters) - New York police on Thursday arrested 25 people in the lobby of Trump Tower protesting U.S. President Donald Trump’s immigration and border policies. The demonstrators who sat in front of the elevators and chanted “no ban, no raids, no wall!” led security forces to close public accesses to the president’s signature property, a commercial and residential skyscraper where first lady Melania Trump and son Barron Trump stay while the president is in Washington. As heavily armed police wearing ballistic vests stood guard blocking the entrances, other officers carried the protesters to police vans. The building in the heart of the Fifth Avenue shopping district was also home to Trump’s campaign and has been his primary residence for years. The lobby is open to the public, though security was tightened as the 2016 campaign progressed and he was elected president.  Charges were pending, a police said in a statement. The demonstrators wore T-shirts with slogans such as “No wall,” in reference to Trump’s proposal to build a wall on the southern border with Mexico, and “No raids,” referring to U.S. arrests of suspected undocumented immigrants. “No ban” refers to Trump’s executive orders seeking to restrict immigration from several Muslim-majority countries.

Summary: न्यूयॉर्क पुलिस ने ट्रम्प टावर में आप्रवासन विरोध प्रदर्शन में 25 लोगों को गिरफ्तार किया


LASHKAR GAH, Afghanistan (Reuters) - An airstrike by the Afghan Air Force on a checkpoint in Gereshk district in the southern province of Helmand on Sunday killed around 10 members of the security forces and wounded nine others, officials said. The strike hit members of a special militia unit known as Sangoryan, who wear local clothes to blend into areas where the Taliban are active. Omar Zwak, a spokesman for the provincial governor, confirmed the incident but gave no details. The incident is the latest in a series of so-called  friendly fire  accidents in Helmand, the most recent in July when a U.S. airstrike killed a number of local police members during an operation in Gereshk district. In another incident, in June, at least three members of the Afghan Border Police were killed when a U.S. military aircraft opened fire on them during an operation in southern Afghanistan. Large parts of Helmand, Afghanistan s major opium-producing province, are in the hands of the Taliban. U.S. and Afghan commanders see air power as a vital weapon to prevent the area falling completely to the insurgents. Building up Afghanistan s own air power is a central part of President Ashraf Ghani s four-year strategic plan and the Afghan Air Force has steadily bolstered its capacity to provide logistical support to ground forces as well as air strikes. But one consequence has been an increase in the number of unintended casualties caused by accidents. According to U.N. figures published in July, there was a 43 percent increase in the number of civilian casualties caused by U.S. and Afghan airstrikes in the first half of the year.

Summary: 'दोस्ताना गोलीबारी' की घटना में अफगान सुरक्षा बलों की मौत


SKOPJE (Reuters) - Macedonia s ruling Social Democrats claimed victory in municipal elections on Sunday, signaling large-scale support for the new government that has pledged to speed up the small Balkan country s accession to NATO and the European Union.  The Social Democrats of Prime Minister Zoran Zaev and the nationalist VMRO-DPMNE, which had ruled Macedonia for a decade, faced off in about 50 municipalities in which Macedonians make up the majority. Ethnic Albanians make up the majority in the remaining 35 municipalities.  SDSM party official Mile Zecevic said his party won in 40 municipalities, calling it  a victory of democracy.  Victory secured the Social Democrats the backing to implement their pro-Western policies, which the nationalists see as damaging for the state and its citizens.  Zaev took office in May, nearly six months after December elections, ending a two-year political crisis over a wiretapping scandal that brought down the previous government. His coalition deal with parties representing ethnic Albanians, who make up nearly one third of the country s population, angered nationalists, who stormed the parliament in April after an ethnic Albanian was elected parliament s speaker. VMRO-DPMNE, the single biggest party in the parliament, questioned the regularity of the vote.  Party leader and former Prime Minister Nikola Gruevski said Sunday s vote  passed in undemocratic atmosphere and unfair conditions.  During the campaign, Zaev said:  Macedonia will be the 30th member of NATO and will start (membership) negotiations with the EU.  He also pledged to make progress in talks with Greece over a name dispute.  Greece has blocked Skopje s efforts to join the EU and NATO, saying the name Macedonia implies a territorial claim to its own northern province of the same name.  Macedonia, an ex-Yugoslav republic of about 2 million people, declared independence in 1991 and avoided the violence that accompanied the breakup of Yugoslavia. It was later rocked by an insurgency among its large ethnic Albanian minority that almost tore the country apart in 2001.

Summary: मैसेडोनिया के पश्चिमी समर्थक सोशल डेमोक्रेट्स ने स्थानीय चुनावों में जीत का दावा किया


KATHMANDU (Reuters) - Millions of Nepalis vote on Sunday to choose a new parliament and seven state assemblies more than a decade after the end of a civil war. The two-phase election is the first in Nepal since it turned into a federal republic and abolished monarchy in 2008. Here is a chronology of events in the Himalayan country since then: 2008, May 28   Special Constituent Assembly elected in April votes to abolish the 239-year-old monarchy and turns Nepal into a republic. 2008, July 23   The assembly elects Ram Baran Yadav as Nepal s first president. 2008, Aug. 15   Former rebel commander Pushpa Kamal Dahal, also known as Prachanda, is elected as prime minister. He had led a decade-long Maoist civil war that ended two years earlier. 2009, May 4   Prachanda steps down following a row with the president over the sacking of the army chief, leading to political instability in the country. 2010, May 28   The Constituent Assembly extends its term after failing to deliver a new charter within the stipulated period of two years.  2012, May 28   The assembly is dissolved without adopting any constitution amid wrangling among political parties. 2013, Nov 19   A second Constituent Assembly is elected to continue the unfinished task of drafting the charter. 2015, Apr. 25   Worst earthquake on record jolts Nepal, killing 9,000 people and bringing political parties together to adopt the charter and focus on reconstruction. 2015, Sept. 20   The Constituent Assembly approves the new charter, turning Nepal into a secular federal democratic republic. Ethnic Madhesis living in the southern plains reject the new charter, calling it discriminatory. 2015-2016   More than 50 people killed during protests by the Madhesis demanding a unified homeland in their region. Activists block trade points with India leading to crippling fuel and medicine shortages. 2017, May-Sept.   First elections to local bodies in 20 years held. Lawmakers reject a government proposal to amend the constitution to meet some of the demands of the Madhesi minority.

Summary: समयरेखाः राजशाही से लोकतंत्र की ओर नेपाल का पथरीला रास्ता


WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. President Barack Obama said on Tuesday the United States is committed to helping Europe address its influx of refugees, adding that Italy, Greece and Germany should not shoulder the burden more than their European neighbors.      “It is a strategic interest of the United States to make sure that the migration crisis that’s been taking place in Europe is solved,” Obama told reporters following a meeting with Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi at the White House.

Summary: अमेरिका को यूरोप में प्रवास संकट का समाधान सुनिश्चित करना चाहिएः ओबामा


KABUL (Reuters) - A suicide bomber blew himself up at a checkpoint near the main cricket stadium in the Afghan capital Kabul on Wednesday, killing at least three people as a tournament was under way, officials said. Interior Ministry spokesman Najib Danesh said two police and one civilian were killed and five people wounded. Local Tolo News Television quoted the Afghan Cricket Board as saying all players were safe. The blast outside Kabul International Cricket Stadium took place during a match in Afghanistan s Shpageeza Cricket League, a T20 franchise tournament on the lines of the Indian Premier League and similar 20-over tournaments. A statement in Bosnian on Islamic State s Amaq news agency said a suicide attack had been carried out on members of the Afghan security forces in Kabul ,  although it was not immediately clear whether the statement referred to the same incident. The Shpageeza tournament, now in its fifth season, is one of a small number of Western-style sports competitions along with Afghan Premier League football that have grown up since a U.S.-led campaign toppled the Taliban in 2001. A small number of foreign players are also taking part in the competition. Cricket, which spread from refugee camps in Pakistan, has become one of Afghanistan s most popular sports and the national team has become increasingly successful, raising the profile of the game.

Summary: अफगानिस्तान की राजधानी में क्रिकेट स्टेडियम के पास आत्मघाती बम विस्फोट, कम से कम तीन लोगों की मौत