ROME (Reuters) - Former Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi returned to frontline Italian politics at the weekend, staking his claim to lead a resurgent center-right into national elections that are expected early next year. At exactly the same moment, Berlusconi s outspoken ally, Matteo Salvini, was addressing his Northern League party and laying down his own marker to become the next prime minister.  Salvini Premier  read a sign stuck to the lectern. In reality, neither man looks likely to head the next government if they pull off an election victory, and possible alternative candidates are already emerging.  There is an apparent power struggle going on between Berlusconi and Salvini, but it will not get out of hand. They know a violent clash would be suicidal with voters,  said Piero Ignazi, politics professor at Bologna University.  The truth is both men will remain head of their respective parties, but they won t be the next prime minister,  he said. This would open the way for a consensus candidate who would have to bridge the huge divergences between the three main rightist parties   from the fierce anti-EU agenda put forward by both the Northern League and Brothers of Italy to the pro-European vision embraced by Berlusconi on Sunday. Latest opinion polls show this trio of long-standing allies are pulling ahead in the polls and predicted to win a combined 35 percent of the vote, with the anti-migrant Northern League just ahead of Berlusconi  Forza Italia on some 15 percent. By contrast, the anti-establishment 5-Star Movement and ruling center-left Democratic Party (PD) are seen on around 28 percent apiece. The 5-Star has ruled out any coalition alliances and the center-left pool of votes is shrinking as various leftist parties engage in ferocious infighting. Under the current electoral system no party or bloc looks like winning enough seats to govern alone. However, political analysts say the wind is filling the center-right s sails after years of adverse conditions, giving it pre-election momentum. Berlusconi ignominiously resigned from power in 2011 during a sovereign debt crisis. Mired in sex scandals and legal woes, he was subsequently expelled from the Senate and banned from running for office due to a 2013 tax fraud conviction. Open heart surgery last year left most analysts writing his political obituary. But not for the first time, the media tycoon, now 81, bounced back and has appealed to the European Court of Human Rights to overturn the ban on seeking election. A hearing is scheduled for November, but a verdict is unlikely to come for several months, meaning he almost certainly will not be able to stand in the next national ballot, which is due by May 2018 and widely expected to be held in March.  Despite his age, Berlusconi would love to be prime minister again. It would be his last hurrah. But realistically speaking, it is not about to happen,  said a Forza Italia official, who declined to be named because of the sensitivity of the issue. Significantly, Berlusconi made his political comeback speech at an event organized by Forza Italia stalwart Antonio Tajani, the president of the European Parliament. Party sources said Tajani was in pole position to be Berlusconi s surrogate. While Berlusconi s name abroad evokes memories of  bunga bunga  sex parties and wisecracks, Tajani is a much less colorful character, whose pro-European instincts would make him a reassuring figure for international markets. Those very same instincts would pose a problem for Berlusconi s hardline allies, who have regularly denounced the European Union and have called for Italy to quit the euro.  The leader of the center-right needs to be chosen through a clear process, perhaps a primary,  Giorgia Meloni, the head of Brothers of Italy, told Sky Italia television on Sunday.  I imagine that whatever grassroots method you decide, Tajani will not win out,  she said. Brothers of Italy is a small, nationalist party, which is anti-migrant and anti-euro. It tries to differentiate itself from the League by saying it focuses on the whole country, not just the wealthy north.      Buoyed by the League s strong poll numbers, Salvini says the leader of the party which wins the most votes next year should automatically be the prime ministerial candidate.  But Berlusconi, a four-times premier, has ruled out handing over the baton of power to Salvini, who has embraced Europe s far-right and endorsed France s National Front.  We created the center-right in Italy and we have always been its leader, laying out and fulfilling its program,  Berlusconi said on Sunday. The two men have not spoken for months, saying they are in no hurry to discuss strategy. Political analysts have speculated that the pro-business Forza Italia might find it easier to create a government of national unity with former prime minister Matteo Renzi s PD party rather than the populist Northern League. Forza Italia loyalists reject this notion.  We ruled with the Northern League for years in national government and we are ruling with them now in the regions and it is going well,  said Forza Italia lawmaker Deborah Bergamini. One such regional coalition is in Liguria, headed by Forza Italia s Giovanni Toti. He attended both the Forza Italia and Northern League rallies at the weekend and is due to take part in a Brothers of Italy meeting this weekend.  Toti has been carefully building bridges between the three parties and would be a natural choice to head any national coalition,  Bologna University s Ignazi said.

Summary: चुनाव नजदीक आते ही नेता की तलाश में इटली का मध्य-दक्षिणपंथी दल


MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russian Security Council secretary Nikolai Patrushev said on Thursday Moscow was already preparing to withdraw its military contingent from Syria, Russian news agencies reported.  Preparations are underway,  RIA news agency quoted Patrushev as saying. The chief of the Russian military general staff said last week Russia s military force in Syria would likely be significantly reduced and a drawdown could start before the end of the year.

Summary: रूस पहले से ही सीरिया से सैन्य वापसी की तैयारी कर रहा हैः एजेंसियां


WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President-elect Donald Trump said on Tuesday that a briefing he is to receive from U.S. intelligence officials on allegations of Russian hacking of the U.S. election had been delayed until Friday. In a tweet, Trump voiced continued skepticism about the extent of Russia’s cyber hacking. He and top advisers believe Democrats are trying to delegitimize his Nov. 8 election victory by accusing Russian authorities of helping him. “The ‘Intelligence’ briefing on so-called ‘Russian hacking’ was delayed until Friday, perhaps more time needed to build a case. Very strange!” Trump tweeted. It was not clear when the briefing originally had been scheduled to take place. The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Trump, who has cast doubt on U.S. intelligence agencies’ conclusion that Russia hacked Democratic Party computers, said over the weekend he would discuss the hacking allegations on Tuesday or Wednesday. With his tweet, he suggested he would not address the subject until he had been briefed by intelligence officials. Trump has scheduled a Jan. 11 news conference in New York. He is expected to discuss separating himself from his far-flung business empire, and other topics, including Russia, are likely to come up. U.S. intelligence officials have said they are confident Russia was behind the hacks of political figures in an effort to help Trump win the presidential election. President Barack Obama retaliated to the hacking last week by ordering 35 Russian intelligence officials expelled from the United States and two Russian compounds shut down. Trump told reporters on Saturday at his Palm Beach, Florida, resort that he knew “things that other people don’t know” about the hacking, “so we cannot be sure” who was responsible. He said any computer was subject to hacks. “It’s very important. If you have something really important write it out and have it delivered by courier the old fashioned way,” Trump said, adding: “No computer is safe, I don’t care what they say.”

Summary: ट्रंप का कहना है कि उन्हें शुक्रवार को रूस की हैकिंग के बारे में खुफिया जानकारी मिलेगी


WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Senate Banking Committee unanimously backed new sanctions targeting Chinese banks that do business with North Korea on Tuesday, just before President Donald Trump visits Beijing for the first time since taking office. As well as strengthening existing sanctions and congressional oversight, the measure will target foreign financial institutions - in China and elsewhere - that provide services to those subject to North Korea-related sanctions by the U.S. Congress, a presidential order or U.N. Security Council resolution.   All 12 Republicans and 11 Democrats on the panel voted for the “Otto Warmbier Banking Restrictions Involving North Korea (BRINK) Act,” clearing the way for its consideration by the full Senate. The bill was named after a U.S. student who died earlier this year after he was imprisoned in North Korea, further chilling already poor relations between Washington and Pyongyang. “For too long, we’ve been complacent about the growing and gathering threat from the North Korean regime,” Republican Pat Toomey, one of the bill’s authors, said after the committee voted. Democratic Senator Chris Van Hollen, another author, said that in addition to Chinese banks, Malaysian financial institutions might end up in its sights. Trump is due to wrap up a visit to Seoul on Wednesday with a major speech on North Korea, and then shift focus to China, where he is expected to press a reluctant President Xi Jinping to tighten the screws further on Pyongyang. Some of Trump’s fellow Republicans, as well as many Democrats, have been critical of Trump’s bellicose rhetoric about North Korea, and have called for the use of economic tools like sanctions or more negotiations before talking of war. Washington so far has largely held off on imposing new sanctions against Chinese banks and companies doing business with North Korea, given fears of retaliation by Beijing and possibly far-reaching effects on the world economy. Van Hollen told reporters on Monday ahead of the committee vote that he wished Trump would follow the model of President Theodore Roosevelt and “speak softly and carry a big stick,” adding: “We’re trying to give him a little bigger stick with the sanctions.” Republican and Democratic lawmakers said last week they had reached a bipartisan agreement on the sanctions bill. A companion bill has been introduced in the House of Representatives. The leaders of the Republican-led Senate have not said when the chamber might vote on the legislation.

Summary: अमेरिकी सीनेट पैनल ने उत्तर कोरिया के प्रतिबंधों के साथ चीनी बैंकों को निशाना बनाया


VIENNA (Reuters) - The United States is pushing U.N. nuclear inspectors to check  military sites in Iran to verify it is not breaching its nuclear deal with world powers. But for this to happen, inspectors must believe such checks are necessary and so far they do not, officials say. Last week, U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley visited the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), which is scrutinizing compliance with the 2015 agreement, as part of a review of the pact by the administration of President Donald Trump. He has called it  the worst deal ever negotiated . After her talks with officials of the U.N. nuclear watchdog, Haley said:  There are... numerous undeclared sites that have not been inspected. That is a problem.  Iran dismissed her demands as  merely a dream . The IAEA has the authority to request access to facilities in Iran, including military ones, if there are new and credible indications of banned nuclear activities there, according to officials from the agency and signatories to the deal. But they said Washington has not provided such indications to back up its pressure on the IAEA to make such a request.  We re not going to visit a military site like Parchin just to send a political signal,  an IAEA official said, mentioning a military site often cited by opponents of the deal including Iran s arch-adversary Israel and many U.S. Republicans. The deal was struck under Trump s Democratic predecessor Barack Obama. IAEA Director-General Yukiya Amano frequently describes his Vienna-based agency as a technical rather than a political one, underscoring the need for its work to be based on facts alone. The accord restricts Iran s atomic activities with a view to keeping the Islamic Republic a year s work away from having enough enriched uranium or plutonium for a nuclear bomb, should it pull out of the accord and sprint towards making a weapon.  The deal also allows the IAEA to request access to facilities other than the nuclear installations Iran has already declared if it has concerns about banned materials or activities there. But it must present a basis for those concerns.  Those terms are widely understood by officials from the IAEA and member states to mean there must be credible information that arouses suspicion, and IAEA officials have made clear they will not take it at face value.   We have to be able to vet this information,  a second IAEA official said, asking not to be identified because inspections are sensitive and the agency rarely discusses them publicly. Despite Haley s public comments, she neither asked the IAEA to visit specific sites nor offered new intelligence on any site, officials who attended her meetings said. A U.S. State Department spokesman confirmed this.  She conveyed that the IAEA will need to continue to robustly exercise its authorities to verify Iran s declaration and monitor the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action,  the spokesman added, using the deal s official name. Under U.S. law, the State Department must notify Congress every 90 days of Iran s compliance with the deal. The next deadline is October. Trump has said he thinks by then Washington will declare Iran to be non-compliant - a stance at odds with that of other five world powers including U.S. allies in Europe. An IAEA report published in 2015 as part of the deal formally drew a line under whether Iran pursued nuclear weapons in the past, which is why new information is needed to trigger a request for access.  The IAEA has not visited an Iranian military facility since the agreement was implemented because it has had  no reason to ask  for access, the second agency official said.  The deal s  Access  section lays out a process that begins with an IAEA request and, if the U.N. watchdog s concerns are not resolved, can lead to a vote by the eight members of the deal s decision-making body - the United States, Iran, Russia, China, France, Britain, Germany and the European Union.  Five votes are needed for a majority, which could comprise the United States and its Western allies. Such a majority decision  would advise on the necessary means to resolve the IAEA s concerns  and Iran  would implement the necessary means , the deal s Access section says. That process and wording have yet to be put to the test. Iran has reiterated commitment to the terms of the deal despite Trump s stance, but has also said its military sites are off limits, raising the risk of a stand-off if a request for access were put to a vote. That adds to the pressure to be clear on the grounds for an initial request.  If they want to bring down the deal, they will,  the first IAEA official said, referring to the Trump administration.  We just don t want to give them an excuse to.  During its decade-long impasse with world powers over its nuclear program, Iran repeatedly refused IAEA visits to military sites, saying they had nothing to do with nuclear activity and so were beyond the IAEA s purview. Shortly after the 2015 deal, Iran allowed inspectors to check its Parchin military complex, where Western security services believe Tehran carried out tests relevant to nuclear bomb detonations more than a decade ago. Iran has denied this.

Summary: अमेरिका का दबाव हो या न हो, संयुक्त राष्ट्र की परमाणु निगरानी संस्था को ईरान के सैन्य स्थलों की जांच करने की कोई आवश्यकता नहीं दिखती


GOTHENBURG, Sweden (Reuters) - There is no deadlock in divorce talks between Britain and the European Union, EU summit chair Donald Tusk said on Friday, adding he was very cautious, but optimistic that negotiations could move on to the next phase in December. The EU wants to have the main elements of a divorce agreement with Britain on the financial settlement, citizen s rights and the lack of a physical border between Northern Ireland and Ireland before it moves on to talks on a future trade agreement which is key for British-based businesses. So far progress in the three areas has been insufficient, raising the prospect that divorce talks will drag on to next year without starting discussions on a future relationship, as companies need to make strategic business decisions now.  There is no deadlock,  Tusk told reporters on the sidelines of an EU leaders meeting in the Swedish city of Gothenburg where he also held talks with British Prime Minister Theresa May.  I feel much better, safer after my meeting with Theresa May, everything is possible,  Tusk said.  There was very visibly goodwill on both sides. We still have a chance to achieve our first goal   to achieve the finalization of the first phase of negotiations. I am very cautious, but optimistic.  He said he will meet May again next Friday, Nov. 24, to consult on progress during another EU meeting in Brussels.

Summary: यूरोपीय संघ के टस्कः ब्रेक्सिट पर कोई गतिरोध नहीं, बहुत सतर्क लेकिन आशावादी


BRUSSELS (Reuters) - European Union leaders will tell Britain next week it must improve the terms of its withdrawal offer, but give London the prospect of a rapid move to free-trade talks in December if that happens, their draft joint statement showed. The remaining 27 EU leaders will discuss Brexit without British Prime Minister Theresa May next week after a fifth round of technical negotiations ended in a deadlock earlier on Thursday. While the draft statement makes clear that no  sufficient progress  in divorce talks was made on safeguarding citizens  rights, the Irish border and Britain s exit bill, it also has the 27 states making a substantial gesture toward London. The draft, submitted to the 27 governments on Thursday, said the EU should launch immediate internal work on possible transitional arrangements after Brexit so that it can move to talks on future ties with Britain as soon as possible after  sufficient progress  is made on the three basic matters.   At its next session in December, the European Council will reassess the state of progress in the negotiations with a view to determining whether sufficient progress has been achieved,  said the draft, seen by Reuters. Should that happen, it said the EU 27 would prepare the necessary official documents on  the framework for the future relationship and on possible transitional arrangements which are in the interest of the Union.   In order to be fully ready for such a scenario,  it said, EU leaders task their Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier  to start internal preparatory discussions.

Summary: यूरोपीय संघ आंतरिक ब्रेक्सिट संक्रमण कार्य शुरू करेगाः मसौदा


BEIJING (Reuters) - President Xi Jinping s rule in China has been marked by a muscular stance in many areas   from corruption to foreign policy - but investors and business leaders hoping that the nation s most powerful leader in decades will drive market reforms are girding for disappointment. As he gears up for his second term, hoped-for market liberalization is increasingly being viewed as secondary to Xi s state-centered approach to economic policy and his focus on stability.  The Communist Party Congress beginning on Wednesday in Beijing is expected to see Xi consolidate his power and is unlikely to see a change in his priorities. Party spokesman Tuo Zhen told reporters at a briefing on Tuesday that China will persist with opening up and expanding market access.  But foreign executives and analysts question whether these kinds of comments will mean a lot on the ground.  I don t see market opening coming. It s all about discipline and control,  said one senior China-based American executive, who declined to be identified. China s State Council Information Office referred questions on market reforms to the country s economic planning agency, the National Development and Reform Commission, which did not respond to a faxed request for comment. Some Chinese policy insiders said that they don t expect any significant speeding up.  We will not rush on reforms. The pace of changes will not change dramatically,  said one advisor to the Chinese government who was speaking on condition of anonymity. Xi s sweeping anti-corruption campaign and his move to personally take charge of economic policymaking had initially been seen by China analysts as early signs that he would use his consolidated power to push tough reforms through entrenched bureaucracies. The party s 2013 pledge under Xi s then-new administration to let the market play a decisive role in the economy had also given hope to those pushing for reform. But many analysts and business leaders now see Xi s faith in markets as tenuous, and that 2013 reform pledge as a mere  holdover from his predecessors. A lack of follow-through over the past several years on repeated State Council vows to open markets to the world have left foreign businesses with  promise fatigue , as the European Union Chamber of Commerce in China put it last month. Those delays coincide with the passage of a raft of new national security and cyber security laws and regulations that China s trading partners complain will put them at a disadvantage.  For the past 20 or 30 years it was economic development at all costs, and I think we are seeing a new paradigm now where national security is dominant and economic issues are channeled through that lens,  said Jude Blanchette, who studies the party at The Conference Board s China Center for Economics and Business in Beijing. Blanchette said true market reforms in Xi s second term would mean walking back much of the control he has fought to acquire, an unlikely prospect. Other painful reforms that many economists say are needed have also moved slowly under Xi. They include overhauling China s debt-laden state sector, fixing the fiscal system to tackle local government debt, bringing in new property taxes to ward off housing bubbles, and allowing farmers to sell their land more freely. Capital controls, including restrictions on some outbound investment deals, have helped stabilize the yuan, but at the cost of hampering China s ambition to internationalize the currency. Chinese reform advocates say the government has been avoiding potentially disruptive changes due to concerns over economic and social stability and resistance from vested interests, such as powerful state-run companies.  If there are no such reforms, the conflicts will keep accumulating while risks will be even higher, which could destroy our prospects to move forward,  said Jia Kang, director of the China Academy of New Supply-Side Economics, a Beijing-based think tank. In 2015, Xi espoused his own state-led  supply side structural reform  doctrine, an effort in part to tame an explosion of debt by cutting capacity in heavy industries, and reduce risk from bad bank loans. While Xi can tout continued robust economic growth - the government had set a 2017 GDP growth target of around 6.5 percent but it now looks like it will be closer to 7 percent - it is still reliant on credit and investment as opposed to more sustainable consumption. And expanded state control over the economy is at the center of key Xi initiatives, including the  Made in China 2025  plan, which funnels billions of dollars into robotics, semiconductors, and other industries deemed strategic. Despite government talk this year about opening some restricted sectors to overseas investment, some foreign business groups express scepticism, even as U.S. President Donald Trump is expected to seek some concessions for American businesses during his planned visit to Beijing in early November.  Until we see the equity cap lifted from 49 percent to 50 percent or higher with foreign banks, or until we see foreign insurance companies able to fully access the market, we re just having the same conversation we had five years ago,  said Jacob Parker, vice president of China operations at the U.S.-China Business Council. Xi has also reasserted that state-owned enterprises (SOEs) should be the commanding heights of the economy. Foreign experts on Chinese markets point to government efforts to merge state companies into even larger champions as proof of how the state s vision of reform does not necessarily mean increased use of free markets. In recent years, Beijing has required state firms to reassert their Communist Party committees  hold on corporate decision-making. A 2015 blueprint for SOE reform made no mention of the 2013 pledge for the decisive role of the market. One senior western diplomat in Beijing told Reuters it has become increasingly clear that the top priority for Xi remains strengthening the primacy of the party and stability.  When further opening up comes into conflict with that priority, the argument for stability tends to win,  the diplomat said.

Summary: जैसे-जैसे चीन के नेता इकट्ठा हो रहे हैं, बाजार सुधार की उम्मीदें फीकी पड़ रही हैं


(Reuters) - New Jersey Governor Chris Christie ordered a halt to non-essential road, bridge and mass transit projects late Thursday after lawmakers failed to reauthorize the state fund that pays for them. Christie’s executive order calls for the state Department of Transportation and New Jersey Transit to devise a plan before midnight Saturday for the “orderly” shutdown of projects funded by the Transportation Trust Fund. Federally funded projects will continue, Christie said in his executive order.  The state expects to receive an estimated $906 million of federal transportation aid, according to the state treasurer’s annual report. New Jersey’s ability to borrow for new transportation projects ran out on Friday, the start of the new fiscal year. The trust fund already has about $16 billion of outstanding debt for existing road projects. The fund has roughly $80 million left, said Assembly Transportation Committee Chairman John Wisniewski, who called Christie’s executive order “pure theater.”         Without new appropriations or bond proceeds, the authority cannot pay vendors for construction. Projects at any stage - procurement, design and construction - are affected by Christie’s order, the Department of Transportation said. About a month ago, lawmakers discussed issuing grant anticipation revenue bonds, or so-called GARVEEs, as a stop-gap measure, but the idea was never acted upon, Wisniewski told Reuters. The flow of federal money backing those bonds is often uncertain from year to year. “You can’t do an annual capital program on GARVEE bonds,” he said. Christie ordered the remaining money in the fund to be held only for the most essential projects “in order to protect the health, safety and welfare” of New Jerseyans, he said. Christie had hatched a late-night deal earlier this week with the Assembly to raise the state gasoline tax by 23 cents to 37.5 cents per gallon to replenish the fund. In exchange, the sales tax rate would shrink 1 percentage point to 6 percent, which could lead to an annual $1.7 billion shortfall in future budgets. But the Senate ended its session on Thursday without replenishing the program, which is expected to run out of money in August.  Senators were pushing their own bill, which would have phased out the estate tax on wealthy residents instead of reducing sales taxes. Christie also stripped several items out of the legislature’s budget on Thursday, signing a reduced $34.5 billion budget for fiscal 2017 that is just 2.1 percent higher than that for fiscal 2016.

Summary: न्यू जर्सी के गवर्नर क्रिस्टी ने सड़क और पुल परियोजनाओं को रोका


MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - Business leaders attending a U.S.-Mexico CEO conference said on Wednesday that no North American Free Trade Agreement would be better than a bad deal, as industry braces for the end of a treaty that drives $1 trillion in annual trade. The CEO meeting ran in parallel to talks near Washington aimed at refreshing the 1994 agreement, with Mexico, Canada and businesses united in opposition to a number of radical U.S. proposals they say would damage the North American economy.  U.S. President Donald Trump said on Wednesday he would be open to bilateral trade pacts with Mexico or Canada if a deal cannot be reached to substantially revise NAFTA. “We are all much worse off with a bad agreement than with no (NAFTA),” said Guillermo Vogel, who co-chaired the Mexico City event and is a vice president at Tenaris, a steel company. The meeting, part of a bilateral “CEO dialogue” that meets a couple of times each year, included a closed-door discussion on the NAFTA negotiations addressed by Foreign Minister Luis Videgaray and Economy Minister Idelfonso Guajardo, who are in charge of the negotiations for Mexico.  On the U.S. side the event was co-chaired by Fedex Freight’s CEO Michael Ducker and U.S. Chamber of Commerce President Thomas Donohue.  The event’s organizers declined to say who else attended. American Express, AT&T, GM and Delta were listed on publicity material for an event hosted by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce in Mexico on Tuesday, where Donohue warned that several U.S. proposals in the NAFTA talks were “poison pills” that risked dooming the agreement.  The process of renegotiating NAFTA has turned increasingly sour. Mexico accuses Trump of spoiling for a “protectionist war” with proposals aimed at balancing trade.  Those proposals include removing dispute resolution mechanisms, limiting trade in fresh produce and introducing minimum quotas for U.S. parts in autos.  While better than a bad deal, Vogel said the failure of NAFTA would be a “lose-lose” situation, and that U.S.-Mexico trade without it could lead to a U.S. trade deficit larger than the current $64 billion. Without NAFTA, Mexico trade experts say U.S. products would face higher tariffs to enter Mexico, which could further skew the trade balance. “The clear focus was that we have to send a message to all the different constituencies about how much of an error it would be to cancel NAFTA, or make a bad NAFTA,” Vogel said in an interview with Reuters. He said content rules for auto parts were still negotiable, despite shock in Mexico at suggestions half of all parts in cars should be made in the United States. U.S. Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross said on Wednesday he expected an agreement would be reached on that issue.  On Tuesday, Donohue also singled out a “sunset clause” that would automatically terminate NAFTA every five years unless there were fresh negotiations.  “Clearly, a clause that cancels the agreement every five years totally defangs it,” Vogel said. “Starting to play with a non-market economy would be terrible for us.” Vogel said U.S. and Mexican businesses still believed NAFTA talks would produce a good deal and said they would continue to lobby their governments and lawmakers to negotiate a good deal.  “With an agreement, in 10 years I see a strong region that can face Asia or China, without an agreement I see a weaker region in the medium and long term.”

Summary: बिजनेस लीडर्स का कहना है कि खराब सौदे से बेहतर कोई नाफ्टा नहीं है


BEIJING (Reuters) - China said on Monday that it hopes all sides’ words and actions can help reduce tensions on the Korean peninsula, after Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said Japan would shoot down North Korean missiles if necessary. Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying made the comment at a regular news briefing.

Summary: चीन को उम्मीद है कि सभी पक्षों की बातों और कार्यों से कोरियाई प्रायद्वीप पर तनाव कम होगा


BRUSSELS (Reuters) - Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said on Wednesday that it would be a  grave mistake  for the United States to move its embassy in Israel to Jerusalem and that he had warned U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson. Before a bilateral meeting with Tillerson at NATO headquarters, Cavusoglu said:  It would be a grave mistake (to move the U.S. embassy). It will not bring any stability ... but rather chaos and instability.   The whole world is against this,  he said, adding that he had already told Tillerson how he felt and would reiterate it at the meeting at NATO during the alliance s foreign ministers  meeting.

Summary: तुर्की ने अमेरिका को चेतावनी दी कि जेरूसलम में दूतावास का स्थानांतरण 'गंभीर गलती' है


WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Frustrated U.S. lawmakers called on Tuesday for a high-powered response to North Korea s nuclear tests, saying Washington should act alone if necessary to stiffen sanctions on companies from China, Russia and any country doing business with Pyongyang.  I believe the response from the United States and our allies should be supercharged,  said Representative Ed Royce, chairman of the House of Representatives Foreign Affairs Committee.  We need to use every ounce of leverage ... to put maximum pressure on this rogue regime,  the Republican congressman told a hearing on North Korea.  Time is running out.  The U.N. Security Council stepped up sanctions on Monday following Pyongyang s sixth nuclear test on Sept. 3, imposing a ban on textile exports and capping oil imports.  It was the ninth sanctions resolution unanimously adopted by the council since 2006 over North Korea s ballistic missile and nuclear programs. To win Chinese and Russian support, Washington dropped demands including a bid for an oil embargo. At the hearing, U.S. officials released American intelligence findings on how North Korea smuggles coal and commodities to Russia and China. Assistant Treasury Secretary Marshall Billingslea displayed slides showing ships he said picked up coal and other commodities in North Korea, illegally turning off their electronic identification systems to hide the fact that they were carrying cargo to China and Russia.  Pyongyang falsifies the identity of vessels to make it harder for governments to determine if ships docking in their ports are linked to North Korea,  Billingslea said. An Aug. 5 U.N. resolution banned North Korean exports of coal. Russia and China both say they respect U.N. sanctions. Committee members expressed frustration that previous sanctions had not deterred Pyongyang.  We ve been played by the Kims for years,  Republican Representative Ted Poe said, referring to North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and his predecessors. Lawmakers pressed Billingslea, and Acting Assistant Secretary of State Susan Thornton for evidence new sanctions would be more effective. They acknowledged there had not been sufficient evidence that past sanctions had worked, but insisted the administration would work for a better result this time.  We can designate Chinese banks and companies unilaterally, giving them a choice between doing business with North Korea or the United States,  said Royce, who had breakfast on Tuesday with Secretary of State Rex Tillerson.  We should go after banks and companies in other countries that do business with North Korea the same way,  he said.

Summary: अमेरिकी सांसद उत्तर कोरिया के परमाणु परीक्षणों पर 'सुपरचार्ज्ड' प्रतिक्रिया चाहते हैं


WASHINGTON/NEW YORK (Reuters) - Lawyers for former national security adviser Michael Flynn have halted communications with U.S. President Donald Trump’s legal team, a potentially critical step in the probe into contacts between Trump’s election campaign and Russia, sources familiar with the investigation said on Friday. Flynn’s lawyer, Robert Kelner, called John Dowd, Trump’s private lawyer, on Wednesday to say the matter had reached a point where the two could no longer could discuss it, two people familiar with the call told Reuters on Friday. The New York Times first reported that the two sets of lawyers had stopped communicating.  Flynn, a retired Army general, is a central figure in a federal investigation led by Special Counsel Robert Mueller into whether Trump aides colluded with alleged Russian efforts to boost his 2016 presidential campaign. It was not clear whether Kelner made the call because he had negotiated a plea agreement with Mueller for Flynn to cooperate in the probe, or because Flynn had decided to engage with Mueller, said two other sources. “No one should draw the conclusion that this means anything about General Flynn cooperating against the president,” Jay Sekulow, another attorney for Trump, said on Thursday.     Dowd on Friday declined to comment on the matter, as did Peter Carr, Mueller’s spokesman. Kelner also declined to comment. White House officials also have declined to comment. The cooperation of Flynn, who was a top campaign adviser before becoming Trump’s national security adviser in the White House, would be a major asset in Mueller’s investigation. In March, as he unsuccessfully sought immunity for his client to testify to House and Senate investigations into the issue, Kelner said, “Mr. Flynn certainly has a story to tell, and he certainly wants to tell it, should the circumstances permit.”  Two sources familiar with Mueller’s investigation said Flynn may be able to provide insight into three major areas of inquiry. These are: any collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia in the 2016 campaign; money laundering and other possible financial crimes by Trump aides; and whether Trump sought to obstruct justice when he fired former FBI Director James Comey in May, as Comey was probing the Trump campaign’s dealings with Russia. Russia has denied interfering in the election. Trump has repeatedly denied any collusion with Russia by his campaign and has called the inquiry a witch hunt. Two congressional officials involved in separate probes into the Trump campaign’s contacts with Russia said one key area of investigation is whether Flynn or other advisers to Trump ever suggested U.S. economic sanctions on Russia could be lifted in exchange for favorable business deals. Possible deals include a proposed commercial nuclear power project involving Russian firms that Flynn in recent years worked to promote to potential clients in the Middle East, sources familiar with the project told Reuters. “At this point, there is no evidence of an effort to negotiate that kind of deal, but Flynn is near the top of the list of people who probably would know if there was any such effort,” said one of the congressional officials, also speaking on the condition of anonymity. Trump fired Flynn on Feb. 13, after disclosures that Flynn had discussed U.S. sanctions on Russia with then Russian Ambassador Sergei Kislyak in December, the month before Trump took office, and later misled Vice President Mike Pence about the conversations. Flynn has acknowledged contacts with Kislyak dating back to 2013, but beyond saying they covered a variety of subjects has said nothing about the content of their conversations during Trump’s campaign and after his election. Flynn has been under scrutiny by the special counsel in a number of areas, sources familiar with the investigation have said. Mueller has been investigating whether Flynn knowingly made false statements to the government about his foreign travels, income, and contacts on his security clearance form. Flynn also has come under scrutiny for work on behalf of Russian clients, and over whether his work for a businessman with ties to Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan was lawful.  Mueller has been investigating Flynn’s son, Michael Flynn, Jr.’s, involvement in some of his father’s business dealings in Russia, Turkey, and elsewhere, the sources said, and that could provide a potent additional incentive for Flynn to cooperate. Barry Coburn, a lawyer for Flynn’s son, declined to comment.

Summary: मुलर के अमेरिकी अभियान की जांच में फ्लिन प्रमुख संपत्ति साबित हो सकते हैं, सूत्रों का कहना है


MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - Mexican leftist Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador has an 11-percentage point lead ahead of next year s presidential election, according to an opinion poll taken in the last week, giving him a sizeable advantage even after new rivals formally entered the race. The former Mexico City mayor Lopez Obrador has vowed to combat inequality and corruption, but some international investors are concerned about suggestions that he might reverse parts of the government s 2013-14 energy legislation. The poll, carried out and financed by Mexican public opinion firm Parametria, was provided exclusively to Reuters ahead of wider publication later on Tuesday. It was taken between Dec.14 and Dec.17. It found that 31 percent of those asked who they would vote for if the election were today would choose Lopez Obrador, followed by former Finance Minister Jose Antonio Meade, seeking nomination for the ruling Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI), on 20 percent. Ricardo Anaya, former leader of the center-right National Action Party (PAN) was third on 19 percent, the poll said. Anaya resigned this month to pursue the presidency in an alliance with the center-left Party of the Democratic Revolution (PRD). The Parametria poll also included potential independent candidates, former first lady Margarita Zavala and Nuevo Leon Governor Jaime Rodriguez, giving them 10 percent and 2 percent respectively. Of the 800 people surveyed, 18 percent answered none of the listed candidates, did not know or did not reply. The Parametria poll is the first conducted since Lopez Obrador joined up with the conservative Social Encounter Party (PES), sparking worries among his progressive backers.  But the controversial alliance appears to have had little immediate effect on his advantage. The poll shows Lopez Obrador slightly further ahead than a survey by Mexican newspaper El Universal published in early December that gave him an eight-point lead. A survey by pollster Mitofsky, also from early December, showed a much closer race, with Lopez Obrador on 23 percent of the vote, followed by Anaya with 20 percent support and Meade with 19 percent.  Lopez Obrador unveiled his planned cabinet last week, including tapping a moderate U.S.-trained economist for finance minister and splitting the posts evenly between women and men.   The Parametria poll was conducted face-to-face and has a margin of error of 3.5 percentage points.  Mexican political parties have until March to formally register candidates.

Summary: एक्सक्लूसिवः 2018 के चुनाव से पहले मैक्सिकन वामपंथी को 11 अंकों की बढ़त-पोल


DAKAR/BAMAKO (Reuters) - Five soldiers from Niger and three U.S. Army Special Forces troops were killed and two wounded in an ambush on a joint patrol in southwest Niger on Wednesday, according to Nigerien and U.S. officials. The five Green Berets were attacked while on a routine patrol in an area known to have a presence of insurgents, including from al Qaeda in Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) and Islamic State, a U.S. official told Reuters. It was unclear who fired on the U.S. and U.S.-backed forces, the official said. Those forces were not patrolling the area with any specific objective, such as a high-value target or rescuing a hostage, the official added. A spokesman for U.S. Africa Command confirmed the attack after Radio France International (RFI) reported a lethal ambush near the Niger/Mali border.  We can confirm reports that a joint U.S. and Nigerien patrol came under hostile fire in southwest Niger,  said the spokesman. Namatta Abubacar, an official for the region of Tillaberi in Niger, said five Nigerien soldiers were among the dead. A Niger diplomatic source said the attackers had come from Mali and had killed several soldiers, without saying whether any of the U.S. troops stationed in the West African country were among the victims. U.S. President Donald Trump was briefed by telephone on the attack by White House Chief of Staff John Kelly while Trump flew back on Air Force One from Las Vegas, where he had been visiting victims and first responders affected by Sunday s mass shooting. RFI said earlier on Wednesday a counter-attack was underway. African security forces backed by Western troops are stepping up efforts to counter jihadist groups forming part of a growing regional insurgency in the poor, sparsely populated deserts of the Sahel. A relatively new militant group called Islamic State in the Greater Sahara has claimed some of the attacks. Geoff D. Porter, head of North Africa Risk Consulting, said that any confirmation of Islamic State s role in Wednesday s strike would lead to a strategic shift from Libya toward the Sahel band, stretching eastwards from Senegal to Chad.  The emphasis ... will now shift south,  he said. The U.S. Africa Command has hundreds of soldiers deployed across the region, including at an air facility in Agadez, and offers training and support to Niger s army in aspects such as intelligence gathering and surveillance.

Summary: नाइजर में गश्त के दौरान घात लगाकर किए गए हमले में अमेरिकी, नाइजीरियाई सैनिक मारे गए


HARARE (Reuters) - At least 21 people died in Zimbabwe s northwest province after a truck carrying 69 people overturned on Saturday evening, police said on Sunday. A police spokesman said several other people were injured in the accident which occurred when the driver of the truck lost control on a bend.

Summary: जिम्बाब्वे ट्रक दुर्घटना में 21 लोगों की मौत, अन्य घायल


LONDON (Reuters) - Britain and France are firmly committed to a 2015 Iranian nuclear deal and will work to ensure it is enforced, British Prime Minister Theresa May s office said on Monday after she spoke to French President Macron.  May and Macron discussed U.S. President Donald Trump s decision to not recertify the deal and said that France and Britain would work together to  push back on Iran s destabilizing activity in the region,  May s office said in a statement after the phonecall.

Summary: ब्रिटेन और फ्रांस ईरान परमाणु समझौते को लागू करने के लिए काम करेंगेः ब्रिटेन के प्रधानमंत्री मे का कार्यालय


CARACAS (Reuters) - Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro s approval rating rose to 23 percent in September, up 6 percentage points from 17 percent in July, according to a poll by local firm Datanalisis. The rebound followed several rounds of sanctions by U.S. President Donald Trump s administration as well as a sharp drop-off in four months of violent anti-government protests. Nearly 52 percent of respondents opposed the Trump administration sanctions that came in response to the creation of a legislative superbody called the Constituent Assembly, which critics call the consolidation of a dictatorship. Fifty-seven percent said they disagreed with the United States using a  military option  to push for change in Venezuela, in reference to Trump comments in August that were met with condemnation around the region. Maduro s low approval is not unusual in Latin America. Presidents Juan Manuel Santos in Colombia and Michel Temer in Brazil have shown lower poll numbers this year. But Maduro s popularity has been falling since he was narrowly elected in 2013 following the death of late socialist leader Hugo Chavez. The decline has largely resulted from an economic crisis driven by triple-digit inflation and Soviet-style shortages. The opposition says the crisis is the result of a failing socialist model and rampant corruption. Maduro blames the situation on an  economic war  by the opposition with the support of Washington. The poll, which surveyed 1,000 people between Sept. 8 and Sept. 22, showed that 86.9 percent of respondents believed the country s situation was negative. The survey s margin of error was 3.04 percentage points.

Summary: ट्रंप के प्रतिबंधों के बाद वेनेजुएला में मादुरो की मंजूरी बढ़कर 23 प्रतिशत हुईः सर्वेक्षण


VIENNA (Reuters) - The United States and Iran quarreled over how Tehran s nuclear activities should be policed at a meeting of the U.N. nuclear watchdog on Monday, in a row sparked last month by Washington s call for wider inspections.     Key U.S. allies are worried by the possibility of Washington pulling out of a 2015 landmark nuclear deal under which Iran agreed to curb its nuclear program in exchange for sanctions against it being lifted. U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley last month called for the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) to inspect a wider range of sites in Iran, including military ones, to verify it is not breaching its nuclear deal with world powers. Her remarks were rejected by a furious Tehran.  We will not accept a weakly enforced or inadequately monitored deal,  U.S. Energy Secretary Rick Perry told the IAEA General Conference, an annual meeting of the agency s member states that began on Monday.  He did not say whether he thought the deal was currently weakly enforced.  The United States ... strongly encourages the IAEA to exercise its full authorities to verify Iran s adherence to each and every nuclear-related commitment under the JCPOA,  Perry added, referring to the deal by its official name   the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action. Perry was speaking shortly after the General Conference formally approved the appointment of Yukiya Amano, a 70-year-old career diplomat from Japan, to a third term as IAEA director general.    U.S. President Donald Trump has called the accord  the worst deal ever negotiated  and has until mid-October to make a decision that could lead to Washington reimposing sanctions on Iran.   Iran s nuclear chief, Ali Akbar Salehi, told the meeting in Vienna that Washington had made  a host of unjustifiable peculiar demands with regard to the verification of our strictly peaceful nuclear program .  We remain confident that the (IAEA) will resist such unacceptable demands and continue to execute the agency s ... role with strict objectivity, fairness and impartiality,  he said. Salehi also criticized what he called  the American administration s overtly hostile attitude  The IAEA has the authority to request access to facilities in Iran, including military ones, if there are new and credible indications of banned nuclear activities there, but diplomats say Washington has yet to provide such indications. Amano often describes his agency s work as technical rather than political and has declined to comment on Haley s remarks about inspections. In a speech on Monday, however, he defended the deal as an important step forward.  The nuclear-related commitments undertaken by Iran under the JCPOA are being implemented,  Amano said.  Iran is now subject to the world s most robust nuclear verification regime.

Summary: अमेरिका और ईरान ने परमाणु निगरानी बैठक में निरीक्षण पर बहस की


WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Congress, bitterly divided for years along party lines, may be mapping a bipartisan path forward that skirts around President Donald Trump when he refuses to engage constructively with lawmakers, Democrats and some lobbyists said on Monday. The path was discernible in a nearly $1.2 trillion federal spending deal carved out over the weekend to avert a government shutdown. It had Democratic fingerprints all over it, even though Republicans control Congress and the White House.  White House budget director Mick Mulvaney said Trump will sign the 2017 budget bill when he receives it from Congress on Thursday or Friday. Trump, in an interview with Bloomberg on Monday, said he was “very happy” with the deal announced late on Sunday. Democrats claimed victory on issue after issue in the agreement, which will keep the lights on in Washington through the end of  the federal fiscal year on Sept. 30, provided it holds up and wins final approval as expected. Trump scored a partial win, getting a commitment for up to $15 billion in additional funding for a military buildup. That was about half of what he originally asked for. No money was included for Trump’s proposed U.S.-Mexico border wall. Democratic opposition to it was solid and support from Trump’s fellow Republicans was soft. Mulvaney said Trump will seek wall funding in a budget proposal coming in late May. At a White House briefing, Mulvaney defended the concessions Trump made to reach an agreement, saying Democrats gave up on some items they had wanted as well in order to find a compromise. “Everything we got in this deal ... lines up perfectly with the president’s priorities,” he said. Democrats took an opposite view. Describing the work on Capitol Hill that went into the temporary spending pact, Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer told reporters: “Democrats and Republicans in the House and Senate were closer to one another than we were to the president on so many of the different issues.” Schumer and Senator Patrick Leahy, the senior Democrat on the Appropriations Committee, said they were bolstered in negotiations by the fact that several Republican senators opposed funding for Trump’s wall and his call for deep domestic spending cuts. Schumer and Leahy said the White House never tried to work with Democrats in the process. Trump treats engaging with lawmakers on legislation as “an afterthought,” said Doug Heye, a Republican strategist who worked in Congress as an aide to former House Republican leader Eric Cantor. “The power of the Oval Office can provide a lot of leverage when trying to move something on Capitol Hill,” Heye said. “We just haven’t see that level of engagement from Trump, whether it’s healthcare, or building a wall, or tax reform.” But John Feehery, a Republican strategist in Washington, said the spending bill may not be indicative of Trump’s ability to negotiate with Congress because the legislative body should have dealt with this year’s funding months ago and never have been allowed to go into the current year.  “He knows that this bill was probably not going to reflect his priorities because it was old business,” Feehery said. “When it comes to new business, he has a lot more leverage in getting his priorities accomplished.“ The spending deal preserved funding for healthcare provider Planned Parenthood, which has drawn Republican ire because it performs abortions; for the Obamacare healthcare law; and for an array of environmental and other domestic programs Trump wanted to slash. White House spokesman Sean Spicer said because the legislation needs to win a supermajority of 60 votes in the 100-member Senate that cannot be achieved without Democratic support, “we couldn’t have our entire way” on the deal. Spicer said the “president’s priorities will be reflected much more” in spending yet to be worked out for the 2018 fiscal year that begins on Oct. 1. He said Trump was pleased to see the increase in military spending, a “down payment” on border security and money for scholarships to help low-income children in Washington attend private schools.     The fiscal 2017 funds, which should have been locked into place seven months ago, would pay for federal programs from airport and border security operations to soldiers’ pay, medical research, foreign aid, space exploration and education. The Pentagon would win a $12.5 billion increase in defense spending for the fiscal year, with the possibility of an additional $2.5 billion contingent on Trump delivering a plan to Congress for defeating the Islamic State militant group. Congressional negotiators settled on $1.5 billion more for border security, including money for new technology and repairing existing infrastructure.  Under the deal, Puerto Rico would get an emergency injection of $295 million for its Medicaid health insurance program for the poor. The impoverished U.S. territory faces a severe Medicaid funding shortfall. The U.S. government and coal companies would be required to pay out healthcare to retired coal miners, guaranteeing benefits to workers even as coal companies face bankruptcy, under the spending agreement. The deal also would reimburse New York City for money spent securing Trump and his family at Trump Tower in Manhattan.

Summary: बजट सौदा ट्रम्प बाईपास के माध्यम से अमेरिकी कांग्रेस के आगे के रास्ते का नक्शा बना सकता है


WASHINGTON/NEW YORK (Reuters) - U.S. President-elect Donald Trump urged the government on Tuesday to cancel an order with Boeing Co for a revamped Air Force One - one of the most prominent symbols of the U.S. presidency - saying costs were out of control. It was the latest example of Trump using his podium, often via Twitter messages, to rattle companies and foreign countries as he seeks to shake up business as usual in Washington. Trump, who takes office on Jan. 20, took aim at what he called cost overruns even though the plane is only in development stages. “Boeing is building a brand new 747 Air Force One for future presidents, but costs are out of control, more than $4 billion. Cancel order!” Trump said on Twitter. It was not immediately clear what prompted the timing of his complaint. Trump, who has vowed to use his skills as a businessman to make good deals that benefit American taxpayers, then made a surprise appearance in the lobby of Trump Tower in New York, where he amplified his comments. “The plane is totally out of control. I think it’s ridiculous. I think Boeing is doing a little bit of a number. We want Boeing to make a lot of money but not that much money,” he told reporters. Boeing, which has built planes for U.S. presidents since 1943, has not yet begun building the two replacements for the current Air Force One planes, which are scheduled to be in service by 2024. Boeing has not yet been awarded the money to build the  proposed replacements.  “We are currently under contract for $170 million to help determine the capabilities of these complex military aircraft that serve the unique requirements of the President of the United States,” the company said in a statement. Boeing Chief Executive Dennis Muilenburg called Trump after his remarks and they had a constructive dialogue, sources familiar with the conversation told Reuters. Muilenburg told Trump the cost of the airplane could be lowered if the U.S. Air Force changed its requirements and the issue would likely be resolved without a major dispute, the sources said. The Air Force, which operates the presidential planes, announced in January 2015 that Boeing’s 747-8 would be used to replace the two current presidential planes. The planes can fly direct from Washington to Hong Kong, 1,000 miles (1,600 km) farther than the current Air Force One. They are designed to be an airborne White House able to fly in worst-case security scenarios, such as nuclear war. President Barack Obama, who flew on the aging Air Force One to Tampa, Florida, on Tuesday, has called the plane one of the best perks of the presidency. His spokesman, Josh Earnest, told reporters on board that the contracting arrangements for replacements were “rather complicated” and said the recommendations for upgrades had been made by national security experts. The budgeted costs for the replacement program are $2.87 billion for the fiscal years 2015 through 2021, just on research and development, testing and evaluation, according to budget documents seen by Reuters. The current Air Force plan envisions extensive modifications to a Boeing 747-8 plane, adding military avionics and advanced communications to a self-defense system. “Of course it’s not like buying a vanilla Boeing jumbo jet,” said defense consultant Loren Thompson, who has close ties to Boeing and other companies. A March 2016 report from the Government Accountability Office, the investigative arm of Congress, estimated the cost of the overall program at $3.21 billion, including the purchase of two aircraft. But the GAO estimated the costs for research and development would be lower, at just under $2 billion. If the GAO report used the same Air Force estimate for research and development, then its estimate would be around $4 billion.  Boeing shares dipped after Trump’s tweet but closed up 0.1 percent at $152.24. Trump’s broadside against Boeing comes as Washington’s business lobbyists are bracing for a wild ride.  A New York real estate developer, Trump took aim at big corporations during his campaign, saying that they often harmed ordinary Americans by sending jobs abroad. Since winning the Nov. 8 election, he has taken credit for pushing United Technologies Corp and Ford Motor Co to backtrack on outsourcing plans. Trump’s attack on Boeing was the main topic of discussion at the annual luncheon of the Aerospace Industries Association, where the group’s chief executive, Dave Melcher, urged the new administration to promote trade and bolster the high-paying manufacturing jobs that the $143 billion-a-year sector offers.  Industry executives say they are seeing willingness from the Trump team to take another look at export controls that limit exports of U.S. weapons.  But in the short term, his tweets and comments on Boeing put defense contractors on notice. “The chilling effect on industry is huge, if you are a contractor,” said Franklin Turner, a partner specializing in government contracts at law firm McCarter & English. Boeing relies on the U.S. military and other arms of the federal government for a significant share of its defense, space and security business which is worth $30 billion a year. The company clashed during the past year with Republicans in Congress over the Export-Import Bank, a federal program Boeing uses to finance sales to certain overseas customers. Boeing executives have also been outspoken supporters of the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade deal with Asia, which Trump opposed.

Summary: बोइंग के एयर फोर्स वन अनुबंध पर ट्रम्पः 'ऑर्डर रद्द करें!'


WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A Republican senator who has publicly opposed the current draft of the Senate tax reform plan said on Thursday he wants to see more tax relief for pass-through businesses, like partnerships, because he sees them as the source of U.S. economic growth. “I want more of the tax relief on the business side to flow to pass-through industries because I really do believe they are the true engine of economic growth and job creation,” Senator Ron Johnson told CNN, but gave no details about specific fixes. Johnson later told CNBC that despite his opposition to the current draft, he was optimistic Republicans can pass a tax reform plan this year.

Summary: रिपब्लिकन सीनेटरः कर योजना को पास-थ्रू व्यवसायों के लिए अधिक राहत की आवश्यकता है


ANKARA (Reuters) - Turkey received bids last Friday for the production of 500 Altay battle tanks, of which 250 are optional, Defence Minister Nurettin Canikli said on Wednesday.  Speaking to parliament s budget commission, Canikli said the tender would be finalised in the coming days. The domestic Altay tank project is worth an estimated 7 billion euros ($8.24 billion).

Summary: तुर्की को पिछले सप्ताह 500 युद्धक टैंकों के लिए निविदा मिलीः मंत्री


HARRISBURG, Pa./WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Donald Trump on Wednesday told workers that they would win under his tax plan, saying it would help the middle class and boost the economy, though critics say it would mainly benefit corporations and the rich. Speaking in an airplane hangar at a Pennsylvania Air National Guard base in Harrisburg with a trailer truck behind him, Trump reiterated the basic points of the nine-page tax cut “framework” he unveiled two weeks ago. “It’s a middle-class bill. That’s what we’re thinking of.  That’s what I want,” Trump said. “I’ve had rich friends of mine come up to me, and say, ‘Donald, you’re doing this tax plan — we don’t want anything. ... Don’t give it to us. Give it to the middle class.’  And that’s what we’re trying so hard to do,” he said. His remarks came as new Reuters/Ipsos polling showed that more than three-quarters of Americans say the wealthiest Americans should pay more in taxes. The poll found 53 percent of adults “strongly agree” and 23 percent “somewhat agree” that the wealthiest Americans should pay higher tax rates. The Sept. 29-Oct. 5 poll of 1,504 people has a credibility interval, a measure of accuracy, of plus or minus 6 percentage points. Financial markets have rallied strongly since Trump’s November 2016 election victory, driven partly by expectations that he would cut taxes for businesses, although policy analysts have been skeptical that he would do so. Trump on Wednesday boasted about the rally in markets. “The stock market is soaring to record levels, boosting pensions and retirement accounts for hard-working Americans.  Their values are going up every single day,” he said. Earlier on Wednesday, San Francisco Federal Reserve Bank President John Williams said he was a “little bit discouraged” about the prospects for federal tax reform. Given the difficulties Congress has had in passing laws  this year, Williams, in comments following a speech in Salt Lake City, said he is “losing confidence” that any tax reform will be passed in the next six months or so. Trump said his plan for cutting corporate taxes could boost wage growth and mean a $4,000 pay raise for the average household, citing research from a White House economic council. Democrats, who oppose Trump’s plan, dispute such claims. “I have not seen any evidence that even comes remotely close to that,” Richard Neal, the top Democrat on the House of Representatives Ways and Means Committee, said of the $4,000 calculation at a forum on Wednesday in Washington. Independent analysts have said Trump’s blueprint would provide uneven tax relief, add significantly to the federal budget deficit, and in some cases, benefit the very wealthy. For instance, taxpayers in the highest 1 percent of incomes, making more than $730,000 annually, would get about half of the total benefit from Trump’s plan, with after-tax incomes rising an average of 8.5 percent, according to the Tax Policy Center, a Washington-based nonprofit tax think tank. Trump on Wednesday said his framework would provide a $500 tax credit to “those who care for an adult dependent or elderly loved one” and that it would substantially increase the child tax credit. No details on those items have been made public. Congressional tax writers in the House and Senate are working to fill in the details of Trump’s framework. Republican leaders hope to pass a bill by January, delivering what would be Trump’s first legislative victory a year into his presidency. Before that can happen, the Senate and House must open a procedural path for tax legislation by passing a budget resolution. Lawmakers have hoped to do that this month. CORPORATE, PASS-THROUGH CUTS The tax framework, developed in secret by a select group of senior Republicans known as the Big Six, calls for cutting the corporate tax rate to 20 percent from 35 percent and creating a new category for pass-through income earned by partners and sole proprietors, which would be taxed at 25 percent, instead of the 39.6 percent top individual rate currently paid by some. It proposes cutting the top individual rate to 35 percent, but congressional tax writers may opt to create an additional, higher rate for the highest earners. The plan also proposes eliminating the 40 percent tax on inherited estate assets worth more than $5.5 million, or $11 million for a married couple. A highly placed Republican operative who used to work with senior leadership on Capitol Hill said he did not expect the estate tax repeal to be included in a final package, because the proposal would greatly benefit Trump himself and his family, which would leave the tax reform effort and Trump open to Democratic attack. He said many Republicans do not see estate tax repeal as crucial, but Republicans have promised wealthy supporters for years that the tax, which they call the “death tax,” will end. Trump on Wednesday offered a different view. Republicans will end “the crushing, horrible, and unfair estate tax,” he said. For graphic on top power brokers, click: here

Summary: ट्रम्प ने अर्थव्यवस्था को बढ़ावा देने के लिए कर योजना का वादा किया; सर्वेक्षण ने अमीरों पर विचारों का हवाला दिया


WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Talks to renegotiate the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) must include a discussion of new financial services, a Mexican negotiator said on Wednesday, singling out so-called fintech companies rapidly gaining ground in the region.  Created 23 years ago, NAFTA includes Canada, Mexico and the United States and is being renegotiated at the behest of U.S. President Donald Trump who made a campaign promise to get a better deal for U.S. workers.  Vanessa Rubio, an undersecretary at Mexico’s finance ministry who is taking part in the NAFTA negotiations that began in Washington on Wednesday, said discussions on financial services had found common ground between the three countries. “We are not yet sure what will end up in the text of the new agreement, but we are sure that we need to have a discussion about new services, above all about the fintech industry,” Rubio told Reuters in an interview. Rubio said her U.S. counterparts were focused on transparency in new regulations, while she pushed the need to standardize rules. To modernize the deal, the three sides are looking at how to include e-commerce and other technological developments that did not exist when NAFTA was first negotiated.

Summary: नाफ्टा वार्ता में फिनटेक पर चर्चा होनी चाहिएः मैक्सिकन वार्ताकार


BENGHAZI, Libya (Reuters) - Libya s eastern-based parliament voted on Tuesday to approve some U.N. proposals aimed at unifying the divided North African nation, although major obstacles remain for a deal to stabilize the oil producer. The U.N. launched a new round of talks in September to end years of turmoil in Libya following a 2011 NATO-backed uprising and unite the rival governments and parliaments in Tripoli and the east. Choosing the members of the presidency and the government, and settling the question of military leadership are seen as the biggest hurdles to any deal. Only a minority of members of the House of Representatives in Benghazi took part in Tuesday s vote, so it is unclear to what extent it will advance the latest push for a political deal. Opposition in the House had been a key obstacle to previous U.N. peace efforts. A rival assembly in Tripoli is also meant to approve the proposals. The U.N. talks were suspended in October, but the organization has been working behind the scenes. Its envoy Ghassan Salame said last week that delegations from rival assemblies were  close to a consensus . On Tuesday, a majority of about 75 members of the House present approved U.N. proposals regarding the broader structure of a future government, said Fathi al-Marimi, an adviser to House speaker Agila Saleh. An unspecified number were flown in by Saleh on a private plane, he said. The House session had originally been planned for Monday but was postponed when a U.N. flight carrying some deputies based in western Libya was prevented from landing. The U.N. proposals are aimed at relaunching a deal signed in December 2015, which produced a U.N.-backed government in Tripoli that has struggled to assert its authority and never been accepted by factions that control the east of the country. Salame said last week that he was planning to hold a national conference in February to agree how to finalize a transition, and that the U.N. was working to establish the right conditions for holding new elections.

Summary: लीबिया की संसद के सदस्यों ने संयुक्त राष्ट्र के संक्रमण प्रस्तावों के समर्थन का संकेत दिया


BANGKOK (Reuters) - Thailand’s prime minister said on Tuesday he had told officials to prepare for changes in U.S. trade policy under President Donald Trump, but it was too soon for the big exporter to worry. As in other Asian countries which run large trade surpluses with the United States, concern has spread in Thailand since Trump last week said he had ordered a study of the causes of U.S. trade deficits. “We should take it easy as there are no formal words about that yet,” junta leader Prayuth Chan-ocha told reporters. “I have asked deputy prime ministers and relevant agencies to look into it as we have to be prepared ... but don’t worry too much about that now.” Thailand ran a surplus of about $18 billion in trade with the United States last year, the Thai commerce ministry says. That puts it 11th globally - well behind China’s $347 billion surplus or even nearby Vietnam’s $32 billion - but the United States is Thailand’s biggest export destination at a time the military government is struggling rekindle growth.  At a meeting in Bangkok on Monday, a senior U.S. trade official set out the Trump administration’s trade agenda, the Office of the United States Trade Representative said. Topics of discussion included “barriers to U.S. exports to Thailand related to customs, agriculture, intellectual property, labor, financial services, and other issues,” it said. Commerce Minister Apiradi Tantraporn said the ministry would meet businesses this week to discuss the potential impact of Trump administration policies, but it was sticking to its export growth target of 5 percent for now. Thailand’s top five export goods to the United States last year were computers and computer parts, rubber products, jewelry, radio and television receivers, and automobiles and parts. Exports, one of Thailand’s few drivers of growth, are just starting to recover. They rose slightly in 2016 after three years of contraction and were up 2.5 percent from a year earlier in the first two months of this year. The central bank last week raised its 2017 export forecast to 2.2 percent rise from no growth and upgraded its economic growth outlook to 3.4 percent from 3.2 percent.  Southeast Asia’s second-largest economy expanded 3.2 percent last year.

Summary: थाई प्रधान मंत्री ने कहा कि अभी तक अमेरिकी व्यापार नीति के बारे में 'चिंता न करें'


WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. Senator Mark Warner, the top Democrat on the Senate Intelligence Committee, said allegations that President Donald Trump released classified information to Russia would be a “slap in the face” to the U.S. intelligence community, if true. “Risking sources & methods is inexcusable, particularly with the Russians,” Warner said in a comment on Twitter and distributed by his office, referring to a Washington Post report that Trump disclosed classified information to Russia’s foreign minister during a meeting last week.

Summary: शीर्ष अमेरिकी खुफिया डेमोक्रेट ने रूस की रिपोर्ट पर ट्रम्प को फटकार लगाई


NEW YORK (Reuters) - The Trump administration’s crackdown on illegal immigrants will likely weaken overall U.S. consumer spending and economic growth as those targeted for arrest increasingly choose to stay home and save more, a Federal Reserve policymaker said on Wednesday. Millions of immigrants “are not going out and shopping, they are staying home, they are afraid if they go out they are not coming home,” Dallas Fed President Robert Kaplan said when asked about U.S. President Donald Trump’s months old directive.  “On the margin - and it’s too soon for the data to pick it up, but you hear it anecdotally - I believe we are going to see it, I believe those people are more likely to save than to spend,” he added at the Council on Foreign Relations. “And those two effects have some muting effect on consumer spending and therefore GDP growth.”

Summary: फेड अधिकारी का कहना है कि अमेरिकी आप्रवासन कार्रवाई अर्थव्यवस्था को प्रभावित कर सकती है


WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s office has spent about $3.2 million in the first 4-1/2 months of its investigation into Russian meddling in the 2016 presidential election, the Justice Department revealed in a report on Tuesday. In addition, the department said that its various offices have also spent another $3.5 million to help assist the probe, though those expenditures would have occurred “irrespective of the existence of the” special counsel’s office. Although the expenditures that took place between mid-May  and Sept. 30 for the special counsel’s operations are relatively low compared with what many had anticipated, they could provide additional fodder for Republicans who have been critical of Mueller’s work. That money has helped fund 17 attorneys working on the probe, as well as Federal Bureau of Investigation agents, support staff, travel, rent, acquisitions of equipment and other expenses.  The bulk of the spending - $1.7 million - has been on personnel salary and benefits, according to the report.  Some of the attorneys working on the probe were hired from law firms, but many were already on the government payroll and were detailed from their regular Justice Department jobs. Equipment acquisitions marks the second-highest expense, coming in at more than $733,000, followed by costs for rent and utilities, travel and transportation, and contractual services. The special counsel’s overall budget has not been made public. Judicial Watch, a conservative watchdog, last month sued the Justice Department in U.S. District Court in the District of Columbia for a copy of the budget, after seeking it through a Freedom of Information Act request. In November, several Republicans in the U.S. House of Representatives also introduced a resolution calling on Mueller to resign, saying he never disclosed to Congress the details of a bribery case involving the subsidiary of a Russian company that purchased U.S. uranium mines during his tenure as director of the FBI. Florida Congressman Matt Gaetz, a member of the House Judiciary Committee who drafted the measure, conceded Tuesday that the dollar figure is relatively low, but said he remains concerned that Mueller’s investigation is still a waste. “The cost of the Mueller investigation is far more than dollars and cents,” he told Reuters in an interview.  “This investigation is impairing the legitimate conduct of the legitimately elected President of the United States.” Senator Dianne Feinstein, the top Democrat on the Senate Judiciary Committee, issued a statement calling Mueller’s spending “entirely reasonable.” Since the probe began in May, the special counsel has charged four people, two of whom have pleaded guilty. The combined $6.7 million spent by Mueller’s office and other offices supporting his investigation only covers the special counsel’s investigation, not the various congressional investigations of Russia’s meddling in the election.  Mueller’s next expense report is due at the end of March.

Summary: म्यूलर की रूस जांच में पहले चार महीनों में उनके कार्यालय को 32 लाख डॉलर का नुकसान हुआ।


WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump on Friday touted Charter Communications Inc’s decision to invest $25 billion in the United States and a plan the company announced before he was elected to hire 20,000 workers over four years. At a White House event with the second-largest U.S. cable company’s Chief Executive Thomas Rutledge and Texas Governor Greg Abbott, Trump praised Charter for planning to close its offshore call centers and move them to the United States. Much of the announcement was not new. Charter said last May that it planned to add 20,000 jobs as part of its merger with Time Warner Cable and acquisition of Bright House Networks. As early as June 2015, Rutledge said Charter would need an additional 20,000 employees after those deals. On a number of occasions, Trump has touted job announcements at the White House that had been previously planned or announced  The company said more than a year ago in February 2016 that it planned to close foreign Time Warner Cable call centers and move the jobs to the United States. On Friday, Trump said, “We’re embracing a new economic model - the American Model. We’re going to massively eliminate job-killing regulations - that has started already, big league - reduce government burdens, and lower taxes that are crushing American businesses and American workers. “You’re going to see thousands and thousands and thousands of jobs, of companies, and everything coming back into our country.” Charter, which has 24 million residential and business customers in 41 states, said on Friday it had committed to Trump to hiring those workers within four years. It plans to invest $25 billion in broadband infrastructure and technology in the next four years. In May 2016 Rutledge said in a recorded interview there would be some overlap in management positions (after the TWC merger) but said the company would hire about 20,000 people over four years.     Rutledge said the broadband investment was being made “in the right regulatory climate and right tax climate ... We’re committed to spending that predicated on the kind of regulatory consistency and efficiency that we expect as a country.” Charter agreed in May 2016 to make significant broadband  investment under a deal with the Federal Communications Commission that was part of winning approval to acquire the cable networks. At that time Charter agreed to extend high-speed internet access to another two million customers within five years, with one million served by a broadband competitor. Federal Communications Commission chairman Ajit Pai said in a statement on Friday that the commission was “working to set rules of the road that encourage companies to build and upgrade broadband networks across the country.” He credited the FCC’s “investment-friendly policies” in part for Charter’s commitments. The agency is considering a petition by the American Cable Association to strike the requirement Charter extend service to areas already served by companies because it could harm smaller competitors. Charter also touted its plans to open a new bilingual call center in McAllen, Texas and said it expects to employ 600 there by the end of 2018. Plans to open a call center in Texas were announced last October.   In December, Trump announced that telecommunications group Sprint Corp and U.S. satellite company OneWeb would bring 8,000 jobs to the United States, and the companies said the positions were part of a previously disclosed pledge by Japan’s SoftBank Group Corp. In January, Sprint Chief Executive Marcelo Claure said of its decision to shift 5,000 call center jobs to the United States that the company “had plans to do this for a while.”

Summary: ट्रम्प ने दो साल से चल रही चार्टर भर्ती का दावा किया


BEIJING (Reuters) - Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi will visit Myanmar and Bangladesh from this weekend, his ministry said on Thursday, amid a crisis over Myanmar s treatment of Rohingya Muslims. More than 600,000 Rohingya have fled to Bangladesh since late August, driven out by a military counter-insurgency clearance operation in Buddhist-majority Myanmar s Rakhine State. A top U.N. official has described the military s actions as a textbook case of  ethnic cleansing . Myanmar rejects accusations of rights abuses. China has expressed support for what it calls the Myanmar government s efforts to protect stability. Foreign Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang told reporters that Wang would go to Bangladesh and Myanmar this weekend where he would meet his counterparts and exchange views on bilateral ties and issues of mutual regional concern. On Monday and Tuesday, Wang would attend a meeting of Asian and European foreign ministers in the Myanmar capital of Naypyitaw, Geng added. He did not say whether Wang would discuss the Rohingya issue. China and Myanmar have for years maintained close economic and diplomatic relations. The United States and other Western countries have become more engaged with Myanmar in recent years, since it began a transition to civilian government after nearly 50 years of military rule. International concern over the Rohingya situation has grown. U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson called during a visit to Myanmar on Wednesday for a credible investigation into reports of human rights abuses against the Rohingya committed by Myanmar s security forces.

Summary: रोहिंग्या संकट के बीच म्यांमार का दौरा करेंगे चीन के विदेश मंत्री


TOKYO (Reuters) - Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and U.S. President Donald Trump discussed North Korea’s missile launches during a phone call on Tuesday, the Jiji and Kyodo news agencies reported on Tuesday. North Korea fired four ballistic missiles into the sea off Japan’s northwest coast on Monday, angering South Korea and Japan, days after it promised retaliation over U.S.-South Korea military drills it sees as preparation for war.

Summary: जापान के प्रधानमंत्री और अमेरिकी राष्ट्रपति ने उत्तर कोरिया के मिसाइल प्रक्षेपण पर चर्चा कीः मीडिया


SEOUL/TOKYO (Reuters) - Detonating a nuclear-tipped missile over the Pacific Ocean would be a logical final step by North Korea to prove the success of its weapons program but would be extremely provocative and carry huge risks, arms control experts said on Friday. North Korean Foreign Minister Ri Yong Ho suggested leader Kim Jong Un was considering testing “an unprecedented scale hydrogen bomb” over the Pacific in response to U.S. President Donald Trump’s threat at the United Nations to “totally destroy” the country. “It may mean North Korea will fire a warhead-tipped (intermediate range) Hwasong-12 or Hwasong-14 intercontinental ballistic missile and blow it up a few hundred kilometers above the Pacific Ocean,” said Yang Uk, a senior researcher at the Korea Defence and Security Forum in Seoul.  “They may be bluffing, but there is a need for them to test their combined missile-bomb capability. They could have already prepared the plan and are now trying to use Trump’s remarks as an excuse to make it happen,” said Yang. Such an atmospheric test would be the first globally since China detonated a device in 1980, according to the International  Atomic Energy Agency.  Tests of nuclear-tipped ballistic missiles are rarer still. The United States’ only test of an operational ballistic missile with a live warhead was fired from submarine far out in the Pacific Ocean in 1962. China was widely condemned for a similar test with a missile that exploded over its Lop Nur test site in the country’s west in 1966. North Korea’s six nuclear tests to date have all been underground, the most recent earlier this month by far its largest. “We have to assume they *could* do it, but it is exceedingly provocative,” said Vipin Narang, an associate professor of political science at  Massachusetts Institute of Technology.  “To put a live nuclear warhead on a missile that’s only been tested a handful of times, overflying potentially populated centers. If it...doesn’t go exactly as planned....it could be a world changing event.”  North Korea has fired two ballistic missiles over Japan’s north Hokkaido region in the past month as part of a series of tests that experts say have illustrated unexpectedly rapid advances. “They said Pacific Ocean, which pretty much means firing a missile over Japan,” said Melissa Hanham, a senior research associate at the U.S.-based Middlebury Institute of International Studies at Monterey, California. “They want to shut us all up for doubting they could build it.” While a missile would be the most ideal means of delivery, it is also possible to put a bomb on a ship and detonate on the surface of the ocean or in the sea, the experts said.  Either way, the radioactive fallout could be significant, as well as the diplomatic backlash from around the world. North Korea’s recent missile launches over Japan especially drew stern rebukes from Tokyo and the international community.  Japan’s Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga called Pyongyang’s remarks and behavior “completely unacceptable”. Narang said a test high enough over the ocean would limit the radioactive fallout but risks included damage from an electro-magnetic pulse, something Pyongyang has hinted it might employ on an attack on the United States or its allies.  “If it doesn’t go exactly as planned and the detonation occurs at a lower altitude we could see some EMP-like effects for anything in the area. A lot of dead fish too.” Pyongyang has launched dozens of missiles this year as it spurs a program aimed at mastering a nuclear-tipped missile that can strike the United States, in addition to its Sept 3 nuclear test.  If Kim’s threat materializes, it will be a “tipping point” for China, and may prompt many other countries to demand an “end to the regime,” said David Albright, founder of the non-profit Institute for Science and International Security in Washington.  “No one has tested above ground for decades and the radioactive fallout could be terrifying to many,” Albright said.     Other experts said such an atmospheric nuclear test is unlikely for now due to its substantial technical and diplomatic risks.  Joshua Pollack, editor of the Washington-based Nonproliferation Review, said it would be an “end-to-end demo of everything.” “But I would be surprised if this were their very next move. They have yet to test an ICBM at full range into the Pacific,” said Pollack. “That will probably come first.”

Summary: उत्तर कोरिया ने प्रशांत महासागर के ऊपर परमाणु परीक्षण किया? तार्किक, भयावह


ERBIL, Iraq (Reuters) - At least four people died and dozens were wounded after a major earthquake struck large parts of Iraq on Sunday, according to the Kurdistan Regional Government s Health Minister Rekawt Hama Rasheed. The most extensive damage was in the town of Darbandikhan, 75 kilometers (47 miles) east of the city of Sulaimaniyah, and more than 30 people were injured in the town.  The district s main hospital was severely damaged and had no power, Rasheed said, so the injured were being taken to Sulaimaniyah for treatment.

Summary: इराक के कुर्दिस्तान क्षेत्र में भूकंप से चार लोगों की मौतः कुर्द स्वास्थ्य मंत्री


(Reuters) - Highlights for U.S. President Donald Trump’s administration on Friday: The Trump administration could respond to North Korea’s latest failed missile test by speeding plans for new U.S. sanctions against Pyongyang, including possible measures against specific North Korean and Chinese entities, a U.S. official says. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson warns failure to curb North Korea’s nuclear and missile development could lead to “catastrophic consequences” while China and Russia rebuke Washington for its threat of force. Trump signs a bill approved by the Republican-led Congress to avert a U.S. government shutdown and give lawmakers another week to work out federal spending through Sept. 30, with tricky issues like defense spending still unresolved. Trump pledges to uphold Americans’ right to possess guns in a speech that he uses to revisit some 2016 election campaign themes from his vow to build a border wall to dismissing Democratic Senator Elizabeth Warren as “Pocahontas.” Trump tells Reuters he will either renegotiate or terminate what he calls a “horrible” free trade deal with South Korea and says Seoul should pay for a U.S. anti-missile system he prices at $1 billion. A 5-year-old U.S.-South Korean trade deal could be improved to increase access for American vehicles and deter currency manipulation but changes will not necessarily shrink the U.S. trade deficit with the Asian export powerhouse. OBAMA-ERA REGULATIONS Lawmakers, lobbyists and interest groups are making a final push in their fight over regulations enacted during former President Barack Obama’s last months in office, with the financial services industry working hard to kill a rule on retirement plans run by states. Trump signs an executive order to extend offshore oil and gas drilling to areas that have been off limits — a move meant to boost domestic production but that could fall flat due to weak industry demand for the acreage. A U.S. appeals court grants a Trump administration request to put on hold a legal challenge by industry and a group of states to Obama administration regulations aimed at curbing greenhouse emissions mainly from coal-fired power plants, rules Trump is moving to undo. In an unexpected triumph for privacy advocates, the U.S. National Security Agency says it has stopped a form of surveillance that allowed warrant-less collection of the digital communications of Americans who mentioned a foreign intelligence target in their messages.

Summary: हाइलाइट्सः 28 अप्रैल को रात 8.45 बजे ईडीटी/0045 जीएमटी 29 अप्रैल को ट्रम्प प्रेसीडेंसी


BEIJING (Reuters) - China s ruling Communist Party broke with recent precedent on Wednesday, unveiling a new leadership line-up without a clear successor to President Xi Jinping, who has become arguably the most powerful Chinese leader since Mao Zedong. Xi led his team in order of rank on to a stage at Beijing s Great Hall of the People, overlooking Tiananmen Square, culminating a week-long party conclave at which he laid out his  vision for an increasingly prosperous China confident of its place on the world stage.  Apart from Xi, Premier Li Keqiang was the only one to retain his spot amid sweeping changes on the Politburo Standing Committee. There has been persistent speculation Xi could seek to stay on in some capacity beyond the end of his customary second five years in power, which began on Wednesday. All seven Standing Committee members are men in their 60s and, for the first time, none was born before China s 1949 Communist revolution. The make-up of the committee, which has ultimate control over the world s second-largest economy, appeared to be a compromise to include a blend of Xi allies and those considered loyal to party elders, including Jiang Zemin and Hu Jintao, former presidents whose networks still wield influence. Cheng Li, an expert on Chinese politics at the Brookings Institution, said Xi appeared to have traded securing favorable amendments to the constitution in exchange for a compromise on the make-up of the Standing Committee, a line-up he likened to a  team of rivals . The member considered closest to Xi is Li Zhanshu, who has often accompanied Xi on overseas trips in a chief-of-staff-style role as the head the party s General Office.  Li, who is not related to the premier, was named the third-ranked member, meaning he will most likely assume the role of head of the largely rubber-stamp parliament. That will not be confirmed until parliament meets in March. Xi had already strengthened his hand considerably ahead of the announcement, with his political theory and  Belt and Road  infrastructure-led development strategy put into the party constitution. He was named the party s  core  last year. Guangdong party secretary Hu Chunhua and Chongqing party boss Chen Miner had been previously seen as prominent contenders to succeed Xi among the party s so-called sixth generation of leaders but were not included in the Standing Committee. Instead, both were named to the wider 25-member Politburo, a rung below the Standing Committee.  He s consolidated his power without making unnecessary problems for himself,  said David Zweig, a professor at Hong Kong University of Science and Technology.   The costs of keeping Wang Qishan or getting Chen Miner were too high. He didn t need to do it.  Wang, who led Xi s sweeping anti-graft campaign and was considered China s second most-powerful politician, is above retirement age; Chen was comparatively junior.  While the Standing Committee bears the hallmarks of compromise, the new Politburo is stacked with more than a dozen Xi allies, including Chen, Beijing party boss Cai Qi, economic adviser Liu He and Ding Xuexiang, who is expected to become Xi s chief of staff as director of the party s General Office.  Xi has managed to put a lot of his own people there, as much as possible,  said Bo Zhiyue, a New Zealand-based expert on Chinese politics.  Most of Xi s close associates are too junior to be put into the Politburo Standing Committee right away.  Blanket state media coverage made no mention of factional politics or alliances, while an editorial on the official People s Daily s WeChat account hailed the new seven-man line-up as a  dream team  to lead China into its  new era . Xi, who has sought to revitalize the Communist Party s role across Chinese society, made no mention of who his successor might be as he introduced his new Standing Committee at a media event broadcast live around the country. His remarks were translated consecutively into English. Xi did not take questions, but said the party had weathered trials and tribulations.  We will also work with other nations to build a global community with a shared future, and make new and greater contributions to the noble cause of peace and development for all humanity,  he said.  Xi and Li were first promoted to the Standing Committee at the 17th Party Congress in 2007, in a clear signal that the pair would succeed Hu Jintao and Wen Jiabao and occupy the top two  offices - which they did five years later.  Zhao Leji, who headed the party s Organisation Department, which oversees personnel decisions, replaced Wang Qishan as chief of the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection.

Summary: चीन ने नए नेतृत्व लाइन-अप का अनावरण किया जिसमें शी का कोई स्पष्ट उत्तराधिकारी नहीं है


WASHINGTON (Reuters) - American spy chiefs have told congressmen that a plan to allow the National Security Agency (NSA) to share more raw eavesdropping reports with other agencies will not be unlawful and will protect the privacy rights of U.S. citizens. In a letter sent on Monday to two members of Congress and reviewed by Reuters, Director of National Intelligence James Clapper said the NSA’s proposal to give other spy agencies access to “unevaluated signals intelligence” will ensure data is used only for intelligence activities directed at foreigners. Last week, U.S. Representatives Ted Lieu and Blake Farenthold of the House Oversight Committee asked the NSA to halt the sharing plan, suggesting it would be “unconstitutional and dangerous.” The specifics of the proposal are still secret. Lieu, a Democrat from California and Farenthold, a Republican from Texas, wrote in a March 21 letter to NSA Director Michael Rogers that the proposal would violate Fourth Amendment privacy protections because the collected data would not require a warrant before being searched for domestic law enforcement purposes. Monday’s reply from the intelligence chief’s office said the plan would not allow the use of communications data for domestic law enforcement. Instead, the proposed rules would limit access to raw NSA data to spy agencies, “and only for authorized foreign intelligence and counterintelligence purposes,” said the letter. It said it would also not authorize any new collection of private communications. Civil liberties advocates have interpreted the proposed change as potentially allowing NSA foreign intelligence data, which sometimes can include collection of communications to, from or about Americans, to be used for domestic policing purposes. Under current procedures, NSA analysts are supposed to scrub or black out certain personal information, particularly related to American citizens or residents, before handing any communications data over to other agencies. Congress last year passed a law curtailing certain aspects of the NSA’s spying authority, most notably ending its bulk collection of domestic phone records exposed by former NSA contractor Edward Snowden in 2013. NSA began that program after the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks on the United States by Islamist militants. The NSA has presented the plan to a government advisory committee, the Privacy and Civil Liberties Oversight Board, for review.

Summary: जासूसी प्रमुखों ने अमेरिकी सांसदों को बताया कि कच्चे डेटा को साझा करने की योजना गोपनीयता की रक्षा करती है