(Reuters) - A federal judge in Wisconsin dealt the first legal blow to President Donald Trump’s revised travel ban on Friday, barring enforcement of the policy to deny U.S. entry to the wife and child of a Syrian refugee already granted asylum in the United States. The temporary restraining order, granted by U.S. District Judge William Conley in Madison, applies only to the family of the Syrian refugee, who brought the case anonymously to protect the identities of his wife and daughter, still living in the war-torn Syrian city of Aleppo. But it represents the first of several challenges brought against Trump’s newly amended executive order, issued on March 6 and due to go into effect on March 16, to draw a court ruling in opposition to its enforcement. Conley, chief judge of the federal court in Wisconsin’s western district and an appointee of former President Barack Obama, concluded the plaintiff “has presented some likelihood of success on the merits” of his case and that his family faces “significant risk of irreparable harm” if forced to remain in Syria. The plaintiff, a Sunni Muslim, fled Syria to the United States in 2014 to “escape near-certain death” at the hands of sectarian military forces fighting the Syrian government in Aleppo, according to his lawsuit.  He subsequently obtained asylum for his wife and their only surviving child, a daughter, and their application had cleared the security vetting process and was headed for final processing when it was halted by Trump’s original travel ban on Jan. 27. That executive order sought to ban admission to the United States of citizens from seven Muslim-majority countries - Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria, Yemen and Iraq - for 120 days and to suspend entry of all refugees indefinitely.  The original travel ban, which caused widespread chaos and protests at airports when first implemented, was rescinded after the state of Washington won a nationwide federal court order blocking further enforcement of the policy. The modified executive order reduced the number of excluded counties - removing Iraq from the list - and lifted the indefinite refugee travel ban for Syrians. But opponents from several states have gone to court seeking to halt its implementation as well. “The court appreciates that there may be important differences between the original executive order, and the revised executive order,” Conley wrote in his decision. “As the order applies to the plaintiff here, however, the court finds his claims have at least some chance of prevailing for the reasons articulated by other courts.” In a related development on Friday, the federal judge in Seattle who imposed a nationwide injunction on enforcement of the original travel ban refused a request to apply that order to the revised policy, saying that lawyers from states opposed to the measure needed to file more extensive court papers.

Summary: ट्रम्प के संशोधित यात्रा प्रतिबंध ने पहली अदालत को झटका दिया


WASHINGTON/PHNOM PENH (Reuters) - Just days after the killing of a prominent Cambodian government critic last year during a crackdown by the country’s longtime leader, President Barack Obama dispatched Washington’s chief human rights envoy to Phnom Penh to attend the activist’s funeral. In meetings with Cambodian authorities, then-Assistant Secretary of State Tom Malinowski warned the military not to intervene in the political turmoil or else crucial U.S. ties would suffer, sending a clear message that America stood behind the opposition. It was one example of the kind of high-level, rapid-response U.S. diplomacy that President Donald Trump has so far avoided in Cambodia even as the Southeast Asian nation – together with many of its neighbors - has lurched increasingly away from the democratic path. As Trump prepares to depart on his first Asia tour, which will bring him face-to-face with a number of leaders with poor human rights records, his administration has been taking a more muted approach than his predecessor to such concerns, said current and former U.S. officials, rights activists and diplomats. In addition to the situation in Cambodia, they cite what they see as a slow, overly cautious response to Myanmar’s Rohingya crisis, Trump’s failure to publicly call out autocratic leaders he meets over rights abuses, an eagerness to engage with the Philippines’ controversial president, Rodrigo Duterte, and a less vocal approach to human rights in China.  National security adviser H.R. McMaster pushed back against the notion that Trump would downplay human rights on his Nov. 3-14 trip, saying he would speak out “about the importance of promoting freedom and individual rights.” When asked why Trump condemns U.S. adversaries such as Syria and Venezuela on human rights grounds but not the Philippines, Turkey and Russia, McMaster told reporters on Thursday: “How much does it help to yell about these problems? It hasn’t really delivered in recent history anyway.” The dominant view within Trump’s White House is that under his “America First” world-view human rights concerns related to allies and strategically important countries should be managed gently to avoid impeding job-creating business deals or undercutting security efforts such as isolating North Korea, several Trump aides said. Soft-pedaling human rights may also help Washington avoid alienating countries in Southeast Asia that it wants to keep from moving further into China’s orbit, those aides said.  Beijing puts little pressure on its neighbors over such issues. This approach, however, has sown frustration among some U.S. diplomats who deal with human rights and disappointed dissidents in several countries, according to Reuters interviews with more than a dozen people involved in these matters in Washington and Asian capitals. The failure so far to fill several senior Asia and human rights posts at the State Department is a further handicap, they say. Obama’s former top Asia adviser, Evan Medeiros, is one of those critical of what he sees as the Trump administration’s lower-key approach to human rights. “It’s a false dichotomy to say that somehow a focus on human rights detracts from American security or economic well-being,” he said. Even under Obama, however, there were some in the human rights community who at times found fault with U.S. actions.  While the Nobel Peace Prize laureate was praised for stressing human rights in Asia-Pacific trade negotiations, he faced criticism that he suspended sanctions on Myanmar prematurely and lifted a ban on the sale of lethal arms to Vietnam. “He spoke eloquently and sometimes delivered,” said John Sifton, Asia advocacy director for Human Rights Watch. “But he also didn’t fully use the carrots and sticks of American power.” Though Trump has said little on human rights beyond condemning adversaries such as North Korea and Venezuela, United Nations envoy Nikki Haley has been one of the few top aides who have spoken out more broadly. She visited sub-Saharan Africa and pressed leaders to tackle political and humanitarian problems. Trump set the tone in Saudi Arabia in May when he told an audience that included monarchs and strongmen from the Muslim world: “We are not here to lecture.” He has hosted several autocratic leaders - including Thai Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha, who had been frozen out of White House visits since leading a 2014 military coup - but has steered clear of publicly criticizing their records on human rights. Such visits under Obama usually included addressing rights concerns, the Democratic president’s former aides said. McMaster insisted that Trump preferred to deal with such issues “quietly in every relationship.” One closely watched meeting will be with Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte. Trump praised him in a phone call in April for a bloody anti-drugs campaign. An administration official told reporters human rights would be part of their “frank and friendly discussions.” But the government in Manila has been feeling less heat from the Trump administration about extrajudicial killings linked to drugs crackdown, according to a foreign ministry official. “It’s a very different White House under President Donald Trump, not like under President Barack Obama, who pushed human rights hard during his term,” the official told Reuters. “We are not hearing this from the White House.”   Another issue expected to be front and center is Myanmar’s Rohingya crisis. Trump’s critics, including Democratic lawmakers, have chided the administration for what they have seen as a halting response. U.S. officials have been reluctant to label the situation as “ethnic cleansing” even though the United Nations has used the term. Myanmar rejects that accusation, saying  action was needed to combat terrorism. Two months after an outbreak of violence that sent more than half a million Rohingya Muslims fleeing into Bangladesh, Washington has now sent a senior delegation, announced a planned visit by Tillerson on Nov. 15, and is threatening modest sanctions. When Kem Ley, a popular Cambodian political commentator, was killed by a gunman in July 2016, Malinowski, the State Department official, flew to Phnom Penh just days later and met top aides to Prime Minister Hun Sen, who has ruled for more than three decades. Malinowski’s stern words helped give local diplomats leverage to press rights concerns behind the scenes, said one U.S. official involved in Southeast Asia diplomacy. This year Hun Sen has intensified his crackdown, including the arrest of opposition leader Kem Sokha, while also stepping up rhetoric against Washington.  The State Department has largely limited its response to statements of “deep concern.” Cambodian government spokesman Phay Siphan said Cambodia had not felt pressure from Washington and Trump was clearly taking a different approach than Obama. “Their tone is lighter. Before, they would bully,” said ruling party parliamentarian Sok Eysan. The change under Trump, he added, “means we are on the right path towards democracy,” an assertion that contradicts human rights advocates who say the political climate has deteriorated. In Vietnam, dissident Nguyen Quang A expressed pessimism about Trump’s visit. Nguyen, who was detained by authorities on his way to meet Obama during a visit last year, said: “I don’t think Trump will talk about human rights. Just look at his words and actions.” The White House has not signaled that Trump plans to meet any dissidents during his Asia trip, something Obama frequently did in his foreign travels. There has been frustration among some U.S. diplomats in Beijing over perceptions that botched messaging from the United States signaled a retreat on human rights. But some U.S. officials said that behind the scenes the administration has been supportive of work in China on behalf of Chinese dissidents. A Beijing-based diplomat from another Western country said, however, that U.S. participation in meetings between Western allies to coordinate strategy on human rights was much reduced, for example, when it came to putting out joint statements on issues of concern. China has been “relieved” to see Trump giving human rights less weight, according to a Chinese diplomat in Washington. But Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said: “As for human rights, we are always willing to have constructive dialogue with countries of the world on the basis of mutual respect.”

Summary: 'अमेरिका फर्स्ट' के साथ, ट्रम्प ने एशिया में मानवाधिकारों पर अमेरिकी आवाज को मौन कर दिया


WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. Vice President Mike Pence expressed  deep concern  to Turkey s prime minister on Thursday about the arrests of American citizens and local staff of U.S. missions in Turkey, the White House said. The matters raised by Pence are some of the issues that have created tension between the two NATO allies in recent months, along with a dispute over a Turkish cleric living in the United States whom Ankara accuses of orchestrating a failed military coup in Turkey last year. In a White House meeting with Prime Minister Binali Yildirim, Pence voiced  deep concern over the arrests of American citizens, Mission Turkey local staff, journalists, and members of civil society under the state of emergency and urged transparency and due process in the resolution of their cases,  the White House said in a statement. In May, a translator at the U.S. consulate in the province of Adana in southern Turkey was arrested. More recently, a U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration worker was detained in Istanbul. Both are accused of links to last year s coup attempt. The U.S. embassy has said the accusations are baseless. Before leaving for the United States, Yildirim had said Turkey s demand for the United States to hand over cleric Fethullah Gulen, who has lived in Pennsylvania since 1999, would be discussed during his visit. U.S. officials have said courts require sufficient evidence to order Gulen s extradition. Another issue to be raised, Yildirim had said, was the fate of some Turkish citizens arrested in the United States - a reference to a wealthy gold trader who was arrested over Iran sanctions evasion last year and an executive at a state-owned bank arrested this year. The White House statement made no mention of any discussions about either subject. It said the two officials  expressed hope that their meeting would help to usher in a new chapter in U.S.-Turkey relations and agreed on the need for constructive dialogue, as friends and allies, on bilateral challenges.  Pence reaffirmed the  enduring strategic partnership  between the two countries and stressed the U.S. commitment to stand with Turkey against the militant Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK)  and other terrorist threats.  The United States partially resumed issuing visas in Turkey on Monday after getting what it said were assurances about the safety of staff at its missions following a number of detentions. Turkey said it would relax a visa ban of its own.

Summary: पेंस ने गिरफ्तारी को लेकर तुर्की के प्रधानमंत्री के समक्ष अमेरिकी चिंता व्यक्त की


VATICAN CITY (Reuters) - Callista Gingrich, wife of the former speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives, on Friday became U.S. ambassador to the Vatican, which is at odds with Washington over immigration, climate change and Jerusalem. Callista Gingrich, 51, an author, documentary filmmaker and former congressional aide, presented her credentials to Pope Francis at the Vatican to officially assume her role. Her husband Newt Gingrich was an early supporter and vocal ally of U.S. President Donald Trump. Newt Gingrich is expected to continue his role as a political contributor to Fox News from his new base in Rome. Trump s nomination of Callista Gingrich to the post at the Holy See in May caused some controversy because of her marriage to Gingrich, with whom she became involved when he was still married to his second wife. Both are Roman Catholic. On Thursday they attended the funeral at the Vatican of Cardinal Bernard Law, who resigned as Archbishop of Boston 15 years ago after covering up years of sexual abuse of children by priests.  The pope has implicitly criticized Trump s decision to pull out of the Paris accord on climate change. He said last month that denying climate change or being indifferent to its effects were  perverse attitudes  that blocked research and dialogue aimed at protecting the future of the planet. Francis is also opposed to Trump s decision to recognize Jerusalem as Israel s capital. The pontiff has called for respect for the city s  status quo,  saying new tension in the Middle East would further inflame world conflicts.. On Thursday at the United Nations, where the Vatican has permanent observer status, more than 120 countries defied Trump and voted in favor of a resolution calling for the United States to drop its recent recognition. The U.S. embassy said in a statement that the new ambassador  looks forward to working with the Holy See to defend human rights, advance religious freedom, combat human trafficking, and to seek peaceful solutions to crises around the world .

Summary: मतभेद बढ़ने पर कैलिस्टा गिंगरिच पोप के लिए ट्रम्प की दूत बनीं


ATHENS (Reuters) - Greece’s far-right Golden Dawn party hailed Donald Trump’s election as president of the United States, calling it a victory against “illegal immigration” and in favor of ethnically “clean” nations. Golden Dawn, Greece’s third-largest party, took its first seats in parliament in 2012 on a backlash against austerity policies in Greece, which has received three international bailouts since 2010. “This was a victory for the forces which oppose globalization, are fighting illegal migration and are in favor of clean ethnic states, in favor of self-sufficiency in the national economy,” a spokesman of the party said in a post on YouTube. “A great global change is starting, which will continue with nationalists prevailing in Austria, Marie LePen in France and Golden Dawn in Greece.”

Summary: ग्रीस के गोल्डन डॉन ने कहा कि ट्रम्प ने जातीय रूप से 'स्वच्छ' राज्यों के लिए जीत हासिल की


NEW YORK (Reuters) - President-elect Donald Trump’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner, is looking to sell his newspaper, The New York Observer, the trade newspaper Women’s Wear Daily reported on Wednesday. It was unclear how much Kushner hopes to get in a sale. Kushner bought the newspaper for $10 million in 2006, according to reports at the time. One possible suitor could be American Media Inc, owner of the National Enquirer, according to Women’s Wear Daily. Kushner may be selling the Observer to focus on his political career, according to the report. His wife, Ivanka Trump, is the president-elect’s eldest daughter. Both he and his wife advised Trump during his successful presidential campaign.

Summary: कुशनर न्यूयॉर्क ऑब्जर्वर के लिए खरीदारों की तलाश कर रहे हैंः रिपोर्ट


TUZ KHURMATU, Iraq (Reuters) - On the eve of the historic referendum on independence, Kurds across the region were celebrating. Young people honked their horns and shot celebratory gunfire into the air of major cities.   But not in Tuz Khurmatu, an Iraqi town of more than 100,000 that is violently split among Kurds and Shi ite Turkmen, who oppose Monday s referendum.   I hope the referendum will be canceled,  said Luay, a Turkman shopkeeper in Tuz.  If they don t, the Kurds will take over by force and there won t be any Turkmen or Arabs left.  The town is part of the disputed territories, ethnically mixed areas in northern Iraq claimed by both the central government in Baghdad and the autonomous Kurdish government in the north. Each side has tried to consolidate their power over the town since the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq in 2003.   Kurdish officials have insisted throughout the referendum campaign that all residents of the disputed territories   including Kurds, Arabs, Turkmen and other minorities   would be allowed to vote.  However, by Sunday afternoon, the ballot boxes had yet to be distributed throughout the rundown town, which local Kurdish officials attributed to a lack of security forces able to help deploy them safely.  Plans had been made to have polling stations in all neighborhoods, said Arslan Ali, a local representative of Barzani s Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP), which has been pushing for the referendum.  We will make it happen,  Ali said. This was unlikely, since Tuz Khurmatu is unmistakably split: while Kurdish Peshmerga forces control a Kurdish half, Iran-backed Shi ite paramilitary groups (PMF) control the Turkmen neighborhoods.   We will not let them approach the Turkmen areas,  said Mohammed Mahdi al-Bayati, a senior leader in the Badr Organization, the preeminent PMF force in the area.  They want to seize the disputed territories, but we will not let them.   A decision by Kurdish President Massoud Barzani to include these ethnically mixed areas in the plebiscite was widely interpreted as a unilateral move to consolidate Kurdish control.  When Islamic State militants overran about one third of Iraq in 2014, the Kurds seized the moment and took over vast areas in northern Iraq, left vulnerable by a fleeing Iraqi army. Peshmerga fighters moved deeper into the disputed territories, including Tuz Khurmatu, which they defended against the militants. But this ignited the Shi ite Turkmen s fears of being subjected to Kurdish rule. Though PMF-led Turkmen worked together to push Islamic State militants out of Tuz Khurmatu, ultimately the fragile coalition fell apart and led to open hostilities.  The referendum will be the start of a crisis in the disputed territories,  al-Bayati said, at a his organization s base in Tuz Khurmatu, where it has been based since 2014. Asked whether his forces would move to prevent such a crisis, al-Bayati made only veiled reference to looming violence:  There will be conflict for sure within 24 hours of the referendum.  Walking through the Turkmen neighborhood of Aksu, solid-black flags flutter alongside banners with Shi ite iconography, a reminder of the somber month of Muharram. The area used to house the main market, where both ethnic groups used to trade. It is now encased in blast walls and guarded by PMF fighters. According to Turkmen residents and shopkeepers, Kurdish shops and houses were burned down, forcing Kurds to move out.  I used to like that it was mixed neighborhood,  said Luay, the Turkman shopkeeper.  But then the Kurds killed my brother on this street.  A five-minute drive away is the rival Kurdish market, where tricolour Kurdish flags were flying high. It was established by Kurds afraid of the old market.   I used to have lots of Turkmen and Arab friends,  said Shalaw, a Kurdish toyshop owner.  Many of the Turkmen have since joined (the PMF), and I m afraid to cross the city border to go and see them. I ll be killed.  Like other Kurds interviewed in the market in al-Jumhuriyah, Shalaw lamented Tuz Khurmatu s split, which he blamed on the PMF s arrival. But he said he will vote for independence on Monday.  Badr leader Al-Bayati cynically said the referendum suited his group s interests.  Iraq is against the Kurds, so are the Turks, the Iranians, the whole Arab region and Europe. They are going to live in a cage.

Summary: जातीय रूप से विभाजित इराकी शहर को कुर्दों के स्वतंत्रता मतदान के बाद नए संघर्ष का डर है


LONDON (Reuters) - Britain’s Brexit Secretary David Davis said on Tuesday there was no vacancy for the job of ambassador to Washington as the incumbent was very good. U.S. President-elect Donald Trump said many people would like to see Brexit campaigner Nigel Farage as British ambassador to Washington. “People can say what they like but the simple truth is there’s no vacancy. The ambassador there is very very good, as we’ve seen,” Davis told the BBC. “We believe in free speech - we have a very good ambassador in Washington, Kim Darroch, and he’ll be there for years,” Davis said. Darroch did not reply to requests for comment.

Summary: ब्रिटेन के श्री ब्रेक्सिट ने कहा कि संयुक्त राज्य अमेरिका में राजदूत के लिए कोई रिक्ति नहीं है


BOSASO, Somalia (Reuters) - Somalia s semi-autonomous region of Puntland seized a boat loaded with weapons from Yemen in Saturday s early hours, the regional maritime police chief said. Puntland authorities displayed dozens of anti-aircraft guns, machine guns, AK-47 rifles and dozens of boxes of ammunition seized from the boat after it was stopped in coastal waters off the Horn of Africa region. The journey of the small vessel, known as Al Faruq, was tracked from Yemen by European maritime forces patrolling sea lanes off Somalia, Abdirahman Mohamud Hassan, the director general of Puntland maritime police force, told Reuters. He said they had seized other boatloads of arms destined for Islamic State and al Shabaab militants active in Somalia though on this occasion the cargo was believed to be owned by arms smugglers who would have sold them at local retail outlets.   Today, we suspect traders own these weapons, but we shall investigate further,  he said. Puntland has been hit by heavy fighting in recent months as al Shabaab and a splinter group linked to Islamic State attacked government troops around the Galagala hills, 30 km southeast of the regional capital Bosaso. In June al Shabaab overran a military base in the town of Af Urur in the hills area, killing 38 people, mainly soldiers. Unlike the rest of Somalia, Puntland rarely suffered from militant attacks before the recent surge in violence, mainly because its security forces are relatively regularly paid and receive substantial U.S. assistance.

Summary: सोमालिया के पुंटलैंड क्षेत्र ने यमन से हथियारों से भरी नाव पकड़ी


BUENOS AIRES (Reuters) - Argentina s lower house of Congress will try on Monday to debate the government s pension bill, lawmakers said on Friday, after the first attempt at discussing it this week ended with violent protests that forced the legislature to suspend session. The bill, key to President Mauricio Macri s effort to lower business costs and reduce Argentina s fiscal deficit, has already passed the Senate, leaving the lower house to give final legislative approval. But Thursday s debate was suspended after it sparked riots in the capital that were put down by police firing rubber bullets and tear gas. Opposition protesters, politicians and unions say the legislation will hurt pensioners. For Monday s debate, the bill will be amended to provide a bonus to the country s most needy retirees, the government said. The move may increase its chances of passage.  The amendment  will make a strong effort  to compensate those most in need, Macri-allied house member Mario Negri told reporters. The agreement to include the bonus came after a long meeting on Friday among lawmakers, provincial governors and Macri administration officials.  Macri is aiming to cut the fiscal deficit to 3.2 percent of gross domestic product next year from 4.2 percent this year, and to reduce inflation to between 8 and 12 percent from above 20 percent this year. The pension bill would change the formula used to calculate benefits. Payments would adjust every quarter based on inflation, rather than the current system of twice-yearly adjustments linked to wage rises and tax revenue. Economists say the current formula means benefits go up in line with past inflation. Left unchanged, that could harm Macri s efforts to cut the fiscal deficit. Under the new formula, benefits would increase by 5 percentage points above inflation, according to Cabinet Chief Marcos Pena. The plan would take effect at a time of lower inflation expectations, hence slowing the pace of pension benefit increases.

Summary: अर्जेंटीना कांग्रेस सोमवार को पेंशन पर बहस के लिए नए सिरे से प्रयास करेगी


NEW YORK (Reuters) - The cost to healthcare companies for U.S. regulatory review of their products, including drugs and medical devices, would more than double under the Trump administration’s proposed 2018 budget. For 2018, the Trump administration has budgeted over $2 billion in fees to be collected by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration from industry, twice as much as in 2017, according to budget documents released on Thursday. Citing a constrained budget environment, the proposed budget said industries that benefit from the FDA’s approval “can and should pay for their share.” In return, the budget said it also offered measures that would help speed up the approval process for new drugs and other products. The FDA has been criticized by lawmakers for not being quick enough at approving drugs, and President Donald Trump told Congress earlier this year that he aimed to speed up the approval of drugs.  The FDA has been charging companies to review their products since 1992. Most of the user fees collected are for prescription drugs - around $866 million estimated in 2017 - and generic drugs - around $324 million, according to the FDA website. The FDA’s 2017 budget was $5.1 billion, the website said. The budget does not say if the fee increases would be evenly spread or directed in a particular area. The budget did not provide specifics on what measures to speed up approvals might include.

Summary: ट्रम्प बजट के तहत उत्पाद समीक्षा के लिए एफडीए शुल्क दोगुने से अधिक हो जाएगा


WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Republican Ben Carson’s presidential campaign faced additional turmoil on Thursday with the resignation of his top finance aide, who reportedly was earning $20,000 a month. Politico, which first reported the resignation of Dean Parker, cited campaign insiders who criticized spending decisions, including generous consulting fees paid to inexperienced staff. It said Parker was earning the hefty salary for an honorary position that is typically unpaid. In a statement, Carson said he had accepted Parker’s  resignation, but gave no other details. Parker, in the statement, said: “While current allegations towards me are misrepresentations, my primary goal is to help Dr. Carson save our nation.” The loss of Carson’s top financial aide came as seven of the Republican presidential candidates, including Carson, hold one of their last debates before the first presidential contests to pick the party’s 2016 presidential candidate. Carson, who led public opinion polls last summer but began slipping in the fall, earlier saw his staff bleed when his campaign manager and about 20 other staff members quit amid infighting in late December.

Summary: रिपब्लिकन राष्ट्रपति पद के उम्मीदवार कार्सन ने वित्त अध्यक्ष पद से दिया इस्तीफा


WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Republican presidential candidate John Kasich’s campaign on Monday denied a report that Mitt Romney, the party’s presidential candidate in 2012, would endorse the Ohio governor on Monday. A Wall Street Journal reporter said Kasich answered in the affirmative to a question about Romney’s endorsement. Kasich spokesman Chris Schrimpf said, “This is not true. Kasich was responding and acknowledging a different question.” A Romney endorsement would have provided Kasich with a boost on the eve of Ohio’s primary in which he and front-runner Donald Trump are running a close race for first place.

Summary: कासिच अभियान ने रोमनी के समर्थन की रिपोर्ट का खंडन किया


ATLANTA (Reuters) - Georgia Governor Nathan Deal said on Monday he will veto a so-called religious freedom bill passed by the state legislature that has drawn national criticism for discriminating against same-sex couples. The measure, which states that no pastor can be forced to perform a same-sex wedding, was recently passed by the Republican-controlled legislature.  Under the bill, faith-based groups could not be forced to hire or retain an employee whose beliefs run counter to the organization’s, while churches and religious schools would have the right to reject holding events for people or groups to whom they object. Deal, a Republican, said he could not support the legislation, which had drawn wide criticism from corporations and had triggered threats of a state boycott by the entertainment industry. Deal said he was not bullied into his decision but felt a law was not necessary. “I do not think that we have to discriminate against anyone to protect the faith-based community in Georgia,” Deal said at news conference on the legislation, noting his religious faith. Similar bills in states such as Indiana and Arkansas sparked storms of criticism last year, forcing many lawmakers to retreat, and North Carolina is currently seeing protest over a new law that bars transgender people from choosing bathrooms consistent with their gender identity. Deal’s decision was immediately celebrated by gay rights advocates, including the national Human Rights Campaign. “Our message to Governor Nathan Deal was loud and clear: this deplorable legislation was bad for his constituents, bad for business, and bad for Georgia’s future,” HRC President Chad Griffin said in a statement. He added that Deal had “set an example for other elected officials to follow.” Mike Griffin, spokesman for the Georgia Baptist Convention, which lobbied for the bill, said his group’s 1.3 million members will continue fighting for it. “All we wanted was protection from government overreach,” he said, noting his disappointment in Deal, a two-term governor. “We feel that he’s let down the people of faith and all of Georgia by not signing the bill.”  Critics of the legislation included marquee Hollywood stars, such as Anne Hathaway and Julianne Moore, as well as movie and TV studios 21st Century Fox, NBC Universal, Time Warner, Walt Disney, AMC, Viacom and Marvel Entertainment. More than 300 large corporations and small businesses, including Delta Airlines and Coca Cola also came out against it.  “Georgia is a welcoming state,” Deal said.

Summary: जॉर्जिया के गवर्नर ने समलैंगिक विरोधी के रूप में देखे जाने वाले धार्मिक संरक्षण पर वीटो लगा दिया


WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson signaled on Wednesday that he would like more help from China in pressing North Korea over issues including its nuclear program. “Their cooperation I would say has been notable, but it has been uneven,” Tillerson told a congressional hearing. Washington is discussing North Korea with all of its allies, and it would top the agenda at high-level talks next week between U.S. and Chinese officials.

Summary: टिलरसन ने उत्तर कोरिया पर चीन के सहयोग को 'असमान' बताया


LONDON (Reuters) - Britain s Prince George, the great-grandson of Queen Elizabeth and third-in-line to the throne, started school on Thursday but without his pregnant mother Kate to support him because she is suffering from severe morning sickness. George, 4, was taken by his father, Prince William, from their Kensington Palace home to Thomas s Battersea school in southwest London, which says its most important rule is to  Be Kind  and charges almost 18,000 pounds ($23,490) per pupil per year.  We expect our pupils to make impressive progress as a result of their own hard work, the best efforts of their teachers, the judicious support of their parents and the encouragement of their peers,  the school says on its website. A nervous-looking George, wearing a school uniform of dark shorts and a navy jumper with red trim, held his father s hand as the Head of Lower School, Helen Haslem, escorted the royal duo to his classroom.  His mother Kate missed the occasion due to acute morning sickness and has canceled other engagements this week after the palace announced on Monday that she was expecting her third child. Like his parents, George and his younger sister Charlotte have already appeared on the front covers of magazines around the world and this summer they traveled on official royal tours of Poland and Germany where crowds cheered them.

Summary: ब्रिटेन के प्रिंस जॉर्ज ने स्कूल शुरू किया, गर्भवती मां केट जाने के लिए बहुत बीमार


The following statements were posted to the verified Twitter accounts of U.S. President Donald Trump, @realDonaldTrump and @POTUS.  The opinions expressed are his own. Reuters has not edited the statements or confirmed their accuracy.  @realDonaldTrump : - We have done a great job with the almost impossible situation in Puerto Rico. Outside of the Fake News or politically motivated ingrates,... [0822 EDT] - ...people are now starting to recognize the amazing work that has been done by FEMA and our great Military. All buildings now inspected..... [0826 EDT] - ...for safety. Thank you to the Governor of P.R. and to all of those who are working so closely with our First Responders. Fantastic job! [0830 EDT] - I told Rex Tillerson, our wonderful Secretary of State, that he is wasting his time trying to negotiate with Little Rocket Man... [1030 EDT] - ...Save your energy Rex, we’ll do what has to be done![1031 EDT] - Being nice to Rocket Man hasn’t worked in 25 years, why would it work now? Clinton failed, Bush failed, and Obama failed. I won’t fail.[1501 EDT] - Congratulations to #TeamUSA on your great @PresidentsCup victory! bit.ly/2hH6rKW [2122 EDT] -- Source link: (bit.ly/2jBh4LU) (bit.ly/2jpEXYR)

Summary: फैक्टबॉक्सः ट्विटर पर ट्रम्प (1 अक्टूबर)-रेक्स टिलरसन, प्यूर्टो रिको


Washington (Reuters) - Banks were regrouping on Thursday, a day after being handed a large defeat in the U.S. House, where Republicans sided with retailers in agreeing to preserve limits on debit card fees. The financial industry insisted it was not done fighting to remove limits on the fees. Retailers were already looking to carry the fight to credit card fees. “We are glad this fight is over, and are happy with our victory,” said Austen Jensen with the Retail Industry Leaders Association. “The banks should clearly know that this is over with.” “This debate is not over,” said Rob Nichols, president and CEO of the American Bankers Association. The House had been considering a broad financial reform bill that included a repeal of the Durbin amendment, which established the limits on debit card fees. The limits were backed by Senator Dick Durbin of Illinois when the Dodd-Frank financial reform law was enacted in 2010. The effort to remove the card fee limits had drawn strong opposition in the House. Representative Jeb Hensarling, the bill’s author, announced Wednesday he would end the effort to eliminate the Durbin amendment because he did not want to see his entire finance bill upended. “I’ve said before that repeal of the Durbin amendment was the most contentious part of the bill among Republicans,” he said in a statement. “We won’t let this one provision hinder passage of an important priority bill.” The full House is expected to vote on Hensarling’s bill in the coming weeks, but there is enough opposition in the Senate that it will probably not become law. The feud over government caps on the fees retailers pay when accepting debit cards has run red hot ever since the limits were imposed. With billions of dollars in revenue at stake, banks and retailers have battled nearly constantly in Washington. Retailers have argued the cap is critical to control sky-high costs imposed by a handful of card servicers, while banks insist the limit represents government meddling in private industry. Nichols said limiting debit card fees was “wrong and Congress should fix it.” Under Dodd-Frank, the Federal Reserve was ordered to set limits on how much Visa and Mastercard could charge for processing debit card transactions. The end result nearly halved fees received by banks, dropping the cost of a debit card transaction from an average of 45 cents to an average of 24 cents.

Summary: कांग्रेस ने डेबिट कार्ड शुल्क पर सीमा समाप्त करने का प्रयास समाप्त किया


WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Senate passed its version of a $700 billion defense policy bill on Monday, backing President Donald Trump’s call for a bigger, stronger military but setting the stage for a battle over government spending levels later this year. The Republican-controlled chamber voted 89-8 for the National Defense Authorization Act for fiscal year 2018, or NDAA, which authorizes the level of defense spending and sets policies controlling how the money is spent. The Senate bill provides about $640 billion for the Pentagon’s main operations, such as buying weapons and paying the troops, and some $60 billion to fund the conflicts in Afghanistan, Iraq, Syria and elsewhere. The 1,215-page bill includes a wide range of provisions, such as a 2.1 percent military pay raise and $8.5 billion to strengthen missile defense, as North Korea conducts nuclear weapons and ballistic missile tests. It also bans Moscow-based Kaspersky Labs products from federal government use.  The House of Representatives passed its version of the NDAA at a similar spending level in July. The two versions must be reconciled before Congress can  consider a final version. A fight over spending is expected because Senate Democrats have vowed to block big increases in funds for the military if spending caps on non-defense programs are not also eased. The versions of the bill increase military spending well beyond last year’s $619 billion, defying “sequestration” spending caps set in the 2011 Budget Control Act. Trump wants to find more money for the Pentagon by slashing nondefense spending. His fellow Republicans control majorities in both the House and Senate, but they will need support from Senate Democrats to change the rules and allow a bigger Pentagon budget. Senator John McCain, the Republican chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, has been shepherding the legislation through Congress as he undergoes treatment for an aggressive type of brain cancer. Arguing for increased spending, McCain said more men and women in uniform are dying in avoidable training accidents than in combat. “Where’s the outrage? Where’s our sense of urgency to deal with this problem?” he asked before the vote.  Both the Senate and House rejected Defense Secretary Jim Mattis’ plan to close more bases starting in 2021. Despite partisan divides that have kept Congress from passing much major legislation recently, the NDAA has been passed for 55 straight years.  Trump has criticized parts of the NDAA, but has not threatened a veto.

Summary: सीनेट ने सैन्य खर्च में भारी वृद्धि का समर्थन किया


PARIS (Reuters) - Saad al-Hariri, who resigned as Lebanon s prime minister this month while in Saudi Arabia, said on Saturday he would clarify his position when he returns to Beirut next week.  Hariri s resignation on Nov. 4 threw Lebanon into political crisis and put it center-stage in the Middle East s overarching rivalry between Sunni Saudi Arabia and its allies and a bloc led by Shi ite Iran.  With regard to the political situation in Lebanon, I will go to Beirut in the coming days, I will participate in the independence celebrations, and it is there that I will make known my position on these subjects after meeting President (Michel) Aoun,  Hariri said after holding talks with French President Emmanuel Macron in Paris. Hariri declined to take questions, but is set to return to Beirut by Wednesday when Lebanon celebrates its independence day. He thanked Macron, who has been mediating as part of French efforts to try to ease tensions across the region, for his help.  Macron had leveraged France s close relations with both Lebanon and Saudi Arabia to secure a deal that saw Hariri travel to Paris and open the door to a resolution of the crisis. Hariri, who arrived at his residence in Paris in the early hours of the morning, told Aoun in a phone call from Paris that he would be in Lebanon on Wednesday for the celebrations, the Lebanese president said on Twitter.  Lebanon is being shaken so it s important Hariri comes to Paris for us to work with him on the best way out of the crisis,  said a senior French diplomat.  We re trying to create the conditions for a de-escalation in the region. We want to avoid a proliferation of crises that could get out of control.  Hariri s abrupt resignation and continued stay in Saudi Arabia has caused fears for Lebanon s stability.  Okab Saqr, a member of parliament for Hariri s Future Movement, said after Hariri s visit to France he would have  a small Arab tour  before traveling to Beirut. A French presidential source said Macron had reiterated that Paris wanted Hariri to return to Lebanon to ensure the country s political system continued to function and that it was imperative it remained  disassociated  from regional crises.  The source said Macron would continue to be active on the dossier in the coming days and that France was considering whether to host a meeting of the International Lebanon Support Group to discuss the political crisis. The crisis has thrust Lebanon into the regional rivalry pitting Saudi Arabia and its allies against a bloc led by Iran, which includes the heavily armed Lebanese Shi ite Hezbollah group. Aoun has called Hariri a Saudi hostage and refused to accept his resignation unless he returns to Lebanon. Saudi Arabia and Hariri say his movements are not restricted. Lebanon maintains a delicate sectarian balance after Sunnis, Shi ites, Christians and Druze fought a civil war between 1975 and 1990, with factions often backed by regional rivals. Hariri, a Sunni Muslim, is a long-time ally of Saudi Arabia. Aoun, a Christian, is a political ally of Hezbollah. Hariri s government, a power-sharing coalition formed last year, includes Hezbollah. France, which controlled Lebanon between the world wars, has sought to play a key role in defusing tension with Macron personally getting involved and putting him at the heart of a regional power struggle that will test his diplomatic skills.   That was evident since the outbreak of the Lebanese crisis over the last week with a surprise visit to Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman in Riyadh, followed by a flurry of calls, sending his foreign minister to Saudi Arabia and then the invitation to Hariri, which caught many diplomats unawares.  While undoubtedly a diplomatic coup for Macron, some regional and French diplomats have cautioned that his strategy to try to appease all sides in the region may backfire. On Saturday, U.S. President Donald Trump spoke with Macron about the situation in Lebanon and Syria. The White House said the leaders agreed on the need to work with allies to counter Hezbollah s and Iran s destabilizing activities in the region. Paris has intensified its rhetoric over Iran s regional activities. On Thursday, Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian, speaking alongside his Saudi counterpart, denounced Tehran s  hegemonic temptations . Iran responded by accusing France of taking sides and Macron on Friday said Iran should clarify its ballistic missile program. That was met by a rebuke in Tehran. On Saturday, Ali Akbar Velayati, a senior adviser to Iran s supreme leader, said Macron should stay out of its affairs.

Summary: मैक्रों की बैठक के बाद, हरीरी ने कहा कि वे लेबनान में स्थिति स्पष्ट करेंगे


WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson will press this week for NATO allies to demonstrate a “clear path” to increase defense spending, a State Department official said on Tuesday. Tillerson will hold his first meeting with NATO foreign ministers in Brussels on March 31. He will push allies on how they plan to meet a defense spending goal of 2 percent of gross domestic product, and press NATO to increase its role in the fight against terrorism, the official said. “It is no longer sustainable for the United States to maintain a disproportionate share of NATO’s deterrence and defense spending,” the official said in a briefing with reporters, on condition of anonymity. President Donald Trump has unsettled European allies with demands they increase defense spending and talk of establishing an alliance with Russia to counter Islamic State militants. Tillerson’s initial decision to skip his first meeting with NATO foreign ministers to attend expected talks in the United States with Chinese President Xi Jinping also reopened questions about the Trump administration’s commitment to the alliance. The State Department later said the meeting in Brussels had been rescheduled and Tillerson would attend. Five NATO members - Britain, Estonia, Greece, Poland and the United States - currently meet the 2 percent spending threshold, according to 2016 NATO figures. Members of the alliance have until 2024 to meet the targets. The Estonian, Latvian, and Lithuanian foreign ministers met with Tillerson at the State Department on Tuesday. The Baltic states have felt especially vulnerable since Russia annexed Ukraine’s Crimea region in 2014. Asked if they were confident in U.S. support for NATO, Lithuanian Foreign Minister Linas Linkevicius responded “No doubts about that” and Latvian Foreign Minister Edgars Rinkevics and Estonian Foreign Minister Sven Mikser nodded in agreement. The senior State Department official said Trump administration officials are “pushing allies to do more, faster, absolutely no apology for that.” The United States also wants allies to give a “clear path” on how they would meet the threshold, such as timelines and budgetary commitments, he said. But the official declined to state any specifics on what the United States would do if allies did not meet the targets. “Our joint security requires it, that’s the main leverage that we have,” the official said. Defense Secretary Jim Mattis said last month the United States might “moderate” its support for the alliance but gave no details.

Summary: रक्षा खर्च पर नाटो पर दबाव डालेंगे टिलरसनः अधिकारी


(Corrects Corker quote in paragraph 4 of Aug. 17 story to show he said “stability” not “ability,” error first appeared in Update 4) By Steve Holland and Susan Heavey BRIDGEWATER, N.J./WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Donald Trump decried on Thursday the removal of monuments to the pro-slavery Civil War Confederacy, echoing white nationalists and drawing stinging rebukes from fellow Republicans in a controversy that has inflamed racial tensions. Trump has alienated Republicans, corporate leaders and U.S. allies, rattled markets and prompted speculation about possible White House resignations with his comments since Saturday’s violence in Charlottesville, Virginia, which came in the aftermath of a white nationalist protest against the removal of a Confederate statue. Republican Senator Bob Corker, chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, questioned Trump’s capacity to govern. “The president ... has not yet been able to demonstrate the stability nor some of the competence that he needs to demonstrate in order to be successful,” said Corker, who Trump had considered for the job of secretary of state. Corker said Trump needed to make “radical changes.” Trump unleashed attacks on two Republican U.S. senators, Jeff Flake and Lindsey Graham, in a series of Twitter posts on Thursday, raising fresh doubts about his ability to work with lawmakers in his own party to win passage of his legislative agenda, which includes tax cuts and infrastructure spending. He took aim at the removal or consideration for removal of Confederate statues and monuments in a long list of cities in California, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, New York, North Carolina, Massachusetts, Missouri, Montana, Tennessee, Virginia, and Texas, as well as Washington, D.C. “Sad to see the history and culture of our great country being ripped apart with the removal of our beautiful statues and monuments. You can’t change history, but you can learn from it,” Trump wrote on Twitter, refusing to move past the controversy.  “Robert E Lee, Stonewall Jackson - who’s next, Washington, Jefferson? So foolish!” Trump said. He was referring to two Confederate generals in the Civil War that ended in 1865, and to early U.S. presidents George Washington and Thomas Jefferson, who owned slaves but whose legacies are overwhelmingly honored. Opponents call the statues a festering symbol of racism, while supporters say they honor American history. Some of the monuments have become rallying points for white nationalists but also have the support of some people interested in historical preservation. Trump also denied he had spoken of “moral equivalency” between white supremacists, neo-Nazis and Ku Klux Klan members who clashed with anti-racism activists in Charlottesville. U.S. stocks suffered their biggest drop in three months on Thursday as the turmoil surrounding the White House sapped investor confidence that Trump’s ambitious economic agenda would become reality. Equity index futures fell a bit further after the close of regular trading, with S&P 500 emini futures heading into the overnight trading session about 2 points lower. The U.S. stock market has not followed a 1 percent-down day with a second straight day of losses since Trump was elected in November, so Friday’s session is being watched as a significant test of the market’s resilience. Amid the controversy, the White House knocked down rumors that Trump economic adviser Gary Cohn might resign. An official said Cohn “intends to remain in his position” as National Economic Council director at the White House. Trump announced the disbanding of two high-profile business advisory councils on Wednesday after the resignation of several corporate executives over his Charlottesville remarks. On Thursday, a White House official said Trump had dropped plans for an advisory council on infrastructure. In another indication of businesses not wanting to be associated with the president, the world-renowned Cleveland Clinic canceled a planned 2018 Florida fundraiser at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago Florida resort, where it had held such events for seven straight years. Spokeswoman Eileen Sheil said the Cleveland Clinic considered “a variety of factors” in deciding to cancel an event that typically generates $1 million a year. The clinic’s chief executive, Toby Cosgrove, was a member of a one of the two councils that disbanded on Wednesday. James Murdoch, chairman of Twenty-First Century Fox Inc and son of media mogul Rupert Murdoch, slammed Trump’s response to Charlottesville in an email to friends and pledged to donate $1 million to the Anti-Defamation League, the New York Times reported. James Murdoch wrote that Trump’s comments should “concern all of us as Americans and free people,” the Times said. Twenty-First Century Fox owns Fox News Channel, a favorite with Trump and his conservative supporters. ‘HATE-FILLED INDIVIDUALS’  The Charlottesville violence erupted when white nationalists marched to protest against the planned removal of a statue of Robert E. Lee. A 32-year-old woman, Heather Heyer, was killed when a man described as a white nationalist crashed his car into the counter-protesters. Trump has blamed the Charlottesville violence on not just the white nationalist rally organizers but also the counter-protesters, and said there were “very fine people” among both groups. He also expressed distaste for removing Confederate statues in a heated news conference on Tuesday. After Trump blasted Graham on Twitter, the senator who was one of Trump’s rivals for the 2016 Republican presidential nomination fired back. “Because of the manner in which you have handled the Charlottesville tragedy you are now receiving praise from some of the most racist and hate-filled individuals and groups in our country. For the sake of our Nation - as our President - please fix this,” Graham said. “History is watching us all.” Another Republican senator, Dan Sullivan, also said on Twitter: “Anything less than complete & unambiguous condemnation of white supremacists, neo-Nazis, and the KKK by (Trump) is unacceptable. Period.” Graham had said on Wednesday Trump’s remarks at his news conference the day before had suggested “moral equivalency” between the white nationalists and anti-racism demonstrators and called on the president to use his words to heal Americans. “Publicity seeking Lindsey Graham falsely stated that I said there is moral equivalency between the KKK, neo-Nazis & white supremacists and people like Ms. Heyer. Such a disgusting lie. He just can’t forget his election trouncing. The people of South Carolina will remember!” Trump wrote. In a separate tweet, Trump called Flake “WEAK on borders, crime and a non-factor in Senate. He’s toxic!” and appeared to endorse Kelli Ward, Flake’s Republican challenger in his 2018 re-election race.  Nancy Pelosi, the top Democrat in the U.S. House of Representatives, called for the immediate removal of Confederate statues from the U.S. Capitol. U.S. Senator Cory Booker, also a Democrat, said he would introduce legislation so that could be done. “There is no room for celebrating the violent bigotry of the men of the Confederacy in the hallowed halls of the United States Capitol or in places of honor across the country,” Pelosi said in a statement. A spokesman for Republican U.S. House Speaker Paul Ryan said it was up to U.S. states to determine which statues were displayed on their behalf in the Capitol building.

Summary: संघीय स्मारकों का बचाव करने के बाद साथी रिपब्लिकन ने ट्रम्प पर हमला किया


PHNOM PENH (Reuters) - Cambodia has canceled the diplomatic passports of some opposition members weeks after a Supreme Court ruling dissolved their political party, senior government officials said on Thursday. The court outlawed the Cambodia National Rescue Party (CNRP) this month at the request of authoritarian Prime Minister Hun Sen s government in a move that prompted the United States to cut election funding and threaten more punitive steps.  Huy Vannak, undersecretary of state at the Interior Ministry, said 56 diplomatic passports of former members of the CNRP had been revoked.  Legally, they are just ordinary citizens, they are no longer special officials who receive diplomatic passports,  Huy Vannak told Reuters.  They can no longer use them and it means that they can use normal passports.  The move comes after a warning this week from Hun Sen that former members of the CNRP who have fled to Thailand may be sent back to Cambodia. Government spokesman Phay Siphan told Reuters on Thursday he was unaware whether there was any attempt to bring back to Cambodia those in hiding in Thailand. Rights groups and some Western governments have voiced concern over what they say is the deterioration of Cambodia s political landscape ahead of a 2018 election that had looked set to be the biggest challenge to Hun Sen s 32-year rule. CNRP leader Kem Sokha was arrested in September and charged with treason over an alleged plot to take power with American help. Washington has rejected the accusations as baseless. The Nov. 16 Supreme Court ruling ordered a five-year political ban for 118 members of the CNRP, including Kem Sokha. The 55 parliamentary seats the CNRP won in the last election in 2013 were allocated to smaller parties after the ruling.

Summary: कंबोडिया ने प्रतिबंधित विपक्षी सदस्यों के राजनयिक पासपोर्ट रद्द किए


JACKSON, Ga. (Reuters) - Down a Georgia country road, camouflaged members of the Three Percent Security Force have mobilized for rifle practice, hand-to-hand combat training — and an impromptu campaign rally for Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump.  “How many people are voting for Trump? Ooh-rah!” asks Chris Hill, a paralegal who goes by the code name “Bloodagent.”  “Ooh-rah!” shout a dozen militia members in response, as morning sunlight sifted through the trees last weekend.  As the most divisive presidential election in recent memory nears its conclusion, some armed militia groups are preparing for the possibility of a stolen election on Nov. 8 and civil unrest in the days following a victory by Democrat Hillary Clinton.  They say they won’t fire the first shot, but they’re not planning to leave their guns at home, either.  Trump's populist campaign has energized militia members like Hill, who admire the Republican mogul's promise to deport illegal immigrants, stop Muslims from entering the country and build a wall along the Mexico border. Trump has repeatedly warned that the election may be "rigged," and has said he may not respect the results if he does not win. At least one paramilitary group, the Oath Keepers, has called on members to monitor voting sites for signs of fraud.  Armed paramilitary groups first gained prominence in the early 1990s, fueled by confrontations in Ruby Ridge, Idaho and Waco, Texas, culminating in a militia sympathizer’s 1995 bombing of a federal office building in Oklahoma City that killed 168 people.  Their numbers dwindled following that attack but have spiked in recent years, driven by fears that President Barack Obama will threaten gun ownership and erode the power of local government. The Southern Poverty Law Center, which tracks extremist groups, estimates there were 276 active militias last year, up from 42 in 2008.  In recent years, armed groups have confronted federal authorities in a series of land-use disputes in the western United States. Federal officials fear more clashes could come after seven militants were acquitted on conspiracy charges for occupying a federal wildlife refuge in Oregon.  Many fear Clinton would push the county further to the left.  “This is the last chance to save America from ruin,” Hill said. “I’m surprised I was able to survive or suffer through eight years of Obama without literally going insane, but Hillary is going to be more of the same.”  The Oath Keepers, a prominent anti-government force that sent gun-toting members to the 2014 race riots in Ferguson, Missouri, called on members last week to monitor voting sites on election day for any signs of fraud.  An hour south of Atlanta, the Three Percent Security Force started the day around the campfire, taking turns shooting automatic pistols and rifles at a makeshift target range. They whooped with approval when blasts from one member’s high-powered rifle knocked down a tree.  The group operates independently, but is affiliated with a national armed movement that calls for members to defend individual rights in the face of what they see as an overreaching federal government. The movement draws its name from the notion that no more than 3 percent of the American population fought in the Revolutionary War against Britain.  Amid the war games, Hill weighed plans for a possible armed march on Washington if Clinton wins.  He said he doesn’t want his members leading the way, but they will defend the protesters if need be. His group will not hesitate to act if a President Clinton tries to disarm gun owners, he said.  “I will be there to render assistance to my fellow countrymen, and prevent them from being disarmed, and I will fight and I will kill and I may die in the process,” said Hill, who founded the militia several years ago.  Trump’s candidacy has emboldened extremist groups to speak more openly about challenging the rule of law, said Ryan Lenz, a researcher at the Southern Poverty Law Center.  “Prior to this campaign season, these ideas were relegated to sort of the political fringe of the American political landscape,” he said. “Now these ideas are legitimized.”  Over the past week, some prominent Trump supporters have hinted at violence.      ”If Trump loses, I’m grabbing my musket,” former Illinois Representative Joe Walsh wrote on Twitter last week. Conservative commentator Wayne Root fantasized about Clinton’s death while speaking at a Trump rally in Las Vegas on Sunday.  Back in Georgia, the Three Percent Security Force wrapped up rifle practice in the midday sun. They then headed further into the trees to tackle an obstacle course with loaded pistols at their sides, ready for whatever may come.  “We’ve building up for this, just like the Marines,” he said. “We are going to really train harder and try to increase our operational capabilities in the event that this is the day that we hoped would never come.”

Summary: अमेरिकी मिलिशिया राष्ट्रपति चुनाव के करीब आने पर परेशानी का सामना कर रही है


WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Republican-controlled U.S. House of Representatives voted on Monday to go to conference on tax legislation with the Senate, moving Congress another step closer to a final bill. The House voted 222-192 to go to conference with the Senate, setting up formal negotiations on the legislation that could take weeks to complete. Seven Republicans voted “no.” The Republican-led Senate was expected to hold a similar conference vote later this week. House Speaker Paul Ryan named nine fellow Republican House members to the conference committee, including Kevin Brady, head of the tax-writing Ways and Means Committee, who will chair it. The other Republican representatives Ryan appointed were: Rob Bishop, Diane Black, Kristi Noem, Devin Nunes, Peter Roskam,  John Shimkus, Greg Walden and Don Young. House Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi appointed five members of her party: Kathy Castor, Lloyd Doggett, Raúl Grijalva, Sander Levin, Richard Neal. The Senate narrowly approved its version of the tax overhaul early on Saturday, moving President Donald Trump a step closer to realizing one of his main campaign promises. The House passed its bill last month. The overhaul would be the largest change to U.S. tax laws since the 1980s. Republicans want to add $1.4 trillion over 10 years to the $20 trillion national debt to finance changes that they say would boost an already growing economy.

Summary: सदन में मतदान के साथ कांग्रेस अंतिम कर विधेयक के करीब पहुंची


WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump will reverse a handful of Obama-era environmental regulations in executive orders that could be signed as early as this week, the Washington Post reported, citing unnamed sources with knowledge of the orders. The orders will instruct the Department of the Interior to lift a ban on new coal mining leases on federal lands and will instruct the Environmental Protection Agency to make changes to greenhouse gas emissions curbs on electric utilities, according to the report on Monday. EPA employees had been told that Trump could sign some executive orders shortly after his pick to head the agency, Scott Pruitt, was confirmed by the U.S. Senate, but they were not given the details of the orders, two EPA sources have told Reuters. (This story has been refiled to correct day of week of newspaper report.)

Summary: ओबामा काल के पर्यावरण नियमों को कार्यकारी आदेशों में बदलेगा ट्रंपः रिपोर्ट


NEW YORK (Reuters) - NATO is the “strongest alliance in history” and the United States is committed to its alliances in Europe, U.S. ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley said on Tuesday. The U.S. is working to make the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) “even more effective,” Haley said, and policy differences with European allies should not be seen as anything less than “total commitment to (U.S.) alliances in Europe. Haley spoke to the U.N. Security Council as it met to discuss conflicts in Europe.

Summary: अमेरिका यूरोप के गठबंधन के लिए प्रतिबद्धः हेली


CHICAGO (Reuters) - Illinois’ Republican governor, Bruce Rauner, has ordered lawmakers to return to work starting next Wednesday to pass a budget as the clock ticks down to the July 1 start of a new fiscal year. But there is no sign in the Democratic-led legislature that a breakthrough in the 23-month impasse could be imminent. Rauner warned on Thursday that the inability to pass a budget could bring “devastating and long-lasting ramifications” for the nation’s fifth-largest state. Those include possible “junk” credit ratings, a halt to state-funded road projects, and suspension from national lotteries. Illinois is limping toward the June 30 end of an unprecedented second-straight fiscal year without a complete spending plan due to an impasse between Rauner and Democratic leaders.  Rauner said he would sign into law a bill package unveiled by Republican legislators on Wednesday that includes a $36 billion budget, a school funding revamp, and several measures he has sought such as a local property tax freeze, term limits for top state officials and cost-saving changes to the system that compensates injured workers. The bills require three-fifths majority votes for passage instead of a simple majority. “It is a true compromise – and one I hope the majority in the General Assembly will accept,” the governor said in a Facebook video posted on Thursday. Rauner and Democrats continued to blame each other for the budget crisis. “House Democrats will continue our work on the budget from Springfield, but as Governor Rauner has met each of our attempts to date with refusal, it’s clear that the onus is on the governor to show that he is finally serious about working in good faith to end the crisis he has manufactured,” House Speaker Michael Madigan said in a statement. If Illinois still lacks a budget when the new fiscal year dawns, the consequences could be big. The state’s credit ratings could sink to “junk,” a first for any U.S. state, leaving some investors unable to buy the state’s debt and others to demand even fatter yields. The state will be suspended from participating in the Powerball and Mega Millions lotteries due to the lack of fiscal 2018 appropriations to pay winning ticket holders, Illinois Lottery spokesman Jason Schaumburg said. The games have generated about $240 million in sales in Illinois so far in fiscal 2017. With no money to pay road contractors, Illinois’ transportation department is shutting down about 700 ongoing projects that carry a price tag of $2.3 billion, according to department spokeswoman Gianna Urgo. The budget impasse has ballooned Illinois’ pile of unpaid bills to $15 billion as of Wednesday, fueling litigation by unpaid vendors and others. A U.S. judge has set a June 20 deadline for Illinois to start paying more of the $2 billion it owes Medicaid providers.

Summary: इलिनोइस के गवर्नर ने बजट गतिरोध को तोड़ने के लिए विशेष सत्र का आदेश दिया


HAGATNA, Guam (Reuters) - Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen arrived on the U.S. Pacific island of Guam on Friday on her way back from visiting diplomatic allies in the Pacific - a trip that caused strong objections from China, which claims Taiwan as its own. Beijing had urged the United States not to allow Tsai to transit its territory on her trip, which included two days in Hawaii before she headed on to Tuvalu, the Solomon Islands and the Marshall Islands. The timing is particularly touchy as U.S. President Donald Trump is due in Beijing next week. China regards self-ruled and democratic Taiwan as its sovereign territory and regularly calls it the most sensitive and important issue between it and the United States, strongly objecting to transit stops by Taiwanese presidents. While the office of Guam Governor Edward B. Calvo described Tsai s visit as  private and unofficial , she was provided with a police escort upon her arrival.  Speaking at a banquet, Tsai said that  Taiwan and Guam share a unique friendship.  She described Guam as the  closest part of the United States  to Taiwan, adding:  The people of Taiwan are grateful for your support.  James F. Moriarty, chairman of the American Institute in Taiwan, the U.S. mission in Taiwan, said Hawaii, Guam and Taiwan were bound together not only by the Pacific Ocean but also by  an expectation of democracy.   Guam is home to a large U.S. military base and would be key to any U.S. assistance to Taiwan in the event of a conflict with China. Beijing has never renounced the possible use of force to bring the island under its control. Relations between Beijing and Taipei have nosedived since Tsai was elected last year; China believes she wants formal independence for Taiwan, a red line for Beijing. For her part, Tsai says she wants to maintain peace with China but will defend Taiwan s democracy and security. The U.S. State Department had said Tsai s transits through U.S. soil would be  private and unofficial  and based on long-standing U.S. practice consistent with  our unofficial relations with Taiwan . Last December, Trump angered Beijing by taking a telephone call from Tsai shortly after winning the presidential election. Tsai has been in the United States twice this year. In January, she stopped over in Houston and San Francisco on her way to and from Latin America.

Summary: चीनी आक्रोश के बावजूद ताइवान के राष्ट्रपति ने अमेरिकी क्षेत्र गुआम का दौरा किया


WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions on Wednesday ordered a review of a government database used for background checks on gun buyers, after a man who killed 26 people in a Texas church was left off the system despite having a criminal record. Sessions said the Nov. 5 shooting in Sutherland Springs, Texas, by Devin Kelley, a former Air Force serviceman who had a 2012 conviction for domestic assault, showed that not all the necessary information was being added to the National Instant Criminal Background Check System, or NICS. In a statement, Sessions said he was directing the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives “to do a comprehensive review of the NICS and report back to me the steps we can take to ensure that those who are prohibited from purchasing firearms are prevented from doing so.” Kelley was found guilty by an Air Force court-martial in 2012 of assaulting his first wife and a stepson. Federal law prohibits anyone from selling a gun to someone who has been convicted of a crime involving domestic violence against a spouse or child. The Air Force has said it failed to provide information as required about Kelley’s criminal history to the FBI’s criminal database. Sessions said he was directing the FBI and ATF to determine if the Defense Department and other government agencies were properly reporting information to the database. Kelley, who killed himself during a getaway attempt after the shooting, bought guns from a store in Texas in 2016 and 2017, although it is not clear whether those were the weapons used in the massacre. The U.S. House of Representatives Armed Services Committee said earlier this month it would investigate the Air Force’s failure to notify the FBI of Kelley’s criminal record. U.S. Senator John Cornyn of Texas, the No. 2 Republican in the chamber, said he planned to introduce legislation to ensure that federal agencies put required criminal records into the database.

Summary: जेफ सेशंस ने बंदूक पृष्ठभूमि जांच प्रणाली की समीक्षा का आदेश दिया


(Reuters) - The U.S. Supreme Court agreed on Monday to hear a conservative group’s free speech challenge to a Minnesota law prohibiting voters from wearing T-shirts or other apparel adorned with overtly political messages inside polling stations.  A group called the Minnesota Voters Alliance is appealing a lower court’s decision to uphold the law, which forbids political badges, buttons or other insignia inside polling places during primary or general elections. State election officials have interpreted the law as also barring campaign literature and material from groups with political views such as the conservative Tea Party movement or the liberal MoveOn.org. Violators are asked to cover up or remove offending items, but officials are instructed not to bar anyone from voting.  The Minnesota Voters Alliance, a St. Paul-based group that says it seeks to expose voter fraud, and several other organizations sued in 2010 claiming state officials turned polling places into “speech-free zones,” violating the U.S. Constitution’s First Amendment protection of freedom of speech.  Other states including Texas, New Jersey and Delaware have regulations similar to Minnesota’s, according to court filings.  The group’s executive director, Andrew Cilek, was temporarily prevented from voting for wearing a T-shirt bearing the Tea Party logo and a button that stated, “Please I.D. Me.” The button was part of a campaign opposing the state’s lack of a photo identification requirement for voting, court papers said. In rulings in 2013 and 2017, the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in St. Louis upheld the Minnesota restrictions, suggesting the law helps maintain “peace, order and decorum” at polling sites.  The plaintiffs, represented by the Pacific Legal Foundation conservative legal group, appealed to the Supreme Court saying a total ban on political speech unrelated to candidates or ballot initiatives is overly broad. The high court has allowed states to ban campaign materials and active vote solicitation at polling places, but not all political speech, the plaintiffs said. “The Supreme Court’s decision to hear the case is a good sign for First Amendment rights,” foundation lawyer Wen Fa said in an email. A spokesman for Minnesota Secretary of State Steve Simon declined to comment but state officials said in legal papers the law is neutral with respect to individuals’ viewpoints. It was one of two cases the conservative-majority court took up on Monday in which conservative organizations are seeking to vindicate what they consider to be their free speech rights. The other involved a challenge to a California law regarding private facilities that counsel pregnant women against abortion.

Summary: सुप्रीम कोर्ट मिनेसोटा मतदाता परिधान कानून की चुनौती पर सुनवाई करेगा


WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Republican Senate leaders aim to hold a procedural vote as early as Tuesday to take up legislation to repeal or replace Obamacare, but it remained unclear which version of the bill senators would vote on. President Donald Trump and congressional Republicans campaigned on a pledge to roll back former President Barack Obama’s signature healthcare law, the 2010 Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare. Senator John Thune, a member of the Republican leadership, told “Fox News Sunday” the initial vote was simply a way to open debate on the bill so that senators from both parties could offer amendments. “The first vote, which will occur sometime this week, will be to proceed to the consideration of that legislation and to at least have a debate where we can have an open amendment process,” Thune said. The Republican-controlled House in May passed its version of a healthcare bill. Senate Republicans have considered two versions of related legislation but have been unable to reach consensus after estimates showed as many as 22 million fewer Americans would be insured if the proposals became law. A plan to repeal Obamacare without replacing it also ran aground. Republicans control a narrow majority in the Senate, holding 52 of 100 seats. With the Democrats united in opposition to the Republican effort, Senator Majority Leader Mitch McConnell can only afford to lose the votes of two Republican senators. The fate of any legislation to rewrite Obamacare is uncertain as many Republicans have not yet made clear their positions. “It appears we’ll have a vote on Tuesday but we don’t know whether we’ll be voting on the House bill, the first version of the Senate bill, the second version of the Senate bill,” Republican Senator Susan Collins told CBS’ “Face the Nation” on Sunday. Collins is a moderate Republican who has objected to prior versions of the Senate bill and also to repealing Obamacare without replacing it. Trump suggested last week that he was fine with letting Obamacare fail, but he then switched course and invited Republican senators to the White House to try to hash out a healthcare deal. The Republican effort has also been complicated by the absence of Republican Senator John McCain, who has been diagnosed with brain cancer and has been in his home state of Arizona weighing treatment options.

Summary: मतदान से पहले स्वास्थ्य सेवा विधेयक पर रिपब्लिकन की रणनीति में उतार-चढ़ाव


BERLIN (Reuters) - The Bavarian sister party of German Chancellor Angela Merkel s Christian Democratic Union (CDU) has said her conservative bloc must agree policies on immigration, pensions and healthcare before opening coalition negotiations with two other parties. Leaders of Bavaria s Christian Social Union (CSU) - stung by a drop in support of more than 10 percent in the Sept. 24 election - have redoubled their push for a 200,000 per year cap on immigration, a demand that Merkel has rejected, complicating her efforts to form a new government. Merkel s bloc of the CDU and CSU, which have worked as partners for decades, hung onto their position as the largest group in parliament after a Sept. 24 vote, despite seeing their combined support fall to its lowest since 1949. They must find coalition partners to build a government, with the most likely path toward a majority being an alliance with the pro-business Free Democrats (FDP) and the Greens. CSU leader Horst Seehofer said the conservative allies could not begin negotiating with the other parties until they resolved their own position on major issues, the Sueddeutsche Zeitung newspaper reported on Monday. It quoted the Bavarian premier, who is fending off calls for his own resignation, as saying the two parties faced their biggest challenge since 1976 - when his predecessor Franz-Josef Strauss threatened for weeks to break up the alliance. Seehofer, whose biggest challenger is Bavarian finance minister Markus Soeder, a hardliner on immigration, will meet  Merkel and other top officials on Sunday, with top officials in Merkel s CDU split on the need for a rightward shift. The conflict inside the conservative camp is straining Merkel s already difficult task of bringing together parties with big differences on energy, Europe, migration and taxes. Armin Laschet, premier of Germany s most populous region, North Rhine-Westphalia, told the Handelsblatt newspaper that the migrant cap sought by CSU leaders was unacceptable. But he suggested a compromise could be found that included some  ballpark  figures. Laschet also said the Greens would have to step back from some of their hardline environmentalist demands. The CDU s leader in the eastern state of Thuringia on Monday  argued against the rightward shift demanded by the CSU and the conservative premiers of two states - Saxony and Saxony-Anhalt - where the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party made big gains in Sunday s national elections.  Our job is to fence ourselves off against the left and the right,  Mike Mohring told Reuters.  Manfred Weber, deputy leader of the CSU and head of the center-right group in the EU Parliament, told Deutschlandfunk radio it was important to avoid setting  red lines  before the coalition talks, given the urgent need to win back AfD voters. Weber said he expected all mainstream parties to focus on preventing the anti-immigrant AfD from gaining a permanent foothold in the German parliament. He said a three-way coalition among conservatives, Greens and the FDP, dubbed a  Jamaica coalition  since the parties  colors match those of the Black, Green and Yellow Jamaican flag, offered a chance to build consensus on other issues such as energy and agriculture.  Jamaica offers us a chance ... to embark on a new start,  he said.  The CSU is ready to do that.   Merkel has sought to keep the door open for a renewal of her  grand coalition  with the Social Democrats that has ruled for the past four years, but the SPD is determined to stay in opposition after suffering its worst result since 1933.  We got 20.5 percent of the vote. That is not a mandate to govern,  SPD Secretary General Hubertus Heil told broadcaster ARD on Monday. He accused the other parties of stalling coalition talks until after a state election due on Oct. 15 in Lower Saxony.   They want to govern, now they should govern,  he said. A new poll by the Hannoversche Allgemeine Zeitung newspaper showed the CDU and SPD nearly tied in Lower Saxony, with 33.1 percent and 32.8 percent, respectively.

Summary: मर्केल के बवेरियाई सहयोगी गठबंधन वार्ता से पहले रूढ़िवादी एकता पर जोर देते हैं


GENEVA (Reuters) - The United Nations refugee agency voiced alarm on Monday at U.S.  President Donald Trump’s decision to suspend entry of refugees, saying that this week alone 800 people set to make America their new home had been barred, causing anxiety and heartbreak. An estimated 20,000 refugees in “precarious circumstances” would have been resettled to the United States during the 120 days covered by the suspension announced last Friday, the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) said in a statement. “Refugees are anxious, confused and heartbroken at this suspension in what is already a lengthy process,” it said. “Those accepted for resettlement by the United States, after a rigorous U.S. security screening process, are coming to rebuild their lives in safety and dignity. UNHCR hopes that they will be able to do so as soon as possible,” it said.

Summary: संयुक्त राष्ट्र शरणार्थी एजेंसी को उम्मीद है कि अमेरिका में पुनर्वास जल्द ही फिर से शुरू होगा।


MANILA/MARAWI CITY, Philippines (Reuters) - Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte was eager to credit new ally Beijing in the death of militant leader Isnilon Hapilon, saying it was a Chinese rifle that fired the bullet that finished off Islamic State s  emir  in Southeast Asia. The smoking gun that took out the region s most feared insurgent on Monday was one of the 100 sniper rifles donated by China, Duterte said, although the ranger unit conducting the operation said the shot was fired from a heavier weapon mounted on an armored vehicle. Duterte is a huge fan of the Chinese rifles and took a pot-shot himself in the direction of militants in Marawi City recently. Addressing businessmen and diplomats, he singled out ambassador Zhao Jianhua for China s support that led to the crucial killing.  I would like to officially inform you, Ambassador Zhao, that the rifle that killed Hapilon was a sniper rifle made in China,  Duterte announced late on Thursday, to warm applause from the crowd. But the version of the final hours of the life of Hapilon and another rebel leader, Omarkhayam Maute, posted on the Facebook page of a member of the Army Scout Rangers, tells a different story. The blow-by-blow account on  Scout Ranger Books , posted the day Hapilon was killed, tells of how the 8th Scout Ranger Company was engaging militants and was not aware the rebel commanders were among those they killed, until fleeing hostages told them.  The soldiers operating at night used thermal imaging on an armored vehicle and the shot that killed Hapilon came from a gun mounted on top of it, according to the account. No mention was made of Chinese weapons or snipers. Prior to Duterte s remarks, two soldiers in that vehicle told CNN Philippines the fixed weapon was remote controlled. A general in Marawi in command of the armored assets told Reuters the fixed weapons are 50-calibre machine guns. Duterte has made a big effort to befriend China and has frequently praised its leadership while in contrast, chiding defense treaty ally the United States, its biggest source of weapons and expertise, for what he calls hypocrisy and for treating his country  like a dog . Asked which gun killed Hapilon, Colonel Romeo Brawner, deputy commander of the Marawi task force, said he could not say for sure, as troops had used guns made by the United States, China and others countries.

Summary: डुटर्टे ने विद्रोहियों की हत्या में चीन की भूमिका की सराहना की, धूम्रपान करने वाली बंदूक के बारे में संदेह


WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Trump administration is considering reducing the annual $1 million mortgage deduction cap for U.S. homeowners as a part of its broader tax reform, despite earlier promises to protect the tax advantage, Politico reported on Friday. Politico said the popular deduction came up this week at a White House roundtable with real estate industry representatives led by National Economic Council Director Gary Cohn. The publication quoted an attendee as saying Cohn was willing to “ruffle some feathers” by putting everything on the table. The Internal Revenue Service says homeowners can deduct all interest on mortgages of up to $1 million. Lowering the mortgage deduction cap could help pay for major tax cuts for businesses and individuals that Republicans view as crucial for driving U.S. economic growth. But the White House pushed back on the notion that its position has changed. “As we’ve said since we introduced our principles in April, we intend to protect the homeownership deductions,” White House spokeswoman Natalie Strom said. Cohn told Bloomberg TV on Friday that the 35 percent U.S. corporate tax rate should be more in line with the 24 percent average rate among other countries in the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development. “We cannot be substantially higher than the OECD average tax rate out there,” he said. “We’ve got to get in line with the rest of the world, we’ve got to entice capital to be invested in the United States.” President Donald Trump wants to cut the corporate rate far lower to 15 percent, a level that Republicans in Congress view as unlikely. Senate Finance Committee Chairman Orrin Hatch told Reuters this week it would be a challenge to get the rate to 25 percent. In a separate Friday interview on Fox Business Network, Cohn said the administration and Congress are committed to get as low a rate as possible for businesses. Two congressional tax committees are drafting tax legislation that is expected to be unveiled in September. Republicans hope to pass the bill before the end of 2017. Congress faces a packed legislative agenda when lawmakers return to Washington in September after their August break, including the task of raising the debt ceiling before October, when the Treasury Department is expected to fully exhaust its remaining borrowing capacity. Cohn told Fox the administration is well aware of the calendar and that Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin is working to ensure the debt ceiling gets raised.

Summary: व्हाइट हाउस अमेरिकी मकान मालिकों के लिए कम कटौती पर विचार कर रहा हैः पोलिटिको


WASHINGTON (Reuters) - No newly elected administration is totally ready to govern on the first day in office, U.S. Vice President Joe Biden said on Wednesday after a lunch meeting with Vice President-elect Mike Pence. “No administration is ready on day one. We weren’t ready on day one,” Biden told reporters. “But I’m confident on day one everything will be in good hands.” Biden met with Pence and his wife at the vice president’s residence in Washington for about two hours. He said he would be available to assist Pence at any time.

Summary: कोई नया अमेरिकी प्रशासन पूरी तरह से तैयार नहीं हैः बाइडन


MADRID (Reuters) - A Spanish court has suspended a Catalan law that outlined a legal framework for an independent state, a court source said on Tuesday, the day after hundreds of thousands rallied in Barcelona to support secession from Madrid. Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy s government is increasing the pressure to prevent an independence referendum, scheduled for Oct. 1, from going ahead. It has declared the vote illegal and challenged laws linked to the ballot in the courts. The Constitutional Court, Spain s highest authority on such matters, suspended the law while judges consider whether it is against the country s constitution. It suspended a law approving the Oct. 1 vote last week.  The Catalan parliament approved both laws on Wednesday in a move which brought a long-running tussle between the pro-independence regional government and the Madrid-based central government to a head. Rising tension between Madrid and Barcelona has prompted some investors to ditch Spanish sovereign debt. Catalan leader Carles Puigdemont, who faces criminal charges for his role in organizing the referendum, only has the power to call an election not a referendum, a government spokesman said on Tuesday.  If Puigdemont wants to consult the people, it s very simple, he should call an election,  government spokesman and Minister of Education, Culture and Sport Inigo Mendez de Vigo told Antena 3 television. Polls have shown support for independence waning in recent years with those wanting a separate state in a minority. However, a majority of Catalans want to vote on the issue. Most of Catalonia s 948 mayors have pledged to permit use of public spaces for the vote, but Ada Colau, head of the region s biggest city Barcelona, has asked for assurances that civil servants involved will not risk losing their jobs.  Justice Minister Rafael Catala on Tuesday warned the regional administration against coercing municipal leaders to take part.  I trust they will be left in peace and not be obliged to do what they cannot,  Catala told RTVE television.

Summary: स्पेन की अदालत ने कैटलन जनमत संग्रह से जुड़े दूसरे कानून पर रोक लगा दी है।


WASHINGTON (Reuters) - European Foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini expressed concern on Monday over the Trump administration’s proposed deep cut in U.S. foreign assistance, saying it would destabilize major parts of the world and hurt American national security. “Investing in America means investing in places that are far away,” Mogherini said during an international conference on nuclear policy in Washington. Trump has proposed a 28 percent reduction in the State Department’s budget, which would translate into steep cuts in U.S. funds for foreign aid and the United Nations.  Mogherini also strongly defended the Iran nuclear deal, pointing out that the U.N. nuclear watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency, has five times confirmed Iran’s compliance with the 2015 agreement designed to stop it from developing nuclear weapons. “There is no alternative” to prevent Iran from developing a nuclear arsenal, she said, adding that she believed Tehran was committed to adhering to the deal. U.S. President Donald Trump has harshly criticized the agreement, which was negotiated between Iran, the United States, Russia, China, Britain, France and the European Union. The deal lifted international sanctions on Iran in return for Tehran accepting restrictions on its nuclear program. Mogherini ruled out the possibility of renegotiating the agreement. Some U.S. critics have said the pact does not do enough to prevent Iran from gaining further nuclear technology.

Summary: यूरोपीय संघ की विदेश नीति के प्रमुख ने अमेरिकी सहायता में प्रस्तावित कटौती पर चिंता जताई


WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. President Barack Obama defended Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton on Wednesday and criticized the FBI  announcement of new emails linked to her private server, saying there was no room for innuendo in the investigative process. In his first comment since the FBI reported a new cache of emails possibly related to Clinton, Obama said in a radio interview he did not want to meddle in the process.  But his displeasure at how it unfolded was clear. “I do think that there is a norm that when there are investigations we don’t operate on innuendo and we don’t operate on incomplete information and we don’t operate on leaks. We operate based on concrete decisions that are made,” he told NowThisNews in the interview, which was taped on Tuesday and aired on Wednesday. The FBI said on Friday it had found new emails that might pertain to Clinton’s use of a private server for government business while she was Obama’s first secretary of state from 2009-13. FBI Director James Comey said he did not know whether the emails were significant and released no information other than that they existed. His announcement 11 days before the Nov. 8 election drew outrage from Democrats and others who believed it would unfairly influence the vote. The decision flouted longstanding FBI traditions of keeping investigations confidential and avoiding politically sensitive announcements close to a presidential election.  On Monday, White House spokesman Josh Earnest said he would “neither defend nor criticize” Comey’s decision. However, he added that the president expected “an adherence to longstanding tradition and practice and norms that limit public discussion” of information gathered in such investigations. Little is known yet about the emails, which were found during an unrelated probe into former U.S. Representative Anthony Weiner, the estranged husband of top Clinton aide Huma Abedin. Obama noted that the FBI already has determined that Clinton had not intentionally transmitted classified information over her private email server but had been “extremely careless.””When this was investigated thoroughly the last time, the conclusion of the FBI the conclusion of the Justice Department, the conclusion of repeated congressional investigations was that she had made some mistakes but that there wasn’t anything there that was prosecutable,” Obama said. Obama defended Clinton, whose increasingly confident campaign was blindsided by the FBI announcement, as someone who has always put the American people first. “When she makes a mistake, an honest mistake, it ends up being blown up as if it’s some crazy thing,” he said. “I trust her, I know her. And I wouldn’t be supporting her if I didn’t have absolute confidence in her integrity and her interest in making sure that young people have a better future.”

Summary: एफ. बी. आई. पर ओबामाः 'हम इशारे पर काम नहीं करते', लीक


WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Senate on Thursday voted to advance the nomination of President Donald Trump’s pick to run the Environmental Protection Agency and a final vote could occur on Friday. The Senate voted 54 to 46 to advance Scott Pruitt, the attorney general of oil and gas producing Oklahoma. Pruitt has come under criticism from many lawmakers for suing the agency he intends to run 14 times on behalf of Oklahoma. One Republican, Senator Sue Collins, said this week she would not vote for Pruitt in the final vote.

Summary: सीनेट ने ई. पी. ए. के प्रमुख के लिए ट्रम्प द्वारा चुने गए प्रुइट के नामांकन को आगे बढ़ाया


SINGAPORE (Reuters) - An earthquake of magnitude 6.1 struck off southern Japan on Thursday, the United States Geological Survey said. The quake struck 682 km (424 miles) off Japan s island of Kyushu at a depth of 10 km (6.2 miles), the agency said, but there were no immediate reports of damage or casualties.

Summary: दक्षिणी जापान में 6.1 तीव्रता का भूकंपः यूएसजीएस