AUSTIN, Texas (Reuters) - Republican Ted Cruz asked a federal court in Houston to throw out a lawsuit questioning whether he is eligible to be president of the United States because he was born in Canada, saying the case against him “suffers from fatal deficiencies.” Lawyers for Cruz contend in the filing made on Monday that the U.S. senator from Texas meets the constitutional requirements to serve as president and that the Houston lawyer trying to have the court block his bid does not have standing to bring the case. “Senator Cruz is a ‘natural-born citizen’ eligible to serve as President of the United States,” the motion to dismiss said, adding, the “plaintiff is essentially implicating the Court in a political dispute that it lacks authority to adjudicate.” The lawsuit brought in January by Newton Schwartz, an 85-year-old self-described liberal, also cited Cruz’s stance on issues such as abortion rights, gay marriage and the Bible in a 27-page argument against the senator’s eligibility. The lawsuit filed in the Southern District of Texas is a class action, meaning others can join. It requests a ruling before the Nov. 8 presidential election. Lawyers for Cruz also argue he has yet to be the Republican Party’s nominee and it would be premature for a court to address the issue. “Nowhere does Plaintiff, who acknowledges that he is a Democrat ... explain how he is harmed by Senator Cruz’s presence on the Republican primary ballot,” the Cruz filing said. Billionaire Donald Trump, the front-runner in the race for the Republican presidential nomination, has repeatedly questioned whether Cruz is eligible and warned that his winning the nomination could throw the party into chaos and hand the election to the Democrats. Cruz was born in Calgary, Alberta in 1970. At the time, his mother was a U.S. citizen and his father was Cuban.  He has dismissed attacks on his eligibility and noted in the filing that 2008 Republican presidential nominee John McCain and 1968 Republican candidate George Romney also were born outside the United States but were considered eligible to be president.  The U.S. Constitution says a president or vice president must be a “natural-born citizen” but does not say whether the term means the candidate must be born on U.S. soil or just be a citizen at birth. According to legal experts, any child born to an American mother or father, no matter where, is considered a U.S. citizen. The case is Schwartz v. Cruz, 4:16-cv-00106, U.S. District Court, Southern District of Texas (Houston).  (Reporting by Jon Herskovitz; Editing by Jonathan Oatis) This article was funded in part by SAP. It was independently created by the Reuters editorial staff. SAP had no editorial involvement in its creation or production.

Summary: क्रूज़ ने अमेरिकी राष्ट्रपति पद की योग्यता को चुनौती देने वाले मामले को खारिज करने की मांग की


PARIS (Reuters) - French trade unionists blocked access on Monday to several fuel depots in protest against an overhaul of employment laws, seeking to test the government s will to reform the economy. In southern France, protesters  unions set up a road-block in front of Total s La Mede refinery, while in western France fuel depots were blocked near Bordeaux and the coastal city of La Rochelle. Union members also held go-slow operations on highways near Paris and in northern France.  We re determined. We re going to stay as long as possible while hoping that other blockades take place elsewhere, maybe that ll make Mr. Macron move,  Force Ouvriere union official Pascal Favre told Reuters. Eager to avoid fuel shortages, centrist President Emmanuel Macron s government deployed police at some sites before dawn to ensure by force that protesters could not block access.   It s not in blockading the country s economy and by preventing people from working, that one best defends one s cause,  junior economy minister Benjamin Griveaux told RTL radio. The labor reform is due to become law in the coming days after Macron formally signed five labor form decrees on Friday, in the first major economic reforms since he took power in May. The new rules, discussed at length in advance with unions, will cap payouts on dismissals that are judged unfair, while also giving companies greater freedom to hire and fire employees and to agree working conditions. While unions have failed to derail the reform, the considerable political capital Macron had after his landslide election victory in May is quickly evaporating. Macron suffered his first electoral setback on Sunday when his Republic on the Move (LREM) party won fewer seats than expected in elections for the French Senate.

Summary: श्रम सुधारों के विरोध में फ्रांसीसी यूनियनों ने ईंधन डिपो को अवरुद्ध किया


MADRID (Reuters) - Spain s central government can not rule out taking  exceptional measures  over the region of Catalonia s plans to hold a referendum on independence from the rest of the country, a vote Madrid says is illegal, the spokesman said on Friday.  The government does not rule anything out. We are acting firmly to ensure the rights and liberties of everyone and will react to whatever the secessionists do,  the government spokesman Inigo Mendez de Vigo said. The northeastern region has clashed with the central government in Madrid over its attempts to hold a referendum on whether it should split from the rest of the country.

Summary: स्पेन कैटेलोनिया पर असाधारण उपायों से इनकार नहीं करेगा


WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The leaders of the U.S. intelligence community on Thursday pressed Congress to renew the National Security Agency’s expiring surveillance law, warning in a rare public statement that national security may be endangered if lawmakers let it lapse. The message from the intelligence chiefs sought to apply pressure on lawmakers who appeared to abandon an effort this week to pass legislation that would have reauthorized for several years the NSA’s warrantless internet spying program, which is due to expire on Dec. 31. That plan cratered late on Wednesday amid objections from a sizable coalition of Republicans and Democrats who want to have more privacy safeguards in the program, which chiefly targets foreigners but also collects communications from an unknown number of Americans. Instead, House Republicans unveiled a stopgap funding measure on Thursday that includes an extension of the surveillance law until Jan. 19. The law, known as Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, is considered by U.S. intelligence agencies to be vital to national security. “There is no substitute for Section 702,” Director of National Intelligence Dan Coats, Attorney General Jeff Sessions, and the directors the NSA, FBI and CIA wrote in the joint statement, adding that failure to renew the authority would make it easier for foreign adversaries to “plan attacks against our citizens and allies without detection.” Section 702 allows the NSA to collect vast amounts of digital communications from foreign suspects living outside the United States. But the program incidentally gathers communications of Americans for a variety of technical reasons, including if they communicate with a foreign target living overseas. Those communications can then be subject to searches without a warrant, including by the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Some lawmakers in both parties want to eliminate or partially restrict the U.S. government’s ability to review data of Americans collected under Section 702 without first obtaining a warrant. The intelligence chiefs also criticized the current plan to temporarily extend the program, saying short-term extensions “fail to provide certainty and will create needless and wasteful operational complications.” U.S. officials recently acknowledged the end-year deadline may not matter much because of a belief the program can lawfully continue through April due to the way it is annually certified.  In their statement, however, the intelligence chiefs warned that the surveillance program would need to begin “winding down” well in advance of the April date.

Summary: जासूसी प्रमुखों का कांग्रेस पर कार्यकाल समाप्त होने वाले निगरानी कानून को फिर से लागू करने का दबाव


GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (Reuters) - Michigan Republican Party Chair Ronna Romney McDaniel has emerged as President-elect Donald Trump’s favorite to head the party, appearing on Friday at a rally attended by him as part of his “thank you” tour. The Republican National Committee will soon have a vacancy at the top of the party as current chairman Reince Priebus becomes White House chief of staff when Trump takes office on Jan. 20. While Trump did not signal his support for McDaniel at the rally, two party officials said he is pushing for her. McDaniel is a niece of 2012 Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney. The Trump transition team had no immediate comment.  The officials said Trump appreciated the role McDaniel played in helping deliver the state of Michigan for him in the Nov. 8 election.  In a speech that preceded Trump’s remarks in Grand Rapids, McDaniel celebrated the end to a vote recount effort in Michigan by Green Party candidate Jill Stein. “The recount in Michigan is over. The election is over. Our next president is Donald J. Trump,” she said. “Winning once was nice. But winning twice was huge.” In his remarks, Trump expressed gratitude to Michigan voters for helping him win the presidency. “We’re in your debt and we will never let you down,” he said. Until this year, Michigan had not voted Republican since 1988. Trump won the Midwestern state by little more than 10,000 votes, and the state’s 16 electoral votes were critical to his victory over Democrat Hillary Clinton. The Republican National Committee’s 168 elected members will choose their next chair at a meeting in mid-January, but they will be influenced by Trump’s view on who should head the party. Another popular choice among party regulars is Matt Pinnell, the former chairman of the Oklahoma Republican Party.

Summary: रोमनी की भतीजी मैकडैनियल रिपब्लिकन पार्टी का नेतृत्व करने के लिए पसंदीदा हैं


OTTAWA/WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Canada’s charismatic Prime Minister Justin Trudeau will be traveling to Washington this week for talks with U.S. President Barack Obama, hoping to revitalize a frayed relationship and draw rare attention to Canadian issues. Trudeau’s Liberals came to power in November by ousting the right-wing Conservative leader Stephen Harper, whose ties with Washington deteriorated as he hectored Obama in a failed bid to gain approval for a major Canada-U.S. pipeline. Trudeau, who has basked in international media attention since coming to power and whose progressive politics are much more in tune with Obama’s, will attend a state dinner Thursday, becoming the first Canadian leader to do so since 1997. “We want to strengthen our relationship with the United States at a time when it is key for our agenda of economic growth,” Foreign Minister Stephane Dion said in an interview on Monday.  Canada sends 75 percent of its exports to the United States. It is also the United States’ largest trading partner and biggest supplier of oil, but has found it hard to stand out. “We’d sometimes like to think that Americans would pay attention to us from time to time,” Trudeau said in an interview with the CBS television show “60 Minutes” that aired on Sunday. Trudeau will press his message on Thursday, holding talks with Obama, lunching with Secretary of State John Kerry and then attending the state dinner. Canada wants to avoid a fresh trade fight over its softwood lumber exports, while the United States will reiterate long-standing concerns about how much information Ottawa shares on terror suspects, say officials involved with the talks. The two sides are also set to sign a declaration committing to the fight against climate change, sources said. “Canada’s not an issue that gets a lot of attention normally,” said a senior U.S. administration official. “(But) I’d be hard-pressed to identify a relationship that’s more important day in, day out, and that affects more Americans day in, day out.” Trudeau has a higher profile than any Canadian leader since his father, former prime minister Pierre Trudeau, was in power four decades ago. The New York Times and Vogue magazine are among the U.S. outlets that have run sympathetic profiles about him. Still, his visit may be overshadowed by the raucous race between Republican candidates vying to run for the White House. Thursday’s dinner coincides with a Republican debate in the battleground state of Florida.

Summary: राज्य रात्रिभोज के आकर्षण के बीच, ओबामा-ट्रूडो वार्ता के लिए एक गंभीर एजेंडा


WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. Republican Senator Lisa Murkowski said on Monday that she was leaning toward a “yes” vote on a Senate budget resolution intended to facilitate the passage of tax reform legislation later this year. “I am leaning ‘yes,’” Murkowski told reporters. But she added that her final decision would depend on what amendments are added to the budget resolution before it comes up for final passage.

Summary: कर सुधार बजट पर सीनेट रिपब्लिकन मुर्कोव्स्की का झुकाव


VALLETTA (Reuters) - A second magistrate in less than a week has recused herself from hearing court evidence in Malta against three men accused of the murder of anti-corruption blogger Daphne Caruana Galizia. The double abstention has jeopardized the launch of judicial proceedings against the three men and underscored the interwoven nature of public life on the Mediterranean island of Malta - the smallest nation in the European Union. The initial magistrate assigned to the case stood down last Thursday after defense lawyers complained that she knew one of Caruana Galizia s sisters and had sent her condolences following the Oct. 16 killing. On Monday, a replacement magistrate, Charmaine Galea, said she was also withdrawing from the case because the blogger had written about her and her alleged connections to the government. She said that justice had to be done and be seen to be done. A new magistrate was subsequently assigned to the suit and the preliminary hearing was scheduled to resume on Tuesday.  Under Maltese law, the compilation of evidence must be presented within a 30-day time frame and a lawyer for Caruana Galizia s family warned the delays could sink the case. The trio were charged on Dec. 4, giving the court until Jan. 4 to hear the evidence and decide whether to call a trial. The three suspects, brothers Alfred and George Degiorgio, and Vince Muscat have denied any wrongdoing. The three were known to local police and had never been the target of any of Caruana Galizia s often fierce blogs. Caruana Galizia was killed instantly when the car she was driving was blown up. According to Maltese media, the three suspects were arrested on the basis of phone intercepts and analysis of triangulation data showing their locations at the time of the murder.  The reports said one of the suspects had to call a local telecom company shortly before the bomb went off to top up the credit on the mobile phone that was used to detonate the explosives - a error that led police straight to the trio.  The government has announced a one-million-euro ($1.2-million) reward to anyone giving enough information for convictions. Caruana Galizia s family have denounced the handling of the case and expressed fears that those behind the murder will never be brought to justice. ($1 = 0.8482 euros)

Summary: माल्टा के पत्रकार की हत्या के मामले की सुनवाई शुरू करने के लिए संघर्ष करना पड़ रहा है


WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The conservative Freedom Caucus in the U.S. House of Representatives said in a note posted on Twitter on Wednesday that it had taken an official position in support of the Republican framework for tax reform. It said it would issue a statement later.

Summary: यूएस हाउस फ्रीडम कॉकस ने रिपब्लिकन कर सुधार ढांचे का समर्थन कियाः बयान


MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russia s President Vladimir Putin and Saudi Arabia s King Salman stressed the importance of further coordinating their actions on the energy markets, the Kremlin said on Tuesday.

Summary: पुतिन, सऊदी राजा, ऊर्जा बाजारों पर समन्वय करने की आवश्यकता पर जोर देते हैंः क्रेमलिन


WELLINGTON (Reuters) - New Zealand will develop a close relationship with China, Foreign Minister Winston Peters said on Tuesday, putting to rest fears that his protectionist campaign rhetoric would fuel tension with a key trading partner. The 40-year political veteran played a decisive role in bringing the centre-left Labour Party to power in October after an inconclusive election left his nationalist New Zealand First party holding the balance of power. But many in China see New Zealand as a model for the Asian giant s relationship with Western countries, with President Xi Jinping last year calling the depth of the bond  unprecedented .  Our record of trade and economic firsts is dramatic,  Peters, who is also deputy prime minister, told academics and diplomats in Wellington, setting out his stance on China for the first time since taking office.  New Zealand will continue to seek closer cooperation with China as both countries focus on sustainable economic development and the wellbeing of our peoples,  Peters said, giving a complimentary account of 45 years of diplomatic ties.    Peters had campaigned on a protectionist platform, vowing to slash immigration and curb foreign investment, which fueled  concern he could anger the Asian giant, the country s top destination for goods exports. On the previous National government s watch, New Zealand became the first developed country to join the China-led Asia Infrastructure Investment Bank and helped usher in other Western countries, according to treasury officials. Trade between the two countries has grown to more than NZ$24 billion ($16.54 billion) a year and New Zealand was the first Western nation to formally sign up to China s sweeping Belt and Road global infrastructure initiative in March. The two are in the midst of negotiations to upgrade their 2008 free trade pact, which Peters said would  serve as a demonstration to our shared commitment to trade liberalization . He also defended China s human rights record, which has at times drawn fire from rights groups.  When you have hundreds of millions of people to be re-employed and relocated with the change of your economic structure you have some massive, huge problems,  Peters said.  Sometimes commentators in the West should have a little more regard to that, and the economic outcome for those people, rather than constantly harping on about the romance of freedom.  China s crackdown on activists and lawyers in its campaign to stifle dissent was  alarming , New York-based Human Rights Watch said in September. ($1=1.4512 New Zealand dollars)

Summary: न्यूजीलैंड के विदेश मंत्री ने चीन के संबंधों की प्रशंसा की, संरक्षणवाद की आशंकाओं को कम किया


WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. State Department on Friday handed over more than 1,100 pages of records to the committee investigating the deaths of U.S. citizens in Benghazi, Libya on Sept. 11, 2012, the chairman of the House of Representatives panel said. The records included files from senior employees during the time Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton was secretary of state, according to a statement by Select Committee on Benghazi Chairman Trey Gowdy. <bit.ly/1VbDyTc> “It is deplorable that it took over a year for these records to be produced to our committee, and that our Democrat colleagues never lifted a finger to help us get them,” Gowdy, a Republican, said in the statement. Democrats have complained since the investigation began that the panel is a partisan project bent on hurting Clinton’s candidacy.

Summary: अमेरिका ने बेनगाज़ी रिकॉर्ड के 1,100 पृष्ठ सौंपेः हाउस पैनल के अध्यक्ष


NEW YORK (Reuters) - Britain s Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson on Monday urged Myanmar leader Aung San Suu Kyi to show a lead in ending violence against the country s Rohingya Muslims, which the United Nations has branded ethnic cleansing.   What we are trying to get everyone to agree is that, number one, the killings have got to stop, and the violence has got to stop. And we look not just to the military but also to Daw Suu to show a lead on that,  Johnson told Reuters ahead of hosting a ministerial meeting on the crisis on the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly.

Summary: ब्रिटेन ने म्यांमार के नेता से हिंसा समाप्त करने में नेतृत्व करने का आह्वान किया


BEIRUT (Reuters) - British Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson said on Sunday he hopes Saad al-Hariri, who announced last week from Saudi Arabia that he was resigning as prime minister of Lebanon, returns to Beirut  without further delay . In a statement, Johnson said he had spoken with Lebanese foreign minister Gebran Bassil on Sunday and reiterated Britain s support for Lebanon. Johnson said Lebanon  should not be used as tool for proxy conflicts  and its independence should be respected.

Summary: ब्रिटेन के विदेश सचिव का कहना है कि हरीरी को लेबनान लौट जाना चाहिए


(Reuters) - A “lone hacker” has taken responsibility for a cyber attack on the U.S. Democratic National Committee, which the DNC and a cyber-security firm have blamed on the Russian government. The DNC and cyber firm CrowdStrike disclosed the attack on Tuesday, saying that hackers working for Russia broke into the DNC’s computer network, spied on internal communications and stole research on presumptive Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump. A Russian government spokesman responded by saying that Moscow had not been involved. On Wednesday, an individual using the moniker Guccifer 2.0 took responsibility for the attack in a post on the blogging site WordPress.com, saying the DNC was “hacked by a lone hacker.” The DNC did not respond to a request for comment late on Wednesday evening on Guccifer 2.0’s claim. CrowdStrike said it stands by findings that the Russian government was behind the attacks.  Guccifer 2.0’s blog includes images of documents it claims were stolen from DNC servers, including one titled “Donald Trump Report,” which was dated Dec. 19, and spreadsheets purportedly containing information about party donors.  Reuters was unable to verify the authenticity of the documents, which the blog said were among “thousands of files and mails” removed from DNC servers that would soon be published on WikiLeaks.  CrowdStrike issued a statement saying it “stands fully by its analysis” that two groups affiliated with Russian intelligence were discovered in the DNC’s network last month.  The company said it was reviewing the documents published by Guccifer 2.0 to determine whether they were authentic.

Summary: 'लोन हैकर' ने डेमोक्रेट पर साइबर हमले की जिम्मेदारी ली


NICOSIA (Reuters) - Cypriot President Nicos Anastasiades said on Saturday he planned to seek a second five-year term in elections scheduled for January 2018, pledging to pick up the pace of reunification talks which collapsed in acrimony in mid-2017. Anastasiades, 71, a conservative, was widely credited with leading a renewed bid to reunite Cyprus, split in a Turkish invasion in 1974 after a brief Greek-inspired coup.  Failure to reach a solution is not in the interests of either Greek or Turkish Cypriots, and naturally, not of Turkey either. I want to believe Turkey will see the benefits of a solution,  Anastasiades, who represents Greek Cypriots in peace negotiations, told supporters in Nicosia.  Peace talks collapsed in July after the sides failed to agree on the status of Turkish forces on the island, as well as intervention rights of Turkey in Cyprus stemming from a 1960 independence treaty.  Anastasiades has faced criticism at home for either granting too many concessions in talks, or of tactical errors which hampered prospects of a deal. The simmering conflict remains a source of tension between NATO allies Greece and Turkey and one of the obstacles Ankara has to face in its long-frustrated bid to join the European Union. A  historic opportunity  to end the decades-old conflict was missed, United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres wrote in a report to the Security Council on Sept. 28. To date, there is no sign of the peace negotiations resuming.    Anastasiades is expected to run against at least three other contenders, including Nicolas Papadopoulos, son of late president Tassos Papadopoulos who rejected a United Nations reunification blueprint for Cyprus in 2004. Elections will be held on Jan. 28, with a runoff a week later if a single candidate does not muster a majority in the first round. The early days of Anastasiades s presidency in 2013 were marked by a financial meltdown triggered by the exposure of the island s banks to indebted Greece and fiscal slippage.  The island required a 10 billion euro ($11.8 billion) international bailout. contingent upon winding down one commercial bank and seizing deposits in a second. Cyprus made a successful exit from the programme in 2016. ($1 = 0.8459 euros)

Summary: साइप्रस के राष्ट्रपति जनवरी '18 के मतदान में दूसरे पांच साल के कार्यकाल की मांग करेंगे


(Reuters) - U.S. Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders on Tuesday requested a recount in the close Kentucky presidential primary against front-runner Hillary Clinton, state election officials said on Tuesday. The recanvass will take place at all 120 county boards of election on Thursday, according to the Kentucky Secretary of State Alison Grimes. Clinton won Kentucky by just 1,924 votes, according to the unofficial totals posted on the secretary of state’s elections page. She won Jefferson County, which includes Louisville and is the largest by far of the state’s 120 counties, by nearly 10 times that amount In his filing on Tuesday, Sanders requested a full check and recount of every voting machine and absentee ballot from all precincts in the counties, according to Grimes’ website. “My office is notifying all county boards of elections that Sen. Sanders has requested a recanvass, and we are reminding them of the laws and procedures to be followed,” Grimes said in a statement. Clinton, a former U.S. senator and secretary of state, narrowly defeated Sanders, a U.S. senator from Vermont, in the May 17 presidential nominating contest in Kentucky, a state she had not been expected to win.  A Sanders campaign representative said the recount request was important for the integrity of the Democratic presidential contest, in which Sanders is continuing to challenge Clinton despite her formidable lead in the number of delegates needed to secure the nomination. “I think the point is just transparency, it’s not just about Kentucky,” Sanders aide Larry Cohen said on CNN. “It’s about trying to create a context, now and at the (Democratic) convention, that these primaries and caucuses need transparency, they need to be authentic, they need to build confidence among voters, particularly younger voters, that this is not rigged.”  Sanders has generally drawn more support from young voters than Clinton.

Summary: डेमोक्रेटिक राष्ट्रपति पद के उम्मीदवार सैंडर्स ने केंटकी में फिर से गिनती की मांग की


WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Donald Trump, who is considering ending a program that allowed young immigrants who came to the United States with their parents illegally to stay in the country, said he would have a decision on the issue later on Friday or over the weekend. “We love the Dreamers,” he told reporters in the Oval Office, referring to the young men and women who are covered by the program known as DACA.

Summary: अप्रवासी बच्चों पर निर्णय शुक्रवार या इस सप्ताह के अंत में आ रहा हैः ट्रम्प


TORONTO (Reuters) - Chelsea Manning was turned back at the Canadian-U.S. border because she was convicted of espionage for passing information to Wikileaks, the former U.S. intelligence analyst said on Monday.  Manning told Reuters via direct message on Twitter that she drove up to the Canadian border in Lacolle, Quebec, on Thursday evening, planning to vacation in Montreal and Vancouver. She said she was stopped at the border and detained overnight before being handed a report stating she was inadmissible  on grounds of serious criminality,  according to a picture of the report she posted online.  The offenses Manning was convicted of under the U.S. Espionage Act  would equate to an indictable offence, namely Treason  if committed in Canada, the report reads.  Manning said she was getting a Canadian lawyer and planned to challenge the finding of inadmissibility before a Canadian tribunal. A spokesman for Immigration and Refugee Minister Ahmed Hussen would not comment on the case, citing privacy concerns.  Each case is unique and assessed on its own merits,  Hursh Jaswal wrote in an email.  Our government is committed to ensuring that every case put forward ... is evaluated based on its merits and in a fair manner. All applicants can expect impartial, professional treatment and clear, accountable decision-making.  Prime Minister Justin Trudeau declined to comment on Monday.   I look forward to seeing more details about this,  he told reporters.

Summary: चेल्सी मैनिंग का कहना है कि उन्हें कनाडा में प्रवेश से वंचित कर दिया गया था


BEIJING (Reuters) - China has  reasonably  expanded its islands in the disputed South China Sea and this year construction projects there including radar facilities covered about 290,000 square meters (72 acres), according to a new government report. The number was broadly similar to one provided by a U.S. think tank earlier this month. China has conducted extensive land reclamation work on some of the islands and reefs it controls in the South China Sea, including building airports, alarming its neighbors and Washington. Beijing says the work is help provide international services such as search-and-rescue but admits there is a military purpose too. China also says it can do whatever it wants on its territory. The new report, posted on a website run by China s National Marine Data and Information Service and the overseas edition of the ruling Communist Party s People s Daily, says China has enhanced its military presence there and  reasonably  expanded the area covered by the islands. Apart from what it termed  large radar  - it was unclear if the report was referring to more than one - construction this year has included facilities for underground storage and administrative buildings. There has been an increase in military patrols too, the report added, without giving specifics. The report was released on Friday but appeared in the state-run newspaper the Global Times on Monday. While attention in Asia has been distracted by the North Korean nuclear crisis in the past year, China has continued to install high-frequency radar and other facilities that can be used for military purposes on its man-made islands in the South China Sea, a U.S. think tank said this month. That report, by the Asia Maritime Transparency Initiative of Washington s Center for Strategic and International Studies, said Chinese activity has involved work on facilities covering 72 acres (29 hectares) of the Spratly and Paracel islands, territory contested with several Asian neighbors. More than $5 trillion of world trade is shipped through the South China Sea every year. Besides China s territorial claims in the area, Vietnam, Malaysia, Brunei, the Philippines and Taiwan have rival claims.

Summary: चीनी रिपोर्ट में कहा गया है कि दक्षिण चीन सागर द्वीपों का विस्तार 'उचित रूप से' हुआ है


WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Donald Trump met Monday at the White House with leaders of construction, carpenters, plumbers and sheet metal unions, the White House said. According to the White House, participants included North America’s Building Trades Unions President Sean McGarvey, Laborers’ International Union of North America President Terry O’Sullivan, SMART sheet metal workers’ union President Joseph Sellers, United Brotherhood of Carpenters President Doug McCarron and Mark McManus, president of the United Association that represents plumbers, pipefitters, welders and others. The union meeting also included several local union officials and follows a gathering of 12 chief executives of large companies at the White House to discuss revitalizing the U.S. manufacturing economy. Earlier this month, Trump held separate meetings with Teamsters President Jim Hoffa and AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka in New York. On Monday, Trump signed an order to withdraw from the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade agreement, a deal that was harshly criticized by organized labor. “This is a group I know well,” Trump said at the meeting with union members, noting as a businessman he hired thousands of union workers for construction projects. Not all major unions were invited to Monday’s event. A spokesman for the United Steelworkers union, Wayne Ranick, said the union was not invited. “We are always interested in such discussions given that 100,000s of our members work in manufacturing and (are) affected by trade,” he said in an email. Trump sparred with a local steelworkers union president Chuck Jones in December over the number of jobs United Technologies Corp agreed to save at a Carrier plant in Indiana. Nearly all major unions endorsed Trump’s rival, Hillary Clinton, during the presidential election campaign. During the campaign, Trump appealed to blue collar workers in Midwestern states vowing to bring jobs back from Mexico, which helped him win crucial states like Ohio, Michigan, Wisconsin and Pennsylvania. A CNN exit poll said Trump carried 42 percent of voters in union households compared with 51 percent for Clinton. He did far better among union members than Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney did in 2012.

Summary: ट्रम्प ने भवन, शीट मेटल यूनियनों के नेताओं से मुलाकात की


CAIRO (Reuters) - Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas on Monday intensified efforts to rally Middle Eastern countries against U.S. recognition of Jerusalem as Israel s capital, setting up talks with Arab leaders beginning in Cairo. Abbas met with President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi of Egypt, which has been a key broker in past peace talks with Israel and between fighting Palestinian factions. Abbas and Sisi agreed to continue high-level coordination and to use the widespread rejection of the U.S. move to maintain the rights of the Palestinians, a statement from the Egyptian presidency said. Palestinian Presidency Spokesman Nabil Abu Rdainah said there would be an Arab move to preserve the rights of the Palestinian people soon. Abbas will later head to Istanbul to give a speech at a meeting of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC).   Arab states condemned U.S. President Donald Trump s Jerusalem decision last week, and vowed to press international bodies to take action against it. The Arab Parliament held an emergency meeting on the issue in Cairo on Monday, state news agency MENA reported. Sisi, after a separate meeting with visiting Russian President Vladimir Putin, said the U.S. moving its Israel embassy to Jerusalem would have  dangerous effects on peace and security in the region . Abbas met the head of the Arab League in Cairo on Monday, local media reported. Arab foreign ministers held an hours-long emergency meeting at the weekend and vowed to seek a U.N. Security Council resolution rejecting the U.S. move, but gave few details on other measures they would take.  The Palestinians hope for concrete action.  Daring Palestinian and Arab decisions are required in the coming stage, which is very important,  Abbas s spokesman Nabil Abu Rdainah told Palestinian official news agency WAFA. World powers have said the U.S. move will impede peace efforts in the decades-long Israeli-Palestinian conflict as anger spreads across the region. The Trump administration says it is still committed to the peace process. Abbas will not meet Mike Pence during the U.S. Vice President s visit to the region later this month, Palestinian Foreign Minister Riyad al-Maliki said on Saturday. Egypt s top Muslim and Christian religious leaders also said they would not meet Pence. Egypt has also brokered reconciliation deals between Abbas s Fatah party and Gaza-based Islamist group Hamas, which called for a new uprising against Israel last week. The planned handover of control of Gaza to the Fatah-dominated Palestinian Authority under the latest deal hit another delay on Sunday, with a Fatah official blaming  obstacles  without elaborating. Israel launched fresh air strikes in Gaza on Saturday in response to rocket fire from the enclave, where it fought a war in 2014 which killed more than 2,000 people, most of them civilians.

Summary: फ़लस्तीनी नेता अब्बास काहिरा, इस्तांबुल में येरुशलम के ऊपर क्षेत्र में रैली करेंगे


PHNOM PENH (Reuters) - Cambodia s exiled opposition leader Sam Rainsy has committed treason by inciting soldiers to defy orders, Prime Minister Hun Sen said on Wednesday, and he will face new legal action over the comments. The threat of more legal action against Sam Rainsy, who has lived in France since 2015 to avoid a series of convictions, comes weeks after a court dissolved his opposition party, removing any significant challenge to Hun Sen extending his decades-long rule in a general election next year. The dissolution of the Cambodia National Rescue Party (CNRP) has been condemned by the opposition, rights groups and some Western countries as the most serious blow to democracy since an international peace deal and U.N.-run elections in the early 1990s ended decades of war and genocide. The United States has withdrawn an offer to help fund the election and the European Union has raised the possibility of withdrawing trade preferences. Sam Rainsy, who stepped down as leader of the CNRP this year in what turned out to be a futile bid to forestall a ban on his party suggested in a video posted on his Facebook page on Tuesday that soldiers would not obey orders to shoot civilians.     Around the world, at any time, armed forces don t obey orders given by dictators to kill people and we say that Hun Sen is not immortal, we must not protect Hun Sen,  Sam Rainsy told supporters in Paris. Hun Sen, who has held power for more than 32 years, a  said the military would file a lawsuit in response.  This is a treasonous crime, an incitement of soldiers to disobey orders,  Hun Sen told garment workers in Phnom Penh. The Supreme Court banned the CNRP after its leader, Kem Sokha, who took over after Sam Rainsy stepped down, was arrested for allegedly plotting to overthrow the government with American help. Kem Sokha, who rejected the accusation, is in prison. In an interview with Reuters last month, Sam Rainsy said Cambodia was at a  tipping point  and that Hun Sen would be driven from power like Zimbabwe s Robert Mugabe. He urged Western states to impose targeted sanctions. A government crackdown on dissent has included the prosecution of several rights activists, reporters and the closure of several media outlets. Sam Rainsy served as finance minister in an ill-fated coalition set up when Hun Sen refused to give up power after losing a U.N.-organised election in 1993. Hun Sen purged his coalition partners in a 1997 putsch. Hun Sen has built close ties to China and dismisses Western pressure to improve rights. He has warned of a return to civil war if he were to lose the election. (This version of the story amends headline to show Hun Sen said the opposition leader would be sued)

Summary: कंबोडिया के सैम रेनसी पर सैनिकों को 'देशद्रोही' कॉल करने के लिए मुकदमा चलाया जाएगाः प्रधानमंत्री


GENEVA (Reuters) - Bangladesh border guards reported more than 11,000 Rohingya refugees crossing into their country from Myanmar on Monday, in a sudden surge, the United Nations refugee agency said.  More than half a million Rohingya have fled Myanmar since Aug. 25 after insurgent attacks on security forces triggered a violent government crackdown, but the rate had slowed to about 2,000 refugees per day last week, aid agencies say.  We re back in a situation of full alert as far as influxes are concerned. It is a big increase to see 11,000,  Adrian Edwards, spokesman for the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), told a news briefing in Geneva on Tuesday.  We have had big numbers coming across by the day over the six weeks of this emergency. So we are back up to approaching some of those peak arrivals. Clearly we have to be prepared for more arrivals,  he said. Many of the refugees are reported to come from the Buthidaung area in Myanmar s northern Rakhine state, which is  20-25 kilometers east of Maungdaw.  Some said they had fled torching and killings back home; one boy was seen with a big gash across his neck,  Edwards said.   We don t know at the moment what is driving this,  he added.  Some of these people have fled their homes several days ago and in some cases two weeks ago, so they moved toward the border before coming across.  There are also indications of more recent problems.  As you may have seen from media reports which I can t verify, but there are reports about fires being seen close to the border (and) other problems there,  Edwards said. Meanwhile, a massive cholera immunization campaign began on Tuesday near Cox s Bazar, Bangladesh, aimed at protecting newly-arrived Rohingya and host communities from the disease which can be deadly, the World Health Organization (WHO) said. Some 900,000 oral vaccine doses will be distributed, including 650,000 in an initial 10-day campaign to be followed by a second round from Oct. 31 targeting 250,000 children between one and five years old, the agency said. There is a  clear and present risk  of the spread of cholera among the population.  Luckily, we don t have any confirmed cases of cholera so far,  WHO spokesman Christian Lindmeier said.

Summary: एक दिन में 11,000 रोहिंग्याओं के पलायन के बाद यूएनएचसीआर 'पूर्ण सतर्कता' पर


ANAHEIM, Calif. (Reuters) - The federal government has not notified U.S. state election officials if their voting systems were targeted by suspected Russian hackers during the 2016 presidential campaign, and the information will likely never be made public, a top state election chief told Reuters. “You’re absolutely never going to learn it, because we don’t even know it,” Judd Choate, state election director for Colorado and president of the National Association of State Election Directors, said in an interview on Thursday during the group’s summer conference. Nearly 10 months after Republican Donald Trump’s upset presidential victory over Democrat Hillary Clinton, Choate said he had not spoken to a single state election director who had been told by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security if their state was among those attacked. The lack of information-sharing on the election breaches reflects the difficulty state and federal officials have had in working together to protect U.S. voting from cyber threats. All U.S. elections are run by state and local governments, which have varying degrees of technical competence. DHS told Congress in June that 21 states were targeted during the 2016 presidential race, and that while a small number were breached, there was no evidence any votes were manipulated.  Other reports have said 39 states were targeted. Choate said he had heard both numbers mentioned. Several lawmakers, including Senator Mark Warner, the top Democrat on the U.S. Senate Intelligence Committee, have expressed frustration at DHS’ refusal to identify which states had been targeted. Arizona and Illinois confirmed last year that hackers had targeted their voter registration systems. In a statement, the DHS did not refute that states had not been notified if they were targeted, adding the agency informed the owners or operators of systems potentially victimized “who may not necessarily” be state election officials.  DHS was working with senior state election officials “to determine how best to share this information while protecting the integrity of investigations and the confidentiality of system owners,” the agency said. U.S. intelligence agencies have concluded that the Kremlin orchestrated an operation that included hacking and online propaganda intended to tilt the November election in Trump’s favor. Several congressional committees are investigating and Special Counsel Robert Mueller is leading a separate probe into the Russia matter, including whether Moscow colluded with the Trump campaign. Russia has denied election meddling and Trump has denied any collusion. The four-day conference of election directors was originally supposed to be about issues like voter registration, but took a sharp turn following the election hacking. “After the 2000 election, we all had to be lawyers,” Choate said. “And now after the 2016 election, we all have to be cyber security experts.” DHS representatives at the event fended off questions about whether the federal government would be prepared to mobilize sufficient support for the states in the event of a catastrophic cyber attack near or during the 2018 elections.  “We want to make sure we learn from the missteps that may have happened in 2016 and we want to make sure we continue building on the things we did that were right,” Robert Gatlin, a DHS cyber official, said during a panel discussion. Gatlin said the agency was working with U.S. intelligence agencies to “downgrade” more classified information so it could be shared with the states. Information about cyber attacks is typically guarded by a high classification because it may involve nation-state involvement or contain sensitive sources and methods, he said. Legislation recently approved by the Senate Intelligence Committee would require the director of national intelligence to sponsor top-secret security clearance for eligible election officials in each state, something the National Association of Secretaries of State has advocated. The bill would also require DHS to submit a report to Congress detailing cyber attacks and attempted cyber attacks by foreign governments on U.S. election infrastructure during the 2016 election. Choate said communication about cyber threats had improved with federal agencies since the election and the decision by the outgoing Obama administration in January to elevate voting systems to a “critical infrastructure designation.”  Prior to the election, some state officials worried that closer oversight of election systems represented a dangerous federal intrusion into local affairs.

Summary: रूसी हैकिंग पर अमेरिकी राज्य चुनाव अधिकारी अभी भी अंधेरे में हैं


THE WOODLANDS, Texas (Reuters) - The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency will cut response times to permit requests to within six months by the end of 2018, part of the agency’s goal to reduce regulations and delays, Administrator Scott Pruitt said on Thursday. The move comes as President Donald Trump pushes to shrink the size of government and cut regulations, especially on the coal and oil sectors. “Regulatory uncertainty is the biggest reason why the U.S. economy isn’t growing faster,” Pruitt said in a panel discussion at the Texas Oil & Gas Association’s Lone Star Energy Forum just outside Houston.  The EPA has in some cases taken several years to review some permit requests. Pruitt said cutting that response time was a key goal when he took office earlier this year, a task he delegated to Henry Darwin, his chief of staff and a former staffer at the Arizona Department of Environmental Quality. “It can be done. It’s just a matter of having the process in place to achieve results,” said Pruitt, the former Oklahoma attorney general. Environmentalists have consistently challenged Pruitt’s decisions atop the EPA, saying the agency is rushing approval of some projects that could harm the environment. In his remarks to the crowd of oil and gas executives, Pruitt said he did not see his role as having to chose between the economy or environmental stewardship. “One of the greatest challenges we have as a country is to ask the question, ‘What is true environmentalism?’” Pruitt said. “Why can’t we be about jobs and growth and environmental stewardship?” Earlier this month Pruitt issued a notice that the agency intended to repeal the Clean Power Plan, which it said relied on controversial calculations of economic costs and benefits. Ending the rule could save $33 billion in regulatory costs, the EPA estimated.  Pruitt said he did not believe the EPA had the authority to regulate how electricity is generated under the Clean Air Act, , although former President Barack Obama’s administration had taken the opposite approach. The U.S. Congress, Pruitt said, should tell him how to proceed, vowing to take no action on the issue without legislative approval. “If Congress hasn’t given us the authority to do something, we can’t do it,” he said. “If they want to give us authority to regulate certain areas, they need to be specific and tell us.”

Summary: यू. एस. ई. पी. ए. अनुमति अनुरोधों के लिए प्रतिक्रिया समय को कम करेगाः प्रुइट


WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Krassi Nikov evacuated his Houston home with more than 2 feet (61 cm) of water inside of it on Tuesday after Tropical Storm Harvey devastated Texas’ Gulf Coast. He now plans to collect on his flood insurance for the second time this year and rebuild. But the future of the federal government-run flood insurance program on which Nikov, 63, and other property owners in vulnerable areas depend rests with the U.S. Congress. Congress will soon be asked to renew the National Flood Insurance Program, which expires at the end of September. While a simple extension of the program has wide bipartisan support, some lawmakers are calling for broad reform. The program had received 35,000 claims from Texas by midday on Wednesday, according to Roy Wright, its administrator, who described it as a “very fast” pace. Wright said he was confident Congress would reauthorize the program, but he added that the program would only be prevented from selling new policies or renewing existing ones if it were to lapse.  “It does not affect ability to accept claims,” Wright said. Republicans advocating changes to the program want private companies to write the policies, which they say would result in premium prices that more accurately reflect risks. Additionally, they want the U.S. government to stop charging the program interest, with the savings to be used for flood mitigation.  That could set up a difficult battle. Conservatives have voiced concerns that the insurance program has about $25 billion of debt, while Democrats say the Republicans’ plan to allow private-market plans would be more expensive for homeowners.  A bipartisan group of lawmakers from coastal states  including Senators Elizabeth Warren, Democrat of Massachusetts, and Marco Rubio, Republican of Florida, have been pushing for changes to the program. The NFIP has been reauthorized 17 times since it was created in 1968, with the last time occurring in 2012. It has been allowed to lapse just four times. Many lobbyists believe Congress is unlikely to attempt a sweeping reform of the program before the end of September, given a busy legislative schedule that includes approving funding to avoid a government shutdown and raising the debt ceiling. Congress also faces pressure to pass an aid package to help the devastated Gulf Coast. Goldman Sachs said in a research note on Tuesday that early estimates suggested Harvey would cost “in the range of $30 billion.”   Instead, most observers expect Congress to pass a short-term extension of the program, ranging from three months to a year. Leaders in Congress are weighing whether to attach it to another piece of legislation such as a continuing resolution to fund the government, according to several lobbyists following the issue. House of Representatives Speaker Paul Ryan’s office said it was confident the program would be reauthorized.     U.S. Representative Jeb Hensarling, a Republican who chairs the House Financial Services Committee, said in a Bloomberg television interview on Monday that he hoped his package of reforms could gain full approval before the end of next month. Hensarling wants to renew the program for five years if private insurers are allowed to write the flood policies. But a business lobbyist who consults for many large American companies and follows the issue closely said Hensarling lacked the support to get his package passed by the House when Congress left for its August recess.  “I don’t think they’re at the point now where they have the votes,” the lobbyist said. He added that trying to overhaul the program would be a distraction for federal emergency officials and the flood insurance program.   “Even if there was a package of reforms ready to go, (the agencies) are not going to have the bandwidth to deal with some kind of reform package,” he said.  In a letter to Ryan and House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi sent on Monday, 100 House Democrats expressed concerns about the Hensarling package, saying they would not vote for the full package despite believing flood insurance reauthorization was crucial.  “Most of these bills do not meet the goals of affordability, availability, increased mitigation efforts or improved mapping,” the letter said.   Jerry Howard, head of the National Home Builders Association, said the group had endorsed Hensarling’s package and was hopeful the bills would pass quickly.  Emily Naden of the Building Owners and Managers Association, which in Houston alone represents owners and managers of 312 million square feet of office space and accounts for 43,000 jobs, said the organization had been pushing for reforms but must prioritize avoiding a lapse in coverage. “For us, we absolutely need the program to be re-upped without a lapse – a lapse is incredibly detrimental to all of our policy members,” she said.

Summary: जैसे-जैसे टेक्सस के दावे बढ़ रहे हैं, कांग्रेस बाढ़ बीमा कार्यक्रम के भविष्य पर विचार कर रही है


WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A U.S. congressional committee has launched an investigation into the Federal Reserve’s cyber security practices after a Reuters report revealed more than 50 cyber breaches at the U.S. central bank between 2011 and 2015. The House Committee on Science, Space and Technology on Friday sent a letter to Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen to express “serious concerns” over the central bank’s ability to protect sensitive financial information. The letter cited the Reuters report, which was based on heavily redacted internal Fed records obtained through a Freedom of Information Act request. The redacted records did not say who hacked the bank’s systems or whether they accessed sensitive information or stole money. “These reports raise serious concerns about the Federal Reserve’s cyber security posture, including its ability to prevent threats from compromising highly sensitive financial information housed on the agency’s systems,” said the letter, signed by House Science Committee Chairman Lamar Smith, a Texas Republican, and Barry Loudermilk, a Georgia Republican and chairman of the panel’s oversight subcommittee. A Fed spokesperson said the central bank had received the panel’s letter and “will respond to it.” The panel asked the Fed’s national cyber security team - the National Incident Response Team - to turn over all cyber incident reports in unredacted form from Jan. 1, 2009, to the present. It also asked for incident reports from the Fed’s local incident response teams. Global policymakers, regulators and financial institutions have become increasingly concerned about the security of the international banking system after a string of cyber attacks against banks in Bangladesh, Vietnam and elsewhere linked to fraudulent transaction messages sent across the global financial platform SWIFT. The probe into the Fed’s security practices followed a separate inquiry by the same committee into the Federal Reserve Bank of New York’s handling of the cyber theft of $81 million from one of its accounts held by the central bank of Bangladesh. The committee said it has jurisdiction over the Fed’s cyber security because the panel is tasked with oversight of the U.S. National Institute of Standards and Technology, an agency responsible for developing federal cyber security standards and guidelines, under a 2014 federal information technology law. The panel also requested a “detailed description of all confirmed cyber security incidents” from 2009 to the present, all documents and communications referring or relating to “higher impact cases” handled by the Fed’s NIRT team, all documents and communications with the Fed’s Office of Inspector General related to confirmed cyber incidents, and an organizational chart detailing the Fed’s top cyber security personnel. The committee requested a response to its inquiry by June 17. (Click here to read the letter: tmsnrt.rs/1VBXvSz) The Fed’s computer systems hold confidential information on discussions about monetary policy that drives financial markets. The central bank’s staff suspected hackers or spies were behind many of the breaches, the records obtained by Reuters show.  The Fed had declined to comment on the records, which represent only a slice of all cyber attacks on the central bank because they include only cases involving the Washington-based Board of Governors, a federal agency that is subject to public records laws. (For a graphic on the Fed security breaches, see: tmsnrt.rs/1TxSu8R)

Summary: अमेरिकी सांसदों ने फेड साइबर उल्लंघनों की जांच की, 'गंभीर चिंताओं' का हवाला दिया


BRUSSELS (Reuters) - British Prime Minister Theresa May and European Commission chief Jean-Claude Juncker agreed over dinner in Brussels on Monday that the pace of negotiations over Britain s departure from the European Union should be stepped up. A joint statement described a  constructive and friendly  two-hour meeting, during which they  reviewed the progress made in the Article 50 negotiations so far and agreed that these efforts should accelerate over the months to come . Announced less than 24 hours before they sat down, accompanied by their chief Brexit negotiators, David Davis and Michel Barnier, and just three days before May returns to Brussels for an EU summit, the meeting was held well away from reporters. Officials offered no immediate detail on the substance beyond the six-sentence communique. Both sides have been calling for a faster pace of talks as time ticks down to Britain s withdrawal from the EU in March 2019 and businesses warn that without clarity on what happens after that they may start switching investments early next year. The joint statement gave little else away, making no reference to the mutual blame game in which London and Brussels accuse each other of creating deadlock: May by failing to detail how much she is willing to pay to settle divorce obligations, the EU by sticking rigidly to a refusal to so much as talk about a future trade deal and transition to that until she does so. Wary that the prime minister, beset by feuds in her cabinet over a softer or harder break with the EU, might try to divide the other 27 states, some EU diplomats voiced concern she met Juncker and Barnier before meeting the other national leaders. Barnier has, diplomats say, suggested accelerating talks by starting internal EU discussions on a transition period in which Britain would stay in the single market. His idea hit resistance from heavyweights Germany and France, though the 27 now seem set to agree this gesture in an EU statement to be issued on Friday. A revised text circulated by summit chair Donald Tusk to EU governments on Monday retained wording that offers Britain the chance of talks on a transition to a future relationship almost immediately after the next EU summit in December. But at German and French insistence, it stressed the need for London to meet a series of key demands from the Union, notably on money it owes. May s spokesman, when asked before the meeting whether she would give more detail on Britain s financial offer, indicated she would not.  That left some wondering what the point was.  It will either be a very expensive dinner, costing about 30 billion euros, or else   what is this?  one EU diplomat said.

Summary: मे, जंकर ने तेजी से ब्रेक्सिट वार्ता का आह्वान किया


NEW YORK/WASHINGTON (Reuters) - This year’s presidential election might be the perfect microcosm of Twitter’s woes.         While some of the most memorable moments of the campaign for the White House have played out on the platform, Twitter has been unable to turn the attention and activity into ad dollars or user growth.      Well suited to quick updates on a noisy and unpredictable campaign, Twitter has been the dominant social media platform in 2016 for candidates, pundits and journalists.  Republican nominee Donald Trump’s frequent tweeting of tirades against Democratic rival Hillary Clinton, fellow Republicans and the media have been a mainstay of the campaign, setting off furious online debate.  But Twitter Chief Financial Officer Anthony Noto acknowledged when the company reported its quarterly earnings Thursday that the election has had “no noticeable impact” on Twitter’s user growth, which analysts say is essential for boosting revenue.     Campaigns and political organizations told Reuters that Twitter is simply not a great medium for political advertising. It is not as effective as rival Facebook at targeting crucial independent voters, and high-profile Twitter users like Trump and Clinton can use it as a megaphone without buying any advertising.  “We haven’t really used Twitter, largely because our core mission is to reach those undecided voters,” said Alixandria Lapp, executive director of the House Majority PAC, which supports Democratic U.S. House of Representatives candidates.             A flood of hate speech and misinformation, which Twitter has done little to tamp down, can also be a barrier to ad buys, campaign digital strategists said.          Facebook has emerged as the social media ad platform of choice. It reaches about 94 percent of voters who are registered as independent or are not affiliated with a political party; Twitter only reaches 45 percent of these voters, according to data of mobile users by tracking service Comscore Inc.  Vincent Harris, an Austin-based digital strategist who has worked for U.S. Senator Rand Paul and does some work for Trump,     estimated that about 30 percent of his clients’ budgets are spent on Facebook, while only 5 percent are spent on Twitter.  A recent survey conducted by his company Harris Media found that 81.6 percent of voters said they spent time on Facebook in the last month, while only 28.7 percent spent time on Twitter. “MINUTE-TO-MINUTE” As Clinton digital strategist Teddy Goff put it, Twitter is the “place to be for obsessively tracking the minute-to-minute of this election” but “Facebook is a much purer platform for message dissemination and talking about the issues voters care about.” Doug Watts, the national executive director of the pro-Trump Committee for American Sovereignty Super PAC, said: “We use Facebook the most, partially because of the scale, but also when you are talking conservative politics, they have an older audience that fits our target.” Twitter, he said, is “not really for advertising per se.” The Trump campaign has promoted tweets and placed ad content, said Jessica Ditto, a campaign spokeswoman. But she said it is difficult to use Twitter to collect donations and email addresses because promoted content does not typically get a lot of clicks. The perception is a costly one for Twitter. Elections often provide a big financial boost for advertising platforms such as television and radio stations.      In the 2016 contest, CNN has taken in $100 million more than expected due to intense interest in the election, according to David Folkenflik, National Public Radio’s media reporter. But on Twitter’s earnings call on Thursday, CFO Noto said:     “We really need to have a (presidential) debate on Twitter every day for it to meaningfully improve the quarterly metrics.” Some advertisers have tried to take advantage of Twitter’s central role in the election. Earlier this month, Harris used Twitter to promote a digital campaign that was launched by the conservative anti-immigration group Secure America Now.      More common, though, is the way Clinton operatives use Twitter to engage with what Goff described as a “politically attuned audience.”     The Clinton campaign collects automated donations via its Troll Trump tool, which asks supporters to pledge a small amount to the campaign every time Trump sends a tweet. The feature is now bringing in $1,588 per tweet, at an average of $11,823 per day, the campaign said.        After Trump called Clinton a “nasty woman” during a  presidential debate, her female supporters co-opted the term on Twitter, using #NastyWoman to show their support.   Representative Nancy Pelosi, the highest-ranking Democrat in the U.S. House of Representatives, tweeted: “From one #NastyWoman to another, you were an inspiration last night.” Women’s health provider Planned Parenthood tweeted this week that “Early voting shows a surge of #NastyWomen at the polls – and we’re just getting started.”

Summary: अमेरिकी चुनाव में, ट्विटर नकदी नहीं बल्कि चर्चा पैदा करता है


CLEVELAND (Reuters) - The city of Cleveland and the American Civil Liberties Union on Friday settled a federal lawsuit over free speech limits outside the Republican National Convention next month, setting the stage for lively demonstrations during Donald Trump’s big moment. The city had been seeking a restricted zone of 3.3 square miles (8.5 square km) around the Quicken Loans Arena, site of the convention, where free speech and mobility would be limited. That prompted an ACLU lawsuit on behalf of three protest groups that argued the so-called event zone was too large and the security regulations too strict. Details of the new event zone and protest rules were not immediately available. “Today, counsel advised me that the case is settled and that they will execute a settlement agreement expeditiously,” U.S. District Judge Dan Aaron Polster said in a statement. Another judge on Thursday had struck down Cleveland’s plan for placing limits on protests, issuing a preliminary injunction in favor of the ACLU and referring the case to Polster for mediation. Trump is expected to become the Republican Party’s official nominee for president at the July 18-21 convention, which will attract protesters for various causes who plan to demonstrate outside. Trump campaign events have drawn large and raucous demonstrations with some resulting in clashes between the candidate’s supporters and opponents. The plaintiffs in the Cleveland lawsuit are Citizens for Trump, a Texas-based group that supports the wealthy businessman’s campaign; Organize Ohio, a liberal activist group; and Northeast Ohio Coalition for the Homeless, a charitable organization. Citizens for Trump anticipates 104 cars and trucks, 100 motorcycles, four horses and at least 5,000 people to participate in its event, while Organize Ohio expects 3,000 to 5,000 marchers, the ACLU said.

Summary: क्लीवलैंड, एसीएलयू रिपब्लिकन सम्मेलन में विरोध सीमा पर सहमत हुए


WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday appeared ready to rule against a Puerto Rican politician who maintained he cannot be retried on corruption charges involving a trip to Las Vegas to watch a boxing bout after his original conviction was thrown out. The eight justices heard the first oral argument of their new term in the appeal filed by Hector Martinez Maldonado, who served in Puerto Rico’s Senate from 2005 until his 2011 conviction, and businessman Juan Bravo Fernandez, former president of a private security company. Several justices expressed skepticism about the defendants’ arguments. Bravo Fernandez sought to bribe Martinez Maldonado to win passage of bills that would benefit his business, according to prosecutors. The case focused in part on allegations that Bravo Fernandez paid for Martinez Maldonado to travel to Las Vegas in 2005 to watch boxer Felix “Tito” Trinidad, a sports hero in the Caribbean U.S. territory, lose to underdog Winky Wright. Bravo Fernandez and Martinez Maldonado were convicted for their roles in the alleged bribery scheme. The Boston-based 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals threw out their convictions in 2013. Federal prosecutors planned a new trial but the two men said it should be barred because it would violate the U.S. Constitution’s protection against “double jeopardy,” preventing people from being tried on charges for which they already have been acquitted. Their lawyers said double jeopardy applies because the jury had acquitted them on some of the criminal charges concerning conduct closely related to the actions on which the retrial would be focused. Prosecutors said the acquittals were inconsistent with the convictions, suggesting jurors did not understand the law. Based on the questions they asked, the justices appeared unlikely to throw out a 2015 appeals court decision backing prosecutors. Justice Elena Kagan asked the defendants’ attorney, Lisa Blatt, about her argument: “Is it anything more than rhetoric?” Chief Justice John Roberts told Blatt it was her burden to show the jury’s verdict was a legal and valid judgment on the same set of facts that the government wants to re-try, and not just a misunderstanding. A ruling is due by the end of June. Outside the courthouse, protesters demanded that the U.S. Senate confirm Merrick Garland, President Barack Obama’s nominee to fill the court’s vacancy left by the February death of Justice Antonin Scalia. Senate Republicans have refused to act on Garland’s nomination, saying Obama’s successor should make the appointment after taking office in January.

Summary: अमेरिकी न्यायाधीशों को प्यूर्टो रिकान राजनेता की रिश्वत की अपील पर संदेह है


KAMPALA (Reuters) - Lawmakers brawled in Uganda s parliament for a second day running on Wednesday over a fiercely disputed move to change the constitution to let long-ruling President Yoweri Museveni run for re-election after age 75. MPs exchanged blows and kicks, with some using microphone stands as crude weapons in the melee, and at least two female lawmakers were carried out of the chamber after collapsing, a Reuters journalist on the scene said. At least 25 MPs opposed to the proposed constitutional amendment to prolong Museveni s tenure were forcibly ejected on orders of the speaker for involvement in fighting on Tuesday. All other like-minded MPs then walked out.   After calm returned, ruling party MP Raphael Magyezi introduced the contested motion authorizing parliament to draft and present a bill that would lift the constitution s age cap on presidential candidates. The motion passed, parliament communications director Chris Obore told Reuters, adding that Magyezi would have about a month to submit the bill to a first reading in the House.   Under the existing constitution, eligibility to stand as a presidential candidate in the East African country has an age ceiling of 75. That makes Museveni, 73, in power since 1986 and increasingly accused of authoritarianism and a failure to curb corruption, unqualified to seek re-election at the next polls in 2021. Removing the age cap would erase that barrier.   The proposal, echoing steps by other veteran African leaders to void legal limits on their rule, has stirred widespread resistance from rights activists, opposition parties, religious leaders and even some members of Museveni s party. Fisticuffs first broke out in the Kampala parliament on Tuesday, leading Uganda s communication regulator to ban live broadcasts of events  inciting the public . In a notice on Wednesday, the Uganda Communications Commission said radio and television stations should stop live broadcasts of events that  are inciting the public, discriminating, stirring up hatred, promoting a culture of violence ... and are likely to create public insecurity.  No station aired Wednesday s proceedings, but some posted clips of the brawls on their Twitter feeds.  Uganda s two major privately owned TV stations, including a local unit of Kenya s Nation Media Group, and some radio stations carried Tuesday s parliamentary session live. Critics said the authorities  action to ban live broadcasts underscored a crackdown on anyone questioning the planned constitutional amendment. Since last week, when a motion to kick-start the amendment process was supposed to be read but never made it to the floor,  both police and military personnel have been deployed around the parliament and many parts of the capital. Protests by students and opposition activists and supporters in Kampala against the amendment, sometimes broadcast live, have been put down with tear gas and arrests of scores of people.  Media in Uganda routinely complain of harassment by security personnel. Journalists say they have been beaten, detained or their equipment damaged or confiscated during coverage of anti-government demonstrations.  On Tuesday, anti-government protests also occurred in other parts of the country, including in the northern town of Lira. Three local journalists there were arrested as they covered the protests, according to Hudson Apunyo, an official in a journalists  association in the area. Robert Ssempala, national coordinator for Human Rights Network for Journalists-Uganda, said banning live broadcasts was  to shut out Ugandans and keep them in the dark on the age limit debate  after the measure met broad resistance.

Summary: राष्ट्रपति की आयु सीमा को लेकर युगांडा की संसद में दूसरे दिन भी सांसदों का हंगामा


WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. Senate Republicans rammed forward President Donald Trump’s tax-cut bill on Tuesday in an abrupt, partisan committee vote that set up a full vote by the Senate as soon as Thursday, although some details of the measure remained unsettled. As disabled protesters shouted: “Kill the bill, don’t kill us,” in a Capitol Hill hearing room, the Senate Budget Committee, with no discussion, quickly approved the legislation on a 12-11 party-line vote that left Democrats fuming. Republican committee members quickly left the room after the vote as Democrats complained about a lack of discussion on a bill that would overhaul the U.S. tax code and add an estimated $1.4 trillion to the $20 trillion national debt over 10 years. After the vote, Trump told reporters: “I think we’re going to get it passed,” adding that it would have some adjustments.   Republicans are hurrying to move their complex tax legislation forward, hoping to avoid the protracted infighting that doomed their effort to repeal Obamacare four months ago. Since Trump took office in January, he and fellow Republicans in command of both chambers of Congress have approved no major legislation, a fact they want to change before facing voters in the 2018 congressional elections. If the Senate approves its tax measure later this week, it would need to be reconciled with a version already approved by the House of Representatives before anything could be sent to the White House for Trump to sign into law. Republican leaders conceded that they had yet to round up the votes needed for passage in the Senate, where they hold a narrow 52-48 majority. “It’s a challenging exercise,” Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell said at a news conference. Democrats have called the Republican tax plan a giveaway to corporations and the rich. The Senate bill would slash the corporate tax rate to 20 percent from 35 percent after a one-year delay. It would impose a onetime, cut-rate tax on corporations’ foreign profits, while exempting future foreign profits from U.S. taxation. Tax rates for many individuals and families would also be cut temporarily before rising back to their previous levels in 2025. Key tax breaks would also be curbed or eliminated, making the bill a mixed bag for some middle-class families. Some taxes paid by wealthy Americans would be repealed. Wall Street moved higher on the news that the bill would move to a full Senate vote, with the benchmark S&P 500 .SPX index closing up a little over 1 percent. As written, the bill would widen the U.S. budget deficit by an estimated $1.4 trillion over 10 years. Republicans maintain that gap would be narrowed by additional economic growth. Senator Bob Corker, one of few remaining Republican fiscal hawks in Congress, said he worked out a deal satisfying his concerns that the tax cuts add too much to the national debt. He said the bill would be modified to automatically raise tax revenues if growth targets were not reached. “We got a commitment that puts us in a pretty good place,” he said. Although details were not immediately available, Corker said he expected more information to come out on Thursday as part of the bill. The concession immediately drew a detractor as Republican Senator John Kennedy told reporters he “would rather drink weed killer than vote for the thing,” adding: “I don’t like voting for automatic tax increases.”  The Corker concession was one of several lingering uncertainties in the bill that Senate aides said would be nailed down as the measure neared a floor vote. Republican Senator Susan Collins, who remains undecided on how she will vote on the bill, said “productive discussions” continued and that she would offer an amendment preserving the $10,000 deduction for property tax payments. The deduction is in the House bill, but not the Senate version.     Republican Senator Ron Johnson voted for the bill in the Budget Committee, even though he had said it did not cut taxes deeply enough for some non-corporate businesses. The final version could address his concerns. Aides said tax writers were working to change the tax rate for non-corporate businesses, preserve an individual deduction for property tax payments, and incorporate Corker’s tax revenue idea. Democratic Senator Jeff Merkley told MSNBC that the Corker concession was “an absolute gimmick” that could be undermined later. “It’s just a justification to let those who have argued that they don’t believe in increasing the deficit actually vote for a bill which does exactly that,” Merkley said. As the tax fight played out, a new battle opened on another front as Democratic congressional leaders Chuck Schumer and Nancy Pelosi skipped a White House meeting with Trump to discuss spending, immigration and other issues after Trump criticized them on Twitter. Lawmakers must renew government funding before it expires on Dec. 8 or risk a shutdown. Democrats hope to use their leverage on the budget issue to renew protections for young immigrants who entered the country illegally as children.

Summary: डेमोक्रेट के गुस्से के बीच सीनेट रिपब्लिकन ने कर विधेयक को आगे बढ़ाया


MELBOURNE (Reuters) - The CEO of China’s sovereign wealth fund said on Thursday he expects U.S. President-elect Donald Trump to be very careful in considering whether to increase tariffs in line with his election promises because it would not be in U.S. interests.                 China Investment Corporation chairman and CEO Ding Xuedong said Republican Trump had used a number of “slogans” during the hard-fought campaign against Democratic rival Hillary Clinton that were purely for the purpose of getting elected. “Some of the slogans will be put into effect, for example, he’s going to cut taxes and increase spending and he’s going to increase investment in infrastructure and in this way to stimulate the American economy. I believe that’s possible,” Ding told the Boao Forum for Asia in Melbourne. “But if he’s going to increase tariffs ... and begin a trade war, then I believe it is against the globalization trend and I believe that Mr Trump will be very careful in considering whether to put these measures in place,” he said. Trump’s focus once he has taken office would turn to global trade and on increasing benefits to the United States from global trade, Ding said, and that he may find that raising tariffs would not work to that end.   “They may not be effective .. or (of) benefit to the U.S.,” he said. Throughout the election campaign, Trump threatened China and Mexico with punitive tariffs that some economists have warned could spark a trade war that could potentially roll back decades of liberalization. He also threatened to redraw trade deals, including the Trans-Pacific Partnership, which would be a blow to Japan’s export-dependent economy.

Summary: चीन के सी. आई. सी. प्रमुख ने कहा, कार्यालय में रहते हुए शुल्क पर विचार करने में सावधानी बरतें ट्रंप


LIMA (Reuters) - The Peruvian attorney general s office accused former president Alejandro Toledo on Friday of taking bribes from Brazilian construction firm Camargo Correa SA [PMORRC.UL] in exchange for a lucrative highway contract during his 2001-2006 term. An unnamed state s witness had helped uncover evidence that showed some $3.98 million in payments Camargo made to Toledo through offshore bank accounts controlled by one of Toledo s associates, the attorney general s office said in an emailed statement. Camargo did not immediately respond to requests for comment. In Lima, Toledo s attorney, Heriberto Benitez, said Toledo was innocent of the accusations.  I spoke with him yesterday, he said:  I didn t take money from anyone,  Benitez said to Reuters in a phone interview. Toledo is already wanted in Peru in connection with allegations that he took $20 million in bribes from Odebrecht[ODBES.UL], another privately owned Brazilian builder, for help winning a contract for building a different section of the same highway. Peruvian authorities are seeking Toledo s extradition from the United States. His current whereabouts is unclear, but authorities said in February that he was in California, near his alma mater Stanford University. Following a judge s order in February that he should be held in pre-trial detention, Toledo said he would not return to Peru. He has repeatedly described the probe as  political persecution . Last year Odebrecht admitted to paying millions of dollars in bribes in Peru to secure lucrative government contracts over a decade-long period, spurring a far-reaching investigation to determine which officials received them. Odebrecht and Camargo were at the center of Brazil s biggest-ever graft inquiry, known as  Operation Car Wash.

Summary: पेरू के अभियोजकों का कहना है कि पूर्व राष्ट्रपति टोलेडो को ब्राजील के कमार्गो ने रिश्वत दी थी


CHICAGO (Reuters) - Illinois Governor Bruce Rauner said on Monday he was holding off  issuance of up to $6 billion of bonds to help pay down the state’s more than $14 billion in overdue bills despite the state comptroller’s public plea for the debt sale.  The Republican governor called on Illinois Comptroller Susana Mendoza to tap more than $600 million in various state accounts first to pay bills. Authorization for the general obligation bonds and for using money parked in the accounts was included in the fiscal 2018 budget the Democratic-controlled legislature enacted in July over the governor’s vetoes. [nL1N1JX20R] Rauner also said the state cannot go to market with the debt until he works with state lawmakers to identify an appropriation or plan to pay off the new bonds.  “This bonding in and of itself is not the answer,” Rauner told reporters. In a video and statement on Monday, Mendoza said Illinois’ bill backlog is costing residents $2 million a day in late payment penalties that can reach as much as 12 percent a year. The bond authorization, which expires on Dec. 31, was aimed at having Rauner’s budget office sell the 12-year bonds at a lower interest rate.  The debt is covered under the Illinois GO Bond Act, which constitutes an irrevocable and continuing appropriation for principal and interest payments on all of the state’s outstanding bonds, according to budget legislation. Illinois’ unprecedented two-year budget impasse ballooned the unpaid bill total to a record $15.4 billion in June. As of Friday, the backlog stood at $14.35 billion.  Abdon Pallasch, a spokesman for the Democratic comptroller, said inter-fund transfers were already underway. “What we need right now is movement by the governor’s office and a solid timetable for refinancing the debt so that our office can establish a comprehensive cash management plan for the remainder of fiscal year 2018,” he said. On Monday, Illinois bonds due in 12 years were yielding  4.13 percent, according to Municipal Market Data, a unit of Thomson Reuters. Illinois has the lowest credit ratings and pays the highest borrowing costs among the 50 U.S. states. Since enacting its first budget in two years along with a $5 billion income tax hike, and subsequently evading junk bond ratings, the state’s so-called credit spread over MMD’s benchmark triple-A yield scale has narrowed. Mendoza’s office said the new borrowing will provide some relief to service providers and businesses that have been waiting months for payment.  “Over the past two years without a budget, they have had to exhaust their lines of credit, lay off employees and, in some cases, turn away Illinois citizens in need of services,” a  statement from the comptroller said.

Summary: इलिनोइस के गवर्नर ने बांड की बिक्री रोकी, बिलों का भुगतान करने के लिए अन्य विकल्प मांगे


OTTAWA (Reuters) - Canadian and U.S. officials are working on a plan to tackle asylum seekers crossing into Canada illegally, with American officials keen to discover how they entered the United States in the first place, said a source familiar with the matter. U.S. Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly is set to visit Canada this month for talks on the border and the influx of people, said the source, who requested anonymity because of the sensitivity of the matter. Hundreds of people, mainly from Africa but also the Middle East, have walked across the border, seeking asylum. They are fleeing President Donald Trump’s crackdown on illegal immigrants, migrants and refugees agencies say. It is not common to have so many asylum seekers based in the U.S. looking for refuge in Canada over such a short period. Scott Bardsley, a spokesman for Public Safety Minister Ralph Goodale, said the majority of people crossing in recent weeks held valid passports and U.S. visas. The influx poses a political risk for Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, who faces pressure from the left, which wants him to let more in, and from the right, which fears an increased security risk. He must also ensure the issue does not complicate his relations with Trump.  “We are talking with our counterparts in the United States to ensure that we’re addressing this situation properly,” Trudeau told reporters in Calgary, Alberta. Security experts have said the asylum-seekers could pose a threat if the flow picks up once the weather improves and authorities do not take additional steps. Canadian and U.S. officials speak daily about the border crossers and law enforcement agencies from both nations met in Montreal last month to plot strategies, the source said. The U.S. side asked Canada to provide details of the asylum seekers, in particular, how they had entered the United States and what their status was there.  The Montreal summit grouped representatives from the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP), the Canada Border Services Agency, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and the U.S. Customs and Border Protection agency. RCMP spokeswoman Annie Delisle confirmed the meeting took place, and said the two sides agreed on an “action plan which outlines a collaborative approach to dealing with the influx”.  An official in the U.S. Department of Homeland Security said the crossings were very limited and did not represent a major security concern. “Frankly, it is far more embarrassing to this country than it is threatening,” said the official, speaking on the condition of anonymity.  The official, and a second person directly involved in border affairs, said U.S. authorities had not mounted a major effort to beef up border security, in part because they lack manpower and equipment. A senior Canadian security source classified the risk as medium- to long-term, since it was likely that those crossing the border really were seeking asylum. Vast stretches of the 5,500-mile (8,900-km) frontier are unguarded and the more images spread of people walking across, the more vulnerable Canada could become, said the source. “If we keep this up for a while, and it becomes known that the border really is porous, then people will use it as an opportunity to put (operatives) in,” said the source. Exact numbers are hard to calculate, since not all authorities release details. In January and February, 143 people walked illegally over the border into Manitoba, local police said. As of Feb. 13, some 3,800 people had made an asylum claim in 2017, up from the same period last year, said Bardsley. That number, though, includes all people seeking asylum, and the government would not break down the figures.

Summary: कनाडा, अमेरिका सीमा पर शरण चाहने वालों से निपटने के लिए सेना में शामिल हुए


LONDON (Reuters) - A 48-year-old man from Wales pleaded not guilty on Thursday to terrorism-related murder and attempted murder after he allegedly drove a van at Muslims outside a mosque in Finsbury Park, London in June, leaving one worshipper dead and 11 injured. Darren Osborne, a father of four from Cardiff, denied the charges during a hearing at the Old Bailey central criminal court. His trial will start on Jan. 22 at Woolwich Crown Court in London.

Summary: लंदन फिन्सबरी पार्क मस्जिद हमले के संदिग्ध ने खुद को निर्दोष बताया


WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Democratic leaders in Congress skipped a meeting with President Donald Trump on Tuesday that was to have focused on the budget, raising the risk of a government shutdown next month with both sides far apart on the terms of an agreement. After Chuck Schumer and Nancy Pelosi informed Trump they would not attend the meeting at the White House, the president and Republican congressional leaders went ahead with the talks without them. Trump left empty seats on either side of him, with name cards for Schumer, the Senate Democratic leader, and Pelosi, the top Democrat in the House of Representatives. He also criticized them as the cameras rolled during a picture-taking session. “We have a lot of differences,” Trump said. “So they’ve decided not to show up. They’ve been all talk and they’ve been no action and now it’s even worse. Now it’s not even talk.” Schumer and Pelosi said they pulled out of the meeting because of a tweet Trump sent earlier in the day attacking them as weak on illegal immigration and bent on raising taxes. “I don’t see a deal!” the Republican president wrote on Twitter. Pelosi tweeted after Trump’s White House session that “his empty chair photo opp showed he’s more interested in stunts than in addressing the needs of the American people. Poor Ryan and McConnell relegated to props. Sad!” she added, referring to Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and House Speaker Paul Ryan, Trump said he would “absolutely blame the Democrats” if a government shutdown takes place. A Dec. 8 deadline is looming for passing a spending measure needed to fund a wide range of federal government programs.Although Republicans control both chambers of the U.S. Congress, their leaders will likely need to rely on at least some Democratic votes to pass the measure. Democrats have said they will demand help for the “Dreamers” - young people brought to the United States illegally as children - as part of their price for providing votes on the budget measure. But Trump said in a tweet late on Tuesday: “I ran on stopping illegal immigration and won big. They can’t now threaten a shutdown to get their demands.” Congress has three choices: approve a massive bill for more than $1 trillion to keep the government operating through Sept. 30, 2018; pass a shorter extension of current funding to buy more time; or fail to pass anything and risk a partial government shutdown. On Capitol Hill, Schumer said he and Pelosi believed the best path forward would be to negotiate with Republican leaders in Congress instead of going to the White House for a “show meeting.”

Summary: डेमोक्रेट्स ने ट्रम्प की बैठक में भाग नहीं लिया, सरकार के बंद होने का खतरा बढ़ा


WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly will discuss the Trump administration’s stepped-up efforts to combat illegal immigration in talks with Mexican officials later this week, the White House said on Wednesday. “I think Secretary Tillerson and Secretary Kelly are going to have a great discussion down there and to walk through the implementation of the executive order,” White House spokesman Sean Spicer told reporters.

Summary: अमेरिका मेक्सिको के साथ आप्रवासन प्रयासों पर चर्चा करेगाः व्हाइट हाउस


DANANG, Vietnam (Reuters) - The remaining 11 countries in the Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP) trade deal will discuss a proposal for an agreement in principle to proceed after the withdrawal of the United States, Japanese Economy Minister Toshimitsu Motegi said on Thursday. Ministers from the 11 countries are meeting in the resort of Danang in Vietnam on the sidelines of the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit.  We have collectively reached the stage where we can discuss a proposal for a final package for an agreement in principle of the TPP,  Motegi told ministers from the other countries.  I would like to emphasize once again the importance of reaching an agreement in principle right here.

Summary: टी. पी. पी. देश व्यापार समझौते पर सैद्धांतिक रूप से चर्चा करेंगेः जापान


KISUMU, Kenya (Reuters) - Kenyan police in the western city of Kisumu fired tear gas and bullets in the air on Wednesday to disperse young men who broke into a hotel and beat women attending an election meeting, an officer said. Kenya held presidential, legislative and local elections on Aug. 8, but three weeks later the Supreme Court nullified the presidential result, citing irregularities in the tallying process. A re-run is scheduled for Oct. 17.  Although the ruling ushered in a period of uncertainty, many hope it will restore some faith in Kenya s tarnished institutions, reducing the long-term likelihood of political violence. On Wednesday, a Christian women s organization was holding a meeting related to the election re-run when the men broke into the hotel where they were meeting, said Joseph Keitany of the  Administration Police in Kisumu County. The region is a stronghold of opposition leader Raila Odinga.   We deployed police and they fired tear gas and bullets in the air and chased the group of young boys away,  he told Reuters.  The youth started beating women and they stole their laptops and money  before police arrived. A Reuters witness said the men smashed windows and broke chairs. Another witness said young men attacked participants using the broken chairs.   I was making my presentation when the youths came in,  said pastor Alice Atieno.  They started interrogating us and beating us on claims that we were buying IDs.  Keitany said he believed the men stormed the hotel because of rumors circulating on WhatsApp that the women s meeting was intended to plan the renting of voter identification cards, a rigging tactic alleged by the opposition ahead of last month s election, where online hoaxes and fake stories were alleged from all sides. Participants in the meeting denied that was the purpose and said they were meeting to see how to encourage peaceful voting.  A Reuters witness said he saw a Red Cross ambulance taking three women to hospital. In 2007, a disputed presidential vote led to protests and ethnic violence that killed 1,200 people. Following the August election, human rights organizations reported at least 28 deaths, mostly linked to police. But the protests were quelled when the opposition decided to take its complaints to court. Kenya s vocal civil society organizations have been working hard to plan monitoring and advocacy around the new vote.  The east African nation is the region s richest economy and a stable Western ally in a region roiled by conflict.

Summary: केन्याई पुलिस ने चुनाव सभा में महिलाओं पर हमले के बाद आँसू गैस छोड़ी


WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Susan Collins, one of the few remaining moderate Republicans in the U.S. Senate, is expected to announce on Friday whether she will run for governor of Maine next year in what would be a bid to replace conservative Governor Paul LePage. A Collins spokeswoman confirmed she plans to declare her intentions for the gubernatorial race following months of speculation on whether the four-term senator would be willing to leave the Senate, where she has played a pivotal role. Last month, Collins was one of only three Republican senators to publicly announce her opposition to a bill repealing the “Obamacare” healthcare law and replacing it with more a limited plan. LePage, also a Republican, is barred by state law from seeking another term. If Collins decides to run, she could keep her Senate seat while campaigning. Her term as senator expires at the end of 2020. The 64-year-old Collins easily won re-election to her Senate seat in 2014, with nearly 70 percent of the vote. As one of the few centrists in the bitterly divided Senate, Collins has often cast herself as a bridge between Republicans and Democrats in seeking bipartisan compromises. Maine’s attorney general, Janet Mills, has said she is seeking the Democratic nomination for governor.

Summary: सीनेटर कॉलिन्स शुक्रवार को कहेंगे कि क्या वह मेन गवर्नर के लिए चुनाव लड़ेंगी