WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. Senator Susan Collins of Maine said on Monday she will not vote for fellow Republican Donald Trump for president. “This is not a decision I make lightly, for I am a lifelong Republican. But Donald Trump does not reflect historical Republican values nor the inclusive approach to governing that is critical to healing the divisions in our country,” Collins said in an opinion piece in the Washington Post.

Summary: रिपब्लिकन सीनेटर कॉलिन्स का कहना है कि वह ट्रम्प को वोट नहीं देंगी


JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - Nigeria’s Nobel Prize-winning author Wole Soyinka has torn up his United States green card and renounced his American residency in protest at Donald Trump’s U.S. election win, the writer told news channel eNCA on Thursday.   “I’ve done it,” said Soyinka, 82, when asked if he had followed through on an earlier vow to leave the United States if  Trump triumphed in the race for the White House.  “When I was ready, when I’d finished, I negotiated my departure,” the Nigerian born author said in Johannesburg on the sidelines of a university conference. Soyinka has had regular teaching stints at America’s ivy league universities since the mid 1990s following his Nobel Prize for Literature in 1986. He was the first African writer to win the award.  A frequent and fierce critic of his own government, particularly over the carnage being inflicted by Boko Haram militants in northeastern Nigeria, Soyinka said he felt ill at ease in the wake of Trump’s shock victory. “We on the African continent could boast that we had a contemporary descendent ruling the United States,” Soyinka said referring to outgoing President Barack Obama, whose father was a Kenyan.  “Suddenly, somebody is making speeches which are meant to reverse those gains.”

Summary: सोयिंका ने ट्रम्प की जीत पर गुस्से में अमेरिकी ग्रीनकार्ड को काट दिया


(Reuters) - President Donald Trump’s proposal to do away with the federal agency that investigates chemical accidents drew sharp criticism from environmental, labor and safety advocates, who said that  eliminating the watchdog would put American lives at risk. Christine Todd Whitman, the former U.S. Environmental Protection Agency head, on Thursday called the proposal to get rid of Chemical Safety Board (CSB) and cut EPA funding short-sighted, saying both have long been an industry target for advocating greater public information on chemicals.   “If you want to put the American people in danger this is the way to do it,” she said of the president’s proposal to cut the CSB’s funding entirely from the 2018 federal budget. “The chemical industry has fought back from the beginning.”  The CSB investigates major chemicals accidents to search for their causes and makes recommendations that could prevent a recurrence. It has no regulatory power, but is influential because its recommendations are often adopted by industry, labor, government officials, the EPA and Occupational Safety and Health Administration. The president on Thursday outlined a plan for fiscal 2018 discretionary spending, which exclude programs like Social Security, that removes allocations for 19 independent bodies, including the CSB and Corporation for Public Broadcasting.      The CSB, which has an annual budget of about $12 million, defended its work, saying its work has broadly improved safety. “As this process moves forward, we hope that the important mission of this agency will be preserved,” the agency said in a statement.  Chemical and energy industry officials offered limited comment on the proposal. Petroleum and refining industry groups, Exxon Mobil Corp, BP plc and Tesoro Corp did not respond or declined to comment directly on the potential phase out. The American Chemistry Council, a trade group that represents major chemicals producers, said in a statement it would work with the administration and Congress to “ensure EPA has funding to carry out essential responsibilities.” It did not comment directly on the CSB. The American Petroleum Institute, the oil industry trade group, said it looked “forward to working with the administration and Congress as all of these issues work their way through the budget process.” Michael Wright, director of health, safety and environment at the United Steelworkers union, said the CSB’s recommendations generally have been welcome by labor and industry. One such recommendation that stemmed from a fatal 2005 refinery incident  included barring portable trailers that cannot withstand an explosion.  The board’s reviews of major accidents have proved significant. Its probes have led to industry standards on worker fatigue, greater reporting of hazardous chemicals to first responders, and have prompted companies to keep workers not directly involved in projects out of harm’s way.  In California, many of the board’s safety recommendations have been drafted into law. For example, the state worker safety agency, known as Cal/OSHA, has doubled its investigative staff based on CSB recommendations. “This is one of the best bargains in Washington,” said the USW’s Wright. “If it has prevented even one accident, it has saved far more money than its budget over its entire history.” Its probe of the fatal Deepwater Horizon rig explosion was controversial because of its two-year length and extensive need for outside help. The work led to new standards for safety in the offshore oil industry and in well equipment.  But some recommendations have not been yet been implemented. After a fatal 2013 explosion in West, Texas, that killed 12 first responders the CSB proposed facilities that store large amounts of fertilizer be covered by emergency planning laws that give first responders more information. That remains open.  Beth Rosenberg, a former CSB board member and now an assistant professor at Tufts University School of Medicine, said the CSB “does excellent work; other countries admire this agency.” She said opponents “don’t know what they’re doing here or how useful this board is.”

Summary: रासायनिक सुरक्षा बोर्ड को समाप्त करने के ट्रम्प के प्रस्ताव की आलोचना हुई


BRUSSELS (Reuters) - The Russian authorities  decision to bar opposition leader Alexei Navalny from running in next year s presidential election raises questions about the vote, the European Union s foreign service said in a statement on Tuesday. The central election commission said on Monday Navalny was not eligible to run in the March 18 election due to a suspended prison sentence. He has repeatedly denied any wrongdoing and says the case is politically motivated. The decision  casts a serious doubt on political pluralism in Russia and the prospect of democratic elections next year,  the EU s External Action Service, or EEAS, said in a statement.  Politically-motivated charges should not be used against political participation,  the EEAS said. It urged the Russian authorities  to ensure that there is a level playing field  in the presidential vote in March and in all other votes.    The EEAS said that Navalny was denied the right to a fair trial in his prosecution in 2013, according to the European Court of Human Rights, to which Russia is a signatory. Polls show President Vladimir Putin is on course to be comfortably re-elected, meaning he could remain in power until2024. Navalny has been jailed three times this year and charged with breaking the law by organizing public meetings and rallies. The European External Action Service (EEAS), set up in 2009, runs a network of diplomats around the globe, drafts policy papers for EU foreign ministers and is led by the EU s top diplomat Federica Mogherini, who visited Moscow in April this year.

Summary: यूरोपीय संघ ने नवलनी के फैसले के बाद रूस के 2018 के मतदान पर सवाल उठाए


DUBAI (Reuters) - Kuwait arrested five suspects accused of posting a video on social media considered offensive to the Gulf state s crown prince, the interior ministry said on Tuesday. The accused were government employees with positions at  important institutions within the state , the interior ministry said in a statement carried by state news agency KUNA. In recent days, a clip has circulated on social media showing the crown prince jabbing his finger at dignitaries at a Gulf football event, apparently trying to tell them who should be first to shake the hand of the ruling emir. It was not immediately clear if that video was the subject of the legal charges.

Summary: क्राउन प्रिंस के खिलाफ आपत्तिजनक वीडियो बनाने के आरोप में कुवैत ने पांच लोगों को गिरफ्तार किया


NEW YORK (Reuters) - President Donald Trump will speak forcefully about the threat posed by North Korea during his first address to the United Nations on Tuesday while knocking those he sees as enabling Pyongyang.  He will speak in extremely tough terms about the North Korean menace and the threat it poses to our security and the security of all the nations in that room,  a White House official told reporters in a call previewing Trump s remarks at the U.N. General Assembly.  And he will talk about, as well, the enablement of the North Korean regime and what that means too,  the official said.  The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, did not elaborate, but his mention of  enablement  was likely a reference to China, which has frustrated Trump by failing to rein in North Korean leader Kim Jong Un. North Korea s nuclear tests and missile launches have stirred global tensions Trump spoke to Chinese President Xi Jinping earlier on Monday and committed to keep up pressure on North Korea by enforcing U.N. resolutions, the White House said. On Tuesday, Trump is also expected to go hard against Iran during a speech that the official said would espouse the importance of state sovereignty.  It s an appeal to each nation to use sovereignty as the basis for mutual cooperation, the idea being that rather than appealing to a top-down model of global bureaucracy, it s a model that s from the nation-state up,  he said. Border control, trade and international agreements that are unfavorable to the United States represented threats to U.S. sovereignty, the official said. The theme is consistent with Trump s  America First  philosophy that helped him win election last year. [nL2N1LF26C] Trump has been critical of international organizations, including NATO and the United Nations. On Monday, he criticized the 193-nation body for a bloated bureaucracy and mismanagement, but said reforms would help it emerge stronger and more effective.

Summary: संयुक्त राष्ट्र के पहले भाषण में उत्तर कोरिया के बारे में 'सख्त शब्दों' में बोलेंगे ट्रम्प


LUXEMBOURG/BRUSSELS (Reuters) - Ryanair lost an EU court battle on Thursday in which the airline had sought to continue forcing cabin crew based outside Ireland to take their disputes to Irish courts, in a case with implications across the low-cost airline sector.  The European Court of Justice in Luxembourg ruled in favor of cabin crew based at the Irish carrier s Charleroi airport in Belgium on the question of which court should decide on their complaint. The employees took the airline to a local court, believing Belgian law would be more favorable to them.  Ryanair argued that Irish courts had jurisdiction over their Irish contracts. But a Belgian court in Mons had requested the ECJ s ruling on whether its own judges had jurisdiction.   The Court (of Justice) points out first of all that, as regards disputes related to employment contracts, the European rules concerning jurisdiction are aimed at protecting the weaker party,  the Luxembourg-based ECJ said in a statement.  Those rules enable inter alia an employee to sue his employer before the courts which he regards as closest to his interests.   Low-cost carriers such as Ryanair and easyJet have bases all over Europe, including in France, Spain, Italy and Germany, where both planes and crews are stationed. This means crews can return to their home base each night, allowing the airlines to avoid costs involved with overnight rest stops.  Ryanair said the ruling would not add to its costs. Its pilots are typically employed on contracts via third-party agencies, while easyJet uses local labor contracts.  The Court said the place where a cabin crew s aircraft is stationed should also be taken into account when determining which court had jurisdiction.  Philip von Schoeppenthau, Secretary General of the European Cockpit Association, called the ruling a  landmark  decision that is a  ray of light for the thousands of pilots and cabin crew across Europe who have struggled to find legal protection at the place where they actually work on a daily basis, rather than being forced to seek judicial redress in Ireland . Schoeppenthau said the Court s ruling meant all cabin crews in Europe can derive their rights and applicable law from their  Home Base  as a general rule.  Ryanair said it welcomed the ruling for recognizing that the home base of the employee should not be the sole factor in determining which court can hear disputes on labor issues.  We do not believe this  Mons  ruling will in any way alter our Irish contracts of employment or the union rights which all of our people enjoy under the protection of the Irish Constitution,  Ryanair Chief People Officer Eddie Wilson said. Michael O Leary, the company s Chief Executive, said in Berlin the ruling could give the unions more opportunity to take the airline to court or  challenge whatever kind of provisions we provided in Ireland but ultimately, they cannot and will not be changing the Irish contracts or the structure of the Irish contracts.   This won t change Ryanair s cost base by one cent,  O Leary said. The crew involved in the case had employment contracts drawn up under Irish law which said their work was to be regarded as being carried out in Ireland since they were working on Irish-registered aircraft. But Charleroi airport in southern Belgium was designated as their base, meaning they started and ended their working days there and had to reside within an hour of that airport. Ryanair said that Ireland had adopted all EU rules on employment rights and in some cases offered better protection than other EU countries. The case will now go back to the Belgian court, which will make a final decision on the matter.

Summary: विदेश में चालक दल के लिए आयरिश कानून रखने के लिए रयानएयर यूरोपीय संघ की अदालत की लड़ाई हार गया


BEIJING/SHANGHAI (Reuters) - Chinese police are investigating claims of sexual molestation and needlemarks on children at a Beijing kindergarten run by RYB Education Inc, the latest case in a booming childcare industry to spark outrage among parents, sending the company s New York-listed shares tumbling on Friday. The official Xinhua news agency said late on Thursday that police were checking allegations that some teachers and staff at the kindergarten had abused children, who were  reportedly sexually molested, pierced by needles and given unidentified pills . Shares in RYB (RYB.N) plunged 38 percent on the New York Stock Exchange early on Friday, almost wiping out most of the 44 percent rise in the Chinese company s stock since its IPO in September. Parents said their children, some as young as three, relayed troubling accounts of a naked adult male conducting purported  medical check-ups  on students, who were also unclothed, other  media said. Some parents, who gathered outside the school to demand answers on Thursday, said their children gave matching accounts of being fed unidentified tablets and of punishments where students were  made to stand  naked in class, media said. The welfare of children in professional care has become a hot-button issue in China, where a string of high-profile cases of abuse has underlined lax regulations and supervision in the childcare and early learning industry.  We deeply apologise for the serious anxiety this matter has brought to parents and society,  RYB said in a statement on its official microblog on Friday, adding that it was helping authorities.  We are currently working with the police to provide relevant surveillance materials and equipment; the teachers in question have been suspended and we are co-operating with the police investigation,  it said. The school s principal had lodged a police report against  individuals who have engaged in false accusations and framing , it said, without elaborating. Beijing police did not immediately respond to a faxed request for comment. In a statement before its shares opened trade on Friday, RYB said it was planning a $50 million share buy-back programme and had established a special task force led by independent company directors to do a  thorough self-inspection across all teaching facilities . China s education ministry has begun a special investigation into the operation of kindergartens, it said in a statement on Thursday, and told education departments nationwide to  take warning from these types of incidents . Separate incidents in China of children being slapped, beaten with a stick and having their mouths sealed shut with duct tape have also gone viral and fuelled anger online. News of the investigation into the Beijing kindergarten triggered a wave of outrage on social media, with more than 76 million mentions of  RYB  on Tencent Holdings Ltd s (0700.HK) WeChat messaging service on Thursday.  These may be individual cases but the deeper problems they reflect cannot be overlooked,  a Xinhua editorial said.  Laws must be enforced, supervision strengthened, teacher wages increased. The childcare industry cannot be allowed to grow in an uncivilised fashion.  Chinese education providers have been attracting major investment, while others have sought global listings, latching onto fast-growing demand from parents for high-end education services. Before Friday, shares in RYB had been up about 44 percent since a September New York listing, giving it a market value of nearly $766 million. This was not the first case of alleged abuse at an RYB school.  In 2015, a court in Jilin province found two teachers guilty of physically abusing children at one of its kindergartens in the city of Siping. In that case, staff at the school on  multiple occasions used needles and intimidation tactics to abuse many of the children under their care , according to the court ruling document. Earlier this year, RYB said it had found  serious mistakes  at another one of its Beijing schools and had asked the principal to step down after videos emerged showing teachers hitting and pushing children.  State television broadcast images of police and angry parents gathered outside the school in Beijing on Thursday, calling for answers.  On Friday, one father leaving the school said he had been there to cancel his son s enrolment and demand a refund.  Another parent, 36-year-old Wang Siqi, said she took the day off work to demand answers, even though her six-year-old son does not attend the school.   As a mother when I saw this news I really couldn t take it,  she said.  This is unforgivable.  RYB says on its website it runs a network of more than 1,300 directly owned and franchised play-and-learn centres and nearly 500 kindergartens for children up to age six in about 300 Chinese cities and towns.

Summary: चीन किंडरगार्टन यौन शोषण और 'सुई के निशान' के दावों की पुलिस जांच में तेजी आई


DUBAI (Reuters) - The health of Bahrain s top Shi ite Muslim cleric has deteriorated, activists said on Monday, after months under virtual house arrest following a government decision to revoke his citizenship. Bahraini officials did not respond to a request for a comment on the reports about Ayatollah Isa Qassim s state of health. News about his condition has stoked tension in Bahrain as the Sunni Muslim-led monarchy pursues a crackdown on dissent by majority Shi ites that has included closing down two main political groupings and banning activists from travel or putting them on trial. Activists said Qassim, who is believed to be in his 70s, was suffering constant pain and excreting blood. Doctors who visited him on Sunday at his home in the village of Duraz, outside the capital Manama, have diagnosed him to be suffering from a  groin hernia requiring emergency operation , according to the London-based Bahrain Institute for Rights and Democracy (BIRD).  Such an operation carries a high mortality risk at Sheikh Isa Qassim s age. He also suffers high blood pressure, diabetes and a form of heart disease,  BIRD added in a statement. Sheikh Maytham al-Salman, a prominent Bahraini interfaith activist, said the Manama government was responsible for Qassim s health as it controlled access to medical treatment.  The international community must ensure Bahrain is pressured to ensure the safety of Sheikh Isa Qassim is protected,  he added in comments published by BIRD. The Interior Ministry announced in June 2016 that Qassim s citizenship had been revoked, accusing him of trying to divide Bahraini society, encourage youths to violate the constitution and promote a sectarian environment in the Gulf Arab state. The decision sparked angry protests in Bahrain and drew sharp condemnation from regional Shi ite power Iran and statements of concern from the United States and Britain. In May, five people were killed when security forces raided Qassim s homevillage to disperse followers who had camped out outside his house, and arrested 286 people, according to the interior ministry. Bahrain, where the U.S. Fifth Fleet that helps secure the Gulf s oil-shipping lanes is based, crushed Arab Spring protests in 2011 led by Shi ites demanding a bigger share in running the country. But unrest has lingered on with occasional outbursts that are put down by force by the authorities.

Summary: बहरीन के शीर्ष शिया मौलवी की तबीयत बिगड़ती जा रही हैः कार्यकर्ता


WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A proposed border tax in the House of Representatives was killed on Thursday, bringing relief to retailers and other large importers whose profits faced threats and removing a hurdle that had kept negotiations on the long-promised Republican overhaul of the U.S. tax code from advancing. The border adjustment tax was part of a broad reform of the tax code being pushed by House Republican leaders. It was meant to discourage companies from manufacturing products overseas and then importing them into the United States for sale instead of producing goods in the U.S.  The tax would have generated roughly $1 trillion in revenue, allowing tax-code writers to slash the corporate tax rate without increasing the nation’s deficit. Removing the controversial provision could make it easier to pass tax legislation, but likely narrows the scope of what could become law. It suggests Republicans are more likely to implement simple rate cuts and not accomplish sweeping tax reform on the scale of the last major overhaul in 1986, such as moving to a territorial tax system, in which companies would pay tax only on profits earned in the United States. Without a new source of revenue, it will make it more difficult for Republicans to make tax code changes permanent and deficit-neutral. The Republicans are looking to use rules that would require passage of a tax bill only with a simple majority - meaning they would not need any Democratic votes. Those rules restrict creating long-term deficits, so if the bill is not deficit-neutral the tax cuts would likely carry an expiration date. The group of six Republican negotiators working on tax reform on Thursday did not announce any agreement on their target for corporate rate cuts - a signal that tax lobbyists said shows continuing divisions among Republicans about the closely watched rate.  Corporate profits are currently taxed at 35 percent, but President Donald Trump wants them slashed to 15 percent, which he says will promote business spending, economic growth and job creation.      “While we have debated the pro-growth benefits of border adjustability, we appreciate that there are many unknowns associated with it and have decided to set this policy aside in order to advance tax reform,” the “Big Six” Republican tax negotiators said in a joint statement. Large retailers and other importers had lobbied aggressively against the border tax proposal, including a coalition that included automakers like Toyota (7203.T) and stores like Target (TGT.N), Autozone (AZO.N) and Best Buy (BBY.N). The retailers argued that the border tax would drastically increase consumer prices, hitting low- and middle-class households the most. The Big Six is comprised of Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin and Gary Cohn, the head of the National Economic Council - both representing Trump - House Speaker Paul Ryan, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and the heads of the two tax-writing committees in Congress, Senator Orrin Hatch and Representative Kevin Brady. In addition to killing the border tax, the group offered other vague goals but no details, saying they remain committed to increased expensing for corporations, or allowing them to write off the cost of new equipment more quickly, and to return profits held by American companies overseas, known as repatriation, at a lower tax rate than the current 35 percent. The statement offered no specific goals or targets on the personal income tax code. “We have always been in agreement that tax relief for American families should be at the heart of our plan,” the Big Six said. Trump has vowed to finish a tax overhaul by the end of this year. Republicans leaders in Congress are hopeful that the current debate on repealing and replacing Obamacare, which is now before the Senate, can be completed quickly, allowing Congress to then turn its attention to the tax code. The U.S. Chamber of Commerce praised the announcement as progress toward an ultimate goal of overhauling the code.  “We’re pleased, but we’re not satisfied until we get an outcome,” said Neil Bradley, the head of policy for the business group.

Summary: रिपब्लिकन ने सीमा कर को खत्म किया, कॉर्पोरेट दरों में कटौती पर ध्यान केंद्रित किया


(Reuters) - The eye of the potentially catastrophic Category 5 hurricane Irma has moved away from Barbuda and is heading towards St. Martin, the U.S. National Hurricane Center said in an advisory. Hurricane Irma is about 145 miles (235 km) east of St. Croix with maximum sustained winds of 185 mph (295 km/h), the NHC said. The core of Irma is likely to move over portions of the northern Leeward Islands, and move near or over portions of the northern Virgin Islands on Wednesday, it said.  (This story corrects headline to fix sourcing to U.S. NHC, not NRC)

Summary: तूफान इरमा बारबुडा से दूर चला गयाः एनएचसी


WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump had a message for lawmakers returning to Washington after the August recess on Tuesday, when he was expected to rescind an immigration program that shielded from deportation some immigrants who came to the United States illegally as children. “Congress, get ready to do your job - DACA!” the Republican president said in a Twitter post, referring to the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals. Trump’s move would throw their fate to Congress, which would have six months to find a fix.

Summary: ट्रम्प ने कांग्रेस से कहाः 'अपना काम करने के लिए तैयार हो जाओ-डी. ए. सी. ए.!'


LONDON (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump would effectively be making a declaration of war if he recognizes Jerusalem as Israel s capital, the Palestinians  chief representative to Britain said on Wednesday.  If he says what he is intending to say about Jerusalem being the capital of Israel, it means a kiss of death to the two state solution,  Manuel Hassassian said in a BBC radio interview.   He is declaring war in the Middle East, he is declaring war against 1.5 billion Muslims (and) hundreds of millions of Christians that are not going to accept the holy shrines to be totally under the hegemony of Israel,  Hassassian added. Senior U.S. officials said on Tuesday that Trump will recognize Jerusalem as Israel s capital on Wednesday and set in motion the relocation of the U.S. embassy to the city.

Summary: फिलिस्तीन के राजदूत का कहना है कि जेरूसलम को अमेरिकी मान्यता 'युद्ध की घोषणा' है


MANILA (Reuters) - Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau hopped from one table to the next, chatted with people and posed for selfies on Sunday at a fastfood chain store in Manila, charming residents of the Philippines capital for the second time in two years. Trudeau, in Manila for a summit of regional leaders, dropped in at an outlet of fastfood giant Jollibee Foods Corp  after a visit to a nearby women’s clinic that advocates family planning, a touchy subject in the Catholic-majority Philippines. He greeted nearly everyone in the store, shaking hands and exchanging hugs with fans after ordering fried chicken and a strawberry float. “Can I get it to go? I’ll eat it in the car,” Trudeau said, before going behind the counter for a photograph with Jollibee staff. Earlier, when he landed at Clark airport, a smiling Trudeau waded into a crowd of children gathered to greet dignitaries arriving for the summit, exchanging high fives and waving to others.  During his last visit to Manila, Trudeau won a Twitter poll with the hashtag #APEChottie that asked people to vote for the most attractive leader at the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in 2015. “He’s so handsome! And he’s very nice,” said 29-year-old Rina Aparicio, among the customers at the fastfood outlet. “I asked for a selfie and he said yes right away.” Outside the store, hundreds of people screamed and shouted  as Trudeau got into his car, waving what appeared to be hastily written placards saying “Welcome to the Philippines!” Trudeau visited the first Jollibee store in Winnipeg, Canada in January, a country with hundreds of thousands of Filipino immigrants. Jollibee, a $5 billion company that has been dubbed the McDonald’s of the Philippines, is looking to go global with primary targets including China and the United States.  The company, which also serves burgers and sweet spaghetti, is opening another outlet in Winnipeg this month and plans are to increase that to 30 in five to 10 years, said Jose Minana, a Jollibee executive. Minana said the company did not seek out Trudeau for the visit, and said it was requested by Canadian officials. “We’re very humbled by him taking time from his obviously busy schedule to give us a slice of his time,” said Minana. “I’d like to also think that he enjoys the food.”

Summary: 'क्या मैं इसे ले जा सकता हूँ?' कनाडा के ट्रूडो ने तला हुआ चिकन ऑर्डर करते हुए मनीला को मंत्रमुग्ध कर दिया


MANILA (Reuters) - Filipino lawyers on Thursday announced a broad alliance to challenge President Rodrigo Duterte s 16-month war on drugs amid unprecedented scrutiny of the campaign in which more than 3,900 mostly urban, poor Filipinos have been killed. Police say the deaths were in self-defense after armed suspects resisted arrest. Critics dispute that and say executions are taking place, with zero accountability. Lawyers Against Extrajudicial Killings adds to a growing number of voices calling on the government to end the campaign.  It is the duty of all lawyers to consistently, uncompromisingly uphold and defend human rights,  said Edre Olalia, head of the National Union of People s Lawyers and one of the group s organizers.  Duterte s spokesman, Harry Roque, a congressman and human rights lawyer, denied rights violations on the part of the president but welcomed the new group.   Unless we can come up with actual evidence that there are extra-legal killings, then we cannot overcome the presumption (of regularity in the discharge of official functions),  Roque said.  He (Duterte) will not tolerate murders. He will only tolerate killings when it is in line with duty and when the engagement is legal,  Roque, who had prosecuted on behalf of murdered journalists, told reporters.

Summary: फिलीपींस के वकीलों के समूह ने मादक पदार्थों के खिलाफ दुतेर्ते के युद्ध को चुनौती दी


WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A small group of bipartisan senators introduced a bill Thursday that would block a pending judicial rule change allowing U.S. judges to issue search warrants for remote access to computers in any jurisdiction, even overseas, arguing the change would expand the FBI’s hacking authority. The one-page legislation from Democratic Senator Ron Wyden and Republican Senator Rand Paul would undo the change, adopted by the U.S. Supreme Court in a private vote last month and without congressional involvement, to procedural rules governing the court system. Republican Senator Steve Daines and Democrats Tammy Baldwin and Jon Tester are co-sponsoring the Stopping Mass Hacking Act. Magistrate judges currently can only order searches within the jurisdiction of their court, typically limited to a few counties. “This is a dramatic expansion of the government’s hacking and surveillance authority,” Wyden said in a statement. “Such a substantive change with an enormous impact on Americans’ constitutional rights should be debated by Congress, not maneuvered through an obscure bureaucratic process.” Companion legislation is expected in the House soon,  Wyden’s office said. The U.S. Justice Department has pushed for the rule change since 2013 and has portrayed it as a procedural tweak needed to modernize the criminal code to pursue sophisticated 21st century criminals. Congress has until Dec. 1 to vote to reject, amend or postpone the changes to Rule 41 of the federal rules of criminal procedure. If lawmakers fail to act, the change will automatically take effect, a scenario seen as likely given the short timeline.  But civil liberties groups and Alphabet’s Google  have argued the change should be properly authorized by Congress  and could violate the U.S. Constitution’s protections against unreasonable searches and seizures.  Many organizations have vowed to lobby Congress intensely in the coming months to block it. The change would permit judges to issue warrants in cases where a suspect uses anonymizing technology to conceal the location of his or her computer or for an investigation into a network of hacked or infected computers, such as a botnot. Tensions over the FBI’s secretive hacking tools, also known as “network investigative techniques,” have played out in a number of recent cases involving the bureau’s covert seizure of a dark web child pornography website in February 2015 to track thousands of the site’s visitors. Two defendants in the investigation secured rulings last month declaring the warrants used in their cases were invalid under current limitations of Rule 41.

Summary: एफ. बी. आई. हैकिंग प्राधिकरण के विस्तार को रोकने के लिए सीनेटरों ने विधेयक पेश किया


WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Republican U.S. Senators John McCain and Ben Sasse said on Wednesday they would vote against President Donald Trump’s nominee for U.S. trade representative, Robert Lighthizer, because of his opposition to the North American Free Trade Agreement. “Unfortunately, your confirmation process has failed to reassure us that you understand the North American Free Trade Agreement’s (NAFTA) positive economic benefits to our respective States and the nation as a whole,” McCain and Sasse said in a letter to Lighthizer.

Summary: रिपब्लिकन सीनेटर मैक्केन, सास ने ट्रम्प के अमेरिकी व्यापार प्रतिनिधि चयन का विरोध किया


WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A group of top U.S. House of Representatives Democrats sent a letter on Tuesday asking the Department of Defense to review a paid appearance at a Russian event by retired Army Lieutenant General Michael Flynn, President Donald Trump’s National Security Adviser. The letter said it was “extremely concerning” that Flynn was paid to appear at a gala for Russia’s government-funded RT  television. The anti-bribery “emoluments” clause of the U.S. constitution bars payments by foreign governments. “It remains unclear how much General Flynn was paid for his dinner with (Russian President) Vladimir Putin, whether he received additional payments from Russian or other foreign sources on separate occasions, or whether he sought the approval of the Department of Defense or Congress to accept any of these payments,” said the letter from the ranking Democrats on six House committees. Asked about the letter, White House spokesman Sean Spicer said he thought the Department of Defense was an appropriate place for such a review. But he said it did not appear unusual. He noted that Flynn “like I think probably countless if not hundreds of retired flag officers, joined a speaking bureau and has given speeches at various places.” Flynn, a former director of the Defense Intelligence Agency, has had warm relations with Putin’s government, which has worried Russia hawks in Congress, who consider Moscow a U.S. opponent on issues ranging from the annexation of Crimea from Ukraine to the civil war in Syria and the hacking of last year’s U.S. election. Some lawmakers also have questioned Flynn’s relationship with the government of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. He was a paid lobbyist for a consulting firm led by the head of the Turkish-American Business Council, and after last November’s election wrote an article urging the U.S. to cultivate better relations with Erdogan.

Summary: डेमोक्रेटिक सांसदों ने ट्रम्प सलाहकार के रूस भुगतान की जांच की मांग की


WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. military said on Friday it was identifying new areas where it could work with allies to put pressure on Iran in support of President Donald Trump’s new strategy, which promises a far more confrontational approach to Tehran. Trump struck a blow against the 2015 Iran nuclear agreement on Friday in defiance of other world powers, choosing not to certify that Tehran is complying with the deal and warning he might ultimately terminate it. He also promised to address Iran more broadly, including its support for extremist groups in the Middle East. Major Adrian Rankine-Galloway, a Defense Department spokesman, told Reuters the Pentagon was assessing the positioning of its forces as well as planning but offered few details. “We are identifying new areas where we will work with allies to put pressure on the Iranian regime, neutralize its destabilizing influences, and constrain its aggressive power projection, particularly its support for terrorist groups and militants,” he said. U.S. Defense Secretary Jim Mattis said his first goal would to talk with U.S. allies in Europe, the Middle East and elsewhere to gain a shared understanding of Iran’s actions. “Certainly we intend to dissuade them from shipping arms into places like Yemen and explosives into Bahrain and the other things they do with their surrogates, like Lebanese Hezbollah,” Mattis said. The U.S. military has long been a strident critic of Iran, accusing it directly and indirectly of trying to undermine the United States and its allies, including in Iraq, Syria and Yemen. The tensions escalated in recent months in Syria, where American pilots shot down two Iranian-made drones this summer.   Still, a more aggressive approach to Iran could trigger a backlash from Iran’s elite Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and forces that it backs. That includes in Iraq, where U.S. troops are fighting Islamic State and trying to keep their distance from Shi’ite militia aligned with Iran. “U.S. forces in Iraq are quite exposed, and coalition forces are quite exposed to the risk of attack if Iranian elements so choose,” said Jennifer Cafarella, lead intelligence planner at the Institute for the Study of War, a think-tank in Washington. The U.S. military is analyzing an explosively formed penetrator, or EFP, that killed an American soldier in Iraq this month. The reappearance of the device, which Iran-backed Shi’ite militia routinely used to target American troops in Iraq before their withdrawal in 2011, has startled U.S. officials. CIA Director Mike Pompeo noted the device was detonated in an area controlled by a militia backed by Tehran. “We do not have evidence of a direct link to Iran, but we are closely examining this tragic incident,” Pompeo said on Wednesday. Cafarella said the killing of the U.S. soldier may have been a warning from Iran. “I think it is possible that the Iranians have been attempting to signal their commitment to retaliate against the U.S. strategy,” she said. Mattis said the United States was watching for any new provocations from Iran. Asked whether he thought Tehran might retaliate, he said: “It would be ill advised for them to attack us.” Reuters has previously reported that options to increase pressure on Iran include more aggressive U.S. interceptions of Iranian arms shipments, such as those to Houthi rebels in Yemen, It could also direct U.S. naval forces to react more forcefully when harassed by armed IRGC speed boats. The Pentagon on Friday detailed a series of major concern about Iran, including its ballistic missile development and cyber attacks against the United States and U.S. allies.  The Pentagon promised to review U.S. security cooperation activities with allies in the region, something that could lead to alterations in U.S. arms sales and military exercises.  It also signaled a willingness to re-examine the positioning of the roughly 70,000 American troops the Pentagon says are stationed in the Middle East. Still, Mattis said: “Right now we are not changing our posture.”

Summary: पेंटागन ने ईरान पर दबाव बनाने के लिए नए क्षेत्रों की पहचान की, योजनाओं की समीक्षा की


BUCHAREST (Reuters) - Seven European Union states urged Romania s ruling coalition on Thursday to avoid legislation that could weaken its judiciary and the fight against corruption, hours after senators approved a contentious overhaul of the justice system. Senators passed the last of three bills which critics say limit the independence of magistrates and which have triggered street protests across Romania, widely regarded as one of the EU s most corrupt states. The three bills change the process of appointing chief prosecutors and set up a special unit to probe crimes committed by magistrates, making them the only professional category with a prosecuting unit dedicated to investigating them. France, Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, and Sweden said in a joint statement from their embassies in Bucharest that the bills and criminal code changes under debate in parliament undermined Romania s progress on judicial reforms.  We appeal to the parties involved in the justice reform project to avoid any action that could lead to weakening the independence of the justice system and of the fight against corruption,  the joint statement said. The seven states joined a chorus of criticism that included the European Commission, the U.S. State Department, thousands of Romanian magistrates and centrist President Klaus Iohannis. Romania s ruling Social Democrats, which command an overwhelming majority in parliament together with their junior coalition partner, ALDE, have so far ignored the warnings.  They are also working on changes to the criminal code that critics say will derail law and order. Opposition politicians challenged the bills in the Constitutional Court on Thursday. Romania s top court also said it will challenge legal changes to the status of magistrates.  It was unclear when the court would meet to rule on the challenges but it could be months before the bills are enforced, as the president must also sign off on them. Iohannis has repeatedly criticized the bills. The proposed changes place Romania alongside its eastern European peers Hungary and Poland, where populist leaders are also trying to control the judiciary, in defying EU concerns over the rule of law. The Commission launched an unprecedented action on Poland on Wednesday, calling on other member states to prepare to sanction Warsaw if it fails to reverse judicial reforms it says pose a threat to democracy.

Summary: यूरोपीय संघ के दूतावासों ने रोमानिया से न्यायिक सुधार पर पुनर्विचार करने का आग्रह किया


BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Iraq wants the Kurdistan region to stop independent crude exports and to hand over sales operations to the Iraqi state-oil marketer SOMO, the company s director said on Thursday. Iraq is talking to Turkey to allow SOMO to sell the Kurdish crude that arrives by pipeline in Ceyhan, the Turkish terminal on the Mediterranean, acting SOMO director general Alaa al-Yasiri told reporters in Baghdad. About 530,000 barrels per day (bpd) used to arrive in Ceyhan via the pipeline until mid-October, of which about half came from the Kurdistan Regional Government s oilfields and the rest from Kirkuk, a disputed province claimed by both the Kurdish region and Iraqi authorities in Baghdad. Output from Kirkuk fell in mid-October, when Iraqi forces took back control of the northern region s oilfields from Kurdish fighters who had been there since 2014. Kurdish Peshmerga forces deployed in Kirkuk in 2014, when the Iraqi army fled in the face of an advance by Islamic State militants. The Kurdish move prevented the militants taking control of the oilfields.      The pipeline carried on average 419,000 bpd in October, down from 600,000 bpd in September, said Farid al-Jadir, the director general of North Oil Company, which operates Kirkuk. NOC should resume exports from Kirkuk through the Kurdish pipeline this month, after the two sides agree on terms of use, Yasiri said. Kirkuk would also export by tanker trucks about 15,000 bpd to the refinery of Kermanshah in Iran, he added. Yasiri expected an old pipeline that bypasses most of the Kurdistan region to resume operation in three months.  The pipeline was severely damaged by Islamic State after it took over Mosul s Nineveh province in 2014. U.S.-backed Iraqi forces ousted the group from Mosul in July, after a nine-month campaign supported by Kurdish Peshmerga fighters. Iraq, the second-largest producer of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries after Saudi Arabia, supported any future decision by the group to support oil prices, Yasiri said.  OPEC is expected to extend curbs on oil output when it meets in Vienna at the end of month.

Summary: इराक कुर्द क्षेत्र के तेल निर्यात पर नियंत्रण चाहता हैः सरकारी कंपनी


DHAKA (Reuters) - A pilot with the Bangladesh national carrier Bangladesh Biman was arrested on Wednesday suspected of terrorism offences, including plotting to keep passengers hostage and flying a plane into the houses of top government leaders, police said. Sabbir Enam, 31, was detained on Tuesday and formally arrested on Wednesday, a senior police official said. Rapid Action Battalion, the special security force of Bangladesh police, arrested him and three others, including his mother, said Mufti Mahmud Khan, a director of the RAB responsible for the legal and media wing of the force. He told Reuters that Sabbir had close links with the militant group Jamaat-ul-Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB) and was planning to fly a plane into the residences of top government leaders.  He also had plans to take a flight, keeping passengers as hostage, (and heading) to some Middle Eastern country,  Mufti said. No further details of the plans, or if or when they were ever to be carried out, were immediately available. The arrested pilot was not available for comment. JMB is an Islamic militant organization which in 2005, detonated 500 bombs at 300 locations across the country. Its aim is to set up an Islamic state.

Summary: बांग्लादेश पुलिस ने हवाई हमले की साजिश रचने के संदेह में पायलट को गिरफ्तार किया


DAKAR (Reuters) - Saudi Arabia has pledged $100 million to a new regional military force battling jihadist groups in West Africa s Sahel region, force member Mali said on Monday.  The contribution would be a major boost to the cash-strapped force and bring pledged commitments to more than half the roughly $500 million the G5 Sahel says it needs for its first year of operations.   The G5 Sahel - composed of the armies of Mali, Mauritania, Niger, Burkina Faso and Chad - launched its first military campaign in October amid growing unrest in the Sahel, whose porous borders are regularly crossed by jihadists, including affiliates of al Qaeda and Islamic State. Those groups have stepped up attacks on civilian and military targets, including tourist attractions in regional capitals, raising fears the zone will become a new breeding ground for militants.   Mali s foreign ministry said Saudi Arabian authorities made the pledge during a visit to the kingdom late last month by Malian Foreign Minister Abdoulaye Diop.  Saudi Arabia s foreign ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The Sunni Muslim kingdom is competing with its main rival, Shi ite power Iran, for influence across West Africa and other parts of the Muslim world. Donors from both countries have given money to mosques and other causes there. France, the G5 s most vocal foreign backer, has pressed Saudi Arabia to take concrete actions to fight Islamist militants. French President Emmanuel Macron asked Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman to contribute to the G5 when he saw him in Riyadh last month.  The European Union, France, the United States and each of the G5 countries have also promised to fund the force.

Summary: सउदी अरब ने अफ्रीकी जिहादी विरोधी बल को 10 करोड़ डॉलर देने का वादा कियाः माली


ISLAMABAD (Reuters) - Pakistan s Supreme Court cleared opposition leader Imran Khan on Friday of accusations of failing to declare assets, but barred his party s secretary general from parliament. The top court dismissed a petition to disqualify the cricket hero as an MP, months after his rival, former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, was removed from parliament by the court on similar charges.  No dishonesty or omission can be attributed to (Khan). This petition has no merits and is hereby dismissed,  Chief Justice Saqib Nisar told the court.  The ruling on Khan was hailed as a vindication by his opposition party, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), which will face off against Sharif s ruling Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz in elections next year. Khan had led the legal drive that led to Sharif being disqualified in July over unreported income and the opening of a  criminal corruption case against the former prime minister. A lawmaker from Sharif s ruling party filed a separate complaint late last year alleging Khan and PTI secretary general Jahangir Tareen owned offshore companies and had not disclosed their assets. The Supreme Court disqualified Tareen.  The respondent is declared not to be an honest person. He ceased to be member of the parliament. The respondent is disqualified,  Nisar said of Tareen. PTI spokesman Naeem Ul Haq said the party was disappointed with that judgment. Tareen himself was not immediately available for comment.  I gave 60 documents to the Supreme Court ... Nawaz Sharif, took 300 billion rupees out of this country which he has to answer for ... and for that he produced only one document,  Khan said at a press briefing after the verdict was announced. A senior PML-N leader, Miftah Ismial, told Reuters the party questioned details of the court s ruling, but accepted it as final.

Summary: पाकिस्तान की शीर्ष अदालत ने विपक्षी नेता इमरान खान पर प्रतिबंध लगाने की याचिका खारिज की


ISLAMABAD (Reuters) - Pakistan s former prime minister Nawaz Sharif attended an anti-corruption trial on Friday ordered by the country s Supreme Court when it removed him from office earlier this year. Sharif, 67, arrived at the court with his daughter, Maryam, who is also on trial over the family s wealth and financial dealings. The family has called the case a political conspiracy but opposition leaders who pushed it before the courts have hailed it as accountability for the rich and powerful. The charges in the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) court are linked to London properties the family owns that were revealed in the 2016 Panama Papers leaks involving offshore companies owned by prominent international figures. Allies of Sharif, who has served as prime minister twice and was toppled in a military coup in 1999, have called the proceedings a political vendetta and hinted at intervention by elements of the powerful army. The Supreme Court disqualified Sharif from office in July over unreported sources of annual income of about $10,000, a salary the former premier denies ever receiving. The high court also ordered the NAB to investigate and conduct a trial into the Sharif family s wider finances, including the London properties. Sharif maintains control of the ruling Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz party, which elected close ally Shahid Khaqi Abbasi as prime minister after Sharif was disqualified.

Summary: पाकिस्तान के पूर्व प्रधानमंत्री वित्तीय मामलों में मुकदमे के लिए अदालत में पेश हुए


DUBAI (Reuters) - Bahrain accused Qatar on Monday of illegally seizing three boats with 16 sailors on board, state news agency BNA reported, worsening an already deeply troubled diplomatic situation in the region. Coast Guard Commander Commodore Alaa Siyadi told BNA the boats were seized over the past three days. The report gave no details on the boats or where they were seized. Qatar confirmed it detained fishing boats after they entered its territorial waters illegally, and said the sailors will be released soon. Siyadi said the seizure raised to 15 the number of boats seized, and the number of sailors in Qatari custody to 20, adding that some of the boat seizures date back to 2009, BNA reported.   All unauthorized fishing boats receive a warning to leave Qatari waters, and if they are non-compliant, they are referred to the competent authorities,  a source at Qatar s Interior Ministry said.  The crew will be released within three days, while the ships will be detained until the court makes a decision.  Bahrain, together with Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Egypt, imposed diplomatic, trade and travel sanctions on Qatar in June, accusing it of supporting terrorism, which Doha denies.

Summary: बहरीन ने कतर पर तीन नौकाओं को जब्त करने का आरोप लगायाः एजेंसी


WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Republican efforts to overhaul the U.S. tax code have hit a snag in the House of Representatives, where infighting over spending cuts is delaying adoption of a legislative tool they need to move a tax bill forward. The House Budget Committee canceled plans to send a budget resolution for fiscal 2018 to the floor this week, lawmakers said on Tuesday, as conservative Republicans pushed to add hundreds of billions of dollars in mandatory spending cuts to the blueprint. House and Senate passage of a budget resolution is vital to President Donald Trump’s pledge to deliver on tax reform this year because the document would free Republicans to circumvent Democratic opposition in the Senate. But the push to cut programs including Medicaid and food stamps, which benefit the poor, could lead to a stalemate. Trump administration officials and Republican leaders in Congress are working separately to agree on a tax bill that can be unveiled in September. “No budget, no tax reform,” said Representative Mark Walker, who chairs the Republican Study Committee, a group of more than 150 conservative lawmakers. “That’s why there should be a sense of urgency to get this done pretty quick.” Their aim is to cut mandatory programs that are required by law and viewed as principle drivers of deficit spending. The result could be legislation containing lower taxes for the wealthy and corporations alongside reduced benefits for the poor.  Lawmakers say there is Republican agreement on topline discretionary spending levels of $621.5 billion for defense and $511 billion for non-defense programs. Representative Jim Jordan, a leading member of the conservative House Freedom Caucus, is pushing to cut as much as $400 billion over a decade from a range of programs that benefit the poor. Freedom Caucus Chairman Mark Meadows said he wanted another $295 billion in cuts on top of that.  “It has to be linked to tax reform, because we believe tax reform is going to happen,” Jordan said in an interview.  The budget committee canceled its plans this week after the chairmen of several other panels pushed back against efforts to include $250 billion in spending cuts. “The end game is to get a budget out of the committee,” House Budget Committee Chairwoman Diane Black told reporters. “I do see a viable path. And I am going to continue to push.”

Summary: रिपब्लिकन कर संहिता में सुधार ने सदन के बजट में बाधा डाली


YAOUNDE (Reuters) - Separatists from Cameroon s Anglophone region have killed four security forces in several attacks over the past few days, the government said on Saturday, an unprecedented violent turn to a movement that risks morphing into a full blown insurgency. A government crackdown on the separatists has killed dozens of people since October and driven many into the arms of a once-fringe separatist movement ahead of presidential elections in 2018. It followed on from demonstrations a year ago by English-speakers in the western region bordering Nigeria against what they see as a marginalization by the mostly French-speaking government of President Paul Biya, who has been in power for 35 years. Only a minority want to secede, however. The secessionists have been around for decades, but operated underground and had been largely non-violent until a few weeks ago. A spokesman for the separatists acknowledged the latest attacks but disputed details of the government account, and said five security forces had been killed. In Saturday s statement, Communications Minister Issa Tchiroma gave more details of the killing of two gendarmes reported on Tuesday and Wednesday, and said two further attacks on Thursday night had killed two soldiers.  Referring to attacks earlier in the week, Tchiroma said assailants armed with machetes stormed a high school in the town of Jakiri on Tuesday. The separatists are disrupting schools that teach in French. Gendarmes arrived on the scene to stop them, but one was killed in the resultant scuffle.  Tchiroma said he was  executed , but Cho Ayaba, a leading member of the political wing of the separatist movement who lives abroad told Reuters in Dakar by telephone that he was  killed in a firefight. Then on Wednesday, in the restive city of Bamenda, another attack left a gendarme dead, Tchiroma said. Ayaba reported two deaths of security forces in that attack. On Thursday night, insurgents killed a soldier in Bamenda by slitting his throat, Tchiroma said, and another female soldier guarding a bridge.  As I speak, four members of the Defense and Security Forces on duty have been killed, murdered by terrorists on behalf of the secessionist movement,  Tchiroma said. Ayaba contradicted that, saying that all of the deaths had occurred in shootouts, and that no one had their throat slit.  That s absolute nonsense,  he said.  There was no physical contact.  Cameroon s language divide is a legacy of World War One, when the League of Nations split the former German colony of Kamerun between allied French and British victors. Hundreds of Anglophone Cameroonians were swept up in mass arrests following demonstrations on Oct. 1, and at least 5,000 have fled the crisis for neighboring Nigeria. The crackdown, which included cutting the Internet, locking up opponents and using helicopter gunships to fire on civilians,   and a lack of any political solution is fast transforming a protest movement into an armed rebellion.  Cameroon soldiers are enforcing an occupation,  Ayaba said.  The only thing that will make us stop these attacks is if the regime withdraws ... if they stop using the military to impose political exclusion and systematic terror on our people.

Summary: कैमरून के अलगाववादी हमलों में चार सुरक्षा बल मारे गएः सरकार


MADRID (Reuters) - Catalan pro-independence party Esquerra Republicana de Catalunya (ERC) will take part in a snap regional election Dec. 21, it said on Monday, in a tactic admission that the previous ruling party in Catalonia had been fired and parliament dissolved.  Taking part in Dec. 21 is an opportunity to better consolidate the Republic ... They ve called illegitimate elections, a trap. However, we re not afraid of the ballot box,  lawmaker Sergi Sabria said during a conference. Spain s Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy sacked the regional government, dissolved parliament and called a snap election on Friday after Catalonia leaders made a unilateral declaration of independence.  Some of the region s leaders had vowed to ignore Rajoy s ruling and continue working.

Summary: कैटलन की स्वतंत्रता समर्थक पार्टी का कहना है कि वह 21 दिसंबर को होने वाले चुनाव में भाग लेगी


COX S BAZAR, Bangladesh (Reuters) - Wild elephants trampled sleeping Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh in the early hours of Saturday, killing three children and a woman in the second such incident since the arrival of hundreds of thousands of refugees from Myanmar in just a few weeks. Many trees on the forested hills of Balukhali in southern Bangladesh, where the incident took place, have been chopped down to house the massive influx of Rohingya Muslims escaping violence in neighboring Myanmar. Tarpaulin and bamboo shelters have been built on elephant walkways in some areas, sparking environmental concerns, as the country struggles to accommodate an unprecedented number of people. Besides those killed, four refugees from neighboring tents were injured and were in critical condition at Sadar Hospital in Cox s Bazar, the town s additional superintendent of police Afrujul Hoque Totul told Reuters. At the refugee camp, cooking utensils the family had brought from Myanmar lay crushed under a jumble of bamboo sticks and clothes. Abdul Sukoor, 30, whose tent on the edge of the camp was also trampled, said he and his family managed to escape when they heard the screams of other refugees as the elephants approached. He is now moving to a tent further inside the camp, but said he was still worried.  We have to be constantly alert at night,  he said. More than 530,000 refugees from Myanmar have fled to Bangladesh over the last two months since attacks by Rohingya militants on security posts triggered a Myanmar army operation that the United Nations has described as ethnic cleansing.

Summary: बांग्लादेश में जंगली हाथियों ने चार रोहिंग्या शरणार्थियों को रौंद कर मार डाला


WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama’s visit to Cuba later this month will not be affected by the cancellation of tentative plans for Secretary of State John Kerry to visit the island nation for human rights talks beforehand, the White House said on Friday. The top U.S. diplomat told a congressional hearing on Feb. 23 that he might be in Cuba for a dialogue on human rights before the president’s scheduled trip March 21-22. But officials said on Thursday that Kerry’s visit had been canceled amid concerns over Cuba’s human rights record. The White House said on Friday that Kerry’s decision would not affect Obama’s visit, and that Kerry would travel to Cuba with the president.

Summary: केरी की संभावित यात्रा रद्द होने से ओबामा की क्यूबा यात्रा प्रभावित नहीं हुईः व्हाइट हाउस


BEIRUT (Reuters) - Syria s Foreign Ministry on Thursday called on the United Nations Security Council to condemn Israel s attacks on Syria after an Israeli strike late on Wednesday. The Foreign Ministry asked the Security Council to take  strict and immediate  measures to stop such Israeli attacks, in a statement carried on the state-run SANA news agency. Wednesday s strike hit a copper factory in the industrial town of Hisya, 35 km (21 miles) south of Homs and 112 km north of Damascus, SANA reported. In Jerusalem, Israel s Foreign Ministry declined to comment. On Wednesday, Israel s Channel 10 said the aircraft were not hit and returned safely to base. The Israeli air force says it has struck arms convoys of the Syrian military and its Lebanese ally, the Iran-backed Hezbollah, nearly 100 times in recent years. Israeli officials have expressed alarm at Iranian influence in Syria, where Iran-backed groups have played a critical role fighting in support of President Bashar al-Assad during the conflict that erupted in 2011.

Summary: सीरिया ने संयुक्त राष्ट्र सुरक्षा परिषद से इजरायल के हमलों की निंदा करने का आह्वान किया


BEIJING (Reuters) - China s cyber watchdog has handed down maximum penalties to several of the country s top tech firms, including Tencent Holdings Ltd (0700.HK), Baidu Inc (BIDU.O) and Weibo Corp (WB.O), for failing to properly censor online content. The rebuke comes as China is stepping up censorship and security efforts ahead of the 19th National Congress of the Communist Party, a major leadership conference held once every five years. Notices posted by the Cyberspace Administration of China on Monday said the firms would receive the  maximum penalty  for failing to remove fake news and pornography as well as content that  incites ethic tension  and  threatens social order .  It is the first time that the CAC has levied the maximum fines against tech firms under a new law introduced in June, as it seeks to tighten its grip on the internet.  The internet does not operate outside of the law... the CAC will seriously implement the new cybersecurity law and other regulations to increase territorial supervision and enforcement efforts regarding the internet,  said the CAC. The notices did not detail the exact sum of the penalties, but under the rules cited in the notice individuals in charge of the platforms and others directly involved face a maximum penalty of 100,000 yuan ($15,110) each.  The law also stipulates that offending platforms can have their licenses revoked and their services suspended for failing to comply. The measures are the result of an investigation launched last month by the CAC, and target the country s most popular social media services, including Tencent s WeChat and Weibo s microblogging service, whose combined registered users exceed 1 billion. Earlier this month the cyber watchdog also introduced new regulations that require messaging apps to create credit scores that can be lowered to punish and restrict users who post offensive content. The rules, which take effect on October 8, also make users legally liable for content deemed illegal. In a recent notice the CAC said illegal content includes articles that  misinterpret government policy ,  twist the history of the Chinese Communist Party  and  flaunt excessive wealth.  According to Monday s notices the firms will be required to undertake immediate rectifications to remove illegal content and accounts as well as increase content auditing measures.

Summary: चीन की साइबर निगरानी संस्था ने सेंसरशिप को लेकर तकनीकी कंपनियों पर शीर्ष जुर्माना लगाया


NEW YORK (Reuters) - Donald Trump, who often says he only likes winners, tells one grand tale of loss: In 1990, he nearly went bankrupt and was forced to ask dozens of banks to whom he owed money to change the terms on their loans and forgive some of his debts. It was, the real estate developer admits in his 1997 book “The Art of the Comeback,” the darkest period of his professional life. In his telling, it’s a story of redemption, of resilience, and proof of his exceptional negotiating skills and shrewd thinking. Six people who participated in the loan workout negotiations have a different recollection, raising questions about a key part of the personal narrative that many of Trump’s supporters have found compelling as he campaigns to be the next president of the United States on Nov. 8. On the campaign trail he has portrayed himself as a survivor and a master negotiator. Trump says his comeback began when he recognized a downturn in the real estate market and quickly asked banks to renegotiate his loans. “That decision was perhaps the smartest thing I did,” he wrote. The six bankers and lawyers involved in the talks say the bailout wasn’t based on any overture Trump initiated with the banks - and the terms of the deal were dictated by what was best for the banks, not Trump.  Three of the participants say Trump didn’t acknowledge he had a problem until his lenders reviewed his books, realized he was on the brink of collapse, and summoned him for debt restructuring talks.  While much has been written about Trump’s financial troubles at the time, there has been little examination of his description of the bank negotiations in “The Art of the Comeback,” including his assertion that he chose to initiate those talks. Trump’s spokeswoman, Hope Hicks, declined to comment for this story. Following the U.S. stock market crash of 1987, a global recession hit New York real estate. New construction stalled, and several big developers declared bankruptcy.  As the real estate market slumped, Trump ran out of cash. At the beginning of 1990 he owed a combined $4 billion to more than 70 banks, with $800 million personally guaranteed by his own assets, according to Alan Pomerantz, a lawyer whose team led negotiations between Trump and 72 banks to restructure Trump’s loans. Pomerantz was hired by Citibank but became lead counsel for the negotiations. At the time, Trump was not considered a major developer, but he was a New York celebrity. His affair with the actress Marla Maples and his divorce from his first wife Ivana Trump made national news headlines, and his first book, “The Art of the Deal,” was a bestseller. He didn’t have a large portfolio of real estate in New York, with the notable exceptions of his 5th Avenue building, Trump Tower, completed in 1983, and the Plaza Hotel, which he bought in 1988 after borrowing heavily from Citibank. He also owned three casinos in Atlantic City, having made a financial bet that he could revive the East Coast gambling destination. And in 1989 he added part of an airline to his portfolio, again turning to Citibank for a loan to help finance the acquisition of bankrupt Eastern Airlines Shuttle. He turned it into Trump Shuttle. In 1989, in response to growing concerns about the economic downturn, the Federal Reserve began asking big banks to review their exposure to the sinking real estate market. At the beginning of 1990, a credit specialist at one of Trump’s biggest lenders decided to take a look at the bank’s book of loans to him. The decision was prompted in part by the Fed’s questions, as well as concerns within the bank about its exposure to the real estate market. The credit specialist, who did not want to be identified, concluded at the time that Trump was “about to go into bankruptcy.”  “The banks were onto the problem before he was onto the problem,” the specialist told Reuters. Pomerantz said some of the banks became aware of the magnitude of Trump’s financial problems when, on a single day, he drew down every cent of a $100 million line of credit one of the banks, Banker’s Trust, which was purchased by Deutsche Bank in 1999, had given him to meet his obligations. Reuters was unable to independently confirm this. “He did not come to the banks and say ‘I have a problem.’ That did not happen,” said Pomerantz. Pomerantz, who says he is not a member of any political party, argued in an opinion piece in the Wall Street Journal that Trump’s record in real estate was not a good way to measure whether or not he would be a good president.  In “The Art of the Comeback,” Trump says he began loan workout talks in March 1990 when he informed his bankers he might miss a payment on his casino debts.  “If I had waited just six months longer to renegotiate terms with the banks, I might have lost everything,” he wrote. “I would have had to stand in line with a whole bunch of other moguls who were trying to do the same thing.” Soon, in boardrooms of banks and law firms around Manhattan, Trump’s deputies and lawyers began a series of meetings with representatives of the 72 banks, which had billions in outstanding loans, according to Pomerantz. During the same period, Trump was separately renegotiating a series of loans on his Atlantic City casinos. One of the bankers involved in those negotiations, Ben Berzin, said Trump seemed unaware of the depths of his financial troubles even after the banks had stepped in.  “There was a period during these negotiations when he was still spending money like a drunken sailor,” Berzin said, recalling the uproar among the bankers when, in a TV interview in the summer of 1991, Trump displayed a large diamond engagement ring he had given Maples. Media reports said the ring cost $250,000, and Pomerantz said the bankers complained about it to Trump in their next meeting. At one point, Trump invited all of the bankers to a Broadway show that Maples had a role in, according to Berzin and a banker who took part in the larger talks with the 72 banks. Both said they believed Trump was trying to curry favor to win better terms in the workouts. Berzin attended the show but the other banker did not. Trump described Berzin in “The Art of the Comeback” as a “jerk” who would “scream at people at the top of his lungs about nonsense.” Berzin said he was irritated by Trump’s characterization and denied ever raising his voice in a meeting. In his book, Trump says he told representatives of the 72 banks he would declare bankruptcy and “tie you guys up for years” in the proceedings unless they staked him $65 million to keep his businesses running until the real estate market recovered. He also wanted them to agree to defer all loan payments until that time.   “The banks more than capitulated - they enthusiastically agreed to my proposal,” Trump wrote. The bankers and lawyers interviewed dispute this. Though it was true that a personal bankruptcy would have made it harder for the banks to collect what Trump owed them, he had little leverage in the talks, they said. He, too, would have been seriously hurt in a bankruptcy, especially since he had personally guaranteed so much of what he had borrowed. In Pomerantz’s analysis, he would have been able to hold on to little else beyond his home and his pension plan. During the 18-month process of negotiations and asset sales, Trump also asked for more time to develop his business ideas, like his plan to turn hotel rooms at the Plaza Hotel into condominiums, according to one of the bankers, who declined to be identified. That proposal was vetoed. While he did receive a $450,000-a-month allowance from the banks to keep his business operations going, it was structured and executed on the banks’ terms, several of the negotiators said. The banks decided they could recover more of the $4 billion they were collectively owed if they sold Trump’s holdings one by one, waiting until the market recovered, rather than taking possession of the assets, four participants in the talks said.  These individuals said the banks agreed to forgive Trump’s personal liabilities in exchange for his help in selling the properties. The proceeds of the sales would then be split among the banks. Trump agreed that the banks could take away all his personal property, including his beloved Florida estate, Mar-a-Lago, if he failed to execute the agreement. “We had to be sure he would pay attention,” Pomerantz said of the liens on Trump’s personal holdings. “We would meet with him every Friday morning. He was under very strict restrictions by the banks.”  Trump worked with the bankers to sell his assets, even when he disagreed about the timing of the sales, most notably when Citibank eventually sold The Plaza. The banks did not recover 100 percent of what they were owed and several lenders vowed never to work with Trump again.

Summary: स्पिन की कलाः ट्रम्प बैंकरों ने वित्तीय वापसी के उनके चित्रण पर सवाल उठाए


WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Supreme Court on Wednesday rejected a bid by North Carolina to reinstate for November’s elections several voting restrictions, including a requirement that people show identification at the polls. The eight-justice court, divided in most part 4-4, rejected a request made by Republican Governor Pat McCrory after an appeals court ruled last month that the 2013 law discriminates against minority voters. Five votes are needed for an emergency request to be granted. “We’re thrilled. Elections in North Carolina this fall are going to be conducted under a fair and nondiscriminatory election law scheme,” said Allison Riggs, a lawyer with the Southern Coalition for Social Justice, one of the civil rights groups that challenged the law. The U.S. Justice Department, which has also been involved in fighting the law, did not immediately comment on the decision. McCrory said in a statement that the state “has been denied basic voting rights already granted to more than 30 other states to protect the integrity of one person, one vote through a common-sense voter ID law.” The brief order noted that three of the court’s conservatives, including Chief Justice John Roberts, would have allowed the voter identification provision and limits on early voting to be in effect for the election. Justice Clarence Thomas agreed on that point, but was the only justice to say he would have also allowed a requirement blocking pre-registration of 16-year-olds to stay in place. McCrory’s lawyers said the status quo should be maintained so close to the election, citing court precedent in their favor.  The Richmond, Virginia-based 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled on July 29 that the law intentionally discriminated against minority voters. The same court refused to put its decision on hold for the Nov. 8 election. Critics say such laws, passed in Republican-governed states, make voting harder for minorities such as African-Americans and Hispanics, who tend to support Democrats. Backers say the laws are necessary to prevent voter fraud. The court is currently short one justice following the death of conservative Antonin Scalia in February, which likely deprived the conservative justices of the fifth vote they needed to grant the request. The high court could yet be asked to weigh in on other voting restrictions ahead of the election, with several cases pending in lower courts.

Summary: अमेरिकी सुप्रीम कोर्ट ने उत्तरी कैरोलिना मतदान सीमा को बहाल करने की बोली को खारिज कर दिया


DUBLIN (Reuters) - Irish Prime Minister Leo Varadkar said on Friday that the British government must produce credible, concrete solutions in the coming days to ensure there will be no hard border in Ireland if it wants to move on to the next phase of Brexit talks.   The UK must offer credible, concrete and workable solutions that guarantee that there will be no hard border, whatever the outcome of the negotiations and whatever the future relationship between the EU and the UK is,  Varadkar said after talks with  European Council President Donald Tusk.   The next couple of days will be crucial,  he said.

Summary: ब्रेक्सिट वार्ता शुरू करने के लिए ब्रिटेन को 'विश्वसनीय' सीमा योजना तैयार करनी चाहिएः आयरलैंड के प्रधानमंत्री


WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Two former U.S. officials, intelligence director James Clapper and deputy Attorney General Sally Yates, will testify next month in a congressional investigation into alleged Russian meddling in the 2016 U.S. presidential election, the Senate Judiciary Committee said on Tuesday. Congressional committees began investigating the issue after U.S. intelligence agencies concluded Russian President Vladimir Putin had ordered hacking of the Democratic political groups to try to sway the election toward Republican Donald Trump. Moscow has denied any such meddling. Clapper, the former director of national intelligence, and Yates, the former deputy attorney general, will testify on May 8 before the Judiciary Committee’s subcommittee on crime and terrorism, Judiciary Chairman Charles Grassley said in a statement. More witnesses may be added. Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer said on Tuesday he was “a little troubled” that the Senate Intelligence investigation appeared to be moving slowly. Reuters reported on Monday that the probe, the Senate’s main investigation into allegations of Russian election meddling, has a much smaller staff than previous high-profile congressional investigations. Clapper, Yates and another official who also served under former President Barack Obama, ex-CIA Director James Brennan, were scheduled to testify to the House of Representatives intelligence committee in March but that hearing was canceled by the panel’s chairman, Republican Devin Nunes. Nunes, a Trump ally, recused himself from the Russia investigation in April after receiving information about intelligence agency surveillance of foreign nationals that swept up some information about members of Trump’s transition team. His decision to hold a news conference and discuss the information with Trump before disclosing it to Democrats raised questions about whether he could lead a credible investigation. The House committee on Friday invited Yates, Clapper and Brennan to appear at a public hearing to be scheduled after May 2. The Judiciary subcommittee’s chairman, Republican Lindsay Graham, said he wanted to ask Clapper and Yates whether they knew about a court order allowing FBI surveillance of the communications of Trump campaign adviser Carter Page in 2016. The Washington Post reported this month that such a warrant had been issued. Clapper said in a March television interview he was not aware of any wiretapping of Trump or advisers. “I want to get to the bottom of this,” Graham said on Fox News.

Summary: रूस की जांच पर 8 मई को सीनेट की सुनवाई में गवाही देंगे पूर्व अमेरिकी अधिकारी


VIENNA (Reuters) - Austria s conservative People s Party wants children who do not speak  sufficient  German to take compulsory language classes as a condition for being allowed to attend school, party leader Sebastian Kurz said on Wednesday.  Tens of thousands of migrants from the Middle East, Afghanistan and Africa have arrived in Austria in the past two years. Their integration has become an important political topic and Kurz, whose party is the junior partner in a coalition government with the Social Democrats, has gained in popularity because of his hard stance on immigration. Though his proposal ostensibly applies to all children, public debate has centered around those from migrant backgrounds, most of whom are currently placed at school according to age.  They receive separate language lessons but teachers have said that this is not enough to integrate them.  One can only follow the curriculum if one s German is good enough,  Kurz said at a news conference in Salzburg, where he presented his party s education program for parliamentary elections on Oct. 15.  Who starts at school needs to understand the teaching language,  the party chief said, echoing demands from the far-right Freedom Party.

Summary: ऑस्ट्रिया के रूढ़िवादी चाहते हैं कि स्कूल 'पर्याप्त' जर्मन को अनिवार्य बना दें


MANILA (Reuters) - Two leaders of a militant alliance loyal to the Islamic State group were killed on Monday in clashes with the armed forces of the Philippines in southern Marawi City, the defense minister said on Monday.  They were killed,  Defence Secretary Delfin Lorenzana told reporters, referring to Omarkhayam Maute and Isnilon Hapilon. Another rebel commander, Malaysian Mahmud Ahmad, was still at large, he said. Hapilon is the anointed  emir  of Islamic State in Southeast Asia, and Omarkhayam Maute is one of two brothers at the helm of the militant group that has been fighting the military since a siege of Marawi City began on May 23.

Summary: फिलीपींस के सैनिकों ने इस्लामिक स्टेट समर्थक नेताओं की हत्या कीः रक्षा मंत्री


SEOUL (Reuters) - A North Korean soldier who suffered critical gunshot wounds during a defection dash across the border to South Korea has been transferred to a military hospital, a South Korean intelligence official said on Saturday. The North Korean soldier, 24-year-old Oh Chong Song, was transferred to the military hospital on Friday from a trauma center at Ajou University Hospital south of Seoul, where his treatment for gunshot wounds and pre-existing conditions included two major operations.   Oh has been transferred to South Korea s military hospital and South Korea s intelligence services will soon schedule the security questioning process depending on Oh s condition,  the intelligence official told Reuters. The official, who declined to be identified, also declined to provide a specific schedule for Oh s questioning.   Oh was shot and badly wounded by his fellow North Korean soldiers while fleeing across the border into the South in November.  Three South Korean soldiers brought Oh to safety and he was immediately taken aboard a U.S. Black Hawk military helicopter and rushed into surgery.  Medical staff at the Armed Forces Hospital will continue to provide proper care and treatment for Oh,  a South Korean defense ministry official. Surgeon John Cook-Jong Lee accompanied Oh, along with a few South Korean intelligence services agents and other medical crew, as he was airlifted by a South Korean military helicopter to the Korean Armed Forces Capital Hospital in Seongnam, south of Seoul.  Oh is still recovering from two major surgeries and other minor injuries. He has not gained full strength yet, but his condition has been much stabilized,  said a person familiar with Oh s condition, who declined to be identified.

Summary: घायल उत्तर कोरियाई दलबदलू को दक्षिण कोरियाई सैन्य अस्पताल में स्थानांतरित किया गया


SEOUL (Reuters) - South Korea s President Moon Jae-in said on Thursday a missile launched this week by North Korea was the most advanced of Pyongyang s arsenal, but said that the isolated state still needed to prove some technical details. Moon made the remarks during a phone call with U.S. President Donald Trump, saying it was unclear whether the North actually had the technology to miniaturize a nuclear warhead and that it still needed to prove other things, such as its re-entry technology. Earlier, the United States warned North Korea s leadership it would be  utterly destroyed  if war were to break out, after Pyongyang test-fired its most advanced missile, putting the U.S. mainland within range, in violation of U.N. Security Council resolutions.

Summary: उत्तर कोरिया की मिसाइल उन्नत है, लेकिन अभी भी कुछ चीजें साबित करनी हैंः दक्षिण कोरिया के राष्ट्रपति


WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe condemned in a phone call North Korea s  continued destabilizing and provocative actions,  following that country s most recent nuclear test, the White House said on Sunday. Trump also reaffirmed that Washington would defend itself and its allies  using the full range of diplomatic, conventional, and nuclear capabilities at our disposal,  the White House said.  The two leaders condemned North Korea s continued destabilizing and provocative actions, confirmed the two countries  ironclad mutual defense commitments, and pledged to continue close cooperation,  the statement said.

Summary: ट्रम्प ने अमेरिका और सहयोगियों की रक्षा करने की प्रतिबद्धता की पुष्टि की


TOKYO (Reuters) - Japan accepted just three refugees in the first half of 2017 despite receiving a record 8,561 fresh asylum applications, the government said on Tuesday, highlighting the nation s reluctance to accept foreigners. Only four refugees were accepted in the first half of 2016, when fresh asylum applications totaled 5,011, the Justice Ministry said. The Human Rights Watch in January described Japan s record on asylum seekers  as  abysmal . Unlike other industrialized nations, which have accepted or even encouraged immigration to refresh their labor force, Japan has remained unwelcoming, even though its shrinking, aging population is a key reason behind the economy s slow growth. Supporters of Japan s tough asylum process argue that the small number accepted is a consequence of a surge in bogus applications due to changes made to rules in 2010 allowing applicants to work after six months until a decision is made on their claims.  There appears to have been an increase in the number of people who are abusing the refugee status process,  said Yasuhiro Hishida, an official who reviews applications at the Justice Ministry.

Summary: रिकॉर्ड शरण चाहने वालों के बावजूद जापान ने 2017 की पहली छमाही में 3 शरणार्थियों को स्वीकार किया


(Reuters) - The Trump administration on Tuesday pushed forward with its bid to undo an Obama administration rule to extend mandatory overtime pay to 4.2 million workers and said it was considering treating workers differently based on location and industry. The rule, which was supposed to take effect in December 2016 but was blocked by a federal judge, is a top target for business groups that say it would force employers to convert many salaried employees into hourly workers.  The U.S. Department of Labor on Tuesday called for public comments on the rule, which is the first step in revoking or revising it. The rule would have doubled to $47,000 the maximum salary a worker can earn and still be eligible for mandatory overtime pay under federal wage law. A group of 21 states and business groups including the U.S. Chamber of Commerce challenged the rule in a lawsuit filed last year.  The Labor Department appealed the judge’s decision temporarily blocking the rule to a New Orleans-based U.S. appeals court weeks before President Donald Trump took office in January. Earlier this month, the department defended its power to base overtime eligibility on workers’ salaries in a brief submitted to the court. But the agency made clear that it did not agree with the threshold set by the Obama administration. On Tuesday, the department said in light of the pending appeal, it decided to issue a request for comments rather than skip immediately to rescinding or revising the rule. The agency asked for input on whether the current threshold of $23,660 set in 2004 should be updated for inflation, and whether there should be multiple levels based on region, employer size, industry or other factors.  Workers’ rights groups criticized the Trump administration for moving to change the rule, with some noting that the Obama administration reviewed 300,000 comments before setting the salary threshold at $47,000. “Working people should not have to wait another day for government to be on their side,” Christine Owens, executive director of the union-backed National Employment Law Project, said in a statement on Tuesday. The department also asked employers to explain how they prepared for the rule to take effect and whether it has had an outsize impact on small businesses and particular industries. The department said it was considering eliminating the salary threshold, leaving overtime eligibility to be based on workers’ job duties.

Summary: ट्रम्प प्रशासन ओवरटाइम वेतन नियम को पूर्ववत करने के करीब पहुंचा


MOSCOW (Reuters) - General Valery Gerasimov, the chief of Russia s general staff, told Curtis Scaparrotti, a U.S general who is NATO Supreme Allied Commander in Europe, that Moscow s latest military exercise was purely defensive, the RIA news agency reported. RIA said that Gerasimov was referring to the exercise, codenamed  Zapad , or  West , which began on Thursday and will last until Sept. 20. It is being conducted on military ranges in Belarus, western Russia, Russia s exclave of Kaliningrad and in the Baltic Sea. NATO is closely watching the exercises and says they are larger than the 12,700 servicemen Moscow has publicized, actually numbering some 100,000 troops, and involve firing nuclear-capable ballistic missiles.

Summary: रूसी जनरल स्टाफ के प्रमुख ने युद्ध खेलों पर नाटो को आश्वस्त कियाः आर. आई. ए.


WASHINGTON (Reuters) - He’s a successful businessman making his first foray into politics. He wants to secure the southern border with Mexico and dump global trade deals. And like Donald Trump, he wants to be the Republican establishment’s worst nightmare.  He’s Paul Nehlen, who has emerged as a Republican rival to Paul Ryan, the speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives, in his home district in Wisconsin. Ryan, the most powerful elected Republican in the country, is the epitome of that establishment. While many Republican operatives fear Trump’s tumultuous presidential bid will hurt House and Senate races this year, a handful of candidates like Nehlen are embracing Trump’s message, although not always the man himself. A loss by Ryan or another high-profile incumbent would send shockwaves through the party and could prompt fellow establishment Republicans to rethink positions on advocacy of free trade and support for immigration reform. In New Hampshire, where Trump won the nominating contest, or primary, by 20 points, Jim Rubens, a former Republican state senator who has endorsed the billionaire businessman, is attempting to unseat incumbent Senator Kelly Ayotte.   In Arizona, another state Trump won, state senator Kelli Ward is challenging veteran Senator John McCain by talking up securing the border and courting voters at Trump rallies, although she has not endorsed the presidential candidate.      The dynamic of outsiders challenging establishment candidates is one that has been taking place within the Republican Party for several election cycles, but in Trump, the insurgency has a new, more popular face. Beyond the races in Wisconsin, Arizona and New Hampshire, it has played out in states like Alabama, where Jonathan McConnell greeted voters outside a Trump rally in Huntsville in a bid to unseat veteran Senator Richard Shelby, and North Carolina, where Rep. Renee Elmers, facing a challenge to her seat, said she had voted for Trump in that state’s presidential primary. But, unlike the anti-establishment wave that swept Tea Party-aligned lawmakers into Congress in 2010, these candidates do not appear to represent a new anti-Washington groundswell, suggesting there are limits to Trump’s brand of politics, which at times runs deep against Republican orthodoxy on issues such as trade and taxes. “I been surprised that there haven’t been any Senate or House incumbents that have lost primaries as a result of a groundswell of support for Donald Trump or Ted Cruz,” said Nathan Gonzales, an independent analyst on congressional races in Washington.  Shelby, for example, soundly defeated challenger McConnell in Alabama’s Republican primary race in March. “Other candidates could try to replicate his message, but no one can replicate Donald Trump,” Gonzales said. Still, many analysts and political operatives believe Republicans unhappy with Trump as the nominee won’t vote in the general election, potentially causing Republicans to lose their congressional seats to Democratic contenders. It would be easy, to dismiss Nehlen’s challenge to Ryan, who is popular among Republicans inside and outside of Wisconsin and has a large campaign warchest. A poll last month by Marquette University Law School showed him with more than an 80 percent approval rating among Wisconsin Republicans. But less than two years ago, Eric Cantor, then the No. 2 Republican in the House of Representatives, was also considered a rising Republican star. He suffered a shock defeat in the 2014 congressional elections in Virginia to an obscure conservative college professor, David Brat. Cantor, too, had looked unbeatable. “That race is what reinforced in my mind this is possible,” Nehlen said in an interview. Trump has frequently criticized Ryan for the $1.1 billion budget deal struck with Democratic President Barack Obama last December. And Ryan’s support of trade deals such as the Trans-Pacific Partnership and comprehensive immigration reform is squarely at odds with Trump’s positions.     Nehlen said those two issues motivated him to mount his challenge to Ryan, although he stopped short of saying he embraced Trump’s candidacy. Rubens, who is challenging Ayotte in New Hampshire, isn’t as restrained. “I admire his independence,” Rubens told Reuters.  Rubens, like Trump, calls for a fence along the southern border and for doing away with so-called “birthright citizenship,” a policy that grants anyone born on U.S. soil a citizen.  Ayotte, a first-term senator, was praised by conservatives when she ran in 2010 and was endorsed by former Alaska Governor Sarah Palin at the height of Palin’s popularity. But she earned their wrath when she backed immigration reform. She also frustrated moderates by voting against a bill that would block suspected terrorists from buying guns. Ayotte, Gonzales said, “is an example of someone who can’t come out guns blazing against Donald Trump. She needs every Republican possible in the state.” In Arizona, Ward is challenging McCain, the moderate who was the Republican presidential nominee in 2008, in a state where rancor over immigration issues runs high. Ward has said she supports Trump’s claim that Mexico was sending criminals to the United States. Mexico has ridiculed the allegation.     Ward has an opportunity. A poll released last month by the firm Public Policy Polling showed McCain with a 33 percent approval rating among Republicans in Arizona.

Summary: ट्रम्प की उम्मीदवारीः जहाँ कुछ लोग चलने से डरते हैं, वहाँ दूसरों को जीत का रास्ता दिखाई देता है


BEIRUT (Reuters) - A rebel group in northern Syria handed control of a major border crossing to a Turkey-backed Syrian opposition government on Tuesday, a senior rebel official said. By handing over the Bab Salama crossing at the Turkish border, the Jabha Shamiya rebel group aims to strengthen the opposition government and help put an end to factional rivalries, the head of its political office Khaled Aba said. He urged other rebels to follow Jabha Shamiya s example by handing over other crossings at the Turkish border.   The interim government is the solution for the liberated areas to put an end to terrorism, to put an end to factionalism and the state of division in the liberated areas,  said Aba, a member of the opposition delegation to Geneva peace talks. The Bab Salama crossing is the main gateway into an opposition-held area of the north where neighboring Turkey carved out a de facto buffer zone during a military incursion targeting Islamic State and Kurdish groups last year. Efforts have been underway in that area to merge and organize a plethora of rebel groups whose rivalries have led to factional fighting that has weakened the Syrian opposition throughout the conflict. Jabha Shamiya, a major force in Aleppo until the Syrian government and its allies defeated the opposition there last year, has joined a  national army  operating under the authority of the interim government s defense ministry, Aba said. It has also handed control of its training camps to the defense ministry, he said.  The opposition government is based out of the town of Azaz, a short distance from the Turkish border. Launched last year, Turkey s  Euphrates Shield  operation drove Islamic State out of a swathe of territory including the cities of al-Bab and Jarablus, preventing any further territorial gains by Kurdish groups deemed a threat by Ankara.

Summary: सीरियाई विद्रोहियों ने विपक्षी सरकार को सीमा पार करने का काम सौंपा