DUESSELDORF, Germany (Reuters) - Marcus Pretzell, a senior member of the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) and the husband of party co-leader Frauke Petry, on Tuesday told a regional party branch he wanted to leave the AfD, a regional lawmaker in the AfD said.  Mr Pretzell told the parliamentary group he wants to leave the parliamentary group and then also the AfD,  said Helmut Seifen, a lawmaker in the regional assembly of the western state of North Rhine-Westphalia said. Pretzell declined to comment. Earlier on Tuesday German media reported that his wife, Petry, would leave the party that became the third largest group in parliament after Sunday s national election.

Summary: धुर दक्षिणपंथी ए. एफ. डी. के सह-नेता के पति पार्टी छोड़ेंगेः विधायक


BEIJING (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump accepted his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping’s invitation to visit China, the official Xinhua news agency said on Friday, citing officials.  Xi, on a two-day visit to Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort in Palm Beach, Florida, the first meeting between the two presidents, also urged cooperation with the United States on investment, infrastructure and energy, Xinhua said.

Summary: शी जिनपिंग के चीन दौरे के निमंत्रण को ट्रंप ने स्वीकार कियाः शिन्हुआ


WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. House of Representatives Speaker Paul Ryan said on Thursday he is not ready to support or endorse Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump. “I’m just not ready to do that at this point. I’m not there right now,” Ryan, a Republican, said in an interview with CNN.  Ryan, who added he hoped to support Trump’s candidacy, was making his first public comments since Trump’s Republican primary rivals dropped out of the race for the White House this week.

Summary: हाउस स्पीकर रयान ने कहा कि वह ट्रम्प का समर्थन करने के लिए तैयार नहीं हैंः सीएनएन


WASHINGTON (Reuters) - White House Economic Adviser Gary Cohn is remaining in his post, a White House official said on Thursday, after speculation earlier in the day of Cohn’s possible departure rattled the U.S. stock market and the dollar. “Gary intends to remain in his position as NEC (National Economic Council) director at the White House. Nothing’s changed,” a White House official said. Wall Street investors were also concerned that U.S. President Donald Trump’s refusal to back down from his initial reaction to the demonstrations in Charlottesville, Virginia, would damage the prospects for his economic agenda, including tax reform.  Key U.S. equity indexes were down between 0.6 percent and 1 percent, while the dollar was a touch higher but well off the day’s peaks before the Cohn speculation. “Gary is focused on his responsibilities,” the White House official said, declining to comment on whether the president and Cohn had spoken about Cohn’s reaction to what happened this week.     Cohn’s decision to remain comes amid mounting speculation that some top officials may be looking for an exit strategy in the wake of growing backlash to Trump’s response to Saturday’s violence in Charlottesville.  Trump said on Tuesday the anti-racist demonstrators were as responsible for the violence as the neo-Nazis and white supremacists who instigated the protests. Those remarks sparked rebukes from fellow Republicans, top corporate executives and some close allies even as some supporters, including the vice president, stood by the president.  The fallout also led to the disbanding of two CEO advisory panels as a growing number of chief executives from some of the nation’s largest companies resigned this week in protest of the president’s response. Other corporate executives not on the presidential councils also issued strong statements denouncing racism and bigotry. Cohn, who left his top job at Goldman Sachs Group Inc (GS.N) to take on the White House position, has served as the administration’s point man on tax reform, infrastructure and other priorities. His departure would be seen as a setback to those plans.  Trump’s increasingly combative relationship with Congress, exacerbated by his latest tweets targeting senators in his own party, could further restrain any progress on those reforms even as Republicans control the White House, Senate and House of Representatives. One Wall Street executive, who asked not to be named, noted that Cohn serves as “a moderating influence,” in a White House often seen as divided among various camps. Steve Bannon, a White House senior adviser with close ties to far-right groups, said in an interview published Wednesday that he constantly butts heads with Cohn over issues such as trade with China. “That’s a fight I fight every day here,” Bannon told the American Prospect, a liberal-leaning political magazine.

Summary: व्हाइट हाउस के प्रस्थान की चर्चाओं के बीच बने रहेंगे ट्रंप के सलाहकार कोहन


BERLIN (Reuters) - German Chancellor Angela Merkel said on Monday she hoped to conclude exploratory talks with the Social Democrats (SPD) on forming a government by mid-January so that both parties can launch official negotiations on renewing their alliance. Merkel made the comments after she was asked if comments by French President Emmanuel Macron that he hoped to make progress with Germany on ideas to reform the euro zone by March were realistic.       We want to build a stable government,  Merkel said.  This means that the success of the exploratory talks means, in the view of the CDU, as well as the CSU, that we need to reach agreement on specific issues during the exploratory talks.   From our perspective, anything short of that would mean   the exploratory talks were not successful,  Merkel added.

Summary: मर्केल जनवरी के मध्य तक एस. पी. डी. के साथ प्रारंभिक गठबंधन समझौता चाहती हैं।


WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump has given Defense Secretary Jim Mattis the authority to set troop levels in Afghanistan, a U.S. official told Reuters on Tuesday, opening the door for future troop increases requested by the U.S. commander.  The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said no immediate decision had been made about the troop levels, which are now set at about 8,400.  The Pentagon declined to comment.  The decision is similar to one announced in April that applied to U.S. troop levels in Iraq and Syria, and came as Mattis warned Congress the U.S.-backed Afghan forces were not beating the Taliban despite more than 15 years of war.  "We are not winning in Afghanistan right now," Mattis said in testimony to the Senate Armed Services Committee earlier on Tuesday. "And we will correct this as soon as possible."COMMENTARY: Why a troop surge in Afghanistan is a terrible idea Mattis said the Taliban were “surging” at the moment, something he said he intended to address.  A former U.S. official said such a decision might allow the White House to argue that it was not micromanaging as much as the administration of former President Barack Obama was sometimes accused of doing.  Critics say delegating too much authority to the military does not shield Trump from political responsibility during battlefield setbacks and could reduce the chances for diplomats to warn of potential blowback from military decisions.  It has been four months since Army General John Nicholson, who leads U.S. and international forces in Afghanistan, said he needed “a few thousand” additional forces, some potentially drawn from U.S. allies.  Current and former U.S. officials say discussions revolve around adding 3,000 to 5,000 troops. Those forces are expected to be largely comprised of trainers to support Afghan forces, as well as air crews.  Deliberations include giving more authority to forces on the ground and taking more aggressive action against Taliban fighters.  Some U.S. officials have questioned the benefit of sending more troops to Afghanistan because any politically palatable number would not be enough to turn the tide, much less create stability and security. To date, more than 2,300 Americans have been killed and more than 17,000 wounded since the war began in 2001.  Any increase of several thousand troops would leave American forces in Afghanistan well below their 2011 peak of more than 100,000 troops.  The Afghan government was assessed by the U.S. military to control or influence just 59.7 percent of Afghanistan’s 407 districts as of Feb. 20, a nearly 11 percentage-point decrease from the same time in 2016, according to data released by the U.S. Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction.  A truck bomb explosion in Kabul last month killed more than 150 people, making it the deadliest attack in the Afghan capital since the Taliban were ousted in 2001 by a NATO-led coalition after ruling the country for five years.  On Saturday, three U.S. soldiers were killed when an Afghan soldier opened fire on them in eastern Afghanistan.  The broader regional U.S. strategy for Afghanistan remains unclear. Mattis promised on Tuesday to brief lawmakers on a new war strategy by mid-July that is widely expected to call for thousands more U.S. troops.  Senator John McCain, the chairman of the Armed Forces Committee, pressed Mattis on the deteriorating situation during the Tuesday hearing, saying the United States had an urgent need for “a change in strategy, and an increase in resources if we are to turn the situation around.”  “We recognize the need for urgency,” Mattis said.

Summary: ट्रम्प ने अफगान सैनिकों का स्तर निर्धारित करने के लिए अमेरिकी सैन्य अधिकार दिएः अमेरिकी अधिकारी


BEIJING (Reuters) - China s top anti-graft watchdog has said that a multi-year campaign against corruption is consolidating and would continue to develop, according to a work report released at a key leadership summit. The Central Commission of Discipline Inspection said in the report given to reporters on Monday as part of the closing ceremony of the 19th National Party Congress that the campaign has been  built into a crushing tide . President Xi Jinping s has vowed to battle deep-seated graft in the Party saying that a failure to stop corruption could damage the Party s future.

Summary: चीन के शीर्ष भ्रष्टाचार-रोधी प्रहरी का कहना है कि भ्रष्टाचार-रोधी अभियान 'एक विनाशकारी ज्वार में बदल गया है'


KARANGASEM, Indonesia (Reuters) - Tens of thousands of villagers on the Indonesian holiday island of Bali are refusing to evacuate a 10-km (six-mile) danger zone around an erupting volcano, putting their fate in the hands of the gods or simply staying put to protect homes and livestock. The glowing, 3,000-metre Mount Agung, considered sacred by many on the Hindu-majority island, started spewing huge columns of ash at the weekend and there have been constant tremors and volcanic mud flows since. Search and rescue teams making daily forays into the zone say some are refusing to leave their cattle unattended, while others have spiritual reasons.  The government has been clear about evacuation orders, but some people are slow to act or want to stay,  said Gede Ardana, head of Bali s search and rescue agency.  We cannot force them - but we will be held responsible, so we need to convince them.  For cattle farmer Ketut Suwarte, there was no question of staying put.  There was thick ash falling around us and we could smell sulfur. We were scared and we decided to leave immediately,  said Suwarte, 47, now staying in an evacuation camp just outside the danger zone. Suwarte s father recalls the last time Mount Agung exploded, in 1963, killing about 1,000 people as pyroclastic flows - made up of hot gas and volcanic matter - raced down the mountain. Sutopo Purwo Nugroho, of the disaster mitigation agency, said about 43,000 people had heeded advice to take shelter, but with an estimated population of 90,000 to 100,000 in the danger area, many had not. Ika Wardani, 33, sleeps with her family at an evacuation center at night but during the day returns to her cattle farm about 10 km north of the volcano.  During the day at least we can see the volcano. But we re uncomfortable sleeping here at night because an earthquake or loud explosion would cause panic,  she said.  We would have to drive our motorbikes at night and the roads are narrow so it s safer to spend the nights at the evacuation center.  She says there are people only five km from the crater who have refused to evacuate.   They are stubborn,  she said.  Some of them survived 1963 so they believe it s all right now.  The government has set up radio stations and chat groups on social media to warn people of the risks.   Many people have made the decision to stay inside the exclusion zone, and that is clearly very dangerous,  said Sutopo Purwo Nugroho, a spokesman for the disaster management agency. Others, including tourists, are taking unnecessary risks by trying to take selfies as close as possible, officials say. Last month, a Frenchman shared a video of himself at the crater s edge on social media.  In September, when authorities first raised the warning alert to the highest level, an exclusion zone of up to 12 km was imposed, prompting nearly 150,000 to leave, but when no major eruption occurred, many returned and the warning status was lowered.    When authorities again raised the warning level this week, many were reluctant to move again.  If (Mount Agung) follows the most frequent trend, it is likely to continue increasing in explosivity   but at what rate and how large, nobody knows,  said Dr Carmen Solana, a volcanologist at the University of Portsmouth. President Joko Widodo on Wednesday urged people to leave the exclusion zone before it s too late.  There must not be any victims,  he said.

Summary: आग से खेलनाः हजारों लोगों ने बाली ज्वालामुखी के घरों को छोड़ने से इनकार कर दिया


WASHINGTON/NEW YORK (Reuters) - The White House promoted President Donald Trump’s tax cut plan on Friday with a forecast of faster U.S. economic expansion and wage growth, as independent analysts said the plan would swell the budget deficit and provide little spark to the economy. The rival projections reflected the many unknowns swirling around the plan, expected to be unveiled in legislative form on Wednesday. Republicans were still undecided on some of the hardest parts, such as how to pay for the costly cuts proposed. Weeks and possibly months of debate lie ahead for a project that Trump promised to tackle in his 2016 election campaign. In September, he unveiled a rough framework for cutting taxes. Now he wants Congress to approve a bill, which would mark his first major legislative victory, before the end of the year. The Trump plan for tax cuts of the sort normally reserved for times of economic recession is taking shape in Congress amid signs the economy is already growing briskly. Gross domestic product increased at a 3 percent annual rate in the July-September period, supported by strong business spending on equipment, the Commerce Department said on Friday. The economic recovery begun under former President Barack Obama after the 2007-2009 recession is in its eighth year and showing little signs of fatigue amid a tightening labor market. “It’s hard to say that we need to have tax cuts at the individual level ... you don’t need to provide further fiscal stimulus when the economy is already strong,” said Bernard Baumohl, chief global economist at the Economic Outlook Group in Princeton, New Jersey. Faced with improving economic prospects, Republicans have shifted their rhetoric on tax cuts away from getting the economy moving again to keeping it on an expansion track. An analysis released by White House economic adviser Kevin Hassett said slashing the top federal corporate tax rate and letting businesses write off the full cost of most capital investments immediately, as proposed in the plan, would bring faster growth and higher wages. Hassett’s projections envisioned a 3 percent to 5 percent increase in GDP that, over 10 years, could represent an additional $700 billion to $1.2 trillion in economic output. But the Tax Policy Center, a nonprofit Washington think tank, released an analysis that concluded the Trump tax plan would not produce a significant, permanent economic boost. The group said the plan would reduce federal tax revenue by roughly $2.4 trillion over the next decade and by over $3 trillion in the decade after that, adding significantly to a U.S. national debt that already exceeds $20.4 trillion. The center said Trump’s tax cuts would drive new activity at first, but that the impact would be blunted in later years by rising deficits, forcing more federal borrowing to finance the tax cuts and driving up borrowing costs for the private sector. Hassett told reporters he does not expect tax reform to add significantly to the deficit. But he conceded that it would become “a big negative” if economic growth failed to materialize and the debt level soared. The framework of Trump’s plan unveiled last month called for reducing the corporate tax rate to 20 percent from 35 percent, the small business rate to 25 percent from up to 39.6 percent and the top individual rate to 35 percent from 39.6 percent. It also called specifically for repealing the estate tax on inheritances and the alternative minimum tax, both of which are typically paid by the country’s highest-income earners. Less clear were the plan’s proposals to reduce the number of tax brackets, enhance the child tax credit and possibly put new limits on popular 401(k) retirement pension plans. Because details of the unfinished tax legislation are unknown, its economic impact is unclear, said Omer Eisner, chief market analyst at Commonwealth Foreign Exchange in Washington. Hours after the Commerce Department reported stronger-than-expected third quarter U.S. economic growth of 3 percent. Hassett said the data did not undercut the need for tax cuts. He said economic expansion and stronger stock market performance could be undermined if the Republican-controlled Congress fails to enact the tax cuts. “Firms are optimistic both because of regulatory reform but also because they expect corporate tax reform and overall tax reform,” Hassett said. “The thing that I’m worried about is that if those expectations prove to be incorrect, then I would expect business capital spending to go back to a disappointing path and equity markets to decline as well.” Kevin Brady, chairman of the U.S. House of Representatives tax committee, said progress was being made toward satisfying Republicans who have held back support for the tax plan because it could end a deduction for state and local taxes. “I’m hopeful ... we can find a good solution for them,” Brady said.

Summary: रोज़ी व्हाइट हाउस कर कटौती का पूर्वानुमान स्वतंत्र विश्लेषण के साथ टकराव


(Reuters) - Roughly 11.5 million people signed up for individual health plan coverage under U.S. President Barack Obama’s Affordable Care Act between Nov. 1 and Dec. 24, an increase of 286,000 from a year earlier, according to government figures released on Tuesday. The report includes data from all 50 states and the District of Columbia and is the first time the government has released data from the state-run marketplaces. Of the total enrolled population, 8.7 million people signed up for federally run plans through Healthcare.gov. The figures, released by the Department of Health and Human Services, said the total included 8.9 million returning consumers and 2.6 million new ones. The report comes as the U.S. Senate takes its first steps toward repealing the Affordable Care Act, known also as Obamacare, which extended health insurance coverage to some 20 million people who previously did not have coverage. The health bill came under intense criticism during the last few weeks of the 2016 election campaign after the government released figures showing 2017 Healthcare.gov premiums would rise by 25 percent compared with 2016.

Summary: लगभग 11.5 लाख लोगों ने 1 नवंबर से 24 दिसंबर तक ओबामाकेयर योजनाओं के लिए साइन अप किया


LONDON (Reuters) - British Prime Minister Theresa May said on Wednesday any trade deal agreed with the United States would put British interests and values first. Speaking in parliament, May said her meeting with newly inaugurated U.S. President Donald Trump later this week was a sign of the strength of the special relationship between the two countries. “We will be looking for a UK-U.S. trade deal that improves trade between our two countries that will bring prosperity and growth to this country ... and I can assure ... that in doing that we will put UK interests and UK values first,” she said. She also said she was “not afraid to speak frankly to a president of the United States” when asked whether she was concerned by Trump’s comments about women.

Summary: कोई भी UK-U.S. व्यापार सौदा ब्रिटेन को पहले स्थान पर रखेगाः पीएम मे


BERLIN (Reuters) - Germany took a first decisive step on Wednesday toward forming a new government when its veteran finance minister, conservative Wolfgang Schaeuble, agreed to become president of the parliament, clearing the way for another party to take his job. Chancellor Angela Merkel will hope that Schaeuble, deeply respected in Germany for helping to steer the euro zone through its debt crisis, can stamp his authority on a fractious Bundestag lower house that will include two more parties after Sunday s federal election. Merkel must assemble Germany s first three-way coalition since the 1950s after her conservatives lost support and a far-right party, the anti-immigrant Alternative for Germany (AfD), entered parliament for the first time in half a century. In a sign of the challenges ahead, Andrea Nahles, the Social Democrats  newly elected parliamentary leader, told reporters her party would hit conservatives  squarely in the jaw  after four years as junior partner in a Merkel-led  grand coalition . Merkel s most realistic coalition option now is a deal with the pro-business Free Democrats (FDP), returning to parliament after a four-year hiatus, and the Greens. But the parties disagree on issues such as energy, Europe and migration, complicating the path to a so-called  Jamaica  coalition - a reference to the parties  colors:  black, yellow and green, which are also those of the Jamaican flag. Schaeuble, 75, who emerged as one of Europe s most influential politicians during the euro zone crisis, will bring unprecedented weight to the role of Bundestag president, normally a low-profile position. His willingness to quit as finance minister after eight years in the post makes it easier for the FDP to join a Merkel-led coalition. The FDP, who are as fiscally hawkish as Schaeuble, have said they want his old job.  As an outstanding personality Wolfgang Schaeuble possesses a natural authority that is of particular importance in these times,  said FDP leader Christian Lindner, himself seen as a likely successor at the finance ministry. Lindner s deputy, Wolfgang Kubicki, another possible candidate for the post, told the RND newspaper chain that Schaeuble s move showed Merkel s openness to a  Jamaica  coalition. He also underscored his party s call for a shift in fiscal policy. Schaeuble was criticized in southern Europe, especially Greece, for his insistence on tax hikes and spending cuts at a time of deep recession, but is popular at home for balancing the books and presiding over high growth and low unemployment. European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker, speaking in Munich, said he did not think Schaeuble s departure would soften the EU s approach to heavily indebted Greece.  The austerity measures will be continued by those who carried them out together with Wolfgang Schaeuble,  he said. The Free Democrats, with a voter support base among Germany s small and medium-sized businesses, are as committed to budgetary discipline as Schaeuble but less pro-European, meaning Wednesday s news drew a mixed reception from the euro zone.  I don t think there will be radical changes in German economic policy if the FDP replaces him,  said one official close to euro zone policy-making.  The FDP are also hardliners on deficits.  But another euro zone official said the euro zone was losing  one of the most pro-European politicians I know  and instead getting a party markedly cooler on political integration. Italian Finance Minister Pier Carlo Padoan told the Handelsblatt newspaper he would miss Schaeuble s steady hand.  Wolfgang Schaeuble was a loyal discussion partner, serious, competent and also a good friend,  he said. Merkel emerged from Sunday s election a weakened figure  after her conservatives, still the largest bloc in the Bundestag, bled support to the AfD. But the exit of Schaeuble, the most powerful counterweight to the long-serving chancellor, could paradoxically strengthen her position. As Bundestag president, Schaeuble will not be involved in coalition negotiations, removing one strong-minded negotiator from the table and potentially giving Merkel a freer hand. Coalition negotiations will only begin in earnest after Oct. 15, when the conservatives hope to wrest power from the Social Democrats in a state election in Lower Saxony. By law, the new parliament must convene for its first session 30 days after the election, so by Oct. 24 at the latest.

Summary: जर्मन संसद का नेतृत्व करेंगे शेयबल, गठबंधन वार्ताओं पर लगी रोक हटाई


TOKYO (Reuters) - Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, speaking in parliament hours before U.S. President-elect Donald Trump takes office, said on Friday he wanted to further strengthen the Japan-U.S. alliance. Trump sparked worries in Tokyo and the rest of the Asia-Pacific with campaign comments which included a pledge to make allies pay more for the security provided by U.S. forces and  opposition to the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) trade deal. “The Japan-U.S. alliance has been, is and will be the cornerstone of our country’s diplomatic and security policies. This is an immutable principle,” Abe said in his policy speech at the start of the regular parliament session. “I am aiming to visit the United States as soon as possible to further fortify the bond of alliance together with new President Trump.”     Abe met with Trump in New York after the election in November and called him a “trustworthy leader”. In his speech to parliament, the prime minister repeated his support for TPP, which will go into deep freeze if the United States drops out.   “As a flag bearer for free trade, we will build an economic system of the 21st century based on fair rules. The TPP agreement sets the standard for that purpose and serves as the foundation for future economic cooperation,” he said.             Japan has ratified the TPP and on Friday notified New Zealand, secretariat for the TPP, it had completed the domestic procedures for the pact, becoming the first country among the 12 signatory nations to do so. New Zealand has ratified the TPP, but not completed the whole domestic procedures. Koichi Hamada, an adviser to Abe and emeritus professor of economics at Yale University, told Reuters that Japan should push back if Trump bases trade and other economic policy on “wrong economics”, in an unusually direct expression of concern about potential protectionism. Echoing the sentiment in Abe’s speech, Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida called strengthening the Japan-U.S. alliance key to regional peace and prosperity, and said Japan is ready to play a role as a stabilizing power in a world ripe for change.  “Uncertainty is growing in the international community, while Japan has conducted stable politics and diplomacy over the past four years and increased its international presence,” Kishida said in his foreign policy speech. “As a stable power, Japan needs to work with countries it shares fundamental values with and take a leading role in the international community, so that this ... will be the year of advancement of Japan’s national interest and of global peace and prosperity.” Abe’s ruling coalition enjoys a two-thirds majority in parliament’s powerful lower house, while the transition of power in the United States, key elections this year in France and Germany and Britain’s departure from the European Union are making the global economic and political outlook uncertain.         Trump’s inauguration ceremony will take place later on Friday in Washington, which braces for more than a quarter-million protesters expected during the New York real estate tycoon’s swearing-in. Following the speeches by Abe and Kishida, Finance Minister Taro Aso pledged to stick to the government’s target of achieving a balanced budget in the fiscal year ending in March 2021, by pursuing both economic growth and fiscal consolidation.

Summary: जापान के प्रधानमंत्री का लक्ष्य राष्ट्रपति ट्रम्प के नेतृत्व में अमेरिकी गठबंधन को मजबूत करना है


Seoul (Reuters) - North Korea s state media on Thursday dismissed as  misinformation  a recent media report that the North s sixth nuclear test killed many people. Japanese broadcaster TV Asahi reported on Tuesday, citing unnamed sources familiar with the issue, that North Korea s nuclear test site collapsed after Pyongyang s sixth atomic test in September, possibly killing more than 200 people. The North s official KCNA said it was a  false report  intended to slander the country and its advances in nuclear development.

Summary: उत्तर कोरिया ने छठे परमाणु परीक्षण में कई लोगों के मारे जाने की खबर को खारिज किया


NEW YORK (Reuters) - Three high-ranking military officials from the Obama administration on Thursday joined several transgender service members in urging a U.S. judge to halt President Donald Trump’s ban on transgender people serving in the military. The former secretaries of the Army, Navy and Air Force – including former Army Secretary Eric Fanning, the first openly gay head of any U.S. military service – submitted sworn statements to a Washington, D.C., federal court in support of a motion for an immediate injunction. The new filings came as part of a lawsuit challenging the ban, which Trump first announced in a series of tweets earlier this month. The move would reverse former President Barack Obama’s order that allowed transgender people to serve openly without fear of losing their jobs. “The ban marks transgender service members as unequal and dispensable, stigmatizing them in the eyes of their fellow service members and depriving them of the unique honor and status associated with uniformed service to their country,” the motion said. Trump has said the ban would ensure unit cohesion and readiness. A White House spokeswoman did not immediately comment on Thursday. In their statements, the former U.S. military officials said the armed forces studied the issue extensively and concluded that allowing transgender people to serve would have no impact on the military’s capabilities. They also echoed the plaintiffs’ concern that transgender service members who relied on the Obama-era policy to disclose their status could now face discharge. “Dramatically reversing course and now using that information as a basis for separating these soldiers from their service is an unprecedented betrayal of the trust that is so essential to achieving the mission of all of the armed forces,” Fanning wrote. In a memorandum last week, Trump directed the military not to accept transgender recruits and not to pay for sex reassignment surgeries for active personnel. White House officials have not made clear whether the directive would allow active transgender members to continue serving. U.S. Defense Secretary Jim Mattis on Tuesday said the Obama administration’s policy would remain in place until a panel of experts provided him with recommendations regarding Trump’s directive, after which he would offer his own advice to the president. The lawsuit’s plaintiffs include five active service members, who filed anonymously, as well as a current naval student and a first-year college student enrolled in the Reserve Officers’ Training Corps. Two other lawsuits challenging the ban were filed earlier this week by civil rights groups.

Summary: पूर्व सैन्य अधिकारियों ने अमेरिकी न्यायाधीश से ट्रम्प के ट्रांसजेंडर प्रतिबंध को रोकने का आग्रह किया


The following bullet points are from the U.S. President Donald Trump’s Twitter accounts (@realDonaldTrump and @POTUS). Reuters has not edited the tweets. @realDonaldTrump : -- Source link: (bit.ly/2jBh4LU) (bit.ly/2jpEXYR)

Summary: फैक्टबॉक्सः ट्विटर पर ट्रम्प (1 फरवरी)-रेक्स टिलरसन, ईरान, ऑस्ट्रेलिया


MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - Mexican rescuers raced against the clock on Wednesday to save a 12-year-old girl trapped beneath a collapsed school and reach other possible survivors buried in rubble in central Mexico following the country s most deadly earthquake in three decades. At least 237 people were killed by the 7.1-magnitude quake that struck about 150 km (90 miles) southeast of Mexico City on Tuesday afternoon, 32 years after a 1985 quake killed thousands. Rescue workers were able to communicate with the girl, identified only as Frida Sofia, who responded that there were two other students nearby but she could not tell if they were alive, according to broadcaster Televisa, whose cameras and reporters had special access to the scene. Rescuers previously had seen a hand protruding from the debris, and she wiggled her fingers when asked if she was still alive, Televisa said. The girl s full name was not made public, but her family waited in anguish nearby, knowing that the bodies of 21 school children and four adults were already recovered from the Enrique Rebsamen School. They and other parents clung to hope after rescue teams reported a teacher and two students had sent text messages from within the rubble.  Rescuers moved slowly, erecting makeshift wooden scaffolding to prevent rubble from crumbling further and seeking a path to the child through the unstable ruins. As in rescue scenes throughout the central Valley of Mexico, officials ruled out using heavy equipment as long as there were signs of life below. Some 14 hours after the effort began, rescue workers in hard hats made an urgent plea on camera for beams and chains to support parts of the school ruins that were collapsing.  We have a lot of hope that some will still be rescued,  said David Porras, one of scores of volunteers helping the search at the school for children aged 3 to 14.   But we re slow, like turtles,  he said. Rescuers periodically demanded  total silence  bystanders, who would freeze in place and stay quiet, to better hear calls for help. Similar efforts have pulled more than 50 survivors from buildings around the country, President Enrique Pena Nieto said in a national address. Such rescues lead to impassioned cries of  Yes we can!  from responders and bystanders. Fifty-two buildings collapsed in Mexico City alone, Mayor Miguel Angel Mancera told reporters. In all the quake killed 102 people in Mexico City and the remaining 135 from five surrounding states. Another 1,900 people were treated for injuries, the president said. The quake struck a mere 31 km (32 miles) beneath the surface, sending major shockwaves through the metropolitan area of some 20 million people. Much of the capital is built upon an ancient lake bed that shakes like jelly during a quake. Initial reports suggest that collapses were limited mostly to buildings that predated the 1985 quake, after which stricter building codes were enacted.  The central part of Mexico City, in the lake bed, is always going to be a complicated place to build,  said Rodrigo Suarez, chief operating officer at Mexico City-based apartment developer Hasta Capital.  These old buildings (may) survive an earthquake or two or three, but since they weren t built to modern code, there s always going to be a risk in major earthquakes.  The national electric company restored service to 95 percent of the 5 million customers who had lost power, Pena Nieto said, and the state oil monopoly Pemex said its installations suffered no significant damage and that all its operations were normal. Mexico was still recovering from another powerful tremor that killed nearly 100 people in the south of the country less than two weeks ago. Reinforcements from other countries began to arrive and more were on the way. The United States, Israel, Spain, Japan and several Latin American countries had already responded with technical assistance and rescue teams, the president said. A Panamanian team of 32 rescue workers dressed in orange jumpsuits and helmets and two dogs arrived at Mexico City s international airport on Wednesday, prepared to go to work immediately searching for survivors. They came self sufficient with seven days  worth of food, water and supplies and prepared to work around the clock, said Cesar Lange, leader of the Panamanian Civil Protection unit.  The U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) was  sending a Disaster Assistance Response Team to help, at the request of the Mexican government, the agency said.  The United States remains committed to helping our neighbors during this difficult time,  the statement said. Throughout the capital, crews were joined by volunteers and bystanders who used dogs, cameras, motion detectors and heat-seeking equipment to detect victims who may still be alive. Pena Nieto spent the day surveying several of the rescue sites, making note of the large number of university students and others have volunteered for the search and rescue effort.  I have seen an active and very committed participation from the Mexican youth. ... I have seen a lot of solidarity,  Pena Nieto said.    The president has been unusually visible since the two earthquakes, a sign of the political sensitivity of disaster relief less than a year before the next presidential election.   We re clearly aware that this is a test we cannot flunk,  said Senator Miguel Angel Chico of the ruling Institutional Revolutionary Party, or PRI.  For a graphic on earthquake location, click: here

Summary: भूकंप में दबी स्कूली छात्रा को बचाने की दौड़ में मेक्सिको के लोग; मरने वालों की संख्या 237 हुई


MANILA (Reuters) - Across Asia, more and more countries are being pulled into Beijing’s orbit, with the timid stance adopted by Southeast Asian nations on the South China Sea at a weekend summit a clear sign this fundamental geostrategic shift is gathering momentum. U.S. President Donald Trump’s flurry of calls at the weekend to the leaders of the Philippines, Thailand and Singapore might cheer those who fear his predecessor Barack Obama’s “pivot” to Asia has been abandoned in favor of an “America First” agenda. But White House Chief of Staff Reince Priebus said the conversations were aimed at lining up Asian partners in case tensions over North Korea lead to “nuclear and massive destruction in Asia”, and mentioned no broader strategic goal. Southeast Asian nations will need more than that to convince them the United States still has their backs. In the meantime, some are leaning closer to China, soft-pedalling quarrels over the disputed South China Sea and angling for a slice of Beijing’s “One Belt, One Road” infrastructure investment program to compensate for the U.S. abandonment of the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade pact. The unexpected bonhomie that has emerged between Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping could give Asian countries further confidence to continue their swing toward Beijing. “Before, most Southeast Asian states wanted to benefit from Chinese regional economic initiatives and from American pushback against China,” said Malcolm Cook, a senior fellow at the Institute of Southeast Asian Studies in Singapore. “The second part of this balance is now in question. Hence, the pressure to acquiesce to China diplomatically and on security issues is stronger.” Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte, piqued by the Obama administration’s criticism of his human rights record, last year announced his “separation” from longtime ally the United States while on a visit to Beijing. The White House described Trump’s conversation with the firebrand Philippines leader as “very friendly” and - prompting criticism from Human Rights Watch for “effectively endorsing Duterte’s murderous war on drugs” - invited him to Washington. But, underlining his new-found friendship with Beijing, Duterte on Monday inspected a Chinese naval ships docked at his hometown, the first visit of its kind to the Philippines in years. Duterte, who last year put aside a legal challenge to Beijing’s sweeping territorial claims in the South China Sea to start negotiating billions of dollars worth of loans and infrastructure investments, chaired the latest summit of the 10-nation Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) in Manila. Several ASEAN diplomats said China sent officials to lobby the Philippines ahead of the summit, and before the leaders had even gathered Duterte said it was pointless pressuring Beijing over its maritime activities. An early draft of the summit statement seen by Reuters made references to land reclamation and militarization in the disputed waterway, but they were subsequently dropped, as were references to “tensions” and “escalation of activities”.  Cook said it was clear that, with the Philippines steering the summit to this conclusion, “it is no longer just Cambodia that is acting as an agent of Chinese influence in ASEAN over the South China Sea dispute”. Thailand and Malaysia have also moved closer to China. Thailand’s relations with Washington came under strain during the Obama administration because of concerns about freedoms under its military-dominated government. Trump invited Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha to visit Washington during their call on Sunday, but the former general’s government has its eyes elsewhere: last week it approved the first of three submarine purchases from China worth more than $1 billion. Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong says Washington’s new posture has shifted Asia’s political and economic balance. Lee, whose country, like Vietnam, has shown no signs of moving closer to Beijing, stressed to his ASEAN counterparts on Saturday that, despite Trump’s “radically different approach”, they should balance their ties between the United States and China. Trump has said he will attend two summits in the region in November. But Southeast Asian nations are trying to gauge how far they can still rely on Washington as a shield against Chinese assertiveness. ASEAN foreign ministers will be seeking answers at a meeting with Secretary of State Rex Tillerson in Washington this Thursday. Uncertainty over Washington’s commitment, analysts say, will only draw ASEAN countries further toward China, which can lure them with cheap loans, infrastructure investments and tariff cuts, but with a risk of diminished bargaining power. Thitinan Pongsudhirak, director of the Institute of Security and International Studies at Bangkok’s Chulalongkorn University, said it was imperative for ASEAN to regain leverage by bringing Washington back into the equation and expanding the influence of Japan. “ASEAN is in a precarious position now with the concessions, accommodation and even appeasement with China,” Thitinan said.    “If China continues to be shrewd and takes ASEAN on another ride, then ASEAN will be much worse off.”

Summary: ट्रंप ने अमेरिका को पहले स्थान पर रखते हुए एशियाई देशों को चीन की कक्षा में खींचा


TOKYO (Reuters) - Japanese Deputy Prime Minister Taro Aso and U.S. Vice President Mike Pence did not discuss currencies in the first round of a bilateral economic dialogue, a senior government official said. “Currencies were not discussed at all,” the official told reporters after the economic dialogue.

Summary: जापान, अमेरिका ने आर्थिक वार्ता में मुद्राओं पर चर्चा नहीं कीः सरकारी अधिकारी


WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Donald Trump on Monday dismissed the possibility of curbing a popular tax-deferred U.S. retirement savings program to help pay for his sweeping tax cuts, and voiced doubts about adding another top bracket targeting the wealthiest Americans. The potential scaling back of 401(k) plans, which for four decades have helped millions of workers save for retirement, is one of several important details yet to be ironed out in a major tax overhaul that Trump promised as a candidate and wants his fellow Republicans who control Congress to pass by year’s end. The White House and its congressional allies have floated the idea of paring certain tax deductions to make up for revenue that would be lost because of their proposed tax cuts, the centerpiece of which is a sharp reduction in the corporate income tax rate. The Wall Street Journal and the New York Times reported on Friday that Republicans were considering an annual cap of about $2,400 on pre-tax contributions to 401(k) plans, roughly 13 percent of what workers under age 50 currently can contribute on a tax-deferred basis. That would slash the amount of money that workers can save for retirement in 401(k) plans, which typically are invested in a portfolio of mutual funds. “There will be NO change to your 401(k),” Trump wrote on Twitter. “This has always been a great and popular middle class tax break that works, and it stays!” Tampering with 401(k) plans, which have largely replaced defined benefit pensions in the United States, would risk alienating tens of millions of workers as well as Wall Street, which generates fees from managing the plans. Many companies match a percentage of their employees’ 401(k) contributions. It also would provide ammunition to Democrats, who have painted Trump’s plan, with its $6 trillion in tax cuts, as a gift to the rich and corporate America that would balloon the federal deficit. Senator Ron Wyden, the top Democrat on the tax-code writing Senate Finance Committee, criticized Republicans for not making decisions on issues related to middle-class taxpayers, while having already decided to cut taxes for corporations. “I am really struck with how the Republicans are handling this question of retirement accounts, which are a real lifeline for working families and as of this  moment, it is still not clear whether they are going to include a really bad idea that would make it harder for working families to prepare for retirement,” Wyden said.  More than 94 million Americans are covered by defined contribution plans like a 401(k), according to a recent study by asset manager Vanguard. Total assets in such plans exceed $7 trillion. Securing congressional passage of his tax plan is critically important to Trump, who has yet to get major legislation through Congress since taking office in January, including a healthcare overhaul he promised as a candidate last year.  The White House argues that tax cuts are needed to boost economic growth and create jobs, but has shown sensitivity in recent weeks to arguments that it is endangering America’s long-term fiscal health.  Based on the outline of the plan that was unveiled last month, independent experts have concluded that corporations and the highest earners would benefit the most, and many upper middle-income people would face higher taxes. There are signs Republicans may add a fourth income tax bracket for high earners to the tax blueprint, which envisions reducing the number of brackets to three from the current seven. The idea of an additional top tax bracket was floated by Republican House of Representatives Speaker Paul Ryan. In an interview broadcast on Fox Business Network on Monday, Trump appeared to pour cold water on the idea. “It may not happen,” Trump said. “The only reason I would have (it) ... is if for any reason I feel the middle class is not being properly taken care of.” There is also pressure from investors to pass the tax overhaul. The expectation of deep tax cuts has helped fuel a stock market rally during Trump’s first year as president, with the broad S&P 500 index up more than 13 percent. The index hit record highs every day last week, although it retreated on Monday.  “The question becomes what happens if tax reform doesn’t happen in 2017, does the market sell off into the year-end?” said Andrew Slimmon, portfolio manager at Morgan Stanley Investment Management in Chicago. Trump is expected to participate on Tuesday in Senate Republicans’ weekly policy lunch. He said he would press the lawmakers to act on taxes and that he thinks there are enough votes to pass the plan. While its broad parameters have been made public, the detailed legislation has not yet been unveiled. Democrats have urged Trump to include them in the development of the legislation. The Republican blueprint was devised without Democratic input. The last major tax restructuring, Republican former President Ronald Reagan’s 1986 overhaul, received significant input and support from Democrats.

Summary: ट्रम्प का कहना है कि लोकप्रिय सेवानिवृत्ति कार्यक्रम कर योजना में सुरक्षित रहेगा


WASHINGTON/NEW YORK (Reuters) - The mass shooting in Orlando, Florida has allowed Donald Trump to seize upon a familiar issue he has used to great advantage -the threat of Islamist militants and his plan to limit Muslim immigration to the United States, offering him what could be a crucial moment to re-boot his sputtering presidential campaign.  But while rank-and-file voters might respond positively to Trump’s renewed call for a ban on some Muslims entering the country, his reaction to the massacre showed few initial signs of winning over Republican foreign-policy figures who have spurned the New York mogul. “It’s a missed opportunity to present a different image,” said Peter Feaver, a top National Security Council aide in the George W. Bush White House. “He has doubled down on policies I oppose and that aren’t going to solve the problem.” Trump said in a speech Monday in New Hampshire he would suspend immigration from countries “where there is a proven history of terrorism” against the United States. He said radical Muslim immigrants were “trying to take over our children and convince them how wonderful ISIS (Islamic State) is.” After the worst mass murder in modern U.S. history on Sunday left 50 dead, Trump’s speech was hastily refashioned from a broad critique of Democratic rival Hillary Clinton to a dire warning of the threat from Islamist militants. Although Islamic State has claimed responsibility for the attack, U.S. officials have maintained that Omar Mateen’s motives were unclear and that he had no known direct links with the Syria-based group. Mateen, they said, was likely radicalized over the Internet. A week ago, the presumptive Republican presidential nominee’s bid was taking on water. He was being battered by fellow Republicans for his comments about the Hispanic heritage of a federal judge, and Clinton was pulling away in the polls. A renewed focus on national security could provide Trump with the chance to expand his appeal both to undecided voters and to the Republican foreign-policy establishment. While Trump at times seems to relish being at odds with the establishment, the unhappiness among the party’s hawks isn’t just a matter of hand-wringing. It means if Trump does reach the White House, he could have a difficult time recruiting talented, experienced advisers.  Max Boot, an influential conservative at the Council on Foreign Relations, said the Orlando tragedy “could have provided an opening for Trump to rally Republicans against terrorism.” But instead, Boot said, Trump has been “partisan and petty.” Boot criticized Trump for suggesting on Monday that President Barack Obama may sympathize with radicalized Muslims and for reviving the proposed Muslim ban. “His performance has been in character,” Boot said, “which is to say appalling.” Trump has alarmed some mainstream Republicans with vows to shred international trade deals, his demands that Mexico pay for a border wall and his questioning of U.S. foreign policy pillars such as its security commitments to NATO and Asian allies.  Clinton struck a very different tone in a speech on Monday, urging “statesmanship, not partisanship” and “clear, rational discussion” on how to protect the United States from terrorist threats. Eliot Cohen, a top-ranking State Department official during the Bush administration, called Trump’s reaction to the shootings “opportunistic and shallow” and “not what Americans expect from a president.”   Lanhee Chen, a top aide to Mitt Romney during his 2012 presidential campaign, suggested Trump will not be able to refine his image. “While it would be true in most cases a big speech like this could reset the decks, I think the challenge with Donald Trump is always who he is at his core,” Chen said. But voters are another matter. Trump’s swift rise within the Republican Party was at least partly due to the strident tone he has taken toward immigrants and refugees. When Trump responded to last year’s terror attacks in Paris and California with a call for banning Muslims from entering the country, he surged in the Reuters/Ipsos poll in the weeks that followed, opening up a 30-point lead over his Republican primary rivals.  Republicans continue to be strongly supportive of Trump’s approach to handling terrorism. This month, two-thirds of Republicans said they agreed with Trump’s proposal to temporarily ban Muslims from entering the country.  Overall, 42 percent of Americans said they agreed with a Muslim ban while 50 percent said they disagreed, with another 8 percent not sure, according to another Reuters/Ipsos poll from May 17 to June 6. The poll of more than 6,000 people has a credibility interval, a measure of accuracy, of about 1.5 percentage points. Combating Islamist extremism was on the mind of Texas billionaire Doug Deason, a major Republican donor who told Reuters he will meet with Trump later in the week to discuss his support.  Nothing Trump has said since the Orlando shooting has caused him to re-think backing him, Deason said.  Peter King, a U.S. congressman from New York, said his party’s foreign-policy establishment will eventually have to get on board with Trump. “As one of the two major candidates for president, he will have to get advice or consultation with top national-security people,” King said.

Summary: ओरलैंडो के बाद ट्रम्प का संदेश रिपब्लिकन प्रतिष्ठान के साथ सपाट है


SOFIA (Reuters) - Iran denied access to its airspace to a Bulgarian government jet taking a delegation led by Prime Minister Boyko Borissov to Tehran s regional arch-enemy Saudi Arabia, Sofia s foreign minister said on Wednesday. Ekaterina Zaharieva told reporters the plane had all necessary permits to fly over Iran en route to Riyadh late on Tuesday but once it entered Iranian airspace it was asked by Iranian authorities to leave. Zaharieva, part of the delegation on board, said the aircraft had to return to Turkey after what she called an  inexplicable last-moment refusal  by Iran. She said the plane had to get permission to fly through Iraqi airspace, to the west of Iran, before it could reach its final destination.  She said Tehran had told Sofia the air access refusal was due to a slight deviation of the plane from its planned route, but Bulgarian authorities disagreed and had summoned the Iranian charge d affaires to Bulgaria for an explanation.  The government aircraft had secured all the necessary diplomatic permissions to fly over Iranian airspace,  Zaharieva said. The Iranian charge d affaires, Hassan Dotagi, said he deeply regretted the case and described it as a  technical misconception , according to a Bulgarian Foreign Ministry statement following the meeting.  Borissov is the first Bulgarian prime minister to visit Saudi Arabia. Bulgaria will take the European Union s rotating presidency from January for six months. The plane was also carrying former Bulgarian king Simeon Saxe-Coburg and four other cabinet ministers. The Sunni Muslim kingdom of Saudi Arabia and Shi ite Muslim Iran support rival sides in wars and political crises throughout the Middle East.

Summary: ईरान ने रियाद जा रहे बुल्गारिया के प्रधानमंत्री के विमान को हवाई क्षेत्र में जाने से किया इनकारः मंत्री


OTTAWA (Reuters) - Canada has no plans to change its travel advice for Cuba or to remove any Canadian staff from its embassy there, though some staff have experienced some unusual symptoms, a spokesman for Foreign Affairs Minister Chrystia Freeland said on Friday.  Some of our diplomatic staff and their family members started to experience unusual symptoms in March 2017, including earaches, dizziness and headaches,  said Adam Austen.  All of the personnel who experienced symptoms underwent testing in Canada and the U.S. and the cause of the symptoms remains unknown. We have been working closely with Cuban authorities to ascertain the cause. We continue to monitor the situation closely and we have no plans to travel advice or remove any staff,  Austen added. The United States on Friday cut its diplomatic presence in Cuba by more than half and warned U.S. citizens not to visit because of mysterious  attacks  that have caused hearing loss, dizziness and fatigue in U.S. embassy personnel.

Summary: कनाडा का कहना है कि क्यूबा से दूतावास के कर्मचारियों को हटाने की कोई योजना नहीं है


WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Democratic U.S. Representative Luis Gutierrez of Illinois, a prominent critic of President Donald Trump’s immigration policies, will not seek re-election next year, Politico reported on Monday. Citing three Democratic sources with knowledge of the decision, Politico reported that Gutierrez was expected to announce his decision not to run on Tuesday. Gutierrez’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment.  Politico reported that former Chicago mayoral candidate Jesus “Chuy” Garcia was expected to enter the race for Guiterrez’s seat in the heavily Hispanic 4th District, which includes parts of Chicago and some suburbs west of the city. Gutierrez, who is of Puerto Rican descent, has criticized Trump’s efforts to restrict immigration and to deport millions of illegal immigrants in the United States.

Summary: कांग्रेसी गुटिरेज़ फिर से चुनाव नहीं लड़ेंगेः पोलिटिको


WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump on Thursday urged all members of the U.N. Security Council to back the renewal of the international inquiry into chemical weapons attacks in Syria, saying it was needed to prevent President Bashar al-Assad from using the arms.  Need all on the UN Security Council to vote to renew the Joint Investigative Mechanism for Syria to ensure that Assad Regime does not commit mass murder with chemical weapons ever again,  Trump said in a note on Twitter. The 15-nation council was due to vote on Thursday on rival U.S. and Russian bids to renew the international inquiry, diplomats said on Wednesday, a move that could trigger Russia s 10th veto to block action on Syria.

Summary: ट्रम्प ने संयुक्त राष्ट्र परिषद से सीरिया के रासायनिक हथियारों की जांच को फिर से शुरू करने का आग्रह किया


WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Donald Trump is actively considering  when and how  to move the U.S. Embassy in Israel to Jerusalem, Vice President Mike Pence said on Tuesday. Pence made the comment in remarks at Israel s Mission to the United Nations at an event celebrating the 70th anniversary of the United Nations  vote calling for the establishment of a Jewish state. Trump has vowed to move the U.S. Embassy to Jerusalem but in June he signed a waiver to keep it in Tel Aviv. He is facing a new deadline in early December on whether to extend the waiver again, a practice that his predecessors used to avoid inflaming tensions in the Middle East.

Summary: इज़राइल में अमेरिकी दूतावास को यरुशलम में कब और कैसे स्थानांतरित किया जाए, इस पर विचार कर रहे हैं ट्रम्पः पेंस


WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Republican House Speaker Paul Ryan has told confidants he would like to retire after the 2018 congressional elections, Politico reported on Thursday, but the Wisconsin lawmaker and an aide played down the report, saying he wasn’t quitting any time soon. “Ryan has made it known to some of his closest confidants that this will be his final term as speaker,” Politico said.  Politico said it interviewed three dozen people who knew Ryan - including lawmakers, congressional and administration aides, conservative intellectuals and Republican lobbyists - and that “not a single person believed Ryan will stay in Congress past 2018.” White House spokeswoman Sarah Sanders said President Donald Trump had spoken to Ryan “and made sure that the speaker knew very clearly and in no uncertain terms that if that news was true, he was very unhappy with it.” “The speaker assured the president that those were not accurate reports and that they looked forward to working together for a long time to come,” Sanders said. Ryan is a long-time champion of tax reform who has helped bring Republicans in Congress to the cusp of a tax overhaul for the first time in a generation. If passed, it would be Trump’s first major legislative victory since he took office in January despite being helped by Republican control of Congress. When asked by reporters on Thursday if he was planning to quit, Ryan said with a chuckle: “I’m not, no.” Asked later about the Politico report, Ryan spokeswoman AshLee Strong did not directly deny it, instead saying: “This is pure speculation. As the speaker himself said today, he’s not going anywhere any time soon.” Ryan would be unlikely to publicize any planned departure because it could hurt his fundraising capacity on behalf of fellow Republicans and undercut his ability to make deals in the House of Representatives. A budget hawk who was Mitt Romney’s vice presidential running mate in 2012, Ryan reluctantly took over as speaker in 2015 following the resignation of John Boehner, who had held the post since early 2011 after Republicans won control of the chamber from Democrats. Boehner’s tenure as speaker was marked by fractious divisions among competing groups within the Republican Party. Ryan has tried to move the party beyond those disputes with only limited success.  Party divisions earlier this year prevented Republicans from delivering a promised overhaul of healthcare legislation, and the path toward tax reform has also been complicated by internal  disagreements and intense lobbying from industry groups.

Summary: हाउस स्पीकर रेयान 2018 के चुनावों के बाद सेवानिवृत्ति पर विचार कर रहे हैंः पोलिटिको


CHICAGO (Reuters) - The Illinois Senate on Thursday earmarked $227.2 million for low-income college students whose need-based financial aid has been imperiled by the state’s 11-month budget impasse. But Republican Governor Bruce Rauner offered no sign of supporting the measure for Monetary Award Program recipients after members of his party pilloried the funding package as a “farce” because it did not identify a specific revenue stream to pay for it. Rauner spokeswoman Catherine Kelley declined to say whether the governor intends to sign or veto the legislation, saying only “Governor Rauner remains committed to reaching a balanced budget alongside meaningful reforms in a bipartisan manner.” Illinois’ public universities and community colleges and the MAP program have only received a fraction of what they had expected from the state since July because Rauner and the Democratic-led legislature have yet to agree on a Fiscal 2016 spending plan. A stopgap $600 million higher-education funding package enacted by Rauner last month offered some relief, but an early-May effort to appropriate an additional $454 million on top of the April total stalled in the Illinois House of Representatives after passing the Senate. In fiscal 2015, the last year in which Illinois had a full operating budget, the state appropriated $357.1 million to the MAP program. That amount provided for income-based grants of up to $4,968 to 128,399 students, the Illinois Student Assistance Commission reported.   State Senator Donne Trotter, a Chicago Democrat and the legislation’s chief sponsor, said the package would “ensure that our students can relieve themselves of some of the drama they’ve been going through this year because of the inaction by this body and the governor” in passing a budget. But Republicans ripped the plan, with Senator Chapin Rose, a Republican from Mahomet, Ill., about 200 miles south of Chicago, accusing the Senate majority of “writing a check that it darn well knows cannot be cashed.” The Senate passed the bill 39-15, with two members voting present - enough to override any potential Rauner veto. But the 68-45 margin during a Tuesday House vote fell three votes short of a veto-proof majority, meaning Rauner could kill the measure if he chose to.

Summary: इलिनोइस सीनेट ने जरूरतमंद कॉलेज छात्रों के लिए अनुदान कार्यक्रम पारित किया


MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russia s air force has killed about 850 militants in Syria s zone of de-escalation in Idlib in the last 24 hours, Interfax news agency quoted Russia s Defence Ministry as saying on Wednesday.

Summary: रूस की वायु सेना ने पिछले 24 घंटों में सीरिया में 850 आतंकवादियों को मार गिरायाः इंटरफैक्स


ANKARA (Reuters) - Iran s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, told Iraq s U.S.-backed prime minister on Thursday that he should not rely on the United States in the fight against Islamic State, seeking to drive a wedge between Washington and one of its close allies.  Unity was the most important factor in your gains against terrorists and their supporters,  Khamenei told the visiting Prime Minister Haidar al-Abadi, according to state TV.  Don t trust America ... It will harm you in the future.  Iraq is one of the only countries in the world that is closely allied to both the United States and Iran. Both countries have armed and trained pro-government forces in Iraq in the battle against Islamic State militants. The United States, which installed the Shi ite-led government in Baghdad after toppling Saddam Hussein in 2003, now has 5,000 troops in Iraq and provides air support, training and weapons to the Iraqi army. Iran, the predominant Shi ite power in the Middle East, funds and trains Iraqi Shi ite paramilitaries known as Popular Mobilisation, which fight alongside government troops. For years, Baghdad has carefully avoided antagonising either Washington or Tehran. But a confrontation between the Iraqi central government and its Kurdish minority in recent weeks has threatened to tip the balance in Iran s favour. The Kurds are also funded and trained by Washington which has considered them allies for decades. After the Kurds staged a referendum on independence last month, Abadi responded by sending his troops to swiftly seize territory from Kurdish forces. This week, Abadi rebuked U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson for demanding he send Iranian fighters in pro-government Shi ite militia  home . Abadi s office issued a statement saying no country should give orders to Iraq and calling the paramilitaries  patriots . He has since travelled to both Turkey and Iran to seek support for his hard line towards the Kurds. The Kurdish regional government proposed on Wednesday an immediate ceasefire, a suspension of the result of last month s Kurdish independence vote and  starting an open dialogue with the federal government based on the Iraqi Constitution . The offer was rejected by Abadi s government, which said the independence referendum result must be annulled, rather than merely suspended, as a pre-condition to any talks.  We will preserve Iraq s unity and will never allow any secession,  Iran s state news agency IRNA quoted Abadi as saying during his meeting with Khamenei.

Summary: इराकी नेता ने ईरान का दौरा किया क्योंकि तेहरान वाशिंगटन के साथ दरार पैदा करना चाहता है


DUBAI (Reuters) - The Palestinian leadership may turn to the U.N. General Assembly if Washington vetoes a draft U.N. Security Council resolution to reaffirm Jerusalem s status as unresolved, after President Donald Trump s decision to recognize it as Israel s capital. The Palestinian United Nations envoy raised this option in remarks published in Saudi daily Arab News on Monday, ahead of a Security Council vote on an Egyptian-drafted resolution about Jerusalem s status which the United States is expected to veto. The draft says any  decisions and actions which purport to have altered the character, status or demographic composition of the Holy City of Jerusalem have no legal effect, are null and void and must be rescinded . Trump s Dec. 6 decision to recognize Jerusalem as Israel s capital and to move the U.S. Embassy to the city has provoked widespread anger and protests among Palestinians as well as broad international criticism, including from top U.S. allies. Israel says Jerusalem is its indivisible capital. It captured East Jerusalem in the 1967 Middle East war and annexed it in a move never recognized internationally. Palestinians want East Jerusalem as the capital of a future state they seek in territory Israel captured a half century ago.  Arab News quoted Ambassador Riyad Mansour as saying that the Palestinians and Egyptians have worked closely with Security Council members while drafting the resolution to ensure that it gets overwhelming support.  The Europeans in particular asked us to avoid terms like  denounce  and  condemn,  and not to mention the U.S. by name,  it quoted Mansour as saying.  We acceded to their request but kept the active clauses rejecting all changes to Jerusalem and the reaffirmation of previous decisions.  Israel has long accused the United Nations of bias against it in its conflict with the Palestinians and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu praised Trump s move again on Sunday.  The Palestinians have the option of invoking a rarely-used article of the U.N. Charter that calls for parties to a dispute not to cast a veto, Arab News said. But, it said, they are more likely to take the issue to the General Assembly under Resolution 377A, known as the  Uniting for Peace  resolution. Resolution 377A was passed in 1950 and used to authorize the deployment of U.S. troops to fight in the Korean war. Mansour said Palestinians resorted to the  Uniting for Peace  resolution in the 1990s after Israel began building a settlement on Jabal Abut Ghnaim, a hilltop on occupied West Bank land south of Jerusalem, but left that session in suspension. However, they could seek a resumption of the session, he said.  If the resolution is vetoed, the Palestinian delegation can send a letter to the U.N. Secretary General and ask him to resume the emergency session,  he said, according to Arab News.

Summary: अगर अमेरिका ने येरुशलम प्रस्ताव को वीटो किया तो फिलिस्तीनी संयुक्त राष्ट्र विधानसभा का समर्थन मांग सकते हैंः राजदूत


MANILA (Reuters) - Maoist rebels attacked soldiers delivering relief aid to parts of the central Philippines where a typhoon killed at least 32 people, army and disaster officials said on Monday. Typhoon Kai-tak, which triggered landslides and floods in the deadliest storm to hit the country this year, also left 46 people missing. Military spokesman Colonel Edgard Arevalo said two soldiers were wounded when about 50 rebels of the New People s Army (NPA), the military arm of a communist movement, fired on a convoy of troops carrying relief aid on Samar island on Saturday. The NPA has yet to comment on the accusation and it was not possible to contact the group due to power outages and disrupted communications. The Philippines has not declared a Christmas truce with the rebels for the first time in three decades after President Rodrigo Duterte halted peace talks and this month designated the NPA a terrorist organization.  (The attacks) only validated the aptness of the government s decision to terminate the peace negotiations and to discontinue the traditional Christmas truce,  Arevalo said. The 3,000-member Maoist rebel forces have been waging a protracted guerrilla warfare for nearly 50 years in a conflict that has killed more than 40,000 people and stunted growth in resource-rich rural areas. The Philippines also faces Islamist insurgencies in the south. The NPA guerrillas have been targeting mines, plantations and other businesses, demanding  revolutionary taxation  to finance arms purchases and recruitment. Mina Marasigan, spokeswoman for the national disaster risk reduction and management council, called on the NPA to halt the violence.  This is not an armed conflict,  she said, adding the rebels should let  relief work to go unhampered . Marasigan said emergency workers were working around the clock to restore power, clear debris and make roads and bridges passable to allow humanitarian assistance to reach about 220,000 people affected by the storm. Duterte is expected to visit the worst-hit typhoon areas later in the day to assess the damage. Storms regularly batter the Philippines. In 2013, Typhoon Haiyan killed about 8,000 people and left millions homeless in the same region.

Summary: फिलीपींस का कहना है कि माओवादी विद्रोहियों ने तूफान राहत कार्य पर तैनात सैनिकों पर हमला किया


WELLINGTON (Reuters) - Veteran protectionist politician Winston Peters was appointed New Zealand s new deputy prime minister and foreign minister on Wednesday, saying he would seek a greater voice in international affairs, including North Korea. Peters visited North Korea when he was foreign minister in a previous New Zealand government in 2005. New Zealand First party leader Peters delivered government to the Labour party through a coalition deal after a closely fought election on Sept. 23 failed to result in a majority for the governing National or Labour parties. Peters and Labour Prime Minister-designate Jacinda Ardern have found common ground in  fortress New Zealand -type  policies. Both are looking to curb immigration, renegotiate certain trade deals and adjust the role of the central bank. Ardern also wants to ban overseas buyers from purchasing existing homes as prices grow more unaffordable for local residents. A bill to ban such purchases will be introduced by Christmas, Ardern told a workers  conference on Wednesday. But trade and foreign ownership restrictions could hurt New Zealand s reputation as an open economy and antagonize the likes of China. Trade between the two countries has grown to more than NZ$20 billion ($14.4 billion) a year, and Chinese President Xi Jinping called the relationship  unprecedented  in its depth. While Peters was expected to be offered the deputy role after obtaining the balance of power, his appointment as both deputy prime minister and foreign minister was unexpected. Richard Shaw, politics professor at Massey University, said Peters was a  conservative economic nationalist .   One of the things we ve seen from him over the last couple of weeks is the concern with the extent that relatively unbridled free trade has on his constituents,  said Shaw. Many of Labour and New Zealand First s policies during the campaign drew on voters  concerns that immigration and foreign buyers of local homes were putting too much pressure on infrastructure and house prices. Peters said he wanted to forge stronger ties with Australia, after tensions have increased recently. Labour s finance spokesman Grant Robertson will become finance minister in the incoming government, placing him at the center of plans to overhaul monetary policy.  Robertson, a political adviser under former Labour Prime Minister Helen Clark, will appoint a new central bank governor. The Labour-led government plans to reform the Reserve Bank Act to possibly include employment, alongside inflation, as a dual target. Rather than just focusing on inflation, Labour wants the Reserve Bank to have a full employment goal when devising policy settings, bringing it into line with the United States and Australia.

Summary: न्यूजीलैंड के संरक्षणवादी विंस्टन पीटर्स उप प्रधानमंत्री और विदेश मंत्री नियुक्त


MANILA (Reuters) - Philippine troops on Friday rescued three Vietnamese sailors abducted by a group of Islamist militants nine months ago in dangerous southern waters near the Malaysian border, an army spokeswoman said. Seventeen Vietnamese sailors were taken captive in the south of the Philippines when pro-Islamic State militants attacked commercial ships in the Sulu and Celebes seas, generating millions of dollars from ransom payments. Four Vietnamese sailors were found on a remote island in Tawi-tawi, but one was already dead from illness, Captain Jo-Ann Petinglay told reporters. She said Philippines marines were pursuing a small group of militants who had fled and abandoned the captives. Of the 17 Vietnamese sailors abducted in February, 10 were rescued in earlier operations and two were killed by the militants while attempting to escape, she said. The rest were brought to nearby Jolo island, she added without elaborating.  The military said the militants, known for kidnapping, bombing and beheading captives, are still holding 16 captives on Jolo island, including seven foreigners, including a Dutch and a Japanese national.

Summary: फिलीपींस के सैनिकों ने इस्लामी आतंकवादियों से तीन वियतनामी लोगों को बचाया


BEIRUT (Reuters) - Lebanon believes Saad al-Hariri is being held in Saudi Arabia, from where he resigned as Lebanese prime minister, two top government officials in Beirut said, amid a deepening crisis pushing Lebanon onto the frontlines of a power struggle between Saudi Arabia and Iran. A third source, a senior politician close to Saudi-allied Hariri, said Saudi Arabia had ordered him to resign and put him under house arrest. A fourth source familiar with the situation said Saudi Arabia was controlling and limiting his movement. In a televised statement indicating deep concern at Hariri s situation, his Future Movement political party said his return home was necessary to uphold the Lebanese system, describing him as prime minister and a national leader.           Hariri s resignation last Saturday, read out on television from Saudi Arabia, came as a shock even to his aides and further embroiled Beirut in a regional contest between Riyadh and Tehran. Hariri s exit fueled wide speculation that the Sunni Muslim politician, long an ally of Riyadh, was coerced into stepping down by Saudi Arabia as it seeks to hit back against Iran and its Lebanese Shi ite ally, Hezbollah. In his resignation speech, Hariri denounced Iran and Hezbollah for sowing strife in Arab states and said he feared assassination. His father, a former prime minister, was killed by a bomb in 2005.     Saudi Arabia has denied reports he is under house arrest. But Hariri has issued no statements himself to that effect, and has not denied that his movements are being restricted.       Keeping Hariri with restricted freedom in Riyadh is an attack on Lebanese sovereignty. Our dignity is his dignity. We will work with (foreign) states to return him to Beirut,  said the senior Lebanese official, speaking on condition of anonymity because the government had yet to declare that position. Saudi Arabia says Hariri resigned because Hezbollah, which was included in Hariri s coalition government, had  hijacked  Lebanon s political system. Hariri aides had until Thursday denied he was under house arrest but took a dramatically different tone after a meeting of the Future Movement convened at Hariri s Beirut residence on Thursday. A statement read by former Prime Minister Fouad Siniora said his return was  necessary to recover respect for Lebanon s internal and external balance, and in the framework of full respect for Lebanese legitimacy . Hariri s aunt, Bahia, sat next to Siniora as he read the statement. The party stood behind his leadership, it said. Hariri came to office last year in a political deal that made the Hezbollah-allied Christian politician Michel Aoun head of state and produced a coalition government grouping most Lebanese parties including Hezbollah. Saudi Arabia blessed the government at the time, but has been fiercely critical of the Hariri-led government since he stepped down, saying it failed to act against Hezbollah, whose guerrilla army is far more powerful than the weak state. Saudi Arabia had wanted Hariri to take a tougher stance toward Hezbollah, and he failed to do so, the fourth source said.  He was functioning as if it is business as usual, so the Saudis had to accelerate the process and to force a resignation.  Saudi Arabia this week lumped Lebanon together with Hezbollah as parties that are hostile to it, breaking with a long-established policy that has drawn a line between them and raising concerns of further Saudi measures. Hariri flew to Saudi Arabia last Friday. The top Lebanese government official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said:  Lebanon is heading toward asking foreign and Arab states to put pressure on Saudi Arabia to release Prime Minister Saad al-Hariri.  The official said Hariri was still Lebanon s prime minister, echoing other Lebanese government officials who say his resignation had not been received by Aoun, and his government therefore remained in place.     The resignation of Hariri, a business tycoon whose family made its fortune in Saudi Arabia, happened at the same time as a wave of arrests of Saudi princes and businessmen accused of corruption by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. The senior Lebanese politician close to Hariri said:  When he went (to Saudi Arabia) he was asked to stay there and ordered to resign. They ordered him to read his resignation statement and he has been held under house arrest since.  Two U.S. officials said the Saudis, led by Crown Prince Mohammed, had  encouraged  Hariri to leave office. The fourth source said:  He is under controlled movement by the Saudis, limited movement.  Hezbollah s parliamentary bloc said Saudi Arabia must halt its interference in Lebanese affairs.     He made a one-day flying visit to the United Arab Emirates, a close Saudi ally, earlier this week before returning to Saudi Arabia. Hariri s office said in a statement he had received the French ambassador to Saudi Arabia at his Riyadh residence on Thursday. He had also met the head of the EU mission to Saudi Arabia on Wednesday, and on Tuesday the British ambassador and the U.S. charge d affaires. State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert confirmed U.S. Charge d Affaires Chris Henzel met with Hariri. Asked about reports Hariri was being held in Saudi Arabia, Nauert declined to elaborate on his status or what was discussed, calling the talks  sensitive, private, diplomatic conversations.  Nauert indicated the United States would not treat the Lebanese government any differently as a result of the  uncertainty over Hariri. Saudi Arabia warned its citizens on Thursday against travel to Lebanon and said those already there should leave. It has issued similar advice about Lebanon to its citizens before.  Lebanon s Maronite patriarch will visit Saudi Arabia next week and has received  a positive response  from Saudi officials over the possibility of seeing Hariri, his spokesman said. Patriarch Beshara al-Rai s visit  had been decided on a long time ago. In light of the developments, his mission has become national,  Walid Ghayyad said. The patriarch will take a message to the kingdom that  Lebanon cannot handle conflict.

Summary: एक्सक्लूसिवः लेबनान का मानना है कि सऊदी ने हरीरी को पकड़ लिया है, उसकी वापसी की मांग करता है


SEOUL/BEIJING (Reuters) - China will allow travel agencies in Beijing and Shandong to partly resume sales of group tours to South Korea, in a sign of thawing relations between the nations that have been locked in a year-long diplomatic standoff. However, executives from tour agencies in the regions said they had been told not to include in their travel packages units of South Korean retail-to-chemicals giant Lotte Group - which provided land for the installation of a U.S.-backed anti-missile system that Beijing vehemently opposed. China had banned all group tours to the neighboring country since March in the wake of South Korea s decision to install the U.S. Terminal High Altitude Area Defense system. Beijing worries the THAAD s powerful radar can penetrate Chinese territory. In South Korea, a halving of inbound Chinese tourists in the first nine months of the year cost the economy $6.5 billion in lost revenue based on the average spending of Chinese visitors in 2016, official data shows. But a late October agreement between the countries to move past the dispute had boosted hopes group tours may be allowed in the near future. [L3N1NE1MN]  China National Tourism Administration will allow resumption of only over-the-counter sales of package tours from Beijing and Shandong to South Korea, Park Yong-hwan, deputy director at Korea Tourism Organization, and executives at Chinese travel agencies said on Tuesday. Online sales of package tours, and chartering flights or cruise trips are still banned, Park said. According to the executives at travel agencies, restrictions on including Lotte Group units, such as Lotte Duty Free, in tour packages also remain. The executives declined to be identified due to the sensitivity of the matter.  Lotte, South Korea s No.5 conglomerate, has faced a major setback in the wake of deteriorating bilateral relations, with most of its hypermarkets in China being shut down after fire inspections. The South Korean travel ban is expected to be be in place for other Chinese regions for now and be gradually lifted going forward, Park said.  Shares in South Korean tourism and retail companies rallied after the news of the partial lifting of the ban, first reported by Yonhap earlier in the day. Asiana Airlines gained 3.1 percent and duty free store operator Hotel Shilla rose 2.8 percent. Casino operator Paradise rose 2.2 percent, while cosmetics maker LG Household & Health Care added 3.7 percent.

Summary: चीन ने दक्षिण कोरिया की सामूहिक यात्राओं पर प्रतिबंध आंशिक रूप से हटाया, ऑनलाइन प्रतिबंध बने रहे


LANSING, Mich (Reuters) - Michigan Governor Rick Snyder, facing protests, lawsuits and calls for his resignation over drinking water contamination in Flint, on Tuesday apologized to the city’s residents and called for the state to spend $28 million on fixes. “To you, the people of Flint, I say tonight as I have before, I am sorry and I will fix it,” Snyder said in his annual speech to lawmakers, adding that federal, state and local leaders had failed residents. Snyder, a Republican, asked lawmakers to authorize $28 million in spending on diagnostic tests, health treatment for children and adolescents, replacement of old fixtures in Flint schools and day care centers and a study of the city’s water pipes. He also said additional funding would be needed. Some people have reported rashes, hair loss and other problems since Flint, under a state-appointed emergency manager,  switched to Flint River water in April 2014 from a Detroit-run water system to save money, attorneys for the residents said. Complaints about the water began within a month of the switch, but Flint did not return to Detroit water until October 2015 after tests showed elevated levels of lead in Flint tap water and in some children. The corrosive river water caused more lead to leach from Flint pipes than Detroit water did, increasing contaminants in the tap water. President Barack Obama met on Tuesday with recently elected Flint Mayor Karen Weaver over the crisis, which has become part of the U.S. presidential debate with candidates on both sides questioning the slow response. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency said it acted too slowly to address the situation in Flint. Snyder promised to release his Flint-related emails from 2014 and 2015 on Wednesday. He has rejected calls for his resignation by some protesters. “Lansing failed in one of its most basic functions, ensuring the well-being and health of our citizens,” state House Democratic Leader Tim Greimel said after the speech. At least 1,000 people protested at the Capitol on Tuesday, some holding baby bottles filled with brown water. “The governor has a business agenda and his business agenda was to take over the water to profit in it,” said Lila Cabbil, a demonstrator from Detroit. Several lawsuits have been filed. The latest on Tuesday asks a judge to stop Flint from issuing shutoff notices to residents, who are still receiving bills for water declared undrinkable. Attorney Cary McGehee said lawyers have heard from more than 500 people reporting health problems and financial hardships.

Summary: मिशिगन के गवर्नर ने फ्लिंट जल संकट के लिए माफी मांगी


(Reuters) - The average premium for benchmark 2017 Obamacare insurance plans sold on Healthcare.gov rose 25 percent compared with 2016, the U.S. government said on Monday, the biggest increase since the insurance first went on sale in 2013 for the following year. The average monthly premium for the benchmark plan is rising to $302 from $242 in 2016, the Department of Health and Human Services said. The agency attributed the large increase to insurers adjusting their premiums to reflect two years of cost data that became available. The government provides income-based subsidies to about 85 percent of people enrolled, and those credits will increase with the higher premiums. It said 72 percent of consumers on HealthCare.gov will find plans with a premium of less than $75 per month. Large national insurers including Aetna Inc (AET.N), UnitedHealth Group Inc (UNH.N) and Anthem Inc (ANTM.N) have said they are losing money on the exchanges, created under President Barack Obama’s national healthcare reform law, because patient costs are higher than anticipated and enrollment is lower than forecast. Both UnitedHealth and Aetna have pulled out of the exchanges for 2017. As a result, consumers will have fewer plans to choose from. In 2017, in five states there will be offerings from only one insurance company. The government expects average monthly 2017 enrollment of 11.4 million people, up about 1 million from 2016. Obama acknowledged last week that the law is not working perfectly but said the problems could be fixed if lawmakers created a government-run health insurance option that would help U.S. states where there is little or no competition. Premium increases have become fodder for the presidential race, as Republican candidate Donald Trump calls for the repeal of the Affordable Care Act if he is elected and Democrat Hillary Clinton calls for expanding it. The news “shows why the entire program must be repealed and replaced .... Mr. Trump knows the only way to fix our nation’s failing health care system is complete and total reform,” said Trump communications adviser Jason Miller. The government agency said the 2017 premium increase comes after two years of very low increases in the marketplace for the second-lowest cost “silver” plan, the benchmark plan used to calculate cost-sharing subsidies.  Average premiums for the silver plan increased 2 percent in 2015 and were up 7 percent in 2016, the agency said. The figure reflects premiums on Healthcare.gov, the federally run website that sells plans for about two-thirds of the states. Including four states and the District of Columbia, which run their own insurance marketplaces, and those that have reported data, the average premium rose 22 percent, the agency said.

Summary: अमेरिकी सरकार का कहना है कि बेंचमार्क 2017 Healthcare.gov प्रीमियम में 25 प्रतिशत की वृद्धि हुई


VIENTIANE (Reuters) - Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte on Thursday defended his country’s human rights record at a regional summit in Laos, urging East Asian leaders and the United States to help Manila eradicate the scourge of illicit drugs. Duterte swept to power in May on promises to wipe out crime and corruption within six months, pledging to wage a war on drug dealers and crush widespread addiction in a country of 100 million. The toll in his government’s two-month war on drugs reached 2,400 last week, with police saying about 900 people died in police operations, and the rest were “deaths under investigation”, a term human rights activists call a euphemism for vigilante and extrajudicial killings. Setting aside a prepared speech, Duterte spoke for more than five minutes about human rights and his campaign against drugs during the East Asian Summit in the Laotian capital of Vientiane, according to one Indonesian diplomat at the meeting. “Let me tell you about human rights,” the diplomat quoted Duterte as saying while displaying a picture of Filipinos killed by American soldiers about a century ago. “This is my ancestors being killed, so why now we are talking about human rights? We have to talk of the full spectrum of human rights.” Duterte spoke after Obama had delivered a speech that referred to human rights.    Duterte’s drive has won popular support at home but the killings have drawn expressions of concern from the United States, a close Philippine ally, and the United Nations. In a tirade before the Laos summit, Duterte insulted U.S. President Barack Obama and the White House responded by cancelling a two-way meeting. Philippine officials this week handed out a 38-page pamphlet at the summit that praised Duterte’s drug campaign.

Summary: दुतेर्ते ने क्षेत्रीय नेताओं, अमेरिका से कहा कि वे अधिकारों पर फिलीपींस को व्याख्यान न दें


WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Henry Paulson, a Republican who was U.S. Treasury secretary during the 2008 financial meltdown, on Friday called a Donald Trump presidency “unthinkable” and said he will vote for Democrat Hillary Clinton. Paulson joins a growing list of establishment Republicans who say they will not cast a ballot in the Nov. 8 election for Trump, the party’s presumptive nominee and a political neophyte whose populist rhetoric runs counter to many long-held Republican principles. “When it comes to the presidency, I will not vote for Donald Trump,” Paulson, who was chief executive of Goldman Sachs before becoming Treasury chief under Republican President George W. Bush, wrote in an opinion piece in the Washington Post. “I’ll be voting for Hillary Clinton, with the hope that she can bring Americans together to do the things necessary to strengthen our economy, our environment and our place in the world,” he said. Paulson accused Trump, who has touted his business acumen as a real estate developer during his campaign, of taking “imprudent risk” and then disavowing his debts when ventures fail. He also took aim at Trump’s opposition to trade agreements, which Paulson said have created U.S. jobs and fostered innovation and competitiveness. “Simply put, a Trump presidency is unthinkable,” Paulson said. The Trump campaign did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Brent Scowcroft, a national security adviser to two Republican presidents, endorsed Clinton on Wednesday, and Richard Armitage, a deputy secretary of state under George W. Bush, said last week he would support her. Paulson, who helped steer a $700 billion bailout of the financial system through Congress during the financial meltdown, said Trump is a “phony” who is unfit to be president. “I can’t help but think what would have happened if a divisive character such as Trump were president during the 2008 financial crisis, at a time when leadership, compromise and careful analysis were critical,” he said.

Summary: रिपब्लिकन पार्टी के पूर्व कोषागार प्रमुख पॉलसन ने क्लिंटन को वोट देने के लिए ट्रंप की आलोचना की


NEW YORK (IFR) - The investigative arm of Congress has decided that US bank guidelines on leveraged lending are subject to Congressional review, clearing the way for them to possibly be overturned. After months of consideration, the US Government Accountability Office said the guidelines amount to a formal rule that Congress can review. In the wake of the last financial crisis, banking regulators recommended against banks making loans to companies with a debt-to-earnings ratio greater than six times or that are unable to pay down debt quickly. Critics charge those guidelines have hindered bank loans to business, and that they usurp the powers of the legislature to make law.   In March, US Senator Pat Toomey asked the GAO to decide if they were actual rules, which unlike guidelines can be potentially voted down under the 1996 Congressional Review Act. “It is a rule subject to the requirements of the CRA,” the GAO said in a letter to Toomey on Thursday.  The Federal Reserve, Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation and the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency - the main US bank regulators - announced the guidelines in 2013. In a speech earlier this year, Toomey was critical of the “huge increase in the regulatory powers and authorities [granted] to various agencies,” including their use of guidance to help shape policy. “These kind of actions have the power of a rule-making ... just to say they really have the power of law, but they exist outside the traditional rule-making.” Participants in the finance industry say any lending that flouts the guidelines risks inviting the scrutiny - or worse - of the authorities. Yet many argue the guidelines are too opaque and too broad, while some business sectors are better able than others to cope with higher leverage multiples.

Summary: जी. ए. ओ. ने लीवरेज्ड लेंडिंग की समीक्षा के लिए कांग्रेस के लिए दरवाजे खोले


MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russia will abide by a European Court of Human Rights ruling requiring it to pay nearly 3 million euros ($3.6 million) in damages for the 2004 Beslan school siege, Interfax news agency reported on Tuesday, citing the Russian justice ministry.  Russia used excessive force to storm a school in the small southern Russian town seized by Islamist militants in 2004, causing a high number of hostages to be killed, the court ruled in April. The three-day drama began when Islamist militants took more than 1,000 people hostages on the first day of the school year and called for independence for the majority-Muslim region of Chechnya. More than 330 hostages lost their lives, including at least 180 children, when the siege ended in a gun battle. It was the bloodiest incident of its kind in modern Russian history.     The case for damages was brought by 409 Russian nationals who either were taken hostage or injured in the incident, or were family members of those taken hostage, killed or injured, the European Court of Human Rights statement said in April. On Tuesday, the court said in a press release that its Grand Chamber Panel had rejected a Russian government request to refer the case and said its ruling was final.   No other actions are being contemplated by the participants in this process,  the Russian justice ministry said in comments carried by Interfax news agency.  In its April ruling, the court said the heavy-handed way Russian forces stormed the school had  contributed to the casualties among the hostages . It also ruled that authorities had failed to take reasonable preventive measures, despite knowing militants were planning to attack an educational institution.

Summary: यूरोपीय अदालत के फैसले के बाद रूस बेसलान स्कूल की घेराबंदी के लिए हर्जाना चुकाएगा, इफैक्स की रिपोर्ट