(Reuters) - Afghan President Ashraf Ghani said on Wednesday that U.S. President Donald Trump s strategy to win the war in Afghanistan will work where his predecessor s failed because the Afghan army is stronger and Trump wants a regional approach and a harder line with Pakistan. Ghani also said that former President Barack Obama  did not have a partner in Afghanistan,  implicitly criticizing former Afghan President Hamid Karzai, who frequently disdained U.S. policy and the U.S.-led international military force.  President Trump is not just an individual (but) a team of partners in Afghanistan,  Ghani told the Asia Society in New York, where he is attending the U.N. General Assembly.  The Trump administration s strategy has the uniqueness of immense consultations with us.  At the same time, Ghani said, Obama s decision to maintain some U.S. forces in Afghanistan  ensured our survival  despite advances by Taliban insurgents. U.S. Defense Secretary Jim Mattis said on Monday that more than 3,000 additional U.S. troops are being deployed to Afghanistan under the new strategy announced last month. The number of U.S. forces would rise to more than 14,000, compared to a high of more than 100,000 under Obama. While providing few details, Trump pledged stepped-up operations against the Taliban and an open-ended commitment of U.S. military advisers, trainers and counter-terrorism units. He also vowed to take a tougher line to end what U.S. officials say is Pakistan providing refuge and other support to the Taliban and other extremist groups. Pakistan denies the charge. Asked how Trump s strategy differs from Obama s, Ghani said Trump s plan takes  a regional approach  to security and a harder line with Pakistan while providing a new opening for peace talks.  The message to Pakistan to engage and become a responsible stakeholder in the region and in the fight against terrorism has never been clearer,  Ghani said.  What I am offering the Pakistan government, the Pakistan security apparatus, is the invitation to a comprehensive dialogue.   If Pakistan does not take this opportunity, I think they will pay a high price,  he said, without elaborating.  Afghans are determined to fight,  he said.  No one should mistake our will to defend our country.  Not only is the army better trained and profiting from a new generation of soldiers, but it gained experience because the massive cuts in the U.S.-led international force under Obama forced Afghans to assume a bigger role in the fighting, Ghani said. When it was pointed out that the Taliban have expanded their control of territory, Ghani blamed the inability of the police to hold ground. The next phase of reforming Afghanistan s security forces will focus on the police, he said. As for when the 16-year-long war would end, Ghani said,  I think we are not talking a decade or longer. We are talking some limited years.  (Corrects to Mattis said on Monday instead of Tuesday and corrects number of troops to more than 14,000 instead of around 12,000, paragraph 5.)

Summary: अफगानिस्तान के राष्ट्रपति का कहना है कि ओबामा की तुलना में ट्रम्प की युद्ध योजना में बेहतर संभावना है


MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russia is committed to honoring its international obligations, including in relation to missiles, the Kremlin said on Wednesday, responding to reports it had violated a treaty with the United States by deploying a new ground-based missile. “Russia has been and remains committed to its international commitments, including to the treaty in question,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said in a daily telephone briefing. “Nobody has formally accused Russia of violating the treaty,” he said. On Tuesday, media reported, citing U.S. officials, that Russia had deployed a ground-launched cruise missile despite U.S. complaints that this violated an arms control treaty banning ground-based U.S. and Russian intermediate-range missiles.

Summary: क्रेमलिन ने अमेरिकी मिसाइल संधि का उल्लंघन करने के आरोपों से इनकार किया


BEIJING (Reuters) - The North Korean issue should be resolved peacefully through talks, Chinese President Xi Jinping told British Prime Minister Theresa May in a telephone call, state radio said on Monday.

Summary: चीन के शी ने ब्रिटेन के उत्तर कोरिया मुद्दे को शांतिपूर्ण तरीके से हल करने को कहा


BAGHDAD (Reuters) - British Prime Minister Theresa May met with her Iraqi counterpart Haider al-Abadi in Baghdad on Wednesday, an Iraqi government spokesman said, her first visit to Iraq since coming to power last year. Britain is a main partner in the U.S.-led coalition helping Iraq defeat Islamic State, the hardline Sunni group that overran about a third of Iraq in 2014. The British government said in September that there were around 600 British soldiers on the ground in Iraq.  They are primarily involved in training Iraqi security forces in battle-winning infantry, engineering and combat medical techniques, as well as providing courses on other skills including countering improvised explosive devices. Britain provided over 1,400 military personnel as part of its three-year involvement in the U.S.-led coalition.  Iraqi-British relations are witnessing a marked improvement. We thank the British government for its support of Iraq in all fields, chiefly cooperation against terrorism, air support, and intelligence,  Abadi said in a news conference. Britain had also helped Iraq on the issue of those who were internally displaced as a result of the Islamic State takeover and the subsequent campaign by Iraqi forces to dislodge the militants, he said.  We will continue to support Iraq as a partner in order to enforce security, building, and stability, as well as in training Iraqi forces and efforts to return the displaced,  Abadi s office quoted May as saying. The two leaders discussed British investments in Iraq. May pledged in a news conference to provide 20 million pounds  ($26.8 million) in support of human rights and 30 million towards stabilization efforts and reforms. Britain agreed in March to arrange 10 billion pounds in loans to finance infrastructure projects in Iraq over a 10 year period, a program that would only benefit British companies. May  affirmed her support for Iraq s unity  and called on the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) to  respect a united Iraq in all fields,  Abadi s office said in a statement. She said in a news conference, through a translator, that she wanted to see  a united and inclusive Iraq . Iraq s Kurds voted overwhelmingly to break away from Iraq in a Sept. 25 referendum, defying the central government in Baghdad and alarming neighboring Turkey and Iran who have their own Kurdish minorities. The Iraqi government responded by seizing the Kurdish-held city of Kirkuk and other territory disputed between the Kurds and the central government. It also banned direct flights to Kurdistan and demanded control over border crossings. Long-serving Kurdish president Masoud Barzani stepped down over the affair and the regional government led by his nephew Prime Minister Nechirvan Barzani has tried to negotiate an end to the confrontation. A KRG spokesman told Reuters there were no plans for May to visit the region s capital Erbil. ($1 = 0.7463 pounds)

Summary: ब्रिटिश पीएम मे ने बगदाद में इराकी पीएम अबादी से मुलाकात की


CLEVELAND (Reuters) - A handful of donors to the Republican National Convention have withdrawn pledges and fund-raising has stalled during Donald Trump’s polarizing bid for the presidency, leading organizers to ask casino mogul Sheldon Adelson for an urgent donation. The Cleveland 2016 Host Committee said in a statement on Friday it had approached Adelson, a generous party benefactor, while also acknowledging its fund-raising has come to a virtual standstill, leaving a $6 million shortfall. “Negative publicity around our potential nominee resulted in a considerable number of pledges backing out from their commitments,” the Host Committee said in a letter it sent to Adelson, according to the political news website Politico, which said it had obtained the letter. The Host Committee on Friday confirmed such a letter was sent to Adelson and his wife, Miriam Adelson, but it downgraded the withdrawn pledges from “considerable” to “a handful.” It said the hastily sent original letter “mischaracterized” the status of some donations. Some companies identified in the letter as having backed out said on Friday they had never made such pledges. “Unfortunately, this letter (to Adelson) was not reviewed nor authorized by the Host Committee chairpersons, and it mischaracterized certain donations from individuals and corporations,” the statement said. “Some of what were referred to as pledges were actually expectations based on pledges made to previous conventions, while a handful had been withdrawn from the Host Committee for 2016 Republican National Convention,” it said. The committee said it had apologized to the Adelsons’ staff. Host Committee officials on Friday declined to comment beyond the official statement, leaving open the question of which donors reneged. Donations will be disclosed after the convention in U.S. Federal Election Commission filings. The statement, from Host Committee Chief Executive David Gilbert, also said the committee had raised $58.25 million to date, about $6 million short of its goal of $64 million to cover expenses for the four-day convention that starts Monday in Cleveland, where Trump is expected to receive the Republican presidential nomination. A month ago, a committee spokeswoman said $57.5 million had been raised. The Politico report, citing the letter, said David Koch, like Adelson a wealthy donor to conservative causes, and Coca-Cola (COKE.O) each withdrew a pledge of $1 million. Koch and Coke representatives told the Wall Street Journal they never made such pledges. Coke previously said it donated $75,000 last year. Visa, cited in the letter as having backed out of a $100,000 pledge, said in a statement it never made a pledge.     FedEx (FDX.N) and BP (BP.L) were named in the letter as withdrawing support but also told the Journal they had not made the stated commitments. Other marquee companies were also named but did not respond to Reuters queries after business hours on Friday. Representatives for the Adelsons could not immediately be reached for comment. Last month activists disturbed by Trump’s campaign and led by the political arm of California-based advocacy group Color of Change launched an effort to try to shame companies into dropping sponsorships. It was unclear if that effort, which targeted more than 30 companies, had an impact.

Summary: धन जुटाना रुका, रिपब्लिकन सम्मेलन ने एडल्सन से दान करने को कहा


WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump intends to nominate Republican Kansas Governor Sam Brownback as ambassador at large for international religious freedom, the White House said on Wednesday. Brownback, who previously served in both the U.S. House of Representatives and Senate, would assume the position created in the State Department by the International Religious Freedom Act of 1998, of which he was one of the key sponsors. In 2015, Brownback issued an executive order protecting the religious freedom of clergy and organizations that opposed same-sex marriage as Kansas began to comply with the landmark ruling by the U.S. Supreme Court legalizing gay marriage. “We ... recognize that religious liberty is at the heart of who we are as Kansans and Americans, and should be protected,” Brownback, governor since 2011, said at the time of the order. He was re-elected in 2014 and is not eligible to serve a third consecutive term.

Summary: कंसास के गवर्नर ब्राउनबैक को धार्मिक स्वतंत्रता दूत के रूप में नामित करेंगे ट्रम्प


BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (Reuters) - Name-calling is not unusual in U.S. politics. But “child abuser” is not usually one of the names. In the final stretch of a bruising U.S. Senate race in Alabama, Democrat Doug Jones has cranked up his attacks on Republican Roy Moore over allegations of sexual misconduct and made those charges central to his argument that Moore is an unsuitable choice. Jones, who avoided directly addressing the sexual allegations when they surfaced in early November, has begun to cite them to attack Moore’s character. On Tuesday, one week before the Dec. 12 special election and a day after Republican President Donald Trump endorsed Moore, Jones said women who allege that Moore assaulted or pursued them when they were teenagers and he was in his 30s deserved to be believed. “I believe these women and so should you. This is about rising above political party to do what’s right for Alabama, and for the country,” Jones told voters during a speech in Birmingham. Moore, a 70-year-old Christian conservative, has denied the misconduct allegations and said they were a result of “dirty politics.” He said last week he had never met any of the women involved. Reuters has not independently verified any of the accusations. Moore, who was twice removed from the state Supreme Court  for refusing to abide by federal law, was a “source of embarrassment” for the people of Alabama, Jones said. The raw tone has become typical of a race transformed by the Moore allegations, opening the door for a possible Democratic upset in the conservative Southern state that would deal a blow to Trump’s agenda and dramatically improve Democratic chances of regaining Senate control in next year’s congressional elections. Jones has cranked up his attacks as the initial wave of voter outrage over the allegations has shown signs of fading, enabling Moore to regain a slight lead in several recent opinion polls in a state that went for Trump by 28 percentage points last year. Alabama has not elected a Democrat to the Senate since 1992. Jones, who holds a fundraising advantage on Moore and has accumulated four times as much cash on hand for the stretch drive, has launched an advertising blitz focusing on the misconduct allegations. “They were girls when Roy Moore immorally pursued them. Now they are women,” the narrator says in one ad as pictures of the accusers flash by. “Will we make their abuser a U.S. senator?” On the campaign trail, Jones, a former U.S. attorney who prosecuted the Ku Klux Klan members convicted of a 1963 church bombing in Birmingham that killed four young girls, has cited his own background to draw a contrast with Moore. “I damn sure believe and have done my part to ensure that men who hurt little girls should go to jail - not the U.S. Senate,” Jones said in Birmingham. Moore’s rebound in the polls highlights the challenge for Jones as he tries to boost turnout among the state’s African-American voters while peeling away support from moderate Republicans alienated by Moore in a state where many voters are resistant to the Democratic label. “He is the Republican candidate and I am a Republican. I stand in support of what he supports,” Jenny Mann, 35, said of Moore. Mann, a self-described stay-at-home mom in Ider, Alabama, said the allegations against Moore “would concern anybody, but I also believe you are innocent until proven guilty.” Jones, making his first run for public office, has cast himself as a problem solver who would work across the aisle to help Alabamans on “kitchen-table” issues like healthcare and jobs, while Moore has portrayed him as a liberal Democrat straight out of Washington. Jones supports abortion rights and opposes repealing former President Barack Obama’s healthcare law, unpopular stances in Alabama. But he said he never considered moderating his views to improve his chances. “The key to any campaign and any public official is being true to what you believe, and that’s what we’re putting out there,” Jones said in an interview last month. Trump’s endorsement freed the Republican National Committee to open its wallet for Moore, who had been cut off by the national party when the misconduct allegations became public. Not every Republican is falling in line. Senator Jeff Flake of Arizona, who has frequently tangled with Trump, tweeted a photo of his $100 donation to Jones. “Country over Party,” Flake captioned it. Some of Alabama’s black leaders worry about the risk of lackluster turnout among African-Americans, who make up about a quarter of the state electorate and vote strongly Democratic. “There is not a high level of energy in the black community about this race,” said Democratic state Senator Hank Sanders. Sanders might have been talking about Freddy Haley, 55, a black retired military veteran from Fayette who said he was a Democrat but had not kept up with politics. “With the holidays and everything, I haven’t had time to check it out,” Haley said while Christmas shopping in a Birmingham suburb with his family. “When is the election?”

Summary: अलबामा डेमोक्रेट ने सीनेट की दौड़ के अंतिम चरण में रॉय मूर पर हमला किया


MOSCOW (Reuters) - The Kremlin said on Wednesday it was “total nonsense” that Russian officials had assembled a file of compromising information on U.S. President-elect Donald Trump. Two U.S. officials said on Tuesday evening that the heads of four U.S. intelligence agencies had last week presented Trump with classified documents which included unverified claims that Russian intelligence operatives had compromising information about him. Addressing reporters on a conference call, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said the dossier containing the claims was a hoax which had been dreamt up to further harm U.S.-Russia relations, which are already at their lowest level since the Cold War.  “It is an attempt to damage our bilateral relations. It is pulp fiction,” said Peskov, who also roundly dismissed as false assertions in the dossier that he himself was heavily involved in running a Russian campaign to undermine defeated presidential candidate Hillary Clinton. “You have to react to this with a certain humor, but there’s also a sad side to this. Hysteria is being whipped up to maintain a political witch hunt.” Peskov said the Kremlin did not engage in compiling compromising dossiers on anyone and was focused on building relations with Russia’s foreign partners instead. On Tuesday evening, Trump dismissed the reports that Russia had compromising information on him. “FAKE NEWS - A TOTAL POLITICAL WITCH HUNT!” he wrote in a Twitter post. Asked to respond to the prospect of new U.S. sanctions affecting Russia’s oil and gas sector, Peskov said such measures, if they happened, would damage Russia, bilateral ties, and the global economy. The Russian energy sector would definitely get compensation if such sanctions were imposed, he added. Peskov said the Kremlin was unfazed by reports that Trump’s pick for secretary of state, Rex Tillerson, would say at his confirmation hearing on Wednesday that Russia posed a danger. It has previously praised Tillerson, who has experience of working with top Russian officials in the oil sector. Peskov said the Kremlin stood by its assessment of Tillerson as someone who was willing to listen and was constructive, but was aware he was likely to be a tough operator too. “We understand that Tillerson will continue to be quite tough in pursuing his line,” said Peskov, saying the Kremlin was not wearing rose-tinted glasses when it came to the former U.S. oilman.

Summary: क्रेमलिन का कहना है कि उसके पास ट्रम्प पर कोई समझौता करने वाला डोजियर नहीं है


CAIRO (Reuters) - Lebanon Prime Minister Saad al-Hariri said late on Friday he is on his way to the airport in Saudi Arabia.  Hariri, who sparked a crisis by resigning as Lebanese prime minister on Nov. 4 during a visit to Saudi Arabia, tweeted,  To say that I am held up in Saudi Arabia and not allowed to leave the country is a lie. I am on the way to the airport...    Earlier a member of his party said Hariri will leave Riyadh for France on Friday, but will not return directly to Beirut after the visit.  Hariri s abrupt resignation while he was in Saudi Arabia and his continued stay there caused fears over Lebanon s stability and thrust it into the bitter rivalry between Riyadh and Iran.

Summary: लेबनान के हरीरी ने ट्विटर परः "मैं हवाई अड्डे के रास्ते में हूँ"


KIEV (Reuters) - Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko on Friday said he hoped an anti-corruption chamber would be created next month, but expressed doubt that an independent court as envisaged by the International Monetary Fund could be set up before 2019. Under its $17.5 billion aid-for-reforms program, the IMF wants Ukraine to set up a special court to focus on tackling corruption, which remains entrenched. But Poroshenko said it would take time to establish this kind of institution.  I hope we create an anti-corruption chamber next month and then, if an anti-corruption court would be created in 2019, 2020 - welcome!,  Poroshenko said at the opening of the annual Yalta European Strategy (YES) conference. The proposal of an anti-corruption chamber in existing courts has previously been criticized by reform activists, who say the body would not be sufficiently independent. Poroshenko s comments are at odds with the views of the IMF s first deputy managing director, David Lipton, who visited Kiev this week to meet the authorities and said an anti-corruption court should be a priority.  We certainly agree that the creation of an anti-corruption court is an important next step. We encourage the government to do that,  Lipton was quoted on Friday as telling newspaper Ukrainska Pravda in an interview. Ukraine has received $8.4 billion from the IMF, helping it recover from a two-year recession following the annexation of Crimea by Russia in 2014 and the outbreak of a Russian-backed insurgency in its industrial east. But further disbursements depend in part on the adoption of pension reform, a review of gas prices and the creation of an anti-corruption judicial body. Some of these requirements face stiff opposition from populist lawmakers.  There are risks of going backwards,  Lipton said, referring to Ukraine s progress under the IMF program. He said it was too early to forecast when Ukraine could receive the next tranche of loans.  First, we need to see the reforms that are needed for this review to be implemented.  He said the focus of this review was pension reform and measures to speed up privatization and ensure concrete results in anti-corruption efforts. Fiscal and energy sector policies must remain consistent with the program also.

Summary: यूक्रेन के पोरोशेंको का सुझाव है कि आईएमएफ समर्थित भ्रष्टाचार-रोधी अदालत में समय लगेगा


BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Kurdish authorities in Iraq offered on Wednesday to put an independence drive on hold, stepping up efforts to resolve a crisis in relations with Baghdad via dialogue. But an Iraqi military spokesman suggested an offensive - launched to wrest back territory after Kurds voted overwhelmingly for independence in a referendum in September - would continue regardless.  The Iraqi government has transformed the balance of power in the north of the country since launching its campaign last week against the Kurds, who govern an autonomous region of three northern provinces and had held a swathe of other territory.  The fighting between the two sides will not produce a victory for any, it will take the country to total destruction,  the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) said in a statement.  The KRG proposed an immediate ceasefire, a suspension of the referendum result and  starting an open dialogue with the federal government based on the Iraqi Constitution . Baghdad has always considered the Kurdish secession referendum illegal. It responded last week by seizing back the city of Kirkuk, the oil-producing areas around it and other territory that the Kurds had captured from militant group Islamic State. In a brief social media comment hinting that the campaign would continue, an Iraqi military spokesman said:  Military operations are not connected to politics.  Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi has said the KRG should cancel the vote s outcome as a pre-condition for talks. Several Shi ite members of parliament on Wednesday asked him to stick to his position and not to accept just a freeze of the referendum. On Wednesday, Abadi began an official visit to neighboring Turkey and Iran. Turkey and Iran both have Kurdish populations of their own and have supported Baghdad taking a hard line on the referendum. Now that the Kurds have swiftly yielded most of their territory outside of their autonomous region to the advancing Iraqi forces, there are signs of pressure easing. Iran announced the reopening of one of the border crossings with the Kurdistan region, which it had closed earlier this month in support of the Iraqi government. In Ankara, President Tayyip Erdogan said Turkey was ready to give all support to Baghdad as it seeks to reopen a crude oil pipeline from the Kirkuk oilfields to Turkey. The pipeline goes through the Kurdish autonomous region. Iraq had stopped shipping oil through it when the Kurds took Kirkuk in 2014. In a statement to media after meeting Abadi, Erdogan said they discussed what political, military and economic steps they could take after what he called the  illegitimate  Iraqi Kurdish referendum last month.    Abadi has ordered his army to recapture all disputed territory and has demanded central control of Iraq s border crossings with Turkey, which are all located inside the Kurdish autonomous region. Kurdish Peshmerga forces beat back an advance by Iranian-backed pro-government paramilitaries on Tuesday in the region of Rabi a, 40 km (25 miles) south of the Fish-Khabur border area with Turkey and Syria, Kurdish officials said. Fish-Khabur is strategically vital because oil from both Kurdish and government-held parts of northern Iraq crosses via a pipeline there into Turkey, the main route out of the area for the exports that are crucial to any Kurdish independence bid. The fighting so far has taken place outside the Kurdish autonomous region, but Fish-Khabur is inside it. The fighting between the central government and the Kurds is particularly tricky for the United States which is a close ally of both sides, arming and training both the Kurds and the central government s army to fight Islamic State. U.S. Ambassador Douglas Silliman  worked with Iraqi security forces and Kurdish Peshmerga to end clashes endangering a Christian community and other civilians  north of Mosul, Washington s Baghdad embassy said on its Twitter account. The Iraqi government s advance over the past week has been achieved with comparatively little violence, with Kurds mostly withdrawing without a fight. But it caused Kurds to flee en masse from Tuz Khurmato, a multi-ethnic city south of Kirkuk where sectarian tension flared after Iraqi forces took control, humanitarian organizations said.Most of those displaced, estimated at nearly 30,000, are in need of urgent aid and staying in open shelters, officials from two international humanitarian organizations told Reuters. Abadi pledged in an interview to the Wall Street Journal to disarm Shiite militias that refuse to come under his control after Islamic State s defeat.  Iraqi forces are preparing in parallel an offensive to recapture the last patch of Iraqi territory still in the hands of Islamic State, on the border with Syria, the military said on Wednesday. The militant group also holds parts of the Syrian side of the border, but the area under their control is also shrinking there as they retreat in the face of two sets of hostile forces - a U.S.-backed, Kurdish-led coalition and Syrian government troops with foreign Shi ite militias backed by Iran and Russia.

Summary: कुर्दों ने स्वतंत्रता अभियान को स्थगित करने की पेशकश की, बगदाद के साथ बातचीत की मांग की


WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Director of National Intelligence said Russia was planning on expanding its presence at its naval base in Tartous, Syria to support its naval operations in the eastern Mediterranean. James Clapper also said he did not expect a “significant change in Russian behavior” when asked about Russia’s hacking activities.

Summary: अमेरिकी जासूसी प्रमुख का कहना है कि रूस सीरिया के अड्डे में अपनी उपस्थिति बढ़ाने की योजना बना रहा है


SPRINGFIELD, Mo. (Reuters) - President Donald Trump said on Wednesday he still wants to see the U.S. corporate tax rate drop to 15 percent, saying cutting it is essential for the nation to regain its competitive edge. “We must reduce the tax rate on American businesses so they keep jobs in America, create jobs in America and compete for workers right here in America,” Trump said in a speech aimed at shoring up support for a broad tax-cut plan. “Ideally ... we would like to bring our business tax rate down to 15 percent,” he said.

Summary: ट्रम्प का कहना है कि अभी भी अमेरिकी कॉर्पोरेट कर की दर को 15 प्रतिशत तक कम करना चाहते हैं


BEIJING (Reuters) - China s former ambassador to the United Nations has taken up a new role as a deputy head of the country s Taiwan policy-making body, the Taiwan Affairs Office, part of a leadership reshuffle connected to a key Communist Party Congress opening next week. Taiwan is one of China s most important and sensitive issues. China considers proudly democratic Taiwan to be a wayward province and has never renounced the possibility of using force to bring the island under its control. Veteran diplomat Liu Jieyi served as China s ambassador to the United Nations from August 2013 until last month when he was recalled to Beijing to await a new role. Liu has now taken up the position as the top ranked of four deputy heads of the Taiwan Affairs Office, according to an updated list of the office s leadership positions posted on its website. Chinese media reported on the change on Wednesday. While China considers Taiwan to be an internal affair it is not unusual for Chinese diplomats to serve in the Taiwan Affairs Office. Zhang Zhijun remains head of the Taiwan Affairs Office, a position he took in 2013 replacing Wang Yi, who currently serves as China s foreign minister. Zhang also previously worked for the foreign ministry. As the top ranked deputy at the office, Liu stands in line to take over from Zhang if he also assumes another position in the next few months.  The once-every-five-years party Congress will see many people take up new posts between now and the annual meeting of parliament in March. Taipei s relations with Beijing have deteriorated sharply since President Tsai Ing-wen, leader of the pro-independence Democratic Progressive Party, took office last year. China suspects she wants to push for the island s formal independence, a red line for Beijing. China has cut off a regular dialogue mechanism with Taiwan, ramped up military drills around the island and stepped up international pressure to limit Taiwan s diplomatic footprint. Tsai, who has pledged to maintain peace with China, said this week her government was still seeking breakthroughs in ties with Beijing and promised consistent and stable policies.[nL4N1ML1L8]

Summary: चीन के पूर्व संयुक्त राष्ट्र राजदूत ताइवान की भूमिका में चले गए


WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Democratic presidential hopeful Hillary Clinton struggled with how to secure the endorsement of labor unions while announcing her opposition to the Keystone XL oil pipeline, a project they supported but environmentalists opposed, according to leaked emails published by Wikileaks on Friday. Before announcing in September 2015 that she opposed TransCanada Corp’s proposal to build a pipeline from Canada to the United States, her campaign sought to “soften the blow” to labor unions by offering an energy infrastructure plan that would create jobs, according to the emails.  The internal campaign emails from August 2015 reveal the difficulty Clinton had in appeasing both unions and environmentalists as she fought for her party’s nomination ahead of the Nov. 8 election. Wikileaks published the Clinton emails just hours after the U.S. government accused Russia of a campaign of cyber attacks against Democratic Party organizations.     In the emails, Clinton advisers discussed how to frame the candidate’s “energy infrastructure” plan, which would call for replacing old pipelines, repairing rail tracks and improving the electric grid in a way that would appeal to labor unions, who had yet to endorse her at that stage. “Could we mention that ... as we transition HRC wants to create more careers within the new energy economy? Careers is their buzz word,” wrote Nikki Budzinski, labor outreach director for Hillary for America. Clinton had long avoided taking a firm position on Keystone, which had been pending for seven years, as she sought her party’s nomination last year. As secretary of state, Clinton said in 2010 she was inclined to approve it.  Rival Senator Bernie Sanders had been a staunch opponent of the pipeline. President Barack Obama did not reject the pipeline until November 2015. Labor unions have pushed for approval of the pipeline, saying it would create thousands of construction jobs while environmentalists opposed it because it would increase greenhouse gas emissions from Canada’s oil sands. The emails show that North America’s Building Trades, representing builders and construction workers, contacted the campaign after hearing that Obama would announce his denial of the pipeline in late August and that Clinton would say she “encouraged” him to make the decision.    “We are so close to getting bldg (sic) trades [endorsement] and if we do this right, it will be ok even though they won’t like it,” wrote Amanda Renteria, the campaign’s national political adviser. The Building Trades union endorsed Clinton in November and the Laborers’ International Union of North America endorsed Clinton in December.  Clinton’s struggle to please both green and labor groups is likely to emerge as a key challenge if she is to win the presidency. A decision over another pipeline, the Dakota Access, has sparked major protests from Native American and environmental groups. The Obama administration temporarily halted construction, frustrating unions. “These types of decisions made by this administration get dumped in the presidential race and it’s kind of unfair,” Sean McGarvey, president of North America’s Building Trades Unions, told Reuters in an interview last month.  “We don’t like all of Clinton’s energy policies but we think it’s reasonable.”

Summary: क्लिंटन अभियान ने संघों, पर्यावरणविदों को संतुलित करने के लिए संघर्ष किया-ईमेल/विकीलीक्स


BEIRUT (Reuters) - Saad al-Hariri, who resigned as Lebanon s prime minister last weekend, met the French ambassador to Saudi Arabia in Riyadh on Thursday, Hariri s office said in a statement. Hariri, who quit in a video broadcast from Saudi Arabia on Saturday but has not yet returned to Lebanon, also met diplomats from the European Union, Britain and United States in the past two days.

Summary: लेबनान के पूर्व प्रधानमंत्री ने रियाद में फ्रांसीसी, ब्रिटेन, यूरोपीय संघ, अमेरिकी राजनयिकों से मुलाकात कीः प्रधानमंत्री कार्यालय


SEOUL (Reuters) - A fire in an eight-storey fitness center in the scenic South Korean city of Jecheon on Thursday killed at least 29 people, most of them as they were taking a sauna, officials said. The blaze began in a car parked on the first floor and spread, one official told Reuters. The local fire station said at least 12 women and three men were known to have died. Thirteen bodies were unrecognizable. The fire station official said most of the victims were found in the sauna, and the main cause of the death was suffocation rather than burns. The casualty toll was likely to rise as efforts to find victims remained in progress, fire station officials said. Heavy smoke charred glass facades of the building as firefighters struggled to extinguish the blaze, some climbing up and down a ladder in desperate search of survivors. Local news channel YTN said President Moon Jae-in voiced deep sorrow for so many deaths while Prime Minister Lee Nak-yeon vowed to expedite rescue efforts to try to minimize the number of dead and injured. Jecheon is southeast of the capital Seoul and is popular with visitors to its mountains and lakes.

Summary: दक्षिण कोरिया के फिटनेस सेंटर में आग लगने से 29 लोगों की मौत


WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. House of Representatives will vote next week on new sanctions on Iran’s ballistic missile program and on Lebanon’s Iran-backed Hezbollah militia, senior House Republicans said on Friday, seeking to take a tough line against Iran without immediately moving to undermine the international nuclear deal. “It is Congress’ responsibility to work with the executive branch on a clear-eyed strategy to stop Iran’s reckless behavior,” Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy, the number two House Republican, and Representative Ed Royce, chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, said in a joint statement emailed to Reuters. “Immediate action towards this goal will come from the House next week as we vote on legislation that furthers sanctions on Hezbollah and Iran’s missile proliferation,” they said. President Donald Trump defied both allies and adversaries on Oct. 13 by refusing to certify that Iran is complying with an international agreement on its nuclear program, and threatened that he might ultimately terminate the accord. That threw the fate of the agreement between Iran, the United States and other world powers into the hands of Congress, by opening a 60-day window in which Congress could reimpose, or  “snap back,” sanctions on Iran’s nuclear program that were lifted under the agreement. However, many of Trump’s fellow Republicans - who all opposed the deal reached under former Democratic President Barack Obama - have said they see no immediate need to do so. Congressional aides said that, for now, House lawmakers are focusing on clamping down on Iran in other ways such as the missile and Hezbollah sanctions. In the Senate, a separate effort is under way to amend existing U.S. law to set new conditions for the U.S. role in the pact, although critics said such a plan could violate terms of the deal, formally known as the JCPOA. Britain, France and Germany, European U.S. allies who signed the agreement, are particularly concerned about Trump’s action and have lobbied Congress to preserve the nuclear pact. Among other things, the ballistic missiles bill would toughen existing sanctions by going after entities with assets outside the United States if they were found to support Iran’s ballistic missile program. It has broad bipartisan support in the House, and also is expected to pass the Senate. The Hezbollah bill is directed at the Shi’ite militia’s allies in Lebanon’s government and asks the Trump administration to estimate and distribute assessments of the net worth of Lebanese politicians. The Senate has already unanimously passed a different version of the Hezbollah sanctions bill.

Summary: अमेरिकी सदन अगले सप्ताह गैर-परमाणु ईरान प्रतिबंधों पर मतदान करेगा


MUNICH (Reuters) - A new version of a Trump administration travel ban will not stop green card residency holders or travelers already on planes from entering the United States, U.S. Secretary for Homeland Security John Kelly said on Saturday. U.S. President Donald Trump’s initial attempt to clamp down for security reasons on immigration from seven Muslim-majority countries and on refugees snarled to a halt amid a judicial backlash and chaos at airports. “The president is contemplating releasing a tighter, more streamlined version of the first (order). And I will have opportunity to work (on) a rollout plan, in particular to make sure that there’s no one in a sense caught in the system of moving from overseas to our airports,” Kelly said at the Munich Security Conference. Asked whether green card residency permit holders would be allowed in, Kelly said: “It’s a good assumption and, as far as the visas go, ... if they’re in motion from some distant land to the United States, when they arrive they will be allowed in.”  He promised “a short phase-in period to make sure that people on the other end don’t get on airplanes. But if they’re on an airplane and inbound, they’ll be allowed to enter the country.” A draft of the replacement executive order shows that the administration aims to put restrictions on citizens of the same seven Muslim-majority countries covered by the initial order, according to the Wall Street Journal, which cites an internal State Department memo. The replacement order could be issued as early as Tuesday, the Journal reported, citing a U.S. government official. The administration would seek to implement the new order a week to two weeks after it is signed, and covers citizens from Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen, the Journal said. Trump’s original order, which he said was meant to head off attacks by Islamist militants, barred people from those same countries from entering for 90 days and excluded all refugees for 120 days, except those from Syria, who were banned indefinitely. The abrupt implementation of the order last month plunged the immigration system into chaos, sparking a wave of criticism from the countries affected, and from Western allies and some of America’s leading corporations, especially technology firms.

Summary: ग्रीन कार्ड धारकों को छूट देने के लिए नया अमेरिकी यात्रा प्रतिबंधः ट्रम्प अधिकारी


WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Senate Republicans on Thursday crushed a Democratic blockade of President Donald Trump’s U.S. Supreme Court nominee in a fierce partisan brawl, approving a rule change dubbed the “nuclear option” to allow for conservative judge Neil Gorsuch’s confirmation by Friday. With ideological control of the country’s highest court at stake, the Republican-led Senate voted 52-48 along party lines to change its long-standing rules in order to prohibit a procedural tactic called a filibuster against Supreme Court nominees. That came after Republicans failed by a 55-45 tally to muster the 60-vote super-majority needed to end the Democratic filibuster that had sought to deny Gorsuch confirmation to the lifetime post. The Senate’s action cleared the way to confirm Gorsuch by simple majority on Friday, with a final vote expected by late morning. Republicans control the Senate 52-48. The rule change was called the “nuclear option” because it was considered an extreme break with Senate tradition. Trump had encouraged Republican Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell to “go nuclear.” Confirmation of Gorsuch would represent Trump’s first major victory since taking office on Jan. 20, after setbacks on healthcare legislation and the blocking of his order that sought to ban travelers from several Muslim-majority countries from entering the United States. Senate confirmation of Gorsuch, a Colorado-based federal appeals could judge, would restore the nine-seat court’s 5-4 conservative majority, enable Trump to leave an indelible mark on America’s highest judicial body and fulfill a top campaign promise by the Republican president. Gorsuch, 49, could be expected to serve for decades. “This will be the first and last partisan filibuster of the Supreme Court,” McConnell said on the Senate floor, accusing Democrats of trying to inflict political damage on Trump and to keep more conservatives from joining the high court. “In 20 or 30 or 40 years, we will sadly point to today as a turning point in the history of the Senate and the Supreme Court, a day when we irrevocably moved further away from the principles our founders intended for these institutions: principles of bipartisanship, moderation and consensus,” Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer said on the Senate floor. Schumer ridiculed McConnell’s contention that the Democratic action was unprecedented. He noted that the Republican-led Senate refused last year to consider Democratic former President Barack Obama’s nomination of appellate judge Merrick Garland for the same seat that Trump selected Gorsuch to fill. With three of the court’s justices 78 or older, Trump told reporters he hoped to appoint as many as four Supreme Court justices, a move likely to make it overwhelmingly conservative. “In fact, under a certain scenario there could even be more than that,” Trump said aboard Air Force One en route to a meeting with China’s president in Florida, adding that the Senate rule change would not alter how he picks court nominees. A conservative-majority court is more likely to support broad gun rights, an expansive view of religious liberty, abortion regulations and Republican-backed voting restrictions, while opposing curbs on political spending. The court also is likely to tackle transgender rights and union funding in coming years. A 60-vote threshold giving the minority party power to hold up the majority party has forced the Senate over the decades to try to achieve bipartisanship in legislation and presidential appointments. In the final procedural vote that paved the way for  confirmation, three Democratic senators up for re-election in 2018 in states won by Trump last year - Indiana’s Joe Donnelly, West Virginia’s Joe Manchin and North Dakota’s Heidi Heitkamp - broke with their party and voted with Republicans to bring about a confirmation vote, although they opposed the rule change. A fourth Democrat, Michael Bennet, who represents Gorsuch’s home state of Colorado, voted with Republicans on Thursday’s first procedural vote to bring debate to a close. But he stuck with fellow Democrats in opposing the final vote to end the filibuster, the one that succeeded following the rule change. Republicans have called Gorsuch superbly qualified and one of the nation’s most distinguished appellate judges. Democrats accused him of being so conservative as to be outside the judicial mainstream, favoring corporate interests over ordinary Americans in legal opinions, and displaying insufficient independence from Trump. What Republicans did to Obama’s nominee Garland was worse than a filibuster, Schumer said. Schumer said Republicans denied “the constitutional prerogative of a president with 11 months left in his term.” “The nuclear option was used by Senator McConnell when he stopped Merrick Garland,” Democratic Senator Richard Durbin said  on the Senate floor. “What we face today is the fallout.” McConnell blamed the escalation of fights over judicial nominees on the Democrats and their opposition starting three decades ago to nominees made by Republican former Presidents Ronald Reagan and George W. Bush. Experts said eliminating the filibuster for Supreme Court appointments could make it more likely that presidents, with little incentive to choose centrist justices who could attract support from the other party, will pick ideologically extreme nominees in the future. Ending the filibuster also would make it easier for future Supreme Court nominees to be confirmed when the president and Senate leadership belong to the same party. The filibuster in one form or another dates back to the 19th century but assumed its current form in the 1970s.  While Democrats opposed the rule change and accused Republicans of a power grab, it was their party that first resorted to the nuclear option when they controlled the Senate in 2013. In the face of Republican filibusters of Obama appointments, they barred filibusters for executive branch nominees and federal judges aside from Supreme Court justices but still allowed it for Supreme Court nominees and legislation. The Republican-backed rule change maintains the ability to filibuster legislation.

Summary: सीनेट ने 'परमाणु' कदम उठाया, ट्रम्प अदालत के चुनाव पर डेमोक्रेट की नाकाबंदी समाप्त की


(Editor’s note: This story contains language in the second paragraph that may offend readers) BOSTON (Reuters) - Maine legislative leaders are set to meet on Thursday to discuss whether to push for the resignation of Governor Paul LePage, a week after he left an obscenity-laden voicemail for a lawmaker who had criticized him for making racially charged comments. The meeting comes a day after LePage, a Republican who earlier in the week discussed the possibility of not finishing his term in a radio interview, said he would seek “spiritual counseling” but not resign after calling Democratic State Representative Drew Gattine a “little son-of-a-bitch, socialist cocksucker.” The Democratic speaker of the Maine House, Mark Eves, and the Republican president of Maine Senate, Michael Thibodeau, will be attending the 4 p.m. EDT (2000 GMT) meeting, according to their representatives, as will several lower-ranking members of the legislative leadership. The state House and Senate both adjourned in April, so the leaders would need to agree on the need for a special session before setting any votes calling for LePage’s resignation or censure. Earlier this year a group of lawmakers started an effort to impeach him, contending the governor overstepped his authority by threatening to withhold funds from a nonprofit group that hired a political rival, but that effort collapsed before making it to the full House. LePage has been in the national spotlight for making repeated statements blaming out-of-state black and Hispanic people for the heroin trade in Maine. He has rejected any allegations of racism, saying his sole concern is saving lives in the state. The two-term governor, whose current term extends through 2018, has apologized for the language he used in the voicemail. Gattine has joined the chorus of lawmakers calling for LePage to step down. The minority Republican leadership of the House have backed LePage, saying they accept his apology and want to move on.

Summary: संकटग्रस्त राज्यपाल के भविष्य पर मेन के सांसदों की बैठक


BRUSSELS (Reuters) - The Belgian trial of one of the suspects behind the 2015 Islamist attacks in Paris has been postponed, a Brussels court said. French national Salah Abdeslam fled to Belgium after the attacks in Paris that killed 130 people, hiding from police for months before being detained. Days after his arrest Brussels was hit by another deadly militant attack. He is standing trial in Belgium over his involvement in a shootout with police in the days leading up to his arrest. Abdeslam, initially set to stand trial on Monday, has appointed a new lawyer who had asked for more time to prepare his case. The court will set a new date for his trial on Monday.

Summary: पेरिस के हमलावर अब्देसलाम का मुकदमा बेल्जियम की अदालत ने स्थगित किया


WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. President Barack Obama said on Monday it was important for President-elect Donald Trump to send signals of unity after a bitterly fought campaign. At a news conference, Obama declined to comment on Trump’s selection of conservative provocateur Steve Bannon as his White House chief strategist. But the Democratic president said he privately told the Republican Trump in an Oval Office meeting last week that because of the “bitterness and the ferocity of the campaign that it’s really important to try to send some signals of unity and to reach out to minority groups, to women and others that were concerned about the tenor of the campaign.”

Summary: ओबामा ने कहा कि उन्हें उम्मीद है कि चुनाव प्रचार के बाद ट्रम्प 'एकता के संकेत' भेजेंगे


ROME (Reuters) - Italy s parliament will be dissolved between Christmas and the New Year, a parliamentary source said on Wednesday, opening the way for national elections in early March that look unlikely to produce a clear winner. The source said the most likely date for the vote was March 4 but added that March 11 remained a possibility, with a final decision due shortly. A national election must be held by May, but most political parties are keen to hold elections as soon as possible, with the last major piece of legislation, the 2018 budget, scheduled to be approved before the end of the year.  A vote on March 4? That would be excellent. The sooner we go to the polls the better,  said Matteo Salvini, head of the far-right Northern League party. Italy s 10-year bond yield rose to a two-week high on the election reports, with investors concerned about political uncertainty in the euro zone s third biggest economy. Former Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi s center-right alliance is seen winning the most seats at the forthcoming ballot, opinion polls say. But he looks unlikely to secure enough votes to hold an absolute majority. The anti-establishment 5-Star Movement is predicted to emerge as the largest single party in the next parliament, but it has repeatedly ruled out joining any coalition. Berlusconi said at a book presentation on Wednesday that Italy should return to the polls if the vote produces no clear majority, with current Prime Minister Paolo Gentiloni carrying on for  at least three months  during a new election campaign. The often fractious alliance between Berlusconi and Salvini creaked on Wednesday when Salvini threatened to break off talks after Berlusconi s Forza Italia (Go Italy!) party declined to back a League proposal to toughen sanctions for violent crime. The two parties have no common platform and have not settled on a commonly agreed candidate for prime minister. Support for the ruling center-left Democratic Party (PD), headed by former Prime Minister Matteo Renzi, has fallen steadily in recent months, with the group heavily penalized by deep schisms and personality clashes. The parliamentary source, who was in contact with President Sergio Mattarella, said the head of state would almost certainly dissolve both houses after Gentiloni had held a traditional end-of-year news conference, set for Dec. 28. Gentiloni will remain as a caretaker prime minister until a new government is formed, helping to guarantee political stability in the interim. Italy s economy is finally pulling clear of years of recession and is expected to post growth of 1.5 percent this year and next   still lagging most of its euro zone peers. Employers  association Confindustria warned on Wednesday that the recovery could be jeopardized by political uncertainty.  The next elections will be very important, placing the country at a crossroads, with one path leading to a continuation of reforms and the other leading nowhere,  it said in a report, warning parties against pursuing  demagogic measures . Political leaders have already made a rash of promises that economists warn could damage the country s fragile finances, including pledges of generous handouts for pensioners and large tax cuts.

Summary: इटली में 4 मार्च को राष्ट्रीय चुनाव होने की संभावना


COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (Reuters) - At a glitzy weekend gathering of donors to the powerful Koch brothers’ network, much of the talk was about the conservative political group’s criticism of the healthcare bill moving through the U.S. Senate. That opposition suggests billionaires Charles and David Koch, powerful players in Republican politics, remain at odds at least on some key issues with President Donald Trump, whose campaign last year they refused to back. But beyond healthcare, the Kochs and their operatives have welcomed much of the fledgling administration’s actions, including efforts to roll back federal regulations, the decision to pull out of the Paris global climate accord, a Veterans Administration reform bill and the appointment of Neil Gorsuch to the Supreme Court. Koch officials say their network has better access to the Trump administration than they expected given past frictions, partly because former Koch operatives have been hired in key administration jobs. “Overall, we’ve made tremendous progress on the federal level that we haven’t been able to make in the last 10 years,” said James Davis, a spokesman for Freedom Partners, a Koch-backed advocacy group. Vice President Mike Pence has played a key role, meeting privately with Charles Koch on Friday, as well as Marc Short, a former member of the Koch network who is now Trump’s point man in Congress.  Charles Koch, addressing more than 400 supporters gathered at The Broadmoor luxury resort in Colorado for the event, touted the progress the organization is making, particularly since the 2016 election. “When I look at where we are — at the size and effectiveness of this network — I’m blown away,” he said. “I’m more optimistic now than ever.” The Koch brothers have been a force in American politics since the 1980s. Their influence has largely been powered by a fortune centered on Koch Industries, the second-largest privately held company in the United States with annual revenues of more than $115 billion from interests in energy, chemicals and other sectors.  Both Trump and the Koch network have incentives to build warmer ties. The Kochs could end up spending hundreds of millions to preserve the Republican majority in Congress during next year’s midterm elections. Attendees to the weekend meeting had to donate at least $100,000 to be invited. Koch-funded groups such as Freedom Partners could also help build support among conservative activists for tax reform and other Trump administration agenda items. During the 2016 campaign, the Kochs kept their distance from Trump. Charles Koch spoke out against Trump’s proposed Muslim registry, invoking a comparison to Nazi Germany. The network did not actively work to defeat Trump during the Republican primary. But when he secured the nomination, the group did not spend money backing him or criticizing Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton. By contrast, the Koch network spent more than $120 million in the 2012 election to defeat President Barack Obama.     For his part, Trump lumped the Kochs in with other special-interest groups, boasting that he did not need their money and that they could not influence him. But the Koch network began showing its clout in the spring when it worked with the White House to push the House of Representatives healthcare bill in a more conservative direction.     Tim Phillips, president of Americans for Prosperity, a Koch advocacy group, teamed with Pence and Short, Trump’s legislative affairs director, to help get the measure through the House.     Pence is viewed as a trusted friend of the Koch network, dating to his time as a congressman.     At the meeting with Charles Koch on Friday they discussed healthcare and tax reform, Phillips and other Koch aides said.      Short is a former Pence aide and Koch alumni, having run the Koch political organization that became Freedom Partners. Stephen Ford, a speechwriter for Pence, has worked for Freedom Partners.     Koch operatives were encouraged when the White House recently cooled to the idea of a tax on imports, the so-called “border adjustment tax” advocated by House Speaker Paul Ryan.     Americans for Prosperity and Freedom Partners mounted a media and public-pressure campaign against the border tax. Phillips has met with Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin on the issue. Mnuchin’s chief of staff, Eli Miller, served as the Ohio director of AFP.     Mnuchin has since come out against the tax in meetings with members of Congress, Representative Mark Meadows of North Carolina said at the donor retreat.     On the veterans bill, Koch group Concerned Veterans of America was able to work with one of their own. Darin Selnick, a former senior adviser to that group, is now a top aide to Trump’s Secretary of Veterans Affairs David Shulkin.     That group is working with the White House on the more than 130 federal judicial vacancies Trump must fill, partnering with conservative legal advocate Leonard Leo, who has become a trusted Trump adviser on the issue.     Leo joined Charles Koch on stage at a donor event on Saturday night. A Koch group,  Concerned Veterans of America, mounted a grassroots campaign to secure Neil Gorsuch’s confirmation to the Supreme Court.     Yet some stark policy differences remain between the Kochs and the Trump administration.     The Kochs, who are proponents of criminal justice reform, are frustrated with the Department of Justice’s effort to crack down on low-level drug offenders. They also disagree with Trump’s hardline immigration stance.     Asked about the Koch network’s successes, a White House aide did not expressly address the network’s goals, but said Trump “has already made tremendous progress toward making our country prosperous and safe again.”     In interviews with attendees at the donor summit, opinions on Trump were mixed, but even some critics found reason to praise the administration. Several mentioned Education Secretary Betsy DeVos, an advocate of charter schools and vouchers.     Other attendees were effusive in their praise of Trump’s actions so far.     “He’s walks the walk,” said Al Hartman, CEO of a property management firm in Houston. “He’s doing exactly what everyone wants done.”

Summary: एक बार बाहर से, रूढ़िवादी कोच नेटवर्क ट्रम्प के लिए गर्मजोशी रखता है


BERLIN (Reuters) - German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble is ready to leave his job as finance minister and head the Bundestag lower house of parliament, Volker Kauder, parliamentary leader of Chancellor Angela Merkel s conservatives said in a statement. The center-right CDU/CSU bloc would propose Schaeuble as their candidate for the Bundestag post in their next meeting on Oct. 17, Kauder said.  We are pleased that Wolfgang Schaeuble has agreed to become a candidate for the position,  he said. The leader of the pro-business Free Democrats, Christian Lindner, said in a tweet his parliamentary group would back Schaeuble as president of the Bundestag.

Summary: जर्मनी के शेयबल वित्त मंत्री की नौकरी छोड़ने के लिए तैयार, बुंडेस्टैगः सीडीयू


JAKARTA (Reuters) - The new governor of Indonesia s capital faced a barrage of criticism on Tuesday for remarks in his inauguration speech that some residents and politicians warned could stoke ethnic and religious tension in the Southeast Asian country. Anies Baswedan, a former education minister, said in a speech only hours after he was sworn in on Monday that  pribumi  (native or indigenous Indonesians) should take back control of the country from  colonial  influences.  His comments came as tolerance in the Muslim-majority country has been under scrutiny since bitterly fought city elections this year during which Islamist-led rallies targeted the former governor, an ethnic Chinese Christian, in a controversial blasphemy case.   We  pribumi  people were oppressed and defeated. Now, after independence, it is time for us to be masters in our own country,  Baswedan said in a speech to supporters outside the Jakarta City Hall late on Monday.     The word  pribumi , which excludes ethnic groups like Chinese Indonesians or Indian Indonesians who have lived in the country for generations, was the top trending topic on Twitter in Indonesia on Tuesday.  You are of Arab descent yourself sir! So who do you mean when you say  it s time for pribumi to be masters of the country ?  user @denradityaa tweeted.  Baswedan is a descendant of the Hadrami tribe of Yemen and comes from a family of respected moderate Islamic scholars. Some took Baswedan s words to single out Chinese Indonesians - a minority that has faced long-running resentment for their control of trade and wealth in Indonesia.  There were also some supporters.  Why are people making a racket about pribumi? If you re born, raised and have Indonesian Id, you re a pribumi. Those who are mad with (the word) pribumi are not Indonesians,       @febrin_navarro wrote.  A spokesman for the governor did not immediately reply to a request for comment, but Baswedan was quoted by media as saying the comments referred to the colonial era.  The point is that (the word) was used to explain the Dutch colonial era,  he was quoted as saying. Baswedan and his deputy, Sandiaga Uno, won April s governor election on the back of support from hardline Islamists who have pushed, among other things, vitriolic anti-Chinese rhetoric.  A prominent Islamist leader, Bachtiar Nasir, who backed Baswedan s campaign, said the wealth of Chinese Indonesians was a problem and advocated an affirmative action program for native people.  Neighboring Malaysia runs a controversial affirmative action policy under which ethnic Malays and other indigenous populations enjoy entitlements such as quotas in universities and companies and cheaper property rates.    Indonesia s 250 million people are predominantly Muslim, but it has sizeable Christian, Hindu and Buddhist minorities and hundreds of ethnic groups.      Baswedan is ripping the national fabric...with the use of the word  pribumi ,  said Rian Ernest, an ethnic Chinese politician with the Solidarity Party of Indonesia.  We strongly condemn Baswedan s statement, which does not reflect the spirit of leadership or  unity in diversity ,  he added, referring to Indonesia s national motto.

Summary: जकार्ता के नए राज्यपाल को नस्लीय रंग वाले भाषण के लिए आलोचना का सामना करना पड़ा


MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said at a meeting with his Iraqi counterpart that Moscow is committed to Iraq s territorial integrity, RIA news agency reported on Monday. Russia has economic ties with the Iraqi Kurds, who voted for independence from Iraq in late September.

Summary: रूस के लावरोव ने कहा कि रूस इराक की क्षेत्रीय अखंडता के लिए प्रतिबद्ध हैः आर. आई. ए.


BRUSSELS (Reuters) - Belgium will set up an English-language commercial court to deal with disputes between international companies to make the most of Britain s plan to leave the European Union. The Brussels International Business Court (BIBC) will seek to take on cases that are so far handled by British courts or international arbitration tribunals, the Belgian government said on Friday. Cases in Belgium s regular courts are heard in French or Dutch. The government said the demand for arbitration was likely to grow because of Brexit.  The same Brexit means moreover that going to a court in London might not be an appropriate option,  it said, without giving a date for the start of the English-language hearings. BIBC will be presided over by sector specialists and parties will have to agree in advance to let the court settle their differences. They will not be able to appeal against the decisions.  The development of the European Union cannot be slowed down by Brexit. Our country uses this opportunity to offer a new judicial instrument,  Belgian Prime Minister Charles Michel said in a statement. Some companies, such as Lloyd s of London, the world s largest specialty insurance market, have already picked Brussels as their European base in order to retain access to the EU market after Britain leaves the bloc in 2019.

Summary: ब्रेक्सिट ने बेल्जियम को अंग्रेजी भाषा में वाणिज्य अदालत स्थापित करने के लिए प्रेरित किया


WASHINGTON/BEIJING (Reuters) - China has invited U.S. President Donald Trump’s daughter, Ivanka Trump, and his son-in-law, Jared Kushner, to visit Beijing later this year, a White House official said on Tuesday. China’s overture appeared aimed at deepening engagement with the influential young couple, who played a role in the first summit between Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping in April, which set an improved tone for relations between the world’s two biggest economies. Kushner, a senior adviser who entered the White House with no government experience, has been assigned the job of conducting Middle East peace diplomacy and will visit the region this week for talks with Israeli and Palestinian leaders. Helping to manage relations with China is another part of his foreign policy portfolio. At the same time, Kushner has come under heavy scrutiny, with high-profile investigations into alleged contacts between current and former Trump aides and Russian officials. No further details were available on the Chinese invitation, which was first reported by Bloomberg News and confirmed by a White House official on condition of anonymity. The Chinese embassy in Washington did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Speaking at a daily news briefing in Beijing on Wednesday, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang said he had seen reports of the visit but that he was not aware of any details.  Trump railed against China, especially its trade practices, during the presidential campaign. A fence-mending phone call in February was arranged by Kushner and China’s U.S. ambassador, Cui Tiankai, U.S. officials said, after Cui invited Ivanka Trump to the Chinese embassy’s Lunar New Year reception, where her daughter sang in Mandarin. Kushner helped plan and attended the U.S.-China summit at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort in April. Trump has since had warm words for Xi, praising him for cooperation with efforts to rein in Beijing’s nuclear-armed neighbor North Korea. But analysts question how long rapprochement can last if North Korea continues its nuclear and missile development in defiance of international pressure.

Summary: चीन ने इवांका ट्रम्प और जारेड कुशनर को यात्रा के लिए आमंत्रित कियाः अमेरिकी अधिकारी


(Reuters) - Testimony by a former ally of New Jersey Governor Chris Christie that the Republican knew about the “Bridgegate” traffic scandal as it was going on could endanger his best chance at a political future: a role in a Trump administration. Christie has denied claims he had been an active participant in the plan to deliberately create massive traffic jams on a key bridge to New York to punish a Democratic mayor’s refusal to endorse his re-election bid. But each piece of evidence that ties Christie closer to the scandal makes him more of a liability for Republican presidential contender Donald Trump, a New York real estate developer who has tapped the governor to head his transition team. “Every revelation increases the odds that Trump will distance himself from Christie, especially as Election Day gets closer,” said Julian Zelizer, a professor of history and public affairs at New Jersey’s Princeton University. “Christie still serves a value to Trump, who wants to compete in blue states,” he added. “But there will be a point where the revelations overwhelm any sense of loyalty or any perception that he remains valuable to the campaign.” A Trump campaign spokeswoman did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The 53-year-old governor’s political future is already limited. New Jersey law prevents him from running for a third consecutive term next year, and polls show that Bridgegate has seriously hurt his popularity, explaining in part why Christie, who hoped to be president, quickly tied his fortunes to Trump. Christie on Tuesday repeated that he had not known about the lane-closure plan.  “There’s all kinds of stuff going on up in a courtroom in Newark, and I want to be really clear to all of you about something,” Christie told reporters in Trenton. “I had no knowledge prior to or during these lane realignments.” That contradicted the testimony of David Wildstein, a former executive at the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, in a federal court in Newark, where two other ex-Christie allies face criminal charges for their role in the scandal. While Bridget Kelly, his former deputy chief of staff and Bill Baroni, a close associate and former executive at the Port Authority, are on trial for their role in the 2013 incident, Christie himself has not been charged criminally. The governor was at the peak of his popularity at the time, having stepped into the national spotlight when he toured  Superstorm Sandy-ravaged New Jersey shore with President Barack Obama. With his eye on the White House, he was eager to secure the endorsements of Fort Lee Mayor Mark Sokolich and other Democratic mayors to show he was a politician able to forge alliances across party lines. The lane closures, which generated massive traffic jams at the George Washington Bridge and national headlines, took a heavy toll on Christie’s image and drew the mockery of the state’s favorite son, rock star Bruce Springsteen. A Rutgers-Eagleton poll conducted early this month found that 23 percent of state residents held a favorable view of Christie, down 7 percentage points from a year earlier and one-third of what it was at Christie’s peak of popularity in February 2013. “Bridgegate almost wholly contributed to the downfall that we’ve seen for the governor,” said Ashley Koning, director of the Eagleton Center for Public Interest Polling at New Jersey’s Rutgers University. His low popularity makes it highly unlikely he’d be successful in another statewide run, whether it was for governor in 2021 or for another office, she said. After Christie’s bid for the 2016 Republican presidential nomination failed, he pivoted quickly to endorse Trump, who embraced his support and named him transition chair in May. Christie would be charged with helping build a cabinet for a Trump White House and serve as a liaison with the outgoing Obama team.  Christie was a federal prosecutor in New Jersey, suggesting the likeliest job in a Trump cabinet would be attorney general. “It’s hard to imagine that he would be able to win Senate confirmation with knowledge of this scheme confirmed,” said Brigid Callahan Harrison, professor of political science and law at New Jersey’s Montclair State University.  Trump could also pick Christie for a staff role, she said. Bill Stepien, who managed both of Christie’s gubernatorial runs, is an adviser to the Trump campaign. Harrison added: “From what we know of Trump, he may not be overly cautious about affiliating himself with people that could be damaging.”

Summary: ब्रिजगेट की गवाही क्रिस्टी की अंतिम राजनीतिक जीवन रेखा को काट सकती है


SINGAPORE (Reuters) - The United States expects to maintain its strong security relationship with the Philippines, including a recent accord on the rotational stationing of U.S. forces, U.S. officials said on Thursday, despite signals from the incoming Philippine president that he will chart a more independent course. U.S. Defense Secretary Ash Carter, speaking en route to a security conference in Singapore at which a case over disputed South China Sea territory brought by the previous Philippine government against China will be a key talking point, said Washington took its treaty alliance with the Philippines “very seriously.” “It’s long standing, it is, we say, ironclad,” he told reporters. “They have a new government there and we look forward to working with them, talking with them about our alliance, about security affairs in the region.” Asked about an Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement (EDCA) he signed in Manila weeks ago giving the United States rotational access to five bases in the Philippines, Carter replied: “Our plans for EDCA and implementation are on track; we haven’t changed our plans at all.” On Tuesday, Philippines President-elect Rodrigo Duterte, who is due to take over on June 30, signaled greater independence in dealing with China and broader security issues, when he told reporters future policy would “not be dependent on America.” “We have this pact with the West, but I want everybody to know that we will be charting a course of our own,” Duterte said, when asked if he would push for bilateral talks with China. On Wednesday, Duterte’s incoming foreign minister, Perfecto Yasay, told Reuters Manila would honor treaties with the United States, including the EDCA, but it “should not be a lackey of any nation.” The outgoing Philippines government has been one of Washington’s staunchest supporters in its standoff with China over its expansive territorial claims in the South China Sea, a vital global trade route. Washington has been supportive of a case Manila has brought in the International Court of Arbitration in The Hague challenging China’s claims. Carter is expected to urge regional nations attending the annual Shangri-la Dialogue to rally around the U.S. position that the court’s ruling, which is expected to go in Manila’s favor, must be binding. Another U.S. defense official, who did not want to be identified, said Washington expected to continue its strong alliance with the Philippines, but added: “We certainly understand the Philippine desire to chart their own course and everything we do with respect to our alliance ... is designed to allow the Philippines to chart its own course.” Asked whether the United States had detected any decrease in desire on the part of the Philippines to take part in joint South China Sea patrols or to commit to more force rotations under the EDCA, the official replied: “It’s too early to tell. We’ll get together with the government when they come in and I’m sure we will have very thorough discussions about all of this when the time comes.” “The first tranche of forces has rotated out. And we will be discussing with the Philippines possible future (deployments).” Duterte has yet to name a defense minister and Carter said he had no meeting planned with the Philippines delegation at the Singapore meeting.  Carter also said he did not plan a separate meeting with the Chinese, but looked forward to seeing members of their delegation over the three-day conference from Friday.

Summary: दुतेर्ते के संकेत के बावजूद अमेरिका को मजबूत फिलीपींस गठबंधन जारी रखने की उम्मीद है


ZURICH (Reuters) - Switzerland on Sunday called for the quick release of a Swiss woman reported abducted in Sudan s troubled Darfur region where rebels have been fighting the government for more than a decade.  The Foreign Ministry is aware of the case of a Swiss woman kidnapped in Darfur,  a ministry spokesman said by email.   Local representation is in contact with Sudanese authorities. Efforts to clarify the situation are in progress. Switzerland is calling for a rapid and unconditional release of the abducted person.  The ministry did not give details about when the woman had been abducted or other details about her. Swiss newspapers reported the woman was an aid worker. Sudan will extend a unilateral ceasefire with rebels until the end of December, state news agency SUNA reported on Sunday, just days after the United States lifted 20-year-old sanctions tied to progress on resolving ongoing conflicts. The conflict in Darfur began in 2003 when mainly non-Arab tribes took up arms against Sudan s Arab-led government.

Summary: स्विट्जरलैंड ने सूडान में अपहृत स्विस महिला की रिहाई की मांग की


ABUJA (Reuters) - Cameroon has broken international law by forcibly deporting at least 100,000 Nigerians who had fled there to escape Islamist Boko Haram militants, Human Rights Watch (HRW) said on Wednesday. Cameroon s minister of communications declined to comment on the report, which said the army had been detaining the refugees and torturing some of them, before the authorities pushed them back into neighboring northeast Nigeria. Human Rights Watch said the expulsions reported since 2015 were one of the largest illegal forced repatriations it had seen in recent years, and were in  flagrant breach  of global and Cameroonian law. Boko Haram militants have killed tens of thousands in their fight to carve out an Islamist state in northeast Nigeria. The violence has forced hundreds of thousands to flee, many across the border into Cameroon, Chad and Niger.      Cameroon s army has been aggressively screening newly arriving Nigerians at the border, subjecting some to torture and other forms of abuse, and containing them in far-flung and under-serviced border villages,  the report said.  This policy of blocking asylum seekers from accessing protection has made it easier for Cameroon to deport them,  it said, adding that the U.N. refugee agency (UNHCR) has been denied access. The UNHCR said the report was broadly in line with its own understanding of the situation, though it could not confirm all the details in the paper.  Forced returns in any context are of serious concern to us and in the case of Cameroon and Nigeria we have raised these concerns repeatedly and publicly,  said a UNHCR spokesman. Cameroon signed a treaty in March with Nigeria and the UNHCR to ensure that all refugee returns are voluntary but the rights group said Cameroon s violations had continued.  They humiliated us like animals and beat us like we were slaves,  the report quoted one refugee as saying. His brother died from the resulting internal bleeding, he added. Some deportees, including children, were so malnourished or sick they did not survive their return to Nigeria, said HRW. Nigeria is struggling to cope with millions of people dependent on emergency relief for food, shelter and medicine, victims of an eight-year conflict in which at least 20,000 have been killed. At least 10.7 million people are in need of assistance in the region, mainly in Nigeria but also in Chad, Niger and Cameroon, according to the United Nations.

Summary: कैमरून ने 100,000 नाइजीरियाई शरणार्थियों को अवैध रूप से निर्वासितः अधिकार समूह


LONDON (Reuters) - U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said on Thursday he was hopeful that China would come to its own decision to decide to use the  powerful tool  of oil supplies to persuade North Korea to reconsider its  current path . On a visit to London where he met British Prime Minister Theresa May and foreign minister, Boris Johnson, Tillerson said the United States had wanted to see a much stronger resolution from the United Nations which agreed a new round of sanctions on Monday.  It s clear that with respect to oil, and a complete embargo on oil from the U.N. Security Council, that s going to be very difficult,  he said.  In effect, that is directed at China alone because China supplies essentially all of North Korea s oil,  he told a joint news conference with Johnson.  I am hopeful that China, as a great country, a world power, will decide on their own, will take it upon themselves to use that very powerful tool of oil supply to persuade North Korea to reconsider its current path toward weapons development, reconsider its approach to dialogue and negotiations in the future.

Summary: अमेरिका ने चीन से उत्तर कोरिया को प्रभावित करने के लिए तेल के 'शक्तिशाली उपकरण' का उपयोग करने का आह्वान किया


BERLIN (Reuters) - Fears in Germany that voter apathy could boost the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) in Sunday s election have driven Chancellor Angela Merkel and her main rival in final days of the campaign to urge their backers to go out and vote.  With many voters viewing a fourth term for Merkel as almost inevitable and turned off by a turgid campaign - occasionally punctured by heckling and tomato hurling in protest at Merkel's refugee policy - pollsters say turnout may be low.  A GMS poll on Thursday said those not planning to vote or were undecided numbered 34 percent, higher than the 29 percent who did not vote in the last election in 2013.   My request to everyone is that they vote, and vote for those parties that adhere 100 percent to our constitution,  Merkel told MDR radio on Thursday, pointing to the AfD which has been likened by some commentators to Hitler s Nazis.  Some of its members have called for Germans to rewrite the history books on Nazi era and the party has been dogged by rows over Holocaust denial, a crime in Germany.  Although polls show conservative Merkel, trusted by stability-loving Germans to stand up to unpredictable leaders in the United States, Russia and Turkey, is on track to win, the shape of her coalition is wide open.  Most pollsters say a low turnout could boost the AfD which has gained popularity by focusing on migration and security.  Poised to be the first far-right party to enter Germany s parliament in over half a century, comments by some top members have caused outrage. This month, one leader said Germany should be proud of its soldiers achievements in World War Two.  Allensbach pollster Renate Koecher told Die Zeit weekly that much depended on turnout.  Willingness to vote  was strongest among conservative and AfD supporters, she said. Most undecideds were FDP, Green and Left voters, indicating that a higher turnout would help the smaller parties on the left, she said.  The two biggest blocs have dipped slightly in most polls in the last month or so while some of the smaller parties have inched up.  In the GMS survey, the AfD was up two points at 10 percent.  Merkel s conservative bloc slipped one percentage point to 37 percent and her main opponent, the Social Democrats (SDP), were unchanged on 22 percent. SPD leader Martin Schulz has also urged his supporters to vote, saying  everything is still possible .  In a highly unusual intervention this week, Merkel s right-hand man Peter Altmaier, head of the chancellor s office, stirred controversy by suggesting it would be better for Germans not to vote at all rather than vote for the AfD.  SPD Justice Minister Heiko Maas accused him of helping the AfD.  Telling people not to vote is helping the AfD s campaign, that s exactly what they want,  he said.  The latest surveys suggest coalition options are limited to another grand coalition of Merkel s conservatives with the SPD or a three-way  Jamaica  alliance of the conservatives, FDP and Greens which could limit Merkel s room for maneuver on euro zone reform.   Before the last-minute mobilization efforts by parties, the only realistic coalition option, apart from a grand coalition, is one of the conservatives, FDP and Greens,  said GMS.  Both the Greens and FDP - who are at opposite ends of the political spectrum - have played down the likelihood of joining forces, fearing it would put off their voters. But on Thursday, FDP leader Christian Lindner struck a more positive note.   One has to go into government. The FDP is enthusiastic about going into government. But only if it can implement good things. If not, then we won t,  he told Die Welt.

Summary: धुर दक्षिणपंथी उछाल के डर से, मर्केल ने जर्मनों से रविवार को मतदान करने को कहा


NEW YORK (Reuters) - U.S. environmental group the Sierra Club has asked the Environmental Protection Agency’s inspector general to investigate whether the agency’s head, Scott Pruitt, violated internal policies when he said he did not believe carbon dioxide was a major contributor to climate change, according to a letter seen by Reuters on Wednesday. Lawyers for the Sierra Club wrote to the EPA’s Office of Inspector General on Tuesday asking the independent watchdog to check whether Pruitt violated the EPA’s 2012 Scientific Integrity Policy when he told a CNBC interviewer on March 9, “I would not agree that it’s a primary contributor to the global warming that we see.” The request ramps up tension between the U.S. environmental movement and the administration of President Donald Trump, who has called global warming a hoax meant to weaken the U.S. economy and has packed his Cabinet with people who question the science of climate change. An overwhelming majority of scientists think that carbon dioxide emissions from burning fossil fuels is a major contributor to global climate change, triggering sea level rise, droughts and more frequent violent storms. “It’s pretty unprecedented to have the head of the EPA contradicting basic scientific facts,” Sierra Club Senior Attorney Elena Saxonhouse told Reuters on Wednesday. In the letter, the Sierra Club’s lawyers said Pruitt’s comments contradicted a “comprehensive review” of scientific research on climate change and appeared to be politically motivated. The EPA website says its policy is meant to maintain “a culture of scientific integrity for all its employees,” and requires EPA officials and staff to ensure the agency’s work respects the findings of the broader scientific community. “Administrator Pruitt’s comments are perfectly in keeping with the scientific integrity policy,” EPA spokesman John Konkus said in an email. “There is an ongoing scientific debate on climate change, its causes and its effect. That debate should be encouraged as the Administrator has done, not discouraged as Sierra Club is attempting to do.”  A spokeswoman for the EPA’s inspector general said in an email the IG’s office could neither confirm nor deny investigation requests.    As Oklahoma’s attorney general, Pruitt sued the EPA more than a dozen times while accepting campaign donations from the energy industry. Emails released on Feb. 22 by an Oklahoma Court showed Pruitt also used language provided by an energy company in one of his challenges of the EPA over methane emissions regulations. Sierra Club’s Saxonhouse said the group believed that the EPA’s scientific integrity policy applied to political appointees as well as career EPA staff, but said it was unclear how the agency could enforce it. “It shouldn’t just be a piece of paper or some words on a website. It’s intended to protect the public from bad decision-making that’s not based on real facts,” she said.

Summary: एक्सक्लूसिवः अमेरिकी समूह सिएरा क्लब ने CO2 टिप्पणियों पर EPA के प्रुइट की जांच की मांग की


MIAMI (Reuters) - U.S. Republican presidential front-runner Donald Trump came under fire from his rivals on Thursday for saying Muslims hate the United States at a debate where the gut-punching attacks of earlier forums gave way to a suddenly civil tone with a serious focus on the issues. Trump, who has voiced skepticism about U.S. military involvement abroad in the past, for the first time said America’s effort against Islamic State militants might require between 20,000 and 30,000 U.S. troops, a number similar to what some Republican hawks have proposed. The CNN-hosted debate at the University of Miami was crucial, coming days before votes in Florida and Ohio that will determine whether U.S. Senator Marco Rubio of Florida and Ohio Governor John Kasich will be able to continue with their increasingly long-shot candidacies. With previous assaults on Trump having failed to knock him down, Rubio and U.S. Senator Ted Cruz of Texas chose a more civil approach, raising questions about Trump’s policy positions without attacking him personally. Trump, for his part, used the debate to try to attract establishment Republicans, saying he is generating support from non-Republicans who could help carry the party to victory in the Nov. 8 election. And he eschewed the inflammatory, personal attacks on his rivals that have drawn both cheers and boos in prior debates. “The Republican Party has a great chance to embrace millions of people that it’s never known before. They are coming by the millions. We should seize that opportunity,” he said. But he stuck to positions that many establishment Republicans reject, such as his belief, as stated in television interviews, that followers of Islam “hate us.” “We have a serious problem of hate. There is tremendous hate,” said Trump, who has proposed a temporary ban on Muslims entering the United States. Rubio, Cruz and Kasich said the United States needs to maintain good relations with Muslim countries in the Middle East to help in the fight against Islamic State militants. “We are going to have to work with people in the Muslim faith even as Islam faces a serious crisis within it,” Rubio said. Rubio also defended American Muslims as patriots. “If you go anywhere in the world you’re going see American men and women serving us in uniform that are Muslims,” he said.  “Anyone out there that has the uniform of the United States on and is willing to die for this country is someone that loves America,” he added. Rubio shifted to a more positive tone after his anti-Trump tirades of the past two weeks. But he and Cruz repeatedly sought to raise questions about Trump’s policy positions from trade to the Middle East. Cruz pointed to areas where Trump has been a late-comer to the conservative movement, such as his past support for Democratic causes and candidates. He also noted how Trump has asked his supporters at rallies to demonstrate support by raising their right hand, a scene that produced photographs that some critics said looked like Nazi Germany. “At Donald‘s rallies recently he’s taken to asking people in the crowd to pledge their support to him. I have to say I think that’s exactly backwards. We are here pledging our support to you, not the other way around,” Cruz said. Trump, in discussing how he would consider placing between 20,000 to 30,000 U.S. troops on the ground to defeat Islamic State militants, vowed to complete the mission quickly and bring troops home to focus on rebuilding the United States. “We really have no choice, we have to knock out ISIS,” Trump said. “I would listen to the generals, but I’m hearing numbers of 20,000 to 30,000.” It was the most detailed view yet of Trump’s thinking about Islamic State. He has previously talked of “knocking the hell” out of ISIS without offering specifics. Next Tuesday’s Florida and Ohio Republican primaries both award delegates on a winner-take-all basis, meaning that the winner of the popular vote is awarded the state’s entire slate of delegates. So far, 25 states and Puerto Rico have held nominating contests, and Trump has amassed a solid lead in the delegate race. According to the Associated Press, Trump has 458 delegates, followed by Cruz at 359, Rubio at 151, and Kasich at 54.  Clinching the Republican nomination requires 1,237 delegates. There are a total of 367 delegates at stake on Tuesday, including a total of 165 in Florida and Ohio. Trump on Thursday appeared to try to appear more presidential, something he has pledged often in the past to do so but never has. On Thursday he modulated both the tone of his voice and the tenor of his remarks, which in prior debates have drawn sharp criticism for being vulgar.  “I would say this, we’re all in this together. We’re going to come up with solutions, we’re going to find the answers to things, and so far I can’t believe how civil it has been up here,” Trump said. The two-hour debate included a sober discussion of pressing foreign and domestic policy challenges, including illegal immigration, reform of Social Security, free trade deals, the role of the federal government in education and Israel.  (Additional reporting by Ginger Gibson, Alana Wise, Amanda Becker; Writing by Steve Holland; Editing by Leslie Adler) This article was funded in part by SAP. It was independently created by the Reuters editorial staff. SAP had no editorial involvement in its creation or production.

Summary: ट्रम्प की इस्लाम संबंधी टिप्पणियों पर हमला, रिपब्लिकन ने सभ्यता की खोज की


NEW YORK (Reuters) - The defense in Democratic U.S. Senator Bob Menendez’s federal corruption trial rested on Monday, court records showed, as a case that could have political repercussions in Washington nears an end after eight weeks of testimony. As expected, Menendez and his co-defendant, Florida ophthalmologist Salomon Melgen, declined to take the witness stand in their defense. Closing arguments were set to begin no earlier than Wednesday morning. Menendez, 63, is accused of accepting bribes from Melgen, including luxury vacations, private flights and campaign contributions, in exchange for using his political influence to help Melgen in a variety of ways. Lawyers for Menendez and Melgen have told the jury in Newark, New Jersey, that they did nothing wrong and that their actions stemmed from a close, brother-like relationship. The case could have an outsized effect on Capitol Hill, where Republicans hold a narrow 52-48 edge in the Senate. If Menendez is convicted and either resigns or is expelled before Republican New Jersey Governor Chris Christie’s term expires in January, the governor would presumably name a Republican to replace him. The Democratic candidate to succeed Christie, Phil Murphy, holds a comfortable lead in polls ahead of the state’s gubernatorial election on Nov. 7. A Republican effort to repeal former President Barack Obama’s signature healthcare law failed by a single vote in the Senate in July, and the party’s pursuit of tax reform is expected to be similarly hard-fought. Defense attorneys ended their case on Monday soon after the judge overseeing the trial, William Walls, denied their request to declare a mistrial. The lawyers had argued that Walls unfairly limited the witnesses and evidence they could present to jurors. Menendez intervened with Medicare officials on Melgen’s behalf after the agency determined the doctor had overbilled it by millions of dollars, according to prosecutors. Melgen was convicted separately earlier this year in Florida of Medicare fraud, though the New Jersey jury has not heard about that case. In addition, the senator pressed U.S. officials to resolve a port dispute in the Dominican Republic involving one of Melgen’s business ventures and to issue visas for several of Melgen’s foreign girlfriends, prosecutors say. Among the witnesses who appeared for the defense were two of Menendez’s colleagues: Republican U.S. Senator Lindsay Graham and Democratic U.S. Senator Cory Booker, who is New Jersey’s other senator. Both men testified about Menendez’s good character without reference to the current charges.

Summary: डेमोक्रेटिक सीनेटर मेनेंडेज के रिश्वत के मुकदमे में बचाव पक्ष का पक्ष है