SEOUL (Reuters) - South Korean President Moon Jae-in said on Tuesday it would not be easy for reclusive North Korea to destroy its nuclear arsenal quickly, even if wanted to, given its weapons programs were so developed. North Korea is under heavy international pressure to end its weapons programs, pursued in defiance of U.N. Security Council resolutions. But it has vowed never to give up its nuclear arsenal. Speaking to reporters in the Philippines, Moon said that if North Korea agreed to hold talks, negotiations could be held with all options open.  If talks begin to resolve the North Korea nuclear issue, I feel it will be realistically difficult for North Korea to completely destroy its nuclear capabilities when their nuclear and missile arsenal are at a developed stage,  Moon said in a briefing.  If so, North Korea s nuclear program should be suspended, and negotiations could go on to pursue complete denuclearization.  Moon s remarks were made available by the presidential Blue House. Last week, the North said it did not oppose dialogue, but would  never put the issue related to the supreme interests of the DPRK and security of its people on the bargaining table .  We are not interested in such dialogue and negotiations in the least,  the North s official news agency said, referring to the country by its official name, the Democratic People s Republic of Korea. The North defends the programs as a necessary defense against U.S. plans to invade. The United States, which has 28,500 troops in South Korea, a legacy of the 1950-53 Korean war, denies any such intention. U.S. President Donald Trump has traded insults and threats with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un as North Korea races toward its goal of developing a nuclear-tipped missile capable of reaching the United States. Trump threatened in his maiden U.N. address to  totally destroy  North Korea if the United States was threatened and has said the time for talking, the policy of previous U.S. administrations, is over. Moon reiterated his stance that now was the time to increase pressure on North Korea so that it would come to talks.  He said differences in understanding between South Korea and China, North Korea s lone major ally, regarding the deployment of the U.S. Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) system on South Koran soil had not been resolved.  China has not said it has changed its stance to agree to THAAD and still says THAAD infringes on its security. We have, in turn, explained THAAD is not aimed at China but only toward curbing North Korea s nuclear and missile provocations,  he said. Last month, South Korea and China agreed to end a year-long standoff over THAAD which had seen South Korean companies doing business in China suffer from retaliation against the system s  deployment.

Summary: उत्तर कोरिया का परमाणु शस्त्रागार भी जल्दी नष्ट करने के लिए विकसित किया गया हैः मून


BEIJING/TAIPEI (Reuters) - A Beijing court on Thursday handed down jail sentences of up to 15 years to 85 people deported from Kenya for telecoms fraud, including 44 from self-ruled Taiwan, an island Beijing claims as its own which said vital evidence had been ignored. Over the past two years, countries including Kenya, Spain, Vietnam and Cambodia have deported hundreds of people from Taiwan to China for telecoms fraud, sparking accusations from Taipei that Beijing was effectively kidnapping its citizens. China has defended the deportations, saying the crimes were committed against people in China and that as Taiwan is a part of China. The Beijing court said in a statement that one of the Taiwanese, Chang Kai-min, had been jailed for 15 years for helping scam 185 people out of more than 29 million yuan ($4.4 million). Taiwan s China policy-making Mainland Affairs Council said Taiwan and China had initially agreed to cooperate in investigating the Kenya case, but China had gone back on its word. The outside world could only believe justice had been done if the case had fully considered all the evidence and gone through proper legal procedure, the council added.  In this case, we obtained intelligence on the criminal suspects behind the scenes,  it said.  We again call on the mainland China side to cooperate with our public security organs, investigate the origins and not allow the masterminds behind the scenes to get away with it.  On at least two occasions last year, Kenya deported groups of Taiwanese to China. In one case, a Kenyan magistrate said the Taiwanese should be repatriated to their place of origin, Taiwan, but the Kenyan government sent them to China. Kenya, like most countries, only has diplomatic relations with China. Beijing considers democratic Taiwan a wayward province, ineligible for formal ties with other nations. Chinese authorities have sought to contain an explosion of telecom crime it says has led to huge financial losses, with callers often impersonating officials or authority figures and preying on the elderly, students or the unemployed. The fraud has spread overseas, with Chinese speakers recruited in neighboring Taiwan increasingly setting up operations in East Africa or Southeast Asia. The deportations have come as relations between Beijing and Taipei have deteriorated, with China suspecting Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen of pushing for the island s formal independence. She says she wants to maintain peace with China but will defend Taiwan s security and democracy.

Summary: चीन ने धोखाधड़ी के मामले में 44 ताइवानियों को जेल भेजा


WASHINGTON (Reuters) - New Jersey Governor Chris Christie and former business executive Carly Fiorina ended their presidential campaigns on Wednesday, narrowing the field challenging front-runner Donald Trump in the race for the 2016 Republican nomination. Christie, 53, said in a Facebook post he was leaving the race “without an ounce of regret,” a day after the combative Republican’s sixth-place finish in the New Hampshire primary raised doubts about his viability as a candidate.  Fiorina, 61, a former Hewlett-Packard chief executive, said in a Facebook post she would suspend her campaign. The only woman in the Republican field placed seventh in New Hampshire, one of a series of state-by-state nominating contests for the Nov. 8 election to succeed Democratic President Barack Obama. Trump’s remaining opponents, most of them mainstream Republicans, will likely benefit from their departures, which leave seven Republicans from a field that once had 17 candidates. Trump won the New Hampshire Republican primary by almost 20 points. The fifth-place finish of U.S. Senator Marco Rubio of Florida, who had hoped to emerge as Trump’s main rival after a surprise third-place showing in Iowa last week, leaves Trump without a clear challenger among the so-called establishment candidates.  On the Democratic side, U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont, a democratic socialist, easily defeated former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in the New Hampshire primary. The victories in both parties by candidates considered outsiders, testified to the sizable share of American voters upset over the slow economic recovery, immigration and America’s place in the world and who are willing to shake up Washington.  Trump, 69, a billionaire businessman, has a double-digit lead over conservative Senator Ted Cruz of Texas in opinion polls for the next Republican contest, the South Carolina primary on Feb. 20, according to a Real Clear Politics average of opinion polls. Christie poured much of his campaign’s resources into New Hampshire and had considered a good showing there critical. He won only about 7 percent of votes on Tuesday, despite a pugnacious performance at a Republican debate last weekend. “Christie needed to drop out. In short, he does not have the money or organization to be viable in South Carolina and beyond,” said Monmouth University pollster Patrick Murray. “Christie was certainly hurt by Trump stealing his ‘telling it like it is thunder,’ but Christie was also out-organized in the ultimate retail politics state,” Murray said. SANDERS COURTS AFRICAN-AMERICANS Trump’s victory in New Hampshire showed pundits were wrong to think he would quickly self-destruct based on his penchant for insults and imprecise plans for the presidency. He had lost last week to Cruz in the first nominating contest, the Iowa caucuses. Ohio’s Republican governor, John Kasich, finished second in New Hampshire, followed by Cruz, former Florida Governor Jeb Bush and Rubio. The odds of Trump winning the White House, once seen as an extremely long shot, improved significantly after his victory in New Hampshire, online betting site Ladbrokes PLC said. Trump is now at 9/2, compared with 7/1 last week, meaning his chances of victory in November are now 18 percent. Clinton still had the best odds of becoming president at 50/50, Ladbrokes said. On the Democratic side, Sanders, 74, courted the African-American vote on Wednesday, having breakfast with civil rights leader the Rev. Al Sharpton at a restaurant in New York City’s Harlem neighborhood. Clinton, 68, currently has strong support from black voters, who will be crucial in the Democratic primary in South Carolina on Feb. 27.  Sharpton and Obama met at the same restaurant during Obama’s successful 2008 presidential campaign - a piece of symbolism for Sanders as he tries to expand his appeal beyond liberals in the U.S. Northeast. “My concern is that in January of next year for the first time in American history, a black family will be moving out of the White House,” Sharpton, a Baptist minister and television talk-show host, told reporters afterward. “I do not want black concerns to be moved out with them. We must be front and center and not marginalized. And Senator Sanders coming here this morning further makes it clear that we will not be ignored,” he said. Sharpton discussed a spate of police shootings of black males and other issues with the senator. Sharpton said he would not endorse a candidate until he met with Clinton. The Congressional Black Caucus will endorse Clinton on Thursday and its members will be active in supporting her campaign, the Washington Post reported, citing U.S. Democratic Representative Gregory Meeks of New York, chairman of CBC’s political action committee. Clinton has a long history of support for civil rights. She also has benefited from husband Bill Clinton’s popularity in the black community during his presidency, although that became strained during her fierce 2008 primary battle with Obama. Clinton’s campaign, highlighting her popularity among black and Latino voters, said in a statement on Tuesday: “It will be very difficult, if not impossible, for a Democrat to win the nomination without strong levels of support among African-American and Hispanic voters.”

Summary: रिपब्लिकन क्रिस्टी, फियोरिना ने व्हाइट हाउस की बोली छोड़ी


WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump and Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell remain united on many priorities and will hold previously scheduled meetings after the August recess to discuss the issues with members of the congressional leadership and the Cabinet, the White House said on Wednesday. Trump and McConnell “remain united on many shared priorities, including middle class tax relief, strengthening the military, constructing a southern border wall, and other important issues,” the White House said in a statement. Earlier on Wednesday, McConnell said he and his team were in “regular contact” with Trump and committed to working together, following weeks of tensions between the two Republicans.

Summary: ट्रम्प और मैककॉनेल 'कई साझा प्राथमिकताओं पर एकजुट': व्हाइट हाउस


JERUSALEM (Reuters) - The Israeli air force attacked a Syrian anti-aircraft battery on Monday that Israel said had fired a missile at its planes while they were on a reconnaissance mission over neighboring Lebanon. No Israeli planes were hit, Israeli military spokesman Lieutenant-Colonel Jonathan Conricus said. The counter-strike took place two hours later and  incapacitated  the anti-aircraft unit located 50 km (30 miles) east of Damascus, he said.   We know according to our intelligence it was a battery controlled by the Syrian regime and we hold the Syrian regime responsible for the fire,  Conricus said. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu later issued a statement saying Israel would not hesitate to defend itself.  Today there was an attempt to harm our aircraft   this is unacceptable to us. The air force acted quickly and accurately to destroy what needed to be destroyed,  Netanyahu said.      Our policy is clear. Whoever tries to harm us, we will strike at him. We will continue to act in the region as is required in order to defend Israel.   But the Syrian army said it struck an Israeli warplane that had breached its air space at the Syria-Lebanon border.   The Israeli enemy this morning violated our air space... Our air defense mediums confronted it, hit one of its planes directly and forced it to flee,  the Syrian military statement said.  Over two hours later, Israel launched several missiles that hit a military position in the Damascus countryside and only caused material damage, it said. Syria s army warned Israel against the  grave consequences of repeated aggressive attempts .  Syria and Israel, while old enemies, have rarely traded blows directly since a 1974 ceasefire ended their last conventional war. Monday s incident was additionally unusual given its publication by Israel, which rarely gives details on its air force activities over Lebanon and Syria to foil suspected arms transfers to Iran-backed Hezbollah fighters.  Such missions in Syria have increased dramatically during the country s six-and-a-half-year-old civil war, Israeli officials say. All efforts, they say, are made to avoid accidental clashes with Russian forces helping Damascus beat back insurgents. Russian Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu began a visit to Israel later on Monday but did not mention the air strike during public remarks at the start of a meeting in Tel Aviv with his Israeli counterpart, Avigdor Lieberman.  I would like to talk about the things related to Syria. The operation there is close to the end. There are several problems which require urgent solution and the prospects of further development of the situation in Syria require discussion,  Shoigu said. Conricus said the Israeli military had informed Russia of its Syria strike  in real time or immediately before  it took place, and would brief Shoigu. The Lebanese army says Israeli aircraft regularly violate Lebanon s air space.  Conricus said a Syrian attack on Israeli air force planes over Lebanon was unprecedented. Syrian anti-aircraft missiles were launched at Israeli warplanes over Syria in March. They were unscathed but one of the missiles, on its descent, was intercepted by Israel s Arrow air defense system.  According to Conricus, the Syrian battery struck on Monday had carried out the launch against the Israeli planes in March.

Summary: इजरायल का कहना है कि लेबनान के ऊपर उसके विमानों पर गोलीबारी करने वाली सीरियाई इकाई पर हमला


WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Senate Finance Committee on Tuesday approved President Donald Trump’s choice for U.S. Trade Representative, bringing Robert Lighthizer a step closer to taking office as U.S. trade disputes with Canada and Mexico heat up. The panel also voted to approve a legal waiver for Lighthizer from a 1995 law that prohibits people who did work on behalf of foreign governments from serving as the top U.S. trade negotiator. Lighthizer did work on behalf of the Brazilian agriculture agency in the late 1980s and assisted a colleague with work for a Chinese electronics industry group in 1991. Lighthizer’s nomination now moves to the full U.S. Senate for approval. If confirmed, he will represent the Trump administration in its planned renegotiation of the North American Free Trade Agreement. The U.S. Commerce Department on Monday announced 20 percent anti-subsidy duties on Canadian softwood lumber imports amid a long-running unresolved trade dispute between the United States and its second-largest trade partner.

Summary: अमेरिकी सीनेट पैनल ने अमेरिकी व्यापार प्रतिनिधि के लिए लाइटहाइज़र को मंजूरी दी


DHAKA (Reuters) - A truck carrying relief supplies for Rohingya Muslim refugees  skidded off a hilly road in Bangladesh and plunged into a paddy field on Thursday, killing nine people and injuring 10, police and aid workers said. The accident happened in a district near the Myanmar border where refugees have been arriving since late last month to escape a Myanmar military offensive against insurgents that the United Nations has described as ethnic cleansing.  Six died on the spot while three died on the way to hospital,  A. K. M. Jahangir, a senior official with the Red Crescent relief group, told Reuters. Some of the injured were in critical condition, he added. The dead and injured were laborers, traveling in the truck to help distribute the aid supplies. About 422,000 refugees from Myanmar have poured into Bangladesh since Aug. 25, when attacks by Rohingya militants on security posts triggered the Myanmar army offensive in response. Buddhist-majority Myanmar denies ethnic cleansing, saying its security forces are tackling Rohingya terrorists.

Summary: बांग्लादेश में रोहिंग्या सहायता ट्रक दुर्घटनाग्रस्त, नौ की मौत


BEIRUT (Reuters) - Israeli missiles struck a military position near Damascus and Syria s air defence system responded on Saturday, destroying two of them, Syrian state television said.  The Israeli enemy launched...several surface-to-surface missiles towards a military position,  it said, adding there had been  material losses at the site. An Israeli military spokeswoman had declined to comment on earlier reports of such an attack overnight. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said missiles, probably fired by the Israeli military, struck an arms depot of the Syrian army or its allied forces after midnight.  The Britain-based group, which monitors the war through a network of contacts in Syria, said the attack hit near al-Kiswa town south of the capital Damascus, causing loud explosions.  The Israeli air force has said it struck arms convoys of the Syrian military and Lebanon s Hezbollah nearly 100 times during more than six years of the Syrian war. Israel has grown deeply alarmed by Iran s expanding clout during the conflict, and has warned it would act against any threat from its regional foe Tehran.     Iran has provided critical support to President Bashar al-Assad s military in fighting Syrian rebels and Islamic State militants. Iran-backed Shi ite militias, including Hezbollah, have helped Damascus regain control of swathes of the country.  On a visit to Damascus in October, Iran s military chief warned Israel against breaching Syrian airspace or territory.

Summary: इजरायली मिसाइलों ने दमिश्क के पास सैन्य चौकी पर हमला कियाः सीरियाई राज्य टीवी


WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. Deputy Defense Secretary Robert Work said the Pentagon’s plan to truncate the Littoral Combat Ship program at 40 ships instead of 52 reflected budget pressures and was “not an indictment” of the program. Lockheed Martin Corp (LMT.N) and Australia’s Austal (ASB.AX) each build different models of the smaller, fast coastal warships. Carter said he wants the Navy to have a competition and pick just one supplier for future ships. Work said the Pentagon decided to buy two of the ships in fiscal 2017, instead of scaling orders back to just one ship as Defense Secretary Ash Carter had ordered in a memo late last year, at the Navy’s request. He said the move was meant to help ensure a smooth transition to a future competition by keeping both shipbuilders working for another year.

Summary: पेंटागन का नंबर 2 कहता है कि एल. सी. एस. जहाज कार्यक्रम में कटौती 'अभियोग नहीं' है


BEIJING (Reuters) - China s graft-busters will be required to do more to  protect detained suspects, such as informing families and employers within a day of their detention, state media said on Friday, as part of efforts to revise a secret interrogation system. President Xi Jinping has vowed that his war against graft in the ruling Communist Party will not ease until officials at all levels dare not, cannot and do not want to be corrupt. Xi told top party leaders in October revision of the anti-graft architecture would include the scrapping of a controversial  shuanggui  system of secret interrogations, and the introduction of a new detention system. Protection for detained suspects have been added to a draft national supervision law under review by the National People s Congress, China s legislature, according to the official Xinhua news agency.     The latest version of the legislation says both families and employers of suspects must by notified within 24 hours of their detention, unless that might result in witness interference or evidence tampering, Xinhua reported. Previously, either families or employers needed to be contacted and inspectors could keep a detention a secret if they feared any kind of interference, such as with witnesses or evidence. Xinhua said physical checks of female suspects would be carried out by female workers under the new rules. Rights groups have welcomed the proposed changes saying the old system allowed abuses and torture, but urged that the new system not simply repackage old ways. The legislation is expected to be passed in March. It will also legally empower a State Supervision Commission to oversee various anti-graft agencies and all civil servants. Under the proposed new rules, assets frozen or seized from suspects and later found to be unrelated to the investigation should be unfrozen or returned within three days, Xinhua said. Cases should be thrown out if no evidence of a crime is found, Xinhua said.

Summary: हिरासत प्रणाली में सुधार के बीच चीन ने भ्रष्टाचार के संदिग्धों के लिए नई सुरक्षा जोड़ी


ROME (Reuters) - A court in Sicily has suspended the results of an internal primary ballot by the anti-establishment 5-Star Movement, potentially disrupting its bid to win control of the island in an election in November. The Palermo court on Tuesday accepted an appeal by a 5-Star member who had been excluded from the online vote to pick its candidate for regional president, due to a dispute over 5-Star s internal code of conduct. The court will decide at a future hearing what action 5-Star must take, but its ruling is a setback for the maverick movement which hopes a victory in Sicily can pave the way to success at a national election due early next year. A victory in Sicily would give 5-Star control of its first regional government, while a defeat would be the second blow this year after it fared badly in mayoral elections in June. It is possible that 5-Star will have to repeat the online primary it held in July, which selected Giancarlo Cancelleri as its candidate for Sicilian president in the Nov. 5 election. It is not the first time court rulings have tripped up 5-Star, which is still Italy s most popular party, according to most opinion polls. In a similar case in April, a court in Genoa backed a 5-Star member who had been excluded from a primary ahead of mayoral elections in the city. That sparked a damaging split which contributed to a defeat in the home town of the party s founder, comedian Beppe Grillo. 5-Star s mayor of Rome, Virginia Raggi, has also been plagued by legal disputes involving her and her team since she was elected as the capital s first woman mayor in June 2016. 5-Star, which bases its appeal on a fight against corruption and cronyism among Italy s mainstream parties, has invested enormous political capital in the Sicily election. Its most prominent national figures spent the summer touring the island with Cancelleri before the other parties had even picked their candidates. According to opinion polls Cancelleri is running neck-and-neck with a candidate backed by a center-right coalition, with the center left s candidate lagging behind. A post on Grillo s blog, the party s mouthpiece, said it would comply with whatever the court decided and its participation in the Sicilian election was not in doubt. On Sept. 23 the party will announced its candidate for prime minister after another online vote of its members, with 31-year-old lower house deputy Luigi Di Maio widely expected to win.

Summary: इटली की अदालत ने सिसिली में मतदान से पहले 5-स्टार को झटका दिया


MAPUTO (Reuters) - Mozambican President Filipe Nyusi has sacked four ministers, including those with the foreign affairs and energy portfolios, his office said late on Tuesday, without giving a reason. Energy is a key portfolio in Mozambique, which has vast untapped offshore gas reserves that are being developed by oil majors such as Italy s Eni. Nyusi s office said Ernesto Max Elias Tonela had replaced Leticia da Silva Klemens as minister of energy and mineral resources and Jose Condugua Antonio Pacheco was the new foreign minister, replacing Oldemiro Baloi. The president also replaced the ministers of industry and trade and of agriculture and food security.     Tonela, the new energy minister, previously served as commerce minister. An economist by training, Tonela has also  worked previously on the board of the Hidroelectrica de Cahora Bassa (HCB) company responsible for Mozambique s 2,000 megawatt hydroelectric dam.

Summary: मोजाम्बिक के राष्ट्रपति ने ऊर्जा और विदेश मंत्रियों की जगह ली


KARACHI, Pakistan (Reuters) - Muslims in Pakistan crowded mosques and prayer grounds across the country to offer prayers and sacrifice goats and cows for Eid al-Adha holiday on Saturday, marking the second major religious festival of Islam. Security was tight, with authorities on guard from any possible attack by religious extremists who have carried out bombings across the country in recent years.  Today, we are here to offer Eid prayers,  said worshipper Saleem Ahmed at a ceremony in Karachi, Pakistan s largest city.  The security arrangements were very good. May Allah approve our prayers.  Eid al-Adha commemorates the Koranic tale of the Prophet Abraham s willingness to sacrifice his son as an act of obedience to Allah, before Allah replaced the son with a ram to be sacrificed instead. A similar story involving Abraham is recounted in the holy books of Judaism and Christianity. It is tradition for those who can afford it to sacrifice domestic animals as a symbol of Abraham s willingness to sacrifice his only son. The result is a booming pre-holiday trade in goats, cows and sheep. In Pakistan alone, nearly 10 million animals, worth more than $3 billion, are slaughtered during the two days of Eid al-Adha, according to the Pakistan Tanners  Association.  We are presenting sacrifices to follow the path of the prophet Abraham. We should not forget our poor and needy Muslim brethren on this occasion,  Karachi resident Mohamad Muzammil said at the prayer ground where cows and goats were being slaughtered. Eid al-Adha marks the end of an annual Hajj, or pilgrimage to Mecca, which is one of the five pillars of Islam, and should be undertaken by every Muslim who can afford to do so. With a population of about 208 million people, Pakistan is the sixth most-populous country in the world, and has the second largest Muslim population after Indonesia. About 97 percent of Pakistanis are Muslims.

Summary: प्रार्थना, बलिदान के साथ, पाकिस्तानी मुसलमान ईद अल-अधा मनाते हैं


UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - United Nations political affairs chief Jeffrey Feltman met with North Korea s Ambassador Ja Song Nam on Wednesday to tell him Pyongyang must  desist from taking any further destabilizing steps  after the country launched another ballistic missile.  During the meeting, I stressed that there is nothing more dangerous to peace and security in the world than what is happening now on the Korean Peninsula,  Feltman told the U.N. Security Council during a meeting on North Korea s most advanced intercontinental ballistic missile test yet.

Summary: संयुक्त राष्ट्र ने उत्तर कोरिया के राजदूत से कहा कि प्योंगयांग को 'अस्थिर करने वाले कदम' बंद करने चाहिए


ABU DHABI (Reuters) - - Hillary Clinton’s victory in the Democratic presidential primary race is a “historic moment” for the United States and should be celebrated by Republicans and Democrats alike, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said on Wednesday. Clinton declared herself the Democratic Party nominee on Tuesday evening after winning the New Jersey primary, setting up a general election campaign against Republican candidate Donald Trump in the Nov. 8 election.  She is the first woman in American history to attain the presidential nomination of a major political party. “As a father of two daughters, I’m proud,” Kerry told reporters while traveling from China to the United Arab Emirates, adding that he had sent a message to Clinton congratulating her on the outcome. “She’ll make a terrific president.”     Kerry, who was the Democratic nominee for president in 2004 but lost to Republican incumbent President George W. Bush, said Clinton’s achievement was a “truly historic moment for the nation.”     “Everybody ought to celebrate it, Republican or Democrat alike,” he said. “It’s a breakthrough, and I think that whether you’re voting for Trump or you’re voting for her or whoever, you ought to take pride.”

Summary: केरी का कहना है कि किसी भी पार्टी की परवाह किए बिना सभी को क्लिंटन की जीत का जश्न मनाना चाहिए


BERLIN (Reuters) - A German court on Wednesday ordered the release of an army officer suspected of planning to carry out an attack on politicians and incriminate asylum seekers, saying there was not enough evidence to keep him in detention. The officer, named only as Franco A., was arrested in April in a case that shocked Germans and stirred a debate about the depth of right-wing radicalism in the country s military. Prosecutors suspected that Franco A., along with two accomplices, wanted to implicate refugees in their planned attack by posing under a false identity as an asylum seeker. Former president Joachim Gauck and Justice Minister Heiko Maas were on a list of possible targets prepared by the suspects, who wanted to make their attack look like the work of Islamist militants, prosecutors had said. However, the Federal Court of Justice ruled on Wednesday that there was not enough evidence that Franco A. was preparing an attack to keep him in detention, even if there were some grounds for suspicion. Investigators must now make clear whether they have enough evidence to bring the officer to trial. A suspected accomplice was freed in July pending trial, while the other suspect was released for lack of evidence. The case had put pressure on Chancellor Angela Merkel s government, with her close ally, Defence Minister Ursula von der Leyen, facing criticism for failing to deal with right-wing extremism in the army and also because she implied that most soldiers were right-wing radicals. Franco A., who served with an army battalion stationed in France, had used a fake identity to register as a Syrian refugee and moved into a shelter for migrants in Bavaria even though he speaks no Arabic. The soldier had previously been detained in late January by Austrian authorities on suspicion of having hidden an illegal gun in a bathroom at Vienna s main airport.

Summary: जर्मन अदालत ने हमले की योजना के आरोपी सैनिक को रिहा करने का आदेश दिया


KATHMANDU (Reuters) - Nepal has scrapped a $2.5 billion deal with China Gezhouba Group Corporation to build the country s biggest hydropower plant, citing lapses in the award process, the energy minister said.  The cabinet has canceled the irregular ... agreement with Gezhouba Group to build the Budhi Gandaki hydroelectric project,  Energy Minister Kamal Thapa, who is also the country s deputy prime minister, said on Monday in a twitter post in Nepali after a cabinet meeting. He did not give further details. Nepal s rivers, cascading from the snow-capped Himalayas, have vast, untapped potential for hydropower generation, but a lack of funds and technology has made Nepal lean on neighbor India to meet annual demand of 1,400 megawatts (MW). In June, a Maoist-dominated coalition government awarded a contract to China Gezhouba Group Corporation to build a 1,200 MW  plant on the Budhi Gandaki river, about 50 km (32 miles) west of Kathmandu, to address acute power shortages. Critics say the $2.5 billion project was handed to the Chinese company without any competitive bidding, which is required by law, and a parliamentary panel asked the government that succeeded the Maoist-led coalition to scrap the deal. Speaking in Beijing on Tuesday, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang said he was unaware of the reports but said China maintained very good relations with Nepal and enjoyed cooperation in many areas and projects. Gezhouba did not immediately respond to a faxed request for comment and did not answer telephone calls. China and India jostle for influence with aid and investment in infrastructure projects in Nepal. Kathmandu has cleared a 750 MW project to be built on the West Seti River in the western part of the country by China s state-owned Three Gorges International Corp. It has also permitted two Indian companies - GMR Group and Satluj Jal Vidyut Nigam Limited - to build one hydropower plant each, both capable of generating 900 MW of power each, mainly to be exported to India.

Summary: नेपाल ने चीनी कंपनी के साथ 25 करोड़ डॉलर के पनबिजली संयंत्र सौदे को रद्द किया


ALBANY, N.Y. (Reuters) - New York’s state assembly on Tuesday overwhelmingly voted to legalize mixed martial arts fights, effectively ending the last remaining statewide ban on the combat sport in the United States. Governor Andrew Cuomo has already said he would sign the measure, which previously passed the state Senate. Mixed martial arts features kicking, punching, wrestling and other maneuvers that can leave the combatants bloodied and sometimes unconscious. Lawmakers passed the legislation by a 113-25 vote after more than three hours of debate, with forceful speeches from both opponents and supporters of the bill. Assemblyman Danny O’Donnell, an openly gay Democrat who represents part of New York City and is the brother of actress Rosie O’Donnell, compared the sport to “gay porn.” He suggested the competitions might be susceptible to corruption. Ellen Jaffee, a Democrat from a New York City suburb, called the sport “barbaric” and said it is harmful to women because it distorts the image of masculinity. But Assembly Majority Leader Joseph Morelle, also a Democrat, said millions of fans deserve the chance to watch professional bouts in New York and argued that regulations would make the sport safer. The legislation came after years of obstruction from former Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver, who opposed the sport and refused to allow a vote. But Silver was convicted of federal corruption charges last year and replaced as speaker by Carl Heastie, a co-sponsor of the bill. MMA fights are expected to generate $135 million a year for the state’s coffers, according to a 2013 study by the sport’s major promoter, Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC). Arenas throughout New York would benefit, and Madison Square Garden in New York City is particularly well suited to stage the competitions, the bill’s sponsors said. Cuomo has already penciled in $3 million in revenue from ticket sales and cable fees in his proposed budget for the next fiscal year. The New York State Athletic Commission would have to set regulations after the governor signs the bill. Fans would have to wait until at least the fourth quarter of 2016 before seeing any bouts in the state. UFC is owned by brothers Lorenzo and Frank Fertitta of Station Casinos, a Las Vegas-based hotel-casino chain, through parent company Zuffa LLC [ZUFFA.UL]. The company had sued New York state over the ban, calling it unconstitutional.

Summary: न्यूयॉर्क के सांसदों ने मिश्रित मार्शल आर्ट पर अंतिम राज्यव्यापी प्रतिबंध समाप्त किया


BERLIN (Reuters) - French Prime Minister Edouard Philippe said during a visit to Berlin on Friday that Britain had still not clearly defined its positions on Brexit and that this was making negotiations with the EU-27 more difficult. Answering questions from an audience in Berlin after a speech on the French government s reform drive, Philippe rejected a suggestion that other European countries were being  tough  on Britain and said it bore blame for difficulties in the talks.  Our aim is not to be tough with the British. What is true is that these are difficult negotiations,  Philippe said.  And they are difficult, they have been made difficult, because the initial positions of British diplomats still need to be clearly defined to a certain extent,  he added, before heading to the chancellery for a meeting with Germany s Angela Merkel. Nearly three months into talks on the terms of Britain s departure from the European Union, the two sides have made little progress on the issues that Brussels wants resolved before talks on a future trading relationship begin. These include expatriate citizens  rights, the Irish border and the bill that London should pay its EU partners to settle existing financial commitments. Philippe said he regretted Britain s decision to leave the EU and, coming from Normandy, felt like he was among cousins when he traveled to the United Kingdom. But he said it was important for the EU-27 and its lead negotiator, Frenchman Michel Barnier, to ensure that the interests of citizens on the continent were protected. For that, the bloc had to stick to its sequencing plan.  It is our responsibility to ensure that the exit is done in an orderly manner,  Philippe said.

Summary: ब्रिटेन के स्पष्ट रुख की कमी ब्रेक्सिट वार्ता को कठिन बना रही हैः फ्रांसीसी प्रधानमंत्री


WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The World Bank on Thursday approved $150 million in disaster financing for the Dominican Republic to help it better prepare for natural disasters, weeks after the country was pummeled by two major hurricanes. The loan was the first contingency line of credit approved by the World Bank for a Caribbean country under the so-called Catastrophe Deferred Drawdown Option. The facility provides countries with financing to prepare them for natural disasters without taking government resources away from social or development programs, the World Bank said. The Dominican Republic was battered by Hurricane Irma on Sept. 7 and drenched days later by Hurricane Maria, forcing evacuations and damaging infrastructure and homes.       This financing will help us mitigate risks from climate shocks, natural disasters, as well as pandemics,  Dominican Republic President Danilo Medina said in a statement. Tahseen Sayed, World Bank director for the Caribbean, said the financing would help the Dominican Republic strengthen and speed up its response to disasters.  The most important lesson from our experience in disaster response across the world is to invest in prevention and preparedness to be able to respond speedily when disaster strikes,  said Sayed. Economic damage from disasters in the Dominican Republican is estimated at about $420 million a year, according to a recent World Bank and Ministry of Economy, Planning and Development study.

Summary: विश्व बैंक ने डोमिनिकन गणराज्य के लिए 15 करोड़ डॉलर के आपदा कोष को मंजूरी दी


TAPA, Estonia (Reuters) - Britain will remain  unconditionally committed  to protecting Europe after it has left the European Union, Prime Minister Theresa May said on Friday, citing the need to come together in the face of threats from Russia.  When a nation like Russia deliberately violates the rules-based international order that we have worked so hard to create, we must come together with our allies to defend that international system,  she told British troops in northern Estonia.    The United Kingdom is unconditionally committed to maintaining Europe s security and we will continue to offer aid and assistance to EU member states that are the victims of armed aggression, terrorism and natural or man-made disasters.   May is in Estonia for an EU meeting.

Summary: ब्रिटेन यूरोपीय संघ की सुरक्षा के लिए 'बिना शर्त प्रतिबद्ध' हैः प्रधानमंत्री मे


UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said on Friday the situation on the Korean Peninsula is critical and that a peace agreement is the “only right choice” in the nuclear dispute with North Korea. “Peaceful settlement of the nuclear issue on the Korean Peninsula through dialogue and negotiations represents the only right choice that is practical and viable,” Wang told reporters at the United Nations before a ministerial meeting of the 15-member Security Council.

Summary: उत्तर कोरिया पर शांतिपूर्ण समझौता ही सही विकल्प हैः चीन के विदेश मंत्री


SINGAPORE (Reuters) - Southeast Asian countries must step up their fight against religious militancy taking root in their region, including in Myanmar s troubled Rakhine State, Singapore s foreign minister said on Tuesday. The minister, Vivian Balakrishnan, said the weakening of Islamic State (IS) in the Middle East and the recent occupation of the Philippine town of Marawi by IS-supporting gunmen had renewed concern that the region could become a magnet for militants.  We saw some returning fighters to Marawi in the southern Philippines and there are other potential hotbeds for terrorists in our region,  Balakrishnan said in a lecture on Singapore s priorities as it prepares to take over as chair of the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN).  Even our concern about the Rakhine state is also related to our anxiety that this becomes another sanctuary, another hotbed for extremism,  he said.  It is not just a Middle East phenomenon.  ASEAN includes Indonesia, which has the world s biggest Muslim population, mostly Muslim Malaysia and Buddhist-majority Myanmar, where a campaign of violence against members of the Rohingya Muslim minority in Rakhine State has brought U.N. accusations of ethnic cleansing. Myanmar rejects the accusations. Nevertheless, both Indonesia and Malaysia have pressed it over the plight of the Rohingya, more than 600,000 of whom have fled to Bangladesh since late August. Singapore has offered humanitarian help for those displaced by the violence. ASEAN members have pledged greater cooperation and intelligence sharing to combat the threat of Islamic militancy. The mostly Christian Philippines has over the past year faced the region s most serious militant violence, which began when hundreds of gunmen, including some from elsewhere in the region, occupied Marawi, sparking the country s most serious fighting since World War Two. Indonesia and Malaysia say thousands of their citizens sympathize with IS and hundreds are believed to have traveled to Syria to join the group. Indonesian authorities last year disrupted a plot by militants to launch an attack in multi-ethnic Singapore. Singapore will be chair of the 10-member ASEAN in 2018.

Summary: आसियन में आतंकवाद के प्रसार को रोकना सिंगापुर की प्राथमिकता हैः मंत्री


WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. Education Secretary Betsy DeVos has been reworking student lending since her appointment in February, raising concerns among Democrats that she will undo former President Barack Obama’s overhaul of college financial aid. On Monday, 21 state attorneys general, all Democrats, wrote to Republican DeVos decrying her decision to end the Education Department’s work on reforming loan servicing, steps intended to ensure that borrowers understand their outstanding debt and repayment options. “We should be looking for ways to ease the burden of student debt, not enabling the student loan servicing industry to manipulate and exploit students,” New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman said in a statement. Under Democrat Obama, much of the $1.3 trillion business of student lending was moved from banks and other companies to the federal government. Four companies still handle servicing the loans. Last year the department began working on restrictions as well as incentives to ensure those servicers follow the law. In March, the Consumer Federation of America reported that $137 billion in student loans were in default. In an April 11 memo announcing she was stopping reform efforts, DeVos, appointed by President Donald Trump, wrote the process had been riddled with “moving deadlines, changing requirements and a lack of consistent objectives.” “We now find ourselves in a situation where we must promptly address not only these shortcomings but also any other issues that may impede our ability to ensure borrowers do not experience deficiencies in service,” DeVos wrote, according to a version published on the department website. The department did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the letter from the attorneys general. The head of the Democratic National Committee, former Labor Secretary Tom Perez, said DeVos’ decision was intended to boost the profits of big corporations and counteract Obama’s reforms. Republicans say the U.S. government should get out of the business of making student loans. In January, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau sued the largest loan servicer, Navient Corp, over allegations it cheated borrowers by deceiving them about repayment options and their rights. Illinois and Washington also sued the company, which was spun off of Sallie Mae in 2014.  Navient said the bureau, created under Obama to protect people from fraud, sued because it would not settle a CFPB investigation right before Trump took office. The U.S. Department of Justice sanctioned Navient in 2014 for giving military members wrong information about their loans.

Summary: डेमोक्रेटिक राज्य के अटॉर्नी जनरल ने रिपब्लिकन द्वारा छात्र ऋण पुनर्निर्माण की निंदा की


WASHINGTON/BRUSSELS (Reuters) - A U.S. Senate panel approved measures on Thursday that were causing concern in Europe among negotiators hammering out a new trans-Atlantic pact on electronic data transfer, an issue for many companies such as Facebook and Microsoft. In a step toward addressing global concerns about data privacy, the Senate Judiciary Committee approved legislation, headed next to the full Senate for a vote, that would give some Europeans the right to sue in the United States over allegations of electronic data privacy violations. But amendments were added at the last minute that raised questions from the European Union in Brussels. That is where negotiators are working on a broad “Safe Harbor” agreement, which faces a deadline next week, that will protect the free transfer between the United States and Europe of data such as web searches and social media updates. A previous Safe Harbor pact was ruled invalid by a top European Union court in October 2015 amid concerns in Europe about U.S. Internet surveillance. The Senate’s Judicial Redress Act, approved by the committee, is not seen as crucial to securing the new Safe Harbor pact, but European privacy regulators have been clamoring for passage of the act as a sign of good faith. “That is a very, very important signal of trust and reliability,” European Commission Director for Fundamental Rights Paul Nemitz told Reuters at a conference in Brussels. Complicating this gesture were two amendments, pushed by Republican Senator John Cornyn of Texas and adopted unanimously. One would limit the ability to sue in U.S. courts to citizens of countries already in an international data deal with the United States, such as Safe Harbor. Another would require the U.S. attorney general to certify that participating countries do not have policies impeding U.S. national security. EU authorities have given Safe Harbor negotiators until the end of January to strike a new deal. Several sources familiar with the talks said negotiators have made progress in the past week, but hurdles remain. U.S. Federal Trade Commissioner Julie Brill said on Thursday in Brussels that reaching agreement would require the European Commission to consider the changes the United States has made to its national security laws in recent years. Under the EU Charter, individual member states retain powers over national security, which in practice means Brussels is unable to negotiate with Washington on such issues, the moderator of the conference panel noted.

Summary: कांग्रेस में डेटा गोपनीयता विधेयक, ट्रांस-अटलांटिक सौदा मायावी


MANILA (Reuters) - The Philippines said on Tuesday it would investigate whether safety regulations were ignored at an office where a fire killed 37 call center employees, and vowed to impose sanctions if firms had not met standards. The remains of 37 employees of the U.S.-based Research Now SSI killed by Saturday s fire in Davao City have been recovered and a criminal investigation will be launched by the Justice Department. Labour Secretary Silvestre Bello said he had instructed the government s workplace health and safety agency and the Labour Ministry s regional office in Davao, President Rodrigo Duterte s hometown, to investigate if there were lapses in safety standards. The fire broke out at a furniture store on the third level of the 14-year-old New City Commercial Center and quickly engulfed an outsourcing business on the upper floor, based on an initial report from the city government.  We will immediately look into possible violations of some safety and health standards,  Bello told Reuters.  We may not issue any clearance to operate,  he said when asked to clarify sanctions that could be imposed on the mall or call center management if culpable.  Research Now SSI has confirmed 37 of its 500 employees in its Davao call center were  lost  in the fire.  We cannot comment on what is an ongoing investigation,  said Barbara Palmer, company senior vice president for global marketing, in an email in response to a Reuters query on Tuesday about safety protocols at the company s Davao office. On Sunday the firm said in a statement it was helping to support funeral arrangements and would create a fund for contributions for victims  families. The fire is a setback for the Philippines  $23 billion business process outsourcing (BPO) industry, which is an economic lifeline in the country of more than 100 million. The sector employs about 1.15 million people, with jobs forecast to grow to 1.8 million by 2025. Along with remittances from overseas workers, BPO revenues are a major earner of foreign exchange for the country, driving what is one of Asia s fastest-growing economies. The BPO Industry Employees Network (BIEN) has expressed concern about postings on social media that said the building was made of sub-standard materials, had locked its fire exits, and had not held fire drills. It was not possible to immediately check the accuracy of the postings. BIEN said the government should look into every BPO firm s compliance with occupational health and safety standards.  Justice must be served to the victims and those accountable must be penalized so as to avoid future workplace deaths,  BIEN said in a statement. On Monday night, Duterte told relatives of victims that the National Bureau of Investigation, police and fire protection bureau would get to the bottom of the disaster.  The truth will come out,  he said.  Research Now SSI has offices in Texas, California, New York and Toronto and more than 3,500 market research, consulting, media, healthcare and corporate clients. The Call Centre Association of the Philippines (CCAP) said it was waiting for a full report from Research Now SSI, but saw no problem with its members meeting workplace safety standards.  We always comply with government safety regulations because our priority is the welfare of all our employees,  CCAP President Jojo Uligan told Reuters. But the Associated Labour Unions-Trade Union Congress of the Philippines (ALU-TUCP) said safety standards were not being adhered to and the labor department and companies were not living up to their responsibilities to enforce and comply.  This deaths-causing fire could have been minimized to the barest damage to property,  ALU-TUCP spokesman Alan Tanjusay said.

Summary: फिलीपींस सुरक्षा में लापरवाही बरतने पर घातक आग में शामिल कंपनियों पर प्रतिबंध लगाएगा


WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson on Thursday welcomed Chinese efforts toward North Korea amid tensions over Pyongyang s nuclear weapons program, but said Beijing could do more with its oil exports to pressure North Korea.    The Chinese are doing a lot. We do think they could do more with the oil. We re really asking them to please restrain more of the oil, not cut it off completely,  Tillerson said in remarks at the State Department.

Summary: टिलरसनः चीन आई. डी. 1 तक तेल निर्यात पर अंकुश लगाने के लिए और अधिक कर सकता है


WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. senators called on President Barack Obama’s administration on Friday to impose targeted sanctions on officials in the Democratic Republic of Congo responsible for violence and rights violations amid rising political tensions. Hoping to increase pressure on the government of President Joseph Kabila, three of Obama’s fellow Democrats, senators Richard Durbin, Edward Markey and Christopher Murphy, said on Friday they had introduced a Senate resolution this week calling on Kabila’s government to fulfill its constitutional mandate for a democratic transition of power late this year. They called for targeted sanctions, including visa bans and asset freezes, until Kabila publicly commits to a peaceful transition of power. Their action reflected growing international worry over the situation in the African nation. United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on Wednesday voiced concern about reports of rising political tension due to uncertainty about the presidential election.  Dozens of Kabila critics have been arrested since last year as part of what the United Nations and rights groups say is an escalating crackdown on political dissent ahead of a presidential election scheduled for November. Kabila is ineligible to stand for re-election after serving two elected terms, but opponents accuse him of trying to delay the poll to hold onto power. Congo’s highest court ruled last week that the president could stay in power if elections did not occur by the end of his mandate. On Thursday, a protester and a police officer were killed in Goma, in the eastern part of the country, during protests against a possible elections delay. The United Nations said dozens of people were arrested. Opposition leaders accuse Kabila of stalling the vote in order to extend his 15-year rule, which the president denies. Democratic congressional aides said they expected to add more co-sponsors for the resolution after Congress returns from its Memorial Day recess on June 6. There is bipartisan support for U.S. action to address the situation.  Republican Senator Jeff Flake, the chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee’s Africa subcommittee, told Reuters in a brief interview this week that he felt sanctions would be appropriate and had discussed them with U.S. State Department officials. “Hopefully we’re together on this,” Flake said. “I think we will be. We just want to make sure that whatever we do, pushes in the right direction.”

Summary: सीनेटर चाहते हैं कि ओबामा कांगो पर प्रतिबंध लगाए


TOKYO (Reuters) - U.S. Vice President Mike Pence on Tuesday put Japan on notice that Washington wants results “in the near future” from talks it hopes will open markets to U.S. goods, adding that the dialogue could lead to negotiations on a two-way trade deal. U.S. President Donald Trump and Prime Minister Shinzo Abe arranged the economic dialogue between their deputies at a Washington summit in February, soon after Trump took office. “Today we are beginning a process of economic dialogue, the end of which may result in bilateral trade negotiations in the future,” Pence told a news conference with Deputy Prime Minister Taro Aso, his counterpart at Tuesday’s talks. “At some point in the future, there may be a decision made between our nations to take what we have learned in this dialogue and commence formal negotiations for a free trade agreement,” he said. “But I leave that for the future.” The comments dash the hopes of Japanese policymakers, who have said they want to avoid use of the economic dialogue as a forum to discuss a bilateral FTA that may put them under U.S. pressure to open up highly-protected areas like agriculture. They also echo those of U.S. Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross, who told reporters that Washington was eager to increase trade ties with Tokyo through a two-way pact. Trump campaigned for office on an “America First” platform, saying he would boost U.S. manufacturing jobs and shrink the country’s trade deficit with countries like Japan. Trump also abandoned the 12-nation Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) backed by predecessor Barack Obama and Abe, and vowed to revisit regional trade deals to focus on two-way agreements. Pence said the TPP was a “thing of the past” and Washington would not wait forever for results from the talks. “When President Trump agreed to this dialogue, he envisioned this as a mechanism for enhancing bilateral commercial relations between the United States and Japan, and achieving results in the near future. And I share that vision and impatience,” Pence told Aso at the start of the talks. Aso in turn said U.S.-Japan trade friction, which soured ties in the 1980s and 1990s, was in the distant past and the allies were now entering an era of cooperation. “In the past, U.S.-Japan economic relations have started from friction, but we’re entering a new area where we start from cooperation,” he told the news conference. “Instead of one side telling the other what to do, I want to start debate on a relationship that is mutual and strategic.” In a statement after the talks, the two sides said they had agreed the dialogue should produce “concrete results in the near term.” They agreed to hold a second round of talks before the end of the year. Ross, seen as more hardline on trade, was also visiting Tokyo and met Japan’s trade minister Hiroshige Seko, a sign a bilateral trade deal was among Washington’s top priorities. “It’s a little bit early to say just what forms things will take, but we are certainly eager to increase our trade relationships with Japan, and to do so in the form of an agreement,” Ross said when asked about a possible free trade pact. Pence arrived in Tokyo from South Korea, where he visited the heavily fortified border separating the North and South. He described the U.S.-Japan alliance as the “cornerstone” of regional security. Pence’s 10-day tour of Asia aims at emphasising that U.S. President Donald Trump wants to boost U.S. trade in the region, despite scrapping the TPP. Japan had a $69-billion trade surplus with the United States last year, the U.S. Treasury Department has said, expressing concern over what it called the “persistence” of the imbalance.  Japanese officials counter that Tokyo accounts for a much smaller chunk of America’s deficit than in the past, while China’s imbalance is much bigger. Trump has complained Japan keeps its currency artificially low, although a Treasury Department report last week did not label Japan a currency manipulator. However, currencies did not figure in Tuesday’s talks, a Japanese government official said.

Summary: पेंस ने जापान में वार्ता शुरू की, दोनों पक्ष 'निकट अवधि "के परिणाम चाहते हैं


BEIRUT (Reuters) - With a sudden lunge through jihadist lines, the Syrian army and its allies on Monday came to within 3 km of relieving the Euphrates city of Deir al-Zor, where Islamic State has besieged 93,000 civilians and an army garrison for years.  The advance on the eastern city marks another stinging setback for the once-triumphant Islamic State, fast retreating in both Iraq and Syria as its self-declared caliphate crumbles. Syrian troops were rapidly approaching the city, reaching a point 3 km (2 miles) away, state television said. Dozens of trucks loaded with food stood ready to enter the enclave in the city once government forces break the siege, it said.    (For a graphic on battle for control in Syria click tmsnrt.rs/2wyo0lw)  A military media unit run by Hezbollah, a key ally of Damascus, said the advancing forces were heading to the garrison s camp on the city outskirts.  Deir al-Zor s provincial governor told Reuters he expected the army could reach the city within hours.   Islamic State is in confusion. There is no leadership or centralized control,  said a commander in the military alliance supporting Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. Hemmed in on all sides, Islamic State, which ruled over millions of people in both Iraq and Syria at its peak in 2014, is falling back on a last Euphrates stronghold downstream of Deir al-Zor city in the towns of al-Mayadin and al-Bukamal, near the border with Iraq.  But as it has lost its core territory - defeated in Iraq s Mosul now yielding street after street in Syria s Raqqa - the ultra-hardline group has still been able to launch attacks in the West and maintain a threat in other centers such as Libya. The fighters have been driven out of nearly all of their territory in Iraq over the past two years by government forces backed by a U.S.-led coalition. In Syria, they are fighting against both Assad s Russian-backed government and a U.S.-backed Arab and Kurdish militia that has launched an assault on Raqqa. In the IS-encircled pocket in Deir al-Zor, news of the army s approach prompted people to take to the streets to celebrate, governor Mohammed Ibrahim Samra said by phone. The city has been cut off since 2013, after rebel groups rose up against Assad during the first flush of Syria s six-year war. Islamic State then overran rebel positions and encircled the army s enclave in the city in 2014. It was a major prize. Deir al-Zor is the center of Syria s oil industry, a source of wealth to the group and a serious loss to Damascus. As the army has pushed east in recent months, oil and gas fields have once more fallen to the government.  Islamic State fighters stepped up efforts this year to seize the enclave before the army could arrive. In January, they severed it from the city s military airbase and took over a nearby hill, further straining its links to the outside.  During the long siege, high-altitude air drops have supplied the city. The United Nations said in August it estimated there were 93,000 civilians in the government s Deir al-Zor pocket, where conditions were  extremely difficult .   Despite all this and despite the shelling and injured, things are running in the city,  governor Samra had said on Sunday.  The institutions are running, the bakeries. Water is also pumped twice a week to our residents, aid is distributed daily.   For Assad, the weekend s lightning advance caps months of steady progress after government forces turned from their victory over rebels in the northern commercial capital Aleppo last December to push eastwards against Islamic State.  The army has been advancing in a rapid and calculated way from all directions,  a Syrian military source said, referring to the months-long campaign across the desert.  With Russian jets and an alliance of Shi ite militias backed by Iran, including Lebanon s Hezbollah, the army has captured swathes of the central and eastern deserts in parallel offensives from Palmyra and al-Resafa.  Those offensives have accelerated since linking up last month, taking swathes of land from Islamic State except for a small zone near the town of al-Salamiya. The militants still control much of Deir al-Zor province, including half the city.  Heavy Russian air cover has helped the Syrian military and allied forces march toward the city, Russia s defense ministry said in a statement on Monday. A resident of the city reached by telephone, who gave his name only as Mohammad, said he could hear the sound of warplanes in the distance. The army advances over the last two days had sparked  indescribable joy  among people in the enclave after years of siege, he said. Under attack, Islamic State has pulled reinforcements from al-Mayadin and relied on its usual tactics of booby traps, mines and sudden raids, the commander in the pro-Assad alliance said.  The latest advance came after intense preparatory artillery, a multi-pronged assault and gains in high ground commanding nearby areas, the non-Syrian commander said.  Meanwhile, as the army and its allies have forced other militant pockets to surrender, including an Islamic State enclave on Syria s border with Lebanon a week ago, they have been able to transfer more troops to the desert campaign.   It helped a lot to switch the military effort of the Syrian army and the resistance to the eastern Syrian desert,  the commander said, adding that thousands of troops had arrived from the battle on the Lebanon border.  Islamic State fighters and their families evacuated from that enclave as part of a surrender deal were escorted by the Syrian army and Hezbollah to east Syria, but have been stopped by a U.S.-led coalition from reaching Deir al-Zor.  Ten of the original 17 buses are now stuck in no-man s land between pro-government forces and Islamic State territory and six buses retreated back into government areas, the commander added.

Summary: सीरियाई सेना, सहयोगियों ने देइर अल-ज़ोर शहर में घेराबंदी तोड़ने के लिए पूर्व की ओर जोर दिया


WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Maryland became the latest state to join in legal challenges against President Donald Trump’s revised temporary travel ban on Friday, with its attorney general saying it would join a lawsuit brought by Washington and other states. Attorney General Brian Frosh said his office would formally join the suit on Monday. “The administration persists in an effort to implement a policy that is inhumane and unconstitutional, but also makes us less safe, not more safe,” Frosh said in a statement. The new travel order, which is set to take effect on Wednesday, replaced a more sweeping ban issued on Jan. 27 that caused chaos and protests at airports.  The first order, which temporarily halted the entry of refugees and travelers from seven Muslim-majority countries, was hit by more than two dozen lawsuits.  Detractors claimed it discriminated against Muslims and violated the U.S. Constitution.  The government has said the president has wide authority to implement immigration policy and that the travel rules are necessary to protect against terrorist attacks. “Trump’s second executive order is still a Muslim ban,” Frosh said in the statement.  The state of Washington brought one of the suits against the original ban, and last month a federal judge in Seattle ordered an emergency halt to the policy. That ruling was upheld by an appeals court in San Francisco. Washington is now asking the court to apply the emergency halt to the new ban, arguing it is a veiled version of the old one. The new order keeps a 90-day ban on travel to the United States by citizens of Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen, but excludes Iraq. Refugees are still halted from entering the country for 120 days, but the new order removed an indefinite ban on all refugees from Syria. Oregon and Minnesota also are joining Washington’s challenge. Hawaii has a separate case pending against the new ban.  Frosh said the ban would make Maryland less competitive by deterring visits by academics, scientists and engineers from other countries and would hurt Maryland’s universities and economy. The U.S. Department of Justice has declined to comment on the states’ cases because the litigation is pending.

Summary: ट्रम्प के यात्रा प्रतिबंध को अदालत में चुनौती देने वाले अन्य राज्यों में शामिल होगी मैरीलैंड


LONDON (Reuters) - Wolfgang Schaeuble, Germany s pro-austerity finance minister, is preparing to quit his job and become head of the lower house of parliament, the Bundestag, various sources said on Wednesday. As the following graphic shows, his time as finance chief starting in 2009 has been one of general improvement for Germany s economy, if not exactly smooth. After recovering from the 2007-2008 financial crisis, Germany has put in a series of solid growth years. Indeed, although the government s projection of 1.5 percent this year would be slower than 2016, it is widely expected to be upgraded soon. Germany s leading economic institutes are expecting 1.9 percent growth this year, the same as in 2016. With much of the focus of Schaeuble s term being on growth, inflation - very low but a German fixation nonetheless - and fiscal rectitude, one macro improvement has been fairly neglected. The unemployment rate since Schaeuble took office has plummeted. It was above 8 percent when he took the reins at the finance minister; the latest reading was 5.7 percent, by far the lowest since Germany s reunification and some time before that. GDP per capita is not such a bullish story. After taking off in the immediate post-crisis years, it has leveled off, suggesting Germans may be a bit worse off than they were.

Summary: वोल्फगैंग शेयबल की अर्थव्यवस्था-एक नज़र में


JAKARTA (Reuters) - The speaker of Indonesia s parliament, who is being investigated for his suspected involvement in a $170 million graft scandal, has tendered his resignation, two members of the assembly said on Monday. Setya Novanto was arrested last month over his suspected role in the scandal linked to a national electronic identity card scheme. Anti-corruption investigators then took him into custody from where he sent a letter to assembly leaders pleading to be allowed to keep his job while he fought the charges.  Mr Novanto has resigned,  member of parliament Yandri Susanto told Reuters, referring to a letter in which Novanto announced his decision.  He didn t say why.  A replacement for him as speaker was expected to be decided by his party, Golkar, at an extraordinary meeting on Dec. 19, said Dito Ganinduto, a member of parliament from Novanto s Golkar party. Novanto had not resigned as chairman of Golkar, Ganinduto said. A lawyer for Novanto, Maqdir Ismail, deferred questions on the matter to acting Golkar chairman Idrus Marham. Marham could not be reached for comment. Novanto had clung to power through several previous corruption cases. His latest battle with the graft agency has gripped Indonesia, where newspapers have splashed the story on front pages and social media posts mocking him have been widely shared.  Before his detention last month he had for months declined to answer summonses for questioning by the Corruption Eradication Commission, known by its Indonesian initials KPK. The allegations against Novanto have reinforced the perception among Indonesians that their parliament, long regarded as riddled with entrenched corruption, is a failing institution. Indonesia was ranked last year at 90 out of 176 countries on Transparency International s corruption perception index. The watchdog has singled out parliament as Indonesia s most corrupt institution, and in July called on President Joko Widodo to protect the KPK against attempts by the legislature to weaken the commission s powers. Critics inside and outside the parliament say the root problem is money politics.

Summary: भ्रष्टाचार की जांच के बीच इंडोनेशियाई संसद के अध्यक्ष ने दिया इस्तीफा


DUBLIN (Reuters) - Ireland s minister for social protection said she expects the government and main opposition party to avoid a snap election that a dispute between the two has left them 24 hours away from triggering.  I think we all know an election is coming but it just isn t right for the country to have that election right now and I do expect us to come back from the brink,  Regina Doherty told the Newstalk radio station on Monday.

Summary: आयरलैंड के मंत्री का कहना है कि चुनाव से बचने की उम्मीद है


(Reuters) - Several countries, the United Nations and journalist groups are demanding the release of Reuters reporters Wa Lone and Kyaw Soe Oo from detention in Myanmar.  The reporters were arrested on Dec. 12 after being invited to meet police officials on the outskirts of Yangon. They had worked on stories about a military crackdown in Rakhine state, scene of around 650,000 Rohingya Muslims fleeing to Bangladesh since late August. Myanmar s Ministry of Information has said the reporters  illegally acquired information with the intention to share it with foreign media,  and released a photo of them in handcuffs. It said the reporters and two policemen faced charges under the British colonial-era Official Secrets Act, which carries a maximum prison sentence of 14 years, though officials said they have not been charged. Their exact whereabouts are not known.  We and their families continue to be denied access to them or to the most basic information about their well-being and whereabouts,  Reuters President and Editor-In-Chief Stephen J. Adler said in a statement calling for their immediate release.      Wa Lone and Kyaw Soe Oo are journalists who perform a crucial role in shedding light on news of global interest, and they are innocent of any wrongdoing,  he said. Here are the comments on their detention from governments, politicians, human rights groups and press freedom advocates around the world:   - The European Union urged Myanmar on Monday to release the two Reuters reporters  as quickly as possible.  A spokeswoman for the EU s foreign affairs chief Federica Mogherini said,   Freedom of the press and media is the foundation and a cornerstone of any democracy.  - Dutch ambassador to Myanmar Wouter Jurgens said on Monday that  we urge the government for their immediate release or to provide clarity about their situation and what crimes they are accused of without further delay . - Vijay Nambiar, a former special adviser on Myanmar to the U.N. Secretary-General, said in a statement to Reuters on Monday that the detentions had caused  widespread disappointment within and outside the country that is likely to further damage the international reputation and image of Myanmar, already under stress as a result of its handling of the Rakhine crisis.  - The International Commission of Jurists (ICJ) called on Myanmar authorities to immediately disclose the whereabouts of the pair.  All detainees must be allowed prompt access to a lawyer and to family members,  Frederick Rawski, the ICJ s Asia-Pacific Regional Director, said in a statement on Monday. - Japanese Foreign Minister Taro Kano said in response to a question from a Reuters reporter on Tuesday:  Freedom of the press is extremely important, including in order to protect fundamental human rights. The Japanese government would like to watch (this matter) closely.   - Republican Thom Tillis and Democrat Chris Coons, the leaders of the U.S. Senate Human Rights Caucus, said they were  gravely concerned  about the arrests of the Reuters journalists and that freedom of the press was critical to ensuring accountability for violence against the Rohingya. Democratic congressman Ted Lieu, a member of the House of Representatives Foreign Affairs Committee, called the arrests  outrageous and a direct attack on press freedom.  - U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said last week the United States was  demanding their immediate release or information as to the circumstances around their disappearance.  On Tuesday, State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert  reiterated the U.S. demand for the reporters  immediate release. - British Minister for Asia and the Pacific Mark Field said,   I absolutely strongly disapprove of the idea of journalists, going about their everyday business, being arrested. We will make it clear in the strongest possible terms that we feel that they need to be released at the earliest possible opportunity.  - Swedish Foreign Minister Margot Wallstrom called the arrests a  threat to a democratic and peaceful development of Myanmar and that region.  She said,  We do not accept that journalists are attacked or simply kidnapped or that they disappear ... To be able to send journalists to this particular area is of crucial importance.   - U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said countries should do everything possible to secure the journalists  release and freedom of the press in Myanmar. Guterres said,  It is clearly a concern in relation to the erosion of press freedom in the country.   - Canada s Minister of Foreign Affairs Chrystia Freeland, the former managing director and editor, consumer news, at Thomson Reuters, tweeted that she was  deeply concerned  by the reports about the arrests. Global Affairs Canada, the Canadian government department that manages its foreign and trade relations, issued a statement on Saturday calling for the reporters  release and said  no person should ever face intimidation in the exercise of their profession.  - President of the European Parliament Antonio Tajani called on Myanmar to protect media freedoms and release the two reporters. - Australia s Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade said its embassy in Myanmar was registering Canberra s concern at the arrest of the two journalists.  A free and functioning media is an essential part of a modern democracy,  the department said in an e-mail to Reuters on Monday. - Iqbal Sobhan Chowdhury, information adviser to Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, said,  We strongly denounce arrests of Reuters journalists and feel that those reporters be free immediately so that they can depict the truth to the world by their reporting.  - The Committee to Protect Journalists said the arrests were  having a grave impact on the ability of journalists to cover a story of vital global importance . - The Paris-based Reporters Without Borders said there was no justification for the arrests and the charges being considered against the journalists were  completely spurious . - Advocacy group Fortify Rights demanded the Myanmar government immediately and unconditionally release the two Reuters journalists.  The environment for media right now is as hostile as it s been for years, and if adequate pressure doesn t mount on the civilian and military leadership, we can expect it to worsen,  Matthew Smith, chief executive officer of Fortify Rights, said on Thursday. - Myanmar s Irrawaddy online news site called on Dec. 14 for the journalists  release in an editorial headlined  The Crackdown on the Media Must Stop.  The newspaper said that  it is an outrage to see the Ministry of Information release a police record photo of reporters handcuffed   as police normally do to criminals   on its website soon after the detention. It is chilling to see that MOI has suddenly brought us back to the olden days of a repressive regime.  - The Southeast Asian Press Alliance said the two journalists were  only doing their jobs in trying to fill the void of information on the Rohingya conflict.   - The Protection Committee for Myanmar Journalists, a group of local reporters who have demonstrated against past prosecutions of journalists, decried the  unfair arrests that affect media freedom .  - The Foreign Correspondents  Club of Myanmar said it was  appalled  by the arrests and  gravely concerned  about the state of press freedom in Myanmar.  - The Foreign Correspondents  Club in Thailand, The Foreign Correspondents  Association of the Philippines, the Jakarta Foreign Correspondents  Club, the Foreign Correspondents  Club of Hong Kong and the Editorial Committee of The Society of Publishers in Asia have also issued statements of support for the journalists.

Summary: फैक्टबॉक्सः म्यांमार में रॉयटर्स के संवाददाताओं की गिरफ्तारी पर अंतर्राष्ट्रीय प्रतिक्रिया


HARARE (Reuters) - The leaders of Zimbabwe s ruling ZANU-PF party will meet on Sunday to approve the dismissal of President Robert Mugabe, the only leader the southern African nation has known since independence 37 years ago, two party sources have said. An extraordinary meeting of the party s central committee is expected to convene around 10:30 a.m. (0830 GMT) to consider removing the 93-year-old, four days after a military seizure of power ostensibly aimed at  criminals  within his entourage. Separately, state television said Mugabe would meet military commanders on Sunday, quoting the Catholic priest who has been mediating in negotiations with the president. On Saturday, hundreds of thousands of people flooded the streets of Harare, singing, dancing and hugging soldiers in an outpouring of elation at Mugabe s overthrow. ZANU-PF s central committee is also expected to reinstate Emmerson Mnangagwa as party vice-president, resurrecting the political career of the former security chief, nicknamed The Crocodile, whose sacking this month triggered the military s intervention. Mugabe s wife, Grace, will be fired as head of the ZANU-PF Women s League, the sources told Reuters, completing the demise of a 52-year-old former government typist who just a week ago stood in pole position to succeed her husband after Mnangagwa s dismissal. The pair s stunning downfall is likely to send shockwaves across Africa, where a number of entrenched strongmen, from Uganda s Yoweri Museveni to Democratic Republic of Congo s Joseph Kabila, are facing mounting pressure to step aside. In scenes reminiscent of the downfall of Romanian dictator Nicolae Ceausescu in 1989, men, women and children ran alongside the armored cars and troops who stepped in this week to oust the man who has ruled since independence from Britain in 1980. Under house arrest in his lavish  Blue Roof  compound, Mugabe has refused to stand down even as he has watched his support from party, security services and people evaporate in less than three days.   His nephew, Patrick Zhuwao, told Reuters the elderly leader and his wife were  ready to die for what is correct  rather than step down in order to legitimize what he described as a coup.  But on Harare s streets, few seemed to care about the legal niceties as they heralded a  second liberation  for the former British colony and spoke of their dreams for political and economic change after two decades of deepening repression and hardship.  These are tears of joy,  said Frank Mutsindikwa, 34, holding aloft the Zimbabwean flag.  I ve been waiting all my life for this day. Free at last. We are free at last.  The crowds in Harare have so far given a quasi-democratic veneer to the army s intervention, backing its assertion that it is merely effecting a constitutional transfer of power, which would help it avoid the diplomatic backlash and opprobrium that normally follow a coup. The United States, a long-time Mugabe critic, said it was looking forward to a  new era  in Zimbabwe, while President Ian Khama of neighboring Botswana said Mugabe had no diplomatic support in the region and should resign at once. For a graphic on Zimbabwe struggles, click

Summary: जिम्बाब्वे की सत्तारूढ़ पार्टी मुगाबे को बर्खास्त करने के लिए तैयार, सूत्रों का कहना है


KAMPALA (Reuters) - Ugandan authorities postponed a bill to extend leader Yoweri Museveni s rule after protesters took to the streets against it on Thursday, confronting police who fired teargas. Parliament speaker Jacob Oulanyah told lawmakers during a raucous session that the legislation due to be introduced on Thursday afternoon was  bringing tension  and would come back on another, unspecified date. Activists, campaign groups, religious leaders and even some members of Museveni s own ruling party have objected to the proposed change to the constitution, saying it is undemocratic.      Groups of students at Makerere, a public university in the capital Kampala, rallied to start marching toward parliament before police dispersed them with teargas. Protesters regrouped through the morning, throwing stones back at police.  We are not going to allow anybody to hold protest marches. The teargas was to deter that,  police spokesman Asan Kasingye said. Museveni, aged 73, has already been in power for more than three decades. The change to the constitution would have removed a rule banning anyone older that 75 running for president that currently bars him from running for re-election at polls in 2021. The move to amend legislation mirrors similar tactics used in Rwanda, Burundi and the Democratic Republic Congo to extend limits, a trend that has alarmed democracy watchdogs.  Museveni won plaudits in the early years of his rule for restoring stability after years of turmoil, and became a key Western ally who sent Ugandan troops to fight Islamist militants in Somalia. But accusations of rampant rights violations, entrenched graft and dysfunctional public services have since fueled opposition to his rule.     Police have also raided the premises of at least two pro-democracy organizations in Kampala, including that of the local unit of Johannesburg-based ActionAid International.  Security personnel blockaded staff inside their offices late on Wednesday and conducted searches, staff members of the organizations told Reuters.  There was intelligence that we got that they received funding for people who are planning to cause chaos and violence,  police spokesman Kasingye said.  Local media said Kampala s mayor Erias Lukwago - an opposition party member - was detained early on Thursday, though Kasingye said he was unaware of the reports. Museveni s bid has also met increasing denunciation from some members of the ruling National Resistance Movement (NRM) Party, exposing cracks. The NRM counts about three-thirds of all parliament members.  Ultimately... Museveni has ample patronage at his disposal and, when push comes to shove, few lawmakers will be prepared to risk political exile by not backing the president,  said Charlotte King, a Uganda analyst at the Economist Intelligence Unit.  The U.S. Embassy in Kampala condemned the raids on pro-democracy groups.   The United States is deeply concerned that recent arrests and raids stifle the Ugandan people s right to free expression and tarnish Uganda s global image,  it said in a statement.

Summary: युगांडा ने विरोध के बाद मुसेवेनी के शासन को बढ़ाने के लिए विधेयक स्थगित किया


JUBA (Reuters) - The United States has lost trust in South Sudan’s government for fueling the country’s civil war and it must bring peace or risk losing support from Washington, U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley told the nation’s President Salva Kiir.  Haley was the first senior member of President Donald Trump’s administration to visit South Sudan, which spiraled into civil war in 2013, just two years after gaining independence from Sudan. She met one on one with Kiir for some 45 minutes.  “I let him know that the United States was at a crossroads and that every decision going forward was going to be based on his actions,” Haley told reporters after the meeting in the capital Juba. The United Nations has warned that the violence in South Sudan, which has forced some 4 million people to flee their homes, was providing “fertile ground” for a genocide. Kiir’s government has denied U.N. allegations of ethnic cleansing. Haley had to cut short a visit to a camp for South Sudanese displaced by the violence amid rowdy anti-Kiir protests.  “He understood that Americans were disappointed in his leadership in South Sudan, I made that very clear. And he understood that all the aid or help that he hopes will go forward is not a given,” she said.  Haley did not elaborate on what further action Washington could take, but said that Kiir “got what I was trying to say.” On Monday she said Washington was considering how to pressure Kiir into peace, though noted that withdrawing aid may not work. The Trump administration last month imposed sanctions on two senior South Sudanese officials and the former army chief. “We have lost trust in the government and we now need to regain that trust and the only way to regain that trust is through the actions of taking care of all of the people,” Haley told South Sudan’s Eye Radio. She demanded that Kiir allow full and consistent humanitarian aid access and bring peace and stability to the country. She said she pushed a timeline for Kiir to act, but declined to elaborate.  Nhial Deng Nihal, a senior adviser to Kiir, said the president told Haley his government and a U.N. peacekeeping mission in South Sudan had established “mechanisms that work jointly to improve and address the humanitarian problems.” He also told reporters that Kiir said government troops “will also be observing a cessation of hostilities in order to create an atmosphere for dialogue.” The civil war was sparked by a feud between Kiir, a Dinka, and his former deputy Riek Machar, a Nuer. It has plunged parts of the world’s youngest nation into famine. A fragile peace deal broke down last year and Machar fled the country. He is being held in South Africa to stop him stirring up trouble, sources told Reuters in December.  Haley had to cut short a visit to a camp in Juba, where U.N. peacekeepers are protecting some 30,000 displaced people, after hundreds of rowdy pro-Machar protesters blocked nearby roads, yelling “Salva Kiir is a killer” and “Welcome USA.” Protesters held a large sign that read “South Sudan IDPs (internally displaced people) and refugees love President Trump, the peacemaker and supporter of human rights.”  A spokeswoman for the U.N. mission said the protest “started to gain momentum after (Haley) left, IDPs became upset that she was not able to meet with them.” Haley was meeting with a displaced family when she had to leave early due to security concerns.  The previous U.S. administrations of President George W. Bush and President Barack Obama were heavily involved in the birth of South Sudan, which signed a peace accord with Sudan in 2005 and gained independence in 2011.

Summary: अमेरिका ने दक्षिण सूडान में विश्वास खो दिया है, ट्रम्प दूत ने राष्ट्रपति से कहा


WELLINGTON (Reuters) - New Zealand will partially ease fuel rationing on Thursday night, a spokesman for the country s oil industry said, a sign that the five-day long fuel shortage that has caused air travel disruptions is subsiding.  More than 120 flights have been cancelled this week in New Zealand s largest city, Auckland, disrupting thousands of travellers each day, after the single privately owned pipeline that carries jet fuel from a refinery to the city s airport was damaged. National carrier Air New Zealand said it expected flights to run as usual on Friday, with no cancellations for the first time since Sunday. Airline fuel allocations will rise to 50 percent, from 30 percent, at midnight on Thursday, said Andrew McNaught, manager for Mobil New Zealand Ltd and a spokesman for the customers of the country s only oil refinery operator Refining NZ. Travel restrictions for government officials have been lifted, said Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment Spokeswoman Carolyn Tremain in a statement.  New Zealand s government and oil industry have taken a series of measures to try to contain the crisis, from fuel rationing to calling on the military to help truck in supplies of fuel, and have set up an industry-government group to handle the fallout. A New Zealand navy vessel will ferry diesel fuel around the country as the government rushes to alleviate the shortage in the run-up to Saturday s national election. The ship will transport up to 4.8 million litres of diesel - equivalent to 150 tankers - to enable the oil industry to focus on providing jet fuel to Auckland airport, Energy and Resources Minister Judith Collins said on Thursday.  The government will continue to do everything it can to support industry efforts to address the disruption,  Collins said in statement. The measures are simply a stopgap until the pipe is repaired, which will take place by Sept. 26, McNaught said. The ordeal has become a headache for the ruling National Party which is battling it out with the newly invigorated  Labour Party to form the next government. The latest poll showed the National Party held a near nine-point lead over Labour, but polls have been volatile and at times have shown Labour with a comfortable winning margin. Labour Party leader Jacinda Ardern has criticized the government of Prime Minister Bill English for not having taken measures to avoid the kind of infrastructure failure that led to the disruptive fuel shortage. Overnight, Australia s Qantas Airways operated two flights from Australia, nicknamed  fuel mules , carrying fuel to top up Jetstar and Qantas aircraft in Auckland, the airline said. One was a scheduled A330 passenger service that carried an extra 10,000 kilograms of fuel, while the other was a special 747 flight with 65,000 kilograms of fuel aboard, it said.

Summary: कमी को दूर करने के लिए सरकार द्वारा नौसेना को बुलाए जाने के कारण न्यूजीलैंड में जेट ईंधन राशन में वृद्धि हुई


WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Donald Trump’s tax plan would let U.S. companies take bigger, faster deductions on capital investments, a step some experts said would deplete Washington’s policy arsenal by using up a tax break normally reserved for fighting recessions. By putting a five-year “immediate expensing” provision in his plan, Trump handed a win to some businesses, especially capital-intensive ones such as oil drillers, that could gain from it through savings on new plant and equipment purchases. “These changes are something I would 100 percent support ... It would be a huge positive,” said Paul Mosvold, president of privately held Scandrill Inc, which drills oil wells for Anadarko Petroleum Corp and others. While some industrial sectors might get a short-term boost from the tax break, critics said its wider business impact was unclear, as was whether it is needed with the economy slowly but steadily growing and investment capital abundant. Moreover, some said, a five-year immediate expensing policy could set up a capital investment hangover in late 2022 or 2023 by shifting private-sector plant and equipment purchases into the five years covered and out of later years. One outcome would be sure, they said: putting immediate expensing in place for the next five years would make it unavailable until 2022 to combat a possible future recession. “It’s hard to see how moving to full expensing, except at the margin, would produce the growth that they’re looking for from this provision,” said corporate tax analyst Robert Willens, formerly an executive at KPMG and Lehman Brothers. “It’s also true that, once you go to full expensing, there’s nothing more you can do, particularly during a later downturn when you might really need to provide a jolt to the economy.” Immediate expensing lets companies take a tax deduction for the full value of new plant and equipment upon purchase, rather than stringing out deductions over several years under accelerated or normal depreciation schedules. Immediate expensing has been tried before, but not for as long and at the maximum level proposed by Trump, his advisers and congressional Republicans. Their plan faces months of debate in Congress before it could become law. It calls for immediate expensing “for at least five years” at “an unprecedented level” and urges Congress to work out the details, with a focus on helping small businesses. “That will be something that people have never seen before and it will be truly great,” Trump said on Friday at a National Association of Manufacturers event where his remarks were applauded by a roomful of business executives. Federal tax revenues would be slashed under Trump’s plan. An estimate of immediate expensing’s revenue impact earlier this year was for a loss of $2.2 trillion over a 10-year window, according to the Tax Foundation, a business-focused group that supports making immediate expensing permanent, not temporary. Scott Hodge, president of the foundation, said permanent expensing is needed if Trump wants to meaningfully boost economic growth. “The only way to get there is by having permanent immediate expensing for all capital investments, not a short-term policy that robs investment from the future. “Only then do you get the long-term increase in investments that boost productivity, wages and GDP,” Hodge said. Louisiana Republican Senator Bill Cassidy told reporters on Capitol Hill on Tuesday that “full expensing could be quite effective for economic growth. I’m favorably disposed. But I’d like to see it in the context of everything else.” Some tax experts questioned the need for expensing at all.     While U.S. economic growth has been sluggish, there is little evidence that businesses are short on investment capital. “There’s no sign that there’s a shortage of capital available to business today ... So is immediate expensing really necessary?” asked Ed Kleinbard, a law professor at the University of Southern California and former chief of staff of the U.S. Congress’s Joint Committee on Taxation. The tax code has not been overhauled since 1986 under former President Ronald Reagan. Trump’s plan is largely a set of tax cuts that is less ambitious than Reagan’s sweeping package, but the plan is politically important to the Republicans. After more than eight months in office, Trump has no major domestic policy achievement. Much is riding on the tax plan, which the business community has eagerly awaited. Immediate expensing was put in place under former Democratic President Barack Obama for qualified investments between September 2010 and January 2012, part of his recovery program after the deepest U.S. recession in decades. After 2012, immediate expensing was cut to 50 percent of new investment through 2017. It has been slated to decline in phases to 40 percent in 2018 and 30 percent in 2019. Trump’s plan would bring it back up to 100 percent through late 2022. Investment firm Morgan Stanley questioned the impact of the immediate expensing proposal in a recent research note.  “We are not sure that this policy can drive incremental stimulus because the tax code has contained similar incentives since 2008. Evidence shows that only 50 percent of companies elect to use bonus depreciation,” the firm said, adding that the likeliest beneficiaries would be in the utilities, telecoms, materials and industrials sectors.

Summary: ट्रम्प कर योजना ने मंदी से लड़ने वाले अमेरिकी व्यापार कर ब्रेक का खर्च किया


WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. Democratic Senator Al Franken, who earlier this month announced his plan to resign following sexual misconduct allegations against him, will step down on Jan. 2, a representative for the lawmaker said on Wednesday. The 66-year-old former comedian from Minnesota had been seen as a rising star in the Democratic Party, but faced growing calls from fellow Senate Democrats to step down as allegations against him mounted. Franken is one of several influential men who have lost their jobs after being accused of sexual misconduct, assault or harassment, including Hollywood executive Harvey Weinstein and journalists Matt Lauer, Charlie Rose and Tavis Smiley. He will be the third lawmaker facing misconduct allegations to depart from Congress following Democratic Representative John Conyers and Republican Representative Trent Franks. Two others, Democratic Representative Ruben Kihuen and Republican Representative Blake Farenthold, have said they will not seek re-election next year. Franken has denied some of the allegations against him and questioned others. Reuters has not independently verified any of the allegations. Minnesota’s Democratic governor, Mark Dayton, last week appointed Lieutenant Governor Tina Smith, who is also a Democrat to fill Franken’s seat. Smith, 59, will serve a one-year term concluding in January 2019, Dayton said, and will run in a special election for the seat next November.

Summary: डेमोक्रेट फ्रैंकन 2 जनवरी को सीनेट छोड़ेंगे