BEIJING (Reuters) - Combining public bluster with behind-the-scenes diplomacy, China wrested a concession from the United States as the two presidents spoke for the first time this week, but Beijing may not be able to derive much comfort from the win on U.S. policy toward Taiwan. Several areas of disagreement between the superpowers, including currency, trade, the South China Sea and North Korea, were not mentioned in public statements on Thursday’s telephone conversation between Presidents Xi Jinping and Donald Trump. In getting Trump to change course on the “one China” policy, Beijing may have overplayed its hand. Trump had upset Beijing before he took office by taking a call from Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen, then casting doubt on the “one China” policy, under which Washington acknowledges the Chinese position that there is only one China and Taiwan is part of it. Trump changed tack and agreed to honor the “one China” policy during the call, prompting jubilation in China. Beijing  had been working on diplomatic ways to engage Trump’s team and largely blaming Taiwan for stirring things up. [nL4N1FV21K] Laying the foundation for that call had been the low-key engagement of China’s former ambassador to Washington and top diplomat, the urbane and fluent English-speaking Yang Jiechi, with Trump’s national security adviser Michael Flynn. “China was pragmatic and patient. It made every effort to smooth out the relationship, and it paid off,” said Jia Qingguo, dean of the School of International Studies at Peking University, who has advised the government on foreign policy. But China also made very clear Taiwan was not up for negotiation, unleashing state media to threaten war and punishment for U.S. firms if that bottom line was breached. China has long described self-ruled Taiwan, claimed by Beijing as its sacred territory, as the most sensitive issue in Sino-U.S. relations.  Its military had become alarmed after the Trump-Tsai call and was considering strong measures to prevent the island from moving toward independence, sources with ties to senior military officers told Reuters in December. [nL4N1ES0VR] A source familiar with China’s thinking on relations with the United States, speaking to Reuters last month, said China had actually not been too bothered with Trump’s Taiwan comments before he took office as he was not president then and was only expressing his personal view. “If he continues with this once he becomes president then there’s no saying what we’ll do,” the source said. Despite the U.S. concession, military tensions remain. On Saturday, the overseas edition of the ruling Communist Party’s People’s Daily placed a picture on its front page of Chinese warships about to embark on a new round of drills in the South China Sea, right next to an upbeat commentary about the Xi-Trump call. The paper’s WeChat account took a harsher line, saying that with Trump getting back with the program on “one China”, Taiwan had better watch out. “The heart of that Madame Tsai on the other side of the Taiwan Strait must at this moment be chilled to the core,” it said. One senior Western diplomat said China had been redoubling its efforts to win over the Vatican, one of a handful of countries to retain official ties with Taiwan. Taiwan says it hopes for continued U.S. support, and one ruling Democratic Progressive Party official told Reuters that the “one China” policy had not affected previous U.S. arms sales to Taiwan, even as U.S. presidents’ commitment to the island have waxed and waned. Xi has put great personal political capital into seeking a solution over Taiwan, an issue that has festered since 1949 when defeated Nationalist forces fled to the island after losing the civil war to the Communists. China has never renounced the use of force to bring Taiwan under its control. But in its relations with Washington, the risk for Beijing remains that its diplomatic win over “one China” will be short lived, as Trump will not want to be seen as having caved in. “What he’s shown the Chinese is he’s willing to touch the ‘third rail’ of U.S.-China relations,” said Dean Cheng, China expert at the conservative Heritage Foundation in Washington. “Beijing can’t predict what he’ll do next – and he’s only been in office three weeks. What is he going to do on trade and other economic issues?” U.S. officials said the affirmation of the “one China” policy was an effort to get the relationship back on track and moving forward. [nL1N1FV1RU] But Trump’s change of tack may be seen by Beijing as a climbdown, said Tom Rafferty, the China Regional Manager for the Economist Intelligence Unit. “Mr Trump is erratic and will not appreciate the suggestion that he has been weak.”

Summary: चीन को ट्रम्प से शुरुआती जीत मिली, लेकिन कई लड़ाइयाँ बाकी हैं


MOSCOW (Reuters) - The U.S. special services have said they will carry out a search of Russia’s consulate building in San Francisco, soon to be closed in retaliation for a similar measure by Russia, a Russian foreign ministry spokeswoman said on Friday. The closure by Sept. 2 of the consulate and buildings in Washington and New York that house Russian trade missions is the latest in tit-for-tat actions by the two countries that have helped push relations to a new post-Cold War low.  In July, Moscow ordered the United States to cut its diplomatic and technical staff in Russia by more than half, to 455 people to match the number of Russian diplomats in the United States, after Congress overwhelmingly approved new sanctions against Russia. “The American special services intend to conduct searches on Sept. 2 in the general consulate in San Francisco, including in the houses of employees who live in the building and who have immunity,” the spokeswoman, Maria Zakharova, said. Families, including children and toddlers, had been told they would have to leave the building for 10-12 hours, she said. Zakharova said Russia reserved the right to take retaliatory measures. The U.S. sanctions were imposed in response to alleged Russian meddling in the 2016 U.S. presidential election and to punish Russia further for its 2014 annexation of Crimea from Ukraine.

Summary: अमेरिका सैन फ्रांसिस्को में रूसी वाणिज्य दूतावास की तलाशी लेगा, मास्को ने कहा


BEIRUT (Reuters) - U.S.-led warplanes on Wednesday blocked a convoy of Islamic State fighters and their families from reaching territory the group holds in eastern Syria and struck some of their comrades traveling to meet them, a coalition spokesman said.  The strikes were aimed at stopping an evacuation deal for Islamic State fighters to leave their enclave on the Lebanon-Syria border for areas they hold in eastern Syria, arranged by the Lebanese Hezbollah group and the Syrian army.  It was part of a ceasefire agreed after offensives last week by the Lebanese army on one front, and the Syrian army and Hezbollah on another, that pushed Islamic State back into a small part of its enclave straddling the frontier. The deal has been criticized by the coalition and by Iraq, whose army is also fighting Islamic State in areas contiguous with the eastern Syria region to which the convoy was headed.   The convoy, carrying 308 militants and 331 civilians according to Hezbollah, is now effectively stranded, unable to move forward into Islamic State territory.  It shows how easily such evacuations to other areas, which the government of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad has increasingly used to push rebel pockets to surrender, can be derailed in a conflict with many sides.  A commander in the military alliance supporting Assad said the coalition had contacted the Syrian Arab Red Crescent, which is accompanying the convoy and warned that if it entered Islamic State territory, it might attack.  Islamic State is on the back foot in both Syria and Iraq, losing swathes of its territory and its most important towns and cities after taking advantage of chaos including the six-year civil war in Syria to win ground.  In Syria, the U.S.-led coalition is backing an alliance of Kurdish and Arab militias in the north which are assaulting the jihadist group s former de facto capital of Raqqa. The Russian-backed Syrian army and allied Shi ite militia from Iraq and Lebanon including Hezbollah have this year seized most of the central desert from the group, and are advancing eastwards to relieve the army s besieged enclave in Deir al-Zor.  The coalition strikes to block the convoy moving into Islamic State territory took place east of Humeima, near the edge of land held by the Syrian government, coalition spokesman Ryan Dillon told Reuters.   We did crater the road and destroyed a small bridge to prevent this convoy from moving further east,  Dillon told Reuters by phone. He later said the coalition had struck vehicles containing Islamic State fighters that were heading to that area from deeper inside the territory they control to the east. He did not know if the evacuation convoy, which contains buses of fighters and their family members, as well as ambulances carrying wounded fighters, was now in Islamic State or Syrian government territory.   On Tuesday morning a Hezbollah-run military media unit reported the convoy had reached an exchange point into Islamic State territory. The evacuation deal also involved Islamic State revealing the fate of nine Lebanese soldiers it took captive in its border enclave in 2014, and surrendering Hezbollah and Syrian army prisoners and bodies in east Syria. The commander in the pro-Assad military alliance said it was considering an alternative location for the convoy to cross into Islamic State territory.   Now things are moving to change the place from Humeima and head north towards Sukhna,  the commander said.   We re not bound by these agreements,  Dillon said, apparently referring to the ceasefire deal.  They re clearly fighters and they re moving to another location to fight yet again.  In accordance with the law of armed conflict ... we will strike them if we are able to do so,  he said, adding that direct strikes on the convoy would only take place if the militants could be separated from civilians. Brett McGurk, the U.S. envoy to the coalition, criticized the evacuation deal in a statement early on Wednesday before the strikes were reported, saying:  Relocating terrorists from one place to another for someone else to deal with is not a lasting solution . Separately, the leader of Hezbollah, Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, defended the Lebanese group s involvement in the evacuation deal in a statement responding to criticism of the move from Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi. Abadi said on Tuesday:  Transporting this number of terrorists from long distance to eastern Syria adjacent to Iraqi borders is unacceptable . Nasrallah said it was a Hezbollah deal agreed upon by the Syrian leadership, that the fighters were few in number, and were being moved from one front Hezbollah was fighting in to another. Lebanon is a major recipient of U.S. and British military aid. It says its offensive against Islamic State last week was separate to the simultaneous one made against the same pocket from inside Syria by the Syrian army and Hezbollah, regarded by the U.S. and Britain as a terrorist group.  On Wednesday the Lebanese army said its head General Joseph Aoun had been phoned by the commander of U.S. Central Command Joseph Votel congratulating him on the offensive and pledging to continue arming Lebanon s army.

Summary: इस्लामिक स्टेट निकासी समझौते को रोकने के लिए सीरिया में U.S.-led विमानों ने हमला किया


LONDON (Reuters) - It was meant to silence her critics, but by pledging to lead the Conservative Party into the next election, British Prime Minister Theresa May instead unleashed a wave of derision from her foes. Still, with no challenger in sight and a party wary of a leadership fight, the 60-year-old prime minister is probably safe for now. The London Evening Standard, now edited by George Osborne, the Conservative sacked by May as finance minister when she became prime minister last year, described her pledge to run again as  Like the Living Dead in a second-rate horror film .  The premiership of Theresa May staggers on oblivious. This was not supposed to be in the script.  Others chimed in.  Party grandee Michael Heseltine, who was also sacked as a government adviser by May for rebelling over Britain s planned exit from the European Union, deadpanned:  I don t think she s got a long term.  And another critic, Nicky Morgan, who lost her position as education minister when May entered power after the Brexit referendum last year, said it would be difficult for May to lead the Conservatives into the next election due in 2022.  We have got to think about how we renew our franchise,  she told the BBC.  But many Conservatives kept silent.  After being bruised this year when May called an early election only to see her party lose its parliamentary majority, several said keeping the party in power was the main priority. And with no one willing to challenge May, it made more sense to keep her as leader to guide Britain through what could become a messy Brexit.   There are people who are fed up and hurt after the election, and there s muttering, but not a lot of them are muttering publicly. The loudest ones are those who have no chance of getting big jobs,  a veteran party member said.  But no one is putting their hand up to take over. There s no appetite from any of the big players ... Her future is all about Brexit.   Asked during a visit to Japan whether she wanted to lead the Conservative Party into the next election, May said:  Yes ... I m here for the long term and it s crucial, what me and my government are about is not just delivering on Brexit, we are delivering a brighter future for the United Kingdom.   I m not a quitter,  she said. She hoped to silence weeks of media reports that she could leave office as early as the annual party conference in October, an event where political careers have been made or broken in the past. But instead of increasing her authority, damaged by the June election, she attracted derision from critics in her own party as well as the opposition. The Labour Party was quick to accuse May of  deluding herself .  Theresa May leads a zombie government,  said Jon Trickett, a senior member of Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn s team.  The sooner the public has the chance to vote out her and her government the better for our country s future.  But it is the threat from Labour, which has seen its standing in the polls increase since the election, that in part might keep May in her position for longer than some think. Few Conservatives dare risk doing anything that might trigger an early parliamentary election and hand a chance of victory to Corbyn. Also, despite several leading Conservatives thought to be eyeing her job, none appears willing to step in now when Britain is engaged in difficult talks to leave the European Union, which officials say are making little or no progress. The veteran party member, who discussed May s prospects on condition of anonymity, said he thought May was sincere in pledging to stay on until the next election, despite the chorus of calls from foes within the party for her to step aside.  She told the truth. She s up for staying on. But it all depends on Brexit,  the party member said.  If she comes out of it with jobs up, and is seen to have told the EU to get off and prospects are good ... well you can go hero to zero and vice versa.

Summary: उपहास के बावजूद, ब्रिटेन के पीएम मई अच्छी तरह से जारी रखने में सक्षम हो सकते हैं... अभी के लिए


WASHINGTON (Reuters) - After less than three months in office, President Donald Trump has abruptly shifted his stance on an array of foreign policy issues from the U.S. relationship with Russia and China to the value of the NATO alliance. Trump, who ran for the White House on a pledge to shake up the status quo in Washington, repeatedly lashed out at China during the campaign, accusing Beijing of being a “grand champion” of currency manipulation. Candidate Trump also dismissed the NATO military alliance as obsolete and said he hoped to build warmer ties with Russia. But at a White House news conference and in a newspaper interview on Wednesday, he offered starkly different views on those issues, saying his relationship with Moscow was souring while ties with Beijing were improving. He also lavished praise on NATO, saying it was adapting to changing global threats. “I said it was obsolete. It’s no longer obsolete,” Trump said as he stood at a news conference alongside NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg in the White House East Room on Wednesday. The reversals on Russia and NATO could reassure U.S. allies in Europe who were rattled by Trump’s overtures toward Moscow during the campaign. But the president’s talk of “bonding” with Chinese President Xi Jinping could sow confusion in Asia, where U.S. allies are fearful of a rising China. Trump’s apparent shifts toward a more conventional foreign policy came amid infighting within his administration that has lately seen a decline in the influence of political operatives, mainly his chief strategist, Steve Bannon. Six months ago, candidate Trump suggested he was eager for an alliance with Russian President Vladimir Putin. “If he says great things about me, I’m going to say great things about him,” Trump said last September. “ALL-TIME LOW” On Wednesday, however, Trump said he had growing concerns about Russia’s support of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. “We may be at an all-time low in terms of a relationship with Russia,” said Trump, who ordered the firing of U.S. cruise missiles at a Syrian airfield last week to punish Assad for suspected use of poison gas in Syria’s civil war. While criticizing Russia on Wednesday, Trump said he and Xi had bonded during the Chinese president’s visit to the Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida, where they dined together with their wives and held talks. Ahead of that visit, Trump had predicted “difficult” discussions on trade. The improving ties with Beijing were underscored when Trump told the Wall Street Journal in an interview on Wednesday that he would not declare China a currency manipulator as he had pledged to do on his first day in office. Trump, a former real estate developer, took office in January as a government novice whose foreign policy mantra during was a vow to keep America safe and build up the U.S. military. Christine Wormuth, former undersecretary of defense in the Obama administration, said Trump had a “steep learning curve” on foreign policy when he came into office but that it was beginning to even out. “He’s starting to have a more nuanced and deeper understanding of a lot of issues,” said Wormuth, now a senior adviser at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. The evolving Trump foreign policy appears to reflect less of the influence of his campaign team and more the views of Defense Secretary James Mattis, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and national security adviser H.R. McMaster, all of whom are deeply skeptical of Russia. Trump’ former national security adviser, retired General Michael Flynn, was forced to resign on Feb. 13 for contacts with Russia’s ambassador to the United States before Trump took office. The new tone on foreign policy comes as Trump has been trying to settle the palace intrigue inside the White House, where Bannon, former chief of the conservative Breitbart News organization, has been at odds with the more mainstream Jared Kushner, the senior White House adviser who is Trump’s son-in-law. In an interview with the New York Post on Tuesday, Trump offered only lukewarm support for Bannon. “I like Steve, but you have to remember he was not involved in my campaign until very late,” Trump said.

Summary: अचानक बदलाव में, ट्रम्प ने चीन और नाटो के लिए गर्मजोशी दिखाई, रूस पर खट्टा किया


WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. President-elect Donald Trump chose Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus as White House chief of staff and named Stephen Bannon, former head of the conservative web site Breitbart News, as his chief strategist and senior counselor. Trump, who will take office on Jan. 20 and succeed Democratic President Barack Obama, will also look to fill other top administration jobs in the coming weeks. Below are people mentioned as contenders for senior roles. * Bob Corker, Tennessee senator and chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee * John Bolton, former U.S. ambassador to the United Nations under President George W. Bush * Newt Gingrich, Republican former U.S. House Speaker * Zalmay Khalilzad, former U.S. ambassador to Iraq * Jeb Hensarling, Texas Republican congressman and chairman of the House Financial Services Committee * Steven Mnuchin, former Goldman Sachs executive and Trump’s campaign finance chairman * Jamie Dimon, JPMorgan Chase & Co chief executive officer * Tom Barrack, founder and chairman of Colony Capital Inc * Lieutenant General Michael Flynn, former director of the Defense Intelligence Agency  * Stephen Hadley, former national security adviser under President George W. Bush * Jon Kyl, former Republican senator from Arizona * Jeff Sessions, Republican senator from Alabama and early Trump supporter, member of the Senate Armed Services Committee * Kelly Ayotte, outgoing Republican senator from New Hampshire and member of the Senate Armed Services Committee * Duncan Hunter, Republican congressman from California and  early Trump supporter, member of House Armed Services Committee * Jim Talent, former Republican senator from Missouri who was on the Senate Armed Services Committee  * Rudy Giuliani, Republican former mayor of New York City * Jeff Sessions, senior member of the Senate Judiciary Committee who takes a hard line on immigration * Chris Christie, Republican New Jersey governor * Pam Bondi, Republican Florida Attorney General  * Trey Gowdy, Republican congressman from South Carolina who headed the House committee that investigated the 2012 attacks on the U.S. mission in Benghazi, Libya * Ben Carson, former neurosurgeon and 2016 Republican presidential candidate * Newt Gingrich * Rich Bagger, former pharmaceutical executive and former top aide to New Jersey Governor Chris Christie * Bobby Jindal, former Louisiana governor  * Michael McCaul, U.S. Republican congressman from Texas and chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee * David Clarke, Milwaukee county sheriff and vocal Trump supporter  * Joe Arpaio, outgoing Maricopa County, Arizona, sheriff who campaigned for Trump  * Myron Ebell, a climate change skeptic at the libertarian Competitive Enterprise Institute who is overseeing environmental policy on Trump’s transition team * Robert Grady, venture capitalist, partner in private equity firm Gryphon Investors  * Leslie Rutledge, Arkansas attorney general * Carol Comer, commissioner of the Indiana Department of Environmental Management * Harold Hamm, Oklahoma oil and gas mogul, CEO of Continental Resources Inc * James Connaughton, CEO of Nautilus Data Technologies and a former environmental adviser to President George W. Bush * Robert Grady * Sarah Palin, Republican former Alaska governor who ran for vice president in 2008 * Jan Brewer, former Arizona governor * Forrest Lucas, founder of oil products company Lucas Oil * Harold Hamm * Robert Grady * Linda McMahon, former world Wrestling Entertainment executive and two-time Senate candidate * Lieutenant General Michael Flynn * Mike Rogers, Republican former congressman from Michigan who chaired the House Intelligence Committee * Pete Hoekstra, Republican former congressman from Michigan * Lieutenant General Michael Flynn * Stephen Hadley * Kelly Ayotte * Richard Grenell, former spokesman for the United States at the United Nations  * Peter King, Republican congressman from New York * Dan DiMicco, former chief executive of steel producer Nucor Corp * Jeff Miller, retiring congressman from Florida and chairman of the Veterans Affairs committee

Summary: फैक्टबॉक्सः ट्रम्प ने प्रीबस को चीफ ऑफ स्टाफ के रूप में चुना, अन्य प्रमुख नियुक्तियों पर भार डाला


NEW YORK (Reuters) - A handful of small public opinion polling companies that bucked consensus and accurately called the U.S. presidential election for Republican Donald Trump are reporting being flooded with calls from investors and clients seeking their services.  Most pollsters wrongly forecast Democrat Hillary Clinton as leading Trump ahead of Tuesday’s election in the latest fiasco to hit the $20 billion public opinion research industry, only months after it failed to predict the British vote to leave the European Union in a June referendum. Among the few that got it right was a new industry player using a different method, South African firm Brandseye, which analyzes social media posts. With offices in Capetown and Johannesburg, Brandseye took an entirely different approach from traditional polling. The data-miner pays people around the world to sift through social media for relevant posts, a process known as crowd-sourcing, and then uses a computer algorithm to rate consumer sentiment about products or politicians.  Its method pointed to a Trump victory. It also correctly called Britain’s Brexit vote. “My phone has not stopped,” CEO and part owner JP Kloppers said in a telephone interview on Thursday. Kloppers said venture capitalists have been calling about investing in the firm, and polling companies have inquired about its methods. Kloppers said the company was open to licensing its technology. Existing clients include ride-sharing firm Uber, banks, telecommunications firms and some government agencies, he said. He declined to identify the governments. “Elections come every couple of years, but there are companies and governments that need to understand every day and every week what’s driving customer satisfaction and dissatisfaction,” Kloppers said. New methods, if successful, are of high interest to polling companies that are having difficulty reaching cellphone users or survey-weary Americans.  “The answer is ongoing research,” said Krista Jenkins, director of the PublicMind survey research center at Fairleigh Dickinson University in New Jersey. “It’s basically digging in as an industry and comparing the findings from your traditional telephone polls to data that is collected online.” Traditional pollsters base their results on questions posed to randomly selected people, often in interviews conducted live over the telephone. Among other errors that pollsters made ahead of the U.S election, they almost universally miscalculated how turnout would be distributed among demographic groups. High-profile London-based polling agency YouGov PLC’s stock dropped 4 percent on Wednesday after its new method of surveying people online failed to accurately predict the U.S. presidential election’s outcome. Analysts were split on the reason behind the drop, and YouGov stock partly recovered on Thursday, closing up 2 percent in London trading.  No one from YouGov, which primarily does research for corporations, was immediately available to comment on the business implications of the polling miss, a spokesman said. The Reuters/Ipsos States of the Nation project gave Clinton a 90 percent probability of winning the 270 electoral votes needed to secure the election. On its website, one of the possible scenarios was how Trump could win the election by adjusting turnout levels. Ipsos SA will assess what it got wrong, said Clifford Young, president of the French research company’s U.S. public affairs unit. Election polling is generally not a big money-maker. Many polls are done by universities or the media, while private research companies use it to market themselves to corporate clients that provide more profitable work. Pioneering U.S. pollster Gallup last year abandoned head-to-head polls for the presidential race, saying it wanted to focus its resources on polls about issues. The outfits that wrongly foresaw a Clinton victory will suffer damage to their reputation, said Alex DeGroote, a London-based analyst at Peel Hunt LLP who follows the industry. “They attach their brand to these polls. If these polls continue to flop, it’s not going to help their brand credibility,” DeGroote said. Among this year’s winners may be Remington Research Group. The Kansas City, Missouri-based pollster correctly predicted that Trump would win the election battleground states of Florida, North Carolina and Ohio, although it missed Trump’s surprising Wisconsin victory. The company, which frequently works with Republican politicians, conducts a mix of automated phone interviews and live phone interviews. It may have done relatively well because other firms were afraid of standing out from the crowd, said Titus Bond, the group’s director. “A lot of pollsters, they want to be at the same number as everyone else,” Bond said. Bond said he received three calls on the morning after the election from corporate clients in the pharmaceutical and fertilizer industries and three others from advocacy groups, all seeking to do business.

Summary: जिन सर्वेक्षणकर्ताओं ने ट्रम्प की जीत की भविष्यवाणी की थी, उन्हें उद्योग की चूक से लाभ हुआ


WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Republicans in the U.S. House of Representatives are pushing to hold Consumer Financial Protection Bureau Director Richard Cordray in contempt of Congress for refusing to respond sufficiently to congressional subpoenas. A report released on Friday by Republican staff of the House Financial Services Committee argued there was “ample evidence” to hold Cordray in contempt because of his alleged failure to fully comply with subpoena requests. Republicans on the panel have been fiercely critical of the CFPB’s regulatory work. The report marked the most direct threat yet to pursue legal action against Cordray, who was appointed by Democratic former President Barack Obama after the agency was created under the  2010 Dodd-Frank financial reform law. The subpoenas sought records tied to the CFPB’s successful efforts to ban mandatory arbitration clauses from financial contracts, including communications between CFPB staff and meetings with outside groups. The ban, hailed by consumer advocates, was finalized in July but Republicans in Congress are working to overturn it. Republicans demanded the documents as part of a probe into rulemaking, and whether the rules regarding mandatory arbitration clauses were written in a proper fashion. Mandatory arbitration clauses require consumers to resolve any disputes through arbitration instead of joining together in class-action lawsuits. Republican staff on the House banking panel had suggested in June that Cordray could face contempt charges for insufficient responses to congressional queries, but Friday’s report took the conflict to new heights.  A committee spokesman, Jeff Emerson, did not immediately respond to a request for comment on whether the panel would actually seek contempt charges. In response to the report, CFPB spokeswoman Jen Howard said the agency had already produced “thousands of pages” in response to the requests and was endeavoring to do more. “We will continue our efforts to understand how we can respond to the committee in a satisfactory manner,” she said in a statement to Reuters. In the past, Cordray has criticized similar panel subpoenas as overly broad and confusing. Representative Jeb Hensarling, who chairs the committee, has been one of Cordray’s outspoken critics, and demanded in the past that Republican President Donald Trump fire him as director. Democrats have rallied behind Cordray and the agency since its creation. “The Republican attacks on Director Cordray and the Consumer Bureau are entirely baseless, and there are no grounds at all for them to hold the Director in contempt,” Maxine Waters, the top Democrat on Hensarling’s panel, said in a statement to Reuters.

Summary: हाउस रिपब्लिकन ने सी. एफ. पी. बी. निदेशक के खिलाफ अवमानना के आरोपों के लिए जोर दिया


DUBAI (Reuters) - Bahrain condemned as inaccurate a report by the Amnesty International rights group accusing the Bahraini government of crushing dissent and violently cracking down on protests over the last year. Amnesty said in a report on Thursday that it had documented how the Bahraini government, from June 2016 to June 2017, had arrested, tortured, threatened or banned from travel at least 169 activists and opponents or their relatives.  It also accused in particular Britain and the United States, who both have military facilities in Bahrain, of turning a blind eye to abuses.  Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MoFA) of Kingdom of Bahrain regrets inaccuracies contained in Amnesty International s report,  the ministry said on its twitter account.  It gave no details.  MoFA stresses commitment of Kingdom of Bahrain to respect and promote freedoms and human rights principles.  Amnesty International said it had documented security officers beating protesters, firing tear gas, shotguns and semi-automatic rifles directly at protesters and driving armored vehicles and personnel carriers into protests. Bahrain has been a flashpoint since the Sunni-led government put down Arab Spring protests in 2011. The kingdom, most of whose population is Shi ite, says it faces a threat from neighboring Shi ite theocracy Iran. Entitled  No one can protect you: Bahrain s year of crushing dissent , the Amnesty report said at least six people had been killed, including a child, in the crackdowns. Bahrain has intensified a crackdown on critics, shutting down two main political groups, revoking the citizenship of the spiritual leader of the Shi ite Muslim community and jailing rights campaigners.

Summary: बहरीन ने असहमति पर कार्रवाई का हवाला देते हुए एमनेस्टी की रिपोर्ट को खारिज किया


JAKARTA (Reuters) - Indonesia intends to send a diplomatic note to the U.S. secretary of state and summon Washington s deputy ambassador in Jakarta to explain why the head of its military was denied entry to the United States, Indonesian officials said on Sunday. Armed Forces Commander General Gatot Nurmantyo was about to board a flight on Saturday when the airline informed him that the U.S. Customs and Border Protection had denied him entry, military spokesman Wuryanto told a news conference in Jakarta. Nurmantyo was going to the United States at the invitation of General Joseph F. Dunford Jr., chairman of the joint chiefs of staff, to attend a Chiefs of Defense Conference on Countering Violent Extremism being held in Washington on Oct. 23-24, Wuryanto said. It was not clear why he was stopped from entering the United States, Wuryanto said, adding that the general did not have any problem during his visit to the United States in February 2016.  We ve asked for clarification to the U.S., to the Department of State as well as the embassy in Jakarta and until now we re still waiting for that clarification,  Indonesia s Foreign Affairs Minister Retno Marsudi told Reuters. The ministry s spokesman Arrmanatha Nasir earlier said Indonesia s embassy in Washington was to send a diplomatic note to the U.S. secretary of state demanding explanation for the incident.The ministry will also summon the U.S. deputy ambassador in Jakarta on Monday to seek explanation, Nasir said, adding that the ambassador is presently not in Indonesia. The U.S. embassy in Jakarta said in a statement it was in touch with Nurmantyo s staff to facilitate his travel, but did not explain further.  U.S. Ambassador Joseph Donovan has apologized to Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi for any inconvenience to General Gatot,  the embassy wrote.  We remain committed to our Strategic Partnership with Indonesia as a way to deliver security and prosperity to both our nations and peoples.  Nurmantyo has frequently courted controversy in Indonesia because of his actions and what analysts perceive as his political ambitions. The general promotes the notion that Indonesia is besieged by  proxy wars  involving foreign states and even a renewed communist threat. Indonesian President Joko Widodo said this month that the armed forces should stay out of politics and ensure their loyalty is only to the state and the government. Indonesia, the world s biggest Muslim-majority country, generally enjoys good ties with the United States although in the past ties between the two countries  armed forces have been strained by alleged rights abuses involving Indonesia s military.

Summary: इंडोनेशिया ने सैन्य प्रमुख द्वारा अमेरिकी प्रवेश से इनकार के बाद जवाब मांगा


NEW YORK (Reuters) - Many of the immigration initiatives launched by the Trump administration in recent weeks target one kind of migrant: children. The measures are aimed at expelling young people already in the United States illegally and preventing new ones from crossing into the country.      Some of the policy shifts have generated headlines, including Trump’s decision in September to end the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, or DACA. That measure, put in place by former President Barack Obama in 2012, allowed nearly 800,000 young people brought to the United States illegally as children the ability to live, work and study in the country without fear of deportation.     Other proposals and actions have received far less attention. The Trump administration has recently intensified scrutiny of abused and neglected foreign minors applying to stay in the United States. It is seeking to restrict who qualifies for special protections granted to children crossing the border alone. And it is stepping up prosecutions of adults who paid smugglers to bring unaccompanied kids to the United States.  The White House also announced this fall it will end a program allowing Central American minors to apply for U.S. asylum while still living abroad. At the same time, the administration is exploring ways to scrap legal protections that limit how long and under what conditions children can be held in immigration detention centers. In response to questions about the changes in immigration policy focused on children, the White House said that relevant agencies were reviewing ways to help “law enforcement professionals to do their jobs and keep the country safe.” (For a graphic on Trump policies targeting young immigrants, see: tmsnrt.rs/2zaT2BK)   Trump came to office promising to crack down on immigration. That message grew stronger this week in the wake of a terrorist attack in New York by a 29-year-old immigrant awarded a green card through a visa lottery program the president has now vowed to end. Some of his messaging on child immigrants also reflects security concerns. In a speech in Long Island in July, Trump called out “alien minors” as responsible for gang-related killings in the United States.  “These are animals,” he said of members of the notorious Central American gang MS-13. In addition, the administration says it wants to prevent children from undertaking perilous journeys to the United States and eliminate fraud from programs for young immigrants. “The President wants to stop the incentives for vulnerable children to come here illegally,” Attorney General Jeff Sessions said in a speech in Texas in October. In another speech last month, he blamed “dirty immigration lawyers” for encouraging clients to game the process. Some immigration advocates see the president’s focus on young border crossers differently. Children are perceived sympathetically by the public and have more legal protections than other immigrants, giving authorities less flexibility to deport them, they say. It is “in the administration’s interest to paint unaccompanied children as gang bangers and not as asylum seekers fleeing violence and abuse,” said American Civil Liberties Union attorney Michael Tan. “The administration wants the public to perceive these children as monsters and not people deserving of refuge.” President Trump is not the first president to try to crack down on minors crossing the border illegally. Obama prioritized the removal of young immigrants after the number of unaccompanied minors apprehended at the U.S.-Mexico border peaked at more than 68,000 in 2014, most of them from violence-torn Central America.   Trump campaigned on a promise to toughen enforcement further, saying Obama’s policies had failed. After he took office early in 2017, apprehensions of unaccompanied minors dropped sharply, to a low of just over 990 in April from more than 4,400 in January. But the number of arrests has begun rising again, with nearly 3,000 unaccompanied minors caught in August, according to government data.  One target of the administration is a legal agreement dating back to 1997 that bars the government from holding child immigrants for long periods.  The so-called Flores settlement addressed what advocates said were harsh conditions for kids held in immigration detention facilities. To settle a class-action lawsuit, the government agreed to release minors quickly to adult relatives or licensed childcare programs, or to put them in the “least restrictive” setting possible if other options were not available. Faced with 2014 surge in illegal crossings, the Obama administration fought broad legal interpretations of the agreement in court to make it easier to detain families. The Trump White House now wants to scrap it altogether. An internal memo dated Sept. 8 written by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and reviewed by Reuters called the two-decade-old legal agreement “unworkable,” and presented four options to fight or end it. Among them: DHS could ask a federal court to dissolve the Flores deal, a move the memo acknowledged could prove difficult given past rulings that have bolstered the agreement. A DHS spokesperson said the agency would not comment on “internal working documents.” The administration is focused not just on stopping illegal border crossings by children but also on limiting their ability to stay once they reach the United States. One of its targets is SIJS, or special immigrant juvenile status, a program for foreign minors who have been abused, abandoned or neglected.  To qualify, children have to prove their mistreatment in U.S. family court, after which they are protected from deportation and allowed to apply for green cards. SIJS applications ballooned following the 2014 surge in unaccompanied minors. The program’s numbers hit 19,475 in the 2016 fiscal year, a more than 1,000 percent increase from 1,646 in fiscal year 2010. The White House and immigration hard-liners in Congress say lawyers have taken advantage of the program by using it for kids who are not in the kind of peril the statute was intended to address. Chief among their complaints is that children abandoned by one parent can apply for SIJS even if another parent is providing adequate care. The administration is already taking steps to limit the program. Immigration attorneys say government scrutiny of SIJS petitions has increased, slowing the approval process and leaving kids in limbo. Approvals from April to June totaled 1,862, down more than 50 percent from the previous three-month period, according to data from U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS).  USCIS acknowledged that it has stepped up scrutiny of petitions “to ensure that they meet criteria for approval.” But the agency stressed that the majority of applications are still approved.  From January through June of this year 5,671 SIJS petitions were approved while 403 applications were denied. Meanwhile pending applications are ballooning, totaling 22,745 through June, as new petitions grow.  The delays are creating confusion for young immigrants such as 20-year-old Drucilla. She says her mother neglected her after bringing her to the United States illegally from Jamaica when she was three years old following her father’s murder. Drucilla eventually moved in with an aunt in New York and applied for SIJS last year in order to stay in the country. Drucilla, who asked only be identified by her first name, said she is nervous about the outcome of her case after U.S. officials recently requested additional documents to substantiate her claims. “Growing up, nothing was ever in my control,” she said. “I have a lot of anxiety.” See how the administration’s actions affect people, communities, institutions and companies at The Trump Effect www.reuters.com/trump-effect

Summary: ट्रम्प के नए आप्रवासन प्रयासों का उद्देश्य बाल सीमा पार करने वालों को रोकना है


GENEVA (Reuters) - The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) called on Tuesday for all borders with Yemen to be kept open to allow vital food, health and medical supplies to enter the country reeling from war and a major cholera epidemic. The Saudi-led military coalition fighting against the Houthi movement in Yemen said on Monday it would close all air, land and sea ports to the Arabian Peninsula country to stem the flow of arms to the Houthis from Iran. The ICRC said a shipment of chlorine tablets to prevent cholera did not get clearance at Yemen s northern border, and it voiced fears for 50,000 vials of insulin for diabetics due to be delivered by next week, which require constant refrigeration.

Summary: रेड क्रॉस ने यमन की सीमाओं को भोजन, दवाओं के लिए खुला रखने की अपील की


(Reuters) - A day after President Donald Trump endorsed U.S. Senate candidate Roy Moore of Alabama, Trump’s former chief strategist Steve Bannon campaigned in the state, telling a crowd that allegations of sexual misconduct against Moore were part of a smear campaign to keep him from office.  “They want to destroy Judge Roy Moore and you know why?” Bannon asked at the rally in Fairhope, Alabama. “They want to take your voice away.” Trump originally supported Moore’s opponent in the Republican primary, Luther Strange, who was favored by Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and other members of the Republican establishment. Moore defeated Strange in the primary and now faces Democrat Doug Jones in the Dec. 12 special election to replace Jeff Sessions, who became U.S. Attorney General in the Trump administration.  Bannon, who left the White House in August after a power struggle and rejoined the Breitbart News Network right-wing website, was a major proponent of Trump’s “America First” agenda during the 2016 election campaign.  Trump, Bannon said, “understands where Roy Moore stands.” He called the Alabama Senate race “a referendum on the Trump program.”  Moore, 70, has been accused of sexual misconduct with teenage girls when he was in his 30s. Moore denies the allegations. Reuters has not independently verified the reports. The allegations initially had Trump keeping his distance from Moore, but he has grown more vocal in his support this week, as public opinion polls show Moore holding a slight lead over Jones. Bannon remained steadfast in support of Moore. Bannon has pledged to back candidates in Senate primaries next year who oppose retaining McConnell as the Senate’s leader, contending that he has stalled Trump’s policy agenda.  When the accusations against Moore were first reported, McConnell called on Moore to drop out of the race. More recently, however, McConnell has tempered his view, saying Alabama voters should determine whether Moore should be elected.  In his remarks, Moore repeatedly mocked McConnell. “The folks in Alabama were always going to decide, Mitch,” he said. “They have no interest in what you have to say.” And while Republicans appear divided over Moore’s candidacy, Trump’s endorsement prompted the Republican National Committee to reverse course and expend resources to back Moore.  The RNC cut ties with Moore last month when the accounts of women who said he had sexually abused them were reported in the Washington Post.

Summary: ट्रम्प के सहयोगी बैनन ने अलबामा में मूर के लिए प्रचार किया


JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Less than an hour after U.S. President Donald Trump recognized Jerusalem as Israel s capital, Palestinians protested by turning off the lights on the Christmas tree outside Bethlehem s Church of the Nativity, the traditional birthplace of Jesus. It was a timely reminder that while headlines focused on Islamist calls for uprisings and Trump s references to Jewish historical ties, the president s words also stirred deep feelings among the Palestinians  small Christian community. Coming out of the Sunday service in his Assyrian Catholic church in Jerusalem, Fredrick Hazo accused Trump of  dragging all the world into trouble , and called on the U.S. leader to reverse his decision.  We are united - Christians, Muslims, we are one,  said the 59-year-old Palestinian musician, standing in an alley in the heart of the Old City, surrounded by shops selling religious trinkets. He was frustrated by the politics, but confident the delicate balance the three faiths kept in the holy city would prevail.  In this sacred place, God is protecting us all. We are guarded by his angels in Jerusalem,  Hazo added. Christians make up around just one percent of the Palestinian population in Gaza, the West Bank and East Jerusalem - though they punch above their weight in local and national politics.    Back in July, Hazo protested alongside Muslims against Israel s installation of security scanners at the nearby al-Aqsa mosque - Islam s third holiest site - after two Arab-Israeli gunmen shot dead two Israeli police officers at the site.  It removed the metal detectors after days of bloody clashes, scenes that have not been repeated in the city since Trump s declaration. The appeals to religious unity inside Jerusalem s walls stand in contrast to the more divided voices outside. In the hours running up to Trump s statement, Pope Francis called for the status quo in the city to be respected. The Episcopal Church of the United States said Trump s announcement  could have profound ramifications on the peace process and the future of a two-state solution . But Trump s decision found strong backing from another corner of the Christian community - many among his own country s politically powerful evangelicals who see God s hand in the modern-day return of Jews to a biblical homeland. Trump convened a circle of evangelical advisers during his presidential bid, and he was the overwhelming favorite of white evangelical voters in last year s U.S. election.   We are all bible-believers and we believe that this is the bible-land and that Jerusalem is the ancient capital of Israel back to the days of King David,  said Dallas-based Mike Evans, part of an evangelical group that met Trump on Monday.  So for our president to stand up and declare it makes us extremely proud and honored.  For Palestinian supermarket cashier Mohammed al-Hawa, however, Trump s words and the logic behind them ignored the more complex reality on the ground. People of all faith in Jerusalem were united in prayer, the 33-year-old said, even if they were divided over politics.  Christians, Jews and Muslims live in this city together. There is no problem between them. Only the politics. The governments want to make wars,  he said.  This is my city - my blood, my life,  added a 70-year-old Palestinian, walking through the pilgrim-packed courtyard of Jerusalem s Church of the Holy Sepulchre, revered by Christians as the site of Jesus s tomb. The church is packed into a small parcel of land that also holds the al-Aqsa compound and Judaism s Western Wall  I can go to the church, to anywhere in Jerusalem, not Trump nor Netanyahu can stop me,  added the man who identified himself only as a  Jerusalemite .

Summary: 'हम एक हैं': फलस्तीनी ईसाई और मुसलमान ट्रम्प के जेरूसलम आह्वान के खिलाफ एकजुट हुए


LONDON (Reuters) - Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Friday he hoped a U.S. peace initiative would work and praised President Donald Trump for taking a fresh approach to bringing the Israelis and Palestinians back to negotiations. For at least two decades, the goal of U.S.-led diplomacy has been a  two-state solution , meaning an independent Palestinian state living side-by-side and at peace with Israel.  But neither Trump nor his aides have publicly recommitted to a two-state solution, instead saying it is up to the two parties to work out in peace talks. Asked during a visit to London to commemorate the 1917 British declaration of support for a Jewish homeland if he felt now was the moment for peace in the region, noting Trump s involvement in peace efforts, he said:  Hope so.    What s being discussed now is an American initiative. Obviously we make our interests and our concerns known to Mr Trump. He s coming with a sort of refreshing  can-do  thing... they re trying to think out of the box,  Netanyahu said at London s Chatham House think-tank. Netanyahu has previously expressed doubts about the Trump initiative, telling France s President Emmanuel Macron in July that it would be difficult to move forward quickly because he felt Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas may not be able to deliver on commitments he had made. But he said that more countries in the region were now beginning to engage constructively with Israel.  The reason I draw hope from the moment is because of the larger shift in Arab-Israeli relations with the countries of the region. I cannot emphasize how dramatic that is,  he said.  The Palestinians seek to establish an independent state in the Israeli occupied West Bank, territory captured in the 1967 Middle East war and the Gaza Strip, with East Jerusalem as its capital. Most Israelis want all of Jerusalem as their capital and reject a full return to 1967 borderlines as a threat to their security.

Summary: इजरायल के नेतन्याहू ने मध्य पूर्व में अमेरिकी शांति के लिए आशा व्यक्त की


PARIS (Reuters) - France, home of the 2015 Paris climate change accord, will redouble its efforts to limit carbon emissions and pull other signatory countries along with it, Environment Minister Nicolas Hulot said on Friday. Hulot was speaking hours after U.S. President Donald Trump confirmed his plan to pull the world’s second biggest carbon emitter out of the deal on the basis that it was bad for the American economy and would weaken its sovereignty. “It’s not dead. On the contrary France itself, rather than reduce its ambitions, will revise them upwards and we will pull along in our wake a number of other states,” Hulot said on Europe 1 radio. “France intends to maintain and reinforce its diplomatic leadership on this subject.” Hulot is a well-known French environmentalist who was pulled into the new government of President Emmanuel Macron as a minister when it was formed less than three weeks ago. Joining a stream of international criticism of the move, he  said talks would immediately get under way about a riposte, including with India, whose Prime Minister Narendra Modi visits France this weekend. Late on Thursday, Italian Prime Minister Paolo Gentiloni, German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Macron urged their allies to speed up efforts to combat climate change and said they would do more to help developing countries adapt.  Macron himself went on television on Thursday night to condemn Trump’s move. Speaking in a separate address in English,  he invited U.S. scientists and climate change researchers to come to France, and stole a Trump catch-phrase to say it was time to “make the planet great again”. French Prime Minister Edouard Philippe called Trump’s decision “calamitous”. “The gravity of this subject is well documented, and everyone knows the considerable efforts we have to deliver to be up to this major challenge, yet the president of the United States consciously decides to pull out,” he said on RTL Radio. “It’s calamitous for the planet.”

Summary: फ्रांस का कहना है कि वह 'ग्रह को फिर से महान बनाने' के लिए नए सिरे से प्रयास करेगा


BEIRUT (Reuters) - Lebanese Prime Minister Saad al-Hariri said on Thursday Gulf Arab countries were planning no action against Lebanon after a political crisis last month thrust it onto the front line of rivalry between Saudi Arabia and Iran.  Hariri has been a political ally of Saudi Arabia but his coalition government includes Lebanon s powerful Shi ite Muslim Hezbollah group, an ally of Shi ite Iran and sworn enemy of Sunni Muslim Riyadh.  Last month s political crisis, sparked when Hariri announced his resignation while in Saudi Arabia, raised fear in Lebanon that Riyadh and its Gulf allies would take economic action against the tiny Mediterranean country.  In an interview broadcast from Riyadh before he returned to Lebanon and rescinded his resignation, Hariri warned of possible Gulf sanctions on Lebanon and of a threat to the livelihood of Lebanese workers in Gulf states.  His remarks on Thursday seemed aimed at reassuring that no such action was in the cards.  This is not going to happen. I assure you we have the best relationship with Saudi Arabia, we have a very good relationship with the UAE, and most of the Gulf,  he said at a business conference.      The Gulf has a problem with one political party in Lebanon and does not have a problem with the whole of Lebanon,  Hariri added, alluding to Hezbollah.

Summary: हरीरी का कहना है कि खाड़ी देश लेबनान के खिलाफ कदम उठाने की योजना नहीं बना रहे हैं


HOUSTON (Reuters) - Several Caribbean oil storage terminals that temporarily closed ahead of Hurricane Irma earlier this month have started making preparations in case they have to shut again due to Hurricane Maria, which was a rare Category 5 storm on Tuesday.  Shippers and traders in the Atlantic basin are struggling amid this year s very active storm season, which has seen seven hurricanes so far, four of them major hurricanes, defined as at least a Category 3 on the five-step Saffir-Simpson scale. Hurricane Harvey hit the U.S. Gulf Coast s energy infrastructure at the end of August, halting a large portion of fuel exports to Latin America. This month, hurricanes Irma and Maria have forced Caribbean oil terminals and refineries to shut or slow operations, locking down millions of barrels stored. The scramble for shipments has led some shippers to divert tankers away from Venezuela to feed Latin American and Caribbean countries desperate for fuel. Maria on Tuesday evening churned in the eastern Caribbean about 60 miles (190 km) southeast of St. Croix in the U.S. Virgin Islands, where a 13-million-barrel oil storage facility is located. Operators of other terminals in neighboring islands were monitoring the storm before making operational decisions. The hurricane brushed north of St. Lucia and its path could also include St. Eustatius, Puerto Rico and parts of the Bahamas, islands where most of Caribbean s 100-million-barrel storage capacity is located. NuStar Energy s 13-million-barrel Statia terminal in St. Eustatius remains shut since earlier this month after some of its tanks suffered damage from Irma, according to the company. It also activated a hurricane response plan ahead of Maria. Statoil s South Riding Point terminal in the Bahamas remained open on Tuesday, though the company is monitoring the hurricane, it said in an email to Reuters. U.S.-based Buckeye Partners, the largest terminal operator in the Caribbean, said in an emailed statement that it  initiated full plant shutdown procedures and suspended all marine terminal operations for its operations in Yabucoa, Puerto Rico per our established hurricane preparedness plan.    Buckeye temporarily shut its 23-million-barrel Bahamas terminal, its 6-million-barrel Puerto Rico facility and its Florida pipeline and terminal system earlier in September due to Irma, but all of them were in the process of resuming operations last week. Maria caused  mind boggling damage  in Dominica, where it ripped off roofs across the island before pushing on toward the U.S. Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico on Tuesday.

Summary: कैरेबियाई तेल टर्मिनल तूफान मारिया से पहले तैयारी करते हैं


WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump supports the goal of peace between Israel and the Palestinians, even if it does not involve the two-state solution, a senior White House official said on Tuesday. Speaking a day before Trump holds a White House meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, the official said peace was the ultimate goal.  “Whether that comes in the form of a two–state solution if that’s what the parties want, or something else,” the official said, adding that Trump would not try to “dictate” a solution. Failure by a U.S. president to explicitly back a two-state solution would upend decades of U.S. policy embraced by Republican and Democratic administrations. It has long been the bedrock U.S. position for resolving the long-running Israeli-Palestinian conflict and has been at the core of international peace efforts. Any sign of a softening of U.S. support for eventual Palestinian statehood could also anger the Muslim world, including Sunni Arab allies, which the Trump administration needs in the fight against Islamic State and to back efforts against Shi’ite Iran. Trump considers Middle East peace a “high priority,” the White House official said. The president has given his son-in-law, Jared Kushner, the job of negotiating a peace deal. “We would want to work on it very quickly,” the official said. Trump’s choice for U.S. ambassador to Israel, David Friedman, who has not yet been confirmed by the Senate, will not be involved in the president’s discussions with Netanyahu on Wednesday, the official said. Friedman advocates settlement building and has questioned the two-state solution.  The White House said earlier this month that Israel’s building of new settlements or expansion of existing ones in occupied territories may not be helpful in achieving peace. The statement was a shift in tone for Trump, who signaled during the campaign that he could be more accommodating toward settlement projects than his predecessor, Barack Obama.

Summary: ट्रम्प मध्य पूर्व शांति का समर्थन करते हैं, भले ही वे दो-राज्य समाधान से बंधे न हों


MANILA (Reuters) - A joint session of the Philippine Congress on Wednesday approved a one-year extension of martial law on the southern island of Mindanao, backing a move by President Rodrigo Duterte to tackle Muslim extremists. Security officials had earlier told Congress militants loyal to Islamic State were regrouping and recruiting young fighters to launch attacks in the region of 22 million people, home to the country s Muslim minority. Opponents had said one year was excessive and the measure did not satisfy a constitutional requirement for a rebellion to be taking place.

Summary: फिलीपींस के सांसदों ने दक्षिण में मार्शल लॉ के एक साल के विस्तार को मंजूरी दी


BARCELONA (Reuters) - With the Spanish government ready to take over the running of Catalonia on Friday, the loyalty of the local police to Madrid or to the Catalan cause will be tested if they are ordered to drag their former political masters from office. Spanish police provoked international outcry by using batons and rubber bullets when they stepped in to try to stop an illegal independence referendum on Oct. 1 after the local Catalan force refused to prevent voting in what has become the worst constitutional crisis in modern Spanish history.  Catalonia s secessionist government is intent on resisting Spain s plan to remove it from power, and there are doubts over how a divided and demoralized Mossos d Esquadra, as the Catalan police are called, would respond if ordered to evict President Carles Puigdemont and his autonomous government by force.   National police could once again be on the front line. The local police force is riven by distrust between those for and against Catalan independence and is estranged from Spain s national police forces, according to interviews with Mossos officers and national police.  The Civil Guard gave evidence against the Mossos chief in a sedition inquiry after his force stood back and allowed voting to take place, court documents show.  Five Mossos officers, speaking on condition of anonymity, said they believed the 17,000-strong force was split among those who wanted independence and those who opposed it, with three of those saying they would not use force to remove ministers and lawmakers from power.  I m not going to use force and beat people with my baton if they are passive,  said a 15-year Mossos veteran and secessionist, who declined to be named.  He said many others felt the same, but added: I would have to obey it. My family has to eat.  A Mossos spokeswoman said the force was neutral and not subject to any  political or ideological criteria . Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy is intent on thwarting the latest bid for independence by Catalonia, which has 16 percent of the Spanish population but generates 19 percent of the country s economic output, to avoid what he believes will bring economic and social turmoil to the heart of the eurozone.  Officers told Reuters there was also an anti-independence faction in the Mossos d Esquadra,  Lads  Squad  in Catalan, which uses an encrypted chat app to share views on independence versus allegiance to Madrid.   In a bid to impose its authority the Madrid government will replace the Mossos senior leadership, but the question is whether this will be enough to ensure the force s loyalty.     The Mossos stance will have a powerful influence on the 7.5 million Catalans as the force has deep roots in Catalan society, having emerged from citizen militias in the 18th century.  The Mossos s reputation was enhanced by its handling of an August van attack in Barcelona which killed 14 people.  Rajoy will seek Senate approval on Friday to take the unprecedented step of assuming central control of Catalonia, including its government and the running of Mossos. The strategy will replace the Mossos leadership, including its two senior officers and 23 commissioners, and route the chain of command to a national police commander, yet to be appointed, who will report to the interior ministry, officials in Madrid and a Catalan police union said. Spain s foreign minister, Alfonso Dastis, said at the weekend, before calls for civil disobedience by the Catalan government, that  we are not going to arrest anyone .  But a senior government source said force may be necessary depending on the reaction in Catalonia.  If the parliament has to be emptied out and closed, if the councillors  offices have to be cleared out - if they obey there s no problem, but if they don t obey it will have to be enforced,  the source said. The months-long standoff between Madrid and pro-independence leaders progressively damaged morale inside Mossos, with hundreds of officers opposed to independence looking to quit the force, officers and union officials say. Some complain they are sidelined by their pro-independence colleagues. Luis Miguel Lorente, head of the national ARP police union, said about 200 Mossos officers had contacted his union for information on how to join national police forces. Spain has sent about 4,000 police reinforcements to Catalonia, where protests on both sides of the independence debate have drawn hundreds of thousands of people onto the streets. Extra police have been billeted in two cruise ships in Barcelona harbor. One of the ships is painted with cartoon characters of Tweety Pie and Sylvester the Cat, leading to Tweety Pie being adopted as the mascot of the independence movement by some campaigners. Participants in the referendum opted overwhelmingly for independence, but turnout was only about 43 percent as Catalans who favor remaining part of Spain mainly boycotted the ballot. Secessionists said the result gave them a mandate for statehood. Spain was only restored to democracy following the death in 1975 of dictator Francisco Franco, under whom the Catalan language and traditions were suppressed.    Protests have been peaceful, but the referendum showed how tensions can swiftly escalate when Madrid uses national police, despised by many secessionists, to enforce anti-independence measures. If Mossos stands back again, the senior government source said, national police would step in once more. A defiant Catalan government, which remains in power until the Senate approves Rajoy s plan, said this week its civil servants, including the Mossos, would continue to obey its instructions and those of its legislature. That raises fears that Puigdemont and regional lawmakers, will refuse to leave their offices, or that their supporters may try to help by occupying the offices. As well as replacing Mossos leaders, Madrid may also redeploy Mossos officers away from key government buildings and use national police instead, an interior ministry official said. Relations between the regional and the national forces are at rock bottom and no new joint investigations are being launched, say officers from each force.

Summary: हतोत्साहित और विभाजितः कैटेलोनिया के पुलिस बल के अंदर


SABRATHA, Libya (Reuters) - An armed alliance involved in a three-week battle over the Libyan smuggling hub of Sabratha said on Saturday it had taken over protection of the Mellitah oil and gas terminal after expelling a rival group. An organization called the Operations Room and its allies have been fighting the Anas al-Dabbashi brigade, a major facilitator of migrant smuggling that recently said it had changed tack and struck a deal with the U.N.-backed government in Tripoli to stop boats setting off across the Mediterranean. The fighting killed 17 and wounded 164, Omar Abduljaleel, commander of the Operations Room, told reporters in Sabratha, a town west of the capital Tripoli. The Dabbashi brigade had been guarding the facility west of Sabratha since 2015. It is run jointly by Libya s National Oil Corporation (NOC) and Italian firm Eni. The setback for the Dabbashi brigade creates new uncertainty over the control of migrant flows from Libya.       Since a 2016 deal between the EU and Turkey to block crossings in the Aegean, Libya has been the gateway for the vast majority of migrants trying to reach Europe by boat, and the area around Sabratha has been the most common departure point. From July, the number of crossings dropped sharply, a change attributed to increased activity by Libya s EU-trained coastguard and to the Dabbashi brigade blocking departures in return for offers of amnesty and jobs in the security forces. Asked whether the Operations Room would stop illegal migration, Abduljaleel said:  God willing we will work on illegal migration after the biggest smuggler has been eliminated.  The Dabbashi brigade has confirmed the retreat from Sabratha, where the Operations Room took reporters on a tour. Several houses in the main street had been hit by rockets or were burned out but otherwise the city was calm. Both the Dabbashi brigade and the Operations Room, which was created last year to force Islamic State from Sabratha, have links to the U.N.-backed Government of National Accord (GNA). Italian officials have visited Sabratha as part of efforts to block migrant flows from there.

Summary: सशस्त्र गुट ने लीबिया के तेल और गैस परिसर की सुरक्षा संभाली, प्रवासियों पर नई चिंता


WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Donald Trump will lay out a more confrontational  strategy toward Iran by the United States on Friday in a speech in which he is likely to strike a blow at an international Iran nuclear deal, complicating U.S. relations with European allies. U.S. officials said Trump was expected to announce that he will not certify the 2015 Iran nuclear deal, believing the agreement is not in the national interests of the United States. He had certified it twice before but aides said he was reluctant to do so a third time. Trump could have a last minute change of heart before he outlines his administration s new approach toward Iran in speech at the White House at 12:45 p.m. EDT (1645 GMT) on Friday. The step would not withdraw the United States from the deal but would give the U.S. Congress 60 days to decide whether to reimpose the sanctions on Tehran that were suspended under an agreement that was negotiated by the United States and other world powers during the administration of former President Barack Obama. International inspectors say Iran is in technical compliance with the accord, but Trump says Tehran is in violation of the spirit of the agreement and has done nothing to rein in its ballistic missile program or its financial and military support for Hezbollah and other extremist groups. White House Chief of Staff John Kelly said the U.S. approach toward Iran is to work with allies in the Middle East to contain Tehran s activities.  We have footprints on the ground, naval and Air Force is there to just demonstrate our resolve, our friendship, and try to deter anything that any country out there may do,  Kelly said. European allies are warning of a split with the United States on the issue. This week, Trump has heard appeals from British Prime Minister Theresa May and French President Emmanuel Macron for the United States to certify the deal for the sake of allied unity.  It s imperative that Europe sticks together on this issue,  German Foreign Minister Sigmar Gabriel told the RND German newspaper group.  We also have to tell the Americans that their behavior on the Iran issue will drive us Europeans into a common position with Russia and China against the USA.  Signed by the United States, Britain, France, Germany, Russia, China, the European Union and Iran, the deal lifted sanctions on Tehran in exchange for curbs on its nuclear program. Trump has called the accord  an embarrassment  and  the worst deal ever.  European officials have categorically ruled out renegotiating the deal, but have said they share Trump s concerns over Iran s destabilizing influence in the Middle East. The threat of new action from Washington has prompted a public display of unity from the rival factions among Iran s rulers. CIA Director Mike Pompeo on Thursday kept up a steady drumbeat of Trump administration criticism of Iran, saying Tehran is  mounting a ruthless drive to be the hegemonic power in the region.  Iran s intelligence service and the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps  are the cudgels of a despotic theocracy, with the IRGC accountable only to a Supreme Leader. They re the vanguard of a pernicious empire that is expanding its power and influence across the Middle East,  Pompeo said in remarks at the University of Texas in Austin.  In Tampa, Florida, the head of U.S. Central Command said he was concerned about Iran s long-term activities in the region and he would continue to focus on protecting U.S. troops, even as Iran has said U.S. regional military bases would be at risk if further sanctions were passed.  Iran is kind of a long-term destabilizing actor in the region and so we remain concerned about their activities as well,  U.S. General Joseph Votel told reporters.

Summary: ट्रंप ने शुक्रवार को ईरान के लिए नई रणनीति पेश की, जिससे यूरोपीय संबंध जटिल हो गए


BERLIN (Reuters) - Fear of terrorism, political extremism and social tension due to mass migration are Germans  top concerns as they prepare to vote in a federal election, a survey showed on Thursday. Worries about jobs and the economy have meanwhile fallen to record lows, according to the annual study by insurer R+V.  Having presided over an economic upswing that has boosted wages and created jobs, Chancellor Angela Merkel is widely expected to win a fourth term in the Sept. 24 election.      Some voters from her conservative alliance have however defected to the anti-immigrant Alternative for Germany (AfD) over her decision in 2015 to open Germany s borders to hundreds of thousands of refugees fleeing war in Syria and Iraq. The R+V study showed terrorism remained the top fear, worrying 71 percent of Germans compared to 73 percent last year,  Security officials have said the country should brace for further violence by Islamist militants after it was hit by five attacks in 2016, including one in December on a Berlin Christmas market that killed 12 people.  The fear of terror attacks is clearly in first place and is at one of the highest levels that has ever been measured,  said Brigitte Roemstedt, who heads the R+V Info Centre that surveyed around 2,400 Germans. Political extremism was the second biggest worry, troubling 62 percent of Germans compared with 68 percent last year, while 61 percent fear that immigration could provoke social tension, down from 67 percent. R+V said fear of unemployment and a poor economic situation were at record lows, while concerns about natural disasters and contaminated food had increased.

Summary: जर्मन आतंकवाद से सबसे ज्यादा डरते हैं, वित्त के बारे में सुरक्षितः अध्ययन


PARIS (Reuters) - French President Emmanuel Macron s government announced reforms to loosen labor regulations and drive down unemployment, drawing criticism from unions but limited support for the street protests that have hindered previous reform bids.  After weeks of negotiations with unions over the summer, the centrist government revealed measures including a cap on payouts for dismissals adjudged unfair and greater freedom to hire and fire. The plan would also give companies more flexibility to adapt pay and working hours to market conditions. The labor code reform is the first big test of Macron s drive to re-shape the euro zone s second biggest economy with its near double-digit jobless rate, double that in Britain and markedly higher than Germany. He also seeks a  grand bargain  with Germany over broader reforms of the euro zone. For decades, governments of the left and right have tried to reform France s strict labor rules, but have always diluted them in the face of street protests. The reform makes no direct reference to France s 35-hour week but gives employers more flexibility to negotiate deals with employees to work around it. Labour Minister Muriel Penicaud described the five decrees laying out the reforms as  a transformation of labor rules on an unprecedented scale . Prime Minister Edouard Philippe said they were necessary to fight France s stubbornly high unemployment.   The truth is that for bosses, especially of small companies, and foreign investors, the existing labor law is seen as a brake on hiring and investment,  Philippe said. Trade unions were less upbeat at what they perceived as the loss of long-cherished workers  rights.  All of our fears have been confirmed,  said Philippe Martinez, head of the hard-left CGT union, after the government presented the decrees to unions and employers. He said the union would press ahead with its plan for a protest on Sept. 12. But Macron s assiduous courting of the unions over the summer appeared to have born fruit. France s biggest union, the reformist CFDT, said it was disappointed with what amounted to a missed opportunity to improve labor relations. But both the CFDT and the smaller Force Ouvriere, one of the spearheads of last year s anti-reform protests, said they would not be joining the CGT s protest.   This reform does not rise to the occasion , CFDT leader Laurent Berger told reporters, but he added:  Taking to the streets is not the only mode of action for unions.  It sets a cap on compensation for a dismissal judged in a labor court to be unfair. This will be set at three months of wages for two years in the company with the amount rising progressively depending on how long a worker was with the firm. In a concession to unions, normal severance pay would be increased from 20 percent of one month s wage for each year in a company to 25 percent. Economists drew parallels with Germany and Spain.  This very much resembles the labor reform carried out in Germany in 2004-2005,  said Florian Hense, European economist at Berenberg Bank.  This could very well propel France to a golden decade like Germany had.   Dutch bank ING said:  The ceiling on dismissal compensation is a milestone in labor flexibility and a real positive for permanent contract creation. In Spain, a similar reform kick-started an unprecedented labor market recovery.   Pierre Gattaz, the head of the MEDEF employers federation, described the reforms as an important first step which would boost confidence within companies. The CPME, a small business lobby, was even more positive.  At last!,  it said in a statement.  After months of negotiations, we got results. The reform we had been waiting for so long is there.  The labor reforms comes as the 39-year-old president suffers a steep drop in popularity ratings. Early policy announcements including an overhaul of the wealth tax and cuts to housing assistance have left a swathe of voters feeling his policies favor the rich, pollsters say. The government plans to start talks on overhauling unemployment benefits in October before tackling pension reform next year.  Parliament, where Macron s Republic on the Move party has a commanding majority, has already voted to allow the government to issue the decrees without a vote in the assembly. The government plans to adopt the decrees on Sept. 22.

Summary: फ्रांस ने अर्थव्यवस्था को फिर से आकार देने की दिशा में पहला कदम उठाते हुए श्रम सुधारों का अनावरण किया


WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. House will consider a disaster relief package on Wednesday in wake of Hurricane Harvey that led to massive flooding in Texas and has been blamed for at least 50 deaths, the House majority leader’s office said Monday. On Friday, U.S. President Donald Trump asked Congress for an initial $7.85 billion for recovery efforts after the storm caused an estimated $180 billion in damage.

Summary: सदन बुधवार को आपदा सहायता पर विचार करेगा


LONDON (Reuters) - The chances of Northern Ireland s political parties restoring a power-sharing agreement in Northern Ireland are  not positive  and talks in the last few days have stalled, Britain s minister for the region said on Wednesday.  If I had given evidence to this committee last week I might have indicated some momentum, more progress. That progress stalled at the end of last week,  James Brokenshire told a parliamentary committee.  Unless there is a renewed spirit of compromise then the outlook for imminent resolution is not positive. Time is running out.    (This story has been refiled to remove extraneous word from headline)

Summary: ब्रिटेन का कहना है कि उत्तरी आयरलैंड के गतिरोध को हल करने की संभावना 'सकारात्मक नहीं' है


KUALA LUMPUR (Reuters) - Two women accused of murdering the estranged half-brother of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un with a banned nerve agent pleaded not guilty at the start of a high-profile murder trial in a Malaysian court on Monday. Indonesian Siti Aisyah, 25, and Doan Thi Huong, 28, a Vietnamese, are charged with killing Kim Jong Nam by smearing his face with VX, a chemical poison banned by the United Nations, at Kuala Lumpur airport on Feb. 13. Both women wore bullet-proof vests as they were led into the court on the outskirts of the Malaysian capital. They face the death penalty if convicted. Police have also named four North Koreans as suspects in the case and an Interpol red notice, an international alert just short of an arrest warrant, has been issued for the North Koreans, who remain at large. Defence lawyers demanded that the prosecution immediately name the four other suspects, who have also been charged, so they can prepare their case.  The charge must be clear,  said Siti Aisyah s lawyer, Gooi Soon Seng. Judge Azmi Ariffin dismissed their request. The two women nodded their heads when the charges were read out by two interpreters. They pleaded not guilty. The prosecution said the women s actions showed  intent to kill the victim  by smearing his face and eyes with VX nerve agent, which a Malaysian post-mortem confirmed had killed Kim. The women told their lawyers they did not know they were participating in a deadly attack and believed they were carrying out a prank for a reality TV show.  The prank practice carried out by the first and second accused with the supervision of the four who are still at large was preparation to see through their common intention to kill the victim,  lead prosecutor Muhamad Iskandar Ahmad said in his opening statement. The two women sat quietly in the packed courtroom. Siti was dressed in a black floral suit, while Huong wore a white long-sleeved t-shirt and jeans.  Juliana Idris, who works at the airport, told the court a man later identified as Kim Jong Nam approached her and asked her to take him to a police station.  She said the man, who spoke English, told her he had been  attacked by a woman from behind ... another one closed his eyes .  His hands were shaking a bit, I don t know why,  she said. Police Lance Corporal Mohd Zulkarnain Sanudin, who was on duty at the airport, said Juliana had brought Kim Jong Nam to him. He said Kim told him a substance had been wiped on his face. Kim s eyes were red and he could see some liquid on his face, Zulkarnain said. He also said the he had wrongly recorded Kim Jong Nam s nationality as South Korean.  The police report I made showed the nationality as South Korean, while on the passport, it was written DPR Korea, whereby I did not know what DPR meant. I was only sure that Korea was South Korea,  he told the court. DPRK are the initials for North Korea s official name, the Democratic Republic of North Korea. Other witnesses described how Kim Jong Nam had seizures at the clinic - his eyes rolled upwards and there was drooling of saliva and mucus. Rabiatul Adawiyah Mohd Sofi, a medical assistant, said Kim Jong Nam was at the clinic for just over an hour and moved to a hospital. By the time they arrived at the hospital emergency ward, they could not get a blood pressure reading, she said.  There was a high probability that there was either a problem with our monitor or the patient had died,  said Rabiatul. The case continues on Tuesday.

Summary: दो महिलाओं ने उत्तर कोरियाई नेता के सौतेले भाई की हत्या से इनकार किया


JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - South African Deputy President Cyril Ramaphosa, a leading contender to become head of the ruling ANC in December, stepped up his criticism of the government on Sunday, saying state-owned companies had been  captured  and funds looted from them. Ramaphosa s remarks during a speech to an African National Congress meeting in the old diamond-mining town of Kimberley  were tougher than others he has made on government graft, signaling the issue will be a main theme of his campaign.  He also took aim   without naming them - at the wealthy Gupta family, friends of President Jacob Zuma who have been accused of using undue influence to win lucrative state contracts. Zuma and the Guptas have denied any wrongdoing.  Many of these state-owned enterprises have been captured by certain people, by a certain family,  Ramaphosa said.   All of our state-owned enterprises have been captured and we are saying we want to see an end to state capture and the money that has been stolen, we want it back,  he said, to roars of approval from the audience.  South Africa s top prosecutor said on Wednesday police were examining a trove of leaked documents detailing relations between the Guptas and Zuma, but it was too early to say if a prosecution should be launched. Ramaphosa said in May that South Africa was in danger of becoming a  mafia state  and he took a swipe in July at the Guptas over media reports that state funds were diverted in 2013 to pay for a lavish Gupta family wedding. But Sunday s remarks about a  certain family  were more pointed and come as the race heats up for the ANC s top spot. The next head of the party, who will be selected in December, will be its presidential candidate in 2019 national elections. Ramaphosa s main challenger, veteran politician and Zuma s ex-wife Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma, will next week be sworn in as a member of parliament, a move which could see the former minister brought back into the cabinet, raising her profile. Analysts say she has the backing of Zuma s well-established patronage network as well as organizations such as the party s Women s League. Ramaphosa is a trade unionist-turned-business tycoon who has the backing of a diverse group of unions, communists and investors who do not always see eye to eye but want to rid the ANC of Zuma s influence and legacy.  The opposition has long accused Zuma of sleaze and influence-peddling while in office. He survived a no-confidence vote in parliament on Aug. 8 but 30 ANC lawmakers voted with the opposition, indicating deep divisions in the party that has dominated South African politics since the end of apartheid in 1994.

Summary: दक्षिण अफ्रीका के रामफोसा ने एएनसी नेतृत्व के मतदान से पहले आलोचना की


HARARE (Reuters) - Zimbabwe s army appears to be pushing for a quick and bloodless end to 93-year-old President Robert Mugabe s 37 years in power, to be replaced by a national unity government headed by his former deputy, Emmerson Mnangagwa. According to political sources in Harare, Mugabe - now under house arrest in his lavish Harare home - was resisting pressure to stand down voluntarily. [nL8N1NM1N9] Assuming he does, the following are likely to be key players in the expected settlement, according to political sources in Zimbabwe and South Africa and several years of Zimbabwean intelligence documents seen by Reuters: EMMERSON MNANGAGWA (LIKELY PRESIDENT) - A lifelong Mugabe aide and 1970s liberation war veteran known as  The Crocodile , Mnangagwa, 75, was in the pole position to succeed Mugabe until his progress was impeded by the dramatic political ascent of Mugabe s wife, Grace. His sacking as vice-president this month cleared a path for Grace to the presidency and appears to have been the trigger for the army to step in to advance its preferred successor. MORGAN TSVANGIRAI (LIKELY PRIME MINISTER) - A former union leader who founded the Movement for Democratic Change in the late 1990s, Tsvangirai, 65, has been Mugabe s main political rival for two decades. He served as prime minister in a 2009-2013 unity government formed after violence-ridden elections in 2008. Tsvangirai has been undergoing treatment for cancer outside Zimbabwe but returned to Harare late on Wednesday. CONSTANTINO CHIWENGA (POSSIBLE VICE-PRESIDENT) - As the military chief who pulled the trigger on the coup, Chiwenga is expected to win a senior role in the interim administration. Chiwenga, 61, who has served in the armed forces since Zimbabwe s independence in 1980, was sanctioned by the United States and European Union although the latter removed him from its list of restricted individuals in 2014. JOICE MUJURU (POSSIBLE VICE-PRESIDENT) - A liberation war veteran with the nom de guerre  Spill Blood , Mujuru, 62, formed her own political party after being ousted as vice-president in 2014. Her husband, Solomon Mujuru, a general who died in suspicious circumstances in 2011, was regarded as one of the most feared men in Zimbabwe and one of the few people capable of challenging Mugabe. DUMISO DABENGWA (POSSIBLE VICE-PRESIDENT) - Moscow-trained Dabengwa, 77, nicknamed  The Black Russian , fought in the 1970s anti-colonial struggle for ZIPRA (Zimbabwe People s Liberation Army), a rival to Mugabe s ZANLA (Zimbabwe African National Liberation Army). His incorporation in any unity government would ensure it represented both wings of the liberation struggle. TENDAI BITI (POSSIBLE FINANCE MINISTER) - A lawyer by training, Biti, 51, won international plaudits as finance minister in the 2009-2013 government that stabilized the imploding economy. He told Reuters he would be happy to reprise this role if Tsvangirai, his former political mentor, was on board.

Summary: फैक्टबॉक्सः जिम्बाब्वे में तख्तापलट के बाद की संभावित एकता सरकार में संभावित खिलाड़ी


PRAGUE (Reuters) - Czech billionaire businessman Andrej Babis s ANO party held a 20-point lead in a parliamentary election on Saturday, with over half of all voting stations reporting results, giving his party an unassailable position in talks to form the next government. Partial results gave ANO 31.3 percent of the vote and also showed a surprise surge for the far-right, anti-EU Freedom and Direct Democracy party, which at 11.4 percent was fighting for second position with two other parties.

Summary: चेक चुनाव में अरबपति की एएनओ पार्टी को बड़ी बढ़तः आंशिक परिणाम


SAO PAULO (Reuters) - Brazil s prosecutor general officially presented money laundering and criminal association charges against six people, including a former federal minister and a congressman, Brazilian media reported on Monday evening. According to newspapers Estad o and O Globo, the prosecutor general sent the formal accusations to Brazil s Supreme Court, which will now decide on further actions. The prosecutor officially accused Geddel Vieira Lima, the papers said, who was in charge of President Michel Temer s relations with Congress until November 2016. The charges related to a previously disclosed corruption probe, in which his fingerprints were found in bags hiding more than 51 million reais ($15.7 million) in cash. The prosecutor also accused Geddel s brother and a federal congressman, L cio Vieira Lima, their mother, Marluce Vieira Lima, a former advisor to L cio, Job Ribeiro, the ex-director of the civil defense force for the city of Salvador, Gustavo Ferraz, and a partner at construction company Cosbat, Luiz Fernando Costa Filho, O Globo reported. Among the possible sources of the 51 million reais of cash, the prosecutor said according to the paper, were bribes from embattled construction firm Odebrecht [ODBES.UL] and kickbacks related to President Temer s Brazilian Democratic Movement Party (PMBD). The prosecutor general s office, a lawyer for Vieira Lima and representatives of Odebrecht did not immediately respond to requests for comment outside normal business hours. Lawyers for the other defendants could not immediately be reached for comment. Brazil has been wracked by corruption cases that have reached all levels of business and government in recent years, shattering the public s faith in the political class. Just weeks ago, police arrested the head of the Rio state assembly and two other state assemblymen on corruption charges, all of whom were also members of Temer s PMDB.

Summary: ब्राजील के अभियोजक ने पूर्व मंत्री, कांग्रेस सदस्य पर धन शोधन का आरोप लगायाः मीडिया


SYDNEY (Reuters) - Three hundred U.S. Marines flew out of Australia on Sunday as their troop rotation came to an end, the first of a 1,250-strong force to leave the Pacific nation after being stationed for six months in the country s far north. The sixth rotational group was the most advanced contingent to be sent since the program began after former U.S. President Barack Obama agreed to send troops in 2011 as part of a military pivot to the Asia-Pacific region. For the first time the rotation included an aviation combat section of 13 aircraft, including four MV-22 Osprey tilt-rotor aircraft, according to Australia s Department of Defence. Australian and U.S. troops also practiced disaster relief and humanitarian assistance as a combined force in a remote location for the first time. The rotational forces are stationed in Darwin, state capital of the Northern Territory, which is strategically located on the coastal doorstep of Indonesia, East Timor and Papua New Guinea. During the six-month deployment, the U.S. troops participated in 12 joint exercises with the Australian Defence Force, giving them an opportunity to interact with a range of countries including China, Indonesia, Japan, New Zealand, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.  Australia s alliance with the United States is our most important defense relationship and remains central to Australia s security,  Captain Bryan Parker, deputy commander of Australia s Northern Command, said in a statement.  The presence of the U.S. Marines across the Northern Territory plays a vital role in underwriting security and stability across the Indo-Pacific,  he said, adding that force posture initiatives were essential to preserving stability over the coming decades. Marine rotation numbers were originally expected to reach 2,500 by 2017 but so far have not risen above 1,250, according to ABC News reports.

Summary: सैकड़ों अमेरिकी मरीन ने सैन्य टुकड़ियों के रोटेशन के बाद ऑस्ट्रेलिया छोड़ दिया


WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Republican John Kasich ended his longshot presidential bid on Wednesday, NBC News and Politico reported, leaving Donald Trump’s path clear to capture the Republican nomination for the Nov. 8 election.  Kasich, 63, the Ohio governor and a former U.S. congressman, had vowed just a day earlier to keep running after U.S. Senator Ted Cruz dropped out following a poor showing in Indiana’s Republican primary on Tuesday. NBC cited an unidentified Kasich campaign source as saying the governor would suspend his campaign. The campaign did not immediately respond to Reuters’ request for comment. Kasich, who was able to win only his own state in the race for the 2016 Republican nomination, canceled a media appearance on Wednesday in Virginia and scheduled a 5 p.m. EDT statement in Columbus, Ohio, his campaign said. Trump’s decisive victory in the Indiana primary forced Cruz  to suspend his candidacy and prompted speculation that Kasich, running a distant third, would do the same.

Summary: रिपब्लिकन कासिच ने राष्ट्रपति चुनाव अभियान को निलंबित कियाः एनबीसी, पोलिटिको