HO CHI MINH CITY, Vietnam (Reuters) - U.S. President Barack Obama chided Vietnam on political freedoms on Tuesday after critics of its communist-run government were prevented from meeting him in Hanoi, a discordant note on a trip otherwise steeped in amity between the former foes. Tens of thousands turned out to welcome Obama on the second leg of his visit, Ho Chi Minh City, which was called Saigon until April 1975 when North Vietnamese tanks rolled in to bring U.S.-backed South Vietnam under communist rule. Many in the crowds lining the streets chanted “Obama, Obama,” some held handwritten signs reading “Obama, we love you,” and one woman held a boy dressed in a Captain America costume, complete with shield. Underlining the importance of the growing economic ties between the countries, Obama held an open forum with young  entrepreneurs and laid out the benefits of the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) trade pact between 12 Pacific Rim countries. The high point of his visit came on Monday, with an announcement that Washington was scrapping its embargo on the sale of lethal arms to Vietnam. That clears the biggest hurdle remaining between two countries drawn together by concern over China’s military build-up. Critics said that by removing the ban, a vestige of the Vietnam War, Washington had put concerns about Beijing’s assertiveness in the South China Sea first and given up a critical lever to press Hanoi for improvements in human rights. One prominent intellectual, Nguyen Quang A, told Reuters that about 10 policemen had come to his house at 6:30 a.m. and put him in a car that was driven out of the capital until Obama was about to leave. An outspoken lawyer, Ha Huy Son, said he was also stopped from joining Obama’s meeting with six other civil society leaders. Human Rights Watch said a journalist who was also invited had been arrested on Monday. Quang A, a former IT entrepreneur, was one of more than 100 Vietnamese who tried to run as independents for last weekend’s election to the parliament, which is tightly controlled by the Communist Party. Almost all failed to get on the ballot. Before he was taken away, Quang A posted on Facebook a photograph of himself dressing for the meeting with Obama, with the message: “Before going. May be intercepted, arrested. Advising so people know.” Vietnam’s foreign ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Obama noted that several activists had been blocked from meeting him and said this was an indication that, despite some “modest” legal reforms “there are still folks who find it very difficult to assemble and organize peacefully around issues that they care deeply about.” “There are still areas of significant concern in terms of freedom of speech, freedom of assembly, accountability with respect to government,” he said. U.S. officials said that lifting the arms embargo would make it easier for Washington to engage with Vietnam on such issues. In Washington, members of the U.S. Congress, including Republicans as well as some of Obama’s fellow Democrats, criticized the policy shift alongside about a dozen Vietnamese human rights activists. “This is the definition of a bad deal,” Republican Representative Chris Smith said at a news conference. “This is not smart diplomacy, it is surrender of U.S. interests and values.” Democratic Representative Adam Lowenthal said, “I am very disappointed that we lost yet another opportunity to elicit any kind of commitment from the Vietnamese government on improving the human rights of the Vietnamese people.”  In a speech before leaving Hanoi, Obama stressed the importance of freedom of navigation in the South China Sea, where China has been turning remote outcrops into islands with runways and harbors. “Big nations should not bully small ones. Disputes should be resolved peacefully,” he said, without naming China, which claims sovereignty over most of the South China Sea. China’s Global Times, run by the Communist Party’s official People’s Daily, said the decision to lift the embargo showed a willingness to relax standards on human rights for the sake of containing China. U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry, in Ho Chi Minh City with Obama, told reporters that Washington’s efforts to normalize relations with Vietnam were not aimed at China. “This is not about China. Nothing that we did here or (are) arguing here is focused on China. It is focused on the fastest-growing marketplace in the world,” Kerry said.  Obama interviewed three entrepreneurs at Ho Chi Minh City’s “Dreamplex,” which hosts budget tech start-ups with support of angel investors and Silicon Valley funds. He also touted the benefits of the Trans-Pacific Partnership, especially for unlocking entrepreneurial innovation. Vietnam’s manufacturing and export-led economy is seen as the biggest TPP beneficiary. Annual U.S.-Vietnam trade swelled to $45 billion last year from $450 million when ties were normalized. Washington is a big buyer of Vietnam’s televisions, smartphones, clothing and seafood. But the TPP, which would remove tariffs across a 12-nation bloc worth a combined $28 trillion of gross domestic product, is not a done deal. Opposition is expected in Washington amid concern about competition and a loss of U.S. jobs.

Summary: ओबामा ने कार्यकर्ताओं द्वारा उनसे मिलने से रोके जाने के बाद अधिकारों पर वियतनाम का समर्थन किया


(Reuters) - The U.S. Labor Department on Wednesday said it was rescinding the Obama administration’s standard for determining when companies are “joint employers” of contract and franchise workers, in the agency’s first major shift in labor policy under President Donald Trump. The department in a statement said it had withdrawn a 2016 interpretation of the federal Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) that expanded the circumstances under which a business could be held liable for wage-law violations by staffing agencies, contractors, and franchisees. Previously, companies were considered joint employers when they hired and fired workers and set wages. The Obama administration said a worker’s level of “economic dependence” on a company should also be considered. The expanded definition of joint employment had rankled the business community, which said it threatened the franchise business model and would draw companies into lawsuits when they were not responsible for setting working conditions.  Also on Wednesday, the department withdrew 2015 guidance that said that under the same law, many workers are improperly treated as independent contractors when they are actually employees, which would make them eligible for minimum wage, overtime, and other legal protections.  Guidance issued by federal agencies is not legally binding, but serves as a blueprint for how agencies will enforce federal laws. A shift in enforcement priorities at the Department of Labor had been widely expected since President Donald Trump, a Republican and wealthy businessman from New York, took office.  Business groups have said the department’s guidance on employment and worker classification was misguided and affected nearly every U.S. industry, and they praised the agency’s changes on Wednesday. “Diligent employers work hard to be compliant with the FLSA and these (department) interpretations were merely enforcement traps waiting to spring,” Randy Johnson, a vice president at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, said in a statement. Unions and workers’ rights groups said they were troubled by the labor department’s decision. “This was guidance that made it easier for employers, workers, unions and others to know about their rights and obligations under the law,” Lynn Rhinehart, general counsel for the AFL-CIO, said in a statement. The withdrawal of the guidance does not affect a separate expansion of the definition of joint employment by the National Labor Relations Board, which is under review by a federal appeals court. The NLRB’s standard has had more of an impact than the labor department’s because it is legally binding and requires joint employers to bargain with unions.

Summary: अमेरिकी श्रम विभाग ने 'संयुक्त रोजगार' पर ओबामा-युग के नियम को रद्द कर दिया


WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A moderate Republican senator heaped praise on President Barack Obama’s U.S. Supreme Court nominee on Tuesday, bucking Senate Republican leaders who promptly dismissed her call for confirmation hearings. Susan Collins of Maine became only the second Republican senator to meet with Merrick Garland since Obama nominated the centrist appellate judge last month to fill the court vacancy left by the Feb. 13 death of Justice Antonin Scalia. The hourlong meeting came as Republican senators face mounting pressure from conservative activists to go along with Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell’s plan to block any nominee chosen by Obama. “The meeting left me more convinced than ever that the process should proceed. The next step, in my view, should be public hearings before the Judiciary Committee,” Collins told reporters. About two hours later, McConnell told reporters: “It’s safe to say there will not be hearings or votes” on Garland. McConnell and Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley have said Obama’s successor, who will be elected on Nov. 8 and take office on Jan. 20, should fill Scalia’s vacancy. The court is now split 4-4 between conservatives and liberals, meaning Scalia’s successor could influence its ideological direction for years to come. Collins called Garland “well-informed, thoughtful, impressive, extraordinarily bright and with a sensitivity” toward the roles assigned under the Constitution to the government’s executive, legislative and judicial branches. The White House said Garland would meet next week with Republican Senators Kelly Ayotte, Rob Portman, Lisa Murkowski and Jeff Flake for “courtesy visits.”  Garland met last week with Senator Mark Kirk of Illinois, who called fellow Republicans “closed-minded” for refusing to consider the nomination. Grassley has invited Garland to a breakfast meeting to explain why he will not hold hearings, a Grassley spokeswoman said on Monday. Democrats kept up their attack on Republicans for blocking Garland. Dick Durbin, the second-ranking Senate Democrat, said if McConnell stood firm, Garland would be “the first presidential nominee to the Supreme Court in history to be denied a hearing.” Flake said if a Democrat wins the presidential election, Garland should be confirmed by the Senate “in a heartbeat” during a post-election legislative session. Some Republicans are concerned that Hillary Clinton, the front-runner for the Democratic presidential nomination, would select a more liberal nominee than Garland. Flake’s fellow Republican Judiciary Committee member Lindsey Graham dismissed the idea of a “lame-duck” session to confirm Garland. Graham said Garland would not be confirmed, adding: “What’s the purpose of a hearing, just to beat him up?”

Summary: गारलैंड सुनवाई के लिए रिपब्लिकन कॉलिन्स के आह्वान को अस्वीकार कर दिया गया


WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S President Donald Trump said on Tuesday that his administration has informed Congress of a potential sale to upgrade the F-16 aircraft in Greece s Air Force, a deal could be worth $2.4 billion.  The U.S. State Department approved the possible sale on Monday. Trump spoke of the potential sale following a meeting with Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsirpas at the White House.

Summary: अमेरिका ग्रीस को एफ-16 की संभावित बिक्री पर विचार कर रहा हैः ट्रम्प


WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Trump administration is reviewing the possibility of a key change to U.S. biofuels policy requested by oil refiners and Carl Icahn, the billionaire investor and special advisor on regulations to President Donald Trump, a White House official said on Monday. The administration has no position “either way on this issue at this time,” the White House official confirmed to Reuters. The statements come after news last week that Icahn had reached out to the White House regarding the change. The debate centers on the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS), a 2005 policy that requires increasing volumes of biofuels to be added to gasoline and diesel each year. Oil refiners including Valero Energy Corp and CVR Energy Inc currently have to show environmental regulators they are meeting those annual mandates, and have urged the government to push this compliance further downstream to fuel blenders and integrated oil companies.  Opponents of the change say it will complicate ensuring compliance and that it could threaten the future of the RFS policy that sets the annual requirements for use of biofuels with gasoline and diesel. Confusion over Trump’s plans for RFS sparked wild swings in energy and agricultural markets last week. Carl Icahn, who owns a majority stake in CVR, said he had reached out to the White House about the issue. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has also been reviewing requests from oil refiners including Valero Energy Corp and Delta Air Lines Inc’s Monroe Energy LLC. A public comment period on the issue wrapped up late last month. Two sources familiar with the discussions told Reuters that they have been told by administration officials they are concerned about potential political backlash from biofuels companies and fuel marketers if they make the change that Icahn and Valero are seeking.

Summary: व्हाइट हाउस ने अमेरिकी जैव ईंधन कार्यक्रम में बदलाव पर विचार किया, अभी तक कोई स्थिति नहीं-आधिकारिक


WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. House of Representatives passed two pieces of legislation linked to the international nuclear agreement with Iran on Thursday, one year after the landmark pact was announced, defying President Barack Obama’s veto threat. Voting largely along party lines, the Republican-controlled House voted 246 to 179 to pass a new set of sanctions on Iran, and 246 to 181 for a measure to block Iran’s access to the U.S. financial system, including use of the dollar. The House on Wednesday passed a bill to bar the U.S. purchase of “heavy water,” also with little backing from Democrats. Heavy water is a non-radioactive byproduct from making nuclear weapons and nuclear energy. The Obama administration said in April the United States would buy $8.6 million worth of heavy water from Iran, angering Republicans who called it a subsidy of the country’s nuclear program. The measures were among the last the House passed before Congress left Washington for a seven-week summer recess. There was no word on when, or whether, the measures would be taken up in the Senate. Every congressional Republican, and several of Obama’s fellow Democrats, opposed the nuclear deal between Iran, the United States and other world powers announced in July 2015 in which Tehran agreed to curtail its nuclear program in exchange for relief from crippling international sanctions. Since then, Republicans have repeatedly offered sanctions bills and other Iran-related legislation that Democrats dismiss as bids to score political points by undermining a deal seen as a potential foreign policy legacy for Obama. Republicans say they want to punish Iran for actions including its ballistic missile tests and send a strong message that Tehran should abide by its international commitments.

Summary: अमेरिकी सदन ने ईरान प्रतिबंधों, वित्तीय सेवाओं के उपायों को पारित किया


BEIJING (Reuters) - The United States and China had a frank exchange of views on the disputed South China Sea during a visit to Beijing by U.S. President Donald Trump on Thursday, U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said. China claims almost the entire strategic waterway through which about $3-trillion worth of goods pass every year, building and militarizing artificial islands. Brunei, Malaysia, the Philippines, Taiwan and Vietnam also have conflicting claims. The issue is likely to feature prominently at two regional summits starting this week, one in Vietnam and the other in the Philippines, which Trump and several leaders will attend. Chinese President Xi Jinping will attend the Vietnam meeting. “We had a frank exchange here in China on maritime security issues and the South China Sea. The U.S. position remains unchanged,” Tillerson told reporters.  “We insist on upholding freedom of navigation, that claimants be consistent with international law and that claimants should stop construction and militarization of outposts in order to maximize prospects for successful diplomacy,” he added. Both Xi and Trump expressed support for the protection of peace and stability in the South China Sea, China’s Foreign Ministry said in a statement following the leaders’ talks.    Both leaders also support the peaceful resolution and management of the dispute via talks and in accordance with “accepted international law”, it added. “Both sides support the protection of freedom of navigation and overflight for all countries, in accordance with international law,” it said.The United States has angered China with freedom of navigation patrols close to Chinese-controlled islands in the South China Sea, which have been continued by the Trump administration. Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte, in an apparent policy shift, said on Wednesday he planned to ask China to make clear its intentions in the South China Sea, during Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) meetings in Vietnam. Since coming to office 16 months ago, the firebrand leader has been conciliatory to Beijing, despite a ruling by an international arbitration court favoring the Philippines in its territorial dispute with China. In the past, Duterte has repeatedly said he will raise the sea dispute at the proper time and avoided the issue when Manila hosted two regional meetings this year.

Summary: ट्रम्प की यात्रा के दौरान दक्षिण चीन सागर पर अमेरिका का 'स्पष्ट' आदान-प्रदान हुआ


WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A divided U.S. Supreme Court struggled on Wednesday with how to resolve a dispute over whether immigrants detained by the U.S. government for more than six months while deportation proceedings take place should be able to seek their release. The case takes on additional importance with the expectation that President-elect Donald Trump will ramp up immigration enforcement, placing more people in detention awaiting deportation, when he takes office on Jan. 20, as he pledged during his election campaign. During a one-hour argument, the court’s four liberals appeared to support requiring that immigrants held more than six months be automatically eligible for hearings in which they could argue for their freedom while their deportation cases unfold. Conservative justices were skeptical. The shorthanded court could be heading toward another 4-4 deadlock, divided along ideological lines. A 4-4 split would leave in place an October 2015 ruling by the San Francisco-based 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals that upheld a lower-court injunction requiring a hearing after six months of detention. The justices potentially could issue a narrow decision sending the case back to lower courts without resolving the question of whether hearings are required. The Obama administration, which asked the justices to decide the case, has said hearings can be permitted in certain instances but opposed a blanket rule requiring them. The long-running class action litigation brought by the American Civil Liberties Union includes some immigrants who were held at the border when seeking illegal entry into the United States and others, including legal permanent residents, who have been convicted of crimes. The case also could affect long-term U.S. residents who entered the country illegally. Liberal justices asserted that hearings should be required in order to meet the U.S. Constitution’s promise of due process. “You can’t just lock people up without any finding of dangerousness, without any finding of flight risk, for an indefinite period of time, and not run into due process,” said Justice Elena Kagan “We are in an upended world if we think 14 months or 19 months is a reasonable time to detain a person,” added Justice Sonia Sotomayor. Conservatives including Chief Justice John Roberts said the court had been asked to decide only whether the immigration laws in question required the hearings and not whether there was a potential constitutional violation. The case would have to be litigated further in lower courts for that issue to reach the justices, Roberts said. The lead plaintiff is Alejandro Rodriguez, a legal immigrant from Mexico who was working as a dental assistant when he was detained for three years without a hearing. Rodriguez was placed in removal proceedings based on prior convictions for drug possession and joyriding. Although he was released eventually, the case brought on his behalf continued.

Summary: आप्रवासन हिरासत विवाद में सुप्रीम कोर्ट विभाजित


WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A senior U.S. official overseeing a reorganization of the State Department that has been criticized by current and former U.S. diplomats has stepped down after less than four months on the job, U.S. officials said on Monday. Maliz Beams, a former financial industry executive who was named State Department counselor on Aug. 17, is “stepping away” to return to Boston, said a department spokesman on condition of anonymity. Christine Ciccone, the department’s deputy chief of staff, will take over the agency’s “redesign,” he added. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson has been criticized by current and former U.S. diplomats as well as by some members of Congress for his management of the agency, where may top posts have not been filled nearly 10 months into Tillerson’s tenure. The department has also seen an exodus of senior diplomats. Tillerson defended the department when he was recently asked about morale problems and concerns that the agency was being weakened. “The redesign is going to address all of that. And this department is performing extraordinarily well, and I take exception to anyone who characterizes otherwise. It’s just not true,” he said on Nov. 20. State Department officials observing the reorganization say it has been plagued with uncertainty both about what Tillerson wants to achieve and how to go about it. “If the one thing she (Beams) was asked to do was the redesign and she is quitting ... how does this not reflect poorly on the overall management of this enterprise, that is the redesign?” said one official who spoke on condition of anonymity. Another State Department official said Beams had left of her own volition and was not fired. Beams did not immediately respond to voicemails left at her office and Massachusetts phone numbers or to an email sent to her State Department address. The State Department spokesman declined comment on criticism of the reorganization. A congressional aide said the effort is so amorphous that Congress is unable to pass legislation to give the agency the legal authority to make changes. “To do that we would need to have some road map - something - and none of that has been provided,” said the aide, who spoke on condition of anonymity.

Summary: विदेश विभाग के पुनर्गठन के प्रभारी अधिकारी ने दिया इस्तीफा


SYDNEY (Reuters) - Australians have voted overwhelmingly for same-sex marriage, paving the way for legislation by the end of 2017 and sparking rainbow celebrations on Wednesday, with people wearing wedding dresses and sequined suits and declaring  our love is real . Australia will become the 26th nation to formalize the unions if the legislation is passed by parliament, which is expected despite some vocal opposition within the government s conservative right wing. Thousands of people in a Sydney park broke into a loud cheer, hugged and cried as Australia s chief statistician revealed live over a big screen that 61.6 percent of voters surveyed favored marriage equality, with 38.4 percent against.  Australian Olympic swimmer Ian Thorpe, who came out as gay three years ago, said the result was a huge relief.  It means that the way you feel for another person, whoever that may be, is equal,  Thorpe told reporters at the Sydney celebrations. The voluntary poll is non-binding but Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull immediately said he would fulfill a pledge to raise a bill in parliament with the aim of passing laws by Christmas. Turnbull played down concern of a split in his coalition government over the policy as the conservative faction presses for amendments to protect religious freedoms that discriminate against same-sex couples.  It is unequivocal, it is overwhelming. They have spoken in their millions and they have voted overwhelmingly yes for marriage equality,  Turnbull told reporters in Canberra after the survey results were announced.   They voted yes for fairness, yes for commitment, yes for love.  A marriage equality bill was introduced into parliament later on Wednesday.  The result marks a watershed moment for gay rights in Australia, where it was illegal in some states to engage in homosexual activity until 1997.  It s a g day. Way to go Australia,  tweeted U.S. TV host Ellen DeGeneres, who is married to Australian actress Portia de Rossi in the United States. Almost 80 percent of eligible voters took part in the survey - a higher turnout than Britain s Brexit vote and Ireland s same-sex marriage referendum. Mark Barry, 59, wiped away tears as he took in the result with his partner of 35 years, Gerrard Boller.  I know a celebrant who is going to be very happy about this,  Barry told Reuters.  Irish-born Qantas Airways Chief Executive Alan Joyce, one of the few openly gay business leaders in Australia, told the Sydney crowd, many of whom sheltered from the sun under rainbow umbrellas, that the result was  an amazing outcome  and urged Turnbull to move quickly on legislation. Turnbull has been under pressure amid a citizenship crisis that has cost him his deputy and the government s majority in parliament and political analysts said the resounding  yes  vote presented him with his first opportunity in months to exert decisive control. Nick Economou, a political scientist at Monash University, said Turnbull  should feel emboldened by the result and this is the sort of thing he has been looking for to show some assertive leadership . The  no  campaign had sought to leverage powerful religious organizations in a survey campaign that was criticized by some in the  yes  camp as divisive and aggressive. Catholic Archbishop of Sydney Anthony Fisher said he was  deeply disappointed that the likely result will be legislation to further deconstruct marriage and family in Australia . On the strength of the  yes  vote, conservatives dropped a plan for a competing bill that would have allowed private businesses to refuse services like wedding cakes for same-sex weddings by objecting on religious grounds.

Summary: इंद्रधनुष उत्सव के रूप में ऑस्ट्रेलियाई समलैंगिक विवाह के लिए मतदान करते हैं


BEIJING (Reuters) - China and Sri Lanka should focus on strengthening cooperation over key investment projects, Foreign Minister Wang Yi on Monday told his visiting counterpart from Sri Lanka, amid strong local opposition to some major Chinese-invested schemes. In July, Sri Lanka signed a long-delayed $1.1 billion deal to lease its southern Hambantota port to China, ignoring an appeal by opposition parties to debate the pact in parliament. The $1.5-billion port, close to the main shipping route from Asia to Europe and likely to play a key role in China s  Belt and Road  initiative, has been mired in controversy since a Chinese firm agreed to take an 80 percent stake in it. The pact signed last year sparked widespread public anger, as Chinese control of the port, which included a plan for a 99-year lease of 15,000 acres (23 sq miles) to develop an adjacent industrial zone, provoked fears it could be used by Chinese naval vessels. Meeting in Beijing, Wang told Tilak Marapana that the two countries should take this year s 60th anniversary of establishing diplomatic ties as an opportunity, China s foreign ministry said in a statement. Both should  emphasize strengthening traditional friendship and political mutual trust, major infrastructure projects, investment and trade  to  upgrade  their relationship, Wang added. The short statement did not mention any specific projects. As one of the first countries to help in Sri Lanka s post-war reconstruction after the 2009 end of its 26-year civil war, China s ties with Sri Lanka have unnerved India, traditionally the island nation s most important partner.     By 2014, Chinese navy submarines were also docking in Colombo, raising alarm in New Delhi and prompting a push by the administration of Prime Minister Narendra Modi to claw back influence in the region.

Summary: चीन ने प्रमुख परियोजनाओं पर श्रीलंका के साथ घनिष्ठ सहयोग का आग्रह किया


PALM BEACH, Fla. (Reuters) - Chinese President Xi Jinping urged cooperation with the United States on trade and investment on Thursday, inviting President Donald Trump to visit China in a cordial start to their first meeting likely to broach sensitive security and commercial issues. Trump has said he wants to raise concerns about China’s trade practices and press Xi to do more to rein in North Korea’s nuclear ambitions during his two-day visit to the Spanish-style Mar-a-Lago resort in Palm Beach, Florida, though no major deals on either issue are expected. The two sides should promote the “healthy development of bilateral trade and investment” and advance talks on a bilateral investment agreement, Xi said, according to a statement on China’s Foreign Ministry website. “We have a thousand reasons to get China-U.S. relations right, and not one reason to spoil the China-U.S. relationship,” Xi told Trump. Trump accepted Xi’s invitation to China later this year, state news agency Xinhua news agency cited officials as saying on Friday. Xi and his wife, Peng Liyuan, joined Trump and his wife, Melania, at a long table in an ornate candle-lit private dining room festooned with red and yellow floral centerpieces, where they dined on pan-seared Dover sole and New York strip steak.  Trump, a New York real estate magnate before he ran for office, joked before dinner: “We’ve had a long discussion already, and so far I have gotten nothing, absolutely nothing. But we have developed a friendship - I can see that - and I think long term we are going to have a very, very great relationship and I look very much forward to it.” The fanfare over the summit on Thursday was overshadowed by another pressing foreign policy issue: the U.S. response to a deadly poison gas attack in Syria. As Trump and Xi were wrapping up dinner, U.S. forces fired dozens of cruise missiles at a Syrian airbase from which it said the chemical weapons attack was launched this week, an escalation of the U.S. military role in Syria that swiftly drew sharp criticism from Russia.  In Beijing, China’s Foreign Ministry urged all parties in Syria to find a political settlement. Trump and Xi were expected to get into more detailed discussions about trade and foreign policy issues on Friday, concluding their summit with a working lunch. Trump promised during the 2016 presidential campaign to stop what he called the theft of American jobs by China and rebuild the country’s manufacturing base. Many blue-collar workers helped propel him to his unexpected election victory in November and Trump wants to deliver for them. “We have been treated unfairly and have made terrible trade deals with China for many, many years. That’s one of the things we are going to be talking about,” Trump told reporters ahead of the meeting. The bilateral investment treaty mentioned by Xi, talks on which began during former president George W. Bush’s administration and resumed under Barack Obama, has received little attention since Trump took office.  Trump is still finding his footing in the White House and has yet to spell out a strategy for what his advisers called a trade relationship based on “the principle of reciprocity.” He brought his top economic and national advisers to Florida for the meeting, including Defense Secretary Jim Mattis, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, and Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross. “Even as we share a desire to work together, the United States does recognize the challenges China can present to American interests,” said Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, also in Florida for the meeting. Trump’s daughter, Ivanka, and her husband, Jared Kushner, who both work at the White House, also were among the dinner guests. The summit brings together two leaders who could not seem more different: the often stormy Trump, prone to angry tweets, and Xi, outwardly calm, measured and tightly scripted, with no known social media presence.  What worries the protocol-conscious Chinese more than policy clashes is the risk that the unpredictable Trump could publicly embarrass Xi, after several foreign leaders experienced awkward moments with the new U.S. president. “Ensuring President Xi does not lose face is a top priority for China,” a Chinese official said. The most urgent problem facing Trump and Xi is how to persuade nuclear-armed North Korea to halt unpredictable behavior like missile test launches that have heightened tensions in South Korea and Japan. North Korea is working to develop an intercontinental ballistic missile capable of hitting the United States. Trump has threatened to use trade to try to force China to exert influence over Pyongyang. “I think China will be stepping up,” Trump told reporters on Thursday. Beijing says its influence is limited and that it is doing all it can. The White House is reviewing options to pressure Pyongyang economically and militarily, including “secondary sanctions” against Chinese banks and firms that do the most business with Pyongyang. A long-standing option of pre-emptive strikes remains on the table, but despite the tougher recent U.S. talk, the internal review “de-emphasizes direct military action,” the U.S. official said, speaking on condition of anonymity. Analysts believe any military action would likely provoke severe North Korean retaliation and massive casualties in South Korea and Japan and among U.S. troops stationed there. On trade, U.S. labor leaders say Trump needs to take a direct, unambiguous tone in his talks with Xi. “President Trump needs to come away from the meeting with concrete deliverables that will restore production and employment here in the U.S. in those sectors that have been ravaged by China’s predatory and protectionist practices,” said Holly Hart, legislative director for the United Steelworkers union. A U.S. administration official told Reuters that Washington expects to have to use legal tools to fight for U.S. companies, such as pursuing World Trade Organization lawsuits. “I don’t expect a grand bargain on trade. I think what you are going to see is that the president makes very clear to Xi and publicly what we expect on trade,” a U.S. official told Reuters, speaking on condition of anonymity. Trump has often complained Beijing undervalues its currency to boost trade, but his administration looks unlikely to formally label China a currency manipulator in the near term - a designation that could come with penalties.

Summary: चीन के शी ने ट्रम्प के साथ पहली बैठक में व्यापार सहयोग का आग्रह किया


SINJAR, Iraq (Reuters) - Since Iraqi forces pushed the Kurds out of the Yazidis   mountainous heartland of Sinjar in northern Iraq in October, residents are wondering what could happen to them next. Food and money are in short supply since aid organizations stopped delivery after Iraq s advance. Buildings collapsed in the fighting and of those still standing, many are marked with bullets and littered with IEDs. Water and electricity barely work. The Yazidis, whose beliefs combine elements of several ancient Middle Eastern religions, have long been viewed with suspicion and repeatedly persecuted by other groups in Iraq. In 2014, more than 3,000 were killed by Islamic State militants in a campaign described by the United Nations as genocidal. Now the land they have lived on for centuries is caught up in a tug of war between Baghdad and Iraq s Kurds, who had controlled it since the fall of Saddam Hussein in 2003.  We re trapped in this game of political football, between Iraq and the Kurds,  said a Yazidi resident of Sinjar, Kamal Ali.  But neither of them cares about our future.  The militias have hoisted Iraq s tricolor flag over government buildings and any remaining Kurdish flags have been scrawled over with the words  Iraq  and  Allahu Akbar , the blazing sun at its center scribbled over in black marker. Sinjar is politically important because it s in the disputed territories, ethnically mixed areas across northern Iraq, long the subject of a constitutional dispute between Baghdad and the Kurds, who both claim them. Sinjar fell under the Kurds  control, despite lying outside Iraqi Kurdistan s recognized borders. Baghdad did little to challenge the arrangement until its October offensive, launched to punish the Kurds for their Sept. 25 independence referendum. Iraqi forces have seized the disputed areas the Kurds had expanded into including Sinjar. The referendum reignited long-simmering tensions over geographic dominance in the oil-rich north, between Baghdad and the Kurdish Regional Government (KRG), who fought side by side to defeat Islamic State.  The Yazidis are divided about what should happen now. Some are glad the Kurds have gone and see an opportunity for increased autonomy now that they are under federal control following the offensive by Iraq s security forces last October. Kurdish forces handed over Sinjar without a fight to the Lalesh Brigades, a Yazidi militia backed by Baghdad s Shiite paramilitary forces (PMF). Most Yazidis speak a Kurdish dialect, but many don t see themselves as ethnically Kurdish.  We re happy the Kurds have left,  said Abu Sardar, a 47-year-old Yazidi man.  We re Yazidis we re not Kurds, we do not want to be part of Kurdistan.   Like others, Abu Sardar complained that the Kurds forced him to vote in the Kurdish referendum, accusations the KRG denies.  He returned two months ago to the ruins of his home in the Sinuni district of Sinjar and expressed bitter disappointment that little had changed since he left in 2014: hospitals and schools remain shuttered while the city is still mostly rubble.  He hopes that Baghdad and its militias will rebuild Sinjar. Others lament the Kurds  departure. The KRG and allied Yazidi groups hold former Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki responsible for the campaign by Islamic State. They say his troops  desertion of Mosul allowed militants to capture billions of dollars in weapons later used to attack the minority.  Yazidi commander Qassem Shesho says Iraq s government is too sectarian and dislikes the Yazidis as much as Islamic State. Like many others, he blames the Kurds for the attack by Islamic State.  But they re all we ve got,  he said.     Shesho is allied to Iraqi Kurdistan s ruling Kurdistan Democratic Party, even though the Kurds cut his fighters  salaries after the Lalesh Brigades took over Sinjar. Some days, residents say, there are only bones in Sinjar. Nearly 50 mass graves have been uncovered outside the town since 2014.  Sinjar is a city of ghosts,  said the Lalesh Brigades  leader Ali Serhan Eissa, also known as Khal Ali. Tens of thousands of Yazidis fled the militant onslaught and headed for Mount Sinjar. Of those who didn t reach the mountain, about 3,100 were killed   with more than half shot, beheaded, burned alive and disposed of in mass graves. Others were sold into sexual slavery or forced to fight, according to a report by the Public Library of Science journal PLoS Medicine. Some are still on the mountain, about to spend a third freezing winter in tents.   Before the attack, Sinjar was home to about 400,000 people   mainly Yazidis and Arab Sunnis. Only 15 percent of Yazidis have returned home, according to humanitarian estimates.  Most Yazidis remain in IDP camps in the Kurdistan region, along with most of the area s displace Sunnis. Aid workers worry the camps will be closed if tensions between Baghdad and the Kurds flare up.  The presence of fighters from Turkey s separatist Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) further complicates the picture. Many Yazidis credit them with opening up a land route to allow those stranded on Mount Sinjar to escape the militants in 2014. The PKK entrenched itself in the community, even creating a local unit, the Sinjar Resistance Units (YBS) which controls multiple checkpoints around Sinjar. Turkey and neighboring Iran are closely watching the power shift in Sinjar. Tehran wants to secure this north-western region of Iraq as it sits on the border with Syria, while Turkey wants the region free of the outlawed PKK.

Summary: बगदाद और इराकी कुर्दों के बीच 'राजनीतिक फुटबॉल' में पकड़े गए यज़ीदी


PARIS (Reuters) - France’s president has not given Donald Trump an easy ride: a crunching handshake at one meeting was followed by a body swerve at another and then a public rebuke over his attitude to climate change. But now there seems to be an olive branch from Paris. The U.S. leader said on Wednesday he had accepted an invitation from Emmanuel Macron to celebrate July 14 Bastille Day celebrations and 100 years since the U.S. troops entered into World War One. Trump will likely revel in a ceremony laden with pageantry and military pomp, with U.S. soldiers marching down the Champs Elysees boulevard beside French servicemen - a welcome respite from his domestic woes. For Macron, 39, it is an opportunity to use soft diplomacy to win Trump’s confidence as he tries to establish himself as a leading global statesman at a time when decision-making in the White House has become increasingly unpredictable. “We don’t want the United States to isolate themselves,” a Macron aide said recently. “That’s what diplomacy is for. It’s not to let people sulk in their corner.” In the space of six weeks, France’s youngest leader since Napoleon, will have hosted Russian President Vladimir Putin in Versailles and Trump on Paris’ most iconic avenue. Macron flattered Putin in May with a meeting at the sumptuous palace of France’s former monarchy, built outside Paris by Louis XIV - the ‘Sun King’ - to symbolize absolute power. Even so, Macron pulled no punches, accusing Russian state media of “lying propaganda” during his French election campaign. A French diplomat indicated there would be frank exchanges with Trump too after Macron took a dig in English at Trump’s withdrawal from the Paris climate accord when he urged U.S. citizens to help “make this planet great again”. “On climate change it’s complicated,” the diplomat said. “But the rest is sufficiently important for him to make this historic trip on July 14.” Macron appears to be broadly aligning his foreign policy with U.S. priorities of tackling terrorism while seeking better ties with Russia. The battle against Islamic State, Syria’s civil war and Iran’s nuclear accord are likely talking points. Privately, some French diplomats have lamented the lack of a clear U.S. policy on the long-term political process in Syria and say even setting up a meeting between the French and U.S. foreign ministers is tough.  A White House statement said the two leaders would “further build on the strong counter-terrorism cooperation and economic partnership between the two countries”. Past words may haunt Trump. It will be his first visit since he declared that a wave of militant attacks showed France was soft on immigration and fighting jihadists.  “France is no longer France. They won’t like me for saying that but... France is no longer France and this world better be very careful and they better get very tough and very smart,” the U.S. president said in a campaign speech.  In bringing Trump to Paris, Macron has stolen a march on Britain’s embattled Prime Minister Theresa May.      London’s offer in February of a state visit for Trump met fierce public resistance, Britons perceiving it as a desperate act by a government in need of a trade deal as it faced tough negotiations on its exit from the European Union. A date has still not been confirmed. In Paris, public opinion appeared divided. “You can see that the way Trump’s headed isn’t going to help things and I think diplomatic channels are the best way to calm things down,” said antique dealer Florence Toussaint. Psychologist Martine Aubourg was less impressed. “Trump isn’t an honorable president,” she said. “He changes his mind all the time.”

Summary: फ्रांस के मैक्रों ने ट्रम्प के साथ कूटनीति के लिए बार्ब्स का व्यापार किया


BERLIN (Reuters) - German police on Tuesday arrested an Afghan citizen on suspicion of smuggling migrants by sea from Turkey to Greece resulting in the death of several dozen people when the boat sank, federal police and prosecutors said. The man is believed to have been on board the smugglers  boat which had 90 migrants on board when it capsized in poor weather in January 2016, federal police and prosecutors in the northwestern city of Osnabrueck said in a joint statement. Only 24 of the people on board were rescued. The Greek coastguard retrieved 35 bodies from the water, while the rest remain missing, they said. Germany, the main destination for migrants in Europe, has been prosecuting individuals suspected of belonging to the smuggling rings that charge thousands of euros for the short sea journey from Turkey to Greece. The suspect arrested in Osnabrueck, who was not named in the statement, was saved and presented himself to Greek authorities as a refugee before seeking asylum in Germany in a month later.

Summary: समुद्र में प्रवासियों की मौत के मामले में जर्मनी में अफगान संदिग्ध गिरफ्तार


WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The top Democrat on the House of Representatives Intelligence Committee blasted the White House on Tuesday for playing a role “in selectively and surreptitiously” providing documents to committee chairman Devin Nunes. “If the White House had any concerns over these documents, or any other documents, they should have provided them to our committee weeks ago,” Representative Adam Schiff said in a statement. He said he expected the documents, related to surveillance that swept up some communications by Trump associates, would be available to the full House and Senate intelligence committees “soon.”

Summary: शीर्ष अमेरिकी खुफिया डेमोक्रेट ने नून्स दस्तावेजों पर व्हाइट हाउस को फटकार लगाई


BAGHDAD (Reuters) - At least 800 civilians have been killed in strikes in Iraq and Syria by the U.S.-led coalition fighting Islamic State since the campaign began in 2014, according to a report released by the coalition on Thursday. The estimate in the monthly report, which said coalition strikes had unintentionally killed at least 801 civilians between August 2014 and October 2017, was far lower than figures provided by monitoring groups. The monitoring group Airwars says a total of at least 5,961 civilians have been killed by coalition air strikes.  We continue to hold ourselves accountable for actions that may have caused unintentional injury or death to civilians,  the coalition said in its report. Since the start of the campaign against Islamic State militants, the coalition has carried out more than 28,000 strikes and has received 1,790 reports of potential civilian casualties, the report said. It was still assessing 695 reports of civilian casualties from strikes it carried out in Iraq and in Syria. The coalition, battling to defeat Islamic State militants in Iraq and Syria, says it goes to great lengths to avoid civilian casualties.

Summary: इराक, सीरिया में गठबंधन के हमलों में कम से कम 800 नागरिक मारे गएः रिपोर्ट


MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson will meet on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly, TASS news agency quoted Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov as saying on Tuesday.

Summary: रूस के लावरोव, टिलरसन संयुक्त राष्ट्र महासभा में मिलेंगेः टीएएसएस


(Reuters) - Billionaire investor Carl Icahn ended his role as a special adviser to U.S. President Donald Trump on Friday after facing criticism that policy recommendations he offered could help his own investments. Some Democratic lawmakers and biofuels advocates argued that Icahn’s guidance to the Republican administration created a conflict of interest with his businesses, including oil refining company CVR Energy Inc. Icahn has denied any conflict of interest. Icahn’s departure followed a flurry of changes at the White House. Trump on Friday fired his chief strategist, Stephen Bannon, two days after disbanding two high-profile business advisory groups. “I chose to end this arrangement (with your blessing) because I did not want partisan bickering about my role to in any way cloud your administration,” Icahn wrote in a letter to Trump released on his website. The White House declined to comment. A call to Icahn’s office was not immediately returned. The activist investor, who leads Icahn Enterprises LP, was an early and close ally of Trump who was often praised by the Republican for his business acumen. One of Icahn’s first tasks was to vet the future Securities and Exchange Commission chairman and a number of candidates met with the octogenarian investor in his Fifth Avenue office just a few blocks north of Trump Tower in Manhattan. While Icahn stopped managing money for clients years ago, he still has large stakes in companies like Herbalife Ltd , CVR and American International Group Inc , which have faced regulatory issues.     Icahn was so sure Trump’s election last year would give a boost to stocks that he left the campaign’s victory party to make a $1 billion bet on the market, he told Reuters last year. The day after the election, stocks leapt. In his letter to Trump, Icahn downplayed his role as an adviser on regulatory matters, saying “I never had access to nonpublic information or profited from my position.” Trump, who came to office promising to roll back regulation, reform the tax code and boost infrastructure spending, never put Icahn on the payroll. But Icahn’s involvement was considerable. He interviewed Scott Pruitt, now the administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency, the very agency that would determine regulations about requiring refiners to blend biofuels. His web of financial interests became a lightning rod. “If he was not willing to admit he was a de facto special government employee, and follow the rules, then he had no place serving in government,” said Norman Eisen, co-founder of Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, who served as the chief ethics lawyer for former President Barack Obama. “His short tenure, marred by serious conflicts allegations, was yet another black eye for an administration that has become notorious for violations of ethics and the rule of law.” Icahn has been one of the loudest critics of the federal biofuels program, and he was working at price-crushing reforms of the program at the same time he was betting that credits at the center of the program would fall. Biofuels regulations require refiners either to blend biofuels into gasoline or - in the case of companies like CVR that have no blending facilities - to buy credits from competitors. The regulation, the Renewable Fuel Standard, also allows companies to delay those credit purchases by a year. As an adviser to Trump, Icahn urged the president in February to alter the policy to lift the blending burden from refiners. Yet environmental regulators are preparing to formally reject that proposal, sources told Reuters. Investors have built up a large short position in CVR in the past three months, according to Reuters data, as evidence mounts that the company’s gamble on the biofuels market is going sour.

Summary: निवेशक कार्ल इकान ने राष्ट्रपति ट्रम्प के सलाहकार के रूप में पद छोड़ा


GENEVA (Reuters) - The United Nations human rights office is seriously concerned about the shelling of residential areas in Iraq s northern town of Tuz Khurmatu in which civilians were killed, a U.N. spokeswoman said on Friday. It was not clear who was doing the shelling, which took place on Dec. 9 and 12 and came from the mountains overlooking the area, the spokeswoman, Liz Throssell, told a regular U.N. briefing in Geneva.  Iraqi forces are still working to discover the exact locations from which the shelling has come and the identity of those responsible,  she said. The shelling of the ethnically-mixed town happened after many of its Kurdish population was displaced following clashes with Turkmen paramilitary groups.  Tuz Khurmatu is made up of Turkmen, Kurds and Arabs located 75 km (47 miles) south of the oil-rich city of Kirkuk. It came under the full control of Iraqi government forces and mostly Iran-backed Shi ite paramilitaries known as Popular Mobilisation Forces (PMF) in October.  It had been under control of Kurdish Peshmerga fighters since 2014.  Iraq s semi-autonomous Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) unilaterally held an independence referendum on Sept. 25 and Kurds voted overwhelmingly to secede, defying Baghdad and alarming neighboring Turkey and Iran who have their own Kurdish minorities. The referendum was held in Kurdish areas and disputed territories claimed by both Baghdad and Erbil. The Iraqi government responded by seizing Kurdish-held Kirkuk and other territory disputed between the Kurds and the central government, including Tuz Khurmatu.  It also banned direct flights to Kurdistan and demanded control over border crossings. Clashes broke out between the Peshmerga and Turkmen PMF units in recent weeks, Throssell said, leaving an unconfirmed number of deaths from both groups.  U.N. human rights officers visited the town on Dec. 7 and 14 to investigate reports of the burning of homes and looting of businesses and found some 150 premises burned. Thousands of residents, mainly Kurds, left for the KRG, and many have not returned.

Summary: जातीय रूप से मिश्रित इराकी शहर में गोलाबारी को लेकर संयुक्त राष्ट्र चिंतित


WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States is “very disappointed” that Russia on Tuesday cast a veto at the United Nations Security Council against renewing a mandate to continue an investigation into who was responsible for the use of chemical weapons during Syria’s civil war.  “We are disappointed, we are very disappointed that Russia put what it considered to be political considerations over the Syrian people who were so brutally murdered,” State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert told a regular briefing.

Summary: अमेरिका ने सीरिया में रासायनिक हथियारों के इस्तेमाल की जांच पर रूस के वीटो की निंदा की


ISLAMABAD (Reuters) - Pakistan s Finance Minister Ishaq Dar has been relieved of his duties, local media said on Wednesday, following speculation about his future after he failed to appear in court to answer corruption charges. Documents seen by Reuters show Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi granted Dar sick leave on Wednesday, while local TV channels Geo and Samaa said he had been relieved of his portfolio. Dar would keep his status as a minister for the time being, Geo reported. Dar, who is receiving medical treatment in London for a heart condition, has an arrest warrant issued against him after he missed multiple court appearances on charges that he had amassed wealth beyond his known sources of income.  The case had, along with Pakistan s worsening economic outlook, led to mounting calls for him to resign. The country is battling to stave off balance of payments pressures due to a dwindling foreign currency reserve and a widening current account deficit. A spokesman for the ruling Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz could not immediately be reached for comment, nor could Dar. He has missed more than three weeks of court hearings conducted by the anti-graft agency, the National Accountability Bureau.  Dar s absence had come at an awkward time for Pakistan, which has been trying to woo international investors as it looks to raise in excess of $1 billion on debt markets through a Sukuk and a Eurobond in coming months.

Summary: भ्रष्टाचार की जांच का सामना कर रहे पाकिस्तान के वित्त मंत्री को पद से हटाया गया


MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - A meeting between Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto and U.S. President Donald Trump on Friday at the G20 summit in Germany will last about 30 minutes and probably not lead to any major agreements, Mexico’s foreign minister said on Wednesday. The face-to-face talks will be the first between Pena Nieto and Trump as presidents. Mexican Foreign Minister Luis Videgaray warned not to expect too much. “We have to put it in context and not have expectations that are unjustified,” Videgaray said. Trump’s election and his early days in office strained relations between the two neighbors because of his threats to apply tariffs to Mexican-made goods and a plan to build a wall on the southern U.S. border and force Mexico to pay for it. Trump and Pena Nieto will discuss renegotiations of the North American Free Trade Agreement scheduled for August, as well as cooperation in combating drug cartels and development in Central America, the Foreign Ministry said. Pena Nieto will also talk about the rights of Mexican migrants in the United States, the ministry said. Later on Wednesday, Pena Nieto and Videgaray met with U.S. Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly, who was visiting Mexico ahead of the G20 summit along with CIA Director Mike Pompeo. According to a statement from Pena Nieto’s office, both sides agreed to work together on security and Pena Nieto praised the Trump administration’s decision to keep in place a program that allows some immigrants, brought into the country illegally by their parents, to stay. One topic not on the agenda at the encounter in Hamburg is Trump’s pledge to build a wall on the U.S.-Mexico border, Videgaray said in an earlier television interview.   In late January, a planned meeting between the two presidents was canceled following a Twitter dispute over Trump’s pledge to make Mexico pay for the wall, which the Mexican government has insisted it will not do. Trump has since said he will find a way for Mexico to repay the United States for construction of the wall but that Congress would need to fund it first. His administration also toned down threats to pull out of the NAFTA pact with Mexico and Canada. Last August, during Trump’s presidential campaign, he accepted an invitation to visit Mexico in what became a public relations disaster for Pena Nieto, who was widely condemned for inviting a man who has united Mexicans like few others in shared disdain.

Summary: मेक्सिको का कहना है कि ट्रम्प-पेना नीटो की मुलाकात से बड़े सौदे होने की संभावना नहीं है


WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. State Department was informed by the Justice Department of the ruling by a Washington state court blocking U.S. President Donald Trump’s order barring nationals from seven countries from entering the United States, a State Department spokesperson said on Friday. The State Department is working with the Department of Homeland Security to determine how the ruling affects its operations and will announce any changes affecting travelers to the United States as soon as that information is available, the spokesperson said. A federal judge in Seattle on Friday put a nationwide block on Trump’s week-old executive order.

Summary: विदेश विभाग ने ट्रंप के आव्रजन आदेश पर अदालत के फैसले की जानकारी दीः प्रवक्ता


WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Republican Donald Trump thrust the U.S. Supreme Court into the presidential campaign debate on Wednesday, rallying conservatives with a call for Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg to resign after she lambasted him in a series of media interviews. The presumptive Republican presidential nominee led a chorus of outrage over the comments by Ginsburg, who described Trump as a “faker” and speculated about the possibility of moving to New Zealand if he won the White House. In a post-midnight counterattack on Twitter, Trump said the 83-year-old leader of the court’s liberal wing had “embarrassed all by making very dumb political statements about me. Her mind is shot - resign!” The furor gave Trump a cause to help galvanize conservatives divided over his unorthodox candidacy but concerned that the high court is too liberal, a mistrust fueled by recent rulings upholding racial preferences in university admissions and striking down tough abortion restrictions in Texas. In three recent interviews, Ginsburg questioned how Trump had gotten away with not turning over his tax returns and said she could not bear to think about the wealthy real estate developer winning the White House. In response, Trump said Ginsburg had politicized the Supreme Court with her comments and suggested she owed her fellow justices an apology. “I’m questioning her mental capacity,” he told Fox News Channel on Wednesday. “For her to have done that is an absolute disgrace to the Supreme Court.”    Other Republicans jumped to join the attack, saying Ginsburg had proven she could not be an impartial voice on the country’s highest court. “For someone on the Supreme Court who is going to be calling balls and strikes in the future based upon whatever the next president or Congress does, that strikes me as inherently biased and out of the realm,” Republican House of Representatives Speaker Paul Ryan said on CNN on Tuesday. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell called her comments “totally inappropriate,” while Senator John Cornyn of Texas, the No. 2 Senate Republican, said Ginsburg’s statements reflected poorly on her objectivity. The New York Times and Washington Post joined in the rebukes, with the Times asking her to uphold the court’s tradition of silence in political campaigns and drop the “punditry and name-calling.” Ginsburg’s comments could push some on the right who have reservations about Trump into his camp, said Jonathan Adler, a conservative professor at Case Western Reserve University School of Law who is not a Trump supporter. “There are some (not me) who learn to like Trump based on the enemies he makes,” he said in an email. The controversy erupted as Trump prepared for the opening of the July 18-21 Republican convention, which will formally make him the party’s presidential nominee in the Nov. 8 election. Ginsburg is the senior liberal on the court, which has been ideologically split between four liberals and four conservatives since conservative Justice Antonin Scalia died in February. “This gives Trump the ability to attack not only Justice Ginsburg but ultimately the authority of the Supreme Court. That is a very bad situation,” said Richard Painter, a law professor at the University of Minnesota Law School who served as a lawyer in the White House under Republican President George W. Bush. U.S. Supreme Court justices are not required to follow the code of judicial conduct that applies to judges on lower federal courts. The code, set by the U.S. Judicial Conference, says judges should not “make speeches for a political organization or candidate, or publicly endorse or oppose a candidate for public office.” Still, the justices typically try to stay out of the political fray. The court has a sometimes pivotal role as a judicial counterweight to the executive and legislative branches of government, deciding some of the most divisive social issues in American life. In recent years, major rulings legalized gay marriage nationwide and upheld Democratic President Barack Obama’s healthcare overhaul.  In public remarks earlier this year, Chief Justice John Roberts stressed it was important for the justices not to be seen as political players, saying criticisms of partisanship, which he described as inaccurate, were damaging to the court’s reputation. “We don’t work as Democrats or Republicans,” he said. Ginsburg was not immediately available for comment on Trump’s remarks and the other rebukes. The high court, whose nine justices are nominated by the U.S. president to lifetime appointments, had already been caught up in political controversy as the Republican-controlled U.S. Senate refused to take up Obama’s nominee to replace Scalia, Merrick Garland. Republicans have said the next president should be allowed to nominate a replacement for Scalia. Trump has emphasized the importance of naming conservative justices to the court. The next president, potentially serving two four-year terms, could have the opportunity to appoint up to three new justices, not including Scalia’s replacement. Ginsburg is the oldest of the justices. Justice Anthony Kennedy turns 80 on July 23, while Justice Stephen Breyer turns 78 in August. Some Democrats defended Ginsburg, with U.S. Senator Jon Tester of Montana saying “she called him (Trump) for what she saw” and Senator Heidi Heitkamp of North Dakota saying, “I think she’s the ultimate determiner of what’s appropriate and what isn’t.” But Democratic Senator Chris Murphy of Connecticut said, “I don’t think we’re well served by Supreme Court justices openly expressing their political opinions.” Asked about Ginsburg’s remarks, White House spokesman Josh Earnest responded with a joke referencing a nickname used widely on social media by Ginsburg’s admirers. “She didn’t earn the nickname ‘the Notorious R.B.G.’ for nothing,” he said. The name was inspired by rapper Notorious B.I.G.

Summary: ट्रम्प ने आलोचना पर अमेरिकी सुप्रीम कोर्ट के न्यायाधीश गिन्सबर्ग से इस्तीफे की मांग की


ABUJA (Reuters) - A major Nigerian oil union suspended a nationwide strike on Monday, the same day it began, after a dispute resolution ended with a domestic oil and gas company recalling laid off staff, the union s president said.

Summary: नाइजीरियाई तेल संघ पेंगासन ने हड़ताल स्थगित कीः संघ अध्यक्ष


WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Donald Trump’s dismissal of Federal Bureau of Investigation Director James Comey has raised questions about the future of the agency’s probe into Russian attempts to sway the 2016 presidential election and possible collusion with Trump’s campaign. Democrats are worried Comey’s firing on Tuesday could jeopardize the ongoing FBI probe and have renewed calls for an independent investigation. Some Republicans have said that could undermine concurrent investigations underway in the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives. Here is what could happen next: * The investigations already underway could continue. Comey’s firing does not necessarily mean the FBI’s investigation into Moscow’s role in the 2016 election will be disrupted or end, legal experts told Reuters. The career FBI staffers Comey put in charge of the probe will likely continue it, even as the search for a new director begins. The parallel inquiries underway in Senate and House committees could likewise progress. * The Justice Department, other federal agencies or the U.S. Congress could conduct independent investigations. The Justice Department could conduct a criminal investigation. But other federal agencies and departments have the power to conduct fact-finding inquiries, according to University of Southern California law professor Sam Erman. Congress could also create a special commission or appoint a special master separate from the committee probes, Erman said. * The Justice Department could appoint a special counsel. Most Democrats have said they prefer the appointment of a special counsel at the Justice Department to oversee the probe since it is the only agency that can bring a criminal case. A law related to the appointment of a special prosecutor lapsed in the 1990s but department regulations provide that the attorney general can appoint a special counsel from outside the federal government. If the attorney general ignores the recommendations of a special counsel, the rules specify that a report must be sent to Congress, according to Justin Levitt, a professor at Loyola Law School in Los Angeles. The attorney general can hire staff to do the job of a special counsel without triggering department rules. This occurred in 2003 when a special counsel investigated the disclosure of the identity of intelligence officer Valerie Plame. * Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein would likely appoint a special counsel. Attorney General Jeff Sessions has recused himself from involvement in Russia-related probes after misstating his own contacts in 2016 with Russia’s ambassador in Washington. Rosenstein would likely appoint a special counsel. Some Democrats, however, have already raised questions about Sessions’ role in advising Rosenstein on Comey’s firing and called for a nonpolitical appointee at the Justice Department to make the special counsel decision. * The appointment of a special counsel would not end the congressional probes. Senate Republicans, including some from leadership, have said a special counsel should not be appointed because it would imperil ongoing congressional probes but a special counsel would not have the authority to demand Congress halt a probe. Criminal probes can at times complicate congressional matters, particularly with witness testimony. But an investigation undertaken by a special counsel would be no different than the one already underway at the FBI. “It wouldn’t interfere any more or any less if a special counsel were appointed,” Levitt said.

Summary: फैक्टबॉक्सः कोमी की बर्खास्तगी के बाद एफ. बी. आई. की रूस जांच का भविष्य


NEW YORK (Reuters) - A federal appeals court on Wednesday rejected an effort by news media to force prosecutors in the George Washington Bridge lane-closing scandal known as “Bridgegate” to disclose the names of unindicted co-conspirators. Reversing a lower court ruling, the 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Philadelphia found no right of public access under the U.S. Constitution’s First Amendment or the common law to a list of people implicated but not criminally charged. The 3-0 decision came one day before jury selection was scheduled to begin in the trial of two former allies of New Jersey Governor Chris Christie who are accused of arranging the September 2013 shutdown of bridge access lanes in Fort Lee, New Jersey, causing several days of gridlock. “Public access to judicial documents and court proceedings is a respected tradition and important legal principle, but it has bounds,” Circuit Judge Kent Jordan wrote. While it may make sense to release the names at trial, “that time is not here yet,” he added. Prosecutors accused William Baroni, a former deputy executive director of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, and Bridget Anne Kelly, a former Christie deputy chief of staff, of closing lanes to punish Fort Lee’s Democratic mayor, Mark Sokolich, for not endorsing the successful re-election of Christie, a Republican. Disclosing the list could have shown whether other Christie allies sought political payback by snarling traffic. Another former Port Authority official, David Wildstein, is cooperating with prosecutors after pleading guilty. Christie has denied involvement, but the scandal helped erode his once-high approval ratings. He ran unsuccessfully this year for the White House. His office had no immediate comment. U.S. District Judge Susan Wigenton in Newark had in May ordered disclosing the names of unindicted co-conspirators, but a “John Doe” on the list appealed, fearing reputational harm. Bruce Rosen, a lawyer for media companies including ABC, the Associated Press and the New York Times, in an email said his clients are disappointed, and no decision on an appeal has been made. Doe’s lawyer, Jenny Kramer, in an email said she was gratified that the appeals court “prevented disclosure of highly prejudicial material.” A spokesman for U.S. Attorney Paul Fishman in New Jersey, who supported Doe, declined to comment. Baroni and Kelly have pleaded not guilty to wire fraud, civil rights deprivation and conspiracy charges, and received the list of names to help prepare for trial. Their lawyers did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Summary: 'ब्रिजगेट' के नाम गुप्त रह सकते हैंः अमेरिकी अपील अदालत


MANILA/WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Philippines leader Rodrigo Duterte described as “encouraging” his phone call with U.S. President-elect Donald Trump on Friday, during which he felt a rapport between them and gave assurance that ties were intact, despite a period of rocky relations. Trump’s seven-minute chat with the firebrand Philippine president follows months of uncertainty about one of Washington’s most important Asian alliances, stoked by Duterte’s hostility towards President Barack Obama and repeated threats to sever decades-old defense ties. Duterte’s anger was unleashed following Obama’s concerns about possible human rights abuses in his war on drugs, during which more than 2,000 people have been killed. Duterte said Trump was “sensitive” and understanding about his crackdown and was encouraged by what he interpreted as Trump’s indication he would not interfere. “I could sense a good rapport, an animated President-elect Trump. And he was wishing me success in my campaign against the drug problem,” Duterte said in comments his office released on Saturday. “He understood the way we are handling it ... I supposed that what he really wanted to say was that we would be the last to interfere in the affairs of your own country.” He added: “We are doing it as a sovereign nation, the right way. And he wishes us well. And I said that, well, we assured him of our ties with America.” His special adviser, Christopher Go, had earlier said in a text message to media that Trump had invited Duterte to visit the White House next year. There appeared to be confusion, however. Duterte mentioned an invite to Washington and New York, and that Trump asked him to notify him of his presence “if I’m around”. A statement issued by Trump’s transition team made no mention of that. It said the two men “noted the long history of friendship” between their countries and would work closely on “matters of shared interest and concern”. Duterte made waves when he visited China in October and announced his “separation” from the United States.  In five months in office, he has upended Philippine foreign policy by berating the United States, pursuing a new alliance with Russia and also China, with which Manila has a history of bitter disputes. His diplomacy has created jitters among Asian nations concerned about Beijing’s influence and Washington’s regional staying power. Duterte told Democrat Obama to “go to hell” and called him a “son of a bitch” whom he would humiliate if he visited the Philippines. Despite his optimism about Trump’s win, it has not stopped Duterte railing against what he calls a U.S. history of “hypocrisy” and “bullying” worldwide. Republican Trump told Reuters during his campaign that Duterte’s comments about Obama had showed “a lack of respect for our country.” But he also stressed the “very important strategic location” of the Philippines. A source who has advised Trump’s transition team on security policy said the president-elect would start a “clean slate” with Duterte. “He is perfectly capable of talking to Duterte in an open way without being wedded to previous policy failures,” the source said of Trump. Sometimes called the ‘Trump of the East’ because of his brash, mercurial style, Duterte has threatened repeatedly to scrap U.S. defense ties, saying he “hates” having foreign soldiers in the Philippines. Joint military exercises look set to be downsized as Duterte demanded and uncertainty surrounds the 2014 Enhanced Defence Cooperation Agreement (EDCA), a deal of strategic importance because it allows U.S. access to Philippine bases on a troop rotation basis. “EDCA is a concern and some of the things Duterte has said are a concern,” said the advisor to Trump’s team. “That is not going to change based on who the president is.” Some experts say Duterte’s appointment of special envoys to Washington suggest he aims to keep good ties. Among those is real estate tycoon Jose Antonio, who bought the rights to name a new commercial project in Manila “Trump Towers”. Ernest Bower of the Bower Group Asia consultancy said it was likely the call was set up by Trump’s Philippine business partners and a core group of advisers, including his children. Bower said Trump’s win could offer Duterte a face-saving way to step back from his anti-U.S. stance, while Duterte offers Trump a chance to stress the importance of Asian alliances. Duterte said it would be “great for our country” if Trump visited Manila next year when it chairs the Association of South East Asian Nations and summits of Asian leaders, and Trump wanted to attend. Bower said that may have been fortuitous for Trump. “My guess is he was more interested in making a point - that he could deal with Duterte in ways Obama couldn’t - than in the strategic wisdom of driving alignment with the ASEAN chair.”

Summary: दुतेर्ते का कहना है कि उन्होंने ट्रम्प के साथ संबंध महसूस किए, U.S.-Philippines संबंधों को अक्षुण्ण रखने का आश्वासन दिया


BEIJING (Reuters) - China will firmly safeguard freedom of navigation and overflight in the South China Sea, Premier Li Keqiang said on Tuesday at a regional summit in Manila, state news agency Xinhua reported.  Li said China is the largest country in the South China Sea and a major nation that uses the lanes in the sea, thus China shows more interest in safeguarding peace, stability, and navigation freedom in the South China Sea than any other country in the world,  Xinhua said.

Summary: चीन के प्रधानमंत्री ने कहा, दक्षिण चीन सागर में नौवहन की स्वतंत्रता की रक्षा करेंगे


SEOUL (Reuters) - A South Korean fishing boat capsized off the country s western coast on Sunday after it collided with a refueling vessel, killing eight people, South Korea s coast guard said. The boat was carrying two sailors and 20 passengers when the collision occurred in waters near Incheon west of Seoul, a coast guard official told a media briefing. Two people remain missing and a search and rescue operation involving five helicopters and 19 vessels is underway. President Moon Jae-in ordered all measures be taken to find those missing, his office told reporters. Those rescued from the water have been sent to nearby hospitals, the coast guard said. The reason for the collision has yet to be confirmed, according to the coast guard.

Summary: दक्षिण कोरिया में मछली पकड़ने वाली नाव पलट गई, आठ लोगों की मौत


WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Donald Trump signed an executive order formally withdrawing the United States from the 12-nation Trans-Pacific Partnership trade deal on Monday, following through on a promise from his campaign last year. In an Oval Office ceremony, Trump also signed an order imposing a federal hiring freeze and a directive banning U.S. non-governmental organizations receive federal funding from providing abortions abroad. Trump called the TPP order a “great thing for the American worker.”

Summary: ट्रम्प ने ट्रांस-पैसिफिक व्यापार समझौते से अमेरिका को वापस लेने के आदेश पर हस्ताक्षर किए


WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S Secretary of Defense James Mattis, on his first full day in office, spoke with NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg to highlight the importance he places on the military alliance, a Pentagon spokesman said on Monday.  President Donald Trump has said that while the military alliance was still very important to him, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization was nonetheless obsolete because it had not defended against terror attacks.  Trump added in a recent interview with The Times of London that many NATO members were not paying their fair share for U.S. protection. “The two leaders discussed the importance of our shared values, and the secretary emphasized that when looking for allies to help defend these values, the United States always starts with Europe,” Pentagon spokesman Captain Jeff Davis said in a statement regarding the call.  “Both pledged to consult in the months to come and look forward to meeting in person during the NATO Defense Ministerial in February,” Davis said. The Pentagon said Mattis also spoke with his counterparts from Britain and Canada.

Summary: मैटिस ने नाटो प्रमुख के साथ बातचीत की, गठबंधन के महत्व पर प्रकाश डाला


WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Republican plan backed by President Donald Trump to overhaul the U.S. healthcare system cleared its first hurdles in Congress on Thursday, but its chances for passage looked uncertain and top Republicans scrambled to bring disgruntled conservatives aboard. In the face of opposition by Democrats, healthcare providers and many conservatives, two House of Representatives committees approved the legislation that would undo much of the 2010 Affordable Care Act, popularly known as Obamacare, moving it closer to a vote before the full House. The Energy and Commerce Committee voted 31-23 along party lines, with Democrats unified against it, to back the plan after marathon proceedings lasting 27 straight hours. Hours earlier, the tax-writing Ways and Means Committee similarly voted 23-16 before dawn to approve it after working 17 straight hours. House Speaker Paul Ryan sought to bolster support among  conservatives in his own party, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said fellow Republicans must get in a “governing mode” while Trump denied the bill was in trouble. “Despite what you hear in the press, healthcare is coming along great. We are talking to many groups and it will end in a beautiful picture!” the Republican president said on Twitter. The bill would replace Obamacare’s income-based subsidies with a system of fixed tax credits to help people buy private insurance on the open market, while ditching the Obamacare expansion of the Medicaid insurance program for the poor. It would also end penalties for not having insurance, though  insurers would be given permission to impose a 30 percent surcharge on customers who let their coverage lapse for more than two months and then seek to renew. Hospital stocks, which has fallen after the plan was unveiled on Monday, ended broadly higher on Thursday, with Tenet Healthcare up 3.4 percent. Shares of health insurers were mixed, with most large insurers modestly higher and Medicaid-focused insurers ending negative, including Molina Healthcare’s 3.3 percent drop.  While Republicans have been itching for seven years to dismantle Democratic former President Barack Obama’s signature domestic policy achievement, the party has failed to coalesce behind the plan put forth by House Republican leaders. Republicans control the White House and both houses of Congress for the first time in a decade, but passage of the legislation was not a foregone conclusion. Conservative lawmakers and lobbying groups have lambasted it as too similar to Obamacare. They have sharply criticized its proposed tax credits as an unacceptable new government entitlement program and have called for a quicker end to the Obamacare Medicaid expansion. The measure is the first major legislative test for Trump and his fellow Republicans amid questions about whether they can govern effectively after years spent as an opposition party under Obama. Ryan, with his shirt sleeves rolled up and using a video screen with facts and figures, held what he called a “townhall-style” presentation for reporters on the proposal. But his intended audience appeared to be fellow Republicans, and he said his party must “actually make good on our word.” “The time is now,” said Ryan, who long has been the target of criticism of some conservatives. “This is the closest we will ever get to repealing and replacing Obamacare,” Ryan added. McConnell had a similar message, saying, “We need to get into a governing mode and start thinking about actually achieving something rather than just kind of sparring.” Democrats denounced the bill as a gift to the rich that would force millions of people off of insurance rolls. Republicans said it was needed to roll back the government’s “nanny state” role in the more-than-$3 trillion U.S. healthcare system. “Trumpcare is a loser for just about all of America, unless you’re in the top 1 percent,” Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer said. The House Budget Committee next Wednesday is due to merge the provisions approved by the two committees into one bill to be voted on by the full House before it goes to the Senate. Republican leaders are eyeing April for congressional passage of the bill. In a series of tweets early on Thursday, conservative Republican Senator Tom Cotton urged his House colleagues to pull back, saying their measure could not pass the Senate without major changes. “What matters in long run is better, more affordable health care for Americans, NOT House leaders’ arbitrary legislative calendar,” Cotton wrote. But White House spokesman Sean Spicer expressed confidence in the legislation’s prospects. “We’re not jamming this down people’s throat,” Spicer said. “This bill will land on the president’s desk. He will sign it. We will repeal Obamacare.” The Brookings Institution think tank forecast that the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office, expected early next week to release its closely watched assessment of the bill’s cost and coverage implications, would conclude that at least 15 million people would lose health insurance. Credit rating agency Standard & Poor’s earlier estimated 6-10 million people could lose health insurance coverage. Before the Energy and Commerce Committee vote, conservatives at the request of the panel’s chairman withdrew an amendment sponsored by Republican Joe Barton that would move up by two years, to next Jan. 1, the end of the Medicaid expansion. Barton said he planned to try to offer the amendment on the House floor. Committee Chairman Greg Walden hailed the unanimity of Republicans on the committee in approving the bill. Obamacare enabled 20 million previously uninsured people to obtain coverage. About half came from the Medicaid expansion. The bill’s proposed changes in Medicaid funding could hurt smaller, less diverse health insurers, Fitch Ratings said, and the unintended, unforeseen consequences of a bill this size are likely to create uncertainty for all health insurers.  With doctors, hospitals, seniors, health plans, Democrats, some governors and conservative Republicans against the bill, it may not make it out of the House, Mario Molina, chief executive of managed care company Molina Healthcare, said in an interview. “If it does, I think the Senate is going to slow things down and really take a good look,” Molina said. “We are going to have to hope that the Senate is more moderate.”

Summary: रिपब्लिकन अमेरिकी स्वास्थ्य योजना ने पहली बाधाओं को दूर किया, भाग्य अनिश्चित


DUBAI (Reuters) - The Saudi-led military coalition fighting in Yemen said it will continue to block the main aid route into the country until it is satisfied its Houthi opponents cannot use it to bring in weapons. The coalition closed all air, land and sea access to Yemen last week following the interception of a missile fired toward the Saudi capital, saying it had to stem the flow of arms to the Houthis from Iran. Aid agencies warned the move would worsen the humanitarian crisis in the country, where the war has left an estimated seven million people facing famine. Ports controlled by Yemen s exiled government would reopen soon, the coalition said on Sunday in a statement issued by the Saudi mission at the United Nations. However other ports, including Houthi-controlled Hodeidah   where some 80 percent of Yemen s food supplies enter   will remain closed until a U.N. verification regime is reviewed to ensure no weapons reach the Houthis, the statement said.  The coalition, in consultation and full agreement with the legitimate government, will begin steps related to re-opening of airports and ports in Yemen to allow the transport of humanitarian and commercial cargo,  the statement said. It said the first steps will start within 24 hours and will include the southern ports of Aden and Mukalla and the Red Sea port of al-Mokha, which are all controlled by Hadi s government. The coalition asked U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres to send a delegation to Riyadh to  review current inspection measures to reinforce and introduce a more effective inspection and verification regime (UNVIM) aimed at facilitating the flow of humanitarian and commercial supplies and prevent smuggling of weapons, ammunition and missile parts...  Saudi Arabia has accused arch-foe Iran of supplying the ballistic missile which was shot down near Riyadh airport without causing any casualties. Iran has denied the accusation.  The United Nations and international aid organizations have repeatedly criticized the coalition in the past for blocking aid access, especially to the north, which is held by the Iran-aligned Houthis battling the Saudi-led coalition. More than 10,000 people have been killed in the conflict, which pits the internationally recognized government, backed by Saudi Arabia and its allies, against the Houthis and forces loyal to former president Ali Abdullah Saleh. The Saudi-led coalition has been targeting the Houthis since they seized parts of Yemen in 2015, including the capital Sanaa, forcing President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi to flee and seek help from neighboring Saudi Arabia.

Summary: सऊदी के नेतृत्व वाला गठबंधन चाहता है कि यमन में मुख्य बंदरगाह के फिर से खुलने से पहले हथियारों की जांच को मजबूत किया जाए


LONDON (Reuters) - There is a good prospect Britain will negotiate a transitional arrangement with the European Union before it leaves the bloc in March 2019, Britain s Brexit minister David Davis said on Thursday. Davis said Britain had only raised the issue of transition briefly with the EU so far in negotiations as it is not among the first four issues due to be discussed. Asked by a lawmaker what prospects there were for bespoke transitional arrangements being agreed and implemented by March 2019, Davis told parliament:  We are finding that the (European) Commission is open to discussion of transition ... I think there is a very good prospect.  Parliament is on Thursday due to begin debating legislation to sever political, financial and legal ties with the EU, and the opposition Labour Party has said it cannot support the bill without it being amended to better protect workers  rights. Junior Brexit minister Steve Baker told lawmakers the government would not accept any amendments to the bill that compromised its purpose.

Summary: ब्रिटेन के ब्रेक्सिट मंत्री ने कहा कि यूरोपीय संघ के साथ संक्रमणकालीन समझौते पर सहमत होने की 'अच्छी संभावना' है


WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump on Tuesday urged Senate Republicans to pass a “generous” replacement program for Obamacare, as the Senate struggled to produce an alternative to the healthcare law. Capitol Hill sources who asked not to be named said Trump described the version of the legislation that passed the House last month as “mean.” That House bill was widely criticized for letting states seek waivers from insurance protections for people with pre-existing conditions. Trump discussed the healthcare bill at a White House lunch he hosted for Republican senators in a bid to help the lawmakers find common ground to move forward with healthcare reform legislation this summer. The White House declined to comment on private conversations between Trump and lawmakers. During the portion of the lunch open to reporters, Trump told the lawmakers their healthcare bill would need to be “generous” and “kind.” “That may be adding additional money into it,” he said, without offering details on how much money might be needed or how it might be used. Trump stepped up pressure for the repeal with a tweet Tuesday morning declaring that the Affordable Care Act, nicknamed Obamacare, “is in a death spiral.” He cited the government’s announcement Monday that some 2 million people who signed up for Obamacare have dropped out this year.  Although Trump’s Republican Party has a majority in both houses of Congress, Trump blamed “obstructionist” Democrats for the lack of progress in repealing President Barack Obama’s signature domestic achievement. Senator John Thune, the No. 3 Republican in the Senate, who attended the lunch meeting, said Trump was open to suggestions that some federal cost-sharing payments to health insurers under Obamacare continue in the near term but that the president did not make any definite pronouncements on that issue. Those payments help cover out-of-pocket medical expenses for low-income Americans. Trump has said he might consider withholding them but insurers say that would wreak havoc in the markets. Thune also said Trump did not give any deadlines to the senators on passing the bill. “I hope that we can stay on schedule to have floor action before the Fourth of July break,” Thune said.       The House of Representatives narrowly approved its version of repeal last month but Senate Republicans have been unable to coalesce around their own version of a bill, with moderates and conservatives pushing in different directions in meetings behind closed doors. The senators Trump invited to lunch included Republicans from both ideological camps. Moderates Susan Collins and Lisa Murkowski were on the list as well as conservatives Ted Cruz and Mike Lee. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has said senators are closer to bringing up a proposal and other Republicans have predicted for some time that a bill would be ready for a vote before the August recess. Senate aides said the Senate bill was not expected to touch insurance protections that are included in Obamacare for people with pre-existing medical conditions, after the controversy over the House bill that would let states seek waivers from those protections. In states with such waivers, people with pre-existing conditions could still get coverage but they would not be shielded against potentially higher costs. Another senator at the lunch, Finance Committee Chairman Orrin Hatch, said after the meeting that there still was a lot of work to do before legislation can be unveiled.  “The total bill hasn’t been resolved,” he said.

Summary: ट्रम्प ने रिपब्लिकन सीनेटरों के साथ दोपहर के भोजन की मेजबानी की, ओबामाकेयर को मेनू में रद्द कर दिया गया


(Reuters) - British singer Adele made clear on Monday that she has not given permission for anyone to use her music for political campaigns. Adele’s spokesman issued a statement after Republican U.S. presidential contender Donald Trump played Adele’s 2011 hit song “Rolling in the Deep” at rallies in Iowa, and Mike Huckabee released a YouTube parody last week of her 2015 single “Hello.” “Adele has not given permission for her music to be used for any political campaigning,” the singer’s spokesman said in an email. The spokesman did not say whether Adele, whose new album “25” was the biggest seller in the United States last year, was contemplating legal steps to prevent the unauthorized use of her music. Adele is far from the only pop or rock star to have seen politicians co-opt their music for political purposes. Rock band R.E.M. lashed out in September at Trump for using its hit song, “It’s the End of the World” at a rally, and Frankie Sullivan complained about the use of the band’s 1982 hit “Eye of the Tiger,” at a news conference in September featuring Kim Davis, a county clerk in Kentucky briefly jailed for refusing to issue gay marriage licenses.  (Reporting By Jill Serjeant; editing by Grant McCool) SAP is the sponsor of this coverage which is independently produced by the staff of Reuters News Agency.

Summary: राजनीतिक अभियानों में अपने संगीत का उपयोग करने की अनुमति नहीं दी गईः अडेल


WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Obama administration released $65.8 million on Thursday to help communities that are struggling from the decline of the coal industry and bankruptcies of major producers of the fuel. The funds announced by the federal Appalachian Regional Commission and the Economic Development Administration will support projects that help coal-dependent communities in places like West Virginia and Kentucky diversify their economies, retrain the workforce and attract new investment. The funds are coming through the Obama administration’s Partnerships for Opportunity and Workforce and Economic Revitalization Initiative, which helps coal-reliant regions cope with market forces, air pollution regulations and other factors.   “Many communities across Appalachia – from coal mines to Main Streets – are being impacted as the world changes the way it produces and consumes electricity,” said ARC Chairman Earl Gohl. The grant comes the day after Peabody Energy Corp, the largest U.S. coal producer, said it might have to seek bankruptcy protection. Peabody would become the latest in a line of major coal miners, including Arch Coal Inc, to file for bankruptcy as demand for coal plummets both domestically and in global markets like China and amid competition from natural gas.  The plight of coal communities, particularly in the Appalachian region of the eastern United States, has gained importance in the 2016 presidential campaign, where economic frustration of white working-class voters has become a major theme.  Last week, Democratic front-runner Hillary Clinton triggered critical comments from Republican lawmakers in Kentucky when she told a CNN town hall meeting: “We’re going to put a lot of coal miners and coal companies out of business” when explaining her $30 billion economic transition plan for coal-dependent regions. Her plan expands on Obama’s broader POWER+ Plan, a set of investments in coal-dependent communities outlined in his 2017 budget.  Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, a Republican, called Clinton’s comments callous and said “it underlines the need to stand up for hard-working, middle-class coal families.” Clinton campaign spokesman Brian Fallon said McConnell and other critics “twisted Clinton’s words to suggest she showed a disregard for coal workers and their livelihoods.” Meanwhile, New York real estate mogul Donald Trump, the Republican front-runner, said at a recent campaign stop in Ohio: “We have to protect your coal industry which is being decimated” by the Obama administration’s environmental regulations.

Summary: ओबामा प्रशासन ने कोयला समुदायों की सहायता के लिए 66 मिलियन डॉलर की पेशकश की