WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A Republican plan backed by President Donald Trump to overhaul the U.S. healthcare system passed through a second congressional panel on Thursday, despite controversy among lawmakers, hospitals and insurers about its unknown costs and impact on coverage. The House of Representatives Energy and Commerce Committee approved the proposal to repeal and replace former President Barack Obama’s “Affordable Care Act” by a vote of 31-23, after debating the draft legislation for more than 24 hours. The plan had been approved early on Thursday by the tax-writing Ways and Means Committee.

Summary: दूसरे सदन के पैनल ने ओबामाकेयर प्रतिस्थापन योजना को मंजूरी दी


SEOUL (Reuters) - North Korea probably stole South Korean warship blueprints after hacking into Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering Co Ltd s (042660.KS) database in April last year, a South Korean opposition lawmaker said on Tuesday.  North Korea has often been implicated in cyber attacks in South Korea and elsewhere but Pyongyang has either ignored or denied accusations of hacking.   We are almost 100 percent certain that North Korean hackers were behind the hacking and stole the company s sensitive documents,  Kyung Dae-soo of the main opposition Liberty Korea Party told Reuters by telephone.  Daewoo Shipbuilding has built several South Korean warships, including an Aegis-class vessel and submarines. It was most likely North Korea had obtained blueprints for these, he said.  The hacking was discovered by a division under South Korea s Ministry of Defence in charge of investigating cases of cybercrime, said Kyung, who received a briefing on the investigation.  How sensitive and classified the seized documents were was not known as that was not disclosed by the investigative team, he added.  A spokeswoman for Daewoo Shipbuilding said she was unaware of the issue until early Tuesday and the company was in the process of confirming the details of Kyung s remarks.  The investigative team came to the conclusion North Korea had hacked Daewoo Shipbuilding because the hacking method was very similar to other attacks that North Korea was thought to be behind, Kyung said.  Hackers in North Korea are believed to have been responsible for a recent cyber heist in Taiwan - the latest in a string of hacks targeting the global SWIFT messaging system.  Earlier this month, another South Korean lawmaker had said North Korean hackers had stolen a large number of classified military documents, including South Korea-U.S. wartime operational plans.  And British authorities said last week they believed North Korea was behind the  WannaCry  ransomware attack in May that disrupted businesses and government services worldwide, including the National Health Service in England.

Summary: उत्तर कोरिया ने देवू जहाज निर्माण को हैक किया, युद्धपोत का खाका तैयार कियाः दक्षिण कोरिया के सांसद


NEW YORK (Reuters) - National Football League officials weighed the fervor of players protesting racism against U.S. President Donald Trump’s anger at their autumn meeting on Tuesday with supporters of the players kneeling outside in solidarity. The NFL did not seek commitments from its players to stop kneeling during pregame renditions of the U.S. national anthem but rather focused on helping them in their political activism. “We spent today talking about the issues that our players have been trying to bring attention to. About issues in our communities to make our communities better,” NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell told reporters. Trump’s repeated denunciation of the players as unpatriotic for kneeling during the national anthem, which he reiterated as recently as Monday, has only made the practice more widespread.  His calls for fans to boycott games if players persist is an unwelcome prospect even for the world’s highest-grossing sports league and have forced the topic high up the agenda of this week’s regularly scheduled meeting in New York City. Outside the Manhattan luxury hotel where team owners, players and their union’s leaders met, about two dozen people showed their backing for the protesting athletes, kneeling on the sidewalk while holding placards that read “Take a knee against police brutality.” The demonstrators later dispersed. The small but growing number of players who have taken to kneeling during the national anthem are protesting the killing by police of unarmed black men and boys across the United States, as well as racial disparities in the criminal justice system. More than half of all NFL players are black.  Goodell appeared less interested in stifling the silent protests, despite Trump’s wishes, and instead praised players’ character, saying he wanted to help their political activism. “Today’s discussion with our players was very productive and very important. It reflected our commitment to work together with our players on issues of social justice,” said Goodell. “Our players are men of great character. They have a very deep understanding and tremendous knowledge of the issues that are going on in all of our communities, and their commitment to addressing these issues is really admirable.” Goodell, who cut his news conference off after one question, said the league will meet again with players, probably in the next two weeks, and will spend more time talking to reporters when the two-day meeting concludes on Wednesday. An NFL spokesman had said the president might not see an outright ban on the national anthem protests soon, if ever, and predicted that the meeting would focus on ways for all sides to work together. Along those lines, team owners and 13 players had a “productive meeting” of their own earlier on Tuesday at the league offices about how to collaborate on positive social change and addressing inequality, according to a statement by the NFL and the players’ union, the NFL Players Association. “As we said last week, everyone who is part of our NFL community has a tremendous respect for our country, our flag, our anthem and our military,” the statement said. “In the best American tradition, we are coming together to find common ground and commit to the hard work required for positive change.” Malcolm Jenkins, a player for the Philadelphia Eagles, told reporters that the two sides discussed how to amplify players’ voices and make what he called “long, sustainable changes.” “We all have mutual interests. ... We want to make sure that the quality of product that we put out on the field is great, but at the same time we have a responsibility to the communities that we live in and the communities that we come from,” Jenkins said. Trump wants the league to suspend players if they kneel during the pregame renditions of “The Star-Spangled Banner,” saying on Monday the players were disrespecting the country. His vice president, Mike Pence, walked out of a stadium in Indianapolis earlier this month as players knelt, which Trump said he had instructed Pence to do. Some team owners, including Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones, sympathize with the president. Jones has said he would punish players who kneel by keeping them off the field. Jones and Buffalo Bills owner Kim Pegula were among the officials seen heading into Tuesday’s meeting, all of them ignoring shouted questions from reporters. Many officials arrived through a rear entrance to avoid cameras. Players and their union have bristled at Trump’s assertion they are unpatriotic. Though still a minority, more players have begun kneeling since the new football season began, and some sympathetic teammates have linked arms with the kneelers while standing themselves. Former San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick, who first popularized the gesture last year, said he settled on kneeling as a form of protest because it is widely seen as a gesture of respect.  Kaepernick, who is a free agent, was not invited to attend the meeting.

Summary: ट्रंप की फटकार के बावजूद राष्ट्रगान पर एन. एफ. एल. की नीति में कोई बदलाव नहीं


WASHINGTON (Reuters) - After discussing Iran and North Korea with U.S. military leaders on Thursday, President Donald Trump posed for a photo with them before dinner and declared the moment “the calm before the storm.” “You guys know what this represents?” Trump said after journalists gathered in the White House state dining room to photograph him and first lady Melania Trump with the uniformed military leaders and their spouses. “Maybe it’s the calm before the storm,” he said. What storm? “You’ll find out,” Trump told questioning reporters. Classical music played in the background and tables were set in the nearby Blue Room for a fancy meal. The White House did not immediately reply to a request to clarify Trump’s remark. Earlier in the evening, while seated with the top defense officials in the cabinet room, Trump talked about the threat from North Korea and preventing Iran from getting a nuclear weapon. “In North Korea, our goal is denuclearization,” he said. “We cannot allow this dictatorship to threaten our nation or our allies with unimaginable loss of life. We will do what we must do to prevent that from happening. And it will be done, if necessary, believe me.” During his speech to the United Nations General Assembly last month, Trump said the United States would “totally destroy” North Korea if needed to defend itself or U.S. allies. The president on Thursday also had tough words for Iran, saying the country had not lived up to the spirit of an agreement forged with world powers to curb its nuclear program. A senior administration official said on Thursday that Trump was expected to announce soon he would decertify the landmark agreement.      Trump has filled top posts within his administration with military generals, including his chief of staff, retired General John Kelly, and national security adviser, Lieutenant General H.R. McMaster. McMaster, who normally dresses in civilian clothes at the White House, wore his uniform for the meeting. Without being specific, Trump pressed the leaders to be faster at providing him with “military options” when needed. “Moving forward, I also expect you to provide me with a broad range of military options, when needed, at a much faster pace. I know that government bureaucracy is slow, but I am depending on you to overcome the obstacles of bureaucracy,” he said during their cabinet room meeting.

Summary: सेना के साथ बैठक में ट्रंप ने 'तूफान से पहले शांति' की बात की


BEIJING (Reuters) - The youth wing of China s ruling Communist Party on Monday said it had complained to social network Twitter  about a fake account set up in its name that has tweeted sarcastic comments about the Communist Party. China blocks Twitter and other Western sites, such as Facebook and Google, but that has not stopped some state media and government departments from setting up Twitter and Facebook accounts in Chinese and English as they seek to expand their global footprint. In a brief statement on its Weibo account, China s answer to Twitter, the Youth League labeled the @ComYouthLeague Twitter account  completely fabricated , saying it had asked for it to be  handled . The statement did not elaborate. It displayed a screenshot of the account with the phrase  fake goods  stamped across it in Chinese. A second picture showed the Youth League s official social media accounts, including those on Weibo and WeChat. It did not include any foreign social media sites. Twitter did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The account the Youth League labeled as fake sent its first tweet on Sept. 12, and has sent 10 tweets to date. One linked to an article on the official Xinhua news agency about a Chinese being detained for selling VPN services that help people skirt internet curbs and asked why people needed to do this, if China had such a  wonderful internet culture . It is not clear who set up the account, but it calls itself the Youth League s official Twitter account and carries a link to the League s official website. Adding to the confusion, another Twitter account claiming to be the Youth League s, @ccylchina, was also launched last week, though its content conforms to the party s point of view. Neither account is officially verified by Twitter. The Youth League did not answer telephone calls seeking comment. The Youth League has 88 million members aged between 14 and 28, mainly party and government officials who have been groomed for decades as potential future rulers. With more than 5 million followers on Weibo, it has aggressively courted Chinese social media, extending its reach to platforms previously neglected by mainstream propaganda bodies. In July, the Youth League made its latest online foray into Netease music, one of China s largest online music streaming sites, with songs on its playlist ranging from the Internationale to raps by Taiwanese singing sensation Jay Chou.

Summary: चीन की कम्युनिस्ट पार्टी ने 'मनगढ़ंत' ट्विटर खाते की शिकायत की


ANKARA (Reuters) - Turkish police fired tear gas to disperse protesters outside a courthouse in Ankara on Thursday at the start of the trial of two teachers who have been on hunger strike since losing their jobs in a crackdown following last year s failed coup. Literature professor Nuriye Gulmen and primary school teacher Semih Ozakca have been surviving on liquids and supplements for six months, and doctors have described their condition as dangerously weak. They were detained in May over alleged links to the militant leftist DHKP-C group, deemed a terrorist organization by Turkey, and the court on Thursday ruled that they be remanded in custody until the next session in two weeks. Neither they nor their original lawyers were in court. The gendarmerie said the defendants might try to escape from the courtroom, despite their weakened state, and arrest warrants were issued this week for 18 of their lawyers.  Police attempted to break up the protests using tear gas, and riot police were present inside and outside the building. At least 20 protesters were detained, being dragged along the ground in the process.  The first obstacle before a fair trial was the detention of their lawyers, which also served as a veiled intimidation attempt at the judges trying them. Now they are not brought to court, in an open breach of their right to defend,  said Baris Yarkadas, a lawmaker from the main opposition Republican People s Party (CHP). At least a hundred lawyers were present at the courthouse to defend the teachers, along with CHP parliamentarians and the pro-Kurdish opposition Peoples  Democratic Party (HDP). The court refused the applications of 1,030 lawyers who wanted to represent the teachers, saying it would limit the defense s representation to three lawyers for the duration of the trial. The trial s second hearing will be held in Ankara on Sept. 28. The teachers have said their hunger strike aimed to draw attention to the plight of roughly 150,000 people suspended or sacked since last July s failed coup, which President Tayyip Erdogan blames on followers of U.S.-based Muslim cleric Fethullah Gulen. Gulen denies any involvement. Last month, the European Court of Human Rights rejected a request by the two teachers to order Ankara to release them on health grounds. Since the failed coup attempt, some 50,000 people including journalists, opposition figures, civil servants and others have been detained in the crackdown. Rights groups and Turkey s Western allies accuse the government of using the coup as a pretext to muzzle dissent. Ankara says the purges are necessary due to the gravity of the threats it faces.

Summary: तुर्की पुलिस ने भूख हड़तालियों के मुकदमे के बाहर प्रदर्शनकारियों पर आंसू गैस के गोले दागे


WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Billionaire technology investor Peter Thiel, a lightning rod for criticism in Silicon Valley for his support of Donald Trump, predicted on Monday that the movement the Republican presidential nominee has created would carry on even if he loses his bid for the White House on Nov. 8. “No matter what happens in this election, what Trump represents isn’t crazy, and it’s not going away,” Thiel said in a speech to reporters at the National Press Club in Washington.  Thiel, who announced earlier this month he was donating $1.25 million to help Trump get elected, said the New York businessman was laying the groundwork for “a new Republican Party” that will go “beyond the dogmas of Reaganism.” Thiel attacked Washington in his remarks, saying its elite insiders were out of touch with ordinary Americans and that Trump was shaking up a system in need of change.         “The truth is, no matter how crazy this election seems, it is less crazy than the condition of our country,” said Thiel. While it is impossible to predict what will happen to Trump and his followers after the election, Thiel is not alone in his view. “This will certainly continue after Nov. 8, whether Donald Trump is leading the movement or not,” Republican strategist Alice Stewart said on Monday, arguing that the movement surrounding Trump will have lasting effects on the Republican Party. “Without a doubt, Trump has tapped into an electorate that has felt like their voices have not been heard in quite some time,” she said, adding that the Republican Party old guard would have to work with followers of Trump’s newer brand of conservatism, regardless of the outcome of the election, if the party is to survive. Thiel, who was born in Germany and came to the United States as a child, is best known as a co-founder of online payment service PayPal Holdings Inc and an early backer of online social network Facebook Inc. His support for the real estate developer and reality TV star has made him a target for scorn in liberal-leaning tech circles, especially after his full-throated endorsement of Trump at the Republican National Convention in July. The only major-name Trump backer in Silicon Valley, Thiel has attracted criticism and some have called for Thiel’s removal from Facebook’s board. Facebook Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg has insisted on Thiel staying, citing the importance of diversity of opinion at the company.  Trump’s tirades against cross-border trade agreements and immigration run counter to the views of most in the U.S. tech industry, which sells its products worldwide and has leaned heavily on talented programmers coming to the United States from overseas.  On Monday, Thiel accused the media of taking too literally many of Trump’s more controversial proposals, including imposing a temporary ban on Muslims entering the country and building a wall on the U.S.-Mexico border. He also said the comments Trump made about groping and kissing women in a 2005 video that was made public earlier this month were “clearly offensive and inappropriate.”  But Thiel said he and other Trump supporters were voting on policy, not personality. He added that both Trump and White House rival Democrat Hillary Clinton were “imperfect people, to say the least.”  On top of his political views, Thiel has faced a backlash in the media for secretly funding a lawsuit against the online publishing company Gawker Media by former professional wrestler Terry Bollea, known professionally as Hulk Hogan, that ultimately led to the bankruptcy and sale of Gawker.  Thiel on Monday defended his decision to bankroll the suit against the site, which a decade earlier outed Thiel as gay in an article entitled “Peter Thiel is totally gay, people.” Thiel said the judicial system was too costly for all but the very rich. “If you’re a single-digit millionaire like Hulk Hogan, you have no effective access to the legal system,” he said. Clinton holds a 5-point lead over Trump in the latest Reuters/Ipsos poll, with the backing of 44 percent of likely voters compared to Trump with 39 percent.

Summary: टेक अरबपति थिएल का कहना है कि ट्रम्प आंदोलन 'खत्म नहीं हो रहा है'


WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu asked U.S. President Donald Trump on Wednesday to recognize Israeli sovereignty over the Golan Heights, territory Israel seized from Syria in the 1967 Middle East war. Most of the world considers the Golan, a high plateau  between northeastern Israel and southwestern Syria, to be occupied by Israel, which annexed the territory in 1981 in a move not recognized internationally. During a briefing with Israeli and foreign media after meeting Trump at the White House, Netanyahu was asked whether he had raised the Golan issue. “Yes,” he replied.  Asked how the U.S. president had responded, he said: “I wouldn’t say that he was surprised by my request.” Netanyahu did not elaborate. Israel made a similar request to the Obama administration in 2015, but it was rejected, diplomats said at the time. While Israel has long coveted sovereignty in the Golan, it is unclear whether the White House would take such a step now, given that it could further complicate the Syrian conflict. If the United States were to recognize Israel’s claim, it would likely anger Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, who is backed by Russia and Iran in his war with Islamist militants and rebel groups. The Trump administration has talked about working more closely with Russia to end the Syrian conflict. Recognizing Israel’s sovereignty in the Golan could undermine those efforts. It could also spur Iran and its proxies in Syria, particularly the Lebanese Shi’ite militia Hezbollah, to turn more of their focus against Israel, targeting its forces stationed across the Golan Heights. Israel has warned Hezbollah, with which it fought a six-week war in 2006, against attacking its territory. It has carried out occasional air strikes in the Syrian portion of the Golan to target Hezbollah fighters, including units smuggling arms.  Israel’s argument for sovereignty over the territory is based partly on the fact that Syria has splintered over the past five years of fighting, to the extent that Israel says there is no one to whom it could hand back the Golan. But with the United States and Israel looking to forge an ever-tighter relationship, it is also possible that Trump, who has shown himself to be unpredictable at times, could decide to recognize Israel’s sovereignty. As well as around 25,000 Israeli settlers in the territory, many of them working in agriculture, there are about 20,000 Druze of Syrian citizenship, many of whom have relatives living in just across the valley in Syria.

Summary: नेतन्याहू ने ट्रंप से गोलान हाइट्स पर इजरायल की संप्रभुता को मान्यता देने को कहा


WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Republican-controlled U.S. House of Representatives plans to turn to tax reform in earnest, after concluding a lengthy healthcare debate this week with a vote to repeal and replace Obamacare.  But even as Republicans predicted that tax reform would succeed before year-end, lawmakers encountered new uncertainties about what a final tax package might contain, as well as doubts about whether Republicans will be able to enact reforms without Democratic help. President Donald Trump and Republicans in Congress have pledged to complete the biggest tax reform since 1986, when President Ronald Reagan was in office, before the end of 2017. But they face an uphill battle, mainly over policy differences within their own ranks.  Thursday’s 217-213 House vote on healthcare legislation raised confidence in the Republican-controlled chamber’s ability to move major legislation after two earlier pushes ended in failure. But to move forward on tax reform, the House, Senate and Trump administration must agree on where to set tax rates, how to pay for cuts and whether the final package should add to the deficit or pay for itself, all areas where common ground may be hard to find. A plan to enact reforms without Democratic support will also require Republicans to pass a 2018 budget authorizing the parliamentary process known as reconciliation. But a new budget agreement poses a daunting task given Republican opposition to Trump demands for deep domestic spending cuts.   “That may prove to be one, if not the most difficult votes of the tax reform process,” Jonathan Traub, a managing principal at the consulting firm Deloitte Tax LLP.   Meanwhile, the need to reach agreement between the House, Senate and White House will likely delay introduction of a tax reform bill, which had been expected in early June.  But Republicans say it will ultimately make it easier to enact reforms before the end of the year.  The House Ways and Means Committee, which will unveil the initial tax bill, is still aiming for a revenue-neutral package that raises $2.4 trillion for tax cuts through a new border adjustment tax and elimination of business deductions for net interest payments, both controversial measures. Panel chairman Kevin Brady told reporters that revenue neutrality is necessary to ensure bold, permanent changes to tax policy that can drive economic growth.   “That’s the argument and the case we’re going to make to the Senate and the Trump administration,” he said. But Representative Mark Meadows, who chairs the conservative Freedom Caucus that helped block Trump’s first healthcare bill,  voiced opposition to a revenue neutral approach. “If it’s revenue neutral, you’re not really lowering taxes. You’re shifting the burden,” Meadows told reporters.       The Trump tax plan unveiled last week calls for steep tax cuts financed by government revenues that officials say will result from higher growth. Some fear the plan could add trillions of dollars to the deficit if growth does not materialize. Meadows said tax cuts should be offset by cuts to entitlement programs including Social Security and Medicare, which Trump has promised not to touch.

Summary: ओबामाकेयर वोट के साथ, हाउस रिपब्लिकन कर सुधार की ओर रुख करने के लिए स्वतंत्र हैं


WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Interior Department’s inspector general said it would investigate a reported threat by the agency’s head, Ryan Zinke, against Republican Senator Lisa Murkowski’s state of Alaska last week over her opposition to her party’s efforts to repeal Obamacare. Zinke called Murkowski and Alaska’s other U.S. senator, Republican Dan Sullivan, on July 26, the day after Murkowski’s crucial vote against a motion to begin debate on the healthcare overhaul, the Alaska Dispatch News reported. The interior secretary warned the two senators that Murkowski’s vote could have negative consequences for energy and land use in Alaska, the newspaper said. Murkowski spokeswoman Karina Peterson confirmed that Zinke had called the senator. The Interior Department deals with policies crucial to the state’s economy such as drilling and mining on federal and tribal land and control of wildlife areas. The inspector general’s office sent a letter to Democratic U.S. Representatives Frank Pallone and Raul Grijalva, the top Democrats on the House committees on energy and natural resources, respectively, on Thursday evening, saying it would start a preliminary investigation into the matter. The two lawmakers had asked the inspector general’s office and the Government Accountability Office (GAO) for an investigation following the report of the threat. Zinke’s office and the GAO did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Murkowski’s July 25 no vote, along with that of Republican Senator Susan Collins of Maine, forced Vice President Mike Pence to cast a tiebreaking vote to pass the motion by a 51-50 ballot. Subsequent efforts in the Senate to repeal the Affordable Care Act, commonly known as Obamacare, collapsed last Friday after Murkowski, Collins and Senator John McCain of Arizona joined their Democratic and independent Senate colleagues in voting against a “skinny repeal” bill that would have eliminated some parts of Obamacare. Murkowski chairs the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources, which oversees appropriations and appointee confirmations for Zinke’s agency. On Thursday, the interior secretary suggested he had reconciled with Murkowski, posting a photo of him drinking Alaska-brand beers with the senator on Twitter. “I say dinner, she says brews. My friends know me well,” he tweeted.

Summary: स्वास्थ्य सेवा पर अलास्का सीनेटर के लिए खतरे की जांच करेगा आंतरिक विभाग का प्रहरी


BERLIN (Reuters) - A regional parliament has lifted the immunity of the best known politician in the anti-immigration Alternative for Germany (AfD) party, opening the way for prosecutors to pursue possible perjury charges against her. Frauke Petry, who is the AfD s co-chairwoman, has been dogged by allegations that she lied under oath to a committee of the Saxony parliament about how the party s campaign for the 2014 election in the state was financed. The ending of her immunity from prosecution adds to the right-wing party s problems less than four weeks before a national election. Weakened by infighting, it has bled support over the last year as voters  concerns about immigration have eased. Prosecutors have pursued the case against Petry, who denies the allegations, for more than a year. Her immunity as a member of the Saxony s parliament ended at midnight, a spokesman for the assembly said. A spokesman for prosecutors in the state capital Dresden said they would await written confirmation of that from the parliament s president before any further proceedings could be agreed upon. The AfD is polling between 7 and 10 percent in opinion surveys - well down from a high of 15.5 percent at the end of 2016 but still clearing the 5-percent threshold needed to enter the federal parliament in the Sept. 24 national election. Petry cuts an increasingly isolated figure in the AfD, which she transformed from an anti-euro party at its founding in 2013 into a group that taps into voters  concerns about migration. The party soared in the polls after Chancellor Angela Merkel s decision in 2015 to open Germany s borders to migrants fleeing war and poverty in the Middle East and beyond, of whom more than a million have since arrived. At a party conference in April, Petry suffered a humiliating defeat when delegates refused to discuss her plan to shift the party towards the mainstream.

Summary: प्रतिरक्षा खोने से जर्मन एंटी-इमिग्रेंट पार्टी के सह-प्रमुख को झूठी गवाही के आरोप का सामना करना पड़ सकता है


MANILA (Reuters) - Philippine soldiers have killed 14 Maoist guerrillas in an offensive south of the capital, Manila, an army officer said on Wednesday, days after President Rodrigo Duterte ended peace talks with the rebels. More than 40,000 people had been killed in nearly 50 years of fighting between the leftist guerrillas and government forces, a conflict that has stunted economic growth in resource-rich rural areas. Duterte, who took power last year, had raised hopes for peace with the communists as well as with Muslim insurgents in the south of the predominantly Roman Catholic country, but peace has proved elusive.  This is a big blow to their organization,  Major Mikko Magisa, executive officer of the army s 202nd Brigade, told reporters, referring to the late Tuesday clash in Batangas province. Five soldiers had been wounded in the 20-minute clash involving army and air force commandoes, he said. The bodies of 13 rebels were found, including a suspected secretary and a platoon leader of the guerrilla unit, he said. One of two wounded rebels who were captured died in hospital. Duterte signed a proclamation ending peace talks with the communists last week after complaining that rebel violence had continued during the negotiations. Talks, which have been held intermittently since 1986, were revived in August last year, and were brokered by Norway. Government troops have been ordered to be on alert for movements by the estimated 3,800 leftist guerrillas, military officials have said.               Government troops have in recent months been engaged in the biggest battle in the Philippines since World War Two, with Islamist militants who occupied a southern town for several months. (Amends to show peace has been elusive, paragraph three)

Summary: फिलीपींस के सैनिकों ने झड़प में 14 माओवादी विद्रोहियों को मार गिरायाः सेना


WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Donald Trump’s promise to balance the federal budget in a decade rests on a sustained rise to 3 percent annual economic growth that he promised in his election campaign and a vague “feedback” effect that lowers the annual government deficit by hundreds of billions of dollars. The projections are a leap of faith that many economists and the Federal Reserve regard as unlikely in a country where the population is aging and productivity has lagged.  They also hinge on continued low interest rates, low inflation and full employment - a decade free not just of major economic shocks but of the sort of mild recession considered part of a capitalist economy’s normal ups and downs. According to the summary tables released by the administration on Monday night, the administration is assuming economic growth reaches 3 percent annually by the end of Trump’s first term and stays there at least through 2027.  Actual first quarter economic growth was a weak 0.7 percent on an annualized basis, though current Fed forecasts expect about 2.1 percent growth for the year. Economic growth is one reason the plan forecasts tax receipts growing by around 5 percent a year even as the president promises tax cuts that “will spur investment and create jobs.”   Inflation is assumed to hit the Fed’s 2 percent goal and stay there, compared to the Fed’s current forecast of just below 2 percent for 2016. The budget assumes the unemployment rate will rise slightly from its current 4.4 percent rate and stay at a long-term average of 4.8 percent. Without that jump in growth and the steady environment surrounding it, deficits would increase by as much as half a trillion dollars a year - around where they are now - according to administration estimates that include an “effect of economic feedback” that reduces the government’s annual shortfall by an amount that grows to $496 billion by 2027. The exact nature of the “effect of economic feedback” was not detailed in the initial documents. President Barack Obama’s last budget assumed 2.6 percent annual growth, and even that is considered optimistic by professional economists and the Federal Reserve. Central bankers have penciled in trend U.S. growth of around 1.8 percent over the long run. Some Wall Street analysts, giving credit to some of Trump’s possible tax cut ideas, forecast economic growth could hit 2.3 percent in 2020, according to the latest quarterly poll of forecasters by the Philadelphia Fed.  “With all due respect, the full fiscal Trump magic was never a realistic outlook,” Erik Nielsen, chief economist at UniCredit, wrote in a note to clients on Sunday. Growth since 2000 has averaged 1.9 percent in the United States; over the course of a decade the difference between that and Trump’s 3 percent figure compounds to an additional $2 trillion annually that would not get spent, invested or taxed. The administration is also assuming that interest rates remain low, with a 10-year Treasury bond rate that rises to 3.8 percent and remains there, a figure critical to projected government borrowing costs. While the 10-year bond has averaged near that level throughout this century and is currently well below it, periods of faster economic growth generally involve higher rates because of both the likelihood of tighter monetary policy and the likely demand for U.S. securities if the economy does accelerate.

Summary: ट्रम्प का बजट मजबूत विकास पर निर्भर करता है, संतुलन के लिए 'प्रतिक्रिया'


MILDENHALL, England (Reuters) - U.S. military personnel fired shots on Monday as they stopped a man who tried to force his way into a British military base used by the U.S. Air Force, in an incident that police said was not being treated as terrorism. The Mildenhall Royal Air Force base said security staff locked down the base, used by the United States military to refuel U.S. and NATO aircraft in Europe, at about 1300 GMT following reports of a disturbance.  Shots were fired by American service personnel and a man has been detained with cuts and bruises and taken into custody,  Suffolk police said.  No other people have been injured as a result of the incident.  Police said they were not looking for anyone else on the site after the man, a 44 year-old Briton, was arrested on suspicion of criminal trespass. A Western security source, who spoke on condition of anonymity, told Reuters that Suffolk police were taking the lead on the incident and that specialist anti-terrorism officers were not immediately involved. Suffolk Police confirmed in a statement they were not treating the incident as terrorism and were receiving support from other law enforcement agencies while their investigation continued. The U.S. Air Force said the incident at the base, which is about 77 miles (125 km) northeast of London, had been contained and the suspect had been apprehended. Police said they remained on the base but there was no  threat to the base or local community. Mildenhall houses the 100th Air Refueling Wing and some special operations squadrons. The 1,162-acre base, which is home to about 3,100 U.S. military and an additional 3,000 family members, is earmarked for closure after the United States said it was going to move its operations from the base to Germany. The base said in a statement staff had been released from the lockdown about an hour-and-a-half after the incident.  Individuals in the area surrounding the installation are asked to avoid the base at this time,  it said. In 2016, a delivery driver was convicted of plotting to kill U.S. troops based in England by staging road accidents with soldiers  cars and then attacking them with knives and possibly a home-made bomb. Prosecutors said Junead Khan had used his job to scout RAF Mildenhall and two other U.S. bases while on carrying out  deliveries.

Summary: ब्रिटिश अड्डे पर जबरन प्रवेश करने वाले व्यक्ति को रोकने के लिए अमेरिकी सैन्य कर्मियों द्वारा गोलियां चलाई गईं


WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Democrat Hillary Clinton accused Republican presidential rival Donald Trump on Wednesday of being a “puppet” for Russian President Vladimir Putin, whose country has been accused by U.S. intelligence officials of meddling in the U.S. election. Putin has been repeatedly thrust into the campaign for the Nov. 8 U.S. election. Trump has praised him as a stronger leader than U.S. President Barack Obama, drawing criticism from Clinton and some Republicans that he is too cozy with the Russian president. Trump has also refused to concede that Russia was behind the hacking of Democratic Party emails. During Wednesday’s presidential debate, Trump said he did not know Putin but would likely get along better with the Russian leader than Clinton, a former secretary of state. “He said nice things about me,” Trump said. “He has no respect for her, he has no respect for our president and I’ll tell you what, we’re in very serious trouble.” Clinton responded: “Well that’s because he’d rather have a puppet as president of the United States.” “No, you’re the puppet,” Trump retorted, adding Clinton disliked Putin because he “has outsmarted her at every step of the way.”  Earlier this week, Trump suggested that if elected, his first meeting with a foreign leader would be with Putin. U.S.-Russian relations have deteriorated in recent years over Moscow’s intervention in the Syrian conflict, its annexation of the Crimean region from Ukraine and concerns about cyber attacks. Director of National Intelligence James Clapper, who oversees 17 U.S. intelligence agencies, has suggested that recent computer hacks targeting the Democratic Party were perpetrated by Russians, and predicted that cyber attacks would be a pressing challenge for the next president. Putin said on Sunday that Russia did not seek confrontation with the United States and was not trying to influence the U.S. election.

Summary: क्लिंटन ने ट्रंप पर पुतिन की कठपुतली होने का आरोप लगाया


TAIPEI (Reuters) - Taiwan’s policy making body on China, the Mainland Affairs Council, said on Saturday that China should look at the call between U.S. President-elect Donald Trump and Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen “calmly”. “We call on China to face the new situation in the Asia-Pacific region and work with us towards developing a benign cross-strait relationship and create a new way that will benefit the development of peace, prosperity and stability for the region,” it said in a statement.

Summary: ताइवान ने चीन से ट्रम्प की बातचीत को 'शांति से' देखने का आह्वान किया


WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Virginia Governor Terry McAuliffe on Tuesday vetoed a bill that would have blocked funding for Planned Parenthood, which provides abortions and other health services. The bill passed by the Republican-controlled legislature would have barred the state from providing funds to clinics that perform abortions not covered by Medicaid, the federal healthcare program for the poor. McAuliffe, a Democrat, said the measure would harm thousands of Virginians who relied on Planned Parenthood healthcare services and programs. He vetoed a similar measure last year. “Attempts to restrict women’s access to health care will impede the goal of making Virginia the best place to live, work, and run a business,” he said in a statement. Advocates for the law had said it would underpin organizations that provide the widest range of services. Planned Parenthood draws the ire of many Republicans because it provides abortions. Republican President Donald Trump has pledged to defund the organization.

Summary: वर्जीनिया के गवर्नर ने नियोजित माता-पिता के धन को कम करने वाले विधेयक पर वीटो लगा दिया


WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump said on Thursday he had not obstructed the FBI’s probe into alleged Russian meddling in the 2016 U.S. presidential election and had not recorded his conversations with former FBI chief James Comey. Comey was leading the investigation into allegations Russia tried to sway the election toward Trump and the possibility Trump associates colluded with Moscow when the president fired him on May 9, sparking a political firestorm. “Look there has been no obstruction, there has been no collusion,” Trump told Fox News Channel in an interview set to air on Friday. Fox released a partial transcript of the interview on Thursday. The former head of the Federal Bureau of Investigation testified before a Senate committee that Trump had asked him to drop a probe into former national security adviser Michael Flynn’s alleged ties to Russia. Earlier on Thursday, Trump said he did not make and does not possess any tapes of his conversations with Comey, after suggesting last month he might have recordings that could undercut Comey’s description of events. “I have no idea whether there are ‘tapes’ or recordings of my conversations with James Comey, but I did not make, and do not have, any such recordings,” Trump wrote on Twitter. Lawmakers investigating allegations of Russian interference in the U.S. election had asked the White House for any such recordings. Shortly after dismissing Comey, Trump mentioned the possibility of tapes in a Twitter post. “James Comey better hope that there are no ‘tapes’ of our conversations before he starts leaking to the press!” Trump tweeted on May 12. Allegations of ties to Russia have cast a shadow over Trump’s first five months in office, distracting from attempts by his fellow Republicans in Congress to overhaul the U.S. healthcare and tax systems. Trump has privately told aides that the threat of the existence of tapes forced Comey to tell the truth in his recent testimony, a source familiar with the situation said. Adam Schiff, the top Democrat on the House of Representatives Intelligence Committee, said Trump still had questions to answer about possible tapes. “If the president had no tapes, why did he suggest otherwise? Did he seek to mislead the public? Was he trying to intimidate or silence James Comey? And if so, did he take other steps to discourage potential witnesses from speaking out?” Schiff said in a statement. CNN reported on Thursday that two top U.S. intelligence officials told investigators Trump suggested they publicly deny any collusion between his campaign and Russia, but that they did not feel he had ordered them to do so.  Director of National Intelligence Dan Coats and National Security Agency Director Admiral Mike Rogers met separately last week with investigators for special counsel Robert Mueller and the Senate Intelligence Committee, according to CNN.  The two officials said they were surprised at Trump’s suggestion and found their interactions with him odd and uncomfortable, but they did not act on the president’s requests, CNN reported, citing sources familiar with their accounts. Reuters was unable to verify the CNN report. In his interview with Fox, Trump expressed concern about what he described as the close relationship between Comey and Mueller, who was appointed to take over the investigation after Comey was fired. “Well he’s very, very good friends with Comey, which is very bothersome,” Trump said, according to the Fox transcript. The Kremlin has denied U.S. intelligence agencies’ conclusion that Moscow tried to tilt the election in Trump’s favor, using such means as hacking into the emails of senior Democrats. Trump has repeatedly denied any collusion.

Summary: एफ. बी. आई. जांच में बाधा डालने से इनकार करते हुए ट्रंप ने कहा कि उनके पास कोमी के साथ बातचीत का कोई टेप नहीं है।


KUTUPALONG CAMP, Bangladesh (Reuters) - Aid agencies have to step up operations  massively  in response to the arrival in Bangladesh of about 400,000 refugees fleeing violence in Myanmar, and the amount of money needed to help them has risen sharply, a senior U.N. official said on Wednesday. The exodus of Muslim Rohingya to Bangladesh began on Aug. 25 after Rohingya militants attacked about 30 police posts and an army camp. The attacks triggered a sweeping military counter-offensive by security forces in Buddhist-majority Myanmar which the U.N. rights agency said was a  textbook example of ethnic cleansing .  We will all have to ramp up our response massively, from food to shelter,  George William Okoth-Obbo, assistant high commissioner for operations at the U.N. refugee agency, told Reuters during a visit to the Kutupalong refugee camp in Bangladesh.  The United Nations said on Tuesday 370,000 people had crossed into Bangladesh but Okoth-Obbo estimated the figure was now 400,000. He declined to speculate on how many more might come. Bangladesh was already home to about 400,000 Rohingya, who fled earlier conflict in Myanmar including a similar security crackdown in western Myanmar s Rakhine state in response to militant attacks in October. Many of the new arrivals are hungry and sick, without shelter or clean water in the middle of the rainy season.  We have an emergency within an emergency with conditions in existing camps,  he said, pointing to a mud-clogged road in the camp. Last week, the United Nations appealed for $77 million to cope with the crisis but Okoth-Obbo said that would not now be enough.  The appeal that was issued of $77 million on behalf of the aid agencies was based on the situation as it was roughly about two weeks ago,  he said.  There were only 100,000 people then. We are already four times that figure now. The funds need clearly is going to continue.  He declined to say how much he thought was needed. He also declined to say if he thought aid agencies were getting proper access to the conflict zone in Myanmar, though he said it was important to ensure that people were safe where they were.  Of course, also that access is provided to all the responders to provide humanitarian assistance,  he added. Myanmar has restricted most aid agency access to the north of Rakhine. Some officials have accused aid agencies of supporting the insurgents. Okoth-Obbo said he agreed with the Bangladeshi position that the most important solution was for the refugees to be able to return home in safety. Bangladeshi Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina said on Tuesday the refugees would all have to go home and Myanmar should set up safe zones to enable them to do so.  Under difficult circumstances this country has kept its borders open,  Okoth-Obbo said of Bangladesh.  All of us should support that and ensure that the response is strong.  (Story corrects paragraph 2 reference to ethnic cleansing, not genocide.)

Summary: संयुक्त राष्ट्र ने रोहिंग्या के बीच 'बड़े पैमाने पर' सहायता बढ़ाने की मांग की 'आपातकाल के भीतर आपातकाल'


ZURICH (Reuters) - The Gotthard road tunnel under the Alps in Switzerland was closed for hours on Wednesday after a truck and a passenger car collided, killing two people and damaging the key transit route, police said. Police in the canton of Uri said four people were also hurt in the head-on crash in the 10-mile (16.9-km) tunnel, a main north-south route for Europe.  It said the driver of a car with German number plates crossed the center line for unknown reasons and collided with the truck around 09:15 local time (0815 GMT).  The tunnel reopened around 1430 GMT, police said. In October 2001, a head-on collision in the tunnel between two trucks caused a massive fire, killing eleven and injuring many others.

Summary: घातक दुर्घटना ने स्विस गोटहार्ड सड़क सुरंग को घंटों के लिए बंद कर दिया


WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. House of Representatives Speaker Paul Ryan said on Wednesday that a sweeping Republican tax-cut plan is entering its toughest phase yet as lobbyists swarm Congress to try to protect valuable tax breaks. Urging lawmakers to move quickly on the plan, Ryan said in an interview with Reuters that speedy action would prevent the legislation getting bogged down and deliver sooner the economic growth that Republicans expect from it. “K Street,” as Washington’s lobbying industry is known after the downtown street where much of it is based, will soon descend on Capitol Hill to defend tax benefits for companies and other special interests, said Ryan, the top Republican in Congress.     “When the details come, that is when you’re going to see K Street coming to Congress. And that’s why this hasn’t been done for 31 years,” said Ryan, looking back to the country’s last major tax code overhaul under President Ronald Reagan in 1986. While the broad parameters of the Republican plan, backed by President Donald Trump, have been made public, detailed legislation is not expected to be revealed until next week.  Securing passage by Congress of the tax plan would give Trump his first major legislative win since he took office in January. Republicans control the White House and both chambers of Congress and are under pressure to deliver on their election campaign promises. Final action on taxes is at least weeks away. The Republican plan would cut taxes for businesses and people by up to $6 trillion over the next decade, according to independent analysts.  It calls for reducing the corporate income tax rate to 20 percent from 35 percent and setting a lower rate for smaller businesses, as well as cutting taxes for individuals and allowing larger deductions for families. Democrats have called it a gift to the rich and to corporate America that would cause the federal deficit to balloon and add to the $20 trillion U.S. national debt.     Ryan referred to white-water rafting to describe how the tax overhaul effort is entering its toughest phase. “We’ve been going through Class 3 rapids, which is a pleasant ride. It’s nice. Everybody pretty much stays in the boat and it’s pretty good. But we’re about to go through Class 5 rapids, which is the biggest rapid you can go through,” he said.  He called on Republicans to hold tight as details are hammered out. “We’ve got to make sure that everybody stays in the boat and we get the boat down the river,” Ryan said.     He dismissed concerns that tax cuts could expand the federal deficit. “We don’t anticipate a big deficit effect from this tax reform because we will broaden the base and lower the rates, plug loopholes and get faster economic growth.”      Republicans intend to pay for their proposed cuts in part by broadening the tax base. That would require discarding trillions of dollars of tax deductions, loopholes and other breaks, each one protected by powerful interests. If lobbyists succeed in protecting such tax breaks, lawmakers would be looking at less revenue to offset the tax cuts, raising the risk of higher deficits and debt that could undermine long-term economic growth.     Ryan has previously said he wants the House to pass the tax bill by the Nov. 23 U.S. Thanksgiving holiday. He predicted on Wednesday that some Democratic lawmakers would back the tax plan. “At the end of the day, I do believe some Democrats will end up voting for this thing,” Ryan said. “It’s hard for me to see why - no matter what party you’re from - you’d want to vote against this.”  At least some Democratic support could end up being needed in the Senate, where Republicans hold only a 52-48 majority. Party dissent in the Senate led to Republicans’ failure this summer to push through an overhaul of the healthcare system that Trump and the party leadership had pushed for.  Ryan, from Wisconsin, blamed Democrats for the lack of bipartisanship in Washington. Republicans are drafting the tax legislation on their own. “I so wish we had Bill Bradley Democrats around these days. We do not have Bill Bradley Democrats. Believe me, I really, really wish we did,” Ryan said, referring to Democratic former Senator Bill Bradley, who played a key bipartisan role in the Reagan tax reform. Among Republicans, skirmishes around the tax breaks have already begun. Some Republican lawmakers are resisting a proposal to eliminate a popular deduction for state and local tax payments, which would hit middle-class voters in high-tax states like New York, New Jersey and California.  “You do have to broaden the base in order to lower the rates. And that is what reform is,” Ryan said. “With respect to state and local, I think there’s a way of addressing the concerns that our members have for middle income taxpayers … so that they are net winners in tax reform as well.”       Ryan also said Republican lawmakers will not take up a bipartisan plan to stabilize Obamacare insurance markets or try again this year to repeal and replace former President Barack Obama’s Affordable Care Act. The House speaker said he wants Congress to pass legislation to protect illegal immigrants brought to the United States as children but offered no timetable. Asked about strong denunciations of Trump this week by two Republican senators, Ryan said people should “settle their differences personally” rather than in public. He also urged the Department of Justice to immediately give Congress documents related to the funding of a dossier on Trump during the presidential campaign.

Summary: रयान का कहना है कि रिपब्लिकन कर योजना को अस्थिर पानी के माध्यम से गति देनी चाहिएः रॉयटर्स साक्षात्कार


WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. State Department said on Tuesday it was providing an additional $364 million in humanitarian assistance to help Syrians caught up in the country’s civil war, bringing total U.S. humanitarian spending for Syria to about $5.9 billion. Assistant Secretary of State for Population, Refugees and Migration Anne Richard said the funding would help provide food, shelter, safe drinking water, medical care and other support for millions of Syrian refugees and the communities that host them. Richard told a State Department briefing about three-quarters of the additional funding would help people still inside Syria and the rest would assist Syrians who have fled the country. She also said the United States had admitted some 85,000 refugees over the past fiscal year, which ends Sept. 30. That figure included about 12,500 Syrian refugees, exceeding the administration’s goal of 10,000, she said. State Department spokesman Mark Toner said the push for additional humanitarian aid funds came in part because of deteriorating conditions in Aleppo after the collapse of a ceasefire sponsored by the United States and Russia. The forces of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad have launched a massive push against rebel-held areas of the city, where some 250,000 civilians are believed to be trapped. Intensive bombing has killed hundreds of people, many of whom died in buildings collapsed by bunker-buster bombs. “Until the past few weeks we felt like we were on a firm path towards a possible diplomatic resolution to this. We still believe that’s possible,” Toner told a briefing. “That doesn’t mean we’re not mindful ... of the tremendous humanitarian suffering that’s going on right now in Aleppo. And that’s why we’re working so hard to ramp up our assistance,” he added. While saying the United States continued to seek a diplomatic resolution of the problem, he left the door open to other action. “We’ll continue to weigh all options. Those discussions are ongoing. I don’t want to rule anything out, but right now we’re focused on the diplomatic one,” Toner said. He noted the United States has warned that failure to achieve a ceasefire could lead to an escalation of the conflict. “We cannot dictate what other countries ... may or may not decide to do in terms of supporting certain groups within Syria,” Toner said. “You may have a further deterioration on either side ... and by deterioration I mean more arming and more conflict between them, and intensification of the conflict.”

Summary: अमेरिका ने सीरियाई लोगों के लिए 36.4 करोड़ डॉलर की अतिरिक्त सहायता की घोषणा की


WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. climate envoy Todd Stern, who helped hammer out an international agreement in Paris last year to curb carbon emissions and spur development of clean technologies will step down on April 1, the State Department said on Monday. Stern, who was climate envoy for seven years, “played an enormous role in achieving so many of our climate milestones, and the tireless work by Todd and his team over many years will benefit future generations in every corner of the globe,” Secretary of State John Kerry said in a release.  Stern will be replaced by Jonathan Pershing, a geologist, who has spent the last three years at the Department of Energy, serving as senior climate adviser to Ernest Moniz, the department’s secretary. Fighting climate change has been one of President Barack Obama’s top priorities. His administration, which is in its last year, says it can still meet its climate goals, despite the Supreme Court’s putting a pause on his Clean Power Plan. The plan has helped prompt a wide ranging switch from coal-fired power plants to natural gas-burning plants, which release less carbon emissions.

Summary: अमेरिकी जलवायु दूत स्टर्न पद छोड़ेंगेः विदेश विभाग


SANTIAGO (Reuters) - Chilean conservative presidential candidate Sebastian Pinera maintained his lead in voter preference ahead of the Nov. 19 election, and was seen beating his two closest rivals in a likely runoff, pollster CEP said on Wednesday. Pinera, a wealthy businessman and former president who governed from 2010 to 2014, was seen as stronger on crime and job creation than his seven rivals, in the latest poll. According to the poll, Pinera would win 32.8 percent of voters in the first round, up from 31.3 percent in CEP s last poll on Sept. 1. Center-left Senator Alejandro Guillier polled 13.8 percent of support, up from 14.5 percent previously, while leftist Beatriz Sanchez slipped about three percentage points to 7.0 percent. A Pinera win would please Chile s business community, which blames outgoing President Michelle Bachelet for sluggish economic growth in the world s top copper exporter.  But it would be considered a letdown for Bachelet s center-left base and a younger generation of urban Chileans, who hope for deeper changes to the country s longstanding, free-market economic model. The election is scheduled for Nov. 19, but if no candidate receives more than 50 percent of the vote, a second-round runoff between the top two candidates will be held in December. The poll of 1,424 Chileans conducted from Sept. 22 to Oct. 16 has a margin of error of three percentage points.

Summary: चिली के राष्ट्रपति पद की दौड़ में पिनेरा आगेः सर्वेक्षण


JAKARTA (Reuters) - Indonesian President Joko Widodo has nominated the chief of staff of the air force to be the new head of the armed forces (TNI), to replace a controversial general who is due to retire in April. Air Chief Marshal Hadi Tjahjanto has close ties to the president and was previously in charge of an air base in the city of Solo, on the island of Java, when Widodo was its mayor. Since then, Tjahjanto has been promoted a number of times including to inspector general of the defense ministry and the president s military secretary.  Marshal Hadi Tjahjanto is considered capable and qualified to become TNI commander,  presidential spokesman Johan Budi told reporters on Monday after confirming the nomination. The proposal had been sent to the parliament, which needs to approve it, he said. Abdul Kharis Almasyhari, chairman of a parliamentary commission with oversight of defense and security, said the commission would do a  fit and proper  assessment of the nomination, which hopefully could be completed by a Dec. 14  recess. The outgoing armed forces chef, General Gatot Nurmantyo, who will step down at the end of his term in April, has often courted controversy over what analysts see as his political ambitions.  He has been accused of whipping up nationalist sentiment by promoting the notion that Indonesia is besieged by  proxy wars  waged by foreign states looking to undermine it. In October, Widodo said the armed forces should stay out of politics and ensure their loyalty was only to the state and the government - a statement many believed referred to Nurmantyo s actions. There has been speculation that Nurmantyo would seek to run for vice president or even president in 2019. Nurmantyo has not confirmed any political ambitions. He told a briefing in October the military was  neutral in practical politics .

Summary: इंडोनेशिया के राष्ट्रपति ने विवादास्पद सैन्य प्रमुख को बदलने के लिए वायु सेना प्रमुख को नामित किया


KIEV (Reuters) - Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko on Friday welcomed the appointment of Kurt Volker to serve as Washington’s special representative to Ukraine, saying it would help end what he called Russian aggression and restore Crimea to Ukraine. The former U.S. Ambassador to NATO, Volker will be responsible for advancing U.S. interests as set out in the 2015 Minsk agreement and accompany Secretary of State Rex Tillerson to Kiev on Sunday, the State Department said. “Welcome the decision of the US Administration to appoint Kurt Volker a Special representative for Ukraine, following our arrangements,” Poroshenko tweeted.  “Important & timely move in the interests of ending Russian aggression and restoration of Ukraine’s territorial integrity, including Crimea.”

Summary: यूक्रेन का कहना है कि अमेरिकी विशेष प्रतिनिधि रूसी आक्रामकता को समाप्त करने में मदद करेगा


KABUL (Reuters) - The Afghan Air Force took delivery of its first four U.S.-made UH-60 Black Hawk helicopters on Tuesday as part of a planned replacement of its aging fleet of Russian-made Mi-17 helicopters, officials said. The U.S. plans to supply a total of 159 Black Hawks to Afghanistan in the coming years as it boosts the capacity of the AAF, considered one of the best-performing parts of the Afghan Defence and Security Forces.  The first Afghan Air Force UH-60s arrived today in Kandahar. They will help further develop a capable and sustainable AAF,  the NATO-led Resolute Support mission said. The robust Soviet-era Mi-17 is the workhorse of the AAF, accounting for around half of all sorties in recent months and is very popular with Afghan pilots.  As well as moving troops and casualties and flying in supplies to areas difficult to reach by road, the helicopters can also be fitted with weapons for close air support to units on the ground. However their age makes them increasingly difficult to maintain and replace and they are to be phased out over the coming years and replaced with refurbished Black Hawks, one of the mainstays of the U.S. Army s helicopter force. According to a report in July by the Special Inspector General for Afghanistan, a U.S. Congressional watchdog, 19 of the AAF s 46-strong Mi-17 fleet were unusable because they were undergoing overhaul or repair. In addition to operational considerations, the Pentagon has also long faced political pressure from Congress to switch spending to U.S.-built aircraft. Strengthening the Afghan Air Force is a central part of President Ashraf Ghani s four year plan to improve Afghan security forces which have struggled to contain the Taliban insurgency since the NATO-led coalition backing the government ended its main combat operations in 2014.

Summary: अफगान वायु सेना को पहला ब्लैक हॉक हेलीकॉप्टर प्राप्त हुआ


WASHINGTON/NEW YORK (Reuters) - The Trump administration is considering tightening the vetting process for women and children seeking to enter the United States as refugees, a proposal that if adopted would bring security checks closer to those for adult men, three sources with knowledge of the plan told Reuters. The plan could slow down refugee admissions even after the end of a 120-day ban on most refugees instituted by the Trump administration while it reviews vetting procedures. The vetting review is set to end on Oct. 24. President Donald Trump came into office in January with a goal of sharply cutting refugee admissions, in line with the hard-line immigration policies that were a focal point of the Republican’s 2016 election campaign. Trump quickly issued temporary bans on refugees and travelers from some Middle Eastern and African countries that were challenged in court. A U.S. official told reporters last month that the administration is “considering a wide range of potential measures and enhancements” to vetting. Refugees currently undergo differing levels of security checks when applying for admission to the United States, depending on the perceived risk they might present, including running their biographic and biometric data against law enforcement and intelligence databases. Women and young children go through a lower level of security screening than men, said the three sources with knowledge of the proposal, who spoke on condition of anonymity. The proposed changes would bring their security checks more in line with what is required for adult male refugees. Successive Republican and Democratic administrations have focused most of their attention on adult men who tend to join militant groups such as al Qaeda and Islamic State in greater numbers than women. A State Department official declined to comment on any refugee vetting processes while the review is underway. The government is taking steps to “further intensify” refugee screening “to uphold the safety of the American people,” the official said. Department of Homeland Security spokesman Dave Lapan declined to comment, and said the administration is “finalizing security enhancement recommendations as part of the 120-day review.” A White House spokeswoman said there were “no announcements at this time.” All refugees referred for resettlement in the United States are run through a database with watch-list information, called the Consular Lookout and Support System, or CLASS. Refugees can be singled out for a higher level of review based on their age, nationality, or gender. Syrian refugees, for instance, undergo extra checks. Of the nearly 85,000 refugees admitted to the United States in the 2016 fiscal year, about 72 percent were women or children, according to the State Department. Total processing time for refugees to enter the United States now averages about 18 to 24 months, according to the State Department.  Trump’s order to halt refugee admissions so his administration could determine whether additional checks are necessary was suspended for months by federal judges. The U.S. Supreme Court eventually allowed it to go in effect for all refugees except those with close ties to the United States.  Trump also lowered the maximum number of refugees to be allowed into the United States in 2017 to 50,000 from the 110,000 originally set by former President Barack Obama, a Democrat. The 2018 level has been set at 45,000, the lowest number in decades.

Summary: महिलाओं, बच्चों की शरणार्थियों के लिए कड़ी जांच पर विचार कर रहा है ट्रंप प्रशासनः सूत्र


MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russian oil major Rosneft has received court summons for its Chief Executive Igor Sechin to appear in court during the trial of ex-economy minister Alexei Ulyukayev, the judge read a letter from Sechin s lawyer on Wednesday. Sechin was called to court to testify but has missed the first two court sittings since then. In a letter to the court, his lawyer said Sechin s schedule would become tighter by the end of this year. Ulyukayev is on trial on charges of extorting a $2 million bribe from Sechin, in exchange for Ulyukayev s approval of a business deal. Ulyukayev denies the charges.

Summary: उलुकायेव के मुकदमे में सेचिन को अदालत में तलब किया गया, लेकिन उसका कार्यक्रम कड़ा हैः वकील


WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Donald Trump will name Oklahoma Attorney General Scott Pruitt, an ardent opponent of President Barack Obama’s measures to curb climate change, as head of the Environmental Protection Agency, a Trump transition team official said on Wednesday, a choice that enraged green activists and cheered the oil industry. Trump’s choice of Pruitt fits neatly with the Republican president-elect’s promise to cut back the EPA and free up drilling and coal mining, and signals the likely rollback of much of Obama’s environmental agenda. Since becoming the top prosecutor for the major oil- and gas-producing state in 2011, Pruitt, 48, has launched multiple lawsuits against regulations put forward by the agency he is now poised to lead, suing to block federal measures to reduce smog and curb toxic emissions from power plants.  He is also a leading figure in a legal effort by several states to throw out the EPA’s Clean Power Plan, the centerpiece of Obama’s climate change strategy that requires states to curb carbon output.  In an interview with Reuters in September, Pruitt said he  sees the Clean Power Plan as a form of federal “coercion and commandeering” of energy policy and that his state should have “sovereignty to make decisions for its own markets.” Pruitt has also said he is skeptical of climate change. In an opinion piece in an Oklahoma newspaper this year, he wrote that he believes the debate over global warming is “far from settled” and that scientists continue to disagree on the issue. An overwhelming majority of scientists around the world say manmade emissions are warming the planet.  The Obama administration finalized the Clean Power Plan in 2015 as a key part of meeting U.S. obligations under the Paris Climate Agreement, an accord among nearly 200 countries to curb global warming. Many scientists say warming is causing rising sea levels, drought, and an increase in ferocious storms. Trump vowed during his campaign to pull the United States out of the Paris deal, saying it would put American businesses at a competitive disadvantage. Since the election, however, Trump has said he will keep an “open mind” about the climate deal, and also met with former Vice President Al Gore, a leading climate change activist. [L1N1E025U] Trump, a real estate magnate who takes office on Jan. 20, is in the midst of building his administration and is holding scores of interviews at his office in New York. Environmental groups and former Obama officials bristled at the choice of Pruitt, and some lawmakers, including U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont, said they would fight his nomination. “Scott Pruitt running the EPA is like the fox guarding the henhouse,” said Gene Karpinski, president of the League of Conservation Voters, which supported Trump’s opponent in the election, Democrat Hillary Clinton. “Time and again, he has fought to pad the profits of Big Polluters at the expense of public health,” Karpinski said. Heather Zichal, a former deputy assistant to the president for energy and climate change under Obama, said Trump’s choice was alarming.  “You can meet with Al Gore on Monday, pledge to keep Teddy Roosevelt’s environmental legacy alive on Tuesday, but if you nominate the Clean Power Act’s leading opponent to head the EPA on Wednesday, you’re making an unequivocal statement about the direction of your leadership,” she said. Sanders, who campaigned for the Democratic nomination for president on a promise to combat climate change, said he will “vigorously oppose” Pruitt’s nomination. The EPA position must be confirmed by a vote in the U.S. Senate. But representatives of the oil industry, and some Republican lawmakers, were cheered by the pick. Scott Segal, an energy industry lobbyist at Bracewell LLP called Pruitt “a measured and articulate student of environmental law and policy” who helped “keep EPA faithful to its statutory authority and respectful of the role of the states in our system of cooperative federalism.” U.S. Senator Jim Inhofe of Oklahoma, also a climate change skeptic, said “Pruitt has fought back against unconstitutional and overzealous environmental regulations like Waters of the U.S. and the Clean Power Plan; he has proven that being a good steward of the environment does not mean burdening tax payers and businesses with red tape.” Trump aides praised Pruitt’s conservative record. “Attorney General Pruitt has a strong conservative record as a state prosecutor and has demonstrated a familiarity with laws and regulations impacting a large energy resource state,” one of the aides said on a transition team briefing call on Wednesday.

Summary: ई. पी. ए.-स्रोत को चलाने के लिए ओबामा के जलवायु एजेंडे के दुश्मन को चुनेंगे ट्रम्प


AUSTIN, Texas (Reuters) - The office of Texas Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick, a Republican and evangelical Christian, on Sunday deleted a tweet many saw as offensive and insensitive that was sent out shortly after the deadly attack on a gay nightclub in Florida. “Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows,” read the Bible verse Patrick sent out on his official Twitter account a few hours after the worst mass shooting in U.S. history that left at least 50 dead. His office was not immediately available for comment but has told local media, including the Dallas Morning News, that the tweet had been scheduled for release well before the shooting. The office, which regularly sends out a Bible verse on Sundays, has since deleted it and replaced with another passage, they said.  But the deleted tweet from a politician who has condemned same-sex marriage and fought against LGBT rights still raised the ire of those who accused Patrick of blaming the victims. “You are a disgrace to your state in this time of national sorrow. You should resign,” prominent LGBT activist George Takei wrote on Twitter. The Texas Democratic Party called on Patrick to apologize immediately. “Make this right. We are better than this,” it said in a statement. Patrick is currently out of the country and has not yet made  comment to media about the tweet. The new verse sent on his account reads: “The salvation of the righteous comes from the Lord; He is their stronghold in time of trouble.”

Summary: फ्लोरिडा गोलीबारी के बाद भेजे गए ट्वीट के लिए टेक्सास के राजनेता की आलोचना


NEW YORK (Reuters) - Veteran actor and frequent host Alec Baldwin returned to “Saturday Night Live” on Saturday, debuting his new gig playing a scowling, blustering Donald Trump, the Republican nominee for U.S. president. The late night NBC comedy show, kicking off its 42nd season, opened with an extended sketch featuring Baldwin as Trump facing off with a calculating, cunning and smug Hillary Clinton, with Kate McKinnon reprising her turn as the Democratic nominee. Much of the routine was lifted from the opponents’ Monday debate, including references to talk show host and Trump nemesis Rosie O’Donnell, and vocal Trump backer, Fox News’ Sean Hannity. Baldwin began his Trump routine promising “I’m going to be so good tonight,” before issuing a perfunctory response on jobs and economics. “End of story, I won the debate, I stayed calm just like I promised, and it, is, over. Goodnight,” he proclaimed before walking away. Told by the moderator there were still 88 minutes left, “Trump” responded, “My microphone is broken,” adding “She broke it. With Obama.” Asked what she thought of Trump’s rambling discourse, a smirking McKinnon-as-Clinton replied “I think I’m going to be president.” The audience for the live show applauded wildly. After a few more minutes of Baldwin-as-Trump’s increasingly bizarre remarks, a swaggering Clinton asks “Can America vote right now?” Later, fighting tears, she explained, “This is going so well. It’s going exactly how I always dreamed.” The show’s writers made sure to take shots at the Democrat as well, including her referencing beauty queen Alicia Machado as “a political prop that I almost forgot to mention”. In her closing statement, Clinton said “Listen America, I get it, you hate me.” She then threatened that “If you don’t elect me, I will continue to run for president until the day I die.” Baldwin, who has hosted Saturday Night Live more than anyone in its storied history, will be back as Trump until the November election, likely providing a ratings spike for the show that has mined U.S. elections and politics for comic fodder since 1975. Trump himself appeared on the show as host in November 2015, when he was campaigning to win the Republican nomination.

Summary: न्यूयॉर्क से लाइव, यह एक तरह से ट्रम्प-क्लिंटन रीमैच है


PARIS (Reuters) - Two French prison inmates who were soon to be freed have been  placed under investigation on suspicion of planning a terrorist attack and communicating by smartphone with Syria, stronghold of Islamic State militants. The news highlighted the risk, regularly flagged by rights groups and jail authorities, that crowded prisons offer fertile ground for religious radicalization and conversion to the cause of Islamist fighters, not only in France. It also prompted calls for a crackdown on use of smartphones  inside prisons.  The two, who were nearing the end of jail time for hold-ups and other criminal activity but not terrorist offences, were taken from their cells late last week and interrogated for four days before being placed formally under investigation for suspected terrorist activity, a judiciary official said. One element that prompted the authorities to act was the  interception of encrypted message traffic with Syria, a Fresnes prison staff representative, Cedric Boyer, said. The precise nature of what was being planned was not clear, he added. Conveying the seriousness of the perceived threat that the two constituted, Justice Minister Nicole Belloubet told Europe 1 radio:  What happened yesterday exposed the urgency of the situation.  French TV station LCI said the two were plotting attacks against jail wardens and police forces, while a source close to the investigation said they also had other targets planned. More than 240 people have been killed in France in attacks since the start of 2015 by assailants who pledged allegiance to, or were inspired by, Islamic State. France has a long record of radicalization in its prisons. Prison guards said the ease with which smartphones can be used to communicate secretively with the world outside was an increasing problem.  The government is going to have to put its hand in its pocket,  said Boyer, a representative of the Force Ouvriere labor union and guards at the Fresnes prison.  Extra staffing is needed but it s also a matter of keeping up with technology, being able to scramble 4G communications rather than staying stuck in the age of the Nokia 33-10,  Boyer told BFM TV, referring to latest technology and the days when mobile phones were a rudimentary novelty.

Summary: जल्द ही रिहा होने वाले जेल के दोषी फ्रांसीसी हमले की साजिश की जांच में फंस गए


KABUL (Reuters) - A four-year-old boy photographed in a Kabul mosque last week as police desperately tried to call him to safety during an attack by Islamic State gunmen is back with his family but still suffering nightmares, his father said. Ali Ahmad was with his grandfather in the Shi ite Imam Zaman mosque on Friday when at least two attackers in police uniforms stormed in, one exploding a suicide-bomb vest and the other firing indiscriminately at the hundreds of worshippers inside. A picture by Reuters photographer Omar Sobhani showed Ali standing alone in the courtyard of the mosque as policemen taking cover behind a doorway called and waved to him. He survived the attack but his grandfather was among at least 20 killed. Click here for a photo essay - reut.rs/2wLBRG8 Sayed Bashir, Ali s father, was nearby but not in the mosque for the initial blast and ran to check on his family.  Right after the explosion I thought everything was finished,  he said.  I called my father s mobile phone number and my son answered and said:  They killed grandpa . He wanted me to bring the car and get him.   We were running everywhere in search of my son but the police were stopping us and didn t let us get close,  Bashir said. Bashir called the number again and was speaking to Ali when another explosion went off.  I lost hope. I said to myself that everything was finished. I tried the number again but it was switched off,  Bashir said. In fact, Ali had run around behind the mosque, disregarding the policeman frantically signaling to him in the courtyard. He was rescued soon afterwards but the effects of the attack may take much longer to heal. Bashir, a building worker who lives in a district with many Shi ite families, said Ali was still traumatized and having difficulty coming to terms with what happened.   After the incident, my son has some problems. He s scared a lot at night,  he said. The attack, the latest in a series targeting Shi ite mosques, was claimed by Islamic State Khorasan, the local branch of the group which takes the name of an old region that included what is now Afghanistan. According to the United Nations, at least 62 civilians have been killed and 119 injured in six separate attacks on Shi ite mosques this year.

Summary: काबुल मस्जिद हमलाः चार साल के बच्चे को सुरक्षा के लिए बुलाया गया


LONDON (Reuters) - Richard Branson, billionaire founder of the Virgin group, has revealed he was targeted by a fraudster posing as Britain s defense minister who tried to get him to contribute $5 million to a supposed secret ransom payment. Appealing for information to help identify the conman, Branson said he suspected the same person had later impersonated him to steal $2 million from a friend of his by pretending to raise funds for people affected by Hurricane Irma.  This story sounds like it has come straight out of a John le Carre book or a James Bond film, but it is sadly all true,  Branson wrote in a blog. Instantly recognizable with his wavy blond hair and beard, Branson is one of Britain s best-known businessmen. The Virgin brand is licensed for use by a range of businesses from airlines to train companies to telecoms and gyms. Branson wrote that six months ago, after an elaborate set-up involving a note on fake government notepaper, he spoke on the phone to someone purporting to be Defence Secretary Michael Fallon. The man told Branson that a British diplomat had been kidnapped and was being held for ransom by terrorists. He said that while the government did not pay ransoms, there was a particularly sensitive reason why the diplomat had to be saved, and the government was confidentially asking a syndicate of British business people to step in.  I was asked to contribute $5 million of the ransom money, which he assured me the British government would find a way of paying back,  Branson wrote. Feeling suspicious, Branson checked with the government and was told that Fallon had not spoken to him. The matter was reported to the police. Six months on, Branson learnt that a friend, whom he described as a very successful businessman in the United States, had been called by a conman posing as him.  When the call happened, the conman did an extremely accurate impression of me and spun a big lie about urgently needing a loan while I was trying to mobilize aid in the BVI (British Virgin Islands),  he wrote. Branson owns a small island in the BVI archipelago which, as was well publicized, was devastated by Hurricane Irma. The caller took advantage of that context.  They claimed I couldn t get hold of my bank in the UK because I didn t have any communications going to Europe and I d only just managed to make a satellite call to the businessman in America,  Branson wrote.  The business person, incredibly graciously, gave $2 million, which promptly disappeared.  A spokesman for Fallon said he was aware of two attempts, one not involving Branson, to impersonate the minister for illicit gain, and Fallon s office were assisting the police in their efforts to try to catch those responsible.

Summary: अरबपति ब्रैनसन को 5 मिलियन डॉलर के घोटाले में निशाना बनाया गया


WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. President-elect Donald Trump’s pick for attorney general, Jeff Sessions, promised on Tuesday to stand up to Trump, his close ally and future boss, saying he would oppose a ban on Muslims entering the country and enforce a law against waterboarding even though he voted against the measure. Questioned for 10-1/2 hours by a U.S. Senate committee responsible for confirming his appointment, Sessions, a U.S. senator from Alabama, distanced himself from comments he had made defending Trump from criticism over a 2005 video that emerged in October showing Trump boasting about grabbing women’s genitals. At the time, Sessions told The Weekly Standard magazine he would not characterize the behavior as sexual assault. He later said the comments were taken out of context. Asked on Tuesday whether “grabbing a woman by her genitals without consent is ... sexual assault,” he replied: “Clearly, it would be.” With 10 days to go before Trump takes office, Sessions, 70, was the first Cabinet nominee to face questioning. He appeared before the Senate Judiciary Committee. Trump’s pick to run the Department of Homeland Security, retired Marine Corps General John Kelly, later went before the Homeland Security Committee. As attorney general, Sessions would serve as the top U.S. law enforcement officer and be responsible for giving unbiased legal advice to the president and executive agencies.     With that in mind, lawmakers from both Trump’s Republican Party and the Democratic Party sought to establish how closely Sessions hewed to Trump positions and whether he could put aside his staunchly conservative political positions to enforce laws he may personally oppose.     A senator since 1997, Sessions was widely expected to be confirmed by the Republican-controlled Senate.  Protesters accusing Sessions of having a poor record on human rights interrupted the Capitol Hill proceedings several times. Sessions said he would not support banning anyone from the United States on the basis of religion and that Trump’s intentions were to restrict people from countries harboring terrorists, not all Muslims. Elected on Nov. 8, Trump at one point campaigned on a proposal to temporarily ban Muslims from entering the country.  Sessions said he favored “higher intensity of vetting” for refugees seeking to enter the United States from countries that harbor terrorists but that he would oppose ending the U.S. refugee program. He also said he would enforce a 2015 law that outlawed waterboarding terrorism suspects even if it meant resisting Trump. The senator said he had voted against the law, believing those in high positions in the military and intelligence community should be able to do so.    During the campaign, Trump said waterboarding, which simulates drowning and is widely regarded as torture, was an effective technique and vowed to bring it back and make it “a hell of a lot worse.” More recently Trump has said retired Marine Corps General James Mattis, his nominee for secretary of defense, had persuasively argued against it.     Sessions said he would enforce laws upheld by the U.S. Supreme Court, even those he disagreed with, such as decisions making abortion and same-sex marriage legal. Sessions said the comments he made during the 2016 presidential campaign about Democrat Hillary Clinton’s email practices and charitable foundation would cloud the perception of impartiality if the Justice Department continued investigating Clinton. He said he would recuse himself and favored a special prosecutor to carry out any future investigations.  Trump, who defeated Clinton, said during the campaign that if elected, he would ask his attorney general to appoint a special prosecutor to see that Clinton go to prison for her use of a private email server while she was secretary of state and her relationship with her family’s charitable foundation.      Sessions said he agreed with Trump in opposing Democratic President Barack Obama’s executive action that granted temporary protection to immigrant children brought to the country illegally by their parents and would not oppose overturning it. Sessions, representing the deeply conservative Southern state of Alabama, has long opposed legislation that provides a path to citizenship for immigrants. He has also been a close ally of groups seeking to restrict legal immigration by placing limits on visas used by companies to hire foreign workers.  Sessions said he would be more aggressive in investigating and prosecuting abuses of the H-1B visa program, which he said allows companies to discriminate against American workers by hiring foreigners.  As head of the Justice Department, the attorney general oversees the immigration court system that decides whether immigrants are deported or granted asylum or some other kind of protection. Sessions renewed his criticism of the Obama administration for not being tougher on countries that refuse to take back criminal migrants ordered deported from the United States.  A key plank of Trump’s election campaign was his pledge to deport illegal immigrants and build a wall along the U.S. border with Mexico. Kelly told his hearing a physical barrier on its own is not enough to keep people and drugs from illegally entering the United States. In written testimony, Kelly said that “rapidly processing” and deporting immigrants in “significant numbers” would deter future illegal migration. The U.S. immigration court system has a backlog of over 500,000 cases awaiting a decision on deportation, asylum or some other kind of protection. Many migrants arriving at the U.S.-Mexico border are given a notice to appear in court one to three years in the future.  Before the Judiciary Committee, Sessions several times defended himself against charges of racism. He said allegations that he harbored sympathies toward the Ku Klux Klan, a violent white supremacist organization, were false.  “I abhor the Klan and what it represents and its hateful ideology,” Sessions said in his opening remarks. Sessions was denied confirmation to a federal judgeship in 1986 after allegations emerged that he made racist remarks, including testimony that he called an African-American prosecutor “boy,” an allegation Sessions denied.   Democratic Senator Dianne Feinstein said the Senate Judiciary Committee had received letters from 400 civil rights organizations opposing his confirmation to the country’s top law enforcement post.

Summary: अमेरिकी अटॉर्नी जनरल के लिए ट्रम्प की पसंद का कहना है कि वह उनके खिलाफ खड़े हो सकते हैं


WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The White House said on Friday it was “fully committed” to pushing a Republican draft healthcare bill through the Senate, although it was looking at every option for repealing and replacing Obamacare. “We’re still fully committed to pushing through with the Senate at this point but we’re looking at every possible option of repealing and replacing Obamacare,” White House spokeswoman Sarah Sanders told reporters. The answer came in response to a question about a tweet earlier in the day in which President Donald Trump had urged lawmakers to first repeal the Affordable Care Act and replace it later if they could not muster enough votes for the current proposal.

Summary: व्हाइट हाउस ने कहा कि वह सीनेट स्वास्थ्य सेवा विधेयक का मसौदा तैयार करने के लिए पूरी तरह से प्रतिबद्ध है


MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - At least three people died after torrential rain from  Tropical Storm Lidia provoked major flooding around Mexico s popular Los Cabos beach resort on Friday, authorities said. Featuring maximum sustained winds of 60 miles per hour (97 kph), the storm was projected to move north over a large swath of Mexico s Baja California peninsula before turning west toward the Pacific on Sunday. Local television footage showed abandoned cars and trucks in washed-out roads, as well as destroyed beach-front structures. Lidia, about 55 miles (89 km) north-northeast of Cabo San Lazaro, was moving at a speed of 12 miles per hour (19 kmh) as it skirted the western coast of the peninsula, according to an advisory from the Miami-based National Hurricane Center (NHC). Luis Felipe Puente, the head of national emergency services, told Reuters that the storm claimed a child and two adults who were trying to cross a raging river. Lidia also provoked power outages, damaged houses and roads, as well as forcing some 2,800 people into local shelters. While the storm is forecast to further weaken over the next couple of days, it is expected to dump between 6 to 12 inches (15-30 cm) of rain across the peninsula as well as parts of Sinaloa and Sonora states.  These rains may cause life-threatening flash floods and mudslides,  the NHC said in its advisory.

Summary: मेक्सिको के लॉस काबोस पर्यटन केंद्र में लिडिया के हमले में कम से कम तीन लोगों की मौत हो गई


WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Obama administration urged Congress to pass legislation to help Puerto Rico resolve a debt crisis which was expected to trigger a bond default on Monday. “Congress has yet to produce a workable legislative response,” Treasury Secretary Jack Lew said in a letter to Paul Ryan, the Speaker of the House of Representatives. “Congress must work quickly to resolve the few outstanding issues on the proposed legislation to help Puerto Rico.”

Summary: ओबामा प्रशासन ने कांग्रेस से प्यूर्टो रिको संकट पर कार्रवाई करने का आग्रह किया


BOGOTA (Reuters) - Colombia and the Marxist ELN rebels began a ceasefire on Sunday aimed at generating goodwill during complicated talks to end a half-century war that has killed hundreds of thousands. The truce, the first with the National Liberation Army (ELN), will run through Jan. 9 and may be extended if it is respected.  This is a very important step, a step that I hope will be the first in a process that will also lead the ELN to hand in their weapons,  President Juan Manuel Santos said ahead of the armistice. The ELN is in talks in Ecuador to end its part in the conflict. Since negotiations began in February, the ELN has continued to take hostages for ransom and in recent weeks stepped up bomb attacks on oil companies. Defense Minister Luis Carlos Villegas warned that, although Colombia s military would avoid confrontations with the ELN during the ceasefire, it would go after the group if it engaged in criminal activities such as illegal mining and drug trafficking.     We ll respect the ceasefire in the sense that we won t confront the ELN, looking for contact and combat. We hope they do the same,  Villegas told Reuters in a recent interview.  Our mission to pursue crime will be maintained throughout the nation without exception.  Despite the ceasefire, the road to a definitive peace accord will be long and complex. The ELN is considered hard-line in its ideology and was not known for compromise during past attempts at peace. Inspired by the Cuban revolution and the Liberation Theology beliefs of the Catholic priests who founded it in 1964, the 2,000-strong ELN has sought an end to the war before, holding talks in Cuba and Venezuela between 2002 and 2007.  Both attempts collapsed with little progress. The ELN is considered a terrorist group by the United States and European Union for engaging in kidnapping, assassinations, drug trafficking, attacks on economic infrastructure and extortion of oil and mining multi-nationals. During the ceasefire, the insurgent group has pledged to suspend hostage taking, attacks on roads and oil installations, the use of landmines and the recruitment of minors. In turn, the government agreed to improve protection for community leaders and conditions for about 450 jailed rebels. Santos s government signed a peace deal with the larger Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) in 2016 after negotiations in Havana, Cuba that lasted four years.

Summary: कोलंबिया और ई. एल. एन. विद्रोहियों ने पहली बार युद्धविराम शुरू किया