PARIS (Reuters) - Two years after militants killed 130 people in coordinated attacks across Paris, French officials say there remains an unprecedented level of  internal  threat from both within and outside the country. With Islamic State losing ground in Iraq and Syria, hundreds of French citizens - and in some cases their children - have started to return to France, leaving the government in a quandary over how to deal with them. For the first time as president, Emmanuel Macron will pay tribute on Monday to the victims of the mass shootings and suicide bombing that took place across Paris and in the city s northern suburb of Saint-Denis on Nov. 13, 2015. The attacks, the deadliest on French soil since World War Two, prompted the country to strike back, joining international military operations targeting IS and other Islamist militant groups in Iraq, Syria, Libya and elsewhere. There has also been the passage of more stringent French legislation, with the most recent law, effective this month, giving police extended powers to search properties, conduct electronic eavesdropping and shut mosques or other locations suspected of preaching hatred. Conservative politicians say the regulations don t go far enough, while human rights groups express alarm, saying security forces are being given too much freedom to curtail rights.  Macron - often parodied for his  on the one hand, on the other hand  policy pronouncements - has emphasized the need to balance security and liberty. While he has ended the state of emergency brought in after the attacks, heavily armed soldiers still patrol the streets of Paris daily, and barely a week goes by without a police operation to round up suspects.  According to the interior ministry, extraordinary measures have helped intelligence agencies thwart more than 30 attacks in the last two years. Last week, the police arrested nine people and another was apprehended in Switzerland in a coordinated counter-terrorism operation.   What worries us are plans for terrorist attacks prepared by teams that are still operating in fighting zones in Syria and Iraq,  Laurent Nunez, head of France s internal intelligence agency DGSI told French daily Le Figaro in a rare interview. The risk of a home-grown attack also remains strong, with a risk of more attacks from isolated individuals using  low-cost  methods such as cars or knives to kill, he said. The hypothesis of a car bomb attack or suicide bomber cannot be excluded either although his services had not uncovered any such plan, he said. Of particular concern is what to do about hundreds of French citizens who went to fight with IS and may now seek to return home, now that the militant group has lost nearly all the territory its self-proclaimed caliphate ruled in Syria and Iraq.  We know that the will of the jihadists to take action is intact,  Nunez said. Visiting Abu Dhabi last week, Macron said those returning would be studied on  a case-by-case  basis.  Some of them will be coming back (by their own means), others will be repatriated and some, in specific circumstances, will be facing trial with their families in the countries where they are currently, Iraq in particular,  he said.  A majority doesn t want to come back to France given the legal proceedings they face upon their return. But some women, widows, with their children, are inclined to travel back,  French prosecutor Francois Molins said.  We should not be naive. We are dealing with people who are more  disappointed  than  sorry.  (This version of the story adds dropped words in first paragraph)

Summary: पेरिस हमलों के दो साल बाद फ्रांस ने आंतरिक खतरे पर चिंता जताई


HOUSTON (Reuters) - Thirteen Superfund sites, heavily contaminated former industrial zones, in Texas were flooded or damaged by Hurricane Harvey, but the full impact on surrounding areas was not immediately clear, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency said on Saturday. The announcement came amid rising concern about the health risks posed by Harvey’s record floodwaters, which contain a toxic soup of chemicals, oil and bacteria from Houston’s notoriously leaky sewer system. The EPA said it found the flooded or damaged Superfund sites using aerial images but had been able to physically inspect only two of them so far. Neither of those two require emergency cleanup, EPA said. Reaching the 11 other Superfund sites could take time, however, because floodwaters have yet to fully recede. “Teams are in place to investigate possible damage to (the other 11) sites as soon flood waters recede, and personnel are able to safely access the sites,” EPA said.

Summary: हार्वे में बाढ़ या 13 टेक्सास सुपरफंड साइटों को नुकसानः ईपीए


WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Obama administration announced plans to expand wage reporting requirements for private businesses on Friday, bolstering its efforts to narrow the longstanding U.S. gender wage gap. The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission’s plan would require employers with 100 or more employees to provide the agency with detailed wage information, broken down by gender, race and ethnicity.    Unlike a similar Labor Department rule proposed earlier, it would apply to all large businesses and not just federal contractors. The plan, which is expected to take effect in September 2017, will be open to public comment but does not require congressional approval. It is part of a long-running effort by Obama and federal agencies to close the yawning gap between pay for men and women. The commission’s proposal would not require the disclosure  of specific salaries of individual employees, but it would seek aggregate data on pay ranges and hours worked. “The goal is to help businesses that are trying to do the right thing ... to get a clearer picture of how they can make sure their employees are being treated equally,” Obama said at a White House event. He spoke on the seventh anniversary of the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act. The measure, the first bill Obama signed into law, overturned a Supreme Court decision that severely restricted the time period for filing complaints of employment discrimination concerning compensation. Although fighting gender pay imbalances has been a focus for Obama, the pay gap has narrowed only slightly over the past two years. “We can’t deliver on the promise of equal pay unless we have the best, most comprehensive information about what people earn,” Labor Secretary Thomas Perez said in a statement on Friday. The median wage of a woman working full-time year-round in the United States is currently about $39,600, only 79 percent of a man’s median earnings of $50,400. Gender equality in the U.S. work force, and globally, is still decades away, according to an independent report released on Wednesday.

Summary: ओबामा प्रशासन लैंगिक वेतन अंतर की लड़ाई को बढ़ावा देना चाहता है


WASHINGTON (Reuters) - As a lawyer in private practice for a decade, President Donald Trump’s U.S. Supreme Court nominee Neil Gorsuch often fought on behalf of business interests, including efforts to curb securities class action lawsuits, experience that could mould his thinking if he is confirmed as a justice. Gorsuch, a conservative federal appeals court judge from Colorado nominated by wealthy businessman Trump on Tuesday, could turn out to be a friend to business, having represented the U.S. Chamber of Commerce in fending off securities class actions, one of the most hotly contested areas of corporate law. The chamber is the largest U.S. business lobbying group. If confirmed, Gorsuch would be one of the only current justices with extensive experience on business issues in private practice.  Securities class action lawsuits are filed by investors who allege misconduct by a company whose stock price has tanked, hurting investors’ portfolios. These once-common lawsuits now face higher hurdles and are filed less often. Congress passed laws in 1995 and 1998 making it harder to bring securities class actions. Later court rulings, including one in which Gorsuch was involved, clarified the requirements under the laws. From 1995 to 2005, Gorsuch worked at boutique law firm Kellogg, Huber, Hansen, Todd, Evans & Figel in Washington, becoming a partner in 1998. He had a wide range of clients, including individuals and nonprofits, as well as various business interests. While there, he filed two briefs on behalf of the Chamber of Commerce seeking limits to securities class actions. One of Gorsuch’s briefs came in a securities fraud case called Dura Pharmaceuticals v. Broudo. The Supreme Court in 2005 ruled unanimously for the company, but did not issue the kind of broad ruling Gorsuch had sought, said Patrick Coughlin, the lawyer who argued the case on behalf of the investors who sued. Of Gorsuch’s role, Coughlin said representing the Chamber of Commerce is the epitome of corporate defense work for a lawyer. “The chamber had always been against us,” Coughlin said, referring to class action lawyers. “He’d always been on the other side of what we were doing, so it was not surprising he was selected by Trump.” Prior to the ruling, Gorsuch co-wrote an article in the Legal Times trade publication for lawyers in which he described some securities class actions as a “free ride to fast riches” for plaintiffs’ lawyers. He said the Dura case was a chance for the court to “curb frivolous fraud claims” in which plaintiffs cannot prove a stock price drop was caused by misrepresentations by a company. Gorsuch’s background promises to be valuable on the Supreme Court, which hears a significant number of business disputes among the roughly 70 cases considered each annual term.  Businesses have been trying with mixed success to get the Supreme Court to put new curbs on class action litigation beyond the securities context. Class actions can lead to huge jury awards against companies and is harder to defend against than lawsuits brought by individuals. If confirmed by the U.S. Senate in time, Gorsuch could play an immediate role in a major case on whether companies can head off costly class action lawsuits by forcing employees to give up their right to pursue work-related legal claims in court as a group. Paul Bland, executive director of consumer advocacy group Public Justice, said he hoped Gorsuch, if confirmed, would see that “most of what he saw as meritless cases in 2005 have been weeded out, and that the vast majority of the cases that remain raise substantial issues that protect investors.” Chamber of Commerce official Tom Collamore joined Trump at the White House on Wednesday for a meeting with advocacy groups touting Gorsuch’s pick, calling it “a fantastic nomination.” The chamber declined comment on Gorsuch’s work for the group. In a statement issued after the nomination was announced, chamber President Tom Donohue congratulated Trump on the selection. When Democratic President Barack Obama last March nominated appeals court judge Merrick Garland to fill the same vacant seat on the court, there was no press release from the chamber. Senate Republicans refused to act on Garland’s nomination, a move that paved the way for Trump to nominate Gorsuch to replace fellow conservative Antonin Scalia, who died in February 2016. Describing his career in private practice, Gorsuch said in his Senate questionnaire prior to his appointment by Republican President George W. Bush to the Denver-based 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in 2006 that he was “involved in matters large and small for clients ranging from individuals to nonprofits to corporations,” on such issues as racketeering, securities fraud and antitrust.  His former Washington law firm stressed in a statement that Gorsuch had a “wide variety” of clients and cited a case in which he represented people who had been targeted over payday loans. David Frederick, a lawyer at the firm, called Gorsuch “a dogged, very determined lawyer.” “He’s the kind of lawyer you would want to have representing you,” Frederick said. After leaving the firm, but before becoming a judge, he spent just over a year in Bush’s Justice Department. One of his roles was overseeing antitrust litigation involving the government.

Summary: निजी वकील के रूप में, ट्रम्प उच्च न्यायालय का चयन व्यवसाय के लिए मित्र था


WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson will meet with senior Turkish officials in Ankara next week, in talks that could be vital to an advancing U.S.-backed campaign to retake the Syrian city of Raqqa from Islamic State, U.S. officials said on Friday. Turkey has been pressing the United States to drop its military alliance with the Syrian Kurdish YPG militia, which it considers part of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party that has been fighting an insurgency for three decades in Turkey.  But U.S. officials have long viewed Kurdish fighters as key to an approaching assault on Raqqa, Islamic State’s de facto capital. It would work alongside Arab fighters in the U.S.-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF). Instead, Turkey wants the United States to draw from Syrian Arab rebel groups backed by Ankara for the final assault on Raqqa, a predominantly Arab city, proposals that so far have failed to convince U.S. officials who are not certain that the Turkish-backed Arab force is large and well-trained enough. “We first need to work out details with Turkey,” one senior official said, speaking on condition of anonymity. The decision sets President Donald Trump’s wish for quick battlefield victories against the need to maintain the United States’ longstanding strategic alliance with Turkey, a NATO ally which provides the United States access to a base critical for the air war in Syria. The Raqqa campaign appears to be gathering steam as an overlapping U.S.-backed effort in Iraq is drawing closer to driving Islamic State from the city of Mosul. French Defense Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian said on Friday that the battle for Raqqa would likely start “in the coming days.” The head of the Syrian Kurdish YPG militia told Reuters last week that the assault would begin at the start of April, and that the YPG would be taking part. Some U.S. officials think that timeline is too optimistic, noting that a major battle underway for Tabqa dam, about 25 miles (40 km) west of Raqqa, could take weeks to complete. The Pentagon also has said the United States has not decided on the composition of an American-backed assault force in Raqqa. The United States has about 1,000 troops in Syria at the moment, and the Raqqa campaign could involve hundreds more. Senator John McCain, the Senate Armed Services Committee’s chairman, suggested to reporters earlier this week that it would be hard to convince Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan of the merits of backing Kurdish fighters, even if they are the most effective weapon against Islamic State. “The conundrum is that if you don’t use the Kurds, it will take a lot longer while (Islamic State is) sending streams of terrorists out of Raqqa,” McCain said. “But if you do, you have an enormous challenge as far as relations with Turkey is concerned,” he added.  McCain said the relationship with Erdogan was particularly important and cited an April 16 referendum on constitutional changes to extend his powers. Tillerson’s meeting in Ankara also closely follows a meeting of 68 coalition partners this week in Washington, where they agreed to intensify the fight against Islamic State, including in Syria. At Wednesday’s meeting, Tillerson said the United States would create “interim zones of stability” through ceasefires to help refugees return home in the next phase of the fight against Islamic State and al Qaeda in Syria and Iraq. He did not elaborate, although one U.S. official said there was not yet agreement among all American agencies on where and how such zones would be set up. The U.S. military has long been skeptical of creating safe zones inside Syria or Iraq, partly because any safe zone guaranteed by the United States almost certainly would require some American military protection. Securing the ground alone would require thousands of troops, former U.S. officials and experts say. The top U.S. commander on the ground, Lieutenant General Stephen Townsend, said earlier in March that, “We are building safe zones right now for all Iraqis and all Syrians to be safe from (Islamic State).”  Increased U.S. or allied air power would be required if Trump chooses to enforce “no fly” restrictions and ground forces might also be needed to protect civilians in those areas. The State Department did not provide more details of Tillerson’s trip to Turkey, but said he will visit Brussels on March 31 to participate in a rescheduled meeting of NATO foreign ministers. The NATO meeting had been set for April 5-6, but it was rescheduled after Tillerson decided instead to attend a summit with China. That caused unease among European allies already worried about Trump’s commitment to the Western military alliance.

Summary: रक्का अभियान के गरमाने पर टिलरसन करेंगे तुर्की का दौरा


WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell on Tuesday said he is pushing to extend expiring healthcare benefits for retired coal miners by including a provision in a spending bill Congress hopes to pass this week. In a statement on the Senate floor, McConnell, a Republican from Kentucky, said that in conversations with House of Representatives Speaker Paul Ryan he has insisted that the Continuing Resolution include “a provision to address that issue so these retirees don’t lose their healthcare benefit at the end of this year.” The fate of the United Mine Workers’ health care and pension funds is up in the air as Congress weighs legislation to provide financial support for the soon-expiring benefits, which are at risk of default as coal companies grapple with bankruptcies. Although the Senate Finance Committee in September passed a bill to provide funding for those benefits senior lawmakers are looking for ways to include the provision in the spending bill that has to be passed before existing government funding expires on Dec. 9. Democratic Senators of coal-producing states - Bob Casey of Pennsylvania, Sherrod Brown of Ohio, Mark Warner of Virginia and Joe Manchin of West Virginia - said they would block must-pass legislation until Congress takes action on the so-called Miners Protection Act. “There’s going to be 16,500 retired miners that are losing their healthcare benefits. There will be another 4,000 the first of next year,” said Manchin on the Senate floor on Tuesday. “We’re fighting for those people that we promised, that we believe in, that have powered this nation, that have given us the country we have and now we’re turning our backs on them,” Manchin said. Manchin is due to meet with President-elect Donald Trump later this week to discuss a potential role in the Republican’s Cabinet. Trump had repeatedly promised on the campaign trail to put coal miners back to work. His spokesperson did not respond to a request for comment on Trump’s views on protecting miners’ pensions and health care benefits. Grassroots group Kentuckians for the Commonwealth plan to deliver a 10,000 signature petition to McConnell Tuesday to call on him to pass the Miners Protection Act, as well as RECLAIM, a bill that would offer financial support to help coal communities diversify their economies, before Congress leaves for recess.

Summary: सीनेट नेता ने कोयला खनिक स्वास्थ्य सेवा के विस्तार पर जोर दिया


HARARE (Reuters) - The University of Zimbabwe postponed exams on Monday after students started chanting and singing songs against 93-year-old President Robert Mugabe, who is under mounting pressure to resign, a Reuters witness said.

Summary: जिम्बाब्वे के छात्रों ने मुगाबे विरोधी गीत गाए, परीक्षा स्थगित


WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump on Sunday approved a major disaster declaration for Florida and ordered federal aid to help the state struck by Hurricane Irma. The declaration means residents and businesses can apply for grants for temporary housing and home repairs, low-cost loans to cover uninsured property losses, and other programs. The federal government will also reimburse counties for emergency protective measures including evacuation and sheltering costs as well as for much of the costs of debris removal.

Summary: ट्रम्प ने फ्लोरिडा के लिए बड़ी आपदा घोषणा को मंजूरी दी


MIAMI/WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Fed up with Washington and feeling left behind, supporters of Republican Donald Trump upended the U.S. presidential race, electing a political newcomer they say offers the country a shot at dramatic change. Once dismissed by Trump’s Democratic rival Hillary Clinton as “deplorables,” supporters interviewed on Tuesday shrugged off his late-night tweeted insults, allegations against him of sexual misconduct and dire warnings from many in the Republican establishment that the businessman-turned-reality-television-star would throw U.S. economic and foreign policy into disarray. The economy, terrorism and healthcare ranked as the top three concerns facing Americans casting ballots in Tuesday’s election, according to an early reading from the Reuters/Ipsos Election Day poll of about 35,000 people. “The freedom-loving Americans pushed back against the elites and the globalists. They might win in the long run, but we’re not dead yet,” said Andrew Dye, 48, of Dexter, Michigan. “I think this big country is getting a little too far left a little too quickly and some people finally woke up and said enough,” said Dye, a partner in a small management consulting firm. Cuban-American Sarah Gird, 67, described herself as an independent who had felt let down after twice voting for Democratic President Barack Obama. “I’m not conservative at all,” she said. But Obama “didn’t produce anything.” In contrast, she said she trusted Trump would fix the economy. “I think he’s sincere, he’s truthful, he means what he says,” said Gird, adding she thought Trump would address poverty and jobs in African-American neighborhoods. For many, the vote was a rejection of Clinton, whose use of a private email server during her time in government came to symbolize what is wrong with Washington. “All the corruption. I’m tired of business as usual, being sold out all these years,” said Kevin Barrett, 57, in Nashville. Tom Kipp, 53, an architect also of Nashville, said he voted for Trump because “we need somebody in there not beholden to anyone.” “Our checks and balances system is beyond being compromised. I don’t say he’s my prime candidate, but he’s my best option,” Kipp said. Others found Trump’s promise to build a wall on the southern border with Mexico appealing. “Last-minute decision: I changed my mind to Trump,” said Lisa Ciafone, 48, of Madeira Beach, Florida, citing her concerns about illegal immigration and the rising costs of health insurance. “It made me lean towards Trump.” Vicki DeLira, 54, a dental hygienist from Schererville, Indiana, grew up a Democrat but voted for Trump because it was time for change even if it means “a little bit of chaos.” “It will be a little different atmosphere for a non-politician to be in the White House,” DeLira said. “But I think there’s enough politicians around him to help round them out.” Todd Recknagel, managing partner of private equity firm Three20 Capital Group, said the caricature of Trump as a “monster” was overdone. “He is an effective business man at the end of the day. So things are never quite as good as they appear and things are never quite as bad as they appear in life and I think he can make a decent president,” said Recknagel, 52, from Panama City Beach, Florida. As Trump became the projected winner in state after state, fans from Arkansas, Texas and Virginia sitting on velvet sofas in the lobby of his new Washington luxury hotel just down the street from the White House celebrated as waiters popped champagne. Preston Parry, 20, had bet all along that Trump would defy the pollsters who predicted a Clinton victory. “These were shadow voters, people who had never, ever voted before that the polls didn’t pick up. Unlikely voters. Like him or hate him - look, he did something right.”

Summary: वाशिंगटन से तंग आकर, ट्रम्प के 'निंदनीय' लोगों ने अभिजात वर्ग को हिला दिया


WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders had a rare Oval Office meeting on Wednesday with President Barack Obama, days after Obama praised Hillary Clinton, Sanders’ rival and front-runner in the race to be the Democratic presidential candidate in the Nov. 8 election. Emerging from the White House after an hour, Sanders said the meeting was “constructive” and that Obama was trying to be as “even-handed” as possible in the race, dismissing commentary that Obama was favoring Clinton, his former secretary of state. “I know there was some discussion the other day about a Politico interview, where he was tipping the scale toward Secretary Clinton - I don’t believe that at all,” the Vermont lawmaker told reporters on the White House driveway. While Obama has not explicitly endorsed a candidate, he showered praise on Clinton’s experience in the interview with Politico while noting that Sanders had the “luxury of being a complete long shot.” Obama suggested Sanders had not faced intense scrutiny and would need to broaden his populist message to go further in the race for the nomination. The Sanders-Obama meeting came just before the first contests to pick the Democratic and Republican nominees: Iowa, on Monday, and New Hampshire, on Feb. 9. While Sanders has surged in recent opinion polls, Clinton still has the edge nationally. Sanders said he received an overview of foreign policy issues from Obama and that the two talked “a little politics.” Asked whether Obama, who beat Clinton for the Democratic nomination in 2008, had given him advice on how to defeat her, Sanders laughed and said: “No, no.” Obama said he had a “good meeting” with Sanders and noted that he had previously met with Clinton during the campaign. “The goal is to make sure that all the Democrats, or folks running in the Democratic primary, are focused on continuing the progress that we have made,” Obama said in an interview with an NBC affiliate in Richmond, Virginia. Obama and his aides have regular contact with Clinton and her staff, which includes former Obama White House staffers. Clinton dropped by the White House for an informal lunch on Dec. 7 and had an hourlong chat in March. The White House visitor logs show Sanders making only one previous solo visit with Obama in the Oval Office, on Dec. 15, 2014. The White House said the meeting with Sanders had been in the works since Sanders asked Obama for some face time when he saw him a month ago at a holiday party for lawmakers. Former Maryland Governor Martin O’Malley is a distant third in Democratic polls. White House spokesman Josh Earnest said he was unaware of any request from O’Malley to meet with Obama but that Obama would try to make time for him, if asked.  (Additional reporting by Ayesha Rascoe; Editing by Susan Heavey, Peter Cooney and Lisa Shumaker) SAP is the sponsor of this coverage which is independently produced by the staff of Reuters News Agency.

Summary: सैंडर्स ने ओबामा से की मुलाकात, कहा-प्राथमिक दौड़ में राष्ट्रपति तटस्थ रहेंगे


WARSAW (Reuters) - Polish parliamentary legal experts ruled on Monday that Warsaw has the right to demand reparations from Germany for its actions in the country during World War Two, although Poland s foreign minister indicated that no immediate claim would be made. The issue of reparations, revived by Poland s eurosceptic ruling party Law and Justice (PiS) after decades of improving relations with Germany, could escalate tensions between the two European Union governments. In a non-binding ruling, the experts said a decision by Poland s communist authorities in the 1950s to relinquish all claims against Germany over damages caused by its invasion and occupation of much of Poland was unconstitutional and invalid.  (The communist government) was forced into this by the Soviet Union, and Poland was not a sovereign state at the time,  said Arkadiusz Mularczyk, a PiS deputy who had commissioned the study.  Poland has a legal basis to demand reparations.  The PiS government   deeply distrustful of Germany   has raised calls for wartime compensation in recent weeks but it has yet to officially demand reparations. Foreign Minister Witold Waszczykowski said on Monday that discussions on the issue  may not yield the appropriate result .  But they should take place to inform the German side about the enormity of destruction it has caused,  he told public broadcaster TVP1. Waszczykowski added further analysis was needed before any claims were lodged.   Six million Poles, including three million Polish Jews, were killed during the war, and the capital Warsaw was razed to the ground in 1944 after a failed uprising in which 200,000 civilians died. Relations between Germany and Poland had warmed following the 1989 collapse of communism, particularly under the previous centrist government in Warsaw. But they have sunk to a decade low since the nationalist-leaning PiS won a parliamentary election in 2015. It says Berlin wields too much influence within the EU. PiS also frequently invokes Poland s suffering under the German occupation as part of a broader effort it says aims to promote patriotism at home, and to counter accusations that some Poles were also perpetrators of wartime crimes against the Jews. Under communism, Poles were taught to believe that, with a few exceptions, the nation had conducted itself honorably during a war that killed a fifth of the Polish population.  But a series of books and films have questioned this self-image in recent years, opening a painful debate over collective guilt and reconciliation. German parliamentary legal experts said last month that Warsaw had no right to demand reparations.

Summary: पोलैंड के कानूनी विशेषज्ञों का कहना है कि पोलैंड जर्मन मुआवजे की मांग कर सकता है


WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump defended his order to temporarily bar entry to people from seven majority-Muslim nations, which has come under intense criticism at home and abroad, saying on Thursday it was crucial to ensuring religious freedom and tolerance in America. Trump, speaking at a prayer breakfast attended by politicians, faith leaders and guests including Jordan’s King Abdullah, said he wanted to prevent a “beachhead of intolerance” from spreading in the United States. “The world is in trouble, but we’re going to straighten it out, OK? That’s what I do - I fix things,” Trump said in his speech. Trump’s executive order a week ago put a 120-day halt on the U.S. refugee program, barred Syrian refugees indefinitely and imposed a 90-day suspension on people from seven predominantly Muslim countries - Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen. The measure, which Trump says is aimed at protecting the country from terrorist attacks, has drawn protests and legal challenges. Trump, a wealthy businessman and former reality TV star who had never previously held public office when he was sworn in on Jan. 20, also sought to reassure the large crowd about the nature of his phone calls with world leaders. The Washington Post said Trump had a tense call with Australia’s Prime Minister about his immigration order. “Believe me, when you hear about the tough phone calls I’m having - don’t worry about it. Just don’t worry about it,” Trump said. He did not specify which calls he was referring to. “We’re taken advantage of by every nation in the world virtually. It’s not going to happen anymore,” said Trump, who campaigned on a stance of “America first” that he said would ensure the country was not taken advantage of in its trade or other foreign relations. Trump said violence against religious minorities must end.   “All nations have a moral obligation to speak out against such violence. All nations have a duty to work together to confront it, and to confront it viciously, if we have to,” he said. Trump said the United States has taken “necessary action” in recent days to protect religious liberty in the United States, referring to his immigration action. Critics of the measure have accused him of violating the constitutional guarantee of religious freedom, because the designated countries are majority-Muslim, and of slamming the door shut to refugees. Trump has said the move was necessary to ensure a more thorough vetting of people coming into the United States.  “Our nation has the most generous immigration system in the world. There are those who would exploit that generosity to undermine the values that we hold so dear,” Trump said. “There are those who would seek to enter our country for the purpose of spreading violence, or oppressing other people based upon their faith or their lifestyle - not right. We will not allow a beachhead of intolerance to spread in our nation,” he said. Trump said his administration’s new system would ensure that people entering the United States embrace U.S. values including religious liberty. He also pledged to get rid of the “Johnson Amendment,” a tax provision that prevents tax-exempt charities like churches from being involved in political campaigns. The White House said on Wednesday it has issued updated guidance on the travel order clarifying that legal permanent residents, or green card holders, from the designated countries require no waiver to enter the United States.

Summary: ट्रम्प का कहना है कि अमेरिका की धार्मिक स्वतंत्रता सुनिश्चित करने के लिए उनके यात्रा प्रतिबंध की आवश्यकता है


BOGOTA (Reuters) - Pope Francis arrived on a five-day trip to Colombia on Wednesday with the hope his presence will unite a nation deeply divided by a peace deal that ended a five-decade war with Marxist FARC rebels. An Alitalia flight carrying the Argentine pontiff landed at the Catam military air base in Bogota and will head to the Vatican Embassy after being greeted by President Juan Manuel Santos.

Summary: पोप शांति को बढ़ावा देने के मिशन पर कोलंबिया पहुंचे


LONDON (Reuters) - British police ended an armed hostage siege on Sunday, the BBC reported, saying there were no casualties after a gunman took two staff members hostage at a bowling alley in a leisure complex in central England. Earlier, Warwickshire police had ruled out an connection with  terrorist activity  after saying they were dealing with an  ongoing incident  at the leisure park in Nuneaton.  Mehdi Afshar, chief executive of MFA Bowl which owns the alley, was quoted by the BBC as saying the police had stormed the building and ended the siege. There were no casualties, the BBC added. Earlier, pictures on Twitter showed armed police at the complex, which is home to a cinema, gym and several restaurants, and local media reported that roads leading to it had been closed off.

Summary: ब्रिटिश पुलिस ने अंग्रेजी अवकाश परिसर में सशस्त्र बंधक बनाना बंद कियाः बीबीसी


HONG KONG (Reuters) - Named the richest man in China on Thursday with a net worth of $43 billion, property tycoon Xu Jiayin is likened by some media to Donald Trump, having built his fortune on a real estate business that has blossomed under a mountain of debt. The 59-year-old Xu s China Evergrande Group has a market value of $47 billion, although its total debt stands at more than $100 billion, an issue that has prompted some wary investors to short the stock.    Evergrande, China s second-most indebted company, has now pledged to cut its net debt ratio to around 70 percent by June 2020 from 240 percent and has raised $3.8 billion in new funds and exchanged $2.8 billion of existing debt this year.   Thanks to a boom in the value of Chinese property assets, Xu s wealth has climbed by $30 billion in the past year to top the rich list compiled annually by the Hurun Report. Evergrande, whose shares have surged 480 percent this year, is now ranked as the country s third-largest developer by sales.  The stock s bull run to record highs accelerated this month, driven by plans for a backdoor listing in mainland China and the announcement of a target to reduce debt. Xu s political stock is also high with the ruling Communist Party. He is a member of the Chinese People s Political Consultative Conference, the top advisory body. And the State Council, China s cabinet, bestowed on him the title  National Model Worker  - one of the country s highest civilian honors. Earlier this year, Xu, in his advisory role, proposed measures to alleviate poverty and hailed China s president.  We believe that under the strong leadership of the Party Central Committee with General Secretary Xi Jinping as the core, we would certainly win the battle against poverty,  Xu said.      Xu graduated from Wuhan University of Science and Technology in 1982, and was awarded an honorary doctorate degree in commerce by the University of West Alabama in 2008.  He founded Evergrande in 1996 and listed it in Hong Kong in 2009 after raising around HK$6 billion ($767 million) in an initial public offering.  Acquisition-hungry Evergrande, which has developed thousands of middle class homes in China, made headlines in 2010 when it bought the main soccer club in its home town of Guangzhou for 100 million yuan ($15 million).  In 2014, Xu sold a half stake in the club to China s biggest e-commerce company Alibaba for $192 million. Alibaba s founder Jack Ma said at the time that he and Xu hatched the deal over dinner and drinks, and wrapped it up in just a few days. Xu came under a less friendly spotlight in 2015, when Australia ordered him to sell his A$39 million ($31 million) Sydney mansion as part of a crackdown on foreigners whose buying had contributed to an overheated residential property market.

Summary: कर्ज का पहाड़ चढ़ने के बावजूद चीन के सबसे अमीर व्यक्ति ने बनाया भाग्य


BAGHDAD (Reuters) - About 1,400 foreign wives and children of suspected Islamic State militants have been moved to a new site north of Mosul, Iraqi authorities confirmed on Monday, dismissing the concerns of aid organizations, who were not warned about the move.  They were transported to a safe location with better services, in Tal Keif, under the supervision of the Iraqi forces and specialized committees,  said an Iraqi military statement.  Foreign aid officials in Iraq said on Sunday they were  gravely concerned  about the families, who had been held by Iraq since Aug. 30 in the Hammam al-Alil transit camp, south of Mosul.  These women and children are extremely vulnerable. Regardless of what their family members may be accused of, they have a right to protection and assistance,  the Norwegian Refugee Council said in a statement on Monday.      None of the aid groups supporting the families at the camp, including the United Nations, were told in advance about the move, according to the NRC spokeswoman in Iraq, Melany Markham. The women and children were put on buses and taken away, with many leaving personal belongings behind. Aid officials are asking the Iraqi authorities for unfettered access to the families and calling on foreign governments to act quickly on behalf of their citizens.   Humanitarian organizations and representatives from their home countries should be allowed to offer to them help,  the NRC said. More than 300 of the families came from Turkey, many others from former Soviet states, such as Tajikistan, Azerbaijan and Russia, according to preliminary figures from the Iraqi army. Efforts to determine the nationalities of the families continued, said Laila Ali, a spokeswoman for Unicef said.  Thereafter, the family tracing and repatriation process is expected to begin.  Most of the families had fled to Tal Afar after Iraqi troops pushed Islamic State out of Mosul. Iraqi forces retook Tal Afar, a city of predominantly ethnic Turkmen that produced some of Islamic State s senior commanders, last month. It is the largest group of foreigners linked to Islamic State to be held by Iraqi forces since they began driving the militants from Mosul and other areas in northern Iraq last year, an aid official said. Thousands of foreigners have been fighting for Islamic State in Iraq and Syria.

Summary: इस्लामिक स्टेट के परिवार मोसुल के उत्तर में चले गए, इराक ने पुष्टि की


ABU DHABI (Reuters) - The United Arab Emirates urged Iran and Turkey on Tuesday to end what it called their  colonial  actions in Syria, signaling unease about diminishing Gulf Arab influence in the war. Allied to regional powerhouse Saudi Arabia, the UAE opposes Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and his backer Iran, and is wary of Turkey, a friend of Islamist forces the UAE opposes throughout the Arab world. UAE Foreign Minister Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan urged  the exit of those parties trying to reduce the sovereignty of the Syrian state, and I speak here frankly and clearly about Iran and Turkey.  He was speaking at a news conference with Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov, whose country helps Assad militarily.  If Iran and Turkey continue the same historical, colonial and competitive behavior and perspectives between them in Arab affairs, we will continue in this situation not just in Syria today but tomorrow in some other country,  Sheikh Abdullah said. The six-year-old war in Syria has dragged in regional and international players who have sought to advance their interests there: Iran has sent troops and military support to shore up Assad s rule as he has battled mostly Sunni Muslim rebels backed by Saudi Arabia and other Gulf Arab states.  The Syrian army and its allies have regained lost territory with the help of Russian air strikes since 2015. At the same time, Islamic State is being pushed back from strongholds in Eastern Syria by the Syrian army and a rival offensive by Kurdish and Arab rebels backed by the United States. Fearing expanded Kurdish influence along its border with Syria, U.S. ally Turkey has grown increasingly uneasy about the rebels  armed thrust. Turkey and Iran have discussed possible joint military action against Kurdish militant groups, President Tayyip Erdogan said on Monday. Lavrov and Sheikh Abdullah said they agreed on a need for a negotiated end to the war. Russia is helping shepherd talks in the Kazakh capital Astana which has already produced  de-escalation  zones to reduce combat in three parts of Syria. Lavrov said Russia hoped that efforts to unify the positions of Syria s disparate opposition would aid the peace process.  There were some deep disagreements in the past which led to the failure of some meetings, but we will continue encouraging the participation of all the platforms,  he said through a translator. (This story corrects day in first paragraph)

Summary: संयुक्त अरब अमीरात ने सीरिया में ईरान, तुर्की की 'औपनिवेशिक' भूमिका की आलोचना की


BEIRUT (Reuters) - The head of Iran s Revolutionary Guards said on Wednesday that the United States should experience  painful responses  following President Donald Trump s harsh criticism of Tehran at the United Nations. In his first speech to the U.N. General Assembly on Tuesday Trump called Iran  a corrupt dictatorship  and accused it of supporting terrorism and destabilizing the Middle East. He also hinted he might not recertify a 2015 nuclear deal with Tehran when it comes up for a mid-Oct. deadline.  Taking a definitive stand against Trump is only the beginning of the path,  said General Mohammad Ali Jafari, according to Sepah News, the news site of the Revolutionary Guards.  What is strategically important is that America witnesses more painful responses in the actions, behavior and decisions that Iran takes in the coming months.  In recent months, tensions have ramped up between Iran and the United States in the Gulf, with both sides accusing each other of provocative maneuvers with military vessels. Jafari urged Iranian President Hassan Rouhani to deliver a definitive response to Trump in his speech at the United Nations on Wednesday.  With the successive and exhausting defeats that the Americans have faced in the region from Iran, it s natural that their nervous system and coherence of thought have fallen apart,  Sepah News quoted Jafari as saying. In Tuesday s speech, Trump called the 2015 nuclear deal, negotiated between Iran and six world powers, and backed by his predecessor Barack Obama,  an embarrassment . Under the deal, Iran agreed to curb its atomic program in return for easing economic sanctions.

Summary: ट्रम्प के भाषण के बाद अमेरिका को ईरान से 'दर्दनाक प्रतिक्रिया' झेलनी होगीः गार्ड प्रमुख


UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - The United States and Japan have requested that the United Nations Security Council meet on Wednesday to discuss North Korea s latest missile launch, diplomats said on Tuesday. North Korea has been under U.N. sanctions since 2006 over its ballistic missiles and nuclear programs. Typically, China and Russia view only a test of a long-range missile or a nuclear weapons as a trigger for further possible U.N. sanctions.

Summary: अमेरिका ने उत्तर कोरिया के मिसाइल प्रक्षेपण पर संयुक्त राष्ट्र सुरक्षा परिषद की बैठक का अनुरोध कियाः राजनयिक


KUALA LUMPUR (Reuters) - Dissent surfaced again in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) after Malaysia disavowed a statement issued by the bloc s chairman, the Philippines, as misrepresenting  the reality  of an exodus of 430,000 ethnic Rohingya from Myanmar. The grouping of 10 nations in one of the world s fastest growing regions has long struggled to reconcile conflicting interests in tackling issues such as China s claims over the South China Sea and the crisis facing the Muslim Rohingya.  The Philippines, as chair, tolerates the public manifestation of dissenting voices,  the Philippine foreign ministry said in a statement on Monday. The move showed a  new level of maturity  in pushing ASEAN s principle of consensus when dealing with issues affecting national interests, it added. Malaysia had made its position clear  in several ASEAN meetings  in New York, the ministry said, adding that it had to also take into account the views of other members, however. On Sunday, Malaysia  disassociated itself  from the ASEAN chairman s statement on the grounds that it misrepresented the  reality of the situation  and did not identify the Rohingya as one of the affected communities.  Myanmar objects to the term Rohingya, saying the Muslims of its western state of Rakhine state are not a distinct ethnic group, but illegal immigrants from Bangladesh. Senior diplomats and foreign ministers of ASEAN nations discussed the contents of the statement on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly in New York before it was published, the Philippine Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) and Malaysian government sources said. No consensus was reached by the ASEAN foreign ministers, however, said two Malaysian government officials aware of the discussions.     The chairman s statement released by the Philippines did not reflect Malaysia s concerns, said one of the officials, who asked not to be named due to the sensitivity of the issue. Malaysia has objected once before to a similar statement on the crisis in Myanmar s western Rakhine state, but Sunday s response was unexpected, as the grouping has an overriding policy of non-interference in domestic matters. Myanmar must halt  atrocities which have unleashed a full-scale humanitarian crisis,  Malaysian Foreign Minister Anifah Aman urged on Sunday.  Viable and long-term solutions to the root causes to the conflict must be found,  he said in a statement. Malaysia s dissent, however, only reflects strained ties in ASEAN, said Shahriman Lockman, a senior analyst with the Institute of Strategic and International Studies in the country s capital.  What s truly exceptional here is not Malaysia s move to dissociate itself from the statement,  he told Reuters.  It s the failure of the Philippines to attempt to reflect the views of all ASEAN member states.  In the statement, the foreign ministers condemned the attacks on Myanmar s security forces and  all acts of violence which resulted in loss of civilian lives, destruction of homes and displacement of large numbers of people . More than 400 people have died and 430,000 Rohingya Muslims have fled Rakhine, where an Aug. 25 attack on military and police outposts by Rohingya militants provoked a military offensive the United Nations calls  ethic cleansing .

Summary: म्यांमार के बयान पर मलेशिया की असहमति से आसियन मोर्चे पर दरार का पता चलता है


DUBAI (Reuters) - Yemen s ex-president Ali Abdullah Saleh has had a successful operation at a Sanaa hospital after a Russian medical team was flown in to perform it, government sources said on Saturday.  The Russian team arrived in Sanaa two days ago and operated on Saleh on Friday for wounds he sustained in an assassination attempt in 2011.  Saleh s General People s Congress Party said the procedure was successful, and that his condition was stable.  Saleh was severely wounded in an attack on the presidential palace in Sanaa in June 2011. He went to the United States for treatment on one occasion, before a travel ban was imposed. The United Nations Security Council imposed sanctions on Saleh in 2014, accusing him of threatening peace and obstructing Yemen s political process, subjecting him to a global travel ban and an asset freeze.  Government sources told Reuters the Russian team had arrived with approval from the Saudi-led Arab alliance but did not reveal the precise nature of the surgery.  Saleh ruled Yemen for 34 years, but was forced from power after pro-democracy protests in 2012.  Forming a surprise alliance with the Houthi movement when they seized Sanaa in 2014, Saleh s army loyalists and Houthi fighters have weathered thousands of air strikes by the Saudi-led military coalition in more than two years of war.

Summary: यमन के पूर्व राष्ट्रपति सालेह की हालत स्थिर, रूसी डॉक्टरों ने ऑपरेशन किया


MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russia s government published a draft agreement between Russia and Egypt on Thursday allowing both countries to use each other s air space and air bases for their military planes. The draft deal was set out in a decree, signed by Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev on Nov. 28, which ordered the Russian Defence Ministry to hold negotiations with Egyptian officials and to sign the document once both sides reached an agreement. Russian Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu visited Cairo for talks with Egypt s political and military leadership on Wednesday and the decree said the draft had been  preliminary worked through with the Egyptian side  and approved by Medvedev. Russia launched a military operation to support Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in September 2015 and there are signs it is keen to further expand its military presence in the region. U.S. officials said in March that Russia had deployed special forces in Egypt near the border with Libya, an allegation Moscow denied. Russia has cultivated close ties with powerful Libyan commander Khalifa Haftar, who held talks with Shoigu, the Russian defence minister, via video link from a Russian aircraft carrier in the Mediterranean this year and visited Moscow. Russian and Egyptian war planes would be able to use each other s air space and airfields by giving five days advance notice, according to the draft agreement, which is expected to be valid for five years and could be extended.

Summary: रूसी सेना मिस्र के हवाई अड्डों का उपयोग करने के लिए सौदे पर काम कर रही हैः दस्तावेज़


SHANGHAI/TAIPEI (Reuters) - State-run Chinese tabloid Global Times warned U.S. President-elect Donald Trump that China would “take revenge” if he reneged on the one-China policy, only hours after Taiwan’s president made a controversial stopover in Houston. Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen met senior U.S. Republican lawmakers during her stopover in Houston on Sunday en route to Central America, where she will visit Honduras, Nicaragua, Guatemala and El Salvador. Tsai will stop in San Francisco on Jan. 13, her way back to Taiwan. China had asked the United States not to allow Tsai to enter or have formal government meetings under the one China policy. Beijing considers self-governing Taiwan a renegade province ineligible for state-to-state relations. The subject is a sensitive one for China. A photograph tweeted by Texas Governor Greg Abbott shows him meeting Tsai, with a small table between them adorned with the U.S., Texas and Taiwanese flags. Tsai’s office said on Monday she also spoke by telephone with U.S. senator John McCain, head of the powerful Senate Committee on Armed Services. Tsai also met Texas Senator Ted Cruz. “Sticking to (the one China) principle is not a capricious request by China upon U.S. presidents, but an obligation of U.S. presidents to maintain China-U.S. relations and respect the existing order of the Asia-Pacific,” said the Global Times editorial on Sunday. The influential tabloid is published by the ruling Communist Party’s official People’s Daily. Trump triggered protests from Beijing last month by accepting a congratulatory telephone call from Tsai and questioning the U.S. commitment to China’s position that Taiwan is part of one China. “If Trump reneges on the one-China policy after taking office, the Chinese people will demand the government to take revenge. There is no room for bargaining,” said the Global Times. Cruz said some members of Congress had received a letter from the Chinese consulate asking them not to meet Tsai during her stopovers. “The People’s Republic of China needs to understand that in America we make decisions about meeting with visitors for ourselves,” Cruz said in a statement. “This is not about the PRC. This is about the U.S. relationship with Taiwan, an ally we are legally bound to defend.” Cruz said he and Tsai discussed upgrading bilateral relations and furthering economic cooperation between their countries, including increased access to Taiwan markets that would benefit Texas ranchers, farmers and small businesses. Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Lu Kang on Monday urged “relevant U.S. officials” to handle the Taiwan issue appropriately to avoid harming China-U.S. ties. “We firmly oppose leaders of the Taiwan region, on the so-called basis of a transit visit, having any form of contact with U.S. officials and engaging in activities that interfere with and damage China-U.S. relations,” Lu said. In a dinner speech Saturday to hundreds of overseas Taiwanese, Tsai said the United States holds a “special place in the hearts of the people of Taiwan” and that the island via bilateral exchanges has provided more than 320,000 jobs directly and indirectly to the American people, her office said on Monday.  Tsai said Taiwan looked to create more U.S. jobs through deeper investment, trade and procurement.  Tsai’s office said James Moriarty, chairman of the American Institute in Taiwan, which handles U.S.-Taiwan affairs in the absence of formal ties, told the Taiwan president in Houston that the United States was continuing efforts to persuade China to resume dialogue with Taiwan. China is deeply suspicious of Tsai, who it thinks wants to push for the formal independence of the island. The Global Times, whose stance does not equate with government policy, also targeted Tsai in the editorial, saying that the mainland would likely impose further diplomatic, economic and military pressure on Taiwan, warning that “Tsai needs to face the consequences for every provocative step she takes”. “It should also impose military pressure on Taiwan and push it to the edge of being reunified by force, so as to effectively affect the approval rating of the Tsai administration.”

Summary: चीन के सरकारी अखबार ने ट्रंप को चेताया, एक चीन नीति को खत्म करें और चीन बदला लेगा


HAVANA (Reuters) - Cubans said they were both heartbroken and enraged by the United States  decision on Friday to stop processing visas at its embassy in Havana that would further tear at the seams of families already divided by the Florida Straits. The United States said it was cutting its diplomatic presence in Cuba by more than a half because of mysterious  attacks  against its embassy personnel and was therefore halting regular visa operations.  To think you can t go see your family is a terrible thing,  said pensioner Xiomara Irene Louzado, 74, who had been planning a visit to the United States to see her sister and nephews. Louzado said she also wanted to visit the graves of her sister and mother. She has traveled there regularly but now she simply no longer knew when she next could.  This is unnecessary and inhuman,  said Laura Hernandez, a Cuban student who had been hoping to move to live with her father in the United States.  With so many families to reunify... why?  While Cuba numbers a population of 11.2 million, there are an estimated 2 million Cuban Americans in the United States. It remains unclear which visas the U.S. Havana embassy will still be processing and what other recourses Cubans will have.  We have suspended most visa processing in Havana,  a notice on its website read.  Cuban applicants for non immigrant visas may apply at another U.S. embassy or consulate overseas.  The United States has one specific deal with its former Cold War foe to issue 20,000 visas a year to Cubans seeking to emigrate there, agreed after the 1994 rafter exodus to prevent them from taking to the sea illegally in makeshift crafts. Short of an effective third country workaround for those visa applications, Friday s measure would likely ensure it violates that agreement, said Michael Bustamante, an assistant professor of Latin American history at Florida International University. The Cuban government has denied any involvement in the alleged attacks on diplomats in Havana and warned the Trump administration against politicizing them. Twenty-one U.S. embassy employees in Cuba have been injured and reported symptoms such as hearing loss, dizziness, headache, fatigue, cognitive issues, and difficulty sleeping, the State Department said. Several Canadian diplomats have complained of similar symptoms to their American counterparts but Canada said on Friday it had no plans to reduce staff at its embassy in Havana. Many Cubans on Friday said they felt they were once more collateral damage of the war between the anti-Castro lobby in the United States and Cuba. U.S. President Donald Trump, a Republican, had in June said he wanted to partially roll back the detente agreed with Cuba under his predecessor, Democrat Barack Obama.    Politics always ends up affecting the poorest, the people, and not the government,  said Jessica Aguila, 38, an office employee who had been planning to visit her family at Christmas.  In a few months, all the advances between the two countries have been turned to dust.  Washington on Friday also warned U.S. citizens against visiting the Caribbean island, a move that will likely hurt many Cubans working in hospitality.  That sector is one of the few that had been thriving amidst a gloomy economic outlook, although it took a beating earlier this month from Hurricane Irma that wrought havoc on much of the island s infrastructure.  (Trump) is already an imminent danger for us, said Magdalena Hernandez, 67,  worse than a Category 5 hurricane.

Summary: क्यूबा के लोगों का दिल टूट गया है, गुस्से में हवाना में अमेरिकी वीजा नहीं ले सकते


BARCELONA (Reuters) - Hundreds of thousands of supporters of a unified Spain filled Barcelona s streets on Sunday in one of the biggest shows of force yet by the so-called silent majority that has watched as regional political leaders push for Catalan independence. Political parties opposing a split by Catalonia from Spain had a small lead in an opinion poll published on Sunday, the first since Madrid called a regional election to try to resolve the country s worst political crisis in four decades. Polls and recent elections have shown that about half the electorate in the wealthy northeastern region, which is already autonomous, oppose secession from Spain, but a vocal independence movement has brought the current crisis to a head.  Spain s central government called an election for Dec. 21 on Friday after sacking Catalonia s president Carles Puigdemont, dissolving its parliament and dismissing its government. That followed the assembly s unilateral declaration of independence in a vote boycotted by three national parties. The regional government claimed it had a mandate to push ahead with independence following an unofficial referendum on Oct. 1 which was ruled illegal under Spanish law and mostly boycotted by unionists.  Waving thousands of Spanish flags and singing  Viva Espa a , protesters on Sunday turned out in the largest display of support for a united Spain since the beginning of the crisis   underlining the depth of division in Catalonia itself.  I m here to defend Spanish unity and the law,  said Alfonso Machado, 55, a salesman standing with a little girl with Spanish flags in her hair.   Knowing that in the end there won t be independence, I feel sorry for all the people tricked into thinking there could be and the divisions they ve driven through Catalan society.   The poll of 1,000 people by Sigma Dos for newspaper El Mundo showed unionist parties winning 43.4 percent support and pro-independence parties 42.5 percent.  The survey was taken from Monday to Thursday, just as the central government prepared to take control of Catalonia. Madrid said on Saturday that secessionist politicians, including Puigdemont, were free to take part in the election. The hardline CUP has been unclear if it would. The deposed Catalan government will soon have to make difficult decisions, Puigdemont s former deputy Oriol Junqueras said on Sunday in an editorial in online newspaper El Punt Avui. He stopped short of saying his ERC party would take part in the election.   We need a shared strategy ... it s important to weave solid alliances with those who are willing to build a state that serves its citizens,  he said, possibly alluding to a rumored alliance between the ERC and the Catalan arm of the anti-austerity Podemos party. Such an alliance could put the independence movement in difficult position as it would mean a main secession supporter joining forces with parties that reject Madrid s hard line but do not support separatism.         With weeks to go before the election, the poll showed the CUP, kingmaker for the pro-secessionists in the dismissed 135-seat parliament, would win seven seats, down from a current 10.  The pro-independence coalition Junts pel Si, which held 62 seats previously, was split into parties PDeCat and ERC for the poll as they are unlikely to run on a single platform. The two would win between 54 and 58 seats in total, the poll showed. At Sunday s rally, former European Parliament president Josep Borrell called for unionist voters to turn out in December to ensure independence supporters lose their stranglehold on the regional parliament.  Maybe we re here because many of us during elections didn t go and vote. Now we have a golden opportunity. This time, nobody should stay at home,  Borrell said to cheering crowds. Puigdemont called on Saturday for peaceful opposition to Madrid s takeover. But he was vague on precisely what steps the secessionists would take as Spanish authorities move into Barcelona to enforce control. European countries, the United States and Mexico have also rejected the Catalan declaration of independence and expressed support for Spain s unity. But emotions are running high and the next few days will be tricky for Madrid as it embarks on enforcing direct rule and putting officials in administrative roles. National police were accused of heavy-handedness during the Oct. 1 referendum.  Officers of the regional police force, called the Mossos d Esquadra in Catalan, were stationed in main public and government buildings on Sunday. But the force is believed to have divided loyalties. The central government has removed the Mossos  chief, Josep Lluis Trapero, and said units could be replaced if warranted. In an open letter on Sunday, Interior Minister Juan Ignacio Zoido praised the Mossos for their work and urged them to accept temporary direction from Madrid.  The main secessionist group, the Catalan National Assembly, has urged civil servants not to follow orders from the central  government and to mount  peaceful resistance , while the pro-independence trade union CSC has called a strike. Puigdemont, Junqueras and their advisors left the Catalan government offices on Friday, newspaper La Vanguardia reported on Sunday, effectively handing the building over to Madrid and making a forced eviction on Monday less likely. Since the return of democracy in the late 1970s Spain has suffered several traumatic episodes, including an attempted military coup in 1981, a violent Basque separatist conflict, and more recently an economic crisis. The Catalan issue is however the biggest challenge to the territorial integrity of what is now a progressive European Union nation. The chaos has prompted an exodus of businesses from Catalonia, which contributes about a fifth of Spain s economy, the fourth-largest in the euro zone. Tourism to Barcelona has been hit and markets have darted up and down on the fast-moving developments. European leaders have also denounced the push, fearing it could fan separatist sentiment around the continent.

Summary: लाखों लोगों ने एकीकृत स्पेन के लिए मार्च किया, सर्वेक्षण विभाजन की गहराई को दर्शाता है


WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Divisions have emerged among advisers to President Donald Trump over whether to rescind a signature policy of his predecessor, President Barack Obama, that shields young immigrants from deportation, according to congressional sources and Republicans close to the White House. Even though Trump campaigned on a promise to roll back Obama’s executive orders on immigration, the Republican has so far left intact an order safeguarding 750,000 people who were brought to the United States illegally as children, known as the “dreamers.” The issue has become a flashpoint for White House advisers divided between a more moderate faction such as chief of staff Reince Priebus and immigration hardliners Stephen Miller and Steve Bannon, said a former congressional aide who has been  involved with immigration issues in Washington.      Priebus has said publicly that Trump will work with Congress to get a “long-term solution” on the issue.  Meanwhile, Miller, said to have mastered the thinking of his former boss and anti-immigration advocate Jeff Sessions, Trump’s nominee for U.S. Attorney General, as well as Bannon, former head of right-wing Breitbart News, have pushed Trump to take a harder approach and rescind the protections.  Two officials at the Department of Homeland Security expect Trump to simply stop renewing the authorizations that “dreamers” currently have to work, drive and obtain higher education. Under that plan, the most recently renewed authorizations would expire in two years.   But a senior House Republican aide said it was uncertain whether the administration had scrapped the idea of overturning Obama’s Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, known as DACA, as the internal debate plays out.   Preserving DACA has also become somewhat of a bartering chip as Trump seeks congressional support for a wall on the U.S.-Mexico border and other early administration priorities. The White House is “acutely aware” of the firestorm in the country and within Congress that could swamp the fledgling administration just as it plunges into negotiations over the wall, healthcare, tax reform and infrastructure investments, said the senior House Republican aide. Another congressional aide described a Senate bill sponsored by Democrat Dick Durbin and Republican Lindsey Graham to protect the “dreamers” as the “sugar that would help the medicine of the wall go down.”  The bill would likely face challenges winning enough votes to pass. Efforts to attach some tough conservative amendments could lose Democratic Party support and sink the whole effort.  Trump has kept his public comments on DACA vague. In an interview with ABC News on Wednesday, Trump said his administration would be coming out with a policy to deal with “dreamers” over the next four weeks.  “They shouldn’t be very worried. They are here illegally. They shouldn’t be very worried. I do have a big heart. We’re going to take care of everybody. We’re going to have a very strong border,” Trump said in the interview with ABC.  Trump reportedly told Durbin during the inaugural luncheon at the Capitol on Jan. 20 that he did not have to worry about an executive action overturning Obama’s order. But there is scant trust among Democrats that Trump will keep his word. And immigration advocates said DACA recipients live in fear and uncertainty as the message from the White House and Republicans seems to shift by the day.     House Speaker Paul Ryan told a woman protected by DACA, at a townhall hosted by CNN Jan. 12, that there should be a solution for people like her to get “right with the law” and not be separated from their families.  Just two days prior, Sessions, a Senator, told a Senate panel considering his confirmation that it would “certainly be constitutional” to repeal DACA. Sessions also attempted to force a vote to block DACA in the Senate in 2014.  Miller, Sessions’ former staffer, is now Trump’s senior adviser for policy at the White House.  Miller is known to be a staunch advocate for restricting immigration, even by workers who enter legally on visas.  Both Miller and Bannon, Trump’s senior counselor and chief strategist, are seen as outsiders to the Republican establishment and unafraid to upset people like Ryan to stay true to Trump campaign promises. Priebus, however, came to the White House after chairing the Republican National Committee and has spent years seeking to unify the party and cultivating relationships with career politicians.

Summary: 'सपने देखने वाले' प्रवासियों को बचाने की नीति पर ट्रम्प के सहयोगी विभाजित हैंः सूत्र


WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump will meet April 6-7 with Chinese President Xi Jinping at the president’s Mar-a-Lago retreat in Florida, a source familiar with the meeting said on Tuesday. It will be their first face-to-face meeting since Trump took office on Jan. 20. Trump played host to Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe last month at Mar-a-Lago, in Palm Beach, Florida.

Summary: 6-7 अप्रैल को फ्लोरिडा में मिलेंगे चीन के राष्ट्रपति शी जिनपिंगः सूत्र


TOKYO (Reuters) - Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said he will decide on the timing of a snap general election after he returns on Friday from a trip this week to address the United Nations.  Regarding the dissolution of the lower house, I would like to refrain from commenting on every question, but I would like to make a decision when I return home,  Abe told reporters on Monday as he left for New York, according to a Foreign Ministry transcript. Abe is considering calling a general election, the third since he swept to power in December 2012, as early as Oct. 22, to take advantage of a rebound in his approval ratings after a series of scandals for this coalition government, and disarray in the main opposition party, government and ruling party sources told Reuters on Sunday.     Abe is scheduled to speak at the UN General Assembly and the New York Stock Exchange on Wednesday, and is seeking to arrange meetings with U.S. President Donald Trump and South Korean President Moon Jae-in before returning to Japan on Friday. An early vote would take advantage of defections in opposition Democratic Party and could also dilute a potential challenge from an embryonic party that allies of popular Tokyo Governor Yuriko Koike, an ex-LDP lawmaker, are trying to form.  Abe s coalition would be likely to lose its two-thirds  super majority  in the lower house but keep a simple majority, political sources say.

Summary: जापान के प्रधानमंत्री आबे ने कहा, संयुक्त राष्ट्र की यात्रा से लौटने पर चुनाव का समय तय करेंगे


STRASBOURG (Reuters) - Tax reforms in the European Union, such as higher taxation of online giants, should no longer require unanimous votes from EU ministers, the head of the European Commission said on Wednesday, urging the use of rules that limit governments  veto powers. Jean-Claude Juncker was speaking two days before EU finance ministers meet to discuss plans to introduce higher taxes on digital multinationals like Google and Amazon, which stand accused of paying too little tax in Europe. He urged EU states to adopt tax reforms with a  qualified majority  rather than by unanimity, a practice that has so far blocked major overhauls of tax legislation in the 28-country bloc. His proposal would end the ability of a single country to veto such decisions at ministerial level, although national leaders would retain veto power at EU summits. If taken up, the idea could reduce the power of smaller states, which offer some of the most favorable tax rates for multinationals, to block reforms. Juncker said it was possible under already existing rules  to switch to majority voting in certain areas, and this should be applied to decisions on  fair taxes of the digital industry .  I want decisions in the Council (of EU ministers) to be taken more often and more easily by qualified majority,  Juncker said.  In separate remarks, the commissioner in charge of tax issues, Pierre Moscovici, said on Wednesday that the EU executive will present a new  initiative  on digital taxation in the coming weeks.  The simpler decision-making should also be used to decide on legislative proposals on Value Added Tax (VAT) and on a common consolidated corporate tax base, which would harmonize national rules on tax deductions, Juncker said. He added that he also supported this solution for decisions on a European financial transactions tax, a long-running plan from which most EU states have opted out, but which remains under discussion among 10 euro zone countries.  Europe has to be able to act quicker and more decisively,  Juncker said in a speech to the European Parliament in Strasbourg, urging the use of so-called  passerelle clauses  to reduce countries  veto powers. These provisions, included in the EU treaties, allow for simplified legislative procedures if EU leaders decide so unanimously, and if national parliaments do not oppose it. EU leaders, who usually meet every three months, tend to reach overall political agreements that are later translated into legislative acts by relevant ministers.

Summary: यूरोपीय संघ को कर सुधारों पर वीटो को रोकने के लिए नियमों को लागू करना चाहिएः जंकर


BRUSSELS/WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson will meet NATO foreign ministers at a rescheduled gathering on March 31, a senior State Department official said on Friday, ending a furor over his earlier decision to skip the event. Reuters exclusively reported on Monday that Tillerson had decided not to attend his first meeting with the ministers, originally scheduled for April 5-6 - raising fears about the new U.S. administration’s commitment to the military alliance. But the State Department official said the meeting in Brussels had been brought forward and would now go ahead. There was no official statement from NATO. Tillerson’s potential no-show had increased unease caused by U.S. President Donald Trump’s description of NATO as “obsolete” during his election campaign. Trump has since said he strongly supports the alliance, but in interviews and speeches he continues to air grievances over what he see as Europe’s failure to pay its fair share of protecting the West. Tillerson met many of the NATO foreign ministers in Washington this week at a gathering of the coalition fighting Islamic State militants, but the meeting in Brussels would be his first formal NATO ministerial. Given the U.S. role as the de facto head of the alliance, it is rare for the United States’ top diplomat to miss a NATO meeting. The last time was during the Iraq war in 2003, when Colin Powell was forced to cancel at the last moment.  Tillerson, a former top executive at Exxon Mobil Corp who worked with the Russian government, originally decided to attend a U.S. visit by the Chinese president instead of the April NATO meeting, Reuters reported. “The Secretary of State will visit NATO in Brussels on Friday, March 31st. The visit will come after his trip to Ankara, Turkey. Details about his schedule are forthcoming,” the State Department official said on Friday.

Summary: टिलरसन 31 मार्च को नाटो से मुलाकात करेंगे, नो-शो विवाद समाप्त होगा


WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The head of the U.S. Department of the Interior came under further scrutiny on Thursday amid a media report that he had attended a Republican fundraiser in March during a government trip to the Caribbean. Politico, citing department travel records and other documents, said Ryan Zinke attended a Virgin Islands Republican Party fundraiser where donors paid up to $5,000 per couple for a photograph with the secretary. The report comes as multiple investigations into the former one-term congressman’s travel while serving in the Trump administration were announced this week following various media reports on the subject.  On Monday, the Interior Department’s watchdog agency said it was probing Zinke’s travels after recent reports that he had used a private plane owned by an oil executive. On Tuesday, the U.S. Office of Special Counsel said it was investigating whether he broke the law in June when he gave a speech to a professional hockey team owned by a political donor. Other Cabinet members have also been scrutinized over their use of taxpayer money for more expensive private travel rather than less expensive commercial trips.  Former U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Tom Price resigned on Friday following an uproar over his use of costly private charter planes. U.S. Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin, U.S. Energy Secretary Rick Perry, and Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Scott Pruitt have also come under question over their private plane use.  Questions have also been raised about the cost of security for U.S. Education Secretary Betsy Devos. Democratic House lawmakers earlier this week called on Zinke to disclose the full details of all of his privately chartered airplane trips. In a letter to the secretary, lawmakers pointed to one reported $12,000 private flight from Nevada to Montana, a route they said commercial airlines charge as little as $300 for. “Abuse of taxpayer money has so far been a problem for the Trump administration,” the group of 26 lawmakers wrote on Tuesday.  Representatives for Zinke did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the Politico report Thursday.  Separately, the top Democrat on the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee has said he is seeking information on any private, non-commercial or military flights taken by White House counselor Kellyanne Conway.  U.S. Representative Elijah Cummings, in a statement released on Wednesday, also said he was seeking evidence that Price had repaid U.S. taxpayers for his private flights.  Representatives for the White House said on Thursday that U.S. agencies were responsible for arranging their own transportation, and that Cabinet members “occasionally invite relevant White House staff for official travel” that is then “planned and secured by the inviting agency.”

Summary: अमेरिकी आंतरिक सचिव ने सरकारी यात्रा पर राजनीतिक धन जुटायाः रिपोर्ट


(Corrects Sept. 21 story to remove reference to constitutional crisis if poll not held within 60 days, paragraph 15) By George Obulutsa and John Ndiso NAIROBI (Reuters) - Kenya s President Uhuru Kenyatta said on Thursday the country s Supreme Court staged a  coup  against the will of the people when it annulled his win in last month s presidential election, his toughest rhetoric yet in the wake of the Aug. 8 vote. His remarks came on the same day that the election board announced the repeat election had been delayed until Oct. 26. The president s criticism comes as Kenya s political temperature is heating up, reviving fears of political violence. Clashes killed around 1,200 people following a disputed 2007 presidential vote.   A coup in Kenya has just been done by the four people in the Supreme Court,  Kenyatta said in a televised meeting with supporters, delivered mostly in Kiswahili.  (The court is saying)  numbers don t matter, it is processes that matter.  Immediately following the court s surprise Sept. 1 ruling to annul the vote, Kenyatta had called for calm and respect for the ruling. But he later started to criticize the court. The decision to nullify the race on procedural grounds was the first time a judicial body canceled the election of an incumbent African president.  Kenya, a Western ally, has East Africa s richest economy and is a hub for diplomacy, security and trade in a region often battered by conflict. Any sign of political instability sends ripples through the region.  The election board had said last month that Kenyatta won the Aug. 8 vote by 1.4 million more votes than his chief rival, veteran opposition leader Raila Odinga, who contested the result in court.  Four judges and two dissenting judges gave a detailed case for voiding the election   or upholding it   in a marathon 12-hour court session on Wednesday.  Kenyatta said in a televised news conference that the court had failed to adequately examine evidence that would have buttressed his win.  The Supreme Court owes Kenyans an explanation how such a monstrous injustice took place,  he said.  It (the ruling) also now has the potential to throw our country into judicial chaos.  He said lower courts could follow the precedent and overturn the will of voters in other electoral contests, like local or legislative seats, adding he had asked parliament to address the issues raised by the judgment.  On Thursday, the cabinet approved 10 billion shillings ($97 million) to fund the repeat election.  Odinga has said he will not take part in the repeat vote unless a list of demands, including firing of some senior staff at the election board, are met. The court said it had found no evidence of individual culpability by the staff of the board. The court ruled that the country must hold the election by the end of October. The court s detailed judgment given on Wednesday hinged on the failure of the election board to check electronic tallies, which are vulnerable to typos, against paper forms intended as a fail-safe backup before announcing results. Judges did not say they found evidence of rigging.  Kenyatta said he would respect the court s decision but said it subverted the will of the people.   We have reversed everything in this country by the decision of a few people. I don t know how history will judge these gentlemen,  he said.  The citizen has been told he does not have a voice ... If that is not dictatorship, then I don t know what to say.

Summary: केन्या के राष्ट्रपति ने कहा कि सुप्रीम कोर्ट का चुनाव का फैसला 'तख्तापलट' था


WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. House of Representatives erupted in shouting on Monday as lawmakers held a moment of silence to honor the victims of the Orlando mass shooting as Democrats protested the Republican-led chamber’s refusal to consider tighter gun regulations. After Speaker Paul Ryan, the House’s Republican leader, called for the moment of silence, Representative James Clyburn asked for recognition to ask about guns. Clyburn, the number three House Democrat, is from South Carolina, where a gunman killed nine people at the Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church a year ago on Friday. Ryan ruled Clyburn out of order, and the chamber erupted with shouts of “No Leadership,” and chants of “Where’s the bill? Where’s the bill? Where’s the bill?” from Democrats. Several Democrats had said they would not participate in a moment of silence to mark the worst mass shooting in modern U.S. history, in which a gunman killed 49 people and wounded 53 at a gay nightclub in Orlando. They said they were frustrated that Congress does not respond to mass shootings with more than symbolic gestures.

Summary: अमेरिकी सांसदों ने बंदूक नीति पर ऑरलैंडो 'मौन के क्षण' को बाधित किया


CHICAGO (Reuters) - Mel Reynolds, a former U.S. congressman from Illinois who has had numerous legal troubles, wants to plead guilty to federal income tax charges, he told a judge in a handwritten letter made public on Tuesday. “I request to come to court at the earliest time possible to enter my plea of guilty,” he wrote on notebook paper to U.S. District Judge John Darrah. The letter was written last week and entered in the court’s on-line filings on Tuesday.  Reynolds, 64, is being held at a detention center in Kankakee, Illinois. He said he has no choice but to plead guilty because he has been unable to prepare for his case because he has been in solitary confinement due to death threats.  Reynolds is representing himself after firing his lawyer in April. His next court date is a status hearing scheduled for May 19, and his trial is scheduled to begin June 20.  Joseph Fitzpatrick, a spokesman for the U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois, declined to comment on the court filing. Reynolds was arrested by U.S. marshals last month at an Atlanta airport for violating the conditions of his pretrial release after he arrived from South Africa. Reynolds pleaded not guilty in July to misdemeanor charges of failing to file income tax returns for 2009 through 2012. He was indicted in June and faces up to a year in prison and a $250,000 fine for each of the four counts against him. A Rhodes scholar and one-time promising star of the Democratic Party, Reynolds was first elected to Congress in 1992. In August of 1994, he was indicted for having a relationship with a 16-year-old campaign worker but was re-elected in 1994 in his Chicago district without opposition. The case ended with a conviction on sexual assault and child pornography charges in 1995 and Reynolds resigned. Before his scheduled release from prison in 1997, Reynolds was convicted of bank fraud and misusing campaign funds for personal use and sentenced to serve additional time. He was released in 2001. Reynolds tried politics again but in 2013 lost a bid for the U.S. House of Representatives seat of Jesse Jackson Jr., who had resigned before pleading guilty to fraud charges.

Summary: इलिनोइस के पूर्व सांसद ने कर मामले में दोषी ठहराने का अनुरोध किया


LUANDA (Reuters) - Angola s first new president in almost four decades vowed to rebuild an economy devastated by falling oil prices and fight corruption at his inauguration on Tuesday. Jo o Louren o told thousands of supporters in Luanda he would also tackle gaping inequality in Africa s second largest oil producer - though analysts have already raised doubts about his ability to make far-reaching change.  No one is so rich and powerful that they cannot be punished and no one is so poor that they cannot be protected,  he said to loud applause. In a 45-minute speech, Louren o said he would strive to bring in reforms covering gender equality, the freedom of the press, private enterprise and public health.     Former president Jose Eduardo dos Santos remains head of the ruling MPLA party, giving the veteran leader influence over key policy decisions. Any serious attempt to transform the country could put Louren o on a collision course with senior party figures and powerful interest groups. Angola s economy fell into recession last year, while unemployment is officially over 20 percent and a shortage of foreign currency has forced firms to pull back operations. Louren o said he would work to reduce state intervention in the economy and give free enterprise the space and support to thrive. He has previously said he does not rule out negotiating a deal with the International Monetary Fund or World Bank to help rebuild an economy heavily reliant on oil.  There are enormous challenges before us ... We call on the help of everyone on this difficult journey,  he said.

Summary: 38 वर्षों में अंगोला के पहले नए राष्ट्रपति ने भ्रष्टाचार से लड़ने का संकल्प लिया


MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - Donald Trump’s proposal to force Mexico to pay for his planned border wall by threatening to block remittances from illegal immigrants would be a major violation of Mexicans’ rights, Mexico’s central bank governor said on Tuesday. The Republican presidential hopeful’s campaign said last week that if elected in November, Trump would use a U.S. anti-terrorism law to cut off such money transfers unless Mexico made a one-time payment of $5 billion to $10 billion for the wall. However, speaking in Mexico’s Congress, Mexican Central Bank Governor Agustin Carstens dismissed the idea. “The remittances are the property of the people that make them, and they have every right to be able to carry out international transfers,” Carstens told reporters. “So it would be a serious violation of the property rights of our fellow citizens abroad, and this measure would be completely unjust.”

Summary: ट्रम्प की प्रेषण योजना मैक्सिकन अधिकारों का उल्लंघन करेगीः मेक्सिको सेनबैंक


WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A radio broadcaster accused U.S. Senator Al Franken on Thursday of touching her breasts while she slept and forcing a kiss on her in 2006 when he was still a comedian and the two were preparing to perform before U.S. troops in the Middle East. Anchor Leeann Tweeden related her experience in a first-person account on the website of Los Angeles station KABC amid outrage over numerous reports of sexual misconduct by powerful men from Hollywood to Capitol Hill.  Franken, a Democrat, issued an apology on Thursday. The Senate’s Democratic and Republican leaders called on the Ethics Committee to review the allegations and Franken said he would cooperate. Tweeden said Franken wrote a skit that included a kiss between the two and said he insisted upon rehearsing it, which she at first resisted. “He repeated that actors really need to rehearse everything and that we must practice the kiss. I said ‘OK’ so he would stop badgering me,” she wrote. “We did the line leading up to the kiss and then he came at me, put his hand on the back of my head, mashed his lips against mine and aggressively stuck his tongue in my mouth.” She said she pushed Franken away but felt disgusted and violated. Tweeden also said Franken groped her while she slept during their flight home on a military plane. “I felt violated all over again. Embarrassed. Belittled. Humiliated,” Tweeden wrote. “How dare anyone grab my breasts like this and think it’s funny?” She posted a photo taken at the time of Franken mugging for the camera with his hands above her breasts as she sat in the military aircraft wearing a flak jacket with eyes closed.   “I certainly don’t remember the rehearsal for the skit in the same way, but I send my sincerest apologies to Leeann. As to the photo, it was clearly intended to be funny but wasn’t. I shouldn’t have done it,” Franken said in a statement. Reuters was unable to independently verify Tweeden or Franken’s accounts.     She told reporters in a later press conference that she considered the kiss an assault but accepted his apology. “The apology? Sure, I accept it,” she said. “People make mistakes and of course he knew he made a mistake.” U.S. President Donald Trump weighed in on Twitter, calling the photo “really bad.” “And to think that just last week he (Franken) was lecturing anyone who would listen about sexual harassment and respect for women,” Trump tweeted. Trump himself came under fire last year over alleged sexual misconduct after a decade-old outtake from his appearance on the television program “Access Hollywood” surfaced during the presidential campaign, in which Trump bragged about kissing and grabbing women without their consent. Trump later apologized for the “Access Hollywood” comments, which he called “locker room talk.” He told reporters last month that allegations of sexual assault and misconduct leveled at him before the election by several women were “made-up stuff.” Franken, in a longer statement issued after his first apology, was more contrite. “I don’t know what was in my head when I took that picture, and it doesn’t matter. There’s no excuse. I look at it now and I feel disgusted with myself. It isn’t funny. It’s completely inappropriate,” he said.  The USO, which sponsored the tour on which Franken and Tweeden traveled, said it was never aware of the incident. “This incident was never reported to the USO,” USO spokeswoman Ashley McLellan said in an email. “We have no knowledge of it. The report is deeply disturbing and does not reflect the values of the USO.”  Franken was a well-known American comedian before he was elected to the U.S. Senate in 2008 as a Democrat from Minnesota. Sexual misconduct allegations have been lodged against several well-known men in the entertainment industry, and Roy Moore, a Republican U.S. Senate candidate in Alabama, has been accused of having sexual contact with teenage girls decades ago. Moore, 70, has denied the accusations and said he was the victim of a political witch hunt.  Trump on Thursday said Moore should step aside if sexual misconduct allegations against him are true, a stance that puts him at odds with other Republican leaders in Washington who have said they believe the women making the accusations against the former Alabama Supreme Court chief justice and have demanded that Moore withdraw from the race ahead of the Dec. 12 vote. Lawmakers this week shared stories of women and men being propositioned and groped in the halls of the U.S. Capitol as Congress reviewed sexual harassment policies.   Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell and Democratic leader Chuck Schumer agreed the Ethics Committee should investigate. Franken also called for an ethics investigation. “It appears that the Senate is looking into that, which they should, and we feel that is an appropriate action,” White House spokeswoman Sarah Sanders said on Thursday when asked about the allegations against Franken. Franken’s Democratic Senate colleagues Clare McCaskill and Kirsten Gillibrand both expressed deep concern about the allegations. “The behavior described is completely unacceptable. Comedy is no excuse for inappropriate conduct, and I believe there should be an ethics investigation,” McCaskill wrote on Twitter. Former Republican vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin, asked about Alabama Senate candidate Moore, said reporters should be asking her instead about Franken and called up the photograph on her phone. “This is what you should be asking me about,” Palin said, as she talked to reporters in the U.S. Capitol, complaining about “double standards here.” She added Franken should leave the Senate if the account is true. Tweeden said she was inspired to tell her story by women members of Congress who spoke up against harassment this week. “I’m telling my story because there may be others,” she said.

Summary: महिला ने सीनेटर अल फ्रैंकन पर अवांछित स्पर्श और चुंबन का आरोप लगाया


LONDON (Reuters) - A Briton kidnapped in Nigeria last month has been killed with three others released after negotiations, Britain s Foreign Office said on Monday. The four Britons were taken hostage three weeks ago and although the British High Commission, with help from the Nigerian authorities secured the release of three of them, Ian Squire was killed, the Foreign Office (FCO) said in a statement. It said it was unable to give further details because of an ongoing investigation by the Nigerian authorities  We are supporting the families of four British people who were abducted on October 13 in Nigeria, one of whom was tragically killed,  the statement said.  This has clearly been a traumatic time for all concerned, and our staff will continue to do all we can to support the families.  A statement from the families of Squire and the other hostages, Alanna Carson, David Donovan and Shirley Donovan, said the last three weeks had been traumatic for the relatives and friends of those involved.  We are delighted and relieved that Alanna, David and Shirley have returned home safely. Our thoughts are now with the family and friends of Ian as we come to terms with his sad death,  their statement said.

Summary: ब्रिटेन का कहना है कि पिछले महीने नाइजीरिया में अपहृत ब्रिटिश नागरिक की हत्या कर दी गई, तीन अन्य को रिहा कर दिया गया


WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Donald Trump will ask Chancellor Angela Merkel for advice on how to deal with Russian President Vladimir Putin, U.S. officials said on Friday, as the U.S. and German leaders meet next week after sometimes pointed disagreements in recent months. Merkel will visit the White House on Tuesday for talks with Trump and a joint news conference in what will be their first face-to-face meeting since the new U.S. president took power on Jan. 20. They are expected to discuss Germany’s level of defense spending for the NATO alliance, the Ukraine conflict, Syrian refugees, the European Union and a host of other issues, said three senior Trump administration officials who briefed reporters.   During the 2016 U.S. presidential campaign, Trump regularly criticized Merkel for her open-door refugee policy, contrasting it with what he promised would be tighter controls in the United States if he won office. Merkel has been a leading critic of Trump’s effort to ban travelers temporarily from seven Muslim-majority nations, a list that has since been pared back to six. “My expectation is that they’ll have a very positive, cordial meeting,” said one of the officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity. Trump has long expressed desire for warmer U.S. relations with Russia but some of his top Cabinet officials are skeptical. “The president will be very interested in hearing the chancellor’s views on her experience interacting with Putin,” said another official. “He’s going to be very interested in hearing her insights on what it’s like to deal with the Russians.” Trump will also ask for Merkel’s advice on what role the United States can most helpfully play in ongoing diplomatic efforts to resolve the conflict in eastern Ukraine, which has pitted Ukrainian forces against Russian-backed separatists. The officials described Trump as impressed by Merkel’s leadership, particularly in Germany’s role alongside France in seeking peace in Ukraine, and on Afghanistan. Trump has been critical of NATO allies who he says do not pay their fair share, and the officials said he would raise with Merkel the need for Germany to increase its defense spending as he tries to rally European allies to contribute more to NATO. Germany should be “leading by example” on increasing contributions to NATO, one official said. “We are heartened by the German government’s determination to reach NATO’s benchmark of committing 2 percent of GDP to defense by 2024,” the official said. “The president believes that all allies must shoulder their share of the defense burden,” the official said.

Summary: पुतिन, यूक्रेन पर मर्केल से सलाह लेंगे ट्रम्पः अमेरिकी अधिकारी