WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Senate panel tasked with vetting Andrew Puzder to head the Labor Department has postponed its tentative plans to hold his confirmation hearing yet again, a move that some political strategists say could signal trouble for the fast-food executive. An aide for the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions said on Tuesday that the panel will not “officially” schedule a hearing “until the committee has received his paperwork from the Office of Government Ethics.” The committee had planned to hold Puzder’s hearing on Feb. 7. Prior to that, the committee eyed three other possible hearing dates. Puzder, who is the CEO of CKE Restaurants, is one of several  of President Donald Trump’s nominees who has faced particularly strong opposition from Senate Democrats and progressive groups. His nomination sparked protests by some CKE fast-food workers and the union-backed “Fight for $15” movement to raise the minimum wage to $15 an hour. George Thompson, a spokesman for Puzder, said Democrats and special interest groups were “obstructing President Trump’s nominees” and that Puzder is “a proven job creator.” Puzder has criticized an overtime rule championed by the Obama administration and opposes raising the minimum wage to $15 an hour. Last week, workers at franchised locations of Carl’s Jr. and Hardee’s, which are part of CKE’s restaurant portfolio, filed a range of complaints, alleging wage theft and harassment, among other things. Additionally, some of CKE’s racy advertisements featuring women in bikinis have caused Democrats to ask questions about how Puzder will address sexual harassment in the workplace. “I like our ads. I like beautiful women eating burgers in bikinis,” he was quoted as saying in a 2015 article in Entrepreneur magazine. He added that those ads “did take on my personality.” Experts say the repeated postponement of Puzder’s hearing and the delays over his ethics paperwork since he was first nominated on Dec. 8 are unusual and could be a sign of problems. “It is a likely sign that the vetting is turning up problems and they are trying to figure out how to deal with them,” said Matthew Miller, a partner at the crisis management firm Vianovo. The new delays come on the same day that the same committee voted along party lines to advance Betsy DeVos’ nomination as  education secretary to the full Senate floor. On another Senate panel, meanwhile, Democrats boycotted confirmation votes for Treasury Secretary-nominee Steve Mnuchin and Health and Human Services Secretary-nominee Tom Price.

Summary: अमेरिकी सीनेट पैनल ने लेबर उम्मीदवार पुजडर के लिए सुनवाई को फिर से स्थगित कर दिया


WASHINGTON/AMMAN (Reuters) - A Pentagon-backed rebel group and the U.S.-led coalition fighting Islamic State killed more than 20 Islamic State fighters and detained a number of militants in the southern Syrian desert near a base, the coalition said on Thursday.  In a statement, the coalition said the Maghawir al Thawra, the rebel group, and the coalition detected a convoy near at-Tanf, near the Syrian border with Jordan and Iraq, early on Wednesday and carried out an operation  to prevent their further incursion.   Despite the presence of Russian-backed, pro-Syrian regime forces in the area, Daesh still finds ways to move freely through regime lines and pose a threat,  Brigadier General Jonathan Braga, the director of operation for the coalition, said, using an Arabic acronym for Islamic State.  A U.S. official, speaking on the condition of anonymity, said the convoy had come within the established 55 km (34 miles) around the Tanf base, where U.S. special forces operate. Another U.S. official said more than a dozen militants had been captured by the rebel group.  The statement added that Islamic State militants have been moving freely through areas controlled by pro-Syrian regime forces.   This is the second time this month small groups and convoys of Daesh are moving from the eastern areas of Syria toward the southern area through areas controlled by the regime, the Russians and Shi ite militias,  Colonel Muhanad al Talaa, commander of Maghawir al Thawra told Reuters.  There are Daesh convoys that are moving and that the regime and the Russians are not seeing them, this is a matter that is strange,  Talaa said.

Summary: सीरिया में इस्लामिक स्टेट के 20 से अधिक आतंकवादी मारे गएः U.S.-led गठबंधन


BRASILIA (Reuters) - A leniency deal struck between the controlling shareholders of Brazilian meatpacker JBS SA and prosecutors may be partially revoked, threatening witnesses  immunity but keeping their testimony, the country s top prosecutor said on Monday. Prosecutor General Rodrigo Janot said at a news conference that billionaire meat tycoon Joesley Batista and a fellow state s witness seemed to have inadvertently recorded a four-hour conversation discussing crimes not covered in their plea bargain. The audio was submitted to prosecutors on Thursday as an attachment to an unrelated matter, he said. Joesley Batista and his brother Wesley previously confessed to bribing scores of politicians in plea bargain testimony that allowed them to avoid prosecution. With their help, prosecutors got a recording of President Michel Temer apparently endorsing hush payments to a possible witness in a graft probe. Janot said the new audio was  very troubling  because it suggested the Batistas had not been forthcoming about all of their crimes. He also said the audio implicated someone at the Supreme Court of unspecified wrongdoing and suggested that a prosecutor in his office had aided the Batistas illegally. Janot said evidence from their plea bargain testimony, which he has used to bring corruption charges against Temer, will stand regardless of whether witnesses lose immunity after an investigation of the new audio. The prosecutor general is expected to bring a second wave of charges against Temer in coming weeks. Questions about the Batistas  testimony are likely to hang over the charges against Temer, making it easier for members of Congress to prevent the president from facing trial at the Supreme Court, as they did with earlier charges. Temer declined to comment on the matter when asked by reporters in China. J&F Investimentos SA, the holding company through which the Batista family controls JBS, said Janot had hastily interpreted the recording, which contained  considerations of hypotheses  and did not compromise the good faith of the witnesses. The company agreed in May to pay a leniency fine of 10.3 billion reais ($3.3 billion) for its role in a political bribery scheme. Since then, Joesley Batista resigned as chairman of JBS, but his brother Wesley remains chief executive and has been fighting efforts to remove him led by state development bank BNDES, another major shareholder in the world s largest meatpacker. Janot opened an investigation on Monday into revising the leniency deals of Joesley Batista and two other J&F executives, according to a document on his office s website. Since the plea deal, J&F has been racing to sell assets in order to reduce debt and pay the leniency fine. In three months, the holding company has signed agreements to sell Havaianas flip-flops maker Alpargatas SA, dairy company Vigor Alimentos SA and pulpmaker Eldorado Brasil Celulose SA. ($1 = 3.1409 reais)

Summary: ब्राजील के अभियोजक का कहना है कि नया ऑडियो बतिस्ता उदारता सौदे के लिए खतरा है


SEOUL (Reuters) - In response to Pyongyang s nuclear test on Sept. 3, its most powerful to date, some countries have announced they have expelled the North Korean ambassador accredited to their capitals.  Despite North Korea s increasing isolation as it continues to violate international sanctions, the impoverished state still has 49 overseas missions, and diplomatic relations with 160 countries, according to South Korea s Unification Ministry. Beyond its largest missions in Moscow and Beijing, North Korea also has major embassies in London, Rome, Stockholm, and Berlin, as well as dozens of smaller embassies across Africa and Asia. Following is a list of those countries that have expelled North Korean diplomats following Pyongyang s sixth nuclear test: SPAIN, September 18, 2017 - The Spanish foreign ministry asked North Korean ambassador Kim Hyok Chol to leave the country by September 30 citing his country s repeated refusals to renounce its nuclear weapons program. KUWAIT, September 17, 2017  - Kuwait said it has ordered North Korean ambassador So Chang Sik and four other diplomats to leave within a month as the country downgraded diplomatic relations with Pyongyang. North Korea s Embassy in Kuwait City has served as the only diplomatic station in the Gulf region for North Korea. PERU, September 11, 2017 - Peru s government announced it was giving North Korean ambassador Kim Hak Chol five days to leave the country in retaliation over North Korea s sixth nuclear test. MEXICO, September 7, 2017 - Mexico declared North Korean ambassador Kim Hyong Gil was  persona non grata  and was to leave the country within 72 hours in protest at the North s sixth nuclear test, citing that it was a  flagrant violation  of international law and U.N. Security Council resolutions. The only country to have completely ended diplomatic relations with Pyongyang in recent years was Botswana, which severed ties after a United Nations investigation revealed extensive and widespread human rights abuses in North Korea. The following countries with which North Korea has diplomatic relations have not expelled ambassadors, but have scaled back ties: EGYPT, September 12, 2017 - Cairo said it was cutting military ties with North Korea. Pak Chun Il, North Korea s sitting ambassador to the country, was blacklisted by the United Nations on November 30, 2016 in response to Pyongyang s fifth nuclear test that September.  PHILIPPINES, September 8, 2017 - Manila s foreign ministry said it had suspended trade relations with North Korea to comply with U.N. Security Council resolutions over the North s repeated missile tests. UGANDA, May 29, 2016 - Kampala said it has halted all military and security ties with Pyongyang in May last year following extended cooperation with North Korea in police training and regular military training for the Ugandan armed forces.

Summary: फैक्टबॉक्सः जिन देशों ने परमाणु परीक्षण के बाद उत्तर कोरिया के राजदूतों को निष्कासित किया है


WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The top Democrat on the Senate Judiciary Committee has asked four foreign policy advisers to Donald Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign for documents about their contacts with Russians and discussions about Russia. Senator Dianne Feinstein on Tuesday sent letters to former Trump campaign advisers Carter Page, Sam Clovis, J.D. Gordon, and Walid Phares asking them for a range of materials about their contacts with Russians, as well as with each other and other Trump campaign advisers. Feinstein also asked some of the advisers to turn over any documents they have related to efforts to obtain or share “hacked” emails or other electronic data belonging to Democrat Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign, Clinton herself, Clinton campaign chairman John Podesta and the Democratic National Committee. She asked Gordon about efforts during the 2016 Republican presidential convention in Cleveland to soften proposed party platform language related to Russia and Ukraine.  Convention delegate Diana Denman told Reuters in August 2016 she had proposed platform language urging the United States to provide “lethal defensive weapons” to Ukraine’s armed forces, but that Gordon told her he was going to speak to Trump about her proposal, which was not added to the platform.   In an email to Reuters on Wednesday, Gordon said, “I’m always glad to clear up popular misconceptions, myths and blatant falsehoods surrounding all things Trump-Russia, like I’ve already done with other congressional committees. I look forward to a valuable exchange of information with the Senate Judiciary Committee, as well.” In her letter to Phares, Feinstein said she was interested in a meeting that he, Gordon, and Page allegedly held during the Cleveland convention with Sergei Kislyak, then Russia’s ambassador to the United States.  An aide to Phares said he maintains that Kislyak “was just one of many foreign diplomats present in the audience at a panel discussion” and that such an event “cannot fairly be described as a meeting with Russian officials.” Feinstein asked Page to turn over documents on trips he took to Russia in July and December 2016.   In an email on Wednesday, Page said: “I hope if they can be somewhat reasonable in terms of supporting my efforts to deliver all of this domestic political intelligence to them down in the DC swamp, I’ll be happy to help with this latest tranche of irrelevant Witch Hunt information.”  A lawyer for Clovis did not immediately respond to a request for comment.   Feinstein is cooperating with Republican Judiciary Chairman Senator Chuck Grassley on some but not all aspects of the committee’s investigation of Trump-Russia allegations.

Summary: सीनेट डेमोक्रेट ने रूस से संपर्क के लिए ट्रम्प के अभियान सलाहकारों पर दबाव डाला


NEW YORK (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump is using money donated to his re-election campaign and the Republican National Committee to pay for his lawyers in the probe of alleged Russian interference in the U.S. election, two people familiar with the matter told Reuters. Following Reuters exclusive report on Tuesday, CNN reported that the Republican National Committee paid in August more than $230,000 to cover some of Trump’s legal fees related to the  probe.  RNC spokesperson Cassie Smedile confirmed to Reuters that Trump’s lead lawyer, John Dowd, received $100,000 from the RNC and that the RNC also paid $131,250 to the Constitutional Litigation and Advocacy Group, the law firm where Jay Sekulow, another of Trump’s lawyers, is a partner. The RNC is scheduled to disclose its August spending on Wednesday. The Trump campaign is due for a disclosure on Oct. 15. The U.S. Federal Election Commission allows the use of private campaign funds to pay legal bills arising from being a candidate or elected official.  While previous presidential campaigns have used these funds to pay for routine legal matters such as ballot access disputes and compliance requirements, Trump would be the first U.S. president in the modern campaign finance era to use such funds to cover the costs of responding to a criminal probe, said election law experts. Smedile said the RNC payments to Trump’s lawyers were “from a pre-existing legal proceedings account and do not reduce by a dime the resources we can put towards our political work.”  It was not clear how Trump’s legal costs related to the Russia probe would be allocated between the campaign and the RNC, one of the sources said.  Dowd declined to say how the president’s legal bills were being paid, adding: “That’s none of your business.”  Special counsel Robert Mueller is looking at possible collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia in last year’s election, and whether Trump may have obstructed justice by firing Federal Bureau of Investigation Director James Comey, among other actions.  Moscow has denied meddling in the U.S. election, and Trump has denied any collusion or obstruction. Reuters could not determine how large a legal bill Trump has incurred to date from his lawyers on the Mueller investigation. Trump hired his longtime New York lawyer Marc Kasowitz to head his defense team in May, but Kasowitz stepped down in July, with Dowd taking over the lead role, according to people familiar with the situation. Special White House counsel Ty Cobb, who is a salaried staff member, is also working on the matter.  The Trump campaign has paid law firm Jones Day almost $4 million, according to campaign filings, mostly for routine campaign legal expenses like ballot access disputes, vendor contracts, human resources and compliance with state and federal laws. It has also responded to Russia-related inquiries on behalf of the campaign by, for example, providing documents to Congress. The reason Trump is able to tap into his campaign funds for legal expenses is because for the past decade, presidential candidates have abandoned public financing for their campaigns. Instead, they have built networks that collect millions of dollars from private donors, a move that comes with less restrictions on how the money is spent. Barack Obama in 2008 was the first to eschew public financing for his campaign, and all the major-party candidates followed suit in 2012 and 2016, campaign filings show. Trump also filed for reelection the day he took office in January, two years earlier than any previous president, ensuring a fund of millions in campaign cash would remain at his disposal. According to its most recent filing to the Federal Election Commission, Donald J. Trump for President Inc had almost $12 million on hand by the end of June, an increase of over $4 million since January. Adav Noti, a senior director at the Campaign Legal Center, a watchdog group that describes itself as nonpartisan, said public campaign funds - as opposed to the private funds Trump has raised - cannot generally be used for expenses arising from criminal investigations, or for any expenses that arise after the campaign is over. President Bill Clinton, who ran two publicly funded campaigns, had supporters start legal defense funds and used his own insurance to help pay legal bills during the Whitewater investigation. He still wound up with millions of dollars in personal debt which he paid off through speaking fees he earned once he left office. Hillary Clinton, who ran a privately funded campaign, paid millions to campaign lawyers at Perkins Coie to handle routine legal matters, according to campaign filings. Her campaign made no payments to the Washington law firm Williams & Connolly, which represented her in the probes of her use of a private email server when she was U.S. Secretary of State.  Her lawyer, David Kendall of Williams & Connolly, declined to comment on how he was paid. Campaigns also have discretion to pay legal fees for others besides the president.  According to a July filing, the Trump campaign paid $50,000 to the law firm of Alan Futerfas, who is representing Donald Trump Jr. Futerfas did not respond for requests for comment.  A number of other current and former Trump staffers have also recently hired lawyers.

Summary: रूस की जांच से कानूनी बिलों का भुगतान करने के लिए ट्रम्प अभियान, आरएनसी फंड का उपयोग कर रहे हैंः सूत्र


ISTANBUL (Reuters) - Thousands of Turkish volunteers are ready to fight in Kirkuk and other Iraqi cities to defend the country s Turkmen population, the head of Turkey s nationalist opposition said on Wednesday. Devlet Bahceli said the minority Turkmen, who have close ethnic ties to Turkey, would not be abandoned in Kirkuk.  The city, home to Kurds, Arabs and Turkmens, has been controlled by Kurdish peshmerga fighters since 2014 and Kurdish authorities included it in this week s referendum for Kurdish independence in northern Iraq, angering the Baghdad government. On Wednesday Iraq s parliament asked Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi to send troops to take control of Kirkuk s oilfields, raising the possibility of military confrontation.  At least 5,000 nationalist volunteers are ready and waiting to join the fight of existence, unity and peace in the Turkish cities where Turkmens live, notably Kirkuk,  Bahceli, the head of Turkey s Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) said in a statement on the party s website.  The Turkmens are not unprotected and alone. They will never be abandoned to painful ethnic genocide and statelessness. Our decision is definite, our position is clear, our word is our bond,  Bahceli said. Bahceli s party is not in government and does not set policy, but its staunchly nationalist agenda reflects the views of a segment of Turkish society which fiercely opposes the idea of an independent Kurdistan and supports Iraq s Turkmens. Turkey has the largest Kurdish population in the region and fears that the referendum in northern Iraq will fuel separatism in its southeast where Kurdish PKK fighters have waged an insurgency for three decades. Turkey s Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu also warned this week that Ankara would intervene militarily if the Turkmen population in Iraq was targeted.

Summary: तुर्की के राष्ट्रवादी नेता का कहना है कि हजारों लोग इराक तुर्कमेन के लिए लड़ने के लिए तैयार हैं


MOSCOW (Reuters) - The Kremlin on Wednesday dismissed allegations Russia had hacked Democratic Party emails as “horror stories” dreamt up by U.S. politicians, saying it never interfered in other countries’ election campaigns. “Moscow is at pains to avoid any words that could be interpreted as direct or indirect interference in the election process,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told a conference call with reporters. “... We see that the Russian card is in the red corner on the writing table of all Washington politicians during the election campaign, and that very often they make it a trump card in their game.” Peskov was responding after U.S. President Barack Obama in an interview with NBC News said it was possible Russia would try to influence the U.S. presidential election after a leak of Democratic National Committee emails that experts have blamed on Russian hackers. “This reminds me of a company where they tell each other horror stories and then start being frightened of their own stories,” said Peskov. The Kremlin on Tuesday said unidentified individuals in the United States were trying to cynically exploit fear of Russia for electoral purposes.

Summary: क्रेमलिन का कहना है कि उसने यू. एस. डेमोक्रेटिक पार्टी को 'मनगढ़ंत डरावनी कहानियों' से हैक किया


WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Unlocking an iPhone used by one of the San Bernardino shooters would leave hundreds of millions of Apple Inc (AAPL.O) device owners vulnerable to cybercriminals and other hackers, the company’s top lawyer is expected to tell U.S. lawmakers on Tuesday. In written testimony to the U.S. House of Representatives Judiciary Committee released on Monday, Apple General Counsel Bruce Sewell reiterated the tech giant’s stance that the FBI’s request to help access the phone “would set a dangerous precedent for government intrusion on the privacy and safety of its citizens.”

Summary: एप्पल ने कांग्रेस से कहा, आईफोन को बंद करने से लाखों लोगों की जान जाएगी


WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States has filed a lawsuit against DynCorp International Inc alleging that it submitted inflated claims in connection with a U.S. government contract to train Iraqi police forces, the Justice Department said on Tuesday. The suit, filed in U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, alleges that DynCorp knowingly allowed one of its subcontractors to charge excessive rates for hotels, translator, security guard and driving services, and overhead expenses, and included these charges in claims it submitted under the State Department contract, the Justice Department said in a statement.

Summary: इराक अनुबंध को लेकर अमेरिका ने डायनकॉर्प इंटरनेशनल के खिलाफ मुकदमा दायर किया


BERLIN (Reuters) - Germany will have no choice but to restrict its economic ties with Turkey to pressure its NATO partner into releasing German citizens it imprisoned on political grounds, Chancellor Angela Merkel said in remarks published on Saturday. Relations between the two countries are strained by Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan s crackdown on opponents after a failed coup last year. Germany and its partners in the European Union say the crackdown undermines democracy. Turkey and Germany are also at odds over Berlin s refusal to extradite asylum seekers Erdogan accuses of involvement in the botched coup against him.  We will have to further cut back our joint economic cooperation with Turkey and scrutinize projects,  Merkel told the Passauer Neuen Presse newspaper in an interview when asked how she wants to secure the release of Germans held in Turkey. The simmering tensions have seeped into campaigning for a federal election in Germany, especially after Erdogan urged German Turks to boycott the main parties in the vote on Sept. 24. Home to some 3 million people of Turkish descent, Germany has traditionally had good relations with Turkey, which is also a major trade partner and tourist destination for German sun-seekers. German officials have been enraged by Turkey s arrest of around a dozen German citizens, including the German-Turkish journalist Deniz Yucel, who has been held for more than 200 days. Merkel, whose conservatives are expected to win the election and secure her a fourth term in office, said on Tuesday Germany would restrict some arms sales to Turkey. Foreign Minister Sigmar Gabriel of the center-left Social Democrats (SPD) who are trailing the conservatives in opinion polls, had earlier said that all major arms exports to Turkey had been put on hold. Merkel said during a televised debate earlier this month that Turkey should not become a member of the European Union - Turkey s largest trading partner with which it has a customs union. She said she would talk to Germany s EU partners to reach a compromise on ending Turkey s accession talks with the bloc.

Summary: गिरफ्तारी को लेकर मर्केल ने तुर्की के साथ व्यापार को प्रतिबंधित करने का संकल्प लिया


Berlin (Reuters) - An Iraqi man preacher accused of recruiting fighters for Islamic State in Syria and Iraq, including two believed to have killed more than 150 Iraqi soldiers in suicide bombings, went on trial in a German court on Wednesday. Four alleged members of the Islamist network he had set up also stood trial. Prosecutors say the 33-year-old preacher, identified as Ahmad Abdulaziz Abdullah A. in court documents, recruited at least seven individuals who ended up traveling to the Middle East where they fought alongside Islamic State militants. Two died in two separate suicide bombing attacks against Iraqi army positions in 2015 in which more than 150 soldiers were killed, prosecutors said. The two recruits, identified as Mark and Kevin K, joined Islamic State in 2014.  The main suspect, known by the nickname Abu Walaa, which in Arabic means Father of Loyalty, and the four others   a Turk, a German, a Serbian-German dual citizen and a national of Cameroon   were arrested in November in raids in the states of Lower Saxony and North-Rhine Westphalia. They have been held in custody since then. The defendants have chosen to remain silent during the trial. The men had held religious lessons during which potential recruits were handed radical Islamic material, prosecutors said. Prosecutors believe Abu Walaa preached at the Fussilet Mosque in Berlin, which was attended by a failed asylum seeker who killed 12 people at a Christmas market in the German capital last year.  The federal prosecutor essentially accused the suspects of being members of and supporting a foreign terrorist organization,  a spokeswoman for the Higher Regional Court in the northern city of Celle said. Michael Murat Sertoez, a lawyer for one of the suspects, said:  There will be a lot of protected witnesses who will testify and that is not acceptable for us .

Summary: जर्मनी में इस्लामिक स्टेट के कथित भर्तीकर्ता पर मुकदमा चलाया जा रहा है


PANAMA CITY (Reuters) - Panama s government will send an immigration and security delegation to China, the country s president said on Tuesday, as part of the lifting of visa restrictions for Chinese visitors.  Chinese visitors to Panama will now need an electronic visa stamped in a consulate instead of a restricted visa obtained through a lawyer to visit the country, part of measures the government hopes will promote tourism and investment.   The security and migration delegation will travel to China for the opening of the Panamanian consulate, though there was no exact date yet, said President Juan Carlos Varela. In June, Panama established diplomatic ties with China, breaking with self-ruled Taiwan in a major victory for Beijing, the second most important customer of its key shipping canal.

Summary: वीजा सीमा हटने के बाद चीन भेजेगा पनामा का राजदूत


MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - Mexico s Senate on Friday named the country s new top prosecutor for election-related crimes, after the official previously in the post was fired amid a graft scandal involving a close former aide of President Enrique Pena Nieto. Hector Marcos Diaz, a lawyer and academic with a long career in Mexico s electoral bodies, was approved as the newest prosecutor for electoral crimes with 92 senators  votes, the Senate said in a statement.    The previous incumbent, Santiago Nieto, was fired by Mexico s acting attorney general in October on the grounds that he broke a code of conduct for officials.   Nieto had given a newspaper interview in which he accused Emilio Lozoya, the former boss of state oil firm Pemex and a senior member of the president s 2012 campaign team, of writing to him to ask that he be declared innocent of funneling cash from Brazilian construction firm Odebrecht into Pena Nieto s campaign. Odebrecht is at the heart of a Brazilian bribery and kickback probe, known as Lava Jato or Car Wash, that has reverberated across Latin America. The ruling Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI) has been trying to shake a reputation for graft that threatens to undermine the party s efforts to stay in power in next July s presidential election. The firing of Nieto was widely seen as a setback to those efforts.  The PRI has overseen the arrest of various former state governors, but Lozoya poses a more difficult challenge, given his proximity to the president. Both Pena Nieto and Lozoya have denied involvement in any wrongdoing related to the 2012 campaign.

Summary: मेक्सिको की सीनेट ने भ्रष्टाचार के विवाद के बीच नए चुनावी अभियोजक का चयन किया


FORT WORTH, Texas (Reuters) - The widow of a slain Navy SEAL whose story was turned into the hit movie “American Sniper” has become a prominent figure in Fort Worth Republican politics even though her name does not appear on Tuesday’s primary ballot. Taya Kyle, the wife of Chris Kyle, is campaign treasurer for a Republican opponent of longtime Tarrant County Sheriff Dee Anderson, the lawman seen as the face of the manhunt for “affluenza” teen Ethan Couch. Kyle is also in a dispute with her late husband’s former business partner Bo French, who is running as a Republican for a Texas House of Representatives seat from the same county.  Lawyers for Kyle sent a cease-and-desist letter to the French camp last week calling on it to stop using her husband’s name and likeness in campaign materials. “Bo (is) abusing the name of my late husband, a beloved Son of Texas, and a hero to the nation, in an attempt to manipulate voters,” Kyle said in a statement on social media. She did not respond to requests to speak about her political activism. “Her experience with public exposure and scrutiny has taught her not to let her guard down,” said Republican political strategist Bill Miller. “She’s become a very formidable woman.” Chris and Taya Kyle have become stars of the state’s Republican establishment, with Governor Greg Abbott setting up a day to honor the memory of Chris Kyle, who was killed in 2013 by a troubled veteran he was trying to mentor.  Taya Kyle last year endorsed former Governor Rick Perry in his unsuccessful bid for the Republican presidential nomination. She now endorses U.S. Senator Ted Cruz of Texas.  In the sheriff’s race, she may be the difference in the campaign of Bill Waybourn, a former suburban Fort Worth police chief, analysts said. Waybourn, backed by the conservative Tea Party movement, is challenging Anderson, a fellow Republican, who gained national attention in calling for the apprehension of Couch. The teen, whose lawyer said his wealth distorted his moral compass, fled to Mexico in December apparently to avoid apprehension for violating the probation deal that kept him out of jail for a drunken driving wreck in 2013 that killed four people. Kyle, 41, has not indicated any intention to seek elective office, but analysts said that should not be ruled out. “Once someone gets involved and gets their hands wet in politics, it’s hard to get out,” Miller said.

Summary: टेक्सास की रिपब्लिकन राजनीति में 'अमेरिकन स्नाइपर' की पत्नी ने मचाई धूम


WARSAW (Reuters) - Poland wants to be sure that Christian traditions are not subject to  ideological censorship  in the European Union, Prime Minister Beata Szydlo said on Thursday, emphasizing her party s opposition to Muslim immigration. Along with Hungary, Poland has refused to take in any of its quota of the wave of refugees from Syria and elsewhere who have come to Europe since 2015, on the grounds that Muslim immigrants are a threat to their national security and stability. Szydlo s eurosceptic Law and Justice (PiS) party appeals directly to the more socially conservative sections of Poland s overwhelmingly Roman Catholic population. In a foreign policy speech marking the midpoint of the parliamentary term, Szydlo said Christians in Europe should not need to feel uncomfortable or ashamed about their faith and traditions.  We are in favor of (an EU) where Christian traditions are not subject to ideological censorship,  she told a conference organized by the Polish Institute of International Affairs. Opinion polls in Poland - one of the most ethnically and religiously homogenous countries in Europe - indicate that about three-quarters of Poles are against accepting refugees.     Apart from refusing its quota, Szydlo s government has triggered a series of disputes with the EU executive, the European Commission, over policies that Brussels says undermine democracy and the rule of law. In a veiled criticism of France and Germany, the traditional motors of EU integration, Szydlo said that countries such as Poland should be a greater part of the bloc s decision-making process.  The EU s principle of respect for the rights of its citizens will cease to be an empty one only when the debate about the future of the European Union takes place with the participation of all concerned, not in three or four capitals,  she said.  Opinion polls suggest up to 80 percent of Poles back EU membership, though many are also opposed to deeper EU integration and joining the euro currency. Szydlo reiterated that Poland would stay in the EU, but said that growing euroscepticism in several countries was a sign that  some politicians  were unwilling to recognize the problems within the bloc.   It s not enough to stigmatize tens of millions of Europeans in different countries as immature and dangerous populations, or to put Poland in a corner,  Szydlo said.

Summary: पोलैंड के प्रधानमंत्री ने एक ऐसे यूरोपीय संघ का आह्वान किया जहां ईसाई धर्म को प्रतिबंधित न किया जाए


WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Donald Trump signed a revised executive order on Monday banning citizens from six Muslim-majority nations from traveling to the United States but removing Iraq from the list, after his controversial first attempt was blocked in the courts. The new order, which takes effect on March 16, keeps a 90-day ban on travel to the United States by citizens of Iran, Libya, Syria, Somalia, Sudan and Yemen. It applies only to new visa applicants, meaning some 60,000 people whose visas were revoked under the previous order will now be permitted to enter. Immigration advocates said the new ban still discriminated against Muslims and failed to address some of their concerns with the previous order. Legal experts said it would, however, be harder to challenge because it affects fewer people living in the United States and allows more exemptions to protect them. Trump, who first proposed a temporary travel ban on Muslims during his presidential campaign last year, had said his original Jan. 27 executive order was a national security measure meant to head off attacks by Islamist militants.  It sparked chaos and protests at airports, where visa holders were detained and later deported back to their home countries. It also drew criticism from targeted countries, Western allies and some of America’s leading corporations before a U.S. judge suspended it on Feb. 3.  “As threats to our security continue to evolve and change, common sense dictates that we continually re-evaluate and reassess the systems we rely upon to protect our country,” Secretary of State Rex Tillerson told reporters after Trump signed the new order.  Democrats, a minority in Congress, quickly signaled fierce opposition to what they called a discriminatory ban. “The Trump administration’s repackaging has done nothing to change the immoral, unconstitutional and dangerous goals of their Muslim and refugee ban,” House of Representatives Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi said in a statement. Farhana Khera, executive director of Muslim Advocates, a civil rights group in Washington, said the Trump administration had “doubled down on anti-Muslim bigotry.” She told reporters on a conference call: “It’s crystal clear this is a Muslim ban.”  But some Republicans who had been critical of Trump’s original order were more positive on the new one. Bob Corker, chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said he was “very encouraged” by the approach and pleased that Iraq was removed from the list. Iraq was taken off the banned list because the Iraqi government has imposed new vetting procedures, such as heightened visa screening and data sharing, and because of its work with the United States in countering Islamic State militants, a senior White House official said. Trump’s original ban resulted in more than two dozen lawsuits in U.S. courts. The Justice Department estimated 60,000 people had their visas revoked by the first order but senior administration officials said on Monday those visas were now valid again for entry into the United States. “By rescinding his earlier executive order, President Trump makes one thing perfectly clear: his original travel ban was indefensible - legally, constitutionally and morally,” said    Attorney General Bob Ferguson of Washington state, which succeeded in having the previous ban suspended. His office will likely decide this week on whether to proceed with litigation over the new order, he said. Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer said he expected the revised order to have the same uphill battle in the courts as the original version. “A watered down ban is still a ban,” he said in a statement. “Despite the administration’s changes, this dangerous executive order makes us less safe, not more, it is mean-spirited, and un-American. It must be repealed.” The fact the ban affects fewer people already in the United States means it will be more difficult for opponents to find plaintiffs who have been harmed by the order and thus have legal standing to challenge it, legal experts said.  The revised order expressly makes waivers possible for a foreign national seeking to enter the United States to visit a spouse, child or parent who is a U.S. citizen, or for “significant business or professional obligations.”   “They dotted their i’s and crossed their t’s in trying to anticipate what litigation might result,” said Stephen Yale-Loehr, a Cornell Law School professor. The revised order means that tens of thousands of legal permanent U.S. residents - or green card holders - from the listed countries will no longer be affected. The original order barred travelers from the seven nations from entering for 90 days and all refugees for 120 days. Refugees from Syria were to be banned indefinitely but under the new order they are not given separate treatment. Refugees “in transit” and already approved would be able to travel to the United States under the new order. Defense Secretary Jim Mattis, who along with several other senior Cabinet members had lobbied for Iraq’s removal from the list of banned countries, was consulted on the new order and the updated version “does reflect his inputs,” Pentagon spokesman Captain Jeff Davis said.  Thousands of Iraqis have fought alongside U.S. troops for years or worked as translators since the U.S.-led invasion in 2003. Many have resettled in the United States after being threatened for working with U.S. troops.

Summary: कानूनी चुनौतियों से निपटने के लिए ट्रम्प ने संशोधित यात्रा प्रतिबंध पर हस्ताक्षर किए


CARACAS/BOGOTA (Reuters) - Veteran Venezuelan opposition leader Antonio Ledezma, under house arrest since 2015 for alleged coup plotting, escaped across the border to Colombia on Friday and later flew to Spain. With a 2018 presidential election looming, an array of major Venezuelan opposition figures are now in exile, detention or are barred from holding office. They say Maduro has turned Venezuela into a dictatorship, while the government accuses them of joining forces with a U.S.-led global plot to topple him. Ledezma, the best-known detained opponent of leftist President Nicolas Maduro after Leopoldo Lopez, had spearheaded street protests against Maduro in 2014 that led to months of violence and 43 deaths.  In Spain today I feel free,  he said at Madrid s Barajas airport, where he arrived in the early hours of Saturday. He was cheered by a small crowd including his wife and two daughters, who were already in Spain. Supporters chanted the Venezuelan anthem.  Let s not permit that Venezuela dies in our hands,  he also said, adding that he would soon meet with Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy. The 62-year-old former Caracas metropolitan mayor said he had gone past 29 police and army controls during a clandestine, overland journey that he kept secret from his loved ones.  I ask my wife and daughters to understand. They have suffered long hours of anguish without knowing where I was,  he told reporters in the Colombian border town of Cucuta after crossing a bridge from San Antonio in Venezuela.  It was my decision alone.    Welcome to freedom!  tweeted former Colombian President Andres Pastrana, who is close to Venezuela s opposition and the families of other jailed activists. Ledezma was mocked by Maduro as  The Vampire,  and accused by officials of helping violent hardliners, including dissident military officers plotting to topple the president via air strikes. Ledezma said those charges were trumped up.  I hope they never send him back, they can keep the Vampire,  Maduro said on Friday evening.  The people of Madrid will have to be careful at night, the Vampire (is going) to Madrid.  Before boarding a private plane to Bogota, Ledezma said he was planning a  global pilgrimage  to fight for political freedom in Venezuela. He thanked Colombia s government, which also recently gave asylum to another high-profile Venezuelan dissident, former state prosecutor Luisa Ortega.  It s time for him (Maduro) to step aside and allow a transition government,  said Ledezma.  Maduro cannot keep torturing the Venezuelan people, he s killing Venezuelans with hunger.  The OPEC nation of 30 million people is suffering a fourth year of brutal recession, with the highest inflation in the world, shortages of food and medicines, and many people having to skip meals or suffering preventable illnesses. Government supporters have long vilified Ledezma for supporting a brief 2002 coup and accused him of corruption. State media repeatedly show a video where a jailed student radical lauds him as  an old fox ... the politician who most supported the resistance.  Ledezma, along with another opposition leader, Maria Corina Machado, has been part of the more militant wing of Venezuela s opposition coalition. Both oppose a planned new political dialogue between the opposition and government scheduled for early December in the Dominican Republic.  I left my flag with Maria Corina Machado, in whom I trust completely,  Ledezma told reporters. Ledezma won the Caracas mayoralty in 2008, but some of his functions and funding were quickly transferred to a new, pro-government office. Upstaged by younger opposition leaders, Ledezma was not viewed as a future presidential candidate. Intelligence agents took him from his office in Caracas in February 2015. He was originally held at the Ramo Verde military prison before being granted house arrest.   Machado told reporters Ledezma had been under increasing pressure from authorities and had faced threats to return him to Ramo Verde due to his opposition to the political dialogue.  We believe in real negotiations, but only ones that lead to the exit of the dictatorship,  she told reporters.

Summary: वेनेजुएला की विपक्षी नेता लेडेज्मा स्पेन भाग गईं


WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The White House on Friday cracked down on government officials using charter aircraft following the resignation of health secretary Tom Price over his use of private planes for government business. In a memo to government agencies, White House budget chief Mick Mulvaney said commercial air travel is “appropriate” with few exceptions even for very senior officials, and the use of chartered aircraft must be approved in advance by the White House chief of staff.

Summary: व्हाइट हाउस ने अधिकारियों द्वारा चार्टर विमानों के उपयोग पर नकेल कसी


(Reuters) - Police in Alabama arrested six civil rights activists staging a sit-in at Senator Jeff Sessions’ office on Tuesday to protest his nomination for U.S. Attorney General, criticizing his record on voting rights and race relations. Sessions, 70, has a history of controversial positions on race, immigration and criminal justice reform.  Members of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) had vowed to occupy Sessions’ Mobile, Alabama office until the conservative Republican lawmaker either withdrew as a candidate or they were arrested. In the end, Cornell Brooks, president and CEO of the NAACP, and Stephen Green, national director of the youth division of the NAACP, were among those arrested, according to a post on the Twitter page of the civil rights organization. The other four protesters arrested by police included Benard Simelton, president of the NAACP’s Alabama state conference, according to local news outlet AL.com. A spokesman for Mobile police could not be reached for comment late on Tuesday. The six protesters were charged with misdemeanor criminal trespassing, according to CNN.  Brooks before his arrest had posted a photo on Twitter of protesters in suits occupying the senator’s Mobile office. “Senator Sessions has callously ignored the reality of voter suppression but zealously prosecuted innocent civil rights leaders on trumped-up charges of voter fraud,” Brooks said in a news release. A spokeswoman for Sessions called the NAACP’s criticisms “false portrayals.”  “Jeff Sessions has dedicated his career to upholding the rule of law, ensuring public safety and prosecuting government corruption,” spokeswoman Sarah Isgur Flores said in a statement. “Many African-American leaders who’ve known him for decades attest to this and have welcomed his nomination to be the next Attorney General.” President-elect Donald Trump in November named Sessions to lead the Justice Department and the FBI, and his history could come under scrutiny from fellow senators during a confirmation process. Sessions was a U.S. prosecutor in 1986 when he became only the second nominee in 50 years to be denied confirmation as a federal judge. This came after allegations that he made racist remarks, including testimony that he called an African-American prosecutor “boy,” an allegation Sessions denied. Sessions denied he was a racist and said at his hearing that groups such as the NAACP and the American Civil Liberties Union could be considered “un-American.” He also acknowledged calling the Voting Rights Act of 1965 “intrusive legislation.”

Summary: ट्रंप के अटॉर्नी जनरल के चुनाव का विरोध कर रहे नागरिक अधिकार कार्यकर्ताओं को गिरफ्तार किया गया


OSLO (Reuters) - Erna Solberg seeks to accomplish something no Conservative Norwegian prime minister has managed for more than three decades: winning a second term. If Norwegians are sufficiently happy with Solberg s last four years in power, they will re-elect her on Sept. 11; if not she will lose to Labour Party leader Jonas Gahr Stoere. Opinion polls show the race is too close to call. Solberg hopes to emulate a European center-right leader with an enviable track record of winning: Angela Merkel, herself seeking a fourth term as Germany s chancellor.  She is absolutely the most important politician in Europe,  Solberg said after taking office in 2013 as she prepared for her first foreign trip as prime minister, to Berlin. Portraying herself as a steady figure who steered western Europe s top oil and gas producer through a two-year slump in energy prices, Solberg has warned voters her defeat would mean a  red-green chaos  of socialists and environmentalists bent on raising taxes. Once known as  Iron Erna  for her tough stance on immigration, Solberg softened her image and broadened her appeal with a 2011 book emphasizing people s needs over the Conservative Party s traditional focus on fiscal prudence. Conservatives hope to capitalize on an easy-going personality that has made Solberg popular beyond her party, as seen in a Sept. 6 poll where 46.3 percent believed her best suited to be prime minister, against Stoere s 39.1 percent. (For a graphic on Norway's parliamentary elections click tmsnrt.rs/2ugJCjo)  There is an enormous focus on her as a person, which has given the party a real boost during the election campaign,  said Associate Professor Tore Bang at BI Norwegian Business School, an expert in public relations and political communication.  The hype around her is atypical for a leader of the Conservative Party. She is seen as a much more folksy politician and has a much broader appeal than Gahr Stoere.  Born on Feb. 24, 1961, in her late teens Solberg was diagnosed with dyslexia. Graduating in political science she was elected to parliament aged 28, becoming deputy party leader in 2002 before taking the top job in 2004. She is Norway s second female prime minister after Labour s Gro Harlem Brundtland, who led three governments in the 80s and early 90s and became known as  the mother of the nation .  As prime minister, Solberg has really strengthened her position as an uncontested party leader. She personifies the party brand and the association between her and the party is comparable to what Gro Harlem Brundtland had in the Labour Party,  said Bang of the BI Norwegian Business School. While the opposition was long favored to win, opinion polls show Solberg and her allies have closed the gap in recent months, taking advantage of an economic rebound.  It s quite apparent that the Conservative Party has looked to Germany and found inspiration in the position Merkel has taken there,  said Johannes Bergh, head researcher of the University of Oslo s National Election Studies program.  It s a comparison that the party really likes. Merkel is very good at winning elections and offers a lot of the same things as Solberg.  The economic upturn, and concerns it could falter, will play well for the prime minister, Bergh said.  The backdrop of this election is that the Norwegian economy is doing well again. There is no real sense of crisis anymore but people are still weary, so offering a stable and predictable Merkel-like leadership is a strategy that seems to have worked well.   If she wins, she plans to continue a policy of cutting taxes on companies and individuals, but her room for maneuver will be tighter as Norway s near-trillion dollar sovereign wealth fund is not expected to grow as the same pace as before. In Norway s fragmented parliament however, where nine parties are expected to win seats, re-election will not guarantee a Solberg government survives another four years. Kaare Willoch, the last Conservative prime minister to win back-to-back elections, in 1981 and 1985, was booted out of office just months into his second term in a disagreement over petrol taxes. In fact, if she were to serve two full terms, Solberg would easily become the longest-serving Conservative prime minister since the introduction of the parliamentary system in the late 19th century.

Summary: नॉर्वे की मर्केल, एर्ना सोलबर्ग को फिर से चुनाव लड़ने में इतिहास को हराने की उम्मीद है


WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. House of Representatives voted nearly unanimously on Thursday for new sanctions on Iran s ballistic missile program, part of an effort to clamp down on Tehran without immediately moving to undermine an international nuclear agreement. The vote was 423 to two for the  Iran Ballistic Missiles and International Sanctions Enforcement Act.  Among other things, it calls on the U.S. president to report to Congress on the Iranian and international supply chain for Iran s ballistic missile program and to impose sanctions on Iranian government or foreign entities that support it. President Donald Trump said on Oct. 13 he would not certify Iran is complying with an international agreement on its nuclear program, and threatened that he might ultimately terminate the accord. Trump s action opened a 60-day window for Congress to act to reimpose sanctions on Iran s nuclear program that were lifted under the agreement, but there has been no move to do so in the House or Senate. Aides said that, for now, House lawmakers are focusing on clamping down on Iran in other ways such as the Hezbollah and missile-related sanctions. U.S. Representative Ed Royce, the Republican chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, who sponsored the ballistic missile bill, has said the international nuclear deal should be strictly enforced by Washington working with its allies.  The United States must respond to the full range of threats and, with this bill.... that is what we are doing today,  he said. The House passed three other Iran-related measures on Wednesday, including new sanctions on Lebanon s Iran-backed Hezbollah militia and a resolution urging the European Union to designate Hezbollah as a terrorist organization. [L2N1N02UY] To become law, the measure would have to pass the U.S. Senate and be signed into law by Trump.

Summary: अमेरिकी सदन ने ईरान पर बैलिस्टिक मिसाइल प्रतिबंधों को पारित किया


(This version of the Nov. 2 story corrects paragraph 8 to say that Trump lost Nevada in 2016, instead of that he won Nevada) By Laila Kearney and Karen Pierog NEW YORK/CHICAGO (Reuters) - Democratic-leaning states are set to bankroll a big chunk of the tax cuts unveiled in a Republican tax plan on Thursday, as the plan slashes deductions used the most by residents of states that voted against Donald Trump in the 2016 elections. The bill, introduced by the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Ways and Means on Thursday, took aim at state and local tax deductions as one part of its plan to pay for reductions in taxes elsewhere. Overall, the plan would reduce federal revenues by roughly $1.5 trillion over 10 years.   The bill eliminates the most widely-used deduction - income tax - and caps property tax deductions, the second most-used, at $10,000. State and local deductions are used largely by high-tax states that tend to vote Democratic in presidential elections and local officials say the tax bill appeared to divide its benefits and burdens along partisan lines.  “I do think this has been developed in a way that looks at who were the prevailing forces in the presidential election and who were not,” Kevin Sullivan, Connecticut’s Commissioner of Revenue Services, told Reuters. Connecticut is one of several high-tax Democratic states where, local officials say, middle-class households will end up paying more taxes under the Republican plan. Among those potentially hardest-hit are California and New York with state income tax rates of 13.3 percent - the nation’s highest - and 8.82 percent respectively, according to a recent report by the Tax Foundation. That group also includes New Jersey, Minnesota and Oregon - all of which have voted for Trump’s Democratic rival Hillary Clinton in the 2016 election. By contrast, out the seven states that levy no income tax, Trump only lost Washington and Nevada, while winning Alaska, Florida, South Dakota, Texas and Wyoming. “By eliminating or rolling back state and local tax deductibility, Washington is sending a death blow to New York’s middle class families and our economy,” New York Governor Andrew Cuomo, a Democrat and one of the most outspoken opponents of the bill, wrote in a letter to Trump this week. “It’s clear this is a hostile political act aimed at the economic heart of New York.” To be sure, some Republican legislators from high-tax states, including Representative Lee Zeldin, of New York, have opposed the bill. The legislation would also end a tax exemption for billions of dollars of so-called private activity bonds issued by state and local governments annually to finance affordable housing, non-profit hospitals and colleges, as well as airports and port facilities - a measure that would affect Democrat and Republican states alike. Conservative groups have defended the tax bill, saying it would simplify the tax code, reduce overall burden on the economy and spread the costs and burdens more fairly. “The principles outlined in this federal tax reform effort will provide pro-growth tax rate reductions, while adding fairness and simplicity to the tax code,” Jonathan Williams, chief economist at the American Legislative Exchange Council, an  organization of conservative state legislators, said in an email. Nick Samuels, a senior credit officer at Moody’s Investors Service, said the proposed bill would hit primarily high–income and high-tax states like California, New York and New Jersey, making it harder for them to raise revenue from income and property taxes. Officials in the affected states say millions of residents, not just high-earners, would suffer because of lost tax breaks and less funding available for public services. In New Jersey, 1.8 million households deduct a total of $17 billion in state income or sales taxes and 1.6 million households deduct a cumulative $14.9 billion in local property taxes from their federal taxes, according to the nonpartisan think-tank New Jersey Policy Perspective. “This deal is still terrible for New Jersey’s working families, with big tax breaks that overwhelmingly go to the wealthiest 1 percent, setting up deep cuts to programs and services that we all rely on,” said Jon Whiten, the group’s vice president. Minnesota’s Democratic Governor Mark Dayton warned on Monday that the legislation would eliminate tax deductions totaling over $12.3 billion annually for 900,000 families in his state. The states with the highest property tax collections per capita include New Jersey, New Hampshire, Connecticut and New York, according to the Tax Foundation. For California, the Internal Revenue Service reported that approximately one in three residents took a state or local  deduction in 2015, totaling roughly $113 billion, according to H.D. Palmer, a spokesman for the state’s finance department.     “Congress is trying to rush consideration of a tax proposal that will have profound and widespread impacts on California,” Palmer said. National Conference of State Legislatures President and Republican South Dakota state senator Deb Peters in a statement called the legislation “an attack on the sovereignty of states.”

Summary: अधिकारियों का कहना है कि रिपब्लिकन कर योजना लोकतांत्रिक राज्यों के लिए एक झटका है


LONDON (Reuters) - Legislation to sever political, financial and legal ties with the European Union is vital to ensuring Britain leaves the bloc in an orderly manner, Brexit minister David Davis said on Thursday. Davis also said the powers offered by the EU withdrawal bill, which seeks largely to copy and paste EU law into British legislation, would allow the government to make sure the statute book works on the day Britain leaves the EU.  This bill is vital to ensuring that as we leave, we do so in an orderly manner,  Davis said at the start of a debate in parliament on the bill.

Summary: यूरोपीय संघ से वापसी विधेयक व्यवस्थित रूप से ब्रेक्सिट सुनिश्चित करने के लिए महत्वपूर्णः मंत्री


SOCHI, Russia (Reuters) - Russia and Turkey plan to launch the first reactor at Turkey s Akkuyu nuclear power plant in 2023, Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Monday.  Speaking alongside Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan, Putin said the Russian state nuclear agency Rosatom would begin work at the Akkuyu site in the near future.

Summary: रूस और तुर्की 2023 में पहला अक्कुयू रिएक्टर लॉन्च करेंगेः पुतिन


(Reuters) - Former U.S. vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin on Tuesday said her husband is still in the intensive care unit of an Alaska hospital with multiple injuries, including broken bones and a collapsed lung, two days after a serious snowmobile accident. Todd Palin, 51, suffered multiple broken ribs, a broken shoulder blade and clavicle, as well as knee and leg injuries. He was back in surgery to repair several fractures, Sarah Palin said in a statement on social media on Tuesday. “Knowing Todd, once he’s cognizant, he’ll probably ask docs to duct tape him up and he’ll call it good,” she said. “He’s tough.” An attorney for Sarah Palin declined to comment. A representative for the hospital where Todd Palin is said to be receiving treatment could not be reached. The accident on Sunday forced Sarah Palin to cut short a campaign trip for Donald Trump, the front-runner in the race for the Republican Party’s presidential nomination. Palin, who has endorsed Trump, had been scheduled to campaign for him on Monday in The Villages, a central Florida retirement community of more than 100,000 residents which has its own newspaper and radio station.  Florida is one of five states holding nominating contests on Tuesday for the Nov. 8 general election. Trump campaign officials said Palin, 52, was returning to Alaska to be with her husband and they looked forward to her return to the campaign trail soon. Sarah Palin was Republican Senator John McCain’s running mate in the 2008 presidential election won by Democrat Barack Obama.

Summary: स्नोमोबाइल दुर्घटना के बाद टॉड पॉलिन गहन देखभाल में, पत्नी का कहना है


MANILA (Reuters) - Mutual praise, warm handshakes and even an impromptu love song at a lavish dinner suggest U.S. President Donald Trump and Philippine leader Rodrigo Duterte want a fresh start after the biggest breakdown in U.S.-Philippine ties in years. Their meeting on Monday during a summit of Asian leaders in Manila was arguably the most anticipated of the three-day event and went off well, with Duterte s aides talking up the rapport the two had, and Trump boasting of his  great relationship  with the similarly mercurial Philippines leader. It came a little over a year after Duterte announced his  separation  from the United States and sought new alliances with China and Russia. Angered by Barack Obama s criticism of his war on drugs, he told the then-U.S. president to  go to hell , shocking American businesses and a Philippine military heavily reliant on the help of the Pentagon. Central to the rapprochement this week was Duterte holding his tongue, and Trump not expressing concern about Duterte s centerpiece policy - the crackdown on drugs that has killed thousands of Filipinos.  Tensions and damage inflicted during the Obama administration has somehow been repaired, looking at the executive relationship, it has essentially been normalized,  said Richard Javad Heydarian, an author and a political science professor at Manila s De La Salle University.  The modus operandi is, Trump doesn t openly criticize Duterte s war on drugs and Duterte tones down his direct attacks on the U.S.  Even with Trump in the White House, Duterte had repeatedly railed at the  hypocrisy  of his country s former colonial ruler. He has accused Washington of treating the Philippines like a dog and said he would not visit the United States, because it was  lousy . But there was none of Duterte s trademark hostility this week and some indications that both countries had taken a calibrated approach to ensure the two leaders hit it off. Contrary to traditional seating protocol for a summit of the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN), the two were seated next to each other at Sunday s gala dinner. Duterte sang a hit Filipino love song at that event, and joked it was  on the orders of the U.S. commander-in-chief . Although Duterte s fallout with Obama was acrimonious, the fissures between the two long-term allies did not run deep, with joint programs across various sectors largely intact. That included dozens of annual joint military exercises over the past year. This year, the Philippines military relied on U.S. technical support in its biggest-ever urban battle, ending a five-month occupation of a southern city by rebels loyal to Islamic State.  There were no signs of an exodus of American business under Duterte either, with $353 million of investments from the United States recorded in the first eight months of this year, compared to $90 million in the same period in 2016, according to the Philippines central bank. There were conflicting accounts of what was discussed between Trump and Duterte on Monday, however. A White House spokeswoman said human rights was talked about, in the context of the drugs war. Duterte s spokesman, Harry Roque, said that was not the case, although Duterte had explained his anti-drugs campaign to Trump, who nodded and  seemed to be in agreement .   The relationship appears to be very warm and very friendly, getting very candid,  Roque said.  They have similar feelings toward former U.S. President Barack Obama.  Duterte had said last week he would tell Trump to  lay off  if he talked about human rights. But according to a senior White House official, Duterte raised the issue himself.  He had an explanation and he pre-emptively brought it up,  the official said, estimating Duterte did 90 percent of the talking. The two leaders agreed to further strengthen the decades-old defense alliance between them, one that Duterte had previously threatened to abort.  Heydarian, the professor, however said that even with improved ties, Trump would be powerless to stop moves by Duterte to diversify foreign relations beyond the United States to include China and Russia, and tap them for anything from loans and infrastructure to rifles and jeeps.  I don t think that the Trump-Duterte convivial hobnob will ever be enough to change Duterte s strategic orientation,  he said.  We have stopped the hemorrhaging of the alliance, but it will never go back to being special and sacred as it was before Duterte came to power.

Summary: अमेरिका, फिलीपींस के संबंध पटरी पर वापस आए क्योंकि ट्रम्प, दुतेर्ते मेकअप और बंधन करते हैं


FLORENCE, Italy (Reuters) - Britain wants to be a strong friend to the European Union and will not block reform, Prime Minister Theresa May said on Friday.

Summary: ब्रिटेन के प्रधानमंत्री यूरोपीय संघ के एक मजबूत मित्र बनना चाहते हैं


MOSCOW (Reuters) - General Valery Gerasimov, the chief of Russia s general staff, on Thursday used a meeting with General Petr Pavel, the chairman of the NATO military committee, to reassure him about upcoming Russian war games, the Interfax news agency reported.  The Zapad-2017 war games this month have stirred unease in some countries because Russian troops and military hardware will be training inside Belarus, a Russian ally which borders Ukraine as well as NATO member states Poland, Latvia and Lithuania. Interfax said Gerasimov, during a meeting in Azerbaijan, had told Pavel that the war games were purely defensive in nature, not aimed at any third countries, and designed to help secure the security of Belarus.

Summary: रूसी सैन्य प्रमुख ने युद्ध खेलों की आशंकाओं को शांत करने के लिए नाटो जनरल से मुलाकात कीः इफैक्स


BAGHDAD (Reuters) - A convoy of elite Iraqi military forces took control of the governorate building in central Kirkuk on Monday, meeting no opposition from Kurdish forces deployed in the city, security sources and residents said. A dozen Humvees from the U.S.-trained Counter Terrorism Service (CTS) arrived at the governorate building and took position in the vicinity alongside the local city police, they said. They drove to the center of the city from airport which they had captured earlier in the day from Kurdish forces. Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi gave instructions that the Iraqi flag be hoisted on Kirkuk and other territories claimed by both the Iraqi government and the Kurdistan Regional Government.

Summary: इराकी बलों ने किर्कुक प्रांत की इमारत को निर्विरोध अपने नियंत्रण में ले लियाः सुरक्षा सूत्र


ANKARA(Reuters) - A new Turkish political party founded by a former minister and vocal critic of Tayyip Erdogan could cost the president crucial support and potentially unseat the main opposition, a poll suggested on Wednesday. The survey by prominent polling firm Gezici showed that the Iyi Parti ( Good Party ), founded this month by the breakaway nationalist lawmaker Meral Aksener, could mark a dramatic shift in Turkish politics, eclipsing the secular CHP that dominated Turkish politics for large parts of the republic s history. While only five members of the 550-seat parliament have joined Aksener s party, the survey suggested it could win over voters from several parties, including Erdogan s Islamist-rooted AK Party as well as secular or nationalist groups. Although Turkey s next elections are not due until 2019, pollster Gezici asked 4,638 respondents how they would vote in the event of a snap election.  Support for Erdogan s ruling AK Party, which has been in power since 2002, would fall to 43.8 percent, from 49.5 percent in the November 2015 parliamentary polls, the survey showed.  Aksener s party would win 19.5 percent of the vote, beating the secularist People s Republican Party s (CHP) 18.5 percent, it showed. That would mark the first time since 2002 elections that the CHP - established by Turkey s founder, Mustafa Kemal Ataturk - was not the main opposition. The CHP won 25 percent of votes in 2015. The nationalist MHP, where Aksener previously served as a lawmaker and interior minister, and the pro-Kurdish HDP were both seen falling below the 10 percent threshold needed to enter the 550-seat parliament. The MHP was seen polling at 8.8 percent, from 11.9 in 2015. The HDP, whose leaders have been jailed in the crackdown that followed last year s failed coup, was seen taking 7.0 percent, from 10.8 in 2015. Gezici was one of the most accurate pollsters on the results of April s referendum to change the constitution.  The poll was conducted between Oct. 10-15, days before the widely expected announcement of the formation of the Iyi Parti. Respondents were asked to choose from a list of potential political parties, including  Aksener s party .  Aksener was expelled last year from the nationalist MHP, the smallest of three opposition parties in parliament, after launching a failed bid to unseat party leader Devlet Bahceli, whose support helped Erdogan to a narrow victory in the April referendum that expanded his authority. Since her expulsion, the 61-year-old has become one of the most prominent voices in the country, frequently criticizing Erdogan and the government. In the case of the Iyi Parti not participating in potential snap elections, the AKP would win just over 47 percent, while the CHP would earn 26.8 percent, the poll showed. The AKP, founded by Erdogan, has held a majority in parliament for nearly 15 years. After winning almost 50 percent of votes in 2015, Erdogan and party officials said they aimed to win more than half the votes in the coming general elections. (This version of the story corrects sixth paragraph to show that CHP have been main opposition since 2002 elections, not decades)

Summary: तुर्की की नई पार्टी एर्दोगन का समर्थन खो सकती है, मुख्य विपक्ष को हटा सकती हैः सर्वेक्षण


WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama is likely to discuss a range of issues from international trade to Puerto Rico’s fiscal crisis when he meets with House Speaker Paul Ryan and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell on Tuesday, White House spokesman Josh Earnest said.  Speaking to reporters at a press briefing on Monday, Earnest said the leaders will probably discuss the Trans-Pacific Partnership, earned income tax credit, and heroin addiction problem. He added that Obama and Ryan will meet privately for lunch at the White House following the meeting.

Summary: ओबामा रिपब्लिकन नेताओं के साथ टीपीपी, प्यूर्टो रिको पर चर्चा कर सकते हैंः व्हाइट हाउस


KIEV (Reuters) - The author of an article that U.S. Special Counsel Robert Mueller believes Trump’s former campaign manager Paul Manafort ghost-wrote in violation of a gag order said on Saturday he had sought input on the op-ed before publishing to avoid errors. On Friday, Mueller unveiled evidence against Manafort to convince a judge that he wrote the article to improve his public image. Manafort is facing charges as part of an investigation into accusations of Russian meddling in the 2016 U.S. election and possible collusion between Russia and the Trump campaign.  The op-ed was published on Thursday in the English-language Kyiv Post under the byline of Oleg Voloshyn, a former spokesman for Ukraine’s foreign affairs ministry. In a telephone call with Reuters, Voloshyn said he wrote the article, but before publishing had shown it to Konstantin Kilimnik, a Ukrainian whom Mueller alluded to in a filing earlier this week as having ties to Russian intelligence. Voloshyn said he had decided to write the article to correct misrepresentations of Manafort in the media without prejudicing the U.S. trial and had consulted Kilimnik, who is close to Manafort, to make sure the text was accurate. “I didn’t want to write any stupid things in it that would worsen his (Manafort’s) already difficult position,” Voloshyn said. “I sent the text to Kilimnik and it was Kilimnik’s idea to send it to Paul (Manafort) for a look.” “He (Kilimnik) sent it back to me with some comments and suggestions. Whether these were his comments and suggestions or Paul’s suggestions is not a question I can answer,” he said. Voloshyn said allegations of Kilimnik’s ties to Russia were groundless and that Kilimnik, whom Reuters has not been able to reach, did not want to talk to news media. Voloshyn said he was prepared to testify that he had no direct contact with Manafort in the run-up to the publication of the article, which praised Manafort’s work promoting European Union-Ukraine relations and said he lobbied for pro-Western values, not Russian interests. “In September or in the summer, when he started having problems, I sent him a letter of support. He did not respond,” Voloshyn said. On Monday, Mueller’s team had said in a court filing that they had been assured by Manafort’s counsel that they had taken steps to prevent the article from being published. Voloshyn told Reuters that he was not contacted by Manafort’s lawyers in an attempt to stop him from publishing it. “Who could forbid me?” he said. “What right does Mueller have to forbid me to do something?” Manafort’s attorney has acknowledged that his client helped edit Voloshyn’s article but denies he violated the gag order, saying an article published in a Ukrainian newspaper would not substantially prejudice the case in the United States. The charges against Manafort include conspiracy to launder money and failing to register as a foreign agent working on behalf of former pro-Russian Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych’s government, who was ousted in 2014.  All parties were ordered by the judge on Nov. 8 not to discuss the case in public or with the media in a way that could substantially prejudice a fair trial. Earlier this week, Mueller’s team discovered the draft op-ed was in the works and ordered Manafort’s lawyers to shut it down.

Summary: मैनफोर्ट ऑप-एड के यूक्रेनी लेखक का कहना है कि त्रुटियों से बचने के लिए इनपुट मांगा गया है


LIMA (Reuters) - Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said on Sunday that he looks forward to welcoming U.S. President-elect Donald Trump to Canada, hopefully soon after his inauguration in January. Following a meeting with outgoing U.S. President Barack Obama at the APEC trade summit in Peru, Trudeau added that the two heads of state discussed the softwood lumber trade issue that stems from an expired 2006 export agreement.

Summary: ट्रूडो कनाडा में ट्रम्प का स्वागत करने के लिए उत्सुक हैं


TALLINN (Reuters) - Germany said on Thursday that Russia was planning to send more than 100,000 troops to war games on NATO s eastern flank this month, disputing Moscow s version that only 13,000 Russian and Belarussian servicemen would participate. The Sept. 14-20 exercises known as Zapad, or  West  in Belarus, the Baltic Sea, western Russia and the Russian exclave of Kaliningrad, are stirring unease in NATO despite Moscow s assurances troops would rehearse a purely defensive scenario.  It is undisputed that we are seeing a demonstration of capabilities and power of the Russians,  German Defence Minister Ursula von der Leyen told reporters at an EU defense ministers  meeting in Tallinn.   Anyone who doubts that only has to look at the high numbers of participating forces in the Zapad exercise: more than one hundred thousand,  she said in a joint news conference with her French counterpart Florence Parly. (For a graphic on Russia's Zapad war games click tmsnrt.rs/2xQtYwH)  While Baltic nations have voiced concerns about a bigger-than-reported exercise and while NATO s secretary-general expects more than 13,000 troops, Von der Leyen s remarks are the first time a top Western politician has called out Russia publicly on what NATO sees as the true size of the war games. Such numbers would be legal under international treaties on war games, but would require inviting international observers. With less than 13,000 troops, international observation of the drills is not mandatory, Russia says. In a sign of efforts to contain tensions, NATO general Petr Pavel held his first face-to face meeting in more than two years with Russia s top general, Valery Gerasimov, in Azerbaijan on Thursday, the alliance said.  NATO said in a statement the meeting showed  a clear mutual interest to maintain the military lines of communication.  An exercise on that scale is one of NATO s most pressing concerns. France, for one, believes the war games are no simple military drill, even though Russian Deputy Defence Minister Alexander Fomin told Western military attaches in Moscow in August the West had nothing to fear. Russia accuses NATO of building up forces on its frontiers in a manner reminiscent of the Cold War. But NATO says it is protecting the interests of member states bordering Russia who are troubled by Moscow s annexation of Ukraine s Crimea and links to pro-Russian rebels in eastern Ukraine. Previous large-scale exercises in 2013 employed special forces training, longer-range missiles and unmanned aerial vehicles that were later used in the Crimea annexation and in actions in eastern Ukraine and Syria, NATO diplomats said.  Russia has a global strategy of a visible, deliberate demonstration of force,  Parly said before heading to meet French troops in Estonia as part of NATO s deployment of deterrent forces in the Baltics and Poland.  They have a strategy of intimidation,  Parly said, warning that any attack on a Baltic country or Poland by Russia would be considered an attack on all of the U.S.-led NATO alliance.

Summary: जर्मनी ने रूसी युद्धों के आकार पर विवाद किया, 100,000 सैनिकों की भविष्यवाणी की


SAO PAULO (Reuters) - Brazilian President Michel Temer said on Friday that the pension reform bill that is  indispensable  to reduce the nation s budget deficit must be voted on this year in the lower house of Congress before the 2018 election year. Speaking at a chemical industry event, Temer appealed to businessmen to lobby Congress for approval of the unpopular  pension overhaul that is seen by investors as crucial to restoring Brazil s fiscal health.     Rodrigo Maia, the speaker of the lower house, said this week he would not put the bill to the vote until the government had secured the 308 votes the measure will need for passage. To allow more time for negotiations with reluctant lawmakers, Temer agreed with congressional leaders on Thursday to delay the lower house vote on the bill until the week of Dec. 18, the last before the Christmas recess. Once it clears the lower chamber, Temer expects the legislation to be voted on in the Senate in February.  Reform of the pension system is indispensable. It will allow Brazil to move forward,  Temer said.  But this must be the work of all of us. We need to show that we support this bill.  Temer acknowledged that lawmakers facing re-election next October had legitimate concerns about supporting the bill. The reform proposal seeks to increase the age at which Brazilians can retire and collect social security. It would also make pension payouts in Brazil, among the most generous in the world, more modest. If a vote is further delayed until next year, its chances of approval will be limited as lawmakers become more sensitive to the demands of voters when the election campaign gets underway.

Summary: ब्राजील के राष्ट्रपति ने 18 दिसंबर के सप्ताह में निचले सदन के पेंशन सुधार पर मतदान देखा


DUBAI (Reuters) - The Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi offered his condolences to the son of slain former Yemen president Ali Abdullah Saleh at his residence in Abu Dhabi, according to his official twitter account.  The account tweeted a picture of Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed al-Nahyan, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the UAE Armed Forces visiting Ahmed Ali at his residence in the United Arab Emirates capital.  Ahmed Ali, a former commander of Yemen s elite Republican Guards, once served as Yemen s ambassador to the UAE before it joined ally Saudi Arabia to make war against the Houthis.

Summary: अबू धाबी के क्राउन प्रिंस ने संयुक्त अरब अमीरात में मारे गए यमनी पूर्व नेता के निर्वासित बेटे के प्रति संवेदना व्यक्त की


WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Defense Secretary Jim Mattis travels to the Middle East and eastern Europe next week to play the increasingly familiar role of reassuring allies that the United States is committed to them despite mixed messages from President Donald Trump.      Mattis will visit Jordan, Turkey, and Ukraine to address concerns about the fight against Islamic State and give a message that Washington will not tolerate Russia’s annexation of eastern Ukraine.      The informal portfolio of soothing traditional U.S. friends upset by Trump’s often sharp comments and tweets on foreign policy is one that the retired Marine general is becoming used to.  “There is no-one in the administration, maybe with the exception of Vice President Mike Pence, that has to shoulder the responsibility of Trump’s rhetoric more than Mattis,” said Joshua Walker, a former U.S. diplomat and current fellow at the German Marshall Fund of the United States, a think tank.  Earlier this month, Trump said that a U.S. military option was being considered for Venezuela as the country is torn by political and economic upheaval. Within a few hours, the Pentagon publicly announced that it had not received any orders on Venezuela, lowering the temperature slightly.  Mattis, along with Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, sent a conciliatory message to North Korea last weekend in an op-ed piece in the Wall Street Journal after Trump had threatened “fire and fury” if Pyongyang tried to attack the United States.     The two officials wrote that the United States “has no interest in regime change or accelerated reunification of Korea,” addressing some of North Korea’s fears that Washington ultimately intends to replace its leadership.  “It is certainly true that to some extent if you look at both Mattis and Tillerson, who travel a lot, they are both explainers and people who both manage to moderate and reassure,” said Anthony Cordesman at the Center for Strategic and International Studies think tank. Mattis served as the head of U.S. military’s Central Command from 2010 to 2013, and foreign leaders, especially in the Middle East, trust him, said Cordesman. On a trip to Iraq earlier this year, Mattis grabbed headlines when he said the U.S. military was not there to “seize anybody’s oil.”  That was an attempt to calm Iraqi worries after Trump had told CIA staff in January, when referring to the U.S. invasion of Iraq in 2003: “We should have kept the oil. But okay. Maybe you’ll have another chance.” Trump has also upset NATO allies by demanding they increase their defense spending and by seeking better relations with Russia.  “I do think that Secretary Mattis finds himself spending time, putting President Trump’s statements into a broader context... in some cases that does mean defining them more narrowly, or more precisely as to what they mean,” Christine Wormuth, a former number three at the Pentagon, said. On the trip that starts this weekend, Mattis will make the first visit to Ukraine by a U.S. secretary of defense since 2007. He will try to reassure Kiev that the United States remains committed to restoring Ukraine’s sovereignty after Russia annexed Crimea in 2014. Questions were raised when Tillerson said in June that the Trump administration did not wish to be “handcuffed” by the 2015 Minsk accord to end fighting in Ukraine. That agreement, signed by Russia and Ukraine, calls for a ceasefire, the withdrawal of heavy weapons from the front line and constitutional reform to give eastern Ukraine more autonomy. While it is not a close U.S. ally, Ukraine has counted on American support against Russia since a pro-Western government took power following street protests in 2014 that ousted a Kremlin-backed president. Trump’s comments during the election campaign last year, from praise of Russian President Vladimir Putin to appearing to recognize Crimea as part of Russia and contemplating an end to U.S. sanctions on Moscow, stoked fears in Kiev that Trump would mend ties with Russia at Ukraine’s expense. The Pentagon is awaiting White House approval for a proposal to send “defensive” weapons to Ukraine, including anti-tank missiles, a U.S. official said. Michael Carpenter, a former deputy assistant secretary of defense for the region, said the trip would be important because it would send a signal to Kiev that the United States remained committed and the approval of the lethal weapons would be a tangible sign of that. “Mattis believes that this is a security issue that goes beyond Europe, that this is about international norms, sovereignty and territorial integrity,” Carpenter said.     The Pentagon says Mattis will also emphasize the commitment of the United States to Turkey and help Ankara “address its legitimate security concerns- including the fight against the (Kurdistan Workers Party).” However, Mattis will have to address a number of differences, including the Pentagon’s decision to arm Kurdish YPG fighters to support an operation to retake the Syrian city of Raqqa from Islamic State.  Ankara views the YPG, fighting within a larger U.S.-backed coalition, as the Syrian extension of the Kurdish PKK militant group, which it is fighting in southeastern Turkey.

Summary: पेंटागन के मैटिस फिर से अमेरिकी सहयोगियों को आश्वस्त करना चाहते हैं


WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Senator John McCain warned President Donald Trump on Thursday against nominating any more defense industry insiders to top  Pentagon posts, as his committee questioned an executive from Lockheed Martin Corp about potential conflicts of interest. Concern over the close relationship between the Pentagon and arms manufacturers has existed for decades but appears to have  intensified under Trump. He has drawn scrutiny for filling posts throughout his government with high-ranking executives. The latest example was his naming this week of former pharmaceutical executive and lobbyist Alex Azar to become Health and Human Services secretary. McCain, chairman of the Senate’s armed services committee, said he was troubled by the number of Defense Department nominees drawn from the defense industry. He said he would oppose any more such nominations after John Rood, Trump’s pick for the Pentagon’s No. 3 job, who appeared before the committee on Thursday.  “From this point forward, I will not support any further nominees with that background,” McCain said in a statement. Rood ran into trouble during the hearing over his nomination to become undersecretary of defense for policy. As a Lockheed senior vice president, Rood’s job is to expand the company’s international business. Democratic Senator Elizabeth Warren pressed him to say if he would recuse himself from discussions with U.S. allies that could benefit Lockheed, the largest U.S. defense contractor with business in 70 countries. Rood said he did not intend to participate in talks about the sale of Lockheed products but did not give the “yes or no” reply sought by Warren, triggering a charged exchange with the committee. McCain joined Warren in demanding a direct answer and warned  Rood that otherwise, he was “going to have trouble getting through this committee.” McCain told Rood to submit his response in writing “because obviously you are ducking the answer here.”  The uproar came a day after the Senate confirmed Trump’s choice for Army secretary, Mark Esper, who was a top executive at Raytheon, another U.S. defense industry giant. He committed to recusing himself from matters tied to Raytheon. Trump’s Pentagon also has officials who previously worked at Boeing and Textron Systems. U.S. arms manufacturers like Raytheon, whose shares have risen more than 30 percent since December, are expected to benefit in the coming year from an increase in defense spending. The Pentagon says it has 38 unfilled positions for civilian defense leadership roles that require Senate confirmation, and at least 23 nominees whose names have already been submitted to the Senate.  It was unclear from McCain’s remarks whether he would oppose any of the already-announced nominees, although he seemed to be warning about future Pentagon picks.

Summary: मैक्केन ने उद्योग के अंदरूनी सूत्रों के साथ पेंटागन के कर्मचारियों पर ट्रम्प को चेतावनी दी


WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The confirmation testimony expected on Wednesday for Makan Delrahim, who was nominated to head U.S. Justice Department’s Antitrust Division, has been delayed by missing paperwork, Senator Charles Grassley said in a hearing. Delrahim is a member of President Donald Trump’s transition team. “I’m disappointed we couldn’t go forward with Mr. Delrahim’s hearing this morning. We are still waiting on one piece of paperwork, which we understood we’d have by now. And I imagine that will be transmitted to us within another day or two, and we look forward to including him on our next hearing,” Grassley told the Senate Judiciary Committee.  Grassley, an Iowa Republican who chairs the committee, did not say which paperwork was missing. Senator Amy Klobuchar, a Democrat from Minnesota, called the missing document a “snag.” Delrahim was expected to move to the Justice Department after finishing up in the White House counsel’s office, where he  worked to steer Supreme Court Justice Neil Gorsuch through the Senate confirmation process. The Senate must vote to confirm Delrahim. As the proposed chief of the Antitrust Division, Delrahim would review corporate mergers at a time when many investors and corporate executives are anticipating a more relaxed view of deal-making. Former President Barack Obama’s administration faced a large number of megadeals in what one enforcer called a “merger tsunami” and blocked many of them. Before going to work at the White House after Trump’s inauguration in January, Delrahim was a lobbyist with the law firm Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck, LLP. One client in 2016 was health insurer Anthem Inc, which this year lost a court fight with the Justice Department over whether it would be allowed to merge with Cigna. Anthem has appealed the loss.

Summary: न्याय विभाग के अविश्वास उम्मीदवार माकन डेलरहाइम की सुनवाई में देरी


ISTANBUL (Reuters) - Turkish police have detained 17 people as part of an investigation related to gold trader Reza Zarrab, who is cooperating with prosecutors in a U.S. trial, state-run Anadolu news agency said on Tuesday. Police detained three of Zarrab s employees on suspicion of delivering documents from the network of Muslim cleric Fethullah Gulen to U.S. prosecutors, Anadolu said. Ankara says U.S. prosecutors have based their case on documents fabricated by Gulen s followers, who it also blames for orchestrating last year s failed coup in Turkey. Zarrab, a Turkish and Iranian national, has pleaded guilty to charges that he schemed to help Iran evade U.S. sanctions, and is testifying for U.S. prosecutors against an executive from a Turkish state-owned bank for related charges. The executive has pleaded innocent and the bank has said all of its transactions complied with international regulations. The case has strained ties between the United States and Turkey, both members of the NATO military alliance. It has infuriated President Tayyip Erdogan, who has cast the trial as an attempt to undermine Turkey and its economy.  It is right that there is a plot allegation in the trial s indictment, but it is a plot against Turkey, not against the United States,  Erdogan told members of his ruling AK Party in parliament.  This trial is an international coup attempt, a process at the center of which is FETO,  he said, using the Turkish government s term for Gulen s network. Gulen, who has lived in the United States since 1999, has denied charges he was behind the coup, and condemned the military intervention. Police searched the houses of the three employees and found electronic copies of documents, Anadolu said. It said fourteen more people had been detained as part of the investigation. No one was immediately available for comment at Istanbul police headquarters. Last week the Istanbul prosecutor s office decided to seize the assets of Zarrab and those of his acquaintances as part of the investigation, Anadolu reported.

Summary: तुर्की ने सोने के व्यापारी जर्रब से संबंधित जांच में 17 लोगों को हिरासत में लियाः एजेंसी


CARACAS (Reuters) - Venezuela on Monday accused U.S. President Donald Trump of conducting  political terrorism  through travel restrictions on eight countries including the socialist-run South American nation, which is already at loggerheads with Washington.  Trump on Sunday announced the restrictions on citizens from North Korea, Venezuela and Chad, expanding earlier travel bans that Trump says are necessary to fight terrorism but have been derided by critics and courts.  It is worth pointing out that these types of lists are incompatible with international law, and constitute a form of psychological and political terrorism,  the Foreign Ministry said in a statement.  Our people are being sanctioned because of their pacifist nature as well as their tolerance and respect for different religions and beliefs,  it added. The statement said Venezuela will  consider all necessary measures to protect national interests and sovereignty,  without providing details on how it would respond. The restrictions related to Venezuela focus on officials who have been determined to have done an inadequate job verifying whether citizens pose national security or public safety threats. Washington this year has issued several rounds of sanctions against Venezuelan officials, partly in response to the creation of a legislative superbody called the Constituent Assembly that critics call the consolidation of a dictatorship. President Nicolas Maduro has called those sanctions a financial blockade against the country, which is grappling with triple-digit inflation and chronic product shortages as its economy unravels. The text of the U.S. travel restrictions released on Sunday mentions officials at agencies including the Interior Ministry, the investigative police known as CICPC, the Saime passport and identification office, as well as the Foreign Ministry.  Interior Minister Nestor Reverol already was sanctioned by the U.S. Treasury Department in July, along with 12 other current or former officials accused of undermining democracy.

Summary: वेनेजुएला ने अमेरिकी यात्रा प्रतिबंधों को 'राजनीतिक आतंकवाद' बताया


COPENHAGEN (Reuters) - An arm found by divers near Copenhagen was weighed down with pieces of metal similar to those attached to the legs of Swedish journalist Kim Wall who died in August on board a submarine owned by a Danish inventor, local police said on Wednesday. The arm was found about 1 km (half a mile) from the spot where Wall s head and legs had been found in October. Wall, a freelance journalist who was researching a story on entrepreneur and aerospace engineer Peter Madsen, went missing after he took her out to sea in his homebuilt 17-metre (56-foot) submarine in August. On Aug. 23, police identified a torso that washed ashore in Copenhagen as Wall s. Coroners examined what turned out to be a left arm after it was found in Koge Bay just outside of Copenhagen - near the route that had been searched in connection with the submarine case. Divers and police will continue the search for the right arm along with further evidence on Thursday. Madsen admitted to dismembering Wall on board his submarine and dumping her body parts in the sea, but he still denies murdering her and a charge of sexual assault without intercourse. The trial has been set to take place in Copenhagen next March. (The story adds distance in miles in second paragraph)

Summary: पुलिस को कोपनहेगन के पानी में पाए गए शरीर के अंगों में समानता मिली


WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Democratic lawmakers on the Senate’s judiciary committee urged President Barack Obama on Thursday to move with speed to nominate a Supreme Court candidate and expressed confidence that Republicans would come around to hold hearings for the nominee. Speaking to reporters after meeting with Obama at the White House, the committee’s senior Democratic member, Patrick Leahy, said they did not discuss names of potential candidates with the president or the date of a potential announcement.

Summary: डेमोक्रेटिक सीनेटरों ने सुप्रीम कोर्ट के नामित व्यक्ति पर तेजी लाने का आग्रह किया