LONDON (Reuters) - The leader of Britain s main opposition Labour Party, Jeremy Corbyn, and other politicians could lose their seats if proposals to  cut the cost of politics  go ahead, a report suggested on Tuesday. Under former prime minister David Cameron, the governing Conservative Party pledged to reduce the number of lawmakers from 650 to 600 to make cost savings after criticism of expense claims made by those working in parliament. The independent boundary commission has made proposals to make sure most electoral districts in England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland are roughly equal in the number of voters, meaning certain seats, like Corbyn s, are set to be abolished. But it is not clear whether parliament will back the plan, which is not due to take effect until 2022.  Since losing the Conservatives  parliamentary majority at an election in June, Prime Minister Theresa May is dependent on the support of a small Northern Irish party, the Democratic Unionist Party, which has opposed any changes in earlier votes. Labour has also said it would vote against the measures, accusing the Conservatives of using the review to pursue  their own political advantage .  The Daily Telegraph newspaper said if the changes had been in place before the June election, May s Conservatives would have won a majority.

Summary: लेबर नेता और ब्रिटेन के अन्य सांसद लागत में कटौती की योजना में सीटें खो सकते हैं


PHNOM PENH (Reuters) - The European Union has suspended funding for Cambodia s 2018 general election because the vote cannot be credible after the dissolution of the main opposition party, according to a letter sent to the national election committee on Tuesday. The Cambodia National Rescue Party (CNRP) was dissolved by the country s highest court last month at the request of the government of Prime Minister Hun Sen after the arrest of opposition leader Kem Sokha for alleged treason.  An electoral process from which the main opposition party has been arbitrarily excluded cannot be seen as legitimate,  the letter said.  Under these circumstances, the European Union does not believe there is a possibility of a credible electoral process.  Some Western donors have condemned the CNRP dissolution as the most serious blow to democracy since an international peace deal and U.N.-run elections in the early 1990s ended decades of war and the Khmer Rouge genocide that killed at least 1.8 million Cambodians in the 1970s. A government spokesman said the EU decision would not affect the election, in which Hun Sen is expected to extend more than three decades in office that make him the world s longest serving prime minister.  This is their will,  spokesman Phay Siphan told Reuters on Tuesday.  We have our own money.   The European Union and Japan are the biggest donors to Cambodia s election commission, which is in theory independent. Asked if Japan would also suspend aid for the election, the Japanese embassy said it would continue to give assistance for electoral reform and would monitor the situation closely.  It is of utmost importance to have next year s national election reflect the will of the Cambodian people,  Hironori Suzuki, a counselor at the embassy, told Reuters by email. The United States last month said it would suspend funding for the election. It later said it would impose visa sanctions on those involved in the government s actions to undermine democracy.  Kem Sokha, leader of the CNRP, was arrested for allegedly plotting to overthrow the government with U.S. help. He has rejected the accusation as a political ploy. The European Union in October warned Cambodia it could face EU action over duty-free access it enjoys under a deal for some of the world s poorest countries if the nation s human rights situation deteriorates further. Cambodia s biggest donor and investor is now China, which has voiced support for the opposition crackdown, saying it supports government efforts to ensure stability and economic development.

Summary: यूरोपीय संघ ने कंबोडिया के चुनाव के लिए धन को निलंबित कर दिया


The following statements were posted to the verified Twitter accounts of U.S. President Donald Trump, @realDonaldTrump and @POTUS.  The opinions expressed are his own. Reuters has not edited the statements or confirmed their accuracy.  @realDonaldTrump : - We should have a contest as to which of the Networks, plus CNN and not including Fox, is the most dishonest, corrupt and/or distorted in its political coverage of your favorite President (me). They are all bad. Winner to receive the FAKE NEWS TROPHY! [0905 EST] -- Source link: (bit.ly/2jBh4LU) (bit.ly/2jpEXYR)

Summary: फैक्टबॉक्सः ट्विटर पर ट्रम्प (27 नवंबर)-नेटवर्क


ISTANBUL (Reuters) - Turkish authorities issued detention warrants for 99 suspects including doctors and lawyers and have so far detained 78 of them, the state-run Anadolu agency said on Thursday, as part of a widening crackdown since last year s failed coup attempt. The suspects were believed to be users of ByLock, an encrypted messaging app which the government says was used by the network of U.S.-based cleric Fethullah Gulen, accused by Ankara of orchestrating last July s abortive putsch. Gulen, who has lived in self-imposed exile in Pennsylvania since 1999, denies involvement. Anadolu said security forces were seeking the remaining suspects in southern Turkish province of Antalya. Turkey has identified 215,092 users of ByLock and has launched investigations on 23,171 of them, the interior minister said earlier this week. More than 50,000 people, including soldiers, teachers and journalists, have been jailed pending trial in a sweeping crackdown following last year s coup attempt.  In the judiciary alone, 5,920 people have been sacked from their jobs due to suspected links to the 2016 coup attempt, Justice Minister Abdulhamit Gul said on Thursday.     Rights groups and some of Turkey s Western allies have voiced concern about the crackdown, fearing the government is using the coup as a pretext to quash dissent. The government says only such a purge could neutralize the threat represented by Gulen s network, which it says deeply infiltrated institutions such as the army, schools and courts.

Summary: तुर्की तख्तापलट के बाद की जांच में 99 संदिग्धों को हिरासत में लेगा-अनादोलु


NEW YORK (Reuters) - Live, unscripted and unpredictable, the first 2016 U.S. presidential debate on Monday is expected to set new television audience records, with some commentators forecasting Super Bowl-sized viewership of around 100 million Americans.  The face-off between Republican Donald Trump and Democrat Hillary Clinton at Hofstra University in the New York City suburb of Hempstead will be carried across multiple U.S. broadcast and cable networks without commercial breaks for 90 minutes. Political and media experts say the extraordinary nature of the campaign, featuring Trump, the outspoken N.Y. businessman and former reality TV star, vying for votes with Clinton, the former U.S. secretary of state and first woman to run for the White House, is expected to break the record TV audience of 80 million for the 1980 debate between Jimmy Carter and Ronald Reagan, according to Nielsen. “My prediction is a 100 million audience, and maybe more,” said Paul Levinson, a communications professor at New York’s Fordham University and author of “McLuhan in an Age of Social Media.” “The Super Bowl shows that when there is something that is really special, something that can command people’s interest, something you want to see on a big screen, television has this enormous power and reach,” Levinson said. The National Football League’s annual Super Bowl is the most watched television event of the year in the United States, with the 2015 game holding the record of 115 million viewers. The 1983 finale of comedy series “M*A*S*H” holds the record for a non-sporting event with 105 million viewers, per Nielsen. This year’s Academy Awards ceremony was watched by just 34 million Americans.  The optimistic predictions for Monday’s debate are fueled by the primaries’ record audience of 24 million for the first Republican primary debate in August 2015 that was attributed to Trump’s presence. Alan Schroeder, author of “Presidential Debates: Risky Business on the Campaign Trail,” said an audience of 100 million seemed possible, especially given Trump’s wild-card nature. “Normally we see candidates in very choreographed settings, and in situations where they are fully in control. (In the debates) they have to give that up and that makes it attractive to viewers - the sense of danger, of not knowing how it will play.” Add in the media hype with cable news channels showing count-down windows days in advance, and the first debate becomes must-see TV. Schroeder, a journalism professor at Boston’s Northeastern University, compared the allure of Trump versus Clinton to the 2008 vice presidential debate between Republican Sarah Palin and Democrat Joe Biden. At 69.9 million U.S. viewers, it ranks as the second most viewed campaign debate ever. “Palin was also a really compelling TV figure and had that same sense of danger around her,” he said.  Monday’s debate will be broadcast at the same time as the popular Monday Night Football on ESPN, but Levinson doubted it would make a big dent in the debate audience. “It’s not a crucial game, it’s not a Super Bowl, it’s not a playoff ... I think most football fans will feel they can afford to miss this game,” Levinson said.

Summary: राष्ट्रपति पद की बहस सुपर बाउल आकार के दर्शकों को आकर्षित कर सकती है


(This version of the Oct. 25  story corrects story to change name to Emilio Lozoya in paragraph three) MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - A prosecutor who led an investigation into a graft scandal involving the campaign of Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto said on Wednesday he was fired without justification, as the Senate prepares to vote on whether to reinstate him. Mexico s acting attorney general fired Santiago Nieto, the attorney general for election-related crimes, last week on grounds that he broke a code of conduct.  His summary dismissal came just days after an explosive interview with newspaper Reforma in which Nieto accused Emilio Lozoya, the former boss of state oil firm Pemex and a senior member of Pena Nieto s 2012 campaign team, of writing to him to ask that he be declared innocent of funneling Odebrecht cash into the president s campaign. Brazilian construction firm 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. Javier Coello Trejo, Lozoya s lawyer, said on Wednesday he had filed two criminal complaints against Nieto, alleging the former prosecutor had violated laws governing criminal proceedings, broadcaster Televisa reported.  Nieto s firing angered opposition politicians and has even threatened to delay discussions among lawmakers about next year s budget.  In Wednesday s television interview, Nieto denied breaking any rules, or revealing any sensitive information.  I didn t violate any code of ethics,  said Nieto, who was leading the probe targeting both Lozoya and the president s campaign. The Senate is due to vote in coming days on whether to reinstate Nieto, but it is still not clear when the vote will be and if it will be public.  In a sign of how tempers have frayed over the issue, opposition lawmakers have promised to delay voting on the 2018 budget until Nieto s case is resolved. The dispute is complicating efforts to shake off graft allegations that could hurt the ruling Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI) ahead of next year s presidential election. Nieto could not be reached immediately for comment on Wednesday. Both the president and Lozoya, his close ally, have previously denied involvement in any wrongdoing related to the 2012 campaign. Mindful that corruption has become a key issue in the 2018 election, the PRI has overseen the arrest of various former state governors. Lozoya poses a more difficult challenge, given his proximity to the president. Opposition lawmakers have also criticized a decision by the Senate s governance body to hold the Nieto vote in private, vowing to appeal against the ruling.

Summary: मैक्सिकन अभियोजक का कहना है कि उसे भ्रष्टाचार विवाद के कारण अन्यायपूर्ण तरीके से निकाल दिया गया था


WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump will hold telephone calls with the leaders of Russia, Germany, and France on Saturday, White House spokesman Sean Spicer said in a tweet on Friday. The Kremlin earlier said Russian President Vladimir Putin and Trump would speak. Separately, a source in Berlin said Chancellor Angela Merkel would talk with Trump, although Merkel’s spokeswoman declined to comment. French President Francois Hollande and Merkel held a joint news conference earlier on Friday.

Summary: रूस, जर्मनी, फ्रांस के नेताओं से बात करेंगे ट्रंपः व्हाइट हाउस


HAVANA (Reuters) - The Trump administration and the Cuban government need to start a dialogue, the Republican governor of Mississippi said on Wednesday during a trip to the Communist-led island to scout trade opportunities for his state. “That’s the first step: trying to get that dialogue going in a very positive manner,” Phil Bryant said in an interview, adding that he had found his trip “encouraging.” Cuba watchers are looking closely for signs of how President Donald Trump will deal with the country, given he threatened during his campaign to roll back the fragile detente between the Untied States and Cuba, former Cold War foes.  The White House is undertaking a “full review” of America’s foreign policy toward Cuba, press secretary Sean Spicer said in February. The governor, who had just met with Cuba’s trade minister, said it was key “not let too much of the political conditions in the United States become overwhelming.”  “Sometimes people have a narrative of Mississippi as if it’s 1960s, and it’s not, and it’s not the 1960s in Cuba,” he said, citing changes like growth of private businesses. Former U.S. President Barack Obama and Cuban President Raul Castro stunned the world in December 2014 when they announced the United States and Cuba would restore diplomatic ties after more than half a century of hostility. Even with a U.S. embargo preventing most trade with Cuba,   Mississippi already exports authorized products to the island such as frozen poultry and healthcare products, according to the U.S.-Cuba Trade and Economic Council. There was room to increase that trade and as establish exchanges in healthcare and research, including perhaps bringing Cuban doctors to the Mississippi Delta, said Bryant.

Summary: ट्रंप और क्यूबा को बातचीत शुरू करनी चाहिएः मिसिसिपी के गवर्नर


BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Iraq is opposed to the United States recognising Jerusalem as Israel s capital and moving its embassy there, Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi said on Tuesday, warning that such a decision would negatively affect Middle East stability. U.S. President Donald Trump told Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas on Tuesday that he intends to shift the U.S. Embassy in Israel to Jerusalem, breaking with decades of U.S. policy that the city s status must be decided in negotiations with the Palestinians.  The Iraqi government received this news with the utmost worry and warns about this decision s ramifications on the stability of the region and the world,  the Iraqi cabinet said in a statement. Abadi and his government joined a mounting chorus of voices saying Trump s move would unleash turmoil. A senior U.S. official told Reuters last week that Trump was also likely to recognise Jerusalem as Israel s capital.  The European Union, the Palestinian Authority, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, and the Arab League all warned that any such declaration would have repercussions across the Middle East.

Summary: इराक ने येरुशलम को इजरायल की राजधानी के रूप में मान्यता देने का विरोध किया


PHILADELPHIA (Reuters) - Former President Bill Clinton portrayed his wife Hillary on Tuesday as a dynamic force for change and a longtime fighter for social justice as he made a case for her historic 2016 bid for the White House.      The ex-president told the Democratic Party convention in Philadelphia that Hillary Clinton was “a natural leader” with an in-built sense of responsibility. “Hillary is uniquely qualified to seize the opportunities and reduce the risks we face, and she is still the best darn change-maker I have ever known,” he said. Earlier in the day, Hillary Clinton secured the Democratic Party’s nomination for the Nov. 8 election, coming back from a stinging 2008 defeat in her first White House run and surviving a bitter primary fight to become the first woman to head the ticket of a major party in U.S. history. Bill Clinton told the convention in a keynote speech that Hillary had been an activist for social justice since the couple’s early days as law students together. He told how she gave legal aid services to poor people and went undercover to expose a segregationist school in Alabama in the 1970s.   After a tough battle with U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders during the state-by-state nominating contests, Clinton is now the party’s standard-bearer against Republican nominee Donald Trump.  Bill Clinton said Republicans led by Trump had made Hillary out to be “a cartoon” but the real thing was nothing like the their portrayal of her.      “They’re running against a cartoon. Cartoons are two-dimensional, they’re easy to absorb. Life in the real world is complicated and real change is hard, and a lot of people even think it’s boring,” he said. Then speaking directly to the crowd, he said to cheers and applause: “Good for you because earlier today you nominated the real one.”     President from 1993 to 2001, Bill Clinton, 69, left office with high approval ratings and is known as one of the most powerful political orators in the country. His speech offered an unusual twist to the warm spousal endorsement of a presidential candidate traditionally given in party conventions by a wife, not a man - let alone a former president of the United States. Hillary Clinton’s nomination was a milestone in America’s 240-year-old history. U.S. women got the right to vote in 1920 after ratification of the 19th Amendment to the Constitution.  Supporters of Hillary Clinton say her Washington credentials show she has the experience needed for the White House during troubled times as the United States tries to speed up its economic recovery and faces security challenges abroad. Detractors view her as too cozy with the establishment and say she carries political baggage dating back to the start of Bill Clinton’s first White House term in the 1990s.

Summary: बिल क्लिंटन ने डेमोक्रेट को दिए अपने भाषण में हिलेरी को 'बदलाव लाने वाली' बताया


WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Two U.S. senators on Thursday urged federal authorities to halt the planned expansion of a $1 billion airport facial scanning program, saying the technology used to identify travelers on some flights departing from nine U.S. airports for international destinations may not be not accurate enough and raises privacy concerns. Congress has approved the use of the program for non-U.S. citizens, but never expressly authorized its use for Americans. The Department of Homeland Security has said the system is needed to prevent travelers from leaving the country using someone else’s identity and to prevent visitors to the United States from overstaying their visas. Senators Mike Lee, a Republican, and Edward Markey, a Democrat, in a letter to Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen, raised concerns that too many travelers would be inconvenienced by faulty scan results and questioned why Americans are being subjected to the screens, known as biometric exit detection technology.  In the letter, they raised objections to expanding the program beyond the nine airports where it is already in use. “We request that DHS stop the expansion of this program and provide Congress with its explicit statutory authority to use and expand a biometric exit program on U.S. citizens,” the senators wrote. “If there is no specific authorization, then we request an explanation for why DHS believes it has the authority to proceed” They cited a report released Thursday by Georgetown University Law School’s Center on Privacy & Technology that found DHS is conducting the scans “without basic legal and technical safeguards - or any meaningful justification of its billion-dollar cost.” Congress in 2016 authorized spending up to $1 billion over 10 years on the facial scans. The U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP), on its website, says the program collects “facial images from all travelers from the United States” on a flight and uses the images to verify identities. It says the images are stored for no more than two weeks and says that “CBP is dedicated to protecting the privacy of all travelers.” The government said Thursday that U.S. citizens may opt out of the facial screening and instead have a separate review of their ID documents. A U.S. Customs and Border Protection spokeswoman said the government is working to establish the biometric exit program “in a way that’s most efficient and secure for the traveler and that is least disruptive for the travel industry.” Airports using the system include Boston, Las Vegas, Miami, New York’s John F. Kennedy, Washington Dulles, both Houston airports, Chicago O’Hare and Atlanta. The senators want DHS to provide data that the program will not unduly burden travelers. DHS said previously its goal is a 96 percent “true accept rate,” meaning the technology can positively identify 96 percent of the faces it scans. The senators, however, said this meant “there would still be a false denial for one in 25 travelers. Further there is evidence that certain face scans exhibit different error rate depending on the race or gender of the person being scanned.” DHS has said travelers who cannot be verified are escorted to another area where Customs and Border Patrol uses other methods to verify their identity. The Georgetown Law report also noted that DHS has not established any rules governing the program.  “It’s as if DHS has hired a billion-dollar bouncer to check IDs but never checked how good he is at spotting a fake,” said Laura Moy, deputy director of the center and co-author of the report. “They also don’t know if he’s biased against certain groups of people.” The senators said DHS also needed safeguards to ensure facial data is not shared with other U.S. agencies.

Summary: सीनेटरों ने हवाई अड्डे पर चेहरे के स्कैन के विस्तार को रोकने की मांग की


(Reuters) - U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson’s use of an alias email address while he was chief executive at Exxon Mobil Corp was “entirely proper,” attorneys representing the company said in a letter to a New York court on Thursday. New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman, who is investigating whether Exxon misled shareholders and the public about climate change, wrote to a judge on Monday accusing Exxon of not previously disclosing the alias and Tillerson’s communications through it.  Tillerson had used the alias email address while at the oil company to send and receive information related to climate change and other matters. "It (alias email address) allowed a limited group of senior executives to send time-sensitive messages to Mr. Tillerson that received priority over the normal daily traffic that crossed the desk of a busy CEO. The purpose was efficiency, not secrecy," attorneys at the law firm Paul Weiss Rifkind Wharton & Garrison LLP said. (bit.ly/2ntj6mk) Had Tillerson set up the alias email address with the purpose of “secrecy,” emails to the account would have avoided any reference to Tillerson as the intended recipient, the attorneys said.  “Obtaining publicity, not information, appears to have been the real goal of the New York Attorney General’s March 13 letter,” the attorneys said.  The New York Attorney General’s March 13 letter asked the judge to order Exxon to explain whether documents from the alias email and 34 additional accounts assigned to other Exxon executives and board members had been preserved. Exxon has provided 2.5 million pages of documents in response to a subpoena from Schneiderman’s office, but those documents include only 160 emails from Exxon management. “More than 16 months after receiving our subpoena, Exxon is just now admitting it may not have preserved or produced the emails of its former CEO, who used an alias email account. We look forward to addressing these, and the other issues our letter raised, in court,” Amy Spitalnick, press secretary at the office of the New York attorney general, said in an email.

Summary: टिलरसन द्वारा एक्सॉन में ईमेल उपनाम का उपयोग 'पूरी तरह से उचित': एक्सॉन के वकील


NAIROBI (Reuters) - Kenya will hold a new presidential election on Oct. 17, a senior official at the election commission said on Monday, days after the Supreme Court nullified the vote held in August.

Summary: केन्या में 17 अक्टूबर को नया राष्ट्रपति चुनाव होगाः चुनाव आयोग


MOSCOW (Reuters) - Sixteen people were killed on Friday when a train slammed into a bus that had broken down at a level crossing near Moscow, Russia s investigative committee said in a statement. The bus, which was carrying migrant workers from Uzbekistan, was shunted several hundred metres down the track, Russia s Rossiya 24 TV channel reported. Footage showed fragments of what was left of the bus strewn across the track. The train itself appeared to have sustained no visible damage.   The bus stalled on the track,  Vladimir Myagkov, a spokesman for Russian Railways, told Rossiya 24 at the crash site.  Some people say the passengers tried to push the bus off the track. At that moment the train approached and a collision occurred,  he said. Though carrying workers from the Central Asian nation of Uzbekistan, the bus had a license plate registered in Kazakhstan, Russian news agencies reported.

Summary: रूस में ट्रेन और बस की टक्कर में 16 लोगों की मौत


MOSCOW (Reuters) - President Vladimir Putin inaugurated a monument to the victims of Stalinist purges on Monday, but Soviet-era dissidents accused him of cynicism at a time when they say authorities are riding roughshod over civil freedoms.  The Wall of Grief  occupies a space on the edge of Moscow s busy 10-lane ring road and depicts a mass of faceless victims, many of whom were sent to prison camps or executed on Josef Stalin s watch after falsely being accused of being  enemies of the people.  Nearly 700,000 people were executed during the Great Terror of 1937-38, according to conservative official estimates.    An unequivocal and clear assessment of the repression will help to prevent it being repeated,  Putin said at the opening ceremony.  This terrible past must not be erased from our national memory and cannot be justified by anything.  His words and the ceremony amounted to one of his strongest condemnations of the Soviet Union s dark side in the 18 years  he has dominated Russia s political landscape.    Putin has in the past called Stalin  a complex figure  and said attempts to demonise him were a ploy to attack Russia. But at Monday s ceremony, he said there were lessons for Russia.  It doesn t mean demanding accounts be settled,  said Putin, who stressed a need for stability.  We must never again push society to the dangerous precipice of division.  Putin s carefully balanced words reflect Kremlin unease over this year s centenary of the 1917 Bolshevik Revolution, which paved the way for Stalin s rise. Uncomfortable about promoting discussion of the idea of governments being overthrown by force, the Kremlin is not organizing any commemorative events. Putin, who is expected to run for and win the presidency again in March, told human rights activists earlier on Monday that he hoped the centenary would allow society to draw a line under the tumultuous events of 1917 and to accept Russia s history -  with great victories and tragic pages . Yet some historians fret that what they say is Putin s ambiguity about Stalin along with Russia s 2014 annexation of Ukraine s Crimea have emboldened Stalin s admirers.  Monuments and memorial plaques honoring Stalin have sprung up in different Russian regions. State-approved textbooks have softened his image, and an opinion poll in June crowned him the country s most outstanding historical figure. By contrast, those who have helped document Stalin s crimes, from the Memorial human rights group to individual historians and journalists, have sometimes felt themselves under pressure from the authorities.  A group of Soviet-era dissidents published a letter on Monday, accusing Putin of cynicism.  We ... consider the opening in Moscow of a monument to victims of political repression untimely and cynical,   they said in the letter, published on the Kasparov.ru news portal.  It s impossible to take part in memorial events organized by the authorities who say they are sorry about victims of the Soviet regime, but in practice continue political repression and crush civil freedoms.

Summary: पुतिन ने स्टालिन के पीड़ितों के स्मारक का उद्घाटन किया, असंतुष्टों ने हंगामा किया


KIGALI (Reuters) - A prominent critic of Rwanda s president appeared in court  alongside her mother and sister on Friday, all charged with forgery and inciting insurrection. Diane Shima Rwigara is accused of faking the registration papers she filed to stand against President Paul Kagame in an August election. She was eventually barred from running and Kagame went on to win with 98.8 percent of the vote.  Rwigara, 35-year-old accountant, has repeatedly accused Kagame of stifling dissent and criticized his Rwandan Patriotic Front s tight grip on the country since it fought its way to power to end Rwanda s 1994 genocide. On Friday, she told the packed court room she had been forced to appear without her lawyer because authorities had not told him about the hearing in time. Rwigara, her mother Adeline and sister Anne, have said charges against them are politically motivated.  Kagame has been widely praised for restoring stability but rights groups say he has muzzled independent media and suppressed opponents - accusations he dismisses.  Rwanda last month charged another opposition official and eight others with forming an armed group and seeking to overthrow the government. Rwigara, her mother and sister were first taken from their home in the Rwandan capital on Aug. 30 on tax evasion allegations related to the family s tobacco company.  The tax accusations did not appear on the charge sheet and prosecutors did not give details on the insurrection charge. Rwigara s sister Anne said they had not had enough access to their lawyer.  How can a lawyer defend the case he doesn t know?  she told the judges.  He came [last] Friday and he was only allowed five minutes to discuss with us and on Sunday when he came back he was not allowed to see us.  Rwigara s mother is also charged with  discrimination and sectarianism .  Prosecutor Michel Nshimiyimana said the Rwigaras  lawyer, Buhuru Pierre Celestin, had been informed. The judges set the next hearing for Monday.

Summary: रवांडा के राष्ट्रपति के प्रतिद्वंद्वी को अदालत में उकसाने के आरोप का सामना करना पड़ता है


KARACHI, Pakistan (Reuters) - Pakistan has rejected U.S. criticism of its efforts to fight terrorism, saying it should not be made a scapegoat for the failure of the U.S. military to win the war in Afghanistan. U.S. President Donald Trump unveiled his policy for Afghanistan on Monday, stepping up the military campaign against Taliban insurgents and singling out Pakistan for harboring them. U.S. officials later warned that aid to Pakistan might be cut and Washington might downgrade nuclear-armed Pakistan s status as a major non-NATO ally, in order to pressure it to do more to help bring about an end to America s longest-running war. Pakistan s powerful military chief, General Qamar Javed Bajwa, met U.S. Ambassador David Hale on Wednesday and told him Pakistan was actively working for peace in Afghanistan.  We have done a lot ... and shall keep on doing our best, not to appease anyone but in line with our national interest and national policy,  Bajwa was quoted in an army press statement as telling Hale. Pakistani Foreign Minister Khawaja Asif added his voice to a chorus of indignation over the U.S. criticism, reiterating Pakistan s denial that it harbors militants.  They should not make Pakistan a scapegoat for their failures in Afghanistan,  Asif said in an interview with Geo TV late on Tuesday.  A group of influential Pakistani clerics including Sami-ul Haq, who runs a Islamic seminary where many senior Afghan Taliban studied, angrily condemned the United States.  America is the enemy of the Muslim ummah (community),  Haq told a press briefing along with other clerics who preach a jihadist doctrine.  The government of Pakistan should quit the alliance for war against so-called terrorism,  Haq added.  The heavens will not fall if America gets angry with us.  Pakistan has for years been battling homegrown Islamist militants who are seeking to overthrow the state with bomb attacks and assassinations. But critics say the Pakistani military nurtures other Islamist factions, including the Afghan Taliban, which are seen as useful to Pakistan s core confrontation with old rival India. Asif said Pakistan had suffered great losses from Islamist militancy - the government estimates there have been 70,000 casualties in militant attacks, including 17,000 Pakistanis killed - since Pakistan joined the U.S.  war on terrorism  after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks on the United States. The relationship between the two countries has endured periods of extreme strain during the past decade, especially after al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden was found and killed by U.S. special forces in Pakistan in a 2011 raid.   Last year, a U.S. drone strike killed then-Afghan Taliban leader Mullah Akhtar Mansour in southwestern Pakistan, an attack Islamabad protested as a violation of its sovereignty. Pakistan has denied knowledge that either bin Laden or Mansour were in the country.

Summary: पाकिस्तान ने अफगानिस्तान में 'अमेरिकी विफलताओं के लिए बलि का बकरा' की भूमिका को खारिज किया


HARARE (Reuters) - Zimbabwe s military seized power on Wednesday saying it was holding President Robert Mugabe and his family safe while targeting  criminals  in the entourage of the man who has ruled the nation since independence 37 years ago. Soldiers seized the state broadcaster and a general appeared on television to announce the takeover. Armored vehicles blocked roads to the main government offices, parliament and the courts in central Harare, while taxis ferried commuters to work nearby. The atmosphere in the capital remained calm. In his first contact with the outside world since the takeover, Mugabe spoke by telephone to the president of South Africa, Jacob Zuma, and told him he was confined to his home but fine, the South African presidency said in a statement. It was not clear whether the apparent military coup would bring a formal end to the 93-year-old Mugabe s rule; the main goal of the generals appeared to be preventing Mugabe s wife Grace, 41 years his junior, from succeeding him. But whether or not he goes, it may mark the end of the country s dominance by Mugabe, the last of Africa s state founders still in power from the era of the struggle against colonialism, and one of the continent s most polarizing figures. Mugabe, still seen by many Africans as a liberation hero, is reviled in the West as a despot whose disastrous handling of the economy and willingness to resort to violence to maintain power destroyed one of Africa s most promising states. He plunged Zimbabwe into a fresh political crisis last week by firing his vice president and presumed successor. The generals believed that move was aimed at clearing a path for Grace Mugabe to take over and announced on Monday they were prepared to  step in  if purges of their allies did not end.  We are only targeting criminals around him (Mugabe) who are committing crimes that are causing social and economic suffering in the country in order to bring them to justice,  Major General SB Moyo, Chief of Staff Logistics, said on television.  As soon as we have accomplished our mission, we expect that the situation will return to normalcy.  In a sign Grace Mugabe s allies were coming under pressure, the head of the ruling party s youth wing, Kudzanai Chipanga, appeared on state TV on Wednesday evening to apologize for comments he had made criticizing the army a day earlier. He said he was speaking voluntarily. United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, the African Union and Western countries called for calm.  South Africa s defense and state security ministers flew into Harare to try to arrange talks between Mugabe and the generals, South African media reported without going into further details.  We cannot tell how developments in Zimbabwe will play out in the days ahead and we do not know whether this marks the downfall of Mugabe or not,  British Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson told parliament.  We will do all we can, with our international partners, to ensure this provides a genuine opportunity for all Zimbabweans to decide their future.  Finance Minister Ignatius Chombo, a leading member of the ruling party s  G40  faction, led by Grace Mugabe, had been detained by the military, a government source said.     By Wednesday afternoon it was business as usual in Harare s suburbs while there was less traffic than normal in the city center. Residents spoke in awe of events that had previously seemed unthinkable.  I don t support the army but I am happy to see Mugabe gone, maybe this country can start to develop again,  said Rumbi Katepfu, preparing to shut her mobile phone shop early in downtown Harare.  I did not think this would ever happen... We used to think Mugabe and Grace were invincible.  As evening fell there were fewer people on the streets than usual. In one park, a lone couple shared a chocolate bar, seemingly unconcerned by the presence of troops.  What s there to fear? This is a free country,  said Nathan Mpariwa, stroking the hand of his partner. Tanks blocked roads after dark and soldiers with automatic weapons kept up their patrols, but made no effort to stop people streaming home from work. Whatever the final outcome, the events could signal a once-in-a-generation change for the southern African nation, once a regional bread-basket, reduced to destitution by an economic crisis Mugabe s opponents have long blamed on him. Even many of Mugabe s most loyal supporters had come to oppose the rise of his wife, who courted the powerful youth wing of the ruling party but alienated the military, led by Mugabe s former guerrilla comrades from the 1970s independence struggle.  This is a correction of a state that was careening off the cliff,  Chris Mutsvangwa, the leader of the liberation war veterans, told Reuters.  It s the end of a very painful and sad chapter in the history of a young nation, in which a dictator, as he became old, surrendered his court to a gang of thieves around his wife.  The opposition Movement for Democratic Change called for a peaceful return to constitutional democracy, adding it hoped the military intervention would lead to the  establishment of a stable, democratic and progressive nation state .  Zuma - speaking on behalf of the Southern African Development Community (SADC) - expressed hope there would be no unconstitutional changes, and urged Zimbabwe s government and the military  to resolve the political impasse amicably . While most African states gained independence by the end of the 1960s, Zimbabwe remained one of the last European colonies on the continent, ruled by white settlers as Rhodesia until 1980. Mugabe took power after a long guerrilla struggle, and two decades later ordered the forcible seizure of white-owned farms. The collapse in output that followed was one of the worst economic depressions of modern times. By 2007-2008 inflation topped out at 500 billion percent. Mugabe blamed Britain and the United States for sabotaging the country to bring it to heel. His followers used violence to suppress a growing domestic opposition he branded lackeys of former colonial powers. The economy briefly stabilized from 2010-2014 when Mugabe was forced to accept a power-sharing government with the opposition, but since then the recovery has unraveled. In the last year, a chronic shortage of dollars has led to long queues outside banks. Imported goods are running out and economists say that by some measures inflation is now at 50 percent a month. The economic implosion has destabilized the region, sending millions of poor laborers to neighboring South Africa.  It s an amazing thing that is happening. It was about time but it might be 20 years too late,  said Billy, 30, a Zimbabwean working as a marketing officer in South Africa. Asked if he would return to Zimbabwe if the economy was revived, he said:  Definitely, there is no place like home.  The political crisis came to a head last week when Mugabe sacked his presumed heir, Vice President Emerson Mnangagwa, a long-serving former leader of the security forces nicknamed  the Crocodile  for his role as Mugabe s enforcer over the decades. The head of the military held a news conference with top brass on Monday threatening to  step in  if the purge of veterans continued. Soldiers deployed across Harare on Tuesday and seized the state broadcaster after Mugabe s ruling party accused the military chief of treason. According to a trove of intelligence documents reviewed by Reuters this year, Mnangagwa has been planning to revitalize the economy by bringing back white farmers kicked off their land and patching up relations with the World Bank and IMF.

Summary: जिम्बाब्वे की सेना ने सत्ता पर कब्जा कर लिया, मुगाबे को कैद किया गया लेकिन "सुरक्षित"


LONDON (Reuters) - The British government said on Thursday it was in talks with the European Union to ensure a smooth transition for its nuclear industry as Britain moves away from Euratom s regulatory regime to a domestic one. The nuclear industry has raised concerns that its operations and investments could be hampered should Britain fail to replicate the regulatory regime provided by Euratom, the EU s atomic agency, in time for Brexit in March 2019. [L5N1LU4DZ]  Discussions with the European Union are ongoing. We will be exploring a number of options for smooth transition from the current Euratom regime to a domestic one,  Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy Greg Clark said. The industry has said Britain not only needs its own safety regime, but also one that is approved by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). It also needs agreements signed with other countries on the transfer of equipment to guarantee power plants run smoothly.  Clark said Britain would establish a regime that would match  Euratom s standards and exceed those of the IAEA. He said the government was seeking deals with the IAEA to allow the body to inspect British nuclear facilities and verify safety standards. At a parliamentary hearing on Wednesday, Mina Golshan, the deputy chief of the Office for Nuclear Regulation which would run the safeguards regime, said the office had begun to build staff and expertise in this area. But she said specialized IT equipment, skills and people were still needed and one of the consequences of leaving Euratom was potentially the loss of access to experts residing in Europe that could help.  There are uncertainties associated with this ... The biggest risk is our ability to recruit,  she said.

Summary: ब्रिटेन परमाणु ऊर्जा के लिए ब्रेक्सिट मार्ग को सुगम बनाना चाहता है


KHARTOUM (Reuters) - A 72-year-old Swiss aid worker was freed by security forces early on Wednesday more than a month after she was abducted in Sudan s Darfur region, officials said. Margaret Schenkel later flew back to the capital Khartoum, but did not give details of her ordeal to waiting journalists. She was kidnapped on Oct. 7 in the main city in North Darfur region, El Fasher, a hub for relief workers and U.N./African Union peacekeepers. Security forces launched an operation to free her from a rural area where she was being held outside the southern town of Kutum, a spokesman for the regional government said. The leader and one member of the six-man kidnapping gang had been arrested, Sudan s foreign ministry spokesman, Qarib al-Khidr, said. Neither Switzerland nor Sudan paid a ransom, he added. Khartoum has been at war with rebel groups in Darfur since 2003, but much of the conflict has descended into banditry and gangs have kidnapped people for ransom. The Swiss foreign ministry thanked Sudan for its help in freeing Schenkel. Officials have not named her aid group.

Summary: सूडान के दारफुर में अपहृत स्विस सहायता कार्यकर्ता रिहा


WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Senate on Thursday unanimously confirmed two nominees to serve on the Federal Communications Commission as the Trump administration looks to reverse many Obama-era telecommunications regulations. Brendan Carr, a Republican who is general counsel at the FCC  and Jessica Rosenworcel, a Democrat, were both confirmed by voice vote, bringing the five-member FCC to full strength and giving Republicans a 3-2 majority. Rosenworcel served as a commissioner for the regulator until the end of 2016 when lawmakers failed to take up her renomination under former President Barack Obama. The FCC, which since January has been controlled by Republicans by a 2-1 margin, is working to reverse a number of Obama-era telecommunications regulations, including the landmark 2015 net-neutrality rules prohibiting broadband providers from giving or selling access to certain internet services over others.  The Senate did not immediately vote to reconfirm FCC Chairman Ajit Pai to another term, even though he appeared at a confirmation hearing in July with the other nominees. Pai would need to leave the commission by the end of the year if he were not reconfirmed. In a statement, Pai praised Rosenworcel and Carr’s confirmations and said they have “distinguished records of public service and will be valuable assets to the FCC in the years to come. Their experience at the FCC makes them particularly well-suited to hit the ground running.” Pai, chosen by Trump in January to head the agency, also has said he wants to dismantle other significant regulations as part of a sweeping review he said would remove barriers to business and modernize rules. Pai also plans significant changes to local TV ownership limits and plans other changes to media regulations. Democrats insisted Republicans had agreed in 2015 to reconfirm Rosenworcel as part of a deal to confirm FCC Commissioner Mike O’Rielly. Republicans denied there was a deal but the standoff had delayed consideration of telecommunications legislation in the Senate. Under Pai, the FCC chose not to review AT&T Inc’s planned $85.4 billion acquisition of Time Warner Inc.  The FCC is currently reviewing Sinclair Broadcast Group Inc’s proposed $3.9 billion acquisition of Tribune Media Co, one of the largest U.S. TV station operators.

Summary: सीनेट ने ओबामा के नियमों की समीक्षा करते हुए एफसीसी के दो नामितों को मंजूरी दी


WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Republican chairman of the House Intelligence Committee apologized to Democratic members of the panel for going public and to the White House before briefing them about information he said he obtained about surveillance of President Donald Trump’s team, a committee aide said on Thursday. Committee chairman Representative Devin Nunes also promised to work with the panel’s Democrats and share information with them, the aide said, a day after committee Democrats said Nunes’ actions raised questions about the panel’s ability to credibly investigate potential ties between Trump associates and Russia. Nunes surprised and angered committee Democrats and some of his fellow Republicans on Wednesday with a surprise announcement that some private communications by Trump and members of his team may have been swept up by U.S. intelligence as they monitored foreign targets.

Summary: नून्स ने निगरानी टिप्पणियों के बाद डेमोक्रेट से माफी मांगीः सहायक


CHICAGO (Reuters) - With murders and shootings soaring in Chicago this year, the city’s police chief and state lawmakers announced on Friday they will push for new laws setting harsher sentences for repeat offenders of gun crimes in Illinois. The law, which would be known as the Violent Gun Offenders Sentencing Act, is in its infant stages and would provide presumptive guidelines that judges would have to follow when ordering repeat criminals to serve jail time. Judges would be required to implement penalties on the higher range of existing sentencing laws. “Part of the goal is to incapacitate, get these violent offenders off the street,” state Senator Kwame Raoul said at a news conference announcing the proposed legislation. Raoul said he would sponsor the legislation along with Senator Antonio Muñoz and Representative Michael Zalewski, all Democrats.  Chicago, the third-largest U.S. city, has had 307 murders so far this year, up 50 percent from the same period last year, and 1,548 shootings, up 52 percent from the same period last year, according to police statistics. Police have blamed the violence largely on gangs and a proliferation of stolen guns. There were nearly 500 homicides last year, and gun violence is up in 2016, police say. More than 50 people involved in shootings and murders in Chicago this year would have been in prison at the time of the incident if the proposed tougher sentencing policies were in place, the police department said in a statement on Friday. Police Superintendent Eddie Johnson said the law is not designed to penalize responsible gun owners, but focus on the individuals “who tell us ‘I don’t care.’” Legislators in the state capital, Springfield, have frequently rejected gun control measures proposed by lawmakers from Chicago. A proposal made in 2013 by Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel to impose tougher sanctions for illegal gun possession did not get through the state Assembly because of opposition from black lawmakers who said it could lead to higher incarceration rates for blacks in Chicago communities already struggling with high numbers of former inmates who cannot find jobs.

Summary: शिकागो पुलिस, सांसदों ने बंदूक अपराधियों के लिए कड़ी सजा की मांग की


LONDON (Reuters) - British Prime Minister Theresa May said on Wednesday the government has confidence in its relationship with the United States, and will continue to share intelligence with Britain’s most important defense and security ally. President Donald Trump has defended his decision to discuss intelligence with the Russians during a White House meeting last week, saying he had an “absolute right” to share “facts pertaining to terrorism and airline flight safety”.  “Decisions about what President Trump discusses with anybody that he has in the White House is a matter for President Trump,” May told a news conference when asked whether Trump’s disclosure had made her reluctant to share intelligence with him. “We continue to work with the United States and continue to share intelligence with the United States as we do with others around the world because we are all working together to deal with the threats that we face.” The question came during a press briefing ahead of Britain’s June 8 election, which polls show May is on course to win, and in which national security is seen as one of her political strengths. May is a former interior minister who spent six years in charge of the domestic security brief. May was the first foreign leader to meet with Trump following his inauguration, and has repeatedly reaffirmed the special relationship between the two countries: a military and economic alliance dating back to 19th century. Trump has endured a week of tumult at the White House after he fired the head of the FBI and then discussed sensitive national security information about Islamic State with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov. But, May said she remained confident in the special relationship, highlighting the need to cooperate with the United States and other allies to counter the security threats posed by Islamic State and al-Qaeda. “We continue to work together and we have confidence in that relationship between us and the United States that it helps to keep us all safer,” she said.

Summary: ट्रम्प के खुलासे के बाद, ब्रिटेन की मे ने कहा कि वह अमेरिका के साथ खुफिया जानकारी साझा करना जारी रखेगी।


PHILADELPHIA (Reuters) - President Donald Trump said on Thursday that his now-scrapped meeting with Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto would have been “fruitless” if Mexico will not agree to treat America “with respect.” “The President of Mexico and myself have agreed to cancel our planned meeting for next week,” Trump told Republican lawmakers gathered in Philadelphia for a retreat. “Unless Mexico is going to treat the United States fairly - with respect - such a meeting would be fruitless. And I want to go a different route,” said Trump, who wants to build a wall on the southern border of the United States. He says Mexico will pay for it but Mexico insists it will not.

Summary: मेक्सिको के राष्ट्रपति के साथ बैठक 'निष्फल' रही होगीः ट्रंप


BEIJING (Reuters) - China appeared to offer mild criticism on Monday of U.S. President Donald Trump’s banning of entry of people from seven Muslim-majority countries, saying immigration policy was a sovereign right but “reasonable concerns” must be considered. Trump signed a directive on the banning on Friday. U.S. Democrats and a growing number of Republicans assailed the move and foreign leaders condemned it amid court challenges and tumult at U.S. airports. Trump says his directive is “not about religion” but keeping America safe. Trump has presented the policy as a way to protect the country from the threat of Islamist militants. China’s Foreign Ministry, in a statement sent to Reuters, said it had noted the reports of the U.S. administration’s decision. “China believes that adjusting immigration and entry and exit policy is an act within each country’s sovereignty,” the ministry said. “At the same time, relevant moves must also consider the reasonable concerns of relevant countries,” it added in a brief statement. It did not elaborate.  China is in the middle of a week-long Lunar New Year holiday and government departments do not return to work until Friday. China has been trying to pay a greater diplomatic role in the Middle East, and has particularly close ties with Iran and Sudan, two of the seven countries on Trump’s list.  China is home to a Muslim population of about 20 million people, including ethnic Uighur people in the far western region of Xinjiang, where the government says it is facing its own problem with Islamist militants. Rights groups and exiles says China’s repressive policies in Xinjiang, including controls on Islam, are the root cause of the unrest, which has killed hundreds in the past few years. China denies any repression and says it guarantees freedom of religion.

Summary: ट्रम्प के यात्रा प्रतिबंध पर चीन ने कहा, 'उचित चिंताओं' पर विचार किया जाना चाहिए


NEW YORK (Reuters) - Nearly half of American adults said the Republican healthcare reform measure is “not an improvement” over Obamacare, according to a Reuters/Ipsos opinion poll released on Friday.  The Republican bill, the American Health Care Act (AHCA), which is up for a vote in the House of Representatives later on Friday, is expected to cut the federal deficit while greatly increasing the number of Americans without health insurance.  Democratic leaders are unified against the bill while some conservative Republicans have criticized it for not doing enough to dismantle the Affordable Care Act, the measure familiarly known as Obamacare which was passed in 2010 and was the signature domestic achievement of former President Barack Obama.  According to the March 13-23 poll, 49 percent of American adults said the AHCA was “not an improvement” over Obamacare, which helped about 20 million people get insurance coverage. Another 33 percent said the Republican bill was “an improvement” over Obamacare, and the remaining 18 percent did not know.  The responses were largely split along party lines. Some 19 percent of Democrats and 53 percent of Republicans said the AHCA was better than Obamacare, while 73 percent of Democrats and 22 percent of Republicans said it was not an improvement.  The Reuters/Ipsos poll was conducted online in English in all 50 states. It first asked if people were familiar with the Republican reform. Those who said they were familiar were then asked whether they thought it was an improvement.  Altogether, some 1,741 people responded to both questions. This includes 673 Republicans and 829 Democrats. The poll has a credibility interval, a measure of accuracy, of 3 percentage points for the entire group and 4 percentage points for the responses from Democrats and the Republicans.   (See a graphic of what Americans think of the GOP healthcare plan here: here)

Summary: लगभग आधे अमेरिकियों का कहना है कि रिपब्लिकन स्वास्थ्य सेवा सुधार 'सुधार नहीं': रॉयटर्स/इप्सोस पोल


KRYNICA-ZDROJ, Poland (Reuters) - The European Union will become less attractive to some member states if it implements a  multi-speed  vision and the bloc will ultimately break up, Polish President Andrzej Duda said on Tuesday. Deeper eurozone integration is sometimes called a  multi-speed  Europe because it would create different speeds of convergence within the 28-member bloc. Poland and other eastern EU states say they fear it could reduce their influence, financial support and competitiveness.  A division of the Union into a multi-speed union will not be beneficial ... politically, will not be beneficial economically,  Duda told an economic forum in Poland s southern city of Krynica-Zdroj.   In my opinion it will ultimately lead to a break-up of the European Union,  he said, adding that all member states would be hurt in such a scenario. Europe-wide polls show Poles are one of the most pro-EU societies, even though they overwhelmingly oppose adopting the euro currency.Duda also said EU support could falter in member states that do not participate in deeper eurozone integration. The remark appeared to suggest he believes EU support could fall in Poland. Duda is an ally of the ruling eurosceptic Law and Justice (PiS) party.  If EU membership becomes less attractive for countries that are thrown out of the first decision-making circle, then this moment in my opinion will be the actual beginning of the end of the union,  Duda said.  Sooner or later the societies of states that today view the EU positively ... will feel rejected and support for the EU will decline, which will result in further Brexits,  Duda said. Since PiS won an election in 2015, the government has clashed with the European Commission over issues ranging from its refusal to accept EU migrant relocation quotas to the ruling conservatives  tightening grip on the judiciary and media. French President Emmanuel Macron, one of the most vocal supporters of deeper integration within the euro zone, said in August that Warsaw was moving in the opposite direction to Europe on numerous issues and would not be able to dictate Europe s future. Poland rejected the accusations, saying Macron was inexperienced and arrogant. Macron also wants the EU to tighten its rules on the employment abroad of labor from low-pay nations, which could threaten hundreds of thousands of jobs performed by Polish employees in richer western EU states.

Summary: पोलैंड के राष्ट्रपति का कहना है कि 'बहु-गति' यूरोपीय संघ ब्लॉक के टूटने का कारण बनेगा


MOSCOW (Reuters) - Any escalation of tension on the Korean peninsula is unacceptable, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov told U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson in a phone call on Monday. U.S. President Donald Trump warned over the weekend that  only one thing will work  in dealing with Pyongyang, hinting that military action was on his mind.   Lavrov underlined the inadmissibility of any escalation of tension on the Korean peninsula, to which the USA s military preparations lead, and called for contradictions to be resolved by diplomatic means only,  the foreign ministry said in a statement. Lavrov also demanded the return of Russian diplomatic property seized by the United States in 2016 when former U.S. president Barack Obama expelled 35 Russian diplomats and ordered that some of its U.S. diplomatic properties be vacated. The Obama administration said it was retaliating for Russian meddling in the U.S. presidential election. In July, Moscow responded, ordering the United States to cut the number of its diplomatic and technical staff working in Russia by around 60 percent, to 455.  Russia reserves the right to go to court and to (take) retaliatory measures,  Lavrov told Tillerson. Russian President Vladimir Putin said last month the foreign ministry would go to court  to see just how efficient the much-praised U.S. judiciary is . Lavrov and Tillerson discussed the conflicts in Syria and Ukraine, the ministry said. Lavrov said a Kiev-backed draft law aiming at  reintegration  of Ukraine s Donbass region, which is controlled by Russian-backed separatists, contradicts the Minsk peace agreements aimed at resolving the conflict. The draft law would declare separatist-controlled regions to be  occupied , allowing Kiev to use military troops in those territories.   The ministry said the Russian and U.S. sides had agreed to continue a dialogue on  the difficult issues  between Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov and Undersecretary of State Thomas Shannon.

Summary: मास्को ने कहा कि कोरिया प्रायद्वीप पर तनाव बढ़ना अस्वीकार्य है


WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A long-running battle over gun control in the United States reaches a critical stage next week in the U.S. Senate amid signs Americans are more willing to accept limited restrictions after the deadliest mass shooting in modern U.S. history. While it is far from likely new measures will pass, the Orlando, Florida, gay nightclub massacre of 49 people and a suggestion by Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump that something be done have fostered a different atmosphere. While President Barack Obama was in Orlando consoling the survivors of the rampage by a gunman who claimed allegiance to Islamic State militants, the U.S. Senate moved closer to votes on limited gun control measures. About 71 percent of Americans, including eight out of 10 Democrats and nearly six out of 10 Republicans, favor at least moderate regulations and restrictions on guns, according to a Reuters/Ipsos poll conducted from Monday to Thursday. That was up from 60 percent in late 2013 and late 2014. As always, Democrats were challenging Republicans to vote for new restrictions and reject pressure from the National Rifle Association, the powerful gun lobby that has been known to punish politicians who thwart its will. U.S. Senator Chris Murphy of Connecticut and fellow Democrats set the U.S. Capitol abuzz by talking on the Senate floor for nearly 15 straight hours to demand that Congress act on gun control. They ended their speeches before dawn, citing a Republican pledge to hold votes soon on measures to expand background checks on gun buyers and to prevent people on U.S. terrorism watch lists from buying guns. The Senate is expected to vote on Monday on four proposals. One from Democrat Dianne Feinstein would let the government prevent terrorist suspects from buying guns. A second from Republican John Cornyn, the No. 2 Senate Republican, would require court approval within three days for a government ban on an individual’s attempt to buy a gun. Democrats have said Cornyn’s plan is unworkable; Republicans say Feinstein’s might harm the rights of people wrongly on terror suspect lists. A third proposal, from Democrat Murphy, would expand background check procedures to the sales of all firearms, including those online and at gun shows. A fourth proposal, from Republican Senator Chuck Grassley, would provide for law enforcement to be notified if a person investigated for terrorism in the last five years tries to buy a gun.  Gun control is a potent issue in U.S. politics. Republicans, who control the Senate, have blocked Democratic-backed gun control measures over the years, saying they infringe on the right to bear arms guaranteed by the U.S. Constitution. Any bill would have to pass both houses of Congress and be signed by the president to become law. At his weekly news conference on Thursday, Paul Ryan, speaker of the House of Representatives, injected a note of caution. “We don’t take away a citizen’s rights without due process,” said Ryan, the top U.S. elected Republican. “If you have a quick idea in the heat of the moment that says let’s take away a person’s rights without due process, we’re going to defend the Constitution.” A string of mass shootings across the United States in schoolhouses, churches, movie theaters and other public places has failed to break the deadlock. The last major gun control measure was a ban in 1994 on semi-automatic assault weapons such as the one used in Orlando on Sunday. The ban expired 10 years later. One of the most dramatic moments in the Senate debate came when Republican Senator John McCain, who is in a tough re-election race in Arizona, told reporters Obama is “directly responsible” for Islamic State-inspired attacks on Americans like the one in Orlando. He later said he meant to say he blamed Obama’s decision to withdraw most U.S. forces from Iraq, and that this had fueled the rise of Islamic State. Murphy, asked what would be the message if the Senate fails to act on the gun control measures next week, suggested it could be a campaign issue for the Nov. 8 election. “There are going to be a lot of voters in this country who are going to watch ... the votes that are cast next week,” he said. Trump, the presumptive Republican nominee for president has been endorsed by the NRA. He jumped into the gun debate by saying he would meet with NRA leaders to talk about barring people who are on terrorism watch lists from buying guns. “I’ll be looking at it very, very seriously - the terror watch list and the no-fly list, I’m going to be talking to the NRA about that and starting a real dialogue. I think a lot of people agree with me but I want to really hear what they have to say,” Trump told Fox News on Wednesday night. Democrats were deeply skeptical that Trump’s word signaled any sort of shift toward more Republican support for Democratic-backed gun control proposals. “He is going to meet with the NRA. ... What’s he going to come out saying? ‘Oh the NRA and I agreed we shouldn’t have terrorists have guns,’ but doing nothing about it,” U.S. Senator Chuck Schumer of New York told reporters.

Summary: सीनेट संभावित बंदूक नियंत्रण कार्रवाई की ओर बढ़ रहा है


MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny was barred on Monday from running in next year s presidential election after officials ruled he was ineligible to take part due to a suspended prison sentence he says was trumped up. The decision by the central election commission was widely expected as election officials had repeatedly declared Navalny would be ineligible to run. Twelve members of the 13-member commission voted to bar Navalny. One member abstained, citing a possible conflict of interest.  Navalny, 41, who polls show would struggle to beat incumbent Vladimir Putin in the March election, said he would appeal and called on his supporters to boycott the election and campaign against it being held.  We knew this could happen, and so we have a straight-forward, clear plan,  Navalny said in a pre-recorded video released immediately after the decision.  We announce a boycott of the election. The process in which we are called to participate is not a real election. It will feature only Putin and the candidates which he has personally selected.   Navalny said he would use his campaign headquarters across Russia to support the boycott and monitor turnout on voting day, March 18. Polls show Putin, 65, who has dominated Russia s political landscape for the last 17 years, is on course to be comfortably re-elected, making him eligible to serve another six years until 2024, when he turns 72. Allies laud Putin as a father-of-the-nation figure who has restored national pride and expanded Moscow s global clout with interventions in Syria and Ukraine. Navalny says Putin s support is exaggerated and artificially maintained by a biased state media and an unfair system. He says he could defeat him in a fair election, an assertion Putin s supporters have said is laughable. Before the commission voted, Navalny, dressed in a dark suit, had demanded he be allowed to take part in the election delivering a speech that angered election officials.   In one heated exchange, he said Russian voters  faith in the system hung in the balance.  If you do not allow me to run, you are taking a decision against millions of people who are demanding that Navalny take part,  he said, referring to himself in the first person.   You are not robots, you are living, breathing human beings you are an independent body ... for once in your lives, do the right thing,  he said. His supporters clapped him, but officials were unmoved.  Boris Ebzeev, one of the officials, said:  We re talking about the law and abiding by the law.  Ebzeev said there could not be  the slightest doubt  that Navalny was ineligible to run, a reference to Russia s constitution that bars him running because of his suspended sentence relating to an embezzlement case. Navalny has repeatedly denied any wrongdoing, and says the case is politically motivated. There had been some speculation prior to the decision among the opposition that Navalny might be allowed to run in order to inject more interest into what looks like a predictable contest amid Kremlin fears that apathetic voters might not bother to vote.    Navalny has been jailed three times this year and charged with breaking the law by repeatedly organizing public meetings and rallies.

Summary: पुतिन के आलोचक नवलनी को रूस के राष्ट्रपति चुनाव में भाग लेने से रोका गया


WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. investigators wiretapped former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort under secret court orders before and after the 2016 election, CNN reported on Monday. The New York Times, citing two people close to the case, also reported that prosecutors told Manafort they planned to indict him. Federal agents had raided Manafort’s Virginia house in July. Manafort is one of several close advisers who helped President Donald Trump win the 2016 election and who are now being investigated as part of Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s probe of alleged Russian interference in the U.S. vote. Manafort became Trump’s campaign manager in June 2016 but was forced to resign two months later amid reports of his business relationship with the Kremlin-backed former Ukrainian leader, Viktor Yanukovich. Manafort’s attorney and the White House did not immediately respond to Reuters’ requests for comment on the stories. The secret court that oversees warrant requests under the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act initially authorized monitoring of Manafort but discontinued it at some point in 2016 for lack of evidence, CNN said, citing one of its sources. The FBI resumed surveillance under a new FISA warrant at some point last year and continued to monitor him into 2017, CNN said. The second warrant was obtained as part of the FBI’s investigation into ties between Trump campaign associates and Russian operatives, it said. FISA warrants require the approval of top FBI and Justice Department officials, and law enforcement has to demonstrate to the court that there is reason to believe that the subject of the investigation may be acting as an agent of a foreign power. CNN said interest in Manafort deepened because of intercepted communications between him and Russian operatives, and among the Russians. The government eavesdropping continued into 2017, including a period when Manafort was known to talk to Trump after he became president. CNN said it was unclear if Trump was picked up on the surveillance. The FBI was not listening in June 2016 when Donald Trump Jr., Manafort and top White House adviser Jared Kushner met with a Russian lawyer who had promised to deliver negative information on Trump’s rival, Democrat Hillary Clinton, CNN said. Russia has denied interfering in the U.S. election and Trump has denied there was collusion.

Summary: सी. एन. एन. ने कहा, गुप्त अदालत के आदेशों के तहत ट्रंप के प्रचार सलाहकार का वायरटैप किया गया था


TOKYO (Reuters) - Police in northern Japan have found eight men near a boat at a seaside marina who said they were from North Korea, and appear to be fishermen whose vessel ran into trouble, rather than defectors, a police official said on Friday. The incident comes at a time of rising tension over North Korea s nuclear arms and missile programs after President Donald Trump redesignated the isolated nation a state sponsor of terrorism, allowing the United States to levy further sanctions. Japanese police took the men into custody after a resident of Yurihonjo, a city in the prefecture of Akita, told police of the presence of individuals of unknown nationality, the official, Yoshinobu Ito, told Reuters. The men, who said they were North Koreans, appear to be fishermen whose wooden boat, found nearby, had trouble and went adrift, Ito said. Police and authorities were now dealing with the matter, he added. Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga, asked if the possibility the men were spies had been ruled out, told a news conference authorities were handling the matter carefully. Japan is studying plans to cope with a possible influx of tens of thousands of North Korean evacuees should a military or other crisis break out on the peninsula, as well as how to weed out spies and terrorists among them, a domestic newspaper said. Last week, the Japan Coast Guard rescued three North Korean men on a capsized boat in the Sea of Japan, off central Japan. The men said they were fishermen and were later sent home aboard a North Korean vessel. Twelve more crew went missing. Last week a North Korean soldier dramatically defected to the South after being shot and wounded by his country s military as he made his getaway across the border in the heavily guarded Demilitarized Zone between the two countries.

Summary: उत्तरी जापान के मरीना में पाए गए पुरुषों का कहना है कि वे उत्तर कोरिया के हैंः पुलिस


NAIROBI (Reuters) - Kenyan police used tear gas and batons on Tuesday to disperse protesters who say election officials should be sacked before the re-run of a presidential vote because they favor President Uhuru Kenyatta. Several volleys of tear gas were fired near the election commission headquarters in central Nairobi, a Reuters witness said. When protestors regrouped, officers fired more tear gas and beat some with batons. By mid-afternoon calm had returned. Raila Odinga, who lost his presidential bid on Aug. 8, will get another chance after the Supreme Court annulled the election citing irregularities and ordered a fresh vote within 60 days. However, Odinga has accused the election commission, known as the IEBC, of being a puppet of Kenyatta s ruling Jubilee party and said he will not participate in the Oct. 26 re-run if election officials are not sacked and prosecuted. The court did not find any individual responsible but said institutional failings had led to irregularities and illegalities in the transmission of election results.  The election commission has asked the opposition to call off protests until the IEBC has explained the various measures being taken to  enhance the credibility and integrity  of the vote.  IEBC cannot begin the process of an honest election as long as those responsible for the irregularities and illegalities are still lurking in its corridors,  Odinga told reporters.  IEBC has refused to dismiss or suspend them. That is why we are today beginning these peaceful campaigns to force them out by public pressure so the process of a fair election can at last begin,  he added. Last week Kenya s chief prosecutor ordered investigations into 11 election board officials including its chief executive, Ezra Chiloba, as well as a lawyer and campaigner who worked for Odinga. Speaking as protestors gathered outside his office, Chiloba said he would not resign.  I have (a) responsibility before me and I have to discharge that responsibility,  he told Kenya s KTN television network. Some Kenyatta supporters also took to the streets in Nairobi but there were no clashes between the two sides. In the port city of Mombasa, a crowd gathered at local election office, chanting:  No reforms no elections. Chiloba must go!  The Kenyan government in a statement accused  mobs of hooligans  of taking advantage of the protests to destroy property and said  a number of criminals  had been arrested and would be taken to court.  Underscoring the rising tensions, a newly elected opposition lawmaker was charged with subversion at a court hearing in Nairobi on Tuesday. Paul Ongili Owino was arrested after a video clip of him speaking while campaigning for Odinga emerged on social media in which he called Kenyatta a son of a dog. The prosecution said those words were  calculated to excite disaffection against the presidency . Ahead of Tuesday s demonstrations by the opposition National Super Alliance coalition, Kenyatta had said violence would not be tolerated.  People are free to demonstrate but they must ensure that they do not destroy other people s property,  he said.  Let them not think that they will break into other people s shops and interfere with the daily routine of other Kenyans. That, we shall not allow,  he said. In the western city of Kisumu, an Odinga stronghold where some 3,000 protestors gathered, one protestor, vegetable market vendor Hellen Aketch said:  I will support anything that assures me of the validity and the safety of my vote in the upcoming elections.   I have closed (my) business today and I am ready to do it again so long as some sanity is realized among those who hold public office.

Summary: केन्याई पुलिस ने चुनाव आयोग के खिलाफ विरोध प्रदर्शन को तितर-बितर किया


STOCKHOLM (Reuters) - U.S. President-elect Donald Trump’s plans to increase spending on infrastructure while cutting taxes would endanger public finances, Economics Nobel laureate Oliver Hart said on Wednesday. With much infrastructure in the United States in bad shape, increased spending could be good even if the details in Trump’s plans were “not so impressive”, he said. “But then also reducing taxes, I mean that is going to lead to all sorts of budgetary problems in the future,” Hart told a news conference in Stockholm, along with the other winner of the Nobel Prize for Economics, Bengt Holmstrom. Hart and Holmstrom are due to receive the prize at a ceremony in Stockholm on Saturday. Hart also criticized the idea of tearing up trade agreements and said reducing taxes on the rich was contrary to his belief of what was needed. “I would be in favor of actually increasing the tax burden on the wealthy,” he said, adding it was very hard to know what Trump will actually do when taking office.

Summary: नोबेल पुरस्कार विजेता का कहना है कि ट्रम्प की नीतियों से बजट की समस्याएं हो सकती हैं


WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump has stepped up the pressure on the National Football League over protests by its players during the national anthem by launching a petition and asking his supporters to show their patriotism by backing it. The move came after NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell this week rejected Trump’s calls to punish players who kneel for the anthem to protest racism. Trump has said the protests are unpatriotic and disrespectful of military veterans. “The President has asked for a list of supporters who stand for the National Anthem. Add your name below to show your patriotism and support,” said the petition issued on Thursday by the Trump Make America Great Again Committee, a fundraising organization for Trump and Vice President Mike Pence. The petition was published on the Republican National Committee website. It did not indicate how many signatures had been received. Players kneeling during “The Star-Spangled Banner” are protesting the killing of unarmed black men and boys by police across the United States, as well as racial disparities in the country’s criminal justice system. More than half of all NFL players are black. Former San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick, who first popularized the gesture last year, said he settled on kneeling as a form of protest because it is widely seen as a gesture of respect. Goodell said on Wednesday after a meeting of league owners  that the NFL would continue to nurture players’ efforts to fight racial disparities in the criminal justice system, believing this would make the urge to protest fade. Trump has repeatedly expressed disdain for the protests since a rally in September. In a Twitter post on Wednesday, he called the NFL’s decision, “Too much talk, not enough action.”

Summary: एन. एफ. एल. खिलाड़ियों के राष्ट्रगान के विरोध के खिलाफ ट्रम्प ने याचिका दायर की


WASHINGTON/NEW YORK (Reuters) - Donald Trump this week took his use of sordid accusations against Democrat Hillary Clinton to levels unprecedented in modern U.S. presidential campaigns, in the latest example of the Republican’s unorthodox playbook. The presumptive Republican nominee is working to gain stronger footing and offset a big advantage Clinton is likely to have ahead of the Nov. 8 presidential election: a huge campaign war chest that she and her allies intend to use to launch a barrage of attacks against him.  Trump is using the same strategy he used repeatedly during the Republican nomination fight against rivals like Ted Cruz: making incendiary statements that U.S. television networks cannot resist covering, giving him hours of free media and putting his opponents on the defensive.  The strategy may already be working. Trump has raised more than a few eyebrows with his latest round of attacks against Clinton. He has turned history into headlines that play like a virtual reel in the 24-hour news world of cable TV and the internet. Trump’s campaign manager, Corey Lewandowski, said the strategy makes sense. “Clearly, she’s going to have massive amounts of money,” Lewandowski told Reuters. “The difference is Mr. Trump has funded his campaign. What we’ve been able to do in this campaign cycle is to generate earned media based on Mr. Trump’s ability to be a straight talker, and genuine and authentic, and I think that’s what drives the news cycle.” Trump’s latest salvos include a rape accusation against former President Bill Clinton dating to the 1970s and the suicide of an aide to the former president in 1993 - events that the campaign links to Hillary Clinton. An online video released by Trump has various women accusing the former president of rape or unwanted sexual advances. Trump accused Hillary Clinton of helping to silence the women. The Clintons and their supporters have dismissed the charges as baseless and politically motivated. Then, in an interview with The Washington Post, Trump suggested that the Clintons may have been involved in the 1993 death of Vince Foster, a former aide to Bill Clinton and a friend of Hillary Clinton, even though more than five investigations, including one conducted by Republican special prosecutor Kenneth Starr, concluded that Foster committed suicide in a Virginia park. Trump was alluding to theories over the years that have been circulated in tabloid publications, in the depths of the internet and in books by the Clintons’ foes. On Wednesday, Trump’s campaign accidentally sent an email to a reporter at Politico revealing that the Republican plans to next attack Clinton regarding Whitewater, a real estate scandal that plagued Bill Clinton’s administration. No wrongdoing by the Clintons was ever proven. The attacks have put Hillary Clinton on her back foot. Trump “just continues to gobble news cycle after news cycle,” said Republican pollster Kellyanne Conway, who ran the Super PACs that backed Senator Ted Cruz in the primary and aggressively attacked Trump. “Clinton is spending less time campaigning about the future and more time explaining the past than she would probably like.”  The barrage puts Clinton in a bind. So far, she has opted to ignore Trump’s personal attacks and her campaign has offered general pushback. But Clinton risks the negative onslaught dragging down her standing with the public and irreversibly damaging her general election hopes. “I played a lot of hardball in my life, but I don’t envy what the Clinton campaign is up against here. Trump himself has totally changed the political dynamic,” said Jim Manley, a Democratic strategist who supports Clinton. “What they can’t afford to do is get in the gutter with the guy. He has absolutely no morals or scruples. Getting into the gutter with him is an absolute waste of time.” Clinton’s campaign and the Super PACs supporting her will not be without funds to try to combat the attacks and launch her own. At the end of April, she had $30 million in her campaign account, compared with Trump’s $2 million.  And the PAC supporting her, which can raise and spend unlimited amounts of money, had $46 million at the end of April - a total that is likely to grow over the summer. The PAC backing Trump is just getting off the ground. Clinton will also depend on an army of surrogates to try to combat Trump without having to respond to him herself.  Trump has already proven he can dispatch opponents without spending much money by defining them to voters through aggressive appearances on news programs.  Republican rival Jeb Bush had a more than $100 million advantage going into the primary. But Trump painted him as “low energy” and defined him as inept, a characterization Bush’s money was never able to overcome. The PACs backing Republican Senators Marco Rubio and Ted Cruz spent millions assailing Trump. Trump was able to leverage extensive coverage of his campaign by the media to combat their attacks while spending little money on advertising. Trump has been proven an expert at raising attack lines that have already been settled, but insisting that questions remain. He spent years demanding that President Barack Obama produce his birth certificate, despite myriad evidence that Obama was born in Hawaii, including government records of the president’s birth in Honolulu. For Trump, some of the attacks are targeted at young voters - those in their early 20s and 30s were too young to have been immersed in news about the scandals of the Clinton years.   “You have a whole series of the population who either (a) don’t know anything about it, or (b) weren’t paying attention at the time,” Lewandowski said. A Clinton ally said Trump is simply trying to distract attention from his own liabilities - such as refusing to release his tax returns and his own history of problems with women. “The more he raises these outrageous and outlandish charges,” said U.S. Representative Xavier Becerra, of California, a Democratic leader in the House, “the more he keeps you pedaling in a different direction.”

Summary: पैसों के नुकसान की भरपाई करने के इरादे से ट्रंप ने हिलेरी पर हमले तेज कर दिए


MOGADISHU (Reuters) - More than 500 people were killed in twin bomb blasts in Mogadishu in October, a Somali committee looking into the attack said on Thursday, raising the death toll from at least 358.  In the incidents on Oct. 14, a truck bomb exploded outside a busy hotel at the K5 intersection lined with government offices, restaurants and kiosks. A second blast struck Medina district two hours later. The impact of the truck bomb was worsened by it exploding next to a fuel tanker that increased its intensity and left many bodies being burnt or mutilated beyond recognition. By Oct. 20, the government said the toll had reached 358. It set up a committee, known as the Zobe Rescue Committee, to establish a more accurate death toll by talking to relatives of those who may have been at the site of the blasts.  So far we have confirmed 512 people died in last month s explosion ... (Some) 316 others were also injured in that blast,  Abdullahi Mohamed Shirwac, the committee s chairman, told Reuters on Thursday. There was no immediate comment from the government on the latest toll. The bomb attacks were the deadliest since Islamist militant group al Shabaab began an insurgency in 2007. Al Shabaab has not claimed responsibility, but the method and type of attack - a large truck bomb - is increasingly used by the al Qaeda-linked organization. Al Shabaab stages regular attacks in the capital and other parts of the country. Although the group says it targets the government and security forces, it has detonated large bombs in crowded public areas before. It has sometimes not claimed responsibility for bombings that provoked a big public backlash, such as the 2009 suicide bombing of a graduation ceremony for medical students.

Summary: अक्टूबर में सोमालिया में हुए ट्रक बम विस्फोट में मरने वालों की संख्या अब 512 हुईः जांच समिति


WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Despite his campaign vows to take a tougher line with North Korea, President Donald Trump’s restrained public reaction to Pyongyang’s first ballistic missile launch on his watch underscores that he has few good options to curb its missile and nuclear programs. The responses under consideration - which range from additional sanctions to U.S. shows of force to beefed-up missile defense, according to one administration official - do not seem to differ significantly so far from the North Korea playbook followed by Trump’s predecessor, Barack Obama. Even the idea of stepping up pressure on China to rein in a defiant North Korea has been tried - to little avail - by successive administrations. But Beijing is showing no signs of softening its resistance under a new U.S. president who has bashed them on trade, currency and the contested South China Sea. More dramatic responses to North Korea’s missile tests would be direct military action or negotiations. But neither appears to be on the table - the first because it would risk regional war, the latter because it would be seen as rewarding Pyongyang for bad behavior. And neither would offer certain success. “Trump’s options are limited,” said Bonnie Glaser, an Asia expert at the Center for Strategic and International Studies think tank in Washington. Trump’s initial public comments on Saturday on the test launch of what was believed to be an intermediate-range Musudan-class missile were unexpectedly measured - and brief - compared to earlier bluster about another U.S. adversary, Iran, since he took office on January 20. “I just want everybody to understand, and fully know, that the United States of America is behind Japan, our great ally, 100 percent,” Trump told reporters in Palm Beach, Florida, speaking in a solemn tone alongside visiting Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe. The U.S. president did not mention North Korea or signal any retaliatory plans for what was widely seen as an early effort to test the new administration. By contrast, Trump tweeted “It won’t happen!” in January after North Korean leader Kim Jong Un said the North was close to testing an intercontinental ballistic missile. White House adviser Stephen Miller insisted on ABC’s “This Week” that Trump’s one-sentence statement was an “important show of solidarity” with Japan. He told “Fox News Sunday” the administration was going to bolster its allies in the region against the “increasing hostility” of North Korea. While no one can rule out that Trump might still take to Twitter with harsh rhetoric as he often does, some analysts said his relatively subdued initial statement could show that aides have convinced him not to be baited by Pyongyang into issuing threats that would be hard to carry out, especially while his North Korea strategy is still being formulated. Trump’s aides have said that they will take a more assertive approach than the Obama policy dubbed “strategic patience,” which involved gradually scaling up sanctions and diplomatic pressure and essentially waiting out the North Korean leadership. But the new administration has been vague about how it would do this. The Trump administration had been expecting a North Korean “provocation” and will consider a full range of options in response, but they would be calibrated to show U.S. resolve while avoiding escalation, the U.S. official said, speaking on condition of anonymity. The stakes would be higher, however, if nuclear-capable North Korea makes good on its threat to test an ICBM of a kind that could someday hit the United States, analysts said. Trump and his aides are likely to weigh new U.S. sanctions to tighten financial controls, an increase in naval and air assets and joint military exercises in and around the Korean peninsula and accelerated installation of new missile defense  systems in South Korea, the official said. Trump has also made clear that he believes China has not done enough to use its influence to help rein in Pyongyang’s nuclear and ballistic programs. The U.S. official told Reuters that Trump would now step up pressure on Beijing, but acknowledged that there were limits to how far China would go, especially in enforcing sanctions, because of its own interests in avoiding destabilization of North Korea. It remains to be seen, however, whether the new administration might go a step beyond Obama’s approach and focus on imposing “secondary sanctions” on firms and entities that help North Korea’s weapons programs, many of which are in China. Also unclear is whether Trump’s phone call last week with Chinese President Xi Jinping, in which the U.S. president backed  away from his threat to break from America’s long-standing “one China” policy, would engender greater cooperation from Beijing on North Korea. “Beijing has enormous leverage over Pyongyang thanks to being one of its only trading partners and in fact could not survive without Chinese economic assistance,” said Harry Kazianis, director of defense studies at the conservative   Center for the National Interest. Riki Ellison, who heads the Missile Defense Advocacy Alliance, an industry group, said Trump should also move quickly to beef up missile defense in both South Korea and Japan - for which the Obama administration has already laid much of the groundwork. “He cannot ignore this,” he said. “It has to be swift.” North Korea’s repeated missile launches prompted Washington and Seoul to agree to deploy a Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) anti-missile battery in South Korea later this year, a system strongly opposed by Beijing, which worries that its powerful radar undermines its own security.

Summary: उत्तर कोरिया का मुकाबला करने के लिए ट्रम्प के शस्त्रागार में कुछ अच्छे विकल्प


WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. President Barack Obama on Tuesday pledged to undertake a historic push to develop a cure for cancer, tapping Vice President Joe Biden to lead the effort. Obama, in the last State of the Union address of his presidency, said America must use its spirit of innovation to help tackle the challenge of cancer. “For the loved ones we’ve all lost, for the family we can still save, let’s make America the country that cures cancer once and for all,” Obama said. As Biden smiled from his seat behind the president, Obama said he would put the vice president in charge of “mission control” for the effort. Biden, who lost his 46-year old son to brain cancer last year, received a standing ovation from lawmakers when Obama made the announcement. Following his son’s death, Biden said he would not run for president in 2016, but he promised he would focus his remaining time in office on working on a “moon shot” to end cancer.  In a blog post released during the State of the Union address, Biden said the White House would focus on increasing public and private resources to fight the disease and to improve information sharing among researchers and medical professionals.  “It’s personal for me,” Biden said, regarding the push.  He will travel on Friday to the University of Pennsylvania’s Perelman School of Medicine to speak with physicians and next week he will meet with experts at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland to discuss the initiative. The cancer initiative will build upon the $2 billion increase in funding approved for the National Institutes of Health last year, White House chief economist Jason Furman told reporters ahead of Obama speech. Earlier this month, private companies and academic cancer centers joined together to launch their own mission to fight cancer. The Cancer Moonshot 2020 program is aimed at developing a vaccine-based immunotherapy to combat cancer by the end of the decade.  Companies involved include Celgene Corp (CELG.O), Amgen (AMGN.O) Inc and NantKwest Inc (NK.O). In his speech, Obama also stressed that the United States should continue to help fight against disease in African countries and around the world. “Right now, we are on track to end the scourge of HIV/AIDS, and we have the capacity to accomplish the same thing with malaria,” Obama said, noting that he would push Congress to fund this effort in 2016.

Summary: ओबामा ने कैंसर को 'हमेशा के लिए' ठीक करने के मिशन की शुरुआत की


WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump is leaning toward naming former pharmaceutical industry executive Alex Azar as his pick to lead the Department of Health and Human Services, Politico reported on Tuesday, citing two White House officials. He would replace Republican Tom Price, who resigned last month amid controversy over his heavy use of private and government jets for travel at taxpayer expense.  Azar was deputy secretary at HHS during the administration of President George W. Bush before joining drugmaker Eli Lilly and Co, first as senior vice president of corporate affairs and communications and later as president of Lilly USA, its U.S. affiliate, according to his LinkedIn page. He left the company in January to form an Indianapolis-based healthcare consulting firm, his Linkedin entry says. Azar also clerked for U.S. Supreme Court Associate Justice Antonin Scalia and was a partner at Washington law firm Wiley, Rein and Fielding, the Linkedin page says.  The White House declined comment on the report. Azar did not immediately respond to a request for comment,  Politico said.

Summary: ट्रम्प ने स्वास्थ्य सचिव के लिए पूर्व दवा कार्यकारी अजार का समर्थन कियाः पोलिटिको