NEW YORK/WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Republican President-elect Donald Trump’s campaign manager on Wednesday said there has been no discussion of an appointment of a prosecutor to investigate Hillary Clinton’s past practices while serving as President Barack Obama’s secretary of state, a threat Trump made in an election debate. Trump and Vice President-elect Mike Pence are “looking to unify the country, but we haven’t discussed that in recent days, and I think that it’s all in due time,” campaign manager Kellyanne Conway said on MSNBC when asked about the appointment of a prosecutor.  Real estate developer and former reality TV host Trump stunned the world by defeating Democrat Clinton in Tuesday’s U.S. presidential election. His four-year term starts on Jan. 20.  Asked on CNN about the possibility of a special prosecutor, Conway said: “We didn’t discuss that last night, and he did not discuss that with Hillary Clinton on the phone.” Clinton called Trump to concede the race. During his victory speech in the early hours of Wednesday morning, Trump said it was “time for American to bind the wounds of division.”  Given Trump’s promise to bring the country together, pursuing a case against Clinton could be a risky political strategy, said Katy Harriger, a political science professor from Wake Forest University in North Carolina. “I can’t imagine anything more divisive than going after someone who may have won the popular vote,” said Harriger, whose work focuses on the role of special prosecutors in U.S. politics. The White House on Wednesday also pointed to the nation’s long history of not jailing political rivals in retribution. Appointing a prosecutor would also mean going against the recommendations of the Federal Bureau of Investigation.  The agency, which had been investigating Clinton’s email practices, cleared her just two days ahead of the election and stood by its earlier finding that criminal charges were not warranted. During his second debate with Clinton on Oct. 9, Trump vowed to put Clinton in jail, attacking her for operating a private email server during her tenure as chief diplomat under Obama from 2009 to 2013, saying she had endangered national security.  Trump said, “If I win, I am going to instruct my attorney general to get a special prosecutor to look into your situation. Because there has never been so many lies, so much deception.” Under U.S. government regulations in place since 1999, the attorney general can appoint a special counsel because of a conflict of interest or because of “other extraordinary circumstances.”  Clinton, who has apologized over her use of a private server, defended herself at the St. Louis debate. If Trump chose to pursue an investigation, his appointee for attorney general would have “broad discretion” to assign a special counsel to the case, said Devin Schindler, a professor at Western Michigan University’s Cooley Law School.  The White House, asked about Trump’s pledge to jail Clinton, said such a move would be unprecedented. “We’ve got a long tradition in this country of ... people in power not using the criminal justice system to exact political revenge. In fact, we go to great lengths to insulate our criminal justice system from partisan politics,” Obama’s spokesman Josh Earnest told reporters at a daily news briefing.  “That commitment has served our country very well for more than two centuries. And the president is hopeful that it will continue,” he added.  Obama does have the ability to issue a pre-emptive pardon of Clinton that would shield her from prosecution, even though no charges have been filed against her, said legal experts.  Asked about such a possibility, Earnest said he could not speculate about any hypothetical pardons. After taking office, President Gerald Ford pardoned his predecessor, Richard Nixon, who had not been charged with a crime in the Watergate scandal, in an effort to move past the country’s polarization. But Obama might be hesitant to issue a pardon, and Clinton to accept one, because under U.S. Supreme Court precedent, “the acceptance of a pardon is the functional equivalent of admitting guilt,” said Schindler. Peter Zeidenberg, who served as deputy special counsel in the investigation of former Vice President Dick Cheney’s chief of staff and national security adviser, Lewis “Scooter” Libby, over government leaks during the George W. Bush administration, said a special prosecutor would have to take evidence to a grand jury overseen by a judge. Given what is known about Clinton’s conduct, it is a “nothingburger” of a case, he said. Despite chants from Trump supporters at his campaign rallies to “Lock her up,” including at his election night victory party,  Zeidenberg and other legal experts said Trump may go back on his pledge to appoint a special prosecutor.  “It sounds good at the time, so he says it,” said  Zeidenberg. “But he has changed his position so many times he is like a weathervane in a windstorm.”

Summary: ट्रम्प के सहयोगी का कहना है कि क्लिंटन के अभियोजक पर कोई निर्णय नहीं, अब एकता पर केंद्रित है


(Reuters) - Modernizing and maintaining the U.S. nuclear arsenal over the next 30 years will cost more than $1.2 trillion, according to a report released on Tuesday by the Congressional Budget Office. The report said current plans for the modernization of the aging planes, ships and missile silos that make up the U.S. nuclear arsenal would cost 50 percent more than if the U.S. only operated and maintained its current equipment in the field. The CBO study reviewed the Obama’s Administration’s plans for modernization of the nuclear arsenal. President Donald Trump in January directed Secretary of Defense James Mattis to conduct his own review the U.S. nuclear forces. The results could be published in the coming months.  U.S. House Armed Services Committee member Adam Smith, a Democrat from Washington, said of the Obama-era plan: “Congress still doesn’t seem to have any answers as to how we will pay for this effort, or what the trade-offs with other national security efforts will be.”  The report said costs would rise from $29 billion in 2017 to $47 billion in 2027, before peaking at around $50 billion a year through the early 2030s. Trump has said he wants to ensure the U.S. nuclear arsenal is at the “top of the pack,” saying the United States has fallen behind in its weapons capacity. U.S. officials have noted that America’s nuclear modernization is lagging behind Russia’s upgrade of its own nuclear triad. General Paul Selva, vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, told Congress in August he believed Moscow was already two-thirds of the way through its nuclear modernization process. In August, the U.S. Air Force awarded Boeing Co and Northrop Grumman Corp separate contracts to continue development work on the replacement of the aging Minuteman III intercontinental ballistic missile system one leg of the nuclear triad.  Days later the Air Force awarded Lockheed Martin Corp and Raytheon Co separate $900 million contracts to continue work on a replacement for the AGM-86B air-launched nuclear cruise missile. That detailed development contract allows the companies to continue work on the long range standoff weapon yet another leg of the triad.

Summary: अगले 30 वर्षों में अमेरिकी परमाणु शस्त्रागार की लागत 12 लाख करोड़ डॉलर होगीः सी. बी. ओ.


(Reuters) - Hurricane Maria has made landfall near Yabucoa, Puerto Rico, the U.S. National Hurricane Center (NHC) said on Wednesday. The hurricane is about 35 miles (55 km) southeast of San Juan, Puerto Rico with maximum sustained winds of 155 miles per hour (250 km per hour), the NHC said, adding that it is moving in a north-westerly direction at 10 mph (17 km/h).

Summary: तूफान मारिया ने प्यूर्टो रिको में दस्तक दीः एन. एच. सी.


SAN SALVADOR (Reuters) - Gang life in the poor Central American country of El Salvador is hard, but for a dozen former members of the feared 18th Street Gang, building a new life outside is no less difficult.   Wilfredo Gomez, 40, joined a gang as an adolescent in Los Angeles, the U.S. city to which his parents emigrated. He said he was enticed by the guns, the girls and the camaraderie of gang life.  He wound up in jail before being deported back to his native country. With few links to El Salvador, he quickly returned to gang life. A 10-year jail sentence for stealing an Uzi submachine gun gave him time to reckon with his choices. Returning to civil society is arduous in the midst of the government s militarized battle against the  maras,  which has  led to claims of rights abuses and, according to police, an average daily tally of 16 dead. Former gang members often struggle to find lodging and work, and may be rejected by their families.  For Gomez and 12 other ex-gangsters, the Eben-Ezer evangelical church in the gang-ridden neighborhood of Dina in San Salvador, the capital, has been a lifeline, offering food, accommodations, and a spiritual second chance.   I ve only had losses being part of the gang,  Gomez said.  I haven t won anything. I lost my youth, which was spent in jail. I lost my family due to my bad decisions. I lost my home, my woman, my son, and I lost the best years of my life due to a pointless ideology.  Gomez now runs a bakery that employs 10 other former gang members.  Now, my fun, my enjoyment, is to see them smile, to have dreams,  Gomez said.  They say they re going to open a bigger bakery, and that one day we ll have our own store and compete against Pizza Hut.  Rejected by a society weary of violence, they nonetheless struggle to eradicate the stain of gang life. In October, police went to the bakery and stripped the employees to expose their gang tattoos. They were arrested on suspicion of illicit association, a crime that carries a 5-year sentence. A week later, they were released without charges. Once known as  The Shadow,  Raul Valladares, 34, is undergoing a painful process to remove tattoos from his face and arms. He has received death threats from his former gang associates because removing gang insignia is punishable by death.  It s definitely cost me a lot to leave the gang,  he said.  But I m fighting to keep going.  Related photo essay at reut.rs/2j5X7Oj

Summary: ठगों के रूप में जीवन से लेकर बेकिंग तक, अल सल्वाडोर के पूर्व गिरोह के सदस्य शांति चाहते हैं


CHICAGO (Reuters) - Illinois’ first budget after two years is filled with partial outlines to address its debt-ridden pension system and unpaid bill backlog — signs that political fighting and the fiscal mess in the nation’s fifth-largest state are far from over. At least 15 House and Senate Republicans broke with first-term Republican Governor Bruce Rauner on Thursday and joined with Democrats to override Rauner’s vetoes of the state’s first budget package in more than two years.  The $36 billion spending plan relies on a $5 billion tax increase that permanently hikes the flat personal income tax rate to 4.95 percent, up 32 percent from its prior 3.75 percent rate. To address the state’s nearly $15 billion in unpaid bills, Illinois depends heavily on borrowing. Lawmakers approved $6 billion of 12-year bonds to raise money for repayments. But State Representative Greg Harris, the House Democrats’ point person on the budget, has acknowledged there is only enough revenue to support half of that borrowing amount.  Illinois will also borrow up to $1.2 billion from various state accounts that have accumulated cash for specific purposes, while “sweeping” cash from other accounts —a government version of looking under couch cushions that is expected to yield $300 million.  Illinois’ $130 billion pension liability is one of the largest in the nation, and the new budget takes only small steps to address the structural underfunding of Illinois’ five retirement systems.  The new law gives the state five years to phase in changes retroactive to fiscal 2014 in actuarial or investment return assumptions made by the pension systems for an estimated savings of $892.1 million.  Seemingly small changes in projected investment results can have significant impact on a pension fund’s actuarial calculations. Last year, when the Illinois Teachers’ Retirement System reduced its earnings assumption to 7 percent from 7.5 percent, the change caused a $660 million spike in the state’s fiscal 2018 contribution. The new budget attributes $500 million in savings to the creation of a new tier of pension beneficiaries. But that tier applies largely to newly hired employees, raising questions about how the state expects to book that savings in the current fiscal year. That estimate was lifted straight from the proposed budget presented by Rauner earlier this year. The projection has not been independently verified by legislative leaders, and Rauner’s office has not responded to requests for an explanation of how the estimate was calculated.  The Illinois Education Association, one of the state’s largest unions, said it has no evidence that its pensioners would be harmed by the new budget’s pension provisions. But the union questioned why lawmakers approved structural changes to pensions without an independent financial analysis.  “It’s a little bit of a shot in the dark. For something this major, you’d think the legislators who are voting on this would want to know this information,” said Jim Reed, the union’s government relations director. A budget was welcomed as a positive step for Illinois, which still faces fiscal and pension crises. “The pension pressures will continue, and Illinois’ financial challenges will continue, but at least there will be a framework to recognize there’s a limit to the liability growth to this state,” said Laurence Msall, president of the Civic Federation, a budget watchdog group. Steve Malanga, a senior fellow at the Manhattan Institute think tank, said the fixes in the new budget do not match up to the challenges faced by Illinois. “This is the kind of budget you would pass if you were a state that hit a bump in the road and had a deficit you needed to get rid of over the next two or three years,” he said. “It’s not the kind of budget you’d pass if you have $14 billion in unpaid bills and a $130 billion unfunded (pension) liability.” The Democrats and Republicans who voted for the budget did so at least in part to prevent Illinois from becoming the first U.S. state in history to see its credit rating fall to “junk” status. Moody’s on Wednesday put Illinois on review for a possible downgrade, but some of the state’s bonds traded higher on Friday, an apparent sign of optimism about the budget.

Summary: इलिनोइस के नए बजट में बड़ा वित्तीय संकट बना हुआ है


DUBLIN (Reuters) - The party of Irish Prime Minister Leo Varadkar appears to be preparing for an imminent general election, the head of the opposition Fianna Fail party said on Friday.  The government looked set to collapse after Fianna Fail submitted a motion of no confidence in the deputy prime minister in violation of a three-year support agreement.  I took it from last night that Fine Gael wants a general election and is preparing for one,  Fianna Fail s Micheal Martin told state broadcaster RTE.

Summary: आयरलैंड के विपक्षी नेता का कहना है कि प्रधानमंत्री की पार्टी चुनाव की तैयारी कर रही है


WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell on Tuesday said he would not back slashing State Department funding as the Trump administration is expected to propose, adding that deep cuts would not pass the legislative chamber. Speaking to reporters, McConnell also said Republicans, who control both the Senate and the House of Representatives, are still not in agreement on a healthcare plan to replace Obamacare.

Summary: मैककॉनेल का कहना है कि विदेश विभाग के बजट में भारी कटौती पारित नहीं होगी


CHICAGO (Reuters) - Former U.S. President Barack Obama on Monday makes his first major appearance since leaving office, having chosen Chicago, the city where his political career started, to emerge from a three-month hiatus from the public eye. Obama will meet youth leaders and promote community organizing near the same South Side neighborhoods where his own activism blossomed and propelled him to two terms in the White House that ended with Donald Trump’s inauguration on January 20.  Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel, who served as Obama’s first White House chief of staff, said that he was proud that Obama picked Chicago to make his last speech as president and the first in his post-presidency. “I think it reflects his emotional, as well as his intellectual, commitment to this city and seeing this city as his home,” he said. Obama’s continued connection to Chicago is important to the city, which has global aspirations as well as a palpable insecurity about its place in the world. During the last year of Obama’s second term, Chicago laid claim to its share of his legacy by beating out Hawaii and New York as the site of his presidential library.  Obama, who still owns a home in Chicago, was raised in Hawaii. The former president and his wife Michelle are expected to move from Washington to New York once their younger daughter, Sasha, graduates from high school. David Axelrod, a former top political adviser to Obama, said the decision to house the library in Chicago should have eased any concerns that its residents may have had about the former Democratic president’s commitment to the city.  But Monday’s event, he said, is another important sign of the former president’s strong links to Chicago. “He’s going to be more visible moving forward,” he said. “I think this is clearly a coming-out.” Reverend Michael Pfleger, a social justice activist who heads a large South Side Roman Catholic church, said a prominent Obama presence could help the nation’s third-largest city confront some of the thorny problems it faces.  Chief among them is a spike in gun violence, an issue that  Trump has highlighted as a sign of lawlessness and the failure of the Democratic politicians who have long run Chicago. “It’s his life, and he’s not in elected office right now, so he can do what he wants,” Pfleger said. “But I’d love to see him engage in his home of Chicago. He could make a huge difference.” Civil Rights activist Jesse Jackson said Obama could use his powerful platform to address stark inequalities in Chicago schools, housing and employment, and to advocate for reinvestment in blighted neighborhoods. Monday’s event takes place on the South Side campus of the University of Chicago, where Obama once taught constitutional law. It is intended “to encourage and support the next generation of leaders driven by strengthening communities,” according to a statement. Since leaving office, Obama has kept a relatively low public profile, taking vacations in Palm Springs, California and the British Virgin Islands, where he indulged in the sport of kite-boarding while vacationing with British billionaire Sir Richard Branson.  Together with his wife, who grew up on Chicago’s South Side, the former president recently struck a two-book, $65 million memoir deal. He is expected to travel to Berlin to meet with German Chancellor Angela Merkel next month.

Summary: स्वीट होम शिकागोः ओबामा उस शहर में फिर से उभरे जहाँ यह सब शुरू हुआ था


ATHENS (Reuters) - Greek police fired tear gas at protesters who hurled petrol bombs in Athens on Saturday during a rally marking four years since the killing of an anti-fascism rapper by an ultranationalist Golden Dawn supporter. The killing of Pavlos Fyssas, who performed under the stage name Killah P, had sparked protests across Greece and led to an investigation into Golden Dawn for evidence linking it to violent attacks. A trial of party members is continuing.   Clashes broke out on Saturday after dozens of hooded demonstrators broke off from a march of about 2,000 people, including activists and migrants, towards the Golden Dawn offices in central Athens.   Protesters shouted  Pavlos is alive! Crush the Nazis!  and held up banners demanding the party s offices are shut down and its members are jailed.  Police buses and officers in riot gear blocked the column from reaching the building.  A second rally to mark Fyssas s death anniversary on Sept. 18 has been called for Monday in the working-class neighborhood of Keratsini where he was stabbed to death.

Summary: रैपर की हत्या को चिह्नित करने के लिए एथेंस रैली में पेट्रोल बम और आँसू गैस


WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Donald Trump’s top national security aides pushed back on Monday against U.S. lawmakers calling for a new congressional war authorization, saying it would be a mistake to impose geographic or time limits on the campaign against Islamic State and other militant groups. “War is fundamentally unpredictable,” Secretary of Defense Jim Mattis told a Senate hearing about a potential new authorization for the use of military force, or AUMF, Congress’ most significant step in years toward taking back control of its constitutional right to authorize war. Mattis and Secretary of State Rex Tillerson both told the Senate Foreign Relations Committee it would put U.S. forces at risk if existing authorizations were repealed without new ones in place. They said they do not need a new AUMF to justify ongoing military action. “The 2001 AUMF provides statutory authority for ongoing U.S. military operations against al-Qaeda; the Taliban; and associated forces, including against the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria, or ISIS,” Tillerson said. Republican and Democratic members of Congress have argued for years that Congress ceded too much authority over the military to the White House after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks. But divisions over how much control they should exert over the Pentagon have stymied repeated efforts to pass a new AUMF. Republican Senator Jeff Flake, who proposed an authorization with Democratic Senator Tim Kaine, said Congress should “buy in” to military conflicts by exerting its constitutional authority to declare war. “Here in the Senate, we aspire to be more than just a cog in a feedback loop,” Flake said. He argued that passing an AUMF would send an important message that Washington is unified to U.S. troops, allies and adversaries. “We have a job to do,” Kaine said, questioning whether resistance to a new AUMF was simply opposition to congressional oversight. Concerns intensified this month after four U.S. soldiers were killed in Niger, and previously over Trump’s talk about the possibility of an attack on North Korea and an April attack on an airfield in Syria. Republican Senator Bob Corker, the committee’s chairman, said the ambush in Niger shows U.S. forces “can find themselves in combat at any moment.” Congress has not passed an AUMF since the 2002 measure authorizing the Iraq War. But the legal justification for most military action for the past 16 years is the older authorization passed days after the Sept. 11 attacks, for the campaign against al Qaeda and affiliates. Backers of a new AUMF say the 2001 authorization has let presidents wage war wherever they like, without answering to Congress, or the public. For example, Islamic State did not exist in 2001. “I do not think the American people want the United States conducting a global, endless ‘Shadow War,’ under-the-radar, covert and beyond  scrutiny,” said Senator Ben Cardin, the top Democrat on the foreign relations panel. Mattis said he was not averse to a new authorization. But he said imposing limits would help the non-state actors who are America’s adversaries in a “non-traditional” war spanning much of the globe.  “If the enemy hopes we are going to quit on a certain day, or if they know we won’t deal with them if they step over a certain border, then the enemy is going to do exactly that,” Mattis said. Trump’s fellow Republicans control majorities in both the Senate and House of Representatives but there are deep divisions over any possible new authorization within the party, as well as between Republicans and Democrats. While some Republicans echo Flake in calling for Congress to weigh in, more hawkish lawmakers say military commanders should decide how to fight America’s enemies. Some Democrats say they want an AUMF limiting why, where and for how long U.S. forces can be sent to fight, but others refuse to go on the record supporting any conflict.

Summary: ट्रम्प प्रशासन युद्ध प्राधिकरण पर सीमा नहीं चाहता है


WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Donald Trump suggested more information would be coming out soon about his claim that former President Barack Obama ordered a wiretap of Trump Tower during the 2016 presidential campaign. “I think you’re going to find some very interesting items coming to the forefront over the next two weeks,” Trump said about the wiretap claim in excerpts of an interview to be broadcast later Wednesday on Fox News. He also said that “wiretap covers a lot of different things.”

Summary: ट्रम्प ने वायरटैप दावे के बारे में अधिक जानकारी आने का सुझाव दियाः फॉक्स न्यूज साक्षात्कार


WASHINGTON (Reuters) - In the end, the Closer couldn’t close the deal. For President Donald Trump, the collapse on Friday of his first legislative priority, a healthcare reform bill, was an embarrassing loss of face after he and his administration insisted up until the time of the vote by the U.S. House of Representatives that there was enough Republican support. It brings into question the neophyte president’s ability to move big-ticket legislation through Congress. And for a celebrity businessman who brands himself a deal-maker and fixer, it casts doubt over his ability to deliver on his bold “drain-the-swamp” promises to shake up Washington. The White House wants to advance, among other things, tax reform and a massive infrastructure package this year, but now it must address whether a change of approach is needed and whether congressional allies such as House Speaker Paul Ryan can be counted on to deliver. “This is the most consequential day of Trump’s presidency and it’s not just a failure, it’s a stunning failure,” Charlie Sykes, an influential Wisconsin Republican political commentator and frequent Trump critic, said on Twitter.  Trump appeared to chalk up the loss in part to his own inexperience after House leaders pulled their bill to repeal and replace Obamacare following defections by both moderate and far-right Republican members who were unmoved by Trump’s ultimatum to vote for the plan or live with the current system. “We learned a lot about loyalty. We learned a lot about the vote-getting process,” Trump said after the bill was withdrawn, adding that he would move forward with other priorities. It was yet another setback for an administration barely two months in office that has already seen its national security adviser resign, had its immigration restrictions struck down in courts, and faces a barrage of questions about the Trump campaign’s ties to Russia. Trump’s hallmark salesmanship seemed to abandon him this week. Although he furiously courted the hard-line conservatives opposed to the reform bill, they largely refused to yield, and in the process he alienated moderates who initially supported the bill. The president then switched tactics and gave up trying to bring the conservative opponents into the fold, instead delivering an ultimatum that all Republicans needed to back the bill. That did not work either.  Trump also failed to persuade the American public that the bill was an improvement over the one it would have repealed and replaced: the Affordable Care Act - the signature domestic achievement of former Democratic President Barack Obama. Polls showed the replacement bill to be deeply unpopular, and conservative Republicans complained that their offices were being deluged by calls from constituents opposing it.  “This demonstrates that campaigning and legislating are two different things,” said Jim Manley, once a top aide to former Democratic Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid.  Representative Joe Barton of Texas blamed the failure on Republicans who control the White House, Senate and the House still learning how to govern after eight years of Obama.  “Sometimes you’re playing fantasy football and sometimes you’re in the real game,” Barton told Reuters. Representative Mario Diaz-Balart of Florida called it “a big blow” for the Republican agenda. Trump’s efforts to engage the bill’s opponents at times seemed to muddy the process further, as he largely cut Ryan out of negotiations. (Ryan didn’t seem to mind, calling Trump a “great closer.”)  But even as Trump offered concessions, conservatives did not budge and moderates were angered. Stuart Diamond, a professor who teaches negotiation at the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania, said Trump’s strong-arm tactics backfired.  “Threats don’t work in general,” he said. “They cause damage to relationships. They definitely don’t work in a situation with a lot of different stakeholders, where the power is distributed.” After the bill was revised along Trump’s specifications, the Congressional Budget Office, which analyzes the financial impact of proposed legislation, determined that the bill would deprive 24 million Americans of health insurance over the next decade and slice about $150 billion off the budget deficit.  The CBO said the bill would not affect the number of uninsured but it would reduce the budget deficit significantly less than the original bill, troubling fiscal hawks. Even as Trump and the White House pushed harder, opposition to the bill among the rank and file rose. Representative Bill Huizenga, a Michigan Republican who is also a small-business owner, said Trump was still getting used to governing. “There are parallels between government and business, but they are not exactly the same.” The lesson from the debacle, said John Feehery, a Republican strategist who was an aide to former House Speaker Dennis Hastert, is that the White House needs to take a firmer hand in crafting legislative strategy. On healthcare, Trump largely deferred to Ryan’s office, which drafted the bill in secret, sowing mistrust among conservatives.  Congress now faces arguably an even tougher legislative reform: overhauling the tax code, which has not been done since 1986 and involves navigating a snake pit of competing special interests. Like Trump’s healthcare proposal, it could struggle against public opinion, with Democrats likely to cast it as a Republican giveaway to the rich. There was also a feeling among some Republicans that they had escaped a looming disaster. Even if the bill had passed the House, it faced a radical overhaul in the Senate, meaning both chambers would have been tied up battling over the bill for weeks, perhaps months. And if it became law and millions of voters lost health insurance, some Republicans feared they could suffer at the polls.  Instead, those Republicans have to hope voters will not punish them for failing to deliver on a promise they had been making since Obamacare was passed in 2010, and that they will  still believe this president when he says he can strike a deal. “This is a promise the GOP made to voters. They need to get it right,” said Rachel Bovard, a policy analyst at the conservative Heritage Foundation, as she urged Republicans to “start over.” It is unclear when that could happen. “This bill is dead,” said Representative Greg Walden of Oregon, a member of the House leadership team.

Summary: ट्रम्प के लिए, यह सौदे की खोई हुई कला थी


MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto said on Friday operations at the Salina Cruz refinery on Mexico s southern coast were temporarily suspended as a precautionary measure following a major earthquake nearby.

Summary: मेक्सिको ने भूकंप के बाद प्रमुख रिफाइनरी में काम को अस्थायी रूप से निलंबित कर दिया


CAIRO (Reuters) - An Egyptian court sentenced top Muslim Brotherhood leader Mohamed Badie to another life term in prison on Thursday in the latest example of a crackdown against Islamists since the army overthrew President Mohamed Mursi.       The sentence relates to violence that broke out in 2013 after the army toppled Mursi in the wake of mass demonstrations against him. General Abdel Fattah al-Sisi led the military at that time and was elected president the following year. Authorities outlawed the Brotherhood after Mursi was ousted and arrested thousands of its supporters. They also dissolved its Freedom and Justice Party, which Mursi led. Mass life and death sentences have been common since then in what rights groups call an unprecedented crackdown.  Fifteen others were sentenced to life in prison in the same case on Thursday while 77 were given 15-year sentences with hard labor. Only 38 of those sentenced on Thursday were present at court while the rest were sentenced in absentia.  The judgment can be appealed in a higher court within the next 60 days.  Those sentenced were charged with inciting terrorism, leading an outlawed group, raiding and vandalizing government facilities among other crimes related to clashes in Beni Suef, south of Egypt in August 2013. The clashes took place the same day security forces dispersed two Islamist sit-ins in central Cairo and killed hundreds of Mursi s supporters.     Those sentenced on Thursday included former members of parliament and members of the Freedom and Justice Party.  Badie was sentenced to life in jail in 2014 after being convicted of murder and inciting violence during clashes that took place during the same period.

Summary: मिस्र की अदालत ने मुस्लिम ब्रदरहुड के नेता को उम्रकैद की सजा सुनाई


KABUL (Reuters) - Three Georgian military personnel serving with the NATO-led Resolute Support mission in Afghanistan were lightly wounded when their vehicle was attacked near an airbase north of the capital Kabul, officials said. None of their injuries was considered life-threatening, Resolute Support spokesman Capt. Tom Gresback said in an emailed statement on Thursday.  During a recent patrol south of Bagram Airfield yesterday afternoon, three Georgian service members suffered minor injuries when a motorcycle-borne IED (improvised explosive device) was detonated next to their patrol,  he said. The attack came as NATO prepares to send more troops to Afghanistan to support a new U.S. strategy aimed at breaking the stalemate with the Taliban. Georgia, one of the largest contributing nations to the 13,500-strong Resolute Support mission, has around 870 troops in Afghanistan, behind only Germany, Italy and the United States. In August, a Georgian soldier was killed and six other coalition personnel were wounded in an attack on a convoy in Qarabagh district, the area in which Wednesday s attack occurred.

Summary: अफगानिस्तान में जॉर्जियाई सेना के तीन जवान घायल


WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Republican White House rivals Ted Cruz and John Kasich announced a deal on Sunday to stay out of each other’s way in some upcoming state primaries in hopes of blocking front-runner Donald Trump from winning the party’s presidential nomination. Cruz’s campaign said in a statement he would focus on the Indiana and give Kasich a clearer shot in Oregon and New Mexico, states where the Ohio governor expects to do well. Kasich, in turn, agreed to shift resources west and away from Indiana. The Indiana primary is on May 3, Oregon’s is May 17 and New Mexico’s June 7. Trump has won the most state nominating contests, but he has a tough path to earn the 1,237 delegates needed to secure the nomination. The Cruz and Kasich campaigns believe their agreement to cede states where the other candidate appears strong could help limit Trump’s ability to win more delegates. Some Republican strategists who oppose Trump have been calling for such a deal for weeks. The question for Cruz and Kasich is whether their agreement is too late. If no candidate has enough support by the first vote at the Republican National Convention in July, many delegates will be allowed to switch sides on subsequent ballots.  Cruz campaign manager Jeff Roe said Trump, who has offended women, Hispanics and other groups with controversial statements, would lose a general election contest against the eventual Democratic nominee in the Nov. 8 election. “Our goal is to have an open convention in Cleveland, where we are confident a candidate capable of uniting the party and winning in November will emerge as the nominee,” Kasich chief strategist John Weaver said in a statement. Late Sunday, Trump tweeted his reaction to the deal: “Wow, just announced that Lyin’ Ted and Kasich are going to collude in order to keep me from getting the Republican nomination. DESPERATION!” Trump has frequently complained that the Republican Party’s nominating process is “rigged” against him because establishment party members oppose him. Party officials argue that the delegate selection rules have been known for some time.  The stop-Trump group #NeverTrump welcomed news of the pact. “Whether you support Ted Cruz or John Kasich, a second ballot at the Convention is imperative to stopping Donald Trump. We’re happy to see the Kasich and Cruz campaigns strategically using their resources to deny Donald Trump delegates where they are in the strongest position to do so,” said the group’s senior adviser, Rory Cooper.

Summary: रिपब्लिकन क्रूज और कासिच 'स्टॉप-ट्रम्प' समझौते पर पहुंचे


CINCINNATI, Ohio (Reuters) - President Donald Trump on Wednesday trumpeted plans for $1 trillion in U.S. infrastructure spending as he struggles to gain momentum for his economic agenda amid growing attention on the probe into alleged ties between his campaign and Russia. “America wants to build,” Trump said. “There is no limit to what we can achieve. All it takes is a bold and daring vision and the will to make it happen.”     Speaking in Cincinnati, Ohio, Trump reviewed a proposal announced earlier this year to leverage $200 billion in his budget proposal into a $1 trillion of projects to privatize the air traffic control system, strengthen rural infrastructure and repair bridges, roads and waterways. Trump said he would not allow the United States to become a “museum of former glory.” He spoke about backing large transformative projects but did not give specifics. “We will construct incredible new monuments to American grit that inspire wonder for generations and generations,” he said. Trump pointed to a government program that allows the private sector to tap into low-cost government loans called the Transportation Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act as a way to leverage federal funds with state, local, and private sector funding. Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao said at a Senate hearing on Wednesday that administration plans to unveil a detailed legislative proposal by the end of September. Democrats want $1 trillion in new federal spending and proposed a plan that includes $200 billion in roads and bridges,$20 billion in expanding broadband Internet access, $110 billion for water systems and $75 billion for schools. Senate Democratic Leader Charles Schumer said the Trump budget unveiled in May cuts $206 billion in infrastructure spending across several departments, including $96 billion in planned highway trust fund spending. The Ohio visit was the second leg of a week-long White House focus on infrastructure. On Monday the president proposed spinning off air traffic control from the Federal Aviation Administration. The proposal to privatize air traffic control has run into skepticism and opposition from Democratic senators and some Republicans.      The infrastructure push comes as the White House seeks to refocus attention on core promises to boost jobs and the economy that Trump made last year during his presidential campaign.     Those pledges have been eclipsed by the furor over Russia’s alleged meddling in the election. That drama will come to a head on Thursday when former Federal Bureau of Investigation Director James Comey, who was leading the Russia probe until Trump fired him last month, testifies before a Senate panel.

Summary: रूस की जांच में तेजी आने पर ट्रम्प ने बुनियादी ढांचे की योजना पर जोर दिया


WASHINGTON/BERLIN (Reuters) - U.S. Vice President Mike Pence heads to Europe this week to meet with allies seeking clarity on the Trump administration’s foreign policy strategy and its stance toward Russia after the resignation of the top White House national security aide.  Pence, who has hewn more closely to Republican orthodoxy than his boss President Donald Trump, will attend the Munich Security Conference this weekend and will visit Brussels. The trip comes as turmoil swirls within the administration following the resignation of Trump’s national security adviser, Michael Flynn, on Monday. Flynn, who championed closer ties to Russia, stepped down after reports he had discussed U.S. sanctions on Moscow with Russia’s ambassador. Even before Flynn’s departure, Trump’s calls for warmer ties with Moscow and his praise of Russian President Vladimir Putin had unnerved both U.S. lawmakers at home and NATO allies. Trump has called NATO “obsolete” and said member nations were not paying their fair share for U.S. protection.  Some European capitals greeted Flynn’s departure with relief. Flynn was seen by some officials in Europe as one of the Trump administration’s leading advocates of closer ties to Russia and a hardline opponent of the 2015 nuclear deal between Iran and western powers. One fear, ahead of a series of important elections in Europe, is that a Trump White House could actively promote the disintegration of the European Union, Wolfgang Ischinger, chairman of the Munich Security Conference told reporters in Berlin. Ischinger said he hopes Pence states clearly that the breakup of the EU is not the goal of the U.S. government. Pence may be unable to lay out many details about Trump’s policies given the turbulence on the foreign policy team, but  he could provide insight into White House views ahead of a NATO summit in May that Trump will attend. “I think from the administration’s point of view, this is an opportunity to make a very major pronouncement on its foreign policy and its European policy,” said Alexander Vershbow, a former U.S. ambassador to Russia and a former deputy secretary general of NATO. The White House has not yet previewed Pence’s remarks. Pence’s comments on Russia’s incursions into Ukraine will be closely parsed to see whether Trump will be willing to trade off U.S. economic sanctions to achieve other security goals, said Vershbow, now with the Atlantic Council. Trump’s mixed messages on NATO have perplexed European allies. “One minute NATO is obsolete - the next minute he loves NATO. One minute NATO is an impediment and doesn’t do anything for terrorism - the next minute NATO is the centerpiece of the global fight,” said retired U.S. Navy Admiral James Stavridis, a former supreme allied commander of NATO. Pence is the right person to set a more reassuring tone, said Stavridis, now dean of the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University. “Because of his personality: he’s calm, he’s centered, he’s thoughtful, he’s widely regarded with respect on both sides of the aisle in the United States,” Stavridis said in an interview. With Flynn’s departure, European officials said they hope Pence, Defense Secretary James Mattis and Secretary of State Rex Tillerson become the dominant players in Trump’s foreign policy. But this remains an open question. Tillerson is also in Europe this week, meeting with G20 nations in Bonn, and Mattis traveled to NATO, warning allies that they must honor military spending pledges. U.S. Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly will also attend the Munich Security Conference, and while in Germany will participate in bilateral meetings with international counterparts, the Department of Homeland Security said in a statement on Wednesday.

Summary: यूरोप में पेंस का मिशनः ट्रम्प की विदेश नीति के दृष्टिकोण को स्पष्ट करें


NEW DELHI (Reuters) - India has stepped up its lobbying effort against moves in the U. S. Congress to impose curbs on visas for skilled workers that threaten the South Asian nation’s tech sector, which employs more than 3.5 million people. Speaking to Reuters, Trade Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said New Delhi had reached out to the administration of President Donald Trump to stress the importance of India’s $150-billion IT services industry to U.S. citizens.  “India’s investments in the United States have provided jobs to U.S. citizens,” she said in an interview. “That has to be brought to the notice of the U.S. administration.” The comments come days after Prime Minister Narendra Modi urged Washington to keep an open mind on admitting skilled Indian workers. Indian software companies such as Tata Consultancy Services, Infosys Ltd and Wipro Ltd shot to prominence in the 1990s by helping Western firms stamp out the “Y2K” bug. Trump’s “America First” rhetoric on jobs, however, has put their biggest market under threat.  A bill was introduced in the U.S. Congress last month to more than double the minimum salary of H-1B visa holders, which could significantly boost costs for IT companies, whose margins are already being squeezed. New Delhi has backed a move by NASSCOM, India’s high-tech industry association, to lobby U.S. lawmakers and companies to urge the administration not to crack down on allowing its skilled workers into the United States. A NASSCOM delegation is now in the United States to make its case to officials on Capitol Hill and in the White House.   “We will have to engage with the new administration,” Sitharaman said. “Our engagement at every level is intact and continuing.” The United States is India’s biggest trading partner, but trade in goods between the two countries has been stagnant, at around $67 billion, for the last three years. Indian software exports to the U.S. rose more than 10 percent, to $37 billion, in the last fiscal year from a year earlier. Indian nationals are by far the largest group of recipients of the 65,000 H-1B visas issued annually to new applicants under a cap mandated by Congress. More than 60 percent of the U.S. employees of Infosys hold H-1B visas. A global pact on services trade would go a long way towards settling disputes over professional visas, Sitharaman said.  “If only there is a framework...you will know how movement can happen and how certain restrictions can or cannot come,” she said. “It’s time for countries to sit together and look at it.”

Summary: वीजा खतरे से बचने के लिए भारत ने की ट्रम्प प्रशासन की पैरवी


WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Senate is under no obligation to consider President Barack Obama’s nomination of Judge Merrick Garland to the U.S. Supreme Court, U.S. House of Representatives Speaker Paul Ryan, a Republican, said on Wednesday. “This has never been about who the nominee is. It is about a basic principle. Under our Constitution, the president has every right to make this nomination, and the Senate has every right not to confirm a nominee,” Ryan said. Ryan said he supported Senate Republican leaders’ decision not to move forward with the confirmation process after Democrat Obama sent his nomination of Garland to the Senate on Wednesday.

Summary: हाउस स्पीकर ने ओबामा के सुप्रीम कोर्ट के उम्मीदवार पर सीनेट का समर्थन किया


PALM BEACH, Fla. (Reuters) - U.S. President-elect Donald Trump on Saturday left open the possibility of meeting with Taiwan’s president if she visits the United States after he is sworn in on Jan. 20 and also expressed continued skepticism over whether Russia was responsible for computer hacks of Democratic Party officials. In remarks to reporters upon entering a New Year’s Eve celebration at his Mar-a-Lago estate, Trump said, “We’ll see,” when pressed on whether he would meet Tsai Ing-wen, Taiwan’s president if she were to be in the United States at any point after he becomes president. Taiwan’s president will be in transit in Houston on Jan. 7 and again will be in transit in San Francisco on Jan. 13. Trump, citing protocol, said he would not meet with any foreign leaders while President Barack Obama is still in office. Beijing bristled when Trump, shortly after his Nov. 8 victory, accepted a congratulatory telephone call from the Taiwan leader and has warned against steps that would upset the “one-China” policy China and the United States have maintained for decades. Talk of a stop-over in the United States by the Taiwan president has further rattled Washington-Beijing relations. On another foreign policy matter, Trump warned against being quick to pin the blame on Russia for the hacking of U.S. emails. The Washington Post also reported on Friday that Moscow could be behind intrusion into a laptop owned by a Vermont electric utility. U.S. intelligence officials have said that they are confident Russia was behind the hacks of political figures, which could have played a role in Trump’s defeat over Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton.  “I think it’s unfair if we don’t know. It could be somebody else. I also know things that other people don’t know so we cannot be sure,” Trump said. Asked what that information included, the Republican President-elect said, “You will find out on Tuesday or Wednesday.” He did not elaborate. But he said that any computer is subject to hacks. “It’s very important. If you have something really important write it out and have it delivered by courier the old fashioned way,” Trump said, adding, “No computer is safe, I don’t care what they say.” Trump tried to end the year on a positive note, however, despite questions about the future of U.S.-Russia relations because of escalating tensions between Obama and Russian President Vladimir Putin, as well as Trump’s promise to crack down on China’s trade practices, which he says unfairly target American workers. “Hopefully we’re going to have great relationships with many countries and that includes Russia and that includes China,” Trump said. But he criticized U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry for earlier this week offering a stark assessment of Israel’s policies in the Middle East, which he said could threaten the possibility of establishing a Palestinian state co-existing with Israel. Trump called Kerry’s speech “very unfair.” As he wrapped up a four-minute informal chat with reporters, Trump also was asked what his 2017 new year’s resolution was. “Make America great again,” he said.

Summary: ट्रम्प ने ताइवान की संभावित बैठक को खुला छोड़ दिया, रूस की हैकिंग पर उठाए सवाल


WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. Senator John McCain said on Friday that he would vote against a new Republican bill to dismantle Obamacare if it is brought onto the Senate floor next week, in a new setback for the proposal. “I cannot in good conscience vote for the Graham-Cassidy proposal,” McCain said in a statement about the bill sponsored by Senators Lindsey Graham and Bill Cassidy. McCain said he could not support the bill not knowing how much it would cost and how it would affect insurance coverage, adding that he believed both parties could do better if they work together on legislation.

Summary: सीनेटर मैक्केन ओबामाकेयर निरस्त करने के खिलाफ मतदान करेंगेः बयान


WARSAW (Reuters) - The president of the European Parliament said on Monday he would ask Poland s prime minister to ensure the security of Polish members of the assembly after a far-right protest staged a symbolic hanging of the politicians.  On Saturday a few dozen people in the southern Polish city of Katowice hanged the portraits of politicians who backed a  European Parliament resolution calling on the Polish government to condemn  the xenophobic and fascist march  held on Poland s Independence Day on Nov. 11.  I will write to PM Beata Szydlo to ensure the security of elected members of the European Parliament to express their opinions independently, without threat, and oppose those who spread hatred by exhibiting outrageous pictures of hanged politicians,  Antonio Tajani said on Twitter. Poland s socially conservative, euroskeptic government came under fire from the EU and human rights group for allowing far-right marchers - who were among some 60,000 people at the Nov. 11 rally - to brandish banners with racist slogans such as  pure blood, clear mind  or  Europe will be white or uninhabited . Leading members of the ruling Law and Justice party (PiS) joined other politicians in denouncing the use of hate speech at the rally, but critics said their response was too slow. The PiS government has been increasingly at loggerheads with Brussels since sweeping to power two years ago over what the EU sees as its flouting of democratic rules.   One has to condemn what happened in Katowice,  Szydlo said. However, she added that if she received Tajani s letter she would also ask him to  keep an eye on those MPs who insult and slander Poland in the European Parliament . Organisers of the Saturday protest told the local katowice24.info news portal that they were expressing their opposition to the  slanderous voices  against Poles  expressing their pride during the Independence Day March . The pictures showed six members of the European parliament (MEPs) who belong to the opposition Civic Platform (PO) party. The economically liberal, pro-EU PO party governed Poland for eight years until its defeat by PiS in the 2015 national election. Polish Justice Minister Zbigniew Ziobro said prosecutors would look into the Katowice protest. He said he  doesn t like  what happened, but he also blamed the opposition, saying that in their protests they also displayed  aggression .  An action triggers a reaction,  Ziobro told the public Trojka radio station.

Summary: यूरोपीय संघ के संसद प्रमुख ने सुदूर दक्षिणपंथी विरोध के बाद पोलैंड से एम. ई. पी. की सुरक्षा सुनिश्चित करने को कहा


(Reuters) - The U.S. House of Representatives approved a bill on Thursday to repeal major parts of Obamacare and replace it with a Republican healthcare plan, handing President Donald Trump his biggest legislative victory but setting up a tough fight in the Senate. STEPHEN WOOD, CHIEF MARKET STRATEGIST, RUSSELL INVESTMENTS, NEW YORK: “This strikes to me that the market is breathing a sigh of relief more than a nod of approval. I think there will be progress on individual and corporate tax cuts but they will come at the end of 2017. This will be positive for the economy and markets. We think there will be ‘knots in the floss’ to get legislation done. We expect to see more sloppiness in the legislative process so you have to focus on fundamentals. Valuation is currently very high in the equity space. The outlook for the United States is good, but we need very good fundamentals to justify current equity valuation. Europe is increasingly interesting from an equity perspective. One would be more comfortable with Europe compared with the U.S.” “Elections have consequences, and I think that this is the very first manifestation of it. It would be foolish to say that it doesn’t reinvigorate Trump because ... earlier this week the main headlines were that the budget was an Obama-type budget instead of anything that was promised during the campaign. “Once Republicans develop cohesion you are going to see more of a domino effect. It’s like, ‘We all got onboard with this (healthcare reform), what’s stopping us from trying to get money for the wall or having tax reform that’s going to be agreeable to the president’s agenda?’ So I think that it does in some way invigorate it.”  GUY LEBAS, CHIEF FIXED INCOME STRATEGIST, JANNEY MONTGOMERY SCOTT, PHILADELPHIA: “What is a bit lost in the perception that House’s healthcare reform bill is positive for financial markets is a proposed repeal of a surcharge of roughly 3.9 percent on investment income on high-income individuals, which is in the Affordable Care Act. Now this bill goes to the Senate. For the market, the odds of passage of at least this version of ‘repeal-and-replace’ in the Senate isn’t very high. It’s going to a tough sell in the Senate. This is largely a non-event for the bond market. It’s more gearing up for tomorrow’s jobs report and what Yellen might say.” RANDY FREDERICK, VICE PRESIDENT, TRADING AND DERIVATIVES, CHARLES SCHWAB, AUSTIN, TEXAS: “I think anything that they (Republicans) get done, that they accomplish, popular or unpopular, will show that they have the ability to make progress and to get things done and work together. Because obviously the biggest divisions are not between the Democrats and the Republicans but within the Republican party. “This puts the idea of tax reform a little bit closer to reality, simply because it’s shown that they have figured out a way to negotiate and work together.” JOSEPH KRIST, PARTNER, CREDIT SPECIALIST, COURT STREET GROUP RESEARCH, NEW YORK:     “It means that it satisfies those members of Congress who have made this a primary campaign issue and want to say they want to repeal Obamacare and we voted to did it. From a policy standpoint it is virtually meaningless. The bill from everything I have seen is virtually impossible to pass in the Senate.”     “I don’t think this really should have any impact. The fundamentals driving people’s healthcare ideas came before the election. People looking at small standalone and rural hospitals, saw they were wall badly positioned for healthcare reform going forward, whether it be because of Obamacare, should it remain, due to cost reduction measures. And conversely people were looking at size as a really important factor, whether a large institution or large chains. The consolidation was already coming whether repealed or not. It is not really a big factor from a public finance fixed income perspective. You still want big balance sheets, large pools of cash and diversity revenues.”  “This morning going in the market was expecting the House was going to pass it and it did.” “This is just one of several different things Trump is trying to get accomplished. This is out of the way and now they have to go to tax reform. That’s something that’s going to drag out for a while and probably the next key thing, aside from the geopolitical things that are going on.”      “As far as traders and investors I talk to, this (healthcare bill) isn’t affecting their position or what they want to do.”  RICK MECKLER, PRESIDENT, LIBERTYVIEW CAPITAL MANAGEMENT, JERSEY CITY, NEW JERSEY: “The fact that they could pass this doesn’t make much of a difference. The real risk in the near term to the so-called Trump rally was a failure to pass it. “I don’t know if this market is really that focused on healthcare as the big issue. I think they’re really focused on the tax plan. If they couldn’t pass the healthcare, it would bode very poorly for the tax plan.  “But the fact that they could pass the healthcare, even pass it in the House, and pass it so narrowly, I don’t think it necessarily means the tax plan is more likely to come through.” KEN POLCARI, DIRECTOR OF THE NYSE FLOOR DIVISION, O’NEIL SECURITIES, NEW YORK: “It passes the House, that’s fine, now it goes to the Senate, and we know in the Senate it is going to have a very tough time. So even though it has passed the one, it is certainly not a done deal yet. Obamacare is still very much alive and intact.  “The market has really been flat. I don’t necessarily think this is such a surprise, after all the news reports today and yesterday, people were expecting it. They are all high-fiving and cheering and all that stuff in the Congress but it still has to go to the Senate and that is where it is going to run into some problems.  “The market is again biding time, there is no reason it’s not really taking off, we are hitting our head at the ceiling, we have been hitting our head on the ceiling. If anything it is going to cause it, the catalyst is going to be the (French election) Sunday night. It is listless trading at the moment, nobody is making big huge bets one way or the other.” STOCKS: S&P 500 remains little changed on the day BONDS: 2- and 10-year Treasury yields hold higher on the day FOREX: The dollar index ticks down to the session low

Summary: तत्कालः हाउस रिपब्लिकन ने संशोधित ओबामाकेयर ओवरहाल को पारित किया


HARARE (Reuters) - Zimbabwe s ruling party accused the head of the armed forces of treason on Tuesday as troops took up positions around the capital in an escalation of a dispute with 93-year-old President Robert Mugabe over political succession. Just 24 hours after military chief General Constantino Chiwenga threatened to intervene to end a purge in the ruling party, a Reuters reporter saw six armored personnel carriers on major thoroughfares on the outskirts of the capital. Aggressive soldiers directing traffic told passing cars to keep moving through the darkness.  Don t try anything funny. Just go,  one soldier said on Harare Drive. The presence of troops, including the movement of at least six armored personnel carriers from a barracks northwest of Harare, sparked rumors of coup against Mugabe, although there was no evidence to suggest Zimbabwe s leader of the last 37 years had been toppled. The lead item on the ZBC state broadcaster s evening news bulletin was an anti-military rally by the youth wing of Mugabe s ZANU-PF party. The Southern African nation has been on edge since Monday when Chiwenga, Commander of Zimbabwe Defence Forces, said he was prepared to  step in  to end a purge of supporters of a sacked vice president. The unprecedented statement represents an escalation of a rumbling political struggle over who will succeed Mugabe, who has been in power since the country gained independence from Britain in 1980. Mugabe chaired a weekly cabinet meeting in the capital on Tuesday. Afterwards, ZANU-PF said it stood by the  primacy of politics over the gun  and accused Chiwenga of  treasonable conduct... meant to incite insurrection.  Mugabe fired Vice President Emerson Mnangagwa last week. The veteran of the 1970s liberation war was popular with the military and had been seen as a likely successor to Mugabe. The army views his removal as part of a purge of independence-era figures to pave the way for Mugabe to hand power to his wife Grace Mugabe. A Reuters witness saw two armored vehicles parked beside the main road from Harare to Chinhoyi, about 20 km (14 miles) from the city. One, which was pointed in the direction of the capital, had come off its tracks. Witnesses said they saw four armored vehicles turn before reaching Harare and head towards the Presidential Guard compound in a suburb on the outskirts of Harare.  There were about four tanks and they turned right here, you can see markings on the road,  one witness on the Chinhoyi highway said, referring to the armored vehicles. He pointed to a road that links to the guard compound. The troop movements raise tension on a continent where for decades armies regularly overthrew civilian governments. Neither the president nor his wife responded in public to the general s remarks and state media did not publish Chiwenga s statement. The Herald newspaper posted some of the comments on its Twitter page but deleted them. The head of ZANU-PF s youth wing accused the army chief of subverting the constitution. Grace Mugabe has developed a strong following in the powerful youth wing.  Defending the revolution and our leader and president is an ideal we live for and if need be it is a principle we are prepared to die for,  Kudzai Chipanga, who leads the ZANU-PF Youth League, said at the party s headquarters in Harare. Grace Mugabe s rise has brought her into conflict with the independence-era war veterans, who once enjoyed a privileged role in the ruling party under Mugabe, but who have in recent years been banished from senior government and party roles. Decades ago, Zimbabwe had one of Africa s promising economies due in part to its agricultural exports. The country is currently struggling to pay for imports due to a dollar crunch, which is also sparking rampant inflation only 10 years after it suffered a financial implosion caused when the central bank began to print money. Martin Rupiya, an expert on Zimbabwe military affairs at the University of South Africa in Pretoria, said the army appeared to be putting the squeeze on Mugabe.  There s a rupture between the executive and the armed forces,  Rupiya said. Alex Magaisa, a British-based Zimbabwean academic said it was premature to talk about a coup.   A military coup is the nuclear option. A coup would be a very hard sell at home and in the international community. They will want to avoid that,  Magaisa said.

Summary: हरारे की सड़कों पर सैनिक, सत्तारूढ़ दल ने जिम्बाब्वे के सेना प्रमुख पर लगाया देशद्रोह का आरोप


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 : - Rand Paul, or whoever votes against Hcare Bill, will forever (future political campaigns) be known as “the Republican who saved ObamaCare.” [0619 EDT] - Kim Jong Un of North Korea, who is obviously a madman who doesn’t mind starving or killing his people, will be tested like never before! [0628 EDT] - The Russia hoax continues, now it’s ads on Facebook. What about the totally biased and dishonest Media coverage in favor of Crooked Hillary? [0644 EDT] - The greatest influence over our election was the Fake News Media “screaming” for Crooked Hillary Clinton. Next, she was a bad candidate! [0726 EDT] - Will be in Alabama tonight. Luther Strange has gained mightily since my endorsement, but will be very close. He loves Alabama, and so do I! [0739 EDT] -- Source link: (bit.ly/2jBh4LU) (bit.ly/2jpEXYR)

Summary: फैक्टबॉक्सः ट्विटर पर ट्रम्प (22 सितंबर)-उत्तर कोरिया, फेसबुक पर विज्ञापन, लूथर स्ट्रेंज


JAKARTA (Reuters) - Indonesia s capital has shut a hotel and spa complex for alleged vice, city officials said on Monday, after Islamist groups in the Muslim-majority country had urged Jakarta s governor to act on a campaign pledge to shut the premises.       The Alexis Hotel, whose website describes it as a  dreamland for men , became embroiled in the city s recent election when the new governor, Anies Baswedan, promised in a televised debate to shut it and accused his predecessor of only acting against more downmarket venues offering vice and drugs. Edy Junaedi, head of the Jakarta Capital Investment and One-stop Integrated Services (PTSP) agency, confirmed by telephone on Monday that the hotel s permit had not been renewed.  In a letter, the city government said it had decided not to extend the permit after  information circulating in media about forbidden activities , adding that it was required to prevent any immoral and illegal activities. Islamist groups had previously sent a letter to authorities demanding the hotel be closed, but later called off a proposed protest rally outside the venue for security and technical reasons, state news agency Antara said.  The hotel did not immediately respond to a request for comment and its owner could not be reached.  Media quoted Baswedan as saying the city would take firm action against any businesses conducting  immoral practices .  The governor faced criticism after winning April s Jakarta election with the support of Islamist groups who had agitated for months against his opponent and former governor Basuki Tjahaja Purnama - an ethnic Chinese Christian - whom they accused of blasphemy against Islam. Purnama demolished Jakarta s sprawling Kalijodo red-light district in 2016 as part of a nationwide crackdown on prostitution and also closed a number of notorious Jakarta nightclubs over drug use.   Though illegal in Indonesia, prostitution is rampant in most  cities, and the decision to close the Alexis comes as groups like the hardline Islamic Defenders Front (FPI), which has a history of raiding nightclubs and bars, want Baswedan to impose a more  Islamic lifestyle  on the city of more than 10 million. Novel Bamukmin, head of FPI s Jakarta chapter, has said the group would  push  Baswedan s administration to gradually close down bars and clubs in a city known for a freewheeling nightlife because  It s immoral and...not Islamic culture . Sandiaga Uno, Baswedan s deputy, has said the administration would consider setting up  sharia-inspired  or sharia-compliant entertainment spots similar to those in Abu Dhabi or Dubai. (This story has been refiled to correct year in ninth paragraph to 2016, not 2006)

Summary: जकार्ता ने कथित दुर्व्यवहार के लिए इस्लामवादियों द्वारा लक्षित होटल को बंद कर दिया


(Reuters) - Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump will lay out on Saturday what he would do in the first 100 days of his administration should he win the Nov. 8 election. Trump’s outline - which he will deliver in a speech in the historic town of Gettysburg, Pennsylvania - will cover his plans for boosting Americans’ economic and physical security and contrast them with those of Democrat Hillary Clinton, campaign aides told reporters on Friday. Clinton published a book of her own policy ideas earlier this year. Trump is trailing Clinton in most polls - although he has narrowed the gap according to a Reuters/Ipsos poll released on Friday - and has less than three weeks to catch up.  Much of the campaign in recent weeks has focused on allegations that he made improper advances to women over decades, something he denies. It is also being dominated by Trump’s accusation that the election is “rigged” and that he may not accept the result. Trump aides said Gettysburg, the site of a major Civil War battle and Republican President Abraham Lincoln’s famous address, was a fitting place for Trump to lay out a positive vision for the future of his party, which has suffered a schism between his supporters and the party’s establishment.  Trump has planted some new policy details in recent speeches as he seeks to shift attention away from the recent controversies. In the past week, for example, he laid out ethics rules to shut the “revolving door” between government and lobbying and proposed term limits for members of Congress. Trump’s aides said he would unveil additional new policy details Saturday. They would not elaborate.

Summary: राष्ट्रपति चुने जाने पर पहले 100 दिनों में क्या करेंगे, यह तय करेंगे ट्रम्प


ABOARD AIR FORCE ONE (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump said on Thursday he would be ready to act unilaterally to address North Korea’s nuclear program if China does not step up to help with the matter. “Certainly I would be,” Trump told reporters when asked whether he would be willing act alone on North Korea. “But I think China will want to be stepping up.”

Summary: उत्तर कोरिया पर अकेले कार्रवाई करने को तैयारः ट्रंप


NEW YORK/LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - The television audience for the second debate between White House contenders Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton fell sharply from their first, record-breaking encounter, despite the drama caused by a 2005 video of Trump boasting about groping women. Nielsen data for 11 broadcast, cable and public television channels on Monday showed that some 66.5 million Americans tuned into the bitter 90-minute debate on Sunday, well below the record 84 million that watched the first face-off two weeks ago. The figures do not include millions more who watched the debate online, through social media or in bars and restaurants. Second presidential debates tend to attract smaller TV audiences, but attention was high going into Sunday’s matchup after the emergence of the Trump video prompted several Republican politicians to abandon him.  However, the second debate took place in the same time slot as NBC’s popular “Sunday Night Football,” which was watched by about 15 million Americans, Nielsen data showed. NBC did not carry the debate. While the National Football League game, along with Major League Baseball play-offs, likely pulled viewers away from the debate, many Americans already may have made up their minds on candidates, said Tom Hollihan, communication professor at the University of Southern California’s Annenberg School. “When we get to mid-October, history tells us people have already made their decisions,” he said. “They lock themselves into their viewpoints and are less open to new information.” The furor over the Trump tape and his attacks on Hillary Clinton’s husband, former President Bill Clinton, for alleged sexual misconduct also may have turned off some viewers. Sunday’s debate, the second of three before the Nov. 8 election, was remarkable for the brutal nature of the exchanges between Trump and Clinton, his Democratic rival.   “While in the past families might have made a commitment to watch a presidential debate, I think many in this case were saying, ‘Why should I do that? Why should I have to answer my kids’ questions about these topics?’” Hollihan said. The TV audience ranked below the nation’s top 10 most-watched presidential encounters, and below that for President Barack Obama’s first and second 2012 debates with Republican challenger Mitt Romney. Last week’s vice presidential debate between Republican Mike Pence and Democrat Tim Kaine drew 37 million Americans - the lowest audience for a VP debate since 2000.

Summary: टेप विवाद के बावजूद, दूसरी ट्रम्प-क्लिंटन बहस के लिए टीवी दर्शकों ने तेजी से कम किया


(This version of the story corrects spelling of Caitlan Coleman s name) By Drazen Jorgic and Asif Shahzad ISLAMABAD (Reuters) - The freeing of a hostage U.S.-Canadian family by Pakistan s army has been hailed by officials as a positive step in mending ties between Washington and Islamabad, but those hoping for a fresh start in their fraught relationship seem likely to be disappointed. Pakistan and the United States have for years been - at  best - uneasy allies in the war against the Taliban and other Islamist extremists. U.S. President Donald Trump said the raid that rescued American Caitlan Coleman, her Canadian husband Joshua Boyle  and their three young children showed that Pakistan had started to  respect the United States again  in response to his administration s tough-talking tactics. But the two countries still have conflicting interests - and the Trump administration s vow to apply more diplomatic pressure on Pakistan is unlikely to work, given Islamabad s growing alliance with regional heavyweight China, say analysts.  This is a small occurrence between Pakistan and the U.S., and it should not be confused with the big issues that separate Pakistan and the U.S.,  said Pakistani security analyst Imtiaz Gul. On Friday, five years after they were kidnapped in Afghanistan, Coleman and Boyle flew home with the three children born while they were captives of the Haqqani network, a feared Taliban sub-group that Washington particularly accuses Pakistan of failing to do enough to fight. Some saw the timing as a goodwill gesture ahead of upcoming visits by U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and Defense Secretary Jim Mattis.  I don t think it s a coincidence that this hostage release was announced when you have a parade of top Trump administration officials in Islamabad to deliver strongly worded warnings to Pakistan,  said Michael Kugelman, a South Asia specialist at the Woodrow Wilson Center.  He added that no one should take the good news as a definite sign that Pakistan would drastically change its behavior towards militants such at the Haqqanis.  Going after hostages is not the same thing as going after the terrorists holding them,  he said. The United States has repeatedly accused Pakistan of not doing enough to eliminate militant havens on its territory. For now, officials on both sides are talking up the cooperation on display in Wednesday s rescue operation, when Pakistani troops acting on a U.S. intelligence tip-off swooped on a vehicle carrying the hostages. But tensions remain. Pakistan is still angry at the unilateral U.S. operations on its soil to kill al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden in 2011 and last year s drone strike that killed Taliban supreme leader Akhtar Mansour. United States officials, for their part, suspect both bin Laden and Mansour were able to live in Pakistan with the tacit support of at least some elements of the powerful military. Washington also argues that the Taliban - which has been fighting to re-establish its hardline Islamist regime in Kabul since a 2001 U.S.-backed military intervention - would not have been able to gain so much ground against Afghan government forces in recent years without safe havens in Pakistan. Trump s administration in August warned aid to Pakistan might be cut and Washington might downgrade its 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. Pakistani officials bristle at U.S. claims Islamabad is not doing enough to tackle Islamist militants, particularly the Haqqanis, saying they have cooperated for years and launched military operations to push out militants from its soil. Pakistan also says few appreciate that 17,000 Pakistanis have died fighting militants or in bombings and other attacks since 2001. Pakistan is less vulnerable to threats of U.S. aid cuts because Islamabad has been deepening its relationship in recent years with China, which is financing some $57 billion in infrastructure projects, said Gul. Critics say the Pakistani military nurtures the Taliban and other Islamist factions because they are seen as potentially useful to Pakistan s core confrontation with old rival India. The Trump administration s recent talk of a  regional strategy  for Afghanistan that would include a bigger role for India has deeply upset Pakistan s establishment, said Mosharraf Zaidi, an Islamabad-based commentator and former Pakistan Foreign Ministry adviser.  It seems like for the U.S., and President Trump has said so, that India is going to be a big part of the future of Afghanistan, and for Pakistan that s not on the table,  Zaidi said. As a nuclear power, Pakistan could also be offended further at Trump s implication that it has bowed to his administration s pressure.  Given that people understand that respect for America is a big deal for Trump and a big deal for the American people, it shouldn t be so hard to understand why Pakistan ... also wants to be respected,  said Zaidi.

Summary: पाकिस्तान के बंधक बचाव का स्वागत किया गया, लेकिन अमेरिका के साथ तनाव बना हुआ है


MADRID (Reuters) - Shortly after the Catalan government defied Madrid and held a referendum on independence, Jaume Vives held his own  vote  on whether to separate his central Barcelona balcony from  this Catalonia of madmen . Using a megaphone, the 25-year-old journalist declared the nine votes cast by his assembled friends and family were really 2.4 million - a slightly inaccurate reference to the 2.3 million who voted for a break with Spain. Then he suspended the decision   just as Catalan president Carles Puigdemont had done with his Oct. 10 decision to pursue independence in the Catalan parliament. A video of the stunt has been watched 890,000 times on YouTube as people on both sides of the independence divide turn to satire to break the tension of a real-life drama that is both dividing and maddening the nation. The drama s two main actors - Puigdemont and Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy - are the butt of most jibes.   The anti-independence camp has aimed its jokes at Puigdemont and what they see as his reluctance to be decisive and his flip-flop statements on the independence question.  In recent weeks, he has declared independence then suspended his declaration, accepted an invitation to address the Senate then declined it, and called for an independence vote in Catalan parliament   and then deferred it. One bar in Barcelona recently put up a sign that declared free beer for all - but then, tongue-in-cheek, said the measure was immediately suspended pending talks with the beer company. One mock TV game show presented a puzzled Puigdemont considering his answer to the final question of an episode of  Who wants to be a millionaire?   What is Catalonia right now?,  the question read on the screen, with the four possible answers listed as: A - a region ? B - Neverland ? C - a Republic ?, or D - a circus ? On the other side, satirists have homed in on Prime Minister Rajoy and his insistence that Puigdemont renounce independence as a condition of negotiations. In one online parody, Rajoy is shown with U.S. President Donald Trump s hair and a caption saying:  I will build a wall, - and Catalonia will pay for it.  At a recent pro-independence demonstration in Barcelona he appeared on a poster kissing Spanish dictator Francisco Franco - historically a hate figure in Catalonia - on the lips amid a burst of pink heart shapes. Another, shared hundreds of thousands of times on Whatsapp, shows Rajoy embracing Puigdemont and saying,  He stays , in a parody of a famous tweet from FC Barcelona defender Gerard Pique announcing that Brazilian star Neymar would not leave the club. Neymar signed for Paris Saint Germain days later. The satire highlights the fatigue that both sides feel. Barcelona has buzzed for the past two months with repeated, large-scale protests, mostly for independence but also including one rally of more than 300,000 against secession. Humor has become a means of escape from the seemingly endless tension. From his balcony in the upmarket residential neighborhood of Sarria-Sant Gervasi, Vives described his lone anti-independence as a  Smiling Counter-Revolution .   We are reducing to absurdity the absurd reality we are living, and the lies they tell us,  Vives said.  Doing this reduces the tension in the atmosphere. Jokes don t feed hatred.

Summary: कैटेलोनिया या नेवरलैंड? हास्य ने स्पेन में तनाव को कम किया


WASHINGTON (Reuters) - In Washington, the chatter about a deepening, Watergate-style crisis has engulfed the White House - and those conversations are echoed in big cities across the country and in a succession of headlines that seem to suggest almost certain doom for the young Trump administration. But for many Americans, including President Donald Trump’s staunchest supporters, the “crisis in Washington” is not about possible missteps by Trump or questions over whether his campaign colluded with Russia. For them, it’s the latest egregious example of mainstream media bias and of Washington insiders desperate to preserve their status taking revenge on the New York celebrity businessman. In such an intensely polarized political environment that distrust of mainstream media will make it less likely that Trump supporters - and the Republican officeholders who rely on their votes - will abandon the president any time soon. “The more negativity, the more we’re for him. It’s backfiring on them,” Arizona resident Nadia Larsen said of media reports about possible collusion with Russia or Trump’s conversations with then-FBI Director James Comey. Reports from the Washington Post and New York Times that Trump shared classified information with Russia’s foreign minister and pressured Comey to end an inquiry into former national security adviser Michael Flynn have been met with skepticism by Larsen and many other Trump supporters. More credible, they say, is news from prominent conservative media outlets, from the Trump-friendly airwaves of Fox News to websites such as Breitbart. Those outlets have cast the allegations as an ideological attack by Obama administration holdovers or the revenge of the “deep state,” a term used by the far right to refer to what they see as a deeply entrenched bureaucracy opposed to Trump. “The only news I watch is Fox, but the only news I watch and believe is whatever comes out of the president’s mouth and whatever he tweets,” said Larsen, an Israeli-born immigrant who has lived in Tucson, Arizona, for 25 years. Several Trump supporters decried what they described as baseless news from anonymous sources and said they have not seen any concrete evidence to support the allegations against Trump. “This is what I expected,” said Jeff Klusmeier, an insurance agent in Louisville, Kentucky. “I expected the media to attack Trump. I expected the Democrats to attack him and call for impeachment. So it’s par for the course for me.” Conservative media outlets have developed their own theories about the recent spate of negative headlines. The Breitbart News Network, once headed by Trump chief strategist Stephen Bannon, reported that some of the recent accusations were driven by associates of Comey, who was fired by Trump last week, in a story headlined “Comey Strikes Back.” Among the headlines on the Drudge Report, a popular conservative news aggregator, were “Media Reach Peak Meltdown” and “Sabotage in DC.” “The anti-Trump press believes it smells blood in the water,” said Fox News commentator Sean Hannity, a staunch Trump supporter who accused the mainstream media of “hyperventilating breathlessness.” Hannity tweeted on Wednesday that five groups were trying to destroy Trump: the media, Democrats, deep state/intelligence operatives, establishment Republicans and “never Trumpers.” “This effort, this plan, this desire to upend and stop the Trump presidency got going probably on election night and certainly within 24 hours. And now we’re seeing it manifest itself,” radio talk-show host Rush Limbaugh said. On Wednesday, the Justice Department appointed former FBI head Robert Mueller as a special counsel to investigate possible ties between Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign and Russia. Trump has fed the theory that the media is out to get him, saying “no politician in history” has been treated more unfairly. On Thursday he tweeted that the probe of Russian collusion was “the single greatest witch hunt” in U.S. history. “The overwhelming majority of conservatives and Republicans believe that whatever you may think of Donald Trump, this is clearly being driven by many quarters of the media that chose sides in the election and were very upfront about it and haven’t changed,” Republican consultant Keith Appell told Reuters. Trump’s approval ratings have been low for a new president, remaining mired in the high 30s to low 40s. But 77 percent of Republicans approve of Trump’s performance, according to the most recent Reuters/Ipsos survey, a figure that has stayed relatively steady since his inauguration. Bradd Bostick, a Reynoldsburg, Ohio, resident who started a Bikers for Trump group after the president’s inauguration in January, said he was not concerned about the recent controversies because “most of us do not believe anything we hear in the mainstream media.” “The media thinks it’s about Trump, and it’s not,” said Steve Deace, an Iowa-based commentator for Conservative Review and a former talk-radio host who has been critical of Trump. “It’s not about Trump’s credibility, it’s about the media’s credibility.”

Summary: ट्रम्प के बचावकर्ताओं के लिए, व्हाइट हाउस की उथल-पुथल हमेशा की तरह राजनीति है


NEW YORK (Reuters) - U.S. states have negotiated to the bitter end to keep health insurers selling Obamacare plans in every county next year, in some cases taking a hard-line to prevent exits that leave residents without access to health coverage. But states cannot rule out a last-minute pullout by an insurance company.     Insurers must sign government contracts detailing where they will offer 2018 coverage by midnight on Wednesday. In recent months, dozens of U.S. counties risked having no insurer offering subsidized individual insurance next year after national players including Anthem Inc, Aetna Inc and Humana Inc announced plans to pull out. (tmsnrt.rs/2k1HAlV) Many insurers have lost money on their Obamacare business. Others fear exposure to a program targeted by President Donald Trump and the Republican-controlled Congress for repeal. Trump has also threatened to cut billions in subsidy payments to insurers to undermine predecessor Barack Obama’s healthcare law. Still, insurance commissioners in Republican-leaning states such as Tennessee, Missouri, and Virginia spent months negotiating with insurers to see who might pull out of their markets and either convince them to stay, or find a replacement. By Tuesday, it appeared they had succeeded in keeping every county covered in all states. But individuals will still face challenges. Nearly half of U.S. counties have no choice, with only one insurer offering individual plans. And many insurers filed price hikes of 20 percent or more to offset the political uncertainty. Some states still fear a last-minute surprise. “My colleagues and I are still very concerned that today insurers are making a decision about whether or not to participate,” Tennessee insurance commissioner Julie McPeak said. “That makes us nervous.” After Humana said it would exit the Obamacare business entirely, leaving the Knoxville area with no insurer, Blue Cross Blue Shield of Tennessee said it would step into the region. Georgia regulators warned Anthem that it could not sell in the state for five years if it left any bare counties, Deputy Insurance Commissioner Jay Florence said. As a result, after first proposing to stay in just one county next year, Anthem only left markets in Georgia where it could be sure at least one other insurer is offering coverage. In Virginia, Anthem planned an exit that would have left more than 60 counties without any individual insurance options, but changed course two weeks ago after discussions with the state. “Bare counties is a highly political issue and health plans have been concerned about the consequences of being called out publicly,” said Caroline Pearson, senior vice president at healthcare consultancy Avalere Health. SCANT COMPETITION, HIGH PRICES    The push could not preserve competition in many states. In 2018, nearly half of U.S. counties will have only one insurer offering individual plans, according to federal data. In 2017, a third of counties had only one insurer. In 2016, only 7 percent of counties had only a single choice. But it did convince some to alter plans. Molina Healthcare said in July it would exit two states and was considering further departures.  In the end, it is remaining in seven states where it sells individual plans - include California, Florida, Michigan, New Mexico, Ohio, Texas and Washington - a spokeswoman said Tuesday. Cigna Corp, which had planned to sell Obamacare coverage in six states for 2018, said it will make final details public after the deadline. Anthem and HealthCare Services Corp, which runs Blue Cross Blue Shield in Illinois, Texas and other states, did not comment further on their plans. Such insurers will wade into 2018 Obamacare markets with no certainty over the program’s fate. Senate Republicans on Tuesday failed again to muster enough votes to repeal and replace the 2010 Affordable Care Act, but vowed to revive the effort in the coming months after tackling tax reform. State health commissioners allowed them to propose monthly premium increases of 20 percent, or even more, from 2017 to compensate for the uncertainty. “We didn’t really have much choice,” McPeak of Tennessee said. “We were fearful that insurers, if they filed lower rates, would decide not to come into the market.”

Summary: जैसे-जैसे 2018 ओबामाकेयर की समय सीमा निकट आ रही है, अमेरिकी राज्यों का मानना है कि हर काउंटी को कवर किया गया है


WELLINGTON (Reuters) - Votes cast for New Zealand s ruling National Party hit 46.5 percent on Saturday evening with 70 percent of results counted, putting the center-right party in the lead as it vies for a fourth term in government, according to the Electoral Commission.  Center-left Labour accounted for 35.5 percent and its possible coalition partner, the Green Party had 5.9 percent of the vote.  Still, the National Party would likely need the populist New Zealand First Party, which had 7.4 percent of the vote, to form a government. A complete preliminary count was expected by around 2330 local time, but the final result, which would also include ballots cast by New Zealanders overseas, would not be released until Oct. 7.

Summary: न्यूजीलैंड चुनावों में नेशनल पार्टी आगे; न्यूजीलैंड फर्स्ट के अभी भी किंगमेकर होने की संभावना


PRATICA DI MARE, Italy (Reuters) - The United Nations began bringing African refugees to Italy from Libya on Friday, evacuating them from detention centers whose conditions have been condemned by humanitarian groups as inhumane.  Hundreds of thousands of migrants have fled conflict or poverty at home and are now trapped in Libya, where they had hoped to pay people smugglers for passage to Europe via Italy. It is the first time the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) in Libya has evacuated refugees directly to Europe. An Italian C-130 military plane landed at an airport south the capital carrying 110 women and children, and a second flight is expected to bring more than 50 people later in the day. The African migrants, including many small children, were covered in blankets or bundled in coats as they disembarked from the plane on a chilly evening.  We really hope other countries will follow the same path,  Vincent Cochetel, UNHCR s Special Envoy for the Central Mediterranean, said in a statement after the first plane arrived.    Some of those evacuated suffered tremendously and were held captive in inhumane conditions while in Libya. Five of these women gave birth while in detention, with only the very limited medical assistance,  Cochetel said. The UNHCR estimates about 18,000 people are being held in detention centers for immigrants that are controlled by the Tripoli government and it aims to evacuate as many as 10,000 next year. [nL8N1OJ3EG] Italy s Catholic Church will house many of the new arrivals in shelters across the country, Church charity Caritas said, as the migrants from Eritrea, Ethiopia, Somalia and Yemen go through the country s asylum request process.  Migrant arrivals to Italy have fallen by two-thirds since July from the same period last year after officials working for the U.N.-backed government in Tripoli persuaded human smugglers in the city of Sabratha to stop boats leaving. Italy is also bolstering the Libyan coast guard s ability to turn back boats.[nL8N1OE34J] Italy s move to open a safe corridor for some of the migrants follows criticism by rights groups who have condemned the country s efforts to block migrants in Libya in exchange for aid, training and equipment to fight smuggling.[nL8N1NK77C]   This should be a point of pride for Italians,  Interior Minister Marco Minniti told reporters on the tarmac.  This is the just beginning. We will continue to try to open this humanitarian corridor.  Migrant smuggling has flourished since the overthrow of Muammar Gaddafi in 2011, with more than 600,000 making the perilous journey across the central Mediterranean in four years.  Tens of thousands of migrants are estimated to be detained by smugglers, and the African Union says that as many as 700,000 migrants are in Libya. The UNHCR has registered more than 44,000 as refugees and asylum seekers. The UNHCR classifies Friday s arrivals as  vulnerable  refugees, which means they are children, victims of abuse, women, the elderly or have disabilities.

Summary: संयुक्त राष्ट्र ने पहली बार लीबिया से शरणार्थियों को इटली निकाला