WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. government for the first time on Friday formally accused Russia of a campaign of cyber attacks against Democratic Party organizations ahead of the Nov. 8 presidential election. “We believe, based on the scope and sensitivity of these efforts, that only Russia’s senior-most officials could have authorized these activities,” a U.S. government statement said on Friday about hacking of political groups. “These thefts and disclosures are intended to interfere with the U.S. election process.” U.S. intelligence officials concluded weeks ago that the Russian government was conducting or orchestrating cyber attacks against the Democratic National Committee and the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, possibly to disrupt or discredit the election, in which Democrat Hillary Clinton faces Republican Donald Trump. A Kremlin spokesman called the U.S. allegations “nonsense”, the Interfax news agency reported.  On Saturday, the Russian Foreign Ministry said the U.S. accusations lacked any proof and were an attempt by Washington to fan “unprecedented anti-Russian hysteria”. “This whipping up of emotions regarding ‘Russian hackers’ is used in the U.S. election campaign, and the current U.S. administration, taking part in this fight, is not averse to using dirty tricks,” Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov said on Saturday in comments posted on the ministry’s website. The Obama administration’s decision to blame Russia for the attacks is the latest downward turn in U.S. relations with Moscow, which are under strain over Russia’s actions in Syria and Ukraine and in cyberspace. Also on Friday, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said Russian and Syrian actions in the Syrian civil war, including bombings of hospitals, “beg for” a war crimes investigation. In addition, a U.S. intelligence official said on Friday that Russia was moving short-range nuclear-capable missiles into Kaliningrad, a tiny Russian enclave between Poland and Lithuania, confirming Estonian news reports. Clinton’s campaign chairman, John Podesta, said the public blaming for the hacks left one remaining question of “why Donald Trump continues to make apologies for the Russians”. Trump had previously expressed doubt about Russia’s involvement. In July, he suggested Russia should attempt to retrieve and publish emails from Clinton’s private server.  Trump’s campaign did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Hours after the U.S. government’s accusation was levied, WikiLeaks posted hundreds of emails on its website purportedly hacked from Podesta’s private account. Until Friday, the Obama administration had avoided publicly singling out Russia in connection with the mounting civilian deaths in Syria or the cyber attacks. The statement by the Department of Homeland Security and the Office of the Director of National Intelligence did not blame the Russian government for hacking attempts against state election systems, but said “scanning and probing” of those systems originated in most cases from servers operated by a Russian company. However, a Department of Homeland Security spokesman said U.S. officials had concluded that the hacking attacks or probes of state voter registration systems were “consistent with Russian motivations”. Concern has grown about the reliability of the U.S. voting system as a result of the breach, and Trump has called the system “rigged,” but without providing specific evidence. U.S. intelligence officials have said there is no evidence that voting recording systems have been manipulated.  Identifying Russia as the actor behind the cyber attacks on political organizations falls short of more punitive measures the United States has taken against other countries for cyber intrusions.     Lawmakers of both political parties welcomed the formal accusation. Republican Senator Cory Gardner, chairman of the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Subcommittee on East Asia, the Pacific and International Cybersecurity, said he planned to introduce sanctions legislation. Earlier this year, a U.S. grand jury indicted seven Iranians employed by two Iran-based computer firms on charges of hacking into the U.S. financial sector. In 2015, Obama announced sanctions against North Korea for hacking into Sony Pictures. In 2014, the United States charged five Chinese military hackers for economic espionage aimed at U.S. nuclear, metals and solar industries. A senior U.S. official said the administration is considering other retaliatory steps against Russia, but he declined to identify them. Those steps may remain covert, the official said.   The Democratic National Committee publicly disclosed intrusions into its systems in June and held Russia responsible. Leaks of committee emails from pro-transparency group WikiLeaks soon followed, demonstrating what appeared to be favoritism for Clinton over another Democrat, Bernie Sanders, by committee chairwoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz. Wasserman Schultz, a Florida congresswoman, stepped down. In Friday’s statement, the government said disclosures of emails by WikiLeaks and hacking entities known as DCLeaks and Guccifer 2.0 “are consistent with the methods and motivations of Russian-directed efforts”.  WikiLeaks has not identified the source of its leaks and criticized those who have claimed it was Russia. Guccifer 2.0 has identified itself as a Romanian hacker, but U.S. intelligence officials have concluded that Guccifer 2.0 and DCLeaks are both a front for Russian spy units.

Summary: अमेरिका ने औपचारिक रूप से रूसी हैकरों पर राजनीतिक साइबर हमलों का आरोप लगाया


NIAMEY/DAKAR (Reuters) - Chad has withdrawn hundreds of troops from neighboring Niger, where they were helping local forces fight Boko Haram Islamist militants, humanitarian sources and officials said. The pull-out over the past two weeks could weaken a region-wide struggle against the militants who have killed tens of thousands of people, forced many more to flee and triggered a humanitarian crisis. There was no immediate explanation or comment from defense officials in Chad. But the move came a month after the vast central African country complained about an unexpected U.S. travel ban imposed on its nationals. Chad warned at the time the order could affect its security commitments - which include its involvement in the U.S.-backed fight against Boko Haram. Residents said the withdrawal had already had an impact on Niger s Diffa region, which has seen a string of attacks by Boko Haram militants crossing over from their base in neighboring Nigeria. Ibrahim Arimi from the border village of Bosso said banditry had increased since the Chadian troops started leaving and he had been temporarily moved to another village for safety. Diffa parliamentarian Lamido Moumouni said residents had started complaining.  They have come to rely on the forces so there is a perception that security will be lacking,  he said by telephone. At its peak in 2016 after an attack in Bosso, Chad had 2,000 troops in Niger to help counter Boko Haram although security sources said this has fallen since. Boko Haram has attacked Chad, Niger and Cameroon from its base in northeast Nigeria. Its eight-year bid to carve out an Islamist caliphate has driven millions from their homes - more than 200,000 of them are now based in Diffa, with little prospect of returning home.  Thousands of them are camped alongside an unfinished highway in the middle of a barren savannah with few resources.  Chad s soldiers also occupy front-line positions in a peacekeeping force in northern Mali. Falling oil revenues after the price crash in 2014 has also sapped Chad s appetite for expensive regional security commitments, analysts say.

Summary: चाड ने नाइजर में बोको हराम के खिलाफ लड़ाई से सैनिकों को वापस लिया


JAKARTA (Reuters) - Indonesian authorities are preparing to divert flights to 10 airports across the country in case an increasingly active volcano on the holiday island of Bali erupts and disrupts travel. Officials have warned that Mount Agung in eastern Bali could erupt at any time, prompting several countries including Australia and Singapore to issue travel advisor for one of the world s most popular tourist destinations.  Ten airports will serve as alternatives for flights bound for Bali s Ngurah Rai airport in case it is closed because of volcanic ash,  Transportation Minister Budi Karya said in a statement on Wednesday. Authorities are also preparing ferries to help people leave Bali in case air travel is disrupted, Karya said.  Airports in Jakarta, Surabaya, and Lombok are among those being prepared to allow diverted flights to land.  Bali s Ngurah Rai International Airport is the second-busiest in the country, after Jakarta s main international airport. It was operating normally on Wednesday. Nearly five million people visited Bali last year - most of them from Australia, China and Japan.     Over 75,000 residents have been evacuated from near the volcano and fears of an imminent eruption have prompted some travelers to rethink holiday plans. Several airlines in Singapore and Australia said they are preparing for disruptions, but that flights were running normally for now. Virgin Australia, which flies to Bali from Australia, said on Wednesday that it was expecting  some delays .  At present, there is no visible ash cloud and therefore flights are planned to operate as scheduled. However there may be some delays due to the fact that some of our Bali bound flights will be making fuel stops in Darwin as a precautionary measure,  the company said in a statement. Mount Agung s status was raised to the highest level last week and authorities have imposed a 12km exclusion zone around it. A 4.3 magnitude quake shook the area on Wednesday, indicating that seismic activity remains high, officials said.  The total number of tremors has decreased, but if we compare the strength (of tremors) it is definitely increasing,  said Gede Suantika, an official at national vulcanology agency.      The volcano last erupted in 1963, killing over 1,000 people.

Summary: इंडोनेशिया ज्वालामुखी विस्फोट की स्थिति में बाली जाने वाली उड़ानों को मोड़ने की तैयारी कर रहा है


LONDON (Reuters) - A major road in east London was partially closed due to a significant police incident on Tuesday, the British capital s transport operator said. Transport for London said on Twitter that East India Dock Road was partially blocked both ways due to  a significant police incident . London police had no immediate comment.

Summary: पुलिस की 'महत्वपूर्ण' घटना के कारण पूर्वी लंदन की सड़क अवरुद्ध


DAVOS, Switzerland (Reuters) - The surprise emergence of a billionaire real estate developer who has proposed banning Muslims from entering the United States as the front runner to become Republican nominee for president is one of the hot topics of conversation among the rich and powerful at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. While calling Donald Trump “unbelievable”, “embarrassing” or even “dangerous”, business executives and finance leaders said he had nevertheless “hit a vein” with his direct talk. Here are some of the comments about Donald Trump heard this week at the annual gathering: Rodrigo Valdes, finance minister of Chile, on rhetoric in the U.S. Presidential election: “Clearly it is not a rhetoric that is inviting for integration. In Chile we have a deep view that integration of the Americas is a good thing, whether it is goods, financing and yes people. So I’d be happier with a more welcoming rhetoric. It is uncontroversial to say that integration of markets, of trade is a good thing and this rhetoric does not help that.” Sandeep Dadlani, executive vice president of Indian outsourcing firm Infosys: “Infosys has been getting the majority of its revenues from the US market for  over 30 years and we have seen many elections come and go. It is common in all election seasons for rhetoric and extreme personalities to shine. Inevitably we have found governments from both sides to eventually come up with sensible policies.” Huffington Post news website founder Arianna Huffington: “I feel the mainstreaming of Donald Trump, instead of him being treated as an extreme, dangerous candidate is really the most troubling aspect of American politics right now. “He’s being interviewed on all the main shows, and he’s being asked questions about what his first State of the Union address would be like if he wins, instead of actually being forced to answer the tough questions about his policy, especially his policy of wanting to ban Muslims from entering the U.S., which is so dangerous, so un-American and should really be the center of the coverage of Trump.  “We (at Huffington Post) first covered him as entertainment, as a sort of buffoonish figure. But the day he announced that policy we switched to cover him as a clear and present danger to the American political system and to America and its values.  “I think the GOP (Republican party) is in real trouble if he becomes the lead candidate. But there’s a long way between now and the nominating convention.”  Dominic Barton, global managing director for business consultancy McKinsey: “This is a political campaign that’s become entertainment. I almost feel like anything you ask, Trump will have some radically different view. If I were to say it takes 9 months to make a baby, he could say ‘that’s crap, it should take 3’ or something.” “It’s a bit embarrassing globally. But I think there’s a big difference between the rhetoric and the reality, and I think most people will see that and discount it. But it’s incredible how long its been going for. It’s just unbelievable.” Ray Nolte, chief investment officer, Skybridge Capital, a $13 billion hedge fund: “Is Donald going to be the nominee? I don’t know. It’s sure looking that way now. “The takeaway from here, is that anyone here who is in the mainstream say there is no way he could possibly get the nomination. When I hear that, it probably means it is going to happen. “Among the historic party elites, none of them can believe what is going on. If you had gone into the campaigns, a Bush campaign and Rubio campaign, they were saying: ‘We don’t need to pay attention to Trump. The guy is a buffon, he is a clown, he will blow himself up’. This was back 6/7 months ago, that was the narrative.” John McFarlane, chairman of Barclays: “You have an election in the US that has taken a rather strange turn.” “Is Trump going to get the nomination? People would argue No but then ... he is very popular.” Eric Cantor, former Republican majority leader in U.S. House of Representatives, now vice-chairman of Moelis & Co, an investment bank: “He’s not serious. He’s amazing at promoting his personal brand and reflecting an underlying anger at home that is connected to a slow-growth economy where wage stagnation is real. “But Trump Fever is an unsustainable phenomenon that will not translate into a victory for the candidate.” Rob Torres, managing director of Google Travel:     “I think the majority of folks underestimate the Trump power right now.”      “If for some reason he is elected into office, hopefully he will be smart enough to surround himself with folks who have experience in government.” Stephen Schwarzman, chief executive of private equity group Blackstone, told CNBC’s Squawkbox that if the Republican presidential race came down to Trump versus Ted Cruz, a U.S. Senator from Texas also seen as representing the right wing of the Republican Party, he would go with his fellow billionaire. “If I had to do one, I would do Donald,” he said. Noting the rise of self-proclaimed socialist Bernie Sanders as a challenger to Hillary Clinton for the Democratic Party’s nomination, he said:         “The question is, what is everyone protesting about?... What’s needed actually is a cohesive, healing presidency, not one that’s lurching either to the right or to the left.” Mark Weinberger, global chairman and chief executive of consultancy EY: “I think Donald trump clearly has hit a vein of the American people in straight talk, candor, and saying clearly what he’s going to do. “When you get to the second and third questions on some of the policies he’s raising, I think people are going to have to look a lot more at it and understand it before they pull a curtain and they’re actually gonna vote for someone who’s anti establishment.”

Summary: फैक्टबॉक्सः दावोस से देखे गए ट्रम्पः 'अविश्वसनीय', 'शर्मनाक' लेकिन स्पष्टता 'एक नस से टकरा गई'


(This Nov. 24 story has been refiled to correct paragraph eight to say former CEO was not among the five people prosecuted.) HANOI (Reuters) - Vietnam has prosecuted five former officials of the unlisted Dong A Bank for violating rules that  lead to serious consequences , police said on Friday, part of a widening investigation involving the Ho Chi Minh City-based lender. Energy and banking firms are at the heart of a sweeping crackdown on corruption in the communist state, a campaign that made global headlines this year when Germany accused Vietnam of kidnapping a Vietnamese businessman in Berlin. The troubled, partly private Dong A Bank is among several lenders under scrutiny of the authorities who say they want to tackle corruption, including abuse of power and violation of lending rules.  The Investigation Police Department of the Ministry of Public Security is urgently investigating the case,  police said in a statement.  Abuse of trust to appropriate assets, deliberate violation of state regulations on economic management that led to serious consequences and the violation of lending provisions ... occurred at Dong A Commercial Joint Stock Bank (DAB),  police  said. The five former officials were banned from leaving their homes, police said. Dong A Bank said it would respond to a Reuters request for comment later in the day. The bank s former chief executive officer Tran Phuong Binh was arrested in 2016 along with four other executives. The central bank, the State Bank of Vietnam, had placed Dong A Bank under special supervision in 2015  for violations in financial management and credit grants  by some executives. The ministry of public security said in a statement on Friday that 17 people have been arrested in the Dong A Bank fraud case.

Summary: वियतनाम ने भ्रष्टाचार की कार्रवाई में बैंक अधिकारियों पर मुकदमा चलाया


ABU DHABI/DUBAI (Reuters) - Saudi Arabia s crackdown on corruption has spread beyond its borders as regulators in the United Arab Emirates ask UAE banks for information about Saudi citizens detained in the investigation, a possible prelude to freezing their accounts. The UAE central bank has requested commercial banks and finance companies in the UAE to provide details of the accounts of 19 Saudis, commercial bankers told Reuters on Thursday, declining to be named because of the sensitivity of the matter. Almost all of the 19, including billionaire Prince Alwaleed bin Talal and former National Guard chief Prince Miteb bin Abdullah, are known to be among dozens of senior officials and businessmen detained in the corruption inquiry. Commercial bankers said UAE authorities had not explained why they wanted the information, but believed the authorities were acting at the behest of the Saudi government, which has said it aims to recover billions of dollars of illicit assets identified in its investigation. Central bank officials in the UAE, a federation of seven emirates, were not available to comment, and Saudi officials in Riyadh, who have frozen over 1,700 domestic bank accounts as part of the crackdown, did not respond to requests for comment. The UAE, particularly its most commercially prominent emirate Dubai, is one of the main places where wealthy Saudis park their money abroad. In addition to bank accounts, they buy luxury apartments and villas in Dubai and invest in the emirate s volatile stock market. Huge amounts of money may be at stake. Corruption has over the years siphoned off $800 billion from Saudi state revenues, an official at the Riyadh Chamber of Commerce and Industry has estimated; bankers believe much of it is held abroad, in countries including Switzerland and Britain. Some wealthy Saudi individuals have been liquidating assets within Saudi Arabia, the UAE and other Gulf countries this week, apparently in an effort to move money out of the region and escape the crackdown, private bankers and fund managers said. In Riyadh, rich individual investors have been selling equities heavily, although buying by state-linked funds has helped to support the market. In Dubai, shares in real estate developers have sunk as investors worry about the impact on the property market of a pull-out by Saudis. The UAE commercial bankers said they had not been asked to freeze the Saudi accounts at their institutions, but they believed the central bank s request for information might be a prelude to such action. The risk of the accounts being frozen  jeopardizes Dubai s pitch as a private banking center , said a Gulf-based banker, adding:  Banks in the UAE are full of Saudi money.  One senior banker at an international bank with business in Saudi Arabia said his institution had already frozen some accounts, both inside the kingdom and outside it, in response to Saudi government requests.  The bank is conducting its own investigations into accounts linked to people who have been detained, the banker said without elaborating.  Another banker in the region said his institution was receiving more enquiries from Saudi clients about cross-border financial transactions, but it was handling the enquiries with extreme caution as there could be further action by regulators. The risk of fund outflows from the region has helped to push the currencies of Gulf Arab countries down slightly against the U.S. dollar in the forwards market this week. The Saudi riyal dropped as low as 285 points in the one-year forwards market on Thursday - implying riyal depreciation of about 0.8 percent against the dollar in the next 12 months - from around 115 points before the crackdown. However, it remains much stronger than it was last year, when it hit levels around 1,000 points because of worries about Saudi Arabia s ability to cope with an era of low oil prices.

Summary: यू. ए. ई. ने बैंक खातों की जांच की, सीमा पार फैली सऊदी भ्रष्टाचार की जांच


BRASILIA (Reuters) - A Brazilian Supreme Court judge on Tuesday authorized an investigation of President Michel Temer for suspected corruption involving a decree regulating ports, adding to graft allegations the president has so far parried with backing from Congress. The new investigation is based on a wiretapped conversation of a former Temer aide, Rodrigo Rocha Loures, who, according to court documents, discussed shaping the decree in return for bribes channeled from a port operator to the president. In his ruling, Justice Luis Roberto Barroso said the new probe was warranted because Brazil s top prosecutor, Rodrigo Janot, had found  strong indications  of crimes, given that the decree signed by Temer answered part of the demands made by logistics firm Rodrimar SA. Temer s lawyer said in a statement sent to the Supreme Court that the allegations against the president are  contaminated by untruths and malicious distortions.  The decree was publicly debated and benefited all port operators and not just Rodrimar, it said. Rodrimar also denied that it had received any special treatment from the government. The company said the decree in question partially addressed widespread demands from Brazil s port operators. Temer has denied any role in the corruption scandals that have come to light during a sprawling three-year investigation of political bribery in Brazil. His lawyers have also challenge the plea bargain deal that yielded the wiretap of Rocha Loures, arguing that the billionaire beef tycoon who arranged the recordings was unfairly favored by a close aide to Janot. Last month, Temer s allies in Congress easily blocked a corruption charge leveled by Janot. He is also expected to beat additional charges that Janot could level this week before leaving office. The latest investigation approved by the court adds more allegations to the mix. Brazil s currency, the real, posted its biggest daily drop in nearly a month, slipping 0.8 percent against the U.S. dollar as the investigation and a separate police probe into Temer s allies kept pressure on the president. Temer s success in beating back accusations had bolstered bets that he would be able to return focus to his market-friendly proposals to overhaul Brazil s tax and social security policies, tackling a record deficit.

Summary: ब्राजील की शीर्ष अदालत ने राष्ट्रपति टेमर की नई भ्रष्टाचार जांच को मंजूरी दी


SYDNEY (Reuters) - Australia s population is expanding at the fastest pace in the developed world as skilled migrants flock to the resource-rich nation, a fillip to economic growth overall but perhaps also a source of puzzling weakness in wages. Government figures released on Thursday showed the number of people resident in Australia increased 388,100 in the year to June, a rise of 1.6 percent on 2015/16. That was far above the global increase of 1.1 percent, and well ahead of the United States  gain of 0.7 percent and Canada s 0.9 percent. There s still plenty of room for more, given the giant continent still only has 24.6 million people, putting it at 53rd in United Nations global population rankings. Much of Australia s growth came in net overseas migration, which surged more than 27 percent in the year to June to 245,500. That was the highest 12-month total since 2009, while the flow into the states of New South Wales and Victoria beat records.  A strong labor market is attracting interstate and overseas migrants to Melbourne, while better housing affordability and jobs growth is driving population growth in Queensland and Tasmania,  said Ryan Felsman, a senior economist at CommSec.  Overall the stronger rate of population growth is boosting spending, demand for infrastructure, demand for homes, and overall economic growth.  Leading migrant countries include China, India, Britain and New Zealand. The flood of newcomers, mostly on skilled migrant programs, is one reason property prices have been on a tear in recent years, especially in Sydney and Melbourne. The extra demand created by all these new Australians was also a major reason the economy grew a brisk 2.8 percent in the year to September. Indeed, strip away population growth and the economy would have expanded by just 1.3 percent. Yet the influx of able bodies has also expanded the workforce right at the time when employers were ramping up their demand for labor, restraining wages growth. Separate figures from the Australian Bureau of Statistics released on Thursday showed a barnstorming 383,000 net new jobs were created in the year to November.  But wages still grew at a pedestrian annual pace of 2 percent, a perfect case of expanding supply benefiting employers rather than those already employed. Policymakers at Australia s central bank have been baffled by the divergence between employment and wages, citing the mystery as an argument against a rise in interest rates anytime soon.

Summary: ऑस्ट्रेलिया की जनसंख्या वृद्धि ने दुनिया को पीछे छोड़ दिया, प्रवासियों की भीड़ बढ़ी


BRUSSELS (Reuters) - EU envoys discussed on Wednesday delaying into next year the launch of talks with London on a post-Brexit relationship, raising the risk of businesses shifting out of Britain due to lack of clarity on what will happen after March 2019. A meeting of ambassadors from the other 27 EU states had been due to start discussing how to negotiate a transition that would start when Britain quits the bloc in 17 months. But instead, people familiar with the talks told Reuters, the discussion was dominated by concern that London would fail to meet EU conditions next month for opening future negotiations. Once again, lead powers Germany and France insisted British Prime Minister Theresa May agree in principle to pay an exit bill in the tens of billions of euros to Brussels before EU leaders agree to open a second phase of Brexit negotiations on the future relationship. They told May at a summit last month that they were ready to do that when they next meet, on Dec. 14. But British negotiators, who will be in Brussels on Thursday and Friday for more talks on that financial settlement, as well as rights for EU citizens and the Irish border,  should not think they are sailing ahead into the next phase , an EU official familiar with the envoys  discussions said.  While the transition and future relationship were formally on the agenda, what ambassadors focused very much on was real concern that the UK does not realize that the EU27 are deadly serious about the need to meet the  sufficient progress  mark on the three first-phase issues.  With May struggling with the loss of a second scandal-hit cabinet minister in a week, Germany, France and others are ramping up pressure on her to cut a deal in the knowledge that businesses are piling on their own demands for clarity before making investment decisions in the new year.  The focus was very much on the here and now and the fact that the UK is so far away from meeting the sufficient progress point and that we are rapidly running out of time,  the official added. Several diplomats gave similar accounts of the meeting.   We should not be pressured or rushed. They really must come with the money,  one senior EU diplomat said.      The European Parliament, which must approve any withdrawal treaty, added its voice on Wednesday. Its Brexit coordinator, Guy Verhofstadt said May s suggestion that agreement was close on citizens  rights was wide of the mark and that  major issues  remained unresolved to guarantee rights for EU nationals. The EU official said the ambassadors agreed that without  sufficient progress  on divorce issues in the next month, the talks would simply be extended into 2018 with no discussions on the future   talks that London is keen to start immediately.  If they don t move until early December, we ll have to think again what to do next,  the senior diplomat said.  Then there could be a take it or leave it offer from us, which would clearly not be very nice to Britain and at home they would fall under immense pressure to walk away from the talks.  Some Brexit backers in her own government have urged May to walk out without a withdrawal deal, arguing that the EU also has an interest in an orderly split and that the British economy can stand any disruption   a view not shared by many businesses. Several EU officials said Britain would have to abide by all EU laws in the transition period, even if they are changed during that time, but would have no vote on them. And that such a transition, which both sides have said should last less than two years, might have to be extended to give time for a trade pact.  It s impossible to get any bespoke trade deal in two years or so,  said an EU parliament official who deals with Brexit.  And for all that time the UK would be an EU colony   forced to accept all our laws with no say.  This is what I call a definition of colony.

Summary: यूरोपीय संघ के राज्यों को लगता है कि ब्रिटेन ब्रेक्सिट तलाक की शर्तों को पूरा करने में विफल रहा है


PARIS (Reuters) - France will make the armed soldiers patrolling its streets against jihadi attacks more mobile and their deployment less predictable but will not cut their numbers, ministers said on Thursday. Some 10,000 soldiers, including 3,000 reservists, have been patrolling the streets of Paris and other French cities since the Islamic State attacks in early 2015 in what is known as  Operation Sentinelle . But although opinion polls show people are reassured by soldiers on show at home, military chiefs said the operation has overstretched the army, soldiers have become targets for militants and some critics see it as no more than a PR exercise.  There is no change in the size of the Sentinelle force,  Defence Minister Florence Parly said in a news conference.  What is changing, is the way we will organize these troops. We have to become more unpredictable,  she said. Soldiers will continue to patrol the most sensitive sites such as airports, stations and areas popular with tourists, and will intervene during specific sport or cultural events. But other patrols will become more random and reactive, ministers said. Making the soldiers less static will reduce the risks of them becoming targets and improve troops  morale, Interior Minister Gerard Collomb said.   In February last year, a French soldier who was part of Operation Sentinelle shot an Egyptian man armed with machetes who attacked him near the entrance to the Louvre museum shouting Allahu Akbar.

Summary: फ्रांस सशस्त्र सड़क गश्त को और अधिक यादृच्छिक और फुर्तीला बनाएगा


WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The son of U.S. President Donald Trump’s former national security adviser Michael Flynn is being investigated as part of the ongoing federal probe into alleged Russian meddling in the 2016 U.S. election, NBC News reported on Wednesday. Citing four current and former U.S. officials, NBC said it was unclear when the probe into Michael Flynn Jr. began. But is said it was at least partly focused on his work for the lobbying firm run by his father, already a known subject of the U.S. probe that is also examining any potential collusion by Trump’s campaign.   The younger Flynn has denied any collusion with Russia, according to NBC. Lawyers for both men declined to comment to NBC.

Summary: ट्रंप के पूर्व सलाहकार फ्लिन के बेटे की रूस को लेकर हो रही है जांचः एनबीसी


(Reuters) - U.S. President-elect Donald Trump warned German car companies he would impose a border tax of 35 percent on vehicles imported to the U.S. market from Mexico, singling out luxury carmaker BMW for criticism following previous broadsides aimed at General Motors, Ford and Toyota. Mexico accounts for a fifth of all vehicle production in North America and has attracted more than $24 billion in auto investment since 2010, according to the Michigan-based Center for Automotive Research. Auto assembly is projected to more than double in size between 2010 and 2020 as carmakers invest around $13 billion to move 3.3 million units of capacity from Japan, Germany and South Korea. Carmakers are attracted by Mexico’s unique free trade position as well as lower labor costs. Below are some facts on the operations of the main global carmakers with plants in Mexico. Production figures are according to the Mexican Automotive Industry Association. NISSAN (7201.T) 2015 production: 822,948 vehicles Nissan is the largest automaker operating in Mexico. It built its first overseas plant in Mexico 50 years ago and now produces mainly its entry-level Versa and Sentra sedans there. It exports roughly half of its output to the United States, where it also has production plants. Nissan and Renault Chief Executive Carlos Ghosn said this month he was watching the incoming Trump administration closely and would respond to whatever policies it adopts. GENERAL MOTORS (GM.N) 2015 production: 690,446 Trump has criticized GM for building cars in Mexico while laying off workers in the United States. GM said in 2015 it would invest $350 million to produce its next-generation Chevrolet Cruze compact cars in Mexico, as part of a $5 billion investment in its Mexican plants announced in 2014, creating 5,600 jobs. It has defended the arrangement as part of its strategy to serve global customers. In November, GM said it planned to lay off 2,000 employees at two U.S. auto plants in early 2017. When asked earlier this month about the company’s plans for investments in Mexico, GM CEO Mary Barra said she could not comment, but emphasized a willingness to cooperate with the incoming Trump administration. FIAT-CHRYSLER (FCHA.MI) 2015 production: 503,589 Fiat Chrysler CEO Sergio Marchionne said this month that uncertainty over Trump’s trade and tax policies could lead automakers to delay investments in Mexico, and confirmed plans to create 2,000 jobs at his company’s U.S. factories with an investment of $1 billion. He said he had not made a decision on whether to move production of certain Ram heavy-duty pickups from Mexico to the Unites States. “If tomorrow morning President-elect Trump decides to impose a border tax on anything that comes up from Mexico, then we’ll have to adjust,” he said. VOLKSWAGEN (VOWG_p.DE) 2015 production: 457,517 Volkswagen has had a plant in Mexico for 50 years and is not shifting any jobs to Mexico from the United States. It has around 16,500 employees in Mexico, who built 345,000 engines as well as cars in 2015. In the United States, it has around 3,200 workers at its plant in Chattanooga, Tennessee which built 87,000 cars in 2015. It plans to invest $7 billion in the United States between 2015 and 2019. Its Audi luxury car brand opened a $1.3 billion factory in Mexico last year, its first in the country and eventually slated to be its only source globally for its Q5 SUVs. It plans initial production of 150,000 cars a year. FORD (F.N) 2015 production: 433,752 Ford scrapped a planned $1.6 billion Mexican car factory this month and added 700 jobs at a cost of $700 million in Michigan following criticism by Trump. It said it was a response to a decline in North American demand for small cars like those that would have been made at the plant, and CEO Mark Fields said Ford would have made the same decision even had Trump not been elected. Ford still plans to shift production from Michigan of its Focus compact car to an existing plant in Mexico. HONDA (7267.T) 2015 production: 203,657 Honda has two auto plants in Mexico, which together build around 100,000 motorcycles a year as well as cars. Vehicles made in Mexico comprise less than 10 percent of Honda’s total U.S. vehicle sales. Honda said in October it was shifting production of the new generation of its CR-V sport utility vehicle to the United States from Mexico. But its president said it had no immediate plans to curb production in Mexico, preferring to wait until after Trump’s inauguration.  MAZDA (7261.T) 2015 production: 182,357 Mazda began producing cars in Mexico in 2014, with production of the Mazda3 sedan for the United States. Vehicles made in Mexico comprise around 30 percent of Mazda’s total U.S. vehicle sales. TOYOTA (7203.T) 2015 production: 104,810 Toyota plans to raise output from its plant in Baja California, Mexico to around 160,000 units by 2018. It is also building a plant in Guanajuato city which will have an annual capacity of 200,000 when it comes online in 2019. Trump took on Toyota earlier this month, warning the world’s largest automaker that it would face a “big border tax” if it exported Mexico-built cars to the U.S. market. Toyota President Akio Toyoda said in response: “We’re always considering ways to increase production in the United States, regardless of the political situation.” Vehicles made in Mexico comprise less than 10 percent of Toyota’s total U.S. vehicle sales. But it has said its Guanajuato plant under construction in Mexico will produce the entry-level Corolla sedan, a vehicle segment currently produced at its plants in Mississippi, Missouri, and Ontario, Canada. Toyota plans to invest $10 billion in the United States over the next five years, the same as in the previous five years. KIA (000270.KS), HYUNDAI (005380.KS) Kia is building a $1 billion plant in Mexico, with a capacity of 300,000 vehicles a year, to cater for demand from North and South America. Affiliate Hyundai also plans to build its Accent small car at the Kia factory this year, two people familiar with the matter have told Reuters, shifting output out of high-cost South Korea. It will be the first Hyundai car to be made in Mexico.  BMW (BMWG.DE) BMW is building a new plant in Mexico, where it plans to invest $2.2 billion by 2019 for annual production of 150,000 cars, with the output intended for the world market. It also has sizeable factories in the United States, where it builds higher-margin SUVs for export to Asia and Europe.  DAIMLER (DAIGn.DE) Daimler has said it plans to begin assembling Mercedes-Benz vehicles in 2018 from a $1 billion facility shared with Renault-Nissan (RENA.PA), (7201.T) in Aguascalientes in Mexico.

Summary: फैक्टबॉक्सः मेक्सिको में वैश्विक कार निर्माताओं का संचालन


BANGKOK (Reuters) - A Thai court sentenced a 62-year-old man to 27 years in prison on Wednesday for planting a bomb at a Bangkok hospital that wounded 21 people. The explosion hit the Phramongkutklao Hospital in the Thai capital, Bangkok, in May on the third anniversary of a 2014 military coup. The hospital is popular with soldiers and their families and retired military officers.  Police arrested Watana Pumret, a retired government employee, after the blast and said he had confessed to the bombing because he despises the military.  From the evidence we believe the accused committed the offence ... the accused confessed to it,  a judge said. Courts in Thailand often do not identify the names of judges, with the exception of some high-profile legal cases. Watana was seen crying after the verdict. He hugged his wife and refused to answer reporters  questions, according to a Reuters reporter at the court. Reuters was unable to contact Watana s lawyer after the verdict. Thailand s military launched a coup in May 2014 after months of street protests that took a toll on Southeast Asia s second-biggest economy. The military promised to unite the politically divided country and restore stability but it has been accused by critics of not wanting to relinquish power. The military government has promised to hold a general election in November 2018 to return Thailand to democracy but senior government figures have said more time was needed to complete laws related to the vote. The government has also cited security concerns as a reason for not lifting a ban on politics that has been in place since 2014, despite increasing pressure from groups of all political stripes to lift the ban.

Summary: थाईलैंड की अदालत ने बैंकॉक के अस्पताल में बम विस्फोट मामले में एक व्यक्ति को 27 साल की जेल की सजा सुनाई


BUCHAREST (Reuters) - About 500 migrants from the Middle East reached Romania across the Black Sea from Turkey in about a month, coastguards said on Monday, in a sharp increase the European Union says shows smugglers are testing alternative routes into Europe. Since 2015, the EU has been struggling to bring down the number of refugees and migrants smuggled or trafficked from the Middle East and Africa to its shores.  A 2016 deal with Turkey shut the route to EU state Greece and the bloc is now cracking down on arrivals from Libya to Italy. All in all, Mediterranean arrivals to the bloc fell from nearly 28,000 people in June to below 10,000 in August, according to U.N. data. But the Romanian coast guard told Reuters on Monday that 475 people reached its shores in about one month in August-September, including from Iraq and Iran. Seven people smugglers from Turkey, Bulgaria, Syria, Iraq and Cyprus had been arrested. While still low compared to thousands of migrants reaching Greek islands daily at the height of the arrivals in 2015, the figure marks a sharp increase from a total of 500 migrants who completed the same route in two years in 2013-2015, according to Romanian data. The EU s border agency Frontex has said it is monitoring the situation and that people smugglers might be looking for alternative entries to the bloc after the Mediterranean crossings were made more difficult.   While it is too early to talk about the opening of a new migratory route, the recent incidents of intercepted wooden boats with migrants on the Black Sea suggest that smugglers might be looking to revive this route,  said a Frontex spokesman, Krzysztof Borowski.  Frontex said the Black Sea route was last active in 2014 but did not expect it to develop on a large scale due to difficult sailing conditions on the Black Sea, especially as autumn nears. On Aug. 13, the Romanian coast guard said it had rescued 101 adults and 56 children from Iraq and Iran crowded onto a small fishing boat, in distress amid strong winds.  They were packed in there ... The boat could (only) safely   accommodate a dozen people,  a coastguard officer said. In Romania s neighbor Bulgaria, interior ministry data showed no illegal migrants had been stopped at its sea border in 2017.  Both countries are still outside of the EU s Schengen zone of free travel and hope to join as soon as possible.  While the bloc s executive has said it will soon recommend  bringing them in, many other EU states are skeptical. How the two will manage any migratory flows would be crucial to determining whether they meet the criteria.  Since joining the EU in 2007, both are also under monitoring by the EU executive arm in Brussels over justice reforms and concerns over corruption. While Ankara has cracked down on smuggling across the Mediterranean, many refugees and migrants who had made it across before are being stranded on Greek islands in poor conditions. As the bloc s relations with Turkey have grown increasingly strained since the 2016 migration deal, Brussels and EU states worry that President Tayyip Erdogan might one day walk away from the accord.  Erdogan has just lifted a lid to keep pressure on the EU. It s flexing muscles,  Romanian political analyst Mircea Marian said of the recent increase in arrivals from the Turkish coast across the Black Sea.

Summary: मानव तस्करों ने रोमानिया के माध्यम से नए प्रवासी समुद्री मार्ग का परीक्षण किया


WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A plan by President Donald Trump and congressional Republicans to slash taxes on so-called pass-through businesses is testing lawmakers’ ability to design rules to prevent wealthy people from dodging taxes by paying a lower rate meant to help small businesses grow. Businesses ranging in size from the corner Mom-and-Pop shop to accounting firms and industrial conglomerates are called pass-throughs because their profits flow to owners and are taxed as individual income, often at the top 39.6 percent rate. By contrast, publicly held corporations have their own top corporate income tax rate of 35 percent, at least on paper. Corporate profits are further taxed when they flow through to shareholders as dividends. Republicans including House of Representatives Speaker Paul Ryan have vowed to get tax legislation to Trump’s desk before the end of 2017, but pass-throughs are one of the thorniest issues in their effort to enact the first comprehensive tax overhaul since 1986. The Republican timeline is in doubt because of complexities posed by pass-throughs and other difficult issues that could roll the debate into 2018 and beyond, analysts and lobbyists said. Trump and Republicans, who control the House and Senate, want to give pass-throughs their own tax rate of 15-25 percent, saying such a low rate would help unleash economic growth by leaving owners with more money to hire and invest. The danger with this proposal is that high-income people who pay the top individual tax rate could reap enormous windfalls simply by reclassifying their wages and salaries as pass-through business income to qualify for the new low rate.       Tax avoidance schemes along these lines could erase up to $584 billion from government coffers over the next decade, the nonpartisan Tax Policy Center estimated. The nonpartisan Tax Foundation estimates that over 28 million businesses are organized as pass-throughs. Income from them has been taxed at the same rates as wages and salaries since the individual income tax was enacted in 1913. “These are tough, tough questions. And politics aside, they’re what has held up tax reform for so long,” said one corporate lobbyist, who asked not be identified. “This is an area where there’s still a lot of discussion and no solution.” To address this, policymakers are looking at limiting how much of a business owner’s income should get pass-through treatment. But that’s hard to define because pass-throughs range from sole proprietorships and partnerships to S-corporations. Rebecca Boenigk, chairman and chief executive of the pass-through manufacturer Neutral Posture, worries that Congress could choose solutions that inadvertently add complexity for small businesses and deny business owners the capital they need. “There’s always a rule that’s put into place to take care of the 1 percent of people who are bad, and that rule ends up affecting the 99 percent of people who are good,” said Boenigk, who began making ergonomic furniture with her mother 28 years ago in their family garage.    One proposal under consideration would apply the pass-through rate to only 30 percent of a business owner’s income, while giving taxpayers the option of qualifying for more favorable treatment from the Internal Revenue Service, congressional sources and lobbyists said. The remaining 70 percent of income would be taxed at the higher individual rate.   The National Federation of Independent Business, a small business lobbying group in Washington, wants Congress and the Trump administration to apply the lower tax rate to 50 percent of a business owner’s income. Some lobbyists warn against the idea of allowing business owners to qualify for a higher percentage of income for the pass-through rate with the IRS, saying an additional layer of complicated procedures could backfire and encourage fraud.    Keith Hall, president of the National Association for the Self-Employed, would rather see business owners pay individual tax on a portion of their income set by living standards data for the geographical areas in which they live. But if lawmakers adopted the 70-30 approach, Hall said, higher earners should see the larger portions of their income qualify for the pass-through rate to maximize the amount of capital they can invest in their businesses.     Other proposals would limit the pass-through rate according to the business owner’s capital or stock value; exclude income from partnerships engaged in “personal services” such as law, accounting, medicine and engineering; or exclude passive income from royalties, rents, dividends and income. With Republicans pushing to overhaul the tax code before year-end, analysts say tax legislation could include a number of anti-abuse rules. “Lawmakers aren’t going to know which anti-abuse measures work. If they’re risk-averse, they may throw in more than one,” said Scott Greenberg, senior analyst at the Tax Foundation.

Summary: कम छोटे व्यवसाय दर के दुरुपयोग को रोकने से अमेरिकी कर सुधार धीमा हो जाता है


WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Fresh off striking a budget deal with Democrats, Donald Trump is toning down his rhetoric and looking to cut deals on such American hot-button issues as immigration and tax reform in search of a much-needed legislative victory. Eight months in office, the Republican president is openly courting and pressuring Democrats for support on taxes and, for now at least, steering away from hardline positions on immigration that might antagonize them. The approach is still in its early stages. In the past Trump has briefly taken a more moderate direction only to quickly return to his conservative base. But White House aides say the driving force behind the change of tactics is a desire to secure some wins in Congress after months of failure. Internal squabbling among Republicans, who control both chambers of Congress, killed their efforts to overhaul healthcare. The divisions threaten to undermine the push for a tax overhaul, especially in the Senate, where Republicans hold a narrow 52-48 majority. “We learned this summer that keeping 50 or 52 Republicans (in the Senate) is not something that’s reliable,” Marc Short, Trump’s liaison to Congress, told reporters this week. Frustrated with Republican leaders, Trump is moving away from a strategy that relies on passing legislation on strict party lines. He hosted seven senators at the White House on Tuesday, including three Democrats, and had dinner plans on Wednesday with House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi and Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer. Hours before the dinner, Trump told reporters his tax plan might include a tax increase on the wealthy, a welcome gesture for Democrats, who oppose cutting taxes on the rich. Trump’s bipartisan moves followed a series of staff changes. He replaced chief of staff Reince Priebus, a longtime Republican operative, with John Kelly, a former Marine general with strong relationships on Capitol Hill, and ousted more polarizing aides, including Steve Bannon and Sebastian Gorka. Last week Trump went so far as to take Democratic Senator Heidi Heitkamp along with him to her home state of North Dakota for a tax-reform rally. Her state leans strongly Republican, and Heitkamp is seen as vulnerable in next year’s midterm elections. Hurricanes that struck Texas and Florida have forced Trump to focus on governing. He has petitioned Congress for financial aid backed by both parties. But not everyone has been pleased with Trump’s outreach to Democrats. Immigration hardliners, including some in his party, were furious when the White House said it would not insist on funding for a proposed Mexican border wall as a condition of legislation that would help young undocumented immigrants known as “Dreamers” who were brought to the United States as children. Conservatives said this forfeited some leverage. Mark Krikorian, executive director of the Center for Immigration Studies, which seeks to limit legal and illegal immigration, said he worried that Democrats would take advantage of Trump’s eagerness to strike a deal on Dreamers. “Trump is the kind of guy who goes on foot to the car dealership and can’t get a ride home without buying a car,” Krikorian said. Some Republican lawmakers said Trump’s courtship of Democrats on tax reform made them nervous, especially since details of the plan had yet to be worked out. “Now Trump is talking about doing bipartisan stuff with Chuck and Nancy on taxes,” Republican Representative Dave Brat said. “I don’t want to open the door to that until we see what does this tax plan look like.” But some conservatives said a bipartisan legislative strategy made sense. “People inside the Republican party need to understand that the president has to search wherever the votes are,” said Matt Schlapp, chairman of the American Conservative Union.

Summary: कांग्रेस में अपनी किस्मत बदलने की उम्मीद में, ट्रम्प ने डेमोक्रेट की ओर रुख किया


DUBLIN (Reuters) - The key to British hopes of moving on to talks on trade ties with the European Union after it quits the bloc lies in Dublin, the European Council president said on Friday as Ireland called for  credible  solutions from London for the Irish border.  Avoiding a return to a  hard border  on the island of Ireland is the last major hurdle before Brexit talks can advance to trade ties and a possible two-year Brexit transition deal. But European Council President Donald Tusk that while the EU negotiating team represents the interests of the 27 other members, Ireland will have the final say on the border issue.   Let me say very clearly: if the UK offer is unacceptable for Ireland, it will also be unacceptable for the EU,  Tusk said in Dublin at a joint press conference with Irish Prime Minister Leo Varadkar.   The key to the UK s future lies - in some ways - in Dublin, at least as long as Brexit negotiations continue.    Tusk confirmed he had given British Prime Minister Theresa May a deadline of Monday to make a final offer on Irish border conditions before EU heads of government decide whether there is  sufficient progress  on a UK-EU divorce settlement to merit opening talks on the future relationship. If London meets the three key EU conditions on its financial bill for leaving, the rights of expatriate citizens and the border, then leaders could give a green light to trade talks at the summit on Dec. 14-15. With significant headway on the financial settlement and citizen rights now apparently in the bag, a deal on the Irish border appears to be the final hurdle. The political and economic stakes are high. The economy of Ireland, north and south, has become deeply integrated since the EU single market s creation in 1993, and only road signs now mark the frontier. Free-flowing commerce, together with the 1998 peace deal between Northern Ireland s Protestants and Catholics, has transformed previously neglected areas on both sides of the boundary. Varadkar said that while progress on the border issue had been made, the next few days would be crucial and that Ireland would not be afraid to use its veto if necessary.   The UK must offer credible, concrete and workable solutions that guarantee that there will be no hard border...whatever the future relationship between the EU and the UK is,  he said.  I m an optimist by nature...However I m also prepared to stand firm with our partners if need be...if the UK offer falls short.   Before it can sign off on the first phase, Dublin wants May to spell out in writing how she intends to make good on a commitment to avoid turning the clock back to a border of customs and security checks. It says the best way to do so is to keep regulations the same on both sides of a border that will be the UK s only land boundary with the EU after Brexit. May s government has said Britain will leave the EU s single market and customs union but wants the Irish border to remain open, a stance that EU officials say is contradictory. Earlier on Friday Irish Foreign Minister Simon Coveney said a deal on the border was  doable  but that the sides were  not there yet. Coveney said negotiators were working to find  sensible wording , drafts of which were being exchanged. Dublin, he said, will insist  there will be no fudge . May s room to offer additional concessions to Dublin appeared extremely limited when the pro-Brexit Northern Ireland party propping up her government on Thursday hinted it might withdraw its support if she gives up too much.  But Coveney said the Irish government and the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) agreed on far more than it disagreed on.  May is also under pressure from British business leaders who want confirmation of a transition deal so they have time to adapt to the new relationship.

Summary: यूरोपीय संघ का कहना है कि ब्रेक्सिट सीमा की समय सीमा समाप्त होने के साथ आयरिश अंतिम निर्णय लेंगे


LUANDA (Reuters) - Angola s ruling MPLA party has won a general election by taking 61.07 percent of the vote, the electoral commission said on Wednesday, making Jo o Louren o the next president of sub-Saharan Africa s third-largest economy. He will replace Jose Eduardo dos Santos, who steps down after 38 years at the helm but will continue as head of the People s Movement for the Liberation of Angola (MPLA). The main opposition National Union for the Total Independence of Angola (UNITA) took 26.67 percent, with the smaller opposition party CASA-CE winning 9.44 percent.  Mission accomplished,  Louren o told supporters at his party s headquarters in Luanda.  We ll produce a better future for the country and the people of Angola,  he said in his first comments as president-elect. He is expected to take office on Sept. 21. UNITA, which has repeatedly complained that the electoral process has been non-transparent and illegal, declined to comment after the results on Wednesday. A spokesman told Reuters a statement will be made on Thursday. UNITA has previously said it will appeal the results. Speaking earlier on Wednesday, the spokeswoman for the National Electoral Commission Julia Ferreira rejected the opposition s complaints as having a  lack of clarity and objectivity , adding sufficient proof had not been presented. Electoral observers have said the vote on Aug 23 was reasonably free and fair. The head of the African Union s observation mission, Jose Maria Neves, congratulated Angola on a poll he said served as a  reference for the continent . Speaking before announcing definitive election results, President of the National Electoral Commission Andr  da Silva Neto asked the parties to accept the election results. On the streets of Luanda, cheering and the honking of horns was heard as residents celebrated another electoral win for the MPLA, which has maintained an unbroken hold on power since Africa s second-largest crude producer gained independence from Portugal in 1975. Louren o will be only the country s third president in that time. A quiet 63-year-old more used to army barracks and the closed doors of party politics than the public spotlight, he has denied he will remain in the shadow of his predecessor dos Santos. Louren o has promised to kick-start the economy and has not ruled out deals with the World Bank and International Monetary Fund to help restructure it. Angola imports everything from washing powder to long-life milk at huge cost. MPLA will have 150 lawmakers, giving them the two-thirds parliamentary majority needed to pass any form of legislation.

Summary: अंगोला की सत्तारूढ़ एम. पी. एल. ए. ने 61 प्रतिशत मतों के साथ चुनाव जीताः निर्वाचन आयोग


WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. House Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi on Thursday joined calls for the immediate removal of Confederate statues from the U.S. Capitol, shortly after President Donald Trump expressed regret over statues and monuments being removed in some cities. “There is no room for celebrating the violent bigotry of the men of the Confederacy in the hallowed halls of the United States Capitol or in places of honor across the country,” Pelosi said in a statement. A spokesman for Republican U.S. House Speaker Paul Ryan said it was up to U.S. states to determine which statues were displayed on their behalf in the Capitol building.

Summary: अमेरिकी सदन में डेमोक्रेटिक नेता पेलोसी ने संघीय प्रतिमा हटाने का आह्वान किया


SYDNEY (Reuters) - The 40,000-year-old remains of an Aboriginal man that prompted a drastic rewrite of Australian history were returned to his ancestral homeland on Friday after four decades of examination in the country s capital. The discovery of  Mungo Man  in 1974, named after the dry outback lakebed where the fully intact skeleton was found, doubled the known length of humans  presence on the continent from 20,000 to 40,000 years. But the bones  removal to Canberra for study, roughly 600 km (370 miles) east of Lake Mungo, had angered the indigenous community there.  We ve been waiting all those years to get him back and I m so glad he is back, to put him in his resting place,  said Joan Slade, an elder of the Aboriginal Ngiyampaa people at a ceremony welcoming the remains back to her ancestral country. The skeleton, along with 104 other remains, arrived in a black hearse with the black, yellow and red Aboriginal flag painted on its side. A traditional smoking ceremony, with green gum-leaves burned over a small fire, welcomed the remains back to the red soil and saltbush scrub of Lake Mungo.      This, today, is one of those catalytic moments...it makes us, the traditional owners, custodians of our culture,  said elder Michael Young.  They will be kept in a secret, safe place so that we can pass on to the next generations the legacy that these people have given us.       Though subsequent discoveries have pushed back even further the date of humans  first arrival in Australia, the finding of Mungo Man was at the time a huge advance for understanding human history.     His burial, with limbs stretched out, hands crossed across his groin and covered in an ochre drawn from some 200 km away, helped prove the ancient age of Aboriginal civilization - the world s oldest continuing culture - dating back around the time Neanderthals occupied Europe. The Australian National University, whose researchers removed the remains, issued a formal apology when it turned the remains over to the region s Aboriginal custodians in 2015.  We recognise that the removal of these ancestral remains caused ongoing grief to your communities and we apologise unreservedly,  it said.   While the research undertaken...contributed significantly to the understanding of the history of indigenous Australians, our research in the past has not always been undertaken with your full knowledge and support.

Summary: विवाद की हड्डियाँः ऑस्ट्रेलिया ने प्राचीन आदिवासी अवशेषों को बाहर दफनाने के लिए लौटा दिया


(Reuters) - The U.S. Congress is expected to vote this week on sweeping, debt-financed tax legislation. Here are key parts of the bill. CORPORATE TAX RATE: Cuts corporate income tax rate to 21 percent from 35 percent, beginning Jan. 1, 2018. PASS-THROUGHS: Creates a 20 percent deduction for the first $315,000 of qualified business income for joint filers of pass-through businesses such as partnerships and sole proprietorships. For income above that threshold, the legislation phases in limits, producing an effective marginal tax rate of no more than 29.6 percent.   CORPORATE MINIMUM TAX: Repeals the 20 percent corporate alternative minimum tax, set up to ensure profitable corporations pay at least some tax. TERRITORIAL SYSTEM: Exempts U.S. corporations from U.S. taxes on most future foreign profits, ending the present worldwide system of taxing profits of all U.S.-based corporations, no matter where they are earned. This would align the U.S. tax code with most other industrialized nations, undercut many offshore tax-dodging strategies and deliver to multinationals a goal they have pursued for years.  REPATRIATION: Sets a one-time mandatory tax of 8 percent on illiquid assets and 15.5 percent on cash and cash equivalents for about $2.6 trillion in U.S. business profits now held overseas. This foreign cash pile was created by a rule making foreign profits tax-deferred if they are not brought into the United States, or repatriated. That rule would be rendered obsolete by the territorial system. ANTI-BASE EROSION MEASURES: Prevents companies from shifting profits out of the United States to lower-tax jurisdictions abroad. Sets an alternative minimum tax on payments between U.S. corporations and foreign affiliates, and limits on shifting corporate income through transfers of intangible property, including patents. In combination, these measures with the repatriation and territorial system provisions, represent a dramatic overhaul of the U.S. tax system for multinationals. CAPITAL EXPENSING: Allows businesses to immediately write off, or expense, the full value of investments in new plant and equipment for five years, then gradually eliminates this 100 percent expensing over five years beginning in year six. INTEREST DEDUCTION LIMIT: Caps business deductions for debt interest payments at 30 percent of taxable income, regardless of deductions for depreciation, amortization or depletion.  CLEAN ENERGY: Preserves tax credits for producing electricity from wind, biomass, geothermal, solar, municipal waste and hydropower. CARRIED INTEREST: Leaves in place “carried interest” loophole for private equity fund managers and some hedge fund managers, despite pledges by Republicans including President Donald Trump to close it. These financiers can now claim a lower capital gains tax rate on much of their income from investments held more than a year. A new rule would extend that holding period to three years, putting the loophole out of reach for some fund managers, but preserving its availability for many.   BRACKETS: Maintains the current seven tax brackets, but temporarily changes most of the income levels and rates. For married couples filing jointly, effective Jan. 1, 2018 and ending in 2026, income tax would be: 10 percent up to $19,050, versus 10 percent up to $18,650 under existing law; 12 percent on $19,051 to $77,400, versus 15 percent on$18,651 to $75,900; 22 percent on $77,401 to $165,000, versus 25 percent on $75,901 to $153,100; 24 percent on $165,001 to $315,000, versus 28 percent on $153,101 to $233,350; 32 percent on $315,001 to $400,000, versus 33 percent on $233,351 to $416,700; 35 percent on $400,001 to $600,000, versus 35 percent on $416,701 to $470,700 37 percent above $600,000, versus 39.6 percent above$470,700. For single individuals, effective Jan. 1, 2018 and ending in 2026, income tax would be: 10 percent up to $9,525, versus 10 percent up to $9,325 under existing law; 12 percent from $9,526 to $38,700, versus 15 percent on $9,326 to $37,950; 22 percent on $38,701 to $82,500, versus 25 percent on $37,951 to $91,900; 24 percent on $82,501 to $157,500, versus 28 percent on $91,901 to $191,650; 32 percent on $157,501 to $200,000, versus 33 percent on $191,651 to $416,700; 35 percent on $200,001 to $500,000, versus 35 percent on $416,701 to $418,400; 37 percent above $500,000, versus 39.6 percent above $418,400. These brackets would expire after 2025. STANDARD DEDUCTION: In a change expected to end itemizing of deductions for millions of Americans, the bill for eight years beginning on Jan. 1, 2018 would increase the standard deduction - a fixed amount that can be subtracted from adjusted gross income to lower taxable income - to $12,000 from $6,350 for individuals, and to $24,000 from $12,700 for married couples. CHILD TAX CREDIT: Doubles the child tax credit to $2,000 per dependent child under age 17, with a refundable portion of $1,400. The refundable portion allows families to lower their tax bills to zero and receive a refund for the remaining value. PERSONAL EXEMPTION: Temporarily eliminates the $4,050 individual personal exemption. Under present law, taxpayers who earn below certain income caps can subtract this fixed dollar amount from their adjusted gross incomes to lower their taxable incomes. Generally, one exemption has been allowed per individual, spouse and child or other dependent. This would take effect Jan. 1, 2018, but then the personal exemption would return in 2026.  INHERITANCES: Raises the exemption for estate and gift taxes to $10 million from $5 million per person and indexes the new exemption level for inflation after 2011. That means even fewer Americans would pay the estate tax, but it would stay on the books. MORTGAGES: For residences bought from Jan. 1, 2018, through Dec. 31, 2025, the bill caps the deduction for mortgage interest at $750,000 in home loan value. After Dec. 31, 2025, the cap would revert to $1 million in loan value. Suspends the deduction for interest on home equity loans from Jan. 1, 2018 until 2026. OBAMACARE MANDATE: Repeals a federal fine imposed on Americans under Obamacare for not obtaining health insurance coverage, a change expected to undermine the 2010 healthcare law.   ANWR DRILLING: Allows oil drilling in Alaska’s Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.

Summary: फैक्टबॉक्सः अंतिम अमेरिकी रिपब्लिकन कर बिल में क्या है


CHICAGO (Reuters) - Chicago is starting an advertising campaign to reassure immigrants that they are welcome in the third-largest U.S. city, in a show of defiance to a crackdown by President Donald Trump on people who have entered the country illegally. Mayor Rahm Emanuel said on Monday he was not worried about the “One Chicago” campaign upsetting the Trump administration. Starting this week, signs will appear at more than 200 locations including digital billboards, trains and newspaper racks with photos of Chicago immigrants highlighting the diversity of their backgrounds. Radio and TV spots will start this week with similar stories. A new website, onechi.org, features links for free legal aid and “know your rights” training.The campaign’s slogan is “Three million residents, three million stories, one Chicago.”  The mayor’s office said the campaign was costing taxpayers nothing. The advertising was designed on a pro-bono basis by the ad agency Ogilvy Chicago and uses city-owned public-service advertising space. “I’m not worried because we’re not only on firm legal ground but firm moral ground,” Emanuel said. “We’re all immigrants and we’re not going to let them divide us and say that person is not allowed here.” Trump already has threatened to withhold federal funds from cities such as Chicago that offer sanctuary to illegal immigrants who commit no serious crimes. The Justice Department in April singled out Chicago and New York, saying they were “crumbling under the weight of illegal immigration and violent crime,” even though experts say illegal immigration had little to do with Chicago’s spike in murders. Last month, a U.S. judge blocked a portion of Trump’s executive order that sought to withhold most federal funds from so-called sanctuary cities as part of the administration’s efforts to toughen immigration enforcement. U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions issued a memo on Monday saying that only Department of Justice and Homeland Security grants would be at risk for cities that “willfully refuse” to comply with federal law. Sanctuary cities generally offer safe harbor to illegal immigrants and often do not use municipal funds or resources to advance the enforcement of federal immigration laws. Emanuel, whose grandparents came to the United States as immigrants from Moldova, said the campaign was meant to reassure those feeling frightened about deportation. Chicago officials estimates there are about 300,000 undocumented immigrants in the city. “I see it with kids all across Chicago – they are nervous about their parents and nervous about their own safety because of the government and the rhetoric,” he said.

Summary: शिकागो ने ट्रम्प के आप्रवासन प्रयासों का मुकाबला करने के लिए विज्ञापन अभियान शुरू किया


WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Former Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders and four other U.S. senators on Thursday called on President Barack Obama to order a comprehensive environmental review of a pipeline project that has stirred widespread opposition from Native Americans and environmental activists. After a federal appeals court on Sunday night denied a request to halt construction of the Dakota Access Pipeline, the senators asked Obama to direct the Army Corps of Engineers to complete a full environmental impact statement, including stronger tribal consultation, for a contested part of the route. “The project’s current permits should be suspended and all construction stopped until a complete environmental and cultural review has been completed for the entire project,” said the letter by Sanders and Democratic Senators Dianne Feinstein, Ed Markey, Patrick Leahy and Benjamin Cardin. Also on Thursday, the governments of 19 cities, including St. Louis and Minneapolis, passed ordinances to support the Standing Rock tribe in opposition of the pipeline. In recent weeks, protests against the Dakota Access pipeline led by the Standing Rock Sioux tribe in North Dakota have drawn international attention, prompting the U.S. government to temporarily block construction on federal land.  Tribal leaders say the pipeline will desecrate land and pollute water, especially around the planned crossing through Lake Oahe, a sacred site. Opposition to the pipeline has drawn support from 200 Native American tribes. On Tuesday, anti-pipeline activists in four states, in solidarity with the Dakota pipeline protesters, closed pipeline valves to halt the flow of crude through arteries transporting 15 percent of U.S. oil consumption. A day earlier, actress Shailene Woodley was arrested in North Dakota while protesting the pipeline, an incident that was live streamed on Facebook. On Thursday, Amy Goodman, a journalist from the independent TV and radio program Democracy Now!, said she would turn herself over to authorities in North Dakota on Monday morning, in response to a criminal complaint was filed against her on Sept. 8 for trespassing. Goodman had filmed the crackdown on protesters by authorities last month. “I was doing my job as a journalist, covering a violent attack on Native American protesters,” she said. When fully connected, the 1,100-mile (1,770 km) pipeline would be the first to carry crude directly to the U.S. Gulf from the Bakken shale, a vast oil formation in North Dakota, Montana and parts of Canada. The $3.7 billion project is being built by the Dakota Access subsidiary of Dallas-based Energy Transfer Partners LP, which has vowed to complete construction. “There must be a serious consideration of the full potential climate impacts of this pipeline prior to the Army Corps of Engineers approving any permits or easements for the Dakota Access pipeline,” the senators said.  Experts say that the full environmental review requested by the senators could take several months.

Summary: सैंडर्स सहित पांच सीनेटरों ने ओबामा से डकोटा पाइपलाइन की समीक्षा का आदेश देने को कहा


(Reuters) - A New Jersey judge plans to decide by Friday whether to dismiss a citizen’s criminal complaint accusing Governor Chris Christie of a role in the “Bridgegate” lane-closure scandal. Prosecutors in Bergen County told Judge Bonnie Mizdol on Wednesday that the case should be tossed on procedural grounds because a different judge who permitted it to advance failed to give Christie’s lawyers an opportunity to speak at an earlier hearing. A lawyer for Christie also urged Mizdol to throw out the complaint filed by Bill Brennan, a retired firefighter and activist who recently announced a long-shot bid to succeed the governor in this fall’s election. Christie did not attend the hearing in Hackensack, New Jersey. Brennan has accused Christie of knowing about a scheme to shut down access lanes at the George Washington Bridge in 2013 to punish a local mayor for failing to endorse his reelection campaign. Two former Christie associates were convicted in November of federal charges for orchestrating the plot. Christie has denied any knowledge of or involvement in the plan, but U.S. prosecutors presented evidence at trial suggesting he was at least aware of the lane closures while they were happening. Brennan filed the complaint in municipal court in Fort Lee, where the closures occurred. In October, Judge Roy McGeady referred the complaint to prosecutors to determine whether enough evidence existed to support criminal charges against Christie. Christie’s lawyer, Craig Carpenito, said in a court filing that the matter should never have gotten that far, calling it “a political stunt from a now-declared candidate for governor.” Brennan has said he will refile his complaint if Mizdol, the top judge in Bergen County, decides to dismiss it. Last month, Mizdol denied Brennan’s request to have an independent prosecutor assigned to the case. “As of now the defendant controls the prosecutor,” Brennan said in an email after the hearing, “and that is a dangerous place for us to be standing.” Despite Christie’s denials, the scandal dogged his failed bid for the Republican presidential nomination. He was once seen as a possible cabinet appointee for U.S. President-elect Donald Trump until the conviction of his former allies prompted a fresh round of negative attention. Bridget Kelly, a former Christie chief of staff, and Bill Baroni, a former Port Authority of New York and New Jersey executive appointed by the governor, are trying to have their convictions overturned.

Summary: न्यायाधीश न्यू जर्सी के क्रिस्टी के खिलाफ नागरिक की 'ब्रिजगेट' शिकायत पर विचार करेंगे


HAVANA (Reuters) - Communist-run Cuba extended the term of its current leadership to April on Thursday, signaling a two-month delay in the historic handover from Raul Castro to a new president, while announcing tighter regulations on the non-state sector. Castro, 86, was originally set to step down in February after two consecutive terms, ending nearly 60 years of Castro brothers  rule and marking a transition from the leaders of the 1959 revolution to a new, younger generation. The National Assembly, however, said that devastation wrought by Hurricane Irma in September had caused a delay to the start of the political cycle in which voters and electoral commissions pick delegates of municipal, provincial and national assemblies who then select a Council of State and president. As a result, the assembly, which is holding one of its twice-yearly meetings, extended its term through to April 19.  When the National Assembly is constituted, I will have concluded my second and last mandate, and Cuba will have a new president,  Castro said, according to state-run media.  All that is left for me is to wish you and our people a happy new year,  he said. Castro, who officially took over the presidency from his late, older brother, Fidel Castro, in 2008, is set to remain head of the Communist Party, the only legal party in Cuba and its guiding force. His heir apparent, First Vice President Miguel Diaz-Canel, 57, was born the year after the revolution but has argued for the need to defend its achievements and provide continuity. Analysts say Diaz-Canel is unlikely to reveal his true colors until he is designated president, and even then his room to maneuver could be limited by the need to establish himself as a legitimate successor to the  historic generation.  Hopes that the next president might deepen market reforms to the centrally planned economy introduced by Castro were dampened on Thursday by the announcement of new regulations on the fledgling private and cooperative sectors. State-run media cited Marino Murillo, chief of the reform commission, as saying that income distribution at cooperatives would be more closely regulated and business licenses would be limited to one per person.  The economic measures announced today suggest a continued slowing down, if not an undoing, of the economic reforms implemented between 2010 and 2016,  said Michael Bustamante, an assistant professor of Latin American history at Florida International University. Cuba s political transition comes as it faces a host of  challenges from declining aid from socialist ally Venezuela to U.S. President Donald Trump s partial reversal of the U.S.-Cuban detente and tightening of the decades-old U.S. embargo.  We have witnessed a serious and gradual deterioration in relations with the United States that cannot be blamed on our country,  Castro was cited by state-run media as saying. He said the United States was fabricating pretexts to continue its failed policy toward Cuba. The Trump administration said this year that U.S. diplomats in Havana had been victims of  health attacks . A cash crunch has left Cuba behind on payments to its foreign providers, thereby affecting imports, Economy Minister Ricardo Cabrisas told the assembly. Hurricane Irma also caused damage worth the equivalent of 13.2 billion pesos, Cabrisas said. When evaluating damages from natural disasters, Cuba traditionally assumes a peso is equal to one U.S. dollar. Many other official exchange rates exist in Cuba, valuing the peso at much less. The economy nonetheless recovered this year from recession in 2016 - the first in nearly a quarter century - growing 1.6 percent, the minister said, citing expansion in the tourism, transport and communications, agriculture and construction sectors. Despite Hurricane Irma and a renewed U.S. crackdown on travel to Cuba, the number of foreign visitors grew 19.7 percent on the year to 4.3 million in the first 11 months of 2017, Tourism Minister Manuel Marrero told parliament earlier this week. Cabrisas forecast the economy would grow around 2 percent next year.

Summary: क्यूबा ने कास्त्रो से नए राष्ट्रपति को ऐतिहासिक हस्तांतरण में देरी की


WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A U.S. federal health agency said on Wednesday it had “expressly advised” Mylan NV (MYL.O) that the drugmaker had improperly classified its EpiPen emergency allergy treatment in a way that allowed it to pay lower rebates to state health programs. The disclosure comes as U.S. lawmakers and prosecutors are investigating Mylan over steep price hikes for the EpiPen device which have rendered the drug unaffordable for a growing number of families. A least one state has launched an investigation into whether Mylan failed to pay proper rebates to the Medicaid program for the poor. The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, or CMS, said in a statement it had “on multiple occasions, provided guidance to the industry and Mylan on the proper classification of drugs and has expressly advised Mylan that their classification of EpiPen for purposes of the Medicaid Drug Rebate program was incorrect.” CMS, part of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, declined to say what action it took to push for the misclassification to be corrected or when it spoke to Mylan. Mylan classified EpiPen with the Medicaid Drug Rebate Program as a generic treatment, which provides a rebate of 13 percent to state Medicaid programs, rather than as a branded drug, which pays a minimum rebate of 23.1 percent.  Mylan has said it complied with CMS rules. The company did not immediately respond to requests for comment on the CMS statement. Mylan has been heavily criticized for sharply raising the price of EpiPen devices, which are carried by people with life-threatening allergies. Mylan acquired the product in 2007 and has raised the list price for a pair of EpiPens to $600 from about $100 in 2008. Earlier on Wednesday, U.S. Senators Richard Blumenthal, Charles Grassley and Amy Klobuchar asked the U.S. Department of Justice to investigate a possible misclassification. “The facts ... suggest that Mylan may have knowingly misclassified EpiPens, potentially in violation of the False Claims Act and other statutes,” the lawmakers said in a letter to Attorney General Loretta Lynch. The False Claims Act is used to pursue companies that defraud the federal government.

Summary: अमेरिकी एजेंसी ने माइलान को बताया कि एपिपेन को गलत तरीके से वर्गीकृत किया गया था


WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Obama administration said on Wednesday that $400 million in cash paid to Iran soon after the release of five Americans detained by Tehran was not ransom as some Republicans have charged. The five, including Washington Post reporter Jason Rezaian, were released on Jan. 16 in exchange for seven Iranians held in the United States for sanctions violations. The prisoner deal coincided with the lifting of international sanctions against Tehran. At the time, the United States said it had settled a longstanding Iranian claim at the Iran-U.S. Claims Tribunal in The Hague, releasing $400 million in funds frozen since 1981, plus $1.3 billion in interest that was owed to Iran. The funds were part of a trust fund Iran used before its 1979 Islamic Revolution to buy U.S. military equipment that was tied up for decades in litigation at the tribunal. Representative Jason Chaffetz, chairman of the House of Representatives Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, on Wednesday sent a letter to Secretary of State John Kerry asking him to appear at a future committee hearing to discuss the payment.  White House spokesman Josh Earnest rejected suggestions the money transfer to Iran was ransom or a secret.     “The United States, under President Obama, has not paid a ransom to secure the release of Americans unjustly detained in Iran and we’re not going to pay a ransom,” he said in response to a Wall Street Journal article that said Washington secretly organized the cash airlift.     Earnest said Republicans, who have long opposed the Iran nuclear deal, are seizing on how the money was paid to Iran as a way to undermine the deal. “They’re struggling to justify their opposition to our engagement with Iran,” he told a briefing. While there have long been questions about the timing of the payment, one Iranian concern was that the Obama administration could face too much domestic political criticism if it delayed acting on the tribunal’s decision. Due to international sanctions against Iran, the payment, made in euros, Swiss francs and other currencies, had to be made in cash, U.S. officials argue. One U.S. official said the $1.3 billion in interest was paid to Iran through the U.S. Treasury-administered Judgment Fund, which is used to pay awards against the United States. Senior officials at the Justice Department had objected to sending cash on a plane to Iran at the same time that Iran was releasing four imprisoned Americans (the fifth American was released separately) but were overruled by the State Department, The Wall Street Journal reported in a separate story on Wednesday, citing people familiar with the discussions. “People knew what it was going to look like, and there was concern the Iranians probably did consider it a ransom payment,” the newspaper quoted one of the people as saying. Justice Department prosecutors were also concerned that the United States would release too many Iranian convicts and drop too many pending criminal cases against people suspected of violating sanctions laws, the second Wall Street Journal report said. Reuters was unable to independently verify the report. In response to the report, a Department of Justice spokesman said in a statement: “The Department of Justice fully supported the ultimate outcome of the Administration’s resolution of several issues with Iran, including Hague settlement efforts, as well as the return of U.S. citizens detained in Iran. We will not comment further on internal interagency deliberations.” A senior State Department official also responded by saying that the payment had been fully an interagency decision and that any idea that the State Department had the power to overrule was false. Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump blamed his Democratic opponent, Hillary Clinton, who was secretary of state during Obama’s first term, for launching the talks with Iran. “Our incompetent Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton, was the one who started talks to give 400 million dollars, in cash, to Iran. Scandal!” Trump said in a Twitter post. The chairman of the Republican National Committee, Reince Priebus, also weighed in. “The Obama-Clinton foreign policy not only means cutting a dangerous nuclear deal with the world’s number one state sponsor of terrorism, it also means paying them a secret ransom with cargo planes full of cash,” he said. House Speaker Paul Ryan was more measured, saying, “If true, this report confirms our longstanding suspicion that the administration paid a ransom in exchange for Americans unjustly detained in Iran.”

Summary: ओबामा प्रशासन ने इस बात से इनकार किया है कि ईरान को नकद भुगतान फिरौती थी


WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump’s budget proposal, set to be unveiled on Tuesday, will include cuts to Medicaid and propose changes to other assistance programs for low-income citizens, the Washington Post reported on Sunday.  The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment.  A Republican healthcare bill that passed the U.S. House of Representatives in early May seeks to overhaul the national healthcare system and cut more than $800 billion over the next 10 years from Medicaid, the government health insurance program for the poor and disabled. The healthcare bill faces a difficult time in the Senate, where Democrats and some Republicans worry about its impact on costs for low-income Americans, among other issues. “In yet another broken promise to working people, President Trump’s budget pulls the rug out from so many who need help,” Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer said in a statement, in response to the report. “This budget is taking the fast lane to rejection by the American people and both parties in Congress” The Post report said the White House would also give individual U.S. states more autonomy over a variety of anti-poverty poverty programs including the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP, the largest U.S. anti-hunger program, which was formerly called the food stamp program.  More than 44 million Americans received benefits from the SNAP program in February, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

Summary: ट्रम्प के बजट में मेडिकेड में कटौती की जा रही हैः वाशिंगटन पोस्ट


LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - California lawmakers, responding to outrage over the six-month jail term given to a former Stanford University swimmer after his conviction for sexually assaulting an unconscious woman, passed legislation on Monday closing a loophole that allowed the sentence.  The bill now goes to Democratic Governor Jerry Brown for his approval. He has not indicated whether he will sign it into law.  Trump hovers over McCain, Rubio senate races U.S. job market 'very close' to full strength: Fed's Fischer North Carolina, Florida brace for brewing tropical storms The measure was introduced in response to the sentence given to 20-year-old Brock Turner by Santa Clara County Superior Court Judge Aaron Persky in June, which was widely condemned as too lenient.  Prosecutors had asked that Turner be given six years in state prison. He is scheduled to be released on Friday from jail in Northern California.  “Sexually assaulting an unconscious or intoxicated victim is a terrible crime and our laws need to reflect that,” Democratic Assemblyman Bill Dodd, a co-author of the legislation, said in a written statement following its passage.  Turner was convicted of assault with intent to commit rape, penetration of an intoxicated person and penetration of an unconscious person in the January 2015 attack. Under California law, those charges are not considered rape because they did not involve penile penetration.  The uproar over the sentence, fueled in part by the victim’s harrowing letter in which she detailed the assault in graphic terms, comes amid growing outrage over sexual assault on U.S. college campuses.  “This bill is about more than sentencing, it’s about supporting victims and changing the culture on our college campuses to help prevent future crimes,” Dodd said.  The case has also led to efforts to remove Persky from the bench. Earlier this month, the judge asked for a transfer to civil court.  According to the legislators, current California law calls for a mandatory prison term in cases of rape or sexual assault where force is used, but not when the victim is unconscious or severely intoxicated and thus unable to resist.  The bill, which faced no serious opposition in the Democratic-controlled legislature, would eliminate a judge’s discretion to sentence defendants convicted of such crimes to probation. Under its provisions, Turner would have faced a minimum of three years behind bars.

Summary: कैलिफोर्निया के सांसदों ने स्टैनफोर्ड मामले से प्रेरित बलात्कार विधेयक पारित किया


WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A bill proposed in Congress on Wednesday would require the U.S. National Security Agency to inform representatives of other government agencies about security holes it finds in software like the one that allowed last week’s “ransomware” attacks. Under former President Barack Obama, the government created a similar inter-agency review, but it was not required by law and was administered by the NSA itself. The new bill would mandate a review when a government agency discovers a security hole in a computer product and does not want to alert the manufacturer because it hopes to use the flaw to spy on rivals. It also calls for the review process to be chaired by the defense-oriented Department of Homeland Security rather than the NSA, which spends 90 percent of its budget on offensive capabilities and spying. Republican Senator Ron Johnson of Wisconsin and Democratic Senator Brian Schatz of Hawaii introduced the legislation in the U.S. Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee. “Striking the balance between U.S. national security and general cyber security is critical, but it’s not easy,” said Senator Schatz in a statement. “This bill strikes that balance.” Tech companies have long criticized the practice of withholding information about software flaws so they can be used by government intelligence agencies for attacks. Hackers attacked 200,000 in more than 150 countries last week using a Microsoft Windows software vulnerability that had been developed by the NSA and later leaked online. Microsoft President Brad Smith harshly criticized government practices on security flaws in the wake of the ransomware attacks. “Repeatedly, exploits in the hands of governments have leaked into the public domain and caused widespread damage,” Smith wrote in a blog post. Agencies like the NSA often have greater incentives to exploit any security holes they find for spying, instead of helping companies protect customers, cyber security experts say.  “Do you get to listen to the Chinese politburo chatting and get credit from the president?” said Richard Clayton a cyber-security researcher at the University of Cambridge. “Or do you notify the public to help defend everyone else and get less kudos?” Susan Landau, a cyber security policy expert at Worcester Polytechnic Institute, said that in putting DHS in charge of the process, the new bill was an effort to put the process “into civilian control.” The new committee’s meetings would still be secret. But once a year it would issue a public version of a secret annual report.  The NSA did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Summary: अमेरिकी साइबर विधेयक जासूसी एजेंसी से सत्ता हटा देगा