NEW YORK (Reuters) - President Donald Trump’s reversals in the past week on maintaining Obamacare subsidies to insurers are sowing new confusion over what kind of health insurance will be available to consumers, and at what price, when enrollment for 2018 begins in two weeks. Trump said last week his administration would stop paying billions of dollars in subsidies that help insurers give discounts to low-income households, one of several moves to dismantle the signature healthcare law of his Democratic predecessor, Barack Obama.  Since then, Trump has alternately supported, and dismissed, an effort by Republican and Democratic senators that would reinstate the subsidies for two years, until a broader replacement to the 2010 Affordable Care Act, commonly known as Obamacare, can be negotiated. “We are worried that consumers on (Obamacare) plans will be confused by all the back and forth and proposed policy changes and that this will cause them to not seek out assistance,” said Bryna Koch, special projects coordinator at the Arizona Center for Rural Health, which helps consumers choose and sign up for individual health plans offered under Obamacare. Trump, who promised during his election campaign to repeal and replace Obamacare, which he has called a “disaster,” has said the subsidies amount to a bailout for insurance companies.  By law, health insurers must still offer the discounts on deductibles, co-pays and other out-of-pocket costs, even if the government stops reimbursing them. Insurers say they do not profit from the subsidies. Anticipating Trump’s move, insurers proposed higher prices on monthly premiums in 2018 to recoup the money. In all but a handful of states, they submitted two sets of premium rates – a lower rate to use if the subsidies remained, and a higher rate to use if the funding was cut.    The fate of the subsidies remained in limbo on Thursday. A senior White House aide said that Trump would demand steps toward repealing Obamacare in any healthcare legislation, comments that cast doubt on the prospects for the bipartisan effort to shore up insurance markets.  A California court is expected to consider on Monday a request by Democratic attorneys general to keep the subsidies flowing until a legal challenge to Trump’s decision is resolved.  If the funding is not restored when 2018 enrollment opens on Nov. 1, many consumers will see premium rates that are on average 20 percent higher than they would have been otherwise. Even before Trump’s decision on the subsidies, the Congressional Budget Office said the Republican president’s  policies to roll back Obamacare enrollment efforts would lead to 4 million fewer people signing up for insurance in 2018 than previously forecast. The CBO still expects 11 million people to sign up for next year - an increase from this year’s enrollment of 10 million. The federal government has already halted a subsidy payment to the insurance industry for October. But leading insurers are not yet sure whether that is the last word. Anthem Inc Chief Executive Officer Joseph Swedish told Reuters he could not yet predict how ending the subsidies or restating them through “potential congressional action” would affect pricing next year. Anthem has submitted premium rates that account for the subsidies being cut.    Should the subsidies be restored at any time after Nov. 1, insurers may be able to revert to the lower monthly premium rates, or provide rebates for consumers. “A midyear change in premiums would be highly unusual, but this would be the right thing to do,” said Marc Harrison, CEO of Intermountain Healthcare, a Utah-based health plan and hospital chain. “Intermountain Healthcare would pursue this.” Washington state’s insurance regulator said it would allow insurers to change rates as soon as practical - even the next month - if lawmakers reinstate the funding, an approach backed by the National Association of Insurance Commissioners. But that could run up against federal government objections. The Affordable Care Act does not allow for changes to premium rates after they have been finalized, an official for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services said. At the same time, the administration is working to approve higher rates in several states that did not take into account Trump’s cut in subsidies for 2018.

Summary: ओबामाकेयर व्हिपलैश ने राज्यों, बीमाकर्ताओं को मूल्य योजनाओं में द्वंद्व के लिए छोड़ दिया


(Reuters) - A Kansas judge extended voting rights through the Nov. 8 election of about 17,500 people who registered to vote at motor vehicle offices, court documents showed on Tuesday in one of the cases highlighting a political battle over identification laws enacted in Republican-led states. The ruling impacts people who submitted voter applications through Kansas motor vehicle offices but failed to provide proof of U.S. citizenship. The ruling by Judge Larry Hendricks of the third judicial court in Shawnee, Kansas, extends the temporary injunction he issued last month.  Under a state law that took effect in 2013, they were required to present a document such as a birth certificate. The judge’s ruling made on Friday said that the Kansas Secretary of State, Kris Kobach, must instruct election officials to allow the around 17,500 residents to “...vote for all offices on the ballot and to count all the votes cast on that ballot.” Kobach, a Republican who has become a national leader in pushing for anti-immigration and voting changes, said on Tuesday that his office would continue with the case. Hendricks has not made a final ruling.    “The state will proceed with discovery as directed by the court. As is normal, the temporary injunction remains in place until a final order is issued by Judge Hendricks,” Kobach said in a statement. Kansas’ law is one of the strictest voter identification statutes in the country, making the state a symbol for mostly Republican Party supporters who say the rules are meant to prevent voter fraud. Opponents, mostly Democrats, say they discriminate against minorities. The American Civil Liberties Union has argued that the statute conflicts with a federal law designed to make it easier to register to vote while getting a driver’s license.  Kobach asked the 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals to place on hold a decision in May by a lower-court judge ordering the state to begin registering the roughly 17,500 residents affected by the law. [nL1N19301N]  In requesting the stay, the state said the order to begin to register voters would “result in extraordinary confusion on November 8, 2016.” But the Denver-based court rejected this argument in June. The law will not affect the state’s status as a safe Republican stronghold in the presidential election being contested by Democratic Party candidate Hillary Clinton and Republican Party candidate Donald Trump.

Summary: कान्सास के न्यायाधीश ने मोटर वाहन कार्यालयों में पंजीकृत लोगों के लिए मतदान का अधिकार बढ़ाया


(This version of the Sep. 11 story corrects the condition to hypothyroidism in paragraph 28) By Amanda Becker NEW YORK (Reuters) - Hillary Clinton is suffering from pneumonia, the Democratic presidential candidate’s personal doctor said on Sunday after she fell ill at a Sept. 11 memorial, an episode that renewed focus on her health less than two months before the election. Clinton canceled a trip she was scheduled to take to  California on Monday for fundraising and other campaign events, an aide said, declining to provide further details about her schedule for the week.  Clinton, 68, was diagnosed on Friday but her condition only came to light several hours after a video on social media appeared to show her swaying and her knees buckling before being helped into a motorcade as she left the memorial early Sunday.   Clinton had a medical examination when she got back to her home in Chappaqua, New York, according to a campaign aide. Her doctor, Lisa Bardack, said in a statement that she has been experiencing a cough related to allergies and that an examination on Friday showed it was pneumonia. “She was put on antibiotics and advised to rest and modify her schedule. While at this morning’s event, she became overheated and dehydrated. I have just examined her and she is now re-hydrated and recovering nicely,” Bardack said. Clinton’s pneumonia diagnosis comes at a crucial time in the White House race against Republican rival Donald Trump, who refrained from commenting on her health on Sunday. The first of three presidential debates is on Sept. 26 and the election is on Nov. 8. Democratic National Committee head Donna Brazile said she was encouraged that Clinton “already is feeling better” and  looked “forward to seeing her back out on the campaign trail and continuing on the path to victory.” Several Clinton allies said the incident underscored the candidate’s resilience. “After being diagnosed with pneumonia, Hillary Clinton ran a two-hour national security meeting, gave a press conference, and spent an hour and a half in the heat at a September 11 event,” said Peter Daou, who worked for Clinton in the past and now has a communications firm. “It was an impressive feat of physical strength that undermined weeks of health conspiracies.” Clinton abruptly departed the high-profile, televised event at Ground Zero and was taken to her daughter Chelsea’s home in Manhattan. She emerged around two hours later on a warm and muggy morning, wearing sunglasses and telling reporters that she was “feeling great.” The video that showed her swaying and buckling with aides holding her up came from an unverified Twitter account under the name Zdenek Gazda, who did not respond to a request for comment.     The Clinton campaign did not respond to repeated requests for comment about the authenticity of the video. Political strategists said the campaign should confront the health issue head-on to tamp down any concerns, particularly as Republican rival Donald Trump and some of his high-profile supporters have repeatedly argued that she lacked the “stamina” to battle adversaries abroad. Bud Jackson, a Virginia-based Democratic strategist, said the statement from the doctor was a good start. He said the incident should encourage more transparency from the campaign about her health. “I think they did the right thing. They had her examined and put out a statement. It means less speculation,” he said. As the solemn ceremony began at the site of the World Trade Center that was attacked by two hijacked airliners 15 years ago, there was patchy sunlight, with temperatures at about 80 degrees Fahrenheit (26.6 Celsius). But the high humidity early into the ceremony caused it to feel much hotter in the crowd at times.  Clinton wore a high-collared shirt and a dark pant suit and donned sunglasses for the morning event.  Clinton’s pneumonia diagnosis follows a wave of conservative conspiracy theories that circulated in recent weeks suggesting that Clinton’s coughing was a sign of deeper problems. Clinton’s speech at a campaign rally earlier this month in Cleveland was interrupted by a coughing spell. During the speech, she quipped, “Every time I think about Trump I get allergic.” She then resumed her speech. Dr. Amesh Adalja, an infectious disease expert and senior associate at the UPMC Center for Health Security in Pittsburgh who is not treating Clinton, said coughing is a cardinal symptom of pneumonia.  Recovery from pneumonia, the 8th leading cause of death in the United States, can be variable, he said, adding it takes a week for most patients to get better. Adults above the age of 65 are at heightened risk. Past presidential candidates have released much more detailed information about their health than either Trump, 70, or Clinton. For example, John McCain, the failed 2008 Republican presidential nominee, allowed reporters to see 1,173 pages of medical records after concerns were raised about a cancer scare. Clinton has been in the news before for serious health issues. In December 2012, she suffered a concussion and shortly afterward developed a blood clot. In a letter released by her doctor in July 2015, Clinton was described as being in “excellent health” and “fit to serve” in the White House. It noted that her current medical conditions include hypothyroidism and seasonal pollen allergies. The diagnosis and illness on Sunday come after some tough days for Clinton, as national polls showed her lead over Trump diminishing. A Reuters/Ipsos poll of likely voters showed an 8-point lead for Clinton had vanished by the last week of August.  On Saturday, Clinton came under fire from Republicans and on social media for saying Friday night that “half” of Trump’s supporters belonged in a “basket of deplorables.” She later said she regretted using the word “half.” [nL1N1BM0BH]      Trump has also been under pressure to release detailed information on his health and medical history. Instead, in December, Trump’s doctor wrote in a short letter that was made public that his blood pressure and laboratory results “were astonishingly excellent” and that he would be “the healthiest individual ever elected to the presidency.”

Summary: निमोनिया से पीड़ित, क्लिंटन आईडी1 स्मारक पर बीमार पड़ीं, कैलिफोर्निया की यात्रा रद्द की


YANGON (Reuters) - Up to eight villages were burned down on Friday in a part of northwest Myanmar where large numbers of Muslim Rohingya had been sheltering from a wave of violence engulfing the area, a witness and three sources briefed on the matter told Reuters. The fires were blazing in the ethnically mixed Rathedaung township, where populations of Rohingya Muslims and Rakhine Buddhists live side by side.  Today around 4 p.m., I saw the smoke coming from where the villages were burning ...I saw it from the Chin village where I am staying now,  said a villager from the area contacted by Reuters by phone. It was unclear who set fire to the villages. Independent journalists are not allowed into the area, where Myanmar says its security forces are carrying out clearance operations to defend against  extremist terrorists .  Rights monitors and fleeing Rohingya say the army and Rakhine vigilantes have unleashed a campaign of arson aimed at driving out the Muslim population. The burning of more villages is likely to fuel an exodus of Rohingya to neighboring Bangladesh. Nearly 270,000 have fled in less than two weeks, creating a humanitarian crisis. Myanmar leader Aung San Suu Kyi said on Thursday her government was doing its best to protect everyone, but she has drawn criticism from around the world for failing to speak out about the violence and the Muslim minority, including calls to revoke her 1991 Nobel Peace Prize. Rathedaung, the site of the latest fires, is the furthest Rohingya-inhabited area from the border with Bangladesh. Humanitarian workers had been concerned that a large number of the Muslims had been trapped there. The blazes were confirmed by sources including two monitors with a network of informants on the ground, and a local journalist based in the nearby town of Buthidaung. They said that among the torched villages were the hamlets of Ah Htet Nan Yar and Auk Nan Yar, some 65 km (40 miles) north of Sittwe, capital of Rakhine state. One source said a camp for internally displaced people in the area also went up in flames. One of the sources said 300 to 400 Rohingya who had escaped other burnings had been sheltering at Ah Htet Nan Yar until the day before the fire broke out. They had escaped before it started, the source said, quoting an eyewitness. The villagers were now hiding in the forest or attempting a perilous, days-long journey by foot in the monsoon rain toward the Maungdaw region and further west to the River Naf separating Myanmar and Bangladesh. The latest flight of Rohingya from their homes in Myanmar began two weeks ago after Rohingya insurgents attacked several police posts in Rakhine. That triggered an army counter-offensive in which at least 400 people were killed.

Summary: म्यांमार के उत्तर-पश्चिम में रोहिंग्या गांवों में लगी आगः सूत्र


GREENSBORO, N.C. (Reuters) - President Barack Obama said on Tuesday that Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump’s comments on a 2005 videotape about groping women would disqualify him from even a job at a convenience store.     Speaking at a campaign rally in Greensboro, North Carolina, for Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton, Obama said the choice was clear in the Nov. 8 election even before the tape was leaked last week showing Trump speaking crudely about women. “Now you find a situation in which the guy says stuff that nobody would find tolerable if they were applying for a job at 7-Eleven,” Obama told the crowd, referring to the convenience store chain.  Trump said during Sunday night’s presidential debate he was embarrassed by the video, but dismissed it as “locker room talk.” Obama also criticized some Republicans who have condemned the remarks but are still backing the New York businessman. “The fact that now you’ve got people saying: ‘We strongly disagree, we really disapprove ... but we’re still endorsing him.’ They still think he should be president, that doesn’t make sense to me,” Obama said. Earlier on Tuesday, White House spokesman Josh Earnest said the remarks in the recording amounted to sexual assault.  Obama also took aim at Trump’s business credentials,  referring to a New York Times report that showed he claimed a nearly billion dollar loss in one year on his taxes in the 1990s. “They say the house always wins,” Obama quipped about Trump, who was a casino developer at the time. “I don’t know how that happens.”

Summary: ओबामा ने महिलाओं को अयोग्य ठहराने पर ट्रंप की टिप्पणी को बताया गलत


WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Department of Commerce made a final finding that seven foreign producers dumped certain carbon and alloy steel cut-to-length plate in the U.S. market, allowing it to impose duties ranging from 3.62 percent to 148 percent, Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross said on Thursday. The determinations of dumping, or selling a product below its fair price, apply to imports of CTL plate from Austria, Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, South Korea and Taiwan, Ross said. In addition, there was a final finding that South Korean imports were subsidized, leading to a countervailing duty of 4.31 percent being slapped on those products, he said at a department event. “A healthy steel industry is critical to our economy and manufacturing base, yet our steel industry today is under assault from foreign producers that dump and subsidize their exports,” Ross told the audience. In 2015, imports of CTL plate from the seven producers totaled $732 million, with those from Austria, Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Korea and Taiwan valued at an estimated $14.2 million, $19.8 million, $179 million, $196.2 million, $37 million, $54.9 million, $210 million and $21 million, respectively, department figures show. (bit.ly/2mSZM1Z) Cut-to-length steel is used in a wide range of applications, including buildings and bridgework; agricultural, construction and mining equipment; machine parts and tooling; ships, rail cars, tankers and barges; and large-diameter pipe. The finding followed an investigation prompted by a petition from Nucor Corp and U.S. subsidiaries of ArcelorMittal SA and SSAB AB. For Austrian producers and exporters, dumping duties on the Voestalpine group and all others were set at 53.72 percent. They were 5.4 percent for Industeel Belgium, 51.78 percent for the NLMK Belgium group and 5.4 percent for all other Belgium producers and exporters. Among French manufacturers and exporters, duty rates were set at 148.02 percent for Industeel France and 8.62 percent for Dillinger France and all others. In Germany, duties were set at 5.38 percent for AG der Dillinger Hüttenwerke, 22.90 percent for the Salzgitter group and 21.03 percent for all other exporters and producers. A spokesman for Salzgitter confirmed the company was facing duties, saying the decision to impose the duties and the level of them were incomprehensible.     In Italy, the department set anti-dumping duty rates of 6.08 percent for Officine Tecnosider, 22.19 percent for Marcegaglia SpA and NLMK Verona SpA and 6.08 percent for all other producers and exporters. Among Japanese producers and exporters, Tokyo Steel Manufacturing Co Ltd was hit with a duty rate of 14.79 percent. A rate of 48.67 percent was imposed on JFE Steel Corp and Shimabun Corp, and for all others it was set at 14.79 percent. Taiwanese companies Shang Chen Steel Co Ltd and China Steel Corp had anti-dumping duties of 3.62 percent and 6.95 percent, respectively, imposed on them. The rate for other producers and exporters was set at 5.29 percent. For South Korea, the department imposed an anti-dumping duty of 7.39 percent on POSCO, as well as a countervailing duty of 4.31 percent to account for subsidies. The same rates apply to all other producers and exporters. The findings allow the department to ask U.S. Customs authorities to collect cash deposits from exporters based on those rates. On March 3, in a decision stemming from the same investigation, the U.S. International Trade Commission said it had made a final finding that U.S. industry was being harmed by the dumping and subsidization of imports of carbon and alloy steel CTL plate from China. That allows for the final imposition of duties by the Commerce Department on China’s producers and exporters of the plate.

Summary: सात उत्पादकों द्वारा स्टील प्लेट फेंके जाने के बाद अमेरिका ने शुल्क लगाया


WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. Senate Republicans on Monday gained crucial support for a vote on a budget resolution that is vital to President Donald Trump’s hopes of signing sweeping tax reform legislation into law before January. Two Republican lawmakers, once seen as potential ‘no’ votes, said they would likely support the measure. A third, Senator Rand Paul, may vote ‘yes’ depending on what the final resolution looks like.  “I am leaning ‘yes’,” Senator Lisa Murkowski of Alaska told reporters as the chamber prepared for what is expected to be a late Thursday vote on the fiscal 2018 spending blueprint. Senator Susan Collins of Maine announced on Sunday that she will likely vote ‘yes.’ Both the Senate and House of Representatives must agree on a budget resolution to unlock a legislative tool known as reconciliation that Republicans need to move tax legislation through the Senate without support from Democrats. After failing to overturn Obamacare earlier this year, Republicans must pass legislation to cut taxes for businesses and individuals or face a backlash from their constituents in next year’s congressional midterm election campaign. Though Murkowski said her final decision would depend on what amendments are added to the budget, her qualified support reduces the possibility of failure.  Murkowski was one of three Republicans who sank the Senate healthcare bill in July.  Paul of Kentucky told reporters there is a possibility he will vote yes. “We’re in discussions on it. We’re trying to get it to a document that we think represents what we stand for,” Paul said.  Without a budget and reconciliation, Republicans would need 60 votes in the Senate, where they hold a 52-48 majority. Republicans usually can lose no more than two votes. But with Senator Thad Cochran of Mississippi ill, their margin of error for the budget has shrunk to only one “no” vote.  Earlier, the White House released a report saying middle-class Americans would eventually see their incomes rise more than $4,000 from the Trump plan to cut the corporate tax rate to 20 percent from 35 percent.  Democrats have lambasted the Trump tax plan as a giveaway for the wealthy. Trump fired back in a separate tweet on Monday: “The Democrats only want to increase taxes and obstruct. That’s all they are good at!”

Summary: कर सुधार बजट उपाय पर सीनेट रिपब्लिकन को लाभ


WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. Senator John McCain said on Sunday that President Donald Trump’s order targeting immigration from seven predominantly Muslim countries has been “confusing” and raised a number of questions. “It’s been a very confusing process,” McCain, a Republican and chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, told CBS’ ‘Face the Nation.’ McCain said the effect of Trump’s immigration order “will probably, in some areas, give ISIS (Islamic State) some more propaganda,” and asked why the countries targeted by the order included Iraq, where U.S. forces are fighting alongside Iraqi forces against Islamic State. McCain said he was “worried” about the addition of Trump’s chief strategist and former campaign chief Steve Bannon to the U.S. National Security Council. McCain said this was “a radical departure from any national security council in history.”

Summary: सीनेटर मैक्केनः ट्रम्प का आप्रवासन आदेश भ्रमित करने वाला


WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Former U.S. military intelligence analyst Chelsea Manning on Thursday questioned Barack Obama’s legacy after the former Democratic president commuted her sentence last week, and she called for “an unapologetic progressive leader” to fight for minorities’ rights. While not mentioning U.S. President Donald Trump by name, Manning wrote in Britain’s the Guardian that “after eight years of attempted compromise and relentless disrespect in return, we are moving into darker times” and urged Democrats not to compromise.  Trump responded in a tweet, calling her a traitor and criticizing the decision to release her.  “Ungrateful TRAITOR Chelsea Manning, who should never have been released from prison, is now calling President Obama a weak leader. Terrible!” Trump wrote.      Manning had been sentenced to 35 years in prison after   committing the biggest breach of classified information in American history in 2010 by handing over U.S. government secrets to anti-secrecy group Wikileaks.   In one of his final actions before leaving office last week, Obama commuted Manning’s sentence to about seven years, allowing it to end on May 17. Republicans, including Trump’s spokesman, criticized the commutation as a dangerous precedent for leakers. Obama has defended the move, saying Manning had served a tough sentence and that justice had been served. He also said it was unrelated to WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange’s pledge to accept extradition to the United States, where there is an open criminal investigation into the group’s activities, if Manning was freed. Wikileaks, in its own tweet on Thursday, rejected Trump’s assertion as “wrong,” noting that Manning was found not guilty of the most serious charge, aiding the enemy.  Manning, formerly known as U.S. Army Private First Class Bradley Manning, was born male but revealed after being convicted of espionage that she identifies as a woman. She has struggled to cope as a transgender woman in a men’s military prison and last year twice tried to kill herself. In her Guardian piece, she did not directly acknowledge Obama’s commutation. Instead, Manning said the former president compromised too much and left a “vulnerable legacy” with “very few permanent accomplishments.”  She raised concerns about worsening healthcare, increased criminalization of racial minorities and “queer and trans people,” and she urged political progressives to prepare to dig in and push for “change at every level.”  “The one simple lesson to draw from President Obama’s legacy: Do not start off with a compromise. They won’t meet you in the middle. Instead, what we need is an unapologetic progressive leader.”

Summary: चेल्सी मैनिंग ने ओबामा की आलोचना की, ट्रंप को खींचा गुस्सा


(Reuters) - The battle over abortion was expected to shift to measures focusing on the fetus in the wake of the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision striking down a Texas law enacted in the name of maternal health. The 5-3 ruling held that Texas clinic regulations put an undue burden on women seeking abortion, a right established in the court’s landmark 1973 Roe v. Wade decision. The ruling could affect similar laws in more than a dozen states and stands as the biggest affirmation of abortion rights in more than two decades.  Opponents said they would regroup, turning their attention to defending and expanding laws that ban abortion after 20 weeks gestation or sooner. But this path could be difficult as well. The Supreme Court has not taken up any outright ban on abortion tied to fetal gestation in decades and has repeatedly rejected pleas by states to endorse such laws. “We believe that, even before today, these laws were very likely to be struck down because they are unconstitutional bans on abortion,” said Emily J. Martin, general counsel for the National Women’s Law Center. “Today’s decision only strengthens that conclusion.” Abortion opponents acknowledged the defeat but vowed to press on. “The pro-life movement takes two steps forward and, occasionally, a step backward,” said Carol Tobias, president of the National Right to Life Committee. More than a dozen states now have provisions banning abortions after 20 weeks, “and, and we are going to be pushing that,” Tobias said. Nebraska enacted the first 20-week ban in 2010. Since then, similar laws have been adopted in Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, Indiana, Kansas, Louisiana, Nebraska, North Dakota, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Texas, West Virginia, and Wisconsin, according to the Guttmacher Institute, a nonprofit research organization that supports abortion rights. Mississippi’s law bans abortion after just 18 weeks. Abortion opponents said they also planned to step up efforts encouraging states to limit second term abortions through bans on the use of dilation and extraction method. Nine of 10 abortions in the United States are performed in the first trimester. But the dilation and extraction method is the most common procedure used for second trimester abortions. Kansas and Oklahoma adopted bans on the procedure last year, but those laws have been blocked by courts. West Virginia, Mississippi, Alabama and Louisiana passed laws this year; none has yet to draw challenge. The Supreme Court has turned away state efforts to revive bans struck down by lower courts. Earlier this year, it rejected Arkansas’ bid to revive a ban on abortions after 12 weeks of pregnancy.  The Supreme Court turned away North Dakota’s effort to revive a law that banned most abortions once a fetal heartbeat could be detected, as early as six weeks after conception. And, in 2014, it declined to hear Arizona’s appeal of a lower-court ruling invalidating a ban on the procedure at 20 weeks. Before Monday, the last time the court had taken up an abortion rights case was in the 2007 dispute over a federal ban on a procedure critics call “partial birth abortion.” The procedure, known medically as “intact dilation and extraction,” involves a physician removing most of the fetus intact rather than dismembering it. By a 5-4 vote, the court upheld the procedure. Writing the majority opinion, Justice Anthony Kennedy referred to moral issues and Congress’s findings that the procedure would not be necessary for the health of the mother. In Monday’s case, Kennedy joined the majority decision that the Texas law lacks the medical benefits to justify the burden it places on women’s access to abortion.

Summary: अदालत के फैसले ने गर्भपात की लड़ाई को राज्य प्रतिबंधों में बदल दिया


QARA BAGH, Afghanistan (Reuters) - Hundreds of demonstrators rallied near the Afghan capital on Tuesday to denounce a propaganda leaflet drop by U.S. forces last week that caused widespread offense and forced American commanders to issue an apology. The leaflet drop near Bagram Air Field, one of the biggest U.S. bases in Afghanistan, was intended to encourage people to report insurgents to the authorities and depicted a lion chasing a dog, symbolizing the Taliban. However it prompted widespread outrage as the picture of the dog, considered an unclean animal in Islam, incorporated a profession of faith from the Quran that forms part of the Taliban flag.  The Americans have insulted Muslims through this action and their beliefs and we will not sit quietly by,  said Mir Rahman, a protester at the rally in Qarabagh district near Bagram.  If the Americans and NATO continue to insult Islam, they will face the same fate that the Russians faced in Afghanistan.  U.S. commanders apologized for the leaflet and promised to hold those responsible to account but the affair has caused severe embarrassment at a time of heightened sensitivity over the separate issue of civilian casualties caused by air strikes. While the NATO-led Resolute Support coalition has generally taken pains to avoid cultural insensitivities, there have been several other examples where international forces, most of which come from non-Muslim cultures, have caused offense. In a previous incident in 2012, when copies of the Quran were mistakenly burned, a number of people died in the following protests. So far, demonstrations have been on a much smaller scale but some protesters said they might continue.     Apologies on their own will never cure any wound,  said Mehrabuddin, another protester, who like many Afghans, goes by one name.  If the Americans repeat such an insult in future we will keep up our demonstrations and, if needed, attack Bagram base,  he said. Last week, the Taliban, seeking to establish Islamic law after their 2001 ouster, claimed a suicide attack near the entrance to Bagram which it said had been launched in retaliation against the leaflets.

Summary: सैकड़ों अफगानों ने 'आक्रामक' अमेरिकी पर्चे के खिलाफ प्रदर्शन किया


WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman John McCain on Thursday urged Defense Secretary Ash Carter to investigate what he called troubling remarks by a former senior United Launch Alliance executive about his company’s dealings with the Pentagon. Brett Tobey resigned Wednesday as vice president of engineering for ULA, a joint venture of Lockheed Martin Corp and Boeing Co, after his comments at a Colorado university were posted by Space News, a trade publication. In his remarks, Tobey contradicted ULA’s reason for skipping a competition to launch GPS satellites and said the Defense Department “bent over backwards to lean the field” to ULA’s advantage in that competition with new market entrant SpaceX. He also said the Pentagon was trying to figure out “how do we silence McCain,” who has urged the government to penalize ULA for failing to bid in the competition despite receiving $800 million in support funding for launch services every year. “This committee treats with the utmost seriousness any implication that the Department showed favoritism to a major defense contractor or that efforts have been made to silence members of Congress,” McCain told Carter at a hearing on the U.S. Defense Department’s fiscal 2017 budget request. ULA said Tobey’s remarks were inaccurate. ULA, the sole provider for U.S. military launches for nearly a decade, is scrambling to restructure so it can compete with Space Exploration Technologies, or SpaceX. ULA last year said it had skipped the GPS-3 launch competition because it lacked the required accounting systems and did not have enough Russian-built RD-180 engines to power its Atlas 5 rockets due to a ban imposed by Congress after Russia’s annexation of the Ukraine region of Crimea. Tobey said ULA did not want to get into a “price shootout” with SpaceX since its launches cost $125 million, or close to $200 million including the separate launch support contract, compared to around $60 million for SpaceX. Carter did not respond to McCain’s request for a “full investigation” into the comments from the former ULA executive. Winston Beauchamp, deputy undersecretary of the Air Force for space, had no immediate comment on Tobey’s remarks. He said the Air Force had concluded it could not penalize ULA for not bidding in the GPS-3 launch competition since there was no requirements for companies to bid. He also noted that the launch support contract was solely associated with launches already awarded to ULA under an earlier block buy contract.

Summary: सीनेटर मैक्केन चाहते हैं कि पेंटागन यूनाइटेड लॉन्च एग्जीक्यूटिव की टिप्पणियों की जांच करे


NEW YORK (Reuters) - Lawyers for Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump on Monday filed court papers opposing the release of video showing him being questioned under oath about his Trump University series of real estate seminars. They argued that making public the videos, for which written transcripts are already available, would prejudice Trump’s case. The video is “unnecessary, irrelevant and unjustified,” lawyers for Trump wrote in court papers filed in federal court in San Diego. In legal proceedings, evidence is considered prejudicial if it may interfere with a judge or jury’s objective consideration of the facts. Such evidence can still be presented if it is considered highly relevant to the case.  The Republican candidate has already claimed the federal judge overseeing the case is biased against him because of the judge’s Mexican heritage. Trump may also have concerns about the impact the videos could have outside the courtroom. On Friday, CNN, CBS, the New York Times, and other media outlets asked for the complete deposition transcripts and videotapes to be made available. If released, the videos could provide fodder for campaign commercials against Trump. In lawsuits in California and New York, Trump has been accused of bilking students who paid as much as $35,000 for an opportunity to learn the businessman’s real estate investment strategies. Former Trump University students suing the billionaire claim that they learned little and that their instructors, supposedly hand-picked by Trump, had few qualifications.  During deposition, Trump has admitted that he did not select instructors. His lawyers have argued the “hand-picked” claim amounted to mere sales “puffery” rather than fraud. In court papers arguing for the videos’ release, lawyers for the students argued the images presented nuances not available in the transcripts. “Trump’s tone, facial expressions, gestures and body language... speak volumes to... Trump’s complete and utter unfamiliarity with the instructors and ‘instruction’ that student-victims received,” they said. Trump has said the claims over Trump University are baseless and that students highly rated the programs.  The case is Art Cohen v Donald J. Trump, 13-cv-2519, U.S. District Court, Southern District of California.

Summary: धोखाधड़ी मामले में वीडियो गवाही जारी करने के खिलाफ लड़ रहे हैं ट्रंप


NAIROBI (Reuters) - Kenya opposition leader Raila Odinga urged supporters to boycott Thursday s repeat presidential election and persuade their friends to do the same, saying his opposition movement would be transformed into a resistance movement against the government.   From today we are transforming the NASA coalition into a resistance movement,  he told a cheering crowd of thousands of people in Uhuru Park in the capital of Nairobi. He wants new elections held within 90 days, he said.

Summary: केन्या के विपक्षी नेताः समर्थकों को चुनाव का बहिष्कार करना चाहिए, प्रार्थना करनी चाहिए


(Reuters) - Somalia s Islamist al Shabaab insurgency shot four men accused of spying on Monday in a public execution which underscored the insurgents  control of swathes of the country s southern region even as the government girds up for an offensive against them.   The four men were captured weeks ago. They were publicly executed today after the court ruling and after admitting espionage,  Mohamed Abu Abdalla, al Shabaab s governor for the Jubba regions said by phone.  Two of them were spying for the Ethiopian government and the other two were spying for Somali government intelligence.  The men were shot in Buale, the capital of Middle Jubba, he said, a region mostly controlled by al Shabaab that lies south of the capital of Mogadishu.  The government did not return calls seeking comment.  Al Shabaab s grip on the Horn of African nation has been weakening since it was pushed out of the capital in 2011 by African Union peacekeepers. But it still controls large parts of the countryside.  It is trying to overthrow the weak, U.N.-backed government and impose a strict form of Islamic law. Somalia has been riven by civil war since 1991, when clan warlords overthrew a dictator then turned on each other.

Summary: सोमालिया के इस्लामी विद्रोहियों ने जासूसी के आरोप में चार लोगों को फांसी दी


SIAULIAI AIR BASE (Reuters) - The United States has sent a reinforced detachment of fighter planes to police the skies over NATO members Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia during a major Russian military exercise in the Baltic region next month. The Zapad war games from Sept. 14 to 20 in Belarus, western Russia and Russia s exclave of Kaliningrad, have caused unease in the region, though Russia has said the large-scale exercise will rehearse a purely defensive scenario and will not be a springboard for invasion. Seven U.S. F-15C fighters landed at Siauliai airfield this week to patrol skies over the Baltic countries, three more than normally used since the NATO policing mission was upgraded after the Crimean crisis in 2014.   The three Baltic states do not operate their own fighter aircraft and rely on their NATO allies for patrols.  We are reinforcing the air police mission for the period (of Zapad). And we are glad to also have additional land troops here,  Lithuanian Deputy Defense Minister Vytautas Umbrasas told reporters at Siauliai, referring to 600 extra U.S. airborne troops being deployed during Zapad in the Baltic states.  This is very helpful in a situation like this,  he said. Tod Wolters, the top U.S. Air Force commander in Europe, said fighter numbers had been increased due to  training opportunities  in Lithuania, without mentioning Russia during the news conference in Siauliai.  The air policing mission will remain as it has been. And the purpose of the air policing mission is to protect the sovereign skies of the three Baltic nations,  said Wolters. Moscow says almost 13,000 Russian and Belarussian servicemen will take part in Zapad, as well as around 70 planes and helicopters and 700 pieces of military hardware including tanks, artillery and rocket systems. Lieutenant General Ben Hodges, the U.S. Army s top general in Europe, told Reuters last month that U.S. allies in eastern Europe and Ukraine were worried the exercises could be a  Trojan horse  aimed at leaving behind military equipment brought into Belarus. A Russian deputy defense minister said on Tuesday there was no truth in allegations Russia would use the exercise as a cover to invade and occupy Lithuania, Poland or Ukraine. Suggestions that Russia posed a threat were  myths , the deputy minister, Alexander Fomin, said. Three U.S. exercises will be underway at the same time as Zapad, in Sweden, Poland and Ukraine, and a U.S. armored brigade has already deployed in Europe.

Summary: अमेरिका ने रूसी अभ्यास के दौरान बाल्टिक आसमान में अतिरिक्त लड़ाके भेजे


WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Republican U.S. Senator Lindsey Graham praised President Donald Trump’s new travel ban on Monday and said he expected it would survive scrutiny by the courts. “I believe the new order will withstand legal challenges as it’s drafted in a fashion as to not be a religious ban, but a ban on individuals coming from compromised governments and failed states. This Executive Order will help achieve President Trump’s goal of making us safer,” Graham, who has criticized some of Trump’s policies, said in a statement.

Summary: प्रमुख रिपब्लिकन सीनेटर ने ट्रम्प के नए यात्रा प्रतिबंध आदेश का समर्थन किया


BEIJING (Reuters) - China called on all parties on Friday to exercise restraint after North Korea’s foreign minister was quoted as saying he believes the North could consider conducting a hydrogen bomb test in the Pacific Ocean.  Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Lu Kang also told a daily news briefing in Beijing that China opposes unilateral sanctions outside the United Nations framework. His comments came after U.S. President Donald Trump ordered new sanctions against North Korea on Thursday over its nuclear and missile programs.

Summary: उत्तर कोरिया के हाइड्रोजन बम के खतरे के बारे में पूछे जाने पर चीन ने संयम बरतने का आह्वान किया


WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The husband of White House adviser Kellyanne Conway criticized President Donald Trump’s tweets about the administration’s temporary travel ban on Monday, saying they were undercutting the Justice Department’s ability to defend his policies. The president’s messages “may make some people feel better,” but they will not help the administration achieve its goal of getting the Supreme Court to rule in its favor, George Conway said in a Twitter message.  George Conway is a lawyer who last week withdrew from contention for a senior Justice Department post; his wife was Trump’s 2016 campaign manager before joining him in the White House as a senior adviser who is one of Trump’s most vigorous defenders. In later Twitter messages, George Conway emphasized he still “very, very strongly” supports Trump and his executive order, but he said tweets on legal matters “seriously undermine” the administration’s agenda. He also said that “sensible” lawyers in the White House and Justice Department agree with him.   In his early morning Twitter messages on Monday, Trump potentially hurt his administration’s legal case as it seeks to have the Supreme Court overturn lower courts’ rulings and allow the travel ban to go into effect. He assailed the Justice Department for a revised version of the measure that he called “watered down” and “politically correct.”   The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment about George Conway’s tweets.  The travel ban, which Trump says is aimed at preventing attacks in the United States, seeks to halt entry to the United States for 90 days for people from several predominantly Muslim countries and bar refugees for four months. Critics say it is discriminatory.   Conway was in contention to head the civil division of the Justice Department, which would have given him responsibility for defending the travel ban in court. He said last week that it was “not the right time” for him to leave the private sector.

Summary: केलीन कॉनवे के पति का कहना है कि ट्रम्प के ट्वीट कानूनी मामले को आहत करते हैं


BUENOS AIRES (Reuters) - Amado Boudou, who had been former Argentine President Cristina Fernandez s economy minister and vice president, was arrested on corruption charges on Friday, becoming the second major official in her government to face detention. Police arrested Boudou and an alleged associate, Jose Maria Nunez Carmona, in an upscale neighborhood of Buenos Aires for racketeering and money laundering. Local television showed Boudou, grim-faced and wearing a plain black T-shirt, as he stood beside two bearded security officers. In other photographs broadcast on television, he was in handcuffs, standing in what appeared to be his home. Boudou s lawyer denounced the arrest on Friday, calling it  arbitrary.    We never had any problems, and overnight, just in the week that there is a complaint to the Magistrates Council, the arrest was ordered,  attorney Eduardo Duranona said on local television.   The 55-year-old economist faces three counts of  illicit enrichment  dating back to 2009, the year he was promoted from heading Argentina s social security administration to become Fernandez s economy minister. He became vice president in 2011, when Fernandez won reelection. But he was largely absent from public view during that four-year term as accusations of corruption mounted against him. He and Carmona  developed their criminal schemes at least since the start of August 2009, when Amado Boudou took charge of the  Ministry of Economy and Finance, until the month of December 2015, when he finished his term as vice president,  according to the arrest warrant.   Fernandez s former planning minister, Julio De Vido, was arrested on Oct. 25, just three days after current President Mauricio Macri s  Cambiemos,  or  Let s Change,  coalition swept Argentina s Oct. 22 midterm elections. Fernandez herself is facing corruption allegations stemming from her eight years as president. She will, however, be immune from arrest after being elected to the Senate under Argentina s list system despite coming in second to Macri s candidate. Fernandez was indicted last year on charges that she and her public works secretary, Jose Lopez, embezzled money meant for road projects. Lopez was arrested in June 2016 while trying to stash bags of cash in a Catholic convent. In a statement on Friday afternoon, Fernandez s  Citizens  Unity  party accused Macri of using the judicial system to persecute political opponents, putting Argentine democracy  at risk.   The deprivation of the former vice president s freedom has nothing to do with the case being investigated. It is a clear maneuver to intimidate, extort, and discipline union leaders and the political opposition,  the party wrote.

Summary: भ्रष्टाचार के मामले में अर्जेंटीना के पूर्व वीपी बौदौ गिरफ्तार


NEW YORK (Reuters) - In the weeks since Hillary Clinton’s shock election defeat to U.S. President-elect Donald Trump, a rumor has taken hold among New York City’s political chattering class: could she challenge Mayor Bill de Blasio’s reelection bid this year? Discussion of a possible Clinton campaign intensified last week when conservative news website Newsmax reported that Democrats unhappy with de Blasio were pressing her to run. Stories soon appeared in various outlets, including the New York Times and the New York Daily News. Still, the chances seem remote. Although the mayor of the largest U.S. city is often seen as a national figure, it could be seen as a step down for Clinton, 69, a former U.S. secretary of state who came tantalizingly close to winning the White House two months ago. “I’m a Brooklyn kid, and my comment is, fuhgeddaboudit,” said Douglas Muzzio, a political scientist at Baruch College in New York and an expert in city politics. “There is zero chance that’s going to happen.” Clinton has yet to say what she plans to do next, and representatives of Clinton’s presidential campaign did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Sunday. A Clinton confidante, Neera Tanden, said on CNN on Sunday that Clinton was focused on helping children and families in her next role. “I don’t expect her to ever run for any elective office again,” Tanden said when asked if Clinton would run for mayor. De Blasio, a fellow Democrat who won his first term in 2013, has had some rocky moments, including state and federal corruption investigations that have reportedly examined his fundraising tactics. A high-profile figure in the party’s liberal wing, De Blasio supported Clinton in the presidential primary after some public waffling. A spokesman for his reelection campaign declined to comment on a potential Clinton candidacy. In the presidential election, Clinton won more than 80 percent of the votes in heavily Democratic New York City, despite Trump’s status as a native son born in the borough of Queens. Clinton first moved to New York State in 1999 in order to run for the U.S. Senate, winning election the following year. She lives with her husband, former President Bill Clinton, in Chappaqua, New York, about 30 miles (48 km) north of the city. Under state law, Clinton could run for mayor as long as she became a city resident by the election, according to the Times.

Summary: न्यूयॉर्क शहर के महापौर पद के लिए हिलेरी क्लिंटन? शायद नहीं, लेकिन अफवाहें जारी हैं


WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A Republican-led panel in the U.S. House of Representatives agreed on Tuesday to add $7 million to a short-term federal spending bill to reimburse New York authorities for President-elect Donald Trump’s security costs, far short of the $35 million requested by the city’s congressional delegation. New York’s U.S. lawmakers were quick to express their unhappiness. “I am extremely disappointed that the Continuing Resolution to fund the federal government does not fully reimburse the people of New York for the unprecedented security costs incurred to keep the President-elect and his family safe between the election and his inauguration,” U.S. Democratic Representative Carolyn Maloney said in a statement. The bill, which funds U.S. agencies through April 28, must pass before a Friday deadline to keep government agencies running. At a Capitol Hill news conference earlier on Tuesday, John Miller, the New York Police Department’s deputy commissioner for intelligence and counter terrorism, said he was in contact with congressional Democrats and Republicans about the costs of security operations to protect Trump both before and after the Republican takes office on Jan. 20. “This is not about party politics. It’s not about politics at all,” Miller said. He said Trump’s security “footprint” would be even “more complex” once he becomes president. Representative Nita Lowey, a Democrat, said the Republican leadership of the House Appropriations committee had expressed sympathy for the city’s pre-inauguration reimbursement request but had asked for more specifics. Several House Democrats on Tuesday also signed a letter to New York Governor Andrew Cuomo and New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio urging that the state and city “refuse to pay” for Trump’s extra New York security costs once he is sworn in as president.  “Should the President-Elect choose to maintain two permanent residences for his family, it is reasonable to request he reimburse the city and the state for all additional security expenses from his own significant personal financial resources,” the letter said. Trump has said his wife, Melania, and son Barron will move from New York to the White House “right after he finishes school.”

Summary: अमेरिकी खर्च बिल ट्रम्प एनवाईसी सुरक्षा के लिए मांगी गई राशि से बहुत कम है


WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. presidential candidate Democrat Bernie Sanders voted on Tuesday in favor of a bill that would require audits of Federal Reserve monetary policy decisions, his campaign said in a statement following the vote. Sanders said he supports the bill because too much of the U.S. central bank’s business is conducted in secret. “Requiring the Government Accountability Office to conduct a full and independent audit of the Fed each and every year, would be an important step towards making the Federal Reserve a more democratic institution that is responsive to the needs of ordinary Americans rather than the billionaires on Wall Street,” Sanders said in the statement.

Summary: डेमोक्रेटिक राष्ट्रपति पद के उम्मीदवार बर्नी सैंडर्स ने फेड के ऑडिट के लिए विधेयक का समर्थन किया


LONDON (Reuters) - Prime Minister Theresa May is  outraged  by North Korea s firing of a missile that flew over northern Japan on Friday and Britain will keep pressing China to increase the pressure on the state, her spokesman said. North Korea fired a missile that flew over Japan s northern Hokkaido far out into the Pacific Ocean, South Korean and Japanese officials said, deepening tension after Pyongyang s recent test of its most powerful nuclear bomb.  The prime minister is outraged by North Korea s continued reckless provocation and she strongly condemns the regime s illegal tests,  the spokesman said.  Our key focus now is continuing to press China to keep up the pressure on North Korea to change course.

Summary: उत्तर कोरिया के 'लापरवाह उकसावे' पर ब्रिटिश प्रधानमंत्री नाराजः प्रवक्ता


YANGON (Reuters) - Myanmar s civilian President Htin Kyaw, a close ally of government leader Aung San Suu Kyi, has authorized the police to proceed with a case against two detained Reuters reporters accused of violating the country s colonial-era Official Secrets Act, a senior government spokesman said. Journalists Wa Lone, 31, and Kyaw Soe Oo, 27, were arrested last Tuesday evening after they were invited to dine with police officers on the outskirts of Myanmar s largest city, Yangon.  The Ministry of Home Affairs has already submitted the case to the Office of the President,  Zaw Htay, spokesman for Aung San Suu Kyi, said by phone late on Sunday. He added that the president s office had given approval for the case to go ahead. Zaw Htay could not be reached on Monday to clarify whether Htin Kyaw or Suu Kyi had been personally involved in the decision, or if other officials had signed off on the president s behalf. Suu Kyi, head of the ruling National League for Democracy (NLD), is barred from the presidency under a constitution written by the military. But she effectively runs the country in the role of  state counselor . Approval from the president s office is needed before court proceedings can begin in a case brought under the Official Secrets Act. Section 13 of the Act states:  No Court shall take cognizance of any offense under this Act unless upon complaint made by order of, or under authority from, the President of the Union.  A number of governments, including the United States, Canada and Britain, and United Nations  Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, as well as Reuters Editor-in-Chief Stephen J. Adler and a host of journalists  and human rights  groups have criticized the arrests as an attack on press freedom and called on Myanmar to release the two men. Zaw Htay said the journalists  legal rights were being respected.  Your reporters are protected by the rule of the law,  he said.  All I can say is the government can guarantee the rule of law.  But two senior figures in the NLD on Monday joined the criticism of how the two men are being treated. Nyan Win, a member of the NLD s central executive committee and one of Suu Kyi s defense lawyers during her years of house arrest under junta rule, said it was  unfair  that the families of Wa Lone and Kyaw Soe Oo were not allowed to contact them or be told where they are being held. He said the police were being  very secretive  and called for  openness , although said the NLD was unable to do anything about the issue as it was not being kept informed. Although an NLD-led civilian government took office in April last year the police and home ministry, which are driving the case, remain under the control of the military. Win Htein, another senior figure in the NLD, who was also critical of the journalists  detention, suggested they had probably been set up by the police.  In my opinion this is a trap,  he said.  They met with two policemen and then they were arrested somewhere else with the documents.  Police Lieutenant Colonel Myint Htwe, of the Yangon Police Division, had no comment when asked about the criticism of the men s detention. Asked on Mizzima Television what he would do for the detained journalists, Information Minister Pe Myint said:  When I know all the facts of the current case, I will work to do what I can.  Pe Myint is a former editor of the People s Age in Yangon and was Wa Lone s boss when the journalist worked at the paper in his first job as a reporter. The two journalists had worked on Reuters coverage of a crisis that has seen an estimated 655,000 Rohingya Muslims flee from a fierce military crackdown on militants in western Rakhine state. The Ministry of Information said last week that they had  illegally acquired information with the intention to share it with foreign media , and released a photo of the pair in handcuffs.   It said they were being investigated under the 1923 Official Secrets Act, which carries a maximum prison sentence of 14 years. The ministry said at the same time that two policemen, Police Captain Moe Yan Naing and Police Sergeant Khin Maung Lin, had also been arrested under the same act. No details have been released on whether a case against them is also proceeding.   The authorities have not allowed the journalists any contact with their families, a lawyer or Reuters since their arrest. The International Commission of Jurists (ICJ) called on the authorities to immediately disclose the whereabouts of the pair.  All detainees must be allowed prompt access to a lawyer and to family members,  said Frederick Rawski, the ICJ s Asia-Pacific Regional Director, in a statement on Monday.   Authorities are bound to respect these rights in line with Myanmar law and the State s international law obligations.    Police told Wa Lone s wife on Thursday that the reporters were taken from Htaunt Kyant police station in north Yangon to an undisclosed location by an investigation team shortly after their arrest.   They added the reporters would be brought back to the station in  two to three days at most . It is now six days since they were detained and there has been no further update on their whereabouts. Lieutenant Colonel Myint Htwe and a second senior officer, Lieutenant Colonel Min Han of the Criminal Investigation Department, said on Monday they did not know where the journalists were being held.  You don t need to worry for their safety,  said Lt Col Myint Htwe.  The investigative team will proceed according to the law.

Summary: म्यांमार सरकार का कहना है कि रॉयटर्स के पत्रकारों के खिलाफ मामला आगे बढ़ सकता है


BRUSSELS (Reuters) - European Union lawmakers have raised concerns over money laundering in Malta and the independence of its police and judiciary in a draft resolution, stepping up pressure on the island after the assassination of an investigative journalist. Daphne Caruana Galizia, who had denounced high-profile corruption and accused Prime Minister Joseph Muscat of wrongdoing, was killed on Oct. 16 by a bomb that tore through her car.  An investigation is under way and Muscat has promised that everything will be done to find the killers. Next week the EU parliament will vote on a resolution on the rule of law in Malta. In a draft text, seen by Reuters, the parliament said it  regrets that developments in Malta in recent years have led to serious concerns about the rule of law, democracy and fundamental rights including freedom of the media and the independence of the police and judiciary . It said that  the independence of law enforcement and the judiciary in Malta may be compromised by the fact that the government is empowered to appoint the Police Commissioner, the head of the FIAU (anti-money laundering agency) and the attorney-general . The resolution called on the European Commission to oversee more closely respect for the rule of law in Malta and regretted the EU executive s decision not to publish its anti-corruption report this year. At a news conference on Friday, the largest group in the parliament, the conservative European People s Party (EPP), called on the EU commission to  urgently  step up its monitoring of Malta.  We think there are serious questions regarding the freedom of media and the lack of law enforcement in Malta,  said Daniel Koster, an EPP spokesman. He said the EPP had doubts about what the commission was doing to address this situation. The calls from the conservatives were echoed by the liberal, leftist and green groupings in the assembly. Reports from the Maltese anti-money laundering agency were leaked in June via Caruana Galizia s blog. They raised concerns about Pilatus Bank, a Maltese lender accused of having failed to report suspicious dealings as required by law. The EU lawmakers  draft resolution calls on Malta to investigate Pilatus Bank. The bank and the Maltese police did not reply to Reuters  questions on the allegations.  There appear to be no grounds to suspect a systematic breach,  of money laundering rules in Malta, an EU Commission official told Reuters in reply to questions over the island s application of EU rules on money laundering. The draft resolution, citing findings of the parliament s inquiry committee on money laundering, said Maltese institutions in charge of enforcing rules to prevent financial crimes were  highly politicized .  The number of convictions and confiscations related to money laundering in Malta seems extremely low,  it said.

Summary: यूरोपीय संघ की संसद ने माल्टा में पुलिस, न्यायपालिका की स्वतंत्रता पर सवाल उठाए


NEW YORK (Reuters) - Japan s Emperor Hirohito did not veto his advisers  decision to declare war on the United States in 1941 because he feared triggering an internal conflict that would destroy his country, he said in an account dictated to an adviser. Set for auction in New York on Wednesday, the handwritten document throws light on Japan s role in World War Two, as it records events dating from the 1920s, such as Hirohito s resolve not to oppose future cabinet decisions, even if he disagreed.  He realized that if he wanted to be in power, he had to do what they wanted,  Tom Lamb, director of the books and manuscripts department at auction house Bonhams, told Reuters.  And that is an interesting fact, since, throughout the late 1930s and through the 1940s, military decisions were made, which he could not contest,  he said. The auctioneers have put an estimate of $100,000 to $150,000 on the manuscript, which consists of two browning twine-bound notebooks written in pen and pencil by Terasaki Hidenari, an interpreter and adviser to the emperor, in 1946. The memoir concludes with the emperor s statement that if he had vetoed the decision to go to war, it would have resulted in a civil conflict that would have been even worse and  Japan would have been destroyed,  the auction house said on its website. Known in Japanese as  Dokuhakuroku , or  The Emperor s Monologue , the remarks may offer insight into the role the monarch played in the war campaign. This is a topic academics say has never been fully pursued in Japan, largely due to U.S. occupation authorities  decision to retain the emperor as a symbol of a newly democratic nation.  The Americans needed Emperor Hirohito to bind the country together, which he did,  Lamb added.  The whole of Japan changed from a rather military pre-war style to a postwar economic powerhouse, and obviously the emperor was part of that.

Summary: सम्राट हिरोहितो के संस्मरण में युद्ध में जापान की गिरावट का वर्णन किया गया है


WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The top U.S. general in Afghanistan said on Tuesday that he had not seen a change in Pakistan s support for militants so far, despite President Donald Trump taking a tougher line against Islamabad. U.S. officials have long been frustrated by what they see as Pakistan s reluctance to act against groups such as the Afghan Taliban and the Haqqani network that they believe exploit safe haven on Pakistani soil to launch attacks on neighboring Afghanistan. In August, Trump outlined a new strategy for the war in Afghanistan, chastising Pakistan over its alleged support for Afghan militants. He accused Pakistan of harboring  agents of chaos  and providing safe havens to militant groups waging an insurgency against a U.S.-backed government in Kabul. U.S. official expressed hope that relations between the two countries could improve after a kidnapped U.S.-Canadian couple and their three children were freed in Pakistan in October. The couple was abducted in neighboring Afghanistan.   We have been very direct and very clear with the Pakistanis... we have not seen those changes implemented yet,  General John Nicholson told reporters.  We are hoping to see those changes, we are hoping to work together with the Pakistanis going forward to eliminate terrorists who are crossing  the border, Nicholson said.  He said that he believed that senior Taliban leaders were based in Pakistan, while the lower-level leadership was in Afghanistan.  Nicholson added that he agreed with other senior U.S. officials that Pakistan s main spy agency, the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) directorate, had ties to the Haqqani network militant group.  The United States in 2012 designated the Pakistan-based Haqqani network as a terrorist organization.  Pakistan says it has done a great deal to help the United States in tracking down terrorists. The four-star general said he had seen evidence of relations between Iran and the Taliban in western Afghanistan and was closely tracking it. The United States has sent more than 3,000 additional U.S. troops to Afghanistan as a part of Trump s South Asia strategy. Nicholson said over 1,000 troops would be advising Afghan troops at the battalion level, putting them closer to the fighting and at greater risk. Nicholson gave an optimistic view of the situation, saying he believed  we are on our way to a win.   U.S. officials have made similar statements during the course of the 16-year-old war, but the situation according to many U.S. officials remains in a  stalemate.  According to a recent report by a U.S. government watchdog, the Taliban had increased the amount of territory it has influence over or controls in Afghanistan in the past six months. The figures are a sign of the deteriorating security situation in the war-torn country, even as the United States has committed more troops.

Summary: अमेरिकी जनरल ने ट्रम्प के सख्त रुख के बावजूद पाकिस्तान के व्यवहार में कोई बदलाव नहीं देखा


WASHINGTON (Reuters) - While attention in Asia has been distracted by the North Korean nuclear crisis in the past year, China has continued to install high-frequency radar and other facilities that can be used for military purposes on its man-made islands in the South China Sea, a U.S. think tank said on Thursday. Chinese activity has involved work on facilities covering 72 acres (29 hectares) of the Spratly and Paracel islands, territory contested with several other Asian nations, according to the Asia Maritime Transparency Initiative of Washington s Center for Strategic and International Studies. The report cited satellite images.  The United States and its allies oppose China s building of artificial islands in the South China Sea and their militarization, given concerns Beijing plans to use them to deny access to strategic routes.  It s completely normal for China to conduct peaceful construction and build essential defense equipment on its own sovereign territory,  China s foreign ministry spokesman Lu Kang told a regular press briefing on Friday, in response to a question about the report.  We believe certain people who have ulterior motives are making mountains out of molehills and stirring up trouble.  The report said that in the last several months China had constructed what appeared to be a new high-frequency radar array at the northern end of Fiery Cross Reef in the Spratlys. Subi Reef had seen tunnels completed that were likely for ammunition storage and another radar antenna array and radar domes, the report said. Construction on Mischief Reef included underground storage for ammunition and hangars, missile shelters and radar arrays. Smaller-scale work had continued in the Paracel Islands, including a new helipad and wind turbines on Tree Island and two large radar towers on Triton Island. It said the latter were especially important as waters around Triton had been the scene of recent incidents between China and Vietnam and multiple U.S. freedom-of-navigation operations, which the U.S. navy has used to assert what it sees as its right to free passage in international waters. Woody Island, China s military and administrative headquarters in the South China Sea, saw two first-time air deployments  that hint at things to come at the three Spratly Island air bases farther south,  the report said. At the end of October, the Chinese military released images showing J-11B fighters at Woody Island for exercises, while on Nov. 15, AMTI spotted what appeared to be Y-8 transport planes, a type that can be configured for electronic surveillance. The Pentagon has conducted several patrols near Chinese-held South China Sea territory this year, even as it has sought China s help in northeast Asia to press North Korea to give up its nuclear weapons program. On Tuesday, U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson  reiterated a call for a  freeze  in China s island building and said it was unacceptable to continue their militarization.

Summary: जहां उत्तर कोरिया पर ध्यान केंद्रित किया जा रहा है, वहीं चीन दक्षिण चीन सागर में निर्माण जारी रखे हुए हैः थिंक टैंक


WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. President-elect Donald Trump officially announced Sonny Perdue as his choice for secretary of agriculture on Thursday, selecting a former Georgia governor over candidates from the Midwest states that dominate U.S. agricultural exports. Perdue, who was on Trump’s agricultural advisory committee during his presidential campaign, has yet to be confirmed in the post by the Republican-led Senate. He was elected to two terms as governor of Georgia, a leading producer of cotton and peanuts, serving from 2003 to 2011. Before that, he was a state senator, representing a rural swath of the state about 100 miles (160 km) south of Atlanta. “From growing up on a farm to being governor of a big agriculture state, he has spent his whole life understanding and solving the challenges our farmers face,” Trump said in a statement. Trump takes office on Friday. At least one Midwestern Senator raised questions about Perdue’s preparedness. Senator Chuck Grassley, a Republican from the top corn and soybean state of Iowa, tweeted: “I’m interested in how MidWest Ag will hv a seat at the table.” Key issues facing the agricultural community include trade and immigration. Georgia accounted for just 2 percent of total U.S. agriculture exports in 2015. Ranking 15th among all states in the value of its agricultural production, it generated $9.122 billion in commodity receipts, according to USDA data. Iowa ranked second with $27.674 billion. California is top, with $47.008 billion. Perdue acknowledged the concerns in an email to Trump’s agricultural advisory committee. “While I know some may be disappointed over regional or geographical concerns, I promise each of you I will diligently apply myself to learn all I can regarding the needs and challenges in this vast, wonderful industry we call American Agriculture, or nature’s factories,” Perdue said in a email to the advisory committee. Grassley, whose Midwest state helped deliver Trump the presidency, stressed in a statement the need for the secretary to understand farming in the Midwest, “the strength of American agriculture.” Trade is seen as critical to reviving a moribund farm economy, where incomes have been falling with lower grain prices. Farm incomes in 2016 are expected to have hit their lowest levels since 2009. Agriculture relies heavily on seasonal and casual labor and farmers are concerned tough immigration rules could make it harder to find workers while raising costs. Trump has raised tensions on immigration with his pledge to build a wall at the Mexican-U.S. border. Four of the past five agriculture secretaries have come from Midwest states. Perdue, if he is confirmed, would be the first from a southern state since Mike Espy, who was from Mississippi and served from January 1993 to December 1994.  Perdue, who holds a doctorate in veterinary medicine and served in the U.S. Air Force, founded a grain and fertilizer business in Georgia. “I’m going to champion the concerns of American agriculture and work tirelessly to solve the issues facing our farm families in this new role,” he said in a statement. Perdue’s cousin David Perdue is serving his first term representing Georgia in the U.S. Senate. The nominee is not related to the late chicken magnate Frank Perdue.

Summary: ट्रम्प ने कृषि के लिए मध्य-पश्चिम उम्मीदवार के बजाय दक्षिणी उम्मीदवार को चुना


NEW YORK/WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President-elect Donald Trump plans to nominate a third retired general for a top job in his new administration with the choice of a battle-hardened Marine commander to lead the agency set up after the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks to protect the U.S. homeland.  Trump is expected to name former Marine General John Kelly, 66, as head of the Department of Homeland Security, a source familiar with the decision told Reuters on Wednesday. Kelly told Fox News on Wednesday that he has “been asked and would consider it an honor.” If confirmed by the Senate, Kelly will be in charge of the agency tasked with securing borders against illegal immigration, protecting the president, responding to natural disasters, coordinating intelligence and counterterrorism.  Like Trump, Kelly is believed to hold strong views on stopping illegal immigration. The four-star general told a congressional committee last year that the lack of security on the U.S.-Mexican border represents a national security threat.      As former head of the military’s Southern Command, Kelly was responsible for U.S. military activities and relationships in Latin America and the Caribbean. He was a proponent of keeping open the U.S. military prison in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. Kelly, whose son was killed fighting the Taliban in Afghanistan, retired in January after a 45-year military career. CBS first reported that Trump would nominate Kelly to the position, which would put him in charge of more than 240,000 employees. Those include Secret Service and Border Patrol agents as well as the agency that clears refugees for resettlement in the United States. Under Democratic President Barack Obama, the department’s Border Patrol and immigration enforcement agents were criticized by civil rights groups for acting as a paramilitary force that neglected the humanitarian mission of helping immigrants escaping violence. With a retired general as chief, the department risks furthering that image and facing backlash from Democrats and immigrant rights groups.  Trump energized voters in the election campaign by promising to build a wall on the U.S.-Mexico border in order to keep out Mexican immigrants he described as rapists and murderers.     In testimony last year before the Senate Armed Services Committee, Kelly said people-smuggling activities on the southern border were a dire threat.      “Terrorist organizations could seek to leverage those same smuggling routes to move operatives with intent to cause grave harm to our citizens or even bring weapons of mass destruction into the United States,” Kelly said.  Such sentiments may have endeared him to Trump, who warned repeatedly during his presidential campaign of dangers from illegal immigration, and pledged to make Mexico pay for the wall along the border. The Republican president-elect, who has no military experience, also plans to nominate retired General James Mattis to lead the Pentagon and picked retired Lieutenant General Michael Flynn to be his national security adviser. Trump may be forced to look to generals to fill key positions because he lacks a relationship with Republican establishment figures, said former White House and State Department official P.J. Crowley.  “He never served in government, so until the campaign, he didn’t have an established bench,” said Crowley. “He’s forming a pickup team on the fly. On an individual basis, they have a lot of international operational experience but far less domestic political experience. How well they will gel together remains to be seen,” said Crowley, author of “Red Line,” a book on U.S. foreign policy. Trump’s transition team is also said to be considering former Army General David Petraeus for secretary of state.  Kelly served in Iraq several times, and in 2003 was the first Marine in more than 50 years to be promoted to the rank of brigadier general while in a combat zone. In 2010, his son, Marine 1st Lieutenant Robert M. Kelly, was killed in Helmand Province in southern Afghanistan. Human rights groups had feared someone would be appointed to Homeland Security with a stronger anti-immigration position, such as Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach, who is a proponent of reinvigorating a system to track Muslims entering the United States on visas. Frank Sharry, executive director of America’s Voice Education Fund, an immigrant rights advocacy group, said he was hopeful Kelly’s experience in Central America would make him sympathetic to migrants fleeing violence in the region.  But Sharry said he was concerned over the number of generals Trump has appointed. “At times Trump’s Cabinet looks like a military junta. There’s been a securitization of migration that is out of whack with reality,” said Sharry. “But I’ll take a general with knowledge of the Americas over a radical like Kobach.” The National Border Patrol Council, an early Trump backer that represents some 18,000 Border Patrol agents and other employees, noted that Kelly had no immigration experience but had “stellar credentials.” It said in a statement that his popularity with troops boded well for morale problems at the Department of Homeland Security, but added that “we believe no other cabinet level nominee will be under more pressure to produce.”   Kelly questioned the Pentagon’s decision to allow women to serve in combat, and differed publicly with Obama over the president’s attempt to close the Guantanamo Bay prison. “There are no innocent men down there,” Kelly said of Guantanamo in a January interview with the Military Times newspaper. The Republican-controlled Senate must confirm Kelly for the Homeland Security post.

Summary: होमलैंड सिक्योरिटी के लिए ट्रंप ने केली को चुना, शीर्ष पद के लिए तीसरे जनरल


Qaryatayn, SYRIA (Reuters) - Twenty six Syrian hostages who escaped from their Islamic State captors received an emotional homecoming on Sunday in the central province of Homs, witnesses and officials said.   They were among at least 70 people abducted and taken by fleeing Islamic State militants to a secret location in the desert east of the town of al-Qaryatayn on Oct. 21 when the Syrian army and pro-government militias regained control of the town.  The others are still missing, according to local officials, who have not disclosed the identities of any of the hostages.   Al-Qaryatayn lies nearly 300 kilometers (190 miles) west of Deir al-Zor city, the current focus of the Syrian government s offensive, with Russian jets and Iran-backed militias, against Islamic State. About 200 people turned out in al-Qaryatayn on Sunday to welcome home the returning hostages, according to Reuters reporters who visited the war-scarred town during a trip organized by the Syrian authorities. Parents wept as they embraced returning sons while other relatives and local residents threw sweets and sugar in the air in celebration.   Thank God for your return,  said an elderly man as he embraced a young man. Most in the crowd declined to be interviewed.  Syrian authorities said jihadists had taken revenge after being forced out after three weeks of fighting around the outskirts of al-Qaryatayn, by slaughtering scores of the city s inhabitants. A senior local official said the hostages escaped after they got past an Iraqi jihadist militant while he took a nap and seized his gun and shot him dead. But the joy surrounding the hostages  return was still overshadowed by executions witnessed in the town in the past few weeks when militants rounded up local officials and members of the security forces, police and members of their families and executed them in broad daylight, according to officials.    We forgot our joy when thinking of the nightmare that we went through,  Found Ghosn, a local government official told Reuters TV, saying city officials had identified at least 70 out of 130 people slain during the revenge killings.

Summary: इस्लामिक स्टेट से भागने वाले सीरियाई बंधकों को शानदार घर वापसी मिली


MILAN (Reuters) - The leader of Italy s main opposition party said he was keeping the option of a referendum on the euro open in the event his party won elections and failed to convince Brussels of the need to change some of the euro zone s economic rules. In comments made on state TV on Sunday, Luigi Di Maio, the man widely tipped to be the candidate for prime minister of the anti-establishment 5-Star Movement, said he wanted to negotiate concessions on EU governance.  If we succeed, Europe will be changed and we won t need a referendum on the euro. Otherwise we ll ask Italians if they want to stay in or not,  he said. Earlier this month, Di Maio told Reuters 5-Star had not totally withdrawn the idea of a referendum on the euro, but called it  a last resort  to be employed only if it was not possible to ease EU governance rules.  The comments come just weeks before parliament is expected to be dissolved ahead of elections early next year which look unlikely to produce a clear winner. The 5-Star Movement is predicted to emerge as the largest single party in the next parliament, but it has repeatedly ruled out joining any coalition. Italy has just introduced a new electoral system that is expected to handicap 5-Star, favoring instead mainstream political blocs.

Summary: इटली की 5-सितारा पार्टी ने यूरो जनमत संग्रह पर विकल्प खुला रखा


BERLIN (Reuters) - Germany will wait for Israeli prosecutors to conclude all investigations in a corruption scandal involving Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu before delivering three submarines in a $2 billion defense deal, German magazine Der Spiegel reported. The weekly magazine reported that the German government had signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Israel under which a declaration by the Israeli government would not be regarded as sufficient evidence that the affair was concluded. The 2016 deal has been under public scrutiny since it emerged that Netanyahu s personal lawyer also represented the local agent of the German conglomerate ThyssenKrupp Marine Systems set to build the vessels.

Summary: इजरायली पनडुब्बियों की डिलीवरी से पहले जर्मनी अभियोजन 'ठीक' होने का इंतजार करेगाः स्पीगल


SOCHI/MOSCOW (Reuters) - President Vladimir Putin launched one of his most stinging critiques of U.S. foreign policy on Thursday, listing what he called some of the biggest betrayals in U.S.-Russia relations. He declined to say if he would run for a fourth presidential term in an election set for March, though he is expected to stand after dominating Russian politics for 18 years. Instead, he used a high-profile televised discussion with foreign academics in southern Russia to reach back to what he regards as the darkest days of U.S.-Russia relations. Opinion polls suggest that harsh rhetoric towards the West plays well with many Russian voters, who credit Putin for restoring national pride and standing up to what they see as Western encroachment. Asked by a Germany-based academic to identify what mistakes Moscow had made in its relations with the West, Putin told the Valdai discussion forum in the Black Sea resort of Sochi:   Our biggest mistake was that we trusted you too much. You interpreted our trust as weakness and you exploited that.  Visibly angry at times, Putin cast Russia as the wronged party and its post-Soviet leadership as too naive and trusting.  Unfortunately, our Western partners, having divided the USSR s geopolitical legacy, were certain of their own incontestable righteousness having declared themselves the victors of the  Cold War,  said Putin.  They started to openly interfere in the sovereign affairs of countries and to export democracy in the same way as in their time the Soviet leadership tried to export the Socialist revolution to the whole world.  Putin said U.S.-Russia relations were in a lamentable state, referencing an  unprecedented  anti-Russian campaign in the United States, the closure of Russian diplomatic facilities there and pressure on Russian media by U.S. authorities. He did not single out U.S. President Donald Trump for personal criticism, but said Trump s behavior was unpredictable as a result of political foes who were preventing him from fulfilling almost all of his policy pledges. Putin said the United States was trying to squeeze Russia out of European energy markets with its latest batch of sanctions, which Trump grudgingly signed into law in August after Congress approved them.  The recent sanctions package adopted by the U.S. Congress was openly designed to push Russia out of European energy markets and to force Europe to switch to more expensive liquefied natural gas from the United States, even though the volumes there are not yet sufficient,  he said. He criticized Trump s predecessors, describing how he believed the United States had betrayed Russia in the 1990s by not reciprocating what he called the unprecedented access Moscow gave Washington to Russia s secret nuclear facilities. He said the United States had flouted nuclear and chemical weapons treaties, saying Moscow had diligently complied with the same pacts only to be repeatedly let down by the United States. His speech and ripostes in a punchy question and answer session that followed often sounded like a history lesson.   The United States had tried to stir up separatism in southern Russia in the 1990s, said Putin, something he said he knew for a fact from his stint leading the FSB spy agency. The 2003 U.S.-led invasion of Iraq and NATO s 1999 bombing of Yugoslavia were bad, he said. And in comments that could have been drawn straight from the pages of the Cold War, Putin accused the United States of upsetting the strategic nuclear balance by modernizing its arsenal of weapons. Russia would develop new weapons systems, he pledged, if it was forced to, and if the United States withdrew from a landmark arms control treaty   the Intermediate-range Nuclear Forces Treaty   Russia would hit back fast.  From our side, the response will be instant, and I want to warn, symmetrical,  said Putin. (This version of the story was refiled to fix a typo in the headline)

Summary: पुतिन डायल करते हैं anti-U.S. बयानबाजी, फिर से चुनाव पर चुप रहते हैं


(Reuters) - The White House admonished Russia on Wednesday after it vetoed a United Nations plan to continue an ongoing investigation that recently found Syria killed dozens of people with chemical weapons and implored the international body to renew the probe.   Russia cast a veto at the United Nations Security Council eight days ago, preventing the renewal of a mandate for a mission by the United Nations and the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) - known as the Joint Investigative Mechanism (JIM) - that investigates the use of chemical weapons in Syria.  Russia s attempts to undermine and eliminate the JIM show a callous disregard for the suffering and loss of life caused by the use of chemical weapons and an utter lack of respect for international norms,  the White House said in a statement.  The JIM found that the Syrian government of Bashar al-Assad is to blame for a chemical attack on the opposition-held town of Khan Sheikhoun that killed dozens of people last April, according to a report sent to the United Nations Security Council last Thursday.  This unconscionable attack marks the fourth time that the JIM has confirmed that the Assad regime used chemical weapons, underscoring the brutal and horrifying barbarism of Bashar al-Assad and making the protection provided by Russia even more egregious,  the White House said.  JIM was unanimously created by the 15-member U.N. Security Council in 2015 and renewed in 2016 for another year. Its mandate is due to expire in mid-November.  The United States implores the UN Security Council to renew the mandate of the JIM so that we may continue to identify the perpetrators of these horrific attacks and send a clear message that the use of chemical weapons will not be tolerated,  the White House said.  In their 14th report since 2011, U.N. investigators said they had in all documented 33 chemical weapons attacks to date. Twenty-seven were by the government of President Bashar al-Assad, including seven between March 1 to July 7. Perpetrators had not been identified yet in six attacks, they said. The Assad government has repeatedly denied using chemical weapons. It said its strikes in Khan Sheikhoun hit a weapons depot belonging to rebel forces, a claim  excluded  by U.N. Commission of Inquiry on Syria chairman Paulo Pinheiro. That attack led U.S. President Donald Trump to launch the first U.S. air strikes on a Syrian air base.

Summary: व्हाइट हाउस ने सीरिया में रासायनिक हथियारों की जांच पर वीटो को लेकर रूस की आलोचना की


PARIS (Reuters) - France said on Wednesday it wanted an  uncompromising  dialogue with Iran about its ballistic missile program and a possible negotiation over the issue separate from Tehran s 2015 nuclear deal with world powers. Paris has already suggested that new European sanctions against Iran could be discussed over its missile tests, something EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini seemed to dismiss on Tuesday, keen not to raise risks to the hard-won deal that curbed Iran s disputed nuclear activity. On Sunday, Iran rejected a call by French President Emmanuel Macron for talks on its missiles, saying they were defensive in nature and had nothing to do with its nuclear energy work.  France is concerned about the continued pace of the Iranian missile program, which does not conform with (U.N.) Security Council Resolution 2231 and which is a source of destabilization and insecurity for the region,  Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Agnes Romatet-Espagne told reporters in a daily briefing. Resolution 2231, which enshrined the nuclear deal, calls on Iran not to undertake activities related to missiles capable of delivering nuclear bombs, including launches using such technology. It stops short of explicitly barring such activity.  France wishes to examine all the diplomatic options: a frank and uncompromising political dialogue with Iran; investigations by the U.N. General Secretariat; if necessary, new European sanctions against Iranian entities or individuals involved in the ballistic program; and finally opening a negotiation on the subject,  she said. President Donald Trump, who has resumed a confrontational U.S. approach to Iran in contrast with predecessor Barack Obama s policy of detente, has said Iranian missile activity should be curbed and wants to punish Tehran over its role in  Yemen and Syria. Trump has also dealt a blow to Iran s nuclear deal - agreed with Britain, China, France, Germany, Russia and the United States under Obama - by decertifying Iranian compliance with its terms, contradicting the findings of U.N. nuclear inspectors. The U.S. Congress now has until mid-December to decide whether to reimpose economic sanctions on Iran that had been lifted in exchange for limiting its nuclear program in ways meant to prevent it developing an atomic bomb. But the EU, which normally coordinates closely with Washington on international sanctions, has been lobbying hard to keep the nuclear pact alive, saying it should be kept separate from missile and regional security matters. France s tougher line on the missile issue appears to reflect a concern that Iran might eventually try to arm a missile cone with a nuclear bomb, should it ever build one. Tehran has repeatedly denied any intent to do so. Romatet-Espagne reiterated the view that the nuclear deal should be kept separate, but said the ballistic missile issue was being discussed with fellow EU governments and Mogherini s foreign service. Foreign Minister Jean-Yves le Drian had been due to visit Tehran before the end of the month, although that has now been pushed back to later in the year due to a busy schedule, a diplomatic source said. Any EU-wide sanctions action requires the unanimity of all 28 member states but there is no consensus on new punitive steps against Iran, a fact made clear by Mogherini on Monday.  We didn t discuss, not today, not last week (and) I don t foresee any discussion also in the future, further sanctions from the EU side on Iran,  she said, alluding to Macron s remarks, after a meeting of EU foreign ministers.

Summary: यूरोपीय संघ की चेतावनी के बावजूद, फ्रांस ने ईरान के मिसाइल कार्यक्रम पर सख्त रुख अपनाया


WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Donald Trump said on Tuesday he does not want House Speaker Paul Ryan’s support after Ryan broke with the Republican presidential nominee over a leaked recording of Trump making lewd comments about women. “I don’t want his support, I don’t care about his support,” Trump said, according to excerpts of an interview with Fox News. Ryan, the top Republican in Congress, told party lawmakers on Monday he would not campaign for Trump and would instead concentrate on retaining Republican control of Congress in the Nov. 8 elections.

Summary: ट्रम्प ने कहा कि वह हाउस स्पीकर रेयान का समर्थन नहीं चाहते हैंः फॉक्स न्यूज