VATICAN CITY (Reuters) - Pope Francis on Wednesday chastised priests and bishops who take pictures with their cell phones during Masses, saying they should focus on God instead.  The priest says  lift up your hearts . He does not say,  lift up your cell phones to take pictures,  Francis told tens of thousands of people at his weekly audience in St. Peter s Square, referring to a communion prayer in the Roman Catholic Mass. In his improvised remarks, he called using cell phones during Mass  a very ugly thing,  adding:  It makes me very sad when I celebrate (Mass) here in the piazza or in the basilica and I see so many cell phones held up. Not only by the faithful, but also by some priests and even bishops!  The Mass is not a show  ... so remember, no cell phones!  he said, prompting laughter and applause from the crowd. Francis, the leader of the world s 1.2 billion Roman Catholics, has regularly urged the faithful to be more spiritual and his priests and bishops to be more humble.  Shortly after his election in 2013, he said it pained him to see priests driving flashy cars and eager to use the latest smartphone.  The pope is driven around in a simple blue Ford Focus and is not known to have ever used a cell phone in public since his election.

Summary: पोप ने पादरियों, बिशपों से कहा, अपने सेल फोन को नहीं, अपने दिल को ऊपर उठाएं


WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. House of Representatives Speaker Paul Ryan on Friday renewed his call for U.S. intelligence officials to stop giving Hillary Clinton classified briefing typically given to presidential candidates in the wake of FBI Director James Comey’s letter citing additional emails now under review. “This decision, long overdue, is the result of her reckless use of a private email server, and her refusal to be forthcoming with federal investigators. I renew my call for the Director of National Intelligence to suspend all classified briefings for Secretary Clinton until this matter is fully resolved,” Ryan said in a statement referring to the former secretary of state.

Summary: अमेरिकी सदन के अध्यक्ष रयान ने क्लिंटन के लिए वर्गीकृत ब्रीफिंग को निलंबित करने के आह्वान को फिर से दोहराया


WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Air Force would ground the Russian-built RD-180 engines that power its Atlas 5 rockets if a U.S. government review determines that several sanctioned Russian individuals have too close a relationship with the engine maker, a top U.S. general said on Friday. Lieutenant General Samuel Greaves, who heads the Air Force’s Space and Missile Systems Center, said the Pentagon was reviewing responses about the sanctions issue and related matters in time to meet a Feb. 22 deadline set by Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman John McCain. McCain last week asked the Air Force and Pentagon to explain why the U.S. government is continuing to use engines built by Russia’s NPO Energomash given sanctions in place against Russian Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin and other sanctioned individuals, who control the company after a big reorganization. Congress banned use of the Russian RD-180 rocket engines for military use after 2019, following Russia’s annexation of the Crimea region of Ukraine in 2014.  But U.S. lawmakers eased the ban late last year, worried that it could drive United Launch Alliance, a joint venture of Lockheed Martin Corp and Boeing Co, out of business and leave only privately-held SpaceX, to lift satellites into space. Greaves said the Air Force would abide by U.S. law. “These folks are on the sanctions list, and if the Department of the Treasury comes back and says there’s a problem with that relationship, then we have to work with the Congress and others to determine a way ahead,” he said. Asked to elaborate about possible consequences, he said, “If we’re not supposed to be flying the RD-180s, they’re grounded.” The Treasury Department declined comment. A spokeswoman for United Launch Alliance also had no immediate comment. The U.S. Court of Federal Claims had ruled on the issue in response to a lawsuit filed in April 2014 by SpaceX, concluding that the purchases were not in violation of U.S. sanctions. At the time, senior U.S. officials said that control of Energomash by Rogozin could  provide a basis for formally blocking the property and interests of the company. McCain argues the situation has changed due to a new Russian law that took effect in January, which consolidated the Russian space industry under a single state corporation, Roscosmos. Roscosmos is due to merge with the state-owned parent company of Energomash, making Energomash a direct subsidiary, he said.

Summary: अमेरिकी प्रतिबंधों में बदलाव से रूसी रॉकेट इंजनों को नुकसान हो सकता हैः जनरल


WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Donald Trump, striving to make good on a top campaign promise, is pushing his fellow Republicans who control Congress to pass revamped healthcare legislation but the same intraparty squabbling that torpedoed it last month could do it again. Trump is looking for his first major legislative victory since taking office in January. House of Representatives Republicans are exploring compromises aimed at satisfying the party’s most conservative members without antagonizing its moderates, but it remained unclear on Friday whether a viable bill would emerge. Trump on Friday played down the need for Congress to act on the legislation before he reaches his 100th day in office next weekend, telling reporters, “We’ll see what happens - no particular rush.” Trump on Thursday had predicted “a good chance of getting it soon,” either “next week or shortly thereafter.” On Friday, he said it “doesn’t matter if it’s next week.” Congress, returning from a recess next week, also will be working against the clock to pass legislation to keep the government funded past April 28 and avert a federal shutdown. Healthcare legislation did not appear on the schedule released on Friday by House Republican leaders of bills to be considered next week. “We’re going to get it done when it’s appropriate in terms of getting to that 216,” White House spokesman Sean Spicer told reporters, referring to the vote total needed for House passage before the bill goes to the Senate. Trump’s party cannot afford defections because Democrats remain unified against the Republican quest to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act, Democratic former President Barack Obama’s signature domestic policy achievement, dubbed Obamacare. Trump campaigned on a pledge to discard Obamacare. In a stinging setback for Trump, Speaker Paul Ryan pulled the legislation from the House floor on March 24 before allowing it to come to a vote amid a revolt by conservatives in a faction called the House Freedom Caucus and moderates unhappy with concessions to the conservatives. Republicans have called Obamacare a government overreach. The law enabled 20 million Americans to obtain insurance, many through an expansion of the Medicaid program for the poor. A senior House Republican aide said it was not clear whether a revamped Republican plan can attract 216 votes, adding that without a legislative text it was impossible to do a vote count to assess its chances. Moderate Republican Representative Tom MacArthur is pushing a proposal to allow states to waive some Obamacare provisions. MacArthur’s office said he has discussed it with other Republican lawmakers, the House leadership and the White House. No text has emerged, but an outline of his proposal said states could seek to relax “essential benefits” that Obamacare requires insurance plans to cover, such as emergency room trips, maternity and newborn care, and mental health services. States also could request waivers to Obamacare’s ban on insurers charging sick customers higher premiums than healthy customers. But states would have to establish “high-risk pools” using government funds to help pay for insurance for people with costly medical conditions. Representative Rodney Davis told CNN on Friday he did not know what was in the deal, but added, “I’m not going to be for a plan that is going to allow for pre-existing conditions to not be covered.” MacArthur and Davis are members of the centrist House Republican Tuesday Group. Freedom Caucus member Representative Dave Brat told CNN the new proposal gives states more say healthcare but was the “same fundamental bill” that collapsed last month. The Republican plan, as written last month, would end the Medicaid expansion, let states impose work requirements on some Medicaid recipients, rescind a range of Obamacare taxes, get rid of a penalty on people who refuse to obtain insurance, and ditch Obamacare’s income-based subsidies to help people buy insurance while creating less-generous age-based tax credits. The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office forecast the earlier version of the plan would increase by 24 million the number of Americans without medical insurance by 2026. During a Thursday conference call with House Democrats, their leader, Nancy Pelosi, urged them to remain united against the Republican legislation, saying it would increase healthcare costs and provide less insurance coverage, an aide who was on the telephone call said.

Summary: ट्रम्प ने स्वास्थ्य सेवा योजना में सुधार की मांग की


BEIJING/TAIPEI (Reuters) - Taiwan will gradually get used to Chinese air force drills that encircle the island, China said on Wednesday, while Taiwan s premier reiterated the self-ruled island s desire for peaceful relations with its giant neighbor. China considers democratic Taiwan to be its sacred territory and has never renounced the use of force to bring what it views as a wayward province under Chinese control. It has taken an increasingly hostile stance toward Taiwan since Tsai Ing-wen, from the island s pro-independence Democratic Progressive Party, won presidential elections last year and has stepped up its rhetoric and military exercises. Beijing suspects her of pushing for the island s formal independence, a red line for China. Tsai says she wants peace with China, but also that she will defend Taiwan s security and way of life. Chinese state media has given broad coverage to  island encirclement  exercises near Taiwan this month, including showing pictures of Chinese bomber aircraft with what they said was Taiwan s highest peak, Yushan, visible in the background. Asked about the continuing drills and the footage released by the air force, China s policy-making Taiwan Affairs Office said it and the defense ministry had repeatedly described the exercises as routine.  Everyone will slowly get used it,  spokesman An Fengshan told a routine news briefing, without elaborating.    China s air force has carried out 16 rounds of exercises close to Taiwan in the past year or so, Taiwan s defense ministry said in a white paper this week. China s military threat was growing by the day, it warned. Proudly democratic Taiwan has shown no interest in being run by autocratic China, and Taiwan s government has accused Beijing of not understanding democracy when it criticizes Taipei. Taiwan Premier William Lai told a year-end news conference in Taipei that the United States, Japan and South Korea were all paying close attention to the activities of China s air force. Lai said his government would take its lead from the president, who was in charge of relations across the Taiwan Strait.  Under the president s leadership the Executive Yuan pushes forward government affairs, stabilizing cross-strait relations toward peaceful development,  Lai said, using the formal name for Taiwan s cabinet.

Summary: अभ्यास की आदत डालें, चीन ने ताइवान से कहा; ताइपे ने कहा कि वह शांति चाहता है


SYDNEY (Reuters) - Australia s Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull, a strong supporter of gay marriage, defended the right of a church to refuse to marry a young couple who had posted support for same-sex unions on social media.  The minister of a Presbyterian church in the southern state of Victoria told a young couple in their 20s that they would not be allowed to hold their ceremony at the church after the bride posted a message on Facebook supporting same-sex marriage.  Australia is in the midst of a non-compulsory, non-binding poll to inform Parliament on whether it should become the 25th country to legalise same-sex marriage. The issue has threatened to fracture the ruling Liberal-National coalition government.   Churches are free to marry whoever they like,  Turnbull said on Friday in Canberra according to a press conference transcript.  As strongly as I believe in the right of same-sex couples to marry ... Religious freedom is fundamental and it will be protected in any bill that emerges from this Parliament.   Religious freedom in Australia is guaranteed under the constitution. The issue has dogged Prime Minister Turnbull for two years as progressive and conservative members of his ruling coalition have pulled in opposite directions threatening his narrow Parliamentary majority.   Australians have started receiving postal ballots for the poll, which runs until the end of October, and the issue is dividing the country s population of 24 million people along religious and generational lines. Despite securing 70 percent public support in an Ipsos/Fairfax poll, the issue of same-sex marriage had faced a political deadlock, only broken last week when the High Court gave the all-clear for the vote.  Fissures have opened within religions as some churches urge their followers to vote against same-sex marriage, while other churches have taken a neutral stance.  The Catholic Archbishop of Sydney, Australia s largest city, wrote to Sydney Catholic school principals on Friday afternoon, quoting Pope Francis and urging them to oppose the vote. The Bishop of Parramatta, Vincent Long Van Nguyen, however, told his parishioners in a pastoral letter that the vote was a matter of individual conscience.  The Anglican church, which officially opposes gay marriage, has been divided on the issue for years.

Summary: समलैंगिक विवाह सर्वेक्षण के बीच ऑस्ट्रेलिया के टर्नबुल ने 'धार्मिक स्वतंत्रता' का बचाव किया


PALM BEACH, Fla. (Reuters) - Boeing Co Chief Executive Dennis Muilenburg met with President-elect Donald Trump on Wednesday to address concerns about the replacement costs for Air Force One, which Trump has complained would top $4 billion. “We’re going to get it done for less than that,” Muilenburg told reporters after the meeting, saying that he discussed a “range of topics” with Trump.

Summary: बोइंग के सी. ई. ओ. का कहना है कि उन्होंने एयर फोर्स वन की लागत के बारे में ट्रम्प को आश्वासन दिया था


SEOUL (Reuters) - South Korean nuclear experts, checking for contamination after North Korea s sixth and largest nuclear test, said on Friday they have found minute traces of radioactive xenon gas but that it was too early to specify its source. The Nuclear Safety and Security Commission (NSSC) said it had been conducting tests on land, air and water samples since shortly after North Korea s nuclear test on Sunday. The statement said the commission was analyzing  how the xenon entered South Korean territory and will make a decision at a later time whether the material is linked to North Korea s nuclear test . Xenon is a naturally occurring, colorless gas that is used in manufacturing of some sorts of lights. But the NSSC said it had detected xenon-133, a radioactive isotope that does not occur naturally and which has in the past been linked to North Korea s nuclear tests. There was no chance the xenon  will have an impact on South Korea s territory or population , the statement said.

Summary: दक्षिण कोरिया को रेडियोधर्मी गैस के निशान मिले, 'अभी तक इसे परमाणु परीक्षण से नहीं जोड़ा जा सका'


WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Orlando gay nightclub shooter Omar Mateen made two trips to Saudi Arabia in 2011 and 2012, MSNBC reported on Monday, citing federal officials. MSNBC said the officials did not know what Mateen was doing in Saudi Arabia or whether he met with anyone while there.

Summary: ऑरलैंडो शूटर ने 2011,2012 में सऊदी अरब की यात्रा कीः एम. एस. एन. बी. सी.


NEW YORK (Reuters) - New York lawyer George Conway, who had been expected to be nominated to head the U.S. Department of Justice’s civil division, has withdrawn from consideration. Conway, the husband of White House counselor Kellyanne Conway, said in a statement received on Friday that he was “profoundly grateful to the President and to the Attorney General” for selecting him to serve in the Justice Department. However, he said, he had concluded that it is “not the right time for me to leave the private sector.” Conway had notified the White House of his decision on Wednesday in a letter, according to a person familiar with the matter. A White House spokeswoman referred a request for comment to the Justice Department.  A Justice Department spokesman declined to comment on the withdrawal. “We don’t comment on personnel matters,” the spokesman, Ian Prior, said in a statement. Conway joins a number of potential hires who have withdrawn from consideration for posts in the Trump administration in recent weeks, including candidates for director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation after President Donald Trump fired James Comey. It has been increasingly difficult to attract people to work in the administration, Reuters reported last month, citing sources.  Conway, a Harvard University and Yale Law School graduate, is a partner at the prestigious New York law firm Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz. He has worked on major securities and takeover matters, including a 2010 case in which the U.S. Supreme Court said  federal securities laws typically do not apply to conduct in foreign countries. That decision has likely saved companies billions of dollars in potential liability. Conway also has been involved in politically charged cases, including a behind-the-scenes role in the sexual harassment lawsuit that former Arkansas state employee Paula Jones brought against then-President Bill Clinton.  That case led to the eventual impeachment of Clinton on charges stemming from his relationship with a White House intern, Monica Lewinsky. Kellyanne Conway was Trump’s campaign manager before taking her White House post. The Republican pollster and political strategist has been one of the administration’s most visible faces. The Conways, who have four children, just purchased a nearly $8 million mansion in Washington’s Massachusetts Avenue Heights. Wachtell does not have an office in Washington.

Summary: वकील ने अमेरिकी न्याय विभाग के पद के लिए विचार से नाम वापस लिया


DUBAI (Reuters) - The United Arab Emirates is ending the mission of North Korea s non-resident ambassador and terminating its own envoy s services in Pyongyang, its Foreign Ministry said in a statement on Thursday carried by state news agency WAM. The UAE will also stop issuing new visas or company licences to North Korean citizens, WAM said. Several thousand North Korean workers reside in the U.S-allied Gulf region, mainly working on construction sites.  The measures... come within the context of (the UAE s) obligation as a responsible member of the international community to strengthen the international will and to stop the proliferation of nuclear weapons and missile programs,  the Foreign Ministry said. U.S. President Donald Trump urged United Nations member states last month to turn up the pressure on North Korea to give up its nuclear weapons, using his maiden speech to the world body to address what he has said is the top global challenge. North Korea s nuclear tests and missile launches have stirred global tensions and prompted several rounds of international sanctions at the U.N. Security Council. In Washington, the U.S. State Department welcomed the UAE s decision.  Very happy to hear that,  State Department spokesman Heather Nauert told reporters.  There are many countries that are taking those steps that we have asked (them) to take.      The UAE announcement follows similar moves by the UAE s Gulf Arab neighbors Qatar and Kuwait, which last month downgraded their ties with Pyongyang and ceased issuing new visas to North Korean citizens.

Summary: संयुक्त अरब अमीरात ने उत्तर कोरियाई राजनयिक मिशन को समाप्त किया, वीजा समाप्त किया


MOSCOW (Reuters) - The Kremlin said on Monday that talks with Saudi Arabia over Moscow supplying Riyadh with advanced S-400 air defense missile systems had gone well so far despite talk of a possible U.S.-Saudi arms deal. Russian President Vladimir Putin hosted Saudi Arabia s King Salman for talks at the Kremlin last week during which Saudi Arabia said it had signed a memorandum of understanding on the purchase of the S-400s. A day later, the Pentagon said the U.S. State Department had approved the possible sale of a THAAD anti-missile defense system to Saudi Arabia at an estimated cost of $15 billion. When asked whether a possible U.S. deal with Riyadh might affect the Russian arrangement, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov, on a conference call with reporters, said talks had been progressing well.  We can speak only for ourselves,  said Peskov.  (But)contacts to implement this contract have been very positive and have had very good preliminary results.  Maria Vorobyova, an official at a Russian government agency dealing with military and technical cooperation, was cited earlier on Monday as saying that a firm agreement had been reached with Saudi Arabia on the S-400s.  An agreement has been reached with the kingdom of Saudi Arabia to deliver the S-400 air defense system, anti-tank Kornet-EM rocket systems, TOS-1A (multiple rocket launcher) systems, AGS-30 automated grenade launchers, and Kalashnikov AK-103 assault rifles,  the RIA news agency cited her as saying.  Russia also signed a contract last week for Saudi to produce the AK-103 rifles under license along with ammunition. Saudi Arabia is a longstanding U.S. ally in the Middle East and its arms deals with Moscow have caused disquiet in Washington.  When asked about fears that Saudi Arabia could use the  S-400 system against Iran, a Russian ally, Peskov said Moscow s decision to offer the missiles to Riyadh was not aimed at any third party.  Military technical cooperation between Moscow and Riyadh is absolutely self-contained and does not target third countries in this region or other regions of the world,  said Peskov.  Therefore we are confident that this cooperation should not be a worry for anyone.

Summary: सऊदी अरब के साथ एस-400 मिसाइल वार्ता पटरी परः क्रेमलिन


BERLIN (Reuters) - Chastened by their worst result since 1949 in September s national election, Chancellor Angela Merkel s conservatives are hoping for victory in a regional vote on Sunday to strengthen their hand in thorny three-way coalition talks in Berlin. While victory in the Lower Saxony region might strengthen Merkel s position within her party, a conservative failure to emerge as the strongest party could prompt talk of weakening authority and possible eventual succession, said Berlin-based political expert Gero Neugebauer. Lower Saxony, an agricultural heartland and Germany s second biggest region, offers Merkel s Christian Democrats (CDU) the prospect of a morale boost as they seek to cobble together an unprecedented  Jamaica  national coalition with the liberal Free Democrats (FDP) and Greens. The road to such an alliance, named after the Caribbean nation as the parties  colors match those of its flag, is littered with disputes on everything from migrants to tax and the environment. It would be the clunky coalition s federal debut if talks, due to start next week, prove a success. Carsten Nickel, deputy research director at Teneo Intelligence, said Sunday s election - which polls show is set to be a neck-and-neck contest between the CDU and the rival Social Democrats (SPD) - would determine momentum going into national coalition negotiations. The election in the northern state, home to carmaker Volkswagen (VOWG_p.DE), was called after a lawmaker in the Greens party - junior coalition partner to the SPD there - defected to the CDU, robbing the ruling alliance of its one-seat majority.  If Merkel managed to steal that state from the SPD, it would probably be a little bit of a boost,  he said.  It would probably be slightly easier for her to argue internally for the required compromise and for striking the deals and so on that will be required over the next couple of weeks.   However, a new poll for broadcaster ZDP released late on Thursday showed the SPD with 34.5 percent, closely followed by the CDU with 33 percent. The Greens and FDP both had 9 percent while the anti-immigrant Alternative for Germany (AfD) was on track to get 7 percent and move into Lower Saxony s state assembly for the first time. The Left party got 5 percent. About 29 percent of voters were still undecided about which party to support or whether to vote at all, it showed. The CDU has dropped far below the 12-point lead it had over the SPD in August at the start of a campaign that has centered on regional issues such as education, as well as an influx of migrants to Germany over the last two years. The latest poll means the SPD and Greens would not have enough support to govern again, even if they joined forces with the Left party. That leaves a coalition of the SPD and conservatives, a coalition of the SPD, Greens and FDP, or the Jamaica coalition being pursued on a national level. Merkel s CDU and their Bavarian sister party (CSU) removed a major stumbling block to those coalition talks on Sunday by ending a dispute over migrant policy with an agreement to limit the number of migrants coming to Germany. Merkel s conservative bloc won 33 percent in September s national election, losing 8.5 points compared with 2013, as voters upset with Merkel s 2015 decision to open the borders to more than a million migrants abandoned the party. The result effectively brought an end to the existing national coalition with the SPD, who also performed badly.

Summary: मुश्किल गठबंधन वार्ताओं के बीच मर्केल को क्षेत्रीय चुनाव को बढ़ावा मिलने की उम्मीद


(Reuters) - Blackstone Group LP (BX.N) Chairman and CEO Steve Schwarzman said on Tuesday he expected to see a “very substantial reversal of regulations of all types,” for the financial sector, following Donald Trump’s U.S. presidential election victory. Schwarzman, who was picked by Trump to chair a panel of business leaders who will give him advice during his presidency, said the changes would boost U.S. growth and attract foreign investment. Blackstone is one of the world’s largest investment companies. Speaking at an investor conference hosted by Goldman Sachs Group Inc (GS.N), Schwarzman said the regulatory changes would be the largest in his roughly 45 year career. He expects them to spur inflation and rising interest rates. Trump has pledged to dismantle the 2010 financial overhaul known as Dodd-Frank, and Republicans in Congress have already crafted legislation aimed at doing that. Draft legislation from Jeb Hensarling, the Republican chair of the U.S. House Financial Services Committee would reorganize the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, throw out the Volcker Rule restricting banks from making speculative investments and eliminate the authority of the Financial Stability Oversight Council to designate non-banks as “systemically important.” Schwarzman said rising interest rates would benefit Blackstone’s lending businesses, while the outlook for its hedge fund and real estate businesses is less clear cut but generally positive. Asked about corporate tax reform, Schwarzman said any changes would need to apply to individuals as well as corporations because 80 percent of U.S. companies use a “pass-through” structure in which business taxes are passed through to the personal income tax returns of the owners of the business.

Summary: ब्लैकस्टोन के श्वार्जमैन ने ट्रम्प से ऐतिहासिक नियामक सुधार देखा


CHICAGO (Reuters) - Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump on Wednesday sought to allay the concerns of Polish-Americans who questioned him about his commitment to Poland given his tough stance on NATO and talk of working with Russian President Vladimir Putin. Trump, at a small roundtable meeting with Polish-American leaders, heard their concerns about his demand that NATO nations bear more of the financial burden of their defense and his words of praise for Putin. “As president I will honor Poland’s sacrifices for freedom. We’re committed to a strong Poland, very committed, totally committed, and a strong Eastern Europe as a bulwark for freedom and security,” Trump said. Trump has rattled NATO allies and many U.S. national security experts by saying that if elected on Nov. 8, he would demand that NATO members pay up their defense contributions of 2 percent of GDP or else have to pay for their own security. Many nations in the North Atlantic Treaty Organization have lagged in their defense spending, to the frustration of U.S. leaders, but there has never been a move to cut them out of the U.S. security umbrella because of this. In Chicago, Trump hailed Poland as being up to date with its defense contributions. “We want NATO to be strong which means we want more nations to follow the example of Poland,” Trump said. “If all made the same contributions as Poland, all our allies would be more secure.” There are an estimated 9.5 million Americans of Polish descent in the United States, many of them clustered in Midwestern states that may play an important role in deciding who wins the election. Tim Kuzma, president of a group called the Polish Falcons of America, told Reuters that during the small roundtable event Trump was asked about whether he would be a strong friend to Poland. The message to Trump was “Would a Trump administration support Poland?” Kuzma said. “Would a Trump administration honor the commitments to NATO? And he was very affirmative that he would and that he believes in a strong NATO.”

Summary: ट्रम्प अपने नाटो रुख के बारे में पोलिश-अमेरिकियों की चिंताओं को शांत करने की कोशिश करते हैं


KRYNICA ZDROJ, Poland (Reuters) - Poland will continue to refuse to accept migrants under a European Union relocation scheme despite a ruling by EU s highest court that Brussels had the right to force member states to take in asylum seekers, Prime Minister Beata Szydlo said on Wednesday.  I was convinced that such a decision would be made (by the court), but this absolutely does not change the stance of the Polish government with respect to migration policy,  Szydlo told reporters on the sidelines of a business conference. Earlier on Wednesday, the European Union s highest court dismissed complaints by Slovakia and Hungary about EU migration policy.

Summary: यूरोपीय संघ की अदालत के फैसले के बावजूद प्रवासियों पर पोलैंड का रुख अपरिवर्तितः प्रधानमंत्री


NEW YORK/WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. health insurers are making their case to Republican lawmakers over how Americans sign up for individual insurance and pushing for other changes to shape the replacement of former President Barack Obama’s national healthcare law.  The health insurers, including Independence Blue Cross and Molina Healthcare Inc, are also recommending ways to put more control over insurance in the hands of states as the federal oversight of Obamacare is dismantled. They emphasize that it is crucial to keep government subsidies for low income people. These changes, described by executives, high level officials in the health insurance sector and lawmakers in nearly a dozen interviews with Reuters, include pushing for more strict enforcement of eligibility for these plans.  Because Republicans are just starting to work with the new Trump administration and the debate is fluid, it is not clear ultimately what changes will take hold. But some of these ideas have started to surface in early Republican legislation, such as a co-sponsored bill from Maine Senator Susan Collins that would keep subsidies.  The moves underscore that private insurers are quietly working on how to benefit under the Trump administration, which is focusing on deregulation in healthcare, energy and manufacturing. And they show that insurers want to save aspects of Obamacare individual plans, but cut down on the risk to their own bottom lines and any hikes in premiums that threaten the viability of this insurance market. This market for individual insurance covers about 10 million people and is small compared to the employer-based system that covers more than 160 million Americans and the government-paid programs for over 120 million people.  But it is one that insurers have described as having growth potential. While Obamacare cut the uninsured rate to 11 percent, there are still millions of uninsured Americans. The largest U.S. insurer UnitedHealth Group Inc told investors recently that it sees opportunities in new state-based markets and is talking to policymakers.  Many investors believe that the Republican deregulation push with Trump will benefit insurers. “Clearly they support the private insurers and the role that they are going to play in any sort of new market,” said Jeff Jonas, a portfolio manager at Gamco Investors in Rye, New York, which he said owns the publicly traded insurers. President Donald Trump campaigned on a promise to repeal Obama’s national healthcare law on his first day in office. He and Republicans have not presented an agreed upon replacement plan, but key issues they are expected to address include the law’s requirements for individuals to have insurance. Insurers’ main “ask” takes into account replacement plans under discussion in Congress, and largely assumes that government funds will continue to subsidize health benefits, at least for the next two to three years.  Daniel Hilferty, CEO of Independence Blue Cross in Pennsylvania, told Reuters that he advocated tightening the rules around signing up for insurance outside of the open enrollment period, and tight control of which third parties are allowed to pay premiums for patients.  Independence is part of a nationwide network of Blue Cross Blue Shield licensees such as Anthem Inc and has enrolled more than 300,000 consumers in individual plans.  Hilferty’s requests, echoed by other people in the industry who did not want to be named, are similar to demands the industry made of Obama. Enrollment outside of the regular period - and third-party groups that keep poorer, sicker patients in the private market by paying their premiums - has helped lead to hundreds of millions of dollars in losses for insurers and pushed three of the nation’s largest players out of the Obamacare market. In addition, Independence is also asking for a bigger role in signing up new customers who want to buy individual plans. Insurers sell plans both on the exchanges and off the exchanges, but subsidized plans are currently mostly sold on the government run HealthCare.gov and on state-run websites in a dozen states. “It would be really helpful if we in the industry played a more significant role in the actual enrollment process,” Hilferty said. Trump signed an executive order on Friday directing the federal government to scale back regulations, taxes and penalties related to the law. But the directive did not change the priorities outlined to Reuters by the insurers and industry sources, they said.   Insurers have built their list of top priorities assuming in part that Republicans will try to overturn the existing individual mandate, which requires Americans to pay a fee if they do not have insurance. A replacement plan would need to include some type of bonus to entice healthy people to get insurance.  That, they say, would be a step towards a good mix of sick and healthy people that will keep the plans profitable. Ideas include creating high-risk pools to keep the very sick in a separate market and offering low prices to the young and healthy.     Without a punishment for not buying insurance that is like the individual mandate, the market can’t survive, according to Dr. J. Mario Molina, Chief Executive Officer of Molina Healthcare Inc, a company that provides Medicaid for the poor and individual insurance plans on the exchanges.  “It probably needs to be a combination of both an incentive and a penalty,” Molina said.  Insurers also want to keep the cost-sharing subsidies that have made healthcare costs affordable for millions of people as well as the premium subsidies that help to reduce the monthly cost for people with low incomes. Those subsidies are part of a court case filed last year that is on hold.  “If it’s free or close to free, you are more likely to sign up in the absence of the mandate,” said Dan Mendelson, CEO of  Avalere Health, a research group and consultant that advises health insurers and is part of Inovalon Holdings. Insurers also want continued premium subsidies, skewed to keep up enrollment of younger people.  “I think if you don’t have the subsidies, then the whole thing falls apart,” said  Molina.

Summary: स्वास्थ्य बीमाकर्ता चुपचाप कम जोखिमों के साथ ओबामाकेयर प्रतिस्थापन को आकार देते हैं


UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - When President Donald Trump takes the world stage at the United Nations for the first time this week, he will share the spotlight with his envoy Nikki Haley, who has emerged as the surprising public face of U.S. foreign policy. Haley, the 45-year-old former South Carolina governor, has proven to be a high-profile member of Trump’s administration, at times overshadowing Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, the former chief executive of Exxon Mobil Corp, despite her lack of previous foreign policy experience, diplomats say. “For the U.S., Nikki Haley is remarkable. It’s hard to find in the Trump administration. It’s someone who is very approachable and politically very assertive,” said a senior European diplomat, speaking on condition of anonymity.  “I see her potentially taking over from Tillerson at some point. It’s clear her long-term objective is the presidency,” the diplomat said.  Haley dismisses speculation she could replace Tillerson, the country’s top diplomat, who has at times publicly differed with Trump during the president’s eight months in the White House. On Sunday, she told CNN that Tillerson is “not going anywhere and I continue to work well with him.” Trump’s speech on Tuesday at the U.N. General Assembly will be his highest profile opportunity to explain his foreign policy vision couched in his America First agenda. Haley arrived at the 193-member world body in January pledging to “take names” of allies who did not have Washington’s back. Trump administration officials say the president, happy with her performance, views her as both tough and smart. He speaks regularly with Haley, his fellow Republican, one U.S. administration official said.  Twice in five weeks she persuaded the 15-member U.N. Security Council to unanimously boost sanctions on North Korea. Her blunt language has raised eyebrows among diplomats. At the same time she has been careful not to steal the limelight from Trump, a wealthy businessman and former reality television star. “I personally think he slaps the right people, he hugs the right people, and he comes out with the U.S. being very strong in the end,” Haley told White House reporters on Friday. European Council on Foreign Relations U.N. expert Richard Gowan said Haley’s success could make Trump nervous and that it would be a “bad deal for her” if she was asked to replace Tillerson as secretary of state.   “She would lose the independence she enjoys in New York and (it would) tie her more closely to the president’s agenda. But it is an offer that she could not refuse. It’s an irony that the one way Trump can hurt Haley is to promote her,” he said.  Haley credits Trump with any U.S. achievements at the United Nations. After the Security Council toughened sanctions on North Korea this month, she praised his “strong relationship” with his Chinese counterpart for the result. When he dismissed the Sept. 11 U.N. resolution, which had been weakened by China and Russia, as “just another very small step, not a big deal,” Haley jumped to his defense and dismissed any suggestion they were not on the same page. “If we have to go further, this is going to look small compared to what we do,” she said at the time. Haley has made her mark also by fighting what she describes as U.N. anti-Israel bias, pushing for U.N. reform amid Trump’s call to slash U.S. funding, accusing Iran of meddling in the Middle East and challenging Russia over Ukraine and its support for Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. A senior administration official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said that during a National Security Council meeting on Iran this month, Trump specifically asked Haley’s opinion about what strategy to pursue. “She gave her opinion, and he liked her point of view,” the official said. “She wasn’t afraid to speak up.” A senior Iranian official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said, “This lady for some reason is very angry with Iran.” Before her selection as ambassador, Haley made national headlines when as governor she led a successful effort to remove the Confederate battle flag, viewed by many as a racist emblem, from the grounds of the South Carolina state capitol after the killing of nine black churchgoers in her state. During the 2016 presidential campaign Haley sparred with Trump, backing one of his rivals before he became the Republican candidate. The daughter of immigrants from India, Haley took Trump to task over his harsh campaign rhetoric about illegal immigration and for not speaking forcefully enough against white supremacists. When last month Trump inflamed tensions by saying that counter-protesters were also to blame for a deadly rally by white nationalists in Virginia, Haley spoke up, telling U.S. media she had a “personal conversation” with him about it.  Without naming Trump she wrote to staff at the U.S. mission to the United Nations to say that everyone must stand up and condemn hate.

Summary: संयुक्त राष्ट्र की बैठक में अमेरिकी सुर्खियों को साझा करेंगे ट्रम्प और निक्की हेली


JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Israel said on Tuesday that the Hezbollah guerrilla group, its most potent enemy in neighboring Lebanon, had gained control over that country s U.S.-sponsored conventional military, signaling both would be in Israeli gunsights in any future war. Defence Minister Avigdor Lieberman s remarks were a hard tack from more measured recent Israeli estimates that the Lebanese army maintained autonomy even if some of its troops cooperated with the better-armed, Iranian-aligned guerrillas. Outlining potential threats in Lebanon, where Israel last fought a war against Hezbollah in 2006, Lieberman said in a speech:  We are no longer talking about Hezbollah alone .   We are talking about Hezbollah and the Lebanese army, and to my regret this is the reality. The Lebanese army has turned into an integral part of Hezbollah s command structure. The Lebanese army has lost its independence and become an inseparable part of the Hezbollah apparatus,  Lieberman said. There was no immediate response from Lebanon, which is formally in a state of war with Israel, nor from the U.S. embassies in Beirut and Tel Aviv.  The Lebanese army has previously said it operates independently from Hezbollah, most recently during an operation against Islamic State militants at the Lebanese-Syrian border, during which the army said there was absolutely no coordination with Hezbollah fighters who attacked IS from the Syrian side. Hosting Lebanese Prime Minister Saad al-Hariri in July for aid talks, U.S. President Donald Trump praised Beirut s efforts to stem the spread of Islamic State and pledged continued help from Washington.  America s assistance can help ensure that the Lebanese army is the only defender Lebanon needs,  Trump said.     The Pentagon said Washington has provided Lebanon with more than $1.5 billion in military assistance since 2006, and that    U.S. special forces have been providing  training and support  for the Lebanese army since 2011.  Strengthening the LAF (Lebanese Armed Forces) also advances a range of U.S. interests in the Middle East that includes not only countering the spread of ISIS (Islamic State) and other violent extremists but also stemming the influence of Iran and Hezbollah in the region,  Pentagon spokesman Eric Pahon said. While welcoming U.S. action against Islamic State, Israel sees Iran, Hezbollah and their allies as the greater threat and worries about their entrenchment in Syria as they help President Bashar al-Assad beat back a more than six-year-old rebellion. Lieberman said Israel sought to avoid going to war again on its northern front, which, he predicted, would include Syria.       In anything that transpires, it will be one theater, Syria and Lebanon together, Hezbollah, the Assad regime and all of the Assad regime s collaborators,  he said.

Summary: इज़राइल का कहना है कि हिज़्बुल्लाह लेबनान की सेना चलाता है, संकेत देता है कि दोनों दुश्मन हैं


WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump on Monday declared Obamacare “dead” and “gone,” but urged Republicans and Democrats in Congress to craft a short-term fix of healthcare markets under the 7-year-old law that critics say he has effectively sabotaged. “It’s dead. It’s gone. It’s no longer - you shouldn’t even mention. It’s gone,” Trump said of former Democratic President Barack Obama’s signature 2010 healthcare law that Republicans have repeatedly tried and failed to repeal. Speaking to reporters at the White House, Trump said: “I think we’ll have a short-term fix with Republicans and Democrats getting together.” Trump also said he would work to lower prescription drug prices, which he said were “out of control.” He did not provide details. Last week, the Republican president said he would stop Obamacare’s federal subsidy payments to insurers, which are designed to help lower-income people afford health insurance. Trump said that in stopping the subsidies, he was cutting off the “gravy train” for insurers. But Democrats and some Republicans said Trump’s move to cancel the payments would hurt poor and middle-class people and cause premiums to soar. Democratic attorneys general from 18 states as well as Washington, D.C., filed a lawsuit in federal court in California on Friday to preserve the payments.      Trump vowed during his 2016 presidential campaign to kill Obamacare, formally known as the Affordable Care Act, but his fellow Republicans in Congress have been unable to pass legislation to replace it with a more limited healthcare program. Republicans call Obamacare intrusive and ineffective. Democrats defend the law, saying it extended health insurance to millions of Americans. Trump said his goal was to make healthcare more affordable and “that’s what we are doing” by encouraging a bipartisan short-term fix followed by a Republican-only long-term program to be enacted during the first part of next year. It was not yet clear whether the Republican-controlled Congress would agree to help shore up Obamacare and reinstate the subsidies. Congress is already grappling with a crowded agenda that includes tax reform and paying for relief efforts for California’s wildfires and hurricanes that hit Florida, Texas and Puerto Rico. Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer said he was hopeful that a deal was near to stabilize Obamacare. “If he’s (Trump) now supportive of an agreement that stabilizes and improves the existing system under the Affordable Care Act, we certainly welcome that change of heart,” Schumer said in a statement. Republican Senator Lamar Alexander and Democratic Senator Patty Murray have been trying to craft a bipartisan deal aimed at helping stabilize health insurance markets under Obamacare. Speaking to reporters on Monday, Alexander said: “I hope we can get a result,” but added that any deal he crafted with Murray would have to win the support of rank-and-file senators. He said he and Murray were trying to strike a deal that “extends cost-sharing payments for two years and gives states meaningful flexibility” in administering Obamacare.

Summary: ट्रम्प ने ओबामाकेयर को 'मृत' घोषित किया, अल्पकालिक सुधार के लिए डेमोक्रेटिक सहायता का आग्रह किया


BOSASO, Somalia (Reuters) - The U.S. military said on Monday it had carried out an air strike against Islamic State militants in northeast Somalia, killing one person. Islamic State has been gathering recruits in the region, although experts say the scale of its force is unclear and it remains a small player compared to the al Shabaab group.  In coordination with the Federal Government of Somalia, U.S. forces conducted an airstrike against ISIS, in northeastern Somalia on Nov. 27, killing one terrorist,  the U.S. Africa Command said in a statement. Colonel Ali Abdi, a military officer in an area near the town of Qandala in the semi-autonomous Puntland region, said the strike took place in hills near the town.  We heard a huge crash of air strike in the hilly areas of Dasaan remote area behind Qandala town this afternoon   Abdi told Reuters from Dasaan.  After the strike the IS militants ran away from there. We went to the scene and saw pieces of a dead body.   Last month, a group loyal to Islamic State seized a small port town in Somalia s semi-autonomous Puntland region, the first town it has taken since emerging a year ago. The group, which refers to itself simply as Islamic State, is a rival to the larger al Shabaab force, which is linked to Islamic State s rival al Qaeda and once controlled much of Somalia. Early this month, the U.S. military carried out its first air strike against Islamic State militants, killing several. Last week, Somalia s government said it had requested a U.S. air strike that killed scores of suspected militants to help pave the way for an upcoming ground offensive against al Shabaab. Earlier this year, the White House granted the U.S. military broader authority to carry out strikes in Somalia against al Shabaab.

Summary: अमेरिकी सेना का कहना है कि उसने सोमालिया में आईएसआईएस के खिलाफ हवाई हमला किया


WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Two studies that President Donald Trump hopes will buttress his case to cut the number of refugees are at the heart of a fight between senior White House adviser Stephen Miller and career U.S. government officials over immigration policy, four current and former officials said.     Trump in March ordered the U.S. State Department and other agencies to tally only the costs of resettling refugees but not the benefits that policy experts said refugees can also bring, including tax revenues, professional skills and job creation. A current official said Miller had convened meetings with State Department staffers to discuss the refugee cost reports. When department specialists proposed including refugees’ economic contributions in the studies to produce a more balanced assessment, Miller rebuffed the idea, one current and one former U.S. official said. The White House said Miller did not hold meetings on the specific subject of the cost reports and that Trump’s overall fiscal year 2018 budget proposal sought to “make transparent the net budgetary effects of immigration programs and policy.” The current and former officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said they believe, however, that the administration wants to help make a case to restrict refugee flows by creating a skewed analysis. “It’s a policy outcome in search of a rationale,” said a former U.S. official familiar with the debate. The White House disputed the notion that Miller was seeking to tailor the outcome of the reports, which are to be compiled mainly by the State Department’s Bureau of Population, Refugees and Migration (PRM).  “The idea that we are ordering biased reports is false,” said Michael Short, a White House spokesman. The tensions over the reports, due in September, have not been previously reported. Miller has a history of backing curbs on immigration. He  was the architect of Trump’s order in January suspending the refugee program for 120 days and refugees from Syria indefinitely. That order, which also temporarily barred travelers from seven Muslim-majority countries, was largely blocked by the courts, as was a second executive order. Miller was not available for an interview. R.C. Hammond, a senior adviser to Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, said a department staffer who attended budget meetings recalled Miller “suggesting the State Department review the methodology and findings of existing studies” on refugees. “Essentially, suggesting we learn how others have examined the issue and see if there is anything we can learn,” Hammond said in an email. “My colleague did not take away the sense that any instructions were given to include or not include certain information.” Hammond he did not identify the State Department staffer. Tensions in the government over Trump’s immigration policies began with Trump’s executive order, which prompted about 900 State Department employees to sign an internal memo dissenting against it in January. Weeks later, the right-wing Breitbart website, which has close ties to the White House, published a story calling for the firing - among others - of the two top officials in the Department of Health and Human Services’ Office of Refugee Resettlement and three senior officials at the PRM bureau. Breitbart listed the officials by name, but it did not mention the reports on refugee costs. Career officials cannot be fired, but can be reassigned. There is no evidence the five have been reassigned. Trump promised a hardline immigration policy during his 2016 presidential campaign. He called at one point for a complete ban on Muslims entering the United States, citing security reasons amid a series of attacks worldwide by Islamist militants. For the first report, Trump ordered a tally of “the estimated long-term costs of the United States Refugee Admissions Program at the Federal, State, and local levels, along with recommendations about how to curtail those costs.” Trump directed that the second report estimate “how many refugees are being supported in countries of first asylum (near their home countries) for the same long-term cost as supporting refugees in the United States, taking into account the full lifetime cost of Federal, State, and local benefits, and the comparable cost of providing similar benefits elsewhere.” Refugee policy experts said that while more refugees can be supported in third-country camps for a given sum than settled in the United States, that support does not provide a permanent solution as resettlement can. Most studies show that refugees entering the United States require more government services than immigrants as a whole. But scholars differ over the long-term economic impact of accepting refugees, which can depress low-skilled workers’ wages and require all workers to help pay for social services that refugees receive. During their first eight years in the United States, refugees receive more in benefits than they pay in taxes, a study published this month by the nonprofit National Bureau for Economic Research said. “After the eighth year, taxes paid tend to be greater than the benefits received,” by an average of $21,000 over a 20-year period, the study found. Jessica Vaughan of the Center for Immigration Studies, which favors limiting immigration, agreed that accountings such as those Trump ordered should not be limited to costs.  “It’s only fair to consider any fiscal benefits,” she said. The four current and former U.S. officials said the high-level White House focus on the reports has sent a clear signal about the outcome Trump wants. “When the White House calls and expresses interest...in a report of this nature, given all the things that the national security council and people around the president have to worry about, that sends an enormously profound signal to the bureaucracy,” one of the former officials said.

Summary: व्हाइट हाउस ने शरणार्थियों की लागत को लेकर विदेश विभाग पर दबाव डालाः सूत्र


WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Democratic U.S. senators elected Chuck Schumer of New York as minority leader on Wednesday, and he tapped former presidential candidate Senator Bernie Sanders to help Democrats woo blue-collar workers, many of whom voted for President-elect Donald Trump. Senate Republicans also met and voted to keep Mitch McConnell of Kentucky as the majority leader. Schumer, 65, replaces the retiring Harry Reid of Nevada as the top Democrat in the Senate as the party prepares to deal with Republican Trump and Republican majorities in both the Senate and House of Representatives. Schumer said Democrats had learned from the Nov. 8 election that they needed “a sharper, bolder economic message about returning the economic system which so many feel is rigged against them to one that works for the people.” “We’re ready to stand shoulder-to-shoulder with Republicans, working with soon-to-be-President Trump on issues where we agree, but we will go toe-to-toe against the president-elect whenever our values or the progress we’ve made is under assault,” Schumer, who has been in the Senate since 1999, told reporters after the Democrats’ closed-door election. In a move recognizing the influence of Sanders with many working-class voters, Schumer asked the independent senator from Vermont to be caucus head of outreach. Sanders, who lost the presidential primary to former senator and secretary of state Hillary Clinton, said his job was to reach out to “grassroots America.” Another liberal, Senator Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts was given the role of vice chair of the conference while yet another progressive voice, Tammy Baldwin of Wisconsin, was made conference secretary. Senator Joe Manchin, a more conservative Democrat from West Virginia, was named vice chairman of the Democratic policy and communications committee.  Schumer said he knew there would be differences of opinion on the new team, but that together the group could “speak to the blue-collar worker in West Virginia, and Michigan, as well as the people who live along the coast.”  Trump’s economic populism helped him flip some once-reliably Democratic areas in blue-collar states while Democrats did better in large urban centers and coastal states. Senator Dick Durbin of Illinois remained minority whip, the No. 2 spot, while Senator Patty Murray of Washington was chosen as assistant Democratic leader. In the House, Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi announced she was running for minority leader again and said she already has the support of more than two-thirds of her caucus. Pelosi, who may face a challenger, agreed this week to delay leadership elections until Nov. 30 after her fellow Democrats called for more time to reassess why they fell short of their goals in the Nov. 8 election.

Summary: शूमर, मैककोनेल ने सीनेट में शीर्ष नेताओं को चुना


NAIROBI (Reuters) - The head of Kenya s election commission said on Wednesday he could not guarantee next week s presidential election will be free and fair, citing interference from politicians and threats of violence against his colleagues. Wafula Chebukati s statement came hours after another commission member resigned and left the country, saying she and her staff had been repeatedly threatened.  Ironically, the very people, political leaders, who are supposed to build the nation have become the greatest threat to the peace and stability of the nation,  Chebukati told journalists. The Oct. 26 poll is the re-run of an election that took place in August, where incumbent president Uhuru Kenyatta s victory was nullified on procedural grounds. But the run-up to the new poll has been fraught, particularly since Kenyatta s main challenger, opposition leader Raila Odinga, pulled out, alleging a failure to improve the oversight of the election. Odinga has called nearly daily protests against the poll and the election commission, pushing East Africa s largest economy - a stable Western ally in a chaotic region - deeper into turmoil. Kenyatta on Wednesday restated his commitment to the poll, but Odinga called for a mass protest on election day - raising the prospect of confrontations between protesters and voters.   Demonstrations will continue. October 26 will be the biggest demonstration of them all,  Odinga told a crowd of several thousand cheering supporters in Nairobi.  Commission head Chebukati said technical preparations for the new poll were on course, but his attempts to make  critical changes , notably to staff, had been defeated by a majority of commissioners. He said he been pressured to resign, without giving further details.  Under such conditions, it is difficult to guarantee a free fair and credible election,  Chebukati said.  We cannot move forward with a divided commission.  Election staff attending training sessions in some opposition strongholds were attacked this week, police said.  A senior Western diplomat in Nairobi condemned the attacks, saying of Odinga:  There is growing frustration among Western diplomats that a man who stood for democracy ... is essentially in charge of a movement trying to sabotage an election.    There is thuggery going on ... People who incite violence will be held accountable,  the diplomat told Reuters.  Roselyn Akombe, another of the board s eight members, flew to New York and issued a statement dated Tuesday, saying  the commission has become a party to the current crisis  and was  under siege .  She said commissioners were serving partisan interests, and legal advice was being skewed for political reasons. Akombe urged Kenyans to remember the violence that followed a disputed 2007 poll, when more than 1,200 people were killed. She told BBC radio she fled after receiving threats from both sides. A week before the August poll, the election commission s head of IT was found tortured and murdered in Nairobi, raising fears of a possible hack of the commission s computer systems. At least 37 people have died in violence since the August vote, including four killed in confrontations between police and protesters in the past week.  The uncertainty over the vote has affected financial markets: the central bank sold dollars in the foreign exchange market after the Kenyan shilling weakened on news of Akombe s resignation. [nL8N1MT1F5]  Central bank governor Patrick Njoroge told Reuters on Thursday that the government was revising its 2017 economic growth forecast downwards amid high political uncertainty. [L8N1MT4FJ] Last month, Kenya cut its growth forecast to 5.5 percent from 5.9 percent. Kenyan law requires that the new election be held within 60 days of the Sept. 1 decision by the Supreme Court to cancel the results of the original vote, but Odinga says his withdrawal should trigger a new, 90-day election cycle. In withdrawing his candidacy last week, Odinga said the election board had not carried out reforms, including firing of key officials who he blames for mistakes in the Aug. 8 vote. But Kenyatta said in a televised speech on Wednesday:  We walk towards the declared date of the 26th of October both as a God-fearing leadership and government.   The ruling party has used its parliamentary majority to pass amendments to the electoral law curtailing the grounds on which the Supreme Court can nullify an election. Kenyatta has not yet signed the amendments after heavy international criticism.  The election board says it has conducted some reforms and the vote will go ahead with Odinga on the ballot. This week, police raided homes belonging to wealthy opposition financier Jimi Wanjigi and said they had found a cache of weapons. Wanjigi said in an emotional interview that the firearms were licensed and that he was being persecuted.  On Tuesday, Deputy President William Ruto said Odinga had pulled out of the race to avoid a  humiliating defeat . Tweeting on Wednesday, Ruto criticised the election board head s comments:  Chebukati should stop lecturing us and oversee the elections.  Efforts by diplomats, religious leaders and civil society leaders have so far failed to bridge the divide.

Summary: केन्याई चुनाव प्रमुखः कोई गारंटी नहीं है कि मतदान स्वतंत्र और निष्पक्ष होगा


BERLIN (Reuters) - Airbus Helicopters has warned pilots of its Tiger military helicopters to be careful of rapid switches from auto pilot to manual mode during turbulence, after initial indications that such a switch may have played a role in a fatal crash in Mali.  The unit of European aerospace giant Airbus said in a statement that the warning was aimed at increasing operators  safety and should not be seen as an indication of the possible root cause of the crash during a U.N. mission in July, which killed both crew members. According to a source who has seen the Airbus Helicopters  bulletin that carried the warning, the bulletin said an unexpected switch from automatic to manual flight mode  may have played a role in the accident, according to information currently available . The bulletin did not say whether the unexpected switch had happened automatically or been done manually. German officials last week met to discuss the accident in the Mali desert, but decided to maintain existing flight restrictions on the aircraft after failing to reach a definite conclusion about the cause of the crash. Airbus said its safety guidance - sent to operators in Germany, Australia, France and Spain - was meant to  standardise all flight manuals and remind operators that crews must adjust their attention to environmental conditions while using the auto pilot during turbulence.  The guidance reiterated passages already in the flight manuals which instruct pilots not to intentionally enter areas with more than moderate turbulence, and to avoid flying through  areas of severe turbulence.  A German defence ministry report last month said the Tiger that crashed in Mali had been flying at 250 kilometres (155 miles) per hour at a height of 550 metres (1,800 feet) when it  suddenly sank its nose and entered a sharp dive.  The helicopter crashed 10 seconds later and burst into flames. The report, however, said it was too early to speculate about the causes of the crash. German officials continue to investigate the cause of the crash.  Officials say it could take months to complete the probe. At the time of the crash, they said there were no signs the helicopter was downed by an attack. Germany s deployment of four Tiger helicopters to Mali earlier this year was controversial since the aircraft required extra maintenance given the strong heat and other environmental conditions in the African country, although officials say the aircraft had been performing normally. Germany agreed to deploy the Tiger helicopters and four NH-90 transport helicopters after the Dutch military said it could not continue the work in Mali.  But Germany s increased support was heavily debated in parliament, and required a waiver from the German military allowing the helicopters to operate in higher temperatures. Germany currently has 26 Tiger helicopters.

Summary: एयरबस ने अशांति में उड़ने वाले टाइगर हेलीकॉप्टरों पर सुरक्षा सलाह जारी की


LIMA (Reuters) - President Pedro Pablo Kuczynski s chances of surviving the political crisis gripping Peru faded on Friday after Congress passed a motion to start  presidential vacancy  procedures with enough votes to unseat him within a week. The opposition-controlled Congress voted 93-17 on Friday to seek his removal from office over graft allegations, which he denies. Eighty-seven votes will be needed to oust him in a session scheduled for Dec. 21, when he will be asked to defend himself. A Brazilian construction company at the center of Latin America s biggest graft scandal disclosed this week payments totaling $4.8 million to companies owned by Kuczynski or a close friend, triggering calls for him to resign. Kuczynski had previously denied any links to the Brazilian company, Odebrecht, and said on Thursday there was nothing improper about the payments. Flanked by his Cabinet, Kuczynski vowed not to resign in a defiant message to the nation. However, Kuczynski was aware his chances of surviving the scandal were slim, said a government source who asked not be identified. By resisting calls to step down, he hopes to clear his name and defend due process as the Odebrecht graft investigation widens, the source said.  This is a national disgrace,  said opposition lawmaker Lourdes Alcorta.  The less harmful option for Peru would be his resignation. He s forcing us to impeach him.  Odebrecht has rocked politics in Latin America since agreeing a year ago to provide details on bribery schemes across the region - landing elites in jail from Colombia to the Dominican Republic and nearly toppling a president in Brazil. Two former presidents in Peru, Ollanta Humala and Alejandro Toledo, have been ensnared in the Odebrecht probe over alleged payments they deny. Humala was jailed pending trial in July and authorities are seeking Toledo s extradition from the United States. Opposition leader Keiko Fujimori, whom Kuczynski unexpectedly defeated in last year s presidential election, is also under investigation and denies wrongdoing. If Kuczynski is forced out, he would be replaced by First Vice President Martin Vizcarra, a former governor of a copper-rich mining region and Peru s current ambassador to Canada. Kuczynski was once lauded by many as a brilliant technocrat who would help uproot widespread corruption in Peru. But his 16 months in office have been marked by clashes with the right-wing opposition party that controls Congress. Kuczynski said late on Thursday he was the owner, but not the manager, of a company paid by Odebrecht while he held senior government posts. He also acknowledged providing financial services for an Odebrecht project as a consultant for a friend s firm when he did not hold public office. The opposition slammed the explanation as too little, too late.  It s really unfortunate that President Kuczynski has put the country in this situation,  said congresswoman Cecilia Chacon.

Summary: पेरू की कांग्रेस राष्ट्रपति कुजिंस्की को हटाने की तैयारी कर रही है


NEW YORK (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump’s Cabinet is worth a combined $14 billion, and they are catching flak in recent weeks for confessing an inability to keep track of their vast sums of wealth. But private bankers who work with the ultra rich say that if they had a dollar for every time a client forgot about a million, they would be, well, almost as rich as their clients. “We see it all the time,” with new clients, said Chris Walters of GenSpring Family Offices, SunTrust Bank Inc’s (STI.N) branch for clients with more than $50 million in assets. “It’s not that they are surprised they own the asset. They just omitted it in the inventory.” Steven Mnuchin, a former Goldman Sachs Group Inc (GS.N) partner who is Trump’s pick to lead the U.S. Treasury Department, was grilled by members of the Senate last week for inadvertently failing to disclose more than $100 million in real estate. On Tuesday, the nominee for head of the budget office, Mick Mulvaney, said he did not realize he needed to pay $15,000 in federal taxes for a nanny until scrutinizing his finances more closely for confirmation proceedings.  Trump himself said in an interview with Reuters last March that he does not pay much attention to his own investments in hedge funds and mutual funds. “I have no idea how they are doing. I don’t really care,” Trump said. “I’m in a lot of things. I may be in a few funds. I have no idea if they are up or down. I just know that they have been very good over a period of time.” Trump’s lawyer Sheri Dillon has since said that he has liquidated all of his investments. Senate leadership has delayed confirmation hearings for three other wealthy Trump nominees to allow more time for nominees to file disclosures and to accommodate schedules. In response to questions about how people with millions or billions of dollars who hire experts to carefully tally their vast wealth could lose track of such big chunks of money, private bankers and family office managers said their clients simply live much more complicated financial lives than ordinary people. About one-in-five people with more than $25 million in assets hire advisers to take care of tasks like paying daily bills, managing staff at multiple homes and keeping track of assets around the globe, according to a report by research firm Spectrem. Advisers say their clients need this type of assistance because they work, socialize and travel too frequently to take care of mundane tasks themselves. Eileen Foley, head of Bank of New York Mellon Corp’s (BK.N) family office business, said that some clients want daily reports detailing every dollar that goes in and out of each account. They also ask for daily reports on investments, tangible assets, properties and liabilities. When a client is nominated for a position on the board of a public company or in government, this type of daily monitoring can help she said: “It’s not a fire drill.” But even with that type of due diligence, clients often forget to mention assets held by multiple people, like limited partnerships. Those structures are harder for advisers to discover in financial statements, because they are often structured to keep ownership opaque. Mnuchin, for instance, failed to disclose around $900,000 worth of artwork held by his children, according to media reports. Mnuchin did not respond to requests for comment. He also did not initially disclose homes in New York, Los Angeles and Mexico. The complexity of a rich person’s financial life usually builds over time as they acquire houses and collections and other belongings, advisers said. In many cases, if a client has not been forced to detail all their assets or confirm that every domestic employee has insurance coverage, then they probably have not done it, said Bill Woodson, head of North American family offices at Citigroup Inc’s (C.N) private bank. “It’s understandable why” they forget, he said. “It doesn’t excuse it.” (This story corrects spelling of flak in first paragraph).

Summary: ट्रम्प मंत्रिमंडल की पहली विश्व समस्याः यहाँ और वहाँ कुछ लाख को छोड़ना


WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The leaders of the U.S. House Intelligence Committee’s Russia probe on Thursday called on the White House to respond more fully to their request for any records on President Donald Trump’s conversations with fired FBI Director James Comey. The White House told the panel on June 23 that a tweet by the president in which he said he had no recordings of their conversations was responsive to the committee’s request. In a joint statement on Thursday, Republican Representative Mike Conaway and Democratic Representative Adam Schiff said they had written the White House to press it to comply fully with their request. “Today’s letter from the committee makes clear that should the White House not respond fully, the committee will consider using compulsory process to ensure a satisfactory response,” they said.

Summary: हाउस पैनल ने कोमी के टेप अनुरोध पर पूर्ण प्रतिक्रिया के लिए व्हाइट हाउस पर दबाव डाला


LIMA (Reuters) - Three Peruvian policemen were killed in an attack on patrol vehicles in a drug-trafficking region controlled by a remnant band of Shining Path rebels, the interior ministry said on Thursday. Authorities are investigating the attack, which occurred late on Wednesday in the jungle region known as the VRAEM, where most of Peru s cocaine is produced, the ministry said. The Maoist-inspired Shining Path largely ended its armed rebellion in the 1990s on orders from the group s leaders.  But a faction that refused to put down its weapons occasionally ambushes state security forces in the region, where rebels work with drug traffickers. So far this year, nine police or military officers have been killed in the VRAEM in a sign the Shining Path faction has regrouped after two top leaders were killed in 2013, said Peruvian security analyst Pedro Yaranga.  This is going to continue,  he said. Peruvian President Pedro Pablo Kuczynski called the latest incident a  cowardly attack  and the interior ministry said it would increase security operations in the region.

Summary: पेरू में मादक पदार्थों की तस्करी में तीन पुलिसकर्मियों की हत्याः सरकार


BOSTON (Reuters) - A 2014 New Hampshire law prohibiting voters from taking selfies with their ballots on election day is an unconstitutional infringement on the right to free speech, a federal appeals court ruled on Wednesday. The New England state had banned the practice, which has become a popular way for voters to show support for favored candidates, claiming that it would set the stage for a return of the vote-buying scandals that rocked many U.S. states in the 19th century. Three New Hampshire citizens, including a man who wrote in the name of his dog to express dismay at his choices in the 2014 Republican primary for the U.S. Senate, sued the state that year claiming the measure violated their rights to free expression, as protected by the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution. A federal court in New Hampshire sided with them, but the state appealed, making its case in Boston just two weeks ago. The appeals court swiftly rejected its arguments. “The statute’s purposes cannot justify the restrictions it imposes on speech,” Circuit Judge Sandra Lynch wrote in the court’s decision. New Hampshire’s argument that ballot selfies could lead to people selling their votes or being compelled by their employers to vote in a certain way fell short in no small part because the state had no evidence of that actually happening, Lynch wrote. “The legislative history of the bill does not contain any corroborated evidence of vote buying or voter coercion in New Hampshire during the 20th and 21st centuries,” she wrote. “Digital photography, the internet, and social media are not unknown quantities — they have been ubiquitous for several election cycles, without being shown to have the effect of furthering vote buying or voter intimidation.” Lynch also noted that several federal and state laws in effect in New Hampshire already make it illegal to buy or sell a vote, which would allow prosecutors to take on allegations of election tampering even in an environment where selfies were permitted. Other states, including nearby Rhode Island, have passed laws explicitly allowing ballot selfies, partly reasoning that the trend has helped younger voters show their enthusiasm for the democratic process.

Summary: न्यू हैम्पशायर 'बैलेट सेल्फी' प्रतिबंध असंवैधानिकः अपील अदालत


FRANKFURT (Reuters) - German authorities arrested a suspected child sex abuser on Tuesday after taking the extraordinary step of circulating a photograph of his 4-year-old victim found on the dark web, a prosecutor said. Bild newspaper said the suspect was identified on Monday evening when the child and her mother saw the images - posted online and shown on television - and went to their local police station. The man - identified in the media as the woman s 24-year-old boyfriend - was detained hours after the nationwide manhunt began, Frankfurt prosecutor Georg Ungefuk said. On Tuesday, a judge approved an arrest warrant and sent the suspect to pre-trial detention, a spokesman for the prosecutor s office said. The man s apartment in the Wesermarsch district of Lower Saxony was searched and evidence seized, officials said.  The suspect is believed to have seriously sexually abused the child a total of nine times, to have made films of the abuse and then distributed them,  Ungefuk said. He faces a possible prison sentence of up to 15 years if convicted of multiple counts of sexual abuse, according to the prosecutor s office. Experts had worked on the case since images of the abuse first appeared on the dark web - a part of the internet not accessible via search engines - in late July, he said, and authorities took the unusual step of distributing the photograph because they had run out of other options. Authorities were tipped about the case by foreign officials, who identified Germany as the likely location of the crime since a German television program could be heard in the background of one of the videos. Ungefuk said there was no link between this case and the Elysium platform, a child pornography network with 90,000 users whose suspected operator was arrested in July. Prosecutors in Hanover will now take over the case given that the alleged crime took place in Lower Saxony state.

Summary: जर्मन पुलिस ने बाल शोषण पीड़ित की तस्वीर पोस्ट करने के बाद एक व्यक्ति को गिरफ्तार किया


WASHINGTON (Reuters) - White House budget director Mick Mulvaney told reporters on Monday that President Donald Trump would sign a spending bill that avoids a government shutdown when he receives it on Thursday or Friday. At a White House briefing, Mulvaney said that while the legislation did not include funding to build a wall along the U.S. southern border with Mexico, it did have $1.5 billion for border security. He said that when Trump makes a budget request in late May for the 2018 fiscal year that begins in October, he will include a request for money to build the wall, which is a top priority of the president. Mulvaney said the short-term spending bill that Trump would  sign did not have everything Trump wanted but contained a significant increase for defense the president requested.

Summary: व्हाइट हाउस का कहना है कि ट्रम्प गुरुवार या शुक्रवार को व्यय विधेयक पर हस्ताक्षर करेंगे


(Reuters) - A federal appeals court on Friday refused to dismiss a corruption indictment against Senator Robert Menendez of New Jersey, rejecting the Democrat’s claim that the U.S. Constitution shielded him from prosecution. The 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals said prosecutors could pursue charges that Menendez accepted campaign donations and gifts, including a stay in a Caribbean villa and private jet flights from a wealthy friend, Florida ophthalmologist Salomon Melgen, in exchange for using his office to lobby on his behalf. “Members of Congress are not to be ‘super-citizens’ immune from criminal liability,” Circuit Judge Thomas Ambro wrote for a three-judge panel of the Philadelphia-based appeals court. Friday’s decision means the case could eventually be headed for trial, and could complicate Democrats’ efforts to regain control of the U.S. Senate after the Nov. 8 election. If Menendez, 62, were forced to give up the seat he has held since 2006, Governor Chris Christie, a Republican, could under New Jersey law appoint a temporary replacement. The senator has pledged to stay in office while defending himself, but has given up his post as the ranking Democrat on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. Abbe Lowell, Menendez’s lawyer, said the senator intends to ask the entire appeals court to review Friday’s decision, and, if necessary, appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court. The decision is “another step in the legal process that, at the end of the day, will show that Senator Menendez has always acted in accordance with the law,” Lowell said in a statement. “The Senator remains confident that he will be vindicated.” Peter Carr, a U.S. Department of Justice spokesman, declined to comment. In an indictment unveiled in April 2015, Menendez was accused of accepting bribes from Melgen in exchange for interceding in various matters on his friend’s behalf. Prosecutors said these included an $8.9 million Medicare billing dispute, and a contract dispute with the Dominican Republic in which Menendez encouraged the State Department to intervene. Menendez and Melgen have pleaded not guilty to the respective charges they faced in the 22-count indictment. Last September, U.S. District Judge William Walls in Newark, New Jersey, dismissed four bribery counts but left most of the government’s case intact. In his appeal, Menendez argued that his actions were protected by the Constitution’s “speech or debate” clause, which offers broad protection to members of Congress against prosecution for actions they undertake as legislators. Ambro, however, said Menendez’s actions amounted to “essentially lobbying on behalf of a particular party,” and thus outside the “safe harbor” provided in the Constitution. There is “a sufficient basis for the district court’s conclusion that the predominant purpose of the challenged acts was to pursue a political resolution to Dr. Melgen’s disputes,” Ambro wrote. “It was not to engage in true legislative oversight or otherwise influence broad matters of policy.” Lowell had argued that Walls should have focused on what actually went on at the meetings in question, saying the record reflected that “high-level policy discussions” had taken place. Ambro said Menendez remains free to argue that his efforts were directed toward influencing policy, and the government still has the burden at trial of proving otherwise. “The evidence in favor of Senator Menendez will no doubt channel forcefully his position at trial,” the judge wrote. Friday’s decision came one month after the Supreme Court unanimously overturned the bribery convictions of former Virginia Governor Bob McDonnell. That court said routine political activities such as arranging meetings or reaching out to public officials generally could not form a basis for criminal prosecutions. The 3rd Circuit focused mainly on the speech or debate clause, and did not mention McDonnell. Lowell said that case raised “important” issues that need to be addressed. The case is U.S. v. Menendez, 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, No. 15-3459.

Summary: अमेरिकी अदालत ने एन. जे. सीनेटर मेनेंडेज़ की भ्रष्टाचार के मामले को समाप्त करने की कोशिश को खारिज कर दिया


SANTIAGO (Reuters) - Center-left lawmakers in Chile pledged on Wednesday to unify and support a single candidate in any eventual runoff against conservative candidate Sebastian Pinera, who is leading in polls for this year s presidential race.  While Pinera has consolidated support among the country s political right, six left-of-center candidates will be competing in the Nov. 19 first round vote, amid fissures within socialist President Michelle Bachelet s coalition and the emergence of new left-wing leaders.  Polls show Pinera, a wealthy businessman who previously governed Chile between 2010 and 2014, has around 40 percent of voter intentions. That would not be enough to win an absolute majority in the first round. A December runoff is expected to be closer, meaning the left s ability to unite around a single candidate could be critical.  After the first round in which each of us will give our best effort for the candidate we most support, we promise that in the second round we will support the candidate that represents the forces of the left and center-left,  some 300 politicians said on Wednesday in a letter.  Senator Alejandro Guillier, an ally of Bachelet who is polling second, has previously said he would seek links with other  progressive  candidates to ultimately defeat Pinera. Bachelet is constitutionally prohibited from seeking a second consecutive term. The Christian Democrat party, a large centrist and socially conservative party that is putting forward its own candidate, has been hesitant to pledge unity to date, following deep divisions with the governing Nueva Mayoria bloc over elements of Bachelet s policies in recent months. But one of the party s lawmakers said on Wednesday that it would support the best-performing Nueva Mayoria candidate.  The night of the 19th we are going to get behind the candidate who moves on to the second round,  Christian Democrat Congresswoman Yasna Provoste told journalists on Wednesday.

Summary: चिली के विभाजित मध्य-वामपंथियों ने राष्ट्रपति पद के चुनाव के लिए एकता का संकल्प लिया


LONDON (Reuters) - Two people were injured on Thursday, police said, after a report of an explosion near the Scottish town of Glasgow. The blast was reported inside a building in Wishaw, southeast of Glasgow, and police said they had evacuated nearby buildings as a precaution.  Emergency services are at the scene and two injured parties are being treated by ambulance,  Lanarkshire Police said on Facebook.  Scotland s Fire and Rescue Service said it too was at the scene.  We are in attendance at Bonkle Road, Wishaw tackling small fire following small explosion in commercial building,  it posted on its Twitter feed.

Summary: स्कॉटलैंड के ग्लासगो के पास विस्फोट में दो लोग घायल


MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - Negotiators from Canada, Mexico and the United States kicked off a second round of talks about the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) on Friday as the countries try to fast-track a deal to modernize the treaty by early next year. Following are key moments in the history of the deal: * June 10, 1990: U.S. President George H.W. Bush and Mexican President Carlos Salinas de Gortari endorse a new, comprehensive free trade pact between the two neighbors, ordering talks to begin. Canada join the talks in 1991, paving the way for three-way negotiations. The United States and Canada signed a bilateral free trade deal in 1988. * Nov. 3, 1992: Running as an independent for president in the United States, Ross Perot claims the proposed NAFTA would lead to a  giant sucking sound  of jobs rushing to Mexico. Bill Clinton wins the election, defeating incumbent Bush. Perot wins 19 percent of the vote to place a strong third. * Dec. 17, 1992: NAFTA is signed by outgoing Bush, Mexico s Salinas de Gortari and Canadian Prime Minister Brian Mulroney, creating the world s largest free trade area. The timing was, in part, aimed at making it harder for President-elect Clinton to pursue major changes; Clinton had endorsed the deal but insisted on environmental and labor side agreements. * Jan. 1, 1994: NAFTA comes into effect, and the Maya Indian Zapatista guerrilla army in southern Mexico launches an armed rebellion against  neo-liberalism  and explicitly against the free trade deal. The declaration of war against the Mexican government leads to days of fighting and dozens of deaths before the rebels retreat into the jungle. * Nov. 30, 1999: Tens of thousands of anti-globalization protesters converge on the U.S. city of Seattle, leading to widespread rioting coinciding with a ministerial conference of the World Trade Organization, which was seeking to launch new international trade talks. The protests underscore growing, if scattered, opposition to free trade deals like NAFTA. * Dec. 11, 2001: China formally joins the World Trade Organization, integrating the Asian giant more deeply into the global economy. Easing trade with China intensifies a trend that had been seen since NAFTA came into effect as the U.S. trade deficit soared to more than $800 billion by 2006. * July 16, 2004: Senior trade officials from Canada, the United States and Mexico issue a joint statement touting a decade s worth of expanded trade in North America. Three-way-trade more than doubled to reach $623 billion while cumulative foreign direct investment increases by over $1.7 trillion compared to pre-NAFTA levels. * Jan. 1, 2008: NAFTA is fully implemented as the last of its polices come into effect. In sensitive sectors such as sugar, NAFTA stipulates that trade barriers would only gradually be phased out, which was designed to smooth economic shocks in vulnerable industries. By this time, trade within the three North American nations has more than tripled. * July 19, 2016: Billionaire businessman and political outsider Donald Trump formally clinches the Republican presidential nomination, winning the traditionally pro-free-trade party s nod in part by denouncing NAFTA, calling it  the worst trade deal ever.  * Aug. 16, 2017: High-stakes talks aimed at  modernizing  NAFTA kick off in Washington, with both U.S. and Mexican officials aiming to conclude a new pact in early 2018 before elections later in the year in both nations might derail negotiations. A second round of talks takes place in Mexico in September. * Sept. 1, 2017: In the week ahead of the second round of talks in Mexico which begin on Sept. 1, Trump had said repeatedly he would likely end the agreement if negotiations did not go his way. Mexico said it would walk away from the table if Trump began the process of withdrawing from NAFTA.

Summary: नाफ्टा का चट्टानी इतिहास


DUBLIN (Reuters) - The agreement reached by Brexit negotiators early on Friday fully guarantees that there can be no hard border on the island of Ireland once Britain leaves the European Union, Irish Foreign Minister Simon Coveney said.   Deal Confirmed! Ireland supports Brexit negotiations moving to Phase 2 now that we have secured assurances for all on the island of Ireland - fully protecting GFA (Good Friday Agreement), peace process, all-Island economy and ensuring that there can be NO HARD BORDER on the Island of Ireland post Brexit,  Coveney said on Twitter.  Very good outcome for everyone on the island of Ireland - no Hard Border guaranteed!,  he added.

Summary: ब्रेक्सिट समझौता आयरलैंड में कोई कठिन सीमा की गारंटी नहीं देता हैः आयरलैंड के विदेश मंत्री


ANKARA (Reuters) - A bomb blast wrecked a bus carrying police officers on Tuesday in the southern Turkish province of Mersin, injuring 18 people in an attack that security sources blamed on Kurdish militants. Seventeen of those hurt were police officers, Deputy Prime Minister and government spokesman Bekir Bozdag told parliament, branding it a terrorist attack.  Turkey s battle against terror will continue under any circumstances in a strong and determined way,  Bozdag said. Security sources said militants of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) were believed to have carried out the attack. They also said that none of those wounded were in a critical condition. No one immediately claimed responsibility for the bombing. Local mayor Burhanettin Kocamaz told broadcaster Haberturk the attack took place on a street where the local governor s office was located and had hit the police vehicle as it passed. Images from NTV showed smoke billowing from the area, in Mersin s Yenisehir district. Ambulances, police and fire trucks were sent to the site of the attack, security sources said.  Turkey is battling a three-decade insurgency in its mainly Kurdish southeast. The PKK frequently carries out bomb attacks on security forces in the southeast and elsewhere. The PKK is considered a terrorist organization by the United States and the European Union as well as by Turkey. More than 40,000 people, most of them Kurds, have died since it first took up arms against the state in 1984.

Summary: तुर्की के मेर्सिन प्रांत में पुलिस वाहन पर बम हमले में अठारह घायल


WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump will nominate Kenneth Juster to be ambassador to India, the White House said on Friday. Juster was a deputy assistant to Trump for international economic affairs and the deputy director of the National Economic Council until June. From 2001 to 2005 he was under secretary of Commerce under former president George W. Bush.

Summary: जस्टर को भारत में राजदूत के रूप में नामित करेंगे ट्रंपः व्हाइट हाउस


HONG KONG (Reuters) - Tens of thousands marched in China-ruled Hong Kong on Sunday in an  anti authoritarian rule  march that called for the resignation of the city s top legal official over the recent jailing of young democracy activists. The march, an annual fixture over the past few years on China s October 1 National Day, comes at a time of nascent disillusionment with Hong Kong s once vaunted judiciary.  Without democracy, how can we have the rule of law,  the crowds yelled as they marched through sporadic downpours, from a muddy pitch to the city s harbor-front government headquarters. Organizers estimated about 40,000 people joined the march.   Many protesters, some clad in black, expressed dismay with Hong Kong s Secretary of Justice, Rimsky Yuen, who Reuters reported had over-ruled several other senior public prosecutors to seek jail terms for three prominent democrats: Joshua Wong, Nathan Law and Alex Chow.  We believe he (Yuen) has been the key orchestrator in destroying Hong Kong s justice,  said Avery Ng, one of the organizers of the rally that drew a coalition of some 50 civil and political groups. Around one hundred Hong Kong activists are now facing possible jail terms for various acts of mostly democratic advocacy including the  Umbrella Revolution  in late 2014 that saw tens of thousands of people block major roads for 79 days in a push for universal suffrage. While the October 1 march is a regular annual fixture, this was the first time the rule of law has been scrutinized like this, with the judiciary   a legacy of the British Common Law system   long considered one of the best in Asia and a cornerstone of Hong Kong s economic success.  It s like mainland (Chinese) laws have intruded into Hong Kong,  said Alex Ha, a teacher of classical guitar, who was walking alone in the crowd. The World Economic Forum s Global Competitiveness Index last week downgraded Hong Kong s judicial independence ranking by five spots to number 13 in the world. In response, however, Yuen stressed at the time that Hong Kong s judiciary remained strong and independent.  We cannot rely on subjective perceptions, we have to look at the facts,  he told reporters. Hong Kong, a former British colony, returned to Chinese rule in 1997 with the promise that Beijing would grant the city a high degree of autonomy and an independent judiciary under a so-called  one country, two systems  arrangement. But over two decades of Chinese rule, differences have deepened between Communist Party leaders in Beijing and a younger generation of democracy advocates, some of whom are now calling for the financial hub to eventually split from China.  Hong Kong s Chief Executive, Carrie Lam spoke of a need for unity during a speech to assembled dignitaries at a National Day reception to mark the 68th anniversary of the founding of the People s Republic of China by the Communists.  As long as we capitalize on our strengths, stay focused, seize the opportunities before us and stand united, I am sure that Hong Kong can reach even greater heights,  she said.

Summary: चीन के खिलाफ हांगकांग के कानून के शासन की रक्षा के लिए हजारों लोगों ने मार्च किया