WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States is withdrawing from UNESCO, the United Nation s cultural and educational agency, effective Dec. 31, the U.S. State Department said in a statement on Thursday.  This decision was not taken lightly, and reflects U.S. concerns with mounting arrears at UNESCO, the need for fundamental reform in the organization, and continuing anti-Israel bias at UNESCO,  the department said, adding that the United States would seek to  remain engaged ...as a non-member observer state in order to contribute U.S. views, perspectives and expertise.

Summary: दिसंबर में संयुक्त राष्ट्र की सांस्कृतिक एजेंसी से अलग होगा अमेरिका


WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. (Reuters) - In a year of police shooting protests, historic hurricane flooding and voting rights clashes in North Carolina, it is the battle over bathrooms that could prove pivotal in the Tar Heel state’s gubernatorial race. The election will effectively serve as a referendum on a state law that bans transgender people from using government-run restrooms that match their gender identity and limits protections for gays and lesbians. Signed by Republican Governor Pat McCrory in March, the law has been blamed for hundreds of millions of dollars in economic losses and the relocation of major sporting events from the ninth largest U.S. state. Opponents of the law say the vote on Tuesday also could have national implications. If McCrory loses to Democratic challenger Roy Cooper, they said, elected officials backing such measures in other states will face greater political risk.  “I believe a strong message already has been sent to lawmakers across the country,” said Chad Griffin, president of the Human Rights Campaign, the nation’s largest lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer (LGBTQ) civil rights organization. “I believe and hope on Election Day that an even stronger message will be sent.” The advocacy group has joined with Equality North Carolina for a broad effort to boost voter turnout and unseat McCrory and other supporters of the law known as House Bill 2. The organizations are targeting about 400,000 pro-equality voters in the state, including an estimated 255,800 LGBT voters, Griffin said. The Human Rights Campaign said that voting bloc could make a difference in a presidential swing state where Democrat Barack Obama won by about 14,000 votes in 2008 and Republican Mitt Romney led by about 92,000 votes in 2012. “There’s no question this is going to be a very close race at the top of the ticket, and the LGBTQ voting bloc really has the ability to impact the outcome of this election,” said Chris Sgro, executive director of Equality North Carolina. RACE A TOSS-UP Elections experts consider the race between McCrory and Cooper, one of 12 U.S. gubernatorial seats being decided on Tuesday, to be among the country’s most competitive.  Public opinion polls have been tight most of the year, though the RealClearPolitics average of recent surveys shows Cooper with a slight advantage. A Reuters/Ipsos opinion poll found that, among residents who expect to vote, 38 percent were less likely to support McCrory’s re-election bid as a result of the law and its fallout, compared with 32 percent who were more likely to support him. The poll was conducted online in English between Oct. 6 and Oct. 19. It included 1,233 likely voters and had a credibility interval, a measure of accuracy, of 3 percentage points. Other polls have shown a majority of residents believe the law is hurting the state. McCrory, who in 2012 became North Carolina’s first Republican governor in two decades, has blamed the backlash against the law on national groups trying to redefine gender and “basic norms of privacy.” Cooper says the law is discriminatory, and he has made McCrory’s support for it a central issue of his campaign. An ad campaign launched last week by the conservative NC Values Coalition accuses Cooper, the state’s attorney general since 2001, of putting women and children at risk by refusing to defend H.B. 2. “By not defending it, he’s allowing men into women’s bathrooms,” the group’s executive director, Tami Fitzgerald, said in a phone interview. “We think that just goes too far.” “Equality NC and HRC have made North Carolina ground zero for their radical LGBT agenda,” she added. “But I believe that their efforts will fail.” At early voting sites in North Carolina this week, the issue appeared to be galvanizing people on both sides. “I admire McCrory for standing behind H.B. 2,” said Republican Parker Umstead, 81, a certified public accountant who cast a ballot in Winston-Salem for the incumbent. “It takes courage to stand up for your beliefs.” But Holly Carpenter, a 41-year-old Republican from Cary who works in the medical field, cited the measure as the prime reason why she voted against McCrory, whom she supported in 2012. “To lose so many economic opportunities over that was just a huge negative for me,” she said.

Summary: उत्तरी कैरोलिना के गवर्नर की दौड़ में बाथरूम को लेकर लड़ाई तेज


WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Republican-led Senate on Friday gave Donald Trump the biggest triumph of his young presidency, confirming his Supreme Court nominee over stout Democratic opposition and restoring a conservative majority on the highest U.S. judicial body. The Senate, which last year refused to consider Democratic former President Barack Obama’s nominee to the court, voted 54-45 to approve Republican Trump’s pick, Colorado-based federal appeals court judge Neil Gorsuch, to the lifetime job. Three Democrats joined the Republicans in voting for Gorsuch. Gorsuch’s confirmation ends the longest Supreme Court vacancy since 1862 during the American Civil War, with the court down a justice for almost 14 months since long-serving conservative Justice Antonin Scalia died on Feb. 13, 2016. “Judge Gorsuch’s confirmation process was one of the most transparent and accessible in history, and his judicial temperament, exceptional intellect, unparalleled integrity and record of independence makes him the perfect choice to serve on the nation’s highest court,” Trump said in a statement. “He’s going to make an incredible addition to the court,” Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said on the Senate floor. Illustrating the importance of the moment, Vice President Mike Pence served as the Senate’s presiding officer during the vote to confirm Gorsuch, who also worked in Republican former President George W. Bush’s Justice Department and is the son of the first woman to head the Environmental Protection Agency. Republicans, possessing a 52-48 Senate majority, on Thursday overcame a ferocious Democratic effort to block a confirmation vote, resorting to a rule change known as the “nuclear option.” “Today, for the first time in history, the theft of a Supreme Court seat has been completed, profoundly damaging the integrity of the court,” said Democratic Senator Jeff Merkley, referring to Republicans casting aside Obama’s nominee Merrick Garland, who would have tilted the court to the left for the first time in decades. Merkley this week delivered a 15-1/2-hour Senate speech against Gorsuch. The Senate’s approval of Gorsuch reinstates the nine-seat court’s 5-4 conservative majority, fulfilling an important Trump campaign promise. Gorsuch, 49, was the youngest Supreme Court nominee since Republican President George H.W. Bush in 1991 picked Clarence Thomas, who was 43 at the time. Gorsuch could be expected to serve for decades, while Trump could make further appointments to the high court to make it even more solidly conservative because three of the eight justices are 78 or older. Three Democratic senators up for re-election in 2018 in states won by Trump last year - Indiana’s Joe Donnelly, West Virginia’s Joe Manchin and North Dakota’s Heidi Heitkamp - voted for Gorsuch. Republican Senator Johnny Isakson missed the vote while recovering from back surgery. Gorsuch’s confirmation gave a boost to Trump, showing he can get important agenda items through a Congress controlled by his fellow Republicans after the House of Representatives last month failed to pass healthcare overhaul legislation. Trump is planning major tax cut legislation as well. Senate Republicans resorted to extraordinary steps to overcome Democratic opposition to Gorsuch, including changing long-standing Senate rules to prohibit the use of a procedural blockade called a filibuster for Supreme Court nominees. The rule change was dubbed the “nuclear option” because it was considered an extreme break from Senate tradition. Democrats accused Gorsuch of being so conservative as to be outside the judicial mainstream, favoring corporate interests over ordinary Americans in legal opinions, and displaying insufficient independence from Trump. Gorsuch joins fellow conservatives Thomas, John Roberts, Samuel Alito and Anthony Kennedy on a court that also includes liberal justices Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Stephen Breyer, Sonia Sotomayor and Elena Kagan. Trump has recorded accomplishments since taking office on Jan. 20, including a variety of unilateral executive actions such as moving to undo Obama’s climate change regulations. But he has encountered trouble with other major initiatives. Courts blocked his executive action to stop people from several Muslim-majority countries from entering the United States. His administration also has faced questions about any role the president’s associates may have played in alleged Russian meddling in the 2016 U.S. presidential election to help Trump. The rule change could make it easier for Trump to win confirmation of Supreme Court nominees as long as Republicans control the Senate, with Democrats left powerless to resist even if he gets a chance to replace the court’s senior liberal, 84-year-old Ginsburg, or the court’s swing vote, 80-year-old Kennedy, with more conservative replacements. A conservative-majority court is more likely to support gun rights, abortion regulations, an expansive view of religious liberty and Republican-backed voting restrictions, while opposing curbs on political spending. The court also is likely to tackle transgender rights and union funding in coming years. Among the groups congratulating Gorsuch on his confirmation were the U.S. Chamber of Commerce business lobbying group, the National Rifle Association gun rights group and anti-abortion activists. Gorsuch will be sworn in on Monday in two different ceremonies, one at the court and one at the White House. He can then prepare for the court’s next round of oral arguments, starting on April 17. The court’s current term ends in June. Gorsuch will participate in the justices’ private April 13 conference to consider taking new cases. There are appeals pending on expanding gun rights to include carrying concealed firearms in public, state voting restrictions that critics say are aimed at reducing minority turnout, and allowing business owners to object on religious grounds to providing gay couples certain services.  On April 19, the court will hear a case in which a church contends Missouri violated the U.S. Constitution’s guarantee of religious freedom by denying it funds for a playground project due to a state ban on aid to religious organizations. Gorsuch has ruled in favor of expansive religious rights during his decade as a judge.

Summary: ट्रम्प के लिए बड़ी जीत में, सीनेट ने उनके रूढ़िवादी अदालत के चयन को मंजूरी दी


BEIRUT (Reuters) - Russia has promised that the autonomous region controlled by Kurds in northern Syria will be represented at peace talks it is hosting next month, the commander of the main Syrian Kurdish militia was cited as saying on Wednesday.      Moscow has said 155 representatives of the autonomous region will participate, Sipan Hemo, the commander of the YPG, was quoted as saying by official Syrian Kurdish social media channels on Wednesday.  Kurdish groups have not taken part in any round of Syrian peace talks so far despite their control of more than a quarter of Syria. Turkey opposes their involvement in talks. Moscow backs Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in Syria s six-year-old civil war while Turkey opposes him.  But Ankara views the YPG as a terrorist group affiliated to the Kurdish PKK, which has waged an insurgency in Turkey for decades.  Russia, Iran and Turkey announced the Jan. 29-30 dates for the talks in the Black Sea resort of Sochi date after a round of peace talks in Kazakhstan last week, but did not say who would participate. Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan on Wednesday called Assad a terrorist and said it was impossible for Syrian peace efforts to continue with him. Syria responded that Erdogan himself supported terrorist groups fighting in Syria. About 40 Syrian rebel groups, including factions that have taken part in other rounds of peace talks, said on Monday they would refuse to attend the Sochi congress. Russia is the most powerful supporter of Assad. Its jets have helped him bring the rebellion against his rule near to an end, and rebels say Moscow has put no pressure on him to find a political solution.  U.N. Syria envoy Staffan de Mistura has said that the success of the congress should be assessed by its ability to contribute to and support the U.N.-led Geneva talks on ending the war.

Summary: सीरियाई कुर्दों का कहना है कि रूस ने वादा किया है कि वे सोची वार्ता में भाग ले सकते हैं


WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Republican presidential candidates may find themselves in a more subdued debate than usual on Thursday night in Miami, since nothing Donald Trump’s rivals have thrown at him has made a major dent in his front-running campaign. After the histrionics of last week’s gathering in Detroit, the four remaining candidates are likely to search for higher ground as they offer closing arguments to Republican voters, particularly those in Florida and Ohio, who vote next Tuesday in nominating contests for the Nov. 8 election.  The burden is particularly heavy on U.S. Senator Marco Rubio of Florida and Ohio Governor John Kasich, who must do well in their home states or face pressure to exit the race. While Kasich is holding his own against Trump in Ohio opinion polls, Rubio has lagged far behind Trump in Florida. Trump’s victories in Michigan, Mississippi and Hawaii on Tuesday added to his momentum after a week of attacks by mainstream Republicans who are offended by his statements on Muslims, women and illegal immigrants and alarmed by his threats to international trade deals. Trump defended his calls for a tougher U.S. stance on free trade on Thursday, saying the United States has been taken advantage of in negotiations with other countries. He also cited currency devaluations as a particular problem. “I like free trade but you have to be represented by very, very good and smart and cunning people and we are not,” Trump said in an interview on CNBC. “Other countries are and that’s why they’re all taking advantage.” The tough-talking billionaire businessman told CNN on Wednesday he expected the debate to be a “nicer, softer, lighter debate, I hope.” But he added: “I’ll be ready. I’m the only one who can beat Hillary,” a reference to Democratic presidential front-runner Hillary Clinton. The tone could be set by Trump, 69, who forecast before several previous debates that he would take a more measured approach, only to quickly get into a verbal brawl with his rivals. The CNN-hosted debate will be held at the University of Miami at 8:30 p.m. (0130 GMT on Friday). “I would focus on a positive uplifting message that takes us back to why they’re running for president and what’s at stake in this election,” said Eric Fehrnstrom, a senior adviser to 2012 Republican nominee Mitt Romney. In Detroit last Thursday, Trump came under sustained fire from Rubio, 44, over parts of his business empire such as Trump University, a now-defunct venture that critics said offered a flimsy education. U.S. Senator Ted Cruz of Texas piled on Trump over his past support for Democratic causes. Trump blasted Rubio throughout the debate as a lightweight and Cruz as a liar. The Trump-Rubio debate clash in Detroit followed an abrupt change in Rubio’s campaign to begin raising personal questions about Trump, such as saying he had small hands, a statement Trump saw as a reference to his penis size. Rubio said he now regretted the personal insults. “In terms of things that have to do with personal stuff, yeah, at the end of the day, it’s not something I’m entirely proud of. My kids were embarrassed by it, and if I had to do it again, I wouldn’t,” Rubio told MSNBC on Wednesday. Cruz, 45, who would like to knock Rubio and Kasich out of the race so he could draw more support from anti-Trump Republican voters, will seek to use the debate to position himself as the best Trump alternative. “Trump is clearly trying to reach out and be a little more statesmanlike,” said Cruz backer Saul Anuzis, a former chairman of the Michigan Republican Party. “Cruz is going to make the case as to why he can beat Trump and be the viable alternative. From our perspective, we think it’s a two-man race, we’re the only one with a path.” Rubio is fighting for survival and is facing something of a last stand in Florida. Rival campaigns said Rubio may feel a need to return to the optimistic message he stuck to for months before getting sidetracked by Trump. Rubio told Fox News on Wednesday the campaign was always going to come down to who wins Florida. “The nominee has to win Florida. You can’t be the Republican nominee if you don’t win Florida,” he said. Kasich, Rubio and Cruz have one shot at denying Trump the nomination - preventing him from assembling the required 1,237 delegates to win the nomination outright, which would mean delegates would have to choose the nominee at their July 18-21 convention in Cleveland. Trump said on CNN on Wednesday that 1,237 was an “artificial number” and that if he entered the convention with more delegates than his rivals, he should be the nominee. While he has vowed to wage war against the party if he is denied the nomination at the convention, Kasich, 63, said it was possible for Republicans to have a contested convention and emerge united. “Can you go to a convention and come out united? Absolutely,” he told a Fox News town hall on Wednesday.  (Reporting by Steve Holland; Additional reporting by Megan Cassella; Editing by Peter Cooney and Bill Trott) This article was funded in part by SAP. It was independently created by the Reuters editorial staff. SAP had no editorial involvement in its creation or production.

Summary: मियामी बहस में रिपब्लिकन कम गर्मी पैदा कर सकते हैं


PALM BEACH, Fla. (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump said on Friday that he believed he and Chinese President Xi Jinping had made progress in the bilateral U.S.-China relationship during their first face-to-face talks. Sitting across from Xi, Trump declared that his relationship with the Chinese president was “outstanding” during brief remarks to reporters after talks on trade irritants and concerns about North Korea’s nuclear program at his resort in Palm Beach, Florida. (This version of the story corrects to show leaders were sitting across from each other, not standing beside each other)

Summary: शी की यात्रा के दौरान U.S.-China संबंधों में प्रगति हुईः ट्रम्प


WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump expressed outrage on Friday at the injuries of diplomats at the U.S. embassy in Cuba. He spoke to reporters on the White House South Lawn after the State Department announced a sharp drawdown of U.S. personnel at the embassy.  They did some bad things in Cuba,  Trump said.

Summary: ट्रम्प ने कहा कि क्यूबा ने अमेरिकी राजनयिकों को लक्षित करते हुए 'कुछ बुरी चीजें कीं'


WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Sam Clovis, a top adviser to President Donald Trump during his election campaign, on Thursday withdrew his candidacy for a senior administration post, just days after he was linked to another aide who pleaded guilty in the probe into alleged Russian meddling in the 2016 election. “We respect Mr. Clovis’s decision to withdraw his nomination,” said White House spokeswoman Sarah Sanders.

Summary: ट्रम्प के अभियान सलाहकार क्लोविस ने प्रशासनिक पद के लिए विचार से नाम वापस लिया


MANILA (Reuters) - The Philippine Congress approved a bill that removes a proposed 900 million pesos ($17.87 million) for the police war on drugs, now that police are no longer leading the operation, but which provides them with body cameras to record arrests. Senator Loren Legarda, the head of senate s finance committee, said on Monday that Congress re-allotted the police-requested budget because the Drug Enforcement Agency was now leading the controversial war on drugs in which thousand of suspected dealers and users have been killed. The bill, approved by Congress last week, is expected to be endorsed by President Rodrigo Duterte, who launched the crackdown, on Tuesday. Duterte this month ordered the police to return to the drugs war, following a near eight-week layoff, but in a supporting role only. Most of the money steered away from the war on drugs would go towards military and police housing, and the balance would be used to buy body cameras for police engaged in anti-drug operations.  Maybe they would be fearful if they are monitored, to lessen if not totally eliminate untoward incidents,  Legarda told the ANC news channel. The anti-narcotics crackdown has drawn international criticism, with rights groups pointing out lapses in police operations and alleged executions of drug suspects. Police say they have shot dead more than 3,900 drug suspects in self-defence during the 17-month campaign, but surveys have showed doubts among Filipinos about the validity of police accounts.

Summary: फिलीपींस कांग्रेस ने ड्रग्स के खिलाफ खूनी युद्ध में पुलिस के लिए बॉडी कैमरों का समर्थन किया


WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. Representative Mark Walker said after a meeting of House Republicans on a revamped healthcare bill on Tuesday night that they made good progress on the issue of high-risk pools for people with pre-existing conditions. Walker, who is chairman of the Republican Study Committee, told reporters more discussions on other sticking points in the legislation would be held on Wednesday.

Summary: की हाउस रिपब्लिकन का कहना है कि स्वास्थ्य देखभाल पर प्रगति देखी जा रही है


WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Senate voted Monday to approve a senior Transportation Department nominee and advance another nomination, after Republicans accused Democrats of blocking some nominees to push for funding of a New York area infrastructure project. Derek Kan, who was previously an official at San Francisco-based ride services company Lyft Inc, won confirmation to be undersecretary of transportation for policy on a 90-7 vote.  Senate Republicans have said their Democratic rivals were stalling a number of nominees over a dispute over funding for the $24 billion “Gateway Program,” which includes building a new tunnel underneath New York’s Hudson River. At least eight other Transportation Department nominations are pending and other jobs vacant, including a top auto safety regulator. In addition to confirming Kan, the Senate voted 50-47 on Monday to advance the nomination of Steven Bradbury, a Washington lawyer, to be general counsel at the Transportation Department. During the administration of President George W. Bush, Bradbury was one of the principal authors of the legal justifications for “enhanced interrogation techniques” called the “torture memos” by critics. Senator Tammy Duckworth, an Illinois Democrat, said in June that Bradbury “lacked the judgment to stand up against (the Bush) administration’s use of torture.” Bradbury defended his work in June, saying the “questions we addressed raised difficult issues about which reasonable people could disagree.” In September, President Donald Trump met with top elected officials from New York and New Jersey over the fate of the Gateway Program deemed critical to northeast U.S. transportation, but Trump made no commitments to finance the project. Republican Senator John Thune accused Democrats of holding nominations “hostage” while awaiting “assurances that the Trump administration will approve and fund” the Gateway project. “While no one questions the importance of this corridor,  there are many other important projects that also are awaiting approval and funding at the Department. No project should get to cut the line based on the machinations of a handful of our” colleagues, Thune said. Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer said on Monday he opposed Kan because of administration roadblocks to the project. “Time is running out and we must quickly build new tunnels,” Schumer said. A Senate Democratic aide confirmed, separately, that  Democrats were holding up some nominations “because they want assurances from the Transportation Department the Gateway Project will quickly move forward after it’s funded.” The Transportation Department regulates the nation’s vehicles, airplanes, railroads, pipelines, ports and highways.

Summary: सीनेट ने ट्रम्प परिवहन विभाग के उम्मीदवार को मंजूरी दी


UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson on Friday urged North Korea to carry out a  sustained cessation  of weapons testing to allow the two countries to hold talks about Pyongyang s nuclear and missile programs. Tillerson s remarks were a retreat from his position earlier this week when he offered to begin direct talks with North Korea without preconditions, backing away from a key U.S. demand that Pyongyang must first accept that giving up its nuclear arsenal would be part of any negotiations. But the White House distanced itself from those remarks by Tillerson and said now is not the time for negotiations.  North Korea must earn its way back to the table. The pressure campaign must and will continue until denuclearization is achieved,  Tillerson told a meeting of the United Nations Security Council on North Korea s weapons programs. He did not specify how long the lull should last. He told reporters after the meeting that the United States would not accept any preconditions for talks with North Korea. Tillerson had raised hopes this week that the United States and North Korea could negotiate to resolve their standoff when he said that the United States was  ready to talk any time North Korea would like to talk.  North Korea s ambassador to the United Nations on Friday made no mention of Tillerson s call for a halt to testing when he addressed the same U.N. meeting. Ambassador Ja Song Nam said his country would not pose a threat to any state, as long as its interests were not infringed upon. He described the Security Council session as  a desperate measure plotted by the United States being terrified by the incredible might of our Republic that has successfully achieved the great historic cause of completing the state nuclear force.  North Korea has made clear it has little interest in negotiations with the United States until it has developed the ability to hit the U.S. mainland with a nuclear-tipped missile, something most experts say it has yet to prove.    North Korea conducted missile tests at a steady pace since April, then paused in September after firing a rocket that passed over Japan s Hokkaido island. But it renewed tests in November when it fired a new type of intercontinental ballistic missile, the Hwasong-15, which flew higher and further than previous tests.     Japanese Foreign Minister Taro Kono told the Security Council that North Korea was  nowhere near ready  to abandon its nuclear and missile programs and was not interested in a meaningful dialogue. He said any lull in missile tests did not mean that North Korea was sitting idly.  The latest launch was conducted 75 days after North Korea s provocations in September. Some optimistic views labeled 75 days of silence as a positive signal. However, the missile launch in November made it clear that North Korea was continuing to relentlessly develop its nuclear and missile programs even while they were seemingly silent,  Kono said.                 Tillerson also urged China and Russia on Friday to increase pressure on North Korea by going beyond the implementation of U.N. sanctions, but the two countries were wary of the idea.     China s deputy U.N. ambassador, Wu Haitao, said all parties must implement U.N. sanctions, but said that unilateral sanctions undermine the unity of the Security Council and  hurt the legitimate right and interests of other countries and should therefore be abandoned.  Russian U.N. Ambassador Vassily Nebenzia said Moscow was committed to implementing U.N. sanctions on North Korea and echoed China s concerns about unilateral sanctions.  U.S. President Donald Trump wants China, North Korea s main ally and trading partner, to impose an oil embargo on Pyongyang, over and above Beijing s adherence to U.N. sanctions. The Security Council has ratcheted up sanctions on North Korea over its weapons programs since 2006.            U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres told the Security Council on Friday it was time to immediately re-establish and strengthen communication channels with North Korea, including inter-Korean and military-to-military channels, to reduce the risk of a misunderstanding escalating into conflict.

Summary: टिलरसन ने किसी भी वार्ता से पहले उत्तर कोरिया के हथियारों के परीक्षण को लंबे समय तक रोकने का आग्रह किया


(Editors Note: Attention language that may be offensive to some readers in paragraphs 22, 23, 24) By Emily Stephenson and Ginger Gibson NEW YORK/WASHINGTON (Reuters) - With his campaign in crisis, U.S. presidential candidate Donald Trump vowed on Saturday to stay in the race despite calls from more than two dozen prominent Republicans for him to drop out following the release of a recording of him making lewd comments about women. Both Trump’s wife and his running mate criticized his words, saying they were insulting and indefensible.  “The media and establishment want me out of the race so badly -  I WILL NEVER DROP OUT OF THE RACE, WILL NEVER LET MY SUPPORTERS DOWN!” Trump wrote on Saturday afternoon on the social media website Twitter.   The video was the latest calamity for Trump, who had hoped to revive his flagging campaign in the face of a recent drop in polls with less than a month until Election Day.  Trump is due to appear alongside Democrat Hillary Clinton on Sunday in their second debate in the run-up to the general election. Clinton is not expected to address Trump’s video before then.      The 2005 video of Trump talking on an open microphone showed the then-reality TV star speaking about groping women and trying to seduce a married woman. The video was taped only months after Trump married his third wife, Melania. In a statement, Melania Trump called her husband’s words “unacceptable and offensive to me.” “This does not represent the man that I know,” she said. “He has the heart and mind of a leader. I hope people will accept his apology, as I have, and focus on the important issues facing our nation and the world.” The backlash over the video was swift and widespread.  More than 60 prominent Republican current and former officeholders issued statements condemning Trump’s remarks about women, including House Speaker Paul Ryan and John McCain, the party’s standard bearer in 2008. More than 20 called for Trump to end his presidential bid.  In an unusual move, his vice presidential running mate Mike Pence issued a critical statement of Trump’s words, saying on Twitter that he “cannot defend them.” “As a husband and father, I was offended by the words and actions described by Donald Trump,” said Pence, who is governor of Indiana. Pence indicated he would continue to support Trump, despite calls from several Republicans for Trump to step aside and let Pence be the nominee.     There is no precedent for a major party to replace its nominee this late in the campaign and it was unclear if there was an avenue to force him out. Voting has begun in several states, including swing states Virginia and North Carolina. A recorded apology by Trump early on Saturday did not stymie an avalanche of calls from members of his party to quit.  Trump huddled on Saturday in Trump Tower with senior advisers, including New Jersey Governor Chris Christie and former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani. Despite previous scheduling, Giuliani will appear on five major Sunday morning news programs, a rare round robin reserved for major news events - replacing Republican Chairman Reince Priebus on CBS’s “Face the Nation” and campaign manager Kellyanne Conway on “Fox News Sunday,” a last-minute switch. No reason was given for the bump of Conway. A CBS news release said the RNC asked to replace Priebus because Trump’s operation wanted “a campaign person” to appear on the program. Trump left the building briefly to greet a small crowd of supporters, saying “100 percent” he would remain in the race. Before returning to a bank of elevators, he told reporters, “Tremendous support.” He quickly moved to do damage control in Saturday’s video in which he declared himself a changed man and attempted to shift the focus to his opponent Clinton and her husband, former President Bill Clinton. On Twitter, Trump posted critical statements from Juanita Broaddrick, a woman who has accused Bill Clinton of sexually assaulting her. “Anyone who knows me knows these words don’t reflect who I am. I said it, I was wrong, and I apologize,” Trump said in his video statement, posted on his Facebook page.     Trump has struggled to win over women voters, and the video was expected to further feed Democratic criticism about his past behavior toward women. Trump’s support has suffered among suburban women and white, college-educated women, groups that Republicans have traditionally won. In the recording that triggered the firestorm, Trump said of one woman, “I did try and fuck her. She was married.” He went on to discuss his attraction to others. “I just start kissing them,” he said. “And when you’re a star they let you do it.” “Grab them by the pussy. You can do anything,” Trump said. On Saturday afternoon, CNN published a separate report detailing remarks Trump made over the course of several years while appearing on Howard Stern’s radio program. The remarks included discussing the size of his daughter’s breasts and that he once had sex with three women at the same time. Trump was asked if he would have sex with a black woman and responded, “It depends on what your definition of black is.”  The remarks were the last straw for some Republicans who have stuck with him through a series of controversial remarks, including calling Mexican immigrants “rapists” and “criminals,” calling for a ban on Muslim immigrants, attacking a judge of Mexican descent, attacking the Gold Star family of a Muslim soldier killed at war and saying Senator John McCain was not a war hero because he had been a prisoner of war. House Speaker Paul Ryan disinvited Trump to a scheduled appearance on Saturday in Wisconsin. Pence declined to speak in his place. The list of Republicans announcing they would not vote for Trump or calling on him to step aside grew on Saturday: Senators Kelly Ayotte, Lisa Murkowsi, Dan Sullivan, Mark Kirk, Jeff Flake, John Thune, Mike Crapo, Shelley Moore Capito and Mike Lee; House members Jason Chaffetz, Mia Love, Joe Heck, Bradley Byrne, Martha Roby and Barbara Comstock; and Governors John Kasich, Dennis Daugaard and Gary Herbert.  Additionally, former presidential candidates Mitt Romney and Carly Fiorina and former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice called on Trump to quit. “Donald Trump’s behavior this week, concluding with the disclosure of his demeaning comments about women and his boasts about sexual assaults, make it impossible to continue to offer even conditional support for his candidacy,” McCain said in a statement.  While Democrats largely remained silent, opting to let Republicans attack one of their own, Vice President Joe Biden wrote on Twitter, “The words are demeaning. Such behavior is an abuse of power. It’s not lewd. It’s sexual assault.”  Some prominent Republicans indicated they would stick with Trump. Ralph Reed, head of the Faith and Freedom Coalition, and Tony Perkins, head of the conservative Family Research Council, said they would continue to support him. “I think 10 years ago he was a different man,” said Representative Jack Kingston, a Republican from Georgia. “I am very glad that he quickly apologized.”

Summary: अभद्र टिप्पणी सामने आने के बाद ट्रम्प ने दौड़ में बने रहने की कसम खाई


BEIJING (Reuters) - China said on Monday that it hoped all sides would exercise restraint over North Korea, after U.S. President Donald Trump warned the North s foreign minister that he and leader Kim Jong Un  won t be around much longer . Foreign Ministry spokesman Lu Kang made the comment at a daily news briefing in Beijing.

Summary: चीन ने उत्तर कोरिया के तनाव पर संयम बरतने का आह्वान किया


SEOUL/WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. President-elect Donald Trump’s “clear warning” to North Korea shows he is aware of the urgency of the threat posed by North Korea’s nuclear program and will not waver from a policy of sanctions against the isolated country, South Korea said on Tuesday. North Korean leader Kim Jong Un said on Sunday his nuclear-capable country was close to test-launching an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM), raising the prospect of putting parts of the United States in range. Trump dismissed the claim, saying on Twitter: “It won’t happen.” South Korea’s Foreign Ministry said Trump’s comment, his first mention of the North Korean nuclear issue since the U.S. election in November, could be interpreted as a “clear warning” to the North. “Because of our active outreach, President-elect Trump and U.S. officials are clearly aware of the gravity and urgency of the North Korean nuclear threat,” ministry spokesman Cho June-hyuck said at a briefing. “They are maintaining an unwavering stance on the need for sanctions on North Korea and for close cooperation between South Korea and the U.S.”  The U.S. State Department said it recognized that North Korea continued to pursue nuclear and ballistic missile technologies. “We do not believe that at this point in time he has the capability to tip one of these (missiles) with a nuclear warhead ... but we do know that he continues to want to have those capabilities and the programs continue to march in that direction,” State Department spokesman John Kirby told reporters.    Trump has not outlined a policy on North Korea, but during the U.S. election campaign indicated he would be willing to talk to its leader, Kim, given the opportunity. Trump spokeswoman Kellyanne Conway told ABC’s “Good Morning America” program that the president-elect was “putting North Korea on notice through this tweet and through other statements that this won’t happen.” “He as president of the United States wants to stand between them and their missile capabilities, which experts say could be deployed to reach Seattle almost immediately,” Conway said. She said Trump had not publicly stated how he might respond to North Korea’s nuclear weapons and missile programs and “won’t before he’s inaugurated.” “We do know that there are sanctions that are possible,” Conway said. “They haven’t always worked. I think that China would have to have a significant role here as well.”Trump has been critical of China over the issue. On Monday, he said China had benefited from its economic ties with the United States but would not use its influence to help control North Korea. In response, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang said China had been pushing for the denuclearization of the Korean peninsula. “China’s efforts in this regard are perfectly obvious,” Geng told a news briefing. “As a permanent member of the U.N. Security Council we have proactively participated in relevant discussions on the North Korean nuclear issue and have jointly passed several resolutions with other parties.  “This shows China’s responsible attitude.” Asked about Trump’s view that China was not helping to contain North Korea’s nuclear ambitions, the State Department’s Kirby said: “We would not agree with that assessment.” The United States has for years dismissed North Korean calls for talks, insisting it must disarm first.  The United States and ally South Korea have responded to two North Korean nuclear tests and various missile tests last year with ever-more-severe sanctions. The U.N. Security Council imposed new sanctions on North Korea at the end of November after Pyongyang carried out its fifth and largest nuclear test so far in September. A North Korean ICBM, once fully developed, could threaten the continental United States, which is about 9,000 km (5,500 miles) from the North.  ICBMs have a minimum range of about 5,500 km (3,400 miles), but some are designed to travel 10,000 km (6,200 miles) or further.     North Korea worked last year on developing components for an ICBM, saying it was close to a test-launch plausible, international weapons experts said on Monday.

Summary: ट्रंप ने उत्तर कोरिया के परमाणु खतरे की 'तात्कालिकता' को पहचानाः दक्षिण कोरिया


BEIJING (Reuters) - U.S. energy and commodities firms will make up a major part of a business delegation visiting Beijing at the same time as U.S. President Donald Trump goes to China in November, according to an initial list seen by Reuters. Prominent technology and financial companies are mostly absent from the list, reflecting the slow progress Washington has made in opening up China in those sectors. Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross, who will lead the 29 companies that have been approved to travel on the trade mission starting on Nov. 8, said they will be looking for  immediate results  and  tangible agreements . But, speaking at the Paley International Council Summit in New York on Wednesday, he acknowledged that market access, intellectual property rights, and tariffs are more complex and will take a longer time to negotiate.  Some major industrial companies - General Electric Co, Honeywell International Inc and Boeing Co - are among the companies on the current list. Whether executives from all the named companies end up attending could be subject to agreements or deals being negotiated in time for the visit, according to multiple sources whose companies are involved. One of the few tech companies going with Trump is Qualcomm, which earns about half of its global revenue in China and faces a series of tricky legal issues there, including a lawsuit with Apple and the Chinese government s review of its pending $38 billion merger with NXP Semiconductors. Qualcomm said its CEO, Steve Mollenkopf, planned to attend. An industry source told Reuters tech firms were reluctant to go, given China market access issues, the unpredictability of the Trump administration, and a  Section 301  U.S. trade investigation alleging Chinese abuses of intellectual property.  (These) issues are extremely sensitive for tech companies said another source in the U.S. business community.  Very few want to stick their heads up and be perceived as complaining directly, and even fewer trust this White House to do anything helpful on their issues,  he said. Particularly galling to foreign tech firms are a slate of new national security and cyber security regulations, which mandate companies store crucial data within China and pass security reviews they argue could put business secrets at risk. Trump, a real estate magnate who had never before held public office, has had a sometimes testy relationship with corporate America since taking office in January.  He disbanded two high-profile business advisory councils in August after several chief executives quit in protest over his controversial remarks on racist violence in Charlottesville. U.S. industry sources say it has been years since a major business delegation has gone to China during a U.S. presidential visit. Calls for such a delegation during Trump s visit originated in the China-based U.S. business community, according to several sources, who saw a need to match growing efforts by Germany, France and Britain to promote their nation s firms in China. Trump, who has frequently cited the substantial U.S. trade deficit with China as a reason why Washington should take more protectionist measures, was an easy sell on incorporating a group of executives into the visit, according to the sources. Nonetheless, some trade analysts say China has done a good job of taming Trump s combative trade impulses. They worry the U.S. administration will be willing to paper over market access concerns during the visit in its focus on getting Beijing to take action against North Korea over its nuclear and missile programs. Beijing agreed in May to grant limited U.S. access in financial services in bilateral talks aimed at reducing China s trade surplus with the United States which reached $347 billion last year, but business groups complained it was too little, too late. William Zarit, the chairman of the American Chamber of Commerce in China, told Reuters he didn t expect Trump to push hard on market access issues on this trip.  Unfortunately, I think the Chinese aren t going to start to respond until they feel some pain,  Zarit said.  We re all wondering what that is going to mean.  Scott Kennedy, at the Center for Strategic and International Studies think tank in Washington, said Beijing has deflected commercial issues  using a combination of leadership flattery, coaxing up to his (Trump s) family, token concessions, adjusting their level of help on North Korea sanctions, and threats of retaliation should the U.S. take any unilateral action . Agribusiness and energy firms dominate the delegation list. They include Archer Daniels Midland Co (ADM), one of the world s largest grain companies, and chemicals and agribusiness giant DowDuPont. Ten of the companies are involved in gas or other energy fields, including Cheniere Energy Inc, which operates the only U.S. liquefied natural gas (LNG) export terminal, three that are building new projects, and Freepoint Commodities, founded and run by David Messer, who led power utility Sempra s vaunted commodities division.[L2N1N109T] Their presence underscores the U.S. ambition to sell more of its excess gas abroad as its shale revolution contributes to a global LNG glut.  Others on the list who confirmed plans to attend include GE, Houston-based LNG company Delfin Midstream, SolarReserve, Stine Seed Company, biotech firm Drylet, wastewater-processing firm Viroment and the U.S. Soybean Export Council. Bell Helicopter and crane-maker Terex Corp are also on the delegation list. Honeywell, DowDuPont and ADM did not respond immediately to a request for comment and Freepoint, Cheniere, Sempra Energy, and Texas LNG Brownsville LLC said they had no comment. Boeing told Reuters it does not yet have plans to send anyone but that may change. Alaska Gasline Development Corp said it had no information to release. The U.S. Commerce Department, which is leading the delegation, has not yet issued its own list. At least one of the companies on the list tried to distance itself from Trump. SolarReserve told Reuters in a statement that  it had been selected to participate in the commerce department s delegation but stressed that  we are not part of the business delegation travelling to China with President Trump.  One U.S. official told Reuters on condition of anonymity that Trump will tout deals announced during the trip, but they would have likely happened regardless.  The risk is that commercial deals  distract from long-term political solutions  to trade issues, the official said. Evan Medeiros, former President Barack Obama s top Asia adviser, made a similar point in Washington. Beijing would avoid seriously addressing the  underlying systemic problems  such as market access for high-tech goods and intellectual property protection during the visit, he predicted.  The Chinese will be happy to buy a lot of American goods. That s what they know Trump wants   big export numbers,  he said, predicting that China would announce big business deals and allow the president to tout them during his visit.

Summary: एक्सक्लूसिवः ट्रम्प की चीन यात्रा के लिए सीईओ लाइन-अप में तकनीक या वित्त नहीं, ऊर्जा


WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross is likely to impose a new sugar trade deal with Mexico even if final revisions to it fail to win support from the U.S. industry, trade lawyers and experts say. After announcing a deal this week that would dramatically cut the amount of refined sugar that Mexico ships to the United States, officials from the two countries are working with their industries on final language that would govern its operation. At issue is a new right of first refusal granted to Mexico to supply all U.S. sugar needs not met by domestic suppliers or other foreign quota holders. A coalition of American sugar cane and beet farmers and a major refiner want a more explicit guarantee that the U.S. Department of Agriculture, not Mexican producers, will dictate what type of sugar fills that gap. They are worried that a flood of refined sugar will pour in, rather than the raw sugar needed to keep U.S. mills running. The final sticking point stands in the way of resolving a years-long dispute over Mexican access to the highly regulated U.S. sugar market, which is protected by a complex web of subsidies and rationed quotas for foreign producers.  The sugar industry is known for its sway in Washington. But its point of view on Mexican imports is not shared by sugar users such as confectioners and soda makers.  The Trump administration wants to clear away the sugar dispute and a lumber trade row with Canada before starting full-scale negotiations to revise the North American Free Trade Agreement. An industry rarely objects to a government-negotiated  settlement of its anti-dumping case, and U.S. sugar producers could do little to stop the Commerce Department from implementing a final deal after a two-week comment period, said Seattle-based trade lawyer William Perry, who previously worked at Commerce and the U.S. International Trade Commission. While the industry could ask the International Trade Commission to overturn the settlement that suspends anti-dumping and anti-subsidy duty orders issued in 2014, chances for success look slim. The panel in 2015 rejected a challenge by two sugar refiners to the previous U.S.-Mexico pact. “Petitioners are never entirely happy with suspension agreements like this,” Perry said. “They would rather have anti-dumping and countervailing duty orders with rates high enough to shut out imports.” A Commerce spokesman said that Ross hoped the U.S. sugar industry would ultimately endorse the final agreement. Gary Hufbauer, a trade expert at the Peterson Institute for International Economics, said the administration was probably willing to compromise on some industry-specific concerns to help reach its larger NAFTA goals of reducing U.S. trade deficits. The U.S. sugar industry must probably present evidence of new Mexican dumping before going back to Commerce for more changes to the deal, said Daniel Pearson, a senior fellow of the libertarian Cato Institute and former International Trade Commission chairman. “They would do well to take this agreement and run with it and see how it works,” Pearson said, noting that it raises prices and keeps U.S. refiners well-supplied with raw sugar. Mexico made major concessions to maintain its access to the lucrative U.S. market, agreeing to ship no less than 70 percent of its quota volume as raw sugar to U.S. refineries. It gave ground on nearly all of the U.S. producers’ demands.  American Sugar Alliance spokesman Phillip Hayes said the final hurdle should be easy to address by making clear that the USDA, not Mexico, can dictate the type and purity level of any additional imports. But Juan Cortina, head of Mexico’s main sugar trade group,  said there was no problem with the language because any additional needs would filled with raw sugar, as Mexican producers would have to keep higher inventories of that grade.

Summary: विल्बर रॉस ने उद्योग की आपत्तियों पर मेक्सिको चीनी सौदा लागू किया


BRASILIA (Reuters) - Brazilian and U.S. officials are in talks about a White House visit by President Michel Temer to discuss bilateral trade and investment issues, two sources in Temer’s office said on Wednesday.   U.S. President Donald Trump invited Temer for a visit during a March 18 phone call, when the two leaders discussed deepening commercial and business ties between the Western Hemisphere’s largest economies, the sources said. Trump’s promises to defend U.S. companies from foreign competition have worried Washington’s partners in much of Latin America, especially Mexico which is under pressure to rework a free-trade deal with its northern neighbor.       But the center-right Temer government hopes to see business opportunities opening up with the United States as it struggles to rescue the Brazilian economy from a two-year recession. Industries in Brazil, whose biggest trading partner is China, are benefiting from a weaker real currency. They could potentially increase their U.S. market share, if Trump advances on his threats overhaul or pull out of the North American Free Trade Agreement with Mexico and Canada. “We are not a threat to the United States and there are plenty of investment opportunities in both countries,” one of the sources, a senior government official, said. The sources asked not to be identified because they had not been authorized to speak about Temer’s possible White House visit publicly. No date for the visit has been set, they said. Temer’s press office declined to comment.

Summary: ब्राजील की नजर राष्ट्रपति की व्हाइट हाउस यात्रा परः सूत्र


BERLIN (Reuters) - The German government has approved the sale of three Thyssenkrupp submarines to Israel and will provide financial support for the purchase, government spokesman Steffen Seibert told a regular news conference on Monday. The estimated $2 billion deal is under police investigation  in Israel over suspected corruption and several public officials and private citizens have been questioned in the case. The 2016 deal has been under public scrutiny since it emerged that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu s personal lawyer also represented Thyssenkrup Marine System s local agent, raising concerns of a conflict of interest. The attorney has denied wrongdoing and said he never discussed the deal with Netanyahu. Israel s justice ministry said in February that Netanyahu himself was not a suspect. Addressing Israel s parliament, Netanyahu told opposition lawmakers that the new deal with Germany helped vindicate him.   How sad for you, that you have been staking your hopes on recycling the submarines story, but also understand that this story, too, has been sunk,  he said.  Seibert said Germany would make a contribution of up to 540 million euros to help finance Israel s purchase. Seibert said an inter-governmental memorandum of understanding approving the deal would be signed later on Monday.  I would like to thank (German) Chancellor (Angela) Merkel and her government for this memorandum, which touches on a matter that is very important for Israel s national security,  Netanyahu said in his speech.

Summary: जर्मनी ने इजरायल को तीन थाइसेनक्रुप पनडुब्बियों की बिक्री को मंजूरी दी


BAUCHI, Nigeria (Reuters) - Suspected Boko Haram militants killed eight soldiers and one civilian in an attack in Nigeria s northeast, a police official said on Wednesday. The attack in Yobe state on Tuesday evening also left five civilians injured, Abdulmalik Sumonu, commissioner of police for Yobe, told Reuters by phone.

Summary: नाइजीरिया के पूर्वोत्तर में बोको हराम के संदिग्ध आतंकवादियों ने आठ सैनिकों और एक नागरिक की हत्या कर दीः पुलिस


KATHMANDU (Reuters) - Nepalis began voting for a new parliament on Sunday with the army on alert on Sunday as a series of small blasts blamed on a rogue Maoist group reminded the Himalayan nation of the violence and instability it is hoping to leave behind. More than a decade after the end of a civil war between Maoist peasant guerrillas and security forces, Nepal is hoping this election - the first parliamentary polls since 1999 - will complete its long journey from a monarchy to become a federal republic. A second phase of the election will take place on Dec. 7, and the election commission has said that the final results probably won t be known for several days because of the cumbersome counting procedures.  A Maoist splinter group was behind a series of small blasts in the run up to the polls, army  spokesman Nain Raj Dahal said, adding that security forces have defused around 30 improvised explosive devices since Friday. For all the security concerns, voting was largely incident-free.   Except for some minor complaints from a few places, polling in all areas is smooth and peaceful so far,  Ila Sharma, a  member of the Election Commission told Reuters.  Suresh Balsami was the first voter at Kagatigaun polling center, about an hour s drive mostly on a dusty and winding road from capital Kathmandu.  I voted for peace, development and prosperity of the country,  said the 32-year-old bus driver, as other voters began to trickle into the polling center in a public school ringed by pine trees. Candidates have used everything from mules to drones flying their party flags to reach voters in remote areas with no roads, according to media reports.  Nepal voted in 2008 and 2013 for a Constituent Assembly, which doubled as parliament, to write a post-monarchy charter that plotted the course to becoming a federal republic. More than 15 million eligible voters will pick a 275-member legislature, the first under a new constitution agreed after years of wrangling. Simultaneously, voters will choose representatives to seven provincial assemblies for the first time since Nepal abolished the monarchy in 2008. The centrist Nepali Congress party, considered a pro-India group, has formed a loose electoral alliance with the Madhesi parties from the country s southern plains bordering India and former royalists. Facing the alliance is a tight-knit left coalition between the former Maoist rebels and the main opposition Communist UML party, perceived to be closer to China. Wedged between India and China, Nepal needs to balance ties, but the outcome of the election could determine which of the Asian giants gets the upper hand in the battle for influence in the buffer state. Both are looking to benefit from Nepal s potential as a source of hydropower. Home to Mount Everest, and one of the poorest countries in the world, Nepal depends on tourism and aid. More than one-fifth of its 28 million people survive on less than $1.90 a day, and parts of the country are still recovering from a devastating earthquake that killed 9,000 people in 2015. Rita Shrestha, a 49-year-old housewife whose house was damaged in the tremor, rued the slow pace of reconstruction.  We need roads, water supply, electricity, health care and jobs so our children are not forced to go abroad to work,  Shrestha, wrapped in a red woollen shawl, told Reuters after casting her vote. Millions of young Nepalis work mainly as laborers in the Middle East, Korea and Malaysia.

Summary: नेपाल में ऐतिहासिक मतदान, सेना ने विस्फोटों के लिए दुष्ट माओवादियों को जिम्मेदार ठहराया


WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Top House Democrat Nancy Pelosi called on Thursday for the creation of an outside, independent commission to investigate what she said was “cold, hard evidence” that President Donald Trump’s family intended to collude with Russians to influence the election. “This week we saw cold hard evidence of the Trump campaign, indeed the Trump family, eagerly intending to collude, possibly,  with Russia, a hostile foreign power, to influence American elections,” Pelosi said, referring to emails released this week by Trump’s son, Donald Trump Jr.

Summary: पेलोसी ने अमेरिकी चुनाव में रूसी हस्तक्षेप की जांच के लिए बाहरी आयोग का आह्वान किया


HONG KONG (Reuters) -  Important areas  of Hong Kong s  One Country, Two Systems  framework are coming under growing pressure, illustrated by developments such as reports of mainland security officials operating in the autonomous city, a British government report said on Thursday. The  One Country, Two Systems  principle, implemented as the former British colony returned to Chinese rule in 1997, promises the city a high degree of autonomy, an independent judiciary and a range of freedoms not enjoyed in mainland China. The former colonial power has been issuing reports on Hong Kong every half a year since then, and the latest, which covers developments in the first six months this year, British Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson said the guiding principle has  generally functioned well.   However, at the same time, we cannot ignore that important areas of the  One Country, Two Systems  framework are coming under increasing pressure,  Johnson wrote.  Examples include  further reports of mainland security officials operating within  Hong Kong, he said, without elaborating, as well as reports of the local Beijing representative s office heightening its influence in the city. But for the first time, the half-yearly report stopped short of raising concern over five Hong Kong booksellers who disappeared in late 2015 and later mysteriously re-emerged in mainland Chinese custody. One of the five men, Swedish citizen Gui Minhai, is still in Chinese detention. The report also touched upon the  apparent abduction  of Chinese billionaire Xiao Jianhua, who in January disappeared from his downtown Hong Kong apartment in a wheelchair with his head covered. Although Hong Kong authorities said there was no evidence to suggest mainland law enforcement agents had acted on Hong Kong soil, Johnson noted that  many in Hong Kong and internationally highlighted the numerous similarities between Xiao Jianhua s apparent abduction and the case of the Hong Kong booksellers.    He also said he looked forward to welcoming the city s newly sworn-in leader, Carrie Lam, to visit London to discuss closer co-operation between the UK and Hong Kong  as the UK prepares to leave the EU.  In response to the report, the Hong Kong government said foreign governments should not interfere in the internal affairs of the city.  Since the return to the motherland, the HKSAR (Special Administrative Region) has been exercising a high degree of autonomy ... This demonstrates the full and successful implementation of the  one country, two systems  principle, which has been widely recognized by the international community.

Summary: हांगकांग का 'एक देश, दो प्रणालियां' ढांचा दबाव में हैः ब्रिटेन


NEW YORK (Reuters) - Hurricane Irma s path of destruction up Florida s Gulf Coast on Sunday threatens to disrupt a thriving state tourism industry worth more than $100 billion annually just months ahead of the busy winter travel season. Some of the state s biggest attractions have announced temporary closures, including amusement park giants Walt Disney World s Magic Kingdom, Universal Studios, Legoland and Sea World, which all planned to close through Monday.  About 20 cruise lines have Miami as a home port or a port of call, according to the PortMiami website, and many have had to move ships out of the area and revise schedules.  Carnival Cruise Lines and Royal Caribbean have canceled and revised several sailings as a result of the storm and have offered credits and waivers on trips where passengers are unable to travel.  A Carnival spokesman said the situation in Florida on Sunday was still not clear enough to fully assess how widespread the effects will be.  We will know more in the hours ahead since the hurricane is active in Florida right now,  spokesman Roger Frizzell said. Irma made a second Florida landfall on Sunday on southwestern Marco Island as a Category 3 storm bringing winds of 115 miles per hour (185 kph) and life-threatening sea surge. Disney canceled the Monday sailing of one of its cruise ships and said it is assessing future sailings, which stop throughout the Caribbean and in the Bahamas.  Florida is one of the world s top tourism destinations. Last year nearly 113 million people visited the state, a new record, and spent $109 billion, state officials said earlier this year. The first half of 2017 was on track to beat that record pace, officials said.      The damage Irma s winds and storm surge do to Florida s 660 miles (1,060 km) of beaches and the structures built along them during more than 30 years of explosive population growth will be critical to how quickly the state s  s No. 1 industry recovers. The Gulf beaches west of St. Petersburg and Clearwater,  are squarely in the storm s path.  In 2016, more than 6.3 million people visited Pinellas County, which encompasses those cities, and generated more $9.7 billion in economic activity. Up and down the wide, sandy beaches of Pinellas County are traditional  old Florida  waterfront hotels such as the Don Cesar, a coral pink 1920s hotel on St. Pete Beach, which was closed by the storm. There are also modern high-rises and resorts that are part of the nation s biggest chains and brands including Hyatt Hotels, Marriott International, Intercontinental Hotels Group, Hilton Hotels & Resorts and Ritz-Carlton Hotel Company. The low-lying barrier islands would be inundated if Irma s storm surge reaches forecast heights of as high as 15 feet (4.6 meters).  While some newer structures in the area are built on elevated pilings, many older homes and businesses are not.

Summary: तूफान इरमा से फ्लोरिडा के पर्यटन उद्योग को खतरा


LONDON (Reuters) - London Zoo reopened on Sunday, a day after a fire that killed an aardvark and likely four meerkats and which left staff suffering from smoke inhalation and shock. The Zoo said an initial post mortem showed the aardvark named Misha most likely died from smoke inhalation whilst sleeping, while the four meerkats unaccounted for were presumed to have died.  We are all naturally devastated by this but are immensely grateful to the fire brigade, who reacted quickly to the situation to bring the fire under control,  ZSL London Zoo said in a statement on Sunday.  After consultation with fire experts attending yesterday, we are able to safely open the zoo today.  The fire broke out shortly after 0600 GMT on Saturday in the Animal Adventure section before spreading to a shop and cafe at the site in Regent s Park in central London. The zoo, which dates from 1826, said it was too soon to speculate on the cause of the fire.

Summary: लंदन चिड़ियाघर आग लगने के बाद फिर से खुला, जिसमें आर्डवार्क, मीरकैट्स की मौत हो गई थी


ROME (Reuters) - Police using water cannon and batons clashed on Thursday with refugees who had occupied a small Rome square in defiance of an  order to leave a building where they had been squatting. The clashes were the latest example of tensions in Italy as the country deals with an influx of migrants. They quickly became fodder for political debate, particularly on the police handling of the incident. Refugees were screaming and trying to hit police, who were dressed in riot gear, with sticks.  The square, just one block from Rome s main train station, was strewn with mattresses, overturned rubbish bins and broken plastic chairs. Some 100 refugees had occupied Piazza Independenza since Saturday, when most of about 800 squatters were evicted from an adjacent office building they had occupied for about five years. Hung on the building was a sheet with writing reading  We are refugees, not terrorists  in Italian. A small fire burned on the pavement and a sheet hanging from a first-floor window was set alight by squatters inside.    Most of the squatters were Eritreans who had been granted asylum. Police said they had refused to accept lodging offered by the city. In a statement, the police said the refugees had gas canisters, some of which they had opened, and officers had been hit by rocks, bottles and pepper spray. Two people were arrested and Doctors Without Borders said in a statement that its medics had given first aid to 13 refugees, including one for a broken bone. Human Rights Watch and members of some leftist political parties criticized the police handling of the situation, saying the use of such force was disproportionate.  The authorities need to urgently find appropriate, alternative housing, and investigate the use of force by the police during the eviction,  said Judith Sunderland, associate director for Europe at Human Rights Watch.  It s hard to see how the use of water cannon on people was necessary or proportionate,  she said. Various Roman Catholic groups that help immigrants also criticized police conduct.  But the Italian police union COISIP said officers were forced to use water cannon because of the  risk of explosions caused by flammable liquids . Police said they were looking at possible  irregularities  after what appeared to be a policeman told a colleague to  break the arm  of any squatter who threw anything while being chased, according to a video that circulated widely on social media. Another video showed a woman fly to the ground after being hit in the face by water cannon, and later put in an ambulance. Squatters had put cooking gas tanks on the railing of a first-floor balcony, apparently ready to be opened to be used as makeshift flamethrowers, or dropped onto the square, Reuters photographers said on Wednesday. Matteo Salvini, head of the right-wing, anti-immigrant Northern League, Tweeted his unequivocal support of police, saying  Go boys:  Evictions, order, cleaning up and EXPULSIONS! Italians are with you.  More than 600,000 boat migrants have arrived in Italy from North Africa since 2014. Some 200,000 asylum seekers now stay in state-run shelters.

Summary: रोम में झड़पें, पुलिस ने चौक से शरणार्थियों को निकाला


WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump tweeted early on Friday that “Iran is playing with fire” and “they don’t appreciate how kind President Obama was to them. Not me!” Trump plans to impose sanctions on several Iranian entities, seeking to ratchet up pressure on Tehran while crafting a broader strategy to counter what he sees as its destabilizing behavior, people familiar with the matter said on Thursday.  Iran’s decision to test-fire a ballistic missile on Sunday helped trigger Trump’s decision, which could be announced as early as Friday, they said.

Summary: ईरान आग से खेल रहा हैः ट्रंप का ट्वीट, कहा-ओबामा की तरह दयालु नहीं होगा ईरान


LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry defended a 12-nation Pacific trade agreement on Tuesday against what he suggested was fear-mongering by the leading U.S. presidential candidates. Without mentioning Trump by name, Kerry argued that the Trans-Pacific Partnership deal that the Obama administration negotiated would be good for the U.S. economy even as he acknowledged U.S. workers’ fears about free trade agreements. “Many Americans still feel a sense of anxiety about TPP and T-TIP. In fact, they’ve been revved up to have some anxiety about anything related to trade,” Kerry said in a speech in Los Angeles, also referring to a trade deal with Europe called the Trans-Atlantic Trade and Investment Partnership. Some of workers’ mistrust of trade agreements “comes from politicians who play to fears,” he added. “It comes also from legitimate anger about the economic status of millions of our fellow citizens who have not gained from trade.” Voter anxiety and anger over international trade and the trade pact have helped propel Trump, the Republican front-runner, whose main opponent for the Republican nomination, Senator Ted Cruz, also opposes the deal. Democratic presidential front-runner Hillary Clinton worked on TTP as President Barack Obama’s first secretary of state, calling it the “gold standard” of such deals, but is now against it, saying it does not adequately protect U.S. workers. Senator Bernie Sanders, her main Democratic rival, also opposes it. Given the criticism of TPP in the presidential campaign, prospects for it receiving a vote before the Nov. 8 election are diminishing, and some lawmakers have said it would be better to consider it during the “lame duck “ session after the vote. Still, Obama administration officials have been stepping up their campaign to promote TPP, especially emphasizing the deal’s geopolitical benefits of strengthening ties with Asian allies in the face of an increasingly aggressive China.

Summary: केरी ने अभियान हमलों के खिलाफ व्यापार समझौतों का बचाव किया


PRISTINA (Reuters) - A court in Kosovo on Friday sentenced four people, including a member of parliament, to prison terms ranging from 2 to 8 years for taking part in a grenade attack against the parliament building last year. The four were found responsible for throwing a rocket propelled grenade at the building in August last year in order to halt adoption of a border deal with Montenegro. No one was injured in the attack. Tensions between opposition parties and the then-ruling coalition rose last summer as the parliament was getting ready to adopt border deal with Montenegro, key for Kosovo to get visa-free travel regime with the European Union.  Opposition parties opposed the deal saying the country of 1.8 million is losing land by handing over some 8,000 hectares (19,700 acres)of Kosovo territory to Montenegro.  In a protest over the deal, opposition deputies released tear gas in the parliament chamber, while its supporters clashed with the police during street protests.  Frasher Krasniqi, parliament deputy of the biggest opposition party Vetevendosje was found guilty and sentenced to 8 years in prison.  Adea Batusha, 23, a niece of Vetevendosje s leader, was sentenced to two years in prison.  One of the defendants was found dead in his cell in November 2016 before the trial started. Vetevendosje blamed the authorities for this death but police said he killed himself.  For all these unjust judgments, sooner or later, those criminals who ordered these fabricated trials will be held accountable, before the law and before the history,  Frasher Krasniqi wrote in his Facebook page after the verdict. Kosovo declared independence from Serbia in 2008, nearly a decade after NATO bombing drove Serb forces from its territory.

Summary: कोसोवो की अदालत ने 2016 संसद पर रॉकेट हमले के लिए चार लोगों को जेल भेजा


WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States is committed to the security of its allies in the Pacific region and will bolster its allies there against any hostile actions from North Korea, a White House official said on Sunday. “The message is that we are going to reinforce and strengthen our vital alliances in the Pacific region as part of our strategy to deter and prevent the increasing hostility that we’ve seen in recent years from the North Korean regime,” White House adviser Stephen Miller said on the television show “Fox News Sunday.”

Summary: अमेरिका उत्तर कोरिया की शत्रुता के खिलाफ प्रशांत सहयोगियों को मजबूत करेगाः अधिकारी


ISTANBUL (Reuters) - Turkey has sent a note to U.S. authorities inquiring about the condition of gold trader Reza Zarrab, held in the United States awaiting trial on charges of evading U.S. sanctions on Iran,  Turkish Foreign Ministry sources said on Wednesday.  Following media reports about Reza Zarrab, our Washington Embassy has officially requested information from U.S. authorities, and have not yet received an answer,  the ministry spokesman s office said.  We will follow up the issue.  There was speculation in Turkish media after the U.S. Federal Bureau of Prisons website showed that Zarrab was released from prison on Nov. 8. However a spokesman for Acting U.S. Attorney Joon Kim in Manhattan said on Monday that Zarrab remained in federal custody.  The information that Zarrab was released is not factual,  Zarrab s lawyer Seyda Yildirim told Hurriyet newspaper on Wednesday.  He might have been moved to a different section. We haven t been informed in five days, we are unable to receive any information.  Zarrab has pleaded not guilty to the charges of sanctions evasion.  Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan has said U.S. prosecutors have  ulterior motives  in the case, by including references to him and his wife in court papers.

Summary: तुर्की ने अमेरिका से जेल में बंद व्यापारी के बारे में पूछाः विदेश मंत्रालय के सूत्र


WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Allowing foreign governments to require reviews of software secrets of technology products built by U.S. companies is “problematic,” the top White House cyber security official said on Tuesday, adding that the increasingly common arrangements presented both security and intellectual property risks. Rob Joyce, the White House cyber security coordinator, said that letting countries inspect source code, the closely guarded internal instructions of software, as a condition for entry into foreign markets was a protectionist effort by certain regimes that threatened a “free and open internet” and could “hobble” a product’s security and privacy features. Reuters on Monday reported that Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE) last year allowed a Russian defense agency to review the inner workings of cyber defense software known as ArcSight that is used by the Pentagon to guard its computer networks. (Read the original Reuters special report: here ) Cyber security experts, former U.S. intelligence officials and former ArcSight employees said the practice could help Moscow discover weaknesses in the software, potentially helping attackers to blind the U.S. military to a cyber attack. “There are security aspects of those disclosures (and) they are problematic,” Joyce, a former hacker at the U.S. National Security Agency, said at a Washington Post Cybersecurity Summit when asked specifically about the story. He added that he was more concerned about the intellectual property risks associated with the reviews, however. “If you give your source code to China as a condition of entering into that market, you’ve got to wonder if competitors are then going to start to adopt those features,” Joyce said at the event, which was sponsored by HPE. “And we’ve seen some examples of that in the past and that really concerns us.” Asked about Joyce’s comments, an HPE spokeswoman said the company “has never and will never take actions that compromise the security of our products or the operations of our customers.” The company said the reviews have taken place for years and are conducted by a Russian testing company at an HPE research and development center outside of Russia, where the software maker closely supervises the process, and that no code is allowed to leave the premises. HPE has said the inspection process was necessary to obtain certification from Russia’s Federal Service for Technical and Export Control (FSTEC),  a defense agency tasked with countering cyber espionage, in order to sell software in Russia. The review of ArcSight’s code was conducted by Echelon, a company with close ties to the Russian military, on behalf of FSTEC, according to Russian regulatory records and interviews with people with direct knowledge of the issue. British tech company Micro Focus International Plc (MCRO.L), which purchased ArcSight from HPE last year in a transaction completed in September, did not respond when asked about Joyce’s remarks. Micro Focus has not responded to requests for comment on whether it would allow Russia to do similar source code reviews in the future. Russia in recent years has stepped up demands for source code reviews as a requirement for doing business in the country, Reuters reported in June. China in May adopted a new cyber security law that western companies have criticized for requiring overly strict data surveillance and storage requirements. The law has raised concern that companies will need to choose between compromising security to protect business and losing out on the enormous Chinese market. “The idea that you can’t enter China’s market without offering up your intellectual property in this way, without agreeing maybe to hobble some of the security and privacy features of it ... Russia is heading that way, a bunch of totalitarian regimes are heading that way,” Joyce said.

Summary: विदेशी सरकार के कोड की समीक्षा 'समस्याग्रस्त': व्हाइट हाउस के साइबर अधिकारी


(Reuters) - Yahoo Inc’s shares fell as much as 3.8 percent on Thursday, a day after the company said that more than 1 billion user accounts were compromised in a security breach in August 2013. The number of users affected by the breach, the largest in history, was double the number implicated in a prior 2014 breach that Yahoo had disclosed in September. Verizon, which has agreed to buy Yahoo’s core Internet business for $4.83 billion, had said at the time that it might withdraw from the deal. The No. 1 U.S. wireless carrier said on Wednesday that it would review the impact of the latest development. “The prior breaches were not seen to have an effect on the Verizon deal, so I would say that this is not going to have an effect either because its just something that is understood, it has to be addressed,” Tigress Financial Partner analyst Ivan Feinseth said. Up to Wednesday’s close, Yahoo’s stock had fallen more than 7 percent since the first breach was announced in September.

Summary: नवीनतम सुरक्षा उल्लंघन के बाद याहू के शेयरों में गिरावट आई


WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. Senator John McCain, who recently returned to Washington after treatment for brain cancer, said on Sunday the disease is vicious but that the treatment is going well and he has more energy than before. “This is a very vicious form of cancer that I’m facing,” McCain, a Republican who ran unsuccessfully for president in 2008, told CNN’s “State of the Union” program. The 80-year-old Arizona senator was found to have an aggressive form of brain tumor, glioblastoma, after surgery in July for a blood clot above his left eye. “All the results so far are excellent,” McCain said of his treatment, adding that the prognosis was “pretty good.” “I’m facing a challenge, but I’ve faced other challenges, and I’m very confident about getting through this one as well,” the senator said. “I’ve had no side effects, no nothing except frankly an increased level of energy.” McCain recently completed his first round of chemotherapy and radiation, and he said that he would have an MRI on Monday, an imaging technique used to evaluate medical conditions. McCain, who chairs the Senate Armed Services Committee, is also going to oversee work on a defense policy bill on the Senate floor next week.    “Every life has to end one way or another,” he told CNN,  adding that he was very happy with his life, including the 2008 campaign that he lost to former President Barack Obama.  “I am able to celebrate a wonderful life and I will be grateful for additional time that I have,” McCain said, adding: “Remember, I’m the guy who stood fifth from the bottom of his class at the Naval Academy.” McCain was re-elected to a sixth Senate term in November. In the past, he has been treated for melanoma, a form of skin cancer. He is the son and grandson of Navy admirals, and a U.S. Navy pilot whose plane was shot down over Vietnam in 1967. He spent more than five years as a prisoner of war in North Vietnam and was tortured repeatedly. McCain said Sunday he hoped that people would remember him as someone who had served his country. “Made a lot of mistakes, made a lot of errors, but served his country, and I hope we could add, honorably.”

Summary: अमेरिकी सीनेटर मैक्केन का कहना है कि वे 'कैंसर के बहुत ही दुष्ट रूप' का सामना कर रहे हैं


VIENNA (Reuters) - Ahmed Ali, a 34-year-old teacher, fled the war in Syria two years ago and settled in a quiet Austrian town on the hilly border with the Czech Republic. He was hoping to raise a family there. But voter attitudes towards immigrants have hardened due to concerns about security and the economy after Austria took in more than 1 percent of its population in asylum seekers in 2015.  This fueled support for the far-right party Freedom Party and its candidate came close to winning last year s presidential election. Immigration is still the dominant political issue ahead of the Oct. 15 parliamentary election. In January, lawmakers in Lower Austria, where Ali lived, reduced benefits for new arrivals. They said the benefits system needed protecting from being overstretched by the influx of refugees.  Ali and his pregnant wife moved again to Vienna in July, where their benefits would still be paid in full.  Most of us fled when the letter came telling us our social benefits would be cut. At first we didn t believe it but then we saw it on our bank balance,  said Ali, who says his German is not yet good enough to find work. Three of Austria s nine provinces   Lower Austria, Burgenland and Upper Austria   have reduced benefits for new arrivals. Foreign Minister Sebastian Kurz, leader of the conservative People s Party which is leading in the polls, wants to make similar cuts apply to the whole country.  Chancellor Christian Kern, whose Social Democratic Party polls show competing with the Freedom Party for second place, has resisted the idea but said he could support them in cases where new arrivals turn down job offers.    So far, the cuts have primarily impacted migrants like Ali who sought asylum in Austria when it opened its border in 2015 although some Austrians returning home have also been caught. In Burgenland the rules apply to all people seeking help who have spent fewer than five years of the six preceding their application for benefits in Austria.  A statement accompanying the Upper Austrian bill painted the cuts as a way to tackle the problem of  welfare magnetism  in the context of refugees. The Lower Austrian government declined to comment due to a legal challenge against the cuts.  In a case brought by a charity, Austria s Constitutional Court is expected to rule next year on whether the cuts by Lower Austria, decided in late 2016 and implemented since early 2017, are illegal.  The 1951 United Nations Refugee Convention says host countries must grant refugees  the same treatment with respect to public relief and assistance  as their own nationals. A 2011 EU directive sets a similar rule.  The U.N. refugee agency (UNHCR), which has denounced  xenophobic debates  in Austrian politics ahead of the election,  has described the cuts as breaches of international and European law but no international cases have been started.   A Burgenland spokeswoman defended the benefits changes, saying they targeted Austrian nationals as well.    Therefore there is no violation of ... the EU directive and the refugee convention,  she said.  A spokesman for Kurz said legislation to expand the cuts would be passed and phrased in such a way  that no doubt for the highest courts will emerge . The three provinces have cut benefits for new arrivals, even after obtaining asylum, to around 570 euros ($669) a month, less than half the poverty threshold of 1,200 euros, compared with around 850 euros for an Austrian who has never lived abroad. Benefits for a household have been capped at 1,500 euros.  Rather than live off less than what is considered the bare minimum for most Austrians, many of those affected have moved, particularly to the capital. Ali moved to an apartment with his uncle and aunt in a dilapidated building on the outskirts of the city costing 1,100 euros a month.  They don t care how many children you have. And maybe they ll cut again,  Ali said in his living room with two sofas, a television set and a picture of Kurdish leader Masoud Barzani.  He found more affordable apartments but the landlord did not want refugees as tenants. One landlady was concerned social benefits for refugees might be cut in Vienna, too.   Instead of cutting the social safety net, integration and independence should be supported. We fear that language learning, training and the search for work will suffer if those affected don t know how to pay their rent anymore,  said the chief the UNHCR s Austria office, Christoph Pinter.   Although the Freedom Party and Kurz s conservatives have been the most vocal about cutting benefits for new arrivals, the three provinces that have put cuts in place are governed by various two-way combinations of all three main political parties. But most of those affected who spoke to Reuters fear an election victory for Kurz.  If Kurz wins, it will be a big problem,  said 24-year-old Basel from Deraa in Syria. He moved from Lower Austria to Vienna in July, leaving behind friends and a job as a hairdresser.  He says the cuts paralyze people like him with fear.   You stop thinking about the future.   (For a graphic on Austria's parliamentary election, click tmsnrt.rs/2hKIi65)

Summary: ऑस्ट्रिया ने लाभ में कटौती के साथ शरणार्थियों पर दबाव डाला


DHAKA (Reuters) - Bangladesh could start relocating Rohingya Muslim refugees to a flood-prone island off its coast in the middle of next year, a government official said on Thursday, as it pushes ahead with the plan despite criticism from aid agencies and rights groups. Densely populated Bangladesh has seen an influx of more than 620,000 Rohingya to its southern-most district of Cox s Bazar,  fleeing violence in neighboring Myanmar, since August.  This week, it approved a $280 million plan to develop the low-lying Bhashan Char island to temporarily house some of them until they can go home. The Bay of Bengal island, also known as Thenger Char, only emerged from the silt off Bangladesh s delta coast about 11 years ago. Two hours by boat from the nearest settlement, the island  has no roads or buildings and it regularly floods during the rough seas of the June-September rainy season. When the sea is calm, pirates roam the waters in the vicinity to kidnap fishermen for ransom.  We can t keep such a large number of people in this small area of Cox s Bazar where their presence is having a devastating effect on the situation on the ground environmentally, population wise and economically,  H.T. Imam, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina s political adviser, told Reuters on Thursday.  So, as quickly as we can shift at least some of the burden over to Bhashan Char, that will minimize the problem.  Rohingya have fled repression in Buddhist-majority Myanmar several times since the 1970s, and almost one most million of them live in crowded camps in Cox s Bazar. Mainly Muslim Bangladesh has said it aims to move about 100,000 refugees to the island. Some aid officials speculate that by raising the island plan, Bangladesh could be trying to put pressure on the international community to find a better solution to the crisis. But Imam, who holds the rank of cabinet minister, has denied any such tactic. He said the navy had started work on developing the island, money for which will come from the government. Bangladesh, however, would need financial and other help from aid agencies to move the refugees to the island, he said.  There are some organizations which have assured help but I won t specify who they are,  Imam said.   It s a huge project and includes the development of livestock. They will be given cattle, they will be given land, they will be given houses. They will raise their livestock, there will be other vocations that will be created.  Humanitarian agencies, however, have criticized the plan since it was first floated in 2015.  Having opened its doors to more than 600,000 Rohingya over the past three months, the Bangladesh government now risks undermining the protection of the Rohingya and squandering the international goodwill it has earned,  said Biraj Patnaik, Amnesty International s South Asia Director, referring to the plan to move people to the island.  In its desperation to see the Rohingya leave the camps and ultimately return to Myanmar, it is putting their safety and well-being at risk.  Myanmar and Bangladesh signed an accord last week on terms for the return of hundreds of thousands of Rohingya, though rights groups have expressed doubts about Myanmar following through on the agreement and have called for independent observers for any repatriation. There are concerns about protection for Rohingya from further violence if and when they go home, and about a path to resolving their legal status - most are stateless - and whether they would be allowed to return to their old homes. Imam said Bangladesh was working on those issues but did not give details.  In diplomacy, there are a lot of things that happen but then you don t pronounce them publicly,  he said.  A lot of back-door diplomatic work is being done. People are involved at the highest level.  For a graphic on Bangladesh's Rohingya relocation plan, click tmsnrt.rs/2kULcWn

Summary: बांग्लादेश अगले साल कुछ रोहिंग्याओं को बाढ़ संभावित द्वीप पर ले जा सकता हैः अधिकारी


MANILA (Reuters) - Philippine lawmakers allied with President Rodrigo Duterte on Tuesday voted to allocate an annual budget of just 1,000 pesos ($20) to the Commission on Human Rights, a public body that has clashed repeatedly with Duterte over his bloody war on drugs. About four-fifths of lower house members present supported the move to cut the budget to almost nil, in what critics of the anti-drugs campaign call retaliation for the agency s efforts to investigate thousands of killings over the past 15 months. The CHR deserved a low budget for being a  useless  body and defending criminals  rights, house speaker Pantaleon Alvarez, a close ally of Duterte, said in a television interview.  If you want to protect the rights of criminals, get your budget from the criminals,  he said.  It s that simple. Why should you get budget from the government and yet you are not doing your job?  Congressman Edcel Lagman said 32 minority lawmakers opposed the measure during the debate at the second reading. He said Duterte s supporters were  virtually imposing the death penalty on a constitutionally created and mandated independent office . The CHR requested a budget of 1.72 billion pesos for 2018, but the government proposed 678 million. Congress voted to slash that to just 1,000 pesos, a huge cut from the 2017 budget of 749 million. The budget requires another vote, then Senate approval before it becomes final. Human rights monitors said the CHR was a vital institution that stands no chance of doing its job without a proper budget. Phelim Kine, deputy Asia director for Human Rights Watch, said the overwhelming support for the cut was  part of the Duterte administration s attempt to prevent independent institutions to check its abuses . Agnes Callamard, the U.N. Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial killings, said Filipinos deserved a strong, independent rights organization that could hold the state accountable.  Instead they are getting a  war on drugs  which, by the president s own account, has failed to curtail addiction rates, while creating a climate of fear and insecurity, feeding impunity, and undermining the constitutional fabrics of the Country,  Callamard posted on her Facebook page.  If the Philippines Congress is looking for public money being wasted, damaging and hurting the Philippines society, this is it.  The CHR has long complained it lacks manpower and resources to fully investigate the killings, the majority of which activists say are of users and small-time peddlers, with few high-profile arrests. Filipinos, however, are largely supportive of the crackdown as a solution to tackling rampant crime, which Duterte says stems from drug addiction. Critics maintain police are executing suspects, and say the government has what is effectively a kill policy. Duterte has angrily rejected that and police say they kill only in self-defense. CHR head, Chito Gascon, said the measly budget was an attempt to force his resignation. He said he would take the issue to the Supreme Court if necessary.  The principal reason why I cannot resign my office is that to do so is to weaken the institution itself,  Gascon said.  Asking me to resign would lead to essentially making the institution forever at the mercy of politics.  ($1=50.8690 Philippine pesos)

Summary: फिलीपीन कांग्रेस ने मादक पदार्थ युद्ध की जांच करने वाली एजेंसी के लिए केवल 20 डॉलर के वार्षिक बजट का समर्थन किया


BUCHAREST (Reuters) - Thousands of Romanians were protesting in the capital Bucharest and cities across the country on Sunday against plans by the ruling Social Democrats to overhaul judicial legislation. The plans, initially announced by the justice minister in August and currently in under debate in parliament, could put the judicial system under political control in one of the European Union s most corrupt states.  Thousands of magistrates, centrist President Klaus Iohannis, the European Commission and diplomats have all expressed concern about the proposed legal changes. An estimated 12,000 people were marching towards parliament in Bucharest on Sunday shouting  We don t want to be a nation of thieves .  Thousands more were protesting across the country. The ruling Social Democrat Party has said it aims to approve the judicial overhaul by the end of this parliamentary session. The most contested changes include overhauling a judicial inspection unit, which oversees magistrates  conduct and the way in which chief prosecutors are appointed.   Earlier this year, attempts by the ruling coalition to weaken a crackdown on high-level corruption triggered Romania s largest street protests in decades. Judicial and fiscal changes have dominated the Social Democrats  agenda since coming to power following an election last December. Plans to significantly overhaul the country s taxes have put pressure on Romanian assets. The president and major investors  associations have urged the government to scrap the changes which they have said will throw the economy into upheaval and strain the budget deficit. A major trade union has started the process of calling a general strike and other unions have announced protests set for later this month. The government postponed a meeting to discuss the fiscal changes until Nov. 6.

Summary: हजारों रोमानियाई लोगों ने सत्तारूढ़ दल की न्यायिक सुधार योजनाओं का विरोध किया