WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Clinton Foundation on multiple occasions during Hillary Clinton’s tenure as secretary of state asked senior U.S. government officials to vet her husband’s contacts with potentially controversial international figures, according to emails released by the State Department. The emails, reviewed by Reuters, were part of a batch of nearly 400 messages recently released by the State Department after requests from the conservative group Citizens United, a group that has long been critical of the Clintons. The exchanges show a top foreign policy adviser to the foundation sought guidance from the State Department on former President Bill Clinton’s interactions with people including Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, Russian government officials and business leaders, and Gulnara Karimova, the socialite daughter of Uzbekistan’s late president. The emails offer a glimpse of the intricate relationship between a private charity with a broad global mission and the State Department under the leadership of a secretary who is married to a former president. Former government officials reached by Reuters said there was nothing inappropriate in the interactions of the foundation with the State Department over the potential meetings, some of which did not occur. The latest batch of emails likely represents only a partial view of all the exchanges between the State Department and the foundation. It is unclear how frequently the foundation sought advice from the State Department on meetings involving Bill Clinton. In one instance, the emails show Amitabh Desai, a foreign policy adviser to the foundation and to Bill Clinton, raised the possibility in 2009 of a meeting between Bill Clinton and Syrian President Assad. At the time, Assad wanted better ties with the West. “Would this be concerning for State?” Desai wrote in an email alerting Hillary Clinton aide Jake Sullivan to the possible meeting. “The Syrians expressed a keen interest in facilitating this,” Desai said in an email a few days later. The Syria visit was proposed to be tacked onto a forum Bill Clinton was invited to attend in Israel in November 2009, according to the emails. The meeting never happened, according to Martin Indyk, a former U.S. ambassador to Israel who helped  to organize the trip. The State Department sometimes communicates with charities, such as about circumstances that might involve the safety of Americans or highly sensitive diplomatic situations, but it typically does not vet their contacts with foreign leaders to this extent. State Department spokesman Elizabeth Trudeau said officials occasionally provide talking points and briefings to ex-presidents. Much of Bill Clinton’s communications with the State Department stemmed from an ethics agreement that was put in place when Hillary Clinton became secretary of state in 2009. The agreement was aimed at avoiding conflicts of interests stemming from contributions to the foundation and Bill Clinton’s paid speeches and consulting. Trudeau said these were “voluntary steps” taken to avoid “even the appearance of a conflict of interest.” Angel Urena, press secretary for Bill Clinton, said the requests for State Department input on potential meetings, talking points and other information “was done in order to inform the administration of President Clinton’s interactions with foreign governments and dignitaries, so that the administration could in turn offer advice or voice any concerns.” Urena said Bill Clinton had sought advice on his activities since he left office in 2001. The Clinton Foundation referred questions to Urena. Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign declined to comment. Clinton’s campaign to win the Nov. 8 presidential election has been dogged by criticism of the Bill, Hillary & Chelsea Clinton Foundation, a global philanthropic organization. The foundation has said it will stop accepting at least some foreign and corporate donations if Hillary Clinton becomes president and that Bill Clinton would resign from the foundation’s board. In one previously unreported email exchange, Desai wrote to the State Department in May 2012 informing officials that Bill Clinton would travel to Monaco to raise money for the foundation at an event where he might cross paths with the elder daughter of the Uzbekistan president. Gulnara Karimova, a businesswoman and pop star, was described in a 2005 cable from a U.S. embassy official as the “single most hated person in Uzbekistan” because of her flamboyant lifestyle in an authoritarian country. She has since come under investigation in an international bribery scandal. Ahead of the event in Monaco, Desai wrote that the organizers had invited Karimova to be one of the event’s sponsors “apparently without our approval.” The Uzbekistan president’s daughter “will be listed in the program and will see (Bill Clinton),” he said. “Would (the U.S. government) have concerns? If so, we can go back to organizer and ask them to return her sponsorship and disinvite her, however I assume that would ruffle some feathers,” Desai said. The emails released to Citizens United don’t contain a reply to Desai’s inquiry. However, a collection of photos from the Monaco event posted on the internet show Karimova attended it. They do not show any pictures of her with Bill Clinton.

Summary: विदेश विभाग ने बिल क्लिंटन के संपर्कों की जांच की, ईमेल से पता चलता है


WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. President-elect Donald Trump plans to select the media representatives who are given access to the presidential press briefing room, but will not move the room out of the White House, he said in interview with Fox News broadcast on Wednesday.  Trump, whose election campaign was punctuated by a stream of Twitter messages, also said he plans to keep tweeting when he takes office on Friday.  “Look, I don’t like tweeting. I have other things I could be doing. But I get very dishonest media, very dishonest press. And it’s my only way that I can counteract,” said the Republican president-elect.  MORE FROM REUTERS  *  As caliphate crumbles, Islamic State lashes out in Iraq  *  Potentially nasty fight looms over Supreme Court pick  *  Business euphoria over Trump gives way to caution, confusion A New York businessman and former reality TV star, Trump often used Twitter during the campaign to communicate his views, including his sometimes scathing opinions of rivals. Since winning the November election he has delivered a steady stream of tweets - often focused on countering critics.  He has had a contentious relationship with some prominent U.S. news organization that he refers to derisively as the “mainstream media,” banning some news outlets during the presidential campaign and publicly criticizing individual reporters.  Trump’s team had discussed moving news conferences out of the small West Wing briefing room to the Old Executive Office Building, which is part of the White House complex, incoming White House Chief of Staff Reince Priebus said Sunday on ABC.  “The press went crazy, so I said, ‘Let’s not move it.’ But some people in the press will not be able to get in,” Trump told Fox in the interview broadcast on Wednesday.  “We have so many people that want to go in so we’ll have to just have to pick the people to go into the room - I’m sure other people will be thrilled about that,” he said. “But we offered a much larger room because we need a much larger room and we offered to do that, but they went crazy.”  “And they’ll be begging for a much larger room very soon, you watch.”  The current press room has about 49 seats, which are assigned by the White House Correspondents Association (WHCA). The current president of the WHCA is Jeff Mason, a Reuters correspondent.  Moving the briefing room could reduce access to White House officials, as the room is only steps from the Oval Office.

Summary: एक आदत ट्रम्प का कहना है कि वह राष्ट्रपति के रूप में बने रहेंगेः ट्वीट करना


WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. State Department halted the planned sale of some 26,000 assault rifles to the Philippines’ national police after Senator Ben Cardin said he would oppose it, Senate aides told Reuters on Monday. Aides said Cardin, the top Democrat on the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee, was reluctant for the United States to provide the weapons given concerns about human rights violations in the Philippines. News of the thwarting of the weapons sale was met with disappointment among the Philippine police and government on Tuesday, but they said alternative suppliers would be found. Police spokesman Dionardo Carlos said the Philippines had yet to be notified about the sale being stopped.        The relationship between the United States and the Philippines, a long-time ally, has been complicated lately by President Rodrigo Duterte’s angry reaction to criticism from Washington of his violent battle to rid the country of illegal drugs. More than 2,300 people have been killed in police operations or by suspected vigilantes in connection with the anti-narcotics campaign since Duterte took office on June 30. The U.S. State Department informs Congress when international weapons sales are in the works. Aides said Foreign Relations committee staff informed State that Cardin would oppose the deal during the department’s prenotification process for the sale of 26,000-27,000 assault rifles, stopping the deal. U.S. State Department officials did not comment. Ronald dela Rosa, the Philippine national police chief and staunch supporter of the war on drugs, said he liked the American rifle, but suggested China as an alternative small-arms provider.  “We really wanted the U.S. rifles because these are reliable,” he told broadcaster ABS-CBN. “But if the sale will not push through, we will find another source, maybe from China.” In October, Duterte told U.S. President Barack Obama to “go to hell” and said the United States had refused to sell some weapons to his country, but he did not care because Russia and China were willing suppliers. According to some U.S. officials, Washington has been doing its best to ignore Duterte’s rhetoric and not provide him with a pretext for more outbursts. An open break with the Philippines could create problems for the United States in a region where China’s influence has grown.

Summary: एक्सक्लूसिवः अमेरिका ने फिलीपींस में राइफल की बिक्री रोक दी जिसका सीनेटर ने विरोध किया-सूत्र


PESHAWAR, Pakistan (Reuters) - A suicide bomber on a motorcycle killed a top Pakistani police officer and one of his guards on Friday in the city of Peshawar, police said. Additional Inspector General Ashraf Noor was leaving his home for work when the bomber rammed into his vehicle, city police chief Tahir Khan said.  Noor s vehicle was engulfed in flame, killing him on the spot, Khan said. One of his five guards died in hospital, the police chief said.  No group claimed responsibility. Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi condemned the attack.  Our resolve to eradicate the menace of terrorism can not be shaken,  he said.  Peshawar is the capital of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province on the border with Afghanistan. Both Pakistani and foreign militants have for years operated in lawless stretches of the border region, launching attacks in both Afghanistan and Pakistan.

Summary: आत्मघाती हमले में पाकिस्तान के एक शीर्ष पुलिस अधिकारी की मौत


TOKYO (Reuters) - The escalating threat from North Korea’s nuclear program shows a clear need for a “new approach,” U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said on Thursday, although he did not say what the Trump administration planned. It was the first time that Tillerson, who was speaking at a joint news conference in Tokyo after talks with Japanese Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida, had taken questions from the media since taking office in early February. Two decades of diplomatic and other efforts, including U.S. aid for North Korea, had failed to achieve the goal of denuclearizing Pyongyang, said Tillerson, a former oil executive with no prior diplomatic experience, at the start of his first trip to Asia as secretary of state. “So we have 20 years of failed approach,” Tillerson said. “That includes a period where the United States has provided $1.35 billion in assistance to North Korea as an encouragement to take a different pathway.” “In the face of this ever-escalating threat, it is clear that a different approach is required. Part of the purpose of my visit to the region is to exchange views on a new approach,” he said. A Japanese foreign ministry official said U.S. officials had discussed potential new approaches regarding North Korea, but he declined to elaborate. As Tillerson presses the Chinese to do more to rein in North Korea’s nuclear and missile programs, he is expected to tell them the United States intends to increase missile defense in the region, despite Beijing’s strong opposition, a U.S. official told Reuters in Washington. An advanced U.S. anti-missile system is being installed in South Korea, and the official said the Trump administration wants to discuss similar improvements with Japan. Tillerson visits South Korea and China later in the week.  Tillerson is also likely to raise the prospects for imposing “secondary sanctions” on Chinese banks and other firms doing business with North Korea, the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity. It is among the options being considered in a full review of North Korea policy expected to be completed by late March or early April, the official said.State Department spokesman Mark Toner said on Wednesday Tillerson will have “substantive, hard” talks on next steps in dealing with North Korea but that his visit was not likely to produce an immediate specific response. In Beijing, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying repeated Foreign Minister Wang Yi’s proposal last week that North Korea should stop its nuclear and missile tests and South Korea and the United States should stop joint military drills and seek talks instead. “We welcome all parties, including the United States, to come up with their own proposals,” Hua told a daily news briefing. “As long as these proposals are conducive to ameliorating the present tense situation on the Korean peninsula and are beneficial to maintaining regional peace and stability ... China will have an open attitude.” Tillerson made it clear he expected China, North Korea’s sole major ally, to do more. “We will be having discussions with China as to further actions we believe they might consider taking that would be helpful to bringing North Korea to a different attitude about its future need for nuclear weapons,” he said. Tillerson’s comments in Japan were eagerly watched by international observers for indications as to what they meant for the Trump administration’s foreign policy. Japan is seeking clues to Washington’s policies both on North Korea and China’s increasing military and economic clout  while hoping to steer clear of trade rows. Tillerson also held talks with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and had dinner with Kishida. U.S. President Donald Trump made it a hallmark of his campaign to call on allies, including Japan, to pay more for hosting U.S. forces and other elements of American protection. Tillerson issued a far gentler message at the conference, underscoring the “long-standing” U.S.-Japanese alliance. “While the security environment in this region can be challenging, the United States is committed to strengthening our role, and we welcome an increased Japanese commitment to their roles and responsibilities in our alliance,” he said. Tillerson is the second member of Trump’s cabinet to visit Japan. Defense Secretary Jim Mattis visited last month, and Vice President Mike Pence is due in April, underscoring U.S. concerns surrounding North Korea’s missile and nuclear programs. Abe was the first foreign leader who met Trump after his November election win. North Korea last week launched four ballistic missiles, the latest in a series, and is developing nuclear-tipped missiles that can reach the United States, in defiance of U.N. Security Council resolutions and sanctions. Washington has said all options, including military, are on the table in its review of policies toward North Korea. In the final months of the Obama administration, U.S. officials warned it would blacklist Chinese companies and banks that do illicit business with North Korea if Beijing failed to enforce U.N. sanctions against Pyongyang. The United States has begun deploying the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense missile defense system in South Korea, a move China objects to strongly because it sees the system’s radar as a threat to its security. Pak Myong Ho, a North Korean embassy official speaking in Beijing on Thursday, said the deployment “will destroy the balance in Northeast Asia and the Pacific region.” “The radar is not aimed at just us,” Pak said. “It is also aiming for China and Russia.” China’s assertiveness in the East China Sea, where it has a territorial row with Japan, and the South China Sea, where it has disputes with the Philippines and several other Southeast Asian nations, were also on the agenda.

Summary: टिलरसन ने उत्तर कोरिया के लिए 'नए दृष्टिकोण' का आग्रह किया, कोई विवरण नहीं दिया


BISHKEK (Reuters) - Kyrgyzstan accused Kazakhstan on Wednesday of interfering in its Oct. 15 election after Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev met a Kyrgyz opposition presidential candidate, underlining tensions between the Central Asian neighbors.  Nazarbayev s office said on Tuesday he had met the candidate, Omurbek Babanov, a leader of the Kyrgyz opposition Respublika-Ata Zhurt party, in Kazakhstan, and had expressed readiness to work  with a new president in whom the Kyrgyz people will put their trust . The Kyrgyz foreign ministry said it viewed the meeting and Nazarbayev s comments as an expression of support for Babanov, 47, one of the main challengers to the ruling party s candidate.  The Kyrgyz side regards those comments and the wide coverage of this meeting by the Kazakh side as an attempt to influence the choice of the people of Kyrgyzstan and interfere in the domestic affairs of the Kyrgyz Republic,  it said in a note handed to the Kazakh ambassador in Bishkek. Kyrgyz President Almazbek Atambayev is barred by the constitution from running for a second term. His Social Democratic party, which leads a majority coalition in parliament, is backing Sooronbai Jeenbekov, who stepped down as prime minister last month in order to run for the presidency. Kazakhstan s foreign ministry expressed surprise over Bishkek s reaction in a note of reply handed to the Kyrgyz charge d affaires in Astana. It said Nazarbayev had not expressed support for any particular candidate and had held a similar meeting with Jeenbekov in August. Kyrgyzstan, a mostly Muslim ex-Soviet nation, is a parliamentary republic where two previous presidents have been toppled by protests. Kyrgyzstan hosts a Russian military air base and its economy relies heavily on remittances from migrant laborers working in Russia, as well as on gold mining. Kazakhstan, a bigger and wealthier Central Asian nation, is also a Russian ally, but relations between Bishkek and Astana have been rocky due to tensions over cross-border trade and the sharing of water resources.

Summary: किर्गिस्तान ने कजाकिस्तान पर विपक्षी राष्ट्रपति पद के उम्मीदवार का समर्थन करने का आरोप लगाया


MANILA (Reuters) - The Philippines plans a cut of 75 percent in spending next year on drug rehabilitation facilities, while at the same time seeking a massive hike in funding for a war on drugs that has killed thousands, fuelling concerns among lawmakers.  The government has rejected criticism that it lacked the commitment to rehabilitate drug users, saying it has attracted financing and is building treatment facilities, but had underestimated the scale of addiction.   More than 3,800 people, most of them drugs suspects, have died in police operations in the drug war unleashed by President Rodrigo Duterte in July last year. Police deny they were executing suspects, saying those killed had violently resisted arrest. Senator Ralph Recto, who has questioned the government s anti-drugs budget, said he would scrutinize its proposal to cut expenditure on drug rehabilitation centers by 2.3 billion pesos ($45.23 million), compared to this year. The government has asked Congress for an increase of more than 40 times in next year s police budget for anti-drugs operations next year.  I will discuss these issues when the budget is formally presented,  Recto told Reuters in a text message. The lack of rehabilitation centers would cripple the  declared government policy  to wean substance abusers off drugs, Recto said in a statement over the weekend.     In August, Health Secretary Paulyn Ubial said eight drug rehabilitation centers would be built across the Philippines, funded by private firms, including conglomerate San Miguel Corp and property firm Megaworld. Last year, Manila opened what it called a  mega  drug rehabilitation facility to treat up to 10,000 patients and funded by a Chinese tycoon.  The Department of Health submitted a budget of 759.6 million pesos for state-managed rehabilitation facilities under the government s proposed 2018 spending plan, significantly less than this year s budget of 3.08 billion pesos. Methamphetamine use for a year or more would shrink the brain of a person, Duterte said in a speech in August last year, adding,  Therefore he is no longer viable for rehabilitation.  He estimated there are already more than 3 million Philippine drug users in a country of more than 100 million people.  The government s 13 drug abuse treatment and rehab facilities treated 14,733 out-patients in 2016, up more than three times from the previous year, and close to 30,000 in- patients, up four percent over 2015, the health department says.   Duterte has said the drugs war will continue and would be  unremitting as it will be unrelenting .

Summary: फिलीपींस ने नशीली दवाओं के पुनर्वसन के बजट में बड़ी कटौती की मांग की, जिससे सांसदों की चिंता बढ़ी


GENEVA (Reuters) - U.N. investigators have started collecting testimony from fleeing Rohingya Muslims pointing to human rights violations by Myanmar s military and security forces, the head of the fact-finding mission said on Tuesday. Marzuki Darusman said his U.N. team was still trying to get Myanmar s permission to enter the country, but was gathering evidence from refugees and medics in the border town of Cox s Bazar in neighboring Bangladesh. Darusman s team started its work in August, the month that attacks by Rohingya Muslim insurgents in Myanmar triggered a military response that has forced more than 421,000 Rohingya into Bangladesh in the past month. Myanmar has denied rights groups  accusations that it is trying to drive the minority community out of Rakhine state, saying it is only targeting militants.  Initial information has been given that some of the allegations that have been spelled out in the resolution are reflected in the initial findings of the team in their interviews,  Darusman told reporters.  What they have come up with reflects in general the reporting of the international media so far on what is happening there.  The U.N. Human Rights Council s resolution to set up the fact-finding mission mandated Darusman s team to look into  alleged recent human rights violations by military and security forces and abuses in Myanmar, in particular in Rakhine State . The international media has widely reported on the plight of the Rohingya and their accounts of persecution by Myanmar s military and security forces, which the U.N. human rights chief has referred to as a  textbook example  of ethnic cleansing. Initial findings would be released within about 10 days, Darusman said. His team was supposed to deliver its full report in March, but Darusman told the Geneva-based Council that timeframe was  utterly insufficient  and asked for a six-month extension. Myanmar s ambassador Htin Lynn told the Council that Myanmar was making efforts to restore peace, law and order.  Proportionate security measures targeted only on terrorists are being taken to safeguard our state security, and to restore law and order,  he said.  We continue to believe that instituting such a mission is not a helpful course of action in solving the already intricate Rakhine issue with daunting challenges.

Summary: संयुक्त राष्ट्र ने म्यांमार के उल्लंघनों पर गवाही जुटाना शुरू कियाः जांचकर्ता


PARIS (Reuters) - An economic blockade on Qatar is having the effect of pushing Qatar closer to Iran economically, Qatar s foreign minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman al-Thani told reporters in Paris.  They said Qatar was now closer to Iran. By their measures they are pushing Qatar to Iran. They are giving Iran, or any regional force, Qatar like a gift,  he said on Monday.  Is that their objective, to push one country, a GCC member state toward Iran? This is not a wise objective,  he added. Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman al-Thani also stressed that Qatar still had political differences with Iran, including over Syria.

Summary: कतर के विदेश मंत्रीः नाकाबंदी इसे आर्थिक रूप से ईरान के करीब ले जा रही है


WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. House of Representatives on Monday failed to approve a bill to allow the Federal Aviation Administration to continue to operate and a package of tax relief bills to aid hurricane victims after ranking Democrats objected. Authorization for the FAA is set to expire on Saturday. The bill would have extended the agency for another six months as Congress debates whether to privatize the country’s air traffic control system and considers new airline passenger protections. The bill, which was considered under fast-track rules that require two-thirds of members to support it, failed on a 245 to 171 margin. House Democratic leaders on Monday had urged their colleagues to oppose the measure, citing Republican’s decision to only extend some healthcare programs and refusing to allow immigration legislation. “Democrats support reauthorization of the FAA, which is long overdue as a result of Republicans’ failure to craft a bill that can obtain bipartisan majority support,” the statement said. “It is outrageous that the majority is hijacking the must-pass FAA bill as a vehicle for its pet priorities.” House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy said in a statement after the vote the House will take up the issue again. “It didn’t take long for Democrats to snap back into their partisan corner. The American people can’t stand this nonsense,” McCarthy said. President Donald Trump in March proposed handing over control of U.S. air traffic control to a privately-operated board, but has faced resistance among Democrats and owners of private planes.  Major U.S. carriers, including American Airlines, United Airlines, Southwest Airlines and JetBlue Airways, all back the privatization proposal. The bill would have also extended three healthcare programs, but would not extend a children’s healthcare program and Community Health Centers that are set to expire on Saturday, which is the end of the budget year. Democrats want to force a vote to reverse Trump’s decision to overturn an Obama administration order shielding from deportation immigrants who came to the United States illegally as children. The bill would make it easier for people with hurricane losses to write them off on their taxes, eliminating a requirement that personal losses must exceed 10 percent of adjusted gross income to qualify for a deduction. It would also give hurricane victims penalty-free access to retirement funds and temporarily suspends limitations on the deduction for charitable contributions to hurricane relief made before year-end. The bill provides a tax credit for 40 percent of wages, up to $6,000 per employee, paid by a disaster-affected employer in certain disaster areas.

Summary: अमेरिकी सदन एफ. ए. ए. विस्तार, तूफान कर राहत पारित करने में विफल रहा


GAZA (Reuters) - Influential exiled Palestinian politician Mohammed Dahlan said on Wednesday Palestinians should reject any future peace talks and halt security coordination with Israel over U.S. plans to move its embassy in Israel to Jerusalem. Dahlan was speaking via his Twitter account shortly before Trump confirmed in a speech that Washington was breaking with longstanding U.S. policy by recognizing Jerusalem as the capital of Israel and moving the U.S. Embassy to the city from Tel Aviv. Palestinian leaders have denounced the planned move and said it could have dangerous consequences, while Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said immediately after Trump s speech that the president s announcement was a  historic landmark  and urged other countries to follow suit.  I call for withdrawal from the absurd and endless negotiations with Israel after the principle of inviolability of the status of Jerusalem has been breached,  said Dahlan, an elected member of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas s Fatah party central committee.   I call for ending all forms of coordination, especially security coordination, with Israel and USA,  he added from the United Arab Emirates, where he had lived since a quarrel with Abbas drove him out of the Palestinian territories in 2011. Israel considers Jerusalem its eternal and indivisible capital and wants all embassies based there. Palestinians want the capital of an independent Palestinian state to be in the city s eastern half, which Israel captured in the 1967 Middle East war and annexed in a move never recognized internationally. Under 1990s interim peace deals between Israel and the Palestinians, the future of Jerusalem is one of the key issues to be settled in final peace negotiations between the sides. The last round of negotiations collapsed in 2014 over issues such as Israel s expansion of settlements in occupied territory where Palestinians seek statehood, and efforts to restart them have failed. In a speech at the White House, Trump said his administration would begin a process of moving the U.S. Embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, something expected to take years. Abbas planned a televised speech on Wednesday in response to Trump s address.

Summary: वरिष्ठ फिलिस्तीनी व्यक्ति डहलान ने ट्रम्प के जेरूसलम कदम पर शांति वार्ता से बाहर निकलने का आग्रह किया


BRUSSELS (Reuters) - The European Union expressed serious concern on Wednesday after U.S. President Donald Trump recognized Jerusalem as the capital of Israel, saying it could have repercussions for peace prospects.  The aspirations of both parties must be fulfilled and a way must be found through negotiations to resolve the status of Jerusalem as the future capital of both states,  EU Foreign Affairs Chief Federica Mogherini said in a statement. Trump reversed decades of U.S. policy by recognizing Jerusalem as the Israeli capital and saying Washington would begin the process of moving its embassy to Jerusalem from Tel Aviv.

Summary: यूरोपीय संघ ट्रम्प के येरुशलम फैसले को लेकर गंभीर रूप से चिंतित है


WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Attorney General Jeff Sessions threatened on Monday to cut off U.S. Justice Department grants to cities that fail to assist  federal immigration authorities, moving the Trump administration closer to a potential clash with leaders of America’s largest urban centers. Sessions’ statements were aimed at a dozens of cities and other local governments, including New York, Los Angeles and Chicago, that have joined a growing “sanctuary” movement aimed at shielding illegal immigrants from stepped-up deportation efforts. Police agencies in those jurisdictions have barred their officers from routinely checking on immigration status when making arrests or traffic stops. And they have refused to lock up individuals longer than otherwise warranted at the request of federal agents seeking to deport them. Trump administration officials says the deportation crackdown is focused on illegal immigrants convicted of serious crimes. They insist public safety is jeopardized when police refuse to notify U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement of plans to release such a person from local custody. “Failure to deport aliens who are convicted of criminal offenses puts whole communities at risk, especially immigrant communities in the very sanctuary jurisdictions that seek to protect the perpetrators,” Sessions said at a White House news briefing. His threat to withhold grants as punishment drew swift condemnation from California and New York officials. California Senate leader Kevin de Leon, a Los Angeles Democrat, called Sessions’ threat “nothing short of blackmail,” accusing of “race-based scapegoating” in its crackdown on immigrants.  Critics also argue that enlisting police cooperation in rounding up immigrants for removal undermines communities’ trust in local police, particularly among Latinos. And they question whether the administration is really targeting dangerous criminals. President Donald Trump, who made tougher immigration enforcement a cornerstone of his campaign, directed the government to cut off funding to sanctuary jurisdictions in a Jan. 25 executive order. That order has yet to be put into effect, but Sessions’ announcement seemed to be the first step in doing so.    The Justice Department grants typically are used to help police improve crime-fighting techniques, buy new equipment and assist victims of crime. Sessions may find his ability to sway local decision-making through the Justice Department’s purse is limited, because only a fraction of its grant dollars flow directly to city and county governments.  Federal records show the Justice Department doled out $1 billion to state governments and $430 million to nonprofits, but only $136 million directly to cities and counties last year.  New York state Attorney General Eric Schneiderman said his office would continue helping local governments “have the tools they need to protect their immigrant communities.” Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti, whose city is home to one of the largest U.S. immigrant communities, also denounced Sessions’ threat to use funding as a form of coercion. “L.A.’s values are not for sale,” Garcetti said. “Slashing funds for first responders, for our port and airport, for counterterrorism, crime-fighting and community-building serves no one.” So far no state has adopted policies barring cooperation with immigration authorities, though Maryland’s Democratic-controlled House of Delegates approved such legislation last week. The state’s Republican governor, Larry Hogan, has said he would veto the bill. California’s De Leon is backing a bill that would essentially make all of the most populous U.S. state a sanctuary, but he does not currently have the votes to pass it. Sessions sought to frame the debate as a public-safety issue, citing the case of a woman shot to death in San Francisco two years ago by illegal immigrant who had already been deported five times and had seven felony convictions. San Francisco may not be affected by the new restrictions, as the city and county received no funding from the department in the most recent fiscal year. However, Sessions’ order could impact other jurisdictions. New Orleans, Philadelphia, Chicago and New York City - all singled out as possibly noncompliant by an inspector general’s report last year - collectively received $15 million in Justice Department grants. According to Trump’s executive order, Sessions would have to wait until the Homeland Security Department determines what constitutes a “sanctuary city” before funding is restricted. DHS last week reported roughly 120 cities and counties that it deems uncooperative, though the agency has not finalized the list. Sal Tinajero, council member of the California sanctuary city of Santa Ana, questioned whether Sessions even had the authority to make good on his threat. “How do you take money away that Congress has already voted to allocate? You can’t. Congress has to take another vote,” he said.

Summary: अमेरिकी अटॉर्नी जनरल ने 'अभयारण्य' शहरों पर दबाव बढ़ाया


NEW YORK (Reuters) - Puerto Rico’s federal oversight board said on Wednesday it was willing to extend key deadlines that would give the debt-laden U.S. territory’s government more time to negotiate restructuring deals with holders of its roughly $70 billion in bonds.  In a letter to Governor Ricardo Rossello, the oversight board said it “is favorably inclined” to grant the governor’s request to extend to May 1 from Feb. 15 a freeze on litigation from creditors over missed debt payments.  It also said it favored extending until Feb. 28 from Jan. 15 a deadline for Rossello to submit a fiscal turnaround plan for the island. Both requests will be taken up formally “later this month,” the board said, and would be conditioned on the government agreeing to turn over more information about its financial picture and not to take on more short-term liquidity loans. The board said Rossello’s fiscal plan should aim to generate $4.5 billion annually in new revenues or savings through fiscal 2019. It laid out specific areas the plan should address, including shrinking the size of the government, pension reform and spending reductions in higher education and healthcare.   In addition to its nearly $70 billion in debt from a myriad of public issuers, Puerto Rico is struggling with a 45 percent poverty rate and unemployment that is more than twice the mainland U.S. average.  The bipartisan, seven-member oversight board was created under the federal Puerto Rico rescue law known as PROMESA, passed by the U.S. Congress last year. It is charged with helping the island manage its finances and navigate its way out of the economic jam, including by negotiating restructuring deals with creditors. PROMESA calls for Puerto Rico’s governor to deliver a fiscal turnaround plan, due on Jan. 28, to serve as a blueprint for the island’s path out of crisis.  The law also imposed a freeze on litigation from creditors over debt payments, set to run out on Feb. 15.  Rossello, who won election in November and was sworn in on Jan. 2, asked for the deadline extensions, saying his new administration needed more time to assess the local financial situation and negotiate with creditors.  Rossello has only just now hired lawyers and financial advisers to represent the government in those talks. Failing to reach consensual restructuring deals could push Puerto Rico and its many debt-issuing agencies into a messy and costly bankruptcy-like process under PROMESA.

Summary: प्यूर्टो रिको निरीक्षण बोर्ड ने पुनर्गठन वार्ता के लिए और समय देने का समर्थन किया


PARIS (Reuters) - Consideration for the plight of refugees is a duty, and fear of terrorism is not a legitimate reason to refuse them sanctuary, the French foreign minister said on Sunday. Jean-Marc Ayrault’s statement came after U.S. President Donald Trump signed an order to restrict people from seven Muslim-majority countries from entering the United States [nL1N1FI0JO]. “Accepting refugees is a duty of solidarity,” Ayrault said in a tweet. “Terrorism knows no nationality. Discrimination is no response.” In his most sweeping decision since taking office a week ago, Trump, a Republican, put a four-month hold on allowing refugees into the United States and temporarily barred travelers from Syria and six other countries. On Saturday, French President Francois Hollande told Trump during a telephone conversation to respect refugees. He also warned the new U.S. leader over his trade policies, saying a protectionist approach would have economic and political consequences [nL5N1FI0PE]. French centrist presidential candidate Emmanuel Macron weighed in with his own view of Trump’s actions on immigration, including his plan to build a wall on the border with Mexico. “I stand with the people fleeing war and persecution. I stand with the people defending our values #NOBanNoWall” his tweet said. France goes to the polls to elect a new president in April.

Summary: फ्रांस के विदेश मंत्री ने कहा, शरणार्थियों को स्वीकार करना कर्तव्य है


GREENBELT, Md. (Reuters) - A U.S. judge on Monday questioned attorneys defending the Trump administration about a classified report the government is using to justify its latest ban on citizens of some countries from entering the United States. U.S. District Court Judge Theodore Chuang in Maryland heard arguments for and against President Donald Trump’s new travel ban, set to take effect on Wednesday. It indefinitely limits travel from Iran, Libya, Syria, Yemen, Somalia, Chad and North Korea. Certain government officials from Venezuela were also barred. All those countries except Chad, North Korea and Venezuela were included in two earlier temporary versions of the travel ban, which Trump’s opponents called thinly veiled attempts to fulfill his campaign pledge of a “total and complete shutdown of Muslims entering the United States.” Lawyers for advocacy groups including the International Refugee Assistance Project, Iranian Alliances Across Borders and the Council on American-Islamic Relations urged Chuang to block implementation of what critics call Trump’s “Muslim ban.” Opponents say the ban violates the U.S. Constitution because it discriminates against Muslims while overstepping the bounds of U.S. immigration law by discriminating by nationality. Trump has said the restrictions are needed to tighten security and prevent terrorist attacks. The third ban came in a Sept. 24 presidential proclamation that Trump issued after acting Homeland Security Secretary Elaine Duke provided him with a classified report recommending the travel restrictions. Chuang asked Hashim Mooppan, the attorney representing the government, if there were inconsistencies between the homeland security report and Trump’s proclamation. Mooppan declined to discuss details of the classified report, and said the government does not have to explain whether Trump’s advisers disagreed about the ban. “We stand by the factual representations in the proclamation,” Mooppan said. On Friday, in a separate case against the ban in Hawaii, the government said the judge can review the classified report only in a secure setting. Chuang struck down an earlier iteration of the ban, which was only partially restored by the U.S. Supreme Court in June. An attorney from the American Civil Liberties Union, Omar Jadwat, argued that the new version is a “a bigger, tougher version of the same ban” that Trump originally wanted. Trump could have achieved the same national security goals with “far more targeted measures” similar to the restrictions on Venezuelan government officials, rather than broad bans against certain nationalities, argued Justin Cox, an attorney at the National Immigration Law Center. Mooppan argued that because the new version of the ban went in place after a thorough review, it does not constitute a “Muslim ban.” The third version of the ban omitted Iraq, which was included in the first ban and Sudan, which was in the second version. “The proclamation dropped multiple Muslim countries and exempted multiple types of non-immigrant visas even from the Muslim countries,” he said. “That is strong evidence that this is not some kind of Muslim ban in disguise.” Chuang said he would rule later on whether to grant the challengers’ request for an injunction.

Summary: अमेरिकी न्यायाधीश ने ट्रम्प के नवीनतम यात्रा प्रतिबंध पर सरकार से सवाल किया


(Reuters) - U.S. Senator Rand Paul of Kentucky said he returned to work on Monday, more than a week after he suffered six broken ribs when tackled by a neighbor while mowing his lawn. “While I’m still in a good deal of pain, I will be returning to work in the Senate today, ready to fight for liberty and help move forward with tax cuts in the coming days and weeks,” the Republican senator Paul said on a Twitter post. The man accused of tackling Paul and breaking his ribs, Rene Boucher, 59, pleaded not guilty on Thursday to a misdemeanor assault charge, a court official said. Boucher is charged with fourth-degree assault causing minor injury, for which he faces up to a year of imprisonment if convicted. A pretrial hearing was set for Nov. 30.  Boucher’s $7,500 bond requiring him to keep at least 1,000 feet (305 m) away from Paul remained in effect. Paul, 54, told police that Boucher came on his property in a gated community near Bowling Green and tackled him from behind, the Bowling Green Daily News reported, citing an arrest warrant. Paul previously said on Twitter he suffered the broken ribs from the Nov. 3 incident and that X-rays showed a pleural effusion, which is a buildup of fluid in the tissues that line the lungs and the chest. Media reports have said Boucher, also a physician like Paul, had a long-running dispute with the senator. But Paul, in a Washington Examiner interview published Monday, said he had no dispute with Boucher and had not spoken to his neighbor in a decade. He said he knew of no motive for the incident. Paul could not be reached by Reuters Monday. “My first encounter was basically being hit in the back,” he said. “We’ve never had words over anything, we’ve never had a dispute or discussion or words.” The Kentucky State Police and the Federal Bureau of Investigation are investigating the incident, according to Warren County Attorney Amy Milliken. Citing unnamed sources, Fox News reported on Thursday that Paul had been told federal charges were expected in the case. “There is going to be a criminal prosecution,” Paul told the Examiner but did not elaborate on what he meant. There are no updates on the federal charges, David Habich, an FBI spokesman in Louisville, said in an email on Monday. The senator’s office declined to comment on possible federal charges on Monday.

Summary: सीनेटर रैंड पॉल घास काटने के दौरान पकड़े जाने के बाद काम पर लौट आए


RAQQA, Syria (Reuters) - U.S.-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) raised a militia flag inside Raqqa stadium on Tuesday, one of the last remaining areas that were held by Islamic State in its former capital, a Reuters witness said. The flag of the Kurdish YPG, the strongest of the militias in the SDF, was planted in the middle of the stadium, where fighting had ended, but which had not been fully cleared of landmines, militia fighters told the witness.

Summary: U.S.-backed सीरियाई मिलिशिया ने रक्का स्टेडियम में झंडा फहराया


MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - U.S. Defense Secretary Jim Mattis said on Friday that North Korea is deepening its economic and diplomatic isolation with its latest ballistic missile launch, adding the United States was still assessing the new test by Pyongyang.  I believe it will further North Korea s isolation, diplomatic and economic isolation, because more and more nations are realizing there s simply no collaboration (by Pyongyang) with the international community,  Mattis told reporters traveling with him to Mexico City.

Summary: उत्तर कोरिया आर्थिक और राजनयिक अलगाव बढ़ा रहा हैः मैटिस


ANKARA/LONDON/WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Iran has suggested to six world powers that it may be open to talks about its ballistic missile arsenal, seeking to reduce tension over the disputed programme, Iranian and Western officials familiar with the overtures told Reuters.  Tehran has repeatedly vowed to continue building up what it calls defensive missile capability in defiance of Western criticism, with Washington saying the Islamic Republic s stance violates its 2015 nuclear deal with the powers. But the sources said that given U.S. President Donald Trump s threats to ditch the deal reached under his predecessor Barack Obama, Tehran had approached the powers recently about possible talks on some  dimensions  of its missile programme.  During their meeting on the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly last month, Iran told members of the (world powers) that it could discuss the missile programme to remove concerns,  an Iranian source with knowledge of the meeting told Reuters on condition of anonymity. U.S. and Western officials did not confirm the matter was discussed at the Zarif-Tillerson meeting. But two U.S. officials said Iran had recently been  keeping it alive  by feeding certain media reports and via third parties such as Oman. A former U.S. Defense Department official said Iran s overtures had reached Washington in recent weeks.  Iran has put feelers out saying it is willing to discuss its ballistic missile programme and is using contacts ...  officials who were  holdovers  from the Obama administration,  the former official said.  Iran s reported approach came after Trump called the nuclear accord  an embarrassment  and  the worst deal ever negotiated . He is expected to announce soon that he will decertify the deal, a senior administration official said on Thursday.  Such a step could unravel the breakthrough agreement - seen by supporters as crucial to forestalling a Middle East arms race and tamping down regional tensions, since it limits Iran s ability to enrich uranium in exchange for sanctions relief. The other five powers are Britain, France, Germany, Russia and China, all of whom have reaffirmed commitment to the deal. Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif met his counterparts from the six powers, including U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson for the first time, on the fringes of the U.N. gathering on Sept. 20.  The Americans expressed their worries about Iran s missile capability and Zarif said in reply that the programme could be discussed, the Iranian source told Reuters.  A U.S. official with first-hand knowledge of dealings with the Islamic Republic said Zarif had been recycling offers that  have been lying dormant on the table for some time.  Zarif knows that if Trump goes ahead and decertifies Iran, it (Iran) will be on the high ground, and the U.S. will be isolated among the (six powers),  the official said.  Iran s Foreign Ministry spokesman Bahram Qasemi said on Friday Tehran s ballistic missile programme was for defence purposes only and non-negotiable.  Iran has in all bilateral diplomatic meetings, including the recent visit of ... Zarif to New York, emphasised that its defensive missile programme is not negotiable,  Qasemi was quoted as saying by Iranian media.  The U.S. mission at the United Nations referred Reuters to the U.S. State Department for comment. The State Department declined to comment on whether possible talks on missiles were addressed at the meeting or whether Iran had recently communicated such interest. But it said Washington remained committed to  countering the full range of threats the Iranian regime poses to the U.S., our allies, and regional stability, including its ballistic missile development . The Trump administration has imposed fresh unilateral sanctions on Iran, saying its missile tests violate the U.N. resolution that formalised the nuclear deal. It calls on Tehran not to undertake activities related to missiles capable of delivering nuclear bombs.  Iran says it has no such plans and denies breaching the resolution. Iran has one of the biggest ballistic missile programmes in the Middle East, viewing it as an essential precautionary defence against the United States and other adversaries, primarily Gulf Arab states and Israel. A senior Iranian official, who also asked not to be named, said pragmatist President Hassan Rouhani, Zarif and Revolutionary Guards commanders have had several meetings with Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who has the last say on all Iranian policy, to secure his backing for missile talks.  The leader was not optimistic during the meetings because he does not trust Americans. Others argued that the heightening tension over the missile programme could be resolved through talks,  said the official, involved in backroom negotiations. Any talks would not aim to end or suspend Iran s missile programme but to  negotiate some dimensions of it, like limiting production of some missiles with specific ranges , he said.  Diplomacy worked well in ending the nuclear stand-off ... The dispute over the missile programme also can be resolved through talks,  the official said. A third Iranian official said Tehran would be willing to discuss long-range missiles. He did not elaborate.   A U.S. official with extensive experience negotiating with Iran said  putting this out there publicly as Zarif has done puts pressure on the (Trump) administration . A Western official said the administration had assessed Zarif s approach to be  a stalling tactic by Tehran . Another Western official said Iran must present concrete details for missile talks:  What will need to be seen are the specifics on load capability, the distance range of missiles and how many kilograms can a missile warhead carry.   When asked if Iran appeared willing to negotiate on its missile programme, a French diplomat said:  We talk about everything with them, including the ballistic programme.   Our objective is that this leads to concrete acts. On the ballistic issue they repeat that it s all defensive and has nothing to do with nuclear.

Summary: ईरान अपने बैलिस्टिक मिसाइल कार्यक्रम पर बातचीत के लिए तैयारः सूत्र


WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. Vice President Mike Pence on Saturday urged the Republican-controlled Congress to complete the job of dismantling Obamacare this summer and move on quickly to another big-ticket item on President Donald Trump’s agenda: tax cuts. Speaking days before lawmakers return to Washington amid doubts about their ability to agree on legislation, Pence sought to add urgency to the debate by warning that consumers face dwindling access to Obamacare health coverage in some states. Trump-backed legislation to dismantle former President Barack Obama’s healthcare overhaul narrowly passed the House of Representatives last month. But Senate Republicans have had difficulty agreeing on their own bill, leading Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell to fret about the future of healthcare legislation.  “First and foremost, this summer, this Congress must come together and heed the president’s leadership, and we must repeal and replace Obamacare,” Pence told a political rally in Iowa, one of several states where major insurers have exited government-subsidized insurance markets. “It’s high time we take action,” the vice president added, saying Congress must “relieve Iowa and relieve America.”   Insurers say they cannot plan amid the uncertainty  surrounding healthcare legislation. They also face a worse-than-expected balance of sick and healthy customers that has helped drive insurance premiums higher in Obamacare marketplaces. “Once we repeal and replace Obamacare, we’re going to roll our sleeves up, and working with these great leaders in Congress, we’re going to pass one of the largest tax cuts in American history,” Pence said. A former Indiana congressman, Pence plays a key role in Trump’s relationship with lawmakers as the main White House liaison to Congress. As vice president, he also casts the tie-breaking vote on legislation in the 100-member Senate, where Republicans have a slim 52-seat majority.   Senate Republican staff are expected to present legislative options on healthcare when lawmakers return to Capitol Hill on Monday after a one-week recess, according to aides. But some Republicans are skeptical that healthcare legislation can pass the Senate this summer, if at all. Pence projected confidence that Congress will succeed: “I know we will. The Obamacare nightmare is about to end.”

Summary: उपराष्ट्रपति पेंस ने कांग्रेस से ओबामाकेयर को निरस्त करने का आग्रह किया


WASHINGTON (Reuters) - R. Alexander Acosta was confirmed on Thursday by the U.S. Senate to head the Labor Department, making him the first Hispanic member of President Donald Trump’s cabinet. Acosta, a former member of the National Labor Relations Board and dean of the Florida International University College of Law in Miami, was nominated as labor secretary by Trump in mid-February. The Senate confirmed Acosta by a 60-38 vote. Acosta was expected to have a smooth confirmation process despite objections from some Democrats and workers groups that he is too friendly to business. Acosta has had a decades-long career in the public sector, including multiple Senate vettings for past appointments, making it unlikely any surprises in his background would derail his nomination. Acosta served on the NLRB under former Republican President George W. Bush, who also appointed him to be assistant attorney general in the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division. He was then appointed U.S. attorney for the Southern District of Florida, where he went after high-profile defendants such as Jack Abramoff and UBS (UBSG.S)(UBS.N), resulting in the Swiss bank paying more than $750 million in fines for a tax-avoidance scheme. Acosta had served as a law clerk to Samuel Alito from 1994 to 1995, when the conservative Supreme Court justice was a judge at the 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. Acosta told the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions during his confirmation hearing that he had reservations about key Obama-era labor regulations. Acosta supported the recent 60-day delay of the Labor Department’s fiduciary rule, originally slated to take effect on April 10, which requires brokers offering retirement investment advice to put their clients’ interest first. Trump had directed the Labor Department to review the rule to determine whether it is burdensome and out of step with current White House policies. Also during the confirmation hearing, Acosta expressed reservations about another Obama administration rule issued last year that more than doubled the salary ceiling under which employees would be eligible for overtime pay, from $23,660 to $47,476 a year. The rule, which extended overtime pay to more than 4 million salaried workers, was blocked by a federal judge in November. Acosta said he had “serious questions as to whether the secretary of labor had the power to enact this in the first place.”

Summary: अमेरिकी सीनेट ने अकोस्टा को श्रम विभाग का प्रमुख बनाए जाने की पुष्टि की


LONDON (Reuters) - British Prime Minister Theresa May spoke on Monday to U.S. President Donald Trump and agreed that “a window of opportunity”  exists to persuade Russia to break ties with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, May’s office said. A spokeswoman for the prime minister said Trump had thanked May for her support following last week’s U.S. military action in Syria against the Assad regime. The White House later on Monday said Trump had spoken with May and separately with German Chancellor Angela Merkel by telephone about the U.S. attack and thanked them for their support.  It said in a statement that May and Merkel expressed support for the U.S. action and agreed with Trump on the importance of holding Assad accountable.   In a shift in Washington’s strategy, U.S. missiles hit a Syrian air base last week in retaliation for what the United States and its allies say was a poison gas attack by Syria’s military in which scores of civilians died. The Syrian government has denied it was behind the assault. Trump had previously appeared disinclined to intervene against the Syrian leader and the attack raised expectations that he might now be ready to adopt a tougher-than-expected stance with Russia, Assad’s main backer. U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson is due to travel to Moscow this week and the spokeswoman for May said the two leaders had agreed during their conversation that the visit was an opportunity to make progress toward a solution. “The prime minister and the president agreed that a window of opportunity now exists in which to persuade Russia that its alliance with Assad is no longer in its strategic interest,” the spokeswoman said. “They agreed that U.S. Secretary of State Tillerson’s visit to Moscow this week provides an opportunity to make progress toward a solution which will deliver a lasting political settlement.” The spokeswoman said the two leaders had also stressed the importance of the international community, including China, putting pressure on North Korea to constrain the threat it poses.

Summary: मई, ट्रम्प सहमत हैं कि रूस को असद के साथ संबंध तोड़ देने चाहिएः ब्रिटेन के प्रधानमंत्री का कार्यालय


LILLE, France (Reuters) - Five migrants were wounded on Saturday when shots were fired during a brawl in the northern French port of Calais, the local prefect s office said. Gunshots were exchanged between groups of Afghans in the late afternoon, it said. A police source said the incident occurred during what was  probably a dispute between migrant smugglers. The shots were fired near the local Secours Catholique charity on the outskirts of Calais. Three migrants were being treated in a Calais hospital and a fourth, who was more seriously wounded, had been transferred to a hospital in Lille. A fifth was treated at the scene. Calais is a magnet for migrants aiming to reach Britain, a short distance across the Channel. Last year, authorities cleared the makeshift  Jungle  camp in Calais, but people hoping to get into Britain by crossing the Channel in trains or ferries are steadily returning. Authorities estimate at 500 and associations at 700 the number of migrants from Ethiopia, Eritrea and Afghanistan still in Calais.

Summary: कैलाइस विवाद में गोलीबारी में पांच प्रवासी घायल


MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - Mexico will reduce the proportion of refined sugar it can export to the United States to 30 percent under a new agreement likely to be announced later today, Mexican Economy Minister Ildefonso Guajardo said on Mexican radio on Tuesday. Currently, the proportion of refined sugar exports from total sugar exports Mexico can send to the United States is 53 percent.

Summary: मेक्सिको अमेरिका को भेजी गई परिष्कृत चीनी के हिस्से में कटौती करेगा, मंत्री ने कहा


MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - Hurricane Max was downgraded to a tropical storm on Thursday evening, bearing down on a region with the popular tourist resorts of Acapulco, Zihuatanejo and Ixtapa.  Max s maximum sustained winds decreased to 70 miles per hour (113 km per hour) on Thursday evening, and the storm was about 80 miles (129 km) east of Acapulco, the National Hurricane Center in Florida said. The storm is expected to continue weakening dramatically as it moves inland over Southern Mexico, and it will likely be downgraded to a tropical depression on Thursday evening.  Nevertheless, the center warned of heavy rains and flooding in the coastal states of Guerrero and Oaxaca.  In the state of Guerrero, home to some of Mexico s major tourist resorts, Max could dump as much as 20 inches (51 cm) of rain in coastal areas, the NHC said, potentially triggering flash floods and mudslides.  The storm is bad news for Acapulco as tourists prepare to travel to the city to celebrate Mexico s Independence Day this weekend.  Meanwhile, tropical storm Norma formed in the Pacific on Thursday, according to the NHC. The storm, which is currently 360 miles (579 km) south of Cabo San Lucas, on the southern tip of the Baja California peninsula, could become a hurricane by late Friday.  Max arrives a week after a powerful 8.1-magnitude quake shook southern Mexico, destroying thousands of buildings in the state of Oaxaca and killing at least 98 people nationwide.

Summary: तूफान मैक्स उष्णकटिबंधीय तूफान में बदल गया, मेक्सिको के ऊपर अंतर्देशीय क्षेत्र में चला गया


PARIS (Reuters) - President Emmanuel Macron, conscious of criticism of France s policy on Egypt, will raise his concerns over human rights when he meets Egyptian leader Abdel Fattah al-Sisi in Paris next week, his office said on Thursday. The two countries have nurtured closer economic and military ties in recent years and with Sisi s rise to power that relationship has improved with both sides concerned by the political vacuum in Libya and the threat from jihadist groups in Egypt. But human rights organizations at home and overseas have accused France under Macron of remaining silent in the face of increasing violations of freedoms by Sisi s government as the 2018 presidential elections approach.  This first meeting ... will enable them to discuss subjects of common interest such as regional crises and the fight against terrorism, but also the human rights situation which France is especially vigilant about,  the presidency said in a statement referring to Sisi s Oct 23-25 visit. Rights  groups are in particular critical of the relationship between Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian, who in his previous role as defense minister, developed a personal relationship with Sisi, and say Paris has abandoned its principles for economic and security interests. French officials dismiss this criticism and say the new administration is following a policy of not openly criticizing countries over human rights so as to be more efficient in private and work on a case by case basis.  In a report in September, Human Rights Watch (HRW) denounced  widespread and systematic  use of torture by Egyptian security forces. The United Nations on Oct. 13  condemned an anti-gay crackdown in Egypt.  HRW earlier slammed French  indulgence  towards repression in Egypt.  According to two NGO officials aware of talks between Macron and human rights groups on the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly in September, Macron had told them that while he acknowledged the worsening human rights situation in Egypt, his priority was to ensure Sisi continued to fight terrorist groups. Faced with the lack of progress in respecting human rights and on democratic standards, the United States decided in August to freeze the payment of $195 million in military aid.  Under the previous government, France concluded several major military agreements with Egypt, including the sale of 24 Rafale combat aircraft, a multi-mission frigate and two Mistral warships in contracts worth some six billion euros.

Summary: मिस्र संबंधों के लिए आलोचना, फ्रांस अल-सिसी के साथ मानवाधिकारों का मुद्दा उठाएगा


WASHINGTON (Reuters) - It’s a U.S. taxpayer’s dream: make the Internal Revenue Service go away, and the largest conservative group in Congress is endorsing just that. The Republican Study Committee, which counts over two-thirds of House of Representatives Republicans as its members, called recently for “the complete elimination of the IRS.” The committee’s support for this idea, once confined to the fringes of conservative ideology, suggests it is more widely accepted on Capitol Hill than ever. But many in Washington, including some Republicans, have trouble taking it seriously. Calls to abolish the IRS have not been well thought through, Republican Representative Charles Boustany said in an interview. “Before we start making blanket statements about abolishing the IRS, I think it’s important to focus on what the tax code for the 21st century should look like,” said Boustany, who does not belong to the 172-member study committee. In an election year of dramatic rhetoric that is often short on details, the committee’s proposal, released April 22 and echoing language from a March budget plan, is brief. As part of a wider appeal for federal tax reform, the committee says simply: “This proposal takes the bold step of calling for the complete elimination of the IRS. Tax collection and enforcement activities would be moved to a new, smaller and more accountable department at the Treasury.” No further specifics were offered for how to replace an agency that is already part of the Treasury, collected $3.3 trillion in revenue in 2015 and processed 240 million tax returns. Texas Representative Bill Flores, chairman of the study committee, was not available for comment. His spokeswoman Caitlin Carroll said the IRS closure proposal should be seen as part of a larger push for comprehensive tax reform. Matthew Gardner, head of the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, a tax research group, said most tax reform plans would still need a tax collector with enforcement powers. “It’s hard to imagine a situation in which we wouldn’t need a sophisticated tax collection and enforcement capacity,” he said. “We are in an election year, and bashing the IRS is particularly attractive in an election year,” said Steven Rosenthal, senior fellow at the Tax Policy Center think-tank.   From a global perspective, the IRS does a good job, he said, noting that U.S. income tax compliance is about 82 percent, one of the highest levels in the world. Still, in the United States, antipathy for the IRS is widespread and long-standing. One of Republican presidential candidate Ted Cruz’s biggest applause lines on the campaign trail is, “Imagine abolishing the IRS!” Asked recently about Cruz’s line and calls to close the agency, IRS Commissioner John Koskinen said: “If you want to call it something other than the IRS and that makes you feel better, that’s OK with me. But ultimately you got to have somebody somewhere who collects the information, audits it and makes sure it’s accurate and valid and collects the funding.” Cruz’s tax plan, unveiled in November, would create a flat 10 percent individual income tax and junk the present tax brackets. High-income households would benefit the most under his plan, according to the Tax Policy Center, a joint venture of the Urban Institute and the Brookings Institution. Some Democrats scoff at the IRS closure proposal. “If there are problems at the IRS ... we can straighten it out,” said Democratic Representative Elijah Cummings. He added that Republicans should be wary of advocating an idea that “sounds Trumpish.” Donald Trump, the anti-establishment front-runner for the Republican presidential nomination, has not called for abolition of the IRS.  Congress has cut the IRS’ budget 17 percent in real terms since 2010. In mid-April, the House approved several IRS-bashing bills, including one to prevent it from making new hires until the Treasury certifies no agency employees are seriously delinquent on taxes themselves. That bill and another one that would prevent the IRS from spending user fees it collects without congressional approval have been placed on the Senate calendar by Republican Leader Mitch McConnell. This means they can be brought up for debate and a vote, although no action has been set on either proposal.  The IRS has long been a congressional punching bag. But Republicans have been hitting it harder since the IRS several years ago applied extra scrutiny to conservative groups’ applications for tax-exempt status between 2010 and 2012.  Republican Representative Rob Woodall of Georgia has introduced a bill every year since he entered Congress in 2011 to eliminate income taxes and abolish the IRS. Support for Woodall’s bill has grown to 73 co-sponsors, including the heads of the House tax and budget committees, but it has never advanced. Nor has a similar bill in the Senate. It was unclear how House Speaker Paul Ryan would treat the study committee’s proposal in drafting a party policy agenda ahead of the Republican convention in Cleveland in July. “The speaker welcomes input from the RSC and all members of our conference,” said Ryan spokeswoman AshLee Strong. Ryan has sidestepped calls for abolishing the IRS in the past, while frequently criticizing the agency.

Summary: कांग्रेस में रूढ़िवादियों ने आई. आर. एस. को बंद करने का आग्रह किया


SAO PAULO (Reuters) - Presidential hopeful Jo o Doria, the mayor of Brazil s largest city, made it clear on Monday that he is not married to the centrist Brazilian Social Democracy Party (PSDB) and is open to courtship from other parties. The stance of the rising young star of Brazilian politics will put the PSDB under pressure since his mentor and party stalwart, Geraldo Alckmin, the governor of Sao Paulo, also plans a presidential bid in next year s elections.  I will become a candidate the day I declare and have the support of a party,  Doria told reporters after addressing a business conference in Sao Paulo on Monday, without naming the PSDB. While he has not announced that he will run, the 59-year-old self-made millionaire and former TV presenter has said he would accept if nominated by his party. A Datafolha poll in June showed Doria is little known by Brazilian voters compared to Alckmin, but he has a far lower rejection rate and is on track to become more popular than the governor, who lost a presidential bid in 2004 to Workers Party incumbent Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva. Alckmin has said publicly that he intends to run in the Oct. 7 election and favors a U.S.-style primary if the PSDB has several contenders for the nomination. Doria opposes holding a primary and has not ruled out quitting the party. In an interview published on Monday by the Estado de S.Paulo newspaper, the mayor said the party should pick its candidate based on who the opinion polls say is more popular. Doria said he would continue in the PSDB but that other parties were reaching out to him and he left open the option of leaving to run for president.  I intend to continue in the PSDB, until some circumstance prevents me from doing so,  he told the newspaper in Paris, where he met on Friday with French President Emmanuel Macron, a similarly young untested politician who rapidly rose to office. Doria, an outsider who won his first election last year in a landslide victory for Sao Paulo mayor, has become a potential favorite center-right candidate offering an fresh clean face among Brazil s corruption-plagued political class.

Summary: साओ पाउलो की महापौर डोरिया राष्ट्रपति पद की दावेदारी के लिए पार्टी छोड़ सकती हैं


BEIJING (Reuters) - China hopes the United States can handle the Taiwan issue appropriately, in accordance with the “one China” principle,  President Xi Jinping told U.S. President Donald Trump on Monday,  state media said. “Negative factors” have affected Sino-U.S. relations, and China has already expressed its position to the United States, Xi told Trump, according to a read-out of a telephone call between the leaders carried by state television. The two also discussed the “peace and stability of the Korean peninsula”, the report added, without elaborating.

Summary: चीन के शी ने कहा कि उन्हें उम्मीद है कि अमेरिका ताइवान के मुद्दे को उचित तरीके से संभालेगा


MARAWI CITY, Philippines (Reuters) - Prayer mats, chequered scarves, black fatigues, and bullet-ridden walls mark the hideout where the  emir  of Islamic State in Southeast Asia spent months preparing the most brazen and devastating militant attack in the region. A four-storey house in a quiet alley of Marawi City in the southern Philippines was the secret lair of Isnilon Hapilon until late May. After a botched military raid to apprehend him, a thousand-strong rebel alliance held large parts of the city for five months. Hapilon s death in a military operation elsewhere in Marawi on Oct. 16 was the catalyst for the end of Philippines  longest and most intense urban battle in recent history.   Security forces moved in on the house on May 23, trying to capture the country s most wanted man, but came under sustained attack from rebels firing rocket-propelled grenades.  A bomb-battered structure, shattered windows and wall-to-wall holes from machine gun fire tell the story of the ferociousthree-day battle that erupted at Hapilon s hideout, and promptedthe call to hundreds of fighters to expedite the plannedtakeover of Marawi. Hapilon escaped through a large hole that was blasted out of a rear wall, making his way across a rice field to a mosque next to the vast Lake Lanao. From there, he joined the guerrillas. Community volunteers on Thursday showed Reuters the house in the now empty, narrow street where the military believes Hapilon had lain low for several months. All other properties were intact and neighbors had fled long ago.  At the time, no one knew who these people were. People saw them about but there was no reason to suspect anything,  said Mohammed Seddick Raki, who lived nearby. Other volunteers said women and children stayed at the rented house and visitors were frequent. Children s shoes were scattered amid the debris and a woman s robe was hanging from a window. Inside the house, black shirts, pants and plaid scarves synonymous with Islamic State were strewn across rooms littered with broken floor tiles and chunks of rock from blasted walls. Left behind were waterproof boots, a balaclava, medical supplies and camouflage bags and waistcoats typically used by soldiers to carry rifle magazines. Coated in a think layer of dust on floors of every room were pocket-sized copies of the Koran, some with pages stained by water leaked through gaping holes in the roof. A mosque, about 100 meters behind the house, was the venue for an annual gathering in Marawi of Tablighi Jamaat, a Sunni missionary movement, just days before the fighting erupted. Military officials say the foreigners who fought in Hapilon s alliance - among them Indonesians, Malaysians and some from Arab states - had used that event as a cover to slip into Marawi without raising suspicion.  The deputy task force commander in Marawi, Colonel Romeo Brawner, said Hapilon evaded security forces because rebels had a network of lookouts and gunmen ready to defend him.  They put up heavy resistance. They were spread across a large area. They were strategically placed,  he said.  They were prepared for it.  Hapilon s escape in the last week of May led to anarchy in the city of about 200,000. Rebels took hostages, set fire to buildings, ransacked churches, broke into the local jail to free inmates and looted an armory. The government had insufficient security forces in Marawi to prevent the fighters from fanning out across the city and seizing hundreds of buildings.  Hapilon was wanted by the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and had a bounty on his head of up to $5 million. He was killed by army rangers in a night operation and his body was retrieved from the battle zone in the heart of the city. His identity was confirmed by the FBI s DNA analysis. The city of Marawi was all but destroyed by government air strikes and shelling that leveled commercial areas and crushed thousands of shops, homes and vehicles.    No one could have known what would happen,  said Mohamed Faisal Mama, a resident in the same Basak Malutlot district where Hapilon was hiding.  No one knew them. They weren t famous then.

Summary: एक्सक्लूसिवः कुरान, जूते और स्कार्फ जो कुछ भी फिलीपींस के विद्रोही नेता की मांद में बचा है


WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton in June raised more than $68.5 million for her campaign and the Democratic Party, the campaign said on Friday. Of the total raised, more than $40.5 million was brought in for her own election warchest and an additional $28 million was raised for the Democratic National Committee and state parties across the country.

Summary: क्लिंटन ने जून में 68.5 लाख डॉलर जुटाएः अभियान


WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Donald Trump’s promise to gut U.S. environmental regulations and revive the controversial Keystone XL oil pipeline if elected president is a nightmare for green groups, but it may be a dream come true for their fund-raisers. The country’s biggest environmental groups say the Republican White House hopeful’s pro-drilling and anti-global warming positions have sparked a record wave of donations and volunteer recruitment that could revitalize U.S. green advocacy. Trump has said he would revive the coal industry, pull the United States out of a global climate pact and expand oil drilling.  “We couldn’t have asked for a more powerful motivator than Donald Trump,” Sierra Club Executive Director Michael Brune said. Brune said a spring email blast about the New York businessman to the San Francisco-based group’s members yielded $25,000 in donations, more than twice as much as projected, along with 15,000 new volunteers. The club’s Political Committee, which works directly on projects to engage voters during the election, has raised more than $62,000 this year, compared with just $22,000 at this point in the 2012 election, according to the filings with the Federal Election Commission.     The Washington-based League of Conservation Voters has also gotten a boost. Officials said its annual fund-raising dinner this week pulled in a record haul, which they would not disclose, after the group also used Trump as a focal point of its donor outreach. “It’s been a long time since there has been someone that our movement has so universally wanted to stop,” said spokesman David Willett.  The league’s Voters Action Fund, meanwhile, has raised more than $610,000 in donations so far this year for election-related work, more than triple what it pulled in during the same period of 2012, and more than double that of 2008, according to federal filings. Trump has long signaled his belief that global warming is a hoax. Last month he outlined plans to sweep away environmental regulations ushered in by the Obama administration, scrap the Paris Climate Accord, and revive the Keystone XL - moves that would reverse years of gains by the green movement. A spokeswoman for Trump’s campaign did not immediately respond to a request for comment. NextGen Climate, a San Francisco-based environmental advocacy organization founded by billionaire activist Tom Steyer, has called Trump’s agenda “frightening.” But its efforts were also getting some traction from the candidate’s rhetoric.  The group, which has featured Trump in its TV ads to drive voter turnout, said it had seen a 127 percent increase in clicks on its social media postings that mention the candidate compared with those that do not. “There is no question that voters are very engaged when it comes to fighting back against Trump,” said NextGen spokeswoman Suzanne Henkels. Ben Avery, associate fund-raising director of the Sierra Club’s Northwest chapter, said he was happy about the increase in donor support this year but was vexed by the reason behind it. “Bad news is good news for fund-raising,” he said.

Summary: ग्रीन समूहों ने ट्रम्प के जलवायु रुख के खिलाफ धन जुटाया


WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The White House said on Wednesday it will redirect $589 million in funds to prepare for the Zika virus before the mosquito that carries it begins to emerge in the continental United States, but urged Congress to act quickly on its request for more money. White House budget director Shaun Donovan said the use of money previously provided for fighting another health crisis, the Ebola virus, was only a temporary fix for Zika funding. Donovan said some measures to fight Zika would have to be delayed, curtailed or stopped unless the U.S. Congress approves more than $1.8 billion in emergency funds requested by the Obama administration in February. The Zika virus, linked to a growing number of cases of the birth defect microcephaly in Brazil, is spreading rapidly in Latin America and the Caribbean and heading north as the weather gets warmer. “We should not play with fire here,” Donovan told reporters on a conference call. Without full Zika funding, U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Sylvia Mathews Burwell said mosquito control and surveillance may have to be delayed or stopped, vaccine development could be jeopardized and development of faster diagnostic tests could be impaired. Most of the $589 million will come from $2.7 billion in funds set aside for public health projects aimed at the Ebola virus. West Africa was stricken by a two-year Ebola epidemic that killed more than 11,300 people starting in December 2013 and led to a small number of cases in the United States. The Republican-controlled Congress has said the White House should draw the money needed to fight Zika from the Ebola funds. Chairman Hal Rogers and other top Republicans on the House of Representatives Appropriations Committee said in a statement they would “monitor the changing needs resulting from this unpredictable crisis” to ensure that needed funds are available. “Republicans are going to look back on this time that they’ve had to act on the Zika virus and deeply regret it,” White House spokesman Josh Earnest said. Burwell said a recent flare-up of Ebola in West Africa shows the United States cannot shortchange its work in the region. “We face two global health challenges, Ebola and Zika, and we don’t have an option to set one aside in the name of the other,” Burwell told reporters. Burwell said there were 672 confirmed cases of Zika infections in the United States, including 64 pregnant women. She said there was one confirmed case of Zika-related microcephaly in Hawaii. The World Health Organization has said there is a strong scientific consensus that Zika can cause microcephaly as well as Guillain-Barre syndrome, though proof may take months or years. Microcephaly is a condition defined by unusually small heads in babies that can result in developmental problems. Guillain-Barre syndrome is a rare neurological disorder that can result in paralysis. Brazil said it has confirmed more than 940 cases of microcephaly, and considers most to be related to Zika infections in the mothers. Brazil is investigating nearly 4,300 additional suspected cases of microcephaly.

Summary: व्हाइट हाउस ने जीका फंडिंग की लड़ाई में अस्थायी सुधार पाया


MANCHESTER, N.H. (Reuters) - U.S. Republican presidential candidate John Kasich is polling in the low single digits nationally but may be poised to play the role of spoiler in Tuesday’s New Hampshire primary by cutting into the support of higher-profile rivals such as Marco Rubio.     The Ohio governor, who is vowing to erase the U.S. budget deficit without shredding the safety net for poor Americans, has built a base of support among moderate Republicans and independent voters, who wield special clout in New Hampshire because they can vote in either party’s primary. Kasich, 63, has the support of about 12 to 14 percent of New Hampshire’s voters in recent polls. The former congressman has staked the viability of his White House aspirations on New Hampshire, whose pivotal primary is part of the state-by-state contests to pick the party nominees for the Nov. 8 election to replace Democratic President Barack Obama. While well behind billionaire real estate mogul Donald Trump, Kasich’s poll numbers are close to those of Rubio, a U.S. senator from Florida who is seeking to build on his momentum after a third-place finish in last Monday’s Iowa caucuses behind Trump and winner Ted Cruz, a U.S. senator from Texas. “I found great clarity here in New Hampshire,” Kasich said on Sunday in Concord. “These town halls, you know, they’re getting bigger and I don’t know how I feel about them getting bigger.”     The event marked his 102nd town hall in the state. For the 100th, in Bedford on Friday, the campaign celebrated with confetti and a cake that was served to voters attending the event.     Kasich told stories of personal connections he said he had made with voters at town halls, including with a woman whose daughter has struggled with addiction.      “She said: ‘My daughter has been sober for 11 months,’” Kasich said, asking the crowd: “Do you have any idea what this lady’s life is like?’”  He added he had promised to call the daughter and tell her: “Your mom is counting on you.” The latest Reuters/Ipsos poll put Kasich’s support nationally at 3.4 percent. Kasich himself jokes about his lack of name recognition, saying voters often mispronounce his last name. But among New Hampshire voters, a Monmouth University poll released on Sunday found Kasich at 14 percent, compared with 30 percent for Trump and 13 percent for Rubio and former Florida Governor Jeb Bush. Rubio was criticized last year by Republican strategists who said he had not done enough to woo voters in New Hampshire in intimate settings such as coffee shops and town halls. This year, however, he has campaigned intensively in the state and often holds town halls. But Rubio came under heavy attack in the Republican presidential debate on Saturday from rivals who accused him of being too inexperienced for the White House. Kasich delivered a positive message during the debate that could appeal to New Hampshire Republican voters, who famously make up their minds late and never seem in the mood to follow the lead of the Iowa caucuses.     Some of Kasich’s supporters are passionate about him.     “It’s authenticity, brother. You have my vote,” one man told him at the Bedford town hall.     Others were weighing their options.     Tim Vanblommesteyn, 62, who attended the Kasich town hall in Concord, said he was “disgusted” with both political parties but liked some of what the Ohio governor had to say. The small-business owner and self-described independent praised Kasich for taking what he said was a “principled stand” on immigration reform, an issue that has aroused fiery campaign rhetoric, including from Trump, who has called for deporting illegal immigrants. Kasich has said the United States should secure its borders but that illegal immigrants who have not committed a crime should be able to pay back taxes and get on a path to legalization.     Anne Brena, 53, a Democrat from neighboring Vermont, said she came to the Concord event to learn more about the governor.     Brena said she thought Democrat Bernie Sanders, a U.S. senator from her home state, was too liberal to win the general election and she has concerns that his rival, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, has too much “baggage” to win the White House.     “John Kasich is the only Republican that sounds reasonable,” she said. (This version of the story was refiled to fix  typographical error in Clinton’s former title, paragraph 22)  (Reporting by Emily Stephenson and Amanda Becker; Editing by Caren Bohan and Peter Cooney) SAP is the sponsor of this content. It was independently created by Reuters’ editorial staff and funded in part by SAP, which otherwise has no role in this coverage.

Summary: संभावित न्यू हैम्पशायर स्पॉइलर कासिच रूबियो के लिए खतरा पैदा कर सकता है


WASHINGTON (Reuters) - As Congress faces a possible fight over the future of the Iran nuclear agreement, senior Senate Democrats demanded on Wednesday that the Trump administration provide lawmakers with any information showing Tehran is not complying with the international pact. In a letter to Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, Defense Secretary Jim Mattis and other Cabinet officials first reported by Reuters, the lawmakers said the administration had not provided any such information, as is required under the 2015 Iran Nuclear Review Act. Republican President Donald Trump has long criticized the nuclear agreement, one of the signature foreign policy achievements of his Democratic predecessor, Barack Obama. In a speech at the United Nations on Tuesday, Trump blasted the deal reached by the United States, five other world powers and Iran, known as the JCPOA. He called it an  embarrassment to the United States.  Trump is facing a mid-October deadline for certifying whether Iran is still complying with the JCPOA, in which Iran agreed to curb its nuclear program in exchange for sanctions relief. On Wednesday, a senior U.S. official said Trump was leaning toward not certifying that Iran is complying with the pact, and letting Congress effectively decide whether to kill the agreement. The 2015 Iran Nuclear Review Act gives Congress the right to vote on whether to reimpose sanctions suspended under the JCPOA, once the president decides to decertify. The law also requires, however, that the president formally notify Congress of any evidence he has to justify that decision. While Wednesday s letter was signed only by Democrats, even some of Trump s fellow Republicans have questioned the wisdom of breaking from the agreement, unless Trump can provide concrete evidence that Iran is not complying with it. Congressional aides from both parties also said leaving the agreement seemed unnecessary, especially when Washington needs to work with international partners on complicated issues like North Korea s nuclear weapons and ballistic missiles program and the civil war in Syria and refugee crisis. Ed Royce, the Republican chairman of the House of Representatives Foreign Affairs Committee, said on CNN after Trump s U.N. speech that the United States should stay in the Iran deal, but  enforce the hell out of it.   The Democrats  letter on Wednesday noted that the 2015 review act required the president to provide information to Congress on any Iranian breach of the agreement or compliance concern within 10 days of receiving the information.  To date, the Senate has received no such notification and the Administration has provided little public testimony to Congress on the status of Iranian compliance with the agreement,  the letter said. The letter asked the administration to provide a written report and, where appropriate, public testimony to Senate committees, before Oct. 6, if it is aware of any information suggesting Iran is not complying or that would lead Trump to conclude that the continued suspension of sanctions is not in the U.S. national security interest. The letter to Tillerson, Mattis, Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin, Energy Secretary Rick Perry and Director of National Intelligence Dan Coats was signed by Senators Sherrod Brown, Maria Cantwell, Ben Cardin, Richard Durbin, Patrick Leahy, Jack Reed and Mark Warner.

Summary: कांग्रेस में डेमोक्रेट नए ईरान परमाणु युद्ध के लिए तैयार


WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump welcomed Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak to the White House on Tuesday, praising his country for investing in the United States while steering clear of an American investigation into a Malaysian corruption scandal. The visit is important for Najib, who faces elections next year and wants to signal he is still welcome at the White House despite a criminal probe by the U.S. Justice Department into a state fund called 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB). Flanked by top advisers in the Cabinet Room, Najib told Trump that Malaysia Airlines would buy 25 Boeing 737 jets and eight 787 Dreamliners, and would probably add another 25 737s in the near future - a deal he said would be worth more than $10 billion within five years.  Najib said Malaysia s Employees Provident Fund, a major pension fund, wanted to spend $3 billion to $4 billion on U.S. infrastructure development. Najib enjoyed close ties with Trump s predecessor, Barack Obama, playing golf in Hawaii in 2014, but relations cooled over human rights issues as well as the 1MDB scandal. Najib founded the fund, which is facing money laundering probes in at least six countries including the United States, Switzerland and Singapore. He denies wrongdoing.  The U.S. Justice Department has said more than $4.5 billion was misappropriated from 1MDB by high-level officials of the fund and their associates, according to dozens of civil lawsuits it filed last year.  The Justice Department sued to seize some $1.7 billion in assets it said were bought with misappropriated 1MDB funds, but asked for a stay on its civil lawsuits in August because it was conducting a related criminal probe. The White House had said it would not comment on the Justice Department investigation but a senior U.S. official acknowledged it was unusual to meet with Najib while 1MDB was under regulatory scrutiny.  It s a weird situation, no doubt,  the official said, explaining that the administration has prioritized developing relations with Southeast Asia to counter  huge gains  China has made in the region. Najib and his delegation stayed at the Trump International Hotel, according to several U.S. media reports, but the White House dismissed questions about the stay.   We certainly don t book their hotel accommodations, so I couldn t speak to the personal decision they made about where to stay here in D.C.,  White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said. In a speech to U.S. business leaders, Najib said opposition politicians had blown the 1MDB scandal out of proportion in a failed attempt to topple his government.  I know that some of you will have heard some less positive stories about the Malaysian economy, particularly about 1MDB,  Najib said.   Indeed, there was a campaign to deliberately sabotage the company   and undermine investor confidence in our economy   in a failed attempt to topple the government in-between election cycles.  He also said Malaysia s investigations into 1MDB revealed there had been some  failings . The U.S. lawsuits had alleged $681 million of the misappropriated funds from 1MDB was transferred to the account of  Malaysian Official 1 , which U.S. and Malaysian sources have previously identified as Najib. A Malaysian government investigation has cleared him of any wrongdoing. Najib s invitation to the White House was slammed by several rights groups who had urged the Trump administration to bring up Najib s record of cracking down on the media and others critics. Trump sees Malaysia, a majority Muslim nation, as an ally in its fight against Islamic militancy. It is also wants it to cut ties with North Korea.  He does not do business with North Korea any longer, and we find that to be very important,  Trump said referring to Najib. Ties between Malaysia and North Korea soured after North Korean leader Kim Jong Un s half brother was assassinated in Kuala Lumpur this year. It was also discovered that North Korea was using Malaysia as a base for its arms export and other businesses, that funneled money to Pyongyang. Before their meeting, Trump praised Najib for his tough stand on Islamic State.  He s been very, very strong on terrorism in Malaysia, and a great supporter from that standpoint.  For a graphic on Malaysia's 1MDB scandal, click: here

Summary: ट्रम्प, मलेशिया के नजीब ने 1एम. डी. बी. घोटाले की अमेरिकी जांच का घेराव किया