WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Federal prosecutors opened their case against Ahmed Abu Khatallah on Monday by telling jurors he orchestrated the 2012 attack on a U.S. diplomatic compound in Benghazi, Libya, that killed U.S. Ambassador Christopher Stevens and three other Americans. Khatallah has been awaiting trial since 2014, when he was captured by a team of U.S. military and FBI officials in Libya and transported on a 13-day journey to the United States aboard a Navy vessel. In his opening statement in U.S. District court for the District of Columbia, federal prosecutor John Crabb said Khatallah hates America  with a vengeance  and played a leading role in organizing the Sept. 11, 2012, attack on the U.S. diplomatic mission in Benghazi. Khatallah, he said,  didn t light the fires and he didn t fire the mortars but you will hear he is just as guilty as the men who lit those fires.  Khatallah, who face charges including murder and providing material support to terrorists, sat at the table wearing a white shirt and headphones that allowed him to hear an Arabic translation of the proceedings. Defense attorney Jeffrey Robinson denied that his client had anything to do with the planning of the attack.  The evidence is going to show that Mr. Abu Khatallah did not participate in the attack,  he said.  Monday s session included harrowing testimony from Special Agent Scott Wickland, who described how he tried to get Stevens and State Department staffer Sean Smith to safety as they crawled on their bellies through thick, black smoke as fire engulfed the mission.  At first I had my hand on the ambassador and we were crawling,  he recalled.   I was breathing through the last centimeter of air on the ground... and I am yelling to the other guys,  Come on! We can make it!   And within that 8 meters, they disappeared.  Crabb, the prosecutor, also previewed some of the other testimony the jury will hear from witnesses who claim they heard Khatallah discuss his involvement in the attack. One witness, who was later paid $7 million to help the United States lure Khatallah to the spot where he was captured, will tell jurors he heard the defendant say he  would have killed all of the Americans that night,  Crabb said. Crabb also showed grainy video footage from the night of the attack with images of more than a half-dozen suspected associates of Khatallah. Khatallah appeared in one video as armed militia entered a room that held closely guarded maps and other records. Robinson said his client went to the mission only to see what was happening and warned people to steer clear of the gunfire. He also said some of the government s witnesses  are people who lie.  The trial, which resumes on Tuesday, is expected to last several weeks.

Summary: वाशिंगटन में बेनगाज़ी हमले के कथित सरगना पर मुकदमा शुरू


MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov told U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson on Tuesday that  Washington s aggressive rhetoric  had heightened tension on the Korean peninsula and was unacceptable, the Russian foreign ministry said. In a phone call, the two men also discussed further steps towards resolving the Syrian crisis and the situation in Ukraine, it added.

Summary: रूस के लावरोव ने टिलरसन यू. एस. से कहा कि कोरिया पर 'आक्रामक बयानबाजी' अस्वीकार्य है


WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Washington police made “numerous” arrests on Friday after violent protests during Donald Trump’s inauguration, with individuals being charged with rioting, the city’s police department said. “Pepper spray and other control devices were used to control the criminal actors and protect persons and property,” the department said in a statement. The statement added that two police officers had sustained minor injuries from “coordinated attacks” and that police vehicles were damaged.

Summary: ट्रंप के शपथ ग्रहण समारोह के दौरान 'कई' गिरफ्तारियां हुईंः पुलिस


WASHINGTON (Reuters) - House of Representatives Speaker Paul Ryan, commenting on Sunday’s mass shooting in Orlando, said: “As we heal, we need to be clear-eyed about who did this. We are a nation at war with Islamist terrorists.” Ryan, the top elected U.S. Republican, also said in a statement he had ordered flags above the Capitol to be flown at half-staff in honor of the victims of the attack. (spkrryan.us/1U8a60L)

Summary: ऑरलैंडो गोलीबारी पर रयानः 'हम इस्लामी आतंकवादियों के साथ युद्ध में एक राष्ट्र हैं'


(Reuters) - A bipartisan group of U.S. lawmakers has introduced a bill that would ban agreements to keep sexual harassment and discrimination claims out of court, amid a wave of sexual misconduct allegations against powerful men.  Members of the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives unveiled the bill on Wednesday, saying mandatory arbitration agreements had forced women to privately arbitrate misconduct claims, effectively silencing victims and enabling serial harassers.  An arbitration case is similar to a lawsuit, but the proceedings are typically confidential.  Dozens of prominent American men in politics, media and entertainment have been accused in recent months of sexual harassment and misconduct. In some of those cases, their accusers had been required to sign agreements with their employers to keep work-related legal claims in arbitration. The bill would make those agreements unenforceable in sexual harassment and discrimination cases brought under federal law.  Lawmakers said an estimated 60 million U.S. workers have mandatory arbitration agreements. The issue of sexual harassment was in focus in Washington on Thursday as Senator Al Franken, a Democrat from Minnesota, announced he would step down after several women accused him of unwanted touching. Franken has denied some of the claims and apologized to other accusers.  On Tuesday, Representative John Conyers, a Democrat from Michigan, resigned after allegations that he sexually harassed staffers. Conyers, who was the longest-serving member of Congress, has denied the claims. Business groups including the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and National Federation of Independent Business have said in the past that arbitration can benefit both employers and workers who want to keep their claims confidential.  The bill is sponsored in the Senate by Democrats Kirsten Gillibrand of New York and Kamala Harris of California, and Republicans Lindsey Graham of South Carolina and Lisa Murkowski of Alaska. It also has two sponsors from each party in the House.  The lawmakers were joined at a news conference in Washington by former Fox News anchor Gretchen Carlson, who sued former network chief Roger Ailes for harassment last year. The claims led to Ailes’ resignation and a $20 million settlement for Carlson. Ailes and Fox denied any wrongdoing.  Carlson said arbitration agreements like the one she signed with Fox allow harassers to stay in their jobs, even when victims are pushed out or fired.

Summary: अमेरिकी सांसदों ने यौन दुराचार के दावों के मध्यस्थता पर प्रतिबंध लगाने का प्रस्ताव रखा


BOZANOVICI, Bosnia (Reuters) - The sign nailed to a tree marking one of the few paved roads bears the name of the village s favorite son:  General Mladic Street . In a garage that serves as the makeshift tavern, his portrait looks down on the men who spend the day sharing a bottle of brandy. Ratko Mladic, the former Bosnian Serb military commander who will hear his verdict on charges of war crimes, genocide and crimes against humanity next week in the Hague, is one of the highest profile war crimes suspects in Europe since Nuremberg. In the international court where his trial began more than five years ago, he is accused of ordering the killing of 8,000 unarmed Muslim men and boys after the capture of the town of Srebrenica, and raining artillery on civilians during the siege of the Bosnian capital Sarajevo. But here in his home village, where barely two dozen people   mostly his blood relatives   still remain in the hardscrabble countryside of the Bosnian hills, Mladic is, as the slogan on his portrait above the drinkers declares,  a hero .  He did not do such things. Others did it. The general is a colossus, a great and good man,  said Zoran Mladic, one of several villagers who identify themselves as cousins of the ex-general. Mladic, who was captured in 2011 after a decade and a half on the run, is still revered in the Serb sector of Bosnia as a hero and defender of the nation during the 1992-1995 war that killed more than 100,000 people. In his native village of crumbling cabins scattered across the slopes, every home has his portrait. Villagers pay him the ultimate compliment: he was a good worker, who often came back to visit, and a useful hand bringing in the harvest as a reaper in the fields.  He did not kill people. During the war he gathered our Muslim neighbors from a nearby village and warned them in time to leave,  said Dusko Mladic, another cousin, sitting in the tavern, who said he was a childhood playmate of the general.  I still often go to that village, work with Muslims and don t have any problems,  he said. The villagers are mainly farmers who keep cattle and sell produce in Sarajevo, which Mladic s forces kept under a 43-month siege, bombing its citizens daily and depriving them of water, power and food.  Today, as in much of the countryside, the younger generation has largely abandoned the village to go to Sarajevo in search of jobs. Those left behind barely survive on small pensions and the sale of milk and meat, disappointed at the lack of support by the Bosnian Serb authorities. They fear Mladic will be convicted and remembered as a war criminal.  I would be happiest if he died before the judgment,  said another cousin, Mile Mladic. That was the fate of Slobodan Milosevic, the former leader of Serbia, who died four years into his own genocide trial, ending it without a verdict.  We would then raise a large monument for him in the village and write the truth. All this that is happening is not the truth. It is a lie. The general is not guilty.

Summary: म्लाडिक अभी भी बोस्निया में मरने वाले घर गांव में एक नायक है


CARACAS (Reuters) - Key members of Venezuela s opposition, divided and dispirited after losing gubernatorial elections over the weekend, will travel abroad to denounce what it says is a  fraudulent  voting system under leftist President Nicolas Maduro.  Congress president Julio Borges said in a press conference on Thursday that the opposition coalition will try to stir up international support, which could result in further sanctions against Maduro s administration.  His unpopular government unexpectedly swept to victory in Sunday s regional vote, pocketing 18 of 23 states in the midst of a debilitating economic crisis that has millions skipping meals as soaring inflation destroys salaries.  Polls had forecast the opposition easily beating the ruling socialists. Maduro s rivals say a mix of dirty tricks, like  moving hundreds of voting centers in opposition areas at the last minute and including the names of opposition politicians who lost in primaries on ballots, worked against them.   We made a huge effort, we aimed to overcome all the obstacles, and what the government did was upgrade its fraud and its cheating,  said Borges, adding that politicians were due to travel to fellow Latin American countries and other supportive nations shortly.   We have the full records of this electoral process and we re going to submit them to various international bodies, so that ... they can be audited,  added Borges, who did not provide further details on the trips. While the opposition first cried fraud, without providing proof, it later scaled back its accusations and is now focusing on the minerals-rich state of Bolivar where it says its losing candidate was robbed of decisive votes.  Maduro blasted his opponents as sore losers who cry fraud when convenient. On Thursday, he inaugurated Hector Rodriguez, a rising star in the Socialist Party, as governor of Miranda state in a ceremony filled with song and dance.  Opposition politicians have acknowledged that demoralization in their own ranks hurt turnout. Many opposition supporters are exhausted after four months of protests earlier this year and were loath to participate in what some saw as a rigged vote that would legitimize Maduro as a dictator.  They were even more downbeat after the vote, however, as it casts doubt on whether they can remove the ruling Socialist Party in next year s presidential election.   The government s handling of (Sunday s) vote suggests that it is not even willing to entertain anything close to free and fair presidential elections in 2018, even if it prompts growing international isolation, renewed unrest, and increased outward migration,  consultancy Eurasia wrote in a note to clients this week.

Summary: वेनेजुएला के विपक्ष के नेता 'मतदान धोखाधड़ी' की निंदा करने के लिए विदेश यात्रा करेंगे


SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - California lawmakers voted to extend the state’s climate change fighting efforts out to 2030 on Wednesday, giving a new lease on life to the most ambitious greenhouse gas reduction program in the country. The state Senate voted 25-13 in support of a bill that sets a target of cutting the state’s output of heat-trapping emissions 40 percent below 1990 levels by 2030.  The state is currently on track to meet its 2020 goal of reducing emissions back to 1990 levels.  The vote came hours after the state Assembly passed a linked bill to increase legislative oversight of the climate change programs run by the California Air Resources Board by a vote of 44-28. Both bills will now go to Governor Jerry Brown, who has said he will sign them.  Senator Fran Pavley, the author of the 2006 law that set the state’s first emission reduction target, said that effort has generated billions of dollars in investment in the state’s clean energy sector while creating jobs and reducing emissions.  “Today’s action will ensure the state remains on its prosperous and healthy course,” she said.  At a press conference, Brown said the legislation would impact all industries in the state from oil refining and agriculture to building construction and public utilities.  “It’s about the world in which we live becoming decarbonized and sustainable,” he said. “These regulations will work to achieve that goal,” he said.  Opponents said the emissions targets have caused job losses in the communities they represent.  “The impacts in my county are immense,” Senate Republican Leader Jean Fuller, who represents Bakersfield, said prior to the vote on Wednesday.  She said the current policies have driven hundreds of energy jobs out of her county, which is home to oil producers and manufacturers.  “The changes it has brought to our economy are unforgiveable,” she said. Lawmakers did not address a central threat to the state’s carbon cap-and-trade program from the California Chamber of Commerce, which has filed a lawsuit arguing that the state’s quarterly carbon permit auctions amount to an illegal tax on businesses. Both climate bills are silent on the question of what policy mechanisms - such as cap and trade - should be used to achieve the 2030 goal.  Brown, a staunch supporter of cap and trade, told reporters all options, including a ballot measure in 2018, were on the table to ensure the future of the carbon market.

Summary: कैलिफोर्निया विधानमंडल ने जलवायु परिवर्तन विधेयक पारित किए


ADEN/DUBAI (Reuters) - A Saudi-led coalition stepped up air strikes on Yemen s Houthis on Wednesday as the Iran-allied armed movement tightened its grip on Sanaa a day after the son of slain former president Ali Abdullah Saleh vowed revenge for his father s death. Former president Saleh plunged the country deeper into turmoil last week by switching allegiances after years helping the Houthis win control of much of the country s north including the capital. He was killed in an attack on his convoy on Monday.  The pro-Houthi Al Masirah television station said on Wednesday Saudi Arabia and its allies had bombed Saleh s residence and other houses of his family members now controlled by the Houthis. Air strikes also hit northern provinces including Taiz, Hajjah, Midi and Saada, it said.  There was no immediate word on casualties.  The intervention by Saleh s son Ahmed Ali, a former commander of the elite Republican Guard who lives in exile in the United Arab Emirates and was once seen as a successor to his father, has provided the anti-Houthi movement with a potential figurehead. Abu Dhabi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Zayed al-Nahayan, the de facto leader of the UAE, visited Ahmed Ali at his residence to offer his condolences, according to Sheikh Mohammed s Twitter account. He posted a picture of himself sitting near Ahmed Ali.  Ahmed Ali had been widely expected to leave the UAE, a key member of the Saudi-led coalition fighting the Houthis, for Yemen to help in the war amid media reports that some Saleh loyalists have been switching sides.   Many Sanaa residents were staying indoors on Wednesday out of fear of a Houthi crackdown. On Tuesday, Saleh supporters said his nephew Tareq, another top commander, and the head of his party, Aref Zouka, had both been killed.  There s a scary calm in the city,  said Ali, a 47-year-old businessman who declined to use his full name.  People are reporting that there are many arrests and they are trying to shoot military men and (Saleh party) members.  Yemen s conflict, pitting the Houthis against the Saudi-led military alliance which backs a government based in the south, has unleashed what the United Nations calls the world s worst humanitarian crisis. The proxy war between regional arch-rivals Iran and Saudi Arabia - armed and given intelligence by the West   has killed more than 10,000 people, with more than two million displaced.   Saleh s decision to abandon the Houthis was the most dramatic development in three years of stalemate. Top Houthi officials called it high treason backed by their Saudi enemies. Tens of thousands of Houthi supporters staged a rally in Sanaa on Tuesday to celebrate what the Houthis had said was the defeat of a major conspiracy by Saleh, chanting slogans against Saudi Arabia and its allies. Political sources said the Houthis had arrested dozens of Saleh s allies and army officers affiliated with his party in and around the city. Several had been killed in the raids. On Wednesday, several dozen women gathered in a main Sanaa square holding Saleh s portrait and demanding his body be handed over for burial, but they were forcibly dispersed by Houthi security forces, eyewitnesses said. The Houthi-controlled interior ministry distributed a video of dozens of seated barefoot men it said were pro-Saleh fighters detained in one of its party headquarters. Media rights group Reporters Without Borders appealed for the release of 41 journalists it said have been held  hostage  by the group since it overran the headquarters of the Saleh-owned al-Yemen al-Youm TV station on Saturday. Nearly a million people in Yemen have been hit by a cholera outbreak, and famine caused by warring parties blocking food supplies threatens much of the country.  The UN secretary-general s special envoy for Yemen, Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed, called on all parties to show restraint.   Increased hostilities will further threaten civilian lives and exacerbate their suffering,  he said in a briefing to the Security Council on Tuesday. U.S. Defense Secretary Jim Mattis said on Tuesday that the killing of Saleh would likely worsen an already dire humanitarian situation in the country in the short term. Speaking with reporters on a military aircraft en route to Washington, Mattis said his death could either push the conflict towards U.N. peace negotiations or make it an  even more vicious war.  The commander of Iran s Islamic Revolution Guards Corps, Major General Mohammad Ali Jafari, praised what he called the Houthis  swift quashing of the  coup against the holy warriors , the semi-official Fars news agency reported. Much is likely to depend on the future allegiances of Saleh loyalists who previously helped the Houthi group, which hails from the Zaidi branch of Shi ite Islam that ruled a thousand-year kingdom in northern Yemen until 1962.

Summary: यमन पर सऊदी अरब के हवाई हमले बढ़े, राजधानी के निवासी घर के अंदर रहें


LONDON (Reuters) - The British government said on Thursday its key piece of Brexit legislation would be debated in parliament on Nov. 14 and 15, the next stage in what is expected to be a tortuous lawmaking process that will test Prime Minister Theresa May s authority. The European Union (Withdrawal) Bill is central to the government s plan to leave the EU in March 2019, repealing the laws that made Britain an EU member and transposing existing EU law into British law. But it has faced widespread criticism from lawmakers of all parties - including May s Conservatives - for giving the government too much power to change laws, and for not guaranteeing parliament a vote on the terms of Brexit. As a result, the bill s passage through parliament will depend on May s fragile minority government being able to pacify rebel lawmakers who said they were  deadly serious  about trying to give parliament a greater say on the terms of the EU exit. The much-anticipated first two days of debate were announced in parliament by Andrea Leadsom, leader of the lower house. Six further days of debate are planned but dates were not announced.  The bill passed its first parliamentary test in September and the next stage had been expected earlier by some lawmakers, but the government said it needed time to look over the hundreds of proposed changes which will be discussed.   Nearly 400 amendments have been tabled and we are looking at those with the utmost seriousness,  a Brexit department spokeswoman said.   We look forward to continuing the debate and working with Parliament to ensure that we deliver a functioning statute book on exit day.  Junior Brexit minister Steve Baker later warned that if the bill fails to pass through parliament in time for  Brexit day  on March 29 2019, holes would appear in the country s laws.  He also said the government currently planned separate legislation to implement the terms of the transitional agreement it is seeking to help smooth its departure from the EU, erecting another potentially difficult parliamentary hurdle. May s spokeswoman later said it was too soon to know for sure if this would be required. Among the proposed changes to the withdrawal bill, several have enough support from Conservative lawmakers to defeat May, who commands a slim 13-seat working majority in the 650-seat parliament thanks to a deal with Northern Ireland s Democratic Unionist Party. One of the potential Conservative rebels, Nicky Morgan, warned the government not to underestimate their desire to change the bill.  We are deadly serious,  Morgan, a former senior minister who was sacked by May last year, told parliament.  Any rebellion is expected to crystallise around government plans to offer lawmakers a vote on the final exit package.  The promise is not currently written into the bill, which will only allow lawmakers to accept the deal the government has negotiated with Brussels or reject it and leave the EU without a deal. Brexit minister David Davis angered parliamentarians on Wednesday by suggesting that vote could even come after Britain has left the bloc, forcing his department to issue a clarification. Called to parliament on Thursday morning to explain his words, Davis said he expected the vote to take place before December 2018 or January 2019, referring to the EU s preferred negotiating timetable. Despite his clarification, lawmakers signaled they wanted to have more say on the exit deal and would try to force the government into making concessions next month in parliament by guaranteeing in law a vote that gives lawmakers a greater say.  The sad reality is that ministerial assurances are no longer good enough,  said opposition lawmaker Stephen Kinnock.

Summary: ब्रिटेन ने महत्वपूर्ण ब्रेक्सिट कानूनों पर संसदीय प्रदर्शन के लिए तारीख निर्धारित की


NEW YORK/ANKARA (Reuters) - The U.S. judge presiding over the trial of a Turkish gold trader accused of evading U.S. sanctions against Iran on Thursday refused to say if the wealthy businessman would be on trial with one of his co-defendants later this month. U.S. prosecutors have charged the trader, Reza Zarrab, and his alleged co-conspirators of handling hundreds of millions of dollars for Iran s government and Iranian entities from 2010 to 2015, in a scheme to evade U.S. sanctions. Nine people have been criminally charged, but only Zarrab and a banker from Turkey s Halkbank, Mehmet Hakan Atilla, are in U.S. custody. Both deny the charges. The case has complicated relations between the United States and Turkey, both members of the NATO military alliance. While the two are due to go on trial on Nov.27, Zarrab has not appeared in court or submitted any filings since September, sparking speculation in Turkish media that he has reached an agreement with U.S. authorities. U.S. District Judge Richard Berman refused to say whether Zarrab would be on trial alongside Atilla when asked by Victor Rocco, one of Atilla s lawyers, at a court hearing on Thursday.  The one perk that comes with being a judge is you don t have to answer questions as witnesses and lawyers do,  Berman said. Rocco told reporters after the hearing that he expected to know more about Zarrab in the next few days. U.S. prosecutors have alleged that Zarrab, a dual Turkish and Iranian citizen, sought support from and invoked the name of Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan to advance his business. Erdogan has not been accused of wrongdoing. The president  has accused U.S. prosecutors of having  ulterior motives  by including references to him and his wife in court papers. U.S. authorities informed Turkey that Zarrab had been moved to a different location and was in good medical condition, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said earlier on Thursday.  They responded after Turkey sent two diplomatic notes to ask about Zarrab s condition after the U.S. Federal Bureau of Prisons website showed Zarrab had been released last week and his lawyers said they had not heard from their client in five days.

Summary: अमेरिकी न्यायाधीश ने यह कहने से इनकार कर दिया कि क्या तुर्की के व्यापारी जर्रब को मुकदमे का सामना करना पड़ेगा


WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Republican Mitt Romney is a possible choice for the job of secretary of state but President-elect Donald Trump is also looking at other people, Trump’s senior adviser Reince Priebus said on Sunday. Priebus also said on ABC’s “This Week” program that Romney and Trump had a “very substantive” conversation when the two met on Saturday in which they discussed foreign hot spots and other issues.

Summary: विदेश मंत्री पद के लिए रोमनी दूसरों के साथ मिल रहे हैंः ट्रम्प सलाहकार


WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions will hold a news conference at 4 p.m. ET on Thursday, the Justice Department said in a statement. Sessions is likely to be asked about revelations late Wednesday that he met with Russia’s ambassador twice last year but did not disclose the contacts in Senate testimony.

Summary: अमेरिकी महान्यायवादी सत्र गुरुवार को एक समाचार सम्मेलन आयोजित करेंगे


WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Donald Trump will be presented with multiple options regarding the future of the Iran nuclear deal ahead of an Oct. 15 deadline to certify whether Tehran is complying with the pact, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said on Wednesday. Tillerson did not disclose details about the kinds of options he will present to Trump. He also declined to directly answer a question about whether he shared Defense Secretary Jim Mattis’ assessment to Congress on Tuesday that Iran was “fundamentally” in compliance with the accord. “We’ll have a recommendation for the president. We’re going to give him a couple of options of how to move forward to advance the important policy toward Iran,” Tillerson told reporters at the State Department. A collapse of the 2015 deal, which Trump has called “an embarrassment,” but which is supported by the other major powers that negotiated it with Iran, could trigger a regional arms race and stoke Middle East tensions. A senior U.S. official said last month that Trump was leaning toward not certifying that Iran is complying with the pact. Trump himself has said he already had made up his mind whether to keep the pact, but has declined to disclose his decision. If Trump declines to certify Iran’s compliance, U.S. congressional leaders would have 60 days to decide whether to reimpose sanctions on Tehran suspended under the accord. Unlike Mattis, who publicly suggested Trump should consider sticking with the agreement, Tillerson has been highly critical of the accord and said it must be changed. He has taken aim at the deal’s so-called sunset clauses, under which some of the restrictions on Iran’s nuclear program expire over time. Tillerson on Wednesday suggested that whatever path the United States chooses on the nuclear accord known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), it would only represent one component of America’s broader policy toward Iran. “The JCPOA represents only a small part of the many issues that we need to deal with when it comes to the Iranian relationship,” he said. “So it is an important part of that, but is not the only part. And I’ve said many times, we cannot let the Iranian relationship be defined solely by that nuclear agreement.”

Summary: ईरान परमाणु समझौते पर ट्रंप को मिलेंगे कई विकल्पः टिलरसन


WASHINGTON/BRIDGEWATER, N.J. (Reuters) - President Donald Trump’s ouster of chief strategist Steve Bannon is unlikely to mark the abandonment of the administration’s “America First” agenda that has unnerved investors and trade partners and split the White House into nationalist and globalist camps. Within hours of leaving Trump’s administration on Friday, Bannon was back at the helm of Breitbart News, the hard-right news site he ran before becoming the main architect of Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign. Bannon can now do more to further conservative causes because “he can speak his mind” without the constraints of working in the White House, Rick Weatherly, 61, a maintenance technician from the Denver suburb of Lakewood, said on Saturday. Trump appeared to agree, tweeting: “Steve Bannon will be a tough and smart new voice at @BreitbartNews ... maybe even better than ever before. Fake News needs the competition!” Bannon, 63, was instrumental in some of Trump’s most contentious policies including the travel ban on people from several Muslim-majority nations, departure from the Paris climate accord and rejection of the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade deal. He was no friend to the Republican political establishment and was loathed by liberals, but became a darling of some of the president’s hard-line conservative supporters.  “Trump will now have a great external ally,” a source close to Bannon said on condition of anonymity. “He will use his big hammer against the congressional leadership in support of the president’s agenda.” Trump supporters in south Florida, Chicago and Colorado told Reuters that they were not concerned that Bannon’s departure meant the president was distancing himself from policies he supported during last year’s campaign. “I think Trump will be fine,” said Bob Janda, a 67-year-old small business owner in Chicago.             Nor is Bannon likely to be distanced from Trump’s ear, a White House official said on condition of anonymity. Bannon joined a string of senior officials who have left the Trump administration in the past five weeks, leading to the appointment of retired Marine general John Kelly as the new White House chief of staff. Kelly has succeeded in imposing some order on what had been a haphazard operation, but Bannon will still have “a direct pipeline into the Oval Office with Breitbart, Twitter and the TV,” the same White House official added.     “My guess is he’ll (Bannon) probably be more effective goading the president from outside, especially if the president feels boxed in by John Kelly’s clean lines of authority and (national security adviser H.R.) McMaster’s orderly processes,” said Kori Schake, a research fellow at Stanford University’s Hoover Institution who previously served in the White House. “Seems to me that Bannon was symptom not cause: The president seems to share his dark vision, revel in the support of people Bannon represents,” Schake added. Prior to joining the Trump campaign, Bannon had spearheaded Breitbart’s shift into a forum for the “alt-right,” a loose online confederation of neo-Nazis, white supremacists and anti-Semites. His departure capped a tumultuous week in which Trump was widely criticized for saying both sides were responsible for last weekend’s violence at a Charlottesville, Virginia rally organized by neo-Nazis and white supremacists. Bannon told the conservative Weekly Standard on Friday that he would use Breitbart to attack opponents of the populist and nationalist agenda he championed, including establishment Republicans.  At the same time he appeared to suggest that his departure signaled a major shift for the Trump agenda. “The Trump presidency that we fought for, and won, is over,” Bannon said. Defense policy is one area where Bannon could play a role from the outside.   While many of Trump’s national security aides favor sending several thousand more troops to Afghanistan, where the Taliban insurgents have been regaining ground, Bannon argued for withdrawing the 8,400 U.S. personnel still there. He also had advocated restraint in dealing with North Korea, rejecting the use of military force to solve the recent crisis. “There is a danger that if he continues to bang away on issues that appeal to Breitbart’s audience but aren’t going anywhere, Bannon risks splitting the administration’s loose coalition of hard-right ideologues, traditional conservatives, and middle-of-the-road voters who didn’t like Hillary Clinton,” another Trump administration official said, also on condition of anonymity.

Summary: बैनन के बाहर निकलने से ट्रम्प के केंद्र में जाने का संकेत नहीं मिला


WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A U.S. Senate proposal to replace Obamacare would cut spending on government Medicaid for the poor by 35 percent come 2036, a non-partisan congressional research office said on Thursday, further complicating Republican efforts to forge a deal.  The Congressional Budget Office report, requested by Senate Democrats, provides a longer-term look at how the Republican plan would affect Medicaid spending as Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell searches for a formula to win over the conservative and moderate elements of his Republican caucus. Republican discussions on Thursday were focused on two proposals. One, by moderates, would keep a 3.8 percent Obamacare tax on high earners’ investment income, instead of repealing it as Republicans have promised. Another, by conservative Senator Ted Cruz, would let insurers offer skimpier healthcare plans if they also offer a plan choice that is Obamacare compliant. An additional $45 billion over a decade to combat the opioid crisis also is on the table, sources close to the talks told Reuters. The original draft of the Republican bill was opposed by at least nine Republican senators. McConnell can only afford to lose two of 52 Republican votes in the 100-seat Senate to pass the bill. Vice President Mike Pence was on Capitol Hill to push for the bill, meeting with Cruz and moderate Senators Susan Collins, Shelley Moore Capito and Dean Heller. All opposed the bill in its original form. The two factions did not yet seem in agreement. Senator Lisa Murkowski said discussions were continuing to see whether Cruz’ proposal could be made more acceptable to moderates like herself. Conservative Senator Pat Toomey said he would be “shocked” if the Obamacare 3.8 percent tax is not repealed. Republican Governor John Kasich of Ohio, which opted to expand Medicaid under Obamacare, said the CBO’s latest assessment “further validates” his concerns. The bill proposes phasing out Obamacare’s Medicaid expansion between 2021 and 2024, then making deeper cuts to the program and overhauling it in 2025. The CBO estimated that under current law, Medicaid spending would grow 5.1 percent a year during the next two decades. Under the Republican Senate plan, it projected growth of just 1.9 percent a year through 2026 and about 3.5 percent per year in the subsequent 10 years. The CBO can typically only score legislation in a 10-year window, so the bill’s longer-term affects had not been assessed until Thursday’s report. It had earlier estimated that the Senate bill would strip coverage for 22 million Americans in the next decade.

Summary: सीनेट रिपब्लिकन बिल 2036 तक मेडिकेड में कटौती करेगा, बातचीत को जटिल बना देगा


DUBAI (Reuters) - Kuwait s Emir Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber al-Sabah was discharged from hospital on Thursday after successful medical tests, state news agency (KUNA) reported, one day after he was admitted following a cold. The agency cited Emiri Court Affairs Minister Sheikh Nasser Sabah al-Ahmad al-Sabah as saying that the 88-year-old ruler of the Gulf Arab state, which is allied with the West, left hospital after  successfully completing regular medical tests .

Summary: कुवैत के अमीर ने सफल चिकित्सा परीक्षणों के बाद अस्पताल छोड़ाः एजेंसी


WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Republican chairman of the U.S. Federal Communications Commission is expected to unveil proposed reforms on Thursday to the $45 billion business data services market just four months after his Democratic predecessor abandoned a reform plan. FCC Chairman Ajit Pai is set to announce reforms but will not propose completely deregulating the market, two officials briefed on the plan said. The proposal is set to be discussed at the FCC’s April meeting. An FCC spokesman declined to comment. Small businesses, schools, libraries and others rely on business data services, or special-access lines, to transmit large amounts of data quickly, for instance connecting banks to ATM machines or gasoline pump credit card readers. Special-access lines are used by offices, retailers, banks, manufacturers, schools and hospitals to move large amounts of data, and wireless carriers rely on them for the backhaul of mobile traffic. Major telecommunications and cable companies have met with FCC staff in recent weeks to talk about the issue, according to FCC records. Under President Barack Obama, then-FCC chairman Tom Wheeler in April 2016 proposed a sweeping reform plan for business data services that aimed to reduce prices paid for services. Wheeler abandoned the proposal in November after Donald Trump was elected president. The data services market is an important business for AT&T Inc, CenturyLink Inc (CTL.N), Frontier Communications Corp and Verizon Communications Inc (VZ.N), while Sprint Corp and other companies that use the lines say they are being overcharged. Wheeler had proposed maintaining and lowering lower price caps using legacy data systems with a one-time 11 percent reduction in prices phased in over three years. The proposal came under criticism from AT&T and the Communications Workers of America union. Sprint, which backed Wheeler’s proposal, told the FCC in a March 22 letter that “thousands of large and small businesses across the country are paying far too much for broadband because of inadequate competition.” Sprint argued “a small handful of companies are overcharging the very investors and employers that are critical to our economic growth and are using anticompetitive tactics to ensure that these businesses never have access to competitive alternatives.” AT&T argued Wheeler’s plan was “little more than a wealth transfer to companies that have chosen not to invest in last mile fiber infrastructure.” In a March 13 letter, AT&T suggested the FCC largely deregulate the market but leave rules in place where there is no competition. CenturyLink and Frontier in a March 20 filing urged the FCC to completely deregulate the market.

Summary: अमेरिकी संचार एजेंसी व्यापार डेटा सेवा बाजार में सुधार का अनावरण करेगी


AMSTERDAM (Reuters) - The Dutch government said on Wednesday it is joining Austria s lawsuit against Germany at the European Court of Justice over plans for a road toll for foreign drivers. The toll would apply to foreign-registered cars using German highways at a cost of up to 130 euros ( 116.5) a year. German drivers will be able to recover the costs through tax deductions.  At the heart of the Dutch objection is that the German toll plan is in violation of European rules,  a statement said. The Dutch government  believes just as Austria does that the toll plans are discriminatory and violate the basic right to free movement.  The toll also will create an impediment to free trade, with 60-100 million euros in estimated annual costs for Dutch taxpayers, largely hurting people and businesses in the border region, the statement said. The German parliament approved the road toll in March, but it is unlikely to come into effect before 2019, the year a ruling by the court is expected.

Summary: जर्मन सड़क टोल योजना के खिलाफ ऑस्ट्रिया के मुकदमे में डच शामिल हुए


WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump said on Thursday he would prefer to avoid military action to deal with North Korea s nuclear threat, but said previous diplomatic efforts have failed to pressure Pyongyang from developing its missiles.  Military action would certainly be an option. Is it inevitable? Nothing is inevitable,  Trump said during a news conference.  I would prefer not going the route of the military,  Trump said.  If we do use it on North Korea, it will be a very sad day for North Korea.

Summary: उत्तर कोरिया पर सैन्य कार्रवाई से बचने की उम्मीदः ट्रम्प


WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. senators reached an agreement on Monday on legislation imposing new sanctions on Russia, including a provision that would prevent the White House from easing, suspending or ending sanctions without congressional approval. The agreement, to be filed as an amendment to an Iran sanctions bill, is intended to punish Russia over issues including its alleged meddling in the 2016 U.S. election, annexation of Ukraine’s Crimea region and support for the government of Syria in that country’s six-year-long civil war. [L1N1J41LS] The Iran bill is due come up for a vote as soon as this week. Besides the provision setting up a process for Congress to review changes in sanctions, the measure would put into law sanctions previously established via presidential executive order, including some on certain Russian energy projects and debt financing in some industries. It would impose new sanctions on Russians found to be guilty of human rights abuses, supplying weapons to Syria’s government and conduct cyber attacks on behalf of Russia’s government, among others. The measure also would allow new sanctions on Russian mining, metals, shipping and railways. The legislation is backed by both Republicans and Democrats, and is expected to easily pass the Senate. It was introduced amid an intense focus in the U.S. capital on relations with Russia, and investigations by the Department of Justice and congressional committees of whether Russia sought to influence the 2016 U.S. elections to help elect Republican President Donald Trump, and whether Trump associates colluded with Moscow as it sought to influence the election.  To become law, the legislation would have to pass the House of Representatives and be signed into law by Trump. If Trump objected, some of its backers said they expected enough congressional support to override a veto. “These additional sanctions will ... send a powerful and bipartisan statement to Russia and any other country who might try to interfere in our elections that they will be punished,” Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer said in a statement. Russia has denied attempting to interfere in the U.S election, and Trump has dismissed any talk of collusion. The measure also authorizes “robust assistance” to strengthen democratic institutions and counter disinformation in European countries that might be targeted by what the legislation’s sponsors described as Russian aggression. In December, the final full month of President Barack Obama’s administration, Washington sanctioned Russian businessmen and companies for Moscow’s role in Ukraine via executive order.

Summary: अमेरिकी सीनेटरों ने रूस के प्रतिबंधों पर समझौता किया


SOCHI, Russia (Reuters) - Russia will respond immediately and symmetrically if the United States quits the intermediate-range nuclear forces treaty, Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Thursday. Moscow is ready to develop new weapons systems, both nuclear and non-nuclear, in response to other countries doing the same, Putin said at a forum with scholars.

Summary: पुतिन का कहना है कि अगर अमेरिका मिसाइल संधि छोड़ देता है तो रूस दयालुता से जवाब देगा


LAGOS (Reuters) - Lawmakers in the upper house of Nigeria s parliament voted on Tuesday to launch an investigation into alleged acts of brutality by a specialist unit of the police. The move follows a social media campaign calling for the Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS) to be scrapped. The campaign, which has gathered pace in the last few days, involves people sharing stories of alleged maltreatment by the unit s officers. Nigeria s police force has been dogged by allegations of human rights abuses for years. It has repeatedly denied any wrongdoing. The Senate said lawmakers on a security committee would consider the claims about SARS.  The committee has been mandated to look into allegations of human rights abuses raised by the general public, make relevant recommendations, and include it in its final report,  the Senate said in a statement posted on its official Twitter feed. The inspector general, who heads the Nigeria Police Force, on Monday announced the immediate re-organization of SARS nationwide. He ordered an  investigation into all the allegations, complaints and infractions  leveled against the unit. Ibrahim Idris, the police chief, also said the division was responsible for a  drastic reduction  in armed robberies, kidnappings and cattle rustling nationwide.

Summary: नाइजीरिया की सीनेट पुलिस की बर्बरता के आरोपों की जांच करेगी


MOSCOW (Reuters) - Senior Russian lawmakers said on Tuesday the resignation of U.S. President Donald Trump’s national security adviser showed that efforts were being made to undermine Russian-U.S. relations, but the Kremlin declined to comment. Michael Flynn resigned late on Monday after revelations he had discussed U.S. sanctions on Russia with the Russian ambassador to the United States before Trump took office and misled Vice President Mike Pence about the conversations. “It’s obvious that Flynn was forced to write the letter of resignation under a certain amount of pressure,” Leonid Slutsky, head of the lower house of parliament’s foreign affairs committee, was quoted as saying by the RIA news agency. Flynn was a strong advocate for the need for softer foreign policy toward Russia and his departure could slow Trump’s pledge to improve relations with Russian President Vladimir Putin. “The target was Russia-U.S. relations, undermining confidence in the new U.S. administration,” Slutsky said, without specifying who he thought was responsible. Fellow lawmaker Konstantin Kosachev, who leads the upper house of parliament’s international affairs committee, said the resignation could be a sign of growing anti-Russian feeling in the White House. “Either Trump has not gained the requisite independence and he is gradually being (not unsuccessfully) backed into a corner, or Russophobia has already infected the new administration also from top to bottom,” Kosachev said on social media. The Kremlin has denied that Flynn discussed lifting sanctions with the Russian envoy and on Tuesday it declined further comment, saying the resignation was an internal matter for the United States. “We’ve said everything we want to say,” spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters on a conference call. U.S.-Russia relations deteriorated to their worst level since the Cold War under the Obama administration, which slapped economic sanctions on Russia for its annexation of Crimea in 2014 and its involvement in Ukraine’s separatist conflict.

Summary: रूसी सांसदों का कहना है कि रूस विरोधी एजेंडे ने फ्लिन को इस्तीफा देने के लिए मजबूर किया


WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Republicans in the U.S. House of Representatives unveiled an alternative plan to overhaul the nation’s healthcare system on Wednesday, slamming Obamacare even as they aimed to keep some of its more popular provisions. Their proposal, part of broader effort by House Speaker Paul Ryan to offer a Republican agenda ahead of the Nov. 8 elections, is conservatives’ latest bid to “repeal and replace” the 2010 law. Ryan, the country’s highest-ranking elected Republican, is offering the proposal as the party seeks to maintain control of both the House and the Senate and take over the White House. Other proposals cover tax reform, address poverty as well as national security. Republicans have challenged President Barack Obama’s signature Affordable Care Act since it was enacted and have voted repeatedly to repeal it. Obama, a Democrat, has said it has helped some 20 million Americans get health care coverage. Ryan acknowledged his agenda was unlikely to displace current law anytime soon.     “We’re not going to repeal Obamacare when the current president of the United States is a guy named Obama,” he told reporters. “What we are laying out today is a first-time-in-six-years consensus by the Republicans in the House on what we replace Obamacare with.” In their plan, which is not formal legislation, House Republicans blasted Obamacare for limiting patients’ choices, increasing consumer costs, and burying employers and health care providers under new regulations. Ryan’s proposal would keep some popular pieces, including not allowing people with pre-existing conditions to be denied coverage and permitting children to stay on their parents’ coverage until age 26. It would also allow states that have already expanded the number of people eligible for Medicaid under the law to maintain the additional coverage, although it would prevent any new states from doing so.      For people without insurance through their jobs, the Republicans would establish a refundable tax credit. Obamacare also provides subsidies for people to buy insurance if they do not qualify for Medicaid. It also includes long-held Republican proposals such as allowing consumers to buy health insurance across state lines, expanding health savings accounts, reforming medical liability rules and giving block grants to states to run Medicaid programs for the poor. Democrats, who have said they are open to tweaking Obamacare, dismissed Ryan’s proposals as little more than warmed-over ideas that have long been in the Republican playbook.  House Republican would gradually raise the Medicare eligibility age, now 65, to match that of the Social Security pension plan, which is 67 for people born in 1960 or later. Like Obamacare’s so-called Cadillac tax on expensive healthcare plans offered by employers, which goes into effect in 2018, the Republican proposal would cap the tax deductibility of employer-based plans.  Industry groups struck a bipartisan tone in their reaction ahead of the election, as it remains to be seen who ultimately wins control of Congress and the White House.  “We stand ready to work with both parties on market-based solutions that improve access and affordability for consumers,” said Marilyn Tavenner, president of America’s Health Insurance Plans.

Summary: हाउस रिपब्लिकन ने ओबामाकेयर के स्वास्थ्य देखभाल विकल्प का अनावरण किया


SEATTLE (Reuters) - Boeing Co and about 90 other aerospace companies are urging Congress to overhaul the U.S. tax system, saying a set of changes Republicans proposed last year - including a big cut in the corporate tax rate - will make them more competitive globally and help create U.S. jobs. Boeing Chief Executive Dennis Muilenburg was among those who signed a letter to Republican and Democratic leaders in the U.S. House and Senate that was dated Friday and due to be released publicly on Tuesday, according to the Aerospace Industries Association (AIA). The support comes as congressional Republicans are developing measures to alter the U.S. tax system, a task they plan to tackle after addressing healthcare, according to several people familiar with the matter.  “We urge you to enact legislation that modernizes our tax system, allows America’s businesses to better compete in the global marketplace and encourages job creation and innovation in the United States,” said the AIA letter, also signed by the group’s CEO, David Melcher. The changes are based on a blueprint released in June by House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Kevin Brady, a Texas Republican. Among its key elements, Brady’s proposal would cut the U.S. corporate tax rate to 20 percent from 35 percent, permit immediate deductions for capital investment and introduce a border adjustment tax system that would tax imports into the United States but not tax revenue generated by exports out of the country. The push on taxes by aerospace companies comes as they face some uncertainty under the administration of President Donald Trump.  The new president lost no time in publicly pressing Boeing and Lockheed Martin Corp to lower costs on planes bought by the U.S. government. As they source parts and sell many of their products overseas, aerospace companies also stand to suffer if Trump’s aggressive trade policies cause friction with other countries.  Trump has voiced support for the tax reform plan, and spoke favorably about a border tax. Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross later said Trump had not endorsed the House Republicans’ specific border adjustment tax plan. Drafters of the plan say a tax on imports would increase the value of the dollar, helping offset the cost of imports to U.S. manufacturers by giving them more purchasing power. A stronger dollar would, however, make U.S. goods more expensive for foreign buyers.  Boeing’s Muilenburg is AIA chairman this year and was joined in signing the letter by Raytheon Co CEO and AIA vice chairman Thomas Kennedy. Other companies involved in aerospace manufacturing also signed, including Lockheed Martin, General Electric Co, Northrop Grumman Corp, Honeywell International Inc, Rockwell Collins Inc, Rolls-Royce Holdings Plc, General Dynamics Corp, Harris Corp, International Business Machines Corp and L3 Technologies Inc.  The signatures were gathered at a supplier meeting in Seattle last week, Boeing said. AIA said it has more than 330 members. Boeing shares were trading at $178.89 in the afternoon on the New York Stock Exchange.

Summary: बोइंग, एयरोस्पेस निर्माताओं ने अमेरिकी कर सुधार का समर्थन किया


BRASILIA (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump has invited three Latin American leaders to dine with him next week in New York as he seeks to address the Venezuela crisis and build bridges with the region after an acrimonious start with neighbor Mexico. The political and economic turmoil in Venezuela, source of 10 percent of the oil consumed by the United States, will almost certainly top the agenda when he receives the center-right presidents of Peru, Colombia and Brazil at Trump Tower on Monday evening, diplomats said.  Trump needs to show that he has good friends in the region who share a positive agenda with the United States, but I am not sure he will get what he wants,  said a Brazilian diplomat, who asked not to be named to be able to speak freely on the matter. White House officials confirmed Trump will dine with several Latin Americans leaders on Monday night with Venezuela expected to be the main topic of conversation. Cuba will also be discussed, one of the officials said.  The dinner will take place on the eve of the opening of the U.N. General Assembly in New York. Mexico s President Enrique Pena Nieto, who will leave office after elections next year, has decided not to attend.  Trump has annoyed Mexico, his country s main trading partner in Latin America, by accusing it of stealing U.S. jobs, threatening to pull out of the North American Free Trade Agreement and insisting it pays for a border wall he plans to build to keep out illegal immigrants. Trump has no major initiatives under way with other Latin American countries. In fact, two of his three guests on Monday - Colombia and Peru - are members of the Trans-Pacific Partnership which the United States withdrew from shortly after he took office. On Wednesday, Trump upset Colombia, the South American nation with the closest ties to Washington, by threatening to blacklist it for failing to stop a surge in cocaine production, most of which ends up sold on the streets of U.S. cities. The two countries have long been close allies in the fight against illegal narcotics but in recent years broadened the focus of their relationship to include trade and Colombia s peace process with leftist guerrillas.        Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos  government rejected the criticism of his country s anti-drug record on Thursday.     Shared concern over how to deal with Venezuela, where at least 125 people were killed in four months of demonstrations against the Socialist government, will dominate Monday s dinner, according to Latin America expert Michael Shifter.  Trump and his team are very worried about Venezuela and they want to consult with Venezuela s neighbors Colombia and Brazil, and Peru s President Pedro Pablo Kuczynski, who has taken a leading role on the Venezuelan issue in the region,  said Shifter, president of the Inter-American Dialogue, a Washington-based policy group. Thousands of Venezuelans have spilled over the border into Colombia and Brazil, fleeing the once-prosperous oil-producing nation that opponents of President Nicholas Maduro say has become a dictatorship. While the Latin American leaders due to meet with Trump have stepped up pressure on Maduro to free political prisoners and hold general elections, they are unlikely to agree to the tougher unilateral economic sanctions that the U.S. president favors.  Colombia and Brazil prefer a negotiated solution to the crisis and not economic sanctions that will hurt the Venezuelan people more than the government,  the Brazilian diplomat said. Meetings due this week in the Dominican Republic between the Venezuelan government and the opposition could be a start in solving the crisis, as long as Maduro is not just out to win time, the diplomat said.  The opposition, however, says it has so far only agreed to send a delegation to discuss with Dominican President Danilo Medina the conditions under which talks could begin. Peru has not objected to the financial sanctions imposed by the Trump administration on the Maduro government, Shifter said.  But if the U.S. ratchets up sanctions, like cutting off oil imports, and takes a more interventionist position on Venezuela, that could distance the United States from its Latin American neighbors,  he said.

Summary: वेनेजुएला पर नजर रखते हुए लैटिन अमेरिकी नेताओं से मिलेंगे ट्रंप


KAMPALA (Reuters) - South Sudanese rebel groups fought each other this week in a strategic area near the Ugandan border leaving at least three dead, rebels said. The clashes broke out on Tuesday and Wednesday in Kajo Keji between two groups: one loyal to former army general Thomas Cirillo and one loyal to former vice president Riek Machar.      Kajo Keji is a key conduit for rebels moving east and west and an entry point for supplies from Uganda. South Sudan s civil war, triggered by a feud between President Salva Kiir and his former deputy Machar, has plunged parts of the world s youngest nation into famine and forced a third of the population - about four million people - to flee their homes. As the war burns on, battles are being fought on many fronts and armed groups have splintered and begun fighting each other.  The groups that clashed this week both oppose President Salva Kiir s government and had previously been stationed side by side in Kajo Keji.  But SPLA-IO spokesman Lam Paul Gabriel told Reuters that National Salvation Front forces attacked on Tuesday, killing two soldiers and capturing two others. Another SPLA-IO member said they had to withdraw troops from a battle with government troops nearby in order to fight off the attackers. An NSF commander on the ground, John Kenyi Loburon, said SPLA-IO killed one of his men. He said his group captured  a few  rebels. SPLA-IO is former vice president Machar s rebel group, while NSF is loyal to the former general Cirillo.

Summary: दक्षिण सूडान में विद्रोही समूहों के बीच झड़प, कम से कम तीन की मौत


DUBLIN (Reuters) - Irish Prime Minister Leo Varadkar said he would prefer to hold a referendum on easing the country s abortion laws next May in June in order to maximize the number of students who can vote. The government promised last week to hold a referendum in May or June on loosening of some of the strictest abortion laws in the world, and will decide in the coming months exactly what question to put to the Irish people. As many Irish students spend the summer months traveling or working overseas, pro-choice activists have warned that holding the vote in June would effectively mean disenfranchising thousands of young voters.  It is very much my preference that the referendum should be held in May, rather than June, so that we can maximize the number of people that can take part in it,  Varadkar told parliament.  That makes sense. I ve met student groups and I have said that to them.  Abortion remains a divisive issue in once stridently Catholic Ireland, where a complete ban on the procedure was only lifted in 2013 to allow terminations in cases where the mother s life was in danger. Tens of thousands of people marched in Dublin on Saturday to demand a more liberal regime, closer to that of England, which allows terminations to be carried out up to 24 weeks after conception. Thousands of Irish women travel to England for abortions each year. Anti-abortion supporters demand no further changes to the law. Opinion polls show a large majority of voters want some change.

Summary: आयरलैंड के प्रधानमंत्री ने छात्रों के वोट को अधिकतम करने के लिए गर्भपात जनमत संग्रह को प्राथमिकता दी


NUSA DUA, Indonesia, (Reuters) - When students at Indonesia s prestigious Institute of Agricultural Studies swore an oath to support a caliphate in the world s largest Muslim-majority country last year, a video of the event went viral and the government grew alarmed.  Months later, Indonesian President Joko Widodo banned the decades-old hardline group Hizb ut-Tahrir Indonesia (HTI), which organized the student pledge, and declared its goal to set up a caliphate was incompatible with the constitution and could threaten security. Last month, under prodding from the government, thousands of students across the nation made an anti-radicalism pledge. It followed an unprecedented gathering in late September of some 3,000 academics in Bali, who also pledged to fight extremism and defend the secular constitution.  The campaign against extremism in education comes amid a rise of a hardline, politicized Islam in Indonesia, which until recently had occupied the fringe of the nation s politics.    Radical organizations can spread like a virus in universities,  said Professor Muhammad Sirozi, rector of the State Islamic University Raden Fatah in Palembang on Sumatra.   These are not the organizations that students form themselves, but they are from outside,  he said at a briefing that outlined ways to help universities tackle radicalism following the Bali conference. The campaign to root out boosters of the caliphate is not just confined to schools.  A document collated by Indonesia s intelligence agency lists 1,300 HTI members in senior posts in the civil service, universities, the military and police. An intelligence source confirmed the authenticity of the document, which was reviewed by Reuters. Some of those on it  declined to comment after being contacted, but HTI s former spokesman Ismail Yusanto said it did include some of its members. Illustrating how a politicized brand of Islam has gained traction, nearly 20 percent of high school and university students in Indonesia support the establishment of a caliphate, a survey showed last week. Moreover, around one in four of the 4,200 Muslim students in the survey by pollster Alvara said they were, to varying degrees, ready to wage jihad to achieve this.  Hizb ut-Tahrir, an international organization, established by a Palestinian Islamic scholar in 1953, has been banned in some Arab, Asian and European countries. One of its former members in Indonesia is Bahrun Naim, who went to fight for Islamic State in Syria and is accused of masterminding a series of attacks in Indonesia since early last year. An officially registered organization in Indonesia since 2000, HTI has sought a judicial review in the constitutional court over its disbanding.  They never gave us a chance to defend ourselves. Is it not an authoritarian and repressive action?  said HTI spokesman Yusanto, who likened the crackdown to the tactics used against opponents under former strongman President Suharto.   Asked whether HTI was still operating, Yusanto said no one could ban members from their duty to do  Dakwah  (missionary work) and those activities would continue. Higher Education Minister Muhammad Nasir told reporters in July that HTI members were lecturers  in many universities  - Indonesia has 394 state universities and about 3,000 private ones. He warned they could be sacked unless they proffer loyalty to Indonesia s secular ideology Pancasila, or  five principles . Yusanto said, however, no lecturers who were HTI members had been sacked. A Home Ministry spokesman said a task force set up to find members in the civil service had not found any so far. One former HTI member, Ayik Heriansyah, said the group tries to enlist support from influential members of society and sympathizers in the security forces to overthrow governments, or what it terms  the handing over of power .  Universities have been a key recruiting ground. Heriansyah, who was once chairman of HTI at the University of Indonesia, said potential recruits were usuallyinvited to an Islamic study group. After about three months, they might be asked to participate in intensive Hiz b-ut-Tahrir study, said Heriansyah, who said left the group after a falling out with its central board. Heriansyah said the ban on the group would simply push it underground.     They are still running the movement as usual, but with a new structure and stewardship,  he said. HTI has not disclosed its membership. Raymond Arifianto, a research fellow at Singapore s S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies, said his sources say HTI had about one million members, including an estimated 10-15 percent of junior army officers as members or sympathizers. A spokesman for Indonesia s military denied this. The group has also gained a strong presence in state universities that train public school teachers, meaning new teachers could spread HTI ideology to high school pupils.  A survey published last December by the Institute for the Study of Islam and Society, showed that 78 percent of 505 religious teachers in public schools supported implementing sharia law in Indonesia. The survey also found that 77 percent backed Islamist groups advocating this goal. Muhammad Abdullah Darraz, director of the Maarif Institute, which promotes religious and cultural harmony, said HTI had targeted religious lessons at state high schools to spread its ideology. Clerics offered their services for free, often with school principals and teachers being unaware of their affiliation, he told Reuters.HTI s spokesman denied this was a strategy but said members were obliged to do missionary work without charge.        Indonesia s biggest Islamic groups, the moderate Nahdlatul Ulama (NU) and Muhammadiyah, which claim to have about 120 million members between them, back the crackdown on HTI. Yaqut Cholil Qoumas, chairman of NU s GP Ansor youth wing, said that Indonesia had been built by many religions and cultures, but  HTI came and wanted to change this diversity into one nation called an Islamic country.

Summary: इस्लामवादियों को जड़ से उखाड़ फेंकने की इंडोनेशिया की कोशिश ने विश्वविद्यालयों पर प्रकाश डाला


WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Supreme Court on Wednesday unanimously upheld the state legislative districts in Arizona drawn by an independent commission, rebuffing complaints that the electoral maps diminished the clout of Republican voters. The court, in its 8-0 ruling, said the commission that draws legislative boundaries did not violate the U.S. Constitution’s principle of “one person, one vote.” The case focused on state legislative districts drawn for the 2012 election based on 2010 census numbers. The challengers said the new districts favored Democrats over Republicans by packing Republican voters into certain districts in a way that would minimize their influence in neighboring districts while enhancing the sway of Democratic voters. In mapping out the state legislative districts, Arizona’s independent commission carries out a function that in most other states is handled by state legislators.  Writing for the court, liberal Justice Stephen Breyer said the deviations in numbers between district populations was not significant enough to be legally troubling, particularly as the state’s redistricting commission was trying to comply with the federal Voting Rights Act, which protects minority voters. The challengers “have not shown that it is more probable than not that illegitimate considerations were the predominant motivation behind the plan’s deviations from mathematically equal district populations,” Breyer wrote. A federal court in Arizona upheld the districts in a 2014 ruling, saying the commission had made a “good faith attempt” to comply with the Voting Rights Act. The group of Republican voters who brought the case then appealed the matter to the U.S. Supreme Court. The case was the second in as many years concerning Arizona’s independent commission. In June 2015, the court rejected another challenge to the commission’s role in drawing congressional districts. In that decision, the court found that the ballot initiative that set up the commission did not violate the U.S. Constitution’s requirement that state legislatures set U.S. House of Representatives district boundaries. Wednesday’s ruling was the second by the court this month touching upon the issue of “one person, one vote.” On April 4, the justices also ruled unanimously in a Texas case to uphold the method all 50 states use in drawing legislative districts by counting every resident and not just eligible voters. In that case, the justices rejected a conservative challenge that could have diminished the influence of urban Hispanics. The case is Harris v. Arizona Independent Redistricting Commission, U.S. Supreme Court, No. 14-232.

Summary: सुप्रीम कोर्ट ने एरिजोना के विधायी जिलों को बरकरार रखा


WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. Senator Lindsey Graham, one of the Republican party’s senior foreign policy voices, said on Thursday he would likely support the sale of advanced military equipment including Boeing F-18 fighter jets to Qatar and Kuwait, despite Israel’s concerns. Israel’s government worries that equipment sent to Gulf states could fall into the wrong hands and eventually be used against the Jewish state. “The Israeli argument is that you’ve seen regimes in the neighborhood change pretty quickly. Be careful of introducing new weapons into the region,” Graham told reporters following a trip to the region, citing the situation in Iraq. However, he said he thought it was important for such sales to go ahead despite those concerns, given instability in the region and threats including Islamic State militants. “I say to my Israeli friends, ‘We need partners. Partners without capability are paper partners.’ ... So I’ll probably be in the camp of pushing the increased capability of Gulf Arab states, understanding Israeli’s concern,” Graham said. He acknowledged that there was strong opposition in Congress toward arming some Gulf Arab states. “I don’t know how the votes go right now,” Graham said. Graham is a senior member of the Senate Armed Services Committee and the chairman of the Senate Appropriations subcommittee that oversees foreign aid.

Summary: सीनेटर ग्राहम बोइंग एफ-18 को कुवैत, कतर को बेचने के लिए तैयार


ABUJA (Reuters) - The United States has formally agreed to sell 12 Super Tucano A-29 planes and weapons to Nigeria, the West African country s air force said, confirming the resurrection of a deal frozen by the Obama administration over rights concerns. Former U.S. President Barack Obama delayed the sale in one of his last decisions in office after the Nigerian Air Force bombed a refugee camp in January. But his successor Donald Trump decided to press on with the transaction to support Nigeria s efforts to fight Boko Haram militants and to boost U.S. defense jobs, sources told Reuters in April. The U.S. ambassador to Nigeria presented letters of offer and acceptance to Nigeria s air force earlier on Wednesday, the air force said in a statement.  It said the U.S. State Department had approved the sale and final agreements would be signed and necessary payments made before Feb. 20. There was no immediate statement from the U.S. embassy or from authorities in Washington. U.S. government and Nigerian Air Force officials would meet in early January to discuss the early delivery of the aircraft once payment had been made, the Nigerian air force said. The sale of the 12 aircraft, with weapons and services, is worth $593 million, and includes thousands of bombs and rockets.  The propeller-driven plane with reconnaissance, surveillance and attack capabilities, is made by Brazil s Embraer. A second production line is in Florida, in a partnership between Embraer and privately held Sierra Nevada Corp of Sparks, Nevada. The Super Tucano costs more than $10 million each and the price can go much higher depending on the configuration. It is powered by a Pratt & Whitney Canada PT 6 engine.

Summary: नाइजीरिया का कहना है कि अमेरिका 59.3 करोड़ डॉलर के लड़ाकू विमानों की बिक्री में देरी के लिए सहमत है


(Reuters) - The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday gave President Donald Trump a victory by allowing his temporary ban on travelers from six Muslim-majority countries and all refugees to go into effect for people with no strong ties to the United States while agreeing to decide the order’s legality this fall. The case is a major test of presidential powers. The justices granted parts of the Trump administration’s emergency request to put the order into effect immediately while the legal battle continues. The court, which narrowed the scope of lower court rulings that had blocked his March 6 executive order, said it would hear arguments in October on the lawfulness of the ban. THE COUNCIL ON AMERICAN-ISLAMIC RELATIONS, A MUSLIM CIVIL RIGHTS AND ADVOCACY ORGANIZATION The council expressed its concerns about the Supreme Court decision in relations to Islam saying it “ignores the Islamophobic origins of the policy and emboldens Islamophobes in the Trump administration.” AHMED AL-NASI, OFFICIAL AT YEMEN MINISTRY OF EXPATRIATE AFFAIRS Al-Nasi, whose country is one of the six falling under the ban, also criticized the Supreme Court decision.  “We believe it will not help in confronting terrorism and extremism, but rather will increase the feeling among the nationals of these countries that they are all being targeted,” he said. “Especially given that Yemen is an active partner of the United States in the war on terrorism and that there are joint operations against terrorist elements in Yemen.” Shaheen expressed disappointment in the court’s decision. “Muslim travel ban has no merit & offensive to our nation’s core values,” she said on Twitter.  TOM FITTON, PRESIDENT OF JUDICIAL WATCH, A CONSERVATIVE FOUNDATION  Fitton praised the Supreme Court’s decision. “This is a major blow to anti-Trump activist judges on the lower courts. And it is a big victory for our nation’s security, President Trump, and the rule of the law.” he said in a statement.  DAVID MILIBAND, CHIEF EXECUTIVE OF THE INTERNATIONAL RESCUE COMMITTEE HUMANITARIAN AGENCY AND A FORMER BRITISH FOREIGN MINISTER Miliband said the ruling could hurt refugees who have already been vetted and were slated to come to the United States.      “The court’s decision threatens damage to vulnerable people waiting to come to the U.S.: people with urgent medical conditions blocked, innocent people left adrift, all of whom have been extensively vetted,” he said in a statement. “We urge the administration to begin its long-delayed review of the vetting process and restart a program which changes lives for the better.” MICHAEL O’ROURKE, CHIEF MARKET STRATEGIST AT JONESTRADING IN GREENWICH, CONNECTICUT O’Rourke said it was not clear if the news on the travel ban was having an impact on stocks.  “I think it’s having a little impact, but I’m not sure. It just seemed to be the timing of the headlines.  “There are a couple of different things floating around. ... I feel there’s a combination of a bunch of little things.   “And I have a thematic track basket for immigration, and there are a bunch of tech names in there. Maybe people are reading into the immigration story there. ... But we know what policy the president is going to pursue. It’s not lining up perfectly for me.” ERIC SCHWARTZ, PRESIDENT OF REFUGEES INTERNATIONAL AND FORMER U.S. ASSISTANT SECRETARY OF STATE FOR POPULATION, REFUGEES, AND MIGRATION Schwartz said he was disappointed by the court’s decision. “The suspension of refugee resettlement will impact the most vulnerable of the world’s populations, including refugee women and girls, survivors of violence and torture, and refugee children, among many other groups at considerable risk.” he said. “The options for organizations like ours are now limited as the Supreme Court reviews this case.” BECCA HELLER, DIRECTOR OF THE INTERNATIONAL REFUGEE ASSISTANCE PROJECT Heller said the parts of the travel ban allowed to go into effect “are actually incredibly narrow.” “Almost anyone coming into the U.S. who has a visa or has been in the refugee program for a while ... has some kind of tie to a U.S. person or a U.S. entity,” she said. “The hope is that this really only impacts a very small number of people.” Trump praised the court’s decision in a statement released by the White House. “Today’s unanimous Supreme Court decision is a clear victory for our national security,” he said. “Today’s ruling allows me to use an important tool for protecting our nation’s homeland.” DEMOCRATIC SENATOR ED MARKEY OF MASSACHUSETTS, MEMBER OF THE SENATE FOREIGN RELATIONS COMMITTEE Markey said in an interview with CNN that the top court made it clear the Trump administration had overreached when it came to businesses, family members and students but expressed concern that the court did not issue a more fundamental ruling.           “I’m disappointed that the court just didn’t rule that a Muslim ban in and of itself is unconstitutional,” Markey said. OMAR JADWAT, DIRECTOR OF THE AMERICAN CIVIL LIBERTIES UNION’S IMMIGRANTS’ RIGHTS PROJECT Jadwat, who argued the appellate case on the executive order, said in a statement: “President Trump’s Muslim ban violates the fundamental constitutional principle that government cannot favor or disfavor any one religion. Courts have repeatedly blocked this indefensible and discriminatory ban. The Supreme Court now has a chance to permanently strike it down.” WILLIAM STOCK, OUTGOING PRESIDENT OF THE AMERICAN IMMIGRATION LAWYERS ASSOCIATION  Stock said the “bona fide connections” to the United States cited by the court as a requirement for admission to the country might include those on employer-sponsored visas, family-sponsored green card applications, people who are admitted by schools in the United States as students and those collaborating on research with people in the United States.  “The court seems to be saying if a family in Iran had prepaid for Disneyland, they probably have a demonstrable connection to the United States that might allow for issuance of a visitor visa,” Stock said. “If a person says ‘I’ve heard of Disneyland and I’d really like to see it,’ that probably doesn’t get them in.” In a statement, Perez vowed to keep fighting the ban, which he called unconstitutional and an assault on American religious freedom.   “As a nation, our diversity is our greatest strength, and we cannot allow such prejudice to shut the doors of progress. Democrats will continue to fight this hatred every step of the way,” Perez said.   “Great news for our national security, the rule of law and @POTUS,” Strange said on Twitter, referring to Trump.

Summary: ट्रम्प यात्रा प्रतिबंध पर अमेरिकी सुप्रीम कोर्ट के पुनरुद्धार ने प्रशंसा, आलोचना की


ISTANBUL (Reuters) - Turkey s purchase of Russian S-400 surface-to-air missiles has been completed but Ankara is discussing a further deal with a European consortium to help it develop its own missile defense system, Defense Minister Nurettin Canikli said. The decision by NATO member Turkey to buy the S-400s from Moscow has been seen by some of its Western allies as a snub to the alliance. The deal has also raised concern because the weapons cannot be integrated into NATO defenses. A senior NATO commander told Reuters last week that the alliance would continue to press Ankara to buy weapons that could work together with NATO systems, adding that so far no S-400s had been delivered to Turkey. [nL5N1NE7DI]  It is finished, the S-400 missiles have been bought. The rest is just details now,  Canikli said in televised comments in the Black Sea town of Giresun.  But Turkey was not content with the S-400 deal alone, he added.  We are also making preliminary agreements with the EUROSAM consortium to have this technology to develop, produce and use our own sources for air defense systems,  Canikli said, referring to a joint Franco-Italian defense project. Canikli signed a letter of intent with France and Italy in Brussels on Wednesday to strengthen cooperation in defense projects including missile defense, Turkish defense ministry sources said last week. They said that as a first step, EUROSAM and Turkish companies will look into a system based on the SAMP-T missile system produced by EUROSAM.

Summary: तुर्की ने रूसी मिसाइल रक्षा की खरीद पूरी कर ली हैः रक्षा मंत्री


WELLINGTON (Reuters) - The leader of the small nationalist party that will decide New Zealand s next government said on Tuesday that exporters should welcome a recent fall in the local dollar following an inconclusive general election. The New Zealand dollar, or kiwi, fell to its lowest levels since late May on Monday after a final tally of votes at the weekend showed the opposition Labour-Green bloc gaining ground over the ruling National Party, although the latter still has the largest number of seats. The final tally led to market speculation that New Zealand First, whose support is needed by both parties to gain enough seats to govern under the country s proportional representation system, would be more comfortable joining forces with the center-left Labour-Green bloc, prompting investors to sell New Zealand assets.  On Tuesday, NZ First leader Winston Peters held a third day of substantive negotiations with both Labour and National, having served in coalition governments led by both parties in the past. After the election on Sept. 23, Peters had said he expected to tell the public whose coalition he would join by Oct. 12. But by Tuesday evening, Peters told the Stuff.co.nz media website that he wouldn t be ready to announce his choice by Thursday, and refused to be drawn on whether to expect an announcement by Friday either.  The New Zealand dollar has dropped around 3.7 percent since the election on Sept. 23, hitting a four-month low of low of $0.7052 on Monday. It was trading at $0.7063 on Tuesday afternoon.  I think exporters will be pleased, we are an export-dependent nation,  NZ First leader Winston Peters told reporters after a meeting with Labour, when asked about the currency s decline. Asked whether the talks had included any policies aimed at keeping the NZ dollar down, Peters said:  Well if you re an export dependent nation why would you persist with an inflated dollar, which even the IMF (International Monetary Fund) says is over-valued? Why would you just ignore all the best advice in the world? But then again this is not just an economic matter.  NZ First favors greater central bank intervention in the foreign currency market. The New Zealand dollar was the 11th most traded currency in the world in 2016. NZ First has more policies in common with Labour than the center-right, raising jitters in the market about a change in policies after National s decade in power. Labour supports some changes to the mandate of the RBNZ, lobbying for employment to be added to the central bank s inflation-targeting mandate. Both parties also favor curbs on immigration, foreign ownership and the renegotiation of certain trade deals.     While Peters has kept his cards close to his chest, he told reporters on Monday that foreign ownership restrictions would constitute a large part of the talks.

Summary: एन. जेड. प्रथम नेता ने एन. जेड. डॉलर में राजनीतिक रूप से प्रेरित गिरावट का स्वागत किया


WASHINGTON (Reuters) - If Mike Pence had any doubts about what life would be like on the 2016 Republican presidential ticket with Donald Trump, the past week will have erased them: He is the damage control guy. The Indiana governor who swore off political mudslinging years ago heard Trump call Democratic rival Hillary Clinton “the devil” and watched him fan the flames of a feud with the parents of a Muslim soldier who died saving U.S. troops in Iraq. Unlike many vice presidential running mates, the mild-mannered Pence was not tapped as the attack dog in the Nov. 8  presidential election. Trump has that part down pat. Pence’s job is harder: softening Trump’s rough edges and limiting the fallout from what many Republicans see as the nominee’s self-inflicted wounds. A week ago, for example, Pence rowed back on Trump’s blacklist of some media outlets, saying the campaign is discussing changing course. Last Sunday, as Trump’s dispute with the parents of slain U.S. Army Captain Humayun Khan boiled over, Pence issued a statement praising the soldier as an “American hero” and saying that his family “should be cherished by every American.”     On Wednesday, Pence offered his own endorsement to House of Representatives Speaker Paul Ryan, the top U.S. elected Republican, after Trump infuriated many party leaders by declining to endorse Ryan in his re-election bid. Pence, who swore off negative campaigning after losing a vituperative congressional race in 1990, eschews name calling. Trump, by contrast, delights in using monikers such as “Crooked Hillary” and “the devil” to describe Clinton. Trump has made clear he values Pence, telling a rally on Thursday in Portland, Maine, that he and his running mate have a “great relationship.” But Pence must walk a fine line. Even as he defuses Trump’s verbal bombs, Pence must be careful to show he knows who is boss. He also has to stick to his own principles while not appearing to be trying to undermine the man who chose him as his No. 2. Should Trump win, Pence, a former congressman, could serve as a conduit to the U.S. Congress. But if Trump loses, Pence could emerge as a possible White House contender for 2020. Republican strategist Charlie Black said Pence has shown some political deftness. “He should have expected he would do some of this and provide more of the even-tempered, articulate, measured responses,” Black said. But Republican strategist Ryan Williams said Pence is in an “impossible spot” and said that Trump’s missteps could cast a shadow over his running mate’s political future.     “Mike Pence is a good Republican but unfortunately he will be associated with the controversies that have ensnared the Trump-Pence ticket and will be tied to whatever the consequences of this election are,”  Williams said.     Trump’s off-the-cuff insults and controversial proposals, such as a temporary ban on Muslims entering the United States and a plan to build a wall along the Mexican border to keep illegal immigrants out, have made many in the party establishment uneasy. The Republican nominee’s feud with the Khan family made for an awkward moment for Pence at a campaign event in Carson City, Nevada. A military mother asked Pence how could he tolerate Trump’s disrespect for the armed forces, which prompted boos. Pence admonished the crowd to tone it down. “Folks, that’s what freedom looks like and that’s what freedom sounds like,” he said before calling Humayun Khan an American hero. Pence was asked on Thursday by an 11-year-old boy at a North Carolina rally if his role was “softening up” Trump’s policies and words. Pence replied that he and Trump were “shoulder to shoulder” in the campaign. Christopher Devine, co-author of the book “The VP Advantage” and an assistant political science professor at the University of Dayton in Ohio, said that if Trump loses the November election, Pence may try to position himself as a conservative bridge between Trump supporters and traditional Republicans. That may be an added reason for Pence’s cautious approach. “He has to be very careful about how he handles the defense of Donald Trump,” Devine said.

Summary: माइक पेंस के साथ राह परः ट्रम्प द्वारा जलायी गई आग को बुझाना


SYDNEY (Reuters) - Australia s domestic spy chief has warned that universities need to be  very conscious  of foreign interference in an apparent reference to China s perceived undercover influence on campuses. Australian Security Intelligence Organisation director-general Duncan Lewis told politicians in Canberra late on Tuesday that espionage and foreign interference were an  insidious threat . Lewis said foreign powers were  clandestinely seeking to shape  the opinion of the Australian public, media organizations and government officials  in order to advance their countries  own political objectives .  Lewis did not specifically name China in his late night testimony to a parliamentary inquiry, but when questioned about China s involvement, he said he  strongly identified  with comments made by a senior government official this month that universities should protect themselves from Chinese influence. Asked last week about the Communist Party s overseas activities in places like Australia, a senior official said Chinese people living overseas had to respect the laws of the countries in which they lived. China is Australia s largest trading partner, with business spurred by a wide-ranging China-Australia Free Trade Agreement signed in 2015.  Relations between Australia and China have been tested in recent months after the United States, Japan and Australia voiced concerns over Beijing s unilateral actions in the disputed South China Sea, including continued artificial land building.

Summary: ऑस्ट्रेलिया के परिसरों ने चीन पर 'गुप्त' प्रभाव की चेतावनी दी


BEIJING (Reuters) - China will take action to defend its interests if the United States damages trade ties, the Ministry of Commerce said on Tuesday, after U.S. President Donald Trump authorized an inquiry into China’s alleged theft of intellectual property. Trump’s move, the first direct trade measure by his administration against China, comes at a time of heightened tension over North Korea’s nuclear ambitions, though it is unlikely to prompt near-term change in commercial ties. U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer will have a year to look into whether to launch a formal investigation of China’s policies on intellectual property, which the White House and U.S. industry groups say are harming U.S. businesses and jobs. The United States should respect objective facts, act prudently, abide by its World Trade Organization pledges, and not destroy principles of multilateralism, an unidentified spokesman of China’s Ministry of Commerce said in a statement. “If the U.S. side ignores the facts, and disrespects multilateral trade principles in taking actions that harms both sides trade interests, China will absolutely not sit by and watch, will inevitably adopt all appropriate measures, and resolutely safeguard China’s lawful rights.”  The ministry said the United States should “treasure” the cooperation and favorable state of China-U.S. trade relations, and warned that any U.S. action to damage ties would “harm both sides trade relations and companies”. China was continuously strengthening its administrative and judicial protections for intellectual property, the ministry added. China’s policy of forcing foreign companies to turn over technology to Chinese joint venture partners and failure to crack down on intellectual property theft have been longstanding problems for several U.S. administrations. Trump administration officials have estimated that theft of intellectual property by China could be worth as much as $600 billion. Experts on China trade policy said the long lead time could allow Beijing to discuss some of the issues raised by Washington without being seen to cave to pressure under the threat of reprisals. China repeatedly rebuffed attempts by previous U.S. administrations to take action on its IP practices, and has insisted it rigorously protects intellectual property. State news agency Xinhua said the U.S. investigation is a unilateralist “baring of fangs” that will hurt both sides. Jacob Parker, vice president of China operations at the U.S.-China Business Council said Trump’s memo is only the beginning of the process, but that he expected a decision on how to move forward from the administration in 60-90 days.  “I think it will be much faster than a year,” Parker said. Coming to terms on a bilateral investment treaty would be a better way to get China to address the IP issues, he added. “This isn’t a surprise. Our companies have been honing their crisis communications and internal planning processes since the election. The rhetoric that came up during the campaign led them to take proactive action then. They are prepared, aware and ready for these types of actions going forward.” The investigation is likely to cast a shadow over U.S. relations with China, its largest trading partner, just as Trump is asking it to put more pressure on North Korea to give up its nuclear programm. Trump has suggested he would be more amenable to going easy on China over trade if it were more aggressive in reining in North Korea. China has said the issues of trade with the United States should not be linked to the North Korea problem. Ken Jarrett, president of the American Chamber of Commerce in Shanghai, said in a statement on Tuesday that trade and North Korea should not be linked, but that the investigation was a  “measured and necessary step”. “The president’s executive order reflects building frustration with Chinese trade and market entry policies, particularly those that pressure American companies to part with technologies and intellectual property in exchange for market access,” he said.  “Chinese companies operating in the United States do not face this pressure.”

Summary: चीन का कहना है कि अगर अमेरिका व्यापार संबंधों को नुकसान पहुंचाता है तो वह अपने हितों की रक्षा करेगा


(Reuters) - President Donald Trump’s former campaign manager Paul Manafort did not violate a court gag order when he helped edit an opinion piece about his political work in Ukraine, his defense lawyer Kevin Downing argued in a court filing on Thursday. A federal grand jury indicted Manafort and his business associate Rick Gates in October as part of Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation into accusations of Russian meddling in the 2016 U.S. presidential election. The charges against Manafort include conspiracy to launder money and failing to register as a foreign agent working on behalf of former pro-Russian Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych’s government, who was ousted in 2014.     Thursday’s filing came after prosecutors working for Mueller said earlier this week that they no longer could agree to more lenient bail terms for Manafort after discovering that he was working with a colleague tied to Russian intelligence agencies on an opinion piece that cast his work in a favorable light.     Mueller’s office argued that his efforts to work behind the scenes on the piece as recently as November 30 ran afoul of the judge’s November 8 order instructing all parties to refrain from making statements to the media or in public settings that could prejudice the case. Jason Maloni, a spokesman for Manafort, declined to comment.  Joshua Stueve, a spokesman for Mueller, also declined to comment. Downing said in Thursday’s filing that his client was involved only in editing the piece to ensure accuracy, and that it would not prejudice the case because it was ultimately published in a Ukrainian newspaper, not an American one. “The defense did not, and does not, understand that the	 court meant to impose a gag order	 precluding Mr. Manafort from addressing matters, which do not ‘pose a substantial	 likelihood of	 material prejudice to this case,’” Downing wrote. Earlier in the week, prosecutors said in a filing that they had reached out to Manafort’s lawyers when they discovered the draft and had been assured that it would not be published. The piece appeared online in the English-language Kyiv Post on Thursday. The article, which was authored by Oleg Voloshyn, a former spokesman for Ukraine’s foreign affairs ministry, praised   Manafort’s political work in helping Ukraine secure better relations with the European Union. “I can only wonder why some American media dare falsely claim that Paul Manafort lobbied Russian interests in Ukraine,” the piece said. “Without his input Ukraine would not have had the command focus on reforms that were required to be a nation candidate to the EU.”   Brian Bonner, the chief editor at the Kyiv Post, told Reuters that the article was submitted on Monday. Bonner said Voloshyn claimed to have written the article and then sent it to Manafort and the American’s longtime Russian colleague, Konstantin Kilimnik, for fact-checking before submission.  Bonner said he did not immediately publish the article because he was suspicious of the contents and wanted to confirm that Voloshyn had written it.   “It was blatantly pro-Manafort with an opinion about his activities that most people don’t share and that his record in Ukraine doesn’t support,” Bonner wrote in an email.  Voloshyn told Reuters he was not immediately in a position to comment. It was not clear when U.S. District judge Amy Berman Jackson would decide the issue, but Manafort and Gates are due to appear before her on Monday in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia for a status hearing.

Summary: पॉल मैनफोर्ट और विशेष वकील मुलर के बीच यूक्रेनी ऑप-एड को लेकर विवाद