WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States is reviewing military options, including new intermediate-range cruise missile systems, in response to what it says is Russia s ongoing violation of a Cold War-era pact banning such missiles, the State Department said on Friday. Washington is prepared  to cease such research and development activities  if Russia returns to compliance with the 1987 Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty, State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert said in a statement. Nauert also hinted at possible economic sanctions, saying the United States is  pursuing economic and military measures intended to induce the Russian Federation to return to compliance.  The warning was the Trump administration s first response to U.S. charges first leveled in 2014 that Russia had deployed a ground-launched cruise missile that breaches the pact s ban on testing and fielding missiles with ranges of 500-5,500 kms (310-3,417 miles). U.S. officials have said the Russian cruise missile is capable of carrying a nuclear warhead, and that Moscow has refused to hold in-depth discussions about the alleged breach. Russia has denied it is violating the accord. In a statement issued before Nauert s, the Russian foreign ministry said it was ready for talks with the United States to try to preserve the treaty and would comply with its obligations if the United States did. In a statement marking the 30th anniversary of the treaty between the United States and the Soviet Union, the ministry said Moscow considered  the language of ultimatums  and sanctions unacceptable. The U.S. allegation has further strained relations between Moscow and Washington. U.S. and Russian officials are to discuss the issue at a meeting in coming weeks of the special commission that oversees the treaty, said a U.S. official, who requested anonymity. In the U.S. statement, Nauert said the United States  remains firmly committed to the INF Treaty and continues to seek the Russian Federation s return to compliance.   The administration firmly believes, however, that the United States cannot stand still while the Russian Federation continues to develop military systems in violation of the treaty,  she said.  The U.S. spokeswoman did not disclose the U.S. economic measures under consideration to secure Russian compliance with the treaty but offered some details on the military measures. These, she said, involve a review of  military concepts and options  that include researching new ground-launched conventional cruise missile systems.  This step will not violate our INF Treaty obligations,  Nauert said.  We are also prepared to cease such research and development activities if the Russian Federation returns to full and verifiable compliance with its INF Treaty obligations.  Her statement came a week after Congress sent to President Donald Trump for signing a fiscal 2018 defense policy bill authorizing $58 million to develop a new INF-busting road-mobile conventional cruise missile and U.S. defenses against the Russian weapon. The bill also called on Trump to submit to Congress a plan to impose U.S. sanctions on Russians responsible for  ordering or facilitating non-compliance  with the treaty. It was unclear when Trump would sign the bill. The United States already has sanctions on Russian entities and individuals, including people close to President Vladimir Putin, for Moscow s 2014 seizure of Crimea from Ukraine and its alleged interference in the 2016 presidential election. Moscow denies that it interfered in the election. A senior administration official, speaking recently on condition of anonymity, said the administration wanted to preserve the INF Treaty rather than rip it up.  If we took the Russian approach, we d all sort of say happy things about what a nice treaty we have and we would both go about violating it secretly,  said the senior administration official.  But that s not how we roll. It s because we like arms control when it s done properly.

Summary: अमेरिका ने रूस पर परमाणु मिसाइल संधि का पालन करने के लिए दबाव डाला


HAVANA (Reuters) - Cuban opposition leaders said they failed to get anyone nominated as a candidate for municipal elections, falling at the first hurdle as the Communist-run island embarks on a political cycle that will end 60 years of Castro brothers  rule. This month s municipal elections are the first stage in a process that will conclude with a new national assembly voting in February for a president to replace 86-year-old Raul Castro, who has promised to step down after two five-year terms. Some Cubans hope the handover of power from the leaders of the 1959 revolution to a new generation will bring more political openness. Others neither expect nor want much to change, pointing out that Castro will remain head of the Communist Party, the only legal party in Cuba. In the one part of Cuba s political cycle where dissidents stand a chance of winning, neighborhood nomination assemblies have in recent weeks chosen candidates for elections to 12,515 ward positions in towns across the nation of 11 million people. Several hundred dissidents had sought nomination - an unprecedented number - although none made it through to the list of 27,221 candidates, according to opposition electoral platforms Otro18 and Candidates for Change. Dissident leaders blamed their failure partly on repressive tactics by authorities, but said they had shown there were viable political alternatives.   The process of democratization from below has started,  said Manuel Cuesta Morua, spokesman for Otro18. The government did not reply to a request for comment.     Reuters was unable to verify the opposition s figures and their efforts were not reported by state-run media, meaning most ordinary Cubans did not hear about them. In Cuba s provincial and national votes, candidates are nominated by commissions composed of representatives of Communist Party-controlled organizations such as the trade union federation. Cuba s leaders say the country s elections are more democratic than western models, which they say are characterized by big business and corruption. The fractured opposition has traditionally called Cuban elections a farce and boycotted them. Even so, opposition electoral platforms have emerged over the past few years, saying the time is ripe to change Cuba from within the system. The election comes at a delicate time, as Cuba battles to keep a detente with the United States alive and its economy afloat as aid from key ally Venezuela dwindles. Several dissidents told Reuters that authorities prevented them from attending or speaking at neighborhood nomination assemblies, shifting the dates or seeking to intimidate them.  State security threatened me,  said Abdel Legra, who decided against nominating himself as he did not want to get his neighbors, most of whom work for the state, in trouble by backing him.  The problem is that the vote is by hand count, it s public.  The postponement of the electoral cycle by a month, which authorities said was due to damage caused by Hurricane Irma, put a spanner in the works for several dissidents, who had already planned trips abroad. The Communist Party says it does not intervene in the elections. But in a leaked video, First Vice President Miguel Diaz-Canel, Castro s probable successor, said the party would seek to discredit  counter-revolutionary  candidates. Cuba brands all dissenters as mercenaries funded by foreign governments and exiles, out to topple the government. In 2015, two dissidents managed to get nominated but said election officials altered their autobiographies to say they had ties to  counter-revolutionaries  based or financed abroad. One of those, Hildebrando Chaviano, said he did not attend his assembly this year, saying he felt it would be a  circus.  Authorities visited his neighbors days before, he said, warning them not to vote for him. That assembly ended up nominating the current municipal delegate, a party veteran. Many dissidents said they would continue taking part in grassroots politics to get their voices heard. Chaviano said he was giving courses on leadership and economics.  This is just the beginning,  he said.

Summary: कास्त्रो के करघों को सौंपने के बाद क्यूबा का विरोध पहली बाधा पर गिर गया


MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny on Sunday cleared the first hurdle towards taking part in next year s presidential election, even though the central election commission has previously ruled him ineligible to run. Navalny, 41, is a fierce opponent of President Vladimir Putin, who is widely expected to win re-election in March, extending 17 years in power. A veteran campaigner against corruption among Russia s elite, he won the initial support of 742 people at a gathering in a district of Moscow - above the minimum 500 required to initiate a presidential bid.  There is no large-scale support for Putin and his rule in this country,  Navalny told the meeting, describing himself as a  real candidate  for election and threatening a boycott of the vote by his supporters if he is barred from running. On Sunday evening, Navalny submitted the documents to the central election commission needed to be registered as a candidate.  The commission, which extended its working hours on Sunday to take the documents, has five days in which to decide whether Navalny will be registered.  The commission has previously said he is ineligible due to a suspended prison sentence that he says was politically motivated.   We are capable of opposing the current authorities. Our key demand is to be allowed to take part in the elections,  Navalny told reporters as he was leaving the election commission building in the central Moscow.  Navalny has been jailed three times this year on charges of repeatedly organizing public meetings and rallies in violation of existing laws. The European Court of Human Rights ruled in October that Navalny s conviction for fraud in 2014 was  arbitrary  and ordered Moscow to pay him compensation. The ruling party United Russia meeting on Saturday pledged  all possible support  to the 65-year-old Putin in his bid to win a further six years in power in the March election. The Communist Party, which came second after United Russia in a parliamentary election last year, named Pavel Grudinin, 57, as its candidate, dropping veteran party leader Gennady Zyuganov. Another politician who has run before, Sergei Mironov from A Just Russia party, said his party had decided to support Putin instead and not propose its own candidate.  Property developer Sergei Polonsky, who has been convicted of defrauding investors, also secured enough initial backing to seek clearance from the election commission to take part in the presidential race.   Others planning to run include television personality Ksenia Sobchak, whose late father was Putin s boss in the early 1990s, journalist Ekaterina Gordon.

Summary: पुतिन के आलोचक नवलनी ने रूस के राष्ट्रपति पद के लिए बोली में पहली बाधा को दूर किया


WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Republican U.S. Senator Susan Collins of Maine said on Wednesday she would oppose Oklahoma Attorney General Scott Pruitt’s nomination to head the Environmental Protection Agency, citing his numerous lawsuits against the agency. Pruitt is scheduled to face a Senate confirmation vote on Friday. Unless more Republicans join Collins in opposing Pruitt, his nomination is likely to be approved. Republicans hold 52 of the 100 seats in the chamber and Vice President Mike Pence could cast the deciding vote in case of a tie. “Due to my concerns about Mr. Pruitt’s commitment to the mission of the EPA, I will cast my vote in opposition to his confirmation,” Collins said in a statement. President Donald Trump has vowed to cut regulation to revive the oil, gas and coal industries, and has said he can do so without compromising air and water quality.  The Senate Environment and Public Works Committee approved Pruitt’s nomination two weeks ago after Democrats boycotted the vote over concerns about Pruitt’s environmental record. As Oklahoma attorney general, Pruitt sued the EPA more than a dozen times on behalf of the oil-drilling state and he has cast doubts on the science of climate change. “His actions leave me with considerable doubts about whether his vision for the EPA is consistent with the agency’s critical mission to protect human health and the environment,” Collins said. She said Pruitt had sued the EPA on issues of importance to Maine, including mercury controls for coal-fired power plants and efforts to reduce cross-state air pollution and greenhouse gas emissions. Senator Tom Carper, the top Democrat on the energy committee, and several other Democrats have asked Senate Leader Mitch McConnell to delay a procedural vote on Pruitt scheduled for Thursday. They want the vote delayed until after the conclusion of an emergency hearing in Oklahoma to be held at 4 p.m. ET that will consider whether emails between Pruitt’s office and officials at oil and gas companies should be released.  Access to those records was requested by the Center for Media and Democracy, a watchdog group, more than two years ago. Conservative group FreedomWorks blasted Collins, who also voted against the nomination last week of Education Secretary Betsy DeVos. Pence’s vote was needed to break a tie before DeVos was confirmed. FreedomWorks Chief Executive Adam Brandon said in a statement it was “a shame” that Collins was again aligning herself with “far-left Democrats and special interests.”

Summary: रिपब्लिकन सीनेटर कॉलिन्स ने ईपीए प्रमुख के लिए प्रुइट का विरोध किया


BRUSSELS (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump told Emmanuel Macron on Thursday that he had been his favorite to win the French presidential election and media reports that he was backing far-right leader Marine Le Pen were wrong, a French official said. “You were my guy,” Trump told the new French president when they met for the first time in Brussels, the French presidency official said. Trump told Macron that, contrary to media reports during the race, he had not backed Le Pen and had followed Macron’s campaign with great attention, the source said, adding that the two leaders had spoken in English. White House spokesman Sean Spicer said he did not know if Trump had said this to Macron but noted that the two men had good chemistry. Centrist Macron beat National Front leader Le Pen in a May 7 run-off vote after a hard-fought campaign that pitted Macron’s pro-European views against Le Pen’s anti-globalisation, anti-EU and anti-immigration stance. After a policeman was killed in Paris in April by a suspected Islamist militant, Trump told the Associated Press he thought the attack would “probably help” Le Pen because she was the candidate who is “strongest on borders”. However, he said he was not explicitly endorsing Le Pen. Le Pen said she was best placed to defend France’s interests in what she called the “new world” of Trump and Russia’s Vladimir Putin.

Summary: फ्रांसीसी अधिकारी ने मैक्रों से कहा, 'आप मेरे आदमी थे'


LONDON (Reuters) - The British government said on Tuesday that most European Union citizens currently living in Britain will be allowed to remain in the country after Brexit in 2019. Outlining plans for a mass registration program, the Department for Exiting the European Union and the interior ministry said EU nationals will be given a two-year grace period to apply for settled status after Britain leaves the EU. The legal status and rights of EU nationals is one of the thornier issues in Britain s complicated exit from the bloc. There are about 3 million EU citizens living in Britain.  Caseworkers will be able to use discretion when processing applications, meaning they should not be refused for minor technicalities, and the majority would be granted, the departments said in a statement. The cost of an application should be no more than the cost of a British passport and EU citizens will also be given a statutory right of appeal if denied.   We have been clear that safeguarding the rights of EU citizens is our top priority in negotiations,  Brexit minister David Davis said.  We will support everyone wishing to stay to gain settled status through a new straightforward, streamlined system.

Summary: ब्रिटेन को उम्मीद है कि अधिकांश यूरोपीय संघ के नागरिक ब्रेक्सिट के बाद रह सकते हैं


WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump will not interfere with the investigation by Justice Department special counsel Robert Mueller or try to fire the former FBI director, Trump lawyer Jay Sekulow said on Monday after the indictment of Trump campaign aides. “The president is not interfering with special counsel Mueller’s position, he’s not firing the special counsel. He’s said that before,” Sekulow said in an interview with CNN.

Summary: सीएनएन के वकील ने कहा, ट्रम्प जांच में हस्तक्षेप नहीं कर रहे हैं, मुलर को बर्खास्त नहीं करेंगे


BRIGHTON, England (Reuters) - Britain s opposition Labour Party set out plans on Monday to nationalize billions of pounds of privately-funded infrastructure contracts, cap credit card interest charges, and get extra cash from large corporations. It said it would offer shareholder compensation for the contract nationalization. In June s election, Labour found more support than expected among voters seeking change after seven-years of Conservative-led government, coming in second. Although no election is due until 2022, it is preparing for Theresa May s Conservative minority government to fall much sooner. Under socialist leader Jeremy Corbyn, a parliamentary veteran, and his would-be finance minister John McDonnell, Labour has shifted from the centrist pro-business platform of former prime minister Tony Blair to a more interventionist left-wing pitch. McDonnell used a speech at the party s annual conference in the English seaside resort of Brighton to call for a more state-controlled economy, promising to bring so-called  Private Finance Initiative  contracts into public control. The contracts have been used for decades to fund public infrastructure project using private capital. They have long attracted criticism for inflating costs and channeling public money to shareholders. Successive governments have attempted to reform the process.  We ll put an end to this scandal and we ll reduce the cost to the taxpayers ... we ll bring existing PFI contracts back in-house,  McDonnell said. A 2015 parliamentary report said the government owed over 222 billion pounds of charges on PFI contracts spread across several decades. Labour said shareholders would be compensated in the form of government bonds at a level determined by when the contracts are brought back into public control. They did not give an estimated cost for the policy. McDonnell also repeated pledges from Labour s popular 2017 election manifesto to nationalize industries like rail and water. Business was critical of the approach.  The Shadow Chancellor s vision of massive state intervention is the wrong plan at the wrong time. It raises a warning flag over the British economy at a critical time for our country s future,  said Carolyn Fairbairn, director-general of the CBI business lobby group.   Labour has struggled in recent years to overcome the perception that it is to blame for the effects of 2007/8 financial crisis, which led to a recession, costly bank bailouts and a sharp rise in the national debt. But McDonnell criticized the Conservatives  economic track record since they took power from Labour in 2010 and said they were responsible for slow wage growth which was forcing consumers into debt and risking another economic crisis. He said Labour wanted the financial regulator to impose a cap on the amount of interest payable on credit card debt to help those caught in  persistent debt .  It means that no-one will ever pay more in interest than their original loan,  McDonnell said.  If the Tories refuse to act, I can announce today that the next Labour Government will amend the law.  The Financial Conduct Authority in April proposed a set of less-radical measures to encourage companies to reduce the number of customers in persistent debt. The finance industry trade body said the FCA had rejected the idea of an outright cap on interest charges. And the government said Labour proposals went too far and would hurt the economy. McDonnell, who once listed  generally fomenting the overthrow of capitalism  among his interests in the Who s Who directory of influential people, also took aim at the wealthy, bankers and large corporations. He said Labour would fund its plans for higher public spending on things like health and education and a large-scale infrastructure investment program by clamping down on tax evasion and making big firms pay more tax.  To pay for those public services we ll close the tax loopholes and the tax avoidance scams (used) by the mega rich,  he said. He criticized the banking system for pumping up property prices and fuelling a  rentier economy , pledging instead to make sure banks invest in  high value, high productivity  businesses.  To reconnect the financial sector to the economy of research and development and production, we will transform our financial system,  he said.

Summary: ब्रिटेन के श्रम ने बुनियादी ढांचे के राष्ट्रीयकरण, क्रेडिट कार्ड कैप का संकल्प लिया


LONDON (Reuters) - Foreign minister Boris Johnson said on Tuesday Britain must underline the importance of free trade and the NATO military alliance to U.S. President-elect Donald Trump as the government looks to build a relationship with his administration. “It is of course vital that we get over the message that NATO and Article 5 of NATO has been the guarantor of peace and stability in our continent for the last 70 years,” Johnson said. “That is a point, I think, that is well understood in Washington, but which we will repeat.” He also said it was vital to get over the importance of trade, free enterprise and of “sticking up for the values that I believe unite our two countries.”

Summary: ब्रिटेन के जॉनसनः हम ट्रम्प को मुक्त व्यापार और नाटो के महत्व पर जोर देंगे


MELBOURNE (Reuters) - The U.S. Pacific Fleet commander, addressing a security conference in Australia, said in answer to a question on Thursday that he would be prepared to launch a nuclear strike on China if President Donald Trump so ordered. The fleet spokesman later said the question was asked as an “outrageous hypothetical”. Admiral Scott Swift was speaking at the Australian National University in Canberra when he was asked whether he would be prepared to launch a nuclear attack on China if ordered to do so by Trump. “The answer would be yes,” he said.  Swift said that all members of the U.S. military had sworn an oath to obey officers and the U.S. president as commander in chief to defend the constitution. “This is core to the American democracy,” he said, in a recording of the event obtained by Reuters. “Any time you have a military that is moving away from a focus, and an allegiance, to civilian control, then we really have significant problems.”   Swift’s answer reaffirmed the principle of civilian control over the military and was based on an “outrageous hypothetical” in the question, Pacific Fleet spokesman Captain Charlie Brown told Reuters. “Frankly, the premise of the question was ridiculous,” he said. “It was posed as an outrageous hypothetical, but the admiral simply took it as an opportunity to say the fact is that we have civilian control of the military and we abide by that principle.” Speaking in Beijing on Friday, a spokesman of China’s Foreign Ministry also downplayed the remark. “Many people have paid attention to this but the spokesman for the Pacific Fleet has pointed out the ridiculousness of this report,” Lu Kang told a daily news briefing.  The United States and China enjoy a generally friendly relationship, with strong economic ties, albeit with frequent barbs about trade, jobs, currencies, human rights, Tibet, the South China Sea and North Korea. Trump has held high hopes for greater cooperation from China to exert influence over North Korea, leaning heavily on Chinese President Xi Jinping for his assistance. The two leaders had a high-profile summit in Florida in April and Trump has frequently praised Xi.

Summary: काल्पनिक रूप से बोलते हुए, अमेरिकी एडमिरल ने कहा कि अगर ट्रम्प ने आदेश दिया तो चीन पर परमाणु हमले के लिए तैयार हैं


WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. House Intelligence Committee Chairman Devin Nunes said on Monday he did not meet with President Donald Trump or his aides when he viewed intelligence information on the White House grounds last week. Nunes, a Republican, also said he went to the White House grounds because the intelligence, which may have included surveillance of Trump or his associates, had not yet been provided to Congress. The day after Nunes viewed the intelligence, he briefed Trump on its contents and held a news conference.

Summary: हाउस इंटेल पैनल के प्रमुख का कहना है कि व्हाइट हाउस की यात्रा के दौरान उन्होंने ट्रम्प से मुलाकात नहीं की थी


LONDON (Reuters) - Britain said on Tuesday it had summoned the Chinese ambassador in recent days to express its concern that a British rights activist was denied entry to Hong Kong last week.  We are very concerned that Ben Rogers, a UK national, was denied entry into Hong Kong on 11 October in absolute disregard of the  one country, two systems  principle,  Foreign Office minister Mark Field said in parliament. He added:  Foreign Office director-general for economic and global issues summoned the Chinese ambassador on this issue over the past few days.  Rogers, a co-founder of the ruling Conservative Party s Human Rights Commission, has been a vocal critic of Chinese-ruled Hong Kong s treatment of human rights activists, including that of jailed student protest leader Joshua Wong. Hong Kong, which returned to Chinese rule in 1997, is governed under a  one country, two systems  principle that promises it a higher degree of autonomy and freedom than on the mainland. Last week, Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson said London needed an explanation from Hong Kong and Beijing on the matter.

Summary: ब्रिटेन के कार्यकर्ता द्वारा हांगकांग में प्रवेश से इनकार किए जाने के बाद ब्रिटेन ने चीनी राजदूत को तलब किया


JINGGANGSHAN, China (Reuters) - A man in  Red Army  garb hits the pavement during a simulated attack during a re-staging of part of the Long March. The scene brings alive an extraordinary chapter in China s history that established the supremacy of Chairman Mao Zedong and the Communist Party. Deep in the mountains of Jinggangshan in the southeastern province of Jiangxi, a classroom of bank tellers participates in an ideological boot camp that plays into Chinese President Xi Jinping s drive to further consolidate his grip on power. Jinggangshan is considered the  cradle of the Chinese revolution  and, in 1927, was the official birthplace of the Red Army, now known as the People s Liberation Army of China. Reliving the revolution, students walk the route of the Long March, a series of retreats by the Red Army, led by Mao, to evade the pursuing Nationalist forces of Chiang Kai-shek between 1934 and 1935.  I can feel the spirit of the revolution,  said Wang Pingzhu, a 32-year old garment company employee from the southern province of Fujian.  As soon as I got here I could see it along the road. I could imagine the scene at the time,  she said. During the three-day course, participants visit historical sites, pledging allegiance to the Communist Party and Xi s dream of the  great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation  ahead of a key party congress next month.  I think the Communist Party emphasizes this sort of education, to try to control the thinking of party members and at the same time control a portion of the population who still have faith in the party, so they can support the leadership,  said Zhang Lifan, an independent political commentator. In reviving Maoism and courting powerful conservative elements in the party, Xi seeks to remind people that China s dramatic ascent to become the world s second-largest economy was not simply a case of ditching Marx for markets. The  Red Culture  training camp for private and public sector workers aims to rekindle faith in the founding principles of the party and drown out critics who say it has lost its ideological soul after more than three decades of free-market reforms. Its program fits with Xi s push for patriotic education and ideological control of the people, an agenda he has promoted since coming to power in 2012 and is expected to further build on in October s five-yearly leadership reshuffle.  Under the leadership of President Xi, ideological belief education has set off a new wave in China,  said Zuo Jianxing, a forestry official in the northern province of Inner Mongolia. Harking back to Mao s time still resonates with some of the population, 41 years after his death. But the fear is that the younger generation of Chinese may be too preoccupied with the fruits of capitalism to care much about Red Culture. That may explain why, five years after taking power, Xi continues to espouse old school Maoism as a way to reassert the primacy of the party.  If the Communist Party loses power, they are finished,  said political commentator Zhang. (This version of the story refiles to add dateline.)

Summary: पार्टी कांग्रेस से पहले चीन के लॉन्ग मार्च को पुनर्जीवित करना


WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The former top U.S. intelligence official rejected President Donald Trump’s accusation that his predecessor, Barack Obama, wiretapped him even as the White House on Sunday urged Congress to investigate Trump’s allegation. The New York Times reported on Sunday that FBI Director James Comey asked the Justice Department this weekend to reject Trump’s wiretapping claim because it was false and must be corrected, but the department had not done so. The report cited senior U.S. officials. The White House asked Congress, controlled by Trump’s fellow Republicans, to examine whether the Obama administration abused its investigative authority during the 2016 U.S. presidential campaign, as part of an ongoing congressional probe into Russia’s influence on the election. Trump on Saturday alleged, without offering supporting evidence, that Obama ordered a wiretap of the phones at Trump’s campaign headquarters in Trump Tower in New York. “There was no such wiretap activity mounted against the president-elect at the time, or as a candidate or against his campaign,” former Director of National Intelligence James Clapper, who left his post at the end of Obama’s term in office in January, said on NBC’s “Meet the Press.” Under U.S. law, a federal court would have to have found probable cause that the target of the surveillance is an “agent of a foreign power” in order to approve a warrant authorizing electronic surveillance of Trump Tower. Asked whether there was such a court order, Clapper said, “I can deny it.” Democrats accused Trump of trying to distract from the rising controversy about possible ties to Russia. His administration has come under pressure from FBI and congressional investigations into contacts between members of his campaign team and Russian officials. Attorney General Jeff Sessions bowed out last week of any probe into alleged Russian meddling in the 2016 election after it emerged he met last year with Russia’s ambassador while serving as a Trump campaign advisor. Sessions maintained he did nothing wrong by failing to disclose the meetings. White House spokesman Sean Spicer said Trump and administration officials would have no further comment on the issue until Congress has completed its probe, potentially heading off attempts to get Trump to explain his accusations. “Reports concerning potentially politically motivated investigations immediately ahead of the 2016 election are very troubling,” Spicer said in a statement. U.S. Representative Devin Nunes, Republican head of the House of Representatives Intelligence Committee examining possible links between Russia and Trump’s campaign, said in a statement that any possible surveillance on campaign officials would be part of the probe. Trump made the wiretapping accusation in a series of early morning tweets on Saturday amid expanding scrutiny of his campaign’s ties to Russia. An Obama spokesman denied the charge, saying it was “a cardinal rule” that no White House official interfered with independent Justice Department investigations. The White House offered no evidence on Sunday to back up Trump’s accusation and did not say it was true. Spokeswoman Sarah Huckabee Sanders, appearing on ABC’s “This Week,” said Trump has “made very clear what he believes, and he’s asking that we get down to the bottom of this. Let’s get the truth here.” Trump, who is spending the weekend at his Florida resort, said in his tweets on Saturday that the alleged wiretapping took place in his Trump Tower office and apartment building in New York, but there was “nothing found.” Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer of New York said Trump had either made a false accusation, or a judge had found probable cause to authorize a wiretap. “Either way, the president’s in trouble,” Schumer said on NBC’s “Meet the Press,” adding that if Trump was spreading misinformation, “it shows this president doesn’t know how to conduct himself.” Clapper said “there was no evidence” of collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia in a January intelligence report concluding Russian interference in the 2016 election, but “this could have unfolded or become available in the time since I left government.” Trump’s allegations echo charges made in recent days by several conservative news and commentary outlets, all without offering any evidence. Trump should immediately turn over any evidence he has to support his allegation, said U.S. Senator Susan Collins, a Maine Republican who serves on the Senate Intelligence Committee. “What we need to deal with is evidence, not just statements,” she said on CBS’s “Face the Nation,” adding she also had not seen evidence of collaboration “but we are in the very early stages of our investigation.” Trump fired his first national security adviser, Michael Flynn, in February after revelations that he had discussed U.S. sanctions on Russia with the Russian ambassador before Trump took office. Josh Earnest, the White House press secretary under Obama, said the president did not have the authority to unilaterally order a wiretap of a U.S. citizen. “The president was not giving marching orders to the FBI about how to conduct its investigation,” Earnest said on ABC’s “This Week.”

Summary: अमेरिका के पूर्व खुफिया प्रमुख ने ट्रंप के वायरटैप के आरोप को खारिज किया


(Reuters) - The mayor of Phoenix on Wednesday called on President Donald Trump to postpone a rally he was scheduled to hold on Tuesday in the city, saying it was too soon after a violent white supremacist rally in Virginia. “I am disappointed that President Trump has chosen to hold a campaign rally as our nation is still healing from the tragic events in Charlottesville,” Mayor Greg Stanton said in a statement posted on Twitter. “It is my hope that more sound judgment prevails and that he delays his visit,” Stanton said.

Summary: फीनिक्स के महापौर ने ट्रम्प से अगले सप्ताह के लिए निर्धारित रैली को स्थगित करने का आह्वान किया


WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. Defense Secretary Jim Mattis said on Thursday that he still had confidence in diplomatic efforts on North Korea and the United States would be  unrelenting  in working through the United Nations.  I am not willing to say that diplomacy has not worked. We will continue to work diplomatically, we will continue to work through the United Nations, the United Nations Security Council and we will be unrelenting in that,  Mattis said before the start of a meeting with Libyan Prime Minister Fayez al-Seraj at the Pentagon.  At the same time, our diplomats will speak from a position of strength because we do have military options,  he added.

Summary: उत्तर कोरिया पर राजनयिक प्रयासों में विश्वास हैः मैटिस


OTTAWA (Reuters) - U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson plans to meet Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau next week for talks on how to address the crisis over North Korea s nuclear weapons program, an Ottawa source said on Monday. Canada and the United States are due to co-host a meeting of foreign ministers in Vancouver in January to discuss North Korea. North Korea has fired missiles over Japan as it pursues nuclear weapons and ballistic missiles in defiance of U.N. sanctions. Last week it said U.S. and South Korean military drills meant the outbreak of war was  an established fact . During a day trip to Ottawa on Dec. 19 Tillerson will also meet Foreign Minister Chrystia Freeland, said the source, who requested anonymity because the meetings have not yet been formally announced. A Canadian government source confirmed that Tillerson and Trudeau plan to meet but declined to give a precise date, saying scheduling issues still had to be worked out. The U.S. embassy in Ottawa declined to comment. Freeland said last month that the Vancouver talks would show the unity of the international community in applying pressure on Pyongyang.

Summary: उत्तर कोरिया संकट पर वार्ता के लिए ट्रूडो से मिलेंगे टिलरसनः सूत्र


OTTAWA (Reuters) - Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Wednesday congratulated Donald Trump on winning the U.S. presidency and stressed the close friendship and ties between the two nations. Trudeau said in a statement that he looked forward to working very closely with Trump and his administration on trade, investment, international peace and security.

Summary: कनाडा के प्रधानमंत्री ने ट्रम्प को बधाई दी, व्यापार, सुरक्षा पर काम करना चाहते हैं


HAVANA (Reuters) - Cuba’s government said on Wednesday it would never allow actions against diplomats and their families on the island, after the U.S. State Department reported “incidents” had caused physical symptoms in Americans serving at the U.S. Embassy in Havana. “Cuba has never, nor would ever, allow the Cuban territory to be used for any kind of action against accredited diplomats or their families,” the foreign ministry said in a statement. Earlier on Wednesday, the U.S. State Department said it had expelled two Washington-based Cuban diplomats in May after the unspecified “incidents” in Havana.

Summary: क्यूबा ने अमेरिकी राजनयिकों से संबंधित घटनाओं में संलिप्तता से इनकार किया


WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump’s administration will provide details of its plans to overhaul welfare in the first few weeks of 2018, a White House spokeswoman said on Monday. “This is something that the president has a great deal of interest in and I think you can count on probably the first part of next year seeing more specifics and details come out on that,” White House spokeswoman Sarah Sanders told a press briefing when asked about Trump’s comment earlier on Monday that “people are taking advantage of the system.”

Summary: व्हाइट हाउस ने अगले साल की शुरुआत में कल्याण सुधार विवरण का वादा किया


MOSCOW (Reuters) - A Russian defense ministry delegation has arrived in the North Korean capital of Pyongyang, the Interfax news agency cited North Korea s embassy to Russia as saying on Wednesday. No details of the visit were immediately available.

Summary: रूस के रक्षा मंत्रालय का प्रतिनिधिमंडल प्योंगयांग पहुंचाः इंटरफैक्स


BOSTON (Reuters) - A proposed Massachusetts ballot initiative that would allow voters to require U.S. presidential candidates to release their tax returns cleared a key hurdle on Wednesday, as state lawmakers mulled a similar bill after President Donald Trump declined to release his returns. The state’s attorney general, Maura Healey, a Democrat, certified the initiative petition along with 20 others covering a variety of topics as having met constitutional requirements for ballot questions. The proposed Massachusetts law would require candidates for U.S. president and vice president to submit to the state’s secretary copies of their federal income tax returns for the last six years that could then be made public. Certification of the petitions means backers can begin collecting the tens of thousands of signatures needed to get their questions onto the November 2018 ballot. Healey’s office said her decision did not mean she supported the petitions. The election-related initiative came after Trump, a Republican, last year became the first major presidential candidate since the 1970s to not voluntarily release at least some of his tax returns. Healey’s certification of the petition came as state lawmakers held a committee hearing and took testimony on a bill that would require U.S. presidential candidates to also disclose their tax returns in order to get onto the ballot. Senator Michael Barrett, the bill’s Democratic sponsor, in an interview said the bill had “a lot of grassroots interest,” and was receiving support from March Forward Mass, which formed after the Women’s March protest held in January a day after Trump was inaugurated. William Galvin, the Democratic secretary of state, testified in support of the bill, saying the public disclosure of tax returns is needed in order for voters to know about a candidate’s potential conflicts of interest. “This bill is not about Donald Trump,” he said. “It’s because of Donald Trump.” Barrett acknowledged such a law could be subject to lawsuits. The U.S. Constitution sets out qualifications to become president, and critics could argue the state’s law would unconstitutionally do the same. But Galvin testified that he believed that a law requiring tax returns’ disclosures could survive a legal challenge as states have a right to set conditions to get on their ballots. Similar proposals are being considered in other states. Republican New Jersey Governor Chris Christie in May vetoed a bill that would have required the disclosure by presidential candidates of tax returns, calling it “politics at its worst.”

Summary: राष्ट्रपति कर विवरणी पर मैसाचुसेट्स मतपत्र पहल बाधा को पार करती है


WASHINGTON/HERZLIYA, Israel (Reuters) - The Obama administration is prepared to incorporate missile defense funds in a new long-term agreement on military aid for Israel, a U.S. official said on Wednesday, accommodating in principle a key request by its ally in the yet-unresolved talks. Disputes over the scope and fine print of the memorandum of understanding (MOU) have clouded already difficult ties between Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and U.S. President Barack Obama during the latter’s final months in office. The current MOU, signed in 2007 and due to expire in 2018, gave Israel around $30 billion in so-called foreign military financing. Israel has been seeking around $10 billion more for the next decade and that money be earmarked for missile defense projects that were hitherto funded ad hoc by the U.S. Congress. U.S. negotiators previously proposed a total of $3.5 billion to $3.7 billion annually for Israel under the new MOU, but did not say whether this might include missile defense funds. A senior U.S. official was more forthcoming on Wednesday. “We are prepared to make an unprecedented multi-year missile defense commitment as part of a new memorandum of understanding with Israel on military assistance,” the official, who requested anonymity, told Reuters. “This commitment, which would amount to billions of dollars over 10 years, would be the first long-term pledge on missile defense support to Israel, affording Israel robust support for its missile defense, as well as predictability and facilitating long-term planning.” U.S. lawmakers have in recent years given Israel up to $600 million in annual discretionary funds for missile defense, well beyond the $150 million requested by the Obama administration. On Tuesday, the White House opposed a proposal to include $600 million for Israeli missile defense to an appropriations bill for the fiscal year starting on Oct. 1. Netanyahu came out with a rare statement on the MOU talks, in the face of Israeli opposition accusations that he is endangering American largesse by feuding with Obama over Iran’s nuclear program and Palestinian peace talks. Netanyahu’s office said on Twitter that the White House’s move on Tuesday was part of an “internal debate” with Congress about supplementary missile defense funding for Israel. “There has been no cut in American assistance,” it tweeted. “Prime Minister Netanyahu is working to anchor this supplement as part of the discussions on the assistance agreement for the next ten years. Not only will security assistance for missile defense not be cut, it will be increased.” However, Netanyahu’s acting national security adviser, Jacob Nagel, made clear agreement was not a given. Israeli officials have hinted that, if the disputes persist, they might await the next U.S. president in hope of getting a better MOU.  Netanyahu’s government was working to wrap up the talks with the Obama administration, Nagel told reporters. But he added: “When we conclude that we have arrived at the final (U.S.) offer, we will decide if we want it or not.”  Another sticking point has been a U.S. demand to reduce the amount of aid money - now 26.3 percent - that Israel can spend on its own military industries rather than on American products.  Visiting Israel for strategic talks, U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Wednesday said it had received $8.5 million a day from the Obama administration in defense aid. In a speech to the annual Herzliya Conference, Blinken did not give details on the MOU talks, but he said Washington was ready to give Israel “the largest single pledge of military assistance from the United States to any country in our history, cementing an unparalleled security relationship all the way to 2029”.

Summary: अमेरिका ने रक्षा सहायता पर इजरायल की शर्तों को स्वीकार करने का संकेत दिया


FLORENCE, Italy (Reuters) - Prime Minister Theresa May said during a major speech on Brexit on Friday that membership of the European Economic Area would not suit Britain after it leaves the EU and would lead to friction.

Summary: प्रधानमंत्री मे ने कहा कि ब्रेक्सिट के बाद ई. ई. ए. की सदस्यता ब्रिटेन के अनुकूल नहीं होगी


BEIJING (Reuters) - China s ruling Communist Party will scrap the practice of secretive interrogations known as  shuanggui , President Xi Jinping said on Wednesday, part of broader reforms of its anti-corruption architecture. Cadres accused of graft and other disciplinary violations are routinely subjected to extrajudicial detention, isolation and interrogation by the party s much-feared Central Commission for Discipline Inspection (CCDI).  The CCDI only hands cases over to police and judiciary for prosecution. International rights groups have raised concerns of torture, including sleep deprivation, being used to obtain confessions. In a speech on Wednesday opening a key twice-a-decade party congress, Xi said shuanggui, which only applies to Communist Party cadres, will be replaced by  detention . Xi did not elaborate and it was not immediately clear what the distinction between the two will be.  Officially, China describes  shuanggui  as an internal disciplinary practice that requires officials under investigation  to cooperate with questioning at a designated place and a designated time . In practice, those under investigation are routinely held incommunicado and without access to legal representation, and a number of high-profile deaths while in custody led to discussion of reforming the system as early as 2013. New trial rules released by the CCDI in January made mandatory video and sound recordings for the entire interrogation process.  Those summoned are deprived of liberty for days, weeks, or months, during which time they are repeatedly interrogated and often tortured,  a Human Rights Watch report said in 2016. It said at least 11 people, according to media reports, had died under shuanggui since 2010.      The move to scrap the practice is part of wide-ranging legal reforms and the creation of a new National Supervisory Commission that will take over from the CCDI and merge multiple anti-graft units into a single body. The new agency will also expand the graft campaign s purview to include employees at state-backed institutions who are not necessarily Communist Party members.  This will ensure that supervision covers everyone in the public sector who exercises public power,  Xi said.  Since coming to power in 2012, Xi s signature anti-corruption drive has jailed or otherwise punished nearly 1.4 million party members and he has emphasized the importance of improving China s rule of law architecture. In his congress address, Xi said China would keep up with the  irreversible  momentum of the anti-corruption campaign, and announced a central leading group responsible for overseeing China s law-based governance.   The fight against corruption has formed an overwhelming posture and strengthened in development,  Xi said in the three-and-a-half-hour speech carried live across the nation on state television.

Summary: चीन ने कम्युनिस्ट पार्टी के सदस्यों से गुप्त पूछताछ रद्द करने का संकल्प लिया


MANCHESTER, England (Reuters) - Britain is worried by violence during a banned referendum in Spain s northeastern region of Catalonia but sees the vote as unconstitutional, Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson said on Sunday.  We are obviously worried by any violence but clearly the referendum, as I understand it, is not constitutional so a balance needs to be struck,  Johnson told Reuters.  We hope very much that things will calm down.

Summary: ब्रिटेन कैटेलोनिया में हिंसा से चिंतित है लेकिन कहता है कि मतदान संवैधानिक नहीं थाः जॉनसन


NEW YORK (Reuters) - The Bill, Hillary & Chelsea Clinton Foundation would spin off its flagship health project into a “completely independent” charity if Hillary Clinton were to win the U.S. presidency in November, the charity announced on Wednesday. The Clinton Health Access Initiative, which has focused on reducing the cost of HIV medicine in sub-Saharan Africa, currently accounts for about two thirds of the foundation’s annual income and expenses, according to disclosures online.  The promise to carve it out of the foundation aims to quash concerns that donors might try to seek special access in a Clinton White House.  Bill and Chelsea Clinton, Hillary Clinton’s husband and daughter, would step down from the health project’s board and the project would no longer use the Clinton name and instead would go by its acronym, CHAI, if the family returned to the White House next year, the announcement said. Clinton has defended her family’s philanthropic organizations against accusations by Donald Trump, her Republican rival, and others that wealthy donors, abroad and at home, might expect favorable treatment from the U.S. government. She has said no donor ever received inappropriate favors, but her staff have said she recognizes reorganization would be necessary to avoid any appearance of conflicts of interests.  On Tuesday, New York State Attorney General Eric Schneiderman said his office had opened an inquiry into the Donald J. Trump Foundation to ensure the Republican presidential nominee’s charity was complying with state laws governing nonprofits. The inquiry followed reports by The Washington Post regarding Trump’s Foundation and his contributions to the charity. He has refused to release his tax returns, which would show charitable giving. Long-time Clinton associates Bruce Lindsey, Ira Magaziner and Maggie Williams would also step down from CHAI’s board, and the remaining board members would replace all five in consultation with global health experts, the charity said.  Magaziner, who has been friends with Bill Clinton since they were students at Oxford University, would remain as the project’s chief executive. The board would draft a “succession plan” by the end of the year, the announcement said. “If Secretary Clinton is elected president, the changes outlined here will be implemented and CHAI would become an organization completely independent of the Clinton Foundation,” the statement said. Bill Clinton set up the foundation as he prepared to leave the White House in 2001. Hillary Clinton joined its board after  leaving the U.S. State Department in 2013 but stepped down last year to seek the presidency.  The foundation announced last month that it would no longer accept donations from foreigners or corporations for its other work besides CHAI, and said it would close overseas fundraising arms in Sweden and the United Kingdom.

Summary: क्लिंटन फाउंडेशन प्रमुख स्वास्थ्य परियोजना को बंद करने की योजना बना रहा है


BEIRUT (Reuters) - Air strikes killed 19 people in a village in Syria s rebel stronghold of Idlib overnight, a rescue service there and the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said on Wednesday. The strikes pounded Maar Shureen in the northwestern Idlib province and injured 25 other people, the Britain-based Observatory said. The dead included seven children, it said. The war monitoring group added that Syrian government or Russian aircraft had struck the village. Russia s Defence Ministry denied involvement, saying in a statement carried by RIA news agency that its jets had not flown in that area.  There was no immediate comment from the Syrian military, which says it only targets militants.  Idlib s civil defense, a rescue service known as the White Helmets which operates in rebel territory, said on social media that fierce bombing killed 19 people overnight.  There were two consecutive strikes...The second strike came shortly before rescue teams arrived,  Mustafa Youssef, who heads the Idlib civil defense, said.  The Damascus government lost Idlib after insurgents took over the provincial capital in 2015. It has since become the only province fully under opposition control, and the most populated insurgent-held part of Syria.  Hayat Tahrir al Sham, the Islamist alliance spearheaded by the former al-Qaeda affiliate in Syria, is the dominant rebel force in Idlib. This has raised fears among some civilians and other rebel factions that the province could come under attack and turn into a major battlefield. Thousands of civilians and fighters have poured into Idlib in the past year, bussed out of towns and cities which Syrian troops seized with the help of Russia and Iran-backed militias. Government forces and their allies stepped up air strikes against opposition towns in the Hama countryside and the southern part of Idlib, rebels said last week.   The province, bordering Turkey, is part of Russian-brokered de-escalation agreements that seek to shore up ceasefires in parts of western Syria. Turkey, which had long backed some Syrian rebel factions, set up observation posts in Idlib in October under a deal with Russia and Iran to reduce fighting there.  Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan has said the military operation in Idlib was largely completed. The deployment was also seen partly aimed at containing Kurdish influence nearby in northern Syria.

Summary: सीरिया के इदलिब में विद्रोही गांव में हमलों में 19 लोगों की मौत


NEW YORK (Reuters) - A federal appeals court in New York on Tuesday revived part of a $1.68 billion lawsuit against Iran s central bank, Bank Markazi, by families of soldiers killed in the 1983 bombing of the U.S. Marine Corps barracks in Lebanon. By a 3-0 vote, the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals said a lower court judge erred in dismissing claims against Markazi; Banca UBAE SpA, an Italian bank accused of engaging in transactions for Iran; and Clearstream Banking SA, a Luxembourg bank accused of opening accounts for Markazi and UBAE. It upheld the dismissal of claims against JPMorgan Chase & Co. The plaintiffs sought to recoup bond proceeds allegedly owned by Markazi and held by Clearstream, to partially satisfy $3.8 billion of judgments they had won against Iran after a federal court deemed them victims of state-sponsored terrorism. They accused the banks of fraudulently processing billions of dollars of bond proceeds owed to Markazi, and targeted cash held in a Clearstream account at JPMorgan in New York. Iran is one of several countries and organizations ordered by U.S. courts to pay damages to terrorism victims. Such orders are often difficult to enforce. Lawyers for the plaintiffs and banks did not immediately respond to requests for comment. U.S. District Judge Katherine Forrest had dismissed the case in February 2015. She said she lacked jurisdiction over Markazi assets located abroad, the plaintiffs had released claims against Clearstream and UBAE, and nothing was left in the Clearstream account for JPMorgan to  turn over.  In Tuesday s 72-page decision, Circuit Judge Robert Sack said Forrest reasonably assumed she lacked jurisdiction because the main assets in dispute had been recorded on Clearstream s books in Luxembourg. But he said recent court rulings interpreting the federal Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act permitted courts in New York  to exercise jurisdiction  to recall to New York extraterritorial assets owned by a foreign sovereign.  Sack ordered Forrest to decide whether she has personal jurisdiction over Clearstream, and whether state or federal law prevents the plaintiffs from recovering bond proceeds. In April 2016, the U.S. Supreme Court said in a separate case that Markazi must pay nearly $2 billion, which had been frozen, to terrorism victims, and Congress had not exceeded its authority by passing a law making it easier to recover damages. The 1983 attack, in Beirut, killed 241 U.S. service members. The case is Peterson et al v Islamic Republic of Iran et al, 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, No. 15-0690.

Summary: अमेरिकी अपील अदालत ने 1.70 करोड़ डॉलर के ईरान आतंकवाद मुकदमे में दावों को पुनर्जीवित किया


WASHINGTON (Reuters) - When Jeb Hensarling, the Republican chair of the U.S. House Financial Services Committee, released legislation this summer to weaken the major financial law known as Dodd-Frank, many said it was a prêt-a-porter plan that his party’s nominee, Donald Trump, could easily adopt. Now that Trump is president-elect, he appears to be doing just that.  Language about financial services posted on the Trump transition website, www.greatagain.gov, echoes the tone of Hensarling’s bill, known as the CHOICE Act.  It calls Dodd-Frank, passed in the wake of the 2007-09 financial crisis and recession, as “a sprawling and complex piece of legislation that has unleashed hundreds of new rules and several new bureaucratic agencies” and promises to dismantle and replace it with “new policies to encourage economic growth and job creation.” Hensarling’s legislation, which his committee approved in September, also takes a replacement approach. The Texas Republican had unveiled his proposal in Trump’s hometown of New York in June, and then met with the businessman later in the day. At the same time, Hensarling was mentioned as a possible Treasury secretary by Trump’s team. He has said he is  not pursuing a Cabinet position.  “The CHOICE Act accurately reflects the priorities that President Trump has placed on the Dodd-Frank problem,” said J.W. Verret, an associate professor at the George Mason University Antonin Scalia Law School and financial regulation expert. Verret regularly meets with and briefs members of Congress and the Securities and Exchange Commission on financial regulation. I think it is a great blueprint for everything that he has promised,” said Verret, a former Republican congressional staffer.  The Hensarling blueprint would primarily allow banks to choose between complying with Dodd-Frank or meeting tougher capital requirements - primarily to maintain a ratio of tangible equity to leverage exposure of 10 percent.  It would also reorganize the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, throw out the Volcker Rule restricting banks from making speculative investments and eliminate the authority of the Financial Stability Oversight Council to designate non-banks as “systemically important.”  It also differs from the Dodd-Frank legislation in the way it treats insolvent banks. Hensarling says his approach will prevent taxpayer dollars from being used to bail out failed institutions.  Alongside Obamacare, Dodd-Frank is considered one of Democratic President Barack Obama’s signature domestic policies. The most senior Democrat on the Senate Banking Committee, Sherrod Brown, has been a vocal defender of it, as has liberal firebrand Senator Elizabeth Warren. That means a Dodd-Frank revamp could stall in one chamber of Congress. Senate rules allow a single member to block a bill from proceeding to a vote. Trump said last May that he would dismantle Dodd-Frank, primarily because the law makes it hard for banks to loan money.  But few have called for total demolition of it, with bank industry sources privately saying they would like to see an easing of Dodd-Frank rules.  Trump campaign adviser Anthony Scaramucci, a Wall Street financier, said this week that the administration will review the law and “the worst anti-business parts of it will be gutted.” Verret said he believes some components of the CHOICE Act will appeal to the populist anger felt by Tea Party members and Trump supporters toward big banks. One such provision, he said, would place limits on how central banks can lend to financial institutions in times of crisis, an in effort to prevent future bailouts. This kind of reform, he added, appeals “to both populists and free market thinkers at the same time.”

Summary: ट्रम्प के पास डोड-फ्रैंक को नया रूप देने के लिए पहले से ही एक योजना तैयार हो सकती है।


CHICAGO (Reuters) - A Democratic bid to transfer the highly coveted political power of drawing legislative boundaries from state lawmakers to the Democratically controlled Illinois Supreme Court overwhelmingly passed the state House of Representatives on Tuesday. The proposed amendment to Illinois’ constitution sailed through the House on a 105-7 vote and now must be approved by a three-fifths majority in the state Senate by Friday in order to be placed on the Nov. 8 general election ballot. Since Democrats controlled the state legislature and the governor’s office after the 2010 census, they won the once-a-decade right to draw new legislative district boundaries. The process enabled the party to build super-majorities in both the Senate and House. “The power we presently have is only to protect incumbents,” said Representative Jack Franks, a Democrat from Chicago’s far northwest suburbs who sponsored the amendment. Republican Governor Bruce Rauner campaigned to take away legislative redistricting responsibilities from the General Assembly but instead backs a different proposal. Under Franks’ plan, the Illinois Supreme Court would appoint an eight-member redistricting commission to oversee the drawing of 118 House districts and 59 state Senate districts beginning with the 2022 elections. Critics disliked how Franks’ amendment mutes the General Assembly’s voice in the process. “What’s dangerous about what we’re doing (is that) we as a legislative branch are ceding our authority to a co-equal branch of government,” said Representative Christian Mitchell, a Chicago Democrat who voted against the amendment. If the plan clears the Senate, the result could be two competing redistricting proposals on the fall ballot, a scenario Rauner has warned would confuse voters. The initiative Rauner backs is being pushed by a bipartisan coalition that includes Republican former Governor Jim Edgar and former White House Chief of Staff William Daley, brother and son of two of Chicago’s longest-serving Democratic mayors. That group, known as Independent Maps, proposes a system where a bi-partisan, 11-member commission would be stocked through a random and public screening process overseen by the state auditor general from a pool of 100 finalists.

Summary: इलिनोइस हाउस ने डेमोक्रेटिक पुनर्वितरण संशोधन का समर्थन किया


MADRID (Reuters) - A topless activist from the feminist group FEMEN attacked a life-size wax statue of U.S. President-elect Donald Trump during an unveiling ceremony at Madrid’s wax museum on Tuesday. Reuters journalists at the scene saw the woman push past security ropes and place her hand on the statue’s crotch while screaming “grab patriarchy by the balls.” Museum staff spent several minutes trying to restrain the woman before eventually bundling her out through a back door. The activist group claimed responsibility for the protest on Twitter, saying: “FEMEN just grabbed Trump’s statue by the balls in Madrid.” In a recording leaked last October, Trump spoke of grabbing women “by the pussy”. Gonzalo Presa, head of communications at the museum, called the woman’s protest “unpleasant” and said he had hoped to give a “special welcome” to Donald Trump from Madrid. “If they want to do this they should do it directly to him. This is too easy,” he told a Reuters reporter. Artisans had spent over three days creating the wax figure, paying special attention to the color and style of Trump´s signature hair, Presa said. FEMEN, an international group which began in Ukraine, is known for using nudity in protests over women´s rights.

Summary: नंगी छाती वाले FEMEN कार्यकर्ता ने ट्रम्प की प्रतिमा को क्रौच से पकड़ा


SEOUL (Reuters) - North Korean Foreign Minister Ri Yong Ho said on Friday he believes the North could consider a hydrogen bomb test on the Pacific Ocean of an unprecedented scale, South Korea’s Yonhap news agency reported. Ri was speaking to reporters in New York when he was asked what North Korean leader Kim Jong Un had meant when he threatened in an earlier statement the “highest level of hard-line countermeasure in history” against the United States. North Korea could consider a hydrogen bomb test, Ri said, although he did not know Kim’s exact thoughts, Yonhap reported.

Summary: उत्तर कोरिया के अधिकारी का कहना है कि उत्तर प्रशांत महासागर पर हाइड्रोजन बम पर विचार कर सकता हैः योनहाप


SEOUL (Reuters) - South Korea s President Moon Jae-in said on Wednesday North Korea s missile technology seems to have improved, following the launch of what appeared to be an intercontinental ballistic missile that landed close to Japan. Moon made the remark to U.S. President Donald Trump in a phone call, his office said, during which both heads of state said they would talk further on measures to respond to North Korea s latest provocation.

Summary: दक्षिण कोरिया के चंद्रमा का कहना है कि उत्तर कोरिया की मिसाइल क्षमता में सुधार हुआ है


WASHINGTON/ANKARA (Reuters) - Instead of tearing up the Iran nuclear deal, the Trump administration is exploring how to tighten its enforcement and renegotiate key terms, but it may prove impossible to get other major powers and Iran to consider revising the agreement. Under the 2015 accord between Tehran and six world powers, Iran agreed to curb its nuclear program in exchange for relief from some U.S., European and U.N. economic sanctions. Many experts consider it a success so far. The Trump administration this week signaled a harder but ambiguous line toward Iran by putting the Islamic Republic “on notice” after an Iranian ballistic missile test, and then by imposing economic sanctions on 13 individuals and 12 entities on Friday.. The options the administration is considering include insisting the Vienna-based International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), the U.N. nuclear watchdog, get tougher policing Iran’s compliance, including demanding access to military sites, according to two sources familiar with the matter. “The basic idea is that the IAEA has to be granted access,” said one source with knowledge of the matter, acknowledging it would be difficult for the U.S. administration to win support for military site inspections from the other 34 countries on the IAEA board of governors. The U.S. also would seek to remove “sunset” provisions from the pact that allow some restrictions on Iran’s nuclear program to start expiring in 10 years, something critics consider the deal’s biggest flaw, the two sources said.         In addition, the administration could press the agency to report more information on Iran’s compliance with the nuclear pact, one of the sources said, noting the agency has cut back on reporting some data, such as how much low-enriched uranium Iran is stockpiling. The administration is also weighing a push to tighten the rules of the Procurement Working Group, a panel set up under the accord to make it harder for Iran to win approval to import sensitive technologies and materials that might be used for nuclear purposes, said one of the sources. There are concerns that the Obama administration was too lenient in agreeing to Iranian purchases of nuclear-related materials, including 116 metric tons of natural uranium, for which Tehran has no apparent need, one source said. Getting the United States’ partners in the nuclear deal, a group known as the P5+1 that includes Britain, China, France, Germany and Russia, into such a negotiation is likely to be extremely difficult, let alone bringing the Iranians along. “It seems to be a long shot,” said a P5+1 source on the odds of getting the group into a new negotiation aimed at tightening up the nuclear deal, formally called the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) or at creating a sort of “JCPOA II.” Iranian officials have rejected the idea of renegotiating the deal, and Trump’s stance could weaken the hand of those in Tehran who have been willing to negotiate with the West, said a former senior Iranian official. “Hardliners will use Trump’s stance to strengthen their position,” said a former senior Iranian official close to President Hassan Rouhani. “They have always been against Rouhani’s détente policy toward West.”

Summary: ट्रम्प ईरान परमाणु समझौते को मजबूत करने की कोशिश कर सकते हैं, न कि टुकड़े-टुकड़े करने की


BRUSSELS (Reuters) - Eastern European Union states must drop their resistance and accept their share of refugees who arrived in the bloc, officials and diplomats said on Tuesday after a court ruled they must abide by the quota. The EU s highest court ruled last week that member states must take in a share of refugees who reach Europe, dismissing complaints by Slovakia and Hungary and reigniting an east-west row that has shaken the bloc s cohesion.     Brussels and other capitals hope member states will respect the European Court of Justice (ECJ) ruling. Poland and Hungary are opposed to accepting anybody, their reluctance shared by ex-communist peers Slovakia and the Czech Republic, who have, however, accepted a handful of people under a 2015 EU scheme designed to move 160,000 from Italy and Greece.  All members of the EU must respect the ruling,  Manfred Weber, the head of the of the largest faction in the European Parliament, told a news conference.  The legal fight is over.   Migration is still a political wound of the political landscape all over Europe ... All the reasonable and all the responsible politicians have to go now (toward) a compromise.  EU officials and diplomats say they will make another push this autumn to try to bridge the divisions. EU interior ministers will debate the matter in Brussels on Wednesday. However, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban has said he will fight on. Poland, whose nationalist government is now engulfed in spiraling feuds with the bloc, said its migration stance has not changed. Italy and Greece, where most of the people crossing the Mediterranean disembark, as well as Germany, Sweden and other wealthy EU states where refugees and migrants want to head, want a quick aid scheme for any repeat of 2015. German Chancellor Angela Merkel said she hoped the dispute will soon be over after the ECJ ruling, but also made clear she saw it unacceptable for EU states to disregard the court. The bloc may eventually vote on any changes to its migration and asylum laws by majority, leaving those reluctant behind, a move that would also widen the east-west splits in the bloc.  I don t think there is anything to argue about anymore. The decision is there for member states to implement,  said a senior EU diplomat.  Struggling to control chaotic movement of people at the height of the crisis, some EU states introduced emergency border checks inside what normally is the bloc s Schengen zone of control-free travel.  They expire in November and Brussels is keen to restore the free flow of people across the EU, often hailed as a proud and tangible achievement of European integration. Also on Wednesday, EU ministers will discuss a proposal by Germany, France, Denmark, Austria and Norway - not in the EU but part of Schengen - to allow for such extraordinary border checks to continue on security grounds, rather than migration. In practice, that would mean keeping those already there in place for longer, as well as being able to apply them more easily in the future. Denmark said last May it wanted to go on with border restrictions, while Germany has said it needs the checks to combat the threat of Islamic militancy in Europe after a raft of attacks around the bloc.

Summary: यूरोपीय संघ ने पूर्वी लोगों से शरणार्थियों को स्वीकार करने को कहा


SEOUL (Reuters) - China should play a key and proper role in response to North Korea’s fourth nuclear test as a permanent member of the UN Security Council, South Korean President Park Geun-hye said on Wednesday. There is still a possibility of further North Korean provocations, including “cyber terrorism” following the isolated country’s fourth nuclear test on January 6, Park told an annual news conference.

Summary: दक्षिण कोरिया के राष्ट्रपति ने कहा कि उत्तर कोरिया के परमाणु परीक्षण पर चीन की प्रतिक्रिया महत्वपूर्ण है


LONDON (Reuters) - U.S. President-elect Donald Trump said that Brexit would turn out to be a great thing and other countries would follow Britain out of the European Union but promised to strike a swift bilateral trade deal with the United Kingdom. Speaking in an interview with The Times of London newspaper five days before his inauguration, Trump described himself as a big fan of Britain and endorsed last year’s vote to leave the European Union. “I think Brexit is going to end up being a great thing,” Trump said. “I’ll tell you, the fact that your pound sterling has gone down? Great. Because business is unbelievable in a lot of parts in the UK.” The June 23 vote took many investors and chief executives by surprise, triggering the deepest political and financial turmoil in Britain since World War Two and the biggest ever one-day fall in sterling against the dollar. Sterling has since fallen further against the U.S. dollar as traders, businesses and investors fret about the type of relationship Britain will have with its biggest single trading partner after it leaves the bloc. Trump’s election campaign seized on the Brexit vote as an example of disillusioned voters rising up against the political establishment, and he forged a friendship with leading Brexit campaigner Nigel Farage - a fierce critic of Prime Minister Theresa May. Trump’s election has raised questions over the future of the so called ‘special relationship’ that has underpinned close British-American ties for decades. But in Sunday’s interview Trump played up his ancestral ties to Britain, saying his Scottish mother was “so proud” of Queen Elizabeth, and said he was eager to get a trade deal done. “We’re gonna work very hard to get it done quickly and done properly. Good for both sides,” Trump said. “I will be meeting with [May]. She’s requesting a meeting and we’ll have a meeting right after I get into the White House ... we’re gonna get something done very quickly.” However, he predicted that more countries would seek to follow Britain’s example and quit the EU. “I believe others will leave,” he said. “If refugees keep pouring into different parts of Europe . . . I think it’s gonna be very hard to keep it together because people are angry about it.” He singled out German Chancellor Angela Merkel - whose open-door policies have allowed about 1.1 million refugees from Syria, Iraq, Afghanistan and elsewhere into Germany since mid-2015 - calling her immigration policy a catastrophic mistake.

Summary: ब्रेक्सिट को 'बड़ी बात' बताते हुए ट्रंप ने कहा, ब्रिटेन के साथ जल्द से जल्द व्यापार समझौता चाहते हैं


HOUSTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Virgin Islands seaports were closed to commercial traffic by the U.S. Coast Guard on Tuesday morning until further notice ahead of Hurricane Irma, the port authority said on its twitter account.

Summary: यू. एस. वर्जिन द्वीप समूह के बंदरगाह इरमा से पहले बंद कर दिए गए-बंदरगाह प्राधिकरण


SEOUL (Reuters) - After months of fiery rhetoric and rising tensions, U.S. President Donald Trump s secret attempt to personally face off with North Korea across the heavily fortified demilitarized zone (DMZ) on Wednesday was defeated by fog and mist. Helicopters carrying Trump and an entourage of staff, media, and security forces were turned back just minutes from the DMZ, thwarting a plan that had been in the works since before the president left on his trip through Asia.  He s actually pretty frustrated,  Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said of Trump. Often clad in photo-friendly bomber jackets, all U.S. presidents since Ronald Reagan have visited the DMZ except for George H.W. Bush, who toured as vice president. In April, U.S. Vice President Mike Pence visited the DMZ, also sporting a bomber jacket, so that the North Koreans could see  our resolve in my face . Trump s attempt for his own visit had been in the works for some time, despite previous denials from the White House, including late last month by a senior official who called visiting the DMZ  a little bit of a clich . Journalists accompanying Trump were summoned earlier than expected Wednesday morning.  This is where we re going,  Sanders said, holding up a piece of notepaper on which the letters  DMZ  were scrawled. Just after 7 a.m. (2200 GMT Tuesday) the motorcade left Trump s hotel in downtown Seoul, arriving 10 minutes later at Yongsan Garrison, a U.S. military base. Helicopters carrying Trump and his entourage took off from a sports field on the base, camouflage-clad men seated at the back of the aircraft. Weaving through the dense fog that shrouded Seoul s skyscrapers, the helicopters were only minutes away from landing at the DMZ when they turned back to the base.  There wasn t enough visibility to land,  Sanders said.  It would have been really dangerous, and our guys pulled back.   The trip was finalized during bilateral meetings between Trump and South Korea President Moon Jae-in on Tuesday, officials said. When Trump told Moon he was interested in visiting the DMZ, the South Korean president not only gave his blessing, but said he would meet Trump there.  It would be good for you to go. If you go, I will go with you,  said Moon, quoted by a presidential Blue House official. Moon waited about 30 minutes for Trump at the DMZ on Wednesday, having driven part of the way to the fortified border by road, an option not open to Trump because of security concerns. As he waited for a second chance back at Yongsan, Trump sat in his limousine, working on a draft of his speech to be given at South Korea s National Assembly later that day   a speech which saw Trump return to his bellicose attack of North Korea and its leader Kim Jong Un.  The world cannot tolerate the menace of a rogue regime that threatens it with nuclear devastation,  Trump later declared in his speech. But as he sat in his car there was to be no second chance to look across the DMZ to North Korea, as the fog, mixed with yellow dust blown in from China, lingered late into the morning. On Wednesday, before news of the aborted trip broke, an editorial in China Daily, a state-run English-language newspaper, praised Trump s previously announced decision not to visit and North Korea s restraint in not carrying out further missile or nuclear tests.  The restraint both Washington and Pyongyang have demonstrated so far...is a hopeful sign that both prefer to find a peaceful solution to their predicaments,  the editorial said.

Summary: डी. एम. जेड. में कोहरे ने उत्तर कोरिया का सामना कर रहे ट्रम्प को रोका


(Reuters) - YRC Worldwide Inc said on Wednesday it closed a terminal in Guaynabo, Puerto Rico as Hurricane Irma closes in on Puerto Rico. Hurricane Irma was about 140 miles (225 km) east of San Juan Puerto Rico, with maximum sustained winds of 185 mph (295 km/h), the U.S. National Hurricane Center said.

Summary: तूफान इरमा के निकट आने पर प्यूर्टो रिको में वाई. आर. सी. ने टर्मिनल को बंद कर दिया


NAIROBI (Reuters) - Kenya opposition leader Raila Odinga said on Tuesday he would use pickets and petitions to protest last week s presidential poll and convene a  People s Assembly  to try to improve governance but made no mention of challenging the result.  We will guard our right to dissent by exercising it,  Odinga said in a long-awaited television address. He emphasized that he wanted to limit his protests to well-recognised, legal avenues.

Summary: केन्या के विपक्षी नेता ने 'पीपुल्स असेंबली' का प्रस्ताव रखा


WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Donald Trump sought to insert himself into congressional investigations on Russia on Wednesday, urging lawmakers to hear from one of his former advisers, Carter Page, to counter testimony by directors of the FBI and CIA. Trump has been dismissive of probes by the FBI and several congressional panels into alleged Russian meddling in the 2016 presidential election and potential collusion with his  campaign. In a series of early morning tweets, the president quoted a letter from Page, in which he asked to address the House Intelligence Committee promptly and referred to what he characterized as faulty testimony from U.S. intelligence officials. Trump accused Democrats of blocking Page’s testimony, without citing evidence but referring to an unidentified report.  “So now it is reported that the Democrats, who have excoriated Carter Page about Russia, don’t want him to testify. He blows away their case against him & now wants to clear his name by showing ‘the false or misleading testimony by James Comey, John Brennan...’ Witch Hunt!” Trump wrote on Twitter, referring to the former directors of the FBI and CIA.         Trump’s tweets came as his advisers are planning to establish a “war room” to combat mounting questions about communication between Russia and his campaign. The White House said on Wednesday it would not answer any more questions about the investigations, referring reporters instead to Trump’s outside attorney, Marc Kasowitz. The president’s penchant for tweeting could complicate White House efforts to tamp down the scandal if the messages appear to address the investigations. Representative Adam Schiff, the top Democrat on the House committee, swatted back at Trump on Twitter with a reference to the president’s acknowledgment to NBC that he was thinking of “this Russia thing” when he fired Comey on May 9.  “@POTUS, appreciate suggestion on witnesses but feel you may not have probe’s interests at heart. Ex: Firing FBI Dir because of Russia probe,” Schiff wrote. Democrats say Comey’s dismissal was aimed at hindering the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Russia investigation. CNN reported on Wednesday that Comey would confirm reports that Trump had asked him to let up in an investigation of former White House national security adviser Michael Flynn’s contacts with Russia in upcoming public testimony before the Senate Intelligence Committee.  Trump’s fellow Republicans, including Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, have urged him to tweet less and more wisely. U.S. Representative Sean Duffy said on Wednesday the Russia investigations were becoming too much of a distraction in Trump’s 4-month-old presidency. “I think the president should step aside from any comments, any tweets on the investigation and focus on the agenda that he ran on,” Duffy said on CNN. “Stop tweeting about it, stop talking about it and get about the business of your agenda.” Page, who provided a copy of his letter to Reuters, said the House committee postponed an appearance scheduled for next week without giving a specific reason. Schiff said in a statement that he and the Republican overseeing the panel’s probe, Representative Mike Conaway, want to review documents before interviewing witnesses.  Russia has denied U.S. intelligence agencies’ conclusion that Moscow interfered in the election campaign to try to tilt the vote in Trump’s favor, and the president has denied any collusion. Congressional committees have contacted a parade of Trump associates and advisers to request information in their probes. In addition to Page, they include Flynn, former campaign manager Paul Manafort, former White House press officer Boris Epshteyn, personal lawyer Michael Cohen and informal adviser Roger Stone. On Wednesday, the House committee approved subpoenas for Flynn and Cohen. It also approved subpoenas to intelligence agencies seeking records showing which former Obama administration officials requested the “unmasking” of the names of Trump associates who were inadvertently picked up in top-secret communications intercepts. Flynn has also been subpoenaed by the Senate Intelligence Committee.

Summary: एफ. बी. आई. और सी. आई. ए. पर पूर्व सलाहकार पेज ने कहा, ट्रंप ने रूस की जांच की निंदा की


BERLIN (Reuters) - Chancellor Angela Merkel said she would prefer a new election to ruling with a minority after talks on forming a three-way coalition failed overnight, but Germany s president told parties they owed it to voters to try to form a government. The major obstacle to a three-way deal was immigration, according to Merkel, who was forced into negotiations after bleeding support in the Sept. 24 election to the far right in a backlash at her 2015 decision to let in over 1 million migrants. The failure of exploratory coalition talks involving her conservative bloc, the liberal pro-business Free Democrats (FDP) and environmentalist Greens raises the prospect of a new election and casts doubt about her future after 12 years in power. Merkel, 63, said she was sceptical about ruling in a minority government, telling ARD television:  My point of view is that new elections would be the better path.  Her plans did not include being chancellor in a minority government, she said after meeting President Frank-Walter Steinmeier. Steinmeier said Germany was facing the worst governing crisis in the 68-year history of its post-World War Two democracy and pressed all parties in parliament  to serve our country  and try to form a government. His remarks appeared aimed at the FDP and the Social Democrats (SPD), who on Monday ruled out renewing their  grand coalition  with the conservatives.  Inside our country, but also outside, in particular in our European neighbourhood, there would be concern and a lack of understanding if politicians in the biggest and economically strongest country (in Europe) did not live up to their responsibilities,  read a statement from Steinmeier, a former foreign minister who has been thrust centre-stage after taking on the usually largely ceremonial head of state role in March. Steinmeier s intervention suggests he regards a new election - desired by half of Germany s voters according to a poll - as a last resort. The SPD has so far stuck to a pledge after heavy losses in the September election not to go back into a Merkel-led broad coalition of centre-left and centre-right. Merkel urged the SPD to reconsider.  I would hope that they consider very intensively if they should take on the responsibility  of governing, she told broadcaster ZDF, adding she saw no reason to resign and her conservative bloc would enter any new election more unified than before.  If new elections happened, then ... we have to accept that. I m afraid of nothing,  she said. Business leaders also called for a swift return to talks. With German leadership seen as crucial for a European Union grappling with governance reform and Britain s impending exit, FDP leader Christian Lindner s announcement that he was pulling out spooked investors and sent the euro falling in the morning. Both the euro and European shares later recovered from early selling, while German bond yields steadied near 1-1/2 week lows, as confidence about the outlook for the euro zone economy helped investors brush off worries about the risk of Germany going to the polls again soon.  FEAR OF FAR-RIGHT GAINS Earlier, Merkel got the strong backing of her CDU leadership. Josef Joffe, publisher-editor of Germany weekly Die Zeit said she could rely on CDU support for now, but added:  I will not bet on her serving out her entire four-year term.  The main parties fear another election so soon would let the far-right, anti-immigrant Alternative for Germany (AfD) party add to the 13 percent of votes it secured in September, when it entered parliament for the first time. Polls suggest a repeat election would return a similarly fragmented parliament. A poll published on Monday showed a new election would bring roughly the same result as the September election, with the Greens set to see the biggest gains. If Germans voted next Sunday, Merkel s conservatives would get 31 percent, the SPD 21 percent, the Greens and the AfD both 12 percent, the FDP 10 percent and the Left party 9 percent, the Forsa survey for RTL television showed. This compares with the election result of 32.9 percent for the conservatives, 20.5 percent for the SPD, 12.6 percent for AfD, 10.7 percent for FDP, 9.2 percent for the Left party and 8.9 percent for the Greens.  The failure of coalition talks is unprecedented in Germany s post-war history, and was likened by newsmagazine Der Spiegel to the shock election of U.S. President Donald Trump or Britain s referendum vote to leave the EU - moments when countries cast aside reputations for stability built up over decades. Any outcome in Germany is, however, likely to be more consensus driven.  The problem is stagnation and immobility, not instability as in Italy,  said Joffe. The unravelling of the German talks came as a surprise since the main sticking points - immigration and climate policy - were not seen as FDP signature issues. Responding to criticism from the Greens, FDP vice chairman Wolfgang Kubicki said a tie-up would have been short-lived.  Nothing would be worse than to get into a relationship about which we know that it will end in a dirty divorce,  he said.  Even if the SPD or the FDP revisit their decisions, the price for either party to change its mind could be the departure of Merkel, who since 2005 has been a symbol of German stability, leading Europe through the euro zone crisis. The inability to form a government caused disquiet elsewhere in Europe, not least because of the implications for the euro zone reforms championed by French President Emmanuel Macron. Germany s political impasse could also complicate and potentially delay the Brexit negotiations - Britain has just over a year to strike a divorce deal with the EU ahead of an exit planned for March 29, 2019.   It s not in our interests that the process freezes up,  Macron told reporters in Paris, adding he had spoken with Merkel shortly after the failure of talks.

Summary: गठबंधन वार्ता टूटने के बाद मर्केल ने नए चुनाव के लिए तैयारी का संकेत दिया


(Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump signed an executive order on Tuesday allowing the Dakota Access Pipeline to go forward, after months of protests from Native American groups and climate activists pushed the Obama administration to ask for additional environmental review for the controversial project.  The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in December turned down the request for an easement for the Dakota Access Pipeline to build under the Missouri River. Most of the pipeline has been constructed already, with the short stretch under the Missouri River remaining unbuilt. The following is a timeline of the project: December 2014 Energy Transfer Partners LP applies to the North Dakota Public Service Commission to build a 1,172-mile (1,885 km), 570,000-barrel-per-day pipeline to deliver crude oil from North Dakota’s Bakken shale fields to Patoka, Illinois, crossing South Dakota and Iowa, kicking off a year of public hearings in North Dakota. January  North Dakota regulators approve the pipeline unanimously. April 29 U.S. Army Corps of Engineers holds a hearing for Native Americans on the pipeline.  July 25 The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers approves three easements for water crossings for the pipeline at Sakakawea, the Mississippi River and Lake Oahe, which is an ancestral site for the Standing Rock Sioux tribe.  July 27 The Standing Rock Sioux Tribe sues the Army Corps of Engineers in U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, citing violation of multiple federal statutes that authorize the pipeline’s construction and operation, and seeks an emergency order to halt construction. The tribe also alleges the pipeline threatens their environmental and economic well-being and would damage and destroy sites of historic, religious and cultural significance. The Sioux Tribe say because the pipeline goes underneath Lake Oahe, approximately half a mile upstream of the tribe’s reservation, leaks from the pipeline would be directly in the tribe’s ancestral lands. Sept. 3 Private security guards hired by Energy Transfer Partners use attack dogs and mace after violence erupted at a private construction site along the pipeline route. Six people are reportedly bitten by dogs, a scene captured on video and broadcast widely. Sept. 6 Brian Cladoosby, president of the National Congress of American Indians, which represents more than 500 tribes, speaks to nearly a dozen of President Barack Obama’s Cabinet-level advisers at a Sept. 6 meeting of the White House’s three-year-old Native American Affairs Council. Cladoosby delivers an impassioned request: Stand with Native Americans who have united with the Standing Rock Sioux tribe and block construction of the Dakota Access Pipeline.  Sept. 9 U.S. District Judge James Boasberg in Washington rejects a broad request from Native Americans to block the project. But herules that no construction activity on the Dakota Access may take place between Highway 1806 and 20 miles to the east of Lake Oahe. Construction activity to the west of Highway 1806 may proceed. The tribe appeals the decision. Sept. 9 Less than an hour after Boasberg’s decision, the U.S. Justice and Interior Departments and Army makes an unprecedented move and orders a stop to construction near Lake Oahe until the Army Corps of Engineers reviews its previous decisions and decides if it needs to conduct a fuller environmental and cultural review. Sept. 13 Energy Transfer Partners tells employees in a letter, provided to media, that it is committed to completing the project, citing that the pipeline is 60 percent complete and that it has already spent $1.6 billion so far on equipment, materials and the workforce. Oct. 9 The U.S. Court of Appeals of the District of Columbia Circuit says an administrative injunction related to the emergency motion of the Standing Rock Tribe would be dissolved, citing that Dakota Access has rights to construct on private land up to Lake Oahe. Oct. 11 Environmental activists across four states disrupt the flow of millions of barrels of crude from Canada into the United States in a rare, coordinate action that targets several key pipelines simultaneously. The protest group, the Climate Direct Action, say their move is in support of the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe. As a safety precaution, companies operating the pipelines shut off sections of the lines for several hours while they investigate.  Oct. 25 Government-to-government tribal consultations begin across six regions on how federal government decision-making on infrastructure projects could better include tribal concerns. Nov. 8 Energy Transfer Partners says it has built the pipe to the edge of Lake Oahe and reiterates its intentions to complete the project. Nov. 9 Following the surprise victory of Donald Trump in the U.S. presidential election, climate activists and the Standing Rock Sioux say they still hope President Obama will be able to kill the pipeline definitively. Analysts say the line is more than likely to go through. Nov. 14 The U.S. government, in a joint notice issued by the Department of the Interior and the Army Corps of Engineers, delays a final decision on permitting. They say the permit had followed all legal requirements, but more consultation with Native American tribes is needed. Nov. 18 Energy Transfer Partners’ CEO Kelcy Warren tells the Associated Press that the pipeline would not be re-routed.  Nov. 20 About 400 activists gather on a bridge between the camp protest and the construction path; law enforcement officers respond by using tear gas and water cannons on them in freezing temperatures.  Nov. 26 The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers tells protesters they need to leave the Oceti Sakowin Camp, the primary protest camp located on federal land, by Dec. 5. They later say they have no plans to enforce this order. Nov. 28  North Dakota Governor Jack Dalrymple issues an evacuation order for the Oceti Sakowin camp, citing harsh weather on the way. Officials the next day tell Reuters they plan on blockading the camp so supplies cannot get in. They later back off that plan and say they may just issue fines, but retreat from that idea as well. Nov. 30 A group of U.S. veterans announce they will bring more than 2,000 service members to North Dakota to stand as human shields between the protesters and law enforcement. They begin arriving over the next several days. Dec. 4 The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers denies Energy Transfer Partners’ request for an easement to run under Lake Oahe, sparking a celebration amongst protesters. ETP says it will continue to fight for the line. The incoming Trump administration has said it supports Dakota Access, along with other pipeline projects. Jan. 18  The Army Corps says it will publish a notice in the Federal Register stating its intent to prepare an environmental impact statement for the easement at Lake Oahe. ETP files a motion asking a court to bar the action in an effort to move the pipeline forward. Jan. 24 President Trump, who previously owned stock in Energy Transfer Partners, signs an order aimed at moving the pipeline, along with an unrelated pipeline, Keystone XL, to go forward.

Summary: फैक्टबॉक्सः डकोटा एक्सेस पाइपलाइन की लंबी यात्रा