MANILA (Reuters) - As she announced in January 2016 that the Philippines would immunize one million children with a new dengue vaccine, the nation s then health secretary Janette Garin boasted it was a world-first and a tribute to her country s  expertise  in research. At the time, it seemed the Philippines could be on the cusp of a breakthrough to combat a potentially lethal tropical virus that had been endemic in large parts of the Southeast Asian nation for decades. Almost two years later, the program lies in tatters and has been suspended after Sanofi Pasteur, a division of French drug firm Sanofi, said at the end of last month the vaccine itself may in some cases increase the risk of severe dengue in recipients not previously infected by the virus. Documents reviewed by Reuters that have not been disclosed until now, as well as interviews with local experts, show that key recommendations made by a Philippines Department of Health (DOH) advisory body of doctors and pharmacologists were not heeded before the program was rolled out to 830,000 children. After Garin s announcement, the Formulary Executive Council (FEC) of advisers urged caution over the vaccine because it said its safety and cost-effectiveness had not been established. After twice meeting in January, the panel approved the state s purchase of the vaccine on Feb 1, 2016 but recommended stringent conditions, minutes of all three meetings show.  Based on the available scientific evidence presented to the Council, there is still a need to establish long-term safety, effectiveness and cost-effectiveness,  the FEC told Garin in a  letter on that day. The letter was reviewed by Reuters. The FEC said Dengvaxia should be introduced through small-scale pilot tests and phased implementation rather than across three regions in the country at the same time, and only after a detailed  baseline  study of the prevalence and strains of dengue in the targeted area, the FEC letter and minutes of the meetings said. The experts also recommended that Dengvaxia be bought in small batches so the price could be negotiated down. An economic evaluation report commissioned by Garin s own department had found the proposed cost of 1,000 pesos ($21.29) per dose was  not cost-effective  from a public payer perspective, the minutes from the meetings reveal.   For reasons that Reuters was unable to determine, these recommendations were ignored. The DOH purchased 3 million doses of Dengvaxia in one lot, enough for the required three vaccinations for each child in the proposed immunization program and paid 1,000 pesos per dose, a copy of the purchase order reviewed by Reuters shows. It did conduct a  limited baseline study  in late February and March 2016, but the survey looked at  common illnesses  rather than the prevalence of dengue, according to guidelines issued by Garin s office at the time and reviewed by Reuters. Garin, who was part of the government of former president Benigno Aquino and replaced when President Rodrigo Duterte took power in June, 2016, did not respond to requests for comment on why she ignored the local experts  recommendations. A physician, Garin has defended her conduct and a program that she said was  implemented in accordance with WHO guidance and recommendations .  I understand the concern,  she told Philippine TV station ABS-CBN on Friday.  Even us, we re also very angry when we learned about Sanofi s announcement about severe dengue. I m also a mother. My child was also vaccinated. I was also vaccinated.  DOH spokesman Lyndon Lee Suy also did not respond to text messages or questions emailed to him. Sanofi Philippines declined comment on the Philippines government decision. However, Dr. Su-Peing Ng, Global Medical Head of Sanofi Pasteur, told Reuters:  We communicated all known benefits and risks of the vaccine to the Philippines government.   Rontgene Solante, former president of the Philippines Society for Microbiology and Infectious Diseases, said health officials were motivated to end the debilitating impact of dengue on the Philippines, where there are about 200,000 reported cases each year and many more unreported. Over 1,000 people died of the disease in the country last year. Two months after the FEC wrote to the health secretary, the DOH began immunizing one million students around the age of 10 in all three target areas in April 2016, in accordance with its original plan but at odds with the FEC s recommendations to conduct a slow roll-out of the vaccine.   The usual process for the DOH that has protected our children for so many decades was not followed. That s a fact,  said Susan Mercado, a former Philippines health department undersecretary and former senior official at the World Health Organization (WHO). WHO said in April 2016 that the Philippines  campaign appeared to meet its criteria for using Dengvaxia because the targeted regions had high levels of dengue exposure; the vaccine would be provided to children 9 years and older; and they would each receive three doses. WHO was not involved in the deliberations of the FEC, according to the minutes. It said in a statement last week that a position paper on the dengue vaccine it published in July 2016 did not include a recommendation for countries to introduce it.  Now, after Sanofi s warnings, WHO has said it agrees with the government s decision to suspend the immunization program. The current secretary of health in the Duterte administration, Francisco Duque, said he would carry out a  thorough analysis  of the FEC s recommendations and the program before passing judgment. He said the Council s recommendations were not legally enforceable.  At the end of the day, the final decision is made by (the)secretary of health,  he told Reuters.  But because of the expertise that the members of the FEC have, it is something that you don t want to ignore.  Underpinning the concerns in 2016 about Dengvaxia, since confirmed by Sanofi, were fears that the vaccine would act like a primary infection for those who had never had dengue. If they were bitten by a mosquito carrying the virus after the vaccination, it could be akin to getting dengue a second time, which often leads to far more severe symptoms and potentially death if bad cases are not treated quickly. The concerns were first raised by noted U.S.-based tropical disease expert, Dr. Scott Halstead, who urged both Sanofi and the WHO to proceed with caution. In the Philippines, Dr. Antonio Dans, an epidemiologist from the University of the Philippines, led a delegation of physicians to the DOH in March 2016 where, citing Halstead s research, they pressed for the campaign to be aborted.  The data was not definitive but it was clear there were uncertainties and risks. Why not wait for the complete studies to be finished before endangering so many children?  Dans told  Reuters. In a Senate hearing late last year, Garin said she was aware of Halstead s assessment but dismissed it.  This is a theory ... it has not been proven,  she said at the time. Two sources involved in the program said no antibody testing was undertaken, as recommended by the FEC.  Antibody testing, while not 100 percent accurate, indicates whether an individual has had dengue before. Duque, the current health secretary, is demanding the company refund the 3 billion pesos ($60 million) paid for the vaccinations and has threatened legal action against Sanofi if it is proven to have withheld information. A criminal probe is underway into how a danger to public health came about and two Congressional inquiries have been convened in the Philippines. Duque told Reuters he was concerned that the program was paid from an  off-budget  allocation, meaning it bypassed Congressional scrutiny. Reuters was unable to confirm this. Until now, one child out of the 830,000 vaccinated, a girl who was hospitalized with severe dengue, has been linked definitively by the DOH to the campaign. But the department of health says it still does not have complete data on those who fell ill after taking Dengvaxia.

Summary: एक्सक्लूसिवः फिलीपींस ने डेंगू टीकाकरण कार्यक्रम को आगे बढ़ाने में विशेषज्ञों की सलाह की अवहेलना की


WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump on Wednesday rejected criticism of his campaign tactics, in a wide-ranging speech defending his team’s use of a Jewish star and his own praise of the late Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein. At a campaign rally in Cincinnati, Ohio, Trump vented his frustration at a news media he feels is out to derail his candidacy and help Democratic rival Hillary Clinton, deriding CNN, in particular, as the “Clinton News Network.” Trump’s hour-long performance was unlikely to reassure those Republicans who would like to see the New York businessman focus his message on attacking Clinton to rally the party behind him at the Cleveland convention from July 18 to 21 where he is to be formally nominated. He was particularly animated in defending his campaign’s use of what was seen to be a Jewish star in a tweet last week that described Clinton as corrupt. The star was replaced with a round emblem after the criticism, but the incident has generated days of controversy. Trump said he thought the star was more the shape of a sheriff’s badge. He described as “sick people” those in the news media who called it a Jewish Star of David. Later, Trump tweeted an image of character from a book linked to Disney’s movie, “Frozen”, that used a similarly shaped star on its cover. “Where is the outrage for this Disney book? Is this the ‘Star of David’ also? Dishonest media! #Frozen,” he tweeted. In his Ohio speech, Trump also returned to the subject of Saddam after generating controversy on Tuesday by complimenting him for his handling of militants. Irritated by the criticism, Trump brought up Saddam again. “So I said bad guy, really bad guy, but he was good at one thing: Killing terrorists… I don’t love Saddam Hussein. I hate Saddam Hussein. But he was damned good at killing terrorists,” Trump said. Trump also reacted to a mosquito that buzzed near his hand at the podium. “I don’t like mosquitoes, I never did. Speaking of mosquitoes, hello Hillary, how are you doing?” he said.

Summary: चुनाव प्रचार के दौरान ट्रंप ने मीडिया की आलोचनाओं को किया खारिज


WARSAW (Reuters) - Poland said on Monday that the legislative process overhauling  its judiciary is in line with European standards and called the European Commission s concerns about rule of law in the country groundless. On July 26, the Commission said it would launch legal action against Poland over the reforms and gave Warsaw a month to respond to concerns that the process undermines the independence of judges and breaks EU rules. Last month, Polish President Andrzej Duda signed into a law a bill giving the justice minister the power to replace heads of ordinary courts, but after mass street protests blocked two other bills. The vetoed bills would have empowered the government and parliament to replace Supreme Court judges and most members of a high-level judicial panel.  In response ... the Polish side emphasized that the legislative process which has the primary goal of reforming the justice system is in line with European standards and answers  social expectations that have been growing for years, therefore the Commission s doubts are groundless,  the foreign ministry said in a statement. The ministry also said that  in the spirit of loyal cooperation  it has provided the European Commission with all necessary information on the situation in Poland.  Poland s right-wing, eurosceptic government says the reforms are needed to streamline a slow, outdated legal system and make judges more accountable to the people. It has already tightened control of state media and took steps that critics said politicized the constitutional court.

Summary: पोलैंड ने यूरोपीय संघ को यूरोपीय संघ के मानकों के अनुरूप न्यायपालिका में सुधार करने के लिए कहा


WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Democratic presidential front-runner Hillary Clinton praised Supreme Court nominee Judge Merrick Garland on Wednesday and called on the Republican majority U.S. Senate to begin considering his confirmation immediately. “Evaluating and confirming a Justice to sit on this nation’s highest court should not be an exercise in political brinkmanship and partisan posturing,” Clinton, a former U.S. Secretary of State in President Barack Obama’s administration, said in a statement. Clinton said that the responsibility of the Senate does not depend on the “party affiliation of a sitting president” and “it should begin that work immediately by giving Judge Garland a full and fair hearing followed by a vote.”

Summary: क्लिंटनः सीनेट को ओबामा के उच्च न्यायालय के चयन पर 'तुरंत' विचार करना चाहिए


WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Congressional Democrats on Tuesday tried but failed to pressure Republicans into seeking President Donald Trump’s tax returns, saying the scandal over Michael Flynn made it imperative to find out whether the president has business ties to Russia. A day after the Republican chairman of the House of Representatives Ways and Means Committee dismissed the idea, the panel’s Democrats proposed an amendment demanding that the committee ask the Treasury Department for copies of Trump’s returns by March 1. “Unless this amendment is adopted, we will never see the president’s tax returns while he’s in office,” Representative Sander Levin, a Michigan Democrat, told committee Chairman Kevin Brady at a public hearing.  “Before you stonewall this, I urge you to think twice,” Levin added. “You’ll only keep the issue... alive. Brady strongly rejected the request as an abuse of the committee’s authority. Minutes later, committee rejected the amendment along party lines in a 23-15 vote. The vote represents only the latest skirmish between Republicans and Democrats in Congress over whether lawmakers should review Trump’s tax returns, which critics say would help determine whether the president’s sprawling business empire poses any conflicts of interest. House Democratic aides say the political battle will continue. The resignation of National Security Adviser Michael Flynn on Monday intensified Democratic interest in the documents, with one lawmaker warning about the potential danger of blackmail.   Representative Bill Pascrell, a New Jersey Democrat, issued the first request for Trump’s returns in a Feb. 1 letter that Brady rejected on Monday. Experts say federal law authorizes the House Ways and Means Committee, the Senate Finance Committee and the Joint Committee on Taxation to examine individual tax returns. The two other panels are headed by Senator Orrin Hatch, a Utah Republican who dismissed the idea of seeking Trump’s returns last week. House Republicans contend that the authority to examine tax returns was meant to ensure the proper administration of the tax code. Democrats contend that Trump’s business empire involves state-owned enterprises in China and the United Arab Emirates, as well as other interests in Russia, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, Taiwan and the Philippines.

Summary: हाउस डेमोक्रेट्स ने ट्रम्प टैक्स रिटर्न प्राप्त करने के प्रयास तेज किए


WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Thursday vowed to work with whomever replaces President Barack Obama when his term ends in January following the U.S. presidential election in November. “The relationship, the friendship between our two countries  goes far beyond any two individuals or any ideology. I have tremendous confidence in the American people and look forward to working with whomever they chose to send to this White House later this year,” said Trudeau, speaking at a White House press conference alongside Obama, a Democrat.

Summary: कनाडा के ट्रूडो ने कहा कि वे अगले अमेरिकी राष्ट्रपति के साथ काम करेंगे


WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The chairman of the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee said on Monday he would block arms sales to Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and other members of the Gulf Cooperation Council pending progress in resolving a simmering dispute with Qatar. “All countries in the region need to do more to combat terrorism, but recent disputes among the GCC countries only serve to hurt efforts to fight ISIS and counter Iran,” Republican Senator Bob Corker wrote in a letter to Secretary of State Rex Tillerson.  His action could increase pressure on members of the Gulf Cooperation Council to settle the crisis. The GCC groups Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Bahrain and Oman.  Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates imposed a boycott on Qatar, their tiny but wealthy neighbor, on June 5, accusing it of supporting terrorism. They have sent it 13 demands including closing al Jazeera television, curbing relations with Iran, and paying reparations. Under U.S. law, major foreign U.S. arms sales are submitted for review to a small group of lawmakers, including the chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee, before they can go ahead. Trump considered Corker as a potential vice president and secretary of state, and he works closely with the White House. The administration would be unlikely to ignore his resistance to the arms sales, and U.S. officials said they considered his statement part of a broader effort to solve the Qatar crisis. A State Department official noted that Tillerson called on Sunday for the countries involved to sit down together and discuss ways forward. The official declined comment on arms sales beyond saying the department remains committed to working with lawmakers. It was not immediately clear what sales would be affected. Trump has announced billions of dollars in arms sales since taking office in January. He sees weapons sales as a way to create jobs in the United States. A Corker aide said his action would not affect sales that had already been reviewed by Congress or non-lethal assistance, including training. One sale already cleared by Congress was for up to $350 billion in precision-guided munitions and other offensive weapons to Saudi Arabia. In his letter, Corker said he was pleased with Trump’s recent trip to Saudi Arabia, which included a GCC summit.  “Unfortunately, the GCC did not take advantage of the summit and instead chose to devolve into conflict,” Corker wrote.

Summary: कतर संकट पर हथियारों की बिक्री पर रोक लगाएंगे रिपब्लिकन सीनेटर


WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama’s Supreme Court selection Merrick Garland on Tuesday resumed meetings with senators in a push to convince Republicans who have vowed to block the nomination to reverse course and hold confirmation hearings this year. “It’s crystal clear after talking to him that Judge Garland has both a brilliant legal mind and a heart of gold,” New York Senator Chuck Schumer, the Senate’s second-ranking Democrat, told reporters after huddling with the nominee. Those qualities, Schumer predicted, will convince Republicans to launch the confirmation process required to elevate Garland, an appellate judge and former prosecutor, to the Supreme Court. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, backed by most of his fellow Republicans, has insisted the Supreme Court vacancy resulting from conservative Justice Antonin Scalia’s Feb. 13 death be filled by whomever succeeds Obama next January after the Nov. 8 presidential election. Garland on Tuesday also met with Senator Robert Casey in the Pennsylvania Democrat’s office, and will continue a string of “courtesy calls” with Democrats. “I hope that if we can stay at it, maybe we will get a breakthrough where folks (Republicans) will be willing not just to meet but to actually cast a vote” on Garland, Casey told reporters after the meeting. Garland will hold private sessions with the relatively small number of the Senate’s 54 Republicans who have agreed to meet him. McConnell has pledged to prevent any Senate floor vote on confirming Garland and opposes Judiciary Committee hearings. Garland, while considered a centrist, could tilt the Supreme Court to the left for the first time in decades. Following Tuesday’s bombings in Brussels that killed at least 30 people, Schumer noted Garland led the U.S. government’s prosecution of the two men convicted in the 1995 Oklahoma City federal building bombing that killed 168 people. “As someone who lives in New York who has experienced the horrors of terrorism close up and personal, the idea of having someone on the Supreme Court who understands those issues, as well as their horrible human effect, is very comforting,” Schumer said. If the Senate does not act on Garland, the court vacancy could remain unfilled at least until the early months of next year, leaving it divided between four liberal justices and four conservatives. That creates the possibility of 4-4 split decisions, the first of which came on Tuesday and left in place a lower court ruling that two women could not sue a bank for loan discrimination.

Summary: ओबामा उच्च न्यायालय के उम्मीदवार ने सीनेट की बैठकों को आगे बढ़ाया


JERUSALEM (Reuters) - The Israeli military said it attacked a Hamas training compound in Gaza on Monday in response to rocket strikes from the Palestinian enclave, which have surged since U.S. President Donald Trump recognized Jerusalem as Israel s capital on Dec 6. Neither side reported any casualties in the overnight shelling exchange, which occurred days before U.S. Vice President Mike Pence visits Israel and neighboring Egypt, which also borders Gaza and is involved in its internal politics. Militants in Gaza, territory controlled by the Hamas Islamist group, have launched more than a dozen rockets into southern Israel over the last two weeks, the most intensive attacks since a seven-week-long Gaza war in 2014. Two rockets were fired late on Sunday, one of them exploding inside an Israeli border community and the other hitting an open area, the military said. Another rocket launched early on Monday fell short inside Gaza, it said. Three structures in a Hamas training camp were hit in the Israeli counter-strike, the military said. Hamas usually evacuates such facilities when tensions rise, and Israel s choice of the low-profile target appeared to signal a desire to avoid more serious confrontation with the group.  Israel does not seek escalation,  Justice Minister Ayelet Shaked said on Army Radio. But Zeev Elkin, another member of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu s security cabinet, said in an interview with the radio station that Israel s military response would  have to be harshened  if the rocket fire did not stop. Israeli officials have blamed the fire on smaller militant groups in Gaza and called on Hamas to rein them in. Should Hamas fail to do so, both Shaked and Elkin said, Israel could eventually target the group s leadership for attack.

Summary: फलस्तीनी रॉकेट हमलों के बाद इजरायल ने गाजा में हमास के ठिकानों पर हमला किया


VIENNA (Reuters) - Austria s parliamentary election on Sunday involves three large parties polling above 20 percent and a host of smaller parties that polls show on roughly 6 percent or less, with 4 percent being the threshold for obtaining seats. The frontrunner, the conservative People s Party, has been polling on roughly a third of the vote, and it is highly unlikely any party will obtain a majority. The winner will probably need to form a coalition with another large party to govern. Below are policies of the three biggest parties in parliament, taken mainly from their campaign programs.  PEOPLE S PARTY (Conservative, junior coalition partner) Leader: Foreign Minister Sebastian Kurz Slogans: Now. Or Never!; This time, Kurz; Time for something new. * Total tax cuts and extra spending of between 11.7 billion and 12.7 billion euros     * Cut income tax on annual earnings up to 60,000 euros * Overhaul corporation tax so that retained profits are not taxed * Cap basic welfare at 540 euros a month for refugees, below the standard amount of roughly 830-924 euros, to end after five years if that person has had a full-time job for 12 months * Bar foreigners from receiving social benefits until they have lived in Austria legally for five years, with the above exception for refugees  * Cap average increases in public spending at the inflation rate * A 1,500 euro  tax bonus  (reduction in income tax) per child * Cut social charges paid by employers by 3 billion euros * Within the European Union, push for: - The EU to focus on  core competences , especially trade and securing external borders - Streamlined structures and a smaller Commission - The Commission s president to be directly elected * Oppose introducing wealth or inheritance taxes  * Introduce a minimum wage of 1,500 euros a month  * Increase the number of referendums, setting aside one to two days a year on which they can be held SOCIAL DEMOCRATS (Centre left, senior coalition partner) Leader: Chancellor Christian Kern Slogan: Get what you re entitled to * Total tax cuts of 5.4 billion euros and spending increases of 4.4 billion euros * Introduce a minimum wage of 1,500 euros a month net of tax * Introduce a tax on inheritances of more than 1 billion euros to fund elderly care    * Reduce workers  income tax and employers  social charges  * Hire 5,000 more teachers and put 2,500 more police officers  on the streets  * Prevent  a sell-off of Austrian high technology  and review takeovers of strategically important companies by firms from outside the European Union * Obtain permission under EU rules to give workers already living in Austria priority for jobs in sectors with high unemployment * Back  the rapid completion of (European) economic and monetary union . * Support the establishment of a common European asylum system     FREEDOM PARTY (Far right, anti-immigration, in opposition) Leader: Heinz-Christian Strache Slogan: Austrians deserve fairness * 12 billion euros in tax cuts, to benefit primarily  Those who make a contribution and families  *  A tax model that leads to a smaller tax burden for those who have more children  * Raise the minimum pension to 1,200 euros a month for people who have paid in for 40 years or more (from 1,000 euros) * Shut certain sectors of the economy to non-EU workers * Introduce a monthly minimum wage of 1,500 euros gross with no added  burden  to employers * Bar foreigners from receiving social benefits until they have paid into the system for at least five years * Hire more police and increase the defense budget  massively  * Limit the proportion of foreign pupils per classroom  * Tougher sentences for sexual and violent crimes * Deport foreign convicts to their home countries * Strip former jihadists of their Austrian citizenship  * Push for Brussels to hand more powers back to member states * Review the European Convention on Human Rights and potentially replace it with an  Austrian Convention on Human Rights * Increase direct democracy based on the Swiss model, and make  veto referendums  possible to block parliamentary legislation

Summary: फैक्टबॉक्सः रविवार के चुनाव में ऑस्ट्रिया के मुख्य दलों की नीतियाँ


WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Aides to U.S. President Donald Trump on Sunday attacked the credibility of the nonpartisan agency that will analyze the costs of a replacement for Obamacare, as the White House sought to quell opposition from many conservative Republicans. The Congressional Budget Office, which provides official estimates of the budget impact of proposed legislation, is expected to issue a report as soon as Monday that will assess the healthcare legislation put forward by Republican House of Representatives leaders. The report could influence sentiment toward a bill already under fire from Democrats and some Republicans, especially if it suggests the legislation would reduce the number of Americans with health coverage or worsen U.S. budget deficits. Republicans have long opposed Obamacare, formally called the Affordable Care Act, on the grounds it was government overreach and led to higher insurance premiums. The 2010 law, Democratic President Barack Obama’s signature legislation, provided 20 million previously uninsured Americans with health coverage. Trump has called Obamacare a “disaster” and made its repeal and replacement a key campaign pledge. Several Republican lawmakers said on Sunday the replacement bill was unacceptable in its current form, including  conservative Senator Tom Cotton of Arkansas, who said the plan could not pass the Senate and could put the Republican House majority at risk in 2018 congressional elections. “I believe it would have adverse consequences for millions of Americans and it wouldn’t deliver on our promises to reduce the cost of health insurance for Americans,” Cotton said. In a series of television interviews, White House budget director Mick Mulvaney and top White House economic adviser    Gary Cohn said the CBO was focusing on the wrong metrics with the estimates it will provide on the number of people who are insured. Cohn and Mulvaney said the CBO should instead should analyze whether patients can actually afford to go to a doctor. “I love the folks at the CBO, they work really hard, they do, but sometimes we ask them to do stuff they’re not capable of doing, and estimating the impact of a bill of this size probably isn’t the - isn’t the best use of their time,” Mulvaney told ABC’s “This Week” program. Speaking on Fox News, Gary Cohn, director of the White House National Economic Council, said: “We will see what the score is, in fact in the past, the CBO score has really been meaningless.”  “They’ve said that many more people will be insured than are actually insured. But when we get the CBO score, we’ll deal with that,” Cohn said. The Trump administration’s criticisms of the CBO are unusual. Prior administrations, both Republican and Democratic, steered clear of attacking the credibility of the agency, which many lawmakers regard as a neutral arbiter. The CBO’s current director, Keith Hall, was appointed by Republicans in 2015. The credit rating agency Standard & Poor’s has estimated 6 million to 10 million people could lose health insurance coverage under the Republican plan. Senator Bernie Sanders, who ran for president in 2016 as a Democrat, said it was “cowardly” for Republicans to proceed with a healthcare bill without CBO estimates, telling CBS’ Face the Nation show: “This is a disgrace.” In recent weeks, Trump administration officials and Republican lawmakers have criticized what they said were overly optimistic estimates from the CBO of the number of Americans who would sign up for health insurance on government-run exchanges. The CBO estimated in 2013 that 22 million people would be purchasing insurance through the exchanges in 2016. Only 10.4 million were signed up for those plans by the middle of last year, according to Department of Health and Human Services data. The House Republican legislation would scrap tax penalties for Americans without health insurance, roll back an expansion of Medicaid insurance for the poor, and replace Obamacare’s income-based subsidies with a system of fixed tax credits to help people buy private insurance on the open market. Cohn also disputed the notion that millions of people on  Medicaid would become uninsured as Obamacare’s expansion of the program is rolled back over a period of years. He said many of these people would be transitioned into new private and employer-sponsored plans that would become more affordable under the Republican plan. House Speaker Paul Ryan, the Republican plan’s top backer in Congress, said he was “certain” the CBO would show a reduction in the number of Americans with coverage. “You know why? Because this isn’t a government mandate,” Ryan told NBC’s Meet the Press. Conservative Republicans said, however, they could not support the plan without significant changes. Republican Representative Jim Jordan of Ohio, a founder of the conservative House Freedom Caucus, said it did not go far enough to meet Republicans’ promise to kill Obamacare. “We told them we were going to replace it with something that would bring down the cost of insurance. That’s what we told them,” Jordan told Fox News Sunday. “This legislation that the speaker’s brought forward doesn’t do that.”

Summary: स्वास्थ्य बिल की लागत का विश्लेषण करने वाली एजेंसी पर हमला करने में ट्रम्प की सहायता


TRIPOLI (Reuters) - Libya’s U.N.-backed government has criticized U.S. President Donald Trump’s temporary ban on its nationals and those of six other countries entering the United States, which put in question attendance at a high-profile conference on Libya planned in Washington for mid-February.   The executive order by Trump comes at a time of uncertainty over U.S. policy in Libya, which remains mired in the chaos that followed the NATO-backed 2011 uprising against long-time leader Muammar Gaddafi. The U.N.-backed Government of National Accord (GNA), was strongly supported by former U.S. President Barack Obama’s administration, but has struggled to assert its authority in Tripoli and beyond.  Factions in eastern Libya aligned with a rival government and with powerful military commander Khalifa Haftar welcomed Trump’s election, hoping for more support for their anti-Islamist stance. Trump’s travel ban has angered some Libyans, including students studying or planning to study in the United States. GNA Foreign Minister Mohammed Siyala called it an “unjust decision” that should be reviewed.  “These actions represent racial discrimination on the basis of religion and are incompatible with human rights,” he told local TV station Libya’s Channel.  Authorities in eastern Libya declined to comment on the ban for days. A spokesman for the eastern-based government said on Wednesday however the order “could not be rejected”, given Libya’s own institutional confusion. A member of the eastern parliament, Youssef al-Fakhri, said that despite Libya’s political and security problems, the measure was “not appropriate”.  The order appeared to put in jeopardy the participation of Libyans invited to a Feb. 16 conference titled “Libya-U.S. Relations 2017: New Vision, Hope and Opportunities”.  The event, co-hosted by the National Council on U.S.-Libya Relations, lists Libyan speakers including two former prime ministers and the head of the National Oil Corporation (NOC). Several speakers are loyal to or connected with eastern-based factions. “We are clearly concerned with the risk of denial of entrance to some of our key speakers and participants from Libya,” Hani Shennib, the council’s president, said in an email. “However, we are working diligently with authorities here in the USA and we are hopeful that a resolution to facilitate  entrance of our conference participants will [be] present in the next 2-3 days.” A GNA spokesman, Ashraf al-Tulti, told Reuters Libya’s foreign ministry would request exceptions from the U.S. Department of State for Libyan attendees.  Exceptions to the travel ban can be made on a case by case basis, and diplomatic visas are exempt. Tulti, who was invited to attend the Washington conference and holds a diplomatic passport, said he was still waiting for a visa. One Libyan speaker said she had a visa, but was still investigating whether she would be able to attend. Under the order released on Friday, travelers from Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen are banned from entering the United States for at least 90 days. Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly said some countries “may not be taken off the list anytime soon, if they are countries that are in various states of collapse”.

Summary: लीबिया के अधिकारियों ने अमेरिकी यात्रा प्रतिबंध की आलोचना की, फरवरी सम्मेलन पर संदेह


MUMBAI (Reuters) - A rush hour stampede killed at least 22 people and wounded 36 on Friday during a sudden monsoon downpour at a busy railway station in India s commercial hub of Mumbai, government and emergency officials said. India has the world s fourth biggest rail network, but it is grappling with underinvestment and overcrowding, especially in the city of 20 million where rail accidents have killed more than 3,000 people in each of the last three years.    The cause of the stampede on a tiny bridge at the central Elphinstone Road station was being investigated, a police official at the accident site said.  Some of the injured are in serious condition,  Deepak Sawant, the health minister of the western state of Maharashtra of which Mumbai is the capital, said at a hospital where the injured were taken. The stampede, at a station recently renamed Prabhadevi, took place after the cloudburst caught commuters off guard, sending scores scurrying for cover under a pedestrian overbridge, said Akash Koteja, one of those injured.      Trains were rolling in and some people wanted to get out of the station, but others were not making way. When a few tried, it led to a stampede,  Koteja added. The bridge is usually crowded at that time of day, as it also provides an exit route for passengers disembarking at an adjoining railway station, he added. Manish Mishra, a witness who helped some of the injured, said the situation was worsened as officials did not respond immediately, or take steps to control the crowd. Emergency officials responded rapidly, state officials said, however.  Immediately after the incident, rail, police and hospital authorities rushed to provide treatment to those injured,  state minister Vinod Tawde told reporters.     Railways Minister Piyush Goyal, who was on a visit to Mumbai, has ordered an enquiry into the incident led by a top railway safety official, he said on social network Twitter. Over the last two months, Mumbai has reeled from devastation caused by heavy seasonal monsoon rains. Last month a deluge killed 14 people, wrecked homes and caused chaos. Torrential rain was also blamed for the collapse of a 117-year-old building that killed 34 people, and water-logging last week that disrupted flights after a passenger jet overshot a runway.   Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Finance Minister Arun Jaitley sent Twitter condolence messages to stampede victims  families. Hundreds of social media users angered by the event questioned the government s priorities, targeting Modi s ambitious $17-billion plan for a bullet train to link Mumbai with Ahmedabad in neighboring Gujarat state. Many tweets urged the government to fund basic rail upgrades instead.

Summary: भारत की वित्तीय राजधानी में भगदड़ में कम से कम 22 लोगों की मौत


JUBA (Reuters) - At least 45 people have died in fighting between ethnic groups in South Sudan s northern state of Western Lakes, a local official said, in a new source of violence in a country already devastated by a four-year civil war. Shadrack Bol Maachok, the state s information minister, said the clashes in Malek county started after a group of young people from the Ruop ethnic group attacked rival youth from the Pakam tribe on Wednesday and Thursday. Early on Friday, the Pakam fighters launched a revenge assault on the Ruop, with the fighting still raging late into the day.  It was a very heavy fighting, it has left more than 45 people dead and many injured,  he said. The death toll is likely to climb as the area is remote and officials are still trying to gather information on the incident, he said. In the clashes, houses were burned down and properties destroyed, Maachok said, adding that South Sudan s military, SPLA, had deployed troops from the state capital Rumbek to try to stop the violence. The UN mission in South Sudan UNMISS estimated the death toll at more than 50 and said it had dispatched a military patrol to the area to establish the level of destruction and the impact on civilians.  We hope to engage the leaders of the fighting parties to press the need to refrain from revenge attacks. We will also intensify patrols to deter further violence,  UNMISS said. South Sudan was plunged into war in 2013 after a political disagreement between President Salva Kiir and his former vice president Riek Machar escalated into a military confrontation. The fighting has killed tens of thousands, uprooted about a quarter of the country s population of 12 million people and left its small, oil-dependant economy moribund. Violence between rival communities is common in parts of South Sudan, often triggered by quarrels over scarce grazing land and cultural and political grievances. But the death toll is rarely large. The minister said this week s skirmishes stemmed from disputes dating back to 2013 but it was not clear what exactly sparked the grievances.

Summary: दक्षिण सूडान में जातीय लड़ाई में कम से कम 45 लोगों की मौतः अधिकारी


UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - The United States wants the United Nations Security Council to impose an oil embargo on North Korea, ban the country s exports of textiles and the hiring of North Korean laborers abroad, and subject leader Kim Jong Un to an asset freeze and travel ban, according to a draft resolution seen by Reuters on Wednesday. The U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, Nikki Haley, has said she wants the 15-member council to vote on Monday on the draft resolution to impose new sanctions over North Korea s sixth and largest nuclear test. However, Russia s U.N. Ambassador Vassily Nebenzia has said a Monday vote may be  a little premature.  It was not immediately clear if the draft resolution had the support of North Korean ally China. Russian President Vladimir Putin insisted on Wednesday that resolving the North Korean nuclear crisis was impossible with sanctions and pressure alone. A U.N. resolution needs nine votes in favor and no vetoes by the United States, Britain, France, Russia or China to pass. U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said on Wednesday that if the Security Council did not act, he had an executive order prepared to send to President Donald Trump that would  authorize me to stop doing trade and put sanctions on anybody that does trade with North Korea.   The president will consider that at the appropriate time once he gives the U.N. time to act,  Mnuchin told reporters.  Since 2006, the Security Council has unanimously adopted eight resolutions ratcheting up sanctions on North Korea over its ballistic missile and nuclear programs. Haley said the incremental approach had not worked and a diplomatic solution could only be reached by imposing the strongest sanctions. The new draft U.N. resolution would ban exports to North Korea of crude oil, condensate, refined petroleum products and natural gas liquids. China supplies most of North Korea s crude. According to South Korean data, Beijing supplies roughly 500,000 tonnes of crude oil annually. It also exports 200,000 tonnes of oil products, according to U.N. data. Russia s exports of crude oil to North Korea are about 40,000 tonnes a year. The Security Council last month imposed new sanctions over North Korea s two long-range missile launches in July. The Aug. 5 resolution aimed to slash by a third Pyongyang s $3 billion annual export revenue by banning coal, iron, lead and seafood. The new draft resolution would remove an exception for transshipments of Russian coal via the North Korean port of Rajin. In 2013 Russia reopened a railway link with North Korea, from the Russian eastern border town of Khasan to Rajin, to export coal and import goods from South Korea and elsewhere. The Aug. 5 resolution capped the number of North Koreans working abroad at the current level. The new draft resolution would impose a complete ban on the hiring and payment of North Korean laborers abroad. Some diplomats estimate that between 60,000 and 100,000 North Koreans work abroad. A U.N. human rights investigator said in 2015 that North Korea was forcing more than 50,000 people to work abroad, mainly in Russia and China, earning between $1.2 billion and $2.3 billion a year. The wages of workers sent abroad provide foreign currency for the Pyongyang government. The draft resolution would ban textiles, which were North Korea s second-biggest export after coal and other minerals in 2016, totaling $752 million, according to data from the Korea Trade-Investment Promotion Agency (KOTRA). Nearly 80 percent of the textile exports went to China. The assets of military-controlled airline Air Koryo would be frozen if the draft resolution is adopted. It flies to Beijing and a few other cities in China, including Dandong, the main transit point for trade between the two countries. It also flies to Vladivostok in Russia. Along with blacklisting North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, the draft resolution would impose a travel ban and asset freeze on four other senior North Korean officials. The Worker s Party of Korea and the government of North Korea would also be subjected to an asset freeze. The draft resolution would allow states to intercept and inspect on the high seas vessels that have been blacklisted by the Security Council. Currently nearly two dozen vessels are listed and the new draft text would add another nine ships. The draft resolution does not contain any new language on the political track. It again reaffirms council support and calls for a resumption of talks between North Korea, the United States, South Korea, China, Japan and Russia. China and Russia have been pushing their proposal to kick-start talks with a joint suspension of North Korea s ballistic missile and nuclear programs and the military exercises by the United States and South Korea. Haley has dismissed the suggestion as  insulting.

Summary: संयुक्त राष्ट्र ने उत्तर कोरिया के तेल प्रतिबंध, कपड़ा निर्यात प्रतिबंध के लिए अमेरिकी दबाव पर विचार किया


LONDON (Reuters) - Prime Minister Theresa May faced a backlash on Wednesday from prominent supporters of Brexit after reports that she is ready to pay much of what the European Union is demanding to settle the country s  divorce bill  to leave the bloc. The Daily Telegraph newspaper said the net bill would total 45 billion to 55 billion pounds ($53 billion to $65 billion). A government official cast doubt on those numbers and the European Commission declined to comment, but there is a growing expectation that the sides will clinch a deal on cash. Veteran Brexit campaigner Nigel Farage said Britain should walk away from the talks rather than offer such huge sums.  This is a complete sell-out that is not in our national interest,  said Farage, a former leader of the UK Independence Party (UKIP) who played a big role in the 2016 referendum in which 52 percent of Britons voted to leave the EU.  The British prime minister needs to say:  Look, either start to behave reasonably, either start to behave in a grown-up way, or ... we are walking away ,  Farage, who remains a member of the European Parliament, told Reuters. Many businesses and investors fear such an approach, leading to a  disorderly Brexit , would spook financial markets, sow legal chaos and badly harm the British and EU economies by disrupting trade ties and cross-border supply chains. Farage and pro-Brexit entrepreneurs such as billionaire Peter Hargreaves say Britain can prosper outside the EU and what they see as its onerous rules and regulations. Britain, which is due to leave in March 2019, hopes to persuade EU leaders next month that the sides have made enough progress on three key issues - the rights of EU citizens living in the UK, the exit bill and the land border with Ireland - to be able to move on to talks on a post-Brexit trade relationship. Hardline Brexit supporters in May s ruling Conservative Party have been fairly muted in recent weeks on the money issue, with British media saying the cabinet had swung behind her plans to pay more in the exit bill. On Wednesday Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson, one of the leaders of the 2016  Leave  campaign, said it was  time to get the ship off the rocks .  But Hargreaves, the second biggest donor to last year s Leave campaign, denounced the government s handling of Brexit talks, saying they showed no understanding of the sums involved.  We ought to say to the EU:  Thank you very much, we are never going to get a deal, goodbye  and we are gone, lock stock and barrel, and carry on trading as before,  Hargreaves said. Farage dismissed calls by some opponents of Brexit such as former prime minister Tony Blair that British voters might change their mind about leaving the EU.  The revolution of 2016 is still rolling,  he said.  The European Union project is in deep trouble and it s only a matter of time until it ends.  The EU s supporters say it has helped to cement peace, prosperity and stability across a continent historically ravaged by wars. Farage s opponents see him and his party - now riven by divisions and with no lawmakers in the British parliament - as dangerous populists who misled voters about the true costs of Brexit. ($1 = 0.8433 euros) (Adds information in signoff field)

Summary: ब्रेक्सिट प्रचारकों ने मई पर तलाक विधेयक को लेकर ब्रिटेन को छोटा बेचने का आरोप लगाया


WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump intends to nominate Nathan Sales, a former Homeland Security official, as State Department’s coordinator for counterterrorism, the White House said on Friday. Sales is a professor at Syracuse University College of Law, and previously served as deputy assistant secretary for policy at the Department of Homeland Security and as senior counsel in the Office of Legal Policy at the Department of Justice, the White House said in a statement.

Summary: नाथन सेल्स को आतंकवाद रोधी समन्वयक के रूप में नामित करेंगे ट्रम्पः व्हाइट हाउस


WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump has decided to remove Anthony Scaramucci from his job as communications director, the New York Times reported on Monday, citing three unidentified people close to the decision. News of Scaramucci’s removal came hours after Trump swore in a new chief of staff, retired General John Kelly. Politico reported the dismissal came at Kelly’s request, citing two unidentified White House officials.

Summary: ट्रंप ने संचार निदेशक के पद से स्कारामुची को हटायाः न्यूयॉर्क टाइम्स


WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A joint project of Boeing Co and Textron Inc unit Bell Helicopter is being awarded a $545 million modification to a previously awarded U.S. defense contract, the Pentagon said. The modification provides for the manufacture of four MV-22 tilt rotor aircraft for the government of Japan, the Pentagon said in a statement.

Summary: बेल-बोइंग ने 54.5 करोड़ डॉलर का अमेरिकी रक्षा अनुबंध जीताः पेंटागन


WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The chairman of the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee, which oversees the confirmation of foreign service nominees, said on Wednesday it was “highly unlikely” that an ambassador to Cuba would be approved this year. President Barack Obama on Tuesday nominated career diplomat Jeffrey DeLaurentis to be the first U.S. ambassador to Cuba in more than five decades. “The committee was notified of the nomination yesterday but has not yet received the appropriate paperwork to begin its work,” Republican Senator Bob Corker said in a statement emailed to Reuters. “However, it is highly unlikely that an ambassador to Cuba would be approved in the lame-duck.” The appointment of DeLaurentis, the top American official at the U.S. embassy in Havana, marked Obama’s latest move to go as far as he can in normalizing ties between the former Cold War foes before he leaves office in January. But the nomination must be approved by the Republican-controlled Senate, which is seen as a long shot. Corker’s committee would have to hold a confirmation hearing for DeLaurentis and vote to approve his nomination before it would go to the full Senate, where it could be blocked by any senator. Many lawmakers have warmly embraced Obama’s moves toward more normal relations with Cuba, which became public in a shock announcement in December 2014. But several strongly oppose his efforts, arguing that Cuba must do far more to improve human rights before it can deal normally with the United States. Cuban-American senators such as Republicans Marco Rubio and Ted Cruz and Democrat Robert Menendez are particularly opposed to Obama’s policy. Rubio and Menendez are both members of the foreign relations panel. Congress’ “lame-duck” session takes place in November and December, after the elections on Nov. 8 and before the new Congress comes to Washington in January.

Summary: अमेरिकी सीनेटरः 'संभावना नहीं है' क्यूबा के राजदूत को इस साल मंजूरी दी जाएगी


BERLIN (Reuters) - After 12 years in power, Chancellor Angela Merkel is presenting  herself as more than just Germany s  Mutti , campaigning in cyberspace to get in with younger voters and win their support for long after elections this month. Merkel, whose nickname means  Mummy , appears to be cruising toward a fourth term with strong backing from older Germans. But the 63-year-old, who unlike some Western leaders has no personal Twitter account, wants to mobilize the almost 3 million first-time voters behind her conservative CDU party on Sept. 24. To this end, Merkel has fielded questions from four YouTube video bloggers, attended Europe s biggest computer games convention and set up a walk-in campaign center in Berlin s hip start-up district. Diana Kinnert, a 26-year-old who helped draft proposals to modernize the CDU, said parties should use new communication tools to make young people put off by  sterile  politics more politically engaged in the long term.  It would be a shame if it turned out to be just election noise,  Kinnert, who wears both tattoos and a baseball cap, told Reuters at the walk-in center. The CDU, which is unlikely to win an overall parliamentary majority, needs the youth vote to strengthen Merkel s hand in coalition negotiations that will follow polling day. To some bemusement, the party has created a Twitter hashtag #fedidwgugl. Rather than the result of a malfunctioning computer keyboard, it is an acronym for the CDU campaign slogan:  Fuer ein Deutschland In Dem Wir Gut und Gern Leben  ( For a Germany in which we can live well and gladly ). So the Berlin walk-in center, where themed rooms bring the CDU manifesto to life, is called  #fedidwgugl House .  In Britain, young people turned out in droves in June to vote for the opposition Labour party, stripping the ruling Conservatives of their majority and showing how youth can twist the fate of governments even if they are less numerous. With German society rapidly aging, older people still dominate the country s agenda. There are more than twice as many eligible voters aged over 60 as there are under 30. The CDU secured the highest share of the youth vote in 2013 but its support remains skewed toward pensioners. At the last election two-fifths of its backers were aged over 60 while just 5.4 percent were under 25. Kinnert, who has posted on Instagram wearing a T-shirt reading  Keep Calm and Vote for Angie , says Merkel never stops learning and is future-orientated despite her lengthy tenure. One of Merkel s top priorities is the digitization of German industry. She has Facebook and Instagram accounts and has made efforts to show she is up on social media even if it sometimes comes across as clunky. Asked about her favorite emoji during the YouTube interview, Merkel said it was a smiley:  If things are good, even one with a little heart,  she joked. Merkel s main challenger, Social Democrat leader Martin Schulz, has not shied away from cyberspace either. This week he was grilled on YouTube on topics such as legalizing cannabis, animal welfare and rolling out broadband internet. While the CDU was mocked for causing confusion with the #fedidwgugl hashtag, the media attention drew eyeballs to the CDU s agenda. Efforts to campaign over new media also play well with older voters who want the best for their children and grandchildren, said Stefan Marschall of Duesseldorf s Heinrich Heine University. Merkel is the only chancellor most first-time voters can recall. This helps CDU to portray her as an anchor of stability in the turbulent era of Donald Trump and Brexit. An opinion poll by Forsa in June found 57 percent of 18 to 21-year-olds backed Merkel compared with 53 percent of the wider population. Just 21 percent of the young supported Schulz. Forsa s managing director Manfred Guellner said younger Germans have become more conservative than their peers in other countries:  Young people here are pragmatic; they worry about their pensions.

Summary: हैशटैग राजनीतिः मर्केल जर्मनी के बच्चों के साथ मिलने की कोशिश करती है


(This version of the story corrects date in last paragraph to Dec. 14, not Dec. 4) (Reuters) - U.S. President-elect Donald Trump was scheduled to hold additional meetings on Wednesday as he forms his administration before taking over from Democratic President Barack Obama on Jan. 20.  The Republican president-elect has held more than 80 meetings so far, according to his transition team.  This week, Trump was to meet with the following people: * Democratic Chicago mayor, former White House chief of staff for U.S. President Barack Obama and political director under former Democratic President Bill Clinton * Republican governor of North Carolina who on Monday conceded the state’s gubernatorial race to his Democratic challenger      * Oklahoma attorney general, whose name has been mentioned as possible Environmental Protection Agency administrator  * Was also scheduled to meet with Trump on Nov. 28  * Chief executive officer of CKE Restaurants whose name has been mentioned as possible labor secretary   * Second meeting with Trump * Retired U.S. Navy Admiral, former supreme allied commander of NATO, dean of the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University * U.S. Senator from West Virginia, a Democrat Trump has also invited technology industry leaders for a meeting on Dec. 14, according to media reports citing transition officials. Reuters could not immediately confirm the reports.

Summary: शिकागो के मेयर, उत्तरी कैरोलिना के गवर्नर और अन्य लोगों से मिलेंगे ट्रंप


WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A member of the Federal Election Commission on Friday called on President Donald Trump to share any evidence he has to support a statement that voter fraud caused him and former Senator Kelly Ayotte to lose in New Hampshire in the 2016 U.S. election. “The scheme the President of the United States alleges would constitute thousands of felony criminal offenses under New Hampshire law,” FEC Commissioner Ellen Weintraub said in a statement. (bit.ly/2lAnk7t) Trump blamed voter fraud for his and Ayotte’s losses in New Hampshire in November’s election while speaking on Thursday with a bipartisan group of U.S. senators, saying that Ayotte’s re-election bid was spoiled by “thousands” of people from neighboring Massachusetts voting in New Hampshire, according to media reports. Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton narrowly won New Hampshire’s four electoral votes by nearly 3,000 votes, while Ayotte, a Republican like Trump, lost by only 743 votes. Weintraub, who was appointed by former Republican President George W. Bush, asked Trump to “immediately share his evidence with the public and with the appropriate law-enforcement authorities so that his allegations may be investigated promptly and thoroughly.” Trump said on Sunday he would put Vice President Mike Pence in charge of a special commission to investigate voter fraud, despite numerous studies showing that such fraud is rare in the United States. Trump has said that fraud may account for his loss nationwide in the popular vote to Clinton by nearly 3 million votes.

Summary: चुनाव अधिकारी ने ट्रंप से मतदाता धोखाधड़ी के सबूत मांगे


WARSAW (Reuters) - British Prime Minister Theresa May said on Thursday that Britain and Poland are concerned about Russian attempts to weaponise information.  We have agreed today to bolster our cooperation to counter Russian disinformation in the region .... we are both deeply concerned by Russia s attempts to weaponise information,  she told reporters during a visit to Poland.  The Kremlin is seeking to undermine the international rules-based system and it will not succeed.

Summary: ब्रिटेन के प्रधानमंत्री मे ने कहा कि रूस सूचनाओं को हथियार बनाने की कोशिश कर रहा है


MOSCOW (Reuters) - The Kremlin has never been in touch with Russian lawyer Natalia Veselnitskaya who met a group of U.S. President Donald Trump’s associates last year, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Wednesday. “We have already said we are absolutely unaware of this story, we have never been in contact with this lawyer ... She has nothing to do whatsoever with us,” Peskov told a conference call with reporters.  Trump’s eldest son eagerly agreed last year to meet a woman he was told was a Russian government lawyer who might have damaging information about Democratic White House rival Hillary Clinton as part of Moscow’s official support for his father, according to emails released on Tuesday.

Summary: ट्रम्प की टीम से संपर्क करने वाले रूसी वकील के साथ क्रेमलिन का 'कोई लेना-देना नहीं है'


GUATEMALA CITY (Reuters) - A fraud trial against the brother and son of Guatemalan president Jimmy Morales began on Wednesday amid a scandal touched off by the president s attempt to expel the leader of a U.N.-backed anti-corruption unit investigating the case. Guatemala s top tribunal, the Constitutional Court, ruled definitively on Tuesday against Morales  internationally criticized push to expel from the country Ivan Velasquez, the Colombian who leads the International Commission Against Impunity in Guatemala (CICIG).[nL8N1LF4RY] The CICIG and the prosecutor s office accuse Samuel  Sammy  Morales, the president s brother and one of his closest advisers, and Jose Manuel Morales, one of the leader s four sons, of facilitating false receipts that defrauded the national property registry in 2013, two years before Morales was elected. They deny any wrongdoing. Neither of the two gave a declaration before a judge on Wednesday, where they appeared together with another 20 other defendants. The scandal has hurt the popularity of Jimmy Morales, a former comedian, who won election in late 2015 after riding a wave of public discontent over the corruption scandals that brought down his predecessor Otto Perez Molina. The president has said the investigation into his family was not related to his controversial decision to declare Velasquez  persona non grata.  Last week, Velasquez and Guatemalan Attorney General Thelma Aldana asked to remove Morales  immunity, in order to investigate him for accusations of illegal campaign financing. The case involves payments linked to the mother of Jose Manuel Morales  then-girlfriend in 2013. She allegedly sent the national property registry a $12,000 bill made out in the name of a local restaurant for 564 breakfasts, according to the attorney general. The breakfasts were never delivered. Samuel Morales recognized the acts as a  favor  to his nephew, but he denied that he had benefited or been implicated in the network of fraud that deprived the institution of thousands of dollars. Both were detained in January, then put under house arrest and barred from leaving the country.

Summary: ग्वाटेमाला के राष्ट्रपति के भाई और बेटे के खिलाफ मुकदमा शुरू


BRUSSELS (Reuters) - Belgium s prime minister, battling to contain domestic fallout from the arrival of fugitive Catalan leaders, urged Madrid on Wednesday to talk to the separatists, but said he would not interfere in any extradition to Spain. Deposed Catalan leader Carles Puigdemont and four ex-ministers from his regional government arrived in Belgium last week, saying they had fled arrest in order to campaign in Brussels, capital of the European Union, against Spanish sanctions on them for running an independence referendum. Riven by its own regional division between Dutch- and French-speakers, Belgium has found itself a reluctant host to the Catalans.  The most important message, which is my strong conviction, is dialogue, dialogue, political dialogue,  Prime Minister Charles Michel told lawmakers who grilled him on his coalition s stance. Michel, a French-speaking liberal, has irritated Madrid by being one of the few EU leaders to criticize police violence during last month s referendum. But he has also sought to curb statements supporting the Catalan case from Flemish nationalist party N-VA, a major partner in his own coalition.  There is a political crisis in Spain, but not in Belgium,  insisted Michel, as opposition lawmakers questioned him about divisions within the government on the Catalan issue. His migration minister, from the N-VA, suggested before Puigdemont fled Barcelona that the Catalan leader could be entitled to political asylum in Belgium. Michel at the time called on the minister not to pour  oil on the fire . He then said Puigdemont could stay in Belgium for now just like  any other European citizen , but stressed that he had not been invited by the Belgian authorities. On Wednesday, echoing that cool tone, he said the Belgian government would not interfere in the judicial process under which Belgian judges must now rule on a request from Spain to extradite the five politicians. Nor, Michel said, would it play a role in any asylum claim. Puigdemont has raised objections to going back to Spain - where he faces charges of rebellion that could carry a jail term of up to 30 years - but has not sought refugee status, something that Belgian legal experts say he and the others would be unlikely to obtain.

Summary: कैटलन संकट में फंसे बेल्जियम के प्रधानमंत्री ने 'बातचीत' का आग्रह किया


MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - Mexico s will receive a pay out of $150 million from a catastrophe bond after a Sept. 7 quake met parameters for magnitude, location and depth, the finance ministry said in a statement on Tuesday.  Reuters reported on Oct. 4 that the government expected to receive the funds and that it is looking at placing a new issue. Mexico was hit by two devastating quakes last month, the Sept. 19 tremor that hit Mexico City hard and an even more powerful earthquake that struck the country s south on Sept. 7.

Summary: मेक्सिको को भूकंप के बाद आपदा बांड से $150 मिलियन प्राप्त होंगे


VANCOUVER (Reuters) - Canada will not be sending hundreds of peacekeepers to support a United Nations mission in Mali in the near future, officials said on Wednesday, a move likely to disappoint allies who want Canadians to play a role in the West African country. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau last year promised to contribute up to 600 troops to peacekeeping operations and Canadian defense experts made three trips to Mali, where soldiers under the U.N. are fighting Islamist militants. Canada said it would split its soldiers among various missions instead, with no more than 200 going to any one spot, and will offer transport aircraft and helicopters in a series of  smart pledge  initiatives. It will also help train peacekeepers. U.N. officials downplayed concerns, saying that if Canada had pledged its troops and equipment to a single mission, like Mali, then those assets could not be deployed to support other missions in the region.  This is exactly what we need, we need flexibility... we need to be able to allocate these resources where we need them the most,  Jean-Pierre Lacroix, a U.N. under-secretary general for peacekeeping operations, told reporters. Lacroix said talks continue on how Canadian assets will be deployed, but added,  I m sure there s a strong determination to turn this commitment into a concrete action on the ground.  Earlier on Wednesday, a Canadian official told reporters  the option of sending forces to Mali one day was still alive, but added the planning process took at least six months,  So you re not going to going to see some kind of rapid deployment to any mission, let alone a complex one like Mali.  Trudeau sidestepped questions about the likely international reaction at a news conference, saying the varied measures Canada was proposing would serve the U.N. better.    Unhappy allies this year said Canada s bid for a U.N. Security Council seat could suffer unless Trudeau lived up to his promises.  This approach will be a disappointment to some, and the Canadian government will have to work hard to overcome the credibility it has lost in not following through on its initial pledge,  said Jane Boulden, a security studies expert at Queen s University in Kingston. Government insiders said enthusiasm for the Mali mission faded as the extent of likely casualties and the complex nature of the conflict became clear. More than 80 members have been killed since 2013, making Mali the world s deadliest peacekeeping operation.

Summary: कनाडा निकट भविष्य में माली में शांति सैनिक नहीं भेजेगाः अधिकारी


(Reuters) - WikiLeaks, the website that specializes in exposing secrets, released thousands of documents that described internal U.S. Central Intelligence Agency discussions on hacking techniques it  used between 2013 and 2016 to circumvent security on electronic devices for spying.  U.S. officials said on Wednesday that CIA contractors were the likely source of the leak. The following are some questions and answers users of consumer electronics may have: Q: How many of the vulnerabilities described in the Wikileaks document are still open to exploit by hackers or spies? A: There is no definitive answer in the documents, which describe attack techniques but often do not give enough detail for even the device and software vendors to understand fully how their products were targeted and close the security holes. Software updates have solved many of the flaws but it is unclear how many remain. In a chart of exploits for Apple’s iPhone, the most recent version listed as hackable was iOS 9.2, which was released in late 2015. Q: What did we learn about the CIA’s hacking program? A. WikiLeaks published documents that it says describe CIA tools for hacking into devices including mobile phones, computers and smart televisions. Q: How can you hack a TV? A: WikiLeaks said it identified a project known as Weeping Angel where U.S. and British intelligence agencies developed ways to take over Samsung smart TVs equipped with microphones, forcing them to record conversations when the device appeared to be turned off. Experts have long said smart TVs and other Internet-connected devices can be exploited to monitor a target. Q: Are these revelations new? A: While the specific details are new, it is well known in the cyber security community that intelligence agencies are constantly trying to leverage flaws in technology products to conduct espionage. Q: The documents suggest that the CIA can access information in encrypted messaging apps like WhatsApp and Signal. I thought they were safe from even government spying?     A: No system is perfect. The documents describe ways to get information in those apps on Android devices, but only after gaining full control of those phones. Reuters has not found evidence in the documents released by WikiLeaks that the CIA had figured a way to break the encryption in those apps. Q: Are iPhones also vulnerable? A: The documents discuss ways to get into iPhones as well. One appeared to show a list of Apple iOS security flaws purchased by U.S. intelligence agencies so they could gain access to those devices. Q: What should I do if I’m worried? A: Most people do not need to worry about being targeted by intelligence agencies. But everybody should stay on top of software patches so all their computers, mobile phones and other connected devices are running software with the latest security updates. Consumers should balance security concerns with their need to use smart devices. Q: What did we learn about how the CIA may try to make American hacking look like the work of hackers from other countries like Russia?      A: The CIA has a library of attack code taken from multiple sources and sorted by function, including a program from a Russian criminal kit that permits spyware to survive rebooting and a data-destruction tool lifted from a suspected Iranian operation. One purpose of such a collection is to avoid having to write programs from scratch, while another is to confuse anyone who discovers the malware in action.     The documents released so far do not show that the CIA set out to deceive victims into believing they had been hacked by someone else, but it suggests that the agency was capable of doing so if it wanted.  Q: Is this as big as the leaks from former National Security Agency contractor Edward Snowden? A: The Snowden leaks revealed that the NSA was secretly collecting U.S. call metadata on ordinary Americans. The materials released by WikiLeaks on Tuesday did not appear to reveal the existence of unknown any unknown programs. Instead they supplied details on how U.S. intelligence agencies work to discover and exploit security flaws to conduct espionage.  Q: How damaging is this revelation to U.S. intelligence?     A: U.S. intelligence officials say the damage is limited because much of what was published is old, a number of the vulnerabilities in smart TVs and other devices have been known for at least two years and many have been patched. The breach   was discovered late last year according to U.S. officials and most or all of the tools Wikileaks published are no longer in use. In addition, they said, unless additional codes that would enable users to exploit the leaked material are also published, it would be difficult for other countries, groups, or people to use the leaked material against the United States or its allies. Q: Are the documents authentic?     A: Reuters could not immediately verify the contents of the published documents. U.S. officials told Reuters that they believe the documents are authentic. While the CIA has declined to comment, independent cyber security experts and former intelligence agency employees who have looked through them say that they appear to be authentic, citing code words used to describe CIA hacking programs. Q: How did WikiLeaks get the information?     A: Unclear. Someone inside the agency may have leaked the information. Or, someone outside may have figured out a way to steal it. U.S. officials told Reuters on Wednesday that contractors were the likely source for the leak. Q: What has the U.S. government and other governments said in response? A: The White House said U.S. President Donald Trump was “extremely concerned” about the CIA security breach that led to the WikiLeaks release. Germany’s chief federal prosecutor’s office said it would review the Wikileaks documents which suggest the CIA ran a hacking hub from the U.S. consulate in Frankfurt, and would launch a formal investigation if warranted.

Summary: सी. आई. ए. के हैकिंग कार्यक्रम के बारे में मुझे क्या जानने की आवश्यकता है?


WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Republican U.S. Representative Pat Tiberi announced his retirement on Thursday from the House of Representatives, saying he will leave by Jan. 31 and not seek re-election in his Ohio district, becoming the latest in a string of Republican deciding to leave Congress. “I have been presented with an opportunity to lead the Ohio Business Roundtable that will allow me to continue to work on public policy issues impacting Ohioans while also spending more time with my family,” Tiberi said in a statement.

Summary: रिपब्लिकन टिबेरी जनवरी में कांग्रेस छोड़ेंगेः बयान


(The 18 October 2016 story was refiled to correct the typo in the last sentence to read likely “voters”) By Scott Malone BOSTON (Reuters) - Young Americans are so dissatisfied with their choices in this presidential election that nearly one in four told an opinion poll they would rather have a giant meteor destroy the Earth than see Donald Trump or Hillary Clinton in the White House. The tongue-in-cheek question was intended to gauge young Americans’ level of unhappiness about their choices in the Nov. 8 election, said Joshua Dyck, co-director of UMass Lowell’s Center for Public Opinion, which conducted the poll alongside Odyssey, a social media platform. The choice alluded to the Twitter hashtag “#GiantMeteor2016,” a reference to an imaginary presidential candidate used to express frustration about this year’s election choices. Some 53 percent of the 1,247 people aged 18 to 35 said they would prefer to see a meteor destroy the world than have Republican New York real estate developer Trump in the Oval Office, with some 34 percent preferring planetary annihilation to seeing the Democratic former Secretary of State win. Some 39 percent said they would prefer that U.S. President Barack Obama declare himself president for life than hand over power to Clinton or Trump, with 26 percent saying the nation would do better to select its next leader in a random lottery. Some 23 percent, nearly one in four, preferred the giant meteor outcome to either Trump or Clinton. “Obviously we don’t think that they’re serious,” Dyck said in a phone interview on Tuesday. “The fact that one in four of our young people pick ‘Giant Meteor’ tells you something about the political disaffection that is being shown by American youth.” That contrasts with the surge of participation by young voters that helped propel Obama into the White House for his first term in the 2008 election. When asked to choose between the actual candidates, Clinton easily led Trump with 54 percent of respondents to 21 percent in a two-way race. In a four-way race also including Libertarian Gary Johnson and Green Party candidate Jill Stein, Clinton led with 48 percent support, to Trump’s 20 percent, Johnson’s 10 percent and Stein’s 4 percent. In national polls surveying the whole population, Clinton is leading Trump, but not by nearly as much. The poll, conducted Oct. 10-13, intentionally included a large number of people seen as unlikely to vote, with just 680 described as likely voters. It had a margin of error of 3.2 percent.

Summary: ट्रम्प? क्लिंटन? कई युवा अमेरिकी विशाल उल्का पसंद करते हैं, सर्वेक्षण में पाया गया


WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A U.S. intelligence official said on Sunday that the United States had no reason to doubt North Korea had tested an advanced nuclear device.  We have nothing to cause us to doubt that this was a test of an advanced nuclear device,  the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity. North Korea claimed to have tested an advanced hydrogen bomb for a long-range missile on Sunday. The U.S. official said, however, that it would take some time to complete a thorough analysis of the size of the blast and type of device detonated.

Summary: अमेरिकी खुफिया अधिकारीः इसमें कोई संदेह नहीं कि उत्तर कोरिया ने उन्नत उपकरण का परीक्षण किया


MANILA (Reuters) - Philippine security forces on Sunday arrested the Indonesian wife of the slain pro-Islamic State militant leader who planned and led the attack on Marawi City, authorities said. President Rodrigo Duterte declared last month the liberation of Marawi City from the Maute group, a pro-Islamic State militant group which held the lakeside town after the death of two top leaders, including the woman s husband Omarkhayam. The army announced the termination of combat operations a week later, ending a five-month battle that killed more than 1,100 people, including 165 soldiers. Close to 400,000 people were also displaced as fighting destroyed the city. National Police Chief Ronald dela Rosa said bomb-making materials were seized from Minhati Madrais, who was with her six children when security forces raided her home in Iligan City.  Her children, who are all minors, will be turned over to the social welfare department,  he said, adding that rebellion and illegal possession of explosive devices charges were now being prepared against her. He said Madrais, alias Baby, was among more than 100 people ordered arrested by Defence Secretary Delfin Lorenzana after martial law was declared by Duterte on May 23. Madrais  passport is also expired, another violation of Philippine laws, he added. Sporadic gunfire were still heard in Marawi City on Sunday, almost two weeks after combat operations were formally terminated, Colonel Romeo Brawner, deputy commander of Task Force Ranao, told reporters.  We are still hunting down stragglers,  he said, adding there could be as many as 39 militants hiding in the ruined city based on information from captured Indonesian militants.  We do not have information how many militants are still there. But, we will hunt them down.  The new army commander, Lieutenant-General Rey Leonardo Guerrero, said he would work closely with Indonesia and Malaysia to step up coordinated sea and air patrols along the borders where kidnappings and attacks on shipping are happening.  We intend to increase the frequency of our coordinated patrols with our ASEAN neighbors to stop piracy and militant attacks in these dangerous seas,  he said.

Summary: फिलीपींस ने मारे गए इस्लामी आतंकवादी नेता की इंडोनेशियाई पत्नी को गिरफ्तार किया


MOSCOW (Reuters) - The Kremlin on Thursday condemned a pre-election video in the United States promoting Republican front-runner Donald Trump at Hillary Clinton’s expense, complaining that it unfairly “demonized” Russia. The Kremlin did not spell out what its exact objection to the political attack video was. But its portrayal of President Vladimir Putin as one of Washington’s toughest opponents alongside Islamic State, a group the Kremlin says it is fighting in Syria, is likely to have stirred anger among officials.   “I saw this clip. I do not know for sure if Vladimir Putin saw it. (But) our attitude is negative,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told a teleconference with reporters. The video tries to cast doubt over the ability of Clinton, the Democratic Party’s likely presidential candidate, to contend with Putin in the event of her winning the November election. Presenting what it suggests are the United States’ toughest opponents, it shows Putin throwing an opponent in a judo bout before cutting to footage of Mohammed Emwazi, the late Islamic State executioner nicknamed “Jihadi John”.    It then shifts to a clip of Clinton which has been edited to make it appear as if she is barking like a dog. Putin is then shown laughing. “It’s an open secret for us that demonizing Russia and whatever is linked to Russia is unfortunately a mandatory hallmark of America’s election campaign,” said Peskov. “We always sincerely regret this and wish the (U.S.) electoral process were conducted without such references to our country.” Until now, the Kremlin has largely held off criticising Trump. Putin and Trump have lavished praise on one another in the past after the Republican front-runner spoke out in favour of building bridges with the Kremlin and of working together to fight terrorism. Russian state TV, which usually closely reflects the Kremlin’s world view, has also generally been more positive about Trump than the other presidential candidates, suggesting his policies are more Russia-friendly. But state TV has at the same time complained about what it says is the anti-Russian tenor of the overall campaign, criticising most candidates for what it has described as their hysterical Cold War-style statements on Russia. The United States has accused Russia during its aerial bombing campaign in Syria of not targeting Islamic State targets with the same ferocity or frequency it has demonstrated against what Washington says are more moderate groups opposed to President Bashar al-Assad.   Moscow, an ally of Assad, has denied that charge, declaring Islamic State a dangerous threat to its own national security.

Summary: क्रेमलिन का कहना है कि डोनाल्ड ट्रम्प की चुनाव पूर्व क्लिप रूस को खलनायक के रूप में पेश करती है


MANILA (Reuters) - The Philippines has started upgrading military facilities on the biggest features it occupies in the disputed South China Sea, its defense secretary said on Tuesday, asserting Manila s claims in the strategic waterway. Delfin Lorenzana said a contractor was building a beach ramp on Thitu Island, locally known as Pag-asa (hope), the largest of nine features the Philippines holds in the Spratly islands.  While construction is ongoing, albeit intermittently, depending on good weather, we expect its completion by early 2018,  Lorenzana said, adding the monsoon rains have been hampering the building of the beach ramp.  No construction can proceed without a good beaching ramp.  China claims almost the entire South China Sea, but Brunei, Malaysia, the Philippines, Taiwan and Vietnam also have claims on the waterway where more than $3 trillion worth of sea-borne goods pass every year. Recent satellite imagery has shown Chinese vessels gathering around Thitu, in what some experts say could be an attempt to deter the Philippines from cementing its claim. China s ambassador has played that down, insisting his country has no ill intent. The two countries have long been at odds over the South China Sea, although ties have warmed substantially under Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte, who says it is smarter to do business with China than pick a fight with its far superior military.  Lorenzana said the ramp was important to allow large naval ships to deliver construction materials to repair and upgrade the island s airfield, fix structures and build a new port for fishermen. A small community lives on Thitu, ostensibly to prop up the country s claim, although conditions are basic compared to those enjoyed by Vietnamese and Chinese on other islands in the Spratly chain. Defense department spokesman Arsenio Andolong said the government would spend more than 1.3 billion pesos ($25.3 million) for the upgrades on Thitu. The military has defended the work, saying almost of all South China Sea claimants have been doing the same.  China has built seven artificial islands, installing radar and anti-aircraft guns and missiles on several. Experts have predicted fighter jets will soon be deployed on those islands.

Summary: फिलीपींस ने विवादित जल क्षेत्र में चीन के मानव निर्मित द्वीपों के पास निर्माण शुरू किया


WASHINGTON (Reuters) - As President Donald Trump bowed his head in the Oval Office earlier this month, Texas Southern Baptist Pastor Robert Jeffress and other U.S. religious leaders laid their hands on Trump’s back and prayed for Hurricane Harvey’s victims. With TV cameras and reporters watching, the scene was a powerful reminder of one of Trump’s most reliable and improbable political assets - his close ties with conservative Christians. A new Reuters/Ipsos poll shows, however, that Trump’s popularity among white evangelicals has weakened, suggesting his grassroots support may not be as unconditional as religious leaders’ public displays of allegiance would suggest.  That may pose a problem for Trump and his allies as the 2018 midterm congressional election season nears. Trump’s strong links to conservative Christians played a key part in his stunning victory in the 2016 presidential election. Though disenchanted evangelicals were unlikely to switch their votes to Democrats, they could stay home next year when U.S. voters elect senators and representatives.    “When your base is starting to even slowly move away from you, that should be a sign of concern,” said Justin Vaughn, director of the Center for Idaho History and Politics at Boise State University in Idaho, a state Trump won handily last year. In a country that is more religious than most other western democracies and where a president’s spiritual life is closely examined, the twice-divorced New York billionaire socialite, who has attended church just twice since his Jan. 20 inauguration, is an unlikely torchbearer for conservative Christians.  He has labored to build and preserve this unlikely alliance, embracing social issues, such as commitment to anti-abortion and religious liberty policies, and picking staunch conservative Neil Gorsuch, for the Supreme Court. Trump also mentions God far more often in public remarks than his two predecessors, a Reuters review showed.(Graphic: tmsnrt.rs/2y3HxbV) But data from the nationwide online Reuters/Ipsos poll conducted from Jan. 22 to Aug. 25 suggest Trump has been unable to prevent his evangelical support from sliding in line with his overall ratings. The majority of those polled last month who described themselves as both “white” and a “born-again or evangelical Christian” said they approved of Trump, but considerably fewer than when he took office almost eight months ago. The White House did not respond to requests for comment on the poll. During a four-week period in August, 62 percent of white evangelicals said they approved of Trump, while 33 percent disapproved of the president and 5 percent said they had “mixed feelings.” That is a drop from the first four weeks of Trump’s presidency, from late January to mid February, when 73 percent of white evangelicals said they approved of his performance while 23 percent disapproved and 5 percent had mixed feelings. The poll was divided into eight four-week periods, with each including about 2,000 people and a credibility interval, a measure of accuracy, of about 2 percentage points.    The declines are broadly in line with those recorded among all adult Americans. In interviews, 10 of the surveyed conservative Christians said they were not concerned about Trump’s religion. Rather, they questioned whether he was doing enough to help average Americans and the frequent chaos in the White House. “We can’t go a week without someone leaving his administration. There is no stability in our government,” said  Robert Waldram, a 52-year-old Baptist churchgoer from Williamsburg, Virginia, in a telephone interview. He said he voted for Trump as a better option than Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton. But Waldram said he was tired of Trump’s “childlike tantrums on Twitter.” In his first 200 days in office, Trump mentioned God about 100 times in public remarks, excluding the standard “God bless America” that presidents routinely end speeches with, something his ardent supporters welcome as readiness to eschew political correctness.  By this point in their presidencies, Democrat Barack Obama had mentioned God 43 times, while Republican George W. Bush had referred to God in 60 instances. Jeffress, one of the first prominent evangelical pastors to back Trump for president, said his God talk was apolitical. “I understand that cynical people would say this is just for political expediency, but ... I believe this comes out of some deep beliefs that he has personally,” Jeffress said. Trump, who describes himself as Presbyterian, was not known to be an avid churchgoer before becoming president and critics have said his blunders on basic biblical knowledge, harsh attacks on political adversaries, and his demeaning comments about women clash with Christian principles. “He, himself, doesn’t have the most sterling track record in terms of either church attendance or professed or displayed knowledge of scripture,” Gary Scott Smith, a historian and author of “Religion in the Oval Office: The Religious Lives of American Presidents,” said of Trump. The pastors involved with Trump’s evangelical advisory board describe him, though, as very inquisitive about faith and more thoughtful on religion than he might appear in public and conservative pastors have continued to support him through various firestorms.  Evangelicals have had “unprecedented” White House access in this administration, said Richard Land, a board member and president of the Southern Evangelical Seminary, a Christian college. After Trump’s response to violence between white nationalists and left-wing protesters in Charlottesville, Virginia, led to two of his business advisory councils disbanding, there were questions about the evangelical board’s future.  Brooklyn, New York, megachurch pastor A.R. Bernard resigned, but others remained, saying it was their job to provide advice and counsel to Trump, even when they disagree with him, and to press the president on Christian issues. Johnnie Moore, a board member and former official at Liberty University, a religious school, said: “We have a deep personal relationship with him ... He has prioritized issues that are important to us and we appreciate that.”

Summary: पादरी दृढ़ता से खड़े हैं क्योंकि ट्रम्प का अमेरिकी इंजील आधार कमजोर हो रहा है


MOSCOW (Reuters) - A building used by Russia s foreign spy service on the outskirts of Moscow caught fire on Wednesday, Russia s RIA news agency quoted the service as saying. Colonel Sergei Ivanov, a spokesman for the External Intelligence Service, one of the successor organizations to the Soviet-era KGB, said the fire happened at one of the service s  technical installations , RIA reported. He later told the news agency that the fire had been extinguished, and that there were no casualties. Russian media, quoting unnamed sources in the emergency services, said that the fire broke out in a cable gallery under the spy service s headquarters.

Summary: मास्को में रूसी जासूसी एजेंसी की इमारत में आग लगीः आर. आई. ए.


BEIRUT (Reuters) - The Lebanese army said on Sunday it had not uncovered any plans for assassinations in Lebanon, a day after Saad al-Hariri cited a plot to kill him in a speech declaring his resignation as prime minister. In a statement, the army said the information in its possession in addition to ongoing arrests and investigations had not revealed  the presence of any plan for assassinations in the country .

Summary: लेबनान की सेना का कहना है कि उसने हत्या की किसी भी योजना का खुलासा नहीं किया है


BRUSSELS (Reuters) - European Council President Donald Tusk canceled a trip to Israel and the Palestinian Territories planned for this week due to a  critical moment  in Brexit negotiations, an EU official said on Monday. Tusk, who scheduled a meeting in Brussels at short notice on Monday with British Prime Minister Theresa May, will chair an EU summit next week that London hopes will give the go-ahead to opening talks on post-Brexit trade relations. On Wednesday, Tusk had been due to meet Palestinian Prime Minister Rami Hamdallah in Ramallah and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Jerusalem.

Summary: यूरोपीय संघ के टस्क ने ब्रेक्सिट संकट के कारण मध्य पूर्व की यात्रा रद्द की


SAN DIEGO (Reuters) - U.S. Senator Mark Kirk on Wednesday introduced legislation that would give the Pentagon more flexibility in funding electronic warfare programs and speed often sluggish acquisition times. Current acquisition rules make it tough for the U.S. military to quickly procure and field electronic warfare weapons systems before they are overtaken by developments around the world. Kirk, an Illinois Republican and retired naval intelligence officer, said the bill would help the U.S. military accelerate work on electronic warfare weapons and stay ahead of other countries that are rapidly developing their own capabilities. “It is critical our military dominate the offensive and defensive ends of electronic warfare,” Kirk said in a statement. “The need for enhanced electronic capabilities is even more pronounced on today’s battlefield.” Senator Kristen Gillibrand, a New York Democrat, is co-sponsoring the bill. The bill would amend the fiscal 2016 defense policy bill to include electronic warfare, or EW, under the Pentagon’s Rapid Acquisition Authority (RAA) program. That program lets program managers waive some acquisition rules to more quickly field technology. It would also allow the department to use different contract types, including those used for commercial items, when it buys EW weapons. The bill also includes directives for the Pentagon’s new joint Electronic Warfare Executive Committee, which is headed by Air Force General Paul Selva, vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, according to a Kirk aide. The bill directs the committee to provide a strategic plan for the services to work together on electronic warfare systems, and tackle acquisition and budget processes, bolster training, fill capability gaps and advance offensive capabilities. Kirk is expected to discuss the legislation during a visit to a Northrop Grumman Corp facility in Rolling Meadows, Il. on Friday, the aide said.

Summary: अमेरिकी सीनेटर ने इलेक्ट्रॉनिक युद्ध हथियारों को गति देने के लिए विधेयक पेश किया


WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi on Thursday said the recent cyber attack on Democratic politicians was “broad” and that Russians were clearly behind the breach, adding that the damage was still being investigated. “It is the Russians,” Pelosi told reporters at a news conference, referring to the recent breach affecting the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee.  Pelosi called the attack, made public last month, an “electronic Watergate” akin to the 1972 burglary at Democratic Party headquarters at the Watergate office that upended the Nixon presidency. “This is a break-in.” Pelosi’s comments come on the heels of a New York Times report on Thursday that the cyber attack targeting Democrats was wider than first thought, with more than 100 party officials and groups were affected. The Democratic National Committee and U.S. Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton’s campaign was also affected. Asked if she was personally targeted, Pelosi said she did not know. “We are assessing the damage,” Pelosi told reporters, adding that she could not speak to the impact on any Democratic governors. The Obama administration has not publicly named Russia as behind the attack, but investigators have concluded the attackers were directed by the GRU, Russia’s military intelligence service, and the FSB, the civilian espionage agency. Clinton has also pointed to Moscow. Russia has denied involvement in the breach. A U.S. official familiar with the investigation said no evidence has been found so far that indicates the hackers got into Clinton’s personal server or any classified systems, but their footprints suggest they “paid special attention to accounts they thought might lead them to information of national security interest.” The official said the hackers apparently proceeded beyond the Democratic National Committee, the Clinton campaign, and the Democrats’ House of Representatives campaign committee to individual email accounts and probably other Democratic groups and individuals who emailed people using the accounts they first hacked. “The pattern fits what has come to be standard hacking practice,” said the official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss an ongoing investigation by government as well as private agencies. “You go as far as you can, hoping you find something useful.”

Summary: अमेरिकी सदन के डेमोक्रेट नेता ने 'इलेक्ट्रॉनिक वाटरगेट' के लिए रूसियों को दोषी ठहराया


WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The White House said on Thursday that partisanship plays no role in how the United States counters cyber threats affecting Americans. “When it comes to our national security, we’re going to do everything we can to protect the American people without regard to which political party they belong to,” White House spokesman Josh Earnest said. He also said the FBI has not revealed any  information about who was behind the hack of Democratic Party emails.

Summary: व्हाइट हाउस का कहना है कि अमेरिकी साइबर खतरे की जांच में कोई राजनीति नहीं