KAMPALA (Reuters) - Uganda on Monday charged eight managers and editors of a daily newspaper with several offences including libel and computer misuse and a court ordered them detained until Dec. 5. The journalists have been in detention for nearly a week after police raided the premises of Red Pepper accusing them of publishing a false story.  Police had said on Nov. 23 that they had preferred several charges including treason against the journalists. Their lawyer, Maxma Mutabingwa, said that when they appeared in court for the first time on Monday, treason was not among the offences read out to them. Instead they were charged with several counts of libel, offensive communication and publication of information prejudicial to security.   I think police backed off the treason charge because it was ridiculous, it was not sustainable at all,  he told Reuters.  The journalists applied for bail but the state prosecutor said he needed time to respond and court adjourned the proceedings to Dec. 5. The raid on the paper followed publication of a story that, citing unnamed sources, said that Rwanda believed Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni was plotting to oust its leader, Paul Kagame. The paper has a wide readership and often regales its audience with a surfeit of salacious content about private lives of political and business officials and celebrities. In recent years it has moved to include more political coverage and has some times irked authorities with audacious headlines on security, diplomacy and power maneuvers in the government of President Yoweri Museveni. Police has kept the media outlet s premises cordoned off. It has not published the daily since the raid. Computers, phones and other equipment confiscated during the search have also not been returned, Mutabingwa said. Rights groups and journalists have complained of escalating harassment and intimidation of independent media by security personnel in the East African country especially as Museveni faces growing opposition pressure to end his rule.  Local media, including Red Pepper, have reported this month on tensions between Uganda and neighboring Rwanda over a range of economic and security disputes but Uganda s foreign affairs ministry has dismissed the reports as rumors.

Summary: युगांडा के हिरासत में लिए गए पत्रकारों पर मानहानि और अन्य अपराधों का आरोप


DUBAI (Reuters) - The United Arab Emirates said on Friday it fully supported the new U.S. policy toward Iran and it renewed its commitment to work with Washington to counter Iran’s support of extremism, the state news agency WAM reported. “The UAE announces its full support to the new U.S. strategy to deal with the Iranian policies undermining security and stability,” WAM said on its twitter account. Bahrain has also announced it welcomed the shift in U.S. policy on Iran’s nuclear and ballistic missile programs and its support for extremist groups in the Middle East.

Summary: संयुक्त अरब अमीरात ने कहा कि वह ईरान के खिलाफ नई अमेरिकी नीति का पूरी तरह से समर्थन करता है


WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Donald Trump was being briefed on Friday by House Speaker Paul Ryan about the status of voting on the Republican bill to replace Obamacare, the White House said amid signs the measure might not have enough support to pass. “The president ... had Speaker Ryan come up here and visit with him to update him on the bill,” White House spokesman Sean Spicer told a briefing. “They are continuing to discuss the way forward on this. The speaker is updating him on these efforts.” Spicer said the vote was scheduled for 3:30 p.m. EDT/1930 GMT and he downplayed the prospects that a loss might undermine Trump’s effort to push tax reform through the U.S. Congress.

Summary: हाउस स्पीकर रेयान ने हेल्थकेयर बिल पर मतदान के बारे में ट्रंप को जानकारी दीः व्हाइट हाउस


BERLIN (Reuters) - German Chancellor Angela Merkel s Christian Democrats (CDU) have agreed on the divisive issue of a refugee cap with her conservative Bavarian allies, two conservative sources told Reuters, removing a hurdle to coalition talks with other parties. The agreement came on Sunday evening after leading members of the CDU held talks with the Christian Social Union (CSU). Merkel aims to build a nationally untested coalition between her conservative bloc, the pro-business Free Democrats (FDP) and Greens after winning a fourth term as chancellor in a Sept. 24 election but losing much support to the far-right.

Summary: मर्केल, बवेरिया के सहयोगी प्रवासी नीति पर सहमत हैंः सूत्र


WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. State Department confirmed on Friday that 24 people have suffered health effects from  attacks  in Cuba earlier this year against diplomatic personnel and that an investigation is ongoing.  We can t rule out additional new cases as medical professionals continue to evaluate members of the embassy community,  spokesperson Heather Nauert said in a statement.

Summary: अमेरिका का कहना है कि क्यूबा में हाल के 'हमलों' से 24 लोग घायल हुए हैं


(Reuters) - Vincent “Buddy” Cianci, whose two stints as mayor of Providence, Rhode Island, each ended abruptly due to felony convictions, died on Thursday at age 74 after a brief hospitalization. Cianci, the longest serving mayor of Rhode Island’s capital city, ran Providence for 22 years in all, from 1975 to 1984 and again from 1991 to 2002. He attempted another comeback in 2014, unsuccessfully running as an independent for mayor seven years after he completed a 4-1/2 prison term for racketeering. Despite his convictions, Cianci remained popular with many residents. Supporters credited him with improving an economically depressed, once mob-dominated city during his six terms. The prospect in 2014 of another Cianci administration, however, was so abhorrent to the political establishment that even the Republican mayoral candidate donated money to his Democratic opponent and ended up voting for him against Cianci. In 1984, Cianci was forced to resign after pleading no contest to assaulting a man he accused of having a relationship with his estranged wife. In 2001, federal authorities charged Cianci with corruption in an investigation dubbed “Operation Plunder Dome.” Cianci, who maintained his innocence, was accused of overseeing a City Hall in which officials solicited bribes and engaged in extortion. His political saga made him a national figure. Journalist Mike Stanton chronicled the story in the book “The Prince of Providence.” Cianci eventually wrote an autobiography, “Politics and Pasta: How I Prosecuted Mobsters, Rebuilt a Dying City, Advised a President, Dined with Sinatra, Spent Five Years in a Federally Funded Gated Community, and Lived to Tell the Tale.” He also started his own line of pasta sauce. Elorza, the mayor of Providence who defeated Cianci in 2014, ordered flags to fly at half-mast. “Mayor Cianci’s love for the City of Providence is undeniable and his mark on the city will not be forgotten,” he said in a statement. Lieutenant Governor Dan McKee praised Cianci for overseeing Providence’s renaissance, while Rhode Island House Speaker Nicholas Mattiello called him a “giant on the Rhode Island political landscape.” Cianci hosted a talk show on radio station WPRO in Rhode Island, which reported his death on air on Thursday morning. Cianci was taken to a hospital on Wednesday night after falling ill while filming his weekly television show, “On the Record with Buddy Cianci,” for ABC6 in Providence, the station said on its website. Cianci had battled cancer prior to the 2014 election.

Summary: पूर्व प्रोविडेंस, रोड आइलैंड के मेयर विंसेंट 'बडी' सियान्सी का निधन हो गया


NEW DELHI (Reuters) - Indian troops exchanged gunfire on Wednesday with separatist guerrillas in a remote northeastern region bordering Myanmar, killing or wounding several of the insurgents, army officials said. The army was carrying out an operation against the separatist group, which is believed to have 2,000 guerrillas battling for an independent Greater Nagaland state carved out of India. An army patrol retaliated swiftly upon coming under heavy fire from the rebels, the Indian Army s eastern command, headquartered in the city of Kolkata, said in a statement.   Heavy casualties reportedly inflicted on NSCN-K cadre,  it said, using an acronym for the group, the National Socialist Council of Nagaland-Khaplang.  No casualties suffered by Indian security forces.  Wednesday s operation was confined to the Indian side of the border, it added.   In 2015, Indian special forces crossed into Myanmar to hunt down guerrillas of the group who had taken shelter in the neighboring country.  That year the group launched a series of attacks on security forces in India s northeast, to scrap a ceasefire it had observed with New Delhi since 2001. In recent years, the militaries of India and Myanmar have built close ties, with each pledging not to allow insurgent groups to shelter in its territory.  India has condemned attacks in August by Rohingya insurgents on security posts in Myanmar s Rakhine state that provoked a military crackdown, causing hundreds of thousands of Rohingya Muslims to flee the country.

Summary: म्यांमार सीमा के पास विद्रोहियों के साथ गोलीबारी में भारतीय सैनिक


MOSCOW/KIEV (Reuters) - Armed men in masks blocked off the center of Ukraine s rebel-controlled city of Luhansk on Tuesday in what the rebel leader said was a revolt by supporters of a sacked regional police chief. In fighting that broke out in 2014, Russian-backed rebels threw off rule by a new pro-Western leadership in Kiev and set up two self-proclaimed separatist statelets in eastern Ukraine, one centered on Luhansk and another around the city of Donetsk. Those separatist regions are aided by Moscow but not recognized by any state, and they have been dogged by outbreaks of internal tensions that have on occasion turned violent. The Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe, which monitors the implementation of a much-violated ceasefire agreement with Ukraine, said on Tuesday it had observed military-style vehicles and armed men in central Luhansk. The tension in Luhansk did not appear to have any direct connection to the conflict between the rebels and Ukraine s government, but President Petro Poroshenko called a meeting of his security and defense council late on Tuesday.  The Ukrainian armed forces are ready for all developments to ensure the safety of civilians,  Poroshenko said in a statement. Residents of Luhansk, capital of the self-proclaimed Luhansk People s Republic (LNR), saw unidentified armed men blocking access to downtown streets on Tuesday morning, according to local media and a resident of the city. The OSCE s monitoring mission posted photos on Twitter that showed lines of heavy military trucks and armored personnel carriers in central Luhansk. The LNR s rebel leader, Igor Plotnitsky, blamed disgruntled supporters of Igor Kornet, his chief of police whom he said he had fired on Monday.  The attempts by certain elements in the interior ministry in this way to challenge the decision .... (to remove Kornet) have gone beyond the bounds of what is acceptable,  Plotnitsky said in a statement on his administration s web site.  I can say with confidence that the attempts by certain persons to stay in power by destabilizing the situation ... are futile, and in the very near future will be neutralized.  But Kornet said he was still in his job, and demanded that senior figures in the region s rebel leadership be prosecuted.  I want to dispel rumors that I ve been removed,  he said in a video message, clad in field camouflage.  We have the situation completely under control.  He said that he had uncovered evidence that several senior LNR officials, acting in collusion with Kiev, were  involved in criminal activity to the detriment of the interests of the republic and the people of Luhansk .  Last night I provided all the documents available to the ...Igor Plotnitsky, who decided to launch criminal cases and arrest those involved,  Kornet said. In his statement the Luhansk rebel leader contradicted this, saying there were no grounds to arrest the officials identified by Kornet. The conflict in the country s east between Ukrainian government forces and pro-Russian separatists has killed over 10,000 people. Russia denies accusations from Ukraine and NATO that it supports the rebels with troops and weapons.

Summary: यूक्रेन के विद्रोही नेता ने बर्खास्त सहयोगी पर विद्रोह करने का आरोप लगाया


(Reuters) - Puerto Rico’s federally appointed financial oversight board said on Friday it will institute a two-day per month work furlough for government employees, but a defiant Governor Ricardo Rossello rejected the measure out of hand. The plan, which originally envisioned a four-day per month furlough, is set to begin on Sept. 1 and last throughout the 2018 fiscal year in an effort to achieve $218 million in savings. It excludes frontline law enforcement personnel. Rossello openly challenged the board’s authority to impose the belt-tightening measure on the bankrupt U.S. territory, however. The furloughs are part of the board’s efforts to implement fiscal changes and achieve $880 million in savings for “right-sizing” the government this fiscal year and ensuring the island’s long-term economic viability. Natalie Jaresko, executive director of the oversight board, said the government had offered a number of ideas for achieving savings. Speaking during a webcast of the board’s ninth public meeting, she said the government had fallen short of meeting required money-saving goals, however. Furloughs could be scaled back or eliminated early if sufficient savings are achieved per the government’s fiscal plan, the board said. Rossello, in a televised address late on Friday, said the furloughs were unjustified and unnecessary. He also highlighted, in a statement released by his office, public sector cutbacks and budgetary savings that resulted in higher than expected financial reserves. “I do not accept nor will I execute the furlough submitted today by the Financial Oversight and Management Board,” Rossello said. The board was created by the federal Puerto Rico rescue law known as PROMESA. Rossello said section 205 of the PROMESA law means the board can make “recommendations” but not impose changes. Furloughs would represent a $340 million hit to the economy  in the current fiscal year, he said. Puerto Rico’s Treasury Secretary, Raul Maldonado, told Reuters on Wednesday that preliminary tax collections in July, the first month of fiscal 2018, were running $20 million to $30 million ahead of forecast. But board member Andrew Biggs spoke of the commonwealth’s current state of affairs in stark terms during the meeting. “The simple fact is that the government of Puerto Rico has run out of money,” he said. He added that “the difficult steps of raising taxes and cutting spending” were something that the board and government alike “have no choice but to do.” Puerto Rico is seeking to restructure roughly $72 billion in debt and another near $50 billion in unfunded pension liabilities while it struggles with the flight of residents to the U.S. mainland and a 45 percent poverty rate. Reforms of the pension system were among the measures discussed at Friday’s board meeting. They would include a 10 percent cut in benefits. For an adrift in debt interactive, click: here For a graphic on the Mutual funds' Puerto Rico bankruptcy tangle, click: here

Summary: प्यूर्टो रिको निरीक्षण बोर्ड ने छुट्टी का आदेश दिया, गवर्नर ने अवज्ञा की


(Reuters) - Democracy Works Inc, a non-partisan, non-profit group trying to encourage more Americans to take part in elections, said on Wednesday it is joining forces with Starbucks Corp, Spanish-language television network Univision and others in an attempt to boost U.S. voter turnout to 80 percent by 2020.  The project, called the TurboVote Challenge, comes during one of the most contentious and unpredictable U.S. presidential races in many years, marked by strong participation in both Republican and Democratic primary elections and caucuses.  Democracy Works, which aims to create “a more representative and inclusive democracy,” said voter turnout had not been above  80 percent since 1888.  An estimated 57.5 percent of eligible citizens voted in the 2012 presidential election, according to the Bipartisan Policy Center. The project’s other founding partners include lodging web service Airbnb, Arizona State University, the Fusion TV network, ride-sharing company Lyft, news company Mic, online music service Spotify, email newsletter theSkimm, retailer Target Corp, mall operator Westfield Corp, shared workspace provider WeWork and the Video Game Voters Network. The parties will promote voter registration and encourage participation in local and national elections, among other things.  Starbucks Chief Executive Howard Schultz, who previously has weighed in on U.S. politics, government gridlock and social issues, said the dysfunction and polarization he first spoke about two years ago has only worsened.   “We must do everything we can to reclaim and reimagine the American dream,” Schultz said at Starbucks’ annual meeting in Seattle on Wednesday.  Univision anchor Jorge Ramos made headlines this political season for being one of the first high-profile journalists to publicly challenge Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump.      “Univision is committed to informing and empowering Hispanic, millennial and multicultural audiences to reach their full potential in the United States,” Univision Chief Executive Randy Falco said in a statement.

Summary: स्टारबक्स, यूनिविजन, डेमोक्रेसी वर्क्स का उद्देश्य अमेरिकी मतदाता मतदान को बढ़ावा देना है


WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Donald Trump’s order on financial regulations issued on Friday will require the Treasury secretary to submit a report on potential regulatory and legislative reforms in 120 days, a White House official said. “This does not mean White House or Treasury has to wait 120 days to move,” the official told Reuters. “We have more items planned in the coming weeks and the policy process is already underway in the White House.”

Summary: कोष सचिव 120 दिनों में नियामक परिवर्तनों पर रिपोर्ट देंगेः अधिकारी


CLEVELAND (Reuters) - The mayor of Youngstown, Ohio, was sentenced on Monday to a year of probation for his role in a public corruption case involving a property deal made while he was a county commissioner, a county prosecutor’s office said, but he will remain in office.   Youngstown Mayor John McNally, a Democrat, was sentenced in Cuyahoga County Common Pleas Court in Cleveland after pleading guilty to four misdemeanor counts, said Cuyahoga County Prosecutor spokesman Joe Frolik. The plea deal allows McNally, who was elected mayor in 2014, to remain in office. The charges stemmed from his nine years as Mahoning County commissioner, from 2005 until he was elected mayor. McNally had faced multiple felony charges, including bribery, record tampering and money laundering. But as part of the agreement with prosecutors he pleaded guilty to two counts of falsification, one count of attempted unlawful use of telecommunications and one count of attempted restrictions on present or former public officials, all misdemeanors, officials said.  Under Ohio law, a felony conviction bars anyone from holding most public offices for seven years. Also on Monday, former Mahoning County Auditor Michael Sciortino was sentenced by Judge Janet Burnside to one year of probation after pleading guilty to one felony count and three misdemeanors for his role in the matter, Frolik said.  Based on the plea deals, McNally had faced a maximum of 36 months in prison and Sciortino a maximum of 2-1/2 years.     Both McNally and Sciortino were initially charged for taking part in a scheme to inflate the cost of moving the Mahoning County jobs and family services office from a rental property to benefit a local business owner, prosecutors said. In addition to the plea in the Cuyahoga County court, Sciortino agreed to plead guilty to one felony and one misdemeanor in Mahoning County court on Thursday, according to court records.     Youngstown attorney Martin Yavorcik, 42, was convicted on eight felony counts in the Cuyahoga County court on Friday as part of the 83-count indictment brought against the three men in 2014 by the Ohio Attorney General’s office alleging a pattern of corruption.  Sentencing for Yavorcik is scheduled for April 22. He faces up to 29 years in prison, Frolik said.

Summary: यंगस्टाउन, ओहायो के महापौर को भ्रष्टाचार याचिका सौदे में परिवीक्षा मिली


WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Overcrowded prisons strain state budgets, take people out of the work force and pull families apart more than they reduce crime or boost the U.S. economy, said an Obama administration study discussed on Monday by experts at the White House. The study, undertaken as part of President Barack Obama’s efforts to reform the criminal justice system before he leaves office, was conducted by the White House Council of Economic Advisers and focused on the costs of sentencing and incarceration policies. Despite falling crime rates, U.S. prison populations have soared in recent decades as a result of harsher federal and state-level sentencing policies, such as “three strikes” rules under which offenders much be imprisoned on their third conviction.  Both conservative and liberal panelists discussing the report on Monday agreed that lighter sentences for non-violent offenders and lower barriers to job opportunities after prison would address the economic problems described in the report. “This isn’t really about the money. This is about the lives that we’re throwing away,” said Arthur Brooks, president of the American Enterprise Institute, a conservative think tank that co-hosted the event with the liberal Brennan Center for Justice of New York University. Obama’s push for criminal justice reform has support from both ends of the political spectrum, with bipartisan legislation pending in Congress that would reduce mandatory minimum sentences for some low-level federal drug crimes. Those proposed reforms are backed by a Brennan Center-affiliated coalition of local law enforcement officers around the country, who agree that the default response to non-violent crimes should not be prison time, said the center’s director of justice programs, Inimai Chettiar.  Panelists said the study showed that some existing criminal justice policies are counter-productive. In the arena, “far too little of what we do actually makes sense or is backed by specific evidence,” said Peter Orszag, who led the Congressional Budget Office in 2007 and 2008. There are 2.2 million Americans behind bars, a prison rate that is more than four times the world average. The Justice Department said on Monday it will expand federal programs that ensure ex-prisoners have the skills needed to find work, and that they also have access to housing, education and financial credit after release.  Every federal inmate should get an individualized re-entry plan “tailored to his or her risk of recidivism and ... needs,” said a Justice Department press release.  U.S. Attorneys and the Bureau of Prisons are hosting more than 570 events nationwide this week on re-entry initiatives.

Summary: सजा में सुधार से अमेरिकी अर्थव्यवस्था को मदद मिल सकती हैः व्हाइट हाउस पैनल


SEOUL (Reuters) - North Korea has been observed moving what appeared to be an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) towards its west coast, South Korea s Asia Business Daily reported on Tuesday, citing an unidentified intelligence source. The rocket started moving on Monday, a day after North Korea s sixth nuclear test, and was spotted moving at night to avoid surveillance, the report said. North Korea has launch facilities for its missile program on its west coast. South Korea s defense ministry said they were unable to confirm the contents of the report. The ministry said in parliament on Monday that North Korea was considered ready to launch more missiles, including ICBMs, at any time.

Summary: उत्तर कोरिया आई. सी. बी. एम. श्रेणी के रॉकेट को पश्चिमी तट की ओर ले जा रहा हैः मीडिया


WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. President Barack Obama intends to veto by Friday evening legislation allowing survivors and families of victims of the Sept. 11 attacks to sue Saudi Arabia, the White House said. White House spokesman Josh Earnest told reporters the president will veto Justice Against Sponsors of Terrorism Act within the constitutionally mandated 10-day window, which ends Friday evening. The Obama administration opposed the bill on grounds that other countries could use the law as an excuse to sue U.S. diplomats, service members or companies.

Summary: ओबामा शुक्रवार तक 11 सितंबर के मुकदमे के विधेयक पर वीटो करेंगेः व्हाइट हाउस


TRIPOLI (Reuters) - Former Libyan Prime Minister Ali Zeidan has been released after being abducted during a visit to the capital, Tripoli, and held for nine days by an armed group, a relative said on Wednesday. Zeidan was prime minister from 2012-2014, a period when Libya slid deeper into the political turmoil and armed conflict that has plagued the country since Muammar Gaddafi was overthrown six years ago.  He has since been living in Germany with his family. It is not clear why Zeidan traveled to Libya or why he was abducted. He was being held by a group aligned with the U.N.-backed government in Tripoli, though he faced no judicial charges, a source said. The U.N.-backed government has not commented on the case. Tripoli is controlled by a number of the armed groups that have held power in the capital since 2011. Some have been given semi-official status by successive governments, but the groups remain unaccountable and involved in criminal activity. A lawyer for Zeidan, Moussa Al-Doghali, told France 24 Arabic TV channel that his client was released without explanation and that he did not know the circumstances of his arrest and detention. Zeidan was in good health and was staying in a Tripoli hotel following his release, Doghali said.   In October 2013, Zeidan was briefly abducted from a Tripoli hotel room by an armed group allied to the parliament that sacked him just over a year later.

Summary: त्रिपोली में अपहरण के बाद रिहा हुए लीबिया के पूर्व प्रधानमंत्री


(Reuters) - The White House on Tuesday denied that President Donald Trump planned to issue an executive order to change the national biofuels program, after the U.S. Renewable Fuels Association (RFA) said Trump’s team had informed the group an order was pending. Trading in U.S. refinery shares, fuel futures and corn prices was turbulent on the news of the pending order and its subsequent denial, as investors puzzled over what it would mean for the price of gasoline, ethanol and shares of companies that produce them. The RFA issued a statement early on Tuesday that said a member of the Trump administration had called to inform the group the president intended to sign an executive order that would shift the onus on combining biofuels with gasoline away from refiners. The order would require companies further down the supply chain, such as retailers who sell gasoline, to shoulder that load. Refiners have long requested this change, saying the biofuels program has hammered their profits.  White House spokeswoman Kelly Love, however, said on Tuesday afternoon “there is no ethanol executive order in the works.” Ethanol and fuel retail groups reacted quickly to the reports. Trump’s regulation adviser, billionaire investor Carl Icahn, is majority owner of CVR Energy (CVI.N), a refining company that would benefit from the change. That stock is up 80 percent since Trump’s election in November. Even after the White House denial, RFA Chief Executive Officer Bob Dinneen stuck by his statement, saying there is “certainly something in the works, but they’re not going to confirm it until they are ready to roll with it.” He declined to identify who in the Trump administration contacted the association. “Despite our continued opposition to the move, we were told the executive order was not negotiable,” Dinneen said. The Renewable Fuel Standard requires fuel companies to use increasing amounts of biofuel blended with gasoline and diesel. Former U.S. President Barack Obama expanded the rules, which started under his predecessor, George W. Bush, when gasoline prices were near records. Refineries without operations designed to blend biofuels such as ethanol into gasoline have to pay for renewable fuel credits, known as RINs, to meet U.S. environmental standards to help reduce greenhouse gas emissions. The cost for refiners has increased sharply in the last few years; nine major publicly traded refiners paid $2.5 billion in 2016 for RINs costs, a 78 percent increase from 2015.  Among those that have pushed for the change is Icahn, who holds an 82 percent stake of CVR. That company’s shares jumped on Tuesday before paring gains after the White House denial; they ended up 3.5 percent on the day to $22.92 a share, on heavier-than-usual trading volume of 1.7 million shares.  Icahn was unavailable for comment, and CVR declined to comment.  Emily Skor, CEO of biofuel trade group Growth Energy, expressed concern about any role Icahn may have played in planning changes to the program. “I assure you this is no deal for anyone but Carl Icahn,” she said. “If we had been approached with this deal, we would have flat-out rejected it.”  Seven Democratic senators, including Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts, sent a letter to the White House this month, saying Icahn’s role as an adviser to Trump created financial conflicts of interest and called for a review.     Shares of U.S. refiner Valero (VLO.N), which would also benefit from the changes, ended up 1 percent on Tuesday to close at $67.95 a share.  Biofuel organizations and groups representing fuel retailers and integrated oil companies like the U.S. units of Royal Dutch Shell Plc (RDSa.L) and BP Plc (BP.L) have opposed the change, which they say will complicate managing the program.  One source said the RFA was told the executive order would include incentives for ethanol and biodiesel in a tradeoff for the blending shift. Those changes could include a waiver to allow greater volumes of ethanol to be blended into gasoline in the summer, a review of how the Environmental Protection Agency estimates emission impacts of biofuels, and support for a congressional tax credit for domestic producers of biodiesel, the source said. Chicago Board of Trade corn futures Cc1 ended up about 1.7 percent. CBOT soyoil BOc1, which is used for biodiesel, rose 4.8 percent.  Compliance credits used to meet the annual biofuel blending standards traded around 43 cents on Tuesday from 47 cents to 48 cents previously, paring big morning losses.

Summary: व्हाइट हाउस ने जैव ईंधन कार्यक्रम पर ट्रम्प के आदेश को खारिज किया, बाजार में हलचल


TOKYO (Reuters) - The disapproval rating for Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe s administration exceeded that in favor, a survey by Kyodo news agency showed on Sunday, underscoring the headwind Abe faces as a fledging new party challenges his ruling bloc in this month s election. Abe called the general election hoping to keep his conservative Liberal Democratic Party-led coalition s majority in parliament s lower house, where it had a two-thirds  super  majority before dissolution. But his bet now looks increasingly shaky, given growing support for popular Tokyo Governor Yuriko Koike s new  Party of Hope  and the opposition Democratic Party s move to have its candidates leave the party and run on her ticket. In a Kyodo survey conducted on Sept. 30 and Oct. 1, 46.2 percent of respondents said they did not support Abe s administration, exceeding 40.6 percent expressing support. According to the survey, 24.1 percent plan to vote for the ruling LDP in proportional representation districts in the lower house election on Oct. 22, versus 14.8 percent for Koike s new party. When asked whether they favored Abe or Koike as the next prime minister, 45.9 percent chose Abe while 33.0 percent picked Koike, the poll showed. Kyodo did not state the number of potential voters polled.

Summary: जापान के प्रधानमंत्री आबे के लिए अस्वीकृति रेटिंग समर्थन से अधिक हैः क्योडो पोल


(Reuters) - The Louisiana legislature on Wednesday passed a bill requiring women to wait three days before receiving an abortion, tripling the state’s existing waiting time in one of the most stringent regulations of its kind nationally. Governor John Bel Edwards, a Democrat, has said he plans to sign the bill championed by anti-abortion groups. It passed with wide support from the Republican-controlled legislature. The bill requires a woman to wait at least 72 hours after a state-mandated ultrasound for the procedure. The current waiting time is 24 hours, the same as in most states with waiting periods. Only five other states require 72-hour waiting periods: Missouri, North Carolina, Oklahoma, South Dakota and Utah. The measures are among a wave of laws being adopted by states as conservatives seek to chip away at the U.S. Supreme Court’s landmark 1973 Roe v. Wade decision to legalize abortion.  Advocates of extending the Louisiana waiting period say women need more time to consider alternatives and the consequences of ending a pregnancy. “Many of them come to regret their decision later in life,” Deanna Wallace, legislative director for Louisiana Right to Life, said in a telephone interview. The measure is “empowering them with additional time to consider all of the options.” Opponents of the legislation see it as the latest attempt to block women’s access to abortions. “Politicians in Louisiana have made it their mission to restrict access to safe and legal health care — with women in the state left to pay the price,” Amanda Allen, senior state legislative counsel at the Center for Reproductive Rights, said in a statement, urging the governor to veto the measure.  Louisiana also requires women to make two separate visits to a clinic to obtain an abortion, seen as an additional burden on women forced to take extra time off work and away from families, according to the Guttmacher Institute, which tracks reproductive health policy.     Missouri, South Dakota and Utah have similar policies, while North Carolina and Oklahoma allow women to receive the initial counseling by phone. The Louisiana legislation includes an exception for women living 150 miles or farther from an abortion clinic. They will remain under the current 24-hour waiting requirement.

Summary: लुइसियाना विधानमंडल ने गर्भपात के लिए 72 घंटे की प्रतीक्षा अवधि पारित की


SYDNEY (Reuters) - Three skydivers were killed in Australia on Friday after what authorities believe was a mid-air collision. Two men aged in their 30s and a woman in her 50s are believed to have collided while skydiving near Cairns in northeastern Australia, police said. Their bodies were found about a mile from the designated landing site.

Summary: ऑस्ट्रेलिया में हवा में टकराने से तीन गोताखोरों की मौत


HONOLULU/LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - U.S. President-elect Donald Trump heaped pressure on Lockheed Martin Corp on Thursday, saying he viewed costs for the aerospace company’s F-35 fighter as too high and had asked Boeing Co to offer a price for an older aircraft that lacks the same stealth capabilities.  Trump posted his Twitter message a day after the president-elect met with the chief executives of both aerospace companies, using the bully pulpit to press them on projects he says are too expensive.  In after-hours trading following Trump’s tweet, Lockheed shares fell 2 percent and Boeing’s rose 0.7 percent. “Based on the tremendous cost and cost overruns of the Lockheed Martin F-35, I have asked Boeing to price-out a comparable F-18 Super Hornet!” Trump said. Lockheed declined to comment. The F-35 program is a critical sales generator for the company, accounting for 20 percent of last year’s revenue of $46.1 billion. The Pentagon did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Boeing spokesman Todd Blecher said in an email that the company was committed to providing the capability and affordability to meet national security needs. While the F-35 program has been dogged by problems and costs have escalated to an estimated $379 billion, it is significantly newer than the F-18, which does not have the same stealth capabilities.  “They’re two completely different aircraft from different generations,” said Phillip Carter, a senior fellow at the Center for a New American Security, a Washington-based think tank. “It’s like comparing an old jeep to a Humvee.” Dan Grazier of the Project on Government Oversight, a nonprofit that investigates government contractors, said the F-35’s stealth capabilities drove the cost up, but its usefulness had not yet been demonstrated. He said canceling the program, however, would be “disruptive.” On the campaign trail, Trump touted his negotiating skills as a businessman, and he appears to be using similar tactics as he prepares to take office on Jan. 20. It was not clear how his blunt style would translate to Pentagon procurement or international diplomacy.     On Wednesday, Trump met the CEOs of Lockheed and Boeing at his resort in Palm Beach, Florida. Boeing CEO Dennis Muilenburg told reporters there that he had guaranteed costs would not get out of control for a replacement to Air Force One, the presidential plane, another project Trump calls too expensive.     Lockheed Chief Executive Marillyn Hewson did not speak to reporters but said in a statement that the meeting was “productive.” Trump told reporters he wanted to cut the F-35 program’s costs.  If he scrapped the F-35, such a move by a new administration would have some precedent. Then-President Jimmy Carter canceled the B-1 bomber program in June 1977, although it was resurrected by his White House successor, Ronald Reagan. Trump’s jockeying for leverage via his Twitter account is likely to be a hurdle for all U.S. defense contractors in the next administration, Roman Schweizer, aerospace and defense analyst at financial services firm Cowen & Co, wrote in a note to clients on Thursday. “We have no idea how this plays out but believe ‘Twitter risk’ for defense companies could be a significant issue over the next four years,” Schweizer wrote. “This is Lockheed Martin’s time in the barrel.”

Summary: ट्रम्प ने लॉकहीड पर दबाव डाला, कहा बोइंग से लड़ाकू विमानों की कीमत कम करने को कहा


ROME (Reuters) - The waters of Rome s Trevi Fountain, one of Italy s top tourist attractions, turned red on Thursday after a man dumped dye into the main pool, a city official said. Police detained the man responsible, a statement from the mayor s office said, as city officials assessed if there had been any damage to the 18th century landmark. The fountain, where tossing a coin into the pool is supposed by superstition to guarantee one s return to the eternal city, is a big tourist attraction in Rome. Actress Anita Ekberg famously frolicked in the fountain s pool in the 1960 film  La Dolce Vita .  Acts like this demonstrate ignorance and a total lack of civic sense,  Deputy Mayor Luca Bergamo said. Italian media said the culprit was the same person who dyed the fountain red in 2007 to protest the cost to the city of hosting an international film festival. Thursday s action took place on the opening day of Rome s 2017 film festival.

Summary: आदमी द्वारा पानी में रंग डालने के बाद रोम का ट्रेवी फव्वारा लाल हो जाता है


MOSCOW (Reuters) - Moscow is prepared to work with Pyongyang to try to find a peaceful resolution to the North Korean missile crisis, the Russian Foreign ministry said on Friday. The comments came in a statement issued by the ministry after a meeting between Russian ambassador-at-large Oleg Burmistrov and Choe Son-hui, director-general of the North American department of North Korea s foreign ministry. Choe also met with Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Igor Morgulov, the ministry said.  The Russian side confirmed its readiness to combine efforts in the interests of finding ways to solve the problems in the region by peaceful, political and diplomatic means,  it said.

Summary: रूस ने कहा, मिसाइल संकट के समाधान के लिए उत्तर कोरिया के साथ काम करने को तैयार


WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Republican presidential candidate Marco Rubio on Friday called front-runner Donald Trump a “con artist,” pledging to expose the real estate mogul and pressure him to reveal his finances. In a series of television interviews, the U.S. senator from Florida said working-class voters are being fooled by Trump’s lofty promises, despite his own string of lawsuits and the bankruptcies of Trump-related companies. “We are not going to turn over the conservative movement to a con artist who is telling people one thing but has spent 40 years sticking it to working Americans and now claims to be their champion,” he said on NBC’s “Today” program. Rubio’s comments echoed the attacks he and fellow senator and candidate Ted Cruz made on Trump during Thursday’s heated televised debate in Texas, one of 11 U.S. states set to vote in nominating contests on Tuesday. Trump, in a post on Twitter Friday morning, fired back by saying: “Lightweight Marco Rubio was working hard last night. The problem is, he is a choker, and once a choker, always a chocker (sic)! Mr. Meltdown.” “He’s says I’m a choker?” Rubio responded in an interview on ABC’s “Good Morning America.” “He’s a con artist. It’s a fraud. We’re going to expose him.” With Trump leading in opinion polls in nearly all of the “Super Tuesday” contests, Republicans are recognizing the brash mogul and reality television star is likely to be their nominee even as Rubio and Cruz try to shake up the race ahead of the Nov. 8 election.  Rubio, who has admittedly struggled with his own personal finances such as student loans, accused Trump of withholding his tax records because they likely show “he’s not as rich as he claims to be.” Trump, who puts his fortune at $10 billion, has said he would release his tax records in coming months but said he cannot release his them now because he is being audited.  “He’s making things up,” Rubio told NBC. “We need to see those returns to see if the difference between the audited  version and what he filed if there is evidence of wrongdoing.”  Asked if his strategy to push back against Trump now comes too late, Rubio said he was fighting for the good of his party. He said he would continue to gain support on Tuesday and predicted a win in his home state of Florida on March 15.    (Reporting by Washington newsroom; Editing by Bill Trott) This article was funded in part by SAP. It was independently created by the Reuters editorial staff. SAP had no editorial involvement in its creation or production.

Summary: रिपब्लिकन बहस के बाद रूबियो लगातार ट्रम्प पर झूलते रहते हैं


(Reuters) - Relatives of former national security adviser Michael Flynn have set up a fund to help pay for his legal defense against federal and congressional investigations into potential collusion between Donald Trump’s presidential campaign and Russia. The fund was established by Flynn’s brother Joe and sister Barbara Redgate, who said in a statement the “enormous expense” of legal fees had put a “tremendous financial burden on our brother Mike and his family.” They asked supporters of the retired U.S. general, “veterans, and all people of goodwill” to contribute to the fund, which will collect donations from U.S. citizens through a newly created website, according to the statement. Flynn, a central figure in a federal probe led by special counsel Robert Mueller, as well as a focal point of congressional investigations, broke a months-long silence to thank his siblings for their support on Twitter. “Lori and I are very grateful to my brother Joe and sister Barbara for creating a fund to help pay my legal defense costs,” Flynn said in a tweet, referring to his wife Lori. Flynn was fired by Trump as national security adviser after less than a month on the job. The firing came 18 days after a senior Justice Department official warned that Flynn could be blackmailed because Moscow knew he made misleading statements about his contacts with Russian officials. Flynn in August reported income of at least $1.8 million,  according to an amended financial disclosure form, which included paid speaking engagements to Russian entities, including the Kremlin-funded RT TV and Volga-Dnepr Airlines and payments for lobbying for the Turkish government. Investigators are looking at whether payments from foreign clients to Flynn and his company, the now-inactive Flynn Intel Group, were lawful, sources have told Reuters.

Summary: ट्रम्प के पूर्व सहयोगी फ्लिन के परिवार ने 'भारी' कानूनी शुल्क के लिए धन बनाया


BERLIN (Reuters) - The leadership of Germany s far right cracked within hours of its electoral success on Monday, when the highest-profile figure in its more moderate wing stormed out of its victory news conference and abandoned its parliamentary group. Frauke Petry, a 42-year-old chemist, was the most recognizable face in the Alternative for Germany (AfD) during its swift rise over the past two years. But she said she could not stand with an  anarchistic party  that lacked a credible plan to govern, and would sit in parliament as an independent.  The anti-immigrant AfD shocked the establishment by winning 12.6 percent of the vote in Sunday s election after a campaign that channeled public anger at Chancellor Angela Merkel s 2015 decision to leave Germany s border open to migrants. The result made the AfD the first far-right group to win seats in the Bundestag since the 1950s. A vocal critic of immigration, Petry served as co-leader of the AfD, but had come into conflict with other senior figures in the party in recent months, saying she understood why some voters were alarmed at some of their radical rhetoric. She has been less visible as a figure since a surprise decision in April not to run the party s election campaign.  I ve decided I won t be part of the AfD s group in the German parliament but will initially be an individual member of parliament in the lower house,  Petry said as she left the party s news conference. She has said the AfD should be ready to join coalition governments, while other figures said the party should stick to opposition. All established parties refuse to work with the AfD. Berlin-based political expert Gero Neugebauer said Petry had realized she would not have much influence in the AfD s parliamentary group and may see herself in future as a potential leader of a new group attracting likeminded lawmakers. Other senior party figures played down her importance.  It s always a shame when someone very talented leaves the party and Frauke Petry is very talented. But I must note that she wasn t much help recently in the campaign,  one of the AfD s top candidates, Alexander Gauland, told Reuters. Once seen as a radical for transforming the AfD from an obscure group opposed to euro zone financial bailouts into Germany s leading anti-immigration party, Petry had distanced herself from other top AfD candidates before the election. She had sought to have the party expel Bjoern Hoecke, a senior party official who courted controversy by denying that Adolf Hitler was  absolutely evil  and calling Berlin s Holocaust Memorial a  monument of shame . Gauland, who replaced Petry in recent months as the party s most recognizable face, provoked outrage during the election campaign by saying Germans should be proud of their World War Two soldiers and Germany s immigration minister should be  disposed of  in Turkey where her parents come from. Petry said she was aiming to bring about a  conservative turning point  in parliament in 2021, the next time Germany is due to hold a national election.  I ll do everything I can to achieve that so the sensible ideas the AfD has been working on since 2013 actually become a political reality,  she added. She declined to answer further questions, including whether she would remain the AfD s co-leader, but said the public would hear from her in the coming days. The party, founded in 2013 by a group of academics opposed to the euro, has long been riven by infighting. Commentators have predicted that its divisions could be amplified by its entry onto the national political stage. Gauland said neither he nor the other top candidate Alice Weidel nor co-leader Joerg Meuthen knew why Petry left. Thomas Jaeger, political scientist at Cologne University, said Petry would now need to leave the party, and her decision would likely help the AfD because its parliamentary group would more cohesive without her.

Summary: चुनाव में सफलता के कुछ घंटों बाद जर्मन धुर दक्षिणपंथी नेतृत्व टूट गया


WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Donald Trump on Wednesday will host congressional negotiators for lunch to discuss their progress toward tax cut legislation, the White House said. The lunch will take place ahead of a speech on tax cuts Trump is to deliver. “Tomorrow afternoon the president will host the House and Senate conferees for the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act... for lunch at the White House to discuss the progress they have made towards delivering historic tax reform for the American people,” said White House spokeswoman Lindsay Walters.

Summary: ट्रंप बुधवार को हाउस, सीनेट के कर कटौती वार्ताकारों से मिलेंगेः व्हाइट हाउस


KIEV (Reuters) - Turkey s President Tayyip Erdogan said on Monday a U.S. decision to suspend visa services in Turkey was upsetting, adding that Turkish foreign ministry officials had contacted their U.S. counterparts over the issue.   Above all, the decision is very upsetting. For the embassy in Ankara to take such a decision and implement, it is upsetting,  Erdogan told a news conference during a visit to Ukraine.

Summary: तुर्की के एर्दोगन ने कहा कि वीजा सेवाओं को निलंबित करने का अमेरिकी निर्णय 'परेशान करने वाला' है


SEOUL (Reuters) - South Korean guards fired warning shots across the heavily militarized border with North Korea on Thursday as a soldier from the North defected in thick fog, complicating efforts to ease tensions over Pyongyang s nuclear and missile programs. A South Korean defense ministry official said up to 20 warning shots were fired as North Korean troops approached too near the  military demarcation line  at the demilitarized zone (DMZ), apparently in search of the missing soldier. Thursday s defection came about five weeks after a North Korean soldier suffered critical gunshot wounds during a defection dash across the border. Two North Korean civilians were also found in a fishing boat on Wednesday and had sought to defect, officials in the South said. That brings the total number of North Koreans who have defected by taking dangerous routes either directly across the border or by sea to 15 so far this year, including two other soldiers. That is three times the number last year, according to South Korean officials. Tensions on the Korean peninsula were already high after reclusive, impoverished North Korea accelerated testing of its missile and nuclear programs this year in defiance of international pressure and UN sanctions.  The defections also threaten to complicate South Korea s efforts to ensure the smooth running of the 2018 Winter Olympics, which begin in Pyeongchang in February. South Korean President Moon Jae-in said on Tuesday he had proposed postponing major military drills with the United States until after the games in an attempt to soothe relations, although officials in Seoul later said any proposed delay would depend on the North not engaging in any  provocations . In a notice published online, the U.S. military s 8th Army said a  significant number of North Korean propaganda leaflets and CDs  had been distributed at  strategic locations  on multiple U.S. military bases in South Korea.  The notice called on troops to report any suspicious individuals to help combat potential  insider threats  that could disrupt military operations. The United States stations 28,500 troops in South Korea, a legacy of the 1950-53 Korean War, and North Korea says regular U.S.-South Korean military drills are a prelude to invasion. It regularly threatens to destroy the United States and its two key Asian allies, South Korea and Japan. Seoul says more than 880 North Koreans have defected to the rich, democratic South so far this year, but the vast majority have taken a less dangerous route through China. Going through China, North Korea s neighbor and sole major ally, means they avoid the DMZ, which features landmines, barbed wire, surveillance cameras, electric fencing and thousands of armed troops on both sides. The number of defectors arriving successfully in the South has dropped since North Korean leader Kim Jong Un took power in late 2011, a trend defectors and experts say may be linked to a crackdown by Pyongyang. There was no immediate comment from the secretive North about the latest incidents. However, the North s state media released a statement sharply denying U.S. allegations this week that Pyongyang was behind a number of recent cyber attacks. Washington has publicly blamed North Korean hackers for a cyber attack in May that crippled hospitals, banks and other companies. Researchers also say the North was likely behind attacks on virtual currency exchanges. The military drills with the United States have also complicated relations with China. The proposed delay in drills was discussed during a summit between Moon and Chinese President Xi Jinping last week after the proposal was submitted to Washington, an official at the presidential Blue House said this week. China and Russia have proposed a  freeze for freeze  arrangement under which North Korea would stop its nuclear and missile tests in exchange for a halt to the exercises, but there has been little interest from Washington or Pyongyang. In Thursday s defection, a low-ranking soldier crossed the border near a South Korean guard post, South Korea s Joint Chiefs of Staff spokesman, Roh Jae-cheon, said. No shots were fired at the soldier. Surveillance equipment detected him despite heavy fog that limited visibility to about 100 meters (110 yards), Roh said. South Korean guards fired about 20 warning shots at North Korean troops near the border presumably searching for the defector about half an hour later, a defense ministry official in the South told Reuters. Gunfire from the North was detected later but the target could not be determined, the official said.  South Korea s Unification Ministry also said maritime police had found two North Korean men drifting in a small boat off the coast on Wednesday. The pair  expressed their willingness to defect , a ministry official said, and their claim for asylum was being investigated. The North Korean soldier who was shot several times during a daring dash across the border on Nov. 13 has since been identified as 24-year-old Oh Chong Song and is now in a military hospital south of Seoul. His treatment for gunshot wounds and pre-existing conditions has included two major operations and intelligence officials will begin questioning him soon.

Summary: उत्तर कोरियाई सैनिक के दक्षिण की ओर जाने पर डीएमजेड पर गोलियां चलाई गईं


BERLIN (Reuters) - German Chancellor Angela Merkel faced pressure at the weekend to embrace ideas by French President Emmanuel Macron in a passionate appeal for closer European cooperation and push back in looming coalition talks against parties critical of them. Merkel has praised a speech Macron gave in Paris last week, in which he urged European countries, shaken by years of financial crisis and Britain s Brexit vote, to press ahead with closer integration by harmonizing their asylum, defense and economic policies. But weakened by the worst election result for her conservatives since 1949 and forced into difficult coalition negotiations that could drag on for months, she must convince potential partners like the Free Democrats (FDP), who have been critical of Macron s European ideas, to compromise with France. Some German media expressed concern at the weekend about whether Merkel would be prepared to set aside her cautious instincts and take the political risks at home that may be necessary for Berlin to meet Macron halfway. They contrasted Macron s rousing speech and staunchly pro-European campaign with Merkel s passive re-election race, in which she barely mentioned Europe and was criticized by other parties for avoiding serious discussion about the challenges facing Germany.  Merkel cannot hide behind the FDP. She can t use their euroskepticism as an excuse to rebuff Macron,  German weekly Der Spiegel said in an editorial.  She realizes what an impression Macron made in Germany by speaking passionately about his European ideas,  said the Sueddeutsche Zeitung newspaper.  And she knows that the absence of fervent speeches like this has left a vacuum in Germany for which she is to blame.  The criticism came as the FDP appeared to soften its tone ahead of coalition talks with Merkel s conservatives and the pro-European Greens. In an interview with the Bild am Sonntag (BAMS) newspaper, FDP leader Christian Lindner called Macron a  godsend  and echoed his language about the need to focus on a common vision, rather than get bogged down in areas of disagreement.  We should not focus on red lines, but rather on common horizons,  Lindner said when asked about Macron s calls for deeper euro zone integration, an area the FDP views with scepticism.  Macron is a godsend. More cooperation in crime fighting, the military, asylum, energy and digital is within reach,  added Lindner, who is seen as a top candidate to replace Wolfgang Schaeuble as finance minister, a position with major influence over European policy. His comments came days after the number two figure in the party, Wolfgang Kubicki, described Macron s speech as  sensational  and voiced support for his ideas for a common army and asylum policy. But both Lindner and Kubicki made clear that they remain skeptical about Macron s proposals to create a separate budget and finance minister for the 19-nation single currency bloc. At a summit of EU leaders in Tallinn last week, Merkel said her top priorities were to move forward on the creation of a single digital market and a common asylum policy in the EU. Only after that, she said, should the bloc tackle the controversial issue of euro zone reform.  Germany has two overarching challenges now: to give a broad vision of where it wants to go in Europe and to formulate what will give to get there,  Daniela Schwarzer, research director at the German Council on Foreign Relations, told Reuters.  Macron has spelled out sacrifices. Now it is up to Germany. And above all it is up to Merkel to take the lead, to say what she wants.

Summary: यूरोप पर मैक्रों को गले लगाने के लिए मर्केल को दबाव का सामना करना पड़ रहा है


BRUSSELS (Reuters) - The European Union s executive offered initial backing on Thursday to a Franco-German proposal to allow more permanent border checks within the bloc s free-travel zone. Five countries in the so-called Schengen travel zone - Germany, France, Denmark, Austria and Norway - restarted border controls after 2015 attacks in Paris and in an attempt to control the movement of refugees and migrants arriving in the bloc in unprecedented numbers the same year. Schengen rules allow for the reintroduction of such frontier controls for up to two years and the ones now in place expire in November.  Germany and France, aiming for an extension and the ability to reinstate them in future, asked the EU to change the system to extend the maximum duration to four years.  A joint proposal by Paris and Berlin, seen by Reuters, says that would be required  in the context of a long-term terrorist threat  after a raft of deadly Islamist attacks in Europe.  The Commission recognizes that new security challenges have appeared in the past years, as demonstrated by the recent terrorist attacks in Barcelona and Turku,  the EU s migration chief, Dimitris Avramopoulos, told journalists after talks with EU s interior ministers. He said the Brussels-based Commission would propose an update to the Schengen borders code later this month. French Interior Minister Gerard Collomb told journalists after the talks in Brussels:   We had raised this problem some time ago with my German colleague ... and from what I heard from the Commissioner he indeed wants to make the Schengen code more flexible ... to allow us to protect our borders against terrorism.

Summary: यूरोपीय संघ के कार्यकारी ने आपातकालीन सीमा जांच पर फ्रेंको-जर्मन आह्वान को स्वीकार किया


ZAGREB (Reuters) - The Croatian parliament began a debate on Friday on an opposition no-confidence motion against the government over its handling of a debt crisis that had hit Croatia s largest firm Agrokor. The opposition, led by the Social Democrats, says that the government, which took over administration of Agrokor last April, was not running the restructuring process transparently. It also says that the whole process has been politicized.  The government has failed to provide credible answers on key questions in relation to the law on Agrokor,  the opposition said in its motion. The no-confidence motion is unlikely to succeed as the center-right coalition comprising the conservatives and the liberals has a small but firm parliamentary majority. A vote is expected on Friday. The government introduced an emergency law to intervene because Agrokor, the largest employer in the Balkans, faced a debt and liquidity crisis. The opposition has criticized the government for a liquidity loan agreed in recent months with creditors, including foreign investment funds, to finance Agrokor s operations through a 15-month period of restructuring. It said that the loan deal was not transparent and appeared to favor some creditors. The government and Agrokor s crisis manager Ante Ramljak reject the accusations.

Summary: क्रोएशिया की संसद ने एग्रोकोर पर सरकार के अविश्वास प्रस्ताव पर बहस की


BRUSSELS (Reuters) - Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy said on Friday he would announce on Saturday measures to impose direct rule on the wealthy region of Catalonia over its bid to secede. Speaking in Brussels, Rajoy added the measures, based on a never-before-used article of Spain s 1978 constitution, would have backing from the main opposition Socialist party, and centrist group Ciudadanos.  Rajoy has called an emergency cabinet meeting for Oct. 21.

Summary: स्पेन 21 अक्टूबर को प्रत्यक्ष शासन लागू करने के उपाय पेश करेगाः प्रधानमंत्री राजोय


NEW YORK (Reuters) - U.S. President-elect Donald Trump said on Wednesday he would not wait for negotiations with Mexico to be completed before starting to build a wall along the two countries’ border. “I could wait about a year and a half until we finish our negotiations with Mexico which will start immediately after we get into office, but I don’t want to wait,” Trump said at a news conference. He said his vice president-elect Mike Pence is “leading an effort to get final approvals through various agencies and through Congress for the wall to begin.” “Mexico in some form ... will reimburse us,” Trump added.

Summary: दीवार बनाने से पहले मेक्सिको के साथ बातचीत का इंतजार नहीं करेंगेः ट्रंप


EDINBURGH (Reuters) - Top Scottish nationalist Alex Salmond is under fire for agreeing to host a Russia Today talkshow, but the man who once sought to split Scotland from the United Kingdom rejects suggestions he is helping Moscow or perceived Kremlin mischief-making in Europe. Asked whether he was supporting Russian-led propaganda, Salmond, who lost his seat as a Scottish National Party (SNP)lawmaker in Britain s June election, said the public could judge for itself.  If it turns out to be Kremlin propaganda, then people can slate me. But why don t they watch the show first and then decide?  he told the BBC. The news of his job drew a ticking off from Salmond s successor at the head of Scotland s devolved government, Nicola Sturgeon, amid concerns about alleged Russian funding links to Britain s campaign to leave the European Union. In the United States, a federal investigation is looking into reports of Russian meddling in the U.S. election campaign.  Moscow denies that it seeks to subvert Western democracies. Sturgeon, also leader of the SNP, said the show would make  interesting viewing,  but added she would have advised against the choice of media.  Of course, Alex is not currently an elected politician and is free to do as he wishes   but had I been asked, I would have advised against RT and suggested he seek a different channel,  she said, adding:  Neither myself nor the SNP will shy away from criticizing Russian policy when we believe it is merited.  Scottish Liberal Democrat lawmaker Alex Cole-Hamilton challenged Salmond to interview opponents of President Vladimir Putin s government on his show and the leader of the Scottish Conservatives expressed sympathy for her political opponent.  It s not often I feel sorry for Nicola Sturgeon, but Salmond taking the Kremlin s rouble on Russia Today? Ooft....  Ruth Davidson, leader of the Scottish Conservatives, said on Twitter. Feelings for and against Scottish independence are still key to politics north of the English border, although the drive to sever 300-year old trading and political bonds has stalled as Britain negotiates its exit from the European Union.  Salmond, 63, is still very influential in the independence movement and is never far from the spotlight with outspoken comments on U.S. President Donald Trump, Brexit and the best way to manage the SNP s drive for secession.   I appeared on RT programs when I was still a member of parliament. It would be a bit strange if, now that I m no longer a member of parliament, I m refusing to make my own show with my own production company over which I have total editorial control,  he said. The Russian media group says it covers  stories overlooked by the mainstream media, provides alternative perspectives on current affairs, and acquaints international audiences with a Russian viewpoint on major global events.

Summary: स्कॉटलैंड के पूर्व प्रथम मंत्री रूस टुडे चैट शो की मेजबानी करेंगे


WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Donald Trump said in a statement on Friday that White House press secretary Sean Spicer was resigning as of August and that businessman Anthony Scaramucci, a long-time supporter, would become White House communications director. “I’m grateful for Sean’s work on behalf of my administration and the American people. I wish him continued success as he moves on to pursue new opportunities. Just look at his great television ratings,” Trump said in a statement read by White House spokeswoman Sarah Sanders. Scaramucci told a news briefing that Sanders would become Trump’s new press secretary.

Summary: स्पाइसर व्हाइट हाउस में इस्तीफा दे रहे हैं, स्कारामुची संचार प्रमुख होंगेः ट्रम्प का बयान


BEDMINSTER, N.J. (Reuters) - President Donald Trump said on Friday he hoped North Korea “fully” understood the gravity of his words warning Pyongyang against taking any military action against the United States or its allies. “I hope that they are going to fully understand the gravity of what I said, and what I said is what I mean,” Trump told reporters at his golf resort in New Jersey. “Those words are very easy to understand.”

Summary: ट्रंप ने कहा कि उन्हें उम्मीद है कि उत्तर कोरिया स्थिति की गंभीरता को समझेगा


MOSCOW (Reuters) - The decision by the United States to recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel risks aggravating the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, Russia s foreign ministry said on Thursday, while calling on all sides involved to show restraint. Russia calls on all the parties concerned to refrain from actions that risk  dangerous and uncontrollable consequences , the ministry said in a statement.

Summary: रूस का कहना है कि येरुशलम पर अमेरिकी निर्णय इजरायल-फिलिस्तीनी संघर्ष को खराब कर सकता है


KUALA LUMPUR (Reuters) - Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak called on Muslims worldwide to strongly oppose any recognition of Jerusalem as Israel s capital, as he rallied his party ahead of a tough election due next year. Muslim majority Malaysia, a significant U.S. ally in Southeast Asia, warned of grave repercussions as it joined other countries condemning President Donald Trump s decision on Wednesday to reverse decades of U.S. policy and recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel.  How can we accept that?  Najib said in his speech at an annual gathering of the ruling United Malay National Organisation (UMNO) party in Kuala Lumpur.      I call on all Muslims across the world to let your voices be heard, make it clear that we strongly oppose any recognition of Jerusalem as Israel s capital for all time.  The opposition Pan-Malaysian Islamic Party (PAS) said it would hold a protest outside the U.S. Embassy on Friday to condemn the decision. Dogged by a long-running multi-billion dollar scandal at state fund that he founded, Najib is expected to court Muslim sensibilities as he seeks a third term in next year s election, though the strategy could lose votes for his coalition partners from Malaysia s sizable Chinese and Indian minorities.  At this father of all elections, we will fight to the end,  Najib said, leading three cheers of  God is Great  from the thousands of UMNO delegates in the conference hall. Najib s greatest challenge is expected to come from an opposition alliance that has re-grouped under 93-year-old Mahathir Mohamad -  who led Malaysia for 22 years - and charismatic leader Anwar Ibrahim, rather than from the Islamists. Observers still expect Najib to steer UMNO and the multi-racial Barisan Nasional (BN) coalition to victory despite the controversy over state fund 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB). Najib has denied any wrongdoing in a scandal that is being investigated in at least six countries including Switzerland, Singapore and the United States. On Monday, U.S. attorney-general Jeff Sessions described the Malaysian graft case as the worst form of kleptocracy, and said the U.S. Department of Justice (DoJ) was working to provide justice to the victims.  Holding onto power, Najib has purged dissent among the 3.4 million members of UMNO, clamped down on media and civil society, and blocked a damaging internal probe on him related to graft at 1MDB.

Summary: चुनाव के लिए मलेशियाई सत्तारूढ़ दल को घेरते हुए, नजीब ने येरुशलम पर मुसलमानों की रैली की


TOKYO (Reuters) - Japan is studying plans to cope with an influx of perhaps tens of thousands of North Korean evacuees if a military or other crisis breaks out on the peninsula, including ways to weed out spies and terrorists, a domestic newspaper said. The Japan Coast Guard would escort boats fleeing North Korea to designated ports, where police would screen them by checking their identity and possible criminal records and expel those deemed a threat, the Yomiuri newspaper said on Thursday. It did not say where those people would be sent, however. Evacuees granted temporary entrance would be transferred to emergency detention centers, probably in southern Japan, after completing quarantine and other procedures. Officials would then decide whether they were eligible to remain in Japan, the Yomiuri said.  Regional tension over Pyongyang s missile and nuclear arms programs remain high. A senior Chinese diplomat was to visit the North from Friday as a special envoy of Chinese President Xi Jinping, just a week after U.S. President Donald Trump met Xi in Beijing and pressed for greater action to rein in Pyongyang. Junji Ito, an official of the justice ministry s immigration bureau, said the Japanese government was looking at steps to deal with a possible influx of people from North Korea but declined to comment on details. Outspoken Deputy Prime Minister Taro Aso grabbed headlines in September when he touched on the possibility of shooting armed refugees from North Korea.  Will police respond and arrest them on charges of illegal immigration?  media quoted him as saying in a speech.  If the Self-Defense Forces (military) are dispatched, will they shoot them down?   On Thursday, the Japan Coast Guard said it had rescued three North Korean men on a capsized boat a day earlier and was searching for 12 missing crew. The men said they were fishermen, not defectors, and Japan was arranging to send them home, it added. Japan has strict requirements for recognizing asylum seekers and accepted only three refugees in the first half of 2017 despite a record 8,561 fresh applications. In January, Human Rights Watch described Japan s record on asylum seekers as  abysmal . The country took in more than 11,000 Indochinese  boat people  refugees over three decades to 2005 in the aftermath of the Vietnam War, a little-remembered open-door policy.

Summary: जापान संकट की स्थिति में उत्तर कोरियाई निकासी से निपटने की योजना पर विचार कर रहा है


WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Senate voted almost unanimously on Thursday to slap new sanctions on Russia, putting President Donald Trump in a tough position by forcing him to take a hard line on Moscow or veto the legislation and infuriate his own Republican Party. The legislation all but dashes Trump’s hopes for warmer ties with Moscow as his administration is dogged by congressional and special counsel investigations into Russian meddling in the 2016 U.S. presidential election to sway it in Trump’s favor. Russian President Vladimir Putin, who has repeatedly denied the conclusions of U.S. intelligence agencies that Moscow interfered using cyber warfare methods, has threatened retaliation against the legislation. The Senate backed the bill, which also imposes sanctions on Iran and North Korea, by a margin of 98-2 with strong support from Trump’s fellow Republicans as well as Democrats. The bill, which includes a provision that allows Congress to stop any effort by Trump to ease existing sanctions on Russia, will now be sent to the White House for Trump to sign into law or veto. It is the first major foreign policy legislation approved by Congress under Trump, who has struggled to advance his domestic agenda despite Republicans controlling the Senate and House of Representatives. The strong bipartisan support for the bill was a sharp contrast to the bitter partisan rancor during debate over how to overhaul the U.S. healthcare system. If Trump chooses to veto it, the bill is expected to garner enough support in both chambers to override his veto and pass it into law. The sanctions measure has already passed the House of Representatives by a vote of 419-3.  Republicans and Democrats have pushed for more sanctions partly as a response to the election allegations. Trump denies any collusion between his campaign and Moscow. Republican Senator John McCain, a leading congressional voice calling for a firm line against Russia, said before the vote: “The United States of America needs to send a strong message to Vladimir Putin and any other aggressor that we will not tolerate attacks on our democracy.” Putin said Moscow would only decide on how to retaliate once it had seen the final text of the proposed law. The bill would affect a range of Russian industries and might further hurt the Russian economy, already weakened by 2014 sanctions imposed after Russia annexed Crime from Ukraine. Besides angering Moscow, the legislation has upset the European Union, which has said the new sanctions might affect its energy security and prompt it to act, too. The legislation also cracks down on Iran and North Korea  for activities including their missile development programs and human rights abuses, including seeking to punish foreign banks that do business with North Korea. It also imposes restrictions on anyone involved in Iran’s ballistic missile program and those who do business with them. The sanctions also apply to Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps security force. Earlier on Thursday, a senior White House aide said Trump could veto the pending legislation in order to push for a tougher deal, an idea that drew skepticism in Congress because his administration had spent weeks lobbying for a weaker bill. “He may sign the sanctions exactly the way they are or he may veto the sanctions and negotiate an even tougher deal against the Russians,” White House Communications Director Anthony Scaramucci told CNN. Earlier on Thursday, Senator Bob Corker, chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, told reporters: “I would guess that he (Trump) will sign it.” A White House official said the bill would be reviewed, “but we strongly support sanctions against all three countries.” Another White House official said it could take a couple of days before the legislation gets to Trump’s desk. Trump can impose new sanctions at any time through an executive order. “This bill doesn’t preclude him from issuing tougher sanctions. That doesn’t make any sense,” said Edward Fishman, a former State Department official during the Obama administration who worked on U.S. sanctions policy. Once Trump receives the bill, if he does not sign it, he has 10 days, excluding Sundays, before he must issue a veto and prevent the bill from becoming law automatically.  If he opts for a veto, the bill can become law anyway if two-thirds of both the House and Senate vote for an override.  Putin said on a visit to Finland on Thursday that Russia was “exercising restraint and patience, but at some moment we’ll have to retaliate. It’s impossible to endlessly tolerate this boorishness towards our country.” Putin, at a news conference with Finnish President Sauli Niinisto, also spoke about former President Barack Obama’s order last December to seize Russian diplomatic property in the United States and to expel 35 Russian diplomats. “This goes beyond all reasonable bounds,” Putin said. “And now these sanctions - they are also absolutely unlawful from the point of view of international law.”

Summary: सीनेट ने रूस पर नए प्रतिबंध लगाए, ट्रंप को घेर लिया


WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered an effort to help Republican Donald Trump’s electoral chances by discrediting Democrat Hillary Clinton in the 2016 presidential campaign, U.S. intelligence agencies said in an assessment. Russia’s objectives were to undermine public faith in the U.S. democratic process, denigrate former Secretary of State Clinton, make it harder for her to win and harm her presidency if she did, an unclassified report released on Friday by the top U.S. intelligence agency said. “We assess Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered an influence campaign in 2016 aimed at the U.S. presidential election,” the report said. “We further assess Putin and the Russian Government developed a clear preference for President-elect Trump. We have high confidence in these judgments.” Russian authorities, which have previously denied interfering in the U.S. elections, offered no immediate comment on the report on Saturday, and the reaction of the country’s media was low-key.  The report, although it omitted classified details, was the U.S. government’s starkest public description of what it says was an unprecedented Russian campaign to manipulate the American body politic. Reports of Russian interference in the already divisive election have roiled Washington, even as the U.S. Congress on Friday certified Trump’s victory in the Electoral College. Clinton won the popular vote by nearly 3 million ballots. The report’s conclusions, though lacking details of how the Russians may have relayed the material to WikiLeaks and others, will give ammunition to Democrats and Trump’s fellow Republicans in Congress who want tougher action against Russia, setting the scene for a potential showdown with Trump. It could also give a boost to members of Congress seeking an independent, bipartisan investigation of Russian hacking. Trump, who has developed a rocky relationship with U.S. spy agencies and at times disparaged their work, defended the legitimacy of his election victory after receiving a nearly two-hour briefing Friday on the report. The report neither assessed “the impact Russian activities had on the outcome of the 2016 election” nor did it provide details on the evidence underpinning its conclusions, a fact likely to keep alive the controversy over what Moscow may have done. In Moscow, state TV Channel One briefly covered the report, focusing on Trump’s comments that the interference had no impact on the outcome of the election. The broadcaster, which led its news program on Orthodox Christmas celebrations and unusually low temperatures in the Russian capital, also said the arguments used in the U.S. report had been widely mocked by Internet users. The report said U.S. intelligence agencies believe Russian military intelligence, the GRU, used intermediaries such as WikiLeaks, DCLeaks.com and the Guccifer 2.0 “persona” to release emails that it had acquired from the Democratic National Committee (DNC) and top Democrats as part of the effort. The release of the emails led to embarrassing media coverage for Clinton and triggered the resignation of the DNC’s chief. WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange has said he did not receive emails stolen from the DNC and top Clinton aide John Podesta from “a state party.” However, Assange did not rule out the possibility that he got the material from a third party. Russian actors were not found to have targeted U.S. systems that are involved in tallying votes, the report said. The report was produced by the Central Intelligence Agency, the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the National Security Agency. Also on Friday, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security  designated U.S. election infrastructure as critical infrastructure, widening the options the government has to protect voting machines from cyber attacks. While the report found Russia had conducted cyber attacks on both the Democratic and the Republican parties, it made clear that the primary aims were to harm Clinton whether or not she won the election and evolved over time. “When it appeared to Moscow that Secretary Clinton was likely to win the election, the Russian influence campaign began to focus more on undermining her future presidency,” it said. “We also assess Putin and the Russian Government aspired to help President-elect Trump’s election chances when possible by discrediting Secretary Clinton and publicly contrasting her unfavorably to him,” it said. The CIA and FBI had high confidence in this judgment and NSA moderate confidence, the report said. Neither the Russian Embassy in Washington, nor Clinton aides immediately responded to requests for comment. The report suggested Putin was motivated in part by personal animus toward Clinton. “Putin most likely wanted to discredit Secretary Clinton because he has publicly blamed her since 2011 for inciting mass protests against his regime in late 2011 and early 2012, and because he holds a grudge for comments he almost certainly saw as disparaging him,” it said. In a statement after his intelligence briefing, Trump did not squarely address whether he was told of the agencies’ belief Russia carried out the hacking. Instead, he said: “Russia, China, other countries, outside groups and people are consistently trying to break through the cyber infrastructure of our governmental institutions, businesses and organizations” including the DNC. “There was absolutely no effect on the outcome of the election including the fact that there was no tampering whatsoever with voting machines,” Trump said. The businessman, who is to be inaugurated as president on Jan. 20, also said he would appoint a team to give him a plan within 90 days of taking office on how to prevent cyber attacks but suggested that he would keep their recommendations secret. The report did not reveal how the intelligence agencies collected the evidence underpinning their conclusions or the evidence itself, including the means by which Russian military intelligence “relayed” the materials filched from the DNC and other hacking targets to WikiLeaks and others, omissions likely to leave the report open to criticism. Representative Adam Schiff, the top Democrat on the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence who was briefed on the report on Friday, took issue with Trump’s comments. “The President-Elect’s statement that the Russian hacking had ‘absolutely no effect on the outcome of the election’ is not supported by the briefing, report, or common sense,” Schiff said. “It is one thing to say that there was no tampering with vote tallying - which is true - it is another thing to say that the daily dumping of documents disparaging to ... Clinton that was made possible by Russian cyber operations had no effect on the campaigns,” he said. “The consequence of these disclosures was hugely beneficial to the President-Elect and damaging to the Clinton campaign, just as the Russians intended.” Senate Intelligence Committee Chairman Richard Burr, a North Carolina Republican, said his panel would continue to compile “facts surrounding Russia’s active measures,” adding: “This is a troubling chapter in an ongoing story.”

Summary: अमेरिकी खुफिया रिपोर्टः पुतिन ने ट्रम्प की मदद के लिए साइबर अभियान का निर्देश दिया


ABOARD AIR FORCE ONE (Reuters) - U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said on Wednesday he expects President Donald Trump’s tax plan to be considered by congressional committees later this month. “We have a plan. The plan’s being socialized with members,” Mnuchin told reporters on Air Force One after Trump touted tax reform in a speech in North Dakota. “Our expectation is it will be in the committees later this month,” Mnuchin said.

Summary: म्नुचिन को उम्मीद है कि अमेरिकी कर विधेयक इस महीने के अंत में कांग्रेस की समितियों में होगा।


NEW YORK (Reuters) - Islamic State has claimed responsibility for a truck attack this week that killed eight people in the deadliest assault on New York City since Sept. 11, 2001. The militant group on Thursday described accused attacker Sayfullo Saipov, 29, as “one of the caliphate soldiers” in a weekly issue of its Al-Naba newspaper. The Uzbek immigrant was charged in federal court on Wednesday with acting in support of Islamic State by plowing a rented pickup truck down a popular riverside bike trail, crushing pedestrians and cyclists and injuring a dozen people in addition to those killed.     According to the criminal complaint against him, Saipov told investigators he was inspired by watching Islamic State propaganda videos on his cellphone, felt good about what he had done, and asked for permission to display the group’s flag in his hospital room in New York. Saipov was taken to Bellevue after being shot in the abdomen by a police officer before his arrest.  U.S. President Donald Trump, who has called for Saipov to receive the death penalty, said on Twitter on Friday that Islamic State had claimed as their soldier the “Degenerate Animal” who killed and wounded “the wonderful people on the West Side” of Lower Manhattan. “Based on that, the Military has hit ISIS “much harder” over the last two days. They will pay a big price for every attack on us!” Trump tweeted. In the Middle East the Islamic State’s self-proclaimed caliphate looked to be on the verge of defeat on Friday, with Syrian government forces seizing its last major city on one side of the border and Iraqi troops taking its last big town on the other. The group’s leader, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, is believed to be hiding in the desert near the frontier, and regional officials fear it will reconstitute itself as a guerrilla force, capable of waging attacks without territory to defend. Saipov’s sister believes he may have been brainwashed, and she appealed to Trump on Friday to ensure he gets a fair trial. Speaking by phone from the Uzbek capital Tashkent, she told Reuters she hoped Trump would help make sure her brother was given “more time” and “a fair trial.” In a separate interview with Radio Free Europe, she said she spoke with her brother the day before the attack and he was in a good mood. “It was a usual, good conversation,” she said. Five Argentine tourists, a Belgian woman, a New Yorker and a New Jersey man were killed in Tuesday afternoon’s attack. The attack unfolded just blocks from the site of the World Trade Center, where some 2,600 people were killed when suicide hijackers crashed two jetliners into the Twin Towers 16 years ago.    The Federal Bureau of Investigation has said it has located another Uzbek man, Mukhammadzoir Kadirov, 32, who it said was wanted for questioning as a person of interest in the attack.

Summary: इस्लामिक स्टेट ने न्यूयॉर्क ट्रक हमलावर को 'खलीफा सैनिक' बताया


(Reuters) - A group of 38 U.S. senators asked the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency on Thursday to abandon plans to lower biofuel requirements for oil refiners in 2018, according to a letter made public by the office of Democratic Senator Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota. The senators, including Republican Senator Chuck Grassley of Iowa, said in the letter that the EPA should restructure its proposal for the 2018 version of a rule that each year requires  producers of oil-based fuels to include renewable fuels such as ethanol in their products. They said the agency should increase the amount of biofuels that must be included in the products. “The rule unjustifiably flatlines biomass-based diesel, reduces advanced biofuels and reduces the cellulosic biofuel blending target by about 25 percent,” the letter said. “The final rule should address these shortfalls.” EPA spokesman Jahan Wilcox said in an email to Reuters: “We will respond to Senator Grassley and his colleagues through the proper channel.”

Summary: सीनेटरों ने 2018 यू. एस. अक्षय ईंधन आवश्यकताओं को कम करने पर आपत्ति जताई


SAN JUAN (Reuters) - Puerto Rico’s semi-public power utility, known as PREPA, on Thursday said it would make all of a $415 million debt payment due on Friday, a relief for bond insurers who might have been on the hook in the event of default.     PREPA, which had been on the brink of collapse under $8.3 billion in debt, last year reached an exchange deal with most of its creditors, which is being finalized. On Thursday, the utility said it would make its $415 million payment using operational funds and proceeds from the new bond sales. “Today’s outcome is another step toward PREPA’s transformation,” Lisa Donahue, the utility’s chief restructuring officer, said in a statement. The payment is not a shock because PREPA and its creditors have had the framework of a restructuring deal in place since December. But debt payments in the U.S. territory are being watched closely as the island is expected to default on pieces of $1.9 billion owed on Friday, and President Barack Obama prepares to sign a bill putting the island’s finances under federal oversight. Puerto Rico faces $70 billion in total debt, a stalled economy, and high poverty and unemployment. The $1.9 billion due on Friday - of which PREPA’s payment was a portion - includes nearly $800 million in general obligation (GO) debt, the island’s highest-ranking debt protected by a constitutional pledge. It was unclear on Thursday whether Puerto Rico would make that payment. On Wednesday night, the U.S. Senate passed the Puerto Rico Oversight, Management, and Economic Stability Act (PROMESA), which Obama has said he will sign, providing for a bankruptcy-like debt restructuring process for Puerto Rico, as well as federal oversight of its finances. While PROMESA contemplates a stay on litigation in the event of default, missed payments matter for the insurers who have to pay out on claims. MBIA’s National Public Finance Guarantee insures about $139 million of the PREPA payment due on Friday, while Assured Guaranty covers about $35 million. National insures another $211 million in other debt due on Friday, including $173 million in GO debt, a company spokesman said on Wednesday. Assured covers another $329 million due Friday, about $184 million of which is GO debt, a spokeswoman said. Ambac, which insures more than $2 billion of Puerto Rican bonds, is on the hook for $122 million in principal and interest due on Friday, including some $40 million in GO or GO-guaranteed debt, according to the company’s public documents.

Summary: प्यूर्टो रिको के पी. आर. ई. पी. ए. का कहना है कि शुक्रवार को पूरा ऋण भुगतान किया जाएगा


DAR ES SALAAM (Reuters) - Tanzania s new central bank governor will be tax law professor Florens Luoga, the country s president said on Monday. President John Magufuli said Luoga would take over in December or January after the tenure of current governor Benno Ndulu expires.  I have decided to appoint a new (central bank) governor from among members of the committees that investigated the mining sector,  Magufuli said. He was speaking at a ceremony to award certificates of recognition to members of two presidential committees that investigated allegations of tax evasion in exports of gold and copper concentrate in the east African country. Luoga currently serves as the deputy vice chancellor of the University of Dar es Salaam (UDSM), the country s largest public university.  In July he was also appointed by Magufuli as chairman of the board of directors of the Tanzania Revenue Authority (TRA).  Magufuli said he was aware many people expected him to appoint an economist as next governor. But  Luoga is a professor of taxation law and he will help us strengthen checks on capital flight by some foreign companies that use tax havens.  President Magufuli s government accuses mining firms of cheating Tanzania out of its fair share of mineral wealth through tax dodging and smuggling, allegations they deny. Magufuli ordered the country s central bank to crackdown on capital flight by foreign investors companies. The country s new Minister of Minerals, Angellah Kairuki, speaking at the same function, said the government was determined to  plug all loopholes in the mining sector, including the smuggling of minerals.

Summary: तंजानिया के राष्ट्रपति ने कर विशेषज्ञ को केंद्रीय बैंक का गवर्नर नियुक्त किया