MAIDUGURI, Nigeria (Reuters) - Nigeria is replacing the military commander of the fight against Boko Haram after half a year, an army spokesman said on Wednesday, following a string of insurgency attacks despite years of official claims the group has almost been defeated.  The shake-up underscores the fragility of the security situation in Nigeria s northeast, where the conflict with the  Islamist insurgent group is now in its ninth year, despite assertions by President Muhammadu Buhari s administration that it is on its last legs. A military spokesman confirmed the replacement of Ibrahim Attahiru, theater commander of the operation against Boko Haram, in a text message to Reuters. Major General Rogers Nicholas will take his position. The spokesman did not provide further details.  Attahiru s removal comes in the wake of a series of  embarrassing  attacks, two military sources told Reuters. They said the conduct of the war against the insurgents is now being reviewed. The attacks, which occurred during Attahiru s command, include the kidnapping of members of an oil prospecting team which led to at least 37 people being killed in July, and  deadly assaults on the towns of Magumeri, Biu and Madagali, the sources said. A spokesman for the president, who serves as Nigeria s commander-in-chief, declined to comment. The governor of Borno state, which is at the epicenter of the insurgency, has said the government s long-term plan now is to corral civilians inside fortified garrison towns -  effectively ceding the countryside to Boko Haram. That plan and the spate of deadly attacks have raised questions about assertions by the government and military that Boko Haram has been all but wiped out, as well as doubts about Nigeria s ability to retain sovereign integrity in the northeast.

Summary: नाइजीरिया ने छह महीने बाद बोको हराम के खिलाफ लड़ाई में कमांडर को बदला


WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Senior Democratic and Republican U.S. lawmakers want Washington to respond to Russia’s alleged interference in the U.S. election and actions in Ukraine and Syria, despite Republican President-elect Donald Trump’s calls to improve relations. Senator Ben Cardin said on Wednesday he was working on what he described as “comprehensive” legislation to respond to Russian actions contrary to U.S. interests in Europe and Syria, as well as cyber attacks blamed on Moscow during the campaign. “Russia presents a very serious challenge for America. They’re not our partner. They’re a bully,” Cardin, the top Democrat on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, told reporters.  “Whether you attack us by MiG (fighter jet) or by mouse, it’s an attack. It requires a response. It’s clear that they were responsible for the cyber attack on our country in this past election,” Cardin said. Other lawmakers have also called for action against Russia as they returned to Washington this week for the first time since Trump won the Nov. 8 U.S. election. On Tuesday, Republican Senator Lindsey Graham, one of his party’s senior foreign policy voices, told reporters he wanted Senate hearings on whether Russian President Vladimir Putin interfered in the election. “We can’t sit on the sidelines,” Graham said.  During the campaign, Trump’s Democratic rival, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, criticized him for praising Putin as a strong leader and saying ties with Russia should be improved at a time when Moscow and Washington are at odds over Syria and Ukraine. Trump also worried U.S. allies with comments questioning NATO’s mutual self-defense pledge and suggesting he might recognize Russia’s 2014 annexation of Ukraine’s Crimea region. Cardin declined to provide specifics about his legislation ahead of a planned speech on Thursday on Russia policy. When asked if it would include additional sanctions, he said, “It will be comprehensive.” He said he thought it would be difficult to pass a bill before the current Congress wraps up next month, but that he hoped to lay the groundwork for future action. Cardin also said he wanted Obama to act before he leaves office on Jan. 20. Congress has already passed legislation giving the president the authority to take actions including imposing additional sanctions or sending more arms to Ukraine.

Summary: ट्रम्प के बावजूद, अमेरिकी सांसद रूस को जवाब चाहते हैं


WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Donald Trump pressed Republican congressional leaders on Tuesday to complete their overhaul of the U.S. healthcare system as lawmakers said they were making progress on a contentious effort that threatens to overwhelm their legislative agenda.  In a White House meeting, Trump welcomed indications by senior Republicans that the Senate might vote on a healthcare bill in July, before it breaks for the summer, after the House of Representatives passed its own version in May. “Now the Senate I’m sure will follow suit and get a bill across the finish line this summer that will be great healthcare and I’m looking forward to seeing it,” Trump said. The gathering included Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, and his No. 2, Senator John Cornyn, along with House Speaker Paul Ryan and his deputies, Representatives Kevin McCarthy and Steve Scalise. Buffeted by criticism on many fronts, Trump wants faster action from his fellow Republicans who control Congress, pressing lawmakers to finish the job of dismantling the Obamacare healthcare law and move on quickly to another of his priorities: tax cuts. McConnell said Senate Republicans are “getting close” to a healthcare plan after he presented an outline at a lunchtime meeting but he declined to say when he might bring it up for a vote. Other senior Republicans say they hope to vote by early July. “The leader would like to do this soon,” Senator Orrin Hatch told reporters. The Senate requires a 60-vote supermajority to advance most legislation but Republican Mike Enzi, head of the Senate Budget Committee, said the health bill that passed the House qualifies for an expedited process that would require only 51 votes. Still, Republicans have little margin for error because they only control 52 seats in the 100-seat chamber and remain divided over key questions such as how quickly to scale back the Medicaid health plan for the poor. “You have to get 50 people - that means they have to get me and a lot of people who are concerned about Medicaid,” said Senator Shelly Moore Capito of West Virginia, a state that depends heavily on the program. Medicaid was expanded under Obamacare but the House bill would phase that expansion out in 2020. The Senate bill might keep the expansion in place beyond that date, said Republican Senator John Barrasso. Whatever the White House’s efforts to push ahead with policy plans, there will be a spotlight on testimony by James Comey, the FBI director fired by Trump last month, to the Senate Intelligence Committee on Thursday. Senators will question Comey on whether Trump tried to get him to back off an FBI investigation into ties between the president’s 2016 campaign and Russia, an attempt that critics have said could constitute obstruction of justice. Trump denies any collusion with Russia and has called the investigation a “witch hunt.” The Justice Department has appointed a special counsel to oversee its probe into the Russia issue and several congressional panels also are investigating the matter.   Elected on pledges to overhaul the healthcare system and slash taxes, Trump has yet to achieve a major legislative win, and time is running out before lawmakers leave Washington for the August break. There has been little progress on healthcare since the House passed its bill. McConnell told Reuters late last month he did not yet know how to amass the votes needed to pass a bill on  healthcare. He appeared to make some progress on Tuesday. Some Republican lawmakers praised an outline that McConnell presented at a lunchtime meeting, although they cautioned that much work remained to be done.  Senator Bill Cassidy said the plan offered more protections than the House bill for people who already have pre-existing illnesses when they apply for insurance coverage - a major point of contention. “I think personally they are moving in the right direction,” he said. The House healthcare bill could result in 23 million people losing insurance, according to the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office. The bill also would reduce federal deficits by $119 billion between 2017 and 2026, according to the analysis.  Congress might then turn its focus to overhauling the tax code in September. While the administration would prefer that such changes not add to the national debt, Marc Short, Trump’s top aide on Capitol Hill, told reporters on Monday that the top priority would be cutting taxes. The Trump administration has outlined a broad plan that would cut tax rates for businesses and streamline the tax system for individuals. The proposal has been short on details, including how much the tax cuts would cost and what loopholes would be closed. Others are eager to move past healthcare as well. “We need to bring this to an end and move to taxes,” said Republican Senator Lindsey Graham.

Summary: रूस की जांच की छाया को दूर करने के लिए ट्रंप ने विधायी जीत की मांग की


WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The lawyer for former U.S. national security adviser Michael Flynn on Friday labeled as “outrageous” and “false” media reports suggesting his client may have been involved in an alleged plan to seize a Muslim cleric and deliver him to Turkey in exchange for millions of dollars. The rare statement from lawyer Robert Kelner came after the Wall Street Journal reported on Friday that Special Counsel Robert Mueller was investigating an alleged proposal under which Flynn and his son would receive up to $15 million for seizing Fethullah Gulen from his U.S. home and delivering him to the Turkish government. The Journal cited people familiar with the investigation. NBC also reported on Friday about an alleged December 2016 meeting, saying Mueller’s team was investigating whether Flynn met with senior Turkish officials in the weeks before President Donald Trump’s January 2017 inauguration about a possible quid pro quo in which Flynn would be paid to do the bidding of Turkey’s government while in office. NBC cited multiple people familiar with the probe. “Out of respect for the process of the various investigations regarding the 2016 campaign, we have intentionally avoided responding to every rumor or allegation raised in the media,” Kelner said in an emailed statement.   “But today’s news cycle has brought allegations about General Flynn, ranging from kidnapping to bribery, that are so outrageous and prejudicial that we are making an exception to our usual rule: they are false.” The Wall Street journal reported that the alleged plan involving Flynn and Turkish officials emerged during Mueller’s wider investigation of possible Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election and any collusion by the Trump campaign. Flynn was fired by Trump after just 24 days in the job for misleading Vice President Mike Pence about the extent of his conversations with then Russian ambassador Sergei Kislyak last year. Barry Coburn, a lawyer for Flynn’s son, Michael Flynn Jr., declined to comment. Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan accuses Gulen of instigating a failed coup in July 2016 and wants him extradited to Turkey to face trial. Gulen has denied any role in the coup. A spokesman for Mueller’s team declined to comment on the report on Friday. Flynn is a central figure in Mueller’s investigation because of conversations he had with Kislyak and because he waited until March to retroactively register with the Justice Department as a foreign agent for work he did for a Turkish businessman. The Journal reported that FBI agents asked at least four people about a December meeting in New York where Flynn and  Turkish government representatives discussed removing Gulen, citing people with knowledge of the FBI’s inquiries.  NBC also reported that investigators had questioned witnesses about an alleged December meeting between Flynn and Turkish officials where Gulen was discussed. The group also discussed how to set free a Turkish-Iranian gold trader, Reza Zarrab. Zarrab is in prison in the United States on federal charges that he helped Iran skirt U.S. sanctions, NBC said. A Reuters report on Oct. 26 said one of Flynn’s business associates, former CIA Director James Woolsey, pitched a $10 million contract to two Turkish businessmen to help discredit Gulen while Woolsey was an adviser to Trump’s election campaign. Woolsey was a member of Flynn’s firm, the Flynn Intel Group, according to a Justice Department filing by the firm and an archive of the company’s website. Mueller’s team has also interviewed White House senior policy adviser Stephen Miller, the highest-level Trump aide known to have spoken with investigators, CNN reported on Thursday. (This story corrects to Friday from Thursday in first paragraph)

Summary: फ्लिन के वकील ने मौलवी को तुर्की पहुँचाने की योजना की खबरों का खंडन किया


BERLIN (Reuters) - German parties exploring a coalition government have underscored their commitment to the NATO alliance and transatlantic ties, but also said they wanted good relations with Russia, according to a draft document seen by Reuters. The three-page paper, to be considered by Chancellor Angela Merkel s conservatives, the pro-business Free Democrats and the Greens later on Friday, mapped out broad agreement on a pragmatic approach to foreign policy, multilateralism and a strong commitment to global trade.  We want to strengthen the diplomatic resources of Germany, putting a priority on civilian crisis prevention, active crisis management and long-term stabilization,  the paper said. It said the parties were committed to ridding the world of nuclear weapons and would launch a new diplomatic drive for nuclear disarmament, pushing for a more European approach on many issues. It gave a nod to the Greens by saying the parties agreed to take a  restrictive  approach to weapons exports, and would push for a joint European arms export policy.  The paper also underscored the importance of global trade and called for efforts to strengthen the central role of the World Trade Organization (WTO). It said the prospective coalition government would maintain close ties to the U.S. administration, but would also seek to expand ties with U.S. state governments and cities. Many of those entities have said they will defy a decision by President Donald Trump to withdraw from the Paris climate agreement. The paper also contained several bracketed sentences that had not yet been agreed, including a proposal by the Greens to withdraw the NATO nuclear weapons that remain on German soil, and to ban all weapons sales to countries involved in the war in Yemen. The parties also remain at odds over the use of armed drones and over foreign military missions, the draft document showed. Also missing from the draft is any mention of the NATO target of moving toward spending 2 percent of gross domestic product (GDP) on defense by 2024. Officials close to the talks say the target should not be included in the coalition agreement since the target date is well beyond the four-year scope of the deal.

Summary: जर्मन पार्टियां नाटो का समर्थन करती हैं, रूस के साथ अच्छे संबंध चाहती हैंः दस्तावेज़


MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - Trade between the United States and Mexico would not end if the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) was terminated, Mexico s foreign minister said on Friday, after a new U.S. plan emerged to build a five-year sunset provision into the treaty.     In the shadow of repeated threats to scrap the deal by U.S. President Donald Trump and his officials, Mexico, Canada and the United States have set an ambitious goal to renegotiate the 23-year-old trade pact within the next few months. Foreign Minister Luis Videgaray said currently about half of Mexico s trade with the United States did not use NAFTA channels, and that if the deal were to end the tariffs it would face would average 3 percent - not enough to halt trading.  Mexico is much bigger than NAFTA,  Videgaray said in an interview with Reuters.  If the negotiation does not go well, it would not be the end of trade between Mexico and the United States...There would be no leap into the abyss,  he said, arguing that World Trade Organization tariffs would govern trade post-NAFTA. He also mentioned that Mexico could put higher tariffs on U.S. products, noting that apples from Arizona could face a 50 percent tariff to enter Mexico without NAFTA. Videgaray has said that Mexico would walk away from the talks if Trump followed through on a threat to trigger a 180-day countdown to scrap NAFTA as a negotiating tactic. The three countries are due to sit down for a third round of talks in Ottawa, Canada on Sept. 23.  U.S. Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross Thursday said the United States was seeking to add a five-year sunset provision to NAFTA to provide a regular,  systematic re-examination  of the pact. Ross argued it was needed because forecasts for U.S. export and job growth when NAFTA took effect in 1994 were  wildly optimistic  and failed to live up to expectations. Such a clause means NAFTA would automatically end after five years unless renewed. Videgaray said the idea of a sunset clause was unnecessary, since the pact s members can already trigger a renegotiation or leave it at any time, and noted that neither Mexico nor Canada had formally received such a proposal.  There is no strict need to have this exit mechanism since the treaty already has a much more flexible exit mechanism,  he said.  It seems redundant, or strange to add a date of every five years.  In an attempt to reduce its dependence on U.S. trade, Mexico has been doubling down on its open trade model, and is currently trying to secure more access to the European Union, Brazil, Israel, Singapore, Australia and New Zealand, among others. Despite the tensions over trade and repeated barbs by Trump, some aspects of the U.S.-Mexico relationship have been blossoming, including defense cooperation. On Friday, U.S. Defense Secretary Jim Mattis visited Mexico to take part in Independence Day celebrations. Both Videgaray and Mattis said the two countries shared common concerns about issues that include drug trafficking in Mexico but also drug consumption in the United States that fuels the illicit industry.

Summary: Mexico-U.S. व्यापार किसी भी नाफ्टा टूटने से बच जाएगाः मेक्सिको के विदेश मंत्री


JAKARTA (Reuters) - Indonesian police will deploy as many as 30,000 personnel to guard an anti-communist rally on Friday, as the country s military chief and Islamist groups stoke fears of a hard left revival in the world s most populous Muslim nation. Protesters will gather outside Indonesia s parliament on the eve of the 52nd anniversary of the murder of six Army generals and a young lieutenant by rebel armed forces personnel, an incident that led to a retaliatory pogrom that killed at least 500,000 alleged communists. The massacres ushered in more than 30 years of authoritarian rule under Suharto, the former general who led the communist purge.  Earlier this month, Armed Forces Commander General Gatot Nurmantyo instructed military officers to screen a Suharto-era propaganda film depicting the deaths of the generals and the crushing of an alleged Communist coup to  prevent what happened in 1965 from recurring . The three-and-a-half-hour film, criticized by historians for inaccuracies and failing to depict the massacre of leftists, has been widely shown in villages and mosques in the past week. During Suharto s rule, it was broadcast annually on the night of Sept 30th, the date of the alleged abortive coup. It was also compulsory viewing for students.  Indonesia s Communist Party, once one of the world s largest, remains outlawed, and there appears to be little evidence of a Marxist ideology taking hold in Indonesia. Instead, analysts and government advisers said, the fomenting of a  red scare  was aimed at Indonesia s reformist president Joko Widodo, widely known as Jokowi, and long falsely accused of being the descendant of communists.  Indonesia s growing economic ties with China are also frequently cited by those concerned about rising communist influence in Indonesia.  I see Jokowi being the factor behind the rise of communism in Indonesia because of the cooperative relationship with China,  said Yudi Syamhudi Suyuti, one of the protest organizers and a failed political candidate for the opposition Gerindra Party, in comments posted online. Friday s rally has been organized by hardline Islamist groups led by the Islamic Defenders Front (FPI).  We reject and fight against the awakening of the Indonesian Communist Party,  Slamet Maarif, the chairman of the rally s organizing committee and spokesman for the FPI, told Reuters. The FPI led huge rallies last year that successfully demanded the jailing for blasphemy of Basuki Tjahaja Purnama, Jakarta s then governor and an ethnic Chinese Christian. Maarif predicted 50,000 protesters would join Friday s rally, which will also urge parliament to overturn a presidential regulation allowing the government to ban mass organizations deemed a threat to national unity. Hizbut Tahrir, an Islamist group that wants Indonesia to become a caliphate, was disbanded under the regulation in July. A Jakarta police spokesman, Argo Yuwono, expected only 15,000 people to turn up.   We will deploy 30,000 police personnel,  he said on Tuesday, noting the risk that more could arrive. During an anti-Purnama rally in December last year, police arrested eight people for treason in an alleged plot for protesters to  occupy the parliament building.  We have anticipated all [possibilities],  Yuwono said. On Wednesday, a national police spokesman Setyo Wasisto, said police would adapt their deployment depending on the number of protesters.  We have prepared for defending parliament,  he said. Tobias Basuki, an Indonesian political analyst, said Nurmantyo had clear political ambitions. The armed forces chief, due to retire in March, courted further controversy this month when he falsely claimed 5,000 weapons had been illegally imported  on behalf  of Widodo.  There s not much evidence at all of a communist revival but as we head to the 2019 [presidential] election the communist fear-mongering is being used by various groups,  said Basuki.    We are seeing a coalescing conspiracy theory from military groups and Islamist groups for political purposes.  Nurmantyo has declined to publicly comment after the chief security minister and defense minister corrected his claim about the imported weapons. A military spokesman, Major General Wuryanto, said Nurmantyo did not  carry out political moves .  Widodo was the subject of a smear campaign during the 2014 presidential election claiming he was a descendant of Communists and had Chinese ancestry. The campaign, mostly prosecuted on social media, coincided with a fall in Widodo s high approval ratings at the time. In a sign of the potency and persistence of the rumors, both Widodo and his mother Sujiatmi Notomiharjo have this year publicly denied any communist links. The military has resisted attempts by rights groups and academics to discuss the 1965 slaughter, one of the worst mass murders of the 20th century. It s not popular with segments of the public, either. Earlier this month, protesters clashed with police as they tried to break up a seminar in Jakarta on the 1965 killings.  Bonnie Triyana, an Indonesian historian, said the country has never fully acknowledged or become reconciled over the anti-communist killings even after Indonesia became a democracy in 1998. Most Indonesians had little idea of the scale of the pogrom, he said.  Politicians today exploit the collective amnesia of the people,  he said.

Summary: 'रेड स्केयर' ने इंडोनेशिया के राष्ट्रपति पर डाला दबाव


CAIRO (Reuters) - Three police officers were killed and eight others injured in a shoot-out during a raid on a suspected militant hideout in Giza, southwest of the Egyptian capital, two security sources said on Friday. The sources said authorities were following a lead to an apartment thought to house eight suspected members of Hasm, a group which has claimed several attacks around the capital targeting judges and policemen since last year. The suspected militants fled after the exchange of fire there, the sources said. Egypt accuses Hasm of being a militant wing of the Muslim Brotherhood, an Islamist group it outlawed in 2013. The Muslim Brotherhood denies this. An Islamist insurgency in the Sinai peninsula has grown since the military overthrew President Mohamed Mursi of the Muslim Brotherhood in mid-2013 following mass protests against his rule. The militant group staging the insurgency pledged allegiance to Islamic State in 2014. It is blamed for the killing of hundreds of soldiers and policemen and has started to target other areas, including Egypt s Christian Copts.

Summary: गीज़ा में गोलीबारी में तीन पुलिस अधिकारियों की मौत, आठ घायलः सुरक्षा सूत्र


WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama hopes the U.S. tradition of people in power not using the criminal justice system against their opponents will continue, the White House said on Wednesday when asked about Republican President-elect Donald Trump’s pledge to jail his Democratic rival Hillary Clinton. “We’ve got a long tradition in this country of ... people in power not using the criminal justice system to exact political revenge. ... The president is hopeful that it will continue,” White House spokesman Josh Earnest told a news briefing. (This story corrects headline to say political not criminal revenge)

Summary: ओबामा को उम्मीद है कि ट्रंप क्लिंटन से राजनीतिक बदला नहीं लेंगेः व्हाइट हाउस


MARAWI CITY, Philippines (Reuters) - Some Islamic State-linked militants besieging the southern Philippines city of Marawi have sent  feelers  they are prepared to surrender after three and a half months of fighting, the military said on Monday. Philippine forces have used loudspeakers urging militants to give themselves up, telling the estimated 50 to 60 fighters left in the city their lives would be spared if they disarm, change out of their black clothes and walk to a designated location.  Hopefully, we will have surrenders within the next days,  spokesman Colonel Romeo Brawner told a news conference.  There are feelers. Definitely, there are feelers,  he added, declining to elaborate. The surrender offer came after a renewed, if short-lived, effort by Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte to start back-channel talks with militants, with a former Marawi mayor Omar Solitario Ali to have acted as an intermediary. Duterte on Saturday ruled out the possibility of allowing rebels to flee in exchange for the release of dozens of hostages. Two troops were killed at the weekend, taking to 147 the number of security forces killed in the Marawi conflict. Some 655 militants and 45 civilians have been killed, according to the army. Troops were engaged in running battles with the militant alliance, led by Abdullah and Omarkhayam Maute of the Maute group, and Isnilon Hapilon, a factional head of the Abu Sayyaf group, and Islamic State s so-called  emir  in Southeast Asia. More than 20 structures were captured, many laden with booby traps. Some were commercial high-rise buildings that have been used as sniper positions to thwart government forces. Brawner described the operations as  a big accomplishment considering the enemy established very strong defensive positions . While some areas of Marawi are seeing citizens return and shops and schools re-open, most of the city remains deserted. Its center is a wasteland, pummeled by daily air strikes and ground battles. The resistance of the militants has frustrated the more than 400,000 residents displaced from the area and raised questions about how relatively few Islamists took control of the lakeside town and held significant parts of it.  We are receiving a lot of questions: why is it taking too long for the government to recover this area?  said Brawner.  It is really difficult to do urban fighting.  The United States has been giving technical and logistics support to the Philippine military and on Monday announced it had deployed a Gray Eagle unmanned surveillance aircraft over Marawi. Australia has also provided two P3-Orion surveillance planes and last week announced it would send more defense personnel to train Philippine troops.  For a graphic on how main Islamic militant groups in Mindanao evolved, click: here For a graphic on Islamic militant strongholds in Mindanao, click: here

Summary: फिलीपींस का कहना है कि मरावी में सैनिकों के आगे बढ़ने पर कुछ विद्रोही आत्मसमर्पण करने के लिए तैयार हैं


WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. Senator Susan Collins, a Republican member of the Intelligence Committee, said Democrats should be called again to testify about reports that their party and Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign paid for parts of a dossier that detailed accusations about President Donald Trump’s ties to Russia.  The Washington Post reported last week that Marc Elias, a lawyer for 2016 Democratic presidential candidate Clinton, used campaign funds to hire Fusion GPS, the firm behind the dossier. Committees in both chambers of Congress have been investigating the origin and contents of the document. John Podesta, who was Clinton’s campaign chairman, and U.S. Representative Debbie Wasserman Schultz, who was the head of the Democratic National Committee at the time, as well as Elias “absolutely need to be recalled” to testify,” Collins said in an appearance on CBS’ “Face the Nation.”  “It’s difficult to imagine that a campaign chairman, that the head of the DNC would not know of an expenditure of this magnitude and significance,” Collins said. “But perhaps there’s something more going on here. But certainly, it’s worth additional questioning of those two witnesses. And the lawyer; absolutely, he more than anyone.”  It has been widely reported that supporters of Republican Jeb Bush, a primary opponent of Trump, initially paid for the firm’s research. Perkins Coie, Elias’ law firm, confirmed on Tuesday that it had hired Fusion GPS in April 2016. The Washington Free Beacon, a conservative online publication backed by billionaire Republican megadonor Paul Singer, said on Friday it was the original funder of the Fusion GPS project to compile opposition research on multiple Republican presidential candidates, including Trump. Known as the Steele dossier because it was compiled by former MI6 officer Christopher Steele, the document identified Russian businessmen and others who U.S. intelligence analysts have concluded are Russian intelligence officers or working on behalf of the Russian government. Representative Trey Gowdy, a Republican who runs the House Oversight Committee, said in an appearance on “Fox News Sunday” that he was more interested in whether the Federal Bureau of Investigation or the Department of Justice used the dossier in conducting their own probes.  “I don’t expect the (Democratic National Committee) to be objective,” Gowdy said. “Almost by definition, opposition research is not objective.  “The next thing that House Intel is trying to find out is whether or not the U.S. government relied on it.”

Summary: रिपब्लिकन सीनेटर चाहते हैं कि डेमोक्रेट ट्रम्प डोजियर पर गवाही दें


MOSCOW (Reuters) - There is no cooperation between Russia and U.S. on North Korea for the time being, the RIA news agency cited Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov as saying on Saturday.  There is no cooperation so far. Only periodic exchanges of views,  he said. Russian President Vladimir Putin and his U.S. counterpart Donald Trump may meet at an Asian economic summit in Vietnam next week. Peskov said there was a  great probability  that the two would discuss the situation on the Korean peninsula if such a meeting was held.

Summary: क्रेमलिनः उत्तर कोरिया पर रूस और अमेरिका के बीच कोई सहयोग नहीं-आर. आई. ए.


(Reuters) - Alabama’s state attorney general will fill the U.S. Senate seat vacated by Republican Jeff Sessions after his confirmation as attorney general of the United States, Governor Robert Bentley said on Thursday. Luther Strange, also a Republican, will hold the Senate seat until a special election in 2018, the governor’s office said in a statement.  Sessions, 70, served two decades as a senator for Alabama before being confirmed on Wednesday as President Donald Trump’s attorney general. A Senate divided by concerns over his record on civil rights voted 52-47, largely along party lines. Strange, a 63-year-old former basketball player at Tulane University nicknamed “Big Luther” for his size, had announced his plans to run for the seat after Trump nominated Sessions. “I pledge to the people of Alabama to continue the same level of leadership as Jeff Sessions in consistently fighting to protect and advance the conservative values we all care about,” Strange said in a statement following his appointment. Alabama voters first elected Strange as attorney general in 2010. Bentley on Thursday highlighted Strange’s role in negotiating the landmark settlement agreement with BP for the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. According to local media, Alabama lawmakers said Strange asked them last year to suspend their impeachment investigation of Bentley over allegations he had an affair with a former political adviser and used state resources to pursue it. The Republican governor has denied the affair and any wrongdoing. Lawmakers said Strange was conducting a related probe, but the attorney general’s office has not said whether it was investigating the governor, according to the Montgomery Advertiser newspaper. A spokeswoman for the attorney general’s office did not have an immediate comment on the reports. The governor’s office said Bentley conducted more than 20 hours of interviews with candidates before tapping Strange for the Senate seat. Bentley said Strange would be sworn in on Thursday.

Summary: जेफ सेशंस की सीनेट सीट के लिए अलबामा के अटॉर्नी जनरल नामित


(Reuters) - The attorneys general of Maryland and the District of Columbia filed a lawsuit on Monday claiming that government payments to President Donald Trump’s businesses violate the U.S. Constitution. Payments to the president’s enterprises from foreign and domestic governments through his hospitality empire draw business away from Maryland and D.C. venues and put local governments under pressure to give Trump-owned businesses special treatment, according to the complaint.  Foreign and domestic government payments to Trump’s businesses were the target of a similar lawsuit brought in January by plaintiffs including an ethics nonprofit group, and Democratic lawmakers have blasted them as potential corrupting influences on Trump. The Trump Organization has said it will donate profits from customers representing foreign governments to the U.S. Treasury but will not require the customers to identify themselves.  “Every time the president has spoken about drawing a line between his presidency and his businesses, he’s walked those promises back,” said D.C. Attorney General Karl Racine said at a news conference on Monday. The case by Racine and Maryland Attorney General Brian Frosh, both Democrats, has a better chance in court as the first government action over allegations that Trump, a Republican, violated the Constitution’s so-called emoluments clauses, legal experts said.  Democratic attorneys general have taken a lead role in challenging Trump policies, successfully blocking executive orders restricting travel from some Muslim-majority countries.  The Maryland and D.C. attorneys general are seeking an order in U.S. District Court in Maryland preventing Trump from continuing to receive government payments beyond his salary.  White House press secretary Sean Spicer on Monday rejected the claim that Trump’s business interests violated the Constitution and said “partisan politics” were behind the lawsuit. Trump’s lawyers will likely move to dismiss the case, he said. The Justice Department declined to comment.  Trump’s ownership in hundreds of businesses hurts Maryland and D.C. and violates “emoluments” clauses in the Constitution that bar the president from accepting gifts from foreign governments without congressional approval as well as from domestic governments under any circumstances, according to the  complaint.  While Trump turned over management of the umbrella Trump Organization in January to a trust controlled by his two elder sons, he still owns his businesses, including the Trump International Hotel in Washington, and can draw revenue from them at any time. The attorneys general argued they had standing to sue Trump because their citizens will be harmed if payments to Trump are used to influence his allocation of federal funds. They also said local hospitality companies, including state-owned facilities, are being harmed.  The Justice Department on Friday argued in the other lawsuit that the plaintiffs lacked legal standing to sue because they cannot allege enough specific harm caused by Trump’s businesses.  The attorneys general have a better chance of establishing standing, legal scholars said, although they are divided over whether the AGs will ultimately succeed. Plaintiffs typically only have standing to file lawsuits under federal law if they can show they have been injured and a court ruling would remedy the harm.  Fordham Law School Professor Jed Shugerman said state governments’ special duty to protect their citizens means they face a lower bar to standing in federal court, and the AG lawsuit should proceed.  However, Derek Muller, a professor at Pepperdine University School of Law, said it was unclear that this harm could be remedied by a favorable ruling.  The government has also said Trump hotel revenue does not fit the definition of an improper payment under the Constitution. Payments to Trump’s hotels do not qualify as a violation of the emoluments clause, which is intended to cover personal services performed by the president, the government said. “If the Justice Department is correct, the emoluments clause has no meaning whatsoever,” said Frosh, the Maryland official.  “The president can stand over here with his president of the United States hat and he’s not allowed to take payments. But he takes a step over here and puts on his businessman hat, they can funnel as much money to him as they want.”

Summary: मैरीलैंड, डिस्ट्रिक्ट ऑफ कोलंबिया ने ट्रम्प होटलों को भुगतान पर मुकदमा दायर किया


WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump on Wednesday appeared to confirm he had North Korea in mind last week when he described a gathering of military leaders as “the calm before the storm.” In an interview with U.S. network Fox News, Trump was asked what he meant with the cryptic phrase, which had fueled concerns the United States and North Korea were closer to war. “We can’t let this to go on. We just can’t,” Trump said in response to the question, adding that China has been very helpful in the situation. “They cut off banking to North Korea.” Trump made the “calm before the storm” comment during an Oct 5 photo opportunity before having dinner with U.S. military leaders and their wives. The dinner followed a meeting in which Trump and the military leaders discussed Iran, North Korea, Afghanistan and the fight against Islamic State.  On Wednesday, Trump also characterized a diplomatic deal with North Korea brokered under former President Bill Clinton as a failure. “Before ... the ink was dry on the contract, they were already starting again with the missiles, and with the nuclear, frankly,” Trump said. “We cannot allow this to happen. This should have been taken care of long ago.” he said.

Summary: 'तूफान से पहले शांति' टिप्पणी के बारे में पूछे जाने पर, ट्रम्प ने उत्तर कोरिया से बात की


PARIS (Reuters) - European Parliament President Martin Schulz said on Saturday that neither Europe nor the United States was prepared for a Donald Trump presidency as the likely Republican candidate had no international experience and was a populist. “Trump belongs to these people that we also have here in Europe, who have a scapegoat for all issues but never have a concrete solution,” Schulz told French television i-Tele. “Honestly, I prefer another candidate,” he said, referring to Democratic front-runner Hillary Clinton, a former U.S. Secretary of State.  Schulz, a German Social Democrat, is president — or speaker — of the European Union’s directly elected parliament, whose 751 members have the power to approve, amend or reject legislation affecting the whole 28-country bloc.  Billionaire Trump has a significant lead in primary contests for the Republican nomination for November’s election to the White House. He has drawn fervent support as well as harsh criticism for his calls to build a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border and to impose a temporary ban on Muslims entering the United States. A Trump rally scheduled for Friday night in Chicago was canceled after the event turned into a chaotic scene, with thousands of attendees split into opposing camps of his supporters and protesters inflamed by his candidacy.  (Reporting by Dominique Vidalon; Editing by Catherine Evans) 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: यूरोपीय संघ के शुल्ज ट्रम्प व्हाइट हाउस के पक्ष में नहीं होंगे


CAIRO (Reuters) - Islamic State has claimed responsibility for an attack on a private television station in the Afghan capital of Kabul, the group s news agency Amaq said on Tuesday, without giving evidence,  A staff member who witnessed the attack said gunmen attacked the building after an explosion.

Summary: इस्लामिक स्टेट ने अफगानिस्तान में टीवी स्टेशन पर हमले की जिम्मेदारी लीः अमाक


JAKARTA (Reuters) - Indonesian police detained 51 men including several foreigners in a raid on what authorities described as a  gay spa  in Jakarta late on Friday, and some could face up to six years in prison under pornography and prostitution laws. The arrests are the latest in a spate of high-profile police actions against gay clubs and parties in Indonesia this year that have called the country s reputation for tolerance into question. With the exception of the ultra-conservative Aceh province in northern Sumatra, where Islamic law is enforced and two men were publicly flogged last month for gay sex, homosexuality is legal in Indonesia, home to the world s largest Muslim population. Among those detained at the spa in Central Jakarta on Friday were four Chinese nationals, a Singaporean, one Thai national, one Malaysian, and one Dutchman, although none of the foreigners would be charged, Jakarta Police spokesman Argo Yuwono told Reuters on Saturday. When asked about what the people in the spa were doing at the time of the raid, Yuwono noted that it was dark at the time.  LGBT is clearly between men and men or same-sex relationships. Male prostitution,  Yuwono said, without clarifying further. He said those charged could face up to six years in prison under Indonesia s pornography law.  There s a cashier, the manager there and also those providing facilities like towels and other things,  he said. Activists say police targeting of consensual gay sex has shone a light on discrimination and harassment in the world s third-largest democracy. Andreas Harsono, a Jakarta-based researcher for Human Rights Watch, referred to a pattern of discriminatory police action against lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) people in Indonesia.  If they raided (this club) because they are gay, it is abusive, it is abuse of power,  he said, adding that there is no law against homosexuality as long as relationships are consensual.  If there is no victim, there is no crime,  he said. Police often used to the pornography law to  criminalize  such cases, but that law itself is also problematic, Harsono said, noting that people could be charged if they had pornographic material on a cell phone.  Just imagine if every person in Indonesia had their cell phones checked, how many hundred million people would go to jail?      In May, officers detained 141 men in a raid on the Atlantis sauna, accusing them of involvement in a gay prostitution ring in a part of Jakarta that is also home to many heterosexual  spas . (This version corrects month of floggings in Aceh province to May from last month in paragraph 3)

Summary: इंडोनेशिया पुलिस ने जकार्ता में "गे स्पा" छापे में 51 लोगों को हिरासत में लिया


SEOUL (Reuters) - Japan said on Wednesday any attempt by South Korea to revise a 2015 deal meant to have resolved a row over  comfort women  forced to work in Japan s wartime brothels would make relations  unmanageable  after Seoul said the agreement had failed. The two U.S. allies, which share a bitter history including Japanese colonizations, are key to international efforts to rein in North Korea s nuclear and missile programs that it pursues in defiance of U.N. Security Council resolutions.  South Korean Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha apologized for the controversial deal on Wednesday, as a panel investigating the negotiations leading up to the agreement unveiled its results. The investigation concluded that the dispute over the comfort women, a Japanese euphemism for the thousands of girls and women, many of them Korean, forced to work in wartime brothels, could not be  fundamentally resolved  because the victims  demand for legal compensation had not been met. South Korea wants Japan to take legal responsibility and provide due compensation. Japanese Foreign Minister Taro Kono said the 2015 settlement, which includes a 1 billion yen ($8.8 million) fund to help the victims, resulted from  legitimate negotiations , warning any amendment may complicate relations.  If (South Korea) tries to revise the agreement that is already being implemented, that would make Japan s ties with South Korea unmanageable and it would be unacceptable,  Kono said in a statement. Kang apologized for  giving wounds of the heart to the victims, their families, civil society that support them and all other people because the agreement failed to sufficiently reflect a victim-oriented approach, which is the universal standard in resolving human rights issues . Under the deal, endorsed by South Korean President Moon Jae-in s predecessor and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, Japan apologized to former comfort women and provided the fund to help them.  They agreed the issue would be  irreversibly resolved  if both fulfilled their obligations.  Tokyo says the matter of compensation for the women was settled under a 1965 treaty. It says that in 2015, it agreed to provide the funds to help them heal  psychological wounds . The South Korean government will review the result of the investigation and translate it into policy after consulting victims and civic groups that support them, Kang said.  The comfort women issue has been a regular cause for contention between Japan and neighbors China and North and South Korea since the war. Japan colonized the Korean peninsula between 1910 and 1945 and occupied parts of China before and after the war.  (The Moon government) has said it will seek a two-track policy by separately dealing with the comfort women issue and the relationship in the face of North Korea s threats, but Japan may not agree with that , Lee Sung-hwan, a professor of Japanese studies in Keimyung University in South Korea, told Reuters. Japan wants South Korea to remove statues near the Japanese embassy in Seoul and the Japanese consulate in Busan city commemorating Korean comfort women. Seoul says the memorials were erected by civic groups and therefore out of its reach.  According to the investigation, however, the sides struck a separate, secret deal in which South Korea promised to persuade the groups to relocate the statues, provide no support for their overseas statue-raising campaign and refrain from calling the women  sex slaves  on the world stage.  In 2014, the U.N. Human Rights Committee requested Tokyo to clarify the  comfort women  euphemism, with an independent expert on the panel calling for it to be replaced with  enforced sex slaves .  Such an issue of universal value and historical awareness as that of comfort women cannot be resolved through short-term diplomatic negotiations and a political bargain,  said Oh Tai-kyu, a former journalist who led the investigation.  Andrew Horvat, a visiting professor at Josai International University in Japan, said that the pact was flawed from the beginning because it failed to produce real reconciliation.   The agreement was not reconciliation, but an agreement not to talk about it anymore , Horvat said.

Summary: जापान का कहना है कि अगर दक्षिण कोरिया ने 2015 के 'कंफर्ट वुमन' समझौते के साथ खिलवाड़ किया तो संबंध खतरे में पड़ सकते हैं


WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Making a final push toward the crucial Super Tuesday vote, Super PACs backing Republican presidential candidate Ted Cruz bought $2.4 million in advertising supporting him in eight states, the groups told Reuters.  The ads purchased by Keep The Promise and its various offshoots include radio, television and online and are the latest effort by supporters of Cruz, a U.S. senator of Texas, to dislodge Donald Trump from the front-runner position in Tuesday’s critical 11-state Republican nominating contests. Should Trump sweep the contests, it could make stopping his path to the Republican nomination impossible. The outside groups supporting the presidential candidates have already spent more than $5.5 million on advertising in Super Tuesday states, according to analysis by Reuters of the spending reports filed with Federal Election Commission as of Friday morning.  Super PACs are permitted to raise unlimited amounts of money from individuals and corporations, but are prohibited from coordinating with the campaigns they are supporting. Most of the Super PACs have been used to fund expensive advertising budgets, while the campaigns themselves are responsible for staff and ground organization. Cruz’s backers are hopeful the ads will pull him ahead of Trump. Cruz is locked in a tight battle in his home state of Texas, where 155 delegates to be sent to the Republican National Convention are at stake, out of almost 600 delegates total in the states voting on Super Tuesday.  “On Super Tuesday, voters can both send a message to Washington AND send a serious, proven conservative to the White House by voting for Cruz,” said Kellyanne Conway, president of Keep the Promise I, one of the groups backing Cruz. The groups spent $393,500 on radio ads in seven states. They also purchased more than $990,0000 in television ads that will run in Georgia, Alabama, Tennessee, Arkansas and Oklahoma - the most crucial states for Cruz to narrow the margins with Trump.  The groups also spent $1 million on digital ads in eight states, including Minnesota, where so far none of the outside groups have bought advertising.  (Reporting by Ginger Gibson; Editing by Leslie Adler) 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: एक्सक्लूसिवः रिपब्लिकन क्रूज़ का समर्थन करने वाले सुपर पीएसी ने आठ राज्यों में 24 लाख डॉलर के विज्ञापन खरीदे


BEIRUT (Reuters) - Lebanon s Saad al-Hariri, who resigned as prime minister on Nov. 4, will see France s president on Saturday in Paris and the meeting will help resolve the Lebanese crisis and boost stability, a senior Hariri aide said. Hariri quit as prime minister in a broadcast from Saudi Arabia two weeks ago, saying he feared assassination and railing against Riyadh s foe Iran along with its Lebanese ally Hezbollah. Hariri, a Sunni Muslim leader and long-time Saudi ally, has yet to return to Beirut.  His decision to quit threw Lebanon into a political crisis. It also put the country center stage in the Middle East s overarching rivalry between Saudi Arabia and its allies and a bloc led by Iran.  Prime Minister Hariri has a meeting tomorrow at the Elysee with the French president, and Lebanon will have overcome this big obstacle,  said Lebanese Interior Minister Nohad Machnouk, a senior member of Hariri s political party on Friday.   The door will open to more stability and to the ability to face all the difficulties that we have gone through,  Machnouk said after meeting with Lebanese President Michel Aoun.  A Elysee Palace source has said Hariri would fly to Paris on Saturday and meet President Emmanuel Macron the same day. [nL8N1NM3WN] French officials said they did not know how long Hariri would stay before returning to Beirut but hoped his visit would help soothe the crisis by demonstrating he was not being held in Saudi Arabia. Aoun has refused to accept the resignation unless the premier returns to Lebanon, and has accused Riyadh of holding Hariri hostage. The president said this week on Twitter he hoped  the crisis is over  and the France visit would open the door to a solution. Top Lebanese government officials and senior politicians close to Hariri say he was forced to quit and was being held by Saudi. Politicians from all sides in Lebanon have called for his return to Beirut. Riyadh has denied forcing Hariri to resign or detaining him. In a TV interview on Sunday, his first public comments since quitting, Hariri said he is free to leave and would return home soon to formally submit his resignation. Hariri became Lebanon s prime minister last year in a power-sharing deal in which Aoun, a political ally of Hezbollah, became head of state. His coalition government includes Hezbollah, the heavily armed Shi ite Muslim militant group and political party.

Summary: हरीरी की पेरिस बैठक से लेबनान में स्थिरता बढ़ेगीः शीर्ष सहयोगी


TAIPEI (Reuters) - At least one Chinese Air Force Yun-8 transport plane conducted a long-haul flight near Taiwan on Sunday, the island s Defence Ministry said, amid simmering tensions between the two rivals. Taiwan dispatched its aircraft and ships to  monitor and deal with  the Yun8, which returned to its base after flying through the Bashi Channel and Miyako waterway, Defense Minister Feng Shih-kuan said. It was unclear whether one plane or more made the flight. There was no untoward incident and the public should not be alarmed, Feng said. He did not give further details. China has considered Taiwan to be a wayward province since Chiang Kai-shek s Nationalist troops fled to the island in 1949 after losing the Chinese civil war to Mao Zedong s Communist forces on the mainland. Beijing suspects Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen of the independence-leaning Democratic Progressive Party wants to declare the island s formal independence. Tsai says she wants to maintain peace with China but will defend the island s security. China has never renounced the use of force to bring the self-ruled democratic island under its control. China has conducted numerous similar patrols near Taiwan this year, saying such practices have been normalized as it presses ahead with a military modernization program that includes building aircraft carriers and stealth fighters to give it the ability to project power far from its shores. In September, the U.S. Congress passed the National Defense Authorization Act for the 2018 fiscal year, which authorizes mutual visits by navy vessels between Taiwan and the United States. That prompted a senior Chinese diplomat to say this month China would invade the island if any U.S. warships made port visits there.

Summary: चीनी सैन्य परिवहन विमान ने ताइवान के पास उड़ान भरी


CHICAGO (Reuters) - Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel tried to reassure municipal credit analysts on Wednesday that the city and its public school district are not falling into a financial abyss. “I will not rest until we fix the fiscal position of both the city and (Chicago Public Schools),” the mayor told the National Federation of Municipal Analysts annual conference. But some attendees said his speech did little to alleviate their worries about the city’s sinking credit. “I’m very concerned. I don’t see them making any headway,” said Susan Dushock, a senior vice president at SunTrust Private Wealth Management, referring to an ongoing political impasse that is hindering Chicago’s efforts. The battle between Illinois’ Republican governor, Bruce Rauner, and Democrats who control the legislature has left the state without a fiscal 2016 budget and has stymied Chicago’s efforts to seek pension relief. Chicago continues to struggle with a structural budget deficit and a $20 billion unfunded pension liability. Rulings by the Illinois Supreme Court both this year and last year have made it much more difficult to enact pension changes to lower that liability. Emanuel likened those rulings to putting “a straightjacket around us,” but vowed to continue negotiating with unions to reach a deal that ensures pensions are paid in a manner that is responsible to taxpayers. He also touted the diverse economy of the nation’s third-largest city, its ability to snag relocating corporations, and educational improvements at schools. “(Emanuel) didn’t focus on how to solve the current fiscal crisis,” said Richard Ciccarone, who heads Merritt Research Services. CPS is also betting on state solutions for escalating pension payments that have left it with a $1 billion budget gap. The district is calling for a bigger share of state funding to cover pensions and the costs of educating poor children. The city and CPS have been hit with downgrades that pushed their credit ratings closer to or into the “junk” level and both are paying a huge penalty in the U.S. municipal bond market. Chicago general obligation bonds due in 22 years were trading at 287 basis points over Municipal Market Data’s benchmark triple-A yield scale, while the so-called credit spread for CPS bonds due in 15 years was 463 basis points, according to MMD.

Summary: शिकागो के महापौर ने मुनि दर्शकों के सामने राजकोषीय सुधार का संकल्प लिया


BRUSSELS (Reuters) - Britain will be offered a goodwill gesture at a European Union summit next week, European nations agreed on Friday, seeking to break the deadlock over Brexit, but no watering down of their demand for tens of billions of euros they say Britain owes. British Prime Minister Theresa May also indicated she might make a move at next week s summit. A spokeswoman said  there will be more to say there  on a promise May made last month to honor financial commitments when Britain leaves. Both sides are making the moves to end an apparent stalemate in talks on Britain s leaving the EU.  At heart is a proposal by summit chair Donald Tusk to tell May next week that the EU will start internal work on a post-Brexit transition plan.  This is a very big gesture towards Britain, maybe way too big,  a senior EU diplomat said ahead of an evening meeting of envoys from the 27 remaining states to discuss Tusk s draft for a statement to made after leaders meet in a week s time. Ambassadors broadly agreed the plan on Friday despite scepticism, including from powerhouse Germany. They requested some harder language to ram home that any offer is conditional on Britain making progress toward agreeing Brussels  terms.  Time is running out , German Chancellor Angela Merkel s spokesman had warned after week of stalemate in negotiations and faction-fighting within May s government that have raised concerns that talks could collapse, leaving Britain bumping out into legal limbo in March 2019. Hammering the point, EU chief executive Jean-Claude Juncker said in Luxembourg:  They have to pay. They have to pay.  Underscoring tensions, British finance minister Philip Hammond referred to the EU as  the enemy  at one point, but then apologized. His remark came as he defended himself against accusations from hardline Brexit supporters who say he is soft on Brussels. Businesses planning investment decisions are calling for a clear idea by the new year of how the split and subsequent years of transition to a new trade relationship will function. Otherwise, some firms say, they may assume a disruptive  hard Brexit  and move some operations to continental Europe. As the process approaches the half-way stage between last June s referendum vote for Brexit and Britain s departure on March 30, 2019, tensions are building not just between the two negotiating sides but also within the bloc of 27. While hardliners would prefer less or no talk of a future after Brexit and more about demanding money, others are keen to give May, beleaguered at home, something to show for the effort to compromise she displayed in a speech at Florence last month. One diplomat called the draft a  search and rescue mission  to help the British premier out of a jam. Another said it was a bid to break  stalemate  and avert  disaster  over the winter:  Some states were not very happy about this but what else can we do?  the diplomat added.  We are trying to reach out.  But then the diplomat added:  They must come up with something on the money.  Diplomats said Germany and France coordinated on Friday , to limit any watering down of the EU position that its negotiator, Michel Barnier, cannot so much as mention to his British counterparts what might come after Brexit until leaders deem there has been  sufficient progress  on three issues the EU says must be settled before Britain leaves. These are the rights of EU citizens in Britain, Northern Ireland s new EU border and the intractable  Brexit bill . Tusk, who met Merkel and French President Emmanuel Macron in a week when he has spoken to almost all other EU leaders including May, offered a draft text saying there is not enough progress but welcoming the advances there have been and flagging a hope that the next summit in December could open trade talks. In its strongest conclusion, it proposes that Barnier start working out internally - without negotiating with London - what will happen after Brexit. Barnier himself has sought flexibility to break the deadlock, diplomats say.  If this is the concession May needs to be able to make a move on financial settlement, let s try it,  said a diplomat from one of Britain s close EU trading partners.  She is so weak at the moment she can do nothing. And we need the money.  Despite protestations of unity, some diplomats detect nuance in approaches to the prospect of talks collapsing, with those countries with most to lose from trade barriers with Britain most keen to avert a meltdown. Essentially that means its near neighbors like the Nordic states, the Netherlands and Ireland.

Summary: यूरोपीय संघ ने ब्रेक्सिट शिखर सम्मेलन की योजना बनाई, मई ने नकदी पर संकेत दिए


(Reuters) - The Roman Catholic Diocese of San Diego denounced one of its parishes on Friday after its worshippers were told that voting for Democrats is a “mortal sin” that could lead to an eternity in hell. The Diocese said the Immaculate Conception Catholic Church in the neighborhood of Old Town made the statement in an insert to a weekly leaflet given to churchgoers on Oct. 16, calling abortion, same-sex marriage, euthanasia and other political issues “non-negotiables.” “It is a mortal sin to vote Democrat,” the insert read, with the words underlined and bolded. “If your bishop, priest, deacon or other parishioners tell you to do so, you must walk away from them. Your immortal soul and your salvation are at stake.” On Tuesday, voters will pick the next president after an often bitter contest that polls suggest has tightened considerably in the last week. While several states are too close to call, polls have shown Democrat Hillary Clinton leading over Republican Donald Trump for some time in California where the parish is located. Roman Catholic Diocese of San Diego Bishop Robert McElroy said in a statement that the parish, which will also serve as a polling place, violated its religious duties with the political comments.  “It is contrary to Catholic teaching to state that voting for a Democrat or Republican automatically condemns the voter to hell,” the statement said. “The Catholic Church does not endorse specific candidates, use parish media or bulletins to favor candidates or parties or engage in partisan political activity of any kind.” The parish’s pastor, Richard Perozich, did not respond to calls and an email on Friday. The Diocese also took issue with a column in the parish’s Oct. 30 bulletin that railed against abortion and constraints on tax-exempt organizations from certain political activity, and blames elected officials for allowing U.S. society to be “enslaved” to sin. “Satan has deceived many Christians to convert to worldly values from Christian ones,” the bulletin reads. “The devil does this through the tactics outlined by Saul Alinsky with the outcome as Hillary Clinton has stated, ‘And deep-seated cultural codes, religious beliefs and structural biases have to be changed,’ to draw us away from God’s teachings.” Alinsky was a pioneer in community organizing in Chicago known for confrontational, though nonviolent, tactics to achieve social change. Clinton has been a lifelong Methodist, attending first as child with her parents and later attending a Methodist church as first lady. Trump on the other hand has been backed by religious conservatives and evangelicals. Richard Schmalbeck, a professor at Duke University School of Law with expertise in non-profits, said the statements appear to violate requirements for tax-exempt organizations around political activity. “Anything that clearly disparages a candidate is intervention in opposition to a candidate, and I think saying the devil operates through a person would count as disparagement,” he said.  Schmalbeck said it seems unlikely, however, that the U.S. Internal Revenue Service would aggressively pursue revoking the church’s tax-exempt status given its recent history of not going after churches that have made similar comments.

Summary: सैन डिएगो कैथोलिक डायोसिस ने मतदान करने वाले डेमोक्रेट को 'नश्वर पाप' कहने वाले पैरिश की निंदा की


AUSTIN, Texas (Reuters) - North Carolina’s replacement on Thursday of a law prohibiting transgender people from using restrooms in accordance with their gender identity could be the death knell for similar restrictions still being considered in about a dozen other states. Measures similar to North Carolina’s House Bill 2, the so-called bathroom bill, were filed in 16 states this legislative session. Momentum had already slowed for most of the bills and some of them had failed. “Republicans in the state that was in vanguard, North Carolina, are now signaling that this legislation was not, in the end, in the best interest for their state, either for its economy or its reputation,” said Mark Jones, a professor of political science at Rice University in Houston. North Carolina lawmakers said they acted to replace the law in hopes of ending boycotts by businesses and sports leagues that considered the year-old measure discriminatory. The boycotts cost the Southern state’s economy hundreds of millions of dollars. Supporters of the restrictions have said the measures offer common-sense solutions that will help keep sexual predators out of bathrooms and changing facilities. Opponents say the measures are unenforceable and promote discrimination against an already marginalized group of people. None of the states that proposed similar legislation this session has enacted a version into law, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures, which tracks statehouses. Proposals introduced in South Dakota, Virginia, Montana and Wyoming failed to pass, according to the organization and news reports.  In Tennessee, a bathroom bill died in a Senate committee without a debate. The state’s Republican lieutenant governor questioned the need after Republican President Donald Trump’s administration in February revoked the former Obama administration’s landmark guidance to public schools letting transgender students use the bathrooms of their choice. On Wednesday, Arkansas state Senator Linda Collins-Smith, a Republican, withdrew the bathroom bill she had proposed in that state. She instead recommended the issue for study in committee after facing pressure from the state’s pro-business governor and business groups to drop it. After North Carolina, a similar measure proposed in Texas, the most populous Republican-controlled state, has drawn the closest attention. It has already cleared the Texas Senate and moved further than the similar legislation proposed this session in the other states, the National Conference of State Legislatures said. A key backer of Texas’ bathroom measure that restricts bathroom access for transgender people and is known as Senate Bill 6, was undeterred by North Carolina’s change of course.   “The actions in North Carolina do not affect what we have done in Texas,” Republican Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick said in a statement. He previously said the law would have no economic impact on the state. But the Republican speaker of the Texas House of Representatives said last week the bill would face a tough time in that chamber because of worries over economic fallout. Alabama Republican state Senator Phil Williams said North Carolina’s action would not affect similar restrictions he proposed for his state. Bathroom bills will remain on the legislative landscape this year in many states, analysts said. “There are people for whom this is part of their constituency and their agenda and they campaigned on it,” said Sherri Greenberg, a clinical professor at the University of Texas at Austin Lyndon B. Johnson School of Public Affairs.

Summary: उत्तरी कैरोलिना 'बाथरूम बिल' प्रतिस्थापन अन्य राज्यों में इसी तरह के बिलों को बर्बाद कर सकता है


WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Donald Trump said on Friday he “very seldom” regrets anything he tweets, brushing off questions about his claims without evidence that his predecessor, Democrat Barack Obama, wiretapped him during last year’s presidential campaign. Trump, speaking at a press conference with German Chancellor Angela Merkel, said “at least we have something in common,” apparently referring to reports during Obama’s presidency that the United States bugged her phone. Congressional leaders from both political parties say they do not believe Trump was wiretapped. Trump also deflected criticism about a White House official who on Thursday repeated a charge that a British intelligence agency helped Obama wiretap Trump. Trump said Press Secretary Sean Spicer was merely quoting a Fox News analyst when he made the comments.

Summary: वायरटैप के आरोपों की आलोचना के बावजूद 'बहुत कम' ट्वीट पर खेद व्यक्त करते हैंः ट्रम्प


PHILADELPHIA (Reuters) - Billionaire environmental activist Tom Steyer is expanding his political agenda beyond climate change to embrace issues ranging from immigration to income inequality, which he expects will be critical to mustering votes for Democrat Hillary Clinton in the November presidential election. Steyer, who four years ago left the hedge fund firm he co-founded in order to devote himself full-time to environmental activism, said he hoped the broader agenda for his NextGen Climate organization would help undermine Republican nominee Donald Trump. He derided the New York real estate magnate’s policies as “dangerous” and “delusional.”  Steyer has directed NextGen, his main advocacy arm, to delve into immigration, racial justice, wealth inequality and education instead of just environmentalism to better drive youth and minority voter turnout for the Nov. 8 election. “We’re talking about a broader group of connected issues,  and we don’t think any of them stand without the others,” Steyer told Reuters in an interview on the sidelines of the Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia, explaining the shift. NextGen has already produced ads in California attacking Trump on immigration and his temperament. In one, a group of young people are filmed listening to Trump describe Mexicans as rapists and drug dealers and promising to wall off the border. In another, women look into the camera as Trump’s voice is heard calling women fat, disgusting, and ugly. Steyer said he hoped the broader agenda for NextGen would help undermine Trump. “I show him no respect,” Steyer said. A Trump spokesperson was not immediately available to comment. NextGen’s shift into new issues began a few months ago, Steyer said, and was inspired by his work on California’s progressive Fair Shake commission, launched last year by a group of high-profile activists, academics and former politicians focused on wealth inequality in the state.  “That was the genesis to some extent. It allowed us to look deeply at all the related issues,” he said.  NextGen has spent about $20 million so far on the U.S. election, and is likely to spend at least another $55 million by election day.  Steyer, who has earned a reputation as America’s most influential environmental advocate, has had mixed results in his crusade on climate change, despite the money he has poured into mobilizing voters around the issue. Steyer has battled large-scale oil industry infrastructure projects like the Keystone XL pipeline, which was rejected by the administration of President Barack Obama last year, and has sought to bolster climate-friendly politicians. In 2014, NextGen pumped around $75 million into efforts to support six climate-friendly Democratic candidates in mid-term elections, but only two of whom won their contests. In the current presidential contest, NextGen has fallen short of its aim make climate change a critical issue, eclipsed by voter rage over issues including immigration, the economy and national security.  Reuters/Ipsos polling shows only about 25 percent of likely American voters will make a choice on the basis of a candidate’s views on climate change, although most agree that the United States should act to combat it. Steyer endorsed Clinton last month after she clinched the Democratic nomination following a heated battle against Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont. Clinton has said she would seek to advance renewable energy use, boost regulation and reduce U.S. consumption of oil and coal if elected.  “I can take them at their word that they are going to prioritize this,” Steyer said. Trump has called climate change a hoax and has vowed to cut U.S. environmental regulation to expand U.S. drilling and coal mining, part of his bid to win over blue collar voters. Steyer called that position dangerous.  “It would be funny if it weren’t so serious,” he said.

Summary: कार्यकर्ता स्टेयर ने 'खतरनाक' ट्रम्प को हराने के लिए एजेंडा का विस्तार किया


CHISINAU (Reuters) - The European Union will not transfer a final tranche of loans worth 28 million euros ($33 million) to support Moldovan justice reforms as the authorities have not fulfilled the required conditions, the EU delegation to Moldova said on Wednesday. The European Union is the ex-Soviet nation s largest external donor, but payments have been frozen or repeatedly delayed by slow reform progress and political upheaval.  The EU has closely observed the reform process and noted that the Moldovan authorities showed insufficient commitment to reforming the justice sector,  the delegation said in an online statement.  The Moldovan authorities have not fulfilled the EU s conditions for receiving the last financial transfer under the justice reform program, which amounts to 28 million euros,  it said. The disbursement of other EU funding, including a 100 million euro ($117 million) macro-financial assistance package of loans and grants for 2017-2018, has also been delayed. Last week, Prime Minister Pavel Filip said Moldova would not receive any financing under the agreement this year. The EU has said a basic precondition for the financial assistance is a respect for the democratic process and the rule of law. Nevertheless Moldova this year introduced a new electoral law that a pan-European rights body ruled could make the system more susceptible to undue influence by vested interests. Moldova s economy grew 4.1 percent last year, recovering from a contraction of 0.4 percent in 2015 due in part to an economic crisis in nearby Russia that hit exports and remittances from Moldovans working there. The country, Europe s poorest, has also been rocked by a scandal that saw the equivalent of an eighth of its gross domestic product stolen from three of its largest banks between 2012-2014. The World Bank and International Monetary Fund have forecast growth of between 4 and 4.5 percent in 2017.

Summary: यूरोपीय संघ ने न्याय सुधार में देरी को लेकर मोल्डोवा को 33 मिलियन डॉलर का ऋण रोक दिया


WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President-elect Donald Trump’s Energy Department transition team sent the agency a memo this week asking for the names of people who have worked on climate change and the professional society memberships of lab workers, alarming employees and advisors. The memo sent to the Energy Department on Tuesday and seen by Reuters on Friday, contains 74 questions including a request for a list of all department employees and contractors who attended the annual global climate talks hosted by the United Nations within the last five years. It asked for a list of all department employees or contractors who have attended any meetings on the social cost of carbon, a measurement that federal agencies use to weigh the costs and benefits of new energy and environment regulations. It also asked for all publications written by employees at the department’s 17 national laboratories for the past three years. “This feels like the first draft of an eventual political enemies list,” said a Department of Energy employee, who asked not to be identified because he feared a reprisal by the Trump transition team. “When Donald Trump said he wanted to drain the swamp it apparently was just to make room for witch hunts and it’s starting here at the DOE and our 17 national labs,” the employee said. Trump transition team officials declined to comment on the memo, which was first reported by Bloomberg.  Republican Trump, a New York businessman and former reality TV star who has never previously held public office, said during his election campaign that climate change was a hoax perpetrated by China to damage U.S. manufacturing. He said he would rip up last year’s landmark global climate deal struck in Paris that was signed by Democratic President Barack Obama. Since winning the Nov. 8 election, however, Trump has confused observers by saying he will keep an “open mind” about the Paris deal. He also met with former Vice President Al Gore, a strong advocate for action on climate change. Contenders to head the Energy Department under Trump include Kevin Cramer, a Republican U.S. representative from oil producing North Dakota, Senator Heidi Heitkamp, a Democrat from the same state, and Joe Manchin, a Democrat from coal-producing West Virginia.  The memo also asked for the names of the 20 top salaried employees at the department’s labs, and a list of all websites maintained or contributed to by lab staff during work hours. A list of projects at the Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy which funds research into high risk clean energy projects that could revolutionize energy markets, was also requested. “They’re certainly sending an aggressive signal here with some of these questions and they need to be careful,” said Dan Reicher, a professor at Stanford University who also serves as an advisor to U.S. Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz. “I worry about some of the questions being sent that could unnecessarily alienate key career staff, because they need the career staff and lab professionals to get the daily work done,” said Reicher. The Energy Department employs more than 90,000 people working on nuclear weapons maintenance and research labs, nuclear energy, advanced renewable energy, batteries and climate science.  Two sources at the Environmental Protection Agency, where many climate regulations are formed, said no similar memo has been sent to that agency by the Trump administration.   Democratic Senator Edward Markey of Massachusetts warned the Trump transition team about taking actions against any employees named in any response the department might send.  “Any politically motivated inquisition against federal civil servants who, under the direction of a previous administration, carried out policies that you now oppose,” would call into question the Trump team’s commitment to the rule of law and a peaceful transition, Markey said in a letter to Trump.

Summary: जलवायु परिवर्तन पर ट्रम्प टीम का ज्ञापन ऊर्जा विभाग के कर्मचारियों को सतर्क करता है


MANILA (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump left the Philippines on Tuesday without attending an annual East Asia Summit, due to delays in the schedule of the program of meetings. Trump told reporters on Air Force One that he delivered his prepared remarks during a lunch with the leaders instead. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson would attend Tuesday’s summit in his place, a senior White House official said, adding the event was running too late.  The meetings in Manila were approximately 90 minutes behind schedule.

Summary: पूर्वी एशिया के नेताओं के शिखर सम्मेलन में शामिल नहीं हुए ट्रंप, टिलरसन को भेजा


BOGOTA (Reuters) - Colombia’s peace deal with the Marxist FARC rebel group will bring more investment to the country, backed partly by new donor aid and loans from multilateral development banks, U.S. Treasury Secretary Jack Lew and his Colombian counterpart said on Wednesday.     Lew told a news conference in Bogota that the peace accord, signed on Monday and set to be voted on by the Colombian people on Sunday, would add to the confidence of foreign investors in Colombia. The 52-year war killed 220,000 people and left millions displaced.     “Implementing the agreement, showing that Colombia has a stable future, I think will make Colombia a more attractive place for foreign investment,” Lew said after meeting with Colombian Finance Minister Mauricio Cardenas and President Juan Manuel Santos.      He said Santos’ government already had an “excellent reputation” among foreign investors for sound management of fiscal policy and pursuit of economic reforms, despite major challenges from low oil prices. Cardenas said the peace accord would attract both domestic and foreign investment and spur new spending on infrastructure and schools in former conflict areas. He declined to specify amounts but previously estimated that peace with FARC could boost Colombia’s economic growth by 1 percentage point annually.      “It will be at the initial stages, more tourism. That’s one of the areas we think the agreement will have the most direct and immediate impact,” Cardenas said. “We will be able also to secure additional funding through cooperation, donors and lending by multilaterals to support expenditures and investments in the rural communities where the conflict was most acute.”     Former FARC fighters are already making plans for eco-tourism ventures and cheesemaking operations in vast jungles largely untouched for decades. The peace deal gives FARC a voice in Colombia’s political process. Cardenas said that put the group “in the competition for ideas” but would not alter the center-right government’s economic reform plan, “which thinks that one of the pillars of the success of any country is having low inflation, low fiscal deficit, low debt, and at the same time having a progressive agenda.”          Lew said the United States was still committed to providing bilateral aid to Colombia and that he and Cardenas discussed opportunities to gain support from multilateral institutions such as the International Monetary Fund, World Bank and Inter-American Development Bank.

Summary: अमेरिकी कोषागार के ल्यू का कहना है कि कोलंबिया शांति समझौता निवेश को बढ़ावा देगा, नई सहायता को खोलेगा


AUSTIN, Texas (Reuters) - The Texas House of Representatives gave preliminary approval on Tuesday to a new bill on showing identification when voting after a previous voter ID law was struck down by U.S. courts which said it discriminated against black and Hispanic people. The measure called Senate Bill 5 is intended to remedy flaws found by courts in the previous Republican-backed law. It allows people who cannot produce an authorized photo ID to show other documentation such as a utility bill or bank statement and sign an affidavit stating that they had a reasonable impediment in presenting an authorized ID. Critics contend the measure backed by the Republican-dominated lawmakers will still exclude ethnic minorities, who tend to support Democrats, and imposes harsh penalties of up to 10 years in prison for lying on the affidavit. Texas is the most-populous Republican controlled state. For more than 20 years, the party has won every statewide race for offices such as governor or U.S. senator. But shifting demographics have given hopes to Democrats that they can one day turn the state to their column, which would alter the U.S. political landscape.  The original voter ID measure was signed into law in 2011 by then Texas Governor Rick Perry, a Republican. It was considered one of the nation’s strictest and has been subject to years of court challenges, with the laws opponents saying it could exclude up to 600,000 voters. In January, the U.S. Supreme Court declined to hear an appeal by Texas seeking to revive the state’s strict Republican-backed voter-identification requirements. Critics had said the Texas law and similar statutes enacted in other Republican-governed states were tailored to make it harder for minorities including black and Hispanic voters, who are less likely to have the authorized IDs, to cast ballots. Backers of these laws have said they are necessary to prevent voter fraud, despite little evidence of such fraud. Both the previous law and the measure in the Texas legislature list authorized photo ID to include: a driver’s license, U.S. military ID, a U.S. passport and a Texas concealed handgun license. The Texas Senate approved SB 5 in March and on Tuesday the state House of Representatives preliminarily approved the measure. Final votes on the bill may be held on Wednesday, media reported.  Texas used a similar system as outlined in the bill in the 2016 election after being ordered by a federal court to weaken its voter ID law.

Summary: टेक्सास हाउस ने अदालत में असफलताओं के बाद नए मतदाता पहचान पत्र विधेयक को मंजूरी दी


UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said on Wednesday he hopes the administration of Donald Trump will “strengthen the bonds of international cooperation” and described Hillary Clinton as “a powerful symbol of women’s empowerment.”  “In the aftermath of a hard-fought and often divisive campaign, it is worth recalling and reaffirming that the unity in diversity of the United States is one of the country’s greatest strengths. I encourage all Americans to stay true to that spirit,” Ban said after Trump’s presidential election victory.  “People everywhere look to the United States to use its remarkable power to help lift humanity up and to work for the common good,” Ban told reporters.

Summary: संयुक्त राष्ट्र प्रमुख को उम्मीद है कि ट्रम्प अंतर्राष्ट्रीय सहयोग को मजबूत करेंगे


TRIPOLI (Reuters) - An armed group in the Libyan smuggling hub of Sabratha is being targeted because it began stopping migrant boats leaving for Italy, leading to heavy clashes with groups benefiting from the trade, the head of the group said.  The fighting over the past two weeks has caused dozens of casualties, displaced hundreds of families, and put Sabratha s famed Roman ruins at risk.  Migrant crossings from Libya have dropped sharply since July, a change that the armed group, the Anas al-Dabbashi brigade, says is due to its policing of the coast near Sabratha under a deal with the U.N.-backed government in Tripoli. Brigade leader Ahmed al-Dabbashi, also known as Al-Ammu (the uncle) and described in a U.N. report as one of Libya s top smuggling facilitators, said the move had led to attacks by rivals smuggling from al-Wadi, an area just east of Sabratha.  We, al-Dabbashi brigade, had an agreement with Government of National Accord (GNA) to stop illegal migration,  Dabbashi told Reuters by phone in an interview, referring to the Tripoli administration.  Then we were surprised that after stopping migration the Shuhada al-Wadi brigade started coming at us with their four-by-four vehicles painted in military police colors and their members started wearing military uniforms.  They started harassing us because we stopped migration and this is bad for them,  Dabbashi said. A senior Dabbashi member said last week that the brigade s sudden shift from smuggling to policing was motivated by a desire for legitimacy in the form of police and army jobs for its members. It and the Italian government have denied reports that Dabbashi was paid by Italy to stop the migrant boats. Dabbashi said the Wadi brigade is aligned with the Operations Room, a force formed to oust Islamic State jihadists from Sabratha last year and that clashes began when Dabbashi s cousin Abubaker was killed at an Operations Room checkpoint.  Saleh Graisia, an Operations Room spokesman, said clashes erupted because the actions of the Dabbashi brigade and the allied Brigade 48 were  out of control . The Operations Room and its allies, which include ultra-conservative Salafists and locals from Al-Wadi, had moved to push  militias  from Sabratha, he said.   The Room has its own conditions. The top one is that all militias withdraw from the city and hand over their weapons so the city be under legitimacy of the police and army.  Fighting has led to the evacuation of hundreds of families from central Sabratha, said Essam Krir, head of an association of non-governmental organizations. Several civilians and at least 13 fighters have been killed, while dozens of combatants have been wounded, according to Dabbashi and Graisia.  Fighting has raged around Sabratha s hospital and its Roman ruins, a UNESCO World Heritage site. UNESCO s head appealed for all parties to  ensure the safeguarding of Sabratha s unique cultural heritage .  We have orders to not use heavy artillery for the protection of the ruins,  Graisia said. The Operations Room said on its Facebook page it had taken control of the ruins. The head of Sabratha s antiquities department, Mohamed Bojela Rhoma, said because of the clashes, it had not been possible to check a report of the amphitheatre being hit. Pictures posted on social media appear to show surface damage to the monument and empty bullet cases scattered in the ruins.

Summary: लीबिया के शहर में प्रवासी तस्करी के खिलाफ कार्रवाई से झड़पें शुरू हुईंः सशस्त्र समूह प्रमुख


WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Congressional Democratic leaders on Wednesday said they would support an effort to tie government financial relief in the aftermath of Hurricane Harvey to a three-month extension of the nation’s debt limit. “Democrats are prepared to offer our votes for the Harvey aid package, and a short term debt limit increase of three months,” Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer and House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi wrote. “We believe this proposal offers a bipartisan path forward to ensure prompt delivery of Harvey aid as well as avoiding a default.”

Summary: कांग्रेस के डेमोक्रेट सदस्यों ने तीन महीने की ऋण सीमा बढ़ाने के साथ हार्वे की सहायता का समर्थन किया


BAGHDAD (Reuters) - The United Nations expressed concern on Thursday at reports of forced displacement of civilians, mainly Kurds, and the looting and destruction of their houses and businesses in northern Iraq.  The United Nations urges the Government of Iraq to take every action to halt any violations and ensure that all civilians are protected and that the perpetrators of acts of violence, intimidation and forced displacement of civilians be brought to justice,  the U.N. Assistance Mission for Iraq said in a statement.

Summary: उत्तरी इराक में कुर्दों के जबरन विस्थापन की खबरों से चिंतित है संयुक्त राष्ट्र


MADRID (Reuters) - Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy s decision to fire Catalonia s government and force a new election is a  coup  and an  attack against democracy , the speaker of the Catalan parliament said on Saturday.  Prime Minister Rajoy wants the parliament of Catalonia to stop being a democratic parliament, and we will not allow this to happen,  Carme Forcadell said in a televised speech.  This is why we want to send to the citizens of this country a message of firmness and hope. We commit today, after the most serious attack against the Catalan institutions since they were restored, to the defense of the sovereignty of the parliament of Catalonia,  she said.

Summary: स्पेन कैटेलोनिया में 'तख्तापलट' कर रहा हैः क्षेत्रीय संसद अध्यक्ष


WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. House of Representatives Speaker Paul Ryan said on Sunday that Republican lawmakers are weighing a “host of ideas” as the House tax-writing committee begins revising a tax bill this week, though he expects the broad outlines to remain the same. Ryan, a Republican, told Fox News Sunday that House tax writers are considering President Donald Trump’s call to include in the tax package a repeal of an Affordable Care Act provision that mandates individuals buy insurance coverage. “We have an active conversation with our members and a whole host of ideas on things to add to this bill. And that’s one of the things that’s being discussed,” Ryan said. The tax-writing House Ways and Means Committee will on Monday begin considering revisions to the tax bill released last week, which would constitute the biggest overhaul of the U.S. tax system since the 1980s. Ryan said he believes the House is still on track to vote on a revised tax bill before the U.S. Thanksgiving holiday on Nov. 23.  The Senate is developing its own version of the legislation, but Ryan said he expected it to be similar enough that the two chambers could resolve their differences and pass a tax bill before year’s end. “We had basically decided the big ticket items: the big 20 percent corporate rate – a 25 percent rate for pass-through businesses, the middle class tax cut,” Ryan said.  “All of those things are things we agree on, and so these bills are written within those details.  So that’s why those differences will be fairly narrow,” he added.  If it passes, the tax overhaul will be the first major legislative achievement since Republicans took control of the White House and Congress in January - and a rebound from their failure to overturn the Affordable Care Act, or Obamacare.  One sticking point among Republican lawmakers is the proposed repeal of a popular federal tax deduction for state and local tax (SALT) payments. The repeal would disproportionately hit taxpayers in states such as New Jersey, New York and California, which send enough Republican lawmakers to Congress to derail tax legislation. House Ways and Means Chairman Kevin Brady worked out a compromise last week that would preserve the deduction for property taxes, but not state and local income taxes. The property-tax deduction would be capped at $10,000, but Brady has already said he would be open to raising that cap. “It’s wrong and it would have an extremely damaging effect on my constituents,” Republican Representative Peter King of New York said on ABC’s This Week of the proposed state and local tax deduction repeal.  King said that Trump voters from his district in the suburbs of Long Island, near New York City, have contacted him to object to the proposal. His vote, he said, is a no “as of now.”  Representative Mark Meadows, the head of a conservative Republican faction in the House, indicated that he will support the tax package, even though estimates show it could add $1.5 trillion to the federal deficit over the next decade. “We believe that the economic growth will outweigh any short-term deficit increase that we see,” Meadows told ABC’s This Week. The House tax bill’s impact on the federal deficit, and its underlying assumptions about economic growth, have already prompted several Republican senators to say they could not support it.  Republicans hold 52 seats in the 100-seat Senate and can only afford to lose two votes to pass tax legislation with Vice President Mike Pence as a tie-breaker. “I am a no,” Republican Senator James Lankford told “Meet the Press” on Sunday. “I want to be sure we have reasonable assumptions in the process for growth estimates.”

Summary: सदन कर विधेयक संशोधन में 'कई विचारों' पर विचार कर रहा हैः रयान