ROME (Reuters) - The European Union wants Britain to end uncertainties over the terms of its exit from the bloc, the EU s chief Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier said on Thursday. Barnier told the Italian parliament he was looking forward in a  constructive spirit  to a speech by British Prime Minister Theresa May in Florence on Friday, when she is expected to flesh out her vision of Britain s future relationship with the EU.  We expect clear commitments from Britain,  said Barnier, adding that an agreement between the two sides needed to be found by November next year in order to allow time for it to be ratified by parliaments.

Summary: यूरोपीय संघ ने कहा कि वह ब्रिटेन से स्पष्ट ब्रेक्सिट प्रतिबद्धता चाहता है


JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Palestinians warned the United States on Wednesday against abandoning a two-state solution to the conflict with Israel after a White House official said peace did not necessarily have to entail Palestinian statehood. U.S. President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu meet later in the day for the first time since the U.S. election in November that brought the Republican to office. On the eve of the meeting, a senior White House official said it was up to the Israelis and Palestinians themselves to decide on the shape of any future peace. “Whether that comes in the form of a two–state solution if that’s what the parties want, or something else,” the official said, adding that Trump, while giving peace “high priority” would not try to “dictate” an agreement. For Palestinians, who seek a state in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, East Jerusalem and in the Gaza Strip, even the notion of a U.S. retreat from the internationally backed goal of a future Palestine existing alongside Israel was alarming. “If the Trump Administration rejects this policy it would be destroying the chances for peace and undermining American interests, standing and credibility abroad,” Hanan Ashrawi, a senior member of the Palestine Liberation Organization, said in response to the U.S. official’s remarks. “Accommodating the most extreme and irresponsible elements in Israel and in the White House is no way to make responsible foreign policy,” she said in a statement. Netanyahu committed, with conditions, to the two-state goal in a speech in 2009 and has broadly reiterated the aim since. But given regional instability and long-running divisions in Palestinian politics, many in his cabinet argue the time is not ripe for a Palestinian state to emerge. Far-right cabinet ministers in Israel have called for the annexation of parts of the West Bank, which was among the territory Israel captured in the 1967 Middle East war. Netanyahu has not endorsed that demand.  Commenting on the White House official’s remarks, Husam Zomlot, strategic affairs adviser to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, noted that Palestinian statehood has long been at the heart of international peace efforts. “The two-state solution is not something we just came up with. It is an international consensus and decision after decades of Israel’s rejection of the one-state democratic formula,” Zomlot told Reuters in Jerusalem by telephone from the West Bank city of Ramallah. On his departure for Washington on Monday, Netanyahu sidestepped a question on whether he still backed a two-state solution, saying he would make his position clear in the U.S. capital. But he has spoken of a “state minus,” suggesting he could offer the Palestinians deep-seated autonomy - they already exercise limited self-rule in the West Bank under interim deals - and the trappings of statehood without full sovereignty.

Summary: फिलिस्तीनियों ने दो-राज्य अवधारणा को छोड़ने के खिलाफ ट्रम्प को आगाह किया


LONDON (Reuters) - Former U.S. presidential candidate Hillary Clinton cautioned Britain on Sunday over its push to secure a trade deal with U.S. President Donald Trump after it leaves the European Union.  Clinton, the Democratic Party candidate who lost out to Trump in last November s election, also said Britain would face serious disruption if it left the EU without a negotiated deal with Brussels.  The British government has talked up the prospect of bilateral trade deals with the United States and others as one of the major benefits of leaving the EU following last year s surprise referendum vote to leave.  Asked about the prospects of a British-U.S. deal, Clinton told the BBC:  You re making a trade deal with somebody who says he doesn t believe in trade, so I m not quite sure how that s going to play out over the next few years.  British Prime Minister Theresa May visited Trump in January to talk trade. The countries share $200 billion of trade each year. But May has since intervened in a dispute between U.S. aerospace firm Boeing and Canadian planemaker Bombardier, lobbying in the interests of Bombardier to try to protect jobs at its factory in Northern Ireland. Clinton also said Britain would be at a  very big disadvantage  if divorce negotiations with the EU failed, and went on to compare the factors behind the Brexit vote to her own election loss.  Looking at the Brexit vote now it was a precursor to some extent to what happened to us in the United States... The amount of fabricated, false information that your voters were given by the  Leave  campaign,  she said. She said her own presidential campaign was subject to similar treatment, citing the spread of false stories by online news outlets, and warned that Britain and other countries must be alert to the risks of such new media.    The big lie is a very potent tool,  she said.

Summary: हिलेरी क्लिंटन ने ट्रंप के साथ संभावित व्यापार समझौते पर ब्रिटेन को चेताया


WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Former U.S. Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney on Wednesday criticized Donald Trump for declining to release his tax returns, saying the only explanation was that the documents contained a “bombshell” about the real estate mogul. “It is disqualifying for a modern-day presidential nominee to refuse to release tax returns to the voters,” Romney said in a Facebook post about Trump, who became the likely Republican nominee when his rivals dropped out last week. “There is only one logical explanation for Mr. Trump’s refusal to release his returns: there is a bombshell in them,” Romney said. “Given Mr. Trump’s equanimity with other flaws in his history, we can only assume it’s a bombshell of unusual size.” Trump has said that he will make public his tax returns on the completion of an audit.

Summary: टैक्स रिटर्न जारी नहीं करना ट्रंप के लिए अयोग्यः रोमनी


WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Facebook Inc (FB.O) Chief Operating Officer Sheryl Sandberg said on Thursday the company was committed to helping U.S. congressional investigators publicly release Russia-backed political ads that ran during the 2016 U.S. election. “Things happened on our platform in this election that should not have happened,” Sandberg said in an interview in Washington with Axios news that was broadcast on its website. “We told Congress and the intelligence committees that when they are ready to release the ads, we are ready to help them.” Axios asked Sandberg what the world’s largest social network knew about the extent of Russia’s use of its platform and if ads on Facebook that had been placed by Russian accounts and Donald Trump’s presidential campaign had overlapped in terms of target audiences. She appeared to sidestep the questions and said only that targeting on Facebook was often very broad.  The interview was the first by a senior Facebook executive since the company disclosed last month that it had found some 3,000 politically divisive ads believed to have been bought by Russia before and after the presidential campaign. U.S. intelligence agencies have concluded that Russia used cyber-enabled means in an attempt to help Trump win the White House, an allegation the Kremlin has denied. Sandberg was in Washington for meetings with U.S. lawmakers.  Sandberg told the Congressional Black Caucus on Thursday that Facebook planned to add an African-American to its board of directors, a source familiar with the closed-door meeting said, but she offered no details. The board has been criticized for its lack of diversity.  She and two other Facebook executives, Erin Egan and Elliot Schrage, also met privately with Representative Jackie Speier, a California Democrat and member of the House Intelligence Committee. Facebook and other major internet companies including Alphabet’s Google (GOOGL.O) and Twitter (TWTR.N) are on the defensive as they try to limit fallout from a torrent of  revelations about how Moscow sought to use their platforms to sow discord in the United States and influence the election. Sandberg told Axios that Facebook began hearing rumors around Election Day last November of Russian attempts to use the platform to spread propaganda but did not give a precise timeline about when the company began its review. Sandberg said she supported the public release of those ads, and the pages to which they were connected. Information about how the ads targeted specific types of users would also be released, she said. Asked if Facebook contributed to Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton’s defeat last year, Sandberg, an open Clinton supporter during the campaign, did not answer directly but said it was important the website was “free from abuse” during any election in any country. Congressional committees and special counsel Robert Mueller are investigating Russian interference in the election, including whether there was any collusion between Trump associates and Moscow. Trump has denied that there was any collusion between his campaign and associates and Russia. Sandberg acknowledged that the company had erred in how it handled the issue of foreign interference last year. “It’s not just that we apologize. We’re angry, we’re upset. But what we really owe the American people is determination to do a better job of preventing foreign meddling,” she said. “We don’t want this kind of foreign interference” on Facebook, Sandberg said.  She said the company had been too permissive at times in terms of how advertisers were allowed to target users. Sandberg said it was important to protect “free expression” on Facebook and that if the Russian ads had been bought by legitimate accounts instead of fraudulent ones, many would have been allowed to run on the site. She criticized Twitter’s decision this week to remove a campaign video from Republican Representative Marsha Blackburn, who is running for a U.S. Senate seat in Tennessee. Twitter took down the video, saying a remark Blackburn made about opposing abortion was inflammatory. Twitter later reversed its decision. “In that ad, there are a lot of things that people don’t like, that I don’t like. ... But the question is, ‘Should divisive political or issue ads run?’ Our answer is yes because when you cut off speech for one person you cut off speech for all people,” she said. Sandberg said Facebook wanted other internet companies to work toward making ad purchases more transparent, and she said  Facebook was talking with lawmakers who want to introduce legislation on the issue. Representatives from Facebook, Google and Twitter are expected to testify about Russian influence at hearings before the Senate and House intelligence committees on Nov. 1.

Summary: सैंडबर्ग ने एक्सियोस से कहा, फेसबुक जांचकर्ताओं को रूस के विज्ञापन जारी करने में मदद करेगा


HARARE (Reuters) - Zimbabwe s President Robert Mugabe said on Saturday he may make changes to his cabinet next week, at a time of rising tensions within his ruling party over who will eventually takeover from him. Mugabe told a meeting of the ruling ZANU-PF youth wing in Harare that it was time to review the performance of his cabinet ministers.  The last cabinet reshuffle was in September 2015 when Mugabe was removing allies of his former deputy Joice Mujuru, whom he fired in December 2014 over accusations that she was plotting to topple him. She denied the allegations.  Next week there might be some changes in government. Should we remain with the same team or we make changes or even discard some. So that exercise I will be doing it and early next week you will get the results,  Mugabe told a meeting of his ZANU-PF youth wing. Vice President Emmerson Mnangagwa, a frontrunner to take over from Mugabe, said on Thursday he had been poisoned in August when he fell ill and was airlifted to South Africa, which earned him a public rebuke from First Lady Grace Mugabe. ZANU-PF is divided into two camps, one supporting Mnangagwa to succeed Mugabe and another rallying behind Grace. Mugabe also castigated his senior party officials for fighting in public, saying this would weaken ZANU-PF and embolden the opposition ahead of elections next year.  And the public insults, its a shame. A shame even to our legend because our party was not built on that basis. A party which has learnt that if we are divided then we become the food of vultures outside,  Mugabe said.

Summary: जिम्बाब्वे के मुगाबे का कहना है कि अगले सप्ताह कैबिनेट में बदलाव हो सकते हैं


(Reuters) - Legal advocacy groups seeking to challenge President Donald Trump in court over alleged conflicts of interest said filing lawsuits is part of a larger strategy to highlight their concerns and put political pressure on the White House. In a lawsuit on Monday, ethics watchdog Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington contended payments to Trump’s businesses for hotel rooms and office leases run afoul of the emoluments clause of the Constitution, which forbids U.S. officeholders from accepting various gifts from foreign governments without congressional approval.  Trump on Monday called the lawsuit “without merit,” and legal experts have noted significant barriers to success in court, such as whether the plaintiffs have standing to sue.  The American Civil Liberties Union is also preparing a lawsuit over Trump’s alleged violations of the emoluments clause, said ACLU Executive Director Anthony Romero. Beyond winning favorable rulings, cases can serve to “gum up the machinery of the government and rob the Trump administration of momentum,” he said.  Lawsuits can also serve to frame the public debate and gain the attention of Congress and government officials, Romero said.  “This should be an area where we let a thousand legal flowers bloom,” he told Reuters on Tuesday.  Laurence Tribe, one of the attorneys representing CREW, said the purpose of its lawsuit was to force Trump to abide by the Constitution, and that he felt confident they would achieve a favorable outcome in court.  He also said bringing the case can accomplish other goals.  “One of the things that this lawsuit will achieve is increased public understanding of what the issue is,” he said. Aside from the emoluments clause, conflict of interest laws that govern the executive branch generally do not apply to the president or vice president, said Erwin Chemerinsky, dean of UC Irvine School of Law and another of CREW’s lawyers. Presidents largely enjoy immunity from lawsuits arising from their official duties.  The Office of Government Ethics sets policy for executive branch employees, but it does not investigate complaints or bring lawsuits. If OGE officials find evidence of wrongdoing, they refer it to the Department of Justice for civil or criminal prosecution.   CREW also filed a complaint with the General Services Administration over Trump’s hotel in Washington D.C., which he leases from the federal government. The complaint alleges the business violates the terms of the lease, which says it cannot be held by an elected officeholder. It is unclear whether that issue will ultimately be litigated in the courts.  Federal courts maintain strict rules about who has the legal right, or standing, to sue. The U.S. Department of Justice will likely raise a standing challenge to CREW’s case in the form of a motion to dismiss, said Deepak Gupta, another attorney representing the group.  A spokeswoman for the Department of Justice said it is reviewing the complaint and would respond as appropriate.  In its lawsuit, CREW argued that it should be allowed to bring the emoluments case because it has been forced to spend money and divert resources away from its traditional agenda of tracking campaign contributions and ethics monitoring. Legal experts have said that will be a difficult argument to win. Tribe, a professor at Harvard Law School, said CREW felt confident it would win on standing. He also noted that additional plaintiffs “have expressed interest in bringing litigation, either as part of our case or others.” He declined to identify them or discuss strategy details. Romero also said the ACLU is seeking a “suitable plaintiff.” Andy Grewal, a professor at the University of Iowa College of Law, said that adding a plaintiff with more concrete allegations, such as a hotel that claims it has lost business to Trump’s hotels, would still be an uphill battle.  It would be hard to prove, for instance, that a diplomat would have stayed at another hotel instead of Trump’s, he said. Ultimately, no court has determined whether ownership by a president or government official of a corporation that sells products to a foreign government would violate the Constitution, he said, and that could present an additional barrier to success.

Summary: ट्रम्प के खिलाफ अमेरिकी नैतिकता के मुकदमे समूहों की राजनीतिक रणनीति का हिस्सा हैं


PHOENIX (Reuters) - Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump vowed on Wednesday that anyone who is in the United States illegally would be subject to deportation if he is elected, sticking with his hardline position after flirting with a softer approach. In a major speech in the border state of Arizona, Trump took a dim view of the 11 million people who crossed into the United States illegally, a week after saying many were “great people” who had lived in the country for years and contributed to American society. He said all people in the United States illegally would have “only one route” to gain legal status if Trump were to win the Nov. 8 presidential election: “To return home and apply for re-entry.” “Our message to the world will be this: You cannot obtain legal status or become a citizen of the United States by illegally entering our country,” Trump said. “People will know you can’t just smuggle in, hunker down and wait to be legalized,” he said. “Those days are over.” Trump again vowed that Mexico would pay for construction of a “great border wall” between the two countries. He spoke hours after Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto told Trump in a face-to-face meeting in Mexico City that Mexico would not pay for it. “We will build a great wall along the southern border,” Trump said. “And Mexico will pay for the wall - 100 percent. They don’t know it yet, but they’re going to pay for the wall.” Trump said at a joint news conference with Pena Nieto that he and the Mexican leader did not discuss who would pay for the wall. Pena Nieto remained silent on the issue at the event, but said later on Twitter he did raise the issue. “At the beginning of the conversation with Donald Trump I made it clear that Mexico will not pay for the wall,” Pena Nieto said in a tweet. Trump used the Phoenix speech to clarify his stance on illegal immigration after prevaricating on the issue last week. He returned to the hardline rhetoric that powered him to the Republican presidential nomination over 16 rivals, heartening those conservatives drawn to Trump by the issue. Ann Coulter, a conservative activist who had fretted that Trump might be softening, tweeted: “I hear Churchill had a nice turn of phrase, but Trump’s immigration speech is the most magnificent speech ever given.” Correct The Record, an organization supporting Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton in the Nov.8 presidential election, slammed Trump. “Tonight confirmed what we knew all along - there is no ‘softening’,” Correct The Record spokeswoman Elizabeth Shappell said. Trump’s “America First” positions are aimed at rallying middle-class people who feel they have lost jobs to illegal immigrants or to the outsourcing of jobs abroad. However, he may have put himself at risk of limiting his ability to broaden his base of support to include more Hispanic-Americans and more moderate Republican voters who do not think it is possible or practical to crack down on all illegal immigrants.  In his speech, Trump emphasized that his priority would be to quickly deport those among the undocumented population who have committed serious crimes. “As with any law enforcement activity, we will set priorities,” Trump said. “Anyone who has entered the United States illegally is subject to deportation. That is what it means to have a country.”  He said he would form a commission to study which regions or countries he would suspend immigration from, saying Syria and Libya would be high on his list. This would be his way of carrying out his proposed ban on Muslims from some countries without getting into their religious affiliation. Trump said he would also establish a “deportation task force” to identify criminals subject to deportation, would triple the number of federal deportation officers, and increase the number of border patrol stations. Trump is trailing Clinton in opinion polls and the New York businessman’s aides hoped the trip would make him look presidential and show he was willing to deal head-on with  thorny issues such as relations with Mexico. Pena Nieto said at the joint news conference with Trump in Mexico City that the many millions of Mexicans in the United States deserved respect. However, he offered only a mild rebuke of Trump for his rhetoric. “The Mexican people has felt aggrieved by comments that have been made, but I was sure his interest in building a relationship is genuine,” Pena Nieto said. A few dozen demonstrators gathered beneath a monument to Mexican independence in the center of the capital to protest against the visit, some holding placards emblazoned with captions such as: “You are not Wall-come” and “Trump and Pena out.”    Trump has been pilloried in Mexico since he launched his White House campaign last year. Clinton, a former secretary of state, said on Wednesday Trump could not paper over his previous harsh language against Mexico. “It certainly takes more than trying to make up for more than a year of insults and insinuations by dropping in on our neighbors for a few hours and then flying home again,” she told a convention of the American Legion military veterans’ group in Cincinnati.

Summary: अवैध आप्रवासन पर सख्त रुख पर लौटे ट्रम्प


RANCHO MIRAGE, Calif./WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama has held preliminary discussions with his team about whom to nominate to the Supreme Court, the White House said on Monday, while accusing Senate Republicans of “bluster” for saying they would not confirm his pick. White House spokesman Eric Schultz told reporters administration officials had started talking with Senate offices about the process, which is shaping up to be an epic fight between Republicans and Democrats in a presidential election year. Republicans, who control the Senate, say Obama should put off naming a replacement for conservative Justice Antonin Scalia, who died over the weekend, and leave it to the next president to decide. Democrats say it is the president’s responsibility and right to make the choice. Americans will choose a new president in the Nov. 8 elections. Obama leaves office in January 2017. Scalia’s death leaves the court evenly divided between liberal and conservative justices just as it is set to decide major cases on abortion, voting rights and immigration. A growing number of Republican senators have already said they will not support an Obama nominee, including a dozen who are up for reelection in November. On Monday, Pat Toomey of Pennsylvania and Rob Portman of Ohio each announced their opposition. Both are up for reelection this year. “This is not the first time that Republicans have come out with a lot of bluster, only to have reality ultimately sink in,” Schultz said, citing recent spats over raising the U.S. debt limit and approving a nuclear deal with Iran. “At each pass, they took a hard line. They tried to play politics. But ultimately, they were not able to back up their threats,” Schultz said. Republicans shrugged off the criticism, pointing to past political battles over Supreme Court nominees. In 2006, Democratic leaders in the Senate, as well as then-Senator Obama, tried but failed to block President George W. Bush’s nomination of Samuel Alito to the Supreme Court, noted Don Stewart, a spokesman for Senate Republican Majority Leader Mitch McConnell. “Memories tend to be short around here sometimes,” he said. Obama, in California for a long-planned summit with Southeast Asian leaders, will return to Washington on Tuesday after a press conference at which he is sure to face questions about his strategy for filling the Supreme Court vacancy. David Axelrod, a former adviser to the president, said the  White House should not make an “overtly political” pick while Republicans were behaving in a such a political manner themselves.  “To me, it makes sense to nominate one of the stellar judges he’s already chosen who has been approved by this same Senate that now refuses to act,” Axelrod said. One possible contender is Sri Srinivasan, who Republican senators supported in 2013 when he was confirmed to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. Schultz declined to speculate on names or strategy.  Obama will look for a nominee with “impeccable credentials” who believes in adherence to precedent and bringing one’s own ethics and moral bearings to decisions on the court in which the law is not clear, he said. “The president seeks judges who understand that justice is not about some abstract legal theory, or a footnote in a casebook, but it is also about how our laws affect the daily realities of peoples’ lives,” Schultz said. Leaving the vacancy unfilled could affect the court both this year and next, Schultz said, calling on the Senate to act. “The Constitution does not include exemptions for election years or for the president’s last term in office. There’s no exemptions for when a vacancy could tip the balance of the court,” he said.

Summary: राजनीतिक 'बड़बोलेपन' के बीच ओबामा ने सुप्रीम कोर्ट के न्यायाधीश चुनने का काम शुरू किया


ANKARA/BAGHDAD/ERBIL, Iraq (Reuters) - Iraqi troops deployed on Tuesday at one of the main land crossings with Turkey, gaining a foothold at the Kurdish-held frontier for the first time in decades and imposing one of Baghdad s central demands on the Kurds. Iraq s entire land border with Turkey is located inside the Kurdish autonomous region, and has been controlled by the Kurds since before the fall of Saddam Hussein in 2003. But since the Kurds staged a referendum on independence last month that Baghdad considers illegal, the central government has demanded a presence at all border crossing points. The Iraqis set up positions between the Turkish and the Iraqi Kurdish checkpoints at the Habur border crossing between the Turkish town of Silopi and the Iraqi town of Zakho, a security source in Baghdad said. Vehicles crossing the border would now be subject to three checks   by Turks, Iraqi forces and the Kurds.  Habur border gate has been handed over to the central (Iraqi) government as of this morning,  Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yildirim told members of his ruling AK Party in parliament in Ankara. Officials from the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) said they had not relinquished control of the crossing. Discussions were ongoing to allow Iraqi  oversight  at the border, Hoshyar Zebari, a former Iraqi foreign minister now working as an adviser to the KRG, told Reuters. An Iraqi official showed Reuters pictures of the Iraqi flag being raised at the border gate, where Iraqi and Turkish soldiers were deployed and Turkish flags also hoisted. Control of the border region is of crucial importance for the landlocked Kurdish region. An oil pipeline runs from northern Iraq into Turkey, carrying crude exports which are the principal source of funds for the Kurds.  The balance of power between Iraqi central government forces and the autonomous Kurdish region has been transformed since the Kurds staged their referendum on Sept. 25. Iraqi Prime Minister Haidar al-Abadi ordered his forces to recapture all territory held by the Kurds outside the borders of their autonomous region, and most of it was seized this month within a matter of days. Baghdad is also demanding control of all border crossings with Turkey and Iran. Abadi has won backing from both Tehran and Ankara for his moves against the Kurds. However, in a move to help defuse tensions with the Kurds, he said on Tuesday Baghdad would start paying  soon  the salaries of Kurdish Peshmerga fighters and civil servants working for the KRG. The semi-autonomous KRG has been struggling to pay the Peshmerga and its employees since 2014, after Baghdad stopped payments to it because of a dispute about oil-sharing revenue. The cost of a three-year war on Islamic State added to the Kurdistan region s financial difficulties, and fall of the oil region of Kirkuk to Iraqi forces halved the KRG s oil income. The Peshmerga took over the multi-ethnic region of Kirkuk in 2014, after the Iraqi army collapsed in the face of Islamic State, preventing the militants from controlling its oilfields. Iraq s military said a delegation headed by army Chief of Staff Lieutenant General Othman al-Ghanmi was visiting the area, to take control of Kurdish-held international border checkpoints with both Turkey and Syria Zebari, the Kurdish government adviser, said the Kurds were prepared to accept  Iraqis at the airports and border posts to have oversight, to make sure everyone is in compliance , but any such presence must be achieved through negotiations, not force. The split between the Kurds and the Iraqi central government is a particular challenge for Washington, which is closely allied to both sides. The United States had urged the Kurds not to hold the referendum, worried it would precipitate a backlash. The referendum and ensuing dispute with Baghdad has also exposed deep rifts within the Kurdish leadership. Kurdish leader Masoud Barzani announced on Sunday he would step down, and accused security forces loyal to a rival political party of  high treason  for yielding territory to the central government without a fight.  The KRG and the central government held talks from Friday till Sunday to resolve their conflict. Yildirim said Turkey had agreed to open another border gate with Iraq as part of a route that would lead to the city of Tal Afar, some 40 km (25 miles) west of Mosul and home to a predominantly ethnic Turkmen population. Iran will reopen all its border crossings with Iraq s Kurdistan region in the coming days, lifting restrictions imposed after last month s Kurdish vote in favor of independence, its chief of staff Major General Mohammad Baqeri said on Monday.

Summary: इराकी अधिकारियों ने तुर्की के साथ कुर्दिश सीमा पर पहली बार पैर जमाए


MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Friday he wanted constructive relations with the United States under President-elect Donald Trump.

Summary: पुतिन ने कहा कि वह ट्रंप के साथ रचनात्मक संबंध चाहते हैं


BEIRUT (Reuters) - A Syrian government delegation will arrive in Geneva on Wednesday to attend peace talks this week, state news agency SANA said, quoting Syria s foreign affairs ministry.  The delegation will be headed by Syria s U.N. ambassador and chief negotiator Bashar al-Ja afari, SANA said on Tuesday.  The delegation had delayed its planned departure to the talks set to begin on Tuesday because of the opposition s insistence that Syrian President Bashar al-Assad step down.

Summary: सीरियाई सरकार शांति वार्ता के लिए कल जिनेवा पहुंचेगीः सना


LONDON (Reuters) - The chairman of a U.S. congressional committee investigating taxpayer funding of a World Health Organization cancer agency has asked U.S. health officials to release crucial documents. In a letter seen by Reuters and sent on Thursday to the head of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), U.S. Representative Jason Chaffetz questioned whether the WHO’s International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) was trying to “avoid public scrutiny” by asking its experts not to disclose requested information. IARC staff were not immediately available for comment. An NIH spokeswoman could not confirm the receiving the letter, but said the agency would respond if and when it arrived. The House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, which Chaffetz chairs, began looking into the NIH’s links with IARC last year after several lawmakers raised questions about why U.S. taxpayers are funding an agency that often faces criticism for its work. The letter marks the latest salvo in a battle between Congress, NIH and IARC that was fueled by IARC’s review of the weedkiller glyphosate.  IARC classifies glyphosate, a key ingredient of Monsanto Co’s herbicide Roundup, as “probably carcinogenic.” That assessment puts IARC at odds with many government regulators, including those in the United States, Europe, Canada, Japan and New Zealand, who say it is unlikely to pose a cancer risk to humans.         Last year, IARC advised academic experts on its glyphosate review panel not to disclose documents they were asked to release under United States freedom of information laws. Chaffetz also sent a separate letter on Thursday to the National Archives and Records Administration office, asking for clarification of federal records law, specifically relating to information sent between a foreign body and a U.S. government email account. IARC is semi-autonomous part of the WHO based in Lyon, France. Its assessments of whether such things as coffee, mobile phones, processed meat and glyphosate cause cancer have caused particular controversy in recent years. IARC’s critics say the agency is sometimes too quick to conclude that substances might cause cancer, prompting unnecessary health scares.  IARC, however, defends its methods as scientifically sound and says its monographs - the name it gives its classifications of carcinogens - are “widely respected for their scientific rigor, standardized and transparent process and ... freedom from conflicts of interest.” Chaffetz originally wrote to NIH director Francis Collins in September last year describing IARC as having “a record of controversy, retractions, and inconsistencies” and asking why the NIH, which has an annual budget of $33 billion, continues to fund it. In Thursday’s follow-up letter, Chaffetz noted that IARC had since then told some of its working group members to not release documents to the Congressional committee. Now, Chaffetz said, the committee wanted access to all IARC employee communications related to public records requests, and other documents. In both letters, Chaffetz asks for a response by Jan. 24.

Summary: एक्सक्लूसिवः अमेरिकी कांग्रेस समिति ने डब्ल्यूएचओ कैंसर एजेंसी पर जवाब मांगा


QUITO (Reuters) - An Ecuadorean judge on Monday ordered pre-trial detention for Vice President Jorge Glas as part of an investigation into Brazilian construction company Odebrecht s corruption scandal. Glas, a 48-year-old electrical engineer, has been accused by senior members of the government of former President Rafael Correa of corruption while serving as a minister and vice president during seven years of Correa s government.  Judge Miguel Jurado approved a prosecutor s request for preventative detention on the grounds that Glas allegedly accepted bribes, and also agreed to freeze his assets. Glas said the accusations lack evidence and are part of a politicized campaign against him.  Don t worry, you don t have to search for me, I m where I always am,  Glas said via Twitter.  I m not going to escape. Those who are innocent never flee.   Fallout from the massive Odebrecht corruption scandal has continued to sweep Latin America.  The company, which has admitted to paying bribes to win contracts in a number of countries, has already paid $3.5 billion in settlements in the United States, Brazil and Switzerland. A close ally of leftist ex-President Rafael Correa, Glas served as Correa s vice president from 2013 and retained the position under current President Lenin Moreno.  In August he was suspended from his duties by Moreno, who accused him of not being a team player.

Summary: इक्वाडोर के न्यायाधीश ने ओडेब्रेक्ट जांच में उपराष्ट्रपति की गिरफ्तारी का आदेश दिया


The following statements were posted to the verified Twitter accounts of U.S. President Donald Trump, @realDonaldTrump and @POTUS.  The opinions expressed are his own. Reuters has not edited the statements or confirmed their accuracy.  @realDonaldTrump : -If the U.S. does not win this case as it so obviously should, we can never have the security and safety to which we are entitled. Politics! [0703 EST] -I will be speaking at 9:00 A.M. today to Police Chiefs and Sheriffs and will be discussing the horrible, dangerous and wrong decision....... [0804 EST] -Our thoughts and prayers are with everyone in southeastern Louisiana affected by today’s severe tornadoes. [0020 EST] -- Source link: (bit.ly/2jBh4LU) (bit.ly/2jpEXYR)

Summary: ट्विटर पर ट्रम्प (8 फरवरी)-आप्रवासन, शेरिफ, बवंडर


WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama issued a scathing attack of Donald Trump on Tuesday for criticizing a Muslim family whose U.S. Army captain son was killed in Iraq, and he challenged Republican leaders to withdraw support for their “unfit” nominee. Obama’s comments added to a growing number of statements from Republicans and Democrats lambasting Trump for his criticism of Khizr and Ghazala Khan, who appeared at the Democratic National Convention last week. Trump questioned whether Mrs. Khan did not speak at the convention because she was prevented from doing so by her religion and he characterized Mr. Khan’s criticism of him as “vicious.” Families who lose sons or daughters who serve in the U.S. military are called Gold Star families. “The notion that he would attack a Gold Star family that had made such extraordinary sacrifices on behalf or our country, the fact that he doesn’t appear to have basic knowledge around critical issues in Europe, in the Middle East, in Asia means that he’s woefully unprepared to do this job,” Obama said of Trump during a White House news conference. The Democratic president noted that leading Republicans, including Speaker of the House of Representatives Paul Ryan, Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell, and one-time Republican presidential nominee John McCain, a U.S. senator from Arizona, had criticized Trump for his remarks but have stood by their endorsements of him. “The question I think that they have to ask themselves is, if you are repeatedly having to say in very strong terms that what he has said is unacceptable, why are you still endorsing him?” Obama said.  “What does this say about your party that this is your standard-bearer?” Obama said. Obama spoke during a White House news conference with Singapore’s prime minister, Lee Hsien Loong.  Obama has endorsed his former secretary of state, Hillary Clinton, the Democratic nominee for president. Obama said that even if he had lost his White House races in 2008 to McCain and in 2012 to former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney, he would not have doubted their abilities to lead the country. That was not the case for Trump, a businessman from New York, Obama said. “There has to come a point at which you say, somebody who makes those kinds of statements doesn’t have the judgment, the temperament, the understanding to occupy the most powerful position in the world,” Obama said.

Summary: ओबामा ने रिपब्लिकन नेताओं से कहाः आप अभी भी ट्रम्प का समर्थन क्यों कर रहे हैं?


PHNOM PENH (Reuters) -  We speak our mind , says the website of a group of young Cambodians who have met at weekends for the past six years to discuss politics over mugs of coffee. But discussions by the Politikoffee group were postponed indefinitely by the organizers after the main opposition party was dissolved last week at the request of authoritarian Prime Minister Hun Sen s government. For participants, the suspension of their meetings because of the difficult environment was just one more sign of debate being shut down in what has been one of Southeast Asia s most open societies.  People are sensitive in talking about politics or talking about what the government is doing right now,  said Noan Sereiboth, 28, a researcher for health projects who was a regular attendee at the Politikoffee gatherings.  Sometimes people s parents tell them not to talk about politics to stay safe,  he said. The arrest of opposition leader Kem Sokha for alleged treason in September and the ban on his party have eliminated the main obstacles to Hun Sen extending more than three decades in power in a general election next year. But the crackdown by the government has been felt much deeper: to once vocal civil society groups nurtured by Western donors, to independent media and to anyone posting subversive comment on social media.  Local NGOs have been paralyzed and scattered,  said Naly Pilorge of the Licadho human rights group, which has a long record of reporting on detentions and land seizures.  People say space is shrinking. It s not shrinking, it s closed,  she told Reuters at her office in Phnom Penh. Three other groups declined to comment or did not respond to requests for official comment. It was not lost on the groups that their names featured as associates of the opposition during testimony at the Supreme Court on banning the Cambodia National Rescue Party (CNRP), which was accused of plotting a revolution with American help. The opposition says there was never a plot, dismissing accusations as a ploy to eliminate Hun Sen s rival. The government said nobody had reason to fear in a country that has been transformed since the devastation wrought by the Khmer Rouge genocide in the 1970s.      Everyone has full freedom of expression in every way,  said Huy Vannak, undersecretary of state at the Interior Ministry.  We have long graduated from fear.  Civil rights groups and other non-governmental organizations flourished in Cambodia with the help of Western countries that hoped to build a liberal democracy after the first multiparty elections in 1993. That brought a more open environment than in neighboring countries such as communist Vietnam and Laos or military-ruled Thailand, with its harsh sentences for criticizing the monarchy. But Western donors lack the weight they one had in Cambodia and Hun Sen has brushed of their criticism of the crackdown. China is now the biggest aid giver. Since the ban on the CNRP, it has voiced support for Cambodia in the name of protecting political stability and economic development. Politikoffee, which gets speakers from all sides for its debates, said that postponing its recent events because of the difficult environment did not mean it was giving up.  We hope we can weather the dramatically changing political order,  team leader Aun Chhengpor told Reuters.  The forum will be back in place soon.  Although the debates among a few dozen participants cost little to organize, Politikoffee uses space provided by the Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung, a German pro-democracy group which said it had no say over the group s discussions. The political troubles are not evident in the daily bustle of Phnom Penh, capital of a country of 16 million people which has recorded economic growth of around seven percent for the past six years. But few wish to speak about politics.  We must just keep quiet and let it pass,  said Chrock Soth, 46, who just about makes a living selling bananas from his bicycle on the outskirts of the city. In an informal survey of more than 30 people in and around Phnom Penh, traditionally a stronghold of the opposition, roughly half declined to comment on the situation or said they did not care about politics. The rest were unhappy, but said they could do nothing.  Youths care about politics,  Noan Sereiboth said.  But in the current situation they can t do anything except watch.

Summary: कंबोडिया में बहस दबा दी गई क्योंकि कार्रवाई से भय फैल गया


BERLIN (Reuters) - German authorities investigating the delivery of a package containing powerful firecrackers, wires and nails to a pharmacy near a Christmas market in the city of Potsdam said on Sunday it was criminal activity rather than  terrorism.  Karl-Heinz Schroeter, interior minister of the state of Brandenburg where Potsdam is located, told a news conference criminals were behind the package which they had used to try to extort millions of euros from logistics firm DHL, which had delivered the package. Police said it was highly likely that the package could have exploded. Staff at the pharmacy in Potsdam, just outside Berlin, called the police on Friday after they discovered the suspicious package. The Christmas market was evacuated and the package was made safe by a police robot. DHL warned the public not to open packages if they did not recognize the sender s address or if the sender s address was suspicious.  As we find ourselves approaching Christmas, which is not only a time of peace, but also a time when many presents are sent, such an act of extortion is reprehensible,  Schroeter told the news conference. He said all efforts were being made to catch those who sent the package. Authorities said the people who sent the package most likely lived in Berlin or in the state of Brandenburg, which surrounds the German capital. They did not say how much money they had demanded, but said they had told DHL they would send more packages that could kill or injure if DHL, owned by Deutsche Post, refused to pay up. Brandenburg police chief Hans-Juergen Moerke said that a QR barcode that can be read using a smart phone was found on a piece of paper inside the package. The extortion letter addressed to DHL was found in the barcode. (The story was refiled to remove the reference to the police search after the news conference)

Summary: जर्मन पुलिस का कहना है कि पॉट्सडैम विस्फोटक पैकेज 'आतंकवाद' नहीं है


SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (Reuters) - The Democrat-controlled Illinois Legislature ended its spring session late Tuesday, failing to produce a full fiscal 2017 budget to tackle financial woes or even a plan to fund schools. Hours before the session ended Republican Governor Bruce Rauner chastised Democrats for their “stunning failure” on the budget front. “We’re like a banana republic. We can’t manage our money,” he said at a news conference. A House-passed budget that Rauner vowed to veto for being more than $7 billion short on revenue failed badly in a Senate vote. Illinois has limped through fiscal 2016 as the only U.S. state without a complete budget, operating under court-ordered spending, and continuing and stopgap appropriations.  The governor last year vetoed all but a school funding bill in the Democrats’ budget for the fiscal year that ends June 30.  The impasse between Rauner and Democrats showed no sign of easing and could leave the nation’s fifth-largest state runningon a similar autopilot as the new fiscal year begins July 1. Vendors, social services providers, state universities, community colleges and others that have received partial or no funding over the last year are reaching breaking point. That in turn could bring widespread operational problems if the state is unable to obtain food, utilities, fuel and other essentials. “Real people are going to suffer. Real people are going to die,” warned Democratic State Representative Jack Franks. The legislature also failed to approve a stand-alone K-12 education budget. A $15.7-billion bill to ensure schools open in the fall passed the Senate but was soundly defeated in the House.  Its demise leaves the financially struggling Chicago Public Schools (CPS) without an additional $475 million in funding in part to help pay for rising contributions to teacher pensions. CPS officials have warned of “draconian” spending cuts to deal with a $1 billion budget deficit. Democratic leaders on Tuesday refused to immediately take up Rauner’s short-term budget plan, shunting it off to a bipartisan working group. Future budget deliberations will be complicated by the fact that a tougher, three-fifths voting majority to pass a bill kicks in on Wednesday.  House Speaker Michael Madigan has made clear his chamber will meet every week during June to work on a budget.  The inability to send Rauner a spending plan exposed an unusual level of dysfunction within the Democratic Party, whose super majorities in both legislative chambers were racked by infighting over how best to confront the 11-month impasse with the governor. The Senate’s refusal to adopt a budget plan bearing the clear imprint of Madigan, the state party chairman, represented a stinging rebuke to the longest-serving statehouse speaker in America and a setback Rauner allies called a “catastrophe” for Democrats. Within the 39-member Senate Democratic majority, some senators complained they were unable to have input in the House-passed plan, which arrived last week as a take-it-or-leave it proposition, one of Madigan’s legislative hallmarks over the years in his dealings with Illinois’ upper legislative chamber. “There was a lot of resentment over the way it was passed,” said Senate President John Cullerton. Without a budget, Illinois, which already has the lowest bond ratings among the 50 states, risks harming its credit standing further. Credit rating agencies have warned of downgrades if the state fails to tackle its $111-billion unfunded pension liability and huge structural budget deficit. The governor’s budget office has hired consultants to help disengage from interest rate swap pacts that could cost the state more than $100 million if its ratings fall below specified levels.

Summary: इलिनोइस ने वित्त वर्ष 2017 के बजट के बिना वसंत सत्र समाप्त किया


neVIENNA (Reuters) - The U.N. nuclear watchdog s chief urged major powers on Tuesday to clarify a part of their nuclear deal with Iran dealing with technology that could be used to develop an atom bomb, an area Russia said the agency should leave alone. The 2015 pact between six major powers and Iran restricts its nuclear activities in exchange for the lifting of sanctions against the Islamic Republic. Compliance with those curbs is being verified by the International Atomic Energy Agency. IAEA Director General Yukiya Amano has defended the deal as a major step forward while declining to comment specifically on criticism of it by the administration of U.S. President Donald Trump, who has called the accord - reached by predecessor Barack Obama -  an embarrassment to the United States . But while Nikki Haley, U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations, has infuriated Tehran by saying the IAEA should widen its inspections to include military sites, diplomats say Russia has been trying to restrict the agency s role by arguing it has no authority to police a broadly worded section of the deal. That section bans  activities which could contribute to the development of a nuclear explosive device . It lists examples such as using computer models that simulate a nuclear bomb, or designing multi-point, explosive detonation systems. Unlike many other parts of the deal, the provision, known as Section T, makes no mention of the IAEA or specifics of how it will be verified. Russia says that means the IAEA has no authority over it. Western powers and the agency disagree.  Our tools are limited,  Amano told Reuters when asked if his agency had the means to verify Section T.  In other sections, for example, Iran has committed to submit declarations, place their activities under safeguards or ensure access by us. But in Section T I don t see any (such commitment).  Amano said he hoped the parties to the agreement would discuss the issue in the Joint Commission, a forum created by the deal, adding that even a clearer definition of terms such as the technology referred to would be an improvement.  More clarification would be helpful ... Russia has a different view. They believe that it is not the mandate of the IAEA. Others have different views and discussions are ongoing.  Trump has hinted that he may not recertify the agreement when it comes up for review by a mid-October deadline, in which case the U.S. Congress would have 60 days to decide whether to reimpose sanctions waived under the accord, known officially as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA). Amano repeated, however, that Iran was implementing its nuclear commitments under the deal. He said complementary access - often consisting of short-notice inspections carried out under the IAEA Additional Protocol, which Iran is implementing under the accord - was going smoothly.     Complementary access in Iran is being undertaken without problem and the number of accesses is quite high,  he said. When asked if a successful Iran deal could help encourage a political solution in nuclear-armed North Korea, to which the IAEA has no access, Amano said the two situations were quite different. But he added:  I also do not say that there s no comparison, because in the JCPOA s case, diplomacy worked.

Summary: आई. ए. ई. ए. प्रमुख ने ईरान परमाणु समझौते के विवादित खंड पर स्पष्टता का आह्वान किया


TALLINN (Reuters) - Chancellor Angela Merkel said on Friday she wanted to agree a clear line on euro zone reforms in talks on a new coalition government in Germany. Speaking at a European Union summit in Tallinn, she added:  At the moment, we don t have an acute crisis to manage, and so the time we have won - with a relatively good economic situation, relatively good growth, more jobs in Europe - can be used to work on the further development of the European Union.

Summary: मर्केल जर्मन गठबंधन वार्ता में यूरो क्षेत्र सुधार पर स्पष्ट रेखा चाहती हैं


LONDON (Reuters) - Abdul Daoud spilt most of the cappuccino into the saucer the first time he served Princess Diana, his nerves getting the better of him. Almost 20 years on since she was killed when her car crashed in a Paris tunnel, he still works surrounded by pictures of the woman he calls  the princess of the people  in his cafe, named Diana, his very personal attempt to keep her memory alive.  My promise to her is to put this place as a tribute for her,  he said of his cafe, set up in 1989, near London s Kensington Gardens, home to the palace where Diana used to live.  For him, celebrating her life is  business as usual  at the cafe where visitors can eat Diana salads or Diana burgers and where he said she used to stop by regularly.   She is the princess of the people, always,  he said, adding that he does not believe she will ever be forgotten. But many younger Britons said that while they can understand the fascination with the princess, whose struggles to fit in to the royal household played out in the full glare of the media, they don t feel it themselves.       I think she maybe meant more to my mother,  said Stephen Butler in the west London area Diana used to live.  When she died I remember my mother shaking me awake and being quite devastated about it.  Student Shermine Grigorius was three-years-old when Diana died but after being told stories about the Princess of Wales by her mother, sees her as a  symbol of kindness .  While the royals have always been dutifully charitable, Diana was known for going beyond her in-laws, or even any celebrity at the time, in her philanthropy.  Whether in charity work or in royal life, she earned a reputation for being a rebel who defied convention: from campaigning for a worldwide ban on landmines despite opposition from the British government to flouting royal protocol to speak candidly about her experiences with bulimia and infidelity.   She bought a different side to the whole monarchy,  said Anika Wijuria, a 30-year-old project manager.  They were quite stiff and she was quite liberal.  At the Da Mario restaurant, Marco Molino remembers another side of Diana, describing a  down to earth  woman who liked to eat Italian dishes with her sons, Princes William and Harry, or friends.  Her personality was very normal, very down to earth, very friendly,  he said near an oil painting of Diana on the wall.  I think that s what she really wanted - a bit of normality ... Here was one of the places where she could achieve that.  Ronald van Bronkhorst, who has lived above Da Mario since the 70s, also said she never made flashy entrances.  Her legacy will never leave ... You think about her all the time, especially in the area we live in.

Summary: पीपुल्स प्रिंसेस, ब्रिटिश स्मृति को जीवित रखने के लिए काम करते हैं


(Reuters) - U.S. President-elect Donald Trump spoke by phone on Friday with Afghan President Ashraf Ghani, the Trump transition team said in a statement. “The two men discussed the grave terrorism threats facing both countries and pledged to work more closely together in order to meet these growing threats,” the statement said. Trump also spoke on Friday with Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong. “The two men discussed the long history of good economic, political, and security relations between the United States and Singapore,” according to the statement.

Summary: ट्रंप ने अफगानिस्तान, सिंगापुर के नेताओं से की बात


(Reuters) - U.S. House of Representatives Speaker Paul Ryan said on Friday that the federal government would provide more funding for Puerto Rico’s long-term rebuilding, although he did not say when that funding would be approved. “This isn’t the last aid package. This is the second in more to come,” Ryan told reporters in San Juan, Puerto Rico, adding later, “When we get that final analysis, the administration will submit yet again to Congress a request for another aid package to respond to these longer-term problems.” On Thursday, the House approved $36.5 billion in emergency relief for Puerto Rico and other areas hit by recent disasters. Senate approval is expected in coming weeks.

Summary: सदन के अध्यक्ष रयान ने कहा कि प्यूर्टो रिको की सहायता के लिए 'और अधिक आने वाले हैं'


SHANGHAI (Reuters) - China has proposed a three-phase plan for resolving the Rohingya crisis, starting with a ceasefire, that has won the support of Myanmar and Bangladesh, the Foreign Ministry said. More than 600,000 Muslim Rohingya have fled to Bangladesh since late August driven out by a military clearance operation in Buddhist majority Myanmar s Rakhine State. The Rohingyas  suffering has caused an international outcry. Visiting the Myanmar capital Naypyitaw, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said China believed that the issue could be addressed by a solution acceptable to neighbors Myanmar and Bangladesh through consultations. A ceasefire should be followed by bilateral dialogue to find a workable solution, the ministry website reported late on Sunday. The third and final phase should be to work toward a long-term solution. Wang said a ceasefire was basically in place already, and the key now was to prevent a flare-up. He hoped the two sides could soon sign and implement an agreement already reached on repatriation. The international community and the United Nations Security Council should give encouragement and support to both countries  to create the necessary conditions and a good environment , it quoted Wang as saying at a joint press conference with Aung San Suu Kyi, Myanmar s de facto leader. Myanmar was supportive of the Chinese plan, as was Bangladesh, where Wang visited earlier in the weekend. In Dhaka Wang said the international community should not complicate the situation.

Summary: चीन ने रोहिंग्या मुद्दे के लिए तीन चरणों की योजना प्रस्तावित की


WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Donald Trump survived one of the biggest threats to his presidency when Thursday’s hugely awaited congressional testimony by the FBI chief he fired did not yield any explosive new disclosures about his campaign’s alleged ties with Russia. But former FBI Director James Comey’s remarks to a packed hearing of the Senate Intelligence Committee left the Republican president far from unscathed. Comey recounted in vivid detail conversations with Trump that he viewed as an effort to undermine an investigation of possible collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia. He also said Trump’s comments after firing him on May 9 that the FBI was in disarray and that its members had lost confidence in Comey “were lies, plain and simple.” Still, Comey handed Trump and his supporters some fresh ammunition when he confirmed he had told the president the investigation was not focused on him personally. Even Senator Marco Rubio, who was among a number of Republicans who battled Trump for the 2016 Republican presidential nomination, seemed to be advocating for him at times during the hearing. Rubio asked Comey why he did not directly tell Trump that he thought the president was making inappropriate requests of him. Comey replied that he did not know. “I was a bit stunned, and didn’t have the presence of mind,” he said. A Republican close to Trump said the president felt very good about Comey’s testimony, particularly since it bore out his earlier statement that the former FBI director had told him he was not under investigation. But the cloud from the Russia probe still hangs heavily over Trump’s White House.  Comey’s firing set the stage for the appointment of a special counsel, Robert Mueller, who has taken over the investigation. Congressional probes, including one by the Senate intelligence panel, are ongoing. Russia has denied interference in last year’s presidential campaign. The White House has denied any collusion with Moscow. But Senator Dianne Feinstein, a Democrat who sits on the intelligence committee, said the matter was nowhere near over. “It’s a big investigation, and these are facts. ... You have to dig for, and do a lot of analysis.” Several Democrats said Trump’s conversations with Comey seemed to build a case of obstruction of justice. “The lawyers are going to dig into obstruction of justice,” Senator Ron Wyden, a Democrat on the intelligence panel, said after the hearing. “I believe the evidence just keeps piling up that there has been a very real presidential abuse of power.” But Paul Ryan, the Republican speaker of the House of Representatives, said Trump’s interactions with Comey may have reflected his lack of political experience rather than an effort  to pressure the FBI director. Ryan said Trump may not have been “steeped” enough in the FBI’s independence from the White House. “He’s new in government, and so therefore I think he’s learning as he goes,” he told reporters. “I’m not saying it’s an acceptable excuse. It’s just my observation.” Trump could face even more problems over the coming months if the stream of details leaking out about the Russia investigation continues to grab the spotlight at a time when the White House wants to focus on priorities such as rolling back the Obamacare healthcare law and overhauling the tax code. “It distracts the administration and gives Republicans in the House and the Senate, many of whom have not been Trump supporters from the beginning, a reason to keep their distance and not get behind him,” said Andy Smith, director of the University of New Hampshire Survey Center, which conducts political polling. “It’s going to be a long summer,” Smith said. Trump’s core supporters are hunkering down for a fight. Great America Alliance, one pro-Trump group, spent $400,000 this week running ads attacking Comey, said Eric Beach, who runs the group. The ad lambasted Comey as “just another D.C. insider” and included images of militant attacks abroad to suggest Comey had not been focused enough on protecting Americans. But the investigation has contributed to a steady erosion of Trump’s political capital. According to a Reuters/Ipsos opinion poll taken from June 1 to 5, even before the Comey testimony - 38 percent of Americans said they approved of Trump, versus 58 percent who disapproved.  “I think the situation is getting much more serious for Mr. Trump,” said Jon Bond, a political science professor at Texas A&M University. “The Mueller investigation is going on. I suspect that information that came out in today’s hearings is going to feed into that investigation. It looks like to me that the president is in increasing jeopardy.”

Summary: ट्रम्प अभी भी खड़े हैं, लेकिन कोमी की गवाही से आहत हैं


SANTIAGO (Reuters) - Chilean presidential candidate Sebastian Pi era, who is leading in the polls for this November s elections, pledged on Thursday to move the South American country toward a fully renewable electricity grid by 2040.  Conservative Pi era, who previously served as Chile s president from 2010 to 2014, said that if elected he would seek to build on heavy investments the country has made in wind and solar energy.   The goal is that by 2040, Chile has a 100 percent clean and renewable electricity grid and a 100 percent electric public transit system,  Pi era said at a campaign rally. Chile is an obvious target for green energy firms. It imports most of the oil and gas it uses, but its desert climate and long coastline makes solar and wind power a viable prospect, especially as prices for renewables have plunged. A Pi era victory would be welcomed by the copper-producing country s business community, which blames current center-left President Michelle Bachelet for stoking market uncertainty in one of Latin America s most free-market economies. But Pi era is unlikely to win in the first round, and a December runoff against center-left candidate Alejandro Guillier or hard-left Beatriz Sanchez would likely be tight.  Guillier and Sanchez have both also spoken in favor of boosting renewable energy, though neither has given a specific time-frame for moving toward an all-clean grid.

Summary: रूढ़िवादी चिली के राष्ट्रपति पद के उम्मीदवार ने सभी नवीकरणीय ग्रिड का आह्वान किया


PARIS (Reuters) - French President Emmanuel Macron said on Wednesday he was counting on U.N. Security Council members China and Russia to step up sanctions on North Korea after its latest missile test.  I once again condemn with the greatest force the missile launch yesterday and now we must increase sanctions,  Macron told France 24 television.  I am counting a lot in particular on China and Russia in order to take the most difficult and effective sanctions,  he added, speaking during an interview from Abidjan in Ivory Coast.

Summary: फ्रांस के मैक्रों ने चीन, रूस से उत्तर कोरिया के प्रतिबंधों का समर्थन करने का आग्रह किया


WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump signed a memorandum on Friday that directs the U.S. military not to accept transgender men and women as recruits and halts the use of government funds for sex-reassignment surgeries for active personnel unless the process is already underway. The memo, released by the White House, laid out in more detail a ban on transgender individuals serving in the U.S. armed forces that Trump announced via Twitter last month, reversing a policy shift started under his predecessor, President Barack Obama. In it, Trump directed the Department of Defense and Department of Homeland Security to stop using government funds for sex-reassignment procedures unless it is necessary “to protect the health of an individual who has already begun a course of treatment to reassign his or her sex,” the memo said. The order requires Secretary of Defense Jim Mattis to determine in the coming months how to handle transgender individuals currently serving in the military using criteria including “military effectiveness and lethality,” budget constraints and law. A White House official who briefed reporters about the memo declined to specify whether transgender service men and women who are currently active in the military could continue to serve based on such criteria. The official said Trump decided the Obama administration had not identified a sufficient basis for changing what was then long-standing policy on transgender troops. The memo called on Mattis to submit a plan to Trump by February 21, 2018, on how to implement the changes. Trump’s decision appealed to some in his conservative political base while creating uncertainty for thousands of transgender service members, many of whom came out after the Pentagon said in 2016 it would allow transgender people to serve openly. The change drew swift criticism from advocates of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) rights. “The President’s order to remove transgender service members from the United States armed forces and deny them healthcare is nothing less than a purge,” Matt Thorn, executive director of OutServe-SLDN, a group dedicated to LGBT equality in the military, said in a statement. “Our military is strongest when all people who are fit to serve have the opportunity to do so. This unprecedented policy amounts to a purge of qualified, contributing troops, and will serve only to undermine unit cohesion and weaken military readiness,” said Jennifer Levi, an official at the gay rights group GLAD (GLBTQ Legal Advocates & Defenders) in a statement. Asked how the policy squared with Trump’s pledge to stand up for gay rights, the White House official said the president would ensure that such rights were protected but had been critical previously of the transgender changes under the Obama administration.

Summary: ट्रम्प ने ट्रांसजेंडर प्रतिबंध लागू करने के लिए पेंटागन को निर्देश देने वाले ज्ञापन पर हस्ताक्षर किए


BERLIN (Reuters) - Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump ignored the facts with his assertion that German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s open-door refugee policy had resulted in a huge increase in crime, a German minister told Reuters on Tuesday. Trump said Merkel’s decision to welcome more than a million refugees to Germany was a “disaster” during a campaign rally in Ohio on Monday and said his Democratic opponent Hillary Clinton wanted to be like the German leader. “In short, Hillary Clinton wants to be America’s Angela Merkel and you know what a disaster this massive immigration has been to Germany and the people of Germany,” Trump said. “Crime has risen to levels that no one thought they would ever, ever see. It is a catastrophe.” Statistics compiled by the German Interior Ministry showed the number of crimes reported in 2015 - excluding visa violations and other immigration violations - remained essentially unchanged from the previous year at 5.9 million. Michael Roth, Germany’s European affairs minister, told Reuters Trump’s statement was incorrect and it was important to correct campaign statements in other countries that were based on “fears, lies and half-truths”, given the importance of the U.S. election for the world. “I’m sorry that the Republican presidential candidate trumpets out things like that without any factual basis,” Roth said. “If he had studied the actual situation in Germany, he would know that, while the many refugees who came to Germany and Europe pose a big challenge for us, and everything is still not completely resolved, they have not led to a massive increase in crime rates.” Roth said Germany remained a peaceful country where people treated each other with respect, and efforts continued to integrate the refugees into the broader society and economy. German authorities identified 12,710 cases of illegal migration -  mostly from Afghanistan, Syria and Iraq - in the first half of 2016, compared with 128,655 cases in all 2015, Germany’s Funke Mediengruppe reported on Tuesday, quoting the government’s response to a parliamentary query. It said authorities had stopped about 1 million people to check their immigration status in the first half of the year, compared with about 3 million in the full year of 2015.

Summary: मर्केल की शरणार्थी नीति पर कटाक्ष करते हुए ट्रंप ने तथ्यों को नजरअंदाज कियाः जर्मन मंत्री


(Reuters) - Top U.S. officials will travel to Havana on Feb. 16 to sign an aviation pact that restores scheduled airline service between the United States and Cuba for the first time in more than 50 years, the U.S. Transportation Department said on Friday. The signing brings into effect an arrangement the Cold War foes agreed upon on Dec. 16. U.S. airlines still must apply for permission from U.S. regulators to fly specific routes before they sell tickets to Cuba.  While charter flights already connect the countries, the accord is expected to increase tourism and business on the communist-ruled island. Airlines expect a gradual payout from the arrangement as well. U.S. Transportation Department Secretary Anthony Foxx and Assistant Secretary of State for Economic and Business Affairs Charles Rivkin will participate in the signing, the Transportation Department said in a news release.

Summary: अमेरिका और क्यूबा 16 फरवरी को विमानन समझौते पर हस्ताक्षर करेंगे


BAGHDAD/CAIRO (Reuters) - A global backlash against U.S. President Donald Trump’s immigration curbs gathered strength on Sunday as several countries including long-standing American allies criticized the measures as discriminatory and divisive. Governments from London and Berlin to Jakarta and Tehran spoke out against Trump’s order to put a four-month hold on allowing refugees into the United States and temporarily ban travelers from Syria and six other Muslim-majority countries. He said the move would help protect Americans from terrorism.  In Germany - which has taken in large numbers of people fleeing the Syrian civil war - Chancellor Angela Merkel said the global fight against terrorism was no excuse for the measures and “does not justify putting people of a specific background or faith under general suspicion”, her spokesman said. She expressed her concerns to Trump during a phone call and reminded him that the Geneva Conventions require the international community to take in war refugees on humanitarian grounds, the spokesman added. Merkel’s sentiments were echoed in Paris and London; “Terrorism knows no nationality. Discrimination is no response,” said French Foreign minister Jean-Marc Ayrault, while his British counterpart Boris Johnson tweeted: “Divisive and wrong to stigmatize because of nationality.”  Along with Syria, the U.S. ban of at least 90 days affects travelers with passports from Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen, including those with dual nationality that includes one of those countries.  Trump said his order, which indefinitely bans refugees from Syria, was “not a Muslim ban”, though he added he would seek to prioritize Christian refugees fleeing the country.  The Arab League - whose members include many of the countries included in the ban as well as allies of Washington such as Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Jordan - expressed deep concern and said the restrictions were unjustified. The government in Iraq, which is allied with Washington in the battle against ultra-hardline Islamist group Islamic State and hosts over 5,000 U.S. troops, did not comment on the executive order.  But some members of its parliament said Baghdad should retaliate with similar measures against the United States.  In Baghdad, influential Shi’ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr said American nationals should leave Iraq, in retaliation for the travel curbs. “It would be arrogance for you to enter freely Iraq and other countries while barring to them the entrance to your country ... and therefore you should get your nationals out,” he said on his website.   There was no immediate reaction to the curbs from Islamic State, although in the past it has used U.S. monitoring of Muslim foreigners to stoke Muslim anger against Washington. The Tehran government vowed to respond in kind to the U.S. ban on visitors from Iran, but on Sunday Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said on Twitter that Americans who already hold Iranian visas can enter the country. “Unlike the U.S., our decision is not retroactive. All with valid Iranian visa will be gladly welcomed,” Zarif said. Authorities in Sudan, which is also targeted by the ban, summoned the U.S. charge d’affaires in Khartoum. They said the order sent a “negative message”, coming two weeks after Washington announced it would ease economic sanctions on the country. Trump’s executive order on Friday took effect immediately, wreaking havoc and confusion for would-be travelers with passports from the seven countries and plunging America’s immigration system into chaos.       The Department of Homeland Security said about 375 travelers had been affected by the order, 109 of whom were in transit and were denied entry to the United States. Another 173 were stopped by airlines before boarding. Fuad Sharef, his wife and three children were among the first victims. They had waited two years for a visa to settle in the United States, selling their home and quitting jobs and schools in Iraq before setting off for a new life they saw as a reward for working with U.S. organizations. They were prevented from boarding their connecting flight to New York from Cairo airport on Saturday, detained overnight and forced to board a flight back to northern Iraq.  “We were treated like drug dealers, escorted by deportation officers,” Sharef told Reuters, likening Trump’s decision to the dictatorship of former Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein. “I am broken, I am totally broken.” A 32-year-old Syrian man, Nail Zain, was among dozens of people at Istanbul’s Ataturk Airport prevented from flying to the United States on Sunday. He told Reuters he was supposed to fly to Los Angeles, but officials said his visa was canceled. “My wife and my son are in the United States. My son has American nationality. And we have been waiting for this moment for two years. Finally when I got the chance, they prevented me as a Syrian passport holder from traveling,” he said.  He was later taken out of the terminal by authorities. Trump, a businessman who successfully tapped into American fears about militant attacks during his campaign, had promised what he called “extreme vetting” of immigrants and refugees from areas the White House said the U.S. Congress deemed high risk.  He said on Saturday of his order: “It’s working out very nicely. You see it at the airports, you see it all over.”      The travel curbs, however, also drew criticism from several other countries around the globe.  In Jakarta, Indonesian Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi said the Muslim-majority nation deeply regretted Trump’s plans for “extreme vetting” of people from some Muslim countries. Italian Prime Minister Paolo Gentiloni said “open society, plural identity, no discrimination” were the “pillars of Europe”, while the Danish, Swedish and Norwegian governments also registered their opposition. Danish foreign minister Anders Samuelsen tweeted: “The U.S. decision not to allow entry of people from certain countries is NOT fair.”  Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said his country welcomed those fleeing war and persecution, even as Canadian airlines said they would turn back U.S.-bound passengers to comply with an immigration ban on people from seven Muslim-majority countries. “To those fleeing persecution, terror & war, Canadians will welcome you, regardless of your faith. Diversity is our strength #WelcomeToCanada,” he tweeted.

Summary: ट्रंप के आव्रजन आदेश के खिलाफ वैश्विक प्रतिक्रिया बढ़ी


(Reuters) - The Trump Organization said on Friday it was vetting new business structures aimed at transferring management control to three of President-elect Donald Trump’s children and a team of executives. The Trump Organization said in a statement it was planning to transfer control of the portfolio of businesses to Donald Trump Jr, Ivanka Trump, Eric Trump and other executives. Earlier on Friday, the three Trump children - the oldest of Trump’s five children - were also named as members of Trump’s Presidential Transition Team Executive Committee.   “This is a top priority at the organization and the structure that is ultimately selected will comply with all applicable rules and regulations,” a spokesperson for the Trump Organization said in a statement. Federal conflict-of-interest law does not apply to the president, but most White House occupants in the last few decades have voluntarily placed their assets in a blind trust to avoid any suggestion of impropriety. Experts in government ethics said that giving over control to Trump’s children would do virtually nothing to prevent potential conflicts of interest, since there’s usually no daylight between one’s personal interest and the interest of one’s immediate family members. “It doesn’t meet any of the standards of a blind trust if the kids are running the company,” said Kenneth Gross, a Washington lawyer who specializes in advising political clients on compliance and ethics. Gross noted that the official transition team roles that Ivanka Trump, Donald Trump Jr and Eric Trump now have would appear to complicate matters further. “If they’re going to be involved in government functions -  and they’re starting down that road - and running the business, that’s going to make it very difficult to separate the government and business functions and deal with the conflicts of interest,” Gross said. All three children already have roles in the Trump Organization, according to the company’s website. Ivanka Trump is executive vice president of development and acquisitions, charged with domestic and global expansion of the company’s real estate interests. Donald Trump Jr is an executive vice president, and works to expand the company’s real estate, retail, commercial, hotel and golf interests nationally and internationally. Eric Trump is executive vice president of development and acquisitions, responsible for new project acquisition, development and construction globally. Typically, a blind trust involves turning over assets to an independent financial manager with no prior relationship to the owner. In addition, a blind trust derives its name from the idea that the owner would no longer know what assets are sold or bought. For instance, someone with extensive stock holdings would have no way of knowing which companies’ shares he or she still owned in a blind trust. Trump’s portfolio includes interests in hundreds of limited liability companies, many overseas, as well as numerous real estate properties both domestic and foreign. Short of selling the entire Trump empire, experts said, he will find it difficult to create a trust sufficiently “blind” to avoid the possibility of any conflicts.

Summary: नवनिर्वाचित राष्ट्रपति की कंपनी का प्रबंधन करते देखे गए ट्रम्प के तीन बच्चे


WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Top U.S. Republicans said on Sunday they expected Congress to pass a tax code overhaul this week, with a Senate vote as early as Tuesday and President Donald Trump aiming to sign the bill by week’s end. John Cornyn, the No. 2 U.S. Senate Republican, said in an interview on ABC’s “This Week” that he was “confident” the Senate would pass the legislation, “probably on Tuesday.” Republican Representative Kevin Brady said he believed his party had the votes to pass the bill. “I think we are headed - the American people are headed -  for a big win on Tuesday,” Brady, the House of Representatives’  top tax writer, said on Fox News’ “Sunday Morning Futures with Maria Bartiromo.” “We’ve worked hard to make sure that those strange Senate rules don’t hang this up in any way,” Brady added. “I am confident that’s the case.”  If passed, the bill would be the biggest U.S. tax rewrite since 1986 and provide Republican lawmakers and Trump with their first major legislative victory since they took control of the White House in January in addition to Congress. Republicans have a slim 52-48 Senate majority and cannot lose more than two votes and still pass tax legislation. Democrats are unified against the measure, calling it a giveaway to corporations and the rich that would drive up the federal deficit.  Last week, on-the-fence Republican Senators Marco Rubio and Bob Corker said they would support the tax overhaul. Senators Susan Collins and Mike Lee put out positive statements but did not explicitly say they would vote for it. Collins’ office said on Sunday that “she’s still reviewing the bill.” Republican Senator Jeff Flake cast a vote for an earlier Senate version despite deficit concerns, but he is undecided on the final legislation, his office said on Sunday.  Senators Thad Cochran and John McCain have been ill in recent weeks and have missed votes. Cochran’s office said last week he was expected to vote on the tax bill. McCain, who is battling an aggressive brain tumor, has returned to his home state of Arizona and does not expect to be back in Washington until January, his office said on Sunday. The tax bill is expected to add at least $1 trillion to the $20 trillion U.S. national debt over 10 years, even after accounting for the economic growth it might spur, according to independent government analyses.  The bill would cut the corporate income tax rate to 21 percent from 35 percent and create a 20 percent income tax deduction for owners of “pass-through” businesses, such as partnerships and sole proprietorships. It would offer a mixed bag for individuals, including middle-class workers, by roughly doubling a standard deduction that does not require itemization, but eliminating or scaling back other popular itemized deductions and exemptions. The bill would maintain seven individual and family income tax brackets but cut rates. Highest-earning Americans would pay 37 percent, down from 39.6 percent.  Most individual provisions, including the lower tax rates, are temporary and would expire, while the corporate rate cut and other business provisions would be permanent. Stock markets have been rallying for months in anticipation of sharply lower tax rates for corporations, with Wall Street’s three major equities indexes closing at record highs on Friday. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin told CBS News’ “Face the Nation” on Sunday that Trump expected to realize his goal of signing the tax bill before Christmas. “This is a historic event,” Mnuchin said. “People said we wouldn’t get this done; we’re on the verge of getting this done.”

Summary: रिपब्लिकन को विश्वास है कि इस सप्ताह कर विधेयक कानून बन जाएगा


WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. Defense Secretary Ash Carter said on Tuesday that the United States’ response so far to Russia orchestrating hacks during the 2016 presidential campaign was just the start. “Some responses have been made. I think you should regard that as a start and not the end,” Carter said during a news briefing at the Pentagon alongside the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Marine General Joseph Dunford. Last month, President Barack Obama ordered the expulsion of 35 Russian suspected spies and imposed sanctions on two intelligence agencies over their involvement in hacking U.S. political groups in the 2016 presidential election. The Kremlin has said the U.S. hacking allegations are “reminiscent of a witch-hunt.”

Summary: रूस की हैकिंग पर अमेरिकी प्रतिक्रिया 'अंत नहीं': कार्टर


WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Donald Trump said on Tuesday he is developing a plan that will encourage competition in the drug industry and bring down prices for medicines, as the House of Representatives leadership unveiled a new health care plan. “I am working on a new system where there will be competition in the Drug Industry. Pricing for the American people will come way down!” Trump said in a Twitter post.

Summary: ट्रम्प का कहना है कि वह दवाओं की कीमतों को कम करने की योजना पर काम कर रहे हैं


WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A national association of U.S. venture capitalists filed suit against the Trump administration on Tuesday, claiming it illegally delayed a policy that would have allowed foreign entrepreneurs to stay in the United States to build their companies. The suit, filed in Washington, D.C. District Court by the National Venture Capital Association, argues that the Trump administration did not go through proper procedures when it delayed the Obama administration’s “International Entrepreneur” rule, which was due to go into effect in July and would have allowed some foreign start-up founders to stay in the United States for up to five years in hopes of growing their businesses. Instead, in July the Trump administration pushed back implementing the new rule to March 2018, and said it was “highly likely” the administration would ultimately rescind the rule. In delaying the program’s start date, the Department of Homeland Security did not engage in the standard “notice and comment” period government agencies typically go through when changing regulations, or a delayed effective date. The DHS argued in July that doing so while the agency was likely to abolish the rule would be contrary to the public interest because it would sow confusion and waste resources and mean the immigration agency would have to expend limited resources to implement the rule. The suit claims that the administration’s actions violated the Administrative Procedure Act, which requires advance notice of new rules, and asks the court to stop the government from delaying the new rule and instead require it to begin accepting applications from foreign entrepreneurs. “The process followed by DHS in deciding to delay the effective date of the rule was the polar opposite of the careful, deliberative process DHS used to formulate the rule itself,” the suit argued. A DHS spokesman did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the suit. The NVCA was joined in the suit by several tech start-ups active in the United States but founded by foreign entrepreneurs who wanted to be able to stay in the country and work with their businesses through the entrepreneur rule but are now unable to. The Obama administration estimated fewer than 3,000 entrepreneurs would be eligible for the program each year. The rule would have applied to start-up founders who own a large portion of their companies. To qualify, the companies have to have already received significant investment from American investors or government grants.

Summary: उद्यम पूंजीपतियों ने विदेशी उद्यमी शासन में देरी को लेकर ट्रम्प प्रशासन पर मुकदमा दायर किया


WASHINGTON (Reuters) - During the eight years of the Obama administration, business lobbyists often found the gates to the White House closed tight.  They are open now under President Donald Trump. That is not altogether unexpected as the New York real estate developer did campaign during the 2016 presidential election on a promise to elevate the needs of business, which he argued would fuel economic growth.  What does surprise lobbyists, however, is the sheer number of wins in getting the Trump administration to roll back or delay unfavorable regulations in its first 10 months. And it is occurring despite White House dysfunction and distraction.  The lobbyists say it is a stark departure from the approach of the Obama administration, which had a reputation for aloofness toward business and sought to limit the influence of lobbyists, whom it saw as beholden to special interests. The Trump White House is listening to them, they say. It is returning their phone calls. And it is working to eliminate regulations they view as detrimental to the ability to prosper.  When 15 lobbyists and business leaders recently held talks with Trump administration officials on energy infrastructure and climate change, they were surprised by the officials' opening question: "Do you have a regulation that we could put on a list to try to eliminate? Is there something that is impeding you from growing?"  In that moment, one of the lobbyists at the meeting knew it was a new era. “That as an opening was not the way the Obama administration approached meetings,” she said.  “It’s night and day,” between the Trump and Obama administrations, said James Thurber, a professor in the public affairs school at American University, who studies lobbying and its effects.  Trump promised to “drain the swamp,” an oath that came with plans to curb lobbying and end a “culture of corruption.” The campaign stump speech line had a populist appeal, but one person’s swamp dweller is another’s job creator.  Some of the 16 lobbyists spanning nine different industries interviewed by Reuters acknowledged that many people view them as part of the problem in Washington, not the solution, and that their growing influence may be seen by those as a negative.  Spending so far this year on lobbyists is on pace to exceed spending in 2016, according to the OpenSecrets website, with $2.43 billion spent over the first nine months compared to $2.38 billion at the same point in 2016.  After taking office in January, Trump quickly made it easier to get into the White House.  He reversed President Barack Obama’s restrictions that sought to keep lobbyists at bay by physically barring many of them from the White House - a rule that critics said did nothing more than move meetings with lobbyists to coffee shops across the street. And Trump has stopped the public disclosure of White House visitors’ logs, so now lobbyists come and go with less concern that their presence at the White House will be scrutinized.  Most lobbyists refused to speak on the record because they did not want to reveal anything about their private discussions with the administration. Lobbyists are also acutely aware that anything they say will be used by critics who think Trump has tilted too much toward corporate interests.  The White House did not respond to repeated requests for comment for this article.  The coal, steel, oil and gas industries are some of the clear winners, with easier access to the Trump administration and more deregulation of their industries, said Stan Veuger, a fellow at the conservative thinktank American Enterprise Institute who studies politics and the economy.  That business has been given more access and even more control of certain regulatory issues is “fair criticism and praise if you want to call it that,” said Veuger.   There are big losers, too. Consumer advocacy and environmental groups warning about the perils of climate change, who enjoyed easy access to the Obama White House, have largely been shut out of a Trump White House that is more skeptical of climate change and believes Obama over-reached with some of his measures to protect consumers.  It was no secret that Trump wanted to greenlight the Dakota Access Pipeline to move oil from North Dakota to Illinois despite the fierce opposition of environmentalists and American Indian tribes whose land was being used. He spoke about it frequently during the campaign. Then Trump gave the energy industry more than they had hoped for.  The American Petroleum Institute, which represents all the large refiners, had asked the administration to speed the permitting process for drilling and building new facilities. When Trump signed his executive order authorizing the pipeline only four days after taking office, he also granted this wish.  A number of business trade groups asked the Trump administration to suspend a rule, created during the Obama years, that would require companies to disclose to the government any communications they have with employees during union disputes. In June, the Trump Labor Department did just that, citing the opposition from business.  Among the other wins for business, the Labor Department delivered on a top priority of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce business lobbying group and Wall Street brokerages when it reversed an Obama-era rule aimed at brokers who recommend inappropriate retirement investments.  The administration also side-stepped the process to repeal regulations by implementing delays and holds on rules.  For instance, in the final months of the Obama administration the Bureau of Land Management created a rule governing methane and waste prevention over the strong objections of groups representing oil and gas companies.  API wrote to Ryan Zinke, Trump’s secretary of the interior, in May asking him to postpone implementation of the rule. The Trump administration announced it would and even cited the lobbyists’ objections as the reason.  Of course, it is not perfect harmony between Trump and business. Dozens of corporate leaders abandoned advisory business councils set up by Trump after he appeared to side with white supremacists following a white nationalist rally in Virginia that resulted in the death of a protester.  The U.S. Chamber of Commerce has spent the past few weeks ringing alarm bells over Trump’s various positions on the renegotiation of the North American Free Trade Agreement.  And yet, said Neil Bradley, one of the top lobbyists for the chamber, “I have even found in times when we may not see eye to eye with the administration on something, we have cordial, timely discussions that are substantive.”

Summary: 'तिल खोलेंः' लॉबिस्टों ने ट्रम्प व्हाइट हाउस में गर्मजोशी से स्वागत किया