WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump declared the opioid crisis a public health emergency on Thursday, stopping short of a national emergency declaration he promised months ago that would have freed up more federal money. Responding to a growing problem, particularly in rural areas, Trump’s declaration will redirect federal resources and loosen regulations to combat opioid abuse, senior administration officials said.  But it does not result in more money to combat the crisis. Some critics, including Democratic lawmakers, said the declaration was meaningless without additional funding. Republican lawmakers called the president’s declaration an important step in combating the crisis.  “This epidemic is a national health emergency,” Trump, a Republican, said at the White House. “As Americans, we cannot allow this to continue.” Trump, who also called the epidemic a “national shame” and “human tragedy,” was introduced by his wife, Melania, who said she had made fighting the epidemic one of her top priorities as first lady. “This can happen to any of us,” she said.  The president also made a personal reference to addiction in his family by citing his deceased brother Fred, an alcoholic whose advice not to imbibe made an impression on Trump, who does not drink alcohol.   The announcement disappointed some advocates and experts in the addiction fight, who said it was inadequate to fight a scourge that played a role in more than 33,000 deaths in 2015, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The death rate has kept rising, estimates show. Opioids, primarily prescription painkillers, heroin and fentanyl, are fueling the drug overdoses. More than 100 Americans die daily from related overdoses, according to the CDC. A White House commission on the drug crisis had urged Trump to declare a national emergency. On Wednesday, the president told Fox Business Network he would do so. Officials told reporters on the conference call that Federal Emergency Management Agency funds that would have been released under a national emergency are already exhausted from recent storms that struck Puerto Rico, Texas and Florida.  The administration would have to work with Congress to help provide additional funding to address drug abuse, they added. They said they determined that a public health emergency declaration was most appropriate after an expansive review. Under Thursday’s declaration, treatment would be made more accessible for abusers of prescription painkillers, heroin and fentanyl, while ensuring fewer delays in staffing the Department of Health and Human Services to help states grapple with the crisis. Trump said he would discuss stopping the flow of fentanyl, a drug 50 to 100 times more powerful than morphine, with Chinese President Xi Jinping during his visit to Asia next month. In his remarks, Trump said the U.S. Postal Service and Department of Homeland Security were “strengthening the inspection of packages coming into our country to hold back the flood of cheap and deadly fentanyl, a synthetic opioid manufactured in China.” In Beijing, Foreign Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang said China had always paid a great deal of attention to international cooperation against narcotics and had listed 23 components of fentanyl as controlled substances, despite not having a fentanyl abuse problem. Trump added he would consider bringing lawsuits against “bad actors” in the epidemic. Several states have sued opioid manufacturers for deceptive marketing. Congress is investigating the business practices of manufacturers.  The president also said the government should focus on teaching young people not to take drugs. “There is nothing desirable about drugs. They’re bad,” he said. Thursday’s declaration allows the Department of Labor to issue grants to help dislocated workers affected by the crisis. HIV/AIDS health funding would also be prioritized for those who need substance abuse treatment, officials said.     As a candidate, Trump promised to address the crisis, including by building a wall on the U.S.-Mexico border to stop the flow of illicit drugs, which he touched on in his speech. Additional actions under the move would be announced in coming weeks by various agencies, officials said.

Summary: ट्रम्प ने ओपिओइड को यू. एस. सार्वजनिक स्वास्थ्य आपातकाल घोषित किया


LONDON (Reuters) - The number of people arrested in Britain on suspicion of terrorism offences rocketed by 68 percent in the last year to the highest figure on record during a period when the country suffered four deadly attacks, figures showed on Thursday. Statistics from the Home Office (interior ministry) showed there were 379 arrests in the year to June, up from 226 from the 12 previous months, and the most since 2001 when the data began to be collected. Britain is on its second-highest threat level,  severe , meaning an attack is highly likely and 36 people were killed in terrorist incidents in the first six months of 2017. Among the arrests, 12 came after an attack in March on London s Westminster Bridge when a man drove a car into pedestrians killing four, before he stabbed a policeman to death outside parliament. Another 23 followed a suicide bombing at a pop concert in Manchester in May, and the following month police arrested 21 suspects after three Islamist militants drove into pedestrians on London Bridge before stabbing people at nearby restaurants and bars, killing eight. One arrest followed an attack in north London when a van was driven into worshippers near a mosque which left one man dead. Britain s most senior counter-terrorism officer Mark Rowley has said police have been arresting a suspect every day. He said this week that there had been a shift in the threat level rather than an isolated spike. In the three years until March this year, police foiled 13 potential attacks but in the next 17 weeks, there were the four attacks while the authorities thwarted six others, Rowley said.  The pace has continued to be almost as challenging since then,  he told a conference in Israel. The official figures showed that among the 379 arrests, 123 people were charged with an offense, of which 105 were terrorism-related, while 189 were released without charge.

Summary: ब्रिटेन में इस साल हमलों के बाद आतंकवाद की गिरफ्तारी रिकॉर्ड स्तर पर पहुंची


KABUL (Reuters) - Islamic State claimed responsibility for a suicide attack near a large Shi ite mosque in the Afghan capital on Friday that killed at least one person and wounded five others. The blast hit the Qala-e Fatehullah area of the city, near the Hussainya mosque, and came as security forces were on alert for possible attacks during Ashura, the holiest celebration in the Shi ite religious calendar. President Ashraf Ghani issued a statement saying that the attackers would not be able to shake the unity of the Afghan people with their  inhumane and irreligious  attacks. A statement from Islamic State, which has claimed a string of attacks on Shi ite targets over the past two years, said its fighters had carried out the attack. Afghanistan, a mainly Sunni Islamic country, has mostly avoided the sectarian violence that has devastated countries such as Iraq, but there have been increasing numbers of attacks on Shi ite targets in recent years. Security officials said at least two attackers had been killed as they carried out the operation, apparently intended to hit the mosque, just a month after 20 people were killed during prayers at another Shi ite mosque in Kabul. A hospital run by the Italian aid group Emergency said five wounded had been brought in following the blast but a witness at the scene said eight or nine people had been wounded or killed. The local affiliate of Islamic State has claimed several attacks on Shi ite targets in Kabul in recent years and the government has allowed the Shi ite community to place armed guards near mosques ahead of Ashura. No reliable census information exists on the size of the Shi ite community in Afghanistan, but estimates range around 10-20 percent, with most coming from the Persian-speaking Hazara and Tajik ethnic groups.

Summary: अफगानिस्तान की राजधानी में शिया मस्जिद के पास विस्फोट, कम से कम एक की मौत


RAMALLAH, West Bank (Reuters) - Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas on Wednesday demanded a halt to Israeli settlement expansion in occupied territory and said he was committed to a two-state solution to the conflict with Israel after U.S. President Donald Trump suggested he could be open to alternatives. Abbas’s office issued a statement after Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu spoke at a news conference in Washington before a meeting. At the news conference, Trump said to Netanyahu: “I’d like to see you pull back on settlements for a little bit.”  But Trump also dropped U.S. insistence on a two-state solution, a longstanding bedrock of Middle East policy, upending a position embraced by successive administrations and the international community and a U.S. commitment to the eventual creation of a Palestinian state.  Abbas said he agreed with Trump’s call for Israel to refrain from settlement building in the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem. “The presidency demands that (Israel) agree to (Trump’s call), and that of the international community, to halt all settlement activities including in occupied East Jerusalem,” the statement said. But the Palestinians stressed that they wanted the two-state option. “The Palestinian presidency stressed its commitment to the two-state solution and to the international law and international legitimacy in the way that secures ending the Israeli occupation and establish the Palestinian State with East Jerusalem as its capital.” Giving a convoluted response to a question on whether he backed a two-state solution, Trump suggested that he could abide by whatever the two parties decided. “I’m looking at two states and one state, and I like the one both parties like,” he said as he stood alongside Netanyahu. “I can live with either one.” Abbas’ statement added that the Palestinians affirmed their “readiness to deal positively with the Trump administration to make peace”. Talks have been frozen since 2014. The Palestinians seek to establish an independent state in the Israeli occupied West Bank, territory captured in the 1967 Middle East war and the Gaza Strip, which is controlled by Islamist Hamas, with East Jerusalem as its capital.

Summary: फिलिस्तीनियों ने ट्रम्प से कहा कि वे अभी भी दो-राज्य समाधान के लिए प्रतिबद्ध हैं


BEIJING (Reuters) - Chinese President Xi Jinping told U.S. President Donald Trump on Saturday that stronger Sino-U.S. ties are good for stability in a complex world, state news agency Xinhua said. The two were meeting on the sidelines of the G20 summit in the German city of Hamburg.

Summary: चीन के शी ने ट्रंप से कहा, मजबूत संबंध स्थिरता के लिए अच्छेः शिन्हुआ


BERLIN (Reuters) - There will never again be a border dividing Northern Ireland and the republic, a British minister said days before a summit at which the Irish border issue threatens to derail Britain s Brexit plans. But in the interview with the Rheinische Post newspaper, international trade minister Greg Hands reaffirmed that Britain would quit the European Union s customs union, a move most experts believe would lead to the reimposition of a border. Currently, both parts of the island are members of the same customs union, meaning checks of goods crossing the border are unnecessary. If Britain left the customs union and no new checks were imposed, many experts warn it would create a back-door route to circumvent EU tariffs. As part of its negotiations to quit the European Union, Britain must satisfy the bloc s remaining 27 members that it has settled issues including its financial obligations, citizens  rights and maintaining a low-friction border between the two parts of the divided island. Failure to do so could bring a veto from any of the bloc s member states, including the Republic of Ireland, preventing Britain from moving on to a discussion of its future relationship with its much larger neighbor.  All sides, the Irish government, my government and the European Commission are committed to the peace deal that ended the Northern Ireland conflict,  Hands said.  There will never be a border between north and south.  Extracts of the interview were published on Thursday. He said he was confident that no veto would be cast at the mid-December summit. The 1998 Good Friday peace agreement between Britain and the Republic of Ireland was the crucial step that brought to an end decades of violence in Northern Ireland, partly by offering extensive provisions to allow residents of the British province to maintain allegiance to both EU member states.

Summary: सीमा शुल्क संघ छोड़ने के बावजूद उत्तर-दक्षिण आयरलैंड सीमा नहीं, ब्रिटिश मंत्री ने लिया संकल्प


HABUR, Turkey (Reuters) - Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan threatened on Monday to cut off the pipeline that carries oil from northern Iraq to the outside world, intensifying pressure on the Kurdish autonomous region over its independence referendum. Erdogan spoke shortly after Prime Minister Binali Yildirim said Ankara could take punitive measures involving borders and air space against the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) over the referendum and would not recognize the outcome. Voting began on Monday despite strong opposition from Iraq s central government and neighboring Turkey and Iran - both with significant Kurdish populations - as well as Western warnings the move could aggravate Middle East instability. Erdogan, grappling with a long-standing Kurdish insurgency in Turkey s southeast, which borders northern Iraq, said the  separatist  referendum was unacceptable and economic, trade and security counter-measures would be taken. He stopped short of saying Turkey had decided to close off the oil flow. Hundreds of thousands of barrels of oil a day come through the pipeline in Turkey from northern Iraq, but he made clear the option was on the table.  After this, let s see through which channels the northern Iraqi regional government will send its oil, or where it will sell it,  he said in a speech.  We have the tap. The moment we close the tap, then it s done.      Yildirim said Ankara would decide on punitive measures against the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) after talks with Iraq s central government.  Our energy, interior and customs ministries are working on (measures). We are evaluating steps regarding border gates and air space. We will take these steps quickly,  Yildirim told Turkish broadcasters. Iraqi soldiers arrived in Turkey on Monday night to join a drill on the Turkish side of the border near the Habur area in the southeast, Turkey s military said in a statement. Iraq s defense ministry said the two armies started  major maneuvers  at the border area. Local media said Turkey had blocked access to the KRG via the Habur border crossing with Iraq. Ankara s customs minister denied this, saying Habur remained open but with tight controls on traffic, according to the state-run Anadolu agency. However, Erdogan later said traffic was only being allowed to cross from the Turkish side of the border into Iraq. Maruf Ari, a 50-year-old truck driver, was one of those who had crossed back into Turkey early on Monday morning. He said a closure of the gate would ruin his livelihood.   If the border is closed it will harm all of us. I m doing this job for 20 years. I m not making a lot of money. Around 1,000 lira ($285) a month. But if the gate is closed, we will go hungry.  The United States and other Western powers also urged authorities in the KRG to cancel the vote, saying it would distract from the fight against Islamic State. Shares of Turkish Airlines, which has direct flights to northern Iraq, tumbled 6.5 percent, underperforming a 1.78 percent decline in the BIST 100 index. Turkey s currency, the lira, also weakened. Turkey took the Kurdish television channel Rudaw off its satellite service TurkSat, a Turkish broadcasting official told Reuters.  Turkey has long been northern Iraq s main link to the outside world, but sees the referendum as a grave matter for its own national security. Turkey has the region s largest Kurdish population and has been fighting a three-decade insurgency in its mainly Kurdish southeast.         On Saturday, Turkey s parliament voted to extend by a year a mandate authorizing the deployment of troops in Iraq and Syria. Still, Ankara is unlikely to make rash moves when it comes to sanctions against the KRG, said Nihat Ali Ozcan, a professor of political science and international relations at TOBB University of Economics and Technology.   Closing the border gate, cancelling international flights and, at the final step, cutting the pipeline can be discussed,  he said.  Military pressure can be used directly or indirectly.   The Turkish army launched military exercises involving tanks and armored vehicles near the Habur border crossing a week ago and they are expected to continue until at least Sept. 26. Additional units joined the exercises as they entered their second stage Turkey s military said in its statement that the third phase of the drill would be held on Sept. 26, and that Iraqi soldiers who arrived on Monday night would join. The military has also in recent days carried out daily air strikes against Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) targets in northern Iraq, where the group s commanders are based. The PKK launched its separatist insurgency in 1984, and more than 40,000 people have been killed since. It is designated a terrorist group by Turkey, the United States and European Union. Militants in northern Iraq launched a cross-border mortar attack into Turkey s Hakkari province, hitting a temporary residence used by refugees, the interior ministry said. One refugee was killed and several others were injured, it said. In the eastern Agri province, near the border with Iran, individuals thought to be Kurdish militants opened fire on a mini-bus carrying foreign nationals, the ministry said. Three people were killed and four wounded in that attack, it said. ($1 = 3.5153 liras)

Summary: 'हमारे पास नल है': तुर्की के एर्दोगन ने इराक के कुर्द क्षेत्र से तेल के प्रवाह की धमकी दी


SEATTLE (Reuters) - A U.S. federal judge on Monday said courtroom proceedings over President Donald Trump’s travel ban should continue in Seattle during an ongoing appeals court review. At a hearing, U.S. District Judge James Robart in Seattle said he was not prepared to slow down the case. Robart directed attorneys for the U.S. Justice Department and Washington state’s attorney general to prepare for further proceedings in Seattle.

Summary: सिएटल के न्यायाधीश ने कहा कि अपील के दौरान ट्रम्प यात्रा प्रतिबंध का मामला जारी रहना चाहिए


MOSCOW (Reuters) - Prominent Russian political commentator and writer Yulia Latynina has left Russia fearing for her life, she told a Moscow radio station.  Latynina s car was set on fire at the beginning of September, weeks after unidentified assailants sprayed a poisonous substance on her house outside Moscow and the car.  I m quite scared ... I m terrified that the people who did it were prepared for fatalities,  Latynina said of the arson.  I m abroad, my parents are also abroad. It s unlikely I ll be going to Russia soon,  she told the Echo of Moscow radio station late Saturday. Latynina, who works as a columnist at the Novaya Gazeta newspaper, has been critical of the Kremlin s policy in the Chechnya republic in the Caucasus, as well as the local authorities. Last year, Latynina was attacked in the center of Moscow.

Summary: प्रमुख रूसी पत्रकार ने धमकियों के बाद देश छोड़ दिया


WASHINGTON/NEW YORK (Reuters) - Washington turned into a virtual fortress on Thursday ahead of Donald Trump’s presidential inauguration, while thousands of people took to the streets of New York and Washington to express their displeasure with his coming administration. Some 900,000 people, both Trump backers and opponents, are expected to flood Washington for Friday’s inauguration ceremony, according to organizers’ estimates. Events include the swearing-in ceremony on the steps of the U.S. Capitol and a parade to the White House along streets thronged with spectators. The number of planned protests and rallies this year is far above what has been typical at recent presidential inaugurations, with some 30 permits granted in Washington for anti-Trump rallies and sympathy protests planned in cities from Boston to Los Angeles, and outside the U.S. in cities including London and Sydney.  The night before the inauguration, thousands of people turned out in New York for a rally at the Trump International Hotel and Tower, and then marched a few blocks from the Trump Tower where the businessman lives. The rally featured a lineup of politicians, activists and celebrities including Mayor Bill de Blasio and actor Alec Baldwin, who trotted out the Trump parody he performs on “Saturday Night Live.” “Donald Trump may control Washington, but we control our destiny as Americans,” de Blasio said. “We don’t fear the future. We think the future is bright, if the people’s voices are heard.” In Washington, a group made up of hundreds of protesters clashed with police clad in riot gear who used pepper spray against some of the crowd on Thursday night, according to footage on social media.  The confrontation occurred outside the National Press Club building, where inside a so-called “DeploraBall” event was being held in support of Trump, the footage showed. U.S. Department of Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson said police aimed to keep groups separate, using tactics similar to those employed during last year’s political conventions. “The concern is some of these groups are pro-Trump, some of them are con-Trump, and they may not play well together in the same space,” Johnson said on MSNBC. Trump opponents have been angered by his comments during the campaign about women, illegal immigrants and Muslims and his pledges to scrap the Obamacare health reform and build a wall on the Mexican border. The Republican’s supporters admire his experience in business, including as a real estate developer and reality television star, and view him as an outsider who will take a fresh approach to politics. Bikers for Trump, a group that designated itself as security backup during last summer’s Republican National Convention in Cleveland, is ready to step in if protesters block access to the inauguration, said Dennis Egbert, one of the group’s organizers. “We’re going to be backing up law enforcement. We’re on the same page,” Egbert, 63, a retired electrician from Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. About 28,000 security personnel, miles of fencing, roadblocks, street barricades and dump trucks laden with sand are part of the security cordon around 3 square miles (8 square km) of central Washington. A protest group known as Disrupt J20 has vowed to stage demonstrations at each of 12 security checkpoints and block access to the festivities on the grassy National Mall. Police and security officials have pledged repeatedly to guarantee protesters’ constitutional rights to free speech and peaceful assembly. Aaron Hyman, fellow at the National Gallery of Art, said he could feel tension in the streets ahead of Trump’s swearing-in and the heightened security was part of it. “People are watching each other like, ‘You must be a Trump supporter,’ and ‘You must be one of those liberals’,” said Hyman, 32, who supported Democrat Hillary Clinton in the November election. Friday’s crowds are expected to fall well short of the 2 million people who attended Obama’s first inauguration in 2009, and be in line with the 1 million who were at his second in 2013. Forecast rain may also dampen the turnout, though security officials lifted an earlier ban on umbrellas, saying small umbrellas would be permitted.

Summary: ट्रम्प विरोधी प्रदर्शनों के लिए वाशिंगटन तैयार, न्यू यॉर्कर्स ने मार्च किया


WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The White House expects the U.S. Congress to soon waive a rule known as “Paygo” that could trigger deep spending cuts in areas such as Medicare and agriculture in order to cover the costs of the recently passed tax overhaul, a White House official said on Wednesday.  Congress will likely waive the rule, which requires the Senate to find offsets for the large tax cuts in the bill, through the spending resolution it must soon pass in order to keep the government open, the official added. The official said the Internal Revenue Service, the country’s tax agency, can immediately begin implementing changes called for in the $1.5 trillion overhaul of the U.S. tax code and does not need to wait for President Donald Trump to sign the bill into law.

Summary: व्हाइट हाउस को उम्मीद है कि कांग्रेस कर में बदलाव के कारण खर्च में कटौती को माफ कर देगी


WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Republican Donald Trump’s presidential election victory all but dooms major Obama administration initiatives that are already tied up in legal challenges and gives him the chance to appoint a pivotal fifth conservative justice on the U.S. Supreme Court. Democratic President Barack Obama’s signature 2010 healthcare law, his plan to combat climate change, his executive action on immigration, his transgender rights policy and other issues were challenged in court by Republicans and industry groups. (For a graphic on legal challenges to major Obama initiatives click tmsnrt.rs/2eznafM) A Trump administration could decide no longer to defend the policies in court after Trump takes office on Jan. 20. In addition, Trump and the incoming Republican-led Congress could simply repeal or rescind Obama’s policies, as they have promised. Trump’s Supreme Court appointment, possibly the first of multiple picks, would allow him to restore the decades-long conservative majority on the bench, which looked under threat when conservative Justice Antonin Scalia died in February. The shorthanded court currently is split with four conservatives and four liberals. Conservative activists may be emboldened to bring cases urging the court to support gun rights, uphold abortion restrictions and rule for religious rights. “If you have a conservative court, you are going to have more conservative decisions,” said Kerri Kupec, a lawyer with the Alliance Defending Freedom, a conservative Christian legal group involved in religious rights cases. One issue the court could take up in the near term is whether business owners who oppose same-sex marriage can object on religious grounds to providing services to gay couples. One dispute concerns a baker in Colorado, while another involves a florist in Washington state. In the labor context, the high court could also revisit whether states can force nonunion workers to pay unions for collective bargaining activities. The court split 4-4 on the issue in March, just after Scalia’s death, in a loss for conservative groups challenging the practice. Liberal hopes of gaining a majority on the Supreme Court for the first time in decades lasted almost nine months, from Scalia’s death on Feb. 13 to Tuesday night. In a vindication of Republican Senate Leader Mitch McConnell’s decision, with little precedent in U.S. history, to take no action on Obama’s nominee to replace Scalia, appeals court judge Merrick Garland, Trump is now poised to nominate a new justice as soon as he takes office. His nominee would be considered for confirmation by a Republican-controlled Senate under McConnell. Trump may also be able to make further appointments to the court, with three justices 78 or older, including 83-year-old liberal Ruth Bader Ginsburg, whom Trump called on to resign in July after she called him a “faker” and speculated about the possibility of moving to New Zealand if he won the White House. Fellow liberal Stephen Breyer is 78, while conservative Anthony Kennedy is 80. If Trump is able to replace Ginsburg or another liberal justice during his presidency, the court’s conservative wing would be further strengthened. Such a majority “could be a threat to important rights that have been protected in the past by the Supreme Court,” said Elizabeth Wydra, president of the Constitutional Accountability Center, a liberal legal group. She cited abortion rights and efforts at ensuring racial equality as examples. A conservative court, as it was with Scalia on the bench,  would likely be favorable toward gun rights, skeptical of abortion and supportive of the death penalty. If Democrat Hillary Clinton had won Tuesday’s election, liberals may have been emboldened to challenge the constitutionality of the death penalty and seek gun restrictions and limits on campaign spending, among other things.  Trump has already issued a list of 21 judges, mainly federal judges appointed by President George W. Bush and state court judges, he said he would consider to fill Scalia’s vacancy. All have conservative credentials on such issues as abortion, birth control and gun rights. The case that could be affected soonest by Trump’s win  involves transgender rights. The court on Oct. 28 took up a case concerning a female-born transgender high school student named Gavin Grimm, who identifies as male and sued in 2015 to win the right to use the school’s boys’ bathroom. Grimm is backed by the Obama administration. No date has been set for the argument in the case. The court could potentially delay acting until it has nine justices. A ruling could resolve similar litigation around the country over an Obama administration directive saying schools should allow transgender students to use the bathroom of their choosing. Trump has said he would rescind the Obama directive. He also has said he would rescind Obama’s executive action to protect millions of immigrants in the country illegally from deportation and give them work permits, which was put on hold by the courts while the administration fights to revive it. Trump would be expected to overturn major regulations put in place under Obama, including the Clean Power Plan to curb greenhouse emissions mainly from coal-fired power plants. That process takes time, meaning the Supreme Court could potentially rule on a legal challenge to the Clean Power Plan before Trump can dump it. The case is pending before an appeals court in Washington. The Republican Congress under Trump could now seek to repeal Obama’s signature healthcare law, the Affordable Care Act, but even if it does not, a Republican legal challenge that could cripple the law is pending before a federal appeals court in Washington.

Summary: ओबामा की विरासत खतरे में, ट्रंप ने सुप्रीम कोर्ट के फैसले पर किया विचार


WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross said on Thursday that the United States was seeking to add a five-year sunset provision to the North American Free Trade Agreement to provide a regular, “systematic re-examination” of the trade pact. Ross told a forum hosted by Politico that both he and U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer had agreed on the need for such a sunset provision - which means NAFTA would automatically end after five years unless renewed - and would “put it forward” in the NAFTA modernization talks, but it was unclear whether Canada and Mexico would back it. U.S., Canadian and Mexican negotiators are set to reconvene for a third round of talks in Ottawa on Sept. 23-27. Ross said a sunset provision was needed because forecasts for U.S. export and job growth when NAFTA took effect in 1994 were “wildly optimistic” and failed to live up to expectations. Canadian and Mexican ambassadors to Washington pushed back at the idea, saying such a provision would add uncertainty to a NAFTA agreement and affect long-term planning by businesses. “I’m a believer in sunset clauses when things are set up to be temporary,” said Canada’s Ambassador David MacNaughton. “We can have that discussion but I really do suspect that it won’t be Mexico and Canada pushing back against the secretary, it will be a lot of Americans too.” Mexico’s Ambassador to the United States Gerónimo Gutiérrez Fernández said a provision “would have very detrimental consequences to the business sector of the United States, Mexico and Canada.” “Let’s look at what they are thinking about in more details but certainty is the key word here,” said Gutierrez. Ross said the termination clause currently in NAFTA, that allows a country to exit after a six-month notice period, has never been triggered, and “it’s the kind of thing that probably wouldn’t be.” Ross and Trump have both talked about quitting NAFTA if it can’t be renegotiated to reduce U.S. trade deficits with Mexico and Canada. “The five-year thing is a real thing, would force a systematic re-examination,” Ross said. “If there were a systematic re-examination after a little experience period, you’d have a forum for trying to fix things that didn’t work out the way you thought they would.”

Summary: अमेरिका नाफ्टा से पांच साल के लिए सूर्यास्त का प्रावधान चाहता हैः वाणिज्य विभाग के रॉस


LONDON (Reuters) - Foreign secretary Boris Johnson said on Monday that a key proviso of a 100-year old British declaration which laid the foundations for Israel had not been fully met, striking a sympathetic tone towards the Palestinians. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is due to travel to Britain on Thursday to meet his British counterpart Theresa May and Johnson for the anniversary of the Balfour declaration which said Britain viewed with favor  the establishment in Palestine of a national home for the Jewish people .  Palestinians have long condemned the declaration - named after Arthur Balfour, then the British foreign secretary - as a promise by Britain to hand over land that it did not own. In an article written for the Daily Telegraph newspaper ahead of Netanyahu s visit, Johnson described himself as a  friend of Israel , but also said he was  deeply moved by the suffering of those affected and dislodged by its birth.   The vital caveat in the Balfour Declaration - intended to safeguard other communities - has not been fully realized,  he said referring to the clause in the document which said nothing should prejudice the civil and religious rights of existing non-Jewish communities. May met Netanyahu earlier this year to talk about boosting trade after Brexit, but also raised the diplomatic sore point of Israeli settlements in occupied lands on which the Palestinians hope to create an independent state. Johnson also made reference to the settlement issue in his article, saying that a two state solution must include a viable and contiguous Palestinian state alongside a  secure Israel , and proposed seeking a peace agreement based on 1967 borders with mutual territorial swaps. A similar call in 2011 by then-U.S. president Barack Obama drew a blunt rebuke from Netanyahu, who said Israel would never pull back to its 1967 borders - something which would mean big concessions of occupied land. Netanyahu contends this would leave Israel with indefensible borders. Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas called on Britain last year to apologize for the Balfour Declaration, saying that his people had suffered greatly as a result of it. Earlier this year Britain said it there would be no apology for the declaration, and said it continued to work for an Israeli-Palestinian peace deal. Britain does not classify Palestine as a state, but says it could do so at any time if it believed it would help peace efforts between the Palestinians and Israel.

Summary: ब्रिटेन के जॉनसन का कहना है कि 1917 की यहूदी मातृभूमि घोषणा की शर्तें 'पूरी तरह से साकार नहीं हुई हैं'


WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Homeland Security chief John Kelly told a congressional panel on Tuesday he should have delayed U.S. President Donald Trump’s travel ban on people from seven Muslim-majority countries and on all refugees so he could brief Congress on the executive order.      The temporary ban ignited international protests as the United States revoked 60,000 visas and detained some travelers who landed in the United States unaware the order had been signed while they were in flight. “The desire was to get it out quick so that potentially people that might be coming here to harm us would not take advantage of some period of time that they could jump on an airplane and get here,” Kelly told the House of Representatives Committee on Homeland Security.  Kelly took the blame for not briefing Congress on the order before it was announced late on Jan. 27.   “This is all on me by the way. I should have delayed it just a bit so that I could talk to members of Congress,” he said.  Kelly said the confusion at U.S. airports was caused by court orders challenging the ban that went out the day after it went into effect, adding that his team at the Department of Homeland Security acted swiftly to tweak their operations as necessary. The order was signed also with little or no briefing of U.S. government agents responsible for implementing it, contributing to the confusion. There was also no agreement within the administration for several days over whether green card holders - foreign nationals from the seven targeted countries with permanent U.S. residency - should be admitted. The White House reversed itself later and said those with green cards would be granted waivers to enter the country.  The ban was suspended by a federal judge last Friday, opening a window for refugees and citizens from Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen to enter the United States, pending an appeal by the U.S government. Trump’s executive order temporarily barred travelers from the seven Muslim-majority countries and all refugees, except refugees from Syria whom he would ban indefinitely. The ban, which Trump says is needed to protect the United States against Islamist militants, sparked condemnation from critics who said it was discriminatory against Muslims and questioned its value as a security measure. All the people who carried out fatal attacks inspired by Islamist militancy in the United States since the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks were U.S. citizens or legal residents, the New America think tank says. None came to the United States or were from a family that emigrated from one of the countries listed in the travel ban, it said. (bit.ly/2keSmUO) The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco was due to hear arguments about whether to restore the ban at 3 p.m. PST (2300 GMT). Kelly defended the order, at the hearing, asserting that the seven countries on the list were known to have inadequate systems for sharing information with the United States on their potentially dangerous citizens. He said reports circulated last week that 12 countries could be added to the travel ban were false, adding that no additional countries were being considered.  Kelly also said that funding to cities that refuse to cooperate with immigration agents would only be cut on a case-by-case basis.     Trump had threatened to cut large amounts of federal funding to about 300 so-called “sanctuary cities” in order to pressure them to cooperate in the apprehension and deportation of illegal immigrants.    Kelly said he did not expect to meet Trump’s hiring goals of 5,000 additional U.S. Customs and Border Protection agents and 10,000 Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents within two years. Trump did not specify a timeline when he called for the hiring in his executive action.

Summary: होमलैंड सुरक्षा प्रमुख ने ट्रम्प यात्रा प्रतिबंध के तेजी से लागू होने पर खेद व्यक्त किया


(Reuters) - America must work with all nations to build stronger economies, recognizing the inequalities that globalization can generate but refusing to give in to protectionism, U.S. President Barack Obama wrote in the Economist on Thursday. Months before he leaves the White House in January, Obama wrote that a certain anxiety over globalization had taken hold in the United States, not unlike the discontent leading to Britain’s vote in June to leave the European Union.  “The world is more prosperous than ever before and yet our societies are marked by uncertainty and unease,” the Democratic president wrote. “So we have a choice - retreat into old, closed-off economies or press forward, acknowledging the inequality that can come with globalization while committing ourselves to making the global economy work better for all people, not just those at the top.” Calling capitalism the greatest driver of prosperity the world has ever known, Obama argued that trade had helped the U.S. economy much more than hurt it. His enthusiastic advocacy for trade runs counter to the stated policies of both his potential successors, who say many trade deals hurt U.S. workers. The Trans-Pacific Partnership trade deal championed by the president is opposed by Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump and his Democratic rival in the Nov. 8 election, Hillary Clinton, whom Obama has endorsed. Obama listed four major structural challenges facing the United States - “boosting productivity growth, combating rising inequality, ensuring that everyone who wants a job can get one and building a resilient economy that’s primed for future growth.” Trumpeting the achievements of his eight-year presidency, led by preventing the 2007-2009 recession from turning into a depression, Obama said a foundation was laid for a better future. “America must stay committed to working with all nations to build stronger and more prosperous economies for all our citizens for generations to come,” he wrote.

Summary: ओबामा ने कहा कि संरक्षणवाद वैश्वीकरण की असमानताओं का जवाब नहीं है


SEOUL (Reuters) - South Korean police are seeking an arrest warrant for Cho Yang-ho, chairman of Hanjin Group, the parent of Korean Air Lines Co Ltd, on charges of breach of trust following their probe into construction work at his house, a police official said on Monday. In July, police raided the headquarters of Korean Air Lines, South Korea s top airline, as part of an investigation into allegations that company funds were used to pay for the renovation work at Cho s home. A Korean Air spokesman declined to comment.

Summary: दक्षिण कोरिया पुलिस ने हैंजिन समूह के प्रमुख के लिए गिरफ्तारी वारंट मांगा


MIZIARA, Lebanon (Reuters) - Abu Khaled had lived in the Lebanese town of Miziara for almost 20 years until a woman s suspected murder by a Syrian refugee led to his expulsion alongside several hundred other Syrians.  They gave us notice to evict at 2 a.m.,  said Abu Khaled, standing outside a bare building in a nearby village with some of his 13-strong family, who were all forced to leave on the orders of the local authorities.  I don t know how we left - we carried our stuff on the road and then found this warehouse and we put ourselves here,  he told Reuters. More than six years into the Syrian war, 1.5 million Syrians account for one quarter of Lebanon s population. But patience is wearing thin with their presence and the strain it has placed on local resources. The Lebanese army has previously carried out evictions of Syrian refugees, citing security concerns. At the local level, ill feeling has surfaced intermittently in recent years, with councils imposing curfews, telling Lebanese not to rent houses to Syrians, or outright asking them to leave an area. The Miziara council went a step further by using trucks to move people out, said George Ghali, programs manager at the Lebanese rights group ALEF. The decision was prompted by last week s arrest of a Syrian man for the murder of 26-year-old Rayya Chidiac in Miziara, a wealthy Christian town in north Lebanon. Chidiac had been found dead in a relative s home on Sept. 22 showing signs of bruising, strangling and sexual assault, security forces said. The refugee, in his 20s, had worked as the building s caretaker, and confessed to her murder. While the crime shocked Syrians and Lebanese alike, the locals said they must protect their own and could no longer risk living alongside Syrians.   We are giving them food and they are devouring us. We cannot welcome them here any more,  priest Yousef Faddoul told Reuters.  Let them set up tents for them elsewhere.       But the Syrians say they are being punished collectively for one man s crime.   If I don t go back to my work, what can I do? In my country there is a war ... two days ago, a rocket exploded near my house,  said Sobhi Razzouk, a Syrian from Idlib who had worked in Miziara for 15 years before being expelled. Like Abu Khaled, he was had joined in Lebanon by his family after the war began.  We condemn this horrific act ... but the way we were expelled - we never expected this.  In response to questions from Reuters, the United Nations  refugee agency UNHCR called for  restraint from collective reprisals against refugees , and said it was in touch with local authorities and refugee families. Miziara s municipal authority said on its Facebook page that Syrians could now only be in town during daytime working hours - if they had work permits. Landlords can only rent accommodation to those with residency permits.  Another post from the municipality encouraged Miziara landlords and those who sponsor Syrians to evict them or annul their guarantees.  We support evicting Syrians in a legal way and evicting all those who break the law and anyone who has no business being in Miziara,  said Maroun Dina, the head of the municipal council, said.       This is a problem across Lebanon. If the government doesn t take the necessary steps then the public will and I cannot control the public,  Dina said. Many Syrians in Lebanon live in a precarious legal situation, with proper residency and work documentation expensive and hard to obtain. Lebanon has resisted the establishment of organized refugee camps for Syrians, fearing a repeat of its experience with around half a million Palestinians, most still living in refugee camps set up after the creation of Israel almost 70 years ago. That has left Syrians scattered across the country in tented settlements or urban areas - without any clear definition of their rights, and at the mercy of local authorities. Their long-term presence is a particularly sensitive issue for Lebanon, where the addition of so many predominantly Sunni Muslim Syrians would upset the delicate sectarian balance with Christians, Shi ite Muslims and other groups. As the Syrian government regains control of more Syrian territory, calls have increased in Lebanon for Syrians to return home, although Prime Minister Saad al-Hariri has said there can be no forced return. Last week, the north Lebanese town of Bsharri cited Chidiac s death as a reason to clamp down on Syrians, saying the situation in Syria had improved to the point where they no longer needed to be in Lebanon.  It issued a statement saying Syrians must not gather in public squares, must not go out after 6 p.m., and would be barred from renting properties in the area from Nov. 15.

Summary: महिला की हत्या ने लेबनान के शहर से सीरियाई लोगों को बड़े पैमाने पर बेदखल कर दिया


WASHINGTON (Reuters) - CIA Director John Brennan on Sunday offered a stern parting message for Donald Trump days before the Republican U.S. president-elect takes office, cautioning him against loosening sanctions on Russia and warning him to watch what he says. Brennan rebuked Trump for comparing U.S. intelligence agencies to Nazi Germany in comments by the outgoing CIA chief that reflected the extraordinary friction between the incoming president and the 17 intelligence agencies he will begin to command once he takes office on Friday. In an interview with “Fox News Sunday,” Brennan questioned the message sent to the world if the president-elect broadcasts that he does not have confidence in the United States’ own intelligence agencies. “What I do find outrageous is equating the intelligence community with Nazi Germany. I do take great umbrage at that, and there is no basis for Mr. Trump to point fingers at the intelligence community for leaking information that was already available publicly,” Brennan said. Brennan’s criticism followed a tumultuous week of finger-pointing between Trump and intelligence agency leaders over an unsubstantiated report that Russia had collected compromising information about Trump. The unverified dossier was summarized in a U.S. intelligence report presented to Trump and outgoing President Barack Obama this month that concluded Russia tried to sway the outcome of the Nov. 8 election in Trump’s favor by hacking and other means. The report did not make an assessment on whether Russia’s attempts affected the election’s outcome. Trump has accused the intelligence community of leaking the dossier information, which its leaders denied. They said it was their responsibility to inform the president-elect that the allegations were being circulated. Later on Sunday, Trump took to Twitter to berate Brennan and wrote, “Was this the leaker of Fake News?” In a separate posting, Trump scolded “those intelligence chiefs” for presenting the dossier as part of their briefing. “When people make mistakes, they should APOLOGIZE,” he wrote. Brennan also sounded an alarm on U.S. relations with Russia. Trump has vowed to improve relations with Moscow even as he faces criticism that he is too eager to make an ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin.  Trump does not yet have a full understanding of Russia’s actions, Brennan said, noting its seizure of Crimea from Ukraine, its support for President Bashar al-Assad in Syria’s civil war and Moscow’s aggressive activities in the cyber realm. “Mr. Trump has to understand that absolving Russia of various actions it has taken in the past number of years is a road that he, I think, needs to be very, very careful about moving down,” Brennan said. In an interview with the Wall Street Journal published on Friday, Trump suggested he might do away with sanctions imposed by the Obama administration on Russia in late December in response to the cyber attacks if Moscow proves helpful in battling terrorists and reaching other U.S. goals. Brennan also said Trump needs to be mindful about his off-the-cuff remarks once he assumes the presidency, alluding to Trump’s penchant for making broad pronouncements on Twitter. “Spontaneity is not something that protects national security interests,” Brennan said. “So therefore when he speaks or when he reacts, just make sure he understands that the implications and impact on the United States could be profound.” “It’s more than just about Mr. Trump. It’s about the United States of America,” Brennan said. Trump has picked Mike Pompeo, a Republican member of the House of Representatives and a former U.S. Army officer, to replace Brennan. Trump’s comments about Putin and his reluctance to assign blame to Moscow for the hacking of Democratic political groups has opened him up to criticism that he will be too soft on Russia. For months, Trump had publicly expressed doubt about U.S. intelligence conclusions on the cyber attacks before acknowledging at a news conference on Wednesday that he thought Russia was behind the hacking. Vice President-elect Mike Pence told “Fox News Sunday,”     “What the president-elect is determined to do is to explore the possibility of better relations.” Pence did not say whether Trump would undo some of the sanctions and diplomatic expulsions Obama had slapped on Moscow. Pence confirmed that Trump’s incoming national security adviser, Michael Flynn, held conversations with the Russian ambassador to Washington around the time the sanctions were imposed, but said the talks “were not in any way related to the new U.S. sanctions against Russia or the expulsion of diplomats.” However, Pence denied that Trump’s team had any contact with Russian officials during the presidential campaign. “Of course not,” he told Fox. Leaders of the Senate Intelligence Committee said on Friday they will investigate alleged Russian attempts to influence the election and links between Russia and the political campaigns.

Summary: सी. आई. ए. निदेशक ने ट्रम्प को चेतावनी दी कि वह जो कहते हैं उसे देखें, रूस से सावधान रहें


WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump said on Saturday that he will ask the Republican-controlled Congress to further speed up its efforts to overhaul the U.S. tax code, citing the potential impact of Hurricane Irma as a reason to hasten reforms.  I think now with what s happened with the hurricane, I m going to ask for a speedup. I wanted a speedup anyway, but now we need it even more so,  the president said at the outset of a Cabinet meeting at Camp David. The White House released a video of his remarks. Trump urged Congress in a Friday tweet not to wait until the end of September for tax legislation.

Summary: ट्रम्प ने तूफान इरमा के आलोक में कर सुधार में 'तेजी' लाने का आह्वान किया


CAIRO (Reuters) - An Egyptian activist who is under criminal investigation for his human rights work on Tuesday dedicated an international rights award to the thousands of Egyptians he said had been tortured or imprisoned since veteran ruler Hosni Mubarak was overthrown. Mohamed Zaree, 37, the Egypt office director of the Cairo Institute for Human Rights Studies, won the Martin Ennals Award, a prize given each year by a jury of 10 global rights groups. He is banned from traveling abroad so could not collect the award in person in Geneva, but spoke to the audience on Tuesday by video conference.  I do not view this honor as recognition of my work alone,  Zaree said.  Instead, this award belongs to the tens of thousands of Egyptian citizens who have been tortured, imprisoned, disappeared or killed over the last six years for nothing more than standing up to corruption and tyranny through peaceful means.   Egyptian rights activists accuse President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi of erasing freedoms won in the 2011 Arab Spring uprising that ended Mubarak s 30-year rule. Last year authorities reopened an investigation into non-governmental organizations that document abuses, which the government accuses of receiving foreign funding to spread chaos Since seizing power in mid-2013 from the Muslim Brotherhood, Sisi has presided over a crackdown on his Islamist opponents that has seen hundreds killed and many thousands jailed.  But the dragnet has since widened to include secular and liberal activists at the forefront of the 2011 uprising. Egypt says the measures are necessary for national security and that hundreds of soldiers and police have been killed.     Zaree s seat was empty in the audience but his wife, Shymaa Abd El Aziz, and two school-age daughters received the award presented by Kate Gilmore, United Nations Deputy High Commissioner for Human Rights, on his behalf. He faces charges that could carry a life in prison sentence for  receiving funds from foreign entities to harm national security  and has been banned from travel since May 2016. His wife tearfully said the last time he was interrogated they lied to their daughters and said he was going somewhere for work. She said that him winning the award gave them the courage to tell them the truth if he was arrested.  Within the context of the renewed crackdown on Egyptian human rights organizations, he has become a leading figure in Egypt s human rights movement,  the awards jury said.   Government pressure forced the Cairo Institute for Human Rights Studies to relocate its headquarters to Tunisia in 2014. The runners-up for the Martin Ennals Award were Karla Avelar, who founded El Salvador s first organization of transgender women, and FreeThe5KH, five Cambodian human rights activists who were recently released. The award s first recipient in 1994 was Chinese dissident Harry Wu.

Summary: कार्यकर्ता ने अधिकार पुरस्कार 'प्रताड़ित, कैद' मिस्रवासियों को समर्पित किया


BEIRUT (Reuters) - A British-Iranian charity worker serving a jail sentence in Tehran received a letter from ex-prime minister David Cameron that showed she had ties to the British government, a prosecutor said on Tuesday, according to Mizan, the news site of the Iranian judiciary. Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe, a project manager with the Thomson Reuters Foundation, a charity organization, is serving a five-year jail sentence after being convicted of plotting to overthrow Iran s clerical establishment. The prosecutor, Abbas Jafari Dolatabadi, said the letter demonstrated Zaghari-Ratcliffe s importance to the British authorities but he did not say when it was sent or provide any other details about it. A spokeswoman at the British Foreign Office said she was not immediately able to comment on whether Cameron had written a letter, but confirmed that both he and his successor, Theresa May, had raised the Zaghari-Ratcliffe case with Iranian authorities.  We will continue to raise all our dual national detainees, including Mrs Zaghari-Ratcliffe s case, with the Iranian government at every available opportunity,  she added. Zaghari-Ratcliffe was arrested by the elite Revolutionary Guards in April 2016 at a Tehran airport, as she was about to return to Britain with her two-year-old daughter after a family visit. Her family and the Thomson Reuters Foundation have both denied the charges against her. Thomson Reuters is a charity organization that is independent of Thomson Reuters and operates independently of Reuters News. Last week her family said Iranian authorities had opened a new case against Zaghari-Ratcliffe, leveling charges that could carry a sentence of 16 additional years in prison. The new charges include joining and receiving money from organizations working to overthrow the Islamic Republic, and attending a demonstration outside the Iranian Embassy in London, the family said. The Foreign Office spokeswoman referred Reuters to a statement it issued last week in which it  expressed concern  that Zaghari-Ratcliffe was facing additional charges and said it was seeking more information from the Iranian authorities. On Tuesday Jafari Dolatabadi also said Zaghari-Ratcliffe was responsible for teaching online journalism for the BBC Persian language service  with the goal of attracting and teaching individuals for propaganda operations against Iran , Mizan reported. Francesca Unsworth, director of the BBC World Service Group, said earlier this year that Zaghari-Ratcliffe had never worked for the BBC s Persian service.

Summary: जेल में बंद ब्रिटिश-ईरानी चैरिटी कार्यकर्ता को ब्रिटेन के पूर्व प्रधानमंत्री कैमरन का पत्र मिलाः अभियोजक


WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump on Wednesday defended his eldest son as “innocent” following emails that showed Donald Trump Jr. welcomed Russian help against his father’s rival in the 2016 presidential election, deepening the controversy over purported Russian meddling. Trump Jr. released a series of emails on Tuesday that revealed he had eagerly agreed to meet a woman he was told was a Russian government lawyer who might have damaging information about Democratic rival Hillary Clinton as part of Moscow’s official support for his father. Trump Jr., in a Fox News television interview Tuesday, said: “In retrospect, I probably would have done things a little differently.”  The president, after initially releasing a statement calling his son “high-quality,” on Wednesday praised the TV appearance and again condemned news coverage and investigations into his campaign’s alleged links to Russia. “He was open, transparent and innocent. This is the greatest Witch Hunt in political history. Sad!” Trump wrote on Twitter. Christopher Wray, Trump’s nominee to lead the Federal Bureau of Investigation, told a U.S. Senate confirmation hearing on Wednesday he did not consider special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation into Russian meddling to be a “witch hunt.” The emails offered the most concrete evidence to date that Trump campaign officials embraced an offer of Russian help to win the election, a subject that has cast a cloud over Trump’s presidency and spurred multiple investigations. The emails do not appear to provide evidence of illegal activity, but legal experts say Trump Jr. could run into trouble if investigators find he aided a criminal action, such as hacking into Democratic computer networks, or violated campaign-finance laws by accepting gifts from foreign entities.   U.S. intelligence agencies have concluded Moscow sought to help Trump win the election, in part by releasing private emails from Democratic Party officials.            The Justice Department and Congress are both investigating alleged Russian interference in the election and possible collusion with Trump’s campaign.  Trump has said his campaign did not collude with Russia     and Moscow has denied meddling.  Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Wednesday it was preposterous that Trump’s eldest son was under attack for meeting the Russian lawyer, Natalia Veselnitskaya. “I learned with surprise that a Russian lawyer, a woman, is being blamed and Trump’s son is being blamed for meeting. For me, this is wild,” Lavrov told a news conference in Brussels.          The allegations that Russia tried to help Trump win the election has cast a cloud over his presidency. White House aides say the president keenly watches cable TV news, which he often mentions in his tweets. Trump denied that on Wednesday, saying the White House was focused on getting healthcare and tax reforms through Congress. “The W.H. is functioning perfectly, focused on HealthCare, Tax Cuts/Reform & many other things. I have very little time for watching T.V.,” Trump wrote on Twitter.  One of the president’s personal attorneys, Jay Sekulow, in a series of TV interviews on Wednesday said Trump Jr.’s meeting with Veselnitskaya was not a violation of the law and that the president was unaware of the meeting and the emails until recently.  “There’s no illegality,” he told NBC’s “Today” program.      Trump Jr. said that Paul Manafort, Trump’s campaign manager at the time, and son-in-law Jared Kushner, now a top White House adviser, also attended the meeting with Veselnitskaya, who has denied having Kremlin ties.

Summary: रूसी अभियान की मदद के बारे में ईमेल करने पर ट्रम्प ने कहा कि बेटा 'निर्दोष' है


NEW YORK (Reuters) - New York and California’s Democratic governors said on Friday residents would face hefty tax increases and some would leave their states under a proposal in the Republican tax plan that would eliminate state and local tax (SALT) deductions on federal income tax. Andrew Cuomo of New York and Jerry Brown of California spoke in a joint conference call a day after the Republican-controlled U.S. House of Representatives passed a measure that advanced President Donald Trump’s tax plan. Republican leaders have sketched out an outline of the tax measures that would eliminate the tax break, although detailed legislation will not be unveiled until next Wednesday. If the SALT deduction were eliminated the tax package would  disproportionately hit residents of states that have high income taxes, many of which are historically Democratic, the governors said.  “This is an attack on California, New York and New Jersey, and other states that would not vote for Trump,” Brown said. “It’s a gross manipulation of our tax code.” The SALT deduction allows residents to subtract income taxes paid to states and local governments from the total income taxed by the federal government taxes. Its elimination would be one among a series of measures to offset lost revenues from what are envisaged as sweeping overall cuts on corporate and personal taxes. While analysts say the overall tax package would cut taxes for companies and individuals by up to $6 trillion over the next decade, many residents of high-tax states who use the deduction would pay more, the governors said.  In New York, taxpayers would pay an average of an additional $5,300 in federal income taxes a year without the SALT deduction, Cuomo’s office said in a separate statement. That sharp increase in taxes would likely lead to an exodus of residents, starting with high earners, who would see the greatest increases, Cuomo said. “Higher-income people will move,” he said. Some Republican lawmakers from high-tax states voted against the budget measure on Thursday to express opposition to the elimination of the SALT deduction. Republican congressional leaders are working to allay their concerns. “If the SALT is repealed, we would expect some deterioration of credit quality for affected states and localities in the medium term, including some price pressure on housing markets in areas bordering states with lower local taxes (eg, southern New Jersey),” Barclays analysts wrote to clients on Thursday. “However, municipal bonds issued by high tax states and localities would likely become even more valuable to investors, and there could be stronger demand from retail investors, bringing yields and muni-Treasury ratios down,” Barclays said.

Summary: न्यूयॉर्क, कैलिफोर्निया के राज्यपालों का कहना है कि ट्रम्प कर कटौती से निवासियों को नुकसान होगा


NEW YORK (Reuters) - Puerto Rico’s debt crisis, if left unaddressed by the U.S. Congress where legislation has stalled in the House Natural Resources Committee, will result in the need to pay for a humanitarian aid package, Congressman Raul Grijalva said on Thursday. Grijalva, the ranking Democrat on the HNRC from Arizona, said in a teleconference with reporters that it is an “either/or” situation as Puerto Rico faces $70 billion in debt it cannot pay off and a growing humanitarian crisis because it cannot afford maintaining basic social services. “Either we begin this process, stabilize, create some carve out opportunities for essential services and/or wait for the crisis to get worse and then have to respond with humanitarian relief,” Grijalva said, adding that a new draft of the bill had not been made available as of Thursday morning. Grijalva visited Puerto Rico this week and met with the island’s leadership and toured its main medical facilities. He said austerity alone is not going to stay the situation of degraded conditions for health, nutrition and education. “People talk about a bailout. Thus far there is no money being talked about extended by the United States government,” Grijalva said, adding: “We are talking about a piece of legislation that provides for a method of restructuring and for some accountability attached to that restructuring.” The Republican chairman of the HNRC, Rob Bishop of Utah, said he wants a bipartisan bill to emerge from committee but canceled an expected release of the legislation on Wednesday while lawmakers hashed out language revolving around the status of the island of Vieques, pensions and minimum wage rates. Puerto Rico defaulted on May 1 for a third time on some of its debt, missing a roughly $400 million payment owed by the Government Development Bank, the island’s main fiscal agent. It faces a near $2 billion July 1 debt payment. The legislation’s basic structure still includes the creation of an independent oversight board to lead the restructuring of the U.S. commonwealth’s credit and work with the local government to develop an economic reform plan. On the issue of Vieques, Democrats are concerned the language regarding the transfer of federal land on the island, which is mainly a nature preserve, could leave it vulnerable to commercial development in the name of recreation. “Our position has been from the beginning that Vieques did not belong in this package of legislation,” said Grijalva.

Summary: प्यूर्टो रिको को या तो विधायी सुधार या मानवीय सहायता मिलती हैः सांसद


NEW YORK (Reuters) - Hillary Clinton led Republican Donald Trump by 6 percentage points among likely voters, according to a Reuters/Ipsos daily tracking poll released on Wednesday, the same advantage the Democratic presidential nominee held before an FBI announcement that reignited the controversy about her email practices. The Oct. 28-Nov. 1 opinion poll was conducted almost entirely after FBI Director James Comey notified Congress last Friday his agency would examine newly discovered emails that might pertain to Clinton’s use of a private email server while she was secretary of state. Comey said he did not know whether the emails were significant and released no information other than that they existed. His announcement drew outrage from Democrats who voiced concern it would unfairly influence voters so close to next week’s election. Trump and other Republicans seized on the news to revive questions about Clinton’s credibility. Among 1,772 people who have either voted already or were identified as likely voters in the Nov. 8 election, 45 percent said they supported Clinton, while 39 percent said they backed Trump. On Thursday, the day before Comey’s announcement, Clinton led Trump by 43 percent to 37 percent. In a four-way poll that included alternative party candidates, Clinton led Trump by 8 percentage points among likely voters. Forty-five percent supported Clinton, while 37 percent backed Trump. Five percent supported Libertarian candidate Gary Johnson and 2 percent backed Jill Stein of the Green Party. Other national polls have shown Clinton’s lead shrinking over the past week. RealClearPolitics, which averages most major opinion polls, showed Clinton’s lead had narrowed to 1.7 points on Wednesday from 4.6 points last Friday. The Reuters/Ipsos poll was conducted online in English in all 50 states. It had a credibility interval, a measure of accuracy, of 3 percentage points.

Summary: एफ़. बी. आई. की घोषणा से पहले की तरह ही क्लिंटन ट्रम्प से 6 अंकों से आगे हैंः रॉयटर्स/इप्सोस


PHNOM PENH (Reuters) - Critics of Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen have grown used to following upstart news service Fresh News to find out what the government s next target might be. From treason accusations against detained opposition leader Kem Sokha to the tax demand against the now-shuttered Cambodia Daily to allegations against the recently expelled U.S. National Democratic Institute, it was on Fresh News first. Its rise, just as pressure is growing on more critical media, reflects a shift in control of information in the run-up to next year s general election at the same time as a crackdown on Hun Sen s opponents.  If any news needs to be reported, I may contact the prime minister or the prime minister may contact me,  37-year-old Fresh News chief executive Lim Chea Vutha told Reuters. Lim rejected accusations it publishes unsubstantiated reports to serve the government s interest and said it was just ambitious to break news the same as any major news agency. Cambodia has long had one of Southeast Asia s most open media environments, but journalists with publications critical of the government say work is becoming tougher than during any period of Hun Sen s more than three-decade rule.  This means an imbalance of information,  said Pa Nguon Teang, head of the partly EU-funded Voice of Democracy radio station, banned from broadcasting to its estimated 7.7 million listeners last month and now trying to publish via Facebook. Eighteen other radio stations were ordered off air while channels were also forbidden from rebroadcasting the U.S.-funded Voice of America and Radio Free Asia. The Cambodia Daily newspaper, whose editor described it as  a burr in Hun Sen s side  since it was started 24 years ago, was forced to close by a crippling $6.3 million tax bill   news of which first appeared on Fresh News.  The three-year-old publication also published the video that formed the basis for arresting opposition leader Kem Sokha for treason charges his lawyers dismiss as nonsense.  It s not fresh news, it s not even fake news, it s bad news - bad news for the future of Cambodia,  said Mu Sochua, a deputy of Kem Sokha in his Cambodia National Rescue Party. Cambodia is not the only Southeast Asian country where the media is under pressure, with journalists and bloggers in Thailand, the Philippines, Myanmar and Vietnam facing everything from verbal threats to arrest to violence. Hun Sen has said his attitude to media he does not like is no different to that of U.S. President Donald Trump, who has branded some liberal U.S. news organizations  fake news  and has refused to take questions from their reporters. For Hun Sen, a 65-year-old former Khmer Rouge soldier, critical media are  like children challenging their father , said Huy Vannak, president of the partly state-funded Union of Journalist Federations of Cambodia.  They only mock his good faith to the nation. That s why he s not tolerant,  he said. Praised openly by Hun Sen, Fresh News now has more than 100 employees. At the company s ninth-floor offices near a busy Phnom Penh junction, signs tell journalists  the first enemy of success is laziness . Facebook is one of the main channels for Fresh News to publish and has also been embraced by Hun Sen since the opposition almost won the 2013 election, partly with the help of their social media strategy. While declining to give company financial details, Lim said he received no money from the government. A government spokesman said there was no funding for Fresh News or anyone publishing on social media beyond official accounts.  Lim said he was supported only by advertising. Flipping through his mobile phone, he showed ads for everything from Range Rover to Coca-Cola to local businesses thriving in an economy growing at around 7 percent a year. But business and government are entwined in Cambodia and the leadership and its family members control many of Cambodia s biggest enterprises - including media businesses. Hun Sen s oldest daughter, Hun Mana, chairs Kampuchea Thmey Daily and Bayon TV and Radio among at least a dozen other firms. Senate president and the deputy leader of the ruling Cambodia People s Party, Say Chhum, owns Rasmei Kampuchea, Cambodia s most popular newspaper. According to a 2015 study, media organizations with politically affiliated owners accounted for 41 percent of print readership and 63 percent of television viewership. Of those owners, eight out of 10 were close to the ruling party. Businesses won t give advertising to media seen as pro-opposition because it won t help them, said Huy Vannak.  The government doesn t need to sponsor you when your content is positive. Business will come to you,  he said. Despite international awards for its reporting, the Cambodia Daily was not a big commercial success. By the end, it said it was barely breaking even and had no hope of paying a tax bill it disputed before the Sept. 4 deadline set by government. The paper appeared to get limited sympathy from Lim.  It s the right of the government to shut it down,  he said.  As we reported, it s a legal matter.

Summary: सूचना के नियंत्रण ने कंबोडिया के चुनाव के लिए एक गियर को बदल 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 : - The weak illegal immigration policies of the Obama Admin. allowed bad MS 13 gangs to form in cities across U.S. We are removing them fast! [0539 EST]     - I will be interviewed on @foxandfriends by @ainsleyearhardt starting at 6:00 A.M. Enjoy! [0548 EST] -- Source link: (bit.ly/2jBh4LU) (bit.ly/2jpEXYR)

Summary: फैक्टबॉक्सः ट्विटर पर ट्रम्प (18 अप्रैल)-ओबामा प्रशासन, साक्षात्कार


ISTANBUL (Reuters) - President Tayyip Erdogan said there was no problem with Turkey s planned purchase of Russian S-400 surface-to-air missile systems and talks have also been held on the S-500 system, Haberturk and other newspapers reported on Friday. His Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu was quoted on Monday as saying NATO member Turkey could seek a deal to acquire a missile defense system with another country if Russia does not agree to joint production of the defense shield. Speaking to reporters as he returned on his plane from a trip to Ukraine and Serbia, Erdogan said there would be no joint production in the first stage of S-400 purchases, but in the second stage  God willing we will take joint production steps , Haberturk reported.   In our talks with (Russia President Vladimir) Putin we are not thinking of stopping with the S-400s. We have had talks on the S-500s too,  he added, referring to a missile system currently under development. Ankara s decision to buy the S-400s has been seen in some Western capitals as a snub to NATO, given tensions with Moscow over Ukraine and Syria, while the deal raised concern because the weapons cannot be integrated into the alliance s defenses. However, NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said this week Turkey was not seeking to antagonize the U.S.-led alliance by purchasing the system and is in talks with France and Italy to buy similar weapons.

Summary: तुर्की के एर्दोगन ने कहा कि रूसी एस-400 खरीद से कोई समस्या नहीं हैः हैबरटर्क


NEW YORK/BOSTON (Reuters) - Largely united in their dislike of Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump, some ultra-wealthy U.S. investors who play in conservative politics are warily weighing their choices, torn between third-party candidates, simply focusing on down-ballot contests or even voting for Democrat Hillary Clinton. As Clinton’s lead over Trump has grown in opinion polls, some hedge fund managers who have traditionally donated big money to Republican presidential candidates see the congressional elections as their best hope. Stanley Druckenmiller, one of the best-performing hedge fund managers of all time, told Reuters he had recently given to Republican candidates for Congress in the hope of creating a “firewall” against Clinton’s economic policies, including more government control of healthcare and what he described as “astronomical disincentives” to invest. Druckenmiller, who invests privately since closing his hedge fund firm in 2010, said Trump had an “unstable personality” that ruled him out as a candidate. “I might just vote on the down ballot part of the ticket and not bother with the top,” he said. Public filings show Druckenmiller donated to U.S. Senator Marco Rubio of Florida in August and the National Republican Congressional Committee in March. He disavowed long-shot Libertarian candidate Gary Johnson, saying he was “out the window” after a couple of high-profile lapses on foreign affairs, including struggling to name an international leader he admired. But some Republican hedge fund managers contacted by Reuters said they planned to vote for Johnson, who is polling in the single digits. Among them is Tiger Management founder Julian Robertson, according to spokesman Fraser Seitel. Robertson previously backed Republicans Jeb Bush and John Kasich. “I’ve heard from a lot of people who say they’ll vote for Johnson or not vote at all because they don’t want to be held responsible for having elected Hillary Clinton,” one hedge fund billionaire said in describing industry views. The person, who requested anonymity because they did not want their political views to be public, plans to vote for Clinton. The person believes Clinton is the lesser of two evils and that no vote, or one for someone else, could help Trump. Other conservative investors focused on congressional races instead of the next president include Cliff Asness of AQR Capital Management and Paul Singer of Elliott Management, according to people familiar with the situation. Asness recently gave to the National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC) and a political action committee supporting Pennsylvania Senator Patrick Toomey, according to public filings. Singer has also given to the NRSC, in addition to Together Holding Our Majority PAC, which recently sent money to two Republican senators, John McCain of Arizona and Richard Burr of North Carolina. Asness and Singer declined to comment. Spokespersons for Trump, Clinton and Johnson did not respond to a request for comment. To be sure, Trump retains a band of loyal hedge fund industry boosters. They include Robert Mercer of Renaissance Technologies and economic advisers Anthony Scaramucci of SkyBridge Capital, John Paulson of Paulson & Co, Stephen Feinberg of Cerberus Capital Management and Steven Mnuchin of Dune Capital Management. Mercer and Scaramucci have re-affirmed their support of Trump in public statements over the last week. Other investors have moved firmly into the Democratic camp: Billionaire Seth Klarman of Baupost Group and Boaz Weinstein of Saba Capital Management are among investors who recently gave Clinton money after years of donations to candidates from both parties. Weinstein declined to comment and Klarman told Reuters in August that Trump is “completely unqualified for the highest office in the land.”  Attitudes against Trump have hardened since multiple women have accused him of groping them and the release of a 2005 video in which he boasts about such behavior. Trump has denied the accusations and has said his comments were just “locker room talk.” One Republican hedge fund industry veteran said that his peers’ revulsion with Trump has become so strong that they feel they have to vote for Clinton - if only to prevent the Republican nominee from winning.  “She at least represents predictability and seasoning,” the person said. “The difference between her and Trump is no contest.”

Summary: ट्रम्प को अस्वीकार करते हुए, वॉल स्ट्रीट रिपब्लिकन दानदाताओं ने बड़े पैमाने पर दान दिया


SEATTLE (Reuters) - A number of U.S. cities are introducing proposals to mandate community oversight of police use of digital surveillance technology as evidence mounts that black or poor neighborhoods are being more heavily scrutinized than others, civil rights activists said on Wednesday. The legislative measures are being introduced by lawmakers in 11 cities from Seattle to Washington, D.C., and are backed by a coalition of 17 groups led by the American Civil Liberties Union and the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People. “(We need) to build the legislative power of local communities to prevent high-tech racial profiling and policing from turning our neighborhoods into open-air prisons,” Malkia Cyril, executive director of the Center for Media Justice, told reporters on a conference call during which the proposals were announced on Wednesday. The coalition said the proposals stemmed from the growing use by departments across the country of high-tech equipment or software, some of which was developed for battlefields, to surreptitiously monitor poor or predominately black neighborhoods, Muslims, or the street-level movements of activists within the Black Lives Matter movement. The proposed bills would mandate city council approval of the use and purchase of surveillance equipment, and input and oversight from communities on how it is used. “We want to give municipalities the ability to say ‘no,’” Cyril said.  Proposals were introduced on Wednesday in Miami Beach and Pensacola, Florida, and others were expected in the coming weeks in New York City, Milwaukee, Muskegon, Michigan, and other localities, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) said. Palo Alto, California, will vote on its proposal later in September, and Hattiesburg, Mississippi, is introducing legislation in October, the ACLU said. Police departments across the United States are facing intense scrutiny over the use of excessive force especially against black people, accountability and accusations of racial bias. Police officials have said digital surveillance tools are needed for crime prevention and pointed to reduced crime in some areas where they are used. The coalition said blacks have been disproportionately targeted by automatic license plate readers in Oakland, California, closed-circuit television surveillance in Lansing, Michigan, a ‘stingray’ that mimics cell phone towers to track a phone user’s location in Baltimore, Maryland, and social media monitoring software.

Summary: अमेरिकी शहरों ने पुलिस निगरानी की देखरेख के लिए स्थानीय कानूनों पर जोर दिया


WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. House of Representatives Speaker Paul Ryan on Thursday urged President Donald Trump’s eldest son to testify to a congressional committee about alleged links between Trump’s team and Russia in the 2016 presidential election campaign. “I think any witness who’s been asked to testify in Congress should do that,” Ryan said at a news conference.     Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Charles Grassley, a Republican, plans to send a letter on Thursday to Donald Trump Jr. to ask him to testify before his committee in a public session, CNN reported.  If he appeared before the panel, Trump’s son would be the highest member of the Republican president’s inner circle of relatives and White House aides to testify in Congress about the Russia allegations. Accusations that Moscow interfered in the election and  colluded with the Trump campaign have dominated Trump’s first months in office. Russia denies meddling in the campaign, and Trump says there was no collusion. Trump Jr. disclosed this week that he had met with a Russian lawyer last year who was said to be offering damaging information on Democratic rival Hillary Clinton. Trump Jr. eagerly agreed to meet the lawyer, who he was told was part of Moscow’s official support for his father’s campaign, according to emails the son released this week. The emails were the most concrete evidence that Trump’s campaign might have been willing to accept Russian help to win the election, a subject that has prompted investigations by the U.S. Justice Department and Congress.     Trump said in Paris on Thursday that the lawyer, Natalia Veselnitskaya, was a private attorney and not a Russian government lawyer, and that nothing of substance came of the meeting. “My son is a wonderful young man. He took a meeting with a Russian lawyer, not a government lawyer but a Russian lawyer. It was a short meeting. It was a meeting that went very, very quickly, very fast,” he said at a joint news conference with French President Emmanuel Macron. U.S intelligence agencies said earlier this year that Russia sought to help Trump win the election by hacking private emails from Democratic Party officials and disseminating false information online.

Summary: हाउस स्पीकर रेयान ने ट्रम्प के बेटे से कांग्रेस में गवाही देने का आग्रह किया


(Reuters) - President Donald Trump on Friday was dealt his biggest blow since taking office just over two months ago when House Republican leaders pulled legislation to overhaul the U.S. healthcare system.  Throughout his presidential campaign and since taking office, Trump had repeatedly vowed to repeal and replace Obamacare, the signature domestic achievement of his Democratic predecessor, Barack Obama. Below are a sampling of tweets that Trump posted in March on his plans to repeal Obamacare, followed by comments from Trump on Friday after his fellow Republicans yanked the plan. Tweets on vow to repeal and replace Obamacare: March 7: “Our wonderful new Healthcare Bill is now out for review and negotiation. ObamaCare is a complete and total disaster - is imploding fast!”  March 9: “Despite what you hear in the press, healthcare is coming along great. We are talking to many groups and it will end in a beautiful picture!” March 13: “ObamaCare is imploding. It is a disaster and 2017 will be the worst year yet, by far! Republicans will come together and save the day.” March 16: “Great progress on healthcare. Improvements being made - Republicans coming together!”  March 24: “After seven horrible years of ObamaCare (skyrocketing premiums & deductibles, bad healthcare), this is finally your chance for a great plan!” Trump comments on Friday after the bill was pulled:  “We learned a lot about loyalty. We learned a lot about the vote-getting process.” “Perhaps the best thing that could happen is exactly what happened today, because we’ll end up with a truly great healthcare bill in the future after this mess known as Obamacare explodes.” “We really had it. It was pretty much there, within grasp.” “We learned a lot about some very arcane rules in obviously both the Senate and the House.”

Summary: ओबामाकेयर निरस्त करने पर ट्रम्पः महानता के घमंड से लेकर सबक तक


(Reuters) - The U.S. Congress is hurtling toward some major deadlines on tax legislation, the budget and other policies. Some of the deadlines are hard and some are soft as the end of 2017 approaches. Here is the Capitol Hill outlook for what promises to be a turbulent few weeks. MONDAY, NOV. 27: President Donald Trump discusses a tax overhaul over lunch with Senate Finance Committee Chairman Orrin Hatch, the Republican-controlled chamber’s top tax writer, and four other Republican members of Hatch’s panel: John Cornyn, Rob Portman, Pat Toomey and Tim Scott.   Senate reconvenes after a week-long holiday break.  TUESDAY, NOV 28: Trump joins Senate Republicans at their weekly policy luncheon to urge quick passage of tax legislation. Trump also meets with Republican and Democratic leaders of both the Senate and House of Representatives to talk about funding legislation and other priorities.   The Senate Budget Committee holds a hearing on whether Republican tax legislation meets Senate rules for fast-track reconciliation bills. If it does, the bill could be introduced on the Senate floor later on Tuesday, beginning debate.    THURSDAY, NOV. 30, or FRIDAY, DEC. 1: Possible, although far from certain, final Senate vote on tax bill. FRIDAY, DEC. 8: Expiration date for funding needed to keep the U.S. government open. Congress has three choices: approve a massive bill for more than $1 trillion to keep the government operating through Sept. 30, 2018; pass a shorter extension of current funding to buy more time; or fail to pass anything and risk a partial government shutdown, stalling the tax effort. U.S. Treasury hits its limit on borrowing, but takes steps to postpone any need for action by Congress, eliminating any need for a debt limit increase in an end-of-year catch-all bill. TUESDAY, DEC. 12: Special U.S. Senate election in Alabama pits Republican Roy Moore, a conservative firebrand accused of sexual misconduct involving teen-age girls, against Democrat Doug Jones. The election could mean trouble for the tax overhaul effort. Moore, a critic of Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell, could cause turmoil if elected. A win by Jones would shrink even more Republicans’ narrow margin of Senate control, which now stands at 52-48. THURSDAY, DEC. 14: House’s last scheduled session of 2017.  FRIDAY, DEC. 15: Senate’s last scheduled session of 2017. FRIDAY, DEC. 22: The last weekday before Christmas, and a potential deadline for sending tax legislation to Trump. DISASTER AID: On Nov. 17, the White House asked Congress to approve $45 billion in more aid for disaster-hit Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, Texas, Florida and other states. If approved, as expected, aid would total nearly $96 billion. Additional requests are expected. DREAMERS: Trump has threatened to end an Obama-era program that helped “Dreamers,” people brought illegally into the United States when they were children. Trump gave Congress until early March to come up with a replacement program, but Democrats and some Republicans want to do this in December. CHIP: The Children’s Health Insurance Program, which helps millions of lower-income pregnant women and children, is running out of money. Congress has struggled to approve a five-year renewal for the program that normally enjoys bipartisan support.

Summary: फैक्टबॉक्सः करों से लेकर बजट तक, अमेरिकी कांग्रेस की टू-डू सूची में क्या है


BRUSSELS (Reuters) - The European Union s executive arm, the European Commission, is not conducting any assessments of the impact of the political crisis in Catalonia on Spain s economy as a whole, Commission Vice President Valdis Dombrovskis said on Thursday.  This issue is being dealt with by dialogue, so currently we are not doing any assessments on the potential economic impact,  Dombrovskis told a regular news briefing.

Summary: यूरोपीय संघ के कार्यकारी स्पेन की अर्थव्यवस्था पर कैटलन संकट के प्रभाव का आकलन नहीं कर रहे हैं


WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The head of the U.S. Office of Government Ethics, who clashed with President Donald Trump and his administration, said on Thursday he would resign before his five-year term ends in January to take a new job. In a letter to Trump dated on Thursday and posted on his Twitter account, Walter Shaub said he would step down from the ethics watchdog effective July 19 and praised his staff for their commitment to laws and ethical principles over private interests.      Shaub has sounded many alarms over the Trump administration’s business entanglements. He urged Trump to divest from his business empire rather than turn management of it over to his sons, and chastised the White House for not disciplining presidential advisor Kellyanne Conway after she endorsed a fashion line sold by Ivanka Trump, the president’s daughter. Shaub said in an interview with the Washington Post published Thursday that he was not pressured to leave, but felt that he could not achieve more in the ethics office under the Trump administration. Democratic lawmakers lauded Shaub’s service. Chuck Schumer, the top Senate Democrat, said he looked forward to examining Republican Trump’s nominee to replace Shaub. Schumer said he hoped the successor would prevent lobbyists and private interests from “rigging the system against working families under the cover of darkness.” Elijah Cummings, the top Democrat on the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, urged the Republican chairman of the committee to invite Shaub to testify to the panel about necessary ethical reforms. Some Republican lawmakers, such as Cummings’s former Republican counterpart, Jason Chaffetz, had little praise for Shaub during his tenure. Chaffetz rebuked Shaub in a January letter for making public statements about Trump’s finances. Shaub will next head the Ethics Practice at the Campaign Legal Center, a Washington-based nonpartisan group dedicated to democratic reform, said Larry Noble, the group’s general counsel.  Noble said that the Center learned of Shaub’s interest in leaving his government job in the last two weeks and seized the chance to hire him. Shaub’s work at the Campaign Legal Center will involve examining deficiencies in existing ethics laws and developing ways to strengthen them, both at the Office of Government Ethics and in the realm of congressional ethics, Noble said.

Summary: नैतिकता पर ट्रम्प का सामना करने वाले अमेरिकी अधिकारी ने नई नौकरी के लिए इस्तीफा दे दिया


DAKAR (Reuters) - A once-fringe separatist movement in Cameroon s Anglophone regions is gaining ground after a year of state repression that has undermined moderate voices and raised concerns the majority French-speaking nation may face a prolonged period of violence. Soldiers shot dead at least eight people and wounded others in the two English-speaking regions on Sunday, the anniversary of Anglophone Cameroon s independence from Britain. Amnesty International said on Monday at least 17 people had died in the clashes. The growing influence of the separatists, who include armed radical elements, is one of the most serious threats to stability in the central African oil producer since President Paul Biya took power 35 years ago.   Last year, separatists couldn t rally people on the streets. But people have seen family members arrested and killed, and they have switched over,  said Tapang Ivo Tanku, an Anglophone activist based in the United States. Like many moderates who say they are marginalized by Biya s Francophone-dominated government, Tanku has campaigned for a peaceful solution: a two-state federation - one French speaking, the other Anglophone - under one president.  I am in the minority now,  he told Reuters from New York.   The strife began in November, when English-speaking teachers and lawyers in the Northwest and Southwest regions, frustrated with having to work in French, took to the streets calling for reforms and greater autonomy. Six people were killed in those protests, and in the months that followed, the government deployed thousands of police and elite soldiers, implemented a blanket internet blackout and arrested dozens of activists, dubbing them  terrorists . The thousands who protested on Sunday around the country were no longer calling for reform, but for a separate state for Cameroon s nearly five million English speakers.  We told them our problems. They responded with force, killing us,  said a young student in Bamenda, one of the largest Anglophone cities.  We need our own country.           The true size and influence of the movement remains hard to gauge. Many leaders are in jail or exile, and it s unclear how strong alliances are between a multitude of factions with competing visions of how to achieve their goals. Few analysts believe a split is imminent.  There is no doubt the separatists  popularity and ability to stir turmoil has grown, however. Separatists told Reuters that they were responsible for an improvised bomb that last month wounded three policemen in Bamenda.   Nothing great can be achieved by using verbal excesses, street violence and defying authority. Lasting solutions to problems can be found only through peaceful dialogue,  Biya said in a statement on Twitter following Sunday s violence. An uprising by Biafran separatists in neighboring Nigeria in the 1960s sparked a civil war that killed around 1 million.   The roots of the divisions go back a century to the League of Nations  decision to split the former German colony of Kamerun between the allied French and British victors at the end of World War One.  The French Cameroons gained their independence in 1960 and the British Cameroons voted in 1961 to reunite with them under a federal government. The federation was abandoned a decade later, however, after a referendum most Anglophones considered a sham. A separatist movement existed for decades underground, with  activists sometimes communicating by passing notes to bus drivers going through different towns. It simmered but never gained widespread popular support - until now.  Southern Cameroons political activist Mark Bareta said government arrests of key organizers in January and February have pushed independent separatist coalitions, many of which are run by diaspora Cameroonians, together to form the Southern Cameroons Ambazonia Consortium United Front (SCACUF).  SCACUF and other groups are busily laying the groundwork for a new state, coordinating protests, gaining support on the ground, and - in some cases - orchestrating violent attacks.  They have printed thousands of light blue passports for Ambazonia - the Anglophones  aspirational independent homeland - designed a currency and written a national anthem, five members told Reuters. In May, they set up their own satellite television network, the Southern Cameroons Broadcasting Corporation, which reaches up to 500,000 people, said SCBC board member Derric Ndim.  Its satellite transmission is not affected by government-enforced internet cuts, he said.    We are working to make a new country, and we are ready,  said Nigeria-based Julius Ayuk Tabe, chairman of the Governing Council of Ambazonia, which is spearheading the movement.  The cries of the people are getting louder.

Summary: राज्य की कार्रवाई ने एंग्लोफोन कैमरून में स्वतंत्रता को बढ़ावा दिया