KHOBAR, Saudi Arabia (Reuters) - A Saudi man was arrested for allegedly threatening to attack women drivers, the Interior Ministry said on Friday, following a royal decree that ends a ban on women driving in the kingdom. Many Saudis welcomed Tuesday s announcement by King Salman lifting the ban by next year, but some expressed confusion or outrage after the reversal of a policy that has been backed for decades by prominent clerics. The ministry said on Twitter that police in the kingdom s Eastern Province had arrested the suspect, who was not identified, and referred him to the public prosecutor.  I swear to God, any woman whose car breaks down - I will burn her and her car,  said a man wearing a traditional white robe who appeared in a short video distributed online earlier in the week. Reuters could not independently verify the authenticity of the video. Saudi media, including the Arabic-language Okaz newspaper, quoted the Eastern Province s police spokesman as saying the man in custody was in his 20s and that the arrest had been ordered by its governor. Separately, Okaz reported late on Thursday that authorities directed the interior minister to prepare an anti-harassment law within 60 days. The directions cited  the danger posed by harassment ...and its contradiction with the values of Islam . Saudi authorities have in the past taken a broad view of sexual harassment, including attempts by men to get to know unrelated women by asking to exchange phone numbers or commenting on their beauty. In a country where gender segregation has been strictly enforced for decades in keeping with the austere Wahhabi form of Sunni Islam, the end of the driving ban means women will have more contact with unrelated men, such as fellow drivers and traffic police. The ban is a conservative tradition that limits women s mobility and has been seen by rights activists as an emblem of their suppression. Saudi Arabia is the only country in the world that still bans women from driving.

Summary: महिला चालकों को धमकी देने वाला सऊदी नागरिक गिरफ्तार


SEOUL (Reuters) - South Korea said on Thursday practical and forceful measures than can inflict pain on North Korea should be included in U.N. sanctions, a new batch of which have yet to be announced.  Foreign ministry spokesman Cho June-hyuck told reporters the measures should be taken in addition to  surely severing  funds that can be used for the North s programs to develop weapons of mass destruction.  The United States wants the U.N. Security Council to impose an oil embargo on North Korea, ban its exports of textiles and the hiring of North Korean laborers abroad, and subject leader Kim Jong Un to an asset freeze and travel ban, according to a draft resolution seen by Reuters on Wednesday.

Summary: दक्षिण कोरिया का कहना है कि संयुक्त राष्ट्र के प्रतिबंधों से उत्तर कोरिया को पीड़ा होनी चाहिए


KHARTOUM (Reuters) - Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir visited the war-torn Darfur region on Tuesday in an effort to show his country is ready to have 20-year-old sanctions lifted by the United States just weeks before Washington is expected to issue a decision. In July the Trump administration postponed for three months the decision to permanently lift sanctions, setting Oct. 12 as a deadline for Sudan to meet conditions, including resolving conflicts and stepping up its humanitarian efforts.   Conflict in Darfur began in 2003 when mainly non-Arab tribes took up arms against Sudan s Arab-led government. A joint African Union-U.N. peacekeeping operation, known as UNAMID, has been on the ground for the past decade. Fighting between the army and rebels in the southern Kordofan and Blue Nile regions also broke out again in 2011, when South Sudan declared independence. Sudan had announced short-term truces in these regions in June and October 2016, after which fighting eased in Blue Nile and Kordofan but carried on in Darfur. Bashir has extended a ceasefire in response to the U.S. moves.  After security and stability, comes development,  Bashir said in a speech. He said Darfur s security has begun recovering and insisted that arms will only be in the hands of state forces.  Just before leaving office, former U.S. President Barack Obama temporarily eased penalties against Sudan, suspending a trade embargo, unfreezing assets and removing sanctions.  His decision was delayed for six months to allow Sudan time to meet the conditions which also included cooperating with the U.S. to fight terrorism and improving its rights record. Gabriel Belal, the spokesman of the Justice and Equality movement, one of the main rebel groups in Darfur, criticized Bashir s two-day visit, saying it aimed to give a wrong image to the international community that the war was over.   Bashir s visit is not welcomed by the people of Darfur because he personally issued direct orders for ethnic cleansing,  Belal said.   Security, humanitarian and political conditions are tense in Darfur and there s no prospect for a political resolution.

Summary: सूडान के बशीर ने अमेरिकी प्रतिबंधों के फैसले से पहले दारफुर का दौरा किया


((In March 30 item, corrects spelling of Kislyak in paragraph 3)) WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Donald Trump’s former national security adviser, Michael Flynn, has offered to testify before congressional committees probing potential ties between the Trump campaign and Russia but wants protection against “unfair prosecution,” his lawyer said on Thursday. “General Flynn certainly has a story to tell, and he very much wants to tell it, should the circumstances permit,” said a statement from Flynn’s lawyer, Robert Kelner. Testimony from Flynn could help shed light on the conversations he had with Russian Ambassador to the United States Sergei Kislyak last year when he was the national security adviser for Trump’s presidential campaign. Kelner said discussions had taken place about Flynn’s availability to testify with officials of the intelligence committees of both the U.S. Senate and the House of Representatives. Both committees are investigating allegations of Russian meddling in the U.S. election campaign last year as well as possible ties between the Trump campaign and Russians.    Flynn was forced to resign as Trump’s national security adviser in February for failing to disclose talks with the Russian ambassador before Trump took office about U.S. sanctions on Moscow and misleading Vice President Mike Pence about the conversations. Questions remain about the scope of the discussions and what other contacts took place between other Trump advisers with the Russians. Earlier this week, the White House disclosed that Trump’s son-in-law and White House senior adviser, Jared Kushner, met executives of Russian state development bank Vnesheconombank, or VEB, in December. U.S. intelligence agencies have said Russia hacked emails of senior Democrats and orchestrated the release of embarrassing information in a bid to tip the presidential election in favor of Trump, whose views were seen as more in line with the Moscow’s. Russia has denied the allegations. Trump has dismissed suggestions of links with Moscow as Democratic sour grapes for losing the election. The Wall Street Journal, citing officials with knowledge of the matter, reported on Thursday that Flynn had sought immunity from the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the House and Senate intelligence panels in exchange for his testimony. The newspaper said he had so far found no takers. The House denied the Journal report. “Michael Flynn has not offered to testify to HPSCI in exchange for immunity,” committee spokesman Jack Langer said in a statement. The FBI declined to comment. The Senate committee did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Kelner’s statement did not mention the FBI. He said Flynn “is now the target of unsubstantiated public demands by Members of Congress and other political critics that he be criminally investigated.” Kelner said Flynn would not “submit to questioning in such a highly politicized, witch hunt environment without assurances against unfair prosecution.”Independent Senator Angus King, a member of the Senate Intelligence Committee, told CNN he could not confirm the Journal report, but “if that turns out to be the case, that’s a significant development I believe because it indicates that he has something important to say.”

Summary: ट्रम्प के पूर्व सलाहकार फ्लिन ने रूस की जांच में गवाही देने के बारे में कांग्रेस से बात कीः वकील


OTTAWA (Reuters) - Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Monday reshuffled his cabinet to put more emphasis on helping aboriginal people, who complain he has broken repeated promises to improve their lives. Trudeau is splitting the federal indigenous and northern affairs ministry in two, with the most important role given to Jane Philpott, who has been praised across the political spectrum in her previous job as health minister. Trudeau, who took office in 2015 promising to repair ties with Canada s 1.4 million aboriginals, said the former ministry had been designed in an earlier colonial era when governments dictated to indigenous peoples rather than talking to them.  There s a sense we have pushed the creaky old structures around (the ministry) about as far as they can go ... it could not deliver the reconciliation that we need,  Trudeau told reporters after the reshuffle. Philpott will become the minister of indigenous services, in charge of overseeing steps to boost living standards. Carolyn Bennett, who headed the old ministry, will be responsible for ties between Ottawa and aboriginal groups. Aboriginals make up about four percent of the population. Many are mired in poverty and crime and suffer from bad health, exacerbated by widespread lack of access to safe drinking water.  Suicides have plagued several isolated towns. Indigenous activists say despite Trudeau s pledges, which include billions of dollars in new spending, they have seen little improvement on the ground.  A group of aboriginals mounted a high-profile protest to disrupt the July 1 Canada Day festivities, erecting a tent on Parliament Hill. The Association of First Nations umbrella organization for aboriginals said the changes announced by Trudeau were a significant step.  Despite the negative publicity, public opinion polls show Trudeau s Liberals still command a healthy lead. The next election is scheduled for October 2019.  In all, the shuffle involved six ministers. Political insiders told Reuters in late May that Trudeau would change his cabinet to revive a flagging agenda. In another significant move, Trudeau promoted sports minister Carla Qualtrough to be the new public works and procurement minister. She replaces Judy Foote, who quit last week for personal reasons. Qualtrough s biggest task will be to sort out a trouble-plagued bid to buy a new fleet of fighter jets.

Summary: कनाडा के ट्रूडो ने मंत्रिमंडल में फेरबदल किया, आदिवासियों की समस्याओं पर ध्यान केंद्रित किया


WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions said, asked on Thursday about his participation in any investigation into possible ties between Russia and the Trump presidential campaign, said he would recuse himself when “appropriate,” NBC News reported. “Whenever it’s appropriate I will recuse myself, there’s no doubt about that,” Sessions told the network, after saying: “I have not met with any Russians at any time to discuss any political campaign.”  U.S. House Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi called on Sessions to resign on Wednesday after the Washington Post reported he failed to disclose two meetings he had with Russia’s ambassador before Donald Trump was inaugurated as president.

Summary: अमेरिकी अटॉर्नी जनरल सेशंस ने 'उचित' होने पर खुद को अलग करने के लिए कहा-एनबीसी न्यूज


CHARLESTON, W. Va. (Reuters) - Don Blankenship, the former CEO of coal company Massey Energy who was recently released from jail after a sentence for violating mine safety laws, said on Wednesday he plans to run for U.S. Senate representing West Virginia. “It’s true,” he told Reuters in an email, without elaborating. Local broadcaster WCHS-TV first reported the news earlier on Wednesday, saying Blankenship filed his registration papers this week to run as a Republican, making him an official candidate for the seat during 2018 elections.  A Federal Election Commission spokeswoman said she had not yet seen the filing. Blankenship was sentenced to a year in prison in April 2016 for conspiring to violate federal mine safety standards, following an explosion in 2010 at Massey’s Upper Big Branch mine that killed 29 people.  He is the most prominent American coal executive to be jailed for mine deaths. He was released in May 2017. He has maintained that his conviction was unfair and the accident at Upper Big Branch was distorted by the media. If Blankenship wins the Republican nomination, he would be up against incumbent Democrat Joe Manchin, who was governor at the time of the Upper Big Branch explosion and vehemently criticized Blankenship over the incident. Rival Republican Senate candidate Patrick Morrisey said he welcomed Blankenship’s entry into the race.

Summary: पूर्व दोषी कोयला कारोबारी ने सीनेट के लिए चुनाव लड़ने की बात कही


WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump is ramping up his search for a new chief for the U.S. central bank, meeting with former Federal Reserve Governor Kevin Warsh and three others and promising a decision next month. “I’ve had four meetings for Fed chairman and I’ll be making a decision over the next two or three weeks,” Trump told reporters on the White House South Lawn. Trump has previously suggested he may reappoint Fed Chair Janet Yellen to the post. Jerome Powell, one of the current governors on the Fed’s board, also met with Trump earlier this week about the Fed job, the Wall Street Journal reported on Friday. Trump on Friday did not provide details on his meetings.  A new Fed chair would take the helm as the central bank eases well away from crisis-era policies in response to a strengthening economy and falling unemployment, though inflation still lingers below the Fed’s 2-percent goal. Under Yellen, the Fed has raised interest rates and launched a plan to shrink its $4.5 trillion balance sheet. Much of the latter was accumulated through a controversial bond-buying program that Yellen said helped the economy avert an even deeper downturn. Her term as chair expires in February.  Warsh was a Fed governor between 2006 and 2011 and resigned from the board because of his opposition to the bond-buying program. He has called for a revamp of how the Fed makes monetary policy, saying it needs “fresh air” from markets and from the “real economy.”  Treasury yields spurted higher on news of the Trump meetings; Warsh is viewed as more of a hawk than Yellen. “He’s definitely more hawkish on the spectrum. He is quite a contrast to Yellen. It does seem he is the front-runner even though it’s not a sure thing he will be nominated,” Gennadiy Goldberg, interest rates strategist at TD Securities in New York, said of Warsh. As recently as July, Trump had not ruled out reappointing Yellen, telling the Wall Street Journal that he liked her demeanor and desire to keep interest rates low. In addition to Warsh and Powell, Stanford University economist John Taylor’s name also has been floated as a contender. Powell specialized in financial regulatory matters during his five years on the Fed Board of Governors, which is led by the Fed chair. There has also been speculation that Trump could turn to his top economic aide, Gary Cohn, for the Fed chair position. A Fed spokesman declined to comment on the process while Warsh and Taylor did not respond to requests for comment.

Summary: ट्रंप ने फेड अध्यक्ष पद के लिए चार लोगों का साक्षात्कार लिया, दो-तीन सप्ताह में करेंगे फैसला


GENEVA (Reuters) - Bangladesh called on Myanmar on Monday to allow nearly 1 million Rohingya Muslim refugees to return home under safe conditions, saying that the burden had become  untenable  on its territory. About 600,000 people have crossed the border since Aug. 25 when Rohingya insurgent attacks on security posts were met by a counter-offensive by the Myanmar army in Rakhine state which the United Nations has called ethnic cleansing.  This is an untenable situation,  Shameem Ahsan, Bangladesh s ambassador to the United Nations in Geneva, told a U.N. pledging conference.  Despite claims to the contrary, violence in Rakhine state has not stopped. Thousands still enter on a daily basis.  Vital humanitarian aid must continue, Ahsan said, adding:  It is of paramount importance that Myanmar delivers on its recent promises and works towards safe, dignified, voluntary return of its nationals back to their homes in Myanmar.  Bangladesh s interior minister was in Yangon on Monday for talks to find a  durable solution , he said. But Myanmar continued to issue  propaganda projecting Rohingyas as illegal immigrants from Bangladesh , Ahsan said, adding:  This blatant denial of the ethnic identity of Rohingyas remains a stumbling block.  Myanmar considers the Rohingya to be stateless, although they trace their presence in the country back generations. Filippo Grandi, U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees, later told journalists that the two countries had begun talks on  repatriation . Conducive conditions have to be  recreated  in Rakhine, he said.  This must include a solution to the question of citizenship, or rather lack thereof for the Rohingya community,  Grandi said. Khaled al-Jarallah, deputy foreign minister of Kuwait, called on Myanmar authorities to  cease the practice of stripping the Rohingya minority of their right of citizenship, which as a result deprives them of the right to property and employment . Jordan s Queen Rania visited Rohingya refugee camps on Monday and called for a stronger response from the international community to the plight of the Rohingya who fled to Bangladesh to escape  systematic persecution  in Myanmar.   One has to ask, why is the plight of this Muslim minority group being ignored? Why has the systematic prosecution been allowed to play out for so long?  she asked after touring the camps. The United Nations has appealed for $434 million to provide life-saving aid to 1.2 million people for six months. A total of $344 million has been raised so far, a final U.N. statement said.  We need more money to keep pace with intensifying needs. This is not an isolated crisis, it is the latest round in a decades-long cycle of persecution, violence and displacement,  U.N. humanitarian chief Mark Lowcock told the talks. An estimated 1,000-3,000 Rohingya still enter Bangladesh daily, William Lacy Swing, head of the International Organization for Migration (IOM) said. He called them:  these most rejected and vulnerable people in the world.  Joanne Liu, president of the charity Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) or Doctors Without Borders, described them as  the walking dead .  There are only 210 hospital beds for 1 million refugees, malnutrition is on the rise and latrines are lacking to prevent contamination, she said.  The camp is a time-bomb, ticking towards a full-blown health crisis.

Summary: रोहिंग्याओं को घर जाना चाहिए, लेकिन सुरक्षितः बांग्लादेश


WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama commuted the prison terms of 42 non-violent drug offenders, nearly half of whom were serving life sentences, in his latest batch of clemency decisions, the White House said on Friday. The individuals “have more than repaid their debt to society and earned this second chance,” Neil Eggleston, the White House counsel, wrote in a blog. They were convicted under drug sentencing laws put on the books before Obama became president that were “outdated and unduly harsh,” Eggleston wrote.  Obama has worked to reform the U.S. criminal justice system to reduce the number of people serving long sentences for drug crimes. It is one of the few areas in which the Democratic president has received support from Republican lawmakers.  Many of the convicts had been serving time for crack cocaine charges. Crack offenders have for years faced stiffer penalties than offenders of powder cocaine, even though the two substances are molecularly similar. Critics have said the disparity has unfairly hurt minority communities.  Obama announced the most ambitious clemency program in 40 years in April, 2014. The program has struggled under a deluge of thousands of unprocessed cases.  Some legal experts, including Rachel Barkow, faculty director at the Center on the Administration of Criminal Law at New York University, have urged Obama to move faster on the program, saying unless he does, the program will remain a “lottery” for thousands of other convicts. Friday’s commutations bring the total to 348, more than granted by the previous seven presidents combined, the White House said. George W. Bush commuted the sentences of 11 individuals, Bill Clinton granted clemency to 61 and George H.W. Bush granted clemency to three people, the White House said.  “We are confident that there will be many more commutations in the months” before Obama leaves office in January next year,  Sally Yates, the deputy attorney general, said in a release. The White House also said Obama is committed to strengthening drug rehabilitation programs.

Summary: ओबामा ने 42 अहिंसक नशीली दवाओं के अपराधियों की जेल की सजा को कम किया


WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. President-elect Donald Trump criticized China on Monday, saying it had benefited from its economic ties with the United States but would not help control North Korea. “China has been taking out massive amounts of money & wealth from the U.S. in totally one-sided trade, but won’t help with North Korea. Nice!” Trump wrote on Twitter.

Summary: उत्तर कोरिया के मामले में चीन मदद नहीं करेगाः ट्रंप


WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. failure to retaliate strongly for the 2014 cyber attack against Sony Pictures may have helped inspire Russian hackers who sought to interfere in the 2016 U.S. election, a senior congressional Democrat said on Tuesday. “Russia may have concluded that they could hack American institutions and there’d be no price to pay,” Representative Adam Schiff, the top Democrat on the House of Representatives Intelligence Committee, told a press breakfast sponsored by the Christian Science Monitor. Schiff suggested that Washington team up with European allies to impose sanctions that would hit the Russian economy. Russia was blamed for high-profile attacks on Democratic organizations that damaged the party during the 2016 election campaign, in which Republican Donald Trump won the presidency and his party kept control of the Senate and the House. Russian President Vladimir Putin dismissed the allegations as U.S. campaign rhetoric. Schiff was one of a group of senior House Democratic lawmakers who wrote to President Barack Obama on Tuesday asking administration officials to brief members of Congress on Russian efforts to influence or interfere in the Nov. 8 U.S. election. “Russia may have succeeded in weakening Americans’ trust” in democratic institutions, said the letter, also signed by Steny Hoyer, the No. 2 House Democrat, and the ranking Democrats on the Judiciary, Foreign Affairs, Homeland Security, Oversight and Armed Services committees.  Other lawmakers, including some Republicans, have asked for investigations or called for legislation to address the hacking issue. Reuters reported on Friday that James Clapper, the U.S. director of national intelligence, asked Congress to remove a provision in an upcoming intelligence authorization bill that would have created a special committee to combat Russian efforts to exert covert influence abroad. Schiff, who backs creation of the bipartisan committee, said on Tuesday the United States needed to do more to stop such hacking. “Unless we establish some kind of deterrent, this is going to be unending,” he said. An Intelligence Committee aide said the panel had changed the provision independent of Clapper’s letter and felt it had “appropriately addressed” intelligence community concerns. In 2016, the hacking benefited Trump, Schiff said. He added, however, that Russian hackers could turn on Trump once he is president if they do not approve of his policies.  The Obama administration publicly blamed North Korea for the malicious breaches that crippled Sony in 2014.

Summary: अमेरिकी सांसदः सोनी उल्लंघन ने रूसी चुनाव हैकिंग को प्रेरित किया हो सकता है


DUBLIN/BRUSSELS (Reuters) - Ireland needs Britain to provide  significantly more clarity  on its plans for the Irish border, Foreign Minister Simon Coveney said on Thursday, denting hopes that London was on the verge of a deal to move on to the second phase of Brexit talks. But British Prime Minister Theresa May s room to offer additional concessions to Dublin appeared extremely limited as the Northern Ireland party propping up her government hinted it might withdraw its support if she gives too much.  Avoiding a so-called  hard border  on the island of Ireland is the last major hurdle before Brexit talks can move to negotiations on Britain s future trade relationship with the EU and a possible two-year Brexit transition deal. A mis-step by May could bring down the British government or spook British businesses fearful of a cliff-edge Brexit without a transition deal.  We are looking for significantly more clarity than we currently have from the British negotiating team,  Coveney told parliament in Dublin, adding that  constructive ambiguity  from Britain would not suffice.  Hopefully we will make progress that will allow us to move on to Phase 2 in the middle of December,  he said.  If it is not possible to do that, so be it.  Britain in the coming days needs to demonstrate  sufficient progress  on three key EU conditions   a financial settlement, rights of expatriate citizens and the Irish border   for leaders to give a green light to trade talks at a summit on Dec. 14-15. With significant progress on the financial settlement and citizen rights, a deal on the Irish border would pave the way for Brussels to offer British Prime Minister Theresa May a transition deal as early as January. Britain s Times newspaper, without citing a source, said London was close to a deal after a proposal to devolve more powers to the government of its province of Northern Ireland so that it could ensure regulations there did not diverge from the EU rules in place south of the border across the island. The border between EU-member Ireland and the British region of Northern Ireland will be the UK s only land frontier with the bloc after Brexit, and Dublin fears a hard border could disrupt 20 years of delicate peace in Northern Ireland.  Ireland has called on Britain to provide details of how it will ensure there is no  regulatory divergence  after Brexit in March 2019 that would require physical border infrastructure. But any attempt at a solution will have to convince Northern Ireland s pro-Brexit Democratic Unionist Party, whose 10 members of parliament are propping up May s government. The party ratcheted up the pressure on Thursday by suggesting it might withdraw its support for May s government.   If there is any hint that in order to placate Dublin and the EU they re prepared to have Northern Ireland treated differently to the rest of the United Kingdom, then they can t rely on our vote,  DUP member of parliament Sammy Wilson said in an interview with the BBC.      European Council President Donald Tusk, who last week set an  absolute deadline  of Monday for May to demonstrate sufficient progress on the three issues, is due to fly to Dublin on Friday for talks with Irish Prime Minister Leo Varadkar in a bid to break the deadlock. May will then hold talks in Brussels on Monday with EU chief executive Jean-Claude Juncker and his chief Brexit negotiator, Michel Barnier, and will hope to secure a green light to trade talks at a summit on Dec. 14-15. Barnier said on Wednesday the summit would be able to discuss a transition period and that the EU would define a  framework  next year of the  new partnership  with Britain that would follow the transition. May has insisted she wants any new offers to be met with simultaneous assurances from the EU that it will maintain the open trading relationship which businesses are demanding to know soon if they are to maintain investment levels in Britain.

Summary: आयरलैंड ने ब्रेक्सिट सीमा पर ब्रिटेन से 'काफी अधिक स्पष्टता' की मांग की


WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The White House said on Monday that national security adviser Michael Flynn held just two phone calls with Russia’s ambassador to Washington, amid reports that Flynn’s communications are being scrutinized by U.S. counterintelligence agents. Reuters reported earlier this month, citing three sources familiar with the matter, that Flynn had held five phone calls with Russian ambassador Sergei Kislyak on Dec. 29, the day then-President Barack Obama retaliated for Moscow’s interference in the U.S. presidential election. White House press secretary Sean Spicer said Flynn spoke once by telephone to the envoy - he did not give the date - and discussed four topics. Those included a conference on Syria, a plane crash that killed members of a famous Russian military choir, seasonal wishes and setting up a post-inauguration call between Russian President Vladimir Putin and President Donald Trump, he said. On. Jan. 13, Spicer had said that Flynn and Kislyak had spoken on Dec. 28 and suggested the sole topic had been the logistics of setting up an eventual call between Trump and Putin. At the time, a Trump aide had said the one conversation actually had taken place on Dec. 29. On Monday, Spicer said a second call took place three days ago, apparently just before Trump’s inauguration on Friday, and dealt with arranging a forthcoming phone call between Trump and Putin.   Two of the sources told Reuters earlier this month that the timing of the December calls raised a question about whether Flynn had given Kislyak any assurances to soothe Russian anger over the U.S. sanctions and other moves. The differing accounts of the number of calls could not be immediately reconciled. The Wall Street Journal reported on Sunday that Flynn’s calls with Kislyak on Dec. 29, as well as earlier calls he held with Russian figures, are under scrutiny as part of probes by the FBI, U.S. intelligence agencies and the Treasury Department into the extent of Russian government contacts with people close to Trump. It is unclear whether the inquiry produced any incriminating evidence or if it is continuing, the newspaper said. The Journal quoted White House spokeswoman Sarah Sanders as saying: “We have absolutely no knowledge of any investigation or even a basis for such an investigation.” Asked whether there were other calls between Flynn and “members of the Russian government,” Spicer replied, “Not that I’m aware of. And when I say that, what I’m saying (is) during the transition I asked General Flynn whether or not there were any other conversations beyond the ambassador and he said ‘no.’” Flynn is a retired Army general. A Jan. 6 assessment by U.S. intelligence agencies said that Putin ordered an effort to help Trump’s electoral chances by discrediting Democrat Hillary Clinton in the 2016 presidential campaign.

Summary: व्हाइट हाउस ने ट्रम्प सलाहकार और रूसी राजदूत के बीच कई कॉल पर विवाद किया


HAVANA/CAIBARIEN (Reuters) - Hurricane Irma uprooted trees and tore off roofs in Cuba on Saturday with 125-mile-per-hour (200-km per hour) winds that damaged hotels in the island s best-known beach resorts and forced evacuations as far along the coast as low-lying areas of the capital Havana.  Power was out and cellphone service was spotty in many regions as Irma neared the end of a 200-mile (320-km) trek westwards along the top of the island. It was forecast to head north toward Florida in the evening. In the fishing town of Caibarien, residents swept mud from beachside homes after storm surge drove 3 feet (1 meter) of seawater up the shore. In streets carpeted with fresh green seaweed as the water receded, people said it was the strongest cyclone ever to hit the town.   Sheets of zinc that came flying into our backyard also damaged the kitchen wall and we lost many roof tiles,  said Angel Coya, 52, adding he was optimistic that Cuba s Communist government would help repair the damage.  We have to keep on.  Irma s turn northward was expected to occur around 150 miles (240 km) east of the capital. Nevertheless, authorities shut off power in large parts of the city and evacuated some 10,000 people from central Havana near the Malecon seawall because of fears of flooding from the storm surge. By Saturday evening, the sea had penetrated two blocks over parts of the city s historic seafront boulevard, and the waters were expected to advance farther as the surge grew. Restaurants on the seaside drive pulled down their shutters and stacked sandbags against the storm. Still, many Cubans expressed a sense of relief after the eye of the first Category 5 storm to make landfall on the island since 1932 passed over the northern keys, just grazing the mainland with its full force.  Honestly, I expected worse. I thought I would come back and find the roof gone,  said Yolexis Domingo, 39, using a machete to hack the branches off a tree that fell in front of his house in Caibarien.  Still, it is going to be a while before I can come back to live here. The water came up to a meter high and some of the roof flew off.  Overnight, the storm pounded the chain of pristine keys and tourism resorts that stretch along the coast from central Camaguey province to Villa Clara province, and it was headed toward Varadero, Cuba s most famous beach getaway.  Cayos Coco and Guillermo, the crown jewels of what is known as the King s Gardens, with 16 hotels frequented by Canadian and European tourists, sustained serious damage, local authorities in the area said.  At least one bridge on a causeway to the area collapsed, and the communications tower for the keys was no longer standing. Dozens of coastal towns were damaged, with some reports of collapsed houses, though no deaths had been reported.  This is a beautiful town but now it is a disaster,  said local resident Sandro Sanchez, 27, walking through the main square after the hurricane had passed Remedios, in Villa Clara. Corrugated iron from roofs were strewn in the streets alongside rubble. Lampposts were bent double, plant pots smashed and the fronds of palm trees shredded.  You can t do anything against nature,  he said.  We never had a storm wreak so much damage here. This is really a mess.  On Saturday, Irma covered most of the island, the Caribbean s largest. Its force sent shockwaves and flooding inward. In the city of Camaguey, Anaida Morales said she just been through a night from hell with her mom, stepson and husband.      The trees in the park in front of my house are down and others strewn all over the streets. Lots of roofs are gone and some houses collapsed. The river that runs through the city is about to flood,  she said.  The wind roared all night and it is still strong. I couldn t sleep. I m scared of hurricanes and this is the worst I have been through,  she said. Morales said she made a phone call to her daughter, who shares her name, in Florida, where millions of people were preparing for Irma s arrival.  I just spoke to Anaida, it is hard to believe she is getting ready to go through the same thing I just did,  she said.

Summary: तूफान इरमा ने क्यूबा की चाबियों को तोड़ दिया, हवाना बाढ़ के लिए तैयार


RIYADH (Reuters) - U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson arrived in Riyadh on Saturday to attend a landmark meeting between officials from Saudi Arabia and Iraq aimed at improving relations between the two countries and countering Iran s growing regional influence. The chief U.S. diplomat flew into King Salman Air Base a little more than a week after U.S. President Donald Trump unveiled a strategy to contain Iran and compel Tehran to agree to close what he charged are flaws in the multinational 2015 deal designed to prevent Iran developing nuclear weapons. Tillerson s only official meeting on Saturday was a working dinner with Saudi Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir. He was stopping in Saudi Arabia on the first leg of a six-day trip that will also take him to Qatar, Pakistan, India and Switzerland. His talks in Sunni Muslim-ruled Saudi Arabia and in Qatar were expected to be dominated by the topic of Shi ite-dominated Iran s growing regional influence. Iran-backed militias have helped turn the tide of Syria s civil war in the government s favor and they have played leading roles in Iraq s battle to recapture Islamic State s self-declared  caliphate.  This week they aided Iraqi security forces in seizing the oil-rich area of the northern city of Kirkuk as part of an effort to crush a bid for independence made by the Kurdish minority. Washington and Riyadh also allege that Iran is supporting Houthi rebels in Yemen against pro-government forces that are supported by a Saudi-led military coalition backed by the United States. Yemen s grinding civil war was expected to be high on Tillerson s agenda. On Sunday Tillerson is due to attend the inaugural session of the Saudi-Iraqi Coordination Council, a body whose creation was promoted by the Trump administration to improve relations between Saudi Arabia, Iran s main regional rival, and Iraq, whose majority Shi ite-dominated government has close ties with Tehran. During his visit Tillerson is also expected to explore the possibility of renewing a push to end a diplomatic and economic boycott of Qatar by Saudi Arabia and other U.S. Arab allies, although he has conceded he is not optimistic. In an interview on Thursday with Bloomberg, Tillerson blamed Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Egypt for the lack of progress toward ending the four-month-old crisis. Saudi Arabia and its allies have accused Qatar of supporting hardline Islamist groups and cozying up to Iran at the region s expense. Doha denies the allegations.  It s up to the leadership of the quartet when they want to engage with Qatar because Qatar has been very clear - they are ready to engage,  said Tillerson, who forged close ties to the Gulf Arab countries in his former position as CEO of Exxon Mobil. A senior UAE official said on Saturday it was up to Qatar to end the crisis ahead of a summit of the six-nation Gulf Cooperation Council in December.  The ball is in its court and it is aware of what is required of it,  Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Anwar Gargash wrote on his Twitter account.

Summary: टिलरसन खाड़ी, दक्षिण एशिया दौरे की शुरुआत में रियाद पहुंचे


SEOUL (Reuters) - South Korean President Moon Jae-in had initially suggested on Tuesday that U.S. President Donald Trump make a visit to the demilitarized zone (DMZ) between North and South Korea, a Blue House official told reporters on Wednesday. Trump had told Moon he had been considering such a trip, and Moon said he would accompany Trump should the U.S. president decide to visit the DMZ, the official said. The U.S. president aborted a surprise visit to the DMZ on Wednesday morning due to fog after two attempts.

Summary: दक्षिण कोरिया के मून ने सबसे पहले ट्रंप को डीएमजेड जाने का सुझाव दियाः ब्लू हाउस अधिकारी


LJUBLJANA (Reuters) - Slovenia s Prime Minister, Miro Cerar, has canceled a visit to Croatia, accusing the neighboring state of reigniting a long-running maritime dispute, his office said on Friday. Cerar called off next week s trip after his Croatian counterpart, Andrej Plenkovic, told the U.N. General Assembly that an international ruling on their shared waters was invalid. The Permanent Court of Arbitration ruled in June that Slovenia should have  uninterrupted access  to the sea it shares with Croatia. Croatia objected at the time, and Plenkovic said he had merely repeated his country s position at the United Nations on Thursday.  In my speech there was nothing new about Croatia s position, I mentioned the facts... We remain open for dialogue with Slovenia and I invite Cerar to come to Croatia on some other date,  Plenkovic told a cabinet session in Zagreb. The countries have been arguing over a stretch of their sea and land border since both declared independence from the former Yugoslavia in 1991 as it disintegrated into war and broke up. The dispute, which centers on the bay of Piran, held up Croatian accession to the EU for many years. Only after both parties agreed to arbitration was Zagreb granted entry to the bloc in 2013 - though it later withdrew from the proceedings. The Hague-based court ruled that Slovenia gets the vast majority of the Piran bay area recognized as its territorial waters.  In addition, the tribunal established a 2.5 nautical-mile wide and some 10 nautical-mile long corridor through Croatian waters to give Slovenia much-coveted direct access to international waters.

Summary: स्लोवेनियाई प्रधानमंत्री ने समुद्री विवाद को लेकर क्रोएशिया की यात्रा रद्द की


MOSCOW (Reuters) - A Russian court on Monday rejected a request to release classified documents about Swedish World War Two hero Raoul Wallenberg, whose fate remains a mystery seven decades after his reported death, Russian news agencies reported. Wallenberg, a former Swedish diplomat, helped save thousands of Hungarian Jews during World War Two before being captured by Soviet forces in 1945.  A Russian report claimed he died in 1947 in the Lubyanka prison in central Moscow run by the Soviet security service, but no definitive proof of his fate has been put forward. Relatives of Wallenberg filed a lawsuit against Russia s Federal Security Service (FSB), seeking access to uncensored documents which they said could provide clues to Wallenberg s fate. But a Moscow court rejected that lawsuit out of hand on Monday, saying the documents could not be released because they contained personal information about other individuals, Russian news agencies reported. Wallenberg s relatives were cited as saying they would appeal.

Summary: रूस ने स्वीडिश युद्ध नायक वैलेनबर्ग के भाग्य का पता लगाने के लिए मुकदमा खारिज कियाः एजेंसियां


WASHINGTON (Reuters) - No evidence has emerged to suggest Russian hacking influenced the outcome of the U.S. presidential election and it would be irresponsible to jump to conclusions before receiving a final intelligence report, Donald Trump’s spokesman said on Monday. “There is zero evidence that they influenced the election,” Sean Spicer told Fox News. Due to become White House press secretary when Trump enters the White House on Jan. 20, Spicer told CNN the president-elect would see the intelligence report once it was completed later this week. On Saturday, Trump warned against being quick to pin the blame on Russia for the hacking of U.S. emails. “The idea that we’re jumping to conclusions before we have a final report is irresponsible,” Spicer told CNN.     President Barack Obama expelled 35 Russian suspected spies and imposed sanctions on two Russian intelligence agencies last week for alleged Kremlin involvement in hacking that intelligence officials said aimed to help the Republican Trump defeat Democrat Hillary Clinton in the Nov. 8 election. Leading lawmakers from both parties have voiced alarm at the suggestion of Russian interference, whether or not it made a difference in the outcome. Republican John McCain, chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, has scheduled a Thursday hearing on foreign cyber threats. The new Congress, elected on Nov. 8, takes office on Tuesday. Calling for closer ties with Russian President Vladimir Putin, Trump has repeatedly played down the hacking affair. Over the weekend Trump said he knew “things that other people don’t know” and would disclose some information on the issue on Tuesday or Wednesday. He gave no further detail. “He’s going to talk about his conclusions and where he thinks things stand,” Spicer told CNN. “He’s not going to reveal anything that was privileged or shared with him classified.”  On Sunday Spicer said the White House may have disproportionately punished Russia.     “It’s baffling,” U.S. Representative Eric Swalwell, a Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee, told MSNBC on Monday. “President-elect Trump does not have any better information than President Obama.” A Gallup Poll released on Monday showed less than half of Americans were confident in Trump’s ability to handle an international crisis, to use military force wisely or to prevent major scandals in his administration.  The poll said at least seven in 10 Americans were confident in presidents Obama, George W. Bush and Bill Clinton in those areas before they took office.

Summary: कोई सबूत नहीं है कि रूसी हैकिंग ने अमेरिकी चुनाव को प्रभावित कियाः ट्रम्प प्रवक्ता


MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russian President Vladimir Putin held a phone call with French President Emmanuel Macron and discussed North Korea s latest missile launch, the Kremlin said in a statement on Friday. Both leaders condemned Pyongyang s  provocative  actions, which risk leading to  irreversible consequences , the Kremlin said. They agreed on the need for a diplomatic solution, including through resuming direct talks on North Korea, according to the statement.

Summary: पुतिन और मैक्रों ने उत्तर कोरिया के मिसाइल प्रक्षेपण पर चर्चा कीः क्रेमलिन


BOSTON (Reuters) - FBI Director James Comey said he has no plans to step down anytime soon in a speech on Wednesday, days after he reportedly pushed back against President Donald Trump’s allegations that the Obama administration had tapped phones at Trump Tower. “You’re stuck with me for another 6-1/2 years,” Comey said at a Boston College cyber security conference, indicating he expects to serve the remainder of his 10-year term. Comey did not speak with reporters during public appearances in Boston on Tuesday and Wednesday, ignoring questions about the wiretapping accusation that Trump made on Saturday without offering any evidence to support it. Comey, who was appointed FBI director by Barack Obama in 2013, had urged Justice Department officials to refute Trump’s claims because it falsely insinuated the Federal Bureau of Investigation broke the law, U.S. officials have said. The department has not acted on his request. The White House said on Monday that Trump still has confidence in Comey despite his assertiveness in challenging Trump’s claim. Comey also reiterated a plea for technology companies to enable authorities to access encrypted data on mobile devices and in messaging apps. He said strong encryption had become more popular in recent years, particularly after former intelligence contractor Edward Snowden’s revelations about U.S. spying programs.  The use of the technology for scrambling data has made it increasingly difficult for law enforcement to investigate crimes, even when authorities have court orders giving them permission to access data, he said. As evidence, he said that FBI technicians were unable to access data in about 1,200 of some 2,800 devices that state and local agency asked the bureau to help open from October to December, hampering progress in criminal investigations.

Summary: एफ. बी. आई. निदेशक कोमी ने साइबर सम्मेलन में कहाः 'आप मेरे साथ फंस गए हैं'


WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday paved the way for a major ruling on the limits of presidential powers, agreeing to decide the legality of President Barack Obama’s unilateral action to shield more than 4 million illegal immigrants from deportation. The court agreed to hear Obama’s bid to resurrect his plan, undertaken in 2014 through executive action bypassing the Republican-led Congress, that was blocked last year by lower courts after Texas and 25 other Republican-governed states sued to stop it. A ruling is due by the end of June. The case is not the first time Obama has asked the Supreme Court to rescue a major initiative. The court in 2012 and 2015 rejected conservative challenges to his signature healthcare law. The White House expressed confidence the court would now deem as lawful Obama’s immigration action, which was crafted to let millions of illegal immigrants whose children are American citizens or lawful permanent residents to get into a program that protects them from deportation and supplies work permits. Texas and the other states contend Obama exceeded his presidential powers and usurped the authority of Congress. Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, a Republican, said courts have long recognized the limits to presidential authority. “The court should affirm what President Obama said himself on more than 20 occasions: that he cannot unilaterally rewrite congressional laws and circumvent the people’s representatives,” Paxton said. The nine justices will review a November ruling by the New Orleans-based 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals that upheld a February 2015 decision by U.S. District Judge Andrew Hanen in Brownsville, a city along the Texas border with Mexico, to halt Obama’s action. With some of his major legislative initiatives suffocated by Republican lawmakers, the Democratic president has resorted to executive action to get around Congress on issues including immigration, gun control and the Obamacare law. The most recent executive action came this month when he acted unilaterally to expand background checks for certain gun purchases. His executive actions have antagonized Republicans who accuse him of unlawfully taking actions by executive fiat that only Congress can perform. The case raises several legal issues, including whether states have legal standing to sue the U.S. government over decisions on how to enforce federal laws. The high court added a separate question on whether the president’s action violated a provision of the U.S. Constitution that requires the president to “take care that the laws be faithfully executed.” The Obama administration called the president’s action mere guidance to immigration officials on how to exercise discretion given by Congress on how to enforce immigration laws. Obama’s action was “consistent with the actions taken by presidents of both parties, the laws passed by Congress and the decisions of the Supreme Court,” White House spokeswoman Brandi Hoffine said. Those eligible for Obama’s program, directed at illegal immigrants with no criminal record, would be able to work legally and receive some federal benefits. States were not required to provide any benefits. His order expanded on a 2012 program that provided similar relief for people who became illegal immigrants as children. The case could have repercussions beyond immigration because it would set a precedent for the circumstances under which states can sue the federal government over a range of executive actions. Future presidents, Republican or Democratic, could face new constraints if the states win. The case is one of the most important the Supreme Court will decide during its current term, along with a challenge to a restrictive Texas abortion law. If the court sides with Obama, he would have until his term ends in January 2017 to implement the immigration plan. With the U.S. presidential election looming in November, it would be up to the next president to decide whether to keep it in place. Obama’s action came after a bipartisan immigration policy overhaul bill passed by the Senate died in the House of Representatives. The immigration issue has driven a wedge between Hispanics, an increasingly important voting bloc, and Republicans, many of whom have offered tough words about illegal immigrants. Most of the estimated 11 million illegal immigrants are Hispanics, coming from Mexico and other Latin American countries. The ruling is due just months before the presidential election. The two leading Democratic presidential hopefuls, Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders, said on Tuesday the court should uphold Obama’s action. Republican candidates Ted Cruz and Marco Rubio said as president they would undo Obama’s immigration moves. Senate Democratic Leader Harry Reid said Obama’s executive action relied on well-established constitutional authority. He said he recently met with the illegal immigrant parents of U.S citizens and lawful permanent residents, saying that “these law-abiding men and women continue to live in constant fear of being separated from their children. These families must be allowed to step out of the shadows and fully contribute to the country that they love and call home.”

Summary: ओबामा आप्रवासन योजना पर बड़े मामले का फैसला करेगा अमेरिकी सुप्रीम कोर्ट


WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A majority of the U.S. House of Representatives on Friday voted to advance legislation instructing committees to write legislation repealing President Barack Obama’s landmark healthcare law. The procedural vote of 235 to 188 clears the way for a vote later on Friday to pass the measure to begin work on repealing Obamacare that already has been approved by the Senate. It strictly followed party lines, indicating solidarity among House Republicans on the issue.

Summary: अमेरिकी सदन ने ओबामाकेयर कानून शुरू करने के लिए मतदान का रास्ता साफ किया


OTTAWA (Reuters) - An international meeting in Canada on North Korea in January is designed to produce  better ideas  to ease tensions over Pyongyang s nuclear and ballistic missile tests, Canadian officials said on Wednesday. A Canadian source who declined to be identified said that up to 16 foreign ministers were scheduled to meet in Vancouver,  although North Korea itself will not be invited.  Canada announced the meeting on Tuesday and said it would be co-hosted by the United States.  By discussing the various options out on the table, by listening to ... local wisdom of the regions and especially (to those) who live a bit closer to Korea than we do, you can come up with some better ideas,  Andrew Leslie, parliamentary secretary to Foreign Minister Chrystia Freeland, told reporters. Early on Wednesday, North Korea tested its most advanced intercontinental ballistic missile yet, putting the continental United States within range and increasing pressure on U.S. President Donald Trump to deal with the nuclear-armed nation. Freeland later told reporters that Japan, South Korea and China would be among those invited to the meeting.  It s an important step in terms of showing the unity of the international community in applying pressure on North Korea,  she said, sidestepping a question about whether Trump might do something to upset the talks. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, who came to power in 2015 promising the world that  Canada is back , last week said he had discussed with Cuban President Raul Castro in 2016 the possibility of working together to address the crisis.  These are the kinds of things where Canada can, I think, play a role that the United States has chosen not to play, this past year,  Trudeau said, referring to Trump s isolationist global stance. Defense experts say North Korean missiles aimed at the United States could land off course in Canada. Defence Minister Harjit Sajjan told reporters Canada was looking at the threat extremely seriously but declined to say what military counter measures he might be take.  We believe the diplomatic solution is the way to go - we feel there is hope for it,  Sajjan said.  In the meantime, Canada s relations with North Korea appear to be warming up slightly. In September, a Canadian diplomat said the North Koreans  perceive us as not an enemy and therefore potentially a friend . Canada established diplomatic relations with North Korea in 2001 but suspended them in 2010.

Summary: उत्तर कोरिया की बैठक में संकट के समाधान के लिए 'बेहतर विचार' मांगे गएः कनाडा


NASHVILLE (Reuters) - Educators and other full-time staffers at Tennessee’s public state universities and colleges will soon be able to carry handguns on campus after Governor Bill Haslam allowed a bill to become law on Monday without his signature. The bill that the Republican governor allowed to become law had little opposition in both houses, easily passing 69-24 in the House and 28-5 in the Senate last month. The law will go into effect on July 1.  The law, which affects 50 state institutions, was opposed by both the State Board of Regents and the University of Tennessee system. Gun control on college campuses is a growing focus in the national debate over access to guns.  Including Tennessee, 10 states now allow guns on campus, although the Tennessee and Arkansas laws allow only faculty and staff to carry handguns, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures, which tracks policies in all 50 states. In Georgia, Governor Nathan Deal, a Republican, is expected on Tuesday to either sign or veto a measure that would allow licensed gun owners ages 21 and over to carry concealed handguns on the campuses of public colleges and universities in that state. On Aug. 1, 2016, a so-called campus carry law takes effect in Texas, allowing people 21 and older with a concealed handgun license to carry handguns in classrooms and buildings throughout the University of Texas system. In Tennessee, anyone carrying a gun under the new law must have a permit and notify local police or campus security, whichever has responsibility for law enforcement on campus. Students are not allowed to carry handguns on campus. The law does not allow handguns to be carried into arenas and stadiums during school-sponsored events, and guns are barred in meetings related to disciplinary or tenure matters. Haslam had said he did not believe the state should get involved in such local matters, but chose not to veto the bill. “Although SB 2376 does not go as far as I would like in retaining campus control, the final version of the bill included input from higher education and was shaped to accommodate some of their concerns,” he said in a Monday statement. Proponents said the bill will lead to greater safety on campuses. Opponents voiced concern about the safety of students, faculty and visitors on campus.

Summary: टेनेसी परिसरों में बंदूकों की अनुमति देने वाला विधेयक कानून बन गया


WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. President-elect Donald Trump on Thursday said for the first time that he supports the completion of a pipeline project near a North Dakota Indian reservation, which has been the subject of months of protests by tribes and environmentalists.  A communications briefing from Trump’s transition team said despite media reports that Trump owns a stake in Energy Transfer Partners, the company building the pipeline, Trump’s support of the pipeline “has nothing to do with his personal investments and everything to do with promoting policies that benefit all Americans.”   “Those making such a claim are only attempting to distract from the fact that President-elect Trump has put forth serious policy proposals he plans to set in motion on Day One,” said the daily briefing note sent to campaign supporters and congressional staff. Activists have spent months protesting plans to route the $3.8 billion Dakota Access Pipeline beneath a lake near the Standing Rock Sioux reservation, saying the project poses a threat to water resources and sacred Native American sites. On Thursday, U.S. military veterans were arriving at a camp to join thousands of activists braving snow and freezing temperatures to protest the pipeline. Republican Trump has been a vocal supporter of another high-profile pipeline project, Transcanada’s Keystone XL, which Democratic President Barack Obama denied a permit for last year. Republican North Dakota Senator John Hoeven said he met with Trump’s transition team to discuss the delayed pipeline. “Today, Mr. Trump expressed his support for the Dakota Access Pipeline, which has met or exceeded all environmental standards set forth by four states and the Army Corps of Engineers,” Hoeven said in a statement. “It is important to know that the new administration will work to help us grow and diversify our energy economy and build the energy infrastructure necessary to move it from where it is produced to where it is needed,” he said.

Summary: ट्रंप ने डकोटा एक्सेस पाइपलाइन को पूरा करने का समर्थन किया


WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said on Friday that North Korea s continuing missile tests threaten the entire world and stressed the United States was working closely with regional allies Japan and South Korea on the problem.  In East Asia, an increasingly aggressive and isolated regime in North Korea threatens democracies in South Korea, Japan, and more importantly, and more recently, has expanded those threats to the United States, endangering the entire world,  Tillerson said to a gathering of the Community of Democracies.  We first look to our regional allies South Korea and Japan.  By working with them and other democratic partners, we continue to build consensus at the United Nations Security Council to create a united international front that upholds our values and strives to make us safer.

Summary: उत्तर कोरिया की आक्रामकता पूरी दुनिया के लिए खतराः टिलरसन


DUBAI (Reuters) - Saudi Arabia s King Salman received Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in Riyadh on Wednesday and reiterated the kingdom s support for the Palestinian people, state news agency SPA reported.  The king reassured the Palestinian leader that Saudi Arabia continues to support the right of Palestinians to an independent state with East Jerusalem as its capital, SPA said.   The two leaders also discussed the latest developments in the Palestinian territories, it said. A dozen Saudi princes and officials also attended the meeting.  Saudi Arabia condemned U.S. President Donald Trump s decision to recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel and said any decision to move the U.S. Embassy to Jerusalem before a permanent peace settlement is reached would inflame the feelings of Muslims, official media reported.

Summary: सऊदी राजा ने फलस्तीनी राष्ट्रपति अब्बास की अगवानी की


BERLIN (Reuters) - Germany wants to reach out to the future U.S. administration under President-elect Donald Trump to safeguard essential trans-Atlantic relations, Chancellor Angela Merkel’s foreign policy advisor Christoph Heusgen said on Wednesday. Speaking to lawmakers in Merkel’s conservative party, Heusgen also said Germany would have to shoulder more international responsibilities in future.  He said Germany would steadily increase military spending towards the NATO goal of 2 percent of gross domestic product.   Earlier, Merkel said there would be contacts at all levels with the United States in the run up to meetings of the Group of 20 this year of which Germany is the chair.

Summary: जर्मनी अच्छे संबंध बनाए रखने के लिए ट्रम्प सरकार से संपर्क करेगाः मर्केल सलाहकार


BEIRUT (Reuters) - Syrian insurgents brought down an army helicopter in southwest Syria on Friday, near the Israel-occupied Golan Heights, a war monitoring group said.  The Syrian military could not immediately be reached for comment.  The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the aircraft went down in government territory southwest of Damascus after a missile hit it. Rebels are fighting Syrian government forces in the vicinity.  Two Syrian army officers from the helicopter s crew died, the Britain-based monitor said.

Summary: सीरियाई विद्रोहियों ने दक्षिण-पश्चिम में सेना के हेलीकॉप्टर को मार गिरायाः वेधशाला


BEIRUT (Reuters) - Saad al-Hariri, who announced his resignation as Lebanese prime minister in a televised broadcast from Saudi Arabia on Nov. 4, will visit Egypt on Tuesday to meet Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, Hariri s office said on Sunday. Hariri has since Saturday been in Paris, where he met French President Emmanuel Macron, and has said he will return to Lebanon by Wednesday for its Independence Day celebrations. Lebanese President Michel Aoun has said he will not accept Hariri s resignation until it is delivered in person and all sides in Beirut have called for his speedy return. A leader in Hariri s Future Movement had earlier told Reuters Hariri would visit Egypt on Monday. The resignation sparked a political crisis in Lebanon and put it on the front line of a regional power struggle between Saudi Arabia and Iran.  Hariri criticized Iran and its ally Hezbollah, which is in Lebanon s coalition government, in his resignation statement, and said he feared assassination. Apart from a brief trip to Abu Dhabi, he remained in Saudi Arabia until he flew to France. His stay in the kingdom led to accusations from Lebanese officials and politicians that Saudi Arabia had coerced him to resign, which he and Riyadh denied.  On Friday, Hariri tweeted that his presence there was for  consultations on the future of the situation in Lebanon and its relations with the surrounding Arab region . On Sunday, Arab League foreign ministers held an emergency meeting in Cairo, requested by Saudi Arabia, to discuss ways to confront Iran and Hezbollah over their role in the region.  In a statement afterwards, the ministers accused Hezbollah of supporting terrorism in Arab countries.  Lebanese Foreign Minister Gebran Bassil did not attend.

Summary: लेबनान के हरीरी मंगलवार को मिस्र का दौरा करेंगेः हरीरी का कार्यालय


WASHINGTON (Reuters) - In an awkward reversal, the U.S. military promptly withdrew an old video by Islamist militants it had released on Friday as evidence that a fatal raid in Yemen by American special forces this week was a counter terrorism success.  An expert in radical Islamist media said the footage by unknown militants appeared to be part of videos first released by jihadists online some 10 years ago, undermining the Pentagon’s explanation about its value.  A U.S. Central Command spokesman confirmed that the video was removed from the website because the contents were old.    “We didn’t want it to appear that we were trying to pass off an old video as a new video,” spokesman Colonel John Thomas said. It is the latest controversy surrounding the raid on a branch of al Qaeda in Yemen, the first such operation authorized by President Donald Trump as commander in chief. The military said the video was found on Sunday in the operation in al-Bayda province in which a U.S. Navy SEAL, militants and civilians were killed.      A U.S. Central Command spokesman had said on Friday the clip of a ski-masked man encouraging people to build bombs, was “one example of the volumes of sensitive al-Qa’eda terror-planning information recovered during the operation.”  The Department of Defense posted the video on its web site on Friday but pulled it off within several hours when questions began to arise about its age.     The footage appeared to be similar to that in other videos that surfaced online in 2007.  “The video clip that was posted and abruptly taken down was one of 25 videos that appeared (published) in 2007,” said Adam Raisman, a senior analyst at SITE group which monitors extremists online. He added that the only difference was that the Pentagon video had English subtitles added.        Pentagon spokesman Captain Jeff Davis said the video was still of worth, even if it may have been created earlier.  “It does not matter when the video was made, that they had it is still illustrative of who they are and what their intentions are,” Davis said.      U.S. Navy SEAL William “Ryan” Owens was killed in the raid, which the Pentagon said also killed 14 militants. Medics at the scene said about 30 people, including 10 women and children, also died. U.S. military officials told Reuters this week that the operation went ahead without sufficient intelligence, ground support or adequate backup preparations.  As a result, three officials said, the attacking SEAL team found itself dropping onto a reinforced al Qaeda base defended by landmines, snipers, and a larger than expected contingent of heavily armed Islamist extremists.         But Central Command said earlier this week that it only asks for operations it believes have a good chance of success based on its planning. Pentagon spokesman Davis has said the element of surprise had not been lost in the raid.

Summary: अमेरिकी सेना ने यमन के हमले से पुराना इस्लामी वीडियो जारी किया, वापस लिया


MADRID (Reuters) - The Spanish government has secured opposition support for dissolving Catalonia s parliament and holding new elections there in January in its bid to check the regional government s push for independence. The Socialists, the main opposition, said on Friday they would back special measures to impose central rule on the region to thwart the secessionist-minded Catalan government and end a crisis that has unsettled the euro and hurt confidence in the euro zone s fourth-largest economy. Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy, who wants opposition support to be able to present a united front in the crisis, has called an emergency cabinet meeting on Saturday to pave the way for Madrid establishing central control in the region. The government would not confirm whether January elections formed a part of the package, with Rajoy saying only that the measures would be announced on Saturday. However a government spokesman saw regional elections as likely.  The logical end to this process would be new elections established within the law,  said government spokesman Inigo Mendez de Vigo at a weekly government press conference. It will be the first time in Spain s four decades of democracy that Madrid has invoked the constitution to effectively sack a regional government and call new elections. Head of state King Felipe used a prizegiving ceremony in the northwestern region of Asturias to indicate support for the government and affirm the unity of Spain, of which he said  Catalonia is and will remain an essential part.   Spain needs to face up to an unacceptable secession attempt on its national territory, which it will resolve through its legitimate democratic institutions,  said the monarch, a ceremonial figure who sharply criticized Catalan leaders earlier this month.  Rajoy wants as broad a consensus as possible before taking the step, which has raised the prospect of more large-scale protests in Catalonia, where pro-independence groups have been able to bring more than one million people out onto the streets. Catalan leader Carles Puigdemont, a former journalist who is spearheading the secession campaign, has refused to renounce independence, citing an overwhelming vote in favor of secession  at a referendum on Oct.1. Regional authorities said around 90 percent voted for independence though only 43 percent of voters participated. Opponents of secession mostly stayed home. Spanish courts have ruled the referendum unconstitutional, but Puigdemont says the result is binding and must be obeyed. The prolonged standoff has caused hundreds of companies to move their headquarters outside Catalonia and prompted the Spanish government to cut its economic growth forecast. The region accounts for a fifth of Spain s economy. In a test of investor appetite for Spanish stocks, housebuilder Aedas (AEDAS.MC) dropped over 6 percent in its debut on the Madrid stock exchange on Friday, although it later regained losses to trade close to its listing price. The uncertainty surrounding the future of the region has rattled the euro. On Thursday, European Union leaders including Germany s Angela Merkel and France s Emmanuel Macron offered their support for Rajoy at an EU leaders summit in Brussels. After Rajoy announces the direct control measures on Saturday, Spain s upper house will have to approve them in a session which could take place on Oct. 27, a Senate spokeswoman said. Actions could range from dismissing the Catalan parliament and government, to a softer approach of removing specific heads of department. Direct rule from Madrid would be temporary while regional elections are held to form a new government.

Summary: स्पेन ने कैटेलोनिया में स्वतंत्रता की कोशिश को समाप्त करने के लिए नए चुनावों की योजना बनाईः विपक्ष


RIYADH (Reuters) - A large Saudi public university announced it would dismiss employees suspected of ties to the banned Muslim Brotherhood, adding to concerns that the government is clamping down on its critics in academia and beyond. Activists and rights groups say security forces have rounded up some 30 clerics, intellectuals and others in the past 10 days, in what Human Rights Watch has described as  a coordinated crackdown on dissent . Authorities have not explicitly acknowledged the detentions, which come amid widespread speculation - denied by officials - that King Salman will abdicate in favor of his son as well as deepening tensions with neighboring Qatar, which is accused by Riyadh of supporting Islamists, including the Brotherhood. The governing council of Al-Imam Mohammed Ibn Saud Islamic University in Riyadh advised against renewing contracts for employees it said were  influenced by the ideology of the terrorist Muslim Brotherhood organization . The statement, posted online on Tuesday, did not name the employees or specify their number, but said they included Saudis and foreigners. The employees  removal  aims to protect the minds of students and university employees from those deviant, partisan ideas and dangerous, destructive trends , it added. Saudi Arabia designated the Muslim Brotherhood a terrorist organization in 2014. Hardline groups such as al Qaeda and Islamic State are also blacklisted. The ruling Al Saud family has always regarded Islamist groups as a major internal threat to its rule over a country in which appeals to religious sentiment resonate deeply and an al Qaeda campaign a decade ago killed hundreds. Since the kingdom s founding, the Al Saud have enjoyed a close alliance with clerics of the ultra-conservative Wahhabi school of Islam who have espoused a political philosophy that demands obedience to the ruler. By contrast the Brotherhood advances an active political doctrine urging revolutionary action, which flies in the face of Wahhabi teaching.  A political Islamist organization founded in Egypt nearly a century ago, it says it is committed to peaceful activism and reform through elections, and its adherents span the region, holding elected office in Arab countries from Tunisia to Jordan. Brotherhood members fleeing repression in Egypt, Syria and Iraq half a century ago took shelter in Saudi Arabia, some taking up roles in the kingdom s education system and helping to establish the Sahwa or  Awakening  movement which agitated in the 1990s for democracy. The Sahwa mostly fizzled, with some activists arrested and others coaxed into conformity, though admirers and its appeal lingered.

Summary: ब्रदरहुड से जुड़े संदिग्ध शिक्षाविदों को बर्खास्त करेगा सऊदी विश्वविद्यालय


HAVANA/BOGOTA (Reuters) - Members of Colombia’s Marxist FARC guerrillas will meet U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry in Cuba, a spokeswoman for Colombia’s government peace negotiators said on Sunday, adding a twist to a historic visit to the island by U.S. President Barack Obama. The meeting with Kerry on Monday will be the first time a U.S. secretary of state has met the negotiators from the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, who have been talking peace with the Colombian government in Havana for more than three years. “At around 4 p.m. (2000 GMT), the meeting between Kerry and the FARC delegation will take place,” after the Colombian government delegation meet him, the spokeswoman said. A source at Colombia’s Office of the High Commissioner for Peace said the rebels and Colombian government negotiators would also go to an exhibition game between Major League Baseball’s Tampa Bay Rays and Cuba’s national team on Tuesday. That game will be attended by Obama, who on Sunday became the first sitting U.S. president to visit Cuba in nearly 90 years. But FARC negotiator Pastor Alape said he was not aware of an invitation to attend the baseball game. He said that before meeting with Kerry, the rebels would meet the U.S. special envoy for Colombian peace talks, Bernard Aronson, to agree on an agenda.  The United States sees the Colombian peace talks hosted in Havana as an example of how restoring normal relations with Cuba can help its wider goals in Latin America. Latin America’s longest war has killed some 220,000 people and displaced millions of others since 1964. The government and rebels are attempting to reach a deal that would be placed before Colombian voters for approval, with a U.N. mission supervising rebel disarmament.  Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos and FARC leader  Rodrigo Londono, better known by the nom de guerre Timochenko, had set a self-imposed March 23 deadline to reach a comprehensive pact but have since conceded that goal may not be reached. Washington designated the FARC as a foreign terrorist organization in 1997, and many of its leaders have been indicted in the United States on charges of cocaine trafficking.

Summary: ओबामा की यात्रा के दौरान क्यूबा में केरी से मिलेंगे कोलंबिया के फार्क विद्रोही


ANKARA (Reuters) - Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan said on Thursday the United States  decision to recognize Jerusalem as Israel s capital completely disregarded a 1980 United Nations resolution regarding the status of the city. Erdogan also said the decision would throw the region into a  ring of fire . He was speaking to supporters at the airport in Ankara before departing to Greece for an official visit.

Summary: तुर्की के एर्दोगन ने कहा कि जेरूसलम पर अमेरिकी निर्णय संयुक्त राष्ट्र की अवहेलना करता है


WASHINGTON (Reuters) - White House budget chief Mick Mulvaney said on Monday he expects the Treasury secretary to use extraordinary cash management measures after the government’s current debt ceiling extension expires on March 15. “The secretary of the Treasury actually makes the decision and I expect him to do what all previous secretaries of the Treasury have done, at least all the ones that I’m familiar with, to use those measures to extend that date,” Mulvaney said in an interview on Fox News. “But we will deal with it,” he said, “certainly” before Congress recesses in August. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said at his Senate confirmation hearing last month that he would like to see an increase in the debt ceiling “sooner rather than later” to avoid another standoff with Congress that could upset financial markets. The United States is one of few nations in which the legislature must approve periodic increases in the legal limit on how much money the federal government can borrow. Rather than setting a specific dollar limit on the debt, Congress in 2015  simply suspended the ceiling until March 15, allowing normal borrowing to continue.   The debt ceiling will reset at the total debt level outstanding on that day, but Congress will need to approve a new debt ceiling or extension. As of Feb. 23, the federal debt stood at about $19.88 trillion, according to Treasury data.  But analysts estimate that Treasury can continue to borrow and avoid a payment default for several months past March 15 even with no action from Congress as it deploys its extraordinary cash management measures. In the past, the Treasury has been able to stave off depletion of its cash reserves with steps such as temporarily halting investments in some pension funds for federal workers and suspending sales of certain securities to state and local governments. Although such steps are known as “extraordinary measures,” they are routinely used by Treasury during debt ceiling debates.   In 2011, Standard & Poor’s downgraded the U.S. credit rating for the first time after a gridlocked Congress waited until the government was possibly within hours of defaulting on its debt to raise the ceiling.

Summary: व्हाइट हाउस के बजट प्रमुख को ऋण सीमा तक पहुंचने में देरी की उम्मीद


WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Senate Banking Committee will vote on Tuesday on the nomination of Federal Reserve Governor Jerome Powell to lead the U.S. central bank, the panel said in a statement. The committee said on Thursday the vote would be held at 10 a.m. (1500 GMT). If confirmed by the Senate, as expected, Powell would assume the Fed chair post after Janet Yellen’s term expires on Feb. 3.

Summary: अमेरिकी सीनेट पैनल फेड का नेतृत्व करने के लिए पॉवेल के नामांकन पर मंगलवार को मतदान करेगा


WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson urged African leaders on Friday to take further actions to pressure North Korea to end its nuclear and missile programs, including downgrading diplomatic ties and expelling North Korean laborers.  All nations must act to implement U.N. sanctions in full,  Tillerson told a trade and security gathering with African ministers.  Further, I urge you to take additional measures to pressure the DPRK by downgrading your diplomatic relationships with the regime, severing economic ties, expelling all DPRK laborers and reducing North Korea s presence in your country.  The U.S. State Department said on Thursday that Sudan had committed to severing trade and military ties with North Korea.

Summary: अमेरिका ने अफ्रीकी देशों से परमाणु कार्यक्रम को लेकर उत्तर कोरिया पर दबाव बनाने का आग्रह किया


NEW YORK (LPC/IFR) - U.S. regulators said they are open to revising restrictions on leveraged lending, offering an olive branch to a GOP-controlled Congress keen to roll back banking regulations. The three main U.S. bank regulatory agencies, in recent letters seen by Reuters, said they could revisit the guidelines they put in place in 2013. Critics say those guidelines have hampered business, and members of Congress started pressing for a rollback shortly after Donald Trump’s inauguration as president. In theory, the guidelines prevent banks from loaning money when doing so would put the borrower’s leverage at six times or higher, or for companies that could not quickly pay down debt.  They were broadly intended to prevent the kind of egregious and wanton lending widely seen as contributing to the last global financial crisis.  US Senator Pat Toomey asked the Government Accountability Office - the investigative arm of Congress - if the guidelines rose to the level of formal rules. The GAO decided in October that they do, meaning Congress has the right to amend or eliminate the guidelines - which many bankers feel have hampered growth - altogether. But to forestall that development, the Federal Reserve, Office of the Comptroller of the Currency and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation said they could seek further feedback on the guidelines. The three agencies sent their letters to Representative Blaine Luetkemeyer, head of the House Financial Services Subcommittee, who asked them to stop enforcing the guidelines. “This is positive,” said Richard Farley, head of the leveraged finance group at law firm Kramer Levin. “It seems both Congress and regulators are looking towards a revised guidance from the agencies to avoid the 2013 guidance being revoked and leaving the market in limbo.” Several specialists with knowledge of the situation said the response from regulators indicated a desire to avoid a protracted battle with a Congress inclined against regulation. Under the 1996 Congressional Review Act, Congress is entitled to review - and vote to eliminate - formal regulations issued by government agencies. Senator Toomey asked the GAO to decide whether the leveraged lending guidelines, created after the financial crisis, rose to the level of regulations that fall under the Act. Experts say the three agencies have decided to revisit the guidelines, rather than risk a fight on Capitol Hill that could limit the ability to issue similar guidance in future. Two people closely following the matter said the regulators had given Congress the opportunity to declare victory, while preserving their prerogatives. Both described the decision as a purely political one that had little to do with the actual leveraged lending restrictions. “If Congress votes them down, then the agencies are basically barred from coming back,” said Jacques Schillaci, a banking regulation specialist at law firm Linklaters. “If the agencies now come out with something that addresses the concerns and gives banks a bit more leeway, it gives Toomey the ability to say: we got what we wanted.”  The three agencies declined to comment. Requests for comment went unanswered by the offices of Luetkemeyer and Toomey. Bankers have frequently complained that the guidelines do not prevent highly leveraged lending from occurring, but only keep their own regulated institutions from getting the business. Instead, they say, lenders not subject to the guidelines, such as non-bank investment firms, get to pick up the business that they cannot touch - and the numbers suggest they are right. According to data from LPC, two-thirds of leveraged buyouts through the first three quarters of 2017 had leverage above six times - and more than 26% topped seven times. The last time the percentage of LBOs with seven times leverage was this high was in 2007, just before the financial crisis kicked in.  And not all of that is from institutions exempt from the guidelines: mainstream banks are still able to arrange deals well in excess of the six-times leverage threshold. This can be done by inflating a company’s Ebitda through adjustments - which makes the leverage seem smaller - or by showing the company can generate enough cash to bring leverage down quickly thereafter. Recent financings for Tekni-Plex and Avantor, for example, were all marketed with leverage of around or above seven times.  Whatever the methodology, the fact that the guidelines have not entirely prevented leverage topping six times suggests to some in the market that the fuss about them is overblown. “The leveraged lending guidelines are a non-issue,” said Jay Ptashek, a leveraged finance partner at law firm Kirkland & Ellis. “People understand the guard rails and are complying, whatever that means. Leverage is generally being maxed out within those guidelines.”

Summary: एक्सक्लूसिवः अमेरिकी नियामकों ने ऋणों पर कांग्रेस को ऑलिव शाखा की पेशकश की


PARIS (Reuters) - French counter-terrorism investigators questioned five people on Tuesday after police over the weekend found what appeared to be a ready-to-detonate bomb at an apartment building in one of Paris s poshest neighborhoods. Interior Minister Gerard Collomb said one of those arrested was on an intelligence services list of  radicalized  persons - a list that includes the names of potential Islamist militants.  We are still in a state of war,  Collomb, speaking after a Sunday attack in which a man stabbed and killed two women outside the train station in Marseille, told France Inter radio. Judicial sources said the explosive device included two gas canisters inside the building in the affluent 16th district of western Paris and two outside, some of them doused with petrol and wired to connect to a mobile phone. More than 230 people have been killed in attacks by Islamist militants in France over the past three years. The Islamic State militant group, whose bases in Syria and Iraq are being bombed by French war planes, has urged followers to attack France. Most of those killed died when Islamist gunmen and suicide bombers targeted Paris in 2015, and when a man drove a large truck into crowds in the Riviera resort of Nice in 2016. Since then, there has been a string of attacks perpetrated by lone assailants, often targeting police or soldiers.  The threat is changing form,  said Collomb. A counter-terrorism investigation is also under way after the attack on Sunday, when a man slit the throat of one of his victims and killed her cousin before being shot dead by soldiers in the southern port city. Tunisian authorities have identified the attacker as Ahmed Hanachi, Collomb told parliament. He lived in France from 2005 to 2006 and was known to police under several alias  for petty crimes, but had not previously caught the attention of French intelligence agencies. Hanachi was arrested in the city of Lyon on Friday on suspicion of theft. He was carrying a Tunisian passport and released 24 hours later, a day before committing the attack.  All these years, he used multiple identities in France as well as in Italy, declaring himself to be Moroccan, Algerian, Tunisian,  Collomb said.  France declared a state of emergency in late 2015 after the Paris attack, giving police special search and arrest powers to combat would-be terrorists. Lawmakers will vote later on Tuesday on a bill to convert many of those emergency measures into common law.

Summary: पेरिस के पॉश इलाके में वायर्ड विस्फोटकों के मामले में पांच लोग हिरासत में लिए गए


CHICAGO (Reuters) - The Chicago City Council on Wednesday approved Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s fiscal 2017 budget which calls for a tax on plastic bags and the first phase of hiring more than 900 police officers. The council voted 48-0 for the budget which begins on Jan. 1. Emanuel last month unveiled his $9.8 billion all-funds spending plan, which includes $3.7 billion for operations. The budget relies on $82.3 million in revenue growth, savings from efficiencies, and a few one-time measures - but no big tax hike. “To think that we’re on the verge today of passing a budget with almost unanimity is remarkable,” Alderman Ed Burke said just before the vote. Emanuel last year pushed through a $543 million phased-in property tax increase for police and firefighter retirement systems. The city enacted a new tax on water and sewer usage in September to rescue its largest pension fund for municipal workers from insolvency. The council previously increased a telephone surcharge for laborers’ pensions. Credit ratings for the nation’s third-largest city have been deteriorating due largely to an unfunded pension liability that stood at $33.8 billion at the end of fiscal 2015 for Chicago’s four retirement systems.  The new budget includes a 7-cent fee on store bags and parking rate hikes. It also accommodates the initial phase of the mayor’s two-year plan to add 970 police positions to address the city’s sharp spike in violence. “This is the first year in recent memory that we’ve made investments in public safety with the addition of 1,000 police officers,” said Alderman Jason Earvin. “And we can direct investment in some of the most challenged communities ... and with our youth in some of the most troubled parts of the city.” After the vote, Emanuel noted record-high summer job creation for youth, record-high project starts in commercial and residential real estate and the city using reforms to place pensions on the path to solvency. “Chicago’s employment is at a 15-year high that we haven’t seen since 2000 since the tech bubble,” Emanuel said. “What we have done, not just today, but over the last five years is give people confidence in the city that we are going to take care of our business, get our fiscal house in order.”

Summary: शिकागो सिटी काउंसिल ने मेयर का 2017 का बजट पारित किया


DHAKA (Reuters) - Bangladesh has proposed creating  safe zones  run by aid groups for Rohingya Muslims in Myanmar s Rakhine state to stop hundreds of thousands of refugees crossing into its territory following a military crackdown. The plan, the latest in a string of ideas floated by Dhaka, is unlikely to get much traction in Myanmar, where many consider the Rohingya community of 1.1 million as illegal immigrants from Bangladesh. That will leave Bangladesh, one of the poorest nations in the world, with little choice but to open new camps for refugees.   Dhaka sent the proposal to the Myanmar government through the International Committee of the Red Cross to secure three areas in Rakhine, home to the Rohingya community, suggesting that people displaced by the violence be relocated there under the supervision of an international organization, such as the United Nations.   The logic of the creation of such zones is that no Rohingya can come inside Bangladesh,  said Shahidul Haque, Bangladesh s foreign secretary, the top civil servant in the foreign ministry.  The Red Cross confirmed that it had passed on the request to Myanmar but said that it was a political decision for the two countries to make.   A Myanmar government spokesman did not respond to a request for comment.  Hundreds of thousands of Rohingya have fled to Bangladesh, a mostly Muslim nation of 160 million, from Buddhist-majority Myanmar in recent years.  The decades-old conflict in Rakhine flared most recently on Aug. 25, when Rohingya insurgents attacked several police posts and an army base. Since then, an estimated 270,000 Rohingya have fled to Bangladesh, according to the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees, joining more than 400,000 others already living there in cramped makeshift camps since the early 1990s. There are widespread fears that tens of thousands more could try to cross if the violence doesn t abate. Recent pictures from the border between the two countries show hundreds of Rohingya men, women and children trying to cross over into Bangladesh on foot and by boat. The humanitarian crisis next door has left Bangladesh scrambling to deal with people that it does not welcome either.  In recent days, Bangladesh officials have said they plan to go ahead with a controversial plan to develop an isolated, flood-prone island in the Bay of Bengal to temporarily house tens of thousands of refugees, drawing fresh criticism from the international community. It bowed to pressure on Thursday, with government officials saying that Dhaka would now make another 1,500 acres (607 hectares) of land available for camps to house refugees near Cox s Bazar, where many refugees already live as it is near the border with Myanmar.   They will be given temporary shelter,  said Kazi Abdur Rahman, additional deputy commissioner of Cox s Bazar. But Rahman added that the refugees would be fingerprinted and confined to the camp so that they did not mix with the local community.  These measures, however, do not offer a long-term solution to the crisis, and Dhaka says it is getting little support from its neighbor, which has been accused of trying to engineer  ethnic cleansing within its borders.  Bangladesh officials said they had proposed joint patrolling along the border but did not receive a response from Myanmar. Earlier this week, Bangladesh lodged a protest after it said Myanmar had laid landmines near the border between the two countries. Myanmar leader Aung San Suu Kyi, a Nobel Laureate, has come under pressure to halt violence against Rohingya.  She has said that her government was doing its best to protect everyone in Rakhine but did not refer specifically to the Rohingya exodus.  The solution lies in Myanmar. The UN hopes that Myanmar can address the root causes of the problem,  said Shinji Kubo, head of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees in Bangladesh.  Kubo said the Bangladesh government was doing its best by accepting the refugees instead of sending them back. Bangladesh officials are turning to the international community for help, claiming support from countries such as Turkey, which has promised aid.  On Friday, a Malaysian coast guard official said the country will not turn away Rohingya Muslims and is willing to provide them temporary shelter. But any such voyage would be hazardous for the next few months, because of the annual monsoon.  The world community must come forward to help them, not by putting pressure on Bangladesh but by putting pressure on Myanmar not to resort to these atrocities and violence,  said H.T. Imam, a senior aide to Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina.   The only solution is to force Myanmar to take back their citizens through international pressure. And we are working with our partners on that,  Imam said. Besides the creation of internationally-controlled safe zones in Rakhine state, Bangladesh has also mooted creating a buffer zone along the border, where the international community could set up camps and provide for the refugees, the officials said.  Further details of the plan could not be learned.    We will give aid agencies access. But we are not interested to give them shelter here. We are already overburdened,  said Mostafa Kamal Uddin, Bangladesh s home secretary.

Summary: बांग्लादेश रोहिंग्या संकट को कम करने के लिए 'सुरक्षित क्षेत्र' चाहता है, लेकिन इसकी संभावना नहीं है


WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren on Thursday urged the Justice Department’s top antitrust official to recuse himself from an ongoing review of AT&T Inc’s planned $85.4 billion acquisition of Time Warner Inc. She urged Assistant Attorney General for Antitrust Makan Delrahim, who was confirmed late last month, not to take part in the review because of his previous statement that the merger did not pose a “major antitrust problem.”  “Your refusal to recuse yourself will undermine public confidence in the division’s ability to reach an unbiased final decision in the matter,” Warren wrote in the letter. Warren’s concern over the deal is based on the fact that AT&T already owns DirecTV, which means that the proposed transaction would combine the biggest pay TV provider with a major U.S. content provider. Time Warner’s stable of content includes the premium cable channel HBO, TNT and news channel CNN, among others. AT&T said last month it plans to reinvest more advertising revenue into content as it goes head-to-head with online streaming services such as Netflix Inc. AT&T declined to comment and has said it hopes to complete the transaction by the end of the year. The Justice Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Summary: अमेरिकी न्याय विभाग के अधिकारी को एटी एंड टी/टाइम वार्नर सौदे की समीक्षा नहीं करनी चाहिएः सीनेटर