WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Senior Trump administration officials said on Sunday that the United States was committed to remaining part of the Iran nuclear accord for now, despite President Donald Trump s criticisms of the deal and his warnings that he might pull out. Nikki Haley, U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, said that Tehran is complying with the 2015 nuclear accord intended to increase Iran s accountability in return for the lifting of some economic sanctions.  I think right now, you re going to see us stay in the deal,  Haley told NBC s  Meet the Press.  In a speech on Friday, Trump laid out an aggressive approach on Iran and said he would not certify it is complying with the nuclear accord, despite a determination by the United Nations  nuclear watchdog that Tehran is meeting its terms. The Republican president threw the issue to the U.S. Congress, which has 60 days to decide whether to reinstate U.S. sanctions. He warned that if  we are not able to reach a solution working with Congress and our allies, then the agreement will be terminated.  So far, none of the other signatories to the deal - Britain, France, Germany, Russia, China, Iran and the European Union - have cited serious concerns, leaving the United States isolated. In her  Meet the Press  interview, Haley said the United States was not saying that Iran was in breach of the agreement, but she raised concerns about its activities that are not covered by the pact, including weapons sales and sponsorship of militant groups such as Hezbollah. Haley said that other countries were  turning a blind eye  to these Iranian activities in order to  protect  the nuclear agreement. She said the United States needed to weigh a  proportionate  response to Tehran s actions on the world stage.  The goal at the end of the day is to hold Iran accountable,  Haley said in the interview, which mainly focused on the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, as the nuclear deal is formally known. Haley and U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson hammered away at the need to address what they see as shortcomings in the two-year-old international accord while simultaneously placing pressure to rein in Iranian activities outside the scope of that deal. Tillerson, alluding to other signatory countries  opposition to reopening the Iran pact, raised the possibility of  a second agreement  to run parallel to the existing one. Among the  areas of concern  he mentioned were its sunset provisions and Tehran s ballistic missile program. Haley also said the reason the United States was looking closely at the Iran nuclear deal is because of escalating tensions over North Korea s nuclear weapons development.  What we re saying now with Iran is don t let it become the next North Korea.  On Friday, Trump also said he was authorizing the U.S. Treasury to sanction Iran s Revolutionary Guards, and on Sunday Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said he was planning to move ahead. Mnuchin, interviewed on Fox News   Sunday Morning Futures,  said he has spoken about Iran with his counterparts attending World Bank and International Monetary Fund meetings in recent days. He did not provide any details on possible sanctions.   U.S. Senator Susan Collins, appearing on ABC s  This Week,  noted that Trump could have taken a more extreme step by withdrawing from the agreement. But in words of support for Trump, the moderate Republican lawmaker said,  Instead, he put a spotlight on two troubling deficiencies in the agreement,  referring to a lack of limitations on Iran s tests of ballistic missiles and a  pathway to developing a nuclear weapon  down the road. While many U.S. allies strongly criticized Trump s decision not to recertify the Iran deal, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu praised the move, saying the current terms of the Iran nuclear accord would allow it to have a nuclear stockpile within a decade.  We cannot allow this rogue regime 30 times the size of North Korea s economy to have a nuclear arsenal,  Netanyahu said on CBS   Face the Nation.

Summary: अमेरिकी अधिकारी चिंताओं को कम करने की कोशिश करते हैं कि ट्रम्प ईरान समझौते को छोड़ सकते हैं


BEIJING (Reuters) - China s largely rubber-stamp parliament formally extended a law banning disrespect of the national anthem on Saturday to cover Hong Kong, a move that critics have said undermined the Chinese-ruled city s autonomy and freedoms. In the past few years, some Hong Kong football fans have booed the national anthem during World Cup qualifiers and other matches, mirroring protests in the United States where football players knelt during the national anthem, a practice denounced by U.S. President Donald Trump. China passed a new law in September mandating up to 15 days in police detention for those who mock the  March of the Volunteers  national anthem, a law that also covers the Chinese territories of Hong Kong and Macau but was not immediately given a legal basis for enforcement there. The National Anthem Law, which went into effect on Oct. 1, has now been included in an annex of Hong Kong s Basic Law, or mini constitution, state news agency Xinhua said. It will also be included in an annex of Macau s Basic Law, Xinhua reported. He Shaoren, spokesman for the National People s Congress Standing Committee, said in a news conference on Saturday that it was up to the Hong Kong government to enact a local law to abide by the amendment in a timely manner. A Hong Kong official said on Wednesday that the Special Administrative Region would enact such a law  as soon as possible . Hong Kong is a former British colony that returned to Chinese rule in 1997 under a so-called  one country, two systems  formula that promises the city a high degree of autonomy, including an independent judiciary. China s growing reach into Hong Kong s affairs has, however, stoked tensions and mass protests including the 2014  Occupy  civil disobedience movement that blocked major roads in the city for 79 days to pressure China to allow full democracy. Chinese authorities have strived to instill greater patriotism into Hong Kong, while condemning a push from democracy activists to distance Hong Kong. China s national legislature on Saturday also passed an amendment to its criminal law that extends punishments for publicly desecrating the national flag and emblem to disrespecting the national anthem. Punishments include jail terms of up to three years, Xinhua reported. This law does not appear to apply to Hong Kong or Macau.

Summary: चीन ने हांगकांग में राष्ट्रगान 'अनादर' कानून लागू किया


ULAANBAATAR (Reuters) - Mongolia s parliament confirmed the nomination of motorbike enthusiast Ukhnaa Khurelsukh as prime minister on Wednesday, putting the country back on track to receive funds from a $5.5 billion IMF economic rescue package.  Khurelsukh, of the ruling Mongolian People s Party (MPP), received unanimous approval from the lawmakers in attendance for his confirmation as Mongolia s 30th prime minister.  He will face challenges in bringing back foreign investment to the mineral-rich former Soviet satellite and manage the country s heavy debt load.   The International Monetary Fund has approved an economic bailout program to help relieve debt pressures and buoy the currency, the tugrik, that includes austerity policies.  An IMF visit to review the program that included the disbursement of $37.82 million of the funds was delayed in September until a new government was formed.  The IMF had said that once a new government was in place, it would engage with the authorities on how best to move forward with the program.  Khurelsukh succeeds Jargaltulga Erdenebat, who was voted out of office in September amid allegations of corruption and incompetence.  The new prime minister holds the title of colonel, although he only served in the military from 1989 to 1990.   He projects a tough rule of law image,  said Dale Choi, head of Altan Bumba Financial Group.  He s a very tough and strong guy himself. I think the electorate likes it very much.  Khurelsukh, 49. is seen as a leader to the party s so-called  youth faction  and is also a noted motorcycle enthusiast. He is president of the fan club for Harley-Davidson in Ulaanbaatar. Mongolia s democracy has been turbulent since its transition from a socialist state in 1990, and no premier has completed a four-year term since 2000.  Government infighting and reshuffles have contributed to the delays of development projects.  The closest Mongolia came to handing over the operations of state-owned Erdenes Tavan Tolgoi coking coal mine to a consortium of Mongolian Mining Corp, China Shenhua Energy and Sumitomo Corp was in 2015, before the parliament speaker stepped in to block the deal.  We would hope to see the new government advance the privatization of Tavan Tolgoi,  said Thomas Hugger CEO and a fund manager at Asia Frontier Capital. Mongolia s coal miners are looking to ramp up production to meet growing demand from China, but longstanding transportation issues continues to hold back sales.  Mongolia s proximity to China means it could play a large role in coal supply to China, said Hugger, if a key railway is built.   There s no reason Mongolia shouldn t be the largest supplier of coking and thermal coal to China.

Summary: मंगोलिया ने बाइक उत्साही प्रधानमंत्री का नाम लिया, आईएमएफ बचाव पैकेज की शुरुआत की


SHANGHAI (Reuters) - China s Big Four state-owned banks have stopped providing financial services to new North Korean clients, according to branch staff, amid U.S. concerns that Beijing has not been tough enough over Pyongyang s repeated nuclear tests. Tensions between the United States and North Korea have ratcheted up after the sixth and most powerful nuclear test conducted by Pyongyang on Sept. 3 prompted the United Nations Security Council to impose further sanctions on Tuesday. Chinese banks have come under scrutiny for their role as a conduit for funds flowing to and from China s increasingly isolated neighbor. China Construction Bank (CCB) (601939.SS) has  completely prohibited business with North Korea , said a bank teller at a branch in the northeastern province of Liaoning. The ban started on Aug. 28, the teller said. Frustrated that China had not done more to rein in North Korea, the Trump administration was mulling new sanctions in July on small Chinese banks and other firms doing business with Pyongyang, two senior U.S. officials told Reuters. A person answering the customer hotline at the world s largest lender, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China Ltd (ICBC) (601398.SS), said the bank had stopped opening accounts for North Koreans and Iranians since July 16. The person did not explain why or answer further questions. The measures taken by the largest Chinese banks began as early as the end of last year, when the Dandong city branch of China s most international lender, Bank of China Ltd (BoC) (601988.SS), stopped allowing North Koreans to open individual or business accounts, said a BoC bank teller who declined to be identified. Existing North Korean account holders could not deposit or remove money from their accounts, the BoC bank teller said. At Agricultural Bank of China Ltd (AgBank) (601288.SS), a teller at a branch in Dandong, a northeastern Chinese city that borders North Korea, said North Koreans could not open accounts. The teller did not provide further details. Official representatives for BoC, ICBC, CCB and AgBank could not be reached for comment. Banks in Dandong have been under the microscope as tensions have risen, given their proximity to North Korea. In June, the United States accused the Bank of Dandong, a small lender, of laundering money for Pyongyang. Attempts to slowly choke off the flow of funds to and from North Korea come after the United States sanctioned a Chinese industrial machinery wholesaler that it said was acting on behalf of a Pyongyang bank already sanctioned by the United Nations for supporting the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction. The Chinese wholesaler was found to be operating through 25 accounts at banks in China. Although measures are in place, some bankers questioned how well the rules would be enforced. Chinese lenders have experienced high-profile failures to police money-laundering in recent years, with some facing allegations that bankers were complicit in the movement of illicit funds.  Asking whether we will be able to enforce the new rules is the same question as asking how tight our know-your-client checks are,  said a senior corporate banker at the Bank of China who declined to be identified because of the sensitivity of the matter.  There will always be holes,  she said.

Summary: चीन के बड़े बैंकों ने उत्तर कोरियाई लोगों के लिए सेवाएं रोकीं, जानकारों का कहना है


AMMAN (Reuters) - Jordan said on Monday it was working with Russia to roll out a plan to end fighting in southwestern Syria  in the fastest possible time  - part of a peace pact for the border area brokered by Amman, Moscow and Washington.  Jordan and Russia s foreign ministers met in Amman to discuss progress in setting up a  de-escalation zone  in the particularly sensitive region that includes Syrian territory neighboring Israel. Neither side gave details on any sticking points, but diplomats told Reuters they have included the final positions of fighting forces, U.S. unease about Russian involvement in policing the deal, and when to reopen a key border crossing. Russia, which backs Syria s government in the civil war, and the United States, which backs rebel forces seeking to topple President Bashar al-Assad, met secretly in Jordan in June and  announced a ceasefire in Syria s southwest a month later. The truce - the first peacemaking effort in the war by the U.S. government under President Donald Trump - has reduced fighting there and is meant to lead to a longer-lasting de-escalation, a step toward a full settlement more than six years into the complex war.  We expressed our support to resolve all issues relating to the de-escalation zones  performance,  Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov told reporters in Amman.  The goal is to set up a de-escalation zone in the fastest possible time,  his Jordanian counterpart Ayman Safadi said.  Our priority is that our borders are secure and that means that there should be no Daesh nor Nusra nor sectarian militias,  Safadi added, referring to Islamic State and a rebel force once linked to Al Qaeda, both operating in Syria. An official and two senior diplomats told Reuters the powers have made progress in drawing up a map of the de-escalation zone, including Quneitra province bordering Israel, alongside the southern Deraa province adjoining Jordan. The official and diplomats said Washington had also secured an understanding with Moscow that militias backed by the Syrian government s ally Iran must be pushed 40 km (25 miles) from the border. That might help allay Israeli and Jordanian concerns about the presence of Lebanon s Iran-backed Hezbollah group in the area.  Diplomats said Lavrov also pressed Jordan to re-open its Nasib border crossing with Syria, something Amman has so far resisted, saying it needs more security. But it has strongly backed the broader de-escalation deal, seeing it as paving the way for an eventual return of tens of thousands of refugees in its territory. Rebels say the ceasefire remains fragile and fear Syria s army will return to attack them once it has consolidated gains in the north and other areas. Insurgents say the de-escalation zones merely free up Syria s army to make territorial gains elsewhere. Syria s army, supported by Russian air power and Iranian-backed militias, has in recent weeks gained a string of post along the border with Jordan in southeastern Syria, a zone that is outside the ceasefire area.

Summary: रूस और जॉर्डन दक्षिण सीरिया में डी-एस्केलेशन क्षेत्र को गति देने के लिए सहमत हुए


SANTO DOMINGO/CARACAS (Reuters) - Various Latin American nations will join an attempt to mediate Venezuela s political crisis in new talks later this month, the president of the Dominican Republic said on Thursday. Danilo Medina hosted high-level delegations from Venezuela s feuding government and opposition for two days in the latest foreign-led effort to ease a standoff alarming the world.  We advanced definition of an agenda on Venezuela s big problems. A commission of friendly countries was agreed,  the Dominican leader told reporters, saying Mexico, Chile, Bolivia, Nicaragua would join the process with others to be announced.  The next talks would be held on Sept. 27, again in the Dominican capital Santo Domingo, he added.  Mexico and Chile have been bitterly critical of President Nicolas Maduro s socialist government over rights and democracy issues, while fellow leftist-led Bolivia and Nicaragua are staunch allies.   Venezuelan s government is eager to ease foreign censure of and its delegates came out of Thursday s talks smiling.   A dialogue of peace is being installed so that Venezuela can resolve its affairs among Venezuelans,  senior Socialist Party official Jorge Rodriguez told reporters.  Earlier, opposition leaders, who faced a backlash from supporters after failed talks with Maduro last year, insisted they had only traveled to push long-standing demands, including a presidential election and the release of jailed activists.  Decrying Maduro as a  dictator  who has wrecked the OPEC member s once-prosperous economy, Venezuelan opposition leaders led street protests earlier this year seeking his removal that led to the deaths of at least 125 people.  Maduro says they were seeking a coup with U.S. connivance.  Though both sides met the Dominican president this week, it was unclear if they had also sat down and talked together.  In a statement after Thursday s meetings, the opposition Democratic Unity coalition said it had accepted an invitation by Medina and the United Nations to an  exploratory meeting  in the hope of advancing Maduro s exit by constitutional means.  Only through democratic and non-violent change will it be possible to overcome the current social and economic tragedy afflicting all Venezuelans,  it said.  The coalition said six countries would be acting as guarantors, and any final accord must include a date for a presidential vote, reform of the national electoral board, release of political prisoners, and emergency humanitarian aid.  Any agreement should go to a referendum, it added. The government delegation included Delcy Rodriguez, leader of Venezuela s all-powerful and pro-Maduro Constituent Assembly whose creation brought widespread foreign condemnation as it overrides the existing opposition-led congress.  The opposition delegation was led by Julio Borges, head of that congress, fresh from a trip to Europe where he was received by the leaders of Germany, France and Spain.  Maduro routinely calls for dialogue, but his adversaries suspect he may use talks as a stalling tactic to help his image without producing concrete results. A dialogue brokered by former Spanish Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero and the Vatican in 2016 did nothing to advance opposition demands.

Summary: लैटिन अमेरिकी देशों ने वेनेजुएला संकट मध्यस्थता की मांग की


WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Republicans struggling to agree on healthcare legislation to overhaul Obamacare obeyed U.S. President Donald Trump’s orders to try to swiftly reach a deal but were unable to resolve their differences in a long, late-night meeting. Earlier on Wednesday, Trump took Senate Republicans to task for failing to agree on how to dismantle Obamacare, as a new report showed 32 million Americans would lose health insurance if senators opt to repeal the law without a replacement. Trump gathered 49 Republican senators for a White House lunch after a bill to repeal and replace the 2010 Affordable Care Act collapsed on Monday amid dissent from a handful of the party’s conservatives and moderates.  After Trump’s exhortation to keep trying, party members met with Health and Human Services Secretary Tom Price behind closed doors on Wednesday night to try to finally come together on a major Republican promise of the past seven years - undoing former Democratic President Barack Obama’s signature legislation, popularly known as Obamacare. There was no immediate breakthrough. “We still have some issues that divide us,” said Senator Ted Cruz, a conservative who has proposed letting insurers offer cheaper bare-bones plans that do not comply with Obamacare regulations.  Republicans attending the late meeting sent their staff away in order to talk frankly and Senator John Kennedy said everyone was negotiating in good faith but he added he did not know if they would reach agreement.  Almost all the other senators rushed off after the meeting without comment. As it was getting underway, the nearly two dozen Republican senators were shaken by news that their colleague, veteran Senator John McCain, had been diagnosed with brain cancer. McCain’s absence from the Senate makes the job of passing a healthcare bill more difficult because leaders need every Republican vote they can get. “Obviously, I think more people are worried about his health than thinking about the math. You understand the math. Obviously it makes things difficult,” Senator Bob Corker said as he left the meeting. Trump had taken a hands-off approach to the healthcare debate last week and suggested on Tuesday that he was fine with  letting Obamacare fail. Then on Wednesday he switched course and demanded senators stay in Washington through their planned August recess until they find common ground on healthcare. “We can repeal, but we should repeal and replace, and we shouldn’t leave town until this is complete,” Trump said at the meeting. Trump made the repeal and replacement of Obamacare, which he has called a “disaster,” a central promise of his 2016 campaign. Even with Trump’s new push, Republican leaders in the Senate face a difficult task getting moderates and conservatives to agree on an overhaul that can pass. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell had planned to hold a straight repeal vote next week, but several Republican senators have already said they oppose that approach.  Thirty-two million Americans would lose their health insurance by 2026 if Obamacare is scrapped without an alternative in place, the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office reported on Wednesday, while 17 million would become uninsured next year alone.  At the same time, premiums on individual insurance plans would rise 25 percent next year and double by 2026.  The CBO’s estimates were unchanged from a previous report that assessed the impact of a 2015 bill to repeal Obamacare that passed the House of Representatives and Senate and was vetoed by Obama.  Democrats were swift to highlight the CBO’s assessment, while Republicans remained silent. “President Trump and Republicans have repeatedly promised to lower premiums and increase coverage, yet each proposal they offer would do the opposite,” Senate Democratic leader Charles Schumer said in a statement.     Insurers and hospitals have lobbied against straight repeal, saying the limbo would increase uncertainty and their costs. “CBO projects half the country would have no insurers in the individual market by 2020 under the new repeal bill. That’s a true death spiral,” tweeted Larry Levitt, vice president at the Kaiser Family Foundation, a healthcare research group. Republicans say Obamacare is a costly intrusion into the healthcare system. But the party is divided between moderates concerned the Senate bill would eliminate insurance for millions of low-income Americans and conservatives who want to see even deeper cuts to Obamacare, which boosted the number of Americans with health insurance by 20 million through mandates on individuals and employers, and income-based subsidies. Moderate Republican Senators Susan Collins, Lisa Murkowski and Shelley Moore Capito said they opposed McConnell’s plan for a repeal that would take effect in two years. All three attended the lunch with Trump. With Democrats united in opposition to repeal, McConnell can only lose two votes from the Republicans’ 52-48 majority in the 100-seat Senate to pass healthcare legislation. Opponents of repeal protested throughout Senate buildings on Wednesday afternoon, leading to 155 arrests, police said. Demonstrators returned in the evening to yell as senators arrived for the meeting. Party fractures also emerged in the House of Representatives. The chamber passed a plan to repeal and replace Obamacare in May. But on Wednesday, the House Freedom Caucus, the Republican Party’s conservative wing, filed a petition to vote on a straight repeal. House Speaker Paul Ryan’s spokeswoman, AshLee Strong, said: “The House passed an Obamacare repeal-and-replace bill we are proud of and we hope the Senate will take similar action.”

Summary: रिपब्लिकन देर रात तक मिलते हैं क्योंकि ट्रम्प ने नई अमेरिकी स्वास्थ्य सेवा योजना की मांग की


BERLIN (Reuters) - German police arrested a 29-year-old man they said was an active member of Islamic State who was plotting a truck attack on an ice rink.  The arrest, a year after Anis Amri, a failed Tunisian asylum seeker with Islamist links, hijacked a truck and drove it into a Christmas market in Berlin, killing 12 people, comes as security services have warned of growing numbers of radical Islamists in Germany.  He was considering an attack on the ice rink on the Schlossplatz in Karlsruhe,  police in the south-western state of Baden-Wuerttemberg said, adding that the suspect was a German citizen whose name they gave only as Dasbar W.  To that end he was assessing areas around Karlsruhe Castle and, from September 2017, had begun seeking employment as a delivery driver - without success,  the police statement said. In 2015, the suspect traveled to Iraq to fight for Islamic State, receiving weapons training and working as a scout seeking potential attack targets in the city of Erbil, police said. He returned to Germany the following year. Before leaving for Iraq, Dasbar worked for Islamic State from Germany, producing propaganda videos and proselytizing to converts in online chat rooms, police said. Earlier this month, Germany s security service warned that the number of Salafists - followers of a radical Islamist ideology - had risen to an all-time high of 10,800, though the number prepared to mount attacks was in the order of hundreds.

Summary: जर्मन पुलिस ने बर्फ से भरे ट्रक पर हमले की साजिश रचने वाले कथित इस्लामिक स्टेट आतंकवादी को गिरफ्तार किया


WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Trump administration will not issue executive orders calling for a review of international treaties and U.S. funding of the United Nations and other international bodies “at this time,” a senior U.S. administration official said on Friday. The Trump administration was preparing executive orders that would review U.S. funding of the United Nations and other international organizations and certain forms of multilateral treaties, the New York Times reported on Wednesday. “We remain committed to supporting the useful and necessary work performed by such organizations and alliances, and look forward to continuing that support,” the official told Reuters, speaking on condition of anonymity. “While no executive orders on these subjects are expected at this time, this president and his administration intend to be watchful stewards of the American people’s interests and of the American taxpayer’s dollars,” the official added. It was immediately clear why the orders were being shelved. According to one draft executive order published by The Daily Beast, Trump wants a committee, including his secretary of state, attorney general and director of national intelligence, to carry out a one-year review of U.S. funding to international organizations with the aim of almost halving voluntary funding. The United States is the largest contributor to the United Nations, paying 22 percent of the $5.4 billion core U.N. budget and 28 percent of the $7.9 billion U.N. peacekeeping budget. These are assessed contributions - agreed by the U.N. General Assembly - and not voluntary payments. U.N. agencies, such as the U.N. Development Programme, the children’s agency UNICEF, the World Food Programme and the U.N. Population Fund, are funded voluntarily. The new U.S. ambassador to the UN, Nikki Haley, pledged on Friday to overhaul the world body and warned U.S. allies that if they did not support Washington then she is “taking names” and will respond. During her Senate Foreign Relations Committee confirmation hearing this month, Haley said she did not back “slashing” U.N. funding.

Summary: संधियों की कोई अमेरिकी समीक्षा नहीं, इस समय संयुक्त राष्ट्र का वित्तपोषणः प्रशासन अधिकारी


WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The North Korean foreign minister s statement that the United States has declared war on Pyongyang is  absurd,  the White House said on Monday.  We ve not declared war on North Korea. Frankly, the suggestion of that is absurd,  White House spokeswoman Sarah Sanders told reporters.

Summary: अमेरिका द्वारा उत्तर कोरिया के खिलाफ युद्ध घोषित करने की धारणा 'बेतुकी' हैः व्हाइट हाउस


TUNIS (Reuters) - A group of 25 refugees have been evacuated from Libya to Niger to have resettlement claims processed, in the first operation of its kind from the North African country, the United Nations said on Sunday. The move is part of efforts to provide protection for refugees and other vulnerable migrants who travel to Libya, often intending to attempt the dangerous sea crossing to Italy.  Many are trapped in smuggling networks or detention centers where they are exposed to a range of abuses including rape and torture that have been widely documented by human rights organizations and U.N. agencies. About 43,000 refugees and asylum seekers registered by U.N. refugee agency UNHCR are now in Libya. It is hard to resettle refugees directly from Libya partly because most countries closed their embassies in Tripoli after fighting escalated there in 2014. The initial group evacuated by air from Tripoli to Niamey on Saturday was made up of 15 women, six men and four children from Eritrea, Ethiopia and Sudan, according to the United Nations.  Today s evacuation symbolizes hope in finding safe solutions for vulnerable refugees in Libya,  Roberto Mignone, the UNHCR representative for Libya, said in a statement.    The operation was the result of a joint initiative by UNHCR and the governments of Libya and Niger, and Niger has agreed to host the group until their claims to be resettled in third countries are dealt with, it said.  We hope to be able to carry out more evacuations in the near future,  said Vincent Cochetel, UNHCR s Special Envoy for the Central Mediterranean. But he said the scheme would remain  limited in scale  as long as commitments to resettle refugees remained  insufficient .  These refugee evacuations can only be part of broader asylum-building and migration management efforts to address the complex movement of migrants and refugees who embark on perilous journeys across the Sahara Desert and the Mediterranean Sea,  he said.   Most migrants traveling through Libya towards Europe come from sub-Saharan African countries. Many fleeing poverty, repression or conflict journey across the desert through Niger, Algeria or Sudan.  The Libya to Italy crossing has become the main migrant route to Europe since an agreement between the EU and Turkey shut down smuggling through Greece last year. More than 600,000 have crossed by boat to Italy since 2014.  European states have pledged tens of millions of euros to Libya, Niger and migrants  countries of origin in an effort to stem the flows. Departures from Libya have dropped since July due to changes in smuggling activity and increased activity by Libya s European-backed coastguard. European policy has drawn criticism from human rights groups that say it traps migrants in Libya, exposing them to further abuse there. UNHCR is seeking to open a refugee transit center in Tripoli early next year to shelter some of the most vulnerable refugees as they await evacuation or resettlement. The International Organization for Migration carries out voluntary repatriations of migrants from Libya, flying home more than 10,600 so far this year.

Summary: संयुक्त राष्ट्र ने लीबिया से नाइजर में शरणार्थियों के पहले समूह को निकाला


WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Presumptive Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump said on Tuesday his comments questioning the impartiality of a Mexican-American judge had been misconstrued as a broad attack on people of Mexican heritage. Trump said, however, that it was fair to question the judge’s impartiality in the civil suit against Trump University and whether he could receive a fair trial.

Summary: मैक्सिकन-अमेरिकी न्यायाधीश पर उनकी टिप्पणी का गलत अर्थ निकाला गयाः ट्रम्प


LOME (Reuters) - Security forces in Togo used batons, tear gas and live bullets against protesters seeking an end to President Faure Gnassingbe s rule on Wednesday and a child was killed in the ensuing clashes, according to Amnesty International. Tensions are mounting over the president s tenure and thousands marched nationwide against government reforms announced on Tuesday which they say will allow the Gnassingbe family dynasty to run the West African country until 2030.  There was a 9-year-old boy killed in Mango by military forces. He was shot in the head,  said Francois Patuel, of Amnesty International, citing local sources including family members. Security Minister Damehame Yark confirmed that a child had been shot dead in Mango, hundreds of kilometres north of the capital Lome, but blamed the PNP opposition party. Riots also broke out in the northern city of Bafilo between protesters against Gnassingbe and his supporters, injuring several, opposition leader Jean-Pierre Fabre said at the end of a peaceful march in Lome. The former French colony of 8 million people that is home to several large firms, including Ecobank and regional airline ASKY, has a history of violent political repression. Hundreds were killed in the aftermath of Gnassingbe s contested election win in 2005. Shortly afterward, he pledged to re-introduce the term limits his father scrapped and align Togo with most of its West African neighbors, which are bucking a trend toward life-long presidencies elsewhere on the continent. Gnassingbe, now in his third term, dropped the reforms until parliament this week attempted to cap future presidencies to two terms of five years, but the bill did not get enough backing due to an opposition boycott and will be decided by referendum instead. In Lome, people wearing the red and orange T-shirts of the opposition banged on tam-tams and sang a traditional battle song  Strength to the Great  in the local Ewe language. Others carried a giant banner saying:  People of Togo say No! 50 years is enough!   The referendum is not what we want. We are asking for the president to leave,  said 42-year-old Paulin Kossi.  Nearby, a large crowd gathered on a beachside boulevard to show their support for the UNIR ruling party while a motorcycle parade bearing flags with Gnassingbe s snaked through the streets, flanked by a police escort. Residents also complained of internet cuts - a method increasingly used by governments to stifle criticism at sensitive times. Protests both against and in support of the president are set to resume on Thursday.

Summary: उत्तर में प्रदर्शनकारियों के साथ टोगो सुरक्षा बलों की झड़प, लड़के की मौत


WARSAW (Reuters) - Poland lowers its retirement age on Sunday, a costly election promise by the ruling conservatives which goes against a European trend of gradually increasing the pension age as people live longer and stay more healthy. Lowering the age to 60 for women and 65 for men is popular in particular among supporters of the governing right-wing Law and Justice (PiS) party, and reverses an increase to 67 approved in 2012 by the former centrist government. It is seen as having a limited immediate impact on the economy, which is booming, but might put pressure on state budgets in the future. The move comes at a time when unemployment in Poland has fallen to its lowest level since the transition from communism in the early 1990s, and could increase the pressure on wages which are already growing at their fastest pace in five years.  The Polish labor market faces increasingly limited access to workers,  said Rafal Benecki, a Warsaw-based economist covering central Europe at the ING Bank.  Poland s population of 38 million is among the most rapidly aging in the European Union.    The government is throwing away the most effective tool to increase the labor market participation rate,  Benecki said. The state pension agency ZUS has estimated that 331,000 people could decide to take advantage of the option to retire earlier, which would amount to 2.0 percent of Poland s 16.3 million workers. Economists and central bankers say the rising flow into Poland of hundreds of thousands of workers from Ukraine could reduce the pressure on wages. Labour ministry figures show that Polish employers requested over 900,000 short-term permits for Ukrainian workers in the first half of 2017, compared to 1.26 million in the whole of the previous year.  With the inflow of workers from Ukraine, so far the problem that some have foreseen - labor shortages, pressure on the labor market - is diminishing,  central bank Governor Adam Glapinski said in early September. The PiS government has estimated the cost of the retirement age reduction at about 10 billion zlotys ($2.74 billion) in 2018, roughly 0.5 percent of GDP. Since coming to power in 2015, the current government has sharply increased public spending to meet campaign pledges to help families and distribute the fruits of economic growth more evenly. Despite the increase in spending, the state budget posted the first surplus for the January-August period in more than two decades, mainly due to a government crackdown on tax evasion and because a new child benefit has fueled consumption. Economic growth reached 3.9 percent in the second quarter, but economists warn that the higher cost of pensions could cause problems if the economy slows.  I m worrying what will happen when the economic cycle turns,  said Marcin Mrowiec, chief economist at Bank Pekao.  We might wake up with wages above levels that firms can cope with and ... permanently higher budget spending on pensions.    ($1 = 3.6471 zlotys)

Summary: पोलैंड में सेवानिवृत्ति की आयु में कटौती लागू, यूरोपीय रुझानों में आई गिरावट


ISTANBUL (Reuters) - Turkey s President Tayyip Erdogan will travel next week to Qatar, which Ankara has supported in its dispute with powerful Gulf Arab neighbors, presidential sources said on Wednesday. They said Erdogan would visit Doha on Wednesday, following trips to Russia and Kuwait. Turkey has backed Qatar since Saudi Arabia, Egypt, the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain, cut economic and diplomatic ties in July, accusing Doha of supporting terrorism, a charge it denies. Turkey has increased trade with Qatar since the start of the embargo and the two countries have held joint military exercises in the Gulf state, where Ankara has a military base. It has said it will deploy 3,000 troops at the base.

Summary: तुर्की के राष्ट्रपति एर्दोगन 15 नवंबर को कतर की यात्रा करेंगे


MOSCOW (Reuters) - Four Russian reporters were injured by an explosion in Syria s Deir al-Zor area, RIA news agency reported on Monday, citing Russian defense ministry. RIA said that two of the men injured worked for the NTV TV station and another two for the Zvezda TV station. All four are alive, RIA said.

Summary: सीरिया के देइर अल-ज़ोर में चार रूसी पत्रकार घायलः आर. आई. ए.


ANKARA (Reuters) - Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu urged Greece on Tuesday to not become a  safe haven  for plotters of last year s coup attempt, citing the 995 people who have applied for asylum since the failed putsch. Speaking at a joint news conference with his Greek counterpart, Nikos Kotzias, Cavusoglu said asylum seekers needed to be evaluated to determine those linked to the network of U.S.-based cleric Fethullah Gulen, blamed by Turkey for masterminding the putsch.  We would not want our neighbor Greece, with whom we are improving our ties, to be a safe haven for Gulenists. We believe these applications will be evaluated meticulously and that traitors will not be given credit,  Cavusoglu said. Responding to Cavusoglu s comments, Kotzias said the decisions on asylum seekers were made by the Greek judiciary and had to be respected even if  it doesn t please some . Relations between Turkey and Greece were further strained in May after a Greek court ruled to not extradite eight Turkish soldiers who fled to Greece following last year s coup attempt. Turkey alleges the men, who fled to Greece in a military helicopter as the July coup unfolded, were involved in efforts to overthrow President Tayyip Erdogan and has repeatedly demanded they be sent back. Greek courts have blocked two extradition requests by Ankara, drawing an angry rebuke from Turkey and highlighting the tense relations between the NATO allies, who remain at odds over issues from territorial disputes to ethnically split Cyprus.  Unfortunately, the Greek courts did not extradite (the eight soldiers), and this has greatly disappointed us,  Cavusoglu said. He said two other soldiers, accused of trying to assassinate Erdogan on the night of the coup, had also fled to Greece, and that Turkey had demanded their extradition. In the aftermath of the coup, some 50,000 people have been jailed pending trial and more than 150,000 have been sacked or suspended from their jobs in the military, public and private sectors. Rights groups and Turkey s Western allies have said President Tayyip Erdogan is using the failed coup as a pretext to crush dissent, but the government says the measures are necessary to fight the threats it is facing.

Summary: तुर्की का कहना है कि वह नहीं चाहता कि ग्रीस तख्तापलट के साजिशकर्ताओं के लिए 'सुरक्षित पनाहगाह' बने


DETROIT (Reuters) - Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump stepped up his bid to win over minority voters by addressing a largely black church in Detroit on Saturday and calling for a new civil rights agenda to support African-Americans. As scores of protesters outside chanted “No justice, no peace,” Trump said he wanted to make Detroit - a predominantly African-American city which recently emerged from bankruptcy - the economic envy of the world by bringing back companies from abroad. Trump separately met with about 100 community and church leaders, his campaign said, in his latest push to peel away minority voters from Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton. His outreach to minorities over recent weeks comes as he seeks to improve his chances in the Nov. 8 election and shake off months of offending the sensibilities of black and Hispanic voters with his hard line on immigration and rough-hewn rhetoric.   “I fully understand that the African American community is suffering from discrimination and that there are many wrongs that must still be made right,” Trump said at the church which was half-full. “I want to make America prosperous for everyone. I want to make this city the economic envy of the world, and we can do that.” His address of over 10 minutes at the Great Faith Ministries International church received moments of applause, including when he said Christian faith is not the past, but the present and the future. Accompanying Trump to the church was Ben Carson, the former Republican presidential hopeful who grew up in the city and whose childhood neighborhood Trump visited on Saturday. Trump has argued that his emphasis on job creation would help minority communities in a way that Democrats have failed to. But Clinton has accused Trump of aligning himself with racists.  Opinion polls show Trump has low support among minorities. “I believe we need a civil rights agenda for our time, one that ensures the rights to a great education, so important, and the right to live in a good-paying job and one that you love to go to every morning,” Trump said. “That can happen. We need to bring our companies back,” he added. Emma Lockridge, 63, said as she entered the church that she found his comments about Mexicans and Muslims “hateful.” “That’s my major reservation with Mr. Trump is how he’s treated those particular sets of people,” said Lockridge, who is retired and an environmental activist.  But she said she also had concerns about Clinton’s support in the 1990s for crime legislation signed by her husband, former President Bill Clinton, which many black Americans say contributed to high incarceration rates in their communities. Vicki Dobbins, an activist protesting outside, said she was disappointed the church asked Trump to speak. “I believe that Trump coming to Detroit is a joke, and I’m ashamed of the pastor who invited him,” she said. “In my opinion, he stabbed everyone in the back.”

Summary: ट्रम्प ने अश्वेत चर्च की यात्रा में नागरिक अधिकारों के नए एजेंडे का आह्वान किया


WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A raid on the Virginia home of President Donald Trump’s former 2016 election campaign manager showed an investigation of possible ties between the campaign and Russia is intensifying and focused on the financial dealings of Trump associates, sources familiar with the probe said.  Longtime political consultant and lobbyist Paul Manafort is being investigated for possible money laundering and has been targeted as someone who might testify against former colleagues, said two people familiar with the work of Special Counsel Robert Mueller. Manafort’s spokesman Jason Maloni confirmed on Wednesday that the FBI executed a search warrant at one of Manafort’s homes.  “Mr. Manafort has consistently cooperated with law enforcement and other serious inquiries and did so on this occasion as well,” Maloni said in an email. Manafort’s house in Alexandria, near Washington, was raided in the early morning of July 26, the Washington Post reported. The previous day Manafort had met with Senate Intelligence Committee staff, the Washington Post reported, citing unidentified people familiar with the probe. Tax documents and financial records were sought by agents for Mueller in the raid, the New York Times reported, citing a person familiar with the matter. Mueller’s team is poring over Manafort’s financial and real estate records in New York and his involvement in Ukrainian politics, the two sources told Reuters last month.   Democratic Senator Richard Blumenthal called the raid a “highly significant step” and said it was “typical of the most serious criminal investigations dealing with uncooperative or untrusted potential targets.” The FBI did not immediately return a request for comment. Joshua Stueve, a spokesman for Mueller’s office, declined to confirm the raid. Trump has been attacking Blumenthal on Twitter this week after the senator urged Mueller to press his inquiry forward. U.S. intelligence agencies have concluded that Russia interfered in the presidential race, in part by hacking and releasing emails embarrassing to Trump’s opponent, Democrat Hillary Clinton, to help him get elected in November. Trump has called Mueller’s investigation a “witch hunt.” Allegations of collusion between Trump associates and Moscow have hounded the Republican president since he took office in January, presenting a major distraction from his policy agenda. Russia has repeatedly denied meddling in the U.S. election. The Manhattan District Attorney’s office has been trying to track money that Manafort used to buy properties in New York, and looking into millions of dollars of loans later taken out on the properties, according to a person familiar with the matter. The prosecutor issued a subpoena to Federal Savings Bank, a small Chicago bank founded by a former Trump campaign adviser,  and is interested in the loan paperwork, the person said. It is unclear when the subpoena went out, but the first subpoenas in the probe went out months ago, the person said. Joan Vollero, a spokeswoman for Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance Jr., declined to comment. Steve Calk, the bank’s chairman and CEO, who was named to Trump’s economic advisory council during the campaign, declined to comment through a spokeswoman for the bank.  “Mr. Manafort’s real estate loans are all arm’s length transactions at or above market rates,” said Maloni. “There is nothing unusual about buying real estate through an LLC.” The New York Attorney General’s office also is looking into Manafort’s real estate transactions, another person said. One question for investigators was whether Manafort had knowledge of any Trump campaign dealings with Russia, including meetings with Russians with government ties, said one source familiar with Mueller’s work. The same question was relevant to investigators in regard to Trump’s fired former national security adviser, retired Army Lieutenant General Michael Flynn, the source said. “Financial matters have paper trails that can be easy to pick up and follow, so that’s a logical place to start,” the source added. Congressional committees are looking at a June 2016 meeting in New York with a Russian lawyer organized by Trump’s eldest son, Donald Trump Jr. Trump Jr. released emails last month that showed he welcomed the prospect of receiving damaging information about Clinton. Manafort attended the meeting. Legal experts noted that the FBI had enough evidence to get approval for a search warrant concerning Manafort.  “Somewhere, there now exists under seal what is likely a very detailed affidavit laying out criminal allegations involving Paul Manafort, and specifically, there is probable cause to believe he has committed a crime or there is evidence of a crime at his home,” said Alex Little, a former federal prosecutor now with the law firm Bone McAllester Norton. A Senate Judiciary Committee aide said the panel has received more than 20,000 pages of documents from Trump’s presidential campaign, Manafort and Trump Jr.

Summary: ट्रम्प के पूर्व सहयोगी के घर पर एफ. बी. आई. की छापेमारी से पता चलता है कि रूस की जांच तेज हो गई है।


LAHORE, Pakistan (Reuters) - The backing of a candidate in a by-election last weekend in Pakistan by a political party controlled by an Islamist with a $10 million U.S. bounty on his head was in line with a plan put forward by the military last year to mainstream militant groups, according to sources familiar with the proposal. The Milli Muslim League party loyal to Hafiz Saeed - who the United States and India accuse of masterminding the 2008 Mumbai attacks that killed 166 people   won 5 percent of the votes in the contest for the seat vacated when Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif was removed from office by the Supreme Court in July. But the foray into politics by Saeed s Islamist charity appears to be following a blueprint that Sharif himself rejected when the military proposed it in 2016, according to three government officials and a retired former general briefed on the discussions. None of the sources interviewed for this article could say for sure if the MML s founding was the direct result of the military s plan, which was not discussed in meetings after Sharif put it on ice last year. The MML denies its political ambitions were engineered by the military. The official army spokesman did not comment after queries were sent to his office about the mainstreaming plan and what happened to it. Pakistan s powerful military has long been accused of fostering militant groups as proxy fighters opposing neighboring arch-enemy India, a charge the army denies. Three government officials and close Sharif confidants with knowledge of the discussions said the military s powerful Inter-Services Intelligence agency (ISI) presented proposals for  mainstreaming  some militant groups in a meeting last year. They said that Sharif had opposed the  mainstreaming  plan, which senior military figures and some analysts see as a way of steering ultra-religious groups away from violent jihad.  We have to separate those elements who are peaceful from the elements who are picking up weapons,  said retired Lieutenant General Amjad Shuaib, adding that such groups should be  helped out to create a political structure  to come into the mainstream. The plan   which Shuaib told Reuters was shared with him by the then-head of the ISI -  said those who were willing  should be encouraged to come into the mainstream politics of the country . He added that in his capacity as a retired senior military officer he unofficially spoke to Hafiz Saaed and another alleged militant about the plan, and they were receptive.  Shuaib later said his comments in the interview were taken out of context and were part of a broader discussion about deradicalization strategies. Writing in a local newspaper on Wednesday he said the report  maliciously attributed some statements to me totally out of context, just to suit its own narrative . A spokesperson for Reuters said:  We stand by our reporting.  Saeed s religious charity launched the Milli Muslim League party within two weeks of the court ousting Sharif over corruption allegations.  Yaqoob Sheikh, the Lahore candidate for Milli Muslim League, stood as an independent after the Electoral Commission said the party was not yet legally registered.   But Saeed s lieutenants, JUD workers and MML officials ran his campaign and portraits of Saeed adorn every poster promoting Sheikh, who came in fourth place on Sunday with Sharif s wife taking the seat as expected. Another Islamist designated a terrorist by the United States, Fazlur Rehman Khalil, has told Reuters he too plans to soon form his own party to advocate strict Islamic law.  God willing, we will come into the mainstream - our country right now needs patriotic people,  Khalil said, vowing to turn Pakistan into a state government by strict Islamic law. Saeed s charity and Khalil s Ansar ul-Umma organization are both seen by the United States as fronts for militant groups the army has been accused of sponsoring. The military denies any policy of encouraging radical groups. Still, hundreds of MML supporters, waving posters of Saeed and demanding his release from house arrest, chanted  Long live Hafiz Saeed! Long live the Pakistan army!  at political rallies during the run-up to the by-election.  Anyone who is India s friend is a traitor, a traitor,  went another campaign slogan, a reference to Sharif s attempts to improve relations with long-time foe India that was a source of tension with the military. Both Saeed and Khalil are proponents of a strict interpretation of Islam and have a history of supporting violence - each man was reportedly a signatory to al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden s 1998 fatwa declaring war on the United States. They have since established religious groups that they say are unconnected to violence, though the United States maintains those groups are fronts for funneling money and fighters to militants targeting India. Analyst Khaled Ahmed, who has researched Saeed s Jamaat-ud-Dawa charity and its connections to the military, says the new political party is clearly an attempt by the generals to pursue an alternative to dismantling its militant proxies.  One thing is the army wants these guys to survive,  Ahmed said.  The other thing is that they want to also balance the politicians who are more and more inclined to normalize relations with India.   The ISI began pushing the political mainstreaming plan in 2016, according to retired general Shuaib, a former director of the army s military intelligence wing that is separate from the ISI. He said the proposal was shared with him in writing by the then-ISI chief, adding that he himself had spoken with Khalil as well as Saeed in an unofficial capacity about the plan.  Fazlur Rehman Khalil was very positive. Hafiz Saeed was very positive,  Shuaib said.  My conversation with them was just to confirm those things which I had been told by the ISI and other people.  The ISI s main press liaison did not respond to written requests for comment. Saeed has been under house arrest since January at his house in the eastern city of Lahore. The United States has offered a $10 million reward for information leading to his conviction over the Mumbai attacks. Then-Prime Minister Sharif, however, was strongly against the military s mainstreaming plan, according to Shuaib and the three members of Sharif s inner circle, including one who was in some of the tense meetings over the issue. Sharif wanted to completely dismantle groups like JuD. Disagreement on what to do about anti-India proxy fighters was a major source of rancor with the military, according to one of the close Sharif confidants.  In recent weeks several senior figures from the ruling PML-N party have publicly implied that elements of the military - which has run Pakistan for almost half its modern history and previously ousted Sharif in a 1999 coup - had a hand in the court ouster of Sharif, a charge both the army and the court reject. A representative of the PML-N, which last month replaced him as prime minister with close ally Shahid Khaqi Abbasi, said the party was  not aware  of any mainstreaming plan being brought to the table.

Summary: पाकिस्तानी सेना ने आतंकवादियों से जुड़े समूहों के लिए राजनीतिक भूमिका निभाई


DUBAI/ISTANBUL/ERBIL, Iraq (Reuters) - Iran halted flights to and from Kurdish regions in northern Iraq on Sunday in retaliation to a plan by the autonomous Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) to hold a referendum on independence. It also started wargames at the Kurdish border. The air embargo is the first concrete retaliatory measure against Monday s Kurdish referendum which is rejected by the government in Baghdad and by Iraq s powerful neighbors, Iran and Turkey. Iranian authorities stopped air traffic to the international airports of Erbil and Sulaimaniya, in Iraqi Kurdistan, upon a request from Baghdad, Fars News Agency said. Tehran and Ankara fear the spread of separatism to their own Kurds. Iran also supports Shi ite groups who have been ruling or holding key security and government positions in Iraq since the 2003 U.S-led invasion which toppled Saddam Hussein.    Turkey, meanwhile, said on Sunday its aircraft launched strikes against Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) targets in northern Iraq s Gara region on Saturday after spotting militants preparing to attack Turkish military outposts on the border.  Turkey will never ever tolerate any status change or any new formations on its southern borders,  Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yildirim said.  The KRG will be primarily responsible for the probable developments after this referendum. The KRG has resisted calls to delay the referendum by the United Nations, the United States and Britain who fear it could further destabilize the region. The vote, expected to result in a comfortable  yes  to  independence, is not binding and is meant to give the KRG a legitimate mandate to negotiate the secession of the autonomous region with Baghdad and the neighboring countries. The KRG says the vote acknowledges the Kurds  crucial contribution confronting Islamic State after it overwhelmed the Iraqi army in 2014 and seized control of a third of Iraq. Iranian State broadcaster IRIB said military drills, part of annual events held in Iran to mark the beginning of the 1980-1988 war with Iraq, were launched in the Oshnavieh border region.  The war games will include artillery, armored and airborne units, it said. Clashes with Iranian Kurdish militant groups based in Iraq are fairly common in the border area. On Saturday, Turkish warplanes destroyed gun positions, caves and shelters used by PKK militants, a military statement  from Ankara said. Turkey s air force frequently carries out such air strikes against the PKK in northern Iraq, where its commanders are based. Turkey s parliament voted on Saturday to extend by a year a mandate authorizing the deployment of Turkish troops in Iraq and Syria. The PKK launched an insurgency in 1984. More than 40,000 people have been killed in the conflict. It is designated a terrorist group by Turkey, the United States and the European Union. The U.S. embassy in Iraq cautioned its citizens that there may be unrest during a referendum, especially in territories disputed between the KRG and the central government like the multi-ethnic oil-rich region of Kirkuk. Three Kurdish Peshmerga fighters were killed and five wounded on Saturday when an explosive device blew up near their vehicle south Kirkuk, security sources said. The explosion happened in Daquq, a region bordering Islamic State-held areas, the sources said. Islamic State s  caliphate  effectively collapsed in July, when a U.S.-backed Iraqi offensive, in which the Peshmerga took part, captured their stronghold Mosul, in northern Iraq. The group continues to control a pocket west of Kirkuk and a stretch alongside the Syrian border and inside Syria.

Summary: ईरान ने स्वतंत्रता मतदान के बदले में इराक के कुर्द क्षेत्र के लिए उड़ानें रोकीं


WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Senate on Monday blocked Democratic legislation aimed at stopping sales of firearms to people on “terrorism watch lists.” The Senate fell 13 votes short of clearing the measure for approval, as the chamber also defeated three other gun control measures stemming from the June 12 shootings in Orlando that killed 49 people and wounded 53 others.

Summary: सीनेट ने 'निगरानी सूची' में शामिल लोगों को आग्नेयास्त्र देने से इनकार करने की डेमोक्रेट की योजना को अवरुद्ध कर दिया


BERLIN (Reuters) - A German court sentenced a 27-year-old German supporter of Islamic State to three years and three months in prison on Monday for plotting to lure police or soldiers into a trap and kill them with a home-made bomb. The ruling came with German authorities on high alert ahead of Tuesday s anniversary of an attack last year in which a failed Tunisian asylum-seeker plowed a truck into crowds at an outdoor Christmas market and killed 12 people. Prosecutors said the suspect, identified only as Sascha L., had carried out two successful tests of a home-made explosive device in his hometown in January.  An inquiry found two videos of the accused pledging allegiance to Islamic State s leader. However, the court ruled on Monday that there was no evidence that the man had a personal connection with the Islamist militia or that he was financially supported by the militia, German broadcaster NDR reported. NDR said the court granted him leniency since he cooperated with authorities after his arrest and confessed his plans.  German magazine Der Spiegel had reported that the man was part of the far-right scene in the past before converting to Salafism, an ultra-conservative Islamist creed. The man, who was arrested in February, admitted planning an attack. Chemicals that could be used to make explosive devices were found during a search of his home in the town of Northeim in central Germany. Three men charged as accomplices of the convicted man also appeared before the court. Two were convicted, with one sentenced to three years probation and the other to 100 hours of community service. The third person was acquitted.  Last week, German police raided nine locations in Berlin and the eastern state of Saxony Anhalt in an investigation of four people suspected of planning an Islamist-motivated attack.

Summary: पुलिस पर इस्लामी हमले की साजिश रचने के आरोप में जर्मन पूर्व दक्षिणपंथी को जेल


WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Seven Democratic senators urged the U.S. Justice Department on Wednesday to block two mergers of major health insurance companies, saying that the proposed deals would mean higher premiums and lower-quality healthcare for consumers. The department is reviewing Aetna Inc’s $33 billion plan to buy Humana Inc and Anthem Inc’s $48 billion proposal to buy Cigna Corp. If approved, the deals, both of which were announced last July, would reduce the number of national health insurance carriers from five to three. “We urge the DOJ (Justice Department) to challenge these mergers from proceeding and to prevent the damage they would cause to competition and consumers,” wrote Senators Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut, Al Franken of Minnesota, Elizabeth Warren and Edward Markey of Massachusetts, Sherrod Brown of Ohio, Dianne Feinstein of California and Mazie Hirono of Hawaii. The letter was dated Wednesday and addressed to Renata Hesse, who heads the Justice Department’s Antitrust Division. In the letter, the lawmakers said they were skeptical of the idea that the proposed deals would be good for consumers because the companies could use their larger size to hammer out better deals for patients.  “The evidence overwhelmingly suggests that few if any cost savings secured by the merging firms through the exercise of market power will be passed on to consumers,” they wrote. The lawmakers also disagreed with the notion that the sale of carefully chosen assets to a competitor could resolve antitrust issues, and pointed to past instances where mergers with divestitures led to higher premiums or where competitors bought divested assets, but then did not use them. “We are not convinced that any divestitures required of the merging parties will succeed today, given that they have so clearly failed in the recent past,” the lawmakers wrote. Capitol Hill does not have a say in whether the Justice Department sues to stop deals. Aetna spokesman T.J. Crawford said that the company planned to close the merger with Humana in the second half of this year. “We believe a combined company is in the best interest of consumers. We continue to cooperate with the Department of Justice on its thorough review of the transaction,” Crawford said. Representatives of Anthem could not immediately be reached for comment.

Summary: डेमोक्रेट सीनेटरों ने न्याय विभाग से बीमा मेगामर्जरों को अवरुद्ध करने के लिए कहा


WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders returned to Washington for meetings on Thursday with President Barack Obama and Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid as Democrats pressured him to end his presidential campaign and support Hillary Clinton after a hard-fought primary race. Clinton, a former secretary of state, U.S. senator and first lady, secured enough delegates to secure the Democratic nomination this week and become the first woman to lead a major U.S. party as its presidential nominee. Despite Clinton’s commanding victories in California and New Jersey in presidential contests on Tuesday, Sanders vowed to carry his populist campaign to the Democratic National Convention in July, when the party’s nominee is formally chosen. Obama, who is expected to endorse Clinton soon, was scheduled to meet with Sanders at the White House on Thursday at 11:15 a.m. (1515 GMT). Sanders will meet with Reid, his Senate colleague, in the afternoon. The Sanders campaign, which waged an unexpectedly strong challenge to a better-known and better-funded Democrat, has decried what it called Clinton’s anointment by the party establishment and the media. In an interview taped on Wednesday for broadcast on the NBC’s “Tonight” show on Thursday, Obama said he hoped that divisions between Democrats would start to heal in coming weeks now that Clinton has clinched the party’s nomination for the Nov. 8 presidential election. At a fund-raiser in New York City on Wednesday, Obama said he was not too worried about bruised feelings after the primary and said “it was a healthy thing for the Democratic Party to have a contested primary.” Obama praised Sanders, the democratic socialist senator from Vermont, for bringing new energy and ideas to the party. “He pushed the party and challenged them,” he said. “I thought it made Hillary a better candidate.” Democrats are striking a delicate balance between the need to unite behind Clinton in the looming battle against presumptive Republican nominee Donald Trump and not alienating Sanders and his supporters. U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren, herself a progressive known as a fiery critic of Wall Street, is preparing to endorse Clinton in the coming weeks after staying neutral in the Democratic primary, people familiar with her thinking told Reuters.

Summary: सैंडर्स वाशिंगटन लौटे, अगले कदमों पर ओबामा से की मुलाकात


WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The No. 2 U.S. diplomat on Tuesday sought to allay concerns among the State Department’s rank-and-file employees over possible layoffs and perceptions of a lack of firm direction under the administration of President Donald Trump. U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, formerly chief executive of Exxon Mobil and new to government, has initiated a top-to-bottom re-organization of the agency, saying it will improve diplomats’ experience and help the department better meet 21st-century challenges. “Re-design is not a synonym for layoffs,” Deputy Secretary of State John Sullivan was quoted as saying by two officials who listened to his remarks to around 450 employees at a town hall-style event that was closed to journalists. Diplomats have fretted over a hiring freeze that has hampered their ability to switch jobs, the slow pace of appointments to senior positions, and a proposed 28 percent cut in State Department funding. Sullivan acknowledged in remarks to a small group of reporters after the event that the pace of senior job hires had been frustrating. Tillerson is not directing any specific outcome from the re-design, which is being led by senior career officials, other than a better-running and more efficient department, Sullivan said. According to the Partnership for Public Service, which tracks political appointments, the Trump administration has not yet put forward a nominee for 86 of 131 Senate-confirmed positions at the department, including posts leading diplomacy on the Middle East and East Asia, where there are several potential crises. “No one here would say that we’re pleased by the fact that we don’t have more of our undersecretary and assistant secretary slots filled, but we’re working hard to do that,” Sullivan told reporters. Sullivan said media portrayals of a listless bureaucracy and “a hollowed-out State Department that is not effective” were wrong. He said work was being done on major issues such as the North Korea nuclear and missile programs, a rift between Gulf nations and Qatar and Ukraine. State Department officials said the tone of the town hall event was professional, with pointed exchanges of views at times. One said that Sullivan’s public appreciation for career diplomats “has been desperately needed.” Sullivan’s uncle was William H. Sullivan, the last U.S. ambassador to Iran, who left in 1979 when Iran’s monarchy was overthrown and replaced with an Islamic theocracy. In response to a question from an employee about State Department efforts for gay and lesbian couples posted abroad, Sullivan told employees he would do everything he can to make sure everyone is treated fairly, a remark that drew strong applause, one of the officials said.

Summary: वरिष्ठ अमेरिकी राजदूत ने विदेश विभाग के पुनः डिजाइन पर आशंकाओं को शांत करने की कोशिश की


WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. President-elect Donald Trump on Wednesday defended his direct interventions with companies, including making statements on Twitter, saying businesses will benefit from his actions and his upcoming term in office.  One day after criticizing one of Boeing Co’s high-profile projects in a tweet, Trump told NBC that he anticipated “tremendous” economic growth under his administration but reiterated his warning that companies shifting U.S. jobs overseas would have to pay.   Still, markets and companies should not worry, he said. “I don’t know ... how people are unnerved,” Trump told NBC’s “Today” program. “It’s just the opposite. Frankly, I think we’re going to go up.” The New York businessman, who has never held public office, begins his term on Jan. 20. Trump also said he had sold his stocks in June to avoid any conflict-of-interest with the presidency. “I don’t think it’s appropriate for me to be owning stocks when I’m making deals for this country that maybe will affect one company positively and one company negatively,” he said.  His comments followed a series of actions targeting specific companies, including a deal to keep some Carrier jobs in the United States. On Tuesday, he criticized Boeing in a tweet that dented its shares, and he won pledges from two of Asia’s biggest technology companies to expand their U.S. investments. [L1N1E11W9] On Boeing, Trump complained about costs for its revamped Air Force One plane, a prominent symbol of the U.S. presidency, and urged the government to cancel its order. [L1N1E110N] The move was the latest example of Trump’s using his podium, often via Twitter, to rattle companies and foreign countries. Trump told NBC that he and Boeing Chief Executive Officer Dennis Muilenburg spoke on Tuesday. “We’re going to work it out,” Trump said. “That’s what I’m here for. I’m going to negotiate prices.” He also cautioned U.S. businesses against offshoring jobs. “If they want to fire their workers, move to Mexico or some other country, and sell their product into our country, they’re going to be paying a tax,” he told NBC. Earlier this month, Trump lauded a deal with United Technologies Corp’s Carrier to keep some U.S. positions in exchange for $7 million in tax breaks following a Thanksgiving Day tweet on the negotiations.    Trump also defended his Twitter posts, telling NBC he used the social media platform to “talk about important things” and that it conveyed his message “much faster than a press release.”

Summary: ट्रम्प ने बोइंग के ट्वीट का बचाव किया, कहा कंपनियों को चिंता नहीं करनी चाहिए


SANTIAGO (Reuters) - International researchers investigating the death of Chilean poet Pablo Neruda raised doubts on Friday as to whether he died of cancer 44 years ago as previously presumed, and did not rule out foul play. Neruda, known for his passionate love poems and staunch communist views, died days after a coup in September 1973 that ushered in the brutal dictatorship of Augusto Pinochet. Neruda s chauffeur claimed Pinochet s agents took advantage of the poet s illness to inject poison into his stomach as he lay in hospital. Neruda s body was exhumed in 2013 and previous tests have found no evidence of poison but are ongoing.  Spanish forensic specialist Aurelio Luna from the University of Murcia told journalists that his team discovered something that could possibly be a laboratory-cultivated bacteria. It will be analyzed, with results expected in six months to a year. Luna also said that tests indicated that death from prostrate cancer was not likely at the moment when Neruda died.  From analysis of the data we cannot accept that the poet had been in an imminent situation of death at the moment of entering the hospital,  he said.   We cannot confirm if the nature of Pablo Neruda s death was natural or violent,  he added. Pinochet died in 2006. Neruda s family and supporters have been divided over whether the case should be closed and his remains returned to his grave near his coastal home of Isla Negra, or whether researchers should continue carrying out tests.

Summary: चिली के कवि नेरुदा की मौत के कारणों पर शोधकर्ताओं ने जताया संदेह


STRASBOURG (Reuters) - Transylvania may not seem everyone s idea of a fun weekend away to get over a painful break-up but that is Jean-Claude Juncker s prescription for EU leaders to cope with the blues on the day Britain walks out. Sibiu, the picturesque historic home of Romania s ethnic Germans, will be just the place for the other 27 national leaders to make a public show of unity on Saturday, March 30, 2019, the European Commission president told EU lawmakers on Wednesday in his annual State of the European Union address. His proposals for a more united bloc without Britain face scepticism from many governments. But the EU s chief executive has, officials said, calculated that expanding the euro zone and deepening its cooperation can win support from Angela Merkel and Emmanuel Macron, leaders of the founding powers France and Germany, and heal rifts with newer, poorer members in the east. His mention of Brexit brought cheers from UK Independence Party members in Strasbourg. They scoffed at Juncker s warning that Britons would soon regret leaving and said UKIP would look forward to that weekend 18 months hence to celebrate Britain s  liberation  from what they call EU diktat from Brussels. But aides say Juncker believes many of the 440 million other Europeans will only truly wake up to the fact the second-ranked economy is leaving pretty much around when it actually happens.  And to reassure them at what Juncker said would be  a very sad and tragic moment , their leaders should plan a get-together in Romania, one of the newest, and poorest member states, which just happens to be the rotating chair of the EU in early 2019. A rich cultural heritage   Juncker noted that German-speakers like himself know it as Hermannstadt, capital of Transylvania s centuries-old Saxon community   makes Sibiu a good spot to celebrate the Union of Europe s diverse peoples.  The whole idea on that day is to focus on...matters to come for the Union, not on the ones who are leaving,  one senior EU official said of the Sibiu summit, which was welcomed by Romanian President Klaus Ioannis, a former mayor of the city. And if hostile British commentators might be tempted to link the Transylvanian venue to a view of the EU as a bloodsucking vampire on the British taxpayer, Romanian locals insist their town has little to do with the region s Dracula legend. Aside from altering the atmospherics of what will certainly be a historic weekend for the European Union, the success of Juncker s vision for Sibiu in 2019 will depend on how national leaders respond to the proposals he sketched out on Wednesday. Most strikingly, the former Luxembourg premier who will step down in autumn 2019, wants to use the departure of the Union s opter-out-in-chief, Britain, to end a culture of states picking and choosing which bits of integration they want - for themselves and others - and to bring all 27 or more nations in to the euro currency zone, Schengen travel area and bank union. In a speech that carefully balanced indirect criticisms and praise for different leaders across the bloc, he slapped down Macron s embryonic proposals for a separate euro zone budget and plans to push ahead with deeper integration that could leave non-euro countries, especially in the east, on the EU s fringes. The German government, preparing for an election in two weeks that should hand Merkel a fourth term, is skeptical of Macron s plans but is also likely to be wary of the ambition of Juncker s proposals. Its initial reaction was restrained. EU officials, however, play down the idea that Juncker is making for a head-on confrontation with Merkel and Macron when he sets his face against a  multispeed Europe  that the veteran EU dealmaker believes bears the seeds of the EU s unraveling. Rather, Juncker sees his idea of a euro zone covering the whole EU, with its budget part of the overall EU budget and run from the existing Commission, as a practical application of the kind of suggestions Macron and Merkel seem to support but on which their administrations have offered little concrete detail. At the same time, EU officials argue, past attempts by Paris and Berlin to force a lead on integration, such as by Merkel and then president Nicolas Sarkozy at the height of the euro zone crisis in 2011, failed to gain traction. Juncker, they say, will try to persuade them that his broader approach is more viable. Nonetheless, his suggestion that the likes of Poland and Hungary, run by deeply eurosceptic governments, should join the strictures of the euro zone is unlikely to win rapid support in Warsaw or Budapest. Juncker s argument is, however, that if they refuse offers and pressure to join, they cannot then complain about being treated as  second class  members of the Union. Juncker, 62, said he had despaired of the EU at times but wants Sibiu to offer EU voters something other than Brexit to wake up to, two months before a European Parliament election. The biggest challenge to achieving his long list of ambitions by then will be overcoming entrenched national interests:  Democracy is about compromise,  he said in a blunt warning to the squabbling leaders he wants to come together in Transylvania.  Europe cannot function without compromise.

Summary: ट्रांसिल्वेनियन सपनाः 'ब्रेक्सिट दुःस्वप्न' के लिए जंकर का प्रतिकार


(Reuters) - Highlights for U.S. President Donald Trump’s administration on Friday: Trump promises a big announcement about tax reform next week and orders an administration review of Obama-era tax rules written to discourage U.S. companies from relocating overseas to cut their tax bills. Trump tells the Treasury Department to examine two powers given to regulators to police large financial companies following the 2008 financial crisis. South Korea says it is on heightened alert ahead of another important anniversary in North Korea, with a large concentration of military hardware amassed on both sides of the border amid concerns about a new nuclear test by Pyongyang. Trump, striving to make good on a top campaign promise, is pushing fellow Republicans who control Congress to pass revamped healthcare legislation but the same intraparty squabbling that torpedoed it last month could do it again. Defense Secretary Jim Mattis says Syria has dispersed its warplanes in recent days and that it retains chemical weapons, an issue he says will have to be taken up diplomatically. The Department of Justice threatens to cut off funding to California as well as eight cities and counties across the United States, escalating a Trump administration crackdown on so-called “sanctuary cities” that do not cooperate with federal immigration authorities. The United States will not make an exception for American companies, including oil major Exxon Mobil Corp, seeking to drill in areas prohibited by U.S. sanctions on Russia, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin says.  Trump and his fellow Republicans who control Congress face their first major budget test next week, with the threat of a government shutdown potentially hinging on his proposed Mexican border wall as well as Obamacare funding. The House of Representatives Intelligence Committee says it has invited FBI, National Security Agency and Obama administration officials to testify as it restarts its investigation into alleged Russian meddling in the 2016 U.S. election. U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres meets with Trump at the White House for the first time since both took office earlier this year and amid a U.S. push to cut funding to the world body and its agencies. The United States has offered to help fund Mexico’s efforts to eradicate opium poppies, a U.S. official says, as Mexican heroin output increased again last year.

Summary: हाइलाइट्सः 21 अप्रैल को शाम 6.12 बजे ईडीटी/2212 जीएमटी पर ट्रम्प प्रेसीडेंसी


(Reuters) - Highlights of the day for U.S. President Donald Trump’s administration on Thursday: Trump says he wants to build up the U.S. nuclear arsenal to ensure it is at the “top of the pack,” saying the United States has fallen behind in its atomic weapons capacity. [nL1N1G82CF] Mexico expresses “worry and irritation” about U.S. policies to two of Trump’s top officials, giving a chilly reply to the new administration’s hard line on immigration, trade and security. One of California’s most populous counties asks a judge to suspend Trump’s executive order that seeks to withhold federal funds from so-called sanctuary cities for immigrants, saying the directive has thrown its budget process into “disarray.” Trump speaks favorably about an export-boosting border adjustment tax proposal being pushed by Republicans in the U.S. Congress, but does not specifically endorse it. U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin lays out an ambitious schedule to enact tax relief for the middle class and businesses by August, but says the Trump administration is still studying a proposed new border tax on imports. Trump declares China the “grand champions” of currency manipulation, just hours after his new Treasury secretary pledged a more methodical approach to analyzing Beijing’s foreign exchange practices. Trump tells chief executives of major U.S. companies he plans to bring millions of jobs back to the United States, but offers no specific plan on how to reverse a decades-long decline in factory jobs. Trump’s chief strategist, Steve Bannon, known as a forceful influence in the White House, makes a rare public appearance to appeal to conservatives to unite behind the Republican president as he presses his agenda. U.S. Education Secretary Betsy DeVos criticizes as “overreach” former President Barack Obama’s guidelines to public schools to let transgender students use the bathrooms of their choice, one day after Trump revoked the guidance. U.S. companies led by tech firms Yahoo Inc YHOO.O, Apple Inc (AAPL.O) and Microsoft Corp (MSFT.O) criticize the Trump administration’s decision to revoke Obama administration guidance that allowed transgender public school students to use the bathroom of their choice. [nL1N1G81XV] Trump’s administration expects to see greater federal enforcement of laws against the use of marijuana for recreational purposes, White House spokesman Sean Spicer says.

Summary: ट्रम्प प्रेसीडेंसी 23 फरवरी को शाम 6.45 बजे ईएसटी


BOSTON (Reuters) - Massachusetts Governor Charlie Baker on Friday signed a bill raising the tax on retail sales of recreational marijuana to 20 percent, up from the 12 percent rate proposed in a successful 2016 ballot initiative. The state is one of eight in the United States to have legalized use of the drug by adults 21 and older. Marijuana possession was legalized on Dec. 15, 2016, but retail sales of the drug remain illegal until Jan. 1, 2018, a delay intended to give state and local authorities time to decide how to regulate the trade. Baker, a Republican, opposed legalization as did several senior state officials, and he voiced concern about the future after signing the law. “I don’t support this. I worry terribly about what the consequences will be,” Baker told reporters. “We appreciate the careful consideration the legislature took to balance input from lawmakers, educators, public safety officials and public health professionals, while honoring the will of the voters regarding the adult use of marijuana.” The law also allows cities and towns to ban or limit marijuana sales and creates a five-member Cannabis Control Commission with responsibility for overseeing the sale of recreational and medical marijuana. The measure approved by voters called for legal retail sales of the drug to begin on July 1, but state legislators pushed that date back by six months to allow time to develop regulations. Legalization backers, who had protested the delay, called on state officials to move quickly in appointing the new control commission. “The state will benefit greatly from the tax revenues and jobs created by the new industry, and we are confident lawmakers will secure appropriate funding to get the regulatory system up and running on the current timeline,” said Jim Borghesani, a spokesman for Regulate Mass, which supported the ballot initiative.

Summary: मैसाचुसेट्स के गवर्नर ने मनोरंजक बर्तन पर कर बढ़ाने के बिल पर हस्ताक्षर किए


ROME (Reuters) - Italy s anti-establishment 5-Star Movement supports the European Union and wants significant law-making powers transferred from governments to the European Parliament, its leader Luigi Di Maio told Reuters. 5-Star, which leads opinion polls ahead of an election to be held by May, is trying to reassure Italy s partners and financial markets that it can be trusted in government, and distance itself from its previously eurosceptic positions.  We are pro-EU and we intend to contribute to creating the future of Europe,  the 31-year-old lower house deputy, who was elected in September as 5-Star s leader and prime minister candidate, said in an interview. He said if 5-Star wins power it will negotiate with Italy s partners to try to set up EU-wide welfare policies to tackle growing poverty and inequality in many countries in the bloc, including Italy, the EU s fourth largest economy.  If it reforms, the EU can be a solution to many of our problems,  Di Maio said, calling for more law-making powers for the European Parliament as the only directly elected EU body. He said 5-Star s stance on Europe and the euro had shifted since 2014, when it lobbied for a referendum to take Italy out of the common currency zone and joined the eurosceptic group of Britain s United Kingdom Independence Party (UKIP) in the European Parliament. He said the defeat of traditional parties in France and the difficulties in forming stable, majority governments in Germany, Spain and Portugal meant there is no longer the wide EU support for austerity policies that 5-Star has opposed. It has not totally withdrawn the idea of a referendum on the euro, but it now calls it  a last resort  to be employed only if Italy wins no concessions on EU governance from its partners.  We set out with strong opposition to the euro because back then there was too much difference between our positions and the monolithic, pro-austerity position promoted by Germany which dominated in Europe,  he said.  But now things have changed.  5-Star tried this year to leave the UKIP group in the European Parliament to join the pro-Europe Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe (ALDE), but the switch fell through due to resistance from some ALDE members. Di Maio said that after the next European elections in 2019 5-Star would avoid linking up with any  extremist, populist, xenophobic or old-style leftist movements.  Domestically, 5-Star bases its support on an anti-corruption drive and policies that bridge the traditional left-right divide such as clean energy, tax cuts for small businesses and more public investment in infrastructure and education.  As part of a charm offensive as the election nears, last month Di Maio visited Washington to burnish 5-Star s image with the U.S. administration, and party officials met in Rome with representatives of large international banks and hedge funds. He spoke to Reuters on the sidelines of a conference organized by Italian media website EUnews. 5-Star, which shuns alliances with Italy s traditional parties, leads opinion polls with around 28 percent of the vote, some 3 points ahead of the ruling Democratic Party, but it seems sure to fall well short of a parliamentary majority. Di Maio said 5-Star s plan was to form a minority government and seek support from other parties for its policies on a case-by-case basis.

Summary: इटली के 5-स्टार ने यूरोपीय संघ विरोधी छवि छोड़ी, सुधार का आह्वान किया


BERLIN (Reuters) - Barring an upset, the main uncertainty surrounding Europe s most important election this year is not whether Angela Merkel will continue to lead Germany after this weekend s vote, but who with and how long they will take to get going. Although a surprise cannot be ruled out in the wake of any Russian interference, pollsters say they are confident about their surveys, which show Merkel s conservatives winning the most seats in the Bundestag lower house. The far-right, anti-immigrant Alternative for Germany (AfD) is set to enter parliament for the first time, and some experts have said it may gain more support than the roughly 10 percent  polls suggest, an alarming prospect for many at home and abroad. But all the other parties have ruled out joining it in a coalition - an inherent part of Germany s electoral system -  and the most likely scenario is probably a repeat of Merkel s  grand coalition  with the Social Democrats (SPD). She will start sounding out partners right after the Sept. 24 vote, but coalition building is a protracted process, which could paralyze policy for months at a time when Brexit has shaken Europe s foundations. The process is especially complex this time as the number of parliamentary groups could rise to six from four. Informal soundings and then exploratory talks precede formal coalition negotiations and party leaders may also seek approval from their members before signing off on any deal. Depending on the shape of the coalition, the main issues at stake are the integration of the more than 1 million migrants who have arrived in Germany in the last two years, and investment in Europe s biggest economy as well as Merkel s leading role in talks on reform of the European Union and relations with Russia and Turkey. Here are the main scenarios: CONSERVATIVES, SOCIAL DEMOCRATS ( GRAND COALITION ) The most likely option, according to opinion polls. Merkel s parliamentary party, made up of her Christian Democrats (CDU) and the Bavarian Christian Social Union (CSU) has governed with the SPD for eight of the 12 years that Merkel has been chancellor, including the last four. WHAT MAKES IT POSSIBLE: Merkel, who has steered the conservatives towards the political center ground, looks comfortable ruling with the SPD. Such a coalition would likely have a large majority, provide continuity and broadly agree on Europe, Turkey, foreign policy, migration and security issues. HURDLES: It is a last resort for both sides, especially the SPD, which fears it will lose out as junior partner. It wants more emphasis on investment, education, tackling inequality and fair pensions while conservatives are more focused on tax cuts. The SPD is also reluctant to back planned defense spending hikes.  CONSERVATIVES, FREE DEMOCRATS ( BLACK-YELLOW ) The conservative block and pro-business Free Democrats (FDP) are traditional partners, especially on financial and economic policy, having ruled together for almost half of post-war Germany s seven decades. If they win sufficient votes, this is the most likely scenario. WHAT MAKES IT POSSIBLE: The pro-business FDP has rebounded this year, winning enough votes in a vote in Germany s most populous state, North Rhine-Westphalia, in May to share power with the CDU there. A repeat at federal level would herald tax cuts and deregulation and possibly tighter laws on immigration, asylum seeking and security. HURDLES: The FDP was wiped out of parliament in 2013 after four chaotic years ruling with Merkel. It has more radical tax reduction and privatization plans, opposes deeper EU integration and wants EU countries to be able to quit the euro zone. Party leader Christian Lindner has also suggested Germany accept Russia s 2014 annexation of Crimea from Ukraine, something Merkel has ruled out. CONSERVATIVES, FDP, GREENS ( JAMAICA  - REFERENCE TO PARTIES  COLORS: BLACK, YELLOW, GREEN) As yet untested at a federal level, this combination rules in the northern state of Schleswig-Holstein. WHAT MAKES IT POSSIBLE - If Merkel s bloc can t form an alliance with the FDP or the Greens alone, it may try a three-way deal. Both smaller parties have played down this option but may be lured by the prospect of power.  HURDLES - The Greens and FDP are at opposite ends of the political spectrum. Policy clashes would be likely on tax, energy, the EU and migrants. CONSERVATIVES, GREENS ( BLACK-GREEN ) Untested at a federal level, this has been mooted as an option under Merkel, who has pushed renewable energy. The CDU and Greens have worked together at regional level, including in a Greens-led coalition in the rich southern state of Baden-Wuerttemberg. WHAT MAKES IT POSSIBLE: The Greens  leaders are pragmatic, worlds away from the eco-warriors who founded the party. The prospect of power may persuade them to compromise. Such a coalition would promote a strong Europe and focus on fighting climate change. The Greens would push for a phaseout of coal-fired power stations.  HURDLES: Doubtful they would win a majority. Conservatives want lower taxes while Greens want to tax the super rich. Greens have a more liberal migrant policy which could pit them against the CSU, and they oppose plans to increase defense spending. Clashes are also likely on some aspects of energy policy and auto emissions regulation following the diesel scandal. A minority government would be a first and stability-craving Germans would not like it but may prefer it to new elections. WHAT MAKES IT POSSIBLE: If Merkel fails to find a partner, she may feel she has a mandate to rule given her personal popularity. She would probably get support for individual policies from the FDP, SPD and Greens.  HURDLES: Merkel s natural caution coupled with Germans  fear of instability, a legacy of the fragmentation in the years that preceded the rise of Hitler s Nazi party.  SPD, LEFT, GREENS ( RED-RED-GREEN  or  R2G ) Highly unlikely. Never tested at a federal level, a tie up between the SPD and Greens, preferred partners, and the radical Left party, could be the only way for the SPD to take the chancellery. It is being tested in the state of Berlin under SPD leadership and, with a Left premier, in the state of Thuringia. WHAT MAKES IT POSSIBLE: For the first time, the SPD has not excluded the possibility of joining the Left. Such a coalition would probably focus on boosting investment and tackling inequality and adopt a more Russia-friendly stance. HURDLES: The Left s links with Communists in former East Germany and painful SPD memories of an exodus to the Left over deep labor market reforms more than a decade ago. While the SPD and Greens could rule together relatively easily, the Left wants a top tax rate of 75 percent, a 30-hour week and to replace NATO with an alliance including Russia. For an interactive on German elections, click: tmsnrt.rs/2fv8Yqv

Summary: चुनाव के बाद की पहेली जर्मनी की मर्केल का इंतजार कर रही है


WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. State Department said on Tuesday that visa restrictions imposed on Gambia earlier this year will be lifted as of Dec. 12 after Banjul took steps to ensure its citizens ordered to leave the United States are re-admitted to the West African country.

Summary: अमेरिका 12 दिसंबर से गाम्बिया पर वीजा प्रतिबंधों में ढील देगा