FORT PIERCE, Fla. (Reuters) - The photo from Omar Mateen’s high school yearbook is hardly remarkable - a toothy, dimpled smile with a peach-fuzz mustache below a mop of black hair.  His transformation from high school football player to perpetrator of America’s worst mass shooting raises questions about whether red flags were missed over the depth of his apparent sympathies with Muslim extremists. As families of the victims grieved and the nation recoiled at the scale of yet another mass shooting, a picture began to emerge of the 29-year-old killer as a quiet, devout person who in recent years displayed a hateful and violent streak. Early on Sunday, he stormed a packed gay nightclub in Orlando, Florida, with a handgun and AR-15 semi-automatic rifle, fatally shooting 50 people before police killed him. Fifty-three others were wounded, many critically. His ex-wife, Sitora Yusufiy, described him as “bipolar,” and emotionally disturbed with a violent temper. She said she had been beaten and otherwise physically abused by Mateen during outbursts in which he would “express hatred towards everything”. She was “rescued” by family members just four months into a stormy marriage that began in 2009 and ended in divorce, she said. “He would often get into fights with his parents, but as I was the only one in his life most of the violence was directed towards me,” she told reporters in Boulder, Colorado outside a home where she was staying.  She said he aspired to be a police officer and had worked as a correctional officer at a detention center for juvenile delinquents in Fort Pierce, Florida, and had once sought admission to a police academy. In Fort Pierce on Florida’s southeast coast, 120 miles (195 km) from the shooting, the imam at the mosque that Mateen attended for nearly 10 years described him as a regular worshipper who was quiet and rarely interacted with the congregation. “He hardly had any friends,” Syed Shafeeq Rahman, who heads the Islamic Center of Fort Pierce, told Reuters. “He would come with his little son at night to pray and after he would leave.” Rahman said Mateen never approached him regarding any concerns about homosexuals. He usually prayed at the mosque a few times a week, mostly in evenings and as recently as Friday, but he didn’t display signs of radicalism, according to fellow worshippers interviewed by Reuters. Mateen was born in New York of Afghan descent but spent most of his life in Florida, attending Martin County High School in Stuart, a small city about a 20-minute drive from the Fort Pierce condominium where had most recently lived. A classmate described him as a typical teen who played football. A school yearbook image of Mateen was seen by Reuters.   Samuel King, who was one year ahead of Mateen, said the two often spoke after Mateen graduated in 2004. King waited tables at Ruby Tuesday’s restaurant at Treasure Coast Square, a mall where Mateen worked at GNC, the nutrition store, he said. King, who is openly gay, said the Mateen he knew until 2009 did not appear to be anti-homosexual. “What is shocking to me is that the majority of the staff at Ruby Tuesday’s when I worked there were gay. He clearly was not anti-(gay) at least not back then. He did not show any hatred to any of us.” While at GNC, Mateen lifted weights and “got really buff,” King said, describing Mateen as gregarious and talkative in the immediate years after high school. “Something must have changed” since he last saw him, he added. Mateen’s father, Mir Seddique, told NBC News the massacre was not related to religion. He said his son turned angry when he saw two men kissing in Miami a couple of months ago.  The FBI twice interviewed Mateen for having suspected ties to Islamist militants. The first investigation took place in 2013 when Mateen made inflammatory comments to co-workers that indicated sympathy for militants, FBI special agent in charge Ron Hopper told a news conference in Orlando. At the time, Mateen worked as a security guard at G4S, a British-owned multinational company that is among the world’s largest private security firms.  He joined G4S in September 2007, carried a gun as part of his duties and was employed with the company at the time of the shooting as an armed security officer, the company said.  G4S provides security to federal buildings in Florida. Mateen was investigated and interviewed twice but the FBI was “unable to verify the substance of his comments,” Hopper said. Daniel Kime, a security guard employed along with Mateen by at G4S in the Fort Pierce area, said he met Mateen briefly three or four times. “Every time I saw him he never smiled. If you said good morning, he’d just walk right by you, like he had a chip on his shoulder,” Kime told Reuters. Daniel Gilroy, who said he was a co-worker of Mateen’s at G4S, said that Mateen’s anger was “constant.” “Any time a female or a black person would come by he would use horrible words,” he told Fox News.  In 2014, Hopper said, Mateen was investigated and interviewed again, this time for suspected connections to Moner Mohammad Abu-Salha, an American citizen who became a suicide bomber in Syria in 2014. Hopper said Mateen’s contact with Abu-Salha was minimal and it was deemed that “he did not constitute a substantive threat at that time.” Hopper said Mateen was not under investigation or surveillance at the time of Sunday’s attack. He said Mateen called during the massacre to pledge allegiance to Islamic State, also known as ISIS, which in recent years declared a caliphate over large swathes of Iraq and Syria. But the depth of that commitment is unclear. Mateen also mentioned the Boston Marathon bombers during the call, which he made 20 minutes into the shootings, authorities said. Mateen’s former wife said she met Mateen online about eight years ago and decided to move to Florida to marry him, according to the Washington Post. “He was not a stable person,” she said. “He beat me. He would just come home and start beating me up because the laundry wasn’t finished or something like that.” Mateen had a Florida firearms license that expired in 2013 and a state permit to work as a security guard, according to public records. He was registered as a Democrat. City, state and federal officials were searching Mateen’s apartment in the Woodlands condominium building in Fort Pierce and had told other residents to evacuate. (This story has been refiled to correct headine in June 12 story to remove ‘worst’)

Summary: अमेरिकी नरसंहार में बंदूकधारी को 'शांत' बताया गया लेकिन वह घृणित हो गया


WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Less than 24 hours after Donald Trump took office, his presidency started generating controversy.  Photographs showing that the crowd at Trump’s swearing-in was smaller than at Barack Obama’s first presidential inauguration in 2009 caused the first ruckus in his administration - but not the last.  Trump’s first year in office was colored by an investigation into whether his campaign colluded with the Russian government to affect the election outcome, insults and threats of war with North Korea, and an effort to pass business-friendly legislation.  From the start, the White House took a combative approach, accusing the media of framing photographs of the inauguration in a way that appeared to understate the crowd size.  Press Secretary Sean Spicer argued that the images were not what they seemed and that crowds of historic size watched Trump take the oath of office. Protests would become a hallmark of Trump’s first year. On Jan. 21, the day after the inauguration, hundreds of thousands of women jammed the streets of Washington to demonstrate opposition to Trump. A week after taking office, the Republican president signed an executive order to prevent citizens of seven predominately-Muslim countries from traveling to the United States. Known by critics as the “Muslim ban,” protesters quickly demonstrated at airports in opposition.   Trump would ignite protests again in August, when he was asked to respond to white nationalists marching in Charlottesville, Virginia, including one who drove his car into a crowd of counter-protesters, killing a woman. The president argued there were bad people “on both sides.”  Following his remarks, business leaders resigned from Trump’s business councils and the panels were disbanded.     A defining feature of Trump’s first year in office was the investigation into whether his campaign colluded with Russia during the election. Trump ignited a political firestorm in May when he fired Federal Bureau of Investigation Director James Comey, who had been leading an investigation into possible collusion by the Trump 2016 presidential campaign with Russia to influence the election outcome. Russia has denied meddling in the election and Trump has denied any collusion. Soon afterward, the Justice Department named former FBI chief Robert Mueller as special counsel to lead the investigation. Paul Manafort, who had briefly served as Trump’s campaign manager, and his business associate Rick Gates were indicted by Mueller’s team in October, accused of illegally lobbying on behalf of foreign governments. A month later, Michael Flynn, who briefly served under Trump as U.S. national security adviser, pleaded guilty to lying to the FBI about his conversations last December with Russia’s then-ambassador in Washington just weeks before Trump took office. Trump has also found himself embroiled in a war of words with North Korea over its missile program, exchanging insults and threats with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un. At home, Trump has struggled to enact sweeping changes he promised on the campaign trail.  He threatened to withdraw the United States from the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), but business lobbyists persuaded him to renegotiate it. Trump signed an executive order setting up talks on the trilateral trade deal, which has hit roadblocks with Mexico and Canada.     Trump’s team also failed to repeal the Affordable Care Act, known as Obamacare despite Republican control of the White House and Congress. It was not until December that Trump made headway on major legislative change as both chambers of Congress passed a sweeping tax overhaul.  The bill must be reconciled with a different version approved by the House of Representatives, but the Senate bill is expected to remain largely intact. (Click on reut.rs/2Asabau to see a related photo essay)

Summary: कार्यालय में ट्रम्प का पहला वर्ष विवादों, विरोधों से चिह्नित


CAIRO (Reuters) - An Egyptian court on Saturday sentenced ousted president Mohammed Mursi of the Muslim Brotherhood to 25 years in prison in a final ruling over a case accusing him of spying for Qatar, judicial sources said. Mursi, democratically elected after Egypt s 2011 revolution, was overthrown in mid-2013 by then-general Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, now the president, following mass protests against his rule. He was immediately arrested. Egypt s Court of Cassation reduced Mursi s sentence in the Qatar case to 25 years in its final ruling, from an original 40 years.  Mursi is already serving a 20-year sentence after being convicted for the killing of protesters during demonstrations in 2012. Since toppling Mursi, Sisi has clamped down on dissent. Mass trials have been held for thousands of Muslim Brotherhood supporters, and hundreds have received death sentences or lengthy prison terms. In 2014, Egypt charged Mursi and nine others with endangering national security by leaking state secrets and sensitive documents to Qatar. Egypt s relations with Doha were already troubled by Qatar s backing of Mursi. Egypt is one of four Arab nations in a Saudi-led bloc that cut relations with the Gulf state on June 5, accusing it of backing militant groups and cooperating with their arch-foe Iran, allegations Doha denies.

Summary: मिस्र की अदालत ने कतर जासूसी मामले में मुर्सी को 25 साल की सजा सुनाई


HARARE (Reuters) - Two armoured personnel carriers were positioned on the outskirts of Zimbabwe s capital late on Tuesday and soldiers were directing traffic, a Reuters witness said, a day after the head of the army threatened to intervene in politics. The soldiers deployed on Harare Drive, a major thoroughfare, ordered passing cars to keep their windows up and not ask questions.  Don t try anything funny, just go,  one soldier said to a Reuters reporter.

Summary: जिम्बाब्वे की राजधानी के बाहरी इलाके में प्रमुख सड़क पर सैनिक, एपीसी देखे गएः रॉयटर्स गवाह


WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump has told visitors that his Mar-a-Lago retreat is set up perfectly for foreign visits, but the Chinese side was initially hesitant when word came that Trump would like to meet Chinese President Xi Jinping there, according to administration officials. Even after seeing images of Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s back-slapping sessions with Trump at Mar-a-Lago in February, Chinese officials thought the oceanfront, Spanish-style club in Palm Beach, Florida, lacked the symbolic significance of the White House itself. “They thought, no, it has to be the White House, the symbolism of that,” a senior administration official told Reuters. “They were ultimately convinced that this was worth doing. It’s unusual because most foreigners realize that being invited to the president’s personal place is a big deal.” Trump and Xi are to hold their first summit encounter beginning on Thursday at Mar-a-Lago, a property that original owner Marjorie Merriweather Post’s estate willed to the U.S. government for use as a diplomatic and presidential retreat after her death in 1973.     Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying told reporters in Beijing that the Chinese side was fine with having the meeting there. “President Trump, after taking office, announced that Mar-a-Lago would be the winter White House. The U.S. proposal to hold the U.S.-China heads of state meeting there, I think, represents the importance that the U.S. side places on this meeting. China respects the U.S. side’s arrangements,” she said. No matter where the heads of state meet, “the most important thing is to develop China-U.S. relations and make contributions to both countries and the world,” she said. Topping the agenda at Mar-a-Lago will be U.S.-China trade ties and U.S. requests for China to help rein in its nuclear-armed neighbor North Korea.  Trump bought the estate in 1985 and turned it into an exclusive club, which now boasts a membership fee of $200,000 and is a haven for the tony Palm Beach set who pull up to the gate in Bentleys and Rolls-Royces.             “It’s a place where he feels comfortable and at home, and where he can break the ice with Xi Jinping without the formality, really, of a Washington meet-up,” said another senior White House official. Xi and his wife, Peng Liyuan, will join Trump and his wife, Melania, for dinner on Thursday night then Trump and Xi will have a series of meetings there on Friday. The entire visit will last less than 24 hours. “What matters is that the two of them get together for a successful summit, even if it’s on the moon,” said former U.S. ambassador to China, Max Baucus.  “However, I do think that Mar-a-lago will probably help enhance conversation between the two of them. President Trump can show President Xi around, show him the digs. Trump is very proud of that, and President Xi will be interested in seeing all of that.”     The two leaders are not expected to make public appearances but there are likely to be occasions for a pool of the news media to see them. No joint news conference was expected.  Past U.S. presidents have often turned to settings away from the trappings of Washington to conduct delicate diplomacy. George H.W. Bush had his seaside estate in Kennebunkport, Maine, and George W. Bush frequently played host to foreign leaders at his ranch in Crawford, Texas. Trump’s immediate predecessor, Barack Obama, used the Sunnylands retreat in Rancho Mirage, California, as a site for an informal summit with Xi in 2013. While Trump treated Abe to golf, no such outing is planned for the leader of China.  Mar-a-Lago has already been the scene of some controversy for Trump. When a North Korean missile test disrupted Abe’s visit there, Trump and the Japanese leader were seen at a dinner table on the terrace discussing how to respond, as club members looked on from nearby tables.

Summary: ट्रम्प के लिए, मार-ए-लागो चीन के शी के साथ बर्फ तोड़ने का स्थान है


WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A secret meeting at a neighbor’s house, a drive through a back country road, and a clandestine flight on a military jet marked Judge Neil Gorsuch’s journey to the White House this week after U.S. President Donald Trump chose him as his Supreme Court nominee. Trump, who took office on January 20, called Gorsuch on Monday to inform him that he had prevailed among a handful of finalists to succeed deceased Justice Antonin Scalia on the high court. That decision set off a rapid and secretive process to get Gorsuch to Washington without alerting journalists and other Supreme Court watchers of the president’s selection. After Trump called the Colorado-based judge, a team from the White House counsel’s office flew to Denver and then drove to Boulder, roughly 45 minutes away, to meet with Gorsuch and his family. They met at a neighbor’s house to avoid detection.  Then the White House staff spirited him though a “back farm road” to a waiting military plane to transport him to Washington, White House spokesman Sean Spicer told reporters on Tuesday night in the White House East Room. Gorsuch stayed at a friend’s residence before being brought to the White House for the Tuesday evening announcement. The secrecy continued up until the last minute. When Trump, a former reality television star, entered the East Room, he came alone, addressing the cameras and the waiting crowd, which included Scalia’s widow, at a podium before calling on Gorsuch and his wife to come in. Trump’s decision came after he narrowed a list of 21 candidates down to six, including Thomas Hardiman, William Pryor, Amul Thapar, Diane Sykes, and Don Willett. Then President-elect Trump interviewed Gorsuch, Hardiman and Pryor on Jan. 14 in his New York residence. He also interviewed Thapar. “He finalized the decision recently,” after considering all 21 candidates “very deeply,” said Kellyanne Conway, a senior adviser and counselor to the president. White House counsel Don McGahn informed Hardiman, Pryor and Thapar that they had not been chosen, Spicer said.  The White House was determined to keep the president’s Supreme Court selection a secret and make the announcement of his choice a success after the botched rollout of his refugee executive order contributed to confusion and worldwide criticism last weekend. The strategy to get Gorsuch confirmed will kick off right away, Spicer said, with former Senator Kelly Ayotte serving as the “sherpa” to help steer the nominee through the Senate confirmation process.

Summary: बैक रोड ड्राइव, गुप्त उड़ान ट्रम्प के कोर्ट पिक को वाशिंगटन ले आई


MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Thursday he had all grounds to believe that Moscow, along with Damascus, would soon defeat terrorists in Syria. He said that the Syrian peace process was developing in a positive way, though there were still problems. He said there was a proposal to hold a Congress of Syrian peoples, bringing together representatives of all ethnic groups in Syria.

Summary: रूस के राष्ट्रपति पुतिन ने कहा कि सीरिया में आतंक की हार निकट है


GENEVA (Reuters) - A European and African deal to stem the flow of migrants coming through Libya to Europe fails to tackle the abuses they face, the top U.N. human rights official wrote on Friday.  The 28-nation European Union has long struggled to reach a coherent answer to the influx of migrants fleeing war, poverty and political upheaval in the Middle East and Africa, and the crisis is testing cooperation between member states. On Aug. 28, the leaders of France, Germany, Italy, Spain, Chad, Niger and Libya agreed a plan to tackle illegal human trafficking and support nations struggling to contain the flow of people across the desert and Mediterranean sea.  U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Ra ad al-Hussein said it was significant that the agreement they struck in Paris recognized that a comprehensive response was needed.   But it is very thin on the protection of the human rights of migrants inside Libya and on the boats, and silent on the urgent need for alternatives to the arbitrary detention of vulnerable people,  he wrote in an article published by the United Nations. Zeid s office published a report last December on abuses faced by migrants in detention centres in Libya,  but memories are short when facts are inconvenient , he wrote. Since then the situation had worsened, with far too many allegations to verify and reports of bodies  in the desert, in the forest, on the beaches . Libya s morgues were overflowing, he said.  Apart from the families awaiting word from missing relatives, hardly anybody seemed to care, Zeid wrote.  The EU faces a moral and legal dilemma because it relies on cooperation with Libyan coastguards and plays down their abuses, which include shooting at aid workers trying to rescue migrants, Zeid said.  A coastguard that sometimes rescues migrants in distress   but sometimes chooses not to. Like the militias onshore, coastguards also sometimes beat, rob and even shoot the migrants they intercept,  he said. Zeid said he agreed with a letter to European leaders from Joanne Liu, the head of Medecins Sans Frontieres, a charity that has sent aid workers to rescue migrants.  The letter, entitled  European governments are feeding the business of suffering , asked:  Is allowing people to be pushed into rape, torture and slavery via criminal pay-offs a price European governments are willing to pay?   I fully support her analysis, and share her disgust at this situation,  Zeid wrote.

Summary: संयुक्त राष्ट्र मानवाधिकार प्रमुख का कहना है कि लीबिया के प्रवासियों पर यूरोपीय संघ का सौदा कम हुआ


MILWAUKEE (Reuters) - Republican presidential front-runner Donald Trump predicted that the United States is on course for a “very massive recession,” warning that a combination of high unemployment and an overvalued stock market had set the stage for another economic slump. “I think we’re sitting on an economic bubble. A financial bubble,” the billionaire businessman said in an interview with The Washington Post published on Saturday.  Coming off a tough week on the campaign trail in which he made a series of missteps, Trump’s latest comments bring him back into the limelight ahead of Tuesday’s important primary in Wisconsin where he trails in the polls. The former reality TV star said that the real U.S. jobless figure is much higher than five percent number released by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.  “We’re not at 5 percent unemployment,” Trump said. “We’re at a number that’s probably into the twenties if you look at the real number,” he said, adding that the official jobless figure is “statistically devised to make politicians — and in particular presidents — look good.”     Trump said “it’s a terrible time right now” to invest in the stock market, offering a more bleak view of the U.S. economy than that held by many mainstream economists. The interview was bylined by the Post’s Robert Costa and famed Watergate reporter Bob Woodward.  A real estate magnate, Trump has made appealing to blue-collar workers a hallmark of his bid for the Republican nomination for the Nov. 8 presidential election, often blaming unemployment on the outsourcing of U.S. jobs and facilities to countries such as China and Mexico. Trump vowed in the interview to wipe out the more than $19 trillion national debt “over a period of eight years,” helped by a renegotiation of trade deals. “I’m renegotiating all of our deals, the big trade deals that we’re doing so badly on,” he said. After making controversial statements about abortion last week, Trump has shown little sign of heeding calls from fellow Republicans to adopt a more presidential tone so as to avoid alienating voters in the November general election if he wins the nomination. On Saturday, he questioned close U. S. ties to Saudi Arabia and again accused U.S. allies of not pulling their weight in the NATO military alliance.  Trump told a campaign rally in Racine, Wisconsin that partners in the North Atlantic Treaty Organization “are not paying their fair share” and called the 28-nation alliance “obsolete.” “Either they pay up, including for past deficiencies, or they have to get out. And if it breaks up NATO, it breaks up NATO,” Trump said. Tuesday’s Wisconsin nominating contest could be a turning point in the Republican race. Trump, 69, trails his leading rival, U.S. Senator Ted Cruz, 45, of Texas in the state. A Cruz win would make it harder for Trump to reach the number of 1,237 delegates needed to secure the nomination before the Republican national convention in July. The winner will get to claim all of Wisconsin’s 42 delegates.

Summary: ट्रम्प ने अमेरिका में 'बहुत बड़ी मंदी' की भविष्यवाणी की


JUBA (Reuters) - A South Sudanese rebel group on Friday accused government troops of attacking their base only a day after the parties signed a ceasefire in a four-year war that has killed tens of thousands of people.  The ceasefire, that would allow humanitarian groups access to civilians caught in the fighting, formally comes into force on Sunday morning.  On Friday afternoon, a spokesman for the SPLA-IO rebel group said army forces had attacked a rebel base in Deim Jalab, in the western part of the country. Lam Paul Gabriel said two rebels and five government troops were killed in the fighting. The army spokesman in the capital, Juba, did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The war that began in late 2013 in the world s youngest nation has forced a third of the population to flee their homes. The United Nations describes the violence as ethnic cleansing.  Earlier this year, pockets of the country plunged briefly into famine. The latest round of talks in the Ethiopian capital,  convened by the East African bloc IGAD, brought the warring sides back to the negotiating table after a 2015 peace deal collapsed last year during heavy fighting in Juba. After the new agreement was signed on Thursday, South Sudan s Information Minister Michael Makuei Leuth told journalists:  The cessation of hostilities will be effective 72 hours from now. As of now, we will send messages to all the commands in the field to abide by this cessation of hostilities.   From now onwards, there will be no more fighting,  he added.  Just talks.  The German foreign ministry welcomed the agreement as an important step toward bringing peace to South Sudan.  We call on all participating parties to implement the agreement in a comprehensive and sustainable manner, and to ensure that humanitarian organizations are not hindered in doing their work,  a ministry spokeswoman said.

Summary: दक्षिण सूडान के विद्रोहियों का कहना है कि सेना ने युद्धविराम पर हस्ताक्षर करने के बाद उन पर हमला किया


HARARE (Reuters) - Zimbabwe s ruling ZANU-PF party has given Robert Mugabe until noon (5.00 a.m. ET) on Monday to step down as President or face impeachment, cyber security minister Patrick Chinamasa said on Sunday. He was speaking at a televised news conference after a special party meeting at which Mugabe was sacked as ZANU-PF leader.

Summary: जिम्बाब्वे के राष्ट्रपति पद से इस्तीफा देने के लिए मुगाबे को सोमवार दोपहर तक का समय दिया गया है।


SYDNEY (Reuters) - Australia will extend its Pacific Islands migrant labor program and fly aerial surveillance missions to protect valuable Pacific fisheries, Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull said at the Pacific Island Leaders Forum. The meeting, held in Apia, Samoa, brought 17 Pacific Island nations plus Australia and New Zealand to the negotiating table. The new agreement helps tiny low-income Pacific Island nations by giving them access to Australia s large and developed economy, with migrant workers repatriating funds via overseas remittances. The per capita gross national incomes of 11 countries in the region range from $1,540 for the Solomon Islands to $13,496 for Palau, according to World Bank figures, while Australian workers earn an average yearly salary of more than $64,000. Australia s population of 24 million people is highly urbanized, leading to labor shortages in rural areas. Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull signed an agreement on Friday to allow 2,000 Islanders to work in rural areas over the next three years, adding to an existing seasonal worker program which supplies agricultural labor. The micro-nations of Kiribati, Nauru and Tuvalu will have first access to the scheme, which will allow workers to engage in non-farm work such as care of the elderly. The World Bank said it was in Australia s interests to encourage stability.  Aid dependency in the region is high, and reliance on aid alone is an unbalanced strategy. By improving employment prospects and increasing remittance flows, labor mobility helps stabilize otherwise fragile states,  it said in a new report, Pacific Possible, released at the forum. The report said the Pacific region had the potential to create more than 500,000 new jobs and increase incomes by more than 40 percent by 2040, if they focused on developing key areas such as tourism and fisheries.  The western and central Pacific Ocean covers about 8 percent of the world s ocean mass and contains the last healthy tuna stocks, supplying 60 percent of the world s tuna, the report said. Australia has agreed to fund aerial surveillance for Pacific Island member states to combat illegal fishing, with the planes to be in the air by the end of this year.

Summary: ऑस्ट्रेलिया अधिक प्रशांत द्वीप श्रमिकों, गश्ती मत्स्य पालन की अनुमति देगा


ROME (Reuters) - Italy seized more than 24 million tablets of a synthetic opiate that Islamic State militants planned to sell to finance attacks around the world, the head of a southern Italian court said on Friday. The pills were seized by finance police and customs officials in the container port of Gioia Tauro, Italy s biggest, according to a statement. The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration collaborated in the investigation.  A video shows police opening a container filled with boxes of Tramadol, a powerful painkiller normally available only on prescription.  With an average sale price of about 2 euros ($2.33) per tablet, the haul was worth 50 million euros, the statement said. Foreign investigators told the court in the city of Reggio Calabria that the drugs belonged to Islamic State. The drugs sales were  managed directly by Islamic State to finance the terrorist activities planned and carried out around the world , Reggio Calabria s chief prosecutor Federico Cafiero De Raho said.   Part of the illegal profit from their sale would have been used to finance extremist groups in Libya, Syria and Iraq,  he said. The seizure comes three days after an Uzbek immigrant, Sayfullo Saipov, drove a truck on a New York City bike path, killing eight, in the latest attack claimed by Islamic State. No details on how the illegal shipment was discovered or on its final destination were provided by the court. A similar shipment was discovered in Greece last year, and an even larger one was found in Italy s Genoa port in May.

Summary: इटली का कहना है कि उसने इस्लामिक स्टेट को वित्तपोषित करने के लिए अफीम जब्त की है


NEWPORT NEWS, Va. (Reuters) - President Donald Trump told reporters on Thursday he has “total” confidence in Attorney General Jeff Sessions amid a controversy over Sessions’ meetings with a Russian diplomat last year. Trump made the comment while preparing to deliver a speech about his proposed defense buildup aboard the Gerald R. Ford aircraft carrier.

Summary: अटॉर्नी जनरल सेशंस पर पूरा भरोसाः ट्रंप


OTTAWA (Reuters) - Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said he spoke with U.S. President Donald Trump on Friday about the air strikes on Syria, adding that Canada had been informed about the strikes about an hour before they occurred on Thursday.  “Last night the United States Secretary of Defence briefed Canada’s Minister of Defence in advance of the American military strike in Syria. The Minister of Defence then immediately briefed me. This morning, I spoke with the President directly and emphasized that Canada agrees that Assad’s repeated use of chemical weapons must not continue,” Trudeau told parliament. Trudeau did not indicate what Trump said to him during the phone call.

Summary: कनाडा के ट्रूडो ने कहा कि सीरिया के हवाई हमलों के बारे में ट्रम्प से बात की


NAIROBI (Reuters) - Kenya s Supreme Court on Wednesday criticized the election board for failing to verify official results of last month s presidential election before announcing them, but did not find any individual at the board responsible for the failings. The court was offering a detailed ruling as to why it annulled the Aug. 8 election and ordered a fresh presidential vote within 60 days. The Sept. 1 decision was the first of its kind in Africa. The election board had said incumbent President Uhuru Kenyatta won the contest by 1.4 million votes, but opposition leader Raila Odinga challenged the result in the Supreme Court. He says the previous two elections were also stolen from him. Kenya is a key Western ally in a region often shaken by violence. Its status as a diplomatic, trade and security hub for East Africa means the court s ruling and preparation for the fresh election, now scheduled for Oct. 17, are being closely watched for signs of instability or violence. On Monday, the French technology company supporting the election said it would be nearly impossible to be ready for that date. The court s Sept. 1 ruling identified some procedural problems, but the key finding against the election board on Wednesday was that officials had announced results before being able to verify them. Kenya used two parallel systems: a quick electronic tally vulnerable to typos and a slower paper system designed as a verifiable, definitive back-up. The official results were based on the electronic tally before the paper results were fully collated, the judges said.  The system was designed that way after a disputed 2007 presidential vote sparked violence that killed around 1,200 people and displaced some 600,000 more.  If elections are not seen to be free and fair, they can trigger instability. We do not need to look far for examples,  said Chief Justice David Maraga. The board overseeing the 2017 vote did not have all the tally forms when it announced results, and some forms lacked security features like water marks, signatures or serial numbers, which calls their authenticity into question, the court said, adding there was no evidence of individual wrongdoing.  Though the petitioner claimed various offences were committed by the issues of the first respondent, that is the IEBC (elections board), no evidence was placed before us to prove that allegation,  Maraga said.  We are therefore unable to impute any criminal intent or culpability.   Odinga has said he will not take part in the repeat election if several demands, including the sacking of senior staff at the election board, are not met.  Judge Philomena Mwilu said the forms should have been quickly available for inspection, noting officials said thousands of forms from polling stations were still unavailable four days after the official results were announced.   The (board) cannot therefore be said to have verified the results,  she said.  It is an inexcusable contravention ... of the election act.  She also censured the board s refusal to comply with court orders to open its computer servers, saying it meant that opposition claims of hacking or manipulation might be true.     Noncompliance or failure by the board to do as ordered must be held against it,  she said. But although the tallying process was questioned, voter registration, identification and voting all appeared to have been  conducted in accordance with the law,  she said.  Opposition claims against Kenyatta were largely dismissed. Maraga said the opposition had failed to show evidence Kenyatta had campaigned using state resources or undue influence.  Two judges read lengthy dissenting opinions and accused their four colleagues who issued the majority judgment of misinterpreting the law and other failings, including not paying attention to the evidence and judicial limits.  As judges spoke, police used tear gas to disperse groups of rival political supporters holding demonstrations outside the Supreme Court.  The election re-run has divided Kenya, with many opposition supporters celebrating it and the president and some members of the ruling party criticizing it harshly.  After the majority decision was read, Deputy President William Rut tweeted:  Evidently a supreme coup on sovereign Will of the people was executed on basis of technicalities against their verdict captured in ballots.  On Tuesday, the chief justice told a news conference that judges were getting threats and the police were not offering adequate protection, an allegation that the chief of police denied.

Summary: केन्या सुप्रीम कोर्ट ने चुनाव पर फैसले में चुनाव बोर्ड की आलोचना की


MOSCOW (Reuters) - Moscow expects new complications in its relationship with the United States in early 2018 because of possible new U.S. sanctions on Russia, the RIA news agency cited Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov as saying on Tuesday.  Ryabkov said Washington could resort to new  destructive impulses  ahead of next year s Russian presidential election, RIA reported.

Summary: रूस को उम्मीद है कि नए प्रतिबंधों से 2018 में अमेरिका के साथ उसके संबंधों में और खटास आएगीः आर. आई. ए.


MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - The fourth round of talks to renegotiate the North American Free Trade agreement have been prolonged until Oct. 17, two sources in Mexico said on Tuesday, as negotiators gathering in Washington were expected to start tackling difficult issues. The round of talks due to begin on Wednesday is expected to include discussions about including quotas for U.S. content in autos, a major bone of contention for Mexico, Canada and many companies. Previously, the talks were due to end on Oct. 15. The news was first reported by Bloomberg earlier on Tuesday.

Summary: नाफ्टा वार्ता दौर दो दिनों के लिए बढ़ाया गयाः मेक्सिको के सूत्र


GENEVA (Reuters) - The European Union s support for the Libyan coast guard is leading to the arbitrary and indefinite imprisonment of migrants in  inhuman  conditions, the U.N. human rights chief said on Tuesday. The EU anti-trafficking mission Sophia has helped train Tripoli s coast guard, while Italy has supplied it with four patrol boats. Italy also has sent millions of euros and a navy repair ship to fix Libya s marine fleet. So far in 2017, the Libyans have intercepted almost 20,000 migrants at sea, according to the International Organization for Migration. After being taken from the boats, they are brought to land and put in  detention centers  that were visited by United Nations personnel.  Monitors were shocked by what they witnessed,  High Commissioner on Human Rights Zeid Ra ad Al Hussein said in a statement.  They saw  thousands of emaciated and traumatized men, women and children piled on top of each other, locked up in hangars with no access to the most basic necessities, and stripped of their human dignity,  he said.  Some 20,000 people are now being held in facilities controlled by Tripoli s migration department, up from 7,000 in September, the U.N. said in a statement. While U.N. agencies and other humanitarian groups have access to them and seek to provide health care and some food, Zeid said it was not enough because  the EU and its member states have done nothing so far to reduce the level of abuses suffered by migrants .  Just a day ago, European and African ministers repeated a pledge to try to improve conditions for migrants in Libya, and on Saturday Italian Prime Minister Paolo Gentiloni hailed Italian immigration policy.  Italy is the only country in Europe with a decent migration policy,  Gentiloni said.  We re proud because we don t build walls or close ports.  But it was Italy that struck a deal with the U.N.-backed Tripoli in February, which was endorsed by the whole of the EU, aimed at blocking migrants in Libya, much as the EU deal with Turkey did last year.   That agreement, combined with the support for the Libyan coast guard, has brought migrant sea arrivals down dramatically in recent months. This year there have been 115,000 sea arrivals in Italy, down 31 percent from last year, official data from Italy s Interior Ministry show. In October alone arrivals dropped by 76 percent from a year earlier.

Summary: लीबिया के तटरक्षक बल का यूरोपीय संघ का समर्थन 'अमानवीय': संयुक्त राष्ट्र मानवाधिकार प्रमुख


PARIS (Reuters) - France is considering whether to host a meeting of the  International Lebanon Support Group to discuss the political crisis in the country, a French presidential source said on Saturday.  The source said there was no decision yet on whether it would take place or whether it would be a ministerial meeting.  The group includes Britain, China, France, Russia and the United States - the five permanent members of the United Nations Security Council.    (This story has been refiled to remove reference to Germany in third paragraph.)

Summary: जरूरत पड़ने पर लेबनान पर अंतर्राष्ट्रीय बैठक की मेजबानी के लिए फ्रांस तैयार


WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Donald Trump is sending his son-in-law Jared Kushner and negotiator Jason Greenblatt to the Middle East soon to meet regional leaders and discuss a “path to substantive Israeli-Palestinian peace talks,” a White House official said on Friday. Deputy national security adviser Dina Powell will also be on  the trip, which will include meetings with leaders from Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Jordan, Egypt, Israel and the Palestinian Authority, the official said. “While the regional talks will play an important role, the president reaffirms that peace between Israelis and Palestinians can only be negotiated directly between the two parties and that the United States will continue working closely with the parties to make progress towards that goal,” the official said. Kushner, who serves as a senior adviser to his father-in-law, was charged with helping to broker a deal between Israelis and Palestinians after Trump took office. The president went to Saudi Arabia and Israel during his first post-inauguration trip abroad and has expressed a personal commitment to reaching a deal that has eluded his Republican and Democratic predecessors. The timing of the trip was pegged to the recent “restoration of calm and the stabilized situation in Jerusalem” after a spate of violence last month sparked by Israel’s installation of metal detectors at entry points to the Noble Sanctuary or Temple Mount compound there. Trump directed that the talks focus on a pathway to peace talks, fighting “extremism,” easing the humanitarian crisis in Gaza, and identifying economic steps that can be taken to ensure security and stability, the official said. “To enhance the chances for peace, all parties need to engage in creating an environment conducive to peace-making while affording the negotiators and facilitators the time and space they need to reach a deal,” the official said.

Summary: शांति वार्ता के लिए मध्य पूर्व में दूत भेजेगा ट्रंपः अधिकारी


SEOUL (Reuters) - At least four defectors from North Korea have shown signs of radiation exposure, the South Korean government said on Wednesday, although researchers could not confirm if they were was related to Pyongyang s nuclear weapons program. The four are among 30 former residents of Kilju county, an area in North Korea that includes the nuclear test site Punggye-ri, who have been examined by the South Korean government since October, a month after the North conducted its sixth and most powerful nuclear test, Unification Ministry spokesman Baik Tae-hyun told a news briefing.  They were exposed to radiation between May 2009 and January 2013, and all defected to the South before the most recent test, a researcher at the Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute, which carried out the examinations, told reporters. North Korea has conducted six nuclear bomb tests since 2006, all in tunnels deep beneath the mountains of Punggye-ri, in defiance of U.N. Security Council resolutions and international condemnation. The researcher cautioned that there were a number of ways people may be exposed to radiation, and that none of the defectors who lived had lived in Punggye-ri itself showed specific symptoms. A series of small earthquakes in the wake of the last test - which the North claimed to be of a hydrogen bomb - prompted suspicions that it may have damaged the mountainous location in the northwest tip of the country. Experts warned that further tests in the area could risk radioactive pollution. After the Sept. 3 nuclear test, China s Nuclear Safety Administration said it had begun emergency monitoring for radiation along its border with North Korea. And in early December, a state-run newspaper in China s Jilin province, which borders North Korea and Russia, published a page of  common sense  advice on how readers can protect themselves from a nuclear weapons attack or explosion. Cartoon illustrations of ways to dispel radioactive contamination were also provided, such as using water to wash off shoes and using cotton buds to clean ears, as well as a picture of a vomiting child to show how medical help can be sought to speed the expulsion of radiation through stomach pumping and induced urination.

Summary: उत्तर कोरिया के दलबदलू विकिरण के संपर्क में आ सकते हैंः दक्षिण कोरिया


BEIRUT (Reuters) - Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah said on Friday an Israeli war with Lebanon was unlikely and warned Israel against exploiting the current political crisis in Lebanon.     Lebanese Prime Minister Saad al-Hariri resigned in a speech from Saudi Arabia on Saturday and has yet to return to Lebanon. In a televised address Nasrallah said he believes Hariri is being detained in Riyadh.

Summary: हिज़्बुल्लाह नेता का कहना है कि लेबनान के साथ इजरायल के युद्ध की संभावना नहीं है


LONDON (Reuters) - A woman at London s Parsons Green underground train station told Reuters on Friday she was injured in a stampede.  Armed police were at the scene, a Reuters photographer said.  A blast on an underground train at Parsons Green left some passengers with facial burns at the station, London s Metro newspaper reported on its website.

Summary: लंदन स्टेशन पर भगदड़ में घायल होने का गवाह कहता हैः रॉयटर्स रिपोर्टर


BEIJING (Reuters) - The United States said on Saturday it was directly communicating with North Korea on its nuclear and missile programs but Pyongyang had shown no interest in dialogue. The disclosure by U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson during a trip to China represented the first time he has spoken to such an extent about U.S. outreach to North Korea over its pursuit of a nuclear-tipped intercontinental ballistic missile. “We are probing so stay tuned,” Tillerson told a group of reporters in Beijing.  “We ask: ‘Would you like to talk?’ We have lines of communications to Pyongyang. We’re not in a dark situation, a blackout.”  He said that communication was happening directly and cited two or three U.S. channels open to Pyongyang. “We can talk to them. We do talk to them,” he said, without elaborating about which Americans were involved in those contacts or how frequent or substantive they were. The goal of any initial dialogue would be simple: finding out directly from North Korea what it wants to discuss. “We haven’t even gotten that far yet,” he said. Trying to tamp down expectations, the State Department said later there were no signs Pyongyang was interested in talks. “North Korean officials have shown no indication that they are interested in or are ready for talks regarding denuclearization,” department spokeswoman Heather Nauert said in a statement.  Tillerson previously had offered little detail about U.S. outreach. On Sept. 20, he acknowledged only “very, very limited” contact with Pyongyang’s U.N. envoy. When asked about Tillerson’s assertion and what communication there might be between Pyongyang and Washington, a spokesman for the North Korean mission to the United Nations said he “can’t go further into detail.” Tillerson’s remarks followed a day of meetings in Beijing, which has been alarmed by recent exchanges of war-like threats and personal insults between North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and U.S. President Donald Trump. “I think the whole situation’s a bit overheated right now,” Tillerson said. “I think everyone would like for it to calm down. “Obviously it would help if North Korea would stop firing off missiles. That’d calm things down a lot.” South Korean officials have voiced concerns that North Korea could conduct more provocative acts near the anniversary of the founding of its communist party on Oct. 10, or possibly when China holds its Communist Party Congress on Oct. 18. North Korea is fast advancing toward its goal of developing a nuclear-tipped missile capable of hitting the U.S. mainland. It conducted its sixth and largest nuclear test on Sept. 3 and has threatened to test a hydrogen bomb over the Pacific.   U.S. officials including Tillerson say Beijing, after long accounting for some 90 percent of North Korea’s foreign trade, appears increasingly willing to cut ties to its neighbor’s economy by adopting U.N. sanctions. Tillerson said China’s more assertive posture was due to its realization that North Korea’s nuclear and missile capabilities had advanced too far. “I think they also have a sense that we’re beginning to run out of time and that we really have to change the dynamic,” Tillerson said. The goal of the sanctions would be getting North Korea’s Kim to view nuclear weapons as a liability, not a strength.  Still, the U.S. intelligence community does not believe Kim is likely to give up his weapons program willingly, regardless of sanctions.  “(Tillerson’s) working against the unified view of our intelligence agencies, which say there’s no amount of pressure that can be put on them to stop,” Senator Bob Corker told a hearing at the chamber on Thursday. Kim sees nuclear-tipped intercontinental ballistic missiles as “his ticket to survival,” Corker said. Tillerson agreed that Kim’s nuclear and missile programs were aimed at ensuring his own security, and renewed assurances that the United States did not seek to topple Kim’s government. “Look, our objective is denuclearization (of North Korea),” he said. “Our objective is not to get rid of you. Our objective is not to collapse your regime.” It is unclear how and when any actual negotiations with Pyongyang might be possible.   White House national security adviser H.R. McMaster said on Monday there were no set preconditions for talks. He added, however, that Pyongyang’s capabilities were too far advanced to simply freeze its program in return for concessions. He also dismissed the idea of negotiating with Pyongyang even as it continued to develop its nuclear weapons program. Tillerson in March suggested the United States would only engage North Korea in negotiations once it gave up nuclear weapons.  But he acknowledged on Saturday that denuclearization would be an “incremental process.” “You’d be foolish to think you’re going to sit down and say: OK, done. Nuclear weapons, gone. This is going to be a process of engagement with North Korea,” he said. Trump, who is due to visit China in November, has called for it to do more regarding North Korea and has promised to take steps to rebalance a trade relationship that his administration says puts U.S. businesses at a disadvantage. Chinese President Xi Jinping did not mention North Korea in his opening remarks while meeting Tillerson on Saturday. He instead offered warm words about Trump, saying he expected the U.S. president’s visit to be “wonderful.”  “The two of us have also maintained a good working relationship and personal friendship,” Xi said in comments in front of reporters.

Summary: अमेरिका उत्तर कोरिया के साथ सीधे संवाद कर रहा है, बातचीत चाहता है


UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - A subtle diplomat like Talleyrand, Donald Trump is not. The U.S. president, in his first foray at the U.N. General Assembly, derided North Korean leader Kim Jong Un as a  rocket man ... on a suicide mission  and delivered an unabashed defense of sovereignty at the seat of global multilateralism. But if his speech drew barbs from allies and authoritarian adversaries, it did nothing to deter his dance partners at the premier diplomatic waltz of the year, the 193-member United Nations  annual gathering of world leaders known by the acronym UNGA. Trump held bilateral meetings with 13 leaders this week,   more than his predecessor Barack Obama had at his first UNGA(five), his last (six) or his busiest (10), according to data compiled by CBS News White House correspondent Mark Knoller. Trump s less than diplomatic speech on Tuesday recalled the fiery nationalist language of his Jan. 20 inaugural address and raised eyebrows across the political spectrum by its bald assertion of the primacy of U.S. interests.  Our government s first duty is to its people, to our citizens - to serve their needs, to ensure their safety, to preserve their rights, and to defend their values,  he said, evoking his campaign s nationalist themes despite the departure of advocates such as Steve Bannon from the White House.  Germany s foreign minister, Sigmar Gabriel, delivered a riposte in a scathing and barely veiled critique on Thursday.  National egoism, I believe, is worthless as a regulatory principle for our world,  Gabriel said.  The motto  our country first  not only leads to more national confrontations and less prosperity, in the end there can only be losers.  Robert Mugabe, Zimbabwe s authoritarian 93-year-old leader who has ruled the former British colony since independence in 1980, also sought to nudge Trump in a more peaceable direction.  Mr. Trump, please blow your trumpet, blow your trumpet in a musical way towards the values of unity, peace, cooperation, togetherness, dialogue,  he said. In his speech, Trump said if the United States were forced to defend itself or its allies, it would have  no choice but to totally destroy North Korea  and he called Iran s government a  murderous regime  that exports  violence, bloodshed and chaos.  His directness contrasts with the subtlety of 18th- and 19th-century French diplomat Charles-Maurice de Talleyrand, who is reputed to have said:  A diplomat who says  yes  means  maybe,  a diplomat who says  maybe  means  no,  and a diplomat who says  no  is no diplomat.  Still, Trump s language has seeped into the discourse of other leaders, perhaps seeking to curry his favor. Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas spoke of  draining the swamp  of Israeli occupation while South Korean President Moon Jae-in called North Korean behavior  extremely deplorable.  Trump, possibly recalling the criticism that his Democratic U.S. presidential opponent Hillary Clinton earned for calling some of his supporters a  basket of deplorables,  was pleased.  I m very happy that you used the word  deplorable ,  Trump told Moon.  That s been a very lucky word for me and many millions of people.  Both Moon and Abbas had sitdowns with Trump, and there was no shortage of others who wanted to meet him. A U.S. official said the White House accommodated as many requests for meetings as they could schedule, noting some leaders who wanted to meet Trump did not make the cut. The U.S. president has also wanted to see the leaders of China, India and Germany, but they did not come this year. Afghan President Ashraf Ghani met Trump on Thursday, and officials in Kabul said all the impetus had come from the Afghan side, with no burning interest from the White House. French President Emmanuel Macron made clear he would work with any U.S. president, whoever he was, and said he and Trump had clear disagreements on climate change and Iran policy.  I want a deep, cordial dialogue to bring him back into the international and multilateral fold on these two subjects,  Macron told reporters.  As I m a pragmatist, I put myself in a position to work the best way possible with him.   Asked if dealing with Trump was like managing a difficult child, the French president replied:  Not at all. I m managing a partner of the world s biggest power and a historical partner for our country.

Summary: कूटनीतिक विमर्श के बावजूद, ट्रम्प का डांस कार्ड भरा हुआ है


LONDON (Reuters) - British Prime Minister Theresa May could have more to say on the Brexit financial settlement at next week s European Union summit, her spokeswoman said on Friday. Brexit talks are deadlocked over money, the EU s chief Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier said on Thursday. He ruled out discussions on future trade being launched by EU leaders next week but spoke of possible progress by December.  On financial settlement in general, the prime minister has been clear all along that we need to reach a settlement and we will honor our commitments,  May s spokeswoman told reporters.  The prime minister will be in Brussels next week where she will be talking to European leaders at the European Council so I am sure that there will be more to say there.  May s spokeswoman said that the detail of the financial settlement was for the negotiation and that the issue could  only be resolved as part of the settlement of all of the issues that she spoke about in Florence .

Summary: ब्रिटेन के प्रधानमंत्री यूरोपीय संघ शिखर सम्मेलन में ब्रेक्सिट धन पर और अधिक कह सकते हैंः प्रवक्ता


MADRID (Reuters) - Spain s opposition Socialist leader Pedro Sanchez said on Wednesday he had agreed with Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy to launch a constitutional reform that could change the way Spain s autonomous regions, including Catalonia, are governed. The two leaders agreed that a committee would study the current system of regional autonomy for six months, after which the Spanish parliament would debate constitutional reforms, Sanchez told reporters.  He also backed Rajoy s demand that Catalan leader Carles Puigdemont clarify whether he declared independence from Spain and said he would support constitutional measures that may be taken by the Spanish government if Puigdemont failed to reply or said he had declared independence.

Summary: स्पेन के समाजवादी नेता संवैधानिक सुधार शुरू करने के लिए राजॉय से सहमत हैं


QUITO (Reuters) - An Ecuadorean court on Wednesday sentenced Vice President Jorge Glas to six years in jail after finding him guilty of receiving bribes from Brazilian construction company Odebrecht [ODBCT.UL]  in return for handing the scandal-ridden firm state contracts. A close ally of leftist ex-President Rafael Correa, Glas served as Correa s vice president from 2013 and retained the position under current President Lenin Moreno. But Moreno, who has largely broken from Correa, suspended Glas in August, accusing him of not being a team player. An Ecuadorean judge in October then ordered pre-trial detention for Glas as part of the investigation into Odebrecht. The public prosecutor s office accused him of pocketing a roughly $13.5-million bribe from Odebrecht via his uncle.  Glas constructed, with (former Odebrecht executive) Jose Conceicao Santos, the awarding of public contracts in return for payment,  Judge Edgar Flores said on Wednesday as he read the decision. Glas, a 48-year-old electrical engineer, has been accused by senior members of Correa s government of corruption while serving as strategic sectors minister and vice president. His lawyer slammed the decision as  unjust  and vowed to appeal. Glas  downfall highlights how fallout from the massive Odebrecht corruption scandal has continued to ripple across South America. The company, which has admitted to paying bribes to win contracts in a number of countries, has paid $3.5 billion in settlements in the United States, Brazil and Switzerland. Odebrecht allegedly paid $33.5 million in bribes to secure contracts in Ecuador. The opposition says that Correa s government was slow to investigate, although he rejects that.

Summary: इक्वाडोर की अदालत ने ओडेब्रेक्ट भ्रष्टाचार मामले में उपराष्ट्रपति को छह साल की जेल की सजा सुनाई


JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Israel’s right wing has been eagerly awaiting Donald Trump’s arrival in the White House, hoping a Republican president will usher in a new era of support for Israeli settlement-building on land Palestinians want for a state. The far-right Jewish Home party, along with members of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s Likud party, is promoting legislation that would effectively annex one large settlement in the occupied West Bank to Israel and another bill that would legalize dozens of unauthorized outposts. But there could be a question mark over the issue, with Netanyahu possibly looking to curb settlement laws, wary of the dangers of the far right’s ambitions being too freely unleashed as he feels his way forward with the new U.S. administration.  The Israeli leader’s spokesman declined to comment on Netanyahu’s position. In its final weeks, the Obama administration angered the Israeli government by withholding a traditional U.S. veto of an anti-settlement resolution at the United Nations Security Council, enabling the measure to pass. President Barack Obama on Wednesday said he was worried that the prospects for a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict — the idea of Israel and Palestine living side-by-side in peace and security — were waning.  Israeli right wingers contrast Obama’s warnings with what they see as positive signals from Trump that indicate Washington’s attitude towards settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem, areas Israel captured in a 1967 war, is about to change. Trump’s nominee to be U.S. ambassador to the United Nations,  Nikki Haley, echoed his condemnation of the world body over its treatment of Israel at her Senate confirmation hearing on Wednesday. Trump, who has said he wants to meet Netanyahu “at the first opportunity”, has pledged to move the U.S. embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem. In his remarks on Wednesday, Obama cautioned against “sudden unilateral moves” that could be “explosive”. Israel regards all of Jerusalem as its capital but most of the world does not, seeing its final status as a matter for peace negotiations that have been frozen since 2014. In a move that has emboldened Israeli right wingers, the president-elect has already appointed a new U.S. ambassador to Israel, David Friedman, who is considered far right on issues, including settlement building. Naftali Bennett, leader of the Jewish Home, hopes that under  Trump’s administration the notion of establishing a Palestinian state will be abandoned. He wants to promote a bill extending Israeli sovereignty to Maale Adumim, a West Bank settlement of about 40,000 Israelis that lies just to the east of Jerusalem.  That would in effect mean Israel annexing some of the land it has occupied for almost 50 years. “It’s either (Israeli) sovereignty or Palestine,” Bennett told Army Radio this month. “The question is not what will Trump do but what will Israel ask for. What will Israel present as its vision. We are in the money-time now for forming this vision.” But Professor Itamar Rabinovich, a former Israeli ambassador to the United States, believes the right wing may be getting ahead of itself and its ambitions could backfire.  “In reality, where the United States needs to live not just with us but also with the Arab and Muslim world, supporting extremist measures in Israel could turn out to be something the United States cannot live with,” Rabinovich said. Bennett ultimately advocates the annexation of most of the West Bank, leaving just the major Palestinian towns and cities in Palestinian hands. But first he is testing the water with the annexation bill, entitled “Sovereignty in Maale Adumim First”. It is due for a first discussion in a ministerial committee on Sunday, two of its drafters said. “I believe this is the gift that the people of Israel deserve in the run-up to Trump’s inauguration,” Bennett’s fellow party member, Betzalel Smotrich, told parliament on Tuesday. A spokesman for Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said annexation was a red line. “Any such Israeli decision will be considered a dangerous escalation that would end any possible hope for peace,” Nabil Abu Rdainah told Reuters. Late last year, a separate bill that would retroactively legalize settlement outposts built on privately-owned Palestinian land in the West Bank passed the first of three votes in parliament required to make it law. No dates have been set for final approval, and it has since disappeared from the agenda. Asked about the delay, a source in Netanyahu’s office said: “He wants to freeze the outpost bill.” Asked about the law, a legislative source said: “It’s stuck in committee. There will be attempts to bring it back on the agenda after Jan. 20, but I think it is pretty much buried at this point,” he said, referring to the date of the inauguration. The legislation had drawn anger from the Palestinians and  international condemnation. Smotrich told Reuters that it will be brought to a second and third reading in February. “We were waiting for the end of the Obama age,” he said. A political source close to Netanyahu said that with regard to the proposed Maale Adumim annexation, the prime minister may say he wishes to hold off until after he meets Trump. Tzachi Hanegbi, a Likud minister and Netanyahu confidant, said Netanyahu understood that such steps would further isolate Israel. Most countries regard Israeli settlements as illegal, a view that Israel disputes. “He does not want to shake the entire world and put Israel at the center of contention, isolation and criticism,” Hanegbi told Army Radio. “I hope the government will not let itself be dragged after Jewish Home’s agenda.”  At the same time, Netanyahu is competing with Jewish Home for right-wing, pro-settlement voters. He may disagree with the party’s approach, but he can’t ignore it.     “If the (annexation) bill comes up, Likud ministers will support it. They can do nothing else,” the source said.

Summary: इज़राइल के दक्षिणपंथी दलों के पास ट्रम्प युग के लिए बड़ी योजनाएं हैं


HANOI (Reuters) - A prominent critic of the Vietnamese government said he was taken by police from his home early on Tuesday so that he would be unable to meet U.S. President Barack Obama in Hanoi with other civil society figures. Nguyen Quang A said he was forced into a car by a group of police officers, driven out of the capital, and kept away for 5-1/2 hours.  During this time, Obama met six civil society leaders and later said several people had been prevented from meeting him. Obama said that despite great strides made by Vietnam, Washington had concerns about the limits it puts on political freedom.

Summary: वियतनामी असंतुष्ट का कहना है कि पुलिस ने ओबामा से मिलने से रोका


WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Republican presidential candidate Ted Cruz vowed to deport immigrants living illegally in the United States and build a wall to keep others out, sharpening his stance on the issue a week before presidential contests in several southern states. Cruz’s comments on the eve of Tuesday’s Nevada caucuses came hours after the public firing of his main spokesman over misleading social media postings involving rival Marco Rubio. Rubio won endorsements on Monday from prominent Republicans as he sought to become the party’s mainstream alternative to front-runner Donald Trump after Jeb Bush dropped out of the race for the 2016 Republican presidential nomination. Cruz was asked on Fox News’ “O’Reilly Factor” if he would round up the 12 million illegal aliens in the country, and how. “Listen, we should enforce the law. How do we enforce the law? Yes, we should deport them. We should build a wall. We should triple the Border Patrol,” Cruz said. “And federal law requires that anyone here illegally that’s apprehended should be deported.”  Asked if he, like real estate tycoon Trump, would go out and look for them, Cruz replied, “Of course you would. That’s what ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement) exists for. We have law enforcement that looks for people who are violating the laws.”  The comments marked a shift from last month, when Cruz rejected sending authorities to find immigrants as “police state” tactics. “I don’t intend to send jackboots to knock on your door and every door in America. That’s not how we enforce the law for any crime,” Mr. Cruz told CNN in an interview on Jan. 10. Cruz has repeatedly criticized Rubio for having embraced a sweeping immigration reform bill he characterizes as amnesty.  Cruz and other Republican candidates vying to represent their party in the Nov. 8 presidential election have been under pressure to toughen their stance on immigration by Trump’s ferocious rhetoric on the issue. Trump responded to Cruz’s comments with a trademark Twitter taunt on Tuesday, referring the U.S. senator from Texas’ third-place finish in South Carolina’s primary on Saturday. “Ted Cruz only talks tough on immigration now because he did so badly in S.C. He is in favor of amnesty and weak on illegal immigration,” Trump said. The New York billionaire has said he would deport all undocumented immigrants, build a wall and rescind U.S. President Barack Obama’s executive orders on immigration.

Summary: क्रूज़ का कहना है कि अवैध प्रवासियों को निर्वासित किया जाएगा, आप्रवासन रुख को तेज किया जाएगा


WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and House of Representatives Speaker Paul Ryan expressed confidence on Thursday that Congress will pass an overhaul of the U.S. tax code by the end of this year, a major but elusive goal for President Donald Trump and his fellow Republicans. “We want America to wake up on New Year’s Day 2018 with a new tax system,” Ryan said, adding that his goal was to have a U.S. corporate tax rate at or below 22.5 percent, down from the current 35 percent. “I think it’s still very viable to get it done this year,” Mnuchin said, calling the tax overhaul his and Trump’s top priority. “We don’t need to set a specific date. We’re going to get this done as quickly as we can.” Mnuchin and Ryan made their predictions a day after Trump reached a deal with Democrats to avert an unprecedented default on U.S. government debt, keep the government funded at the outset of the fiscal year beginning Oct. 1 and provide aid to victims of Hurricane Harvey. Mnuchin later met with Ryan, White House economic adviser Gary Cohn, Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell and the Republican chairmen of the two congressional committees that are crafting tax legislation. The group of tax policymakers are known as the “Big Six.” “The major blueprint has been outlined. It’s going to go to the committees,” Mnuchin told Fox Business ahead of the meeting.  But there were no tangible signs of progress.  “I think you’re going to see something very soon,” Cohn told reporters as he left the session. “We had a very good meeting today. We continue to work together. We continue to work well.” A key Republican goal is to slash the corporate income tax rate, which Trump and congressional Republican leaders contend will make U.S. companies more competitive, create jobs and raise wages. But the president and Congress appear to be at odds over rates, and independent analysts say lawmakers may not be able to deliver a corporate rate low enough to be meaningful for companies without expanding the federal deficit. Trump has said he wants to lower the U.S. corporate tax rate to 15 percent from 35 percent. Ryan, in an interview with the New York Times, indicated that a figure that low was unrealistic. “The numbers are hard to make that work,” Ryan said. “He obviously wants to push this as low as possible. I completely support doing that, but at the end of the day we’ve got to make these numbers work.” “Our goal is to be at or below the industrialized world average - and that’s 22.5 (percent). So our goal is to get in the mid- to low 20s. And we think that’s an achievable goal,” he added. The White House hopes Wednesday’s deal clears the decks for Congress to tackle the tax overhaul, a top Trump campaign promise. Even though Republicans control the White House and both chambers of Congress, Trump has yet to win passage of any major legislation, with Democrats typically united against him. His administration previously has offered rosy predictions about the timing of a tax overhaul that have not come to pass. Mnuchin in February said the administration was committed to getting the tax overhaul through Congress by August. Mnuchin, Ryan and the rest of the “Big Six” have been negotiating a tax plan behind closed doors for months, excluding Democrats and producing only a few pages of basic principles.  Trump on Tuesday urged congressional leaders to make a big push on taxes with cuts for individuals and companies and tax breaks for businesses to bring back profits from overseas.  Republicans are still divided on significant issues such as whether tax cuts should be offset with spending cuts to avoid increasing the federal budget deficit and how much to lower the corporate income tax rate. In an interview with Fox Business Network, Mnuchin said he was not worried about the plan going off track because of either Democrats or conservative Republicans making their own demands. Many Democrats have voiced opposition to a tax plan that primarily benefits the wealthiest Americans and corporations. Asked whether he was concerned that Democrats could use the funding deal struck on Wednesday to make demands such as rejecting any tax cut for the wealthy or pushing for a cut for middle-income earners, Mnuchin said no. He also said he expected some Democrats to back the final tax plan. On Wednesday, Trump said he would offer more details about his tax reform plan in about two weeks.

Summary: मनुचिन, रयान वर्ष के अंत तक अमेरिकी कर सुधार को पारित करते हैं


MOSCOW (Reuters) - Moscow is deeply concerned by the escalation of tension on the Korean peninsula caused by the continued war of words between the United States and North Korea, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Friday.  Moscow is convinced that there is no alternative to a political and diplomatic settlement of the North Korean problem,  he told a conference call with reporters.  He said the situation was being further aggravated by  the swapping of silly statements full of threats . The Kremlin was reacting to U.S. President Donald Trump s statement in which he vowed to destroy North Korea, leading the reclusive nation to declare that it might test a hydrogen bomb over the Pacific Ocean.

Summary: कोरियाई प्रायद्वीप में बढ़ते तनाव से क्रेमलिन 'बहुत चिंतित' है


MELITOPOL, Ukraine (Reuters) - Russia has left troops behind after staging war games in Belarus despite promising not to, Ukraine s Commander in Chief Viktor Muzhenko told Reuters. In an interview on a military plane on Thursday evening, Muzhenko said Russia has withdrawn only a few units from Belarus and had lied about how many of its soldiers were there in the first place.  His comments could increase tension between the two neighbors and contradict the Belarussian defense ministry spokesman, who said the last train of Russian troops and equipment had left Belarus on Thursday. Russia s defense ministry did not respond to an immediate request for comment. Relations between Kiev and Moscow nosedived after Russia s annexation of the Crimean peninsula in 2014 and the outbreak of a separatist insurgency in eastern Ukraine that has killed more than 10,000 people.  Ukraine sees itself as being at war with Russia and has accused Moscow of sending troops and hardware to fight in the Donbass region, which Moscow denies. There are frequent casualties despite a notional ceasefire agreed in 2015.  The Zapad wargames, held by Russian and Belarussian troops on territory in both countries in September, are a new source of concern for neighboring Ukraine and NATO member states on Europe s eastern flank.  Russia has said the exercise was to rehearse a purely defensive scenario, that the scale of the wargames was in line with international rules, and that allegations it was a springboard to invade Poland, Lithuania or Ukraine were false. But Muzhenko said the wargames were of an offensive nature. Ukraine staged its own drills in northern Ukraine in response to Zapad and built up troops there.   I wouldn t say that the tension has lessened. We can say tension is building up or rising,  he said.   We had information that they had withdrawn only a few units of the declared 12,500 troops, of which 3,000 were Russians, but there were significantly more of them there.  Muzhenko said the Russians had withdrawn air units from Belarus to make a show of leaving.  Russia demonstrated, and it was primarily a demonstration, the return of aviation units   they took off from the airfields and flew to airfields in Russia. But we understand that 300-400 km for aviation is a distance that can be overcome in a very short time,  he said.   The 55-year-old, who became Chief of the General Staff in 2014, said Ukraine was still outgunned in terms of its air defense capabilities in the Donbass war and needed air reconnaissance and anti-missile systems.  Kiev is hoping to receive lethal defensive weapons from U.S. President Donald Trump. Muzhenko said talks had been concluded.  We expect the corresponding decision because all negotiations are over and the relevant issues have been agreed   on the list and types of weapons   and we expect only the political decisions of our partner countries,  he said.

Summary: युद्ध के बाद रूस ने बेलारूस में सैनिकों को छोड़ दियाः यूक्रेन


WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The White House on Thursday said Vice President Joe Biden’s unannounced visit to Iraq to meet with Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi was a “good indication” of U.S. support of the prime minister’s efforts to unify that country.  “This is a good indication of the United States continued support for Prime Minister Abadi’s efforts to unify the nation of Iraq to  confront ISIL,” spokesman Josh Earnest said, using another name for Islamic State.

Summary: व्हाइट हाउस का कहना है कि बाइडन की यात्रा इराक के लिए अमेरिकी समर्थन का एक अच्छा संकेत है


KABUL (Reuters) - Civilian casualties from Afghan and American air strikes have risen more than 50 percent since last year, the United Nations said on Thursday, as troops increase attacks on militants under a new strategy announced by U.S. President Donald Trump in August. As of the end of September, at least 205 civilians had been killed and 261 wounded this year in air strikes in Afghanistan, U.N. investigators said in a quarterly report. At least 38 percent of those casualties were caused by international military forces, while the majority were attributed to the Afghan Air Force, which has begun to conduct more attacks on its own. More than two thirds of the civilian victims were women and children, the report said. In September, U.S. warplanes dropped more bombs than in any single month since 2010, driven largely by Trump s strategy of trying to reassert pressure on militants after several years of drawdown by foreign troops. A spokesman for the U.S. military command did not immediately comment on the report. General Dawlat Waziri, spokesman for the Afghan Ministry of Defence, rejected the findings and said the government took civilian casualties seriously.  It is quite obvious that Taliban and other insurgent groups cause more civilian casualties,  he said, adding that insurgents also  use civilians as human shields and hide in residential areas . Overall civilian casualties decreased slightly compared to the same period last year, the report said. At least 2,640 civilians were killed and 5,379 injured this year, compared to 2,616 killed and 5,915 injured in the same period of 2016. The drop reflected fewer casualties from fighting in populated areas, the report noted, as militants failed to capture any major cities. The head of the U.N. mission in Afghanistan, Tadamichi Yamamoto, praised the Afghan government for formally endorsing a national policy designed to reduce civilian casualties.  The government owes it to its citizens, particularly the victims of the armed conflict, to ensure full implementation of the policy through a concrete action plan,  he said. Overall the U.N. attributed 64 percent of civilian casualties to anti-government militants like the Taliban and Islamic State. Pro-government forces were responsible for 20 percent overall, while the remainder was attributed to joint fighting or unidentified groups, according to the U.N.

Summary: संयुक्त राष्ट्र का कहना है कि हवाई हमलों से अफगान नागरिक हताहतों की संख्या में 50 प्रतिशत से अधिक की वृद्धि हुई है।


BERLIN (Reuters) - Germany cannot afford to give in to intimidation and threats of protectionism from U.S. President-elect Donald Trump, and to do so even once would invite repeated bullying, a key conservative ally of Chancellor Angela Merkel said on Tuesday. Trump warned German car companies that he would impose a border tax of 35 percent on vehicles imported to the U.S. market, in a newspaper interview published on Monday. Norbert Roettgen, head of Germany’s foreign affairs committee in parliament, said Germany must stay true to its values. The country is one of the world’s leading exporting nations, getting nearly half its gross domestic product from exports. “The smart thing to do is not to yield to intimidation and threats,” Roettgen told a small group of foreign reporters when asked about German industry’s readiness to stand up to Trump. “If you take this path once, you will become the object of threats and intimidation,” said Roettgen, a leader in Merkel’s Christian Democrats. “And I don’t think that makes sense either for Germany as a whole or for individual companies.” A BMW (BMWG.DE) executive said on Monday the carmaker will stick to its plans to open a Mexican plant in 2019, despite Trump’s warnings of a border tax on the German brand’s vehicles made in Mexico and destined for the United States. “I think it is politically right and economically wise to stick to our principles and our policies, which for Germany is a policy of open and fair trade,” Roettgen said. Merkel told German industry leaders on Monday that she would remain committed to free trade, in an indirect rebuttal to Trump’s comments about border taxes on car imports. Vice Chancellor Sigmar Gabriel responded to Trump’s comment that too many German and too few U.S. automobiles were on the streets of New York by saying the United States “should build better cars.” On Tuesday, Gabriel issued an indirect warning to Trump against stoking nationalism and promoting protectionism: “Nationalism and protectionism are not the recipes for greatness,” Gabriel said in a speech in Berlin. The United States is Germany’s top trading partner.

Summary: जर्मनी को ट्रंप की धमकियों के आगे नहीं झुकना चाहिएः मर्केल


BERLIN (Reuters) - After a year of disappointment, European businesses are hoping a victory for Hillary Clinton in the U.S. election next week may help break the logjam that has prevented large-scale Western investments in Iran since the opening of its economy. While no one in Europe is predicting a flurry of new deals should Clinton defeat her Republican rival Donald Trump on Nov. 8, a win for the Democrat would remove some of the political clouds hanging over last year’s nuclear deal between Iran and world powers. Business groups say this could help fuel a more aggressive push into the Iranian market in 2017, especially in the second half of the year, if a Clinton victory is followed by the re-election of moderate Iranian President Hassan Rouhani next May. “If Clinton and Rouhani win, then we will have a political window of opportunity that is much bigger than we have now,” said Matthieu Etourneau, who advises French firms on the Iranian market for MEDEF International, the French employers group. “This is what the European banks and companies are waiting for,” he said. Back in January, when the United States and Europe lifted sanctions related to Iran’s nuclear program, the excitement in Europe’s business community was palpable. With a population of 78 million and annual output higher than that of Thailand, Iran was the biggest economy to rejoin the global trading and financial system since the 1991 break-up of the Soviet Union. European politicians flocked to Tehran with dozens of corporate executives in tow. Rouhani, a pragmatist elected in 2013 on a platform to reduce Iran’s isolation, traveled to Paris and Rome to promote his country to eager investors. But within months the euphoria had vanished, replaced by frustration on both sides. The biggest obstacle for European firms seeking to do business in Iran has been the reluctance of the continent’s largest banks to finance deals out of fear they could run afoul of U.S. sanctions and incur massive penalties down the line. The United States has taken steps to reassure the banks. Last month the Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) issued new guidance to allay concerns about doing U.S. dollar transactions with Iran. But Secretary of State John Kerry acknowledged at a think-tank event in London this week that banks remained skittish. German officials raised their concerns about the hurdles during a recent visit by U.S. sanctions coordinator Daniel Fried. This caution is likely to persist, regardless of who is sitting in the White House. Beyond the issue of sanctions, the poor state of Iranian banks after a decade outside the international financial system, the strong state role in the economy and a lack of clarity about the legal system are all deterrents to foreigners. “Everyone knows now that this will be a long, step-by-step process to build up our economic ties,” said Friedolin Strack, head of international markets at the Federation of German Industries (BDI). Still, a Clinton victory would be a reassuring signal to Europe. Her close adviser Jake Sullivan was a key figure in the secret negotiations in Oman that paved the way for the landmark agreement that curbed Iran’s disputed nuclear activity, and she has defended it during the election campaign. Trump, by contrast, has called it “one of the worst deals ever made” and promised to renegotiate it if he is elected. Bankers say the risk of the deal unraveling under a Trump presidency has contributed to the reticence in Europe. Recently however, there have been signs of movement. Smaller German banks, pressed by their clients to support them in Iran, are beginning to offer limited financing and payment services. “Medium-sized banks that finance the German Mittelstand have a great deal of interest in Iran business and are preparing the groundwork intensively,” said Siegfried Utzig, acting head of economic policy and international affairs at the Association of German Banks (BvB). “We can see the light at the end of the tunnel but it’s still quite far away.” In June, the German government began offering export credit guarantees via insurance group Euler Hermes for firms wanting to trade with Iran. Edna Schoene, head of German government business at Euler Hermes, said about 30 formal applications had been received since then with a total value of about 2.5 billion euros. Nine of them have been approved. Add to that roughly 70 non-binding letters of interest (LOIs) that have been issued and the volumes push up into the double-digit billions of euros, Schoene said. “The potential in Iran is enormous and the demand for export credit guarantees is high, both in terms of formal applications and expressions of interest,” Schoene said. “I expect that we will see the first large-scale, credit-financed deals in 2017.” Some European firms are already benefiting from the opening of the Iranian economy. Last week French carmaker PSA Group (PEUP.PA), once the market leader, announced it had produced 105,000 cars in Iran under the Peugeot license in the third quarter, 15 percent of its total sales volume. Etourneau of MEDEF International is also optimistic that Iran’s order of 118 jets from Europe’s Airbus (AIR.PA) and a recent joint venture deal between carmaker Renault (RENA.PA) and Iranian investment fund IDRO will prove a boon for smaller European suppliers.    MEDEF International announced last month it was opening an office in Tehran, its first outside France, to support small and medium sized French firms seeking to enter the Iranian market. “We expect that 20-30 billion euros in public contracts to be attributed by the Iranians before the end of their fiscal year in March,” Etourneau said. “What we are telling companies is that they need a 5-10 year strategy. The market will open up progressively.”

Summary: निराश यूरोप को उम्मीद है कि क्लिंटन की जीत से ईरान के साथ मायावी समझौतों को बढ़ावा मिल सकता है


BERLIN (Reuters) - Frauke Petry, co-leader of the far-right Alternative for Germany, said on Tuesday she was leaving the party in a major blow to its credibility just two days after it surged to third place in a national election. The anti-immigrant AfD won 12.6 percent of the vote in Germany s election on Sunday, becoming the third-largest group in parliament and the first from the far-right to win seats in the Bundestag since the 1950s.  Petry, the highest-profile figure in the AfD s more moderate wing, had shocked other senior members by saying on Monday she would not sit with the AfD in the Bundestag (lower house) but rather as an independent member of parliament. Her husband, another senior AfD figure, is also leaving the party.   We tried to change course but you have to realize when you reach a point when that is no longer possible,  Petry, a 42-year-old chemist, told reporters in the eastern city of Dresden.  I have five children for whom I am responsible and ultimately you have to be able to look yourself in the mirror.  Petry has clashed with other senior members, arguing for the party to take a more moderate course to make it possible for it to join a coalition government. Her husband, Marcus Pretzell - head of the AfD in the western state of North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW) and also an MP in the European Parliament - is quitting the party and will become an independent MP, a spokesman for the AfD in NRW said. The spokesman said Pretzell and another AfD lawmaker in NRW s regional assembly who is also leaving the party had made the decision for reasons of  personal integrity . On Monday, four of the 17 AfD lawmakers in the assembly of the eastern state of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern announced they were bolting because the party had become more radical. Europe s far-right parties have a history of infighting among their various factions. Marine Le Pen, leader of France s National Front, last week lost her deputy over policy differences.  Alexander Gauland and Alice Weidel, the AfD s top candidates during the election campaign, were elected as chairs of the party s parliamentary group on Tuesday. Gauland is a supporter of Bjoern Hoecke, a senior AfD member who has courted controversy by denying that Adolf Hitler was  absolutely evil  and calling Berlin s Holocaust Memorial a  monument of shame . Weidel was originally an opponent of Hoecke but has not been so critical of him lately. Weidel said she did not expect other lawmakers to quit the party but added:  We ll have to see. The step surprised us all, but there are not yet any trends recognizable in the future parliamentary group.  Senior AfD member Dirk Driesang, who in July founded a moderate group within the AfD called the  Alternative Centre , with which Petry was said to sympathize, told news magazine Der Spiegel that the group could not understand Petry s decision and would not be following in her footsteps. He said the group would continue to fight for the AfD to take a moderate course and added that  a spin-off from the AfD is a stillbirth . Driesang pointed to the example of Bernd Lucke, who founded the AfD then left in 2015 due to what he saw as rising xenophobia and then formed a new, unsuccessful party. Petry was the most recognizable face in the AfD during its swift rise over the past two years. But she said on Monday she could not stand with an  anarchistic party  that lacked a credible plan to govern. For months, Petry has urged the AfD to soften its stance and prepare to join coalition governments, while others wanted the party to stick to opposition. Mainstream parties refuse to work with the AfD. She had also distanced herself from some of the AfD s more radical senior members, saying their comments were putting voters off. Gauland caused a scandal during the election campaign by saying Germans should be proud of their World War Two soldiers. He also said the integration minister should be  disposed of  in Turkey, where her parents come from. As the AfD convened in Berlin on Tuesday for its first parliamentary group meeting, Gauland said discussions in the Bundestag would not echo those of the party s campaign.  It s clear that the talks during the campaign are different to those held in parliament,  he said.

Summary: जर्मनी के धुर दक्षिणपंथी ए. एफ. डी. के सह-नेता को बड़ा झटका, छोड़ेंगे पद


WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Donald Trump’s national security adviser, Michael Flynn, resigned on Monday night in the midst of a raging controversy about his contacts with Russian officials before Trump took office, a White House official said. Retired General Keith Kellogg, who has been the chief of staff at the National Security Council, has been named acting national security adviser.

Summary: ट्रंप के राष्ट्रीय सुरक्षा सलाहकार फ्लिन ने रूसी संपर्कों को लेकर विवाद में दिया इस्तीफा


KAMPALA (Reuters) - South Sudan s president has given top jobs to three generals facing U.N. sanctions over alleged violations during a four-year-old civil war. Campaign group Human Rights Watch called the promotions  a slap in the face of justice  - but the presidency said the three men were good officers who had been falsely accused.   In a decree read out on state radio late on Thursday, President Salva Kiir appointed Marial Chanuong as his new head of army operations, training and intelligence, and Santino Deng Wol as the head of ground forces.  Gabriel Jok Riak was named deputy chief of defense.  The U.N. Security Council imposed travel bans and asset freezes on the three and others in 2015. It accused Chanuong of commanding troops who led the slaughter of Nuer civilians in and around (the capital) Juba  in December 2013, including hundreds it said were reportedly buried in mass graves.    I am in my country. I can do anything in my own country,  Chanuong told Reuters Friday. The United Nations said Wol commanded troops who killed children, women and old men during a 2015 offensive, while Riak violated a ceasefire in early 2014.   Kiir s spokesman, Ateny Wek Ateny, said the three generals were  very genuine, obedient commanders  who had been falsely accused. But Human Rights Watch said the announcement, made on the eve of the fourth anniversary of the war s outbreak, showed the impunity enjoyed by commanders accused of abuses.    Having these people nominated to new positions is a slap in the face of justice and a slap in the face of the international community,  the organization s Jonathan Pednault told Reuters. South Sudan plunged into civil war in December 2013 when a political crisis escalated into fighting between forces loyal to Kiir, an ethnic Dinka, and rebels allied with his former deputy Riek Machar, a Nuer.     The conflict has reopened ethnic fault lines and spread across the country, where more than a dozen armed groups are battling for land, resources, revenge, and power amid widespread reports of rape, murder and torture.     Several ceasefires have been agreed but broken. Tens of thousands have been killed since the war broke out.

Summary: दक्षिण सूडान के कीर ने संयुक्त राष्ट्र के प्रतिबंधों का सामना कर रहे तीन जनरलों को बढ़ावा दिया


OSLO/MOSCOW (Reuters) - All eight people on board a missing helicopter off the coast of Svalbard are Russians, the Russian Emergency Ministry told Reuters on Thursday. Rescue teams are still searching for the aircraft, which was first reported missing at around 1335 GMT.

Summary: स्वालबार्ड में लापता हेलीकॉप्टर में सवार सभी 8 लोग रूसी हैंः मंत्रालय


WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell plans to bring his party’s latest legislative effort to replace Obamacare up for a vote in the Senate next week, a number of media outlets reported on Wednesday. “It is the leader’s intention to consider Graham/Cassidy on the floor next week,” a spokesperson for McConnell said, according to Politico.

Summary: रिपब्लिकन नेता अगले सप्ताह स्वास्थ्य सेवा पर सीनेट मतदान की योजना बना रहे हैंः मीडिया


WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The nominee to be U.S. President-elect Donald Trump’s secretary of state, Rex Tillerson, said on Wednesday the risk of climate change does exist, and the consequences could be serious enough that action should be taken. When asked during a Senate confirmation hearing to say whether he believed that human activity was contributing to climate change, Tillerson did not answer yes or no, but said: “The increase in greenhouse gas concentrations in the atmosphere are having an effect. Our abilities to predict that effect are very limited.”  Tillerson is former chief executive of Exxon Mobil Corp. Trump said during the election campaign that he would seek to quit the 2015 Paris climate accord.

Summary: मनोनीत राज्य सचिव का कहना है कि जलवायु परिवर्तन का खतरा मौजूद है