NEW YORK (Reuters) - Puerto Rico’s federal oversight board voted unanimously on Monday to certify the government’s fiscal turnaround plan, on the condition it be amended to eliminate Christmas bonuses, impose employee furloughs, and further reduce pension spending. The plan, a cornerstone of the federal Puerto Rico rescue law known as PROMESA, will serve as the baseline for looming restructuring talks with holders of some $70 billion in debt that has pushed the U.S. territory to the brink of economic collapse. The government can avoid some of the austerity measures, which have sparked protest among Puerto Ricans, if it presents alternative cost-saving measures by April 30, the board said. PROMESA required Governor Ricardo Rossello to present a turnaround blueprint that would require sign-off by the board. The board rejected an initial draft last week, saying it relied on “overly optimistic” economic projections. The latest version rolled back those numbers, boosting the island’s 10-year projected funding gap to $67 billion from $56 billion, and contemplating $39.6 billion in new cash flows from spending cuts and revenue initiatives, up from $33.8 billion in the last plan. The new version forecasts the island would have $800 million a year to service debt, down from $1.2 billion in the draft. “The new plan is modestly worse than the old plan for creditors, as it implies larger haircuts,” Puerto Rico credit analyst Chas Tyson, of KBW Inc, said in a note on Monday. Approval by the board came with conditions: the government must reduce pension spending by 10 percent beginning in 2020, cut Christmas bonuses and implement employee furloughs as soon as July 1 to stave off a short-term cash crunch. The austerity push drew protests outside the meeting in lower Manhattan on Monday, including from teachers who claimed the furloughs would shorten the public school year by the equivalent of two months a year. The government can avoid the furloughs and bonus cuts if it presents the board with a plan by April 30 to shore up liquidity by $200 million. Rossello said he was confident the cuts would not be necessary. “I’m very confident we’ll have $200 million in reserve cash, so that we can jump over that obstacle,” Rossello said in an interview with Reuters after Monday’s meeting. The board said it will negotiate over the next 30 days with the government on how to cut pensions, a contentious issue on an island where retirement systems are already borderline insolvent thanks to decades of mismanagement by governments that routinely made overly generous promises to workers. “All stakeholders have been forced to sacrifice, and no one is exempt from that,” board member Andrew Biggs, a pension expert, told reporters after the meeting. He added the cuts will be orchestrated “in a way that would spare the lowest-income people from any reductions.” Rossello said he will not pass public policy that would hurt the poorest pensioners. “I don’t see any way I can reduce pensions of people already having a hard time getting medications and things.” In another controversial move, the board said it supported government efforts to seek additional concessions from bondholders of Puerto Rico’s power utility, PREPA, which is more than $8 billion in debt. The utility and its creditors have had a tentative restructuring in place for more than a year, but Rossello’s administration has said it would seek new terms, sparking concern and frustration among PREPA’s creditors. A subcommittee of the U.S. House Committee on Natural Resources announced it will hold a hearing on March 22 on the status of the PREPA deal, the current version of which sees creditors taking 15-percent cuts.

Summary: प्यूर्टो रिको निरीक्षण बोर्ड ने संशोधित सरकारी बदलाव योजना को मंजूरी दी


GENEVA (Reuters) - The top U.N. human rights official welcomed President Barack Obama’s plan announced on Tuesday to close the U.S. military prison at Guantanamo Bay, but stressed that no detainee should remain in indefinite custody without charge or trial. Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein, U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights, said the U.S. facility in Cuba had been a “serious blot on the human rights record, and reputation, of the United States for the past 14 years”. “All Guantanamo detainees should either be transferred to regular detention centers in the U.S. mainland or other countries where fair trials before civilian courts and due process guarantees can be provided in accordance with international norms and standards,” he said in a statement. “If there is insufficient evidence to charge them with any crime, they must be released to their home country, or to a third country if they risk persecution at home.”

Summary: संयुक्त राष्ट्र ने ओबामा की ग्वांतानामो योजना का स्वागत किया, लेकिन उचित प्रक्रिया का आह्वान किया


NEW YORK (Reuters) - The U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Natural Resources, with oversight of Puerto Rico, on Thursday postponed until further notice a hearing on the island’s recovery from Hurricane Maria and the role of a federally appointed oversight board. The spokesman for the committee said the hearing that had been planned for Oct. 24 would be rescheduled due to scheduling conflicts with witnesses. Earlier on Thursday, U.S. President Donald Trump said he would work with Congress to approve grants and loans to help rebuild Puerto Rico after last month’s devastating hurricane.

Summary: सदन समिति ने प्यूर्टो रिको पर सुनवाई स्थगित की


JAKARTA/TIMIKA, Indonesia (Reuters) - Armed separatists have occupied five villages in Indonesia s Papua province, threatening to disrupt Freeport-McMoRan Inc s giant Grasberg copper mine, which has already been hit this year by labor unrest and a dispute over operating rights. A state of emergency has been declared and around 300 additional security forces have been deployed to the mining area of the eastern province after a string of shootings since Aug. 17 that killed one police officer and wounded six.  They want to disrupt Freeport s operations,  said Suryadi Diaz, a spokesman for the Papua police.  (Freeport) is rich but they are poor, so they just want justice,  Diaz said, adding that the militants were a splinter group of the separatist Free Papua Movement (OPM). Freeport Indonesia spokesman Riza Pratama said the company was  deeply concerned  about security and was using armored cars and helicopters to ferry workers to and from the Grasberg mine in the province s Mimika regency. He said attacks had been launched along the road near the town of Tembagapura, about 10 km (6 miles) from the mine, where families of employees - including expatriates - live. He added that so far there had been no impact on production and shipments from Grasberg, the world s second-biggest copper mine. Last year Freeport Indonesia contributed about a quarter of the parent company s global sales of 4.23 billion pounds (1.92 million tonnes) of copper. Arizona-based Freeport, the world s largest publicly listed copper producer, has been grappling with labor problems at Grasberg and a lengthy dispute with the Indonesian government over rights to the mine. The mine has also be dogged by major concerns over security due to a low-level conflict waged by pro-independence rebels in Papua for decades. Between 2009 and 2015, shootings within the mine project area killed 20 people and wounded 59. Papua and neighboring West Papua provinces make up the western half of an island north of Australia, with independent Papua New Guinea to the east. The provinces have been plagued by separatist violence since they were incorporated into Indonesia after a widely criticized U.N.-backed referendum in 1969. President Joko Widodo has sought to ease tension in the two provinces by stepping up investment, freeing political prisoners and addressing human rights concerns. Police spokesman Diaz said around 1,000 local residents and migrant workers who pan for gold in Mimika were being prevented by the separatists from leaving the five villages. Security forces had entered the occupied area on Thursday, police and military sources told Reuters, but it was not clear if they had been able to evacuate any of the residents.  We are trying to maximize protection for the community ... because people have been raped and some have had goods stolen,  Papua Police chief Boy Rafli Amar told Reuters. The water supply of Tembagapura town had also been contaminated with kerosene, Boy said, but police had not been able to ascertain if it was an act of sabotage by the same group. Andreas Harsono of Human Rights Watch said police statements on the matter  should not be taken for granted, due to decades of independent journalists  restrictions in Papua.  In a video purported to come from the National Liberation Army (TPN-OPM), part of the OPM group, dated Sept. 29, a guerrilla action coordinator named as Joni Beanal reads out an open letter warning of attacks on Freeport in order  to destroy it .  The main reason for the integration of Papua into Indonesia was a conspiracy by America and Indonesia in the interests of mining exploitation by Freeport MacMoran in Papuan soil,  the coordinator said in the video seen by Reuters. Reuters was not able to verify the authenticity of the video. Papua police spokesman Diaz dismissed the recording as  old . Freeport spokesman Pratama declined to comment on the matter. Papua Military Commander Major General George Elnadus Supit said the TPN-OPM posed no significant threat and were  just wild thieves who are perhaps being used by a separatist group . Concord Consulting group warned that a harsh crackdown on the militant group could backfire.  Militants in Mimika will be able to hide among the local population   many of whom share their rejection of Indonesian rule,  the security consultancy said in a note on Wednesday. Freeport contributed $20 million toward Indonesian government-provided security protecting workers and infrastructure in 2016, about one-third of its local security budget. The company paid $668 million to the Indonesian government last year in income taxes, royalties and export duties, making it one of the country s single largest taxpayers. The Panguna copper and gold mine in neighboring Papua New Guinea was abandoned in 1989 after a campaign of sabotage by the rebel Bougainville Revolutionary Army. Echoing the situation in Papua, there was deep resentment among the indigenous Bougainville people about the wealth going to the Papua New Guinea central government and the mine s then operator, Conzinc Riotinto of Australia Ltd, a forerunner of Rio Tinto.

Summary: सशस्त्र अलगाववादियों ने फ्रीपोर्ट की इंडोनेशिया खदान के पास के गांवों पर कब्जा कर लिया


NEW YORK (Reuters) - John Kerry had heard enough. After last week’s bombing of a U.N. aid convoy in Syria dealt a death blow to a ceasefire deal in which he had invested all his diplomatic capital with Russia, the U.S. Secretary of State tossed aside a page of notes and looked at Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov across the horseshoe-shaped table in the U.N. Security Council. “I listened to my colleague from Russia, and I sort of felt a little bit like they’re sort of in a parallel universe here,” said a visibly angry Kerry, effectively calling Lavrov a liar for blaming the United States for spoiling the ceasefire. The moment in some ways captured the former politician’s time as the top U.S. diplomat, which will end with a new administration in January. Not for the first time, Kerry had invested months of intensive diplomacy and tireless traveling on an issue only to end up feeling let down or deceived by negotiating partners. On Syria, Kerry has wanted greater U.S. involvement than President Barack Obama was willing to support. In an interview on Friday with Reuters, Kerry said Lavrov’s “blatant obfuscation of reality ... took my breath away.” The attempted Syria ceasefire was his most ambitious effort to fix what some argue was the biggest foreign policy misstep of Obama’s administration, which began with the failure in 2013 to follow through on a “red line” threat against Syrian President Bashar al-Assad over the use of chemical weapons. Kerry hammered out the truce two weeks ago, but was left pleading in vain with Russia last week to halt renewed air strikes on the besieged city of Aleppo.  James Dobbins, a former U.S. special envoy to Afghanistan, noted Kerry’s “tireless, ceaseless engagement” even when pursuing administration policies he didn’t always agree with. “Kerry to his credit has stayed in the game even when he had a weak hand,” said Dobbins, a career diplomat who worked alongside Kerry in 2013 to hammer out a deal with President Hamid Karzai to keep U.S. forces in Afghanistan.  “The situation in Syria is too serious and too consequential to simply back off and leave it to others.”  From Kerry’s perspective, it is better to fail than not to have tried. “The weakest hand of all would be to have another round of migrants going into Europe, (Russian President Vladimir) Putin do whatever he wants by dropping bombs and the United States doing nothing but pretending we’re sending some support to people,” Kerry told Reuters. “That is the weakest hand, and it is far stronger to stand up and find a way to leverage getting to the table and getting some kind of an understanding,” he added. In his nearly four years as America’s top diplomat, Kerry has racked up more miles than any other secretary of state, sometimes appearing to rush in without a clear strategy. “It is clear that Kerry is prepared to take greater risks with his own personal reputation than others might have ... because they did not want to be identified with failure,” said Dobbins.     But some critics say Kerry stayed in the game too long in negotiating with Russia, which they argue manipulated his quest for a deal over Syria to strengthen its position. The Syrian conflict, with its shifting geopolitical forces, complex new alliances and new threats such as the rise of Islamic State, has tested Kerry like no other issue. After Obama declined to carry out threatened attacks on Assad’s forces over chemical weapons, Kerry perceived an opening to work with Lavrov on an agreement to get Syria to turn over its chemical arsenal, he told Reuters. That deal struck in 2013 was considered a success, but the war has since deteriorated and grown more complex following Russia’s military intervention backing Assad last year. Now the continuing ceasefire push by Kerry strikes some as hopeless gesturing. “Kerry’s plan is to do more of the same despite the repeated failure of U.S. attempts to strike a deal with Russia,” said Mutasem Alsyofi of the Syrian Civil Society Declaration Initiative, who met Kerry in New York last week. It’s not the first time Kerry’s been accused of overreaching. At the start of his term in 2013, Kerry vigorously pursued a peace deal between the Israelis and Palestinians.  Even as others warned of failure, an undaunted Kerry spent months shuttling between Jerusalem and Ramallah. However, U.S. ally Israel’s announcement of 700 new housing units for Jewish settlements in territory the Palestinians claim for a future state finally caused the talks to collapse, although Israel blamed the Palestinians move to apply to join 15 international conventions and treaties. Kerry’s biggest accomplishments came in 2015 with the Iran nuclear deal and the U.N. climate change agreement. In both instances, he had Obama’s leadership and full support for the very visible U.S. role, though both deals have been vilified domestically in the polarized American political environment. Last week’s failure of a second Syrian ceasefire agreement brokered by Kerry unleashed a fresh round of stinging criticism of the administration’s Syria policy. Republican Senator John McCain called Kerry “intrepid but delusional” for placing too much faith in the prospect of cooperation with Russia. Kerry, a Vietnam veteran who lost to George W. Bush in the 2004 presidential election, is not running for office again and has often remarked that he has nothing to lose. “In this business of diplomacy, you have to test things sometimes,” he told Reuters. “It is a mistake to delude yourself. It is also a mistake to avoid putting something to test where there is a reasonable chance something may be able to happen.” Hours after the tense exchange at the U.N. Security Council, Lavrov and Kerry met again. The Russian diplomat had brought a new proposal for putting the ceasefire back on track. Kerry looked at the sheet of paper, folded it tightly and stuffed it into his top pocket.

Summary: केरी की निरंतर कूटनीति को सीरिया पर सबसे कड़ी परीक्षा का सामना करना पड़ रहा है


(Reuters) - The man accused of tackling U.S. Senator Rand Paul of Kentucky and breaking his ribs as he was mowing his lawn pleaded not guilty on Thursday to a misdemeanor assault charge, a court official said. Rene Boucher, 59, waived the formal reading of the charge at a hearing in Bowling Green, Kentucky, Warren County Attorney Amy Milliken said by telephone. Boucher, the Republican senator’s neighbor, is charged with fourth-degree assault causing minor injury, for which he faces up to a year in jail if convicted. A pretrial hearing was set for Nov. 30. Paul, 54, told police that Boucher came onto his property in a gated community near Bowling Green and tackled him from behind, the Bowling Green Daily News reported, citing an arrest warrant.  Paul said on Twitter on Wednesday that he suffered six broken ribs and that X-rays showed a pleural effusion, which is a buildup of fluid in the tissues that line the lungs and the chest. The Kentucky State Police and the Federal Bureau of Investigation are investigating last Friday’s incident, Milliken said.  Citing unnamed sources, Fox News reported on Thursday that Paul had been told federal charges were expected in the case. The senator’s office did not immediately reply to a request for comment on that possibility. Matt Baker, Boucher’s attorney, was not immediately available to comment.  Baker told Bowling Green television station WBKO that the incident was related to a property dispute and called the idea that Paul was “blindsided” an unfair characterization. Baker also told the TV station that politics was not a motivating factor in the dispute. Media reports have said Boucher, also a physician like Paul, had a long-running dispute with the senator.  Milliken said Boucher’s $7,500 bond requiring him to keep a distance of at least 1,000 feet (305 m) between himself and Paul remained in effect. Earlier this week, U.S. Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell said Paul would return next week.

Summary: रैंड पॉल के आरोपी हमलावर ने हमले के लिए दोषी नहीं होने का इकबाल किया


CHICAGO (Reuters) - U.S. President-elect Donald Trump has requested that a trial over a lawsuit by former students of his now-defunct Trump University be put on hold until after the presidential inauguration, according to a motion filed by his lawyer late Saturday. A trial in federal court in San Diego over former Trump University students’ claims that they were defrauded by a series of real-estate seminars is scheduled to begin on Nov. 28, but Trump lawyer Daniel Petrocelli said the president-elect needs to “devote all of his time and attention to the transition process.” Trump is due to assume office on Jan. 20, 2017.  “The 69 days until inauguration are critical and all-consuming,” Petrocelli said in the filing, arguing that the president-elect should not be required to stand trial during that time. Petrocelli had said at a hearing in San Diego on Thursday that he would request the delay, though U.S. District Judge Gonzalo Curiel, who is overseeing the lawsuit, told lawyers he was not inclined to put off the six-year-old case further and encouraged the parties to settle. The lawsuit involves students who claim they were lured by false promises to pay up to $35,000 to learn Trump’s real estate investing “secrets” from his “hand-picked” instructors. Trump owned 92 percent of Trump University and had control over all major decisions, the students’ court papers say. The president-elect denies the allegations and has argued that he relied on others to manage the business.  Curiel also tentatively rejected last week a bid by the president-elect to keep a wide range of statements from the presidential campaign, which included attacks against Curiel himself, out of the fraud trial.  Trump attacked the judge as biased against him. He claimed Curiel, who was born in Indiana but is of Mexican descent, could not be impartial because of Trump’s election campaign pledge to build a wall between the United States and Mexico.  Trump’s lawyers have argued that Curiel should bar from the trial accusations about Trump’s personal conduct including alleged sexual misconduct, his taxes and corporate bankruptcies, along with speeches and tweets. Curiel is presiding over two cases against Trump and the university. A separate lawsuit by New York’s attorney general is pending. While presidents enjoy immunity from lawsuits arising from their official duties, the U.S. Supreme Court has held that this shield does not extend to acts alleged to have taken place prior to taking office.

Summary: ट्रम्प विश्वविद्यालय ने उद्घाटन के बाद तक परीक्षण में देरी के लिए कहा


ANKARA (Reuters) - Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan will visit Russia s Sochi on November 13, followed by a visit to Kuwait the following day, his office said on Monday. The visit to Sochi comes amid reports of potential sticking points in Turkey s planned purchase of a Russian S-400 surface-to-air missile system, and Turkish objections to the attendance of Syrian Kurdish groups to a Russian-sponsored Syrian peace congress scheduled for Nov. 18. Last week, the two countries took a step toward the solution of an import crisis as Russia lifted restrictions on import of Turkish tomatoes.

Summary: तुर्की के एर्दोगन 13 और 14 नवंबर को रूस, कुवैत की यात्रा करेंगे


SEOUL/BEIJING (Reuters) - Seoul and Beijing on Tuesday agreed to move beyond a year-long stand-off over the deployment of a U.S. anti-missile system in South Korea, a dispute that has been devastating to South Korean businesses that rely on Chinese consumers. The unexpected detente comes just days before U.S. President Donald Trump begins a trip to Asia, where the North Korean nuclear crisis will take center stage, and helped propel South Korean stocks to a record high. The installation of the U.S. Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) system had angered China, with South Korea s tourism, cosmetics and entertainment industries bearing the brunt of a Chinese backlash, although Beijing has never specifically linked that to the THAAD deployment. Beijing worries the THAAD system s powerful radar can penetrate into Chinese territory.  Both sides shared the view that the strengthening of exchange and cooperation between Korea and China serves their common interests and agreed to expeditiously bring exchange and cooperation in all areas back on a normal development track,  South Korea s foreign ministry said in a statement. Before the THAAD dispute, bilateral relations flourished,  despite Beijing s historic alliance with North Korea and Seoul s close ties with Washington, which includes hosting 28,500 U.S. troops. China is South Korea s biggest trading partner.  At this critical moment all stakeholders should be working together to address the North Korea nuclear challenge instead of creating problems for others,  said Wang Dong, associate professor of international studies at China s Peking University.  This sends a very positive signal that Beijing and Seoul are determined to improve their relations.  As part of the agreement, South Korean President Moon Jae-in will meet Chinese President Xi Jinping on the sidelines of the summit of Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) countries in Vietnam on Nov. 10-11. South Korea recognized China s concerns over THAAD and made it clear the deployment was not aimed at any third country and did not harm China s strategic security interests, China s foreign ministry said. China reiterated its opposition to the deployment of THAAD, but noted South Korea s position and hoped South Korea could appropriately handle the issue, it added.  China s position on the THAAD issue is clear, consistent and has not changed,  Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying told a daily briefing in Beijing. The thaw is a big relief for South Korean tourism and retail firms as well as K-pop stars and makers of films and soap operas, which had found themselves unofficially unwelcome in China over the past year. In South Korea, a halving of inbound Chinese tourists in the first nine months of the year cost the economy $6.5 billion in lost revenue based on the average spending of Chinese visitors in 2016, data from the Korea Tourism Organization shows. The spat knocked about 0.4 percentage points off this year s expected economic growth, according to the Bank of Korea, which now forecasts an expansion of 3 percent. The sprawling Lotte Group, which provided the land where the THAAD battery was installed and is a major operator of hotels and duty free stores, has been hardest hit. It faces a costly overhaul and is expected to sell its Chinese hypermarket stores for a fraction of what it invested. A spokesman for holding company Lotte Corp expressed hope that South Korean firms  activity in China would improve following the announcement. An official at Seoul s presidential Blue House, who declined to be named given the sensitivity of the matter, said improvements for South Korean companies would come slowly. Shares in South Korean tourism and retail companies rallied nonetheless, with Asiana Airlines gaining 3.6 percent and Lotte Shopping up 7.14 percent. The benchmark Kospi index hit a record for a third straight day, gaining 0.9 percent. China has grown increasingly angry with North Korea s ongoing pursuit of nuclear weapons and ballistic missiles in defiance of United Nations sanctions, even as it chafes at U.S. pressure to rein in its isolated ally. The recent deterioration in ties between China and North Korea may have contributed to Tuesday s agreement, the Blue House official said. Pyongyang has undertaken an unprecedented missile testing program in recent months, as well as its biggest nuclear test yet in early September, as it seeks to develop a powerful nuclear weapon capable of reaching the United States. The head of NATO on Tuesday urged all United Nations members to fully and transparently implement sanctions against North Korea.  North Korea s ballistic and nuclear tests are an affront to the United Nations Security Council,  NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said in Tokyo, where he met Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe. Separately, a South Korean lawmaker said North Korea probably stole South Korean warship blueprints after hacking into a local shipbuilder s database last April. Expectations had been growing for a warming in the frosty bilateral ties following this month s conclave of China s Communist Party, during which Xi cemented his status as China s most powerful leader after Mao Zedong. Earlier this month, South Korea and China agreed to renew a $56 billion currency swap agreement, while Chinese airlines are reportedly planning to restore flight routes to South Korea that had been cut during the spat. Tuesday s agreement came after high-level talks led by Nam Gwan-pyo, deputy director of national security of the Blue House, and Kong Xuanyou, assistant foreign minister of China and the country s special envoy for North Korea-related matters.

Summary: थाड गतिरोध के बाद चीन और दक्षिण कोरिया संबंधों को सुधारने पर सहमत हुए


WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States and the European Union warned China on Wednesday that it should respect an international court ruling expected later this year on its dispute with the Philippines over territory in the South China Sea. China claims virtually all the South China Sea and rejects the authority of the Permanent Court of Arbitration in the Hague hearing the dispute, even though Beijing has ratified the U.N. Convention on the Law of the Sea on which the case is based. Amy Searight, U.S. deputy assistant secretary of defense for South and Southeast Asia, said the United States, the European Union, and allies like Australia, Japan and South Korea must be ready to make clear that the court’s ruling must be binding and that there would be costs to China for not respecting it if it lost the case. “We need to be ready to be very loud and vocal, in harmony together, standing behind the Philippines and the rest of the ASEAN claimants to say that this is international law, this is incredibly important, it is binding on all parties,” she told a seminar at Washington’s Center for Strategic and International Studies. Searight said the message to China, if it did not respect a negative ruling, should be, “we will hold you accountable.” “Certainly, reputational cost is at stake, but we can think  of other creative ways to perhaps impose costs as well,” she said without elaborating. The Hague tribunal has no powers of enforcement and its rulings have been ignored before. Manila has said the court may hand down a ruling before May. China disputes South China Sea territory with several other members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) as well as the Philippines. Klaus Botzet, head of the political section of the EU Delegation in Washington, said it was difficult to oppose world opinion. “A joint Western, a joint world opinion, matters also for Beijing,” he said. “If we unanimously support that international law as formulated by the international tribunal in the Hague ... needs to be upheld, that’s a very strong message and will be very difficult to ignore,” he said. Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Hong Lei said he had “noted” the comments, and repeated China’s opposition to the arbitration case and refusal to participate. The Philippines’ “scheme would never succeed”, he told a daily news briefing in Beijing. In unusually forthright language, Botzet said China’s policy of military buildup was not in its interest. “It’s investing much more in its military relative to its economic growth; it’s forcing its neighbors into alliances  against itself; positions its neighbors otherwise wouldn’t take and the return on investment on this policy is negative,” he said. The United States had exceptional military capabilities in the Asia-Pacific, Botzet said, adding that the European Union “strongly supports the American guarantee of international law in Asia.”

Summary: अमेरिका और यूरोपीय संघ ने चीन को दक्षिण चीन सागर के फैसले का सम्मान करने की आवश्यकता पर चेतावनी दी


MADRID (Reuters) - Catalonia said on Monday it was confident all officials including police would defy attempts by Madrid to enforce direct rule on the region in a dispute that is raising fears of unrest among Spain s European allies. The Spanish government has invoked special constitutional powers to fire the regional government and force elections to counter an independence drive. A vote in the national Senate to implement direct rule is due on Friday. But leaders of the secessionist campaign said a referendum on Oct. 1, in which 43 percent of the electorate voted, gave them a mandate to claim independence from the rest of Spain.   It s not that we will refuse (orders). It is not a personal decision. It is a seven million-person decision,  Catalonia s foreign affairs chief Raul Romeva told BBC radio. Romeva was asked whether he believed all institutions, including the police, would follow orders from Catalan institutions rather than obey the Spanish government.  And from that perspective, I have no doubt that all civil servants in Catalonia will keep following the instructions provided by the elected and legitimate institutions that we have right now in place (in Catalonia),  he said. Catalan authorities said about 90 percent of those who took part in the referendum on Oct. 1 voted for independence. But only 43 percent of the electorate and 1 in 3 Catalans participated, with most opponents of secession staying at home. The crisis over the wealthy Catalan region has raised fears among European countries of a spillover to other parts of the continent. Two wealthy regions of northern Italy voted overwhelmingly on Sunday for greater autonomy, though those referendums were held in line with the constitution and were not binding on Rome. Separatists are active in Belgium s Flanders region, and France s Corsica has long been home to a secessionist movement. At a European Union summit last week, leaders sought to minimize Spain s crisis with Catalonia and described the secession bid as a domestic issue. Civil disobedience was also backed by the far-left party CUP, a key support for Catalonia s pro-independence minority government in the regional parliament, which has called Madrid s actions an aggression against all Catalans.   An aggression which will be met with massive civil disobedience,  the CUP said in a statement. Several hundred Catalan municipalities said they were against direct rule from Madrid and asked the Catalan parliament to vote on a motion rejecting it. Some teachers and firemen also said they would not recognize Spain s authority.  We will not recognize as valid interlocutors those people who are not representatives of popular legitimacy,  the teachers  union USTEC said in a statement.  We will be where we should be in this moment: with the Catalan institutions and with democracy as it fights for its survival.  Spain has said it would fire top Catalan officials if they did not comply with orders but it has remained vague on how it plans to implement direct rule if lower ranking civil servants decide not to follow instructions. Foreign minister Alfonso Dastis said the central government was not planning any arrests. Around 4,000 national police who had been shipped in for the referendum have remained in Catalonia. This comes on top of 5,000 state police already based in the region. They usually act as a back-up to Catalonia s own 17,000-strong police force, the Mossos d Esquadra, though they have also been seen reinforcing security at some official buildings in Catalonia s capital Barcelona. Catalan president Carles Puigdemont has called the Catalan parliament to meet this week to agree on a response to Madrid, something many observers said could pave the way for a formal declaration of independence. The assembly will meet on Thursday to agree a response to direct rule. Puigdemont was also considering appearing before the Spanish Senate to explain his position. The Cercle d Economia, an influential Catalan business association, called on Puigdemont to resolve the crisis by calling a snap election before direct rule becomes effective. Catalonia risked heading into prolonged and uncontrolled insecurity and civil unrest, it said.   Its consequences are unpredictable but, in any case, dramatic in terms of self-government, coexistence, economic growth and employment,  it said in a statement. More than 1,300 companies have decided to transfer their legal headquarters out of Catalonia due to the current uncertainty, according to the national companies registry. However, Catalan government spokesman Jordi Turull said calling a snap election was not an option. An opinion poll published by the El Periodico newspaper on Sunday showed a snap election would probably have results similar to the last ballot, in 2015, when a coalition of pro-independence parties formed a minority government. Spain s Deputy Prime Minister said Puigdemont would be out of a job once direct rule was enforced and Madrid would install its own representative. The Spanish government has said it would call a regional election within six months.  They are president of the regional government and senior figures in that government because of the constitution,  said Soraya Saenz de Santamaria during a radio interview.  They are not entrusted with that role by any divine authority,  she said.

Summary: कैटेलोनिया ने सविनय अवज्ञा की चेतावनी दी क्योंकि मैड्रिड प्रत्यक्ष शासन की तैयारी कर रहा है


MADRID (Reuters) - Pro-independence parties in Catalonia are seen in a position to keep their absolute majority of seats in regional elections on Thursday, according to an exit poll published by La Vanguardia newspaper as polling stations closed. The separatist parties were seen getting 67-71 seats in the 135-seat assembly, the poll showed. No official results have yet been published and it was unclear if final results would match the poll.  Opinion polls before the vote had shown separatists and unionists running neck-and-neck in the wealthy Spanish region.  The first official preliminary results are expected around 2100 GMT and final results after midnight.

Summary: कैटेलोनिया के अलगाववादियों को चुनाव में बहुमत बनाए रखने की स्थिति में देखा गयाः एक्जिट पोल


WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Donald Trump will sign two executive orders on Wednesday including one on border security and the intent to build a wall along the U.S. southern border, and another  strengthening the enforcement of immigration laws, the White House said. “Building this barrier is more than just a campaign promise. It’s a common sense first step to really securing our porous border,” said White House spokesman Sean Spicer. “This will stem the flow of drugs, crime, illegal immigration into the United States.” He said the orders will strip federal money from so-called sanctuary cities and end a “catch and release” policy of previous administrations.

Summary: सीमा सुरक्षा, आव्रजन प्रवर्तन पर कार्यकारी कार्रवाई पर हस्ताक्षर करेंगे ट्रंप


BRUSSELS/BERLIN (Reuters) - On the eve of his trip to Europe, Rex Tillerson gave a speech last week that European allies had waited months to hear: an “ironclad” promise of U.S. support to its oldest allies. The relief in European capitals lasted barely a day as reports surfaced of a White House plan to oust the U.S. secretary of state, plunging America’s friends back into confusion over President Donald Trump’s foreign policy. The uncertainty is particularly acute given Washington’s leading role in crises in North Korea and Syria. “Just as Tillerson comes to Brussels to give a public statement of support that the EU and NATO have wanted all along, it seems he has no mandate, that the guillotine is hanging over his head,” said an EU official involved in diplomacy with White House officials. “It leaves Europe just as doubtful as before about Trump.” U.S. officials said on Thursday the White House had a plan for CIA Director Mike Pompeo to replace Tillerson but Trump said on Friday he was not leaving and the secretary of state said on Saturday the reports were untrue. European leaders yearn for stability in U.S. foreign policy. They are troubled by Trump’s “America first” rhetoric and inconsistent statements on NATO and the European Union. In addition, Trump’s decision to pull out of the Paris climate change accord and his decision not to certify Iran’s compliance with a nuclear deal undermine European priorities. “The chaos in the administration doesn’t help in the current geopolitical climate,” said a senior French diplomat. Early last week, Tillerson, a former Exxon Mobil chief executive, delivered a long address in support of Europe in Washington more akin to traditional U.S. policy. “The United States remains committed to our enduring relationship with Europe. Our security commitments to European allies are ironclad,” he told a think tank.  He said he would convey that message to the European Union and NATO. He is set to visit Brussels on Tuesday and Wednesday, the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe in Vienna on Thursday and Paris on Friday. The question is whether European officials believe him, given tensions during his April visit to Europe, when Reuters reported Tillerson initially planned to skip a NATO meeting in Brussels and then only attended under pressure from allies. “If there were expectations that Tillerson might evolve into a counterweight to Trump, someone who could pass on messages from partners and exert moderating influence over American foreign policy – those expectations have been disappointed,” said Niels Annen, foreign policy spokesman for Germany’s Social Democrats in parliament. “On his watch, the State Department has become a non-actor.” Despite Tillerson’s pledge to reform the U.S. foreign service, European governments take a dim view of how he has sought to cut costs at the State Department, with top diplomatic posts unfilled almost a year into the administration.  The French have gone around Tillerson to develop contacts with U.S. Secretary of Defense Jim Mattis, White House National Security Adviser H.R. McMaster and White House Chief of Staff John Kelly, while the EU’s top diplomat Federica Mogherini has gone directly to Vice President Mike Pence. Berlin has focused on Capitol Hill, as well as Kelly, McMaster and Mattis. Yet it is unclear if that access translates into a direct impact on Trump’s foreign policy, diplomats said. There is hope that if Pompeo is appointed he could rejuvenate the State Department after Tillerson, who is seen as ineffective, diplomats said. Pompeo is an unknown quantity in Europe but is viewed as closer to Trump. “We may be looking at a larger dose of Trump at the State Department,” if Pompeo did get the job, said Thomas Kleine-Brockhoff, head of the German Marshall Fund’s Berlin office. One European diplomat said Tillerson was in a difficult position from the outset because the Trump administration was hostile to Iran and brought in a team of generals who took a hard line, “so it never left Tillerson much room.” In addition, Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner has taken a leading role in formulating policy on Middle East peace. But Europeans see Trump as a blizzard of conflicting signals. At a NATO summit in Brussels in May, the president publicly admonished European leaders for their low defense spending and threatened to reduce support, only to announce a jump in U.S. military spending in Europe months later. Things may only become more unpredictable, diplomats say. European diplomats see Tillerson and Mattis as instrumental in talking Trump out of making any rash decisions over North Korea and its nuclear program, given administration comments about “utterly destroying” the country.

Summary: टिलरसन पर 'गिलोटिन' लटकने से अमेरिकी सहयोगी चिंतित


HANOI (Reuters) - Prosecutors in Vietnam on Thursday said they were seeking the death sentence in an embezzlement case against a former chairman of state energy firm PetroVietnam, as the communist country steps up one of its biggest corruption crackdowns. Some high-ranking political officials have been punished as investigations widen into PetroVietnam and the banking sector, with dozens of banking and energy officials facing trial on charges such as embezzlement, mismanagement and abuse of power. In a statement, the Supreme People s Procuracy of Vietnam said it had sought a death sentence for the former chairman, Nguyen Xuan Son, on charges that include wrongdoing with serious economic consequences and abuse of power to usurp assets. It urged  an overall penalty of death , listing punishments such as a jail term of 16 to 18 years for flouting state rules on economic management and life imprisonment for abuse of power, before seeking the  death sentence for embezzlement . In 2009, PetroVietnam acquired an 800-billion-dong ($35-million) stake in Ocean Group s banking unit, Ocean Bank, which had to be completely written off in 2015, when the central bank took it over at no cost.  Son could not be reached for comment as he is on trial, and Reuters could not immediately reach his lawyer. Prosecutors also sought life imprisonment for Ocean Group s founder, tycoon Ha Van Tham on charges ranging from embezzlement to abuse of power, the statement said, adding that dozens of other Ocean Bank staff could also face years in jail. Ocean Group, which has interests in real estate, finance, hotels and infrastructure, said it had no comment on the sentence sought for Tham, who cannot be reached as he is still on trial. Police opened three new cases against state firm units, among them Russian joint venture Vietsovpetro, Vietnam s sole refinery operator Binh Son Refining and Petrochemical, and PetroVietnam Exploration Production Corp. All three cases focus on alleged abuse of power to usurp assets and are linked to violations at Ocean Bank, Vietnam s police said in a statement on their website on Thursday. Police added another accusation of abuse of power against PetroVietnam s vice general director Ninh Van Quynh, they added, following his arrest and prosecution this month for alleged wrongdoing. Quynh could not be contacted for comment on the fresh charge as he is on trial. Last week a former central bank governor was prosecuted for alleged lack of responsibility. Dinh La Thang, a former PetroVietnam chairman, was removed from the powerful politburo and last month, a vice trade minister was sacked.

Summary: वियतनाम ने राज्य ऊर्जा कंपनी के पूर्व अध्यक्ष द्वारा गबन के लिए मौत की सजा की मांग की


BEIRUT (Reuters) - Lebanon has identified the bodies of six of its soldiers found along the Syrian border in an area held by Islamic State until three days ago, sources in the president s office said. The Lebanese army launched an offensive this month which ended with Islamic State militants leaving their last foothold along the border on Sunday. Since then the army has found 10 bodies in the area. DNA tests confirmed that six of those belonged to Lebanese soldiers, the sources and local media reported on Wednesday. Islamic State militants had for years held territory along the border, and captured 10 Lebanese soldiers in 2014 when they briefly overran the town of Arsal, one of the worst spillovers of the Syrian conflict into Lebanon. The militants and their families left the border area on Sunday under a ceasefire deal. The agreement included IS militants identifying where they had buried the soldiers  bodies, Lebanese army chief General Joseph Aoun said on Wednesday.  I had two choices: either I continue the battle and not know the soldiers  fate, or I submit to the situation and find out. Their souls are my responsibility,  he told reporters. It was not immediately clear if all six belonged to those captured in 2014, however - one of the bodies discovered is believed to belong to a soldier killed in the recent fighting. Of the 10 captured in 2014, one was killed shortly after and footage of his execution was published by the militants. Another is believed to have joined Islamic State. His whereabouts is unknown.

Summary: इस्लामिक स्टेट के कब्जे वाले क्षेत्र को फिर से हासिल करने के बाद लेबनान को सैनिकों के शव मिले


WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Republicans Donald Trump and Chris Christie teamed up on Monday to assail Democratic President Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton as weak on domestic security, making the kind of one-two punch possible if Trump picks Christie as his running mate. At a rally in Virginia Beach, Virginia, Trump, the presumptive Republican presidential nominee, and Christie, the tough-talking New Jersey governor, seized on the Dallas police shootings as examples of why Americans need a “law and order” candidate like Trump. Much of the debate about security in the presidential campaign has been about threats abroad. The shooting deaths of five Dallas police officers last week and violence in other cities have shifted the debate back home for now. Trump, a wealthy real estate developer, presented himself as “the law and order candidate” and called Clinton weak. He said she has grown out of touch with the plight of ordinary Americans and cited her making paid speeches to corporate interests as a cause. “Perhaps it is easy for politicians to lose touch with reality when they are being paid millions of dollars to read speeches to Wall Street executives, instead of spending time with real people in real pain,” he said. “The disconnect in America is deep. There are two Americas: the ruling class, and the groups it favors, and then everyone else,” said Trump. In the final days of his search for a vice presidential running mate, Trump was introduced at the event by Christie, who is one of Trump’s top potential picks to be his vice presidential running mate. Christie, a former rival of Trump for the presidential nomination, showed himself capable of assuming the role of political attack dog, a job the vice presidential nominee usually assumes. He suggested Obama has taken sides against police in the country’s debate over race and police brutality. “We need a president who once again will put law and order at the top of the priority of the presidency of this country,” Christie said. “Our police officers ... need to understand that the president of the United States and his administration will give them the benefit of the doubt, not always believe that what they have done is somehow wrong.” Trump has been test-driving his vice presidential possibilities. He campaigned last week with former House of Representatives Speaker Newt Gingrich, and is to appear with a third No. 2 possibility, Indiana Governor Mike Pence, in Indiana on Tuesday. The New York businessman has appeared most comfortable publicly with Gingrich. Both Gingrich and Christie have been advisers for Trump behind the scenes. Trump is also considering retired Lieutenant General Michael Flynn for the job, but told The Washington Post in an interview published on Monday that he is leaning toward a conventional politician. “I don’t need two anti-establishment people,” Trump said. “Someone respected by the establishment and liked by the establishment would be good for unification. I do like unification of the Republican Party.” Trump said he would decide on his vice presidential pick in the next three or four days. The Republican National Convention, at which he is to be nominated as the party’s candidate, opens in Cleveland next Monday. (This version of the story was refiled to fix typographical error in 4th paragraph to make it “estate” instead of “state”)

Summary: ट्रम्प और क्रिस्टी ने ओबामा, क्लिंटन पर हमला करने के लिए सेना में शामिल हुए


KIEV (Reuters) - Turkey’s President Tayyip Erdogan said on Monday a U.S. decision to suspend visa services in Turkey was upsetting, adding that Turkish foreign ministry officials had contacted their U.S. counterparts over the issue.  “Above all, the decision is very upsetting. For the embassy in Ankara to take such a decision and implement, it is upsetting,” Erdogan told a news conference during a visit to Ukraine.

Summary: तुर्की के एर्दोगन ने कहा कि वीजा सेवाओं को निलंबित करने का अमेरिकी निर्णय 'परेशान करने वाला' है


OSLO (Reuters) - The Russian helicopter that went down off the coast of Svalbard on Thursday has still not been located more than 90 minutes after it went down at sea, Norway s rescue service told independent broadcaster TV2. The helicopter had a crew of five and three passengers, all with  Russian-sounding names , said the leader of the rescue operation coordination, Tore Hongset.

Summary: स्वालबार्ड तट से लापता हुआ रूसी हेलीकॉप्टरः बचाव सेवा


CAIRO (Reuters) - Islamic State threatened attacks on U.S. soil in retaliation for the Trump administration s decision to recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel, one of the group s social media accounts reported on Thursday without giving any details. In a message on one of its accounts on the Telegram instant messaging service titled  Wait for us  and  ISIS in Manhattan , the group said it would carry out operations and showed images of New York s Times Square and what appeared to be an explosive bomb belt and detonator.   We will do more ops in your land, until the final hour and we will burn you with the flames of war which you started in Iraq, Yemen, Libya and Syria and Afghan. Just you wait,  it said.  The recognition of your dog  Trump  (sic) Jerusalem as the capital of Israel will make us recognize explosives as the capital of your country.  Washington triggered widespread anger and protests across the Arab world with its decision on Jerusalem. The disputed city is revered by Jews, Christians and Muslims alike, and is home to Islam s third holiest site. It has been at the heart of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict for decades. Islamic State was driven out of its Iraqi and Syrian capitals this year and squeezed into a shrinking pocket of desert straddling the border between the two countries.  The forces fighting Islamic State in Iraq and Syria now expect a new phase of guerrilla warfare there. Militants including people claiming allegiance to Islamic State have carried out scores of deadly attacks in Europe, the Middle East, Africa, Asia and the United States over the past two years.

Summary: इस्लामिक स्टेट ने येरुशलम के फैसले पर अमेरिकी हमलों की धमकी दीः बयान


MANILA (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump said on Monday he had made significant progress on trade issues during a fruitful trip across Asia that saw governments roll out red carpets  like nobody has ever seen .  We ve made some very big steps with respect to trade, far bigger than anything you know,  Trump told reporters in Manila on the sidelines of a summit with leaders of Southeast Asian and East Asian nations. He did not give details of his achievements on trade matters during a tour that took him to Japan, South Korea, China and Vietnam before his last leg in the Philippines capital. He said a statement would be issued from the White House on Wednesday about North Korea, and on trade, key issues of a trip he described as fruitful.  It was red carpet like nobody, I think, has probably ever seen,  he said. In Vietnam at the weekend, Trump and leaders of Pacific Rim nations agreed to address  unfair trade practices  and  market- distorting subsidies , a statement that bore the imprint of Trump s efforts to reshape the global trade landscape. His  America First  vision has upset a traditional consensus favoring multinational trade pacts that China now champions. On the sidelines of the Vietnam meeting, 11 countries kept alive a Trans Pacific trade deal whose future was thrown into doubt when Trump withdrew from it in the name of protecting American jobs. Chinese President Xi Jinping told the summit in Vietnam that Asia-Pacific nations must  uphold multilateralism , countering Trump s message that the United States would stay out of trade deals that surrender its sovereignty. Trump, by contrast, blasted the World Trade Organization and multilateral trade deals during his tour. Some analysts expect tougher U.S. action may be imminent to fight trade imbalances with China exacerbated by its state-led economic model.

Summary: ट्रम्प ने 'फलदायी' एशिया यात्रा पर व्यापार प्रगति, लाल कालीनों की प्रशंसा की


WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. House of Representatives passed a $700 billion defense policy bill on Tuesday, backing President Donald Trump’s call for a bigger, stronger military, but failing to decide how to fund the massive spending increase. The Republican-controlled House voted 356-70 for the annual National Defense Authorization Act, or NDAA, which authorizes the level of defense spending and sets policies controlling how the money is spent. But the legislation defies spending caps set in the 2011 Budget Control Act and there is no clear plan from Congress on how to provide the money for the Pentagon. The 2018 NDAA authorizes $634 billion in base defense spending, for such things as buying weapons and paying the troops, well above the $549 billion allowed under the previous legislation. The NDAA also includes provisions such as an increase in active troop levels by more than 16,000, and states that climate change is a national security threat. The defense policy bill will become law if it passes the Republican-controlled Senate and is signed into law by the president, as expected. But spending will nonetheless be cut automatically if Congress cannot come up with a deal to resolve the gap in funding. Representative Adam Smith, the top Democrat on the House Armed Services Committee, said Congress’ failure to address the issue makes life more difficult for military leaders because they cannot plan in advance. “This defense bill is $72 billion over the budget caps, so if we don’t eliminate or raise the budget caps, that additional money will go away and leave us once again in the land of uncertainty for the Department of Defense,” he said. Representative Mac Thornberry, the House Armed Service Committee’s Republican chairman, said Congress needed to pass an appropriations bill to allow for the $700 billion. “Securing those appropriations must be Congress’ top priority before the year ends,” Thornberry said in a statement. The NDAA also includes about $66 billion in special war funding, which is exempt from the so-called sequestration cap. The measure passed by the House on Tuesday is a compromise reached by House and Senate negotiators between separate versions of the bill approved in the chambers earlier this year. However, a budget fight is expected because Senate Democrats may not agree to big increases in funds for the military if spending caps on non-defense programs are not also eased. The Republican majority in the Senate is so small that most legislation cannot pass without some Democratic votes.

Summary: सदन ने 700 अरब डॉलर के रक्षा नीति विधेयक का समर्थन किया, वित्त पोषण अनिश्चित


LONDON (Reuters) - Britain is looking at all ways it can put pressure on North Korea after Pyongyang conducted a nuclear test, Prime Minister Theresa May s spokeswoman said on Monday, adding that peaceful diplomatic solutions were preferable. North Korea conducted its sixth nuclear test on Sunday, prompting a warning of a  massive  military response from the United States if it or its allies were threatened.  As the prime minister made clear yesterday ... our focus is on working with partners to increase pressure on Korea and find a diplomatic resolution to the crisis,  May s spokeswoman told reporters.  She said we want to increase the pace of implementation of existing sanctions and look at other measures ... It s our view in the UK that ... peaceful, diplomatic means are best.

Summary: ब्रिटेन उत्तर कोरिया पर दबाव बनाने के लिए सभी उपायों पर विचार कर रहा हैः पीएम मे की प्रवक्ता


WASHINGTON (Reuters) - CIA Director Mike Pompeo on Thursday said, apparently inaccurately, that U.S. intelligence agencies had concluded that Russian interference did not affect the outcome of the 2016 U.S. presidential election. In fact, U.S. intelligence agencies in January said that they had made no assessment one way or the other on the impact of Moscow’s hacking and propaganda campaign but its report stated that Russia’s aim was to try and help then-Republican candidate Donald Trump’s election chances. Pompeo, a former Republican congressman and Trump ally, was asked at an event in Washington if he could say with absolute certainty that the election results were not skewed as a result of Russian interference. Pompeo replied: “Yes. Intelligence community’s assessment is that the Russian meddling that took place did not affect the outcome of the election.” The top Democrat on the U.S. House of Representatives Intelligence Committee, Adam Schiff, criticized Pompeo for his remark. “I was deeply disappointed to learn that CIA Director Pompeo today asserted that the intelligence community had found that Russian interference in our election did not affect the outcome. In fact, the Intelligence community made no such finding, nor could it,” Schiff said in a statement that noted the January assessment.  “This is not the first time the Director has made statements minimizing the significance of what the Russians did, but it needs to be the last,” Schiff said.  The agency later issued a statement that appeared to walk back Pompeo’s remark. “The intelligence assessment with regard to Russian election meddling has not changed, and the Director did not intend to suggest that it had,” said Dean Boyd, the director of the CIA’s office of public affairs. Russia has repeatedly denied U.S. intelligence agencies’ conclusions that Moscow meddled in the election and Trump has denied any collusion between his campaign and Russian officials. Committees in both the U.S. Senate and the House are investigating as is a special counsel, former FBI director Robert Mueller. The probes have cast a shadow over Trump’s presidency, especially after Federal Bureau of Investigation  Director James Comey was fired by Trump in May. In an interview with NBC after Comey’s removal, Trump admitted that he was thinking about “this Russia thing” when he decided to fire Comey.

Summary: सी. आई. ए. के पोम्पिओ ने दावा किया कि रूसी हस्तक्षेप ने अमेरिकी चुनाव परिणाम को प्रभावित नहीं किया


DUBLIN (Reuters) - Sinn Fein s Gerry Adams, a pivotal figure in the political life of Ireland for almost 50 years, said on Saturday he will step down as party leader and complete a generational shift in the former political wing of the Irish Republican Army (IRA). Reviled by many as the face of the IRA during its campaign against British rule in Northern Ireland, Adams reinvented himself as a peacemaker in the troubled region and then as a populist opposition parliamentarian in the Irish Republic. Adams said he would be replaced as party president, a position he has held since 1983, at a party conference next year. He would also not stand for reelection to the Irish parliament.  Republicanism has never been stronger... But leadership means knowing when it is time for change. That time is now,  Adams said in an emotional speech to a packed party conference.  I have complete confidence in the next generation of leaders,  he said.  Adams stayed on stage as the 2,500-strong crowd, some in tears, gave him a standing ovation and sang a traditional Irish song about the road home, followed by the national anthem.  Adams will almost certainly hand over to a successor with no direct involvement in the decades of conflict in Northern Ireland, a prospect that would make Sinn Fein a more palatable coalition partner in the Irish Republic where it has never been in power. Deputy leader Mary Lou McDonald, an English literature graduate from Trinity College Dublin who has been at the forefront of a new breed of Sinn Fein politicians transforming the party s image, is the clear favourite to take over. That would mean the left-wing party being led on both sides of the Irish border by women in their 40s after Michelle O Neill succeeded Martin McGuinness as leader in Northern Ireland shortly before the former IRA commander s death in March. Adams, who will turn 70 next October, has always denied membership of the IRA but accusations from former IRA fighters that he was involved in its campaign of killings have dogged him throughout his career.  Adams was a key figure in the nationalist movement throughout the three decades of violence between Catholic militants seeking a united Ireland, mainly Protestant militants who wanted to maintain Northern Ireland s position as a part of Britain, and the British army.  3,600 died in the conflict, many at the hands of the IRA. As head of the political wing of the IRA during its bombing campaigns in 1980s Britain, Adams was a pariah and banned from speaking on British airwaves, forcing television stations to dub his voice with that of an actor. He and his party emerged from the political cold in October 1997 when he shook hands with Labour Prime Minister Tony Blair at their first meeting. A year later, he helped win sceptical elements in the IRA to the Good Friday peace deal, which largely ended the violence. Since the peace deal Adams and McGuinness turned Sinn Fein from a fringe party into the dominant Irish nationalist party in Northern Ireland and the third largest party in south of the border. While its anti-austerity platform led to a six-fold increase in its number of seats in the Republic - 23 out of 158 -  suspicion of Sinn Fein s role in the Northern Ireland troubles still runs deep and the far larger ruling Fine Gael and or main opposition Fianna Fail have ruled out governing alongside them. Analysts say a change of leader could help open the way to Sinn Fein entering government in Dublin for the first time.   Under a new Sinn Fein leader I think anything is possible,  said David Farrell, politics professor at University College Dublin.  A new Sinn Fein leader will also take over responsibility for rescuing power-sharing devolved government in Northern Ireland and avoid a return to full direct rule from London for the first time in decade.  Power-sharing collapsed after Sinn Fein withdrew in January saying the Democratic Unionist Party was not treating it as an equal partner and a series of talks have failed to break the impasse.

Summary: आयरिश राष्ट्रवाद के युग के अंत में पद छोड़ेंगे गेरी एडम्स


WASHINGTON (Reuters) - China s envoy to North Korea appears to have had little impact in addressing tensions with North Korea, U.S. President Donald Trump on Thursday after Pyongyang test fired its most advanced missile earlier this week.   The Chinese envoy, who just returned from North Korea, seems to have had no impact on Little Rocket Man,  Trump said in a post on Twitter, referring to North Korea s leader Kim Jong Un. A Chinese envoy reportedly visited North Korea earlier this month.

Summary: उत्तर कोरिया में चीनी राजदूत का कोई प्रभाव नहीं पड़ाः ट्विटर


WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The new head of the Environmental Protection Agency said on Thursday he is not convinced that carbon dioxide from human activity is the main driver of climate change and said he wants Congress to weigh in on whether CO2 is a harmful pollutant that should be regulated. In an interview with CNBC, EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt said the Trump administration will make an announcement on fuel efficiency standards for cars “very soon,” stressing that he and President Donald Trump believe current standards were rushed through. Pruitt, 48, is a climate change denier who sued the agency he now leads more than a dozen times as Oklahoma’s attorney general. He said he was not convinced that carbon dioxide pollution from burning fossil fuels like oil, gas and coal is the main cause of climate change, a conclusion widely embraced by scientists. “I think that measuring with precision human activity on the climate is something very challenging to do and there’s tremendous disagreement about the degree of impact,” he told CNBC.  “So no, I would not agree that it’s a primary contributor to the global warming that we see,” Pruitt said. “But we don’t know that yet, we need to continue to debate, continue the review and analysis.” Trump campaigned on a promise to roll back environmental regulations ushered in by former President Barack Obama, including those aimed at combating climate change. He framed his stand as aimed at boosting U.S. businesses, including the oil and gas drilling and coal mining industries. “We can be pro-growth, pro-jobs and pro-environment,” Pruitt said Wednesday afternoon in a Houston speech at CERAWeek, the world’s largest gathering of energy executives. Scientists immediately criticized Pruitt’s statement, saying it ignores a large body of evidence collected over decades that shows fossil fuel burning as the main factor in climate change. “We can’t afford to reject this clear and compelling scientific evidence when we make public policy. Embracing ignorance is not an option,” Ben Santer, climate researcher at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, said in a statement.  The Supreme Court unleashed a fury of regulation and litigation when it ruled in 2007 that greenhouse gases are an air pollutant that can be regulated under the Clean Air Act. Two years later, the EPA declared carbon dioxide and five other heat-trapping gases to be pollutants. Pruitt said the Supreme Court’s decision should not have been viewed as permission for the EPA to regulate carbon dioxide emissions. “Decisions were made at the executive branch level that didn’t respect the rule of law,” Pruitt said in his Houston speech.  Pruitt has previously said the EPA should not regulate CO2 without a law passed by Congress authorizing it to do so. The Republican-controlled Congress could potentially issue a strong signal to the EPA that carbon dioxide should not be regulated by the agency, a move that would undermine many Obama-era rules aimed at curbing emissions. “Administrator Pruitt is correct, the Congress has never explicitly given the EPA the authority to regulate carbon dioxide as a pollutant and the committee has no plans to do so,” said Mike Danylak, spokesman for the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, the panel that oversees the EPA.  When asked at his confirmation hearing in January whether he would uphold the EPA endangerment finding, Pruitt said it was the “law of the land” and he was obliged to uphold it for now. Pruitt declined to respond to a question from a reporter after his Houston speech on whether he would now seek to overturn the endangerment finding.  As Oklahoma’s attorney general, Pruitt and another dozen attorney generals unsuccessfully challenged the endangerment finding in a federal appeals court. “The mask is off. After obscuring his true views during his Senate confirmation hearings, Scott Pruitt has outed himself as a pure climate denier,” said David Doniger, director of the climate program at the Natural Resources Defense Council. The new EPA chief said he was committed to ensuring thorough processes for environmental rules and regulations to reduce “regulatory uncertainty.” Pruitt added that he shared Trump’s view that the global climate accord agreed by nearly 200 countries in Paris in 2015 was a “bad deal.” Trump promised during his campaign for the White House to pull the United States out of the accord, but has since been mostly quiet on the issue.

Summary: ई. पी. ए. प्रमुख ग्लोबल वार्मिंग से कार्बन डाइऑक्साइड के संबंध पर आश्वस्त नहीं हैं


GENEVA (Reuters) - Humanitarian crises around the world will worsen next year with no let-up in African civil wars, near-famines in conflict-ridden regions and the threat of Islamist violence, a Geneva-based think-tank predicted in a report published on Thursday. The report by ACAPS, a non-profit venture that supports humanitarian aid workers with daily monitoring and analysis of 150 countries, examined the anticipated needs of 18 countries in 2018 and found little to cheer.  If 2017 did not look good, predictions for 2018 are no better: violence and insecurity are likely to deteriorate in Afghanistan, Democratic Republic of Congo, Libya, Ethiopia, Mali, Somalia, and Syria next year,  ACAPS director Lars Peter Nissen wrote in the report. Next year Ethiopia will join northeastern Nigeria, Somalia, South Sudan and Yemen as places at risk of famine, said the report, entitled "Humanitarian Overview: An analysis of key crises into 2018". here In a separate report, the U.S.-funded Famine Early Warning Systems Network said an estimated 76 million people across 45 countries were likely to need food aid in 2018, driven by conflict, an 18-month-old drought in the Horn of Africa and forecasts for below average rains in Africa s spring next year.  Rather than bringing stability, the prospect of elections in Afghanistan, Iraq, Libya, South Sudan and Venezuela is expected to exacerbate tensions and fuel violence, the ACAPS report said.  Islamic extremism will also continue to cause death and conflict, the report said. Despite the defeat of Islamic State in its main strongholds in Iraq, the group is expected to continue improvised attacks throughout the country to destabilise the government, as well as gaining strength and resources in southern Libya. Islamic State is also likely to increase its toehold in the Puntland region of Somalia, impacting the civilian population and clashing with its bigger regional rival Al Shabaab, which will increase the lethality of its own attacks. ACAPS said Islamist armed groups are also expected to take advantage of the withdrawal of government troops from central Mali, gaining local recruits and further influence, while in Afghanistan the Taliban will consolidate rural strongholds and increased opium production will boost funding for armed groups. The fragmentation of armed groups in Central African Republic is expected to worsen the violence there, sending more refugees into Cameroon and Democratic Republic of Congo, where President Joseph Kabila is unlikely to leave power until 2019, fuelling frustration and violent protest, the report said.  Militia groups previously focused on local grievances will likely become increasingly frustrated by the national, political, and socioeconomic situation and are likely to increase violence, particularly against government forces and institutions,  the report said.

Summary: 2018 में और अधिक युद्ध, भूख, इस्लामी हिंसा की उम्मीद करें-जेनेवा थिंक-टैंक


WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Democratic U.S. Senator Joe Manchin of West Virginia on Friday urged senators to oppose a temporary spending bill because it fails to offer a long-term solution to secure retired coal miners’ benefits. Republican Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has not yet announced when a final vote on the government spending legislation would take place. The House of Representatives voted for the funding bill on Thursday and went home. But in the Senate, Manchin and some other Democrats planned to delay a vote in hopes of adding a longer-term extension of expiring healthcare benefits for retired coal miners and their families.

Summary: डेमोक्रेटिक सीनेटर ने कोयला खनिक लाभों पर खर्च विधेयक का विरोध किया क्योंकि सीनेट में मतदान होने वाला है


ABUJA (Reuters) - A police official defended a unit of the Nigeria Police Force that has been accused of human rights violations, saying many claims of brutality were unfounded and the country needed to be defended against violent crime.  A social media campaign has called for the Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS) to be disbanded. It has gathered pace in recent days as people shared stories of alleged maltreatment by the unit s officers, as well as photographs and videos.  Lawmakers in the Senate, the upper house of parliament, voted on Tuesday to open an investigation into the allegations. Nigerian police have been dogged by accusations of human rights abuses for years. The police force has repeatedly denied any wrongdoing.  When you check most of these allegations ... it is somebody else that is saying that something happened to another person,  said Abayomi Shogunle, who heads the Nigeria Police Force s complaints unit.   We have reached out to all these people: tell us who this victim is, tell us the place where it took place, tell us the date and time. They are not forthcoming,  said Shogunle, an assistant police commissioner. The social media campaign gathered pace after a video was circulated on social media of a youths chasing police after a man was allegedly shot dead by officers in the commercial capital, Lagos.  Reuters could not verify whether the incident took place or details of when and where the video footage was filmed.  The campaign, which has seen the EndSARS hashtag trending on Twitter, on Monday prompted the head of the police force to announce an immediate re-organisation of SARS nationwide and an investigation into abuse allegations. Shogunle said a specialist crime unit was needed in a country where kidnapping for ransom is a common problem in some regions, along with burglary. Clashes between semi-nomadic herdsmen and farmers over herding rights have also led to bloodshed in central and northern parts of the country. More than 30 people were killed in such clashes in a northeastern town last month.  The question is what do we replace them with? Who will perform those tough, difficult, life-threatening duties that SARS are performing at the moment?  he said.  Street protests are also being planned in Nigerian cities.   This has been going on for a long time and it s crazy that the people actually supposed to be your friend, to protect you, are the ones assaulting and abusing you,  said Charles Oputa, who is planning to hold an event in the capital, Abuja.  He said he did not believe the restructuring announced by the country s police chief would take place.

Summary: नाइजीरियाई पुलिस अधिकारी ने क्रूरता के आरोपों के खिलाफ इकाई का बचाव किया


AMSTERDAM (Reuters) - Dutch airline KLM said on Saturday it had refused carriage to the United States to seven passengers from predominately Muslim countries subject to a temporary immigration ban imposed by the Trump administration. A spokeswoman for KLM, part of the Franco-Dutch Air France KLM group, declined to specify which countries the passengers came from or where they were flying from. “Worldwide, we had seven passengers whom we had to inform that there was no point in us taking them to the U.S.,” said spokeswoman Manel Vrijenhoek. “There is still some lack of clarity about whom this ban affects.”

Summary: के. एल. एम. ने प्रतिबंधित मुस्लिम देशों के यात्रियों को अमेरिकी गाड़ी देने से इनकार कर दिया


NEW YORK (Reuters) - U.S. President-elect Donald Trump on Wednesday said pharmaceutical companies are “getting away with murder” in what they charge the government for medicines, and promised that would change, sending drugs stocks sharply lower. The benchmark S&P 500 index .SPX slipped into negative territory after his remarks at a news conference spooked investors. The iShares Nasdaq Biotech ETF (IBB.O) dropped 4 percent at its session low and ended down 3 percent, its largest daily percentage drop in three months. “When the president-elect says we’re going to negotiate drug pricing, you have to take that seriously, but at the same this is a complicated issue because there’s not going to be clarity on drug pricing reform anytime soon,” said Brad Loncar, manager of the Loncar Cancer Immunotherapy ETF (CNCR.O). “When somebody that high profile says something that negative, people do not want to invest in it.” Trump has blasted other industries for charging the government too much, particularly defense companies, but has made only a few public statements about drug pricing since being elected. He briefly mentioned Lockheed Martin Corp (LMT.N), Ford Motor Co (F.N), and United Technologies Corp (UTX.N) during the news conference and promised a border tax for companies producing products for U.S. consumers outside the United States. Back in May, then-candidate Trump said Amazon (AMZN.O) was also “getting away with murder,” referring to taxes in that case. The stock fell as much as 4 percent in the next few days but is up almost 12 percent since Trump’s remark. After his promise to bring down drug spending, the ARCA pharmaceutical index gave up as much as 2.6 percent and ended the day down 1.7 percent. The drug industry has been on edge for two years about the potential for more government pressure on pricing after sharp increases in the costs of some life-saving drugs drew scrutiny in the press and among lawmakers. The government is investigating Medicaid and Medicare overspending on Mylan NV’s (MYL.O) allergy treatment EpiPen, for instance. David Katz, chief investment officer at Matrix Asset Advisors in New York, said negative comments on drug pricing trigger selling both from algorithms and investors who suffered from share drops when Democrat Hillary Clinton campaigned against healthcare cost increases. Trump’s campaign platform included allowing the Medicare healthcare program to negotiate with pharmaceutical companies, which the law currently prohibits. He has also discussed making it easier to import drugs at cheaper prices. “We are going to start bidding. We are going to save billions of dollars over time,” Trump said. Medicare, which covers more than 55 million elderly or disabled Americans, spent $325 billion on medicines in 2015. Industry trade group Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America, or PhRMA President Stephen Ubl said “Medicines are purchased in a competitive marketplace where large, sophisticated purchasers aggressively negotiate lower prices.”  He said the industry is “committed to working with President-elect Trump and Congress to improve American competitiveness and protect American jobs.”  Roche Pharmaceuticals CEO Daniel O’Day said in an interview at a JPMorgan conference in San Francisco that Roche Holding AG (ROG.S) focuses on innovation and investing in research. Price increases over the past several years have been “responsible” and in the range of low to mid single digits, he said. At the same conference, Mylan CEO Heather Bresch said it was premature to respond to Trump’s comments, when she was asked during an investor presentation. She said the industry should look again at how healthcare is set up as the government repeals the Affordable Care Act.  Trump said he plans to repeal the Affordable Care Act, or Obamacare, and replace it at about the same time. The news helped shares of hospitals, which are nervous about losing government payments for medical services. It hurt some health insurers, like Anthem Inc (ANTM.N), which sell plans on the government-run health insurance exchanges. Healthcare ETFs including the Health Care Select Sector SPDR Fund (XLV) (XLV.P) and the IBB drew their highest trading volume since Nov. 10, in the wake of Trump’s election. Trading volume in XLV options jumped to 58,248 contracts, more than twice the average daily volume according to Reuters data. Healthcare sector stocks were the largest drag on the S&P 500 .SPX and the Nasdaq 100 .NDX.

Summary: ट्रम्प का कहना है कि फार्मा 'हत्या के साथ भाग रहा है', शेयरों में गिरावट आई


BERLIN (Reuters) - Senior conservatives raised pressure on Wolfgang Schaeuble on Tuesday to give up the finance ministry and instead impose his authority as head of Germany s next parliament, which will include a large bloc of far-right members. Schaeuble has held the ministry since 2009 but Sunday s election, in which Chancellor Angela Merkel s conservatives bled support to the far right and found themselves needing to build an untried coalition, has raised doubts over whether he can keep the job. The post is coveted in particular by the pro-business, low-tax FDP, whose support Merkel is likely to need, together with the Greens, to assemble a working majority.    The tone in the new assembly is also likely to be made more abrasive by the Alternative for Germany (AfD), which stunned the establishment on Sunday by becoming the first far-right party to enter parliament in more than half a century. A member of the executive committee of Merkel s Christian Democrats (CDU) said that, if Schaeuble were to become parliamentary speaker, it would be  very important - because of the AfD and the climate in parliament . Guenther Oettinger, the European Union s budget commissioner and a conservative from the same region as Schaeuble, told the Stuttgarter Zeitung newspaper that Schaeuble would make an  ideal  candidate for the post. Schaeuble has refused to discuss his future after the election, beyond signaling his desire to stay in politics. The new lower house, the Bundestag, has until Oct. 24 to convene, and a new president of parliament must be chosen by then. The current president, CDU lawmaker Norbert Lammert, is not up for re-election. The Bundestag president cannot simultaneously hold a ministerial post. After Sunday s election, Merkel s conservative bloc remains the largest group in the lower house, but looks unable to renew its current alliance with the center-left Social Democrats, leaving a coalition with FDP and Greens as the only practical option. Securing the finance ministry would give the FDP the chance to cut taxes and also oppose the kind of closer euro zone integration proposed by French President Emmanuel Macron. Speaking at Schaeuble s 75th birthday celebration last week, Merkel paid tribute to his 45 years as a member of parliament, but gave no clear signal that she wanted to retain him in the post after the election. Confined to a wheelchair since being shot at an election rally in 1990, Schaeuble is widely respected in Germany as a steward of the nation s finances, and enjoyed Merkel s strong support during the euro zone debt crisis, which almost tore the currency bloc apart. But he is a hate figure in Greece and other parts of southern Europe for his insistence on austerity at a time of deep recession in return for euro zone bailout loans.

Summary: जर्मन रूढ़िवादियों ने वित्त मंत्री शेयबल को नौकरी बदलने के लिए प्रेरित किया


BEIJING (Reuters) - China has summoned a British official in Beijing and lodged  stern representations  about recent comments from London expressing concern about a British rights activist being denied entry to Hong Kong, it said on Friday. Ben Rogers, a co-founder of Britain s ruling Conservative Party s Human Rights Commission, has been a vocal critic of Chinese-ruled Hong Kong s treatment of human rights activists, including that of jailed student protest leader Joshua Wong. He was denied entry to Hong Kong on Oct. 11. Britain said on Tuesday it had summoned the Chinese ambassador to express its concern. Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Lu Kang reiterated that Hong Kong is part of China, and the central government handles Hong Kong s foreign affairs and Beijing and Hong Kong decide who to let in or not as a matter of Chinese sovereignty.  China has already summoned in an official from the British Embassy in Beijing, and lodged stern representations about Britain s recent series of wrong remarks and actions on this issue,  Lu told a daily news briefing.   I must to stress here that Hong Kong matters are purely an internal affair of China s. China will not permit any government, organization or individual to interfere in China s internal affairs in any way.  Hong Kong, which returned to Chinese rule in 1997, is governed under a  one country, two systems  formula that promises it a higher degree of autonomy and freedom than on the mainland. Last week, British Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson said London needed an explanation from Hong Kong and Beijing about  the treatment of Rogers.

Summary: चीन ने हांगकांग की टिप्पणी पर ब्रिटिश अधिकारी को तलब किया


WASHINGTON (Reuters) - One of the most powerful Democrats in the U.S. Congress on Tuesday pressed President-elect Donald Trump to keep the consumer financial watchdog agency’s current director, as rumors about a possible termination and replacement swirled.  Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer told reporters that Trump will break his campaign promise of “standing up for workers and consumers against the rigged system” if he fires the U.S. Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s (CFPB) director, Richard Cordray, after taking office on Friday. “If Trump intends to keep any of his promises and un-rig the system, he would keep Rich Cordray,” the senator from New York said in a phone call with reporters. Created in the 2010 Dodd-Frank Wall Street reform law, the CFPB has battled all sorts of lenders through regulation and litigation. It most recently participated in a settlement with Wells Fargo for $190 million for allegedly creating ghost accounts.      By law, the president can only fire the agency’s director for cause, but a recent federal court decision says the U.S. chief executive should be able to dismiss the director at will. That decision has been stayed pending appeal. Some want Trump to not wait for the appeals court and fire Cordray for cause as soon as he becomes president. At the earliest, the full U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit is expected to announce in February whether it will review the case. Last week, Trump met with one of the agency’s biggest critics, former Republican Representative Randy Neugebauer of Texas, who is frequently mentioned as a top choice for to replace Cordray. Conservatives say Neugebauer would limit the reach of the CFPB, which they say has gone too far and does not have enough accountability. Congress is controlled by the Republican Party, and most Republicans would prefer having a commission in charge of the agency, instead of a director who both creates and enforces rules. During the call with reporters, Schumer characterized the possibility of making Neugebauer director as an attempt to dismantle the CFPB from the inside. Also on the call, Senator Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts said removing Cordray would allow Trump to block the CFPB’s current work on rules on mandatory arbitration, payday lending and debt collection. Democrats like Warren, who came up with the idea of an agency to protect individuals’ finances after the 2007-09 crisis, say the CFPB is an important guard against fraud in mortgages, student loans and other consumer products.

Summary: शूमर ने ट्रम्प से कहाः अमेरिकी उपभोक्ता एजेंसी के प्रमुख को बर्खास्त न करें


WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Donald Trump is evaluating the situation surrounding U.S. national security adviser Michael Flynn and is speaking to Vice President Mike Pence about it, White House spokesman Sean Spicer told reporters on Monday. Spicer’s statement, read to reporters, left Flynn’s status in doubt. Trump adviser Kellyanne Conway had said an hour earlier that Flynn had the full confidence of the president.

Summary: राष्ट्रीय सुरक्षा सलाहकार फ्लिन की स्थिति का मूल्यांकन कर रहे हैं ट्रंपः व्हाइट हाउस


WASHINGTON (Reuters) - New York State Attorney Eric Schneiderman on Tuesday said he has been investigating for six months who posted significant numbers of fake comments filed with the Federal Communications Commission in its review of net neutrality rules. The FCC got more than 22 million comments during its review and several researchers found evidence that significant numbers of submissions were fake.  Schneiderman said Tuesday the “FCC has refused multiple requests for crucial evidence.”  The FCC did not immediately comment.  On Tuesday FCC Chairman Ajit Pai proposed reversing the Obama era net neutrality rules.

Summary: न्यूयॉर्क के अटॉर्नी जनरल एफ. सी. सी. को झूठी 'शुद्ध तटस्थता' टिप्पणियों की जांच कर रहे हैं


KANSAS CITY, Kan (Reuters) - Kansas Republican and state treasurer Ron Estes on Tuesday defeated Democrat civil rights attorney James Thompson to win a Congressional seat in a race that became an unlikely testing ground of an early backlash to President Donald Trump. Estes got about 53 percent of the vote, preliminary results showed, to win the Kansas 4th congressional district seat held by Republican Mike Pompeo from 2011 until he vacated it this year, to become director of the Central Intelligence Agency.  “Even though we heard a lot from the national media and from people outside this state that we were not going to be able to win this race, we showed that we are still a Republican seat,” Estes told supporters at a rally in Wichita. “And we’re going to make sure we change things in Washington.”   Democrats had hoped to capitalize on Trump’s poor approval rating and dissatisfaction among moderates with Republican Governor Sam Brownback to win back one of 24 seats they need nationwide to reclaim the House. The seat, which Pompeo won with nearly 61 percent of the vote in November, looked until recently like a lock for Estes, the state treasurer since 2011.  But the race became surprisingly competitive and drove Republican leaders into a last minute push for Estes. Texas Sen. Ted Cruz, who won the Kansas caucus in the Republican presidential primary, campaigned for Estes over the weekend.  President Trump, who carried the 4th district with about 57 percent of the general election vote in 2016, also pushed for Estes, with a message on social media network Twitter expressing support for his fellow Republican earlier in the day.  The last Democrat to hold the Kansas 4th congressional district seat was Dan Glickman, who served nine terms before becoming agriculture secretary in 1995. Thompson made the race a lot closer than people would have expected earlier this year, said his campaign manager Chris Pumpelly.  “People were writing us off the whole time,” he said. “They said it was a no-go, but we proved them all wrong. We made this race absolutely competitive and we are very proud of it.”

Summary: कंसास रिपब्लिकन ने विशेष चुनाव में कांग्रेस की सीट जीती


BERLIN (Reuters) - German Chancellor Angela Merkel said on Tuesday that Turkey was fast abandoning the rule of law and vowed to push her EU partners to consider suspending or ending its accession talks at a meeting in October. Less than three weeks before a German national election, she spelled out her intentions clearly to the Bundestag lower house of parliament after sharpening her rhetoric on Sunday and saying Turkey should not become an EU member. Those comments, made in a televised debate with her Social Democrat (SPD) election rival, drew charges of populism from Ankara. It was the latest of a series of spats between Merkel and President Tayyip Erdogan over the last two years which has led to a serious deterioration in relations.  Turkey is moving away from the path of the rule of law at a very fast speed,  Merkel said, adding her government would do everything it could to secure the release of Germans detained in Turkey, who Berlin says are innocent. The Foreign Ministry said last week 12 German citizens, four of them with dual citizenship, had been detained in Turkey on political charges. One has since been released. The ministry updated its travel advice on Tuesday and said that  incomprehensible  arrests were taking place all over Turkey, including regions frequented by tourists.  Venting her growing frustration, Merkel said a rethink of Germany s and the EU s relations with Turkey was needed.  We will also - and I will suggest this takes place at the EU meeting in October - discuss future relations with Turkey, including the question of suspending or ending talks on accession,  she said.  I will push for a decisive stand ... But we need to coordinate and work with our partners,  she said, adding that it would damage the EU if Erdogan saw member states embroiled in an argument.  That would dramatically weaken Europe s position.  Although Turkey s foreign minister has said EU membership remains a strategic goal, the EU has turned very skeptical - especially since Erdogan s crackdown on opponents after a failed coup in July 2016.  A European Commission spokesman said on Monday Turkey was taking  giant strides  away from Europe. Although her conservative party has long opposed Turkish membership of the bloc, Merkel has staked a good deal on maintaining relations with its NATO ally.  She has repeatedly defended an EU-Turkey migrant deal she championed last year because it helped to stem the flow of refugees fleeing war in the Middle East to western Europe.  Merkel said despite her own reservations, she had gone along with EU accession talks agreed by her SPD predecessor, Gerhard Schroeder, mainly to ensure continuity in foreign policy. Erdogan accuses Germany of harboring plotters behind the 2016 coup attempt. Turkey has arrested about 50,000 people in its purges of state institutions and the armed forces. Ankara says the crackdown is necessary to ensure national security but many Western countries and human rights groups say it is an attempt by Erdogan to stifle all dissent. Erdogan also won sweeping new powers in a referendum in April. In the runup to the German election little divides the main parties, who currently share power in a grand coalition, on Turkey. SPD Foreign Minister Sigmar Gabriel in July said Germans should be careful if they traveled to Turkey and threatened steps that could hurt investment there.

Summary: मर्केल चाहती हैं कि यूरोपीय संघ मतदान के बाद तुर्की के विलय की वार्ता को रोकने पर विचार करे


LONDON (Reuters) - Two 14-year-old boys from northern England who were arrested by British counter-terrorism detectives have been charged with conspiracy to murder, police said on Wednesday. The teenagers, who cannot be named for legal reasons, were arrested on Saturday and are due to appear at Leeds Magistrates  Court on Thursday.

Summary: ब्रिटेन की आतंकवाद-रोधी पुलिस ने 14 वर्षीय लड़कों पर हत्या की साजिश रचने का आरोप लगाया


(In this July 27 story, corrects paragraph 7 to reflect that Zarda died in a BASE-jumping accident, not a skydiving accident) By Daniel Wiessner (Reuters) - The Trump administration told a U.S. appeals court that federal law does not ban discrimination against gay employees, a sharp reversal of the position former President Barack Obama took on a key civil rights issue. The U.S. Department of Justice, in a friend of the court brief, told the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Manhattan on Wednesday that Congress never intended Title VII, which bans sex discrimination in the workplace, to apply to gay workers.  The department also said the court owed no deference to the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, a federal agency that enforces Title VII and has argued since 2012 that the law bans discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation.  The brief came hours after President Donald Trump said he would ban transgender people from serving in the military. That would reverse a 2016 policy adopted by Obama.  Justice Department spokesman Devin O’Malley said the brief was consistent with rulings by 10 federal appeals courts and “reaffirms the Department’s fundamental belief that the courts cannot expand the law beyond what Congress has provided.” The department’s brief was in support of New York skydiving company Altitude Express Inc in a lawsuit filed by a former employee, Donald Zarda.  Zarda claimed he lost his job as a skydiving instructor after he told a customer he was gay and she complained. He died in a BASE-jumping accident after filing the lawsuit. In April, a three-judge 2nd Circuit panel dismissed Zarda’s case, citing a prior ruling that said discrimination against gay workers is not a form of sex discrimination under Title VII. The full court, which can overturn the prior decision, agreed in May to review the case. The issue could reach the U.S. Supreme Court in a different case brought by a former security guard at a Georgia hospital who claims she was harassed and forced to quit because she is gay.  Earlier this month, LGBT rights group Lambda Legal, which represents the former security guard, said it would ask the high court to review the case.  On Wednesday, the Justice Department said employers engage in sex discrimination only when they treat male and female workers differently. Objecting to homosexuality does not depend on sex, the department said, but on moral or religious beliefs. “Of course, if an employer fired only gay men but not gay women (or vice versa), that would be prohibited by Title VII,” the department wrote, “but precisely because it would be discrimination based on sex, not sexual orientation.” Zarda’s lawyer, Gregory Antollino, said on Thursday that the department was making the same arguments the Supreme Court rejected in cases involving discrimination against workers in interracial relationships.

Summary: अमेरिकी न्याय विभाग का कहना है कि पूर्वाग्रह विरोधी कानून समलैंगिक श्रमिकों की रक्षा नहीं करता है