MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov said on Monday that the  two-faced policy  of the United States was to blame for the death of Russian Lieutenant-General Valery Asapov in Syria, the RIA news agency quoted him as saying. The Russian Defence Ministry said on Sunday that Asapov had been killed by Islamic State shelling near Deir al-Zor.  Moscow has complained about what it has suggested are suspiciously friendly ties between U.S.-backed militias, U.S. special forces, and Islamic State in the area, accusing Washington of trying to slow the advance of the Syrian army.    The death of the Russian commander is the price, the bloody price, for two-faced American policy in Syria,  Ryabkov told reporters, according to RIA. Ryabkov questioned Washington s intention to fight Islamic State in Syria.  The American side declares that it is interested in the elimination of IS ... but some of its actions show it is doing the opposite and that some political and geopolitical goals are more important for Washington,  Ryabkov was quoted as saying. Earlier on Monday, American-backed Syrian militias said that Russian warplanes had struck their positions in Deir al-Zor province near a natural gas field they seized from Islamic State last week. Russia denied that. Ryabkov also said that Russia wanted to strengthen the International Atomic Energy Agency and had not violated the Intermediate-range Nuclear Forces Treaty, rejecting allegations made against it by U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson earlier this month.

Summary: सीरिया में रूसी जनरल की मौत के लिए मास्को ने 'दो-तरफा अमेरिकी नीति' को जिम्मेदार ठहरायाः आर. आई. ए.


WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Pentagon said on Monday that it would provide U.S. President Donald Trump with options to deal with North Korea if its provocations continue, after North Korea s foreign minister said his country reserved the right to shoot down U.S. bombers even if they are not in its air space.  If North Korea does not stop their provocative actions, you know, we will make sure that we provide options to the President to deal with North Korea,  Pentagon spokesman Colonel Robert Manning told reporters.

Summary: उत्तर कोरिया के उकसावे जारी रहने पर ट्रम्प को विकल्प देंगेः पेंटागन


MALE (Reuters) - The Maldives government signed a free trade agreement with China during a visit to Beijing by its leader, Abdulla Yameen, it said on Friday, despite criticism from the opposition over the speed at which the deal was concluded. Under the deal - a document of more than 1,000 pages that the Maldives parliament signed off on last week after less than an hour of discussion - China and the archipelago nation will impose no tariffs on imports from each other.  Fisheries are the main export from the Maldives, an Indian Ocean country of 400,000 that also relies heavily on tourism.  The free trade agreement between China and Maldives signed during the visit was a milestone in the development of China-Maldives economic and trade relations,  Yameen s official website said in a joint communique. The Maldives government also endorsed China s proposed Maritime Silk Road business development project, part of its vast Belt and Road infrastructure project. China s state-run Xinhua news agency quoted Chinese President Xi Jinping as telling Yameen that the Belt and Road program matched up with the Maldives  development strategies. President Yameen s government has had good relations with China since taking power in 2013. China has been striking deals with countries in Asia and Africa to improve its imports of key commodities and boost its diplomatic clout. The main opposition Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) said in a statement that the FTA contained technical details that should have been thoroughly reviewed and called for its implementation to be suspended until an independent feasibility study is conducted. The government says the FTA will help diversify the $3.6 billion economy and boost fisheries exports, crucial since the European Union declined in 2014 to renew a tax concession on them. Fisheries account for 5 percent of Maldives  economic output and earned the country $140 million in 2016. The EU declined to extend the tax exemptions because the country has failed to comply with international conventions on freedom of religion, European diplomats in Colombo say. Maldives law prohibits the practice by citizens of any religion other than Islam, while non-Muslims are barred from voting, gaining citizenship or holding public office.

Summary: मालदीव ने विरोध के बावजूद चीन के साथ व्यापार समझौते में तेजी दिखाई


PRAGUE (Reuters) - A far-right party whose leader wants to quit the EU and urged Czechs to walk pigs near mosques and stop eating kebabs, performed surprisingly well in an election, potentially giving it a chance to influence how the next government is formed. The Freedom and Direct Democracy (SPD) party rode a wave of far-right sentiment in Europe in an election that ravaged the more established political parties and looked set to hand power to maverick tycoon Andrej Babis. The SPD was set up in 2015 by Tomio Okamura, a half-Japanese entrepreneur who made his name by creating an off-beat travel agency for cuddly toys before entering politics.  We want to stop any Islamisation of the Czech Republic, we push for zero tolerance of migration,  Okamura told reporters after his party won just under 10.7 percent of the vote, almost neck-and-neck with two other parties who were runners-up to Babis s ANO party. Okamura was first elected to the lower house for the Dawn party, which fought to install direct voting for most political posts and won 6.9 percent in the 2013 election, He was later ousted in a spat over irregularities in party finances. This time around, Okamura pounced on anti-foreigner feeling that has soared in the nation of 10.6 million, despite record-low unemployment, growing wages and relatively little immigration.   I voted for SPD because their opinions are close to mine, I am also against migrants arriving here,  said Pavel, an unemployed worker, leaving a polling station in Prague.  Okamura has also played on euroscepticism among many voters and attacked the Roma minority.  The European Union can t be reformed. It only dictates to us. We refuse the multicultural European superstate. Let s leave the EU,  Okamura said at a party leaders  debate just before polls opened on Friday. Born to a Czech mother and Japanese father, Okamura grew up in both the Czech Republic and Japan. He later sold popcorn at cinemas in Japan and ran a travel agency which took clients  plush toys around the sights of the Czech Republic. He was not always on the extreme right. Political analysts say he began courting voters with more hardline views after forming the SPD in 2015. In 2011, Okamura was on a jury at the Miss Expat beauty pageant, featuring immigrants to the country. Two years later he posted a picture of his Czech girlfriend wearing Islamic dress to enter a mosque in London as he praised the assistance she received there, calling it a  fine experience .   When he (Okamura) established his first party, he based it on direct democracy and punishment for bad politicians. Only after his ousting did he add the cheapest thing, the  virtual threat  of migration,  said Pavel Saradin, political science lecturer at the Palacky University in Olomouc. Saradin called the threat  virtual  as the Czech Republic was bypassed by the immigration wave seen elsewhere in Europe in the last two years and has only a tiny Muslim minority.  But the anti-immigrant message Okamura seized on has had wider backing in the Czech society, with all major political parties rejecting a quota system for redistributing migrants that have arrived in the European Union.  President Milos Zeman, formerly leader of the pro-European center-left Social Democrats, shared the podium with far-right anti-immigration activists during the 2015 celebrations of the country s democratic revolution. This weekend s election winner Babis, himself a rich businessman, will need partners to form a government.  Given that he faces fraud charges   which he says are trumped-up   several mainstream parties have already rejected being in government with him. This could potentially make an opening for the SPD which could supply its votes to back Babis s administration in return for policy concessions.

Summary: चेक चुनाव में धुर दक्षिणपंथियों को आश्चर्यजनक सफलता


(Reuters) - Former U.S. vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin said on Thursday that her husband, who was seriously injured in a snowmobile accident, was still in a hospital intensive care unit after surgery. Todd Palin, 51, had the surgery at Mat-Su Regional Medical Center in Palmer, Alaska, to repair “numerous breaks” in his upper body, Palin said on her Facebook page.  “Docs essentially lifted and secured every rib with steel bands, anchored the broken clavicle with plates and rods, set aside repair of a broken shoulder for later,” she said. Todd Palin was in the accident earlier this week, prompting his wife to cut short a campaign trip for Donald Trump, the front-runner in the race for the Republican Party’s presidential nomination.Palin was Republican Senator John McCain’s running mate in the 2008 presidential election won by Democrat Barack Obama.

Summary: सारा पॉलिन का कहना है कि दुर्घटना के बाद भी पति गहन देखभाल में हैं


WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The White House said on Monday that the Obama administration “strongly opposes” passage by the House of Representatives a bill on mergers and acquisitions, saying it harms a federal agency’s ability to promote competition and protect consumers.  Proposed changes to the Standard Merger and Acquisition Reviews Through Equal Rules Act of 2015, sponsored by Representative Blake Farenthold, a Texas Republican, “threaten to undermine the (Federal Trade Commission’s) important role in protecting competition and consumers,” the White House said in a statement.

Summary: व्हाइट हाउस ने एफटीसी उपभोक्ता संरक्षण क्षमता को नुकसान पहुँचाने वाले विधेयक का विरोध किया


WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Republican chairman of the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee said on Monday that if the House of Representatives does not pass a Russian sanctions bill, it is because members do not want to impose new sanctions, not because of a procedural issue cited by Republican leaders in the House.  “There is no issue, except do they want to pass a Russia sanctions bill or not,” Senator Bob Corker told reporters at the U.S. Senate. The Senate passed the sanctions measure by 98-2 on June 15, but it has been stalled in the House, where President Donald Trump’s fellow Republicans hold a larger majority than in the Senate. House Republican leaders insisted the delay was purely because the bill violated a constitutional requirement that legislation affecting government revenues must originate in the House, not the Senate. They also blamed Democrats for holding it up. Democrats, and some Republicans, scoffed. They said the bill could have been fixed and passed in the House in a matter of minutes. Trump administration officials said they disagree with provisions in the bill requiring the president to get Congress’ permission before easing any sanctions, and the fact that many of the new sanctions are mandatory, so that the president cannot opt to waive them for national security reasons. Some Republicans have also echoed concerns raised by U.S. energy firms and European governments that the legislation could complicate investment in Russian energy projects, and potentially cost industry jobs. Corker said the bill was written to allow the Trump administration to address energy-related issues. And he said any White House would prefer to conduct foreign policy without Congress, but the administration had not asked him to kill the bill. “No one has called me and said, ‘We don’t want this legislation to pass.’ That has never occurred,” Corker said. Lawmakers and aides said administration officials had held meetings in Congress in the past few weeks to express their concerns about the measure. The Senate passed the bill a second time by unanimous consent on June 29, with a “fix” to address the procedural issue, but it has still not been taken up by the House. House Republicans said on Monday that the Senate change had not satisfied the procedural concern and that the Senate would have to change it and vote again.

Summary: रिपब्लिकन सीनेटर ने रूस प्रतिबंध विधेयक पर प्रक्रियात्मक दावों को खारिज किया


(Reuters) - An American student who had been imprisoned in North Korea for 17 months died from lack of oxygen and blood to the brain, an Ohio coroner said on Wednesday. Otto Warmbier s death on June 19 was due to an unknown injury that occurred more than a year before his death, Hamilton County Coroner Dr. Lakshmi Sammarco said at a news conference.   We don t know what happened to him and that s the bottom line,  Sammarco said.  Warmbier s parents could not be reached for comment on the coroner s report. The University of Virginia student was held by North Korea from January 2016 until his release on June 15. Warmbier, 22, was returned to the United States in a coma. The coroner and a Sept. 11 report by her office cited complications of chronic deficiency of oxygen and blood supply to the brain in Warmbier s death. Only an external examination of the body rather than a full autopsy was conducted at the request of Warmbier s family.  North Korea had blamed botulism and the ingestion of a sleeping pill for Otto Warmbier s problems and dismissed torture claims. Warmbier died days after arriving back in the United States.  The native of Wyoming, Ohio, had been arrested at the airport in Pyongyang as he prepared to leave the reclusive communist country. He had been traveling with a tour group. Warmbier was sentenced to 15 years of hard labor for trying to take from his hotel an item bearing a propaganda slogan, North Korea s state media reported. Saying his son had been tortured, Fred Warmbier told Fox News in an interview on Tuesday,  As we looked at him and tried to comfort him, it looked like someone had taken a pair of pliers and rearranged his bottom teeth.    Great interview on @foxandfriends with the parents of Otto Warmbier: 1994 - 2017. Otto was tortured beyond belief by North Korea,  President Donald Trump said on Twitter following the interview s broadcast.  In response to a question at the news conference, the coroner said there was no evidence of trauma to Warmbier s teeth nor was there evidence of broken bones. The coroner s report said that Warmbier s body had multiple scars varying in size, including a large irregular one measuring 4.3 by 1.6 inches on the right foot.

Summary: उत्तर कोरिया में हिरासत में लिए गए अमेरिकी छात्र की मौत ऑक्सीजन की कमी से हुईः कोरोनर


(Reuters) - Twitter Inc faced questions on Friday about its approach to internal security after a company employee briefly deactivated U.S. President Donald Trump’s account. The 11-minute blackout of the @realDonaldTrump account late on Thursday drew widespread attention to the microblogging site. Trump frequently uses Twitter to announce policy, assail his adversaries and to tangle with countries, including North Korea, over world affairs. Some users voiced fears that future employee interference or technology glitches involving Trump’s account could threaten national security.  The incident also came as Twitter grapples with overall criticism of its handling of account suspensions, user abuse and ever-changing terms of service.   Twitter said in a tweet on Friday: “We have implemented safeguards to prevent this from happening again. We won’t be able to share all details about our internal investigation or updates to our security measures, but we take this seriously and our teams are on it.” A company representative declined to answer questions including how many employees can suspend an account or what special protections there are for high-profile users like Trump. Trump was back on Twitter soon after the account was restored, and the employee did not send or alter any tweets.  Cyber security experts had previously speculated Twitter could have installed special protections on Trump’s account, such as the ability to only access it from certain devices. “We have learned that this was done by a Twitter customer-support employee who did this on the employee’s last day. We are conducting a full internal review,” Twitter said in a tweet late on Thursday. “We are continuing to investigate and are taking steps to prevent this from happening again,” the company said in an earlier tweet. Reuters could not determine how many Twitter employees had the authority to delete accounts or if any had the ability to tamper with them in other ways, such as by sending bogus tweets.  “In all seriousness: We need accountability for social media sites,” Ken Meyer, who served as digital director for former Vice President Joe Biden, tweeted. “Lone employees shouldn’t be able to change statements from the President.” Speaking on condition of anonymity, a former Twitter employee said it was unlikely a worker with suspension privileges would also be able to hijack an account to send out messages.   “Different types of access,” the former employee said. “I’m not sure anyone at Twitter can tweet from someone else’s account.”  Another person familiar with Twitter operations, speaking on condition of anonymity, said employees currently cannot post from a user’s account, change or even view a user’s password, which is encrypted. Joseph Lorenzo Hall, chief technologist at the nonprofit Center for Democracy and Technology, said the suspension reflected a need for Twitter to be more transparent about its ability to control accounts but also demonstrated the perils of a head of state relying on digital technology as a primary mode of communication. “It would be nice to rely on older forms of policy communication with solid foundations,” he said, adding that Twitter should require two-person controls for certain high-profile accounts. The New York Times on Friday reported the rogue employee was in fact a contractor, citing two anonymous sources familiar with the incident.  Twitter and other tech companies have ramped up their reliance on contractors due to pressure to respond more quickly and thoroughly to content violations. While the companies “are desperately reliant upon human nuance and sophistication for decision making, human will is quite a risk,” Sarah Roberts, a UCLA professor who studies such contractors, said in a tweet. “Ain’t that a bind?” The company on Friday separately announced minor updates to its rules, including more clarity on what actions could result in an account suspension. It was the latest in a string of iterative changes amid criticism the platform too slowly and inconsistently responds to abuse. Twitter shares were up 1.9 percent in afternoon trading.  Trump, who has nearly 42 million Twitter followers, responded to the temporary loss of his account by boasting about his wide reach on the service. “My Twitter account was taken down for 11 minutes by a rogue employee,” Trump said on Twitter early on Friday. “I guess the word must finally be getting out-and having an impact.” He has used Twitter to attack opponents and promote his policies, both during the 2016 presidential campaign and since taking office in January. Thursday’s incident also raised questions about how Twitter secures the official @potus presidential account and other accounts that could potentially influence world events. Technology companies including Twitter are, meanwhile, under attack from U.S. lawmakers for failing to stem the spread of Russian propaganda and misinformation on their platforms. Twitter in particular has long been criticized for not doing enough to police its platform and respond to complaints of harassment.  Though the temporary deletion of the Trump account sparked a flood of criticism from Twitter users, many of the president’s critics also said they were happy to see the account disabled.  In 2013, hackers took control of the main account for the Associated Press and tweeted that explosions at the White House had injured then-President Barack Obama, causing stocks to briefly plunge.

Summary: ट्विटर कर्मचारी ने कुछ समय के लिए बंद किया ट्रम्प का खाता, नियंत्रण पर सवाल उठाए


GENEVA (Reuters) - Leaders of Spain s industrialized northeastern region of Catalonia have said the regional population voted for independence in a ballot that the central government and Constitutional Court say was illegal. The push for Catalan independence does not appear to find much support in international law nor much successful precedent. Here is a look at how to achieve independent statehood, in law and practice.   As a matter of international law you become a state by being recognized by other states,  said Anna Stilz, professor of politics at Princeton University. She declined to comment on the Catalan case, but said there were several accepted scenarios for a group of people to claim the right to rule themselves independently of any other country.  The right of self-determination is conventionally thought not to extend to internal minorities within a state. It s conventionally thought only to apply to colonized people, people subject to overseas colonization, peoples who are subject to an apartheid government or peoples under military occupation.  The idea of self-determination, popularized by U.S. President Woodrow Wilson a century ago in response to the ideas of Russian revolutionary Vladimir Lenin, was hard-coded into U.N. Charter establishing the United Nations in 1945.  Subsequent U.N. agreements clarified that there was to be no interference in other states, although colonies and other non-self-governing territories had a distinct status and a right to self-determination. There is no hard and fast rule about how many countries  recognition is required for a state to be recognized as such. Taiwan is not universally recognized as a state but still functions independently of China for most purposes.  Supporters of an independent State of Palestine achieved a breakthrough when the U.N. General Assembly recognized it as a non-member observer state in 2012, giving it a ticket to join international bodies such as Interpol. But other countries   crucially Israel and the United States   do not recognize it, and it struggles to operate independently. The 1933 Montevideo Convention sets out four criteria for statehood: a functioning government, a fixed population, control over territory and the capacity to enter into relations with other states. But ticking those boxes is not enough. An entity like Somaliland, with its own currency, territory and government, is not recognized as a state, Stilz said.  U.N. membership is also irrelevant to statehood   Switzerland was not a U.N. member until 2002 but nobody thought it less of a state.  Since the break-up of the Soviet Union in 1991, several new countries have arisen after years of war, such as in former Yugoslavia.  In South Sudan and East Timor, the international community approved referendums on self-determination in hopes of cementing the peace after decades of bloodshed. The shadow of Yugoslavia s war ensured Czechoslovakia s divorce   triggered when Slovak independence parties won regional elections   was peaceful. But opinion polls showed a majority on both sides would have preferred to stay together. Separatists in Scotland and Quebec held referendums after years of political campaigning, but both votes went against independence. Both regions had been granted greater autonomy to undermine the case for independence.  Other referendums were not internationally recognized, such as the Russian-backed claim for Crimea to leave Ukraine, and last month s vote in Iraqi Kurdistan.  Kosovo unilaterally declared secession in 2008 from Serbia, which went to court to try and stop it. The International Court of Justice ruled that  international law contains no applicable prohibition of declaration of independence  although one dissenting judge said it created  a very dangerous precedent . (This refiled version of the story removes reference to margin of victories in par 16).

Summary: फैक्टबॉक्सः कैटेलोनिया के लिए पासपोर्ट-स्वतंत्रता कैसे प्राप्त करें


(Reuters) - U.S. Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton will propose a “clawback” tax on Friday for companies that outsource jobs or facilities abroad, a campaign aide said. The proposal would rescind tax relief for companies after they move those positions out of the country. Several previous years of tax relief would be clawed back, according to the campaign aide, with revenue then going to encourage investment in the United States. Clinton will make the proposal on Friday in Detroit, Michigan, during a speech on jobs and the economy. She is the front runner for the Democratic nomination to the November presidential election. (This version of the story corrects the day in first paragraph to Friday.)  (Reporting by Luciana Lopez and Amanda Becker; Editing by David Alexander) This article was funded in part by SAP. It was independently created by the Reuters editorial staff. SAP had no editorial involvement in its creation or production.

Summary: विदेशों में नौकरी भेजने वाली कंपनियों पर 'क्लॉबैक' कर लगाएंगी क्लिंटनः सहायक


WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump on Saturday defended a Republican tax-cut plan against Democratic charges that it favors the rich, saying it will be “one of the great Christmas gifts” for the middle class with just days to go before Congress votes. With a vote on the biggest tax rewrite in three decades set for Tuesday, Republicans were working to ensure party members were holding the line in favor of the legislation against entrenched Democratic opposition. The plan was finalized on Friday after Republican Senators Marco Rubio and Bob Corker pledged their support. Three Republican senators, enough to defeat the measure in a Senate that Trump’s party controls with a slim 52-48 majority, remained uncommitted: Susan Collins, Jeff Flake and Mike Lee. Passage in Congress would provide Republicans and Trump with their first major victory since he took office in January. “It’s going to be one of the great Christmas gifts to middle-income people,” Trump told reporters at the White House before he boarded a helicopter for meetings at Camp David. “The Democrats have their sound bite, the standard sound bite before they even know what the bill is all about,” he added. The proposed package would slash the U.S. corporate tax rate to 21 percent and cut taxes for wealthy Americans. Under an agreement between the House of Representatives and the Senate, the corporate tax would be 1 percentage point higher than the 20 percent rate earlier proposed, but still far below the current headline rate of 35 percent, a deep tax reduction that corporations have sought for years. Democrats have slammed the plan as a giveaway to corporations and the rich that would drive up the federal deficit. For months, Trump has touted the bill as a middle-class tax cut. Studies from independent analysts and non-partisan congressional researchers have projected that corporations and the rich would benefit disproportionately. Trump repeated on Saturday that the tax overhaul would help bring in $4 trillion in foreign profits from U.S. companies. The tax plan proposes new rules for repatriating cash held overseas. “This is going to bring money in. As an example, we think $4 trillion is going to be flowing back into the country,” he said. “That’s money that’s overseas that’s stuck there for years and years.”

Summary: ट्रम्प ने कर योजना का बचाव करते हुए इसे मध्यम वर्ग के लिए 'क्रिसमस का महान उपहार' बताया


WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign accused Donald Trump on Sunday of caring more about how Britain’s historic vote to leave the European Union would benefit his financial bottom line than how it would impact the U.S. economy. Clinton campaign manager Robby Mook acknowledged parallels between the populist anger and anti-establishment fervor that fueled the Brexit vote and Trump’s rise to the nomination, but said the Republican candidate’s reaction showed he was not fit to occupy the White House. “Hillary Clinton looks at this through the lens of how it’s going to affect middle-class families, Donald Trump through the lens of how it will help his bottom line,” Mook said on “Fox News Sunday.”  Without mentioning Trump by name, Clinton also warned that “bombastic comments in turbulent times can actually cause more turbulence” in a speech to a conference of city mayors in Indianapolis on Sunday afternoon. Her campaign released a national television advertisement earlier in the day, which featured the wealthy real estate developer’s comments on Friday that the fall of the British currency after the Brexit vote could mean more business for his golf course in Turnberry, Scotland, where he was speaking.  “Every president is tested by world events, but Donald Trump thinks about how his golf resort can profit from them,” said the  30-second video. Besides his currency comments, Trump had praised the Brexit result as an example of people “taking their country back.” He responded to the advertisement on Sunday by saying Clinton, whose staff had said she supported the United Kingdom remaining in the union, had poor judgment. “Clinton is trying to wash away her bad judgment call on BREXIT with big dollar ads,” ran a message on his Twitter account. “Disgraceful!” Paul Manafort, campaign manager for Trump, rejected what he called a “phony” charge by Clinton and said Trump was more in sync with the global economic frustration exemplified by the Brexit vote. In contrast, the Clinton ad showed her campaign’s “tone deafness” by focusing on things the American people did not care about, he said in an NBC interview. In her speech on Sunday, Clinton said the United States and the United Kingdom were different “economically, politically, demographically,” but still drew some parallels between the mood of American and British voters. “Just as we have seen, there are many frustrated people in Britain, we know there are frustrated people here at home, too,” she said. “I have seen it, I’ve heard it, I know it.” Global stock markets nosedived on Friday and economic experts warned of a potential global recession after the shocking British vote to pull out of the European Union. Markets prepared for the possibility of more pain on Monday. Republican Senator Bob Corker, chairman of the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said the Brexit vote highlighted global anxieties about economic stagnation and immigration. “The genius of what’s happened with the candidacy of Donald Trump is he’s given voice to that, just as was given in the UK,” Corker, who has been mentioned as a possible vice presidential pick for Trump, said on CNN’s “State of the Union” program. He said he thought Trump’s appearance at his golf course in Scotland after the Brexit vote “was one of his best events” and  his comments about the British currency and what it would mean for his businesses were just “an anecdotal statement” about its effects. “He was giving an example, which is obvious, that when the currency fluctuates, as it does, more Americans are going to be able to travel to the UK more cheaply,” he said. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, a Kentucky Republican, said the Brexit vote showed people were tired of being dictated to by “unelected bureaucrats in Brussels,” and said there were parallels in the United States. Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders, who built his White House campaign against Clinton around populist proposals to eradicate income inequality, remove big money from politics and rein in Wall Street, said the Brexit vote encapsulated many of those concerns. “What ordinary people are saying is ‘hey, give us an economy that works for all of us, not just the people on top,’” Sanders said on CNN.

Summary: क्लिंटन अभियान ने ब्रेक्सिट को अपने व्यवसाय के लिए वरदान के रूप में देखने के लिए ट्रम्प को फटकार लगाई


ISTANBUL/NEW YORK (Reuters) - A trial which has strained Turkish-U.S. ties before it even started opens this week in New York despite the possible absence of a defendant who Turkey says is cooperating with prosecutors in what it calls  a clear plot  against Ankara. Turkish-Iranian gold trader Reza Zarrab, charged with conspiring to evade U.S. sanctions on Iran, has dropped out of sight in the last two months, prompting Turkey s prime minister to suggest he has reached a plea deal with U.S. authorities. James Margolin, a spokesman for U.S. prosecutors in Manhattan, declined to comment on whether Zarrab was cooperating with the authorities. A lawyer for Zarrab, Benjamin Brafman, declined to comment for this article. Zarrab and eight other people, including Turkey s former economy minister and three executives of Turkish state-owned Halkbank, have been charged with engaging in transactions worth hundreds of millions of dollars for Iran s government and Iranian entities from 2010 to 2015 in a scheme to evade U.S. sanctions. Only Zarrab and Mehmet Hakan Atilla, one of the Halkbank executives, have been arrested by U.S. authorities. Ex-minister Zafer Caglayan, who has not been arrested by the United States and remains in Turkey, is also accused of receiving tens of millions of dollars in bribes from the proceeds of the scheme. The Turkish government has said he acted within Turkish and international law. Caglayan, Zarrab and Atilla have denied all the charges against them. Victor Rocco, a lawyer for Atilla, declined to comment on the case. Caglayan could not be reached for comment. Halkbank says all its transactions fully comply with Turkish and international regulations. Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan s government has said the case has been fabricated for political motives. The tensions it has exacerbated between Ankara and Washington - NATO allies - have hit investor sentiment toward Turkey, and traders say it has also contributed to the lira s fall to record lows. U.S. prosecutors claim that the defendants helped Zarrab use his network of companies to supply currency and gold to the Iranian government and Iranian entities, violating U.S. sanctions. The prosecutors have alleged that the defendants used front companies and fake invoices to trick U.S. banks into processing transactions disguised to appear as though they involved food, which is exempt from the sanctions. Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yildirim said the charges were baseless, and that Turkey had not violated its own or international laws regarding exports and trade.  The Zarrab case is a clear plot against Turkey, a political case and lacking any legal basis,  government spokesman Bekir Bozdag said last week.  Zarrab has been absent from recent court hearings. Last month Atilla s lawyers said Zarrab, who was arrested in Miami in March 2016, had  essentially not participated  in the case and that Atilla might be the only defendant appearing at trial.   The defendants in the case are under pressure and being forced to make statements against our country,  Yildirim said, without explanation. The case is acutely sensitive in Turkey because the  prosecutors say a Turkish government minister, Caglayan, was involved in the alleged conspiracy to evade the U.S. sanctions. In a filing four weeks ago, prosecutors also included the transcript of an April 16, 2013 recorded phone call in which a speaker they identified as Zarrab discussed with another co-defendant his efforts to buy a bank to establish a conduit for Iranian transactions.  Prosecutors said Zarrab and Erdogan, then Turkey s prime minister, had spoken four days earlier at a wedding.  I explained it that day at the wedding,  Zarrab told the co-defendant, according to prosecutors.  I will go back and will say, Mr. Prime Minister, if you approve, give me a license . Erdogan has not been accused of any wrongdoing, but has repeatedly expressed frustration with the case.  You arrest the general manager of my bank when there are no crimes, try to use my citizen (Zarrab) as an informant, try him without having anything against him,  Erdogan said in a speech to provincial governors on Oct. 12, in an apparent reference to the U.S. prosecutors. Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu has said he sees in this case the hand of U.S.-based Muslim cleric Fethullah Gulen. Erdogan accuses Gulen of masterminding last year s failed military coup in Turkey and also of driving an earlier legal case involving Zarrab. In that earlier case, Turkish prosecutors accused Zarrab and high-ranking Turkish officials of involvement in facilitating Iranian money transfers via gold smuggling. After details of the Turkish prosecution were leaked in 2013, several prosecutors were removed from the case and police investigators were reassigned. Erdogan branded the case an attempt by Gulen s supporters to undermine his government and the investigation was later dropped. Cavusoglu said the two legal cases were  exactly the same , and showed the extent to which Gulen had infiltrated American state institutions, including its judiciary.  Needless to say, those claims are ridiculous,  acting U.S. Attorney Joon Kim said last week. The case has been handled by career prosecutors concerned only with U.S. law, not Turkish politics, Kim said, adding:  They re not Gulenists.  Gulen denies involvement in the failed 2016 coup or any other attempts to undermine Erdogan and his government. The Zarrab case is one of several festering disputes between Ankara and Washington, which disagree over U.S. support for Kurdish fighters in Syria and suspended visa services after the arrest of a locally employed U.S. consulate worker in Istanbul last month. In a speech on Wednesday, Yildirim highlighted the economic fallout from the court hearings, saying they had  come to the point of harming Turkey and our global economic ties . Turkey s bank regulator denied a report in Haberturk newspaper last month that six unnamed Turkish banks could face fines worth billions of dollars over Iran sanctions violations.  Investors are nervous. Turkish bank shares have fallen more than 13 percent in November, nearly twice the decline of the broader Istanbul market. Jury selection is due to start on Monday, meaning the trial may begin as early as Tuesday.

Summary: सोना व्यापारी के परीक्षण तनाव U.S.-Turkey संबंध


WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. Senators unveiled legislation on Wednesday providing federal aid to help states fix water infrastructure in the wake of Flint, Michigan’s crisis over lead-tainted drinking water.  Senators James Inhofe, an Oklahoma Republican, and Debbie Stabenow, a Michigan Democrat, and others introduced the measure providing $100 million to a revolving fund states can tap if they have drinking water problems. The funding in the agreement is paid for by cuts from the Advanced Technology Vehicles Manufacturing loans for auto companies, aimed to speed development of electric cars and other technologies. Inhofe called it a “failed program” that hasn’t been used in more than a year and has only issued five loans since 2008. It was unclear whether the measure would be attached to a wide-ranging energy bill that failed to advance early this month or whether the senators would try to pass it as a separate bill.  Under the plan, states must first explain how the money would be spent, according to details of the agreement. If they do not use the aid in 18 months, it would return to the federal government.  “This is not a blank check,” according to a document explaining the deal. Thousands of children in Flint, a predominantly African-American city of 100,000, are believed to have consumed dangerous amounts of lead in drinking water after a state-appointed emergency manager directed the city to switch from Detroit’s drinking water supply to the Flint River. Lead is a neurotoxin that can harm brain development in children.  Under the deal, Flint and the states would also have access to $70 million in a credit subsidy under a federal program called the Water Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Authority, or WIFIA. Congress conceived the WIFIA to help lower borrowing costs for municipal water projects. The federal program acts as a loan guarantee, rather than a grant, and is aimed at bringing borrowing costs in line with U.S. government bond rates. Some critics say local governments need direct federal aid, not borrowing support, to improve infrastructure. There would also be $50 million in aid available for national use for a childhood lead poisoning prevention program, a health registry and other items. Earlier this month, Michigan lawmakers had at first opposed getting funding from the advanced vehicles program, saying it would hurt auto workers.

Summary: फ्लिंट के बाद सीनेटरों ने राज्य के जल कार्यक्रमों में मदद करने के लिए समझौता किया


WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton was endorsed  by the Congressional Black Caucus on Thursday, a much-needed boost to her campaign as it competes for the important black voting bloc in South Carolina’s primary this month. Clinton and her husband, former President Bill Clinton, have built strong ties to the African-American community over the past decades. Several lawmakers cited Clinton’s long history of not only working on issues important to black Americans, but on getting Democrats elected and advancing the party’s agenda.  “Mrs Clinton has demonstrated her leadership skills. She has labored in various capacities all of her adult life and now she is ready to serve our country by occupying the highest office in our country,” said U.S. Representative G.K. Butterfield. The group’s backing will be important as Clinton seeks to recover from Tuesday’s stinging loss to U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders in the New Hampshire primary. Black voters make up a large bloc in the Democratic primary in South Carolina and will be increasingly significant to the Democrats as the presidential contest moves from Iowa and New Hampshire to more demographically diverse states. The Congressional Black Caucus Political Action Committee planned to send a dozen members to South Carolina to campaign for Clinton over the weekend in advance of the state’s Feb. 27 Democratic primary. Sanders, fresh off his victory in New Hampshire, had breakfast on Wednesday with one of America’s most prominent civil rights activists, Rev. Al Sharpton, recognizing the need to broaden his base to mount a long-term challenge to Clinton. U.S. Representative James Clyburn, an influential African American from South Carolina, declined to make a personal endorsement before the caucus announcement in Washington.  Appearing on CNN Thursday morning, Clyburn praised Sanders’ voting record and had no criticism of the U.S. senator from Vermont.  But his comments suggested he was leaning toward Clinton, whom he credited with significant contributions to issues important to black Americans, particularly universal access to health care and children’s issues. Butterfield was more pointed in alluding to Sanders, who promises universal health care and free college tuition. “We need a president who doesn’t simply campaign and just promise wonderful things but things that are politically impossible to achieve,” he said at the caucus announcement.   (Reporting by Doina Chiacu; Editing by Bernadette Baum and Alistair Bell) SAP is the sponsor of this content. It was independently created by Reuters’ editorial staff and funded in part by SAP, which otherwise has no role in this coverage.

Summary: अश्वेत अमेरिकी सांसदों के समूह ने क्लिंटन व्हाइट हाउस की बोली का समर्थन किया


BEIJING (Reuters) - China said on Thursday that it and the United States acknowledged “significant progress” on a 100-day action plan for trade and discussed a one-year plan on economic cooperation. The Chinese embassy in Washington made the comments in a statement after an annual economic dialogue ended there on Wednesday with canceled news conferences. The talks failed to agree on major new steps to reduce the U.S. trade deficit with China, casting doubt over President Donald Trump’s economic and security relations with Beijing.

Summary: चीन का कहना है कि अमेरिका के साथ 100-दिवसीय व्यापार योजना पर 'महत्वपूर्ण प्रगति' हुई है।


ISTANBUL (Reuters) - Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan said on Wednesday he will meet Russia s President Vladimir Putin next week to discuss a plan agreed by their countries and Iran to reduce the fighting in Syria s northwestern Idlib province. The three countries agreed last week to deploy hundreds of observers around the province, which borders Turkey and is controlled by an alliance led by the Nusra Front, fighters once linked to al Qaeda.  Idlib has been set as a de-escalation zone,  Erdogan told an event in New York where he is attending the U.N. General Assembly.  Right now, outside the border there are guard towers and stations of the Russian Federation. And inside, Turkey has stations at protection points,  Erdogan said, adding the Turkish army was also working with Free Syrian Army fighters.   This will continue until peace will be established over there,  he said, without giving further details. Erdogan said he would meet Putin on Sept. 28, and Turkey s TRT broadcaster said the talks would take place in Ankara.

Summary: एर्दोगन, पुतिन अगले सप्ताह सीरियाई शांति योजना पर चर्चा करेंगे


WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Lockheed Martin Corp has been awarded a $450 million modification to a previous contract linked to the development and delivery of F-35A aircraft to South Korea, the Pentagon said in a statement on Thursday.

Summary: लॉकहीड मार्टिन ने $450 मिलियन का पेंटागन अनुबंध जीताः बयान


HONG KONG (Reuters) - A Hong Kong appeals court on Monday ruled that a British lesbian whose partner works in the city should be granted a spousal visa, a landmark decision that could lead to expatriate same-sex partners moving to the Chinese-ruled financial hub. The British national, known as QT, had been refused a dependant s visa on the grounds that she was not a  spouse , even though she had entered a civil partnership in England. Marriage in Hong Kong is defined as a monogamous union between a man and a woman, but discrimination based on sexual orientation is against the law. The former British colony returned to Chinese rule with wide-ranging autonomy, including a free judiciary, in 1997.    In a unanimous decision reached by three judges, the Court of Appeal found that the director of immigration failed to justify the  indirect discrimination on account of sexual orientation that QT suffers . While the legal definition of marriage was not challenged in the appeal, chief judge Andrew Cheung wrote that  times have changed and an increasing number of people are no longer prepared to accept the status quo without critical thought .  Excluding a foreign worker s lawfully married (albeit same-sex) spouse or civil partner ... to join the worker is, quite obviously, counter-productive to attracting the worker to come to or remain in Hong Kong to work in the first place,  he added. The court ordered QT and the Department of Immigration to work together on an agreement and submit it to court within 28 days.  Hong Kong s LGBT advocates welcomed the decision, with the city s first openly gay lawmaker, Ray Chan, calling it a  big win for same-sex dependants to apply for a visa to stay in Hong Kong . Same-sex marriage was legalized in Taiwan in May, a first in Asia. In mainland China, homosexuality was listed as a mental disorder until 2001, but it is not illegal to be gay.

Summary: हांगकांग के ऐतिहासिक मामले में ब्रिटिश समलैंगिक ने जीता पति-पत्नी का वीजा


LONDON (Reuters) - Britain s government said on Friday that a decision by ratings agency Moody s to downgrade the country s credit rating was based on an  outdated  assessment of its plans to leave the European Union. Moody s lowered Britain s sovereign credit rating to  Aa2  with a stable outlook from  Aa1.   The assessments made about Brexit in this report are outdated,  a government spokesperson said in a statement provided by the finance ministry. Earlier on Friday, Prime Minister Theresa May gave a speech in Italy setting out her wish for a transition period of around two years after Britain leaves the EU in March 2019.  The Prime Minister has just set out an ambitious vision for the UK s future relationship with the EU, making clear that both sides will benefit from a new and unique partnership,  the government spokesperson said.  We have made substantial progress in reducing the deficit while finding extra money for the National Health Service and social care at the same time. We are not complacent about the challenges ahead but we are optimistic about our bright future,  the spokesperson added.

Summary: ब्रिटेन ने कहा, 'पुराने' ब्रेक्सिट दृष्टिकोण के आधार पर मूडीज ने रेटिंग घटाई


SEOUL (Reuters) - South Korea and the United States launched large-scale joint aerial drills on Monday, officials said, a week after North Korea said it had tested its most advanced missile as part of a weapons programme that has raised global tensions. The annual U.S.-South Korean drill, called Vigilant Ace, will run until Friday, with six F-22 Raptor stealth fighters to be deployed among the more than 230 aircraft taking part. The exercises have been condemned as a provocation by the isolated North. F-35 fighters will also join the drill, which will also include the largest number of 5th generation fighters to take part, according to a South Korea-based U.S. Air Force spokesman. Around 12,000 U.S. service members, including from the  Marines and Navy, will join South Korean troops. Aircraft taking part will be flown from eight U.S. and South Korean military installations.  South Korean media reports said B-1B Lancer bombers could join the exercise this week. The U.S. Air Force spokesman could not confirm the reports. The joint exercise is designed to enhance readiness and operational capability and to ensure peace and security on the Korean peninsula, the U.S. military had said before the drills began. The drills come a week after North Korea said it had tested its most advanced intercontinental ballistic missile ever in defiance of international sanctions and condemnation. Pyongyang blamed U.S. President Donald Trump for raising tensions and warned at the weekend the Vigilant Ace exercise was pushing tensions on the Korean peninsula towards  a flare-up , according to North Korean state media. North Korea s Committee for the Peaceful Reunification of the Country called Trump  insane  on Sunday and said the drill would  push the already acute situation on the Korean peninsula to the brink of nuclear war . The North s KCNA state news agency, citing a foreign ministry spokesman, also said on Saturday the Trump administration was  begging for nuclear war by staging an extremely dangerous nuclear gamble on the Korean peninsula . North Korea regularly uses its state media to threaten the United States and its allies.

Summary: उत्तर कोरिया की चेतावनियों के बीच दक्षिण कोरिया, अमेरिका ने बड़े पैमाने पर हवाई अभ्यास शुरू किया


LONDON (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump sparked outrage in Britain on Thursday with a sharp rebuke of Prime Minister Theresa May on Twitter after she criticized him for retweeting British far-right anti-Islam videos.   As British politicians lined up to condemn Trump for sharing videos originally posted by a leader of a British far-right fringe group, Trump, in an unprecedented attack on one of America’s closest allies, replied with an unrepentant message. “Theresa @theresamay, don’t focus on me, focus on the destructive Radical Islamic Terrorism that is taking place within the United Kingdom. We are doing just fine,” he tweeted. His truculent response caused anger in Britain, where there have been several major Islamist militant attacks this year, with one minister describing Trump’s tweets as “alarming and despairing”. London’s Muslim mayor called for the withdrawal of an offer to him to make a state visit to Britain.  May, on a visit to Jordan, repeated her view, expressed earlier by her spokesman, that the U.S. leader was wrong for sharing anti-Muslim videos posted by Jayda Fransen, deputy leader of Britain First. But she did not directly respond to Trump’s rebuke.  “I’m very clear that retweeting from Britain First was the wrong thing to do,” May told reporters in Jordan. She said the group was a “hateful organization” that sought to spread division and mistrust. “The fact that we work together does not mean that we’re afraid to say when we think the United States has got it wrong, and be very clear with them,” May said. She added that Britain had a long-term, enduring relationship with the United States. The British ambassador to the United States, Kim Darroch, said he had raised concerns with White House officials. “British people overwhelmingly reject the prejudiced rhetoric of the far right, which seek to divide communities & erode decency, tolerance & respect,” he wrote on Twitter. Fransen, who was convicted this month of abusing a Muslim woman and whose group wants to ban Islam, is facing further criminal charges of racially aggravated harassment. TRUMP AND MAY ONCE HAND-IN-HAND Islamist militants have carried out several major attacks in Britain this year that have killed a total of 36 people, including a bombing in Manchester and two attacks on bridges in London in which victims were rammed with vehicles and stabbed. Trump initially addressed his rebuke to a Twitter handle that was not May’s, though he later retweeted to the British leader’s correct account. Always a pillar of Britain’s foreign policy, the so-called “special relationship” with Washington has taken on added importance as Britain prepares to leave the European Union in 2019 and seeks new major trade deals.  Since Trump became president, May has gone out of her way to cultivate a good relationship with him. She was the first foreign leader to visit him after his inauguration in January, and they were filmed emerging from the White House holding hands. She later said Trump took her hand in a gentlemanly gesture as they walked down a ramp.  But she angered his many critics in Britain then by extending an invitation to make a state visit to Britain with all the pomp and pageantry it brings including a formal banquet with Queen Elizabeth. London’s mayor, Sadiq Khan, said May should withdraw the offer of a state visit. “After this latest incident, it is increasingly clear that any official visit at all from President Trump to Britain would not be welcomed,” Khan, who has clashed on Twitter with Trump, said. British lawmakers held an urgent session to discuss Trump’s tweets, with parliamentarians from across the political divide united in condemnation. “By sharing it (the videos), he is either a racist, incompetent or unthinking, or all three,” opposition Labour lawmaker Stephen Doughty said. Britain’s Middle East minister Alistair Burt tweeted: “The White House tweets are both alarming and despairing tonight. This is so not where the world needs to go.” Despite repeated calls from opposition lawmakers to cancel the state visit, Home Secretary (interior  minister) Amber Rudd said the invitation still stood although a timing had not been agreed.  Outside parliament, there was more harsh criticism from the likes of Brendan Cox, the husband of lawmaker Jo Cox who was murdered in 2016 by a far-right extremist and Justin Welby, the spiritual head of the Anglican Church.   The U.S. ambassador to London Woody Johnson wrote on Twitter he had relayed concerns to Washington. “The U.S. & UK have a long history of speaking frankly with each other, as all close friends do,” he said. The videos shared by Trump purported to show a group of people who were Muslims beating a teenage boy to death, battering a boy on crutches and destroying a Christian statue. Reuters was unable to verify the videos. The Dutch embassy in Washington issued a Twitter comment on one of them, which Fransen had described as showing a “Muslim migrant” beating up a boy.  “@realDonald Trump Facts do matter. The perpetrator of the violent act in this video was born and raised in the Netherlands,” the embassy said. “He received and completed his sentence under Dutch law.” Britain First, a little-known party on the periphery of UK politics, welcomed Trump’s retweeting of the videos to his 44 million followers, regarding it as an endorsement of their message.  “I’m delighted,” said Fransen, whose own Twitter following increase by 50 percent in the wake of the furor to 78,000. She told Reuters Trump’s retweets showed the president shared her aim of raising awareness of “issues such as Islam”. The White House defended the retweets by the Republican president, who during the 2016 U.S. election campaign called for “a total and complete shutdown of Muslims entering the United States”, saying that he was raising security issues. It repeatedly refused to be drawn into the content of the videos or whether Trump was aware of the source of the tweets. “It’s about ensuring that individuals who come into the United States don’t pose a public safety or terrorism threat,” White House spokesman Raj Shah told reporters aboard Air Force One.

Summary: अति-दक्षिणपंथी वीडियो साझा करने के बाद ट्रम्प ने ब्रिटेन को क्रोधित करते हुए मई के लिए कठोर ट्वीट किया


JAKARTA (Reuters) - Indonesian President Joko Widodo will on Friday hold his cabinet meeting on the holiday island of Bali in a bid to reassure visitors that there is nothing to worry about from the rumbling Mount Agung volcano. Authorities last month raised the alert status of Mount Agung in northeastern Bali to the highest level, imposing an exclusion zone of up to 10 km (6 miles) around its crater as it spewed clouds of ash, steam, and other volcanic material.     Widodo will take the unusual step of gathering his cabinet in Bali as part of government efforts to assure visitors that the island is safe to come to and to stave off a major drop off in visitor numbers during the upcoming holiday season.  For those who have plans to vacation in Bali, there s no need to doubt or be worried about the status of Mount Agung, Bali is very safe to visit,  Energy Minister Ignasius Jonan said in a Twitter message after visiting an observatory overlooking the volcano, before the cabinet meeting. President Widodo is expected to make a statement after the cabinet meeting. The cabinet usually meets at the state palace in the capital Jakarta or on its outskirts in Bogor. The relatively small island of Bali, famous for its beaches and temples, has an outsized importance for Indonesian tourism. In January-September, Bali received 4.5 million foreign tourist arrivals, nearly half of the 10.5 million arrivals in Indonesia. Tourism Minister Arief Yahya said this week that Indonesia was expecting an estimated 15 trillion rupiah ($1.11 billion) in lost income and around 1 million fewer tourists because of the volcano, according to daily newspaper Kompas. Many business operators and hotels have seen cancellations since authorities first raised the alert in September, and most expect the holiday season to be slower than in previous years. Thousands of tourists were left stranded late last month when a volcanic ash cloud forced the closure of Bali s airport for several days. Countries like Australia and Singapore have advised their citizens to be cautious when traveling to Bali.

Summary: इंडोनेशिया ने बाली में कैबिनेट की बैठक की क्योंकि ज्वालामुखी से पर्यटन को खतरा है


LAS VEGAS (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump retains confidence in Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, White House spokeswoman Sarah Sanders said on Wednesday. “As we’ve said many times before, if the president doesn’t have confidence in somebody, that person will not remain in that position,” Sanders told reporters on Air Force One.  She said Trump and Tillerson had not spoken on Wednesday.

Summary: व्हाइट हाउस ने कहा कि ट्रंप को विदेश मंत्री टिलरसन पर भरोसा है


ANKARA (Reuters) - Turkey urged the United States on Monday to review its suspension of visa services after the arrest of a U.S. consulate employee sharply escalated tension between the two NATO allies and drove Turkey s currency and stocks lower. Relations between Ankara and Washington have been plagued by disputes over U.S. support for Kurdish fighters in Syria, Turkey s calls for the extradition of a U.S.-based cleric and the indictment of a Turkish former minister in a U.S. court. But last week s arrest of a Turkish employee of the U.S. consulate in Istanbul marked a fresh low. Turkey said the employee had links to U.S.-based Muslim cleric Fethullah Gulen, blamed by Ankara for a failed military coup in July 2016. Gulen denies any connection with the coup. The U.S. embassy in Ankara condemned Ankara s charges as baseless and announced on Sunday night it was halting all non-immigrant visa services in Turkey while it reassessed Turkey s commitment to the security of its missions and staff. Within hours, Ankara announced it was taking the same measures against U.S. citizens seeking visas for Turkey. The U.S. ambassador said the duration of the visa services  suspension would depend on talks between the two governments about the reasons for the detention of local staff in Turkey. In a written statement late on Monday, Ambassador John Bass said the length of the suspension would also depend on  the Turkish government s commitment to protecting our facilities and personnel here in Turkey . He noted that the move was not a visa ban on Turkish citizens, that valid visas could still be used and visa applications could be made outside of Turkey. The U.S. Embassy had been unable to learn the reasons for the arrest of its Turkish staff member last week or what evidence exists against the employee, Bass said, adding that he had not been allowed sufficient access to the employee s lawyer. Justice Minister Abdulhamit Gul said that if Washington had serious security concerns about its missions in Turkey, steps would be taken to address them.  But if it s an issue regarding the arrest of the consulate employee, then this is a decision the Turkish judiciary has made,  Gul told A Haber television.  Trying a Turkish citizen for a crime committed in Turkey is our right.  The Turkish foreign ministry summoned a U.S. diplomat to urge the United States to lift the visa services suspension, saying it was causing  unnecessary tensions , and President Tayyip Erdogan also criticized the U.S. move.  For the (U.S.) embassy in Ankara to take such a decision and implement it, it is upsetting,  Erdogan told a news conference during a visit to Ukraine. State-run Anadolu news agency said another U.S. consulate worker had been summoned to testify over his wife and daughter s suspected links to Gulen - which it said had emerged during the questioning of Metin Topuz, the employee arrested last week. The diplomatic spat spooked investors. The lira dropped 3.4 percent and stood at 3.7385 against the dollar after being quoted overnight as touching a level of 3.9223. The main BIST 100 stock index fell as much as 4.7 percent, closing the day down 2.73 percent at 101,298 points. Airline shares were particularly hard hit, with flag carrier Turkish Airlines falling 9 percent. The central bank said it was following developments closely.  This looks like a really serious situation,  said Blue Bay Asset Management strategist Timothy Ash. He added that the central bank would need to move quickly to calm market nerves and possibly hike interest rates - something Erdogan has resisted. Turkey s leading business association, TUSIAD, warned that the dispute would harm bilateral economic, social and cultural ties, and called for disagreements to be settled calmly. The row with the United States coincides with deep strains in Turkey s relations with Germany, another key ally, and with Turkish military activity at the Syrian and Iraqi borders, though their market impact has so far been limited. U.S.-Turkish tensions have risen in recent months over U.S. military support for Kurdish YPG fighters in Syria, considered by Ankara to be an extension of the banned PKK which has waged an insurgency for three decades in southeast Turkey. Turkey has also pressed, so far in vain, for the United States to extradite Gulen, viewed in Ankara as the mastermind behind the failed coup in which more than 240 people were killed.  Friction with the United States has also arisen from the indictment last month by a U.S. court of Turkey s former economy minister Zafer Caglayan on charges of conspiring to violate U.S. sanctions on Iran. Sinan Ulgen, an analyst and former Turkish diplomat, said those underlying disputes had created a crisis of confidence which made this latest fall-out particularly bitter.  This harshness is a result of a build-up,  he said.  We should not consider this as solely a reaction to the detentions of consulate employees .

Summary: तुर्की ने लीरा, शेयरों में गिरावट के कारण अमेरिका से वीजा निलंबन की समीक्षा करने का आग्रह किया


WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A drop in the U.S. unemployment rate last month to a 9-year low signals the risk of a collision between President-elect Donald Trump’s plans to goose the economy and the Federal Reserve’s efforts to tap the brakes with higher interest rates. Since Trump’s election, officials at the U.S. central bank have cautiously introduced the possibility that his spending and tax cut plans could prompt a faster pace of rate increases than the two hikes currently foreseen in 2017. An increase is already expected when the Fed meets in two weeks. Fresh economic projections, the first since the election, will also be issued and Fed Chair Janet Yellen will hold a news conference when the meeting concludes on Dec. 14. With November’s decline, the jobless rate is now already below the most optimistic projections from Fed policymakers for where it would stand at year end. If it keeps moving lower, Trump’s spending and tax cut plans may be adding fuel to a tank that’s already brimming. Possible new trade or immigration restrictions could make markets even tighter, and switch the Fed from worrying about the risk of deflation to fighting price rises before they get out of hand. “There is much more than the Trump election driving the ... rally that started the day after the election,” Bank of the West chief economist Scott Anderson wrote. “We are seeing signs of a synchronized rebound in the global economy.” When Fed policymakers issued their last projections in September, the lowest level predicted for the unemployment rate at the end of the year was 4.7 percent. In November, it fell three-tenths of a percentage point to 4.6 percent. The decline was partly due to a drop in the labor force participation rate, which officials have expected to begin falling again because of an aging population with more retirees. In general, the lower the unemployment rate, the slower the pace of job growth the economy can sustain without pushing up wages and prices too quickly. Policymakers insist they still have time to move rates higher to keep price increases under control. Several officials feel it may even help fix some of the damage from the 2007-2009 recession if inflation moved above the Fed’s 2 percent target for a while. That might, for example, allow steady wage increases to restore some of the ground lost by workers. However, in recent months even ostensibly dovish officials, like Boston Fed President Eric Rosengren, have cautioned that steady rate hikes might be needed to avoid the need for even faster increases that could trigger a recession.  “I view a small step up in interest rates as appropriate, not because I want to curtail the expansion, but because I believe it will help prolong the expansion,” Cleveland Federal Reserve Bank President Loretta Mester said on Wednesday.. Trump’s victory gives that debate more urgency. His plans for a big infrastructure spending package, tax cuts and tighter controls on immigration could test the limits of what the economy can absorb before overheating.   For a year now, Fed officials have said they expect job growth to slow as the economy nears full employment. It hasn’t happened, meaning Trump will take office at what may be a tough point of inflection: either job creation slows or inflation jumps. Jed Kolko, chief economist at the Indeed job site, said the current pace of job growth and low unemployment rate “sets a baseline for the Trump administration.” “Recent wage gains and unemployment declines make this a tough economy to improve on,” he said.

Summary: ट्रम्प की दुविधाः नौकरी की धीमी वृद्धि या बढ़ती दर और मुद्रास्फीति?


BEIJING (Reuters) - Fixing the corruption problem in China s ruling Communist Party is  world class hard  and the battle will never end, the country s top graft-buster told Singapore s prime minister in a rare meeting with a visiting foreign leader. Wang Qishan, who heads the party s Central Commission for Discipline Inspection, has been at the forefront of President Xi Jinping s fight against deep-seated corruption, and speculation has swirled about whether he will retire or stay on at next month s key party Congress. Meeting Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong at the central leadership s Zhongnanhai compound in Beijing, Wang said the party s anti-corruption campaign and efforts to supervise itself had been highly effective.  Carrying out an operation on yourself to cure an illness is world class hard,  the commission cited Wang as saying, in a statement late on Wednesday. The party has long insisted it has no need for an independent anti-corruption mechanism, in a country where the party also controls the legal system. Wang said that the final aim in the graft fight was to find an effective route to self-supervision for a party that has been in power for a long time, and to always maintain the party s  progressiveness and cleanliness . The party s efforts have won the trust of the people and demonstrates the party s confidence in its system, he added. The anti-corruption effort is  always on the road , Wang said, using a frequently used party expression to refer to how the campaign will not end. Singapore s Straits Times said that the meeting with Wang had been requested by Lee, and that Wang told Lee he was surprised but happy the request had been made.  So I sought permission and I am here meeting you and your delegation today,  Wang told Lee, the newspaper reported.  Wang, who is 69 and sits on the party s elite ruling Standing Committee, should retire at next month s party Congress according to unwritten party rules on age limits, but he is close to Xi and could stay on in some capacity, sources with ties to the leadership have said.

Summary: चीन के शीर्ष भ्रष्टाचार रोधी ने कहा, भ्रष्टाचार के खिलाफ लड़ाई 'विश्व स्तरीय कठिन'


WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Two U.S. Senate Democrats on Tuesday called for government-wide investigations into the Trump administration’s use of secretive messaging phone applications and whether officials are ignoring or delaying responses to some Congressional oversight requests. Delaware Senator Tom Carper and Missouri Senator Claire McCaskill, both influential members of the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, asked the inspectors general at 24 executive agencies and departments to investigate whether officials are using apps for work that make it hard to trace communications. The apps encrypt messages and automatically delete them after they are read, which could run afoul of laws on preserving government records, the senators wrote. While Republicans control both the Senate and the House of Representatives, Democrats in Congress can still request that inspectors general, neutral investigators who check up on various federal offices, look into specific matters.  They also asked the inspectors general if officials in the administration of Republican President Donald Trump are directing employees of government agencies to ignore requests for information from Democrats in Congress. Members of both parties objected after the administration said agencies do not have to honor requests made by senior Democrats on congressional committees. Democrats and public interest groups are worried that the Trump administration is hiding important information about possible wrongdoing and stonewalling potential critics. They are also worried about social media, where Trump has tweeted and then later deleted posts. The office of the Department of Justice’s inspector general, Michael Horowitz, who also chairs the council of federal inspectors general, declined to comment on the letter.  The White House did not respond to a request for comment. The federal government has strict laws on preserving records, which can be used to uncover and prosecute public corruption and collusion. Inspectors general themselves often rely on archived emails and text messages in investigations. Since Trump’s inauguration in January many Washington insiders have embraced messaging apps that promptly destroy chats, encrypt texts and phone calls, and leave no trace of communication on smartphones. Concerns about information security have grown in the wake of the hack of the Democratic party’s emails, criticism of candidate Hillary Clinton’s use of a private server and laws that count communications from non-government accounts as federal records. Journalists and officials now frequently communicate via the encrypted Signal or Confide messenger apps. Confide is so popular that the company hosted a media and technology event during this year’s White House Correspondents Dinner weekend.

Summary: सीनेट डेमोक्रेट्स ने प्रशासन के गुप्त संदेश की जांच की मांग की


LUXEMBOURG (Reuters) - European Union foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini said on Monday she expected strong backing from EU foreign ministers for the 2015 nuclear deal between Iran and world powers that the U.S. President Donald Trump has repeatedly criticized.     It s an agreement that is working. It s an agreement that we need for our security, and I would expect from the ministers today a strong signal of European unity and its support and the full commitment to have it implemented by all sides,  Mogherini told reporters before a foreign ministers meeting in Luxembourg.

Summary: यूरोपीय संघ की विदेश नीति के प्रमुख को ईरान समझौते के लिए यूरोपीय संघ के मजबूत समर्थन की उम्मीद है


WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump said on Wednesday he spoke to Chinese President Xi Jinping to congratulate him on a new leadership line-up unveiled at the Communist Party Congress in Beijing. The two also discussed North Korea and trade, Trump said in a Twitter post.  Spoke to President Xi of China to congratulate him on his extraordinary elevation. Also discussed NoKo & trade, two very important subjects!  Trump wrote. Xi told Trump China would  unswervingly follow the path of peaceful development  and promote  coordination and cooperation among world major powers , the official Xinhua news agency reported late on Wednesday.  China attaches great importance to the Sino-U.S. relations and is willing to promote the long-term, healthy and stable development of bilateral relations on the basis of mutual respect and mutual benefits,  Xinhua cited Xi as saying. Trump is expected to meet Xi when he visits China next month, when the two are likely to discuss issues related to North Korea and U.S.-China trade.

Summary: ट्रंप ने चीन के राष्ट्रपति शी जिनपिंग को 'असाधारण पदोन्नति' के लिए बधाई दी


WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. House of Representatives narrowly approved legislation on Tuesday that would restrict President Barack Obama’s ability to lift sanctions under the international nuclear deal with Iran, nearly three weeks after a similar vote was canceled. House members voted 246-181 to pass the “Iran Terror Finance Transparency Act,” almost entirely along party lines, with almost every “yes” vote coming from Republicans and Democrats overwhelmingly opposed to it.  The legislation is not expected to become law, even though Republicans control both the House and Senate. Even if it were passed by the Senate, Obama has promised a veto, saying the measure would kill the landmark nuclear agreement. The House narrowly passed the legislation last month, but the vote was voided after nearly a third of the chamber showed up too late to cast their votes. The voided vote took place on Jan. 13. On Jan. 16, U.S. and Iranian authorities announced a complex deal in which Iran released four American prisoners just as the international nuclear agreement was implemented. Congressional aides said the House vote was voided because the new House speaker, Paul Ryan, was pushing members to arrive for votes on time, not because of any connection to the prisoner deal. Democratic lawmakers noted that the repeated vote was not the only one in the House on Tuesday that evoked references to “Groundhog Day,” the 1993 film in which the character played by the actor Bill Murray lives the same day over and over again. The Iran bill was passed just after House Republicans tried and failed to override Obama’s veto of legislation to repeal his healthcare law. House Republicans have voted more than 60 times to try to repeal the healthcare overhaul, one of the Democratic president’s signature domestic policy achievements.

Summary: ओबामा द्वारा ईरान से प्रतिबंध हटाने पर रोक लगाने के लिए सदन ने एक बार फिर विधेयक पारित किया


BERLIN (Reuters) - The two parties that are in talks to join German Chancellor Angela Merkel s conservatives in government inched closer together in one of the most bitterly contested policy areas on Monday, brightening prospects for a coalition. Merkel opened what promise to be marathon coalition talks on Friday, hoping to bring three opposing political camps into a stable government despite signs there would be less money to paper over differences. Further talks to discuss tax, finances and Europe are planned for Tuesday. Merkel said she was hoping to complete exploratory talks   an initial stage during which parties decide whether to go ahead with full-blown coalition negotiations   by Nov. 17 or 18, participants in a meeting of her conservative bloc said. At that point the conservative sister parties, the liberal Free Democrats (FDP) and the Greens should have a document that lays out the rough outlines of what a coalition would work on, the participants cited Merkel as saying. Cem Ozdemir, leader of the environmentalist Greens, welcomed a proposal by the FDP for global action to make it harder for large technology companies to book their taxes in more favorable jurisdictions.  I m pleased that FDP leader Christian Lindner has moved on this, saying that Internet companies for example should be more strongly and fairly taxed,  said Ozdemir, highlighting progress made in an area where the two parties had been far apart.  It cannot be right that Amazon and Apple use Europe as a location and use its infrastructure, but refuse to contribute appropriately to its financing even as every bookseller is chased down if he doesn t pay tax on time,  he added. Lindner, whose party advocates low tax and fiscal discipline, also called for deeper cooperation within the European Union and the Group of 20 leading economies to make global firms pay more tax. The ability of international companies to minimize their tax liabilities by booking profits in lower-tax jurisdictions has come under the spotlight in recent years as cash-strapped states struggle to finance expanding social and security liabilities.  I can imagine tax increases for companies like Apple,  Lindner told the Sueddeutsche Zeitung newspaper, in an apparent sacrifice of one of his party s shibboleths to smooth the path towards an unprecedentedly tricky three-way coalition. Merkel s conservatives suffered punishing losses in this month s national election, forcing them to patch together a heterogeneous three-way coalition with few precedents in Germany s post-war history.  The potential three-way pact has been dubbed a  Jamaica  coalition because the three parties  colors   black, yellow and green   match those of the Jamaican flag. The Greens want to boost infrastructure and environment spending, but the FDP and fiscal hawks in the conservative camp view spending proposals with concern. The talks, which continue tomorrow, are set to drag on until at least the end of the year.  Merkel s Christian Democrat party estimates that the smaller parties  tax and spending proposals would cost as much as 100 billion euros ($117.37 billion) over the next four years, three times what its expert reckon is available.   Senior conservative Volker Kauder said if the three-way alliance agreed to govern together it would stick to the  black zero    or balanced budget   that was a hallmark of outgoing Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble s tenure.  You can assume that we will of course make the balanced budget an object of coalition negotiations if they happen,  he said ahead of a meeting of the conservatives in parliament.  And in the exploratory talks it was not disputed at all: There will be no new debt. We ll stick to the black zero.  German newspaper Handelsblatt cited an internal finance ministry paper as saying the new government should  preferably  use the roughly 30 billion euros of leeway for tax cuts, infrastructure investment   especially expanding the broadband network   and tackling the causes of migration. It said all further measures should completely come out of the budgets of the sector they relate to and should be financed either by higher revenues or cuts in other areas. The Finance Ministry was not immediately available to comment on the report.         Transport Minister Alexander Dobrindt, a conservative, told Bild newspaper that immigration limits, social benefits and the future of Europe remained big areas of conflict. Lindner maintained the hard line on Greece that his party is known for, saying that any country that took a debt haircut would need to leave the euro zone.

Summary: जर्मनी के गठबंधन की मांग करने वाले ग्रीन्स और उदारवादी कर पर आम आधार पाते हैं


WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday appeared poised to strike down a North Carolina law barring convicted sex offenders from Facebook and other social media services, with justices noting the expansive role such online tools play in today’s society. Lester Packingham, a registered sex offender due to a statutory rape conviction, challenged the North Carolina law as a violation of his free speech rights under the U.S. Constitution’s First Amendment. The court heard an hour of oral arguments in Packingham’s appeal of his conviction for violating the statute in 2010 when he posted a message on Facebook expressing his surprise at a traffic citation being dismissed. Justice Elena Kagan mentioned Donald Trump’s Twitter feed, which he used as a candidate and now as U.S. president, as an example of how social media has become vital in the political sphere. “The president is speaking to the people through this medium,” Kagan said. The case, which tested the social media smarts of the notoriously tech-averse justices, is the latest of several in recent years that have explored constitutional rights in the digital age. The North Carolina law, enacted in 2008, makes it a felony for people on the state’s sex offender registry to use online services that can lead to social interactions with minors.  Leading social media companies like Facebook and Twitter are covered by the law. Opponents of it have raised concerns that the law could be interpreted as covering other online activity in which users must create profiles and can interact with other users. That even could include certain news websites. Packingham was on North Carolina’s sex offender list because of his 2002 conviction at age 21 on two counts of statutory rape of a 13-year-old girl. Kagan, the youngest of the justices at 56, appeared to speak for the social media generation as she repeatedly mentioned how central to life online interactions have become in recent years. Her questions indicated concerns that the law was written so broadly that it goes beyond the intended purpose of preventing contact between sex offenders and children. “So whether it’s political community, whether it’s religious community, I mean, these sites have become embedded in our culture as ways to communicate and ways to exercise our constitutional rights, haven’t they?” Kagan asked at one point. Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, the 83-year-old liberal and the oldest member of the court, appeared to share Kagan’s view. “The point is that these people are being cut off from a very large part of the marketplace of ideas. And the First Amendment includes not only the right to speak, but the right to receive information,” Ginsburg said. Justice Samuel Alito, a conservative who is 10 years older than Kagan, was more skeptical of people’s reliance on social media, saying they can get information from other sources as they did a decade ago. But Alito conceded: “Now, I know there are people who think that life is not possible without Twitter and Facebook and these things, and that 2003 was the Dark Ages.” The law does not require proof that the user intended to use a particular service for an illegal purpose. It also exempted chatrooms and photo-sharing sites, which Kagan seemed to find perplexing because that would be where what she called “the most dangerous activity” would take place. Packingham was convicted of violating the law after local police saw the Facebook post he wrote upon avoiding the traffic citation. “Praise be to GOD. WOW! Thanks JESUS,” he wrote. Some of the justices over the years have shown a lack of familiarity with cutting-edge technology even as they set legal rules on such issues as police surveillance and intellectual property protections worth billions of dollars. Last week, Justice Sonia Sotomayor referred to popular video-sharing website YouTube as “the You Tube,” prompting some amused reactions on Twitter.

Summary: अमेरिकी न्यायाधीशों को यौन अपराधी सोशल मीडिया प्रतिबंध पर संदेह है


BEIRUT (Reuters) - Lebanese security forces arrested a former mayor of the town of Arsal near the Syrian border on Saturday in connection with the capture of Lebanese soldiers, security sources said. Ali al-Hujeiri also stands accused of collusion with the Nusra Front Islamist group, al Qaeda s former Syria branch, the sources said. Militants from the Nusra Front and Islamic State briefly overran Arsal in 2014 and captured a number of soldiers before they withdrew during clashes with the army. Nusra Front released 16 soldiers in 2015 in exchange for the release of jailed Islamists. Islamic State killed all nine soldiers it had captured. Both groups were driven from their last foothold at the Syria-Lebanon border in recent separate offensives by the army and Lebanese Shi ite group Hezbollah. It was not immediately clear which group of captured soldiers Hujeiri was being accused over. Lebanese President Michel Aoun said this week the army was investigating the circumstances that led to the capture of the soldiers killed by Islamic State.

Summary: लेबनान ने सीरिया के पास सीमावर्ती शहर में पूर्व महापौर को गिरफ्तार कियाः सुरक्षा सूत्र


WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A former U.S. Department of Justice official testified on Monday that she had two meetings and one telephone call with White House officials about Michael Flynn when he was President Donald Trump’s national security adviser. Describing reports that Flynn had misrepresented his contacts with Sergey Kislyak, Russia’s ambassador to the United States, former acting Attorney General Sally Yates said in a Senate hearing she was concerned that “the national security adviser essentially could be blackmailed by the Russians.”

Summary: पूर्व अमेरिकी अधिकारी चिंतित थे कि रूस ने तत्कालीन ट्रम्प सहयोगी फ्लिन को ब्लैकमेल किया होगा


WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump faulted the Muslim community on Monday for not reporting people like the man who carried out the Orlando gay nightclub attack, killing 49 people and wounding 53 others. Trump, the presumptive Republican nominee for president, told CNN he thought Orlando nightclub shooter Omar Mateen was known to people in the Muslim community as someone with a potential for violence. “You will find that many people that knew him felt that he was a whack job ... (that) something like this would have happened,” Trump told CNN in a phone interview. “People that knew him, the ex-wife, other people. They don’t report them. For some reason the Muslim community does not report people like this.”  Trump said the United States needed better intelligence-gathering to prevent such things from happening. “We have to look at the mosques ... and we have to look at the community,” he said. “And believe me, the community knows the people that have the potential to blow up.”

Summary: सीएनएन पर ट्रम्प ने ओरलैंडो शूटर जैसे लोगों की रिपोर्ट नहीं करने के लिए मुस्लिम समुदाय को दोषी ठहराया


ANKARA (Reuters) - The U.S. consulate worker who was arrested by Turkish authorities last week will meet his lawyer on Friday, Turkish Justice Minister Abdulhamit Gul said on Thursday. Metin Topuz was arrested last week over alleged links to the network of U.S.-based cleric Fethullah Gulen, accused by Ankara of orchestrating last year s coup attempt. His arrest sparked a dispute between the NATO allies and suspension of visa services.

Summary: तुर्की में गिरफ्तार अमेरिकी वाणिज्य दूतावास कर्मचारी शुक्रवार को वकील से मिलेगाः मंत्री


WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Senate gave solid approval on Wednesday to a relief plan to help Puerto Rico address its $70 billion debt, sending the measure to President Obama for his signing into law just ahead of a possible default by the U.S. territory on its next debt payment. The measure passed the Senate on a vote of 68-30, and President Obama said in a statement he looked forward to signing the bill into law. The House of Representatives has already approved the bill. “This bill is not perfect, but it is a critical first step toward economic recovery and restored hope for millions of Americans who call Puerto Rico home,” Obama said.  The legislation would create a federal oversight board, appointed by Washington, with power to restructure Puerto Rico’s unmanageable debt load. The bill provides for a stay, or halt, to any litigation brought against the Puerto Rican government and its debt issuing agencies that is retroactive to December. This provides breathing room for the board to start the process of restructuring and oversee a sustainable budget process.  On Friday, Puerto Rico faces a potential default on a chunk of its debt if it cannot make $1.9 billion worth of payments. Puerto Rico’s Governor, Alejandro Garcia Padilla, has said the island will default some of the debt. Supporters said intervention by Washington lawmakers was necessary to help the island’s 3.5 million U.S. citizens avert a “descent into chaos,” as U.S. Treasury Secretary Jack Lew on Tuesday. Puerto Rico has been waiting for months for Congress to act as its economic crisis worsened. It has already defaulted on some of its debt. The Caribbean island territory is reeling from a 45 percent poverty rate, as well as a steady flow of migration to the U.S. mainland that shrinks its tax base and shuttering of essential services. In addition, it is suffering from a Zika virus outbreak that is hurting its critical tourism industry. But many Puerto Ricans are leery of the proposed oversight board, fearing it could usurp the island’s government and place investors’ concerns over local priorities.  Puerto Rico’s benchmark 2035 General Obligation bond rose 1 full point in price ahead of the final vote, to trade at 66.75 points, pushing the yield down to 12.663 percent.  Passage of the Puerto Rico Oversight, Management, and Economic Stability Act (PROMESA) came after leaders of both political parties warned that failure to approve the legislation could lead to a U.S. taxpayer-funded bailout. “This is the best and possibly the only action we can take to help Puerto Rico,” Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, a Republican, said. “Doing nothing now ... (is) the surest route to both a taxpayer funded bailout of Puerto Rico and a humanitarian crisis for its people,” McConnell said. Senate Democratic Leader Harry Reid said he shared the concerns of many Democrats with the “excessive powers and appointment structure” of the oversight board, and he was unhappy with some labor provisions. But Reid said he was voting for passage because Puerto Rico needed the help by Friday. “Otherwise we ... turn them  over to the hedge funds and they will sue them to death,” he said. The seven member board, appointed by President Obama from recommendations given by party leaders in both the House and Senate, is supposed to be in place by Sept. 1, 2016. Neither political party was entirely happy with the fix. Democrats bridled at a Republican provision that might lower the minimum wage for some young workers and weaken overtime pay rules while some Republicans were concerned the bill could amount to a bailout of the island, or set a precedent for states in fiscal trouble to seek a similar arrangement. “They’ll say if a territory can receive unprecedented authority from Congress, then why shouldn’t a state?” asked Republican Senator Chuck Grassley of Iowa. The legislation is geared toward U.S. territories. Puerto Rico is not covered by current U.S. bankruptcy law under Chapter 9. Democratic Senator Robert Menendez of New Jersey, opposing the measure, argued that Friday was an arbitrary deadline for action that did not excuse a “flawed” bill. A vote for the bill was “a vote to authorize an unelected, unchecked and all powerful control board to determine Puerto Rico’s destiny for a generation or more,” Menendez declared. Some senators, including Vermont independent Bernie Sanders, criticized the estimated $370 million cost of the legislation over five years, complaining that Puerto Rico will get stuck with the tab while it is struggling to reduce its debt. Sanders blasted this as “colonialism at its worst.” The non-partisan Congressional Budget Office, which issued that estimate, said that about $350 million of the total “would primarily cover fees of legal and financial consultants hired to restructure Puerto Rico’s debt.”

Summary: सीनेट ने प्यूर्टो रिको ऋण विधेयक पारित किया, ओबामा को भेजा