Page 1766 - Politics
US: Speaker Pelosi indicates openness to new fencing infrastructure
Speaker Nancy Pelosi (Democrat) on Thursday indicated the willingness to new fencing and border as part of ongoing talks to prevent another government shutdown.The Hill quoted Pelosi as saying, "There's not going to be any wall money in the legislation. However, if they have some suggestions about certain localities where technology, some infrastructure [is appropriate] ... that's part of the negotiation."During her weekly press briefing in the Capitol, Pelosi pointed to the proposals tabled this week by Representative Henry Cuellar, who represents a Texas border district, to build low-lying vehicle barriers and levee walls along the Rio Grande River as a compromise to break the budget impasse."Many places on the border there are cliffs, there's a river, and there are 600 miles of something. Three hundred [miles] of them are Normandy fences. Three hundred miles of this so that cars cannot go by. If the president wants to call that a wall, he can call it a wall," she added.Democrats ...
Venezuela's Citgo weighs bankruptcy - WSJ
(Reuters) - Venezuela's most important foreign asset Citgo Petroleum Corp is considering options, including bankruptcy filing in the United States, amid a row between the Trump administration and the country's leftist government, the Wall Street Journal reported.
Venezuelan crisis: Guaido considers accepting US military support
Venezuelan self-declared interim President Juan Guaido has not ruled out accepting military support from the United States amid the ongoing political crisis, stating that the Venezuelan citizens want an end President Nicolas Maduro's dictatorship with "whatever pressure is necessary."According to CNN, Guaido warned that he wishes it doesn't come to that."Here in Venezuela, we are doing everything we can to put pressure, so that we don't have to come to a scenario that no one would wish to have," CNN quoted Guadio as saying.He further said, "We are trying to restore the sovereignty of this country, to restore the liberty and democracy of Venezuela."Amid the constitutional crisis, Venezuelan authorities had detained three journalists and a driver of the Spanish news agency EFE, covering the ongoing country's political crisis and US-backed efforts to oust President Nicolas Maduro. The arrests come after two Chilean reporters were detained earlier this week.President Nicolas Maduro is ...
Sitharaman, US Acting Defence Minister discuss bilateral ties over phone: Sources
Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman and acting Defence Secretary of the United States Patrick M Shanahan has discussed bilateral ties between the two countries in a telephonic conversation, said Defence sources. According to the Defence sources, the discussion between the two leaders took place a couple of days ago. Shanahan, who was earlier holding the office of the Deputy Secretary of Defence, took charge as Acting US Secretary of Defence from January 1.Recently in the second week of January, a 2+2 Inter-Sessional meeting was held between the US and India, focusing on the progress of defence and foreign policy issues between the two countries.The Indian delegation was led jointly by Joint Secretary (AMS) from the Ministry of External Affairs Gourangalal Das, and Joint Secretary (PIC) from the Ministry of Defence, Shambhu S Kumaran.The US delegation was led jointly by Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of State Alice Wells and Assistant Secretary of Defence Randall Schriver.The ...
US-NKorea summit details to be announced next week: Trump
US President Donald Trump on Thursday said the details of his upcoming summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un will be announced next week -- and that a date and place had been settled. "We're going to announce it very soon. We'll be announcing early next week and they very much want the meeting," Trump told reporters in the White House. "I think most of you know where the location is. I don't think it's a great secret," he added, touting what he called the "tremendous progress" made with Pyongyang. Trump held a historic first summit with Kim in Singapore last June to try to persuade the reclusive North Korean strongman to give up the country's nuclear weapons. The American president has come under fire at home from critics who say that Kim has not taken enough concrete steps toward denuclearization to be given a second summit. The US special representative on North Korea, Stephen Biegun, was to say in a speech Thursday that the United States remains "clear-eyed" and wants a firm
U.S., China made 'some progress' on structural issues in trade talks -U.S. Chamber
NEW YORK (Reuters) - The United States and China made "some progress" in addressing differences over intellectual property rights and market access issues, but still have gaps in other structural issues, U.S. Chamber of Commerce officials briefed on the trade talks said on Thursday.
Washington 'disappointed' by Turkish support of Maduro: official
The United States is "disappointed" with Turkey's support of embattled Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, a senior US official said Thursday, after Washington backed a bid by the South American's country's opposition to remove the leader from office. Washington and a dozen Latin American nations quickly recognised Venezuela's National Assembly leader Juan Guaido after he declared himself acting president on January 23. The opposition contents the legitimacy of the election Maduro won in May, which is also not recognised by the US, the European Union and a large part of the international community. Guaido is moving to marshal international support to form a transitional government to hold new presidential elections, with a new vote supported by the Washington, Europe and much of Latin America. But Maduro has rejected this, insisting his term ends in 2025. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan gave his support to Maduro over the telephone last week, urging him to "keep his head ...
Frustrated Trump says a wall 'is a WALL!'
Donald Trump's frustration over his campaign to fence off the US-Mexican border spilled into linguistic territory Thursday when the president declared himself fed up with people dancing around what to call his dreamed-of barrier. "Lets just call them WALLS from now on and stop playing political games! A WALL is a WALL!" Trump tweeted. In other tweets, he signaled that he's in no mood to compromise as Congress debates on providing construction funds. "The Wall is getting done one way or the other!" he vowed. He also said: "More troops being sent to the Southern Border to stop the attempted Invasion of Illegals.... With a Wall it would be soooo much easier and less expensive. Being Built!" Hours later, the head Democrat in the lower house of Congress, Nancy Pelosi, shot back with an equally emphatic statement that "there's not going to be any wall money in the legislation." The saga of Trump's troubled plan to boost defenses along the Mexican border has seen politicians and the ...
Govt appoints four officers in CBI
A day before high-powered selection committee is to meet to decide the new CBI chief, the government has appointed four officers in the central agency, officials said Thursday. In inducting these officers, the government is understood to have also considered the views of CBI interim chief M Nageswara Rao, they said. Akhilesh Kumar Singh, 2003-batch IPS from Assam Meghalaya cadre and A T Durai Kumar, 2004-batch IPS from Tamil Nadu cadre have been appointed as DIG in the CBI, a government order said. Putta Vimaladitya, a 2008 batch IPS from Kerala cadres and Akhilesh Kumar Chaurasia, 2009 batch IPS from Uttar Pradesh cadre have been appointed as superintendent of police in the agency, they said. After getting duties and responsibilities of the director, the CBI till new chief is appointed, Rao has done mass transfers from the levels of joint directors to additional SPs, which have been criticised by some officers within the organisation as full-fledged director is yet to be appointed, ..
Congress insulting Hindus, Hinduism: BJP
The BJP on Thursday accused the Congress of insulting Hindu religion, Hindu saints and Hinduism after its leader Shashi Tharoor's tweeted "'Hindi, Hindu, Hindutva' ideology is dividing our country".
JNU writes to VP against 'violation' of HC order by MPs, teachers reject charge
The Jawaharlal Nehru University on Thursday wrote to the Vice President of India and the Lok Sabha Speaker complaining against what it termed a violation of the High Court order by the two parliamentarians who took part in a protest meeting at the varsity's administrative block.
Iran welcomes new EU trade entity as 'first step'
Tehran on Thursday cautiously welcomed as a "first step" the expected launch of an EU trade entity aimed at saving Iran's nuclear deal by bypassing US sanctions. The special payment mechanism "is the first step within the set of commitments the Europeans have made to Iran which I hope will be fully implemented and not be incomplete", said deputy foreign minister Abbas Araghchi, according to state news agency IRNA. The formal announcement of the new payment vehicle is expected to be made on Thursday afternoon by the German, French and British foreign ministers in Bucharest. The entity, registered in France with German governance and finance from all three countries, will allow Iran to trade with EU companies despite Washington reimposing US sanctions after President Donald Trump pulled out of the 2015 accord. The three countries are the European parties to the landmark deal that curbed Tehran's nuclear ambitions in return for sanctions relief. The new European scheme called INSTEX -- .
Israeli PM, Saudi Crown Prince to visit India
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman will be visiting India ahead of this year's general election, the External Affairs Ministry said on Thursday.
BJP eyes 22 Lok Sabha seats from Karnataka
An upbeat BJP is aiming to win 22 of the 28 Lok Sabha seats in Karnataka in the general elections, due in April-May, said party's state unit president B.S. Yeddyurappa on Thursday.
US offers to sell military equipment to Bangladesh
US Ambassador to Bangladesh Earl R Miller on Thursday disclosed United State's interest to sell military equipment to Dhaka during a meeting with Foreign Minister AK Abdul Momen here.According to Dhaka Tribune, Miller, during his maiden meeting with the minister discussed democracy, good governance, military sales, and Indo-Pacific strategy.The US envoy said that Bangladesh could approach Washington if they intended to buy military hardware.While replying to the offer, Momen said: "We don't have any objection. We are open to all. But, I have also said your products are expensive. We buy cost-effective products."Apart from this, he also requested Ambassador Miller to send back Rashed Chowdhury to Bangladesh in order to impart justice. Chowdhury was one of the convicted killers of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman.In response, the envoy told him that his request would be conveyed to Washington.
Trinamool says opposition may soften demand for scrapping ballot papers
Trinamool Congress on Thursday hinted that the opposition parties can soften their demand for a return to ballot papers and instead they would urge the Election Commission for making some percentage of the VVPAT compulsory in the Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs).
Mirwaiz told Pak Minister Kashmir row can't be solved unless India, Pakistan come close (IANS Interview)
Chairman of the moderate faction of Hurriyat Conference Mirwaiz Umar Farooq says his telephone conversation with Pakistan Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi was their first contact from the Imran Khan administration at the "political and leadership level" and they told him that Kashmir issue cannot be solved unless India and Pakistan come close to each other.
Opposition parties demand Central observers in Bengal for 2019 polls
West Bengal Opposition parties on Thursday met Chief Election Commissioner Sunil Arora here and put up their demands including the appointment of Central observers and deployment of Central forces well in advance to ensure free and fair polling in the 2019 Lok Sabha polls.
Nagaland consultative meeting rejects Citizenship Bill
A consultative meeting on Citizenship (Amendment) Bill, 2016, convened by the Nagaland government with civil societies, tribal organisations, political parties, NGOs and student organisations on Thursday unanimously resolved to oppose the Bill and reject its implementation outright in Nagaland.
ECI bench meets representatives of civil society organisations
The full bench of the Election Commission of India on Thursday met representatives of civil society organisations, who demanded necessary security measures in the state during the upcoming Lok Sabha polls to ensure a free and fair election. "The Commission met with... representatives of civil society organisations to elicit their views and suggestions to make the Lok Sabha elections, 2019 more inclusive, ethical, accessible and participative," a release issued by the office of the Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) here said. Representatives of the organisations included retired Supreme Court judge Asok Kumar Ganguly and theatre personality Rudraprasad Sengupta, among others. At the meeting with the bench, led by Chief Election Commissioner Sunil Arora, 'Save Democracy Forum' submitted a 61-page report on the alleged violence during the panchayat elections in West Bengal last year. The release by the CEO office said a photo album was also released by the Election Commission ..