Page 2374 - Politics
Protests erupt against against Saudi Prince Salman's arrival in Tunisia
Hundreds of people took to streets in the capital city of Tunisia on Tuesday to protest against the arrival of Saudi Arabia Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (MSB) in the North African country.The protests were organised in the wake of the alleged involvement of the Saudi Prince in the murder of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi in the kingdom's consulate in Istanbul on October 2.Al Jazeera reported that for the second day in a row, protestors showed massive demonstrations on streets more than seven years after the revolution which toppled long-time ruler Zine El-Abidine Ben Ali regime and started a new wave of uprisings against the oppressive governments across the Middle East."I was here yesterday and I came here again to say 'No' to the murderer and criminal, Mohammed bin Salman," , Al Jazeera quoted Said Arous, a prominent human rights activist, as calling Khashoggi's killing "an appalling crime".The Saudi crown prince arrived in Tunisia on Tuesday evening as part of a regional ...
White House says not aware of talk of pardon for former Trump aide Manafort
White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders said on Tuesday that she was not aware of any talk of a pardon for Paul Manafort, former campaign chairman of President Donald Trump.
Ignored by Amit Shah, RSLP chief to take call on alliance with NDA soon
Union Minister of State Upendra Kushwaha on Tuesday said that he will soon announce his future plans, whether he will remain in alliance with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) -led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) or not.The Rashtriya Lok Samata Party (RLSP) chief who is awaiting a meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi to discuss seat sharing for upcoming 2019 general elections, will take the decision at a meeting of party office bearers scheduled for early December.After failing to secure a meeting with BJP chief Amit Shah, Kushwaha said, "I am in National Democratic Alliance (NDA) but being pushed back. This would be an insult to any party. I tried to meet Amit Shah twice but he was busy. Last option is to meet Prime Minister Modi. Let us see what transpires if I get to meet. Then my party will convene a meet on December 4 and 5 and decide what to do next," Kushwaha told ANI here.Kushwaha had on November 17 had asked the BJP to reach a consensus over seat-sharing ...
Trump to meet Modi, Abe at G20: Bolton
President Donald Trump will have a "trilateral meeting" with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the G20 summit in the Argentinian capital Buenos Aires, US National Security Adviser John Bolton said on Tuesday.
Trump open to deal with Xi at dinner but with conditions: Kudlow
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump is open to reaching a deal on U.S.-China trade irritants over dinner on Saturday with Chinese leader Xi Jinping but is ready to hike tariffs on Chinese imports if there is no breakthrough, White House economic adviser Larry Kudlow said on Tuesday.
Farmers' income will be doubled by 2022: PM Modi in Telangana
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday assured that farmers' income will be doubled and every family in India will get their own house by 2022.While addressing a rally here ahead of the Telangana elections, Prime Minister Modi said that Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) and Congress are both "family ruling parties.""They are doing the vote bank politics. Congress and TRS brought religious fights between the public," the Prime Minister stated."KCR has worked as a minister under the UPA government when Sonia Gandhi used to do remote control politics. BJP will give more funds to both Telugu states compared to Congress," he added.The Telangana Assembly was dissolved prematurely in September this year on the recommendation of the ruling TRS. Telangana will go to polls on December 7 while the counting of votes will take place on December 11.
Maldives seeks India's assistance to pay off Chinese debt
Faced with an acute budgetary deficit due to mounting foreign debts, the new government in the Maldives, led by President Abdulla Solih, is looking to India for financial support to help the island nation achieve its development goals. It has announced the revival of its 'India First' policy without affecting its engagement with China.Sputnik quoted Maldives Foreign Minister Abdulla Shahid saying that the new government in the island nation is still accounting the volume of Chinese debt and that the uncertainty arose only because of the 'secret' style of functioning of the former government led by Abdulla Yameen. The Maldives is said to owe at least 70 per cent of its external debts to China."The former president was shrouded in secrecy. He did not share details with the public accounts committee of the Parliament. We are not commenting on the exact amount of debt with China because we are yet to ascertain it. We are reconciling with accounts," Shahid was quoted as saying in a ...
May downplays Trump warning that UK would struggle to get US trade deal
British Prime Minister Theresa May on Tuesday sought to downplay fears that her Brexit deal with the European Union would make landing a future bilateral trade deal with the United States tricky.
Trump to meet leaders of China, India, Japan, Russia at G20
US President Donald Trump will hold over half a dozen bilateral meetings on the sidelines of this week's Group of 20 summit in Argentina, including with Russia's Vladimir Putin and China's Xi Jinping, the White House said Tuesday. "While at the G20 the president and delegation will interact with many leaders, including bilateral meetings with the president of Argentina, the president of Russia, prime minister of Japan and the chancellor of Germany, and a working dinner with the president of China," Press Secretary Sarah Sanders told a White House briefing. Trump's National Security Advisor John Bolton added that Trump would also meet the leaders of India, South Korea and Turkey. Asked whether Trump planned to meet Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman -- who the CIA reportedly believes authorized the killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi -- Sanders said an informal meeting remained a possibility. "I wouldn't say we've ruled out any interaction," she said, although she stressed that ..
Russia says Ukraine martial law could worsen tensions in country's east
The Kremlin said Tuesday that Ukraine's decision to enforce martial law in several of its provinces would risk heightening tensions in the country's east, where Ukrainian forces loyal to Kiev have been pitted against pro-Russian rebels for years.
Israeli envoy says US to release peace plan in early 2019
Israel's UN ambassador says the Trump administration has told the Israeli government that it expects to release its long-awaited Israeli-Palestinian peace plan in the beginning of 2019. Danny Danon told a group of UN reporters Tuesday that there is "a window of opportunity" for the US to present the plan without interfering in Israeli elections likely scheduled for May or June. Otherwise, he said, it will have to wait until next fall. Danon said Israel knows the US plan is complete but doesn't know the details. "We are open-minded," he said. "We will look at it. We will negotiate." But Danon said the Palestinians won't consider the plan. They accuse US President Donald Trump of being biased toward Israel.
Report: Manafort met with Julian Assange ahead of 2016 leaks
A British newspaper alleges that Paul Manafort secretly met WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange at the Ecuadorian Embassy in London within days or weeks of being brought aboard Donald Trump's presidential campaign. If confirmed, the report Tuesday suggests a direct connection between the Trump campaign and WikiLeaks, which released tens of thousands of emails stolen by Russian spies during the 2016 election. The campaign seized on the emails to undermine Trump's rival, Hillary Clinton. The Guardian, which did not identify the sources for its reporting, said that Manafort met with Assange "around March 2016" the same month that Russian hackers began their all-out effort to steal emails from the Clinton campaign. Manafort's lawyers did not immediately return messages from The Associated Press. Assange's Ecuadorian lawyer, Carlos Poveda, said the Guardian report was false. And WikiLeaks said on Twitter that it was "willing to bet the Guardian a million dollars and its editor's head that ...
White House 'disappointed' in China trade response before Trump-Xi meeting
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump is open to a trade deal with China but is prepared to hike tariffs on Chinese imports if there is no breakthrough on longstanding trade irritants during a Saturday night dinner with Chinese leader Xi Jinping, White House economic adviser Larry Kudlow said on Tuesday.
Slovenia becomes only NATO state with female army chief
Slovenia on Tuesday became the only NATO country whose army is headed by a woman with the appointment of Major General Alenka Ermenc as chief of staff. President Borut Pahor, the country's commander-in-chief, welcomed Ermenc's appointment and said he expected her to start improving the army's current poor state, blamed largely on underfunding. "Major General Ermenc's appointment was proposed based on her experience as a commander of Slovenian army units, for her contribution for establishing a professional army force and her civil and military education," the government said in a statement. A Slovenian army brigade earlier this year failed NATO's combat readiness test being assessed as "not combat ready". The note was improved after additional training and new tests were carried out. Currently serving as the army's deputy-chief of staff, Ermenc, 55, will officially take over the job on Wednesday. She will replace outgoing Major General Alan Geder, who has been in post since ...
US lobbies Europe to back UN vote on condemning Hamas
The US is leading a push at the UN to win crucial backing from European countries for a resolution condemning the Palestinian Hamas group, the Israeli ambassador said Tuesday. The General Assembly is expected to vote Friday or possibly Monday on the proposed resolution condemning rocket firings into Israel and demanding that Hamas end the use of violence. Israeli Ambassador Danny Danon told reporters that US diplomats were in talks with their EU counterparts on the draft text. European backing would significantly boost chances of approval by the 193-nation body. "The US is negotiating the language with the EU," Danon told a briefing. "For us it's very symbolic to have this resolution presented with the support of the EU." If adopted, it would mark the first time that the assembly has voted to condemn Hamas, the Islamist militant group that has ruled the Gaza Strip since 2007. European diplomats said there were disagreements on the proposed US text, notably including references to UN ..
Ukraine under threat of 'full-scale war' with Russia: Poroshenko
Russia has sharply increased its military presence on the border with Ukraine, Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko said on television on Tuesday, warning of the threat of "full-scale war." "The number of (Russian) tanks at bases located along our border has tripled," Poroshenko said in an interview, adding that "the number of units that have been deployed along our border -- what's more, along its full length -- has grown dramatically." He said that the military buildup meant that the country is "under threat of full-scale war with Russia." Poroshenko didn't give Russian troop numbers but said the information on the military buildup was based on intelligence reports. He said that numbers of Russian troops in Crimea had tripled since Moscow annexed the peninsula in 2014. Russian forces on Sunday fired on and captured three Ukrainian ships and their crews off Crimea, sparking the most dangerous crisis between the ex-Soviet neighbours in years.
Protests as Saudi crown prince arrives in Tunisia
Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman arrived in Tunisia on Tuesday after hundreds of protesters there rallied against his visit, urging justice over the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi. The arrival of Saudi Arabia's de facto leader was announced by the Tunisian presidency, hours after demonstrators gathered in the capital Tunis. "Go away assassin!" protesters shouted in the second rally in as many days against the Saudi crown prince. Demonstrators held placards with slogans including "The people want Bin Salman to be judged", "No to the killer of Yemeni children" and "You're not welcome". Prince Mohammed's stay in Tunisia is part of a regional tour, which comes as Khashoggi's murder leads to increased scrutiny of Saudi Arabia's role in Yemen's devastating war. "It's inhuman to see an Arab leader killing his brothers in Yemen, and the murder of a journalist is the icing on the cake," said Basma Rezgui, a teacher brandishing a red-stained saw. Saudi Arabia has faced intense ...
China's Xi arrives in Spain for business-driven visit
China's President Xi Jinping arrived in Spain on Tuesday for a business-focused state visit as Beijing, currently engaged in a trade war with the United States, seeks to strengthen ties with Europe. Xi, who landed in Madrid according to a Spanish government spokeswoman, is scheduled to meet King Felipe VI on Tuesday evening and Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez on Wednesday. No press conference is scheduled during his three-day visit, which is a stop-off on his trip to a meeting of Group of 20 leaders in Argentina. "Spain is an important member of the EU; it is also China's good friend and good partner in the EU. We hope and believe that Spain will continue to play a positive role in the EU for the sound and steady growth of China-EU relations," Xi wrote in a column published in conservative Spanish daily newspaper ABC. It is the first state visit to Spain by a Chinese president in 13 years. Both sides will sign at least 18 business and cooperation deals, including one that further opens ..
White House 'disappointed' in China trade response ahead of Trump-Xi dinner
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump is prepared to hike tariffs on Chinese imports if there is no breakthrough on longstanding trade irritants during a Saturday night dinner with Chinese leader Xi Jinping, White House economic adviser Larry Kudlow said on Tuesday.
Trump takes aim at Mueller as Russia probe moves forward
US President Donald Trump lashed out at special counsel Robert Mueller on Tuesday, a day after prosecutors accused his former campaign chairman, Paul Manafort, of violating a plea agreement.