Page 2653 - Politics

Adel Abdul Mahdi sworn in as Iraq's PM

Adel Abdul Mahdi on Wednesday sworn in as new prime minister of Iraq after the parliament passed 14 out of his 22 cabinet members.

Trump picks Indian-American Neil as chairman of federal energy agency

Neil Chatterjee has played an integral role in the passage of major energy, highway and farm legislation

Japan confirms release of journalist held in Syria

The Japanese government on Wednesday confirmed that a man released by Syrian militants is freelance journalist Jumpei Yasuda who is currently at a Turkish immigration facility.

Trump asks media to 'stop hostility' after bomb sent to CNN

Donald Trump on Wednesday called on the media to stop their "endless hostility" and "false attacks" in comments addressing a number of pipe bombs sent earlier in the day to Barack Obama, top Democrats and CNN. Speaking to supporters at a campaign rally in Mosinee, Wisconsin, the US president began with measured remarks arguing public figures had a duty to tone down their rhetoric -- after the top opposition Democrats in Congress accused him of condoning violence and dividing Americans. "No one should carelessly compare political opponents to historical villains, which is done, it's done all the time," Trump said. "We should not mob people in public spaces or destroy public property. There is one way to settle our disagreements. It's called peacefully at the ballot box. "As part of a larger national effort to bridge our divides and bring people together, the media also has a responsibility to set a civil tone and stop the endless hostility and constant negative and often times false ...

China, Russia listening to Trump phone calls: Report

US spy agencies have determined that China and Russia are "eavesdropping" on President Donald Trump's phone calls, according to a news report by a prominent American daily. "Chinese spies are often listening these phone calls and putting to use invaluable insights into how to best work the president and affect administration policy," The New York Times said citing unnamed current and former US officials. Trump, the daily said, uses iPhone to make calls to his friends. He has refused to give this up, despite repeated requests by his officials, who have been asking him to make more use of the secure land lines. "American spy agencies, the officials said, had learned that China and Russia were eavesdropping on the president's cellphone calls from human sources inside foreign governments and intercepting communications between foreign officials," the daily said. The White House did not immediately respond to a question regarding the report. According to the daily, US intelligence ...

CBI row: Congress to hold protest on Oct 26

The Congress party will hold protests across the country on October 26 over the ongoing Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) row.Top Congress leaders will stage a protest outside the CBI headquarters in the national capital, while state leaders will protest in front of the CBI offices in their respective states.After a spell of the internal fight, that appeared to tarnish the image of the country's premier investigative agency, the Centre divested the CBI director Alok Verma and special and Rakesh Asthana respectively from their roles and sent both of them on leave.Asthana and Verma were at loggerheads on several issues and accused each other of blocking several important cases to be heard.The CBI had recently filed an FIR against Asthana for allegedly accepting a bribe from a businessman, who was linked to Moin Akhtar Qureshi case. Asthana was heading the Special Investigation Team (SIT) that was probing Qureshi's case.Amid this internal slugfest, M Nageshwar Rao was appointed as ...

BJP pressurising Parrikar to resume office: Former Goa RSS chief

Former Goa Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) Chief Subhash Velingkar on Wednesday said that Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar's sickness is taking a turn for the worse as unwarranted pressure is being put on him by the Centre to resume office."Unfortunately, the BJP high command is putting unnecessary pressure on him (Parrikar), when he clearly needs more rest to be completely fit. The Centre, by hook or crook, wants Goa to remain a BJP stronghold and hence forcing him to resume office by any chance. This is worsening his current health condition," Velingkar told reporters in Panjim."The Centre should have got a substitute chief minister as long as Parrikar is not getting well. I don't think this Goa government will survive if things go on like this. It will be dissolved soon," he added.Parrikar has been undergoing medical treatment for a pancreatic ailment for the last few months causing a leadership crisis in the state. On October 14, the Chief Minister was discharged from Delhi's All

Trump calls for unity amid suspicious package scare

United States President Donald Trump condemned the suspicious packages mailed to several US leaders including former President Barack Obama and called for unity as the matter is being investigated.Addressing an opioid event at the White House, Trump said, "I just want to tell you that in these times we have to unify, we have to come together and send one very clear, strong, unmistakable message that acts or threats of political violence of any kind have no place in the United States of America."The US President further said that "the full weight of our government" is looking into the matter and will "bring those responsible for these despicable acts to justice."Trump also asserted that the safety of the American people is his "highest and absolute priority."US First Lady Melania Trump also addressed the issue and termed the act as "cowardly." "We cannot tolerate those cowardly attacks and I strongly condemn all who choose violence," she added.Packages containing suspicious devices ...

New York officials call suspicious packages terrorism

New York authorities are calling the sending of a pipe bomb to CNN headquarters in Manhattan's Time Warner building an act of terrorism, although they ruled out any "specific threats" in the city.

UK's May 'strongly urged' S Arabia to cooperate with Khashoggi probe

British Prime Minister Theresa May on Wednesday "strongly urged" Saudi Arabia to cooperate with the Turkish investigation into the murder of dissident journalist Jamal Khashoggi in a phone call with Saudi King Salman, according to her office. "The prime minister said the current explanation lacks credibility so there remains an urgent need to establish exactly what happened," a Downing Street spokeswoman said in a statement following the telephone conversation. "She strongly urged Saudi Arabia to cooperate with the Turkish investigation and to be transparent about the results.

Andhra CM bats for women's welfare

Andhra Pradesh is the state where welfare schemes are being implemented for women higher than any other state in the country, Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu said.Naidu, who held a meeting with women of self-help groups in the state on Wednesday. The meeting was held as part of the fourth installment of payments under the "Pasupu-Kumkuma" scheme.Addressing the congregation and hailing the women welfare schemes implemented by his government, Naidu said, "Andhra Pradesh is the state where welfare schemes are being implemented for women higher than any other state in the country. In order to make all women financially empowered, we are implementing various programs so that every family gets at least Rs 10,000 monthly income."Naidu also highlighted the infrastructural development that took place under his watch. "We have developed infrastructure with 25000 KM CC roads in rural areas. We built toilets in all households to protect the self-respect of women. We are building 25 lakh ...

UN investigator: Genocide still taking place in Myanmar

Genocide is still taking place against Rohingya Muslims remaining in Myanmar and the government is increasingly demonstrating it has no interest in establishing a fully functioning democracy, UN investigators said Wednesday. Marzuki Darusman, chair of the UN fact-finding mission on Myanmar, said thousands of Rohingya are still fleeing to Bangladesh, and the estimated 250,000 to 400,000 who have remained following last year's brutal military campaign in the Buddhist-majority country "continue to suffer the most severe" restrictions and repression. "It is an ongoing genocide that is taking place at the moment," he told a news conference Wednesday. Yanghee Lee, the UN special investigator on human rights in Myanmar, said she and many others in the international community hoped the situation under Aung San Suu Kyi "would be vastly different from the past but it is really not that much different from the past." She added later that she thinks Suu Kyi, the Nobel Peace Prize laureate and ...

France ready to back 'international sanctions' against Khashoggi killers: Elysee Palace

France is ready to support "international sanctions" against those responsible for the murder of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi, the Elysee Palace said Wednesday after President Emmanuel Macron spoke by telephone to the kingdom's King Salman. The French president "informed (King Salman) of his profound indignation at the crime and demanded that all possible light be shone on the circumstances that led to this drama" which many have blamed on Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, the king's son and Saudi Arabia's de-facto leader, the palace said in a statement.

President Trump, Melania condemn sending of "suspicious packages"

US President Donald Trump Wednesday termed "abhorrent" the sending of "suspicious packages" to former US President Barack Obama, 2016 Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton and the CNN, asserting that threats of political violence have no place in America. Trump's remarks came after two "potential explosive devices" sent to the homes of Obama and Clinton were intercepted and proactively detonated in an incident New York police termed an attempted terrorist attack. Explosives were also found in package sent to the US news network CNN, after which Time Warner building in New York City, where the CNN bureau is located, was evacuated, the US Secret Service said. "In these times we have to unify, we have to come together and send one very clear, strong, unmistakable message that acts or threats of political violence of any kind have no place in the United States of America," Trump said. "This egregious conduct is abhorrent to everything we hold dear and sacred as Americans," he ...

Putin warns of a new 'arms race'

President Vladimir Putin warned Wednesday of a new arms race if America pulls out of weapons treaties, and said Russia would respond "in kind" to any new US missiles placed on European soil. At the weekend, US President Donald Trump sparked concerns globally when he said he would ditch a Cold War-era nuclear weapons treaty, the three-decade-old Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty (INF). Speaking after hosting Trump's national security advisor John Bolton on Tuesday, Putin warned that abandoning the treaty, and failure to extend another key arms control agreement known as the New START, would unleash a new arms race and put Europe in danger. Putin said dismantling a global arms control system was "very dangerous," adding Russia was concerned about the fact that the United States had already abandoned the Anti-Ballistic Missile treaty, planned to ditch the INF, and that the future of the New START was not clear. "There would be nothing left except an arms race," he said at a news ..

Saudi crown prince calls Khashoggi murder 'repulsive'

Saudi Arabia's crown prince Wednesday denounced the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi and vowed justice would prevail, without addressing US accusations of a botched cover-up over the killing by the Gulf kingdom. After phoning Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan to discuss the October 2 killing in the Saudi consulate in Istanbul which has triggered an international diplomatic crisis, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman pledged there would be "no rupture" in ties with Ankara. "The incident was very painful for all Saudis, it's a repulsive incident and no one can justify it," Prince Mohammed bin Salman said in his first comments since the journalist's murder. "Those responsible will be held accountable... in the end justice will prevail," the heir apparent to the Saudi throne told a major investment forum in Riyadh, speaking in Arabic in his first public comments on the scandal. Three weeks since Khashoggi, a Saudi citizen living in self-imposed exile, disappeared after walking into .

Murder of Khashoggi a 'repulsive incident': Saudi crown prince

Saudi Arabia's crown prince Wednesday denounced the murder of critic Jamal Khashoggi as a "repulsive incident", insisting the kingdom was cooperating with Turkish authorities and "justice will prevail". "The incident was very painful for all Saudis, it's a repulsive incident and no one can justify it," Prince Mohammed bin Salman said in his first comments since the murder of the journalist. "Those responsible will be held accountable... in the end justice will prevail," the prince said, speaking in Arabic during an address to the Future Investment Initiative Forum in Riyadh. The official simultaneous translation into English of his comments said the prince called the killing "a crime" adding it was "heinous". Saudi leaders have denied involvement in Khashoggi's murder inside Saudi Arabia's Istanbul consulate on October 2, pushing responsibility down the chain of command. But the kingdom is under mounting international pressure over the killing amid US accusations of a monumental ...

Chhattisgarh: Despite opposition over ticket distribution, Raman Singh confident of victory

Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Raman Singh on Wednesday said all the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) workers are unitedly working for the victory of the party in the upcoming state Assembly Elections, despite a handful of workers expressing resentment over not being granted a ticket to contest in the upcoming polls."Those who did not get tickets to contest polls will be disappointed to some extent. However, the unity of the party is intact and we will stand together to emerge victorious," the Chief Minister told the media after attending a meeting at the BJP state headquarters over upcoming polls in the state."All aspects are being discussed seriously in the meeting that was conducted to the manifesto. The meeting is still in progress," he added.The remark from Singh came after the BJP denied tickets to few sitting MLAs, including a minister, in the first list of 77 candidates for the polls.The candidates can withdraw their names by October 26.Eighteen Naxal-affected constituencies will go .

'Potential explosive devices' sent to Obama, Clinton, Police terms it attempted terrrist attack

Two "potential explosive devices" sent to the homes of former US president Barack Obama and 2016 Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton were intercepted and proactively detonated Wednesday, in an incident police termed an attempted terrorist attack. Explosives were also found in package sent to the US news network CNN, after which Time Warner building in New York City, where the CNN bureau is located, was evacuated. CNN's anchors left their studios to broadcast from the streets outside their building. The US Secret Service said it had intercepted two "suspicious packages" addressed to Obama and Clinton. New York Police told reporters that these devises were an intent to strike fear and described it as an attempted terrorist attack. "The packages were immediately identified during routine mail screening procedures as potential explosive devices and were appropriately handled as such. The protectees did not receive the packages nor were they at risk of receiving them," the ...

Shah visits Lucknow; holds meeting with UP CM, senior RSS office-bearers

Apparently with an eye on the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, BJP president Amit Shah was on a day-long visit here Wednesday and held a meeting with party workers. Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath and senior RSS office bearers Krishna Gopal and Dattatreya Hosabole also took part in the meeting. "Senior RSS office-bearers praised UP Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath in the presence of the BJP chief (Amit Shah). At the meeting, emphasis was laid on disseminating information pertaining to various welfare schemes and achievements of the Centre and state government among the masses, especially in view of the 2019 Lok Sabha elections," an Uttar Pradesh BJP leader said. Another senior leader of the party's state unit said that the UP government briefed the party president and senior office-bearers of the RSS about achievements of the state government, which it had accomplished in one-and-half years. "The government also informed the meeting about renaming Allahabad as Prayagraj and a host