Page 2729 - Politics
Saudi Arabia says will retaliate against any sanctions over Khashoggi case
DUBAI/WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Saudi Arabia on Sunday warned against threats to punish it over last week's disappearance of journalist Jamal Khashoggi, as European leaders piled on pressure and two more U.S. executives scrapped plans to attend a Saudi investor conference.
Nicaragua police arrest 20, use stun grenades to end anti-govt demo
Some 20 protesters were arrested Sunday when Nicaraguan police swooped in to break up a meeting of demonstrators gathering for a march against the government of President Daniel Ortega. Police wielded clubs and hurled stun grenades to break up the demonstrators gathering at a shopping mall parking lot, beating men, women and even some elderly people. Those arrested were dragged down the street to be later loaded onto police patrol vehicles. Some reporters were also beaten and briefly detained, local independent reporters said. "They respect no one, not even older people or children," said Azhalea Solis, head of the Civic Alliance, an umbrella group that represents business people, students and social groups. And there was outrage from the Organization of American States and the president of neighboring Costa Rica. "We demand the government of #Nicaragua release the protesters who have been detained, that it respect the right to peaceful protest nationwide, and stop repression and all .
Saudi King, Erdogan discuss Jamal Khashoggi's disappearance
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Saudi Arabia's King Salman bin Abdulaziz discussed Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi's disappearance over a phone call on Sunday night.Khashoggi has been missing ever since cameras captured him going inside the Saudi consulate in Istanbul on October 2. Hatice Cengiz, his fiancee, who was waiting outside the consul, had stated that she did not see him re-emerging from the building.Both the leaders emphasised on the need for a joint working group for investigations. The Saudi King also thanked the Turkish President for accepting a Saudi proposal to create the joint group, according to Al Jazeera.Abdulaziz further highlighted that no one could undermine Saudi Arabia and Turkey's relationship.Saudi Arabia had earlier rejected all allegations levied on the nation due to Khashoggi's disappearance and also threatened to retaliate "with greater action" against any sanctions put on the nation.They released a statement earlier on Sunday which read, "The
Koreas hold high-level peace talks
The Koreas are holding high-level talks to discuss engagement amid a global diplomatic push to resolve the nuclear standoff with the North. South Korea said Monday's talks will be aimed at finding ways to carry out peace agreements announced after last month's summit between South Korean President Moon Jae-in and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un in Pyongyang. Moon and Kim then committed to reviving economic cooperation when possible, voicing optimism that international sanctions could end and allow such activity, and holding a groundbreaking ceremony by year's end on an ambitious project to connect their roads and railways. The North and South also announced measures to reduce conventional military threats. The chief delegates to the talks are South Korean Unification Minister Cho Myoung-gyon and his counterpart, Ri Son Gwon.
Netanyahu warns Hamas after increased riots at Gaza border
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warned Hamas on Sunday that if it continues the violent attacks against Israel, "it will be stopped in a very painful way".
London, Paris, Berlin demand 'credible' Khashoggi probe
Britain, France and Germany insisted Sunday that "light must be shed" on the whereabouts of journalist Jamal Khashoggi as they called for a credible investigation into his disappearance. In a joint statement, Britain's foreign minister Jeremy Hunt, his French counterpart Jean-Yves Le Drian and Germany's Heiko Maas said whoever was responsible for the Saudi journalist's disappearance must be held to account. Khashoggi, a Washington Post contributor, vanished after entering the Saudi consulate in Istanbul on October 2 to obtain official documents for his upcoming marriage. "Defending freedom of expression and a free press and ensuring the protection of journalists are key priorities for Germany, the United Kingdom and France," the ministers said in a statement issued by the Foreign Office in London. "In this spirit, light must be shed on the disappearance of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi," it said, indicating all three countries were treating the matter "with the utmost ...
US Senators seek action against Saudi on missing journalist
A top American Senator on Sunday demanded action against Saudi Arabia if the country is found to be responsible for the disappearance of Washington Post journalist Jamal Khashoggi, who was last seen inside a Saudi consulate in Turkey. Saudi Arabia has denied the allegation and has said that the dissident Saudi journalist left its consulate in Istanbul. The Saudi Arabian journalist was declared missing last week after he did not emerge from the Saudi consulate in Istanbul after 11 hours. Turkish authorities believe he was killed inside the consulate. The United States has sought detailed information from Saudi Arabia on this issue. US President Donald Trump has said that he would soon be speaking with the Saudi King, but has opposed the idea of cancelling the mega USD 110 billion trade deal with the Saudis. On Sunday Senators from Democratic party and Republican party sought tough action against the Saudis if the reports turned out to be true. The Senators pledged a strong ...
Trade talks with China unsatisfactory: Kudlow
The ongoing trade talks with China are unsatisfactory, the White House said Sunday, alleging that China is not playing by the rules. A trade conflict between Washington and Beijing has escalated as the countries slap mounting tariffs on imports. The Trump administration imposed duties on USD 200 billion worth of goods from China, prompting Beijing to put tariffs on USD 60 billion worth of US goods. "Those talks have been unsatisfactory. You can't steal America's intellectual property, you can't force technology transfers," the White House Chief Economic Advisor, Larry Kudlow, told Fox news in an interview when asked if this is a new cold war between US and China. "Just recently, China issued a regulation where their police can hack into American companies in China in order to steal secrets? That is not good. They have tariffs and nontariff barriers," he said. "We want reciprocity. We want rules by the game to be observed. And China has not," Kudlow said. Kudlow acknowledged that the ..
EU, Britain in surprise early talks ahead of crunch summit
EU chief negotiator Michel Barnier and Britain's Brexit minister scrambled to hold talks on Sunday ahead of a crunch summit this week as time runs out on striking a divorce deal. Barnier and Dominic Raab held surprise talks in Brussels, as London insisted the negotiations were far from reaching a conclusion. With Britain set to leave the bloc at the end of March, European Commission head Jean-Claude Juncker is demanding "substantial progress" this week, specifically on the vexed issue of the UK's border with the Republic of Ireland, an EU member. With a breakthrough still seemingly elusive, Raab went to Brussels for talks with Barnier to get a head start on Wednesday's summit. "With several big issues still to resolve, including the Northern Ireland backstop, it was jointly agreed that face-to-face talks were necessary ahead of this week's October European Council," said a spokeswoman for Raab's ministry. A senior British government source played down reports that a deal had already .
Journalist's disappearance: S. Arabia rejects threats (Lead, Changing Dateline)
Saudi Arabia on Sunday rejected any international threat and "attempts to undermine it" following the disappearance of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi after he visited the Gulf kingdom's consulate in Istanbul, earlier this month.
Pak by-election: Initial results show tough competition between ruling PTI and opposition PML-N
The ruling PTI and the main opposition PML-N were neck and neck as results started pouring in from across Pakistan after the by-election in 35 national and provincial assemblies on Sunday. The polling for 11 national and 24 provincial assembly seats started at 8 am and closed at 5 pm local time, according to the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP). The counting began soon after the closure of the voting. Dawn reported that Prime Minister Imran Khan's Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf PTI and former premier Nawaz Sharif's Pakistan Muslims League-Nawaz PML-N were leading on four seats each in the National Assembly. Pakistan Muslims League-Quadi was leading on two seats and Muttahida Majlis Amal leading on one seat. Geo TV reported that former prime minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi won from NA-124 Lahore. Elections were held in nine national assembly constituencies in Punjab and one each in Sindh and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, and 24 provincial assemblies seats, including 11 in Punjab, nine in Khyber ...
For Congress, SP, BSP, infiltrators are vote banks: Amit Shah
Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) president Amit Shah on Sunday said that for the Congress, Samajwadi Party (SP) and Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP), infiltrators are mere "vote banks."Meanwhile, Shah added that for BJP, infiltrators are "an issue of national security.""Fourty lakh infiltrators were identified in the NRC draft in Assam. As soon as it happened, right from 'Diggi Raja' (Digvijaya Singh) to 'Rahul Baba' (Rahul Gandhi), all of them started making noises in the Parliament. For Congress, SP and BSP, infiltrators are vote banks. But for the BJP they are an issue of national security," Shah said while addressing a rally here.NRC is a register containing names of Indian citizens, which was prepared for the only time in 1951 and is being updated for only Assam to weed out the illegal immigrants.Meanwhile, Shah's rally comes as a run up to the Madhya Pradesh Legislative Assembly elections on November 28 to elect representatives of the 230 constituencies in the state."It is possible only in
Maha: NCP to protest against water scarcity, fuel price rise,
The Nationalist Congress Party will hold rallies in Maharashtra from Monday to protest against water scarcity, rising fuel prices and load-shedding, state unit chief Jayant Patil said. The party plans to stop vehicles of ministers on official visits as the state government is not addressing the issues of the common man, Patil said Sunday. The rallies would start from public places and would end with party functionaries submitting memorandums of grievances to revenue officials at tehsil and district levels, the NCP leader said. "The rallies will be held in several parts of the state to mobilise the people against the ruling government. We will also stop the vehicles of ministers on official visits because this government is not addressing the issues of the common man," Patil said. "There is no limit to fuel prices, which have continued to escalate. The power supply in rural parts of the state is not regular and highly insufficient," Patil said. He alleged that the ...
AAP flays Centre for 'hijacking' its work on ITO Skywalk
Delhi's ruling AAP flayed the Centre for "hijacking its work" on Sunday after reports suggested that no Delhi government Minister has been invited for the inauguration of the Skywalk at ITO.
Trump says Mattis 'could be' leaving as US defense chief
US President Donald Trump said in an interview airing Sunday that Defense Secretary Jim Mattis "could be" leaving, referring to him as "sort of a Democrat." Mattis, seen as one of the steadiest but also more independent members of Trump's cabinet, has served as a low-profile counterweight to the president in his often abrasive treatment of US allies. In an interview to be aired Sunday on CBS's "60 Minutes," Trump was asked whether he wanted Mattis to leave. "It could be that he is. I think he's sort of a Democrat, if you want to know the truth," Trump said, according to an excerpt released by CBS. "But General Mattis is a good guy. We get along very well. He may leave. I mean, at some point, everybody leaves." Trump said he had lunch with Mattis two days earlier and the retired Marine four-star general had not told him that he was leaving. Rumours that Mattis's days as defense chief are numbered have circulated since a book by journalist Bob Woodward about Trump's chaotic White House .
Merkel allies suffer heavy losses in Bavaria election: exit polls
German Chancellor Angela Merkel's arch-conservative CSU allies suffered historic losses in Bavaria state elections Sunday, dealing a blow to her fragile three-party coalition government. The Christian Social Union (CSU) secured 35.5 per cent, according to first public TV projections, losing their absolute majority in the wealthy Alpine state they have ruled almost single-handedly since the 1960s.
UPA discriminated against MP in fund allocation: Amit Shah
BJP chief Amit Shah Sunday accused the previous Congress-led UPA government of discriminating against Madhya Pradesh in allocation of funds. He told a party workers' convention here that the UPA government had allocated Rs 1.34 lakh crore under the 13th Finance Commission, whereas the Narendra Modi government gave the state Rs 3.44 lakh crore as part of the 14th Finance Commission allocations. He lashed out at Congress chief Rahul Gandhi for asking what the NDA government has done since coming to power and claimed that the BJP would go to the public with its "account" of work. "We go to the people with our account. The UPA had given Rs 1.34 lakh crore to MP under the 13th Finance Commission. But the Modi government has given an amount of Rs 3.44 lakh crore to MP under the 14th Finance Commission," Shah said. "If funds allocated to various schemes (in the state) are included, Madhya Pradesh has got Rs 4.5 lakh crore from the Modi government," Shah claimed. Taking a swipe at Gandhi, ...
Afghan diplomats to begin training under India-China joint initiative
A group of Afghan diplomats will begin training here from Monday as part of an India-China joint initiative. The joint training programme is being held after an understanding for such a cooperation was reached during an informal summit between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping held in April at China's Wuhan city. The first India-China Joint Training Programme for Afghan Diplomats will be held from October 1526, according to the Ministry of External Affairs. Ahead of their training, Indian Ambassador to Afghanistan Vinay Kumar had hosted the 10 Afghan diplomats, who will take part in the training programme as part of the trilateral cooperation between India, China and Afghanistan.
Jharkhand govt improving infrastructure rapidly, says CM
Jharkhand Chief Minister Raghubar Das on Sunday said his government was working vigorously to improve the infrastructure as per the schemes being framed by the villagers. The seriousness of the government in this regard can be judged from the fact that it has been spending Rs 164 crores and 176 crore in two blocks of East Singhbhum district to improve infrastructure, Das said. He was addressing a gathering after laying foundation stone of six road construction projects and unveiled 21 smart classes and two science centres in Bhagaband village under Dumaria block of the district. The government has constructed 350 km of road and 39 bridges and culverts across the district during its three-and- half-year tenure, the chief minister said. Das said his government has set a target to electrify 32,000 villages of by December. "We have plans to set up separate feeders to provide electricity to agriculture, industry sectors as well as consumer from 2019," he said. The chief ...
ITO Skywalk planned, totally funded by Union urban affairs ministry: Puri
Union minister Hardeep Singh Puri Sunday said the Skywalk at ITO here was conceptualised, planned and totally funded by the housing and urban affairs ministry, a day after Delhi government alleged that it was not informed about the inauguration of the project. The housing and urban affairs minister is set to inaugurate the ITO skywalk Monday. In a series of tweets, Puri said that he is surprised at the "despair" being expressed in certain quarters at not being invited for the inauguration of ITO Skywalk. Puri, however, accused the AAP government of holding on to Metro Phase-IV since October'14 and Delhi-Meerut RRTS since Dec'16 despite repeated reminders. "...These projects, primarily a state responsibility, are game changers in addressing congestion, pollution & accidents. Yet no commitment is being conveyed," he tweeted. Slamming the Delhi government, Puri in a tweet said, "No matter how hard you try to stall the progress of Delhi, we its resilient citizens will find a way ...