Page 2776 - Politics
China accuses ex-Interpol chief of bribery, other crimes
Chinese authorities said Monday they are investigating the former president of Interpol for bribery and other crimes and indicated that political transgressions may have also landed the Chinese official in trouble. In a statement posted on a government website, the authorities said Meng Hongwei, China's vice minister for public security, was being investigated due to his own "willfulness and for bringing trouble upon himself." It elaborated on a terse announcement late Sunday by an agency of the ruling Communist Party that investigates graft and political disloyalty that said that Meng was suspected of unspecified legal violations. Meng is now the latest high-ranking official, and one with an unusually prominent international standing, to fall victim to a sweeping crackdown by the ruling party. In a sign of how seriously the authorities regard the case, Zhao Lezhi, the minister for public security chaired a meeting in the early hours of Monday morning with senior officials of the ...
BJP candidate injured in stonepelting in Bandipora
A BJP candidate, contesting the urban local body polls in Bandipora district of Jammu and Kashmir, was Monday injured during stonepelting by miscreants, officials said. Adil Ahmad Buhru, BJP candidate for ward 15 of Bandipora Municipal Committee, was injured when miscreants pelted stones at him at Dachigam while he was on way to cast his vote at a polling station, the officials said. Buhru was rushed to a nearby hospital, the official said, adding stone pelting was reported from several areas of Bandipora during the polling. BJP spokesman Altaf Thakhur condemned the attack on the party candidate, saying those who indulge in violence are scared of democracy. Polling for the first of the four-phased elections to urban local bodies in Jammu and Kashmir is currently underway.
Pompeo says Kim 'ready' to invite inspectors to nuclear site
International inspectors will be allowed into North Korea's dismantled nuclear testing site, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said Monday, after a meeting with Kim Jong Un in which he said "significant progress" was made towards denuclearisation. Pompeo met with the North Korean leader in Pyongyang on Sunday to rekindle stalled denuclearisation talks following a landmark summit between Kim and US President Donald Trump in Singapore. "Chairman Kim said he's ready to allow them to come in" to see the dismantled Punggye-ri nuclear test site, Pompeo said. North Korea took apart the Punggye-ri facility in the country's northeast in May but has yet to allow international observers into the site to verify its claims. The facility, buried inside a mountain near the border with China, was the staging ground for all six of the North's nuclear tests. The inspectors will be allowed in as soon as the two sides agree on "logistics", Pompeo told reporters in Seoul before leaving for Beijing on a ...
Sri Lanka's former Tamil state minister arrested for LTTE comment
A former Sri Lankan minister and Tamil member of parliament has been arrested for allegedly making controversial remarks favouring the banned outfit LTTE, police said on Monday. Vijeyakala Maheswaran, who was Sri Lanka's lone Tamil woman minister, during an event in Jaffna in June had said that the law and order situation was fast deteriorating in the northern province and its people felt that they were better off under the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) when they ran a parallel administration. She said that there was no social crimes during the LTTE time. The LTTE had run a military campaign for a separate Tamil homeland in the northern and eastern provinces of the island nation for nearly 30 years before its collapse in 2009 after the Sri Lankan Army killed its supreme leader Velupillai Prabhakaran. Maheswaran, who was working as a State Minister of Child Affairs from the northern Tamil region representing the ruling United National Party (UNP) led by Prime Minister Ranil ..
Will bring Opposition together to make Mayawati PM: OP Chautala
Former Haryana chief minister and Indian National Lok Dal (INLD) president Om Prakash Chautala has said his party will work towards bringing all the opposition parties together to make Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) Chief Mayawati the next prime minister of India."We will work towards uniting the Opposition so that Mayawati becomes the next prime minister," Chautala said while addressing a 'Samman Divas' rally in Gohana on Sunday.Chautala, who is serving a 10-year sentence in Tihar Jail after being convicted in the Haryana teachers' recruitment scam, has recently come out on a two-week parole. The rally was organised here to mark the 105th birth anniversary of senior INLD leader and his father, Devi Lal.The INLD president's son and senior party leader Abhay Singh Chautala, who was also present in the rally, urged people to help the INLD-BSP alliance come to power in Haryana with a majority.
Kovind, Modi, Rahul hail air warriors on 86th Air Force Day
President Ram Nath Kovind, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Congress President Rahul Gandhi on Monday extended their greetings on the occasion of the 86th Air Force Day.
Two Indian companies to buy Iranian oil in November: Dharmendra Pradhan
NEW DELHI (Reuters) - Two Indian companies have placed orders to buy Iranian oil in November, oil minister Dharmendra Pradhan said on Monday, adding that India does not yet know if it will be granted a waiver from U.S. sanctions on Iran.
Brazil presidential candidate Bolsonaro wins first round
Brazilian right-wing Presidential candidate Jair Bolsonaro won the first round of the country's presidential election, following one of the most polarising campaigns witnessed since the nation returned to democracy three decades back.As per tweets from the Supreme Electoral Tribunal, Bolsonaro won Sunday's poll with 46.5 per cent of the vote, ahead of left-wing ex-Sao Paulo mayor Fernando Haddad on 28.5 per cent.According to CNN, Bolsonaro's lead, in a field of 13 candidates, left him just short of the 50 per cent mark to win outright.A win in the second round for 63-year-old Bolsonaro would indicate a historic shift to the right in Brazil.The second round of polling will be held on October 28 if the 50-per cent threshold is not met by any of the candidates.Bolsonaro, the former army captain, had stirred controversy by making misogynistic and homophobic remarks and is often compared to US President Donald Trump and the Philippines' Rodrigo Duterte.The campaign made headlines last ...
J-K civic polls: Voting starts on dull note
Less than two per cent of the electorate turned out to cast their votes on Monday in 83 wards of urban local bodies in Kashmir in the first two hours of polling for the first of the four-phased elections in the valley amidst stringent security arrangements. "Nearly 1600 voters have exercised their franchise till 9.00 am at the 150 pollings stations set up in 83 wards across Kashmir Valley where polling is going on today," an official said. Around 85,000 voters including 40,800 women are eligible to vote in the valley. Out of 30,074 voters in three wards of Srinagar Municipal Corporation, only 417 turned up at heavily-fortified polling stations. Polling is picking up in north Kashmir as more than 10 per cent of 4,700 voters cast their votes in the first two hours for Kupwara Municipal Committee, followed by 5.5 per cent in Handwara town. The poll percentage in Bandipora was an abysmal one per cent while Baramulla recorded around 0.8 per cent turnout, the official said. In Anantnag, ...
Kim expected to meet 'soon' with leaders of China, Russia: Seoul
South Korean President Moon Jae-in said Monday he believed North Korea's Kim Jong Un would soon meet with the leaders of China and Russia as part of an ongoing diplomatic effort to reduce tensions on the Korean peninsula. It comes a day after the North Korean leader agreed to hold a second summit with US President Donald Trump "as early as possible", following a meeting with US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo in Pyongyang. "Separately from the second US-North Korea summit, Chairman Kim Jong Un's visit to Russia and President Xi Jinping's visit to North Korea are expected to take place soon," Moon told a cabinet meeting. The possibility of a summit between Kim and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe is also "open", Moon said, adding: "A new order is being created on the Korean peninsula." Kim and Xi have met three times in China this year as the two countries seek to repair relations frayed by tensions over the North's nuclear activities and Beijing's backing of United Nations sanctions .
J&K municipal polls: Voter queues in Jammu, valley wears deserted look
The Municipal polls in Jammu and Kashmir that is taking place after a gap of 13 years, on Monday witnessed long queues in Jammu, Rajouri and Poonch districts while people barely arrived in the valley booths that wore a deserted look.
2 arrested for faking as UP BJP MP
Two people were arrested for pretending to be senior Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MP Sanjeev Balyan from Uttar Pradesh's Muzaffarnagar, police said on Monday.
US needs answers on Saudi journalist: Washington Post
The United States should "demand answers" from Saudi Arabia about the disappearance and alleged killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi, The Washington Post said late Sunday -- and punish the kingdom if cooperation is lacking. Khashoggi, a contributor to the Post who has been critical of Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, vanished after an appointment with Saudi officials on Tuesday at the consulate in Istanbul. A Turkish government source has said that police believe the journalist was murdered -- a claim denied by Riyadh. "The United States must now make a concerted effort to determine all the facts about Mr Khashoggi's disappearance," the Post said in an editorial, imploring Washington to "demand answers, loud and clear." Noting that President Donald Trump has treated Prince Mohammed as a "favored ally," the newspaper said the kingdom now should reciprocate with information about Khashoggi's whereabouts. "If the crown prince does not respond with full cooperation, Congress must,
Trump set to shuffle top generals: Report
US President Donald Trump is set to shuffle his top generals as he needs to tackle a number of huge foreign policy challenges over the coming months, a media report said.
Polling underway for first phase of municipal polls in Kashmir
Polling was underway Monday for the first phase of four-phased municipal elections in Jammu and Kashmir amidst stringent security arrangements put in place for smooth conduct of the elections. For the first phase, 78 candidates have already been elected unopposed out of which 69 are from the valley. Polling began at 7 am this morning and would end at 4 pm, officials said. They said voting will take place at 820 polling stations across the state. 150 polling stations have been designated for voting in Kashmir Division and 670 in Jammu Division. In Kashmir Division, 138 polling stations have been categorized as hypersensitive while in Jammu Division, 52 polling stations have been categorised hypersensitive, the officials said. They said 1,204 candidates are in the fray for 321 municipal wards, including 83 in Kashmir division and 238 in Jammu division. The total electorate for the first phase is 586064, the official said. They said massive security arrangements have been put in place ...
Brazilian far-right candidate wins first round of presidential election
Far-right congressman Jair Bolsonaro has won the first round of Brazil's presidential election following one of the most polarising campaigns since the country returned to democracy three decades ago, according to the country's Supreme Electoral Tribunal.
Kim optimistic about possible second summit with Trump
North Korean leader Kim Jong-un was optimistic about holding "sooner or later" another summit with US President Donald Trump, state media reported on Monday.
J-K Municipal elections: Polling for first phase in 422 wards begins
Amid terror threats and boycott calls by separatist groups and the two main regional parties, the National Conference (NC) and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), polling for the first phase of municipal elections in 422 of the 1,145 wards begun on Monday morningUnprecedented security arrangements have been put in place by the state authorities and the election commission, to ensure peaceful polls . Also, all candidates have been provided either cluster security in hotels or individually in the Valley.The polling, began start at 7 AM, will culminate at 4 PM later today.According to the Election Commission, a total of 1283 candidates will be contesting in the 422 municipal wards today. This time a large numbers of independents candidates are also in fray.This municipal election is also witnessing two significant firsts. In a major development, in these municipal polls, first-time electronic voting machines are being used, in accordance with the rules that have been amended in 2016.In ..
Far-right Bolsonaro wins 1st round Brazil vote, uncertain run-off looms
Polarising far-right politician Jair Bolsonaro easily won the first round of Brazil's presidential election on Sunday, but charged that "polling problems" cheated him of outright victory, forcing a run-off against a leftist rival in three weeks. Bolsonaro, a 63-year-old former paratrooper vowing to crush crime in Latin America's biggest nation, received 46 percent of ballots -- below the 50-percent-plus-one-vote threshold required for a first-round win, according to an official count of virtually all votes. That means he will have to duke it out on October 28 with left-wing candidate Fernando Haddad, who came in second at 29 percent. Haddad, the former mayor of Sao Paulo who replaced jailed former president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva in the contest, is seen as running neck-and-neck with Bolsonaro in the second round, surveys show. Bolsonaro's supporters protested the results outside the national electoral tribunal in the capital Brasilia, chanting "Fraud!" Other Bolsonaro voters ...
US in new global court showdown with Iran
The United States will confront Tehran at the UN's top court on Monday over billions in frozen assets, in a case that could deepen the Trump administration's rift with international justice. Iran had dragged Washington before the International Court of Justice in June 2016 to oppose a US Supreme Court ruling that the USD 2 billion should go to victims of terror attacks blamed on the Islamic republic. Monday's hearing of US objections against Iran's appeal comes a week after the ICJ in a separate case ordered the United States to ease sanctions reimposed after President Donald Trump pulled out of the 2015 nuclear deal with Iran. Both the assets and the sanctions cases are based on a 1955 "Treaty of Amity" between Washington and Tehran that predates Iran's Islamic revolution. Last Wednesday the Trump administration announced it was not only tearing up the 1955 treaty but also that it was quitting the international accord relating to the UN top court's jurisdiction. It remained unclear ..