The Nation Newspaper

Category: Foreign

  • Trump says ‘considering’ in-person G7 summit; world leaders cautious

    Trump says ‘considering’ in-person G7 summit; world leaders cautious

    U.S. President Donald Trump said he was considering conducting the upcoming G7 summit in Camp David, indicating he would want an in-person meeting rather than a teleconferencing session.

    As the coronavirus pandemic spread, Trump in March cancelled the in-person meeting of the leaders of Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Japan, Italy, and the U.S., which was scheduled for June at Camp David in the US state of Maryland.

    “Now that our country is ‘Transitioning back to Greatness,’ I am considering rescheduling the G-7, on the same or similar date, in Washington, DC, at the legendary Camp David,” Trump said in a tweet, using his slogan for easing lockdowns.

    “The other members are also beginning their COMEBACK. It would be a great sign to all – normalisation!”

    Following the president’s tweet world leaders started to cautiously weigh in on the proposal.

    During his daily news conference Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said he was open to discussing an in-person meeting, while French leader Emmanual Macron said he would travel to the U.S. as long as proper health precautions are in place, according to sources at the Elysee.

    German Chancellor Angela Merkel dodged questions as to whether she would attend the G7 summit in person.

    “No matter whether in the form of a video conference or otherwise, I will definitely fight for multi-lateralism,” Merkel said.

    Trump originally planned for the summit to be at his private golf resort in Florida.

    READ ALSO: Trump gives WHO ultimatum over COVID-19 handling

    However, he switched the location to the government-owned Camp David compound near Washington DC after facing a backlash.

    White House Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany told reporters that Trump wants the meeting to take place in June as previously scheduled and in person.

    McEnany would not say if a potential in-person summit would coincide with a lifting on European travel restrictions, which were put in place during the coronavirus pandemic.

    The border between the U.S. and Canada also remains closed to non-essential travel through June 21.

    “America is reopening, the world’s reopening,” McEnany said during a news conference.

    “What a show of strength and optimism to have all of the leaders of these countries come together at the White House and pursue business as usual as we move forward through this pandemic,” he added.

    Leaders of the G7, the leading industrialised democracies, have conducted video meetings about the coronavirus in the past months. Ministers have also staged similar conferences.

    (dpa/NAN)

  • Senate Republicans issue subpoenas in probe of Biden’s son

    Senate Republicans issue subpoenas in probe of Biden’s son

    A Republican-controlled committee in the U.S. Senate voted along party lines to subpoena documents related to Hunter Biden, the son of presidential candidate Joe Biden, in a case that President Donald Trump has used to bludgeon his rival ahead of the November elections.

    The Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee voted to issue subpoenas related to Hunter Biden’s work on the board of Burisma, a Ukrainian natural gas company.

    The subpoena targets documents from lobbying firm Blue Starr Strategies, which worked for Burisma during Biden’s tenure on the company’s board.

    Sen. Gary Peters, the ranking Democratic on the committee, said the measure “risks amplifying efforts of our foreign adversaries to interfere in the 2020 elections,” in an apparent reference to Russia.

    Trump has made unsubstantiated allegations that the elder Biden used his position as U.S. vice president between 2009 and 2017 to pressure the Ukrainian government to oust a prosecutor to benefit his son and Burisma.

    The allegations were at the centre of a phone call between Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky last year that partially led to the president’s impeachment in December after accusations that he improperly pressured Ukraine in an effort to get an investigation into the Bidens.

    READ ALSO: Obama slams ‘despicable’ attack advert on Joe Biden

    No evidence of wrongdoing has been uncovered in the Bidens’ dealings with Ukraine, which were supported by the international community at the time.

    The younger Biden has acknowledged his lucrative work for the gas company.

    The subpoena is one of a number of steps Republicans are taking to ramp up probes that support Trump’s narratives on Russia and the Bidens as the presidential elections near.

    Lindsey Graham, head of the Senate Judiciary Committee, said he would release the findings of his committee’s investigation into the FBI’s probe into Russian meddling in the 2016 election and possible collusion between Russia and Trump campaign officials.

    Many in Trump’s camp argue that the FBI’s probe was biased against the president.

    Meanwhile, the U.S. Justice Department is probing the origins of the Russia investigation, with some Republicans claiming the investigation will vindicate the president.

    (dpa/NAN)

  • Bolivia’s health minister sacked, arrested for coronavirus-related corruption

    Bolivia’s health minister sacked, arrested for coronavirus-related corruption

    Bolivia’s health minister was sacked and arrested on Wednesday on corruption charges related to the alleged purchase of ventilators to fight COVID-19 at over-inflated prices, the national news agency, ABI reported.

    Marcelo Navas was removed from office to prevent him from interfering with an investigation into the purchase of 170 Spanish ventilators, government spokeswoman Isabel Fernandez was quoted as saying.

    Navas was replaced by his deputy Eidy Roca.

    READ ALSO: I fled Bolivia to save my life, says Morales

    He and two other people have been arrested, police chief Ivan Rojas said, adding that investigators would search Navas’ office.

    The ventilators were reportedly vastly overpriced and found to be unsuitable for intensive care units.

    The South American country has confirmed about 4,500 COVID-19 infections and around 190 deaths.

    (dpa/NAN)

  • Difficult decisions needed to stop COVID-19 in Africa, says UN chief

    Difficult decisions needed to stop COVID-19 in Africa, says UN chief

    Agency Reporter

    United Nations (UN) Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said yesterday African countries needed to take difficult decisions to stop the coronavirus pandemic in the continent.

    Guterres stated this in an article titled, “Global Solidarity with Africa is an Imperative”, published on the UN news website.

    “Many difficult decisions will need to be taken as the pandemic unfolds, and it will be essential to retain the trust and participation of citizens throughout.

    “These are still early days for the pandemic in Africa, and disruption could escalate quickly,” he said.

    While the pandemic is slowing in parts of Europe and Asia, it is still very much growing globally.

    About 106,000 new cases of coronavirus were reported to the World Health Organisation in the past 24 hours – that’s the most since the outbreak began.

    Director-General Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus revealed the numbers at the WHO regular briefing. Two-thirds of those cases came from just four countries, he said.

    The global tally of cases is nearing five million, with more than 324,000 deaths, according to figures collected by Johns Hopkins university.

    The U.S. currently has the most cases, with 1.5m, followed by Russia, Brazil and the UK.

    The Secretary-General stated that although the continent had responded swiftly to the pandemic and reported fewer cases than feared, “much hangs in the balance”.

    According to him, vigilance and preparedness are important, with no fewer than 2,500 lives already claimed by the disease in Africa.

    He warned that the virus was a threat to recent progress in the continent in the areas of economic growth, digital revolution and the free trade area agreement.

    He predicted that the pandemic would “aggravate long-standing inequalities and heighten hunger, malnutrition and vulnerability to disease”.

    Guterres said: “Already, demand for Africa’s commodities, tourism and remittances are declining.

    “The opening of the trade zone has been pushed back and millions could be pushed into extreme poverty.

    “I commend what African countries have done already, together with the African Union.”

  • Parents find son snatched in hotel 32 years ago

    Parents find son snatched in hotel 32 years ago

    Agency Reporter

    A Chinese couple whose son, Mao Yin, was abducted in a hotel in 1988 have been reunited with him after 32 years.

    Mao was snatched aged two, while his father stopped to get him some water on the way home from nursery.

    His parents searched the country for him and his mother distributed more than 100,000 flyers.

    The family members were reunited at a police news conference on Monday, and the son – now aged 34 – said he planned to spend time with his parents.

    “I would like to thank the tens of thousands of people who helped us,” said Li Jingzhi, the boy’s mother.

    He was born on February 23, 1986. In an interview with the South China Morning Post in January – before he was found – his mother called him a “very clever, cute, and healthy” baby.

    On 17 October 1988, his father, Mao Zhenjing, was bringing him home from nursery in the city of Xian in Shaanxi province.

    The boy asked for a drink of water, so they stopped in the entrance of a hotel. As the father cooled down some hot water, he looked away briefly, and the boy was taken.

    The family searched in and around Xian, putting up posters. At one point, they thought they had found him, but it was a false dawn.

    Read Also: Edo ex-commissioner’s abductors insist on N15m ransom 

    Mrs. Li quit her job to search for her son – handing out some 100,000 flyers in more than 10 provinces and municipalities – without success.

    Over the years, she appeared on numerous Chinese television shows to appeal for help, including The X Factor. She followed 300 leads, the SCMP said, but no match was found,

    In 2007, Mrs. Li started volunteering with a group called “Baby Come Back Home”, to help other parents look for their missing children.

    According to state media, she helped reunite 29 children with their families, while her own son was still missing.

    In April, state media said, police received a tip about a man from Sichuan Province in south-west China – about 1,000km (620 miles) from Xian – who had adopted a baby years earlier.

    Police found the adoptee, now a 34-year-old man, and a DNA test was carried out to see if he was related to Mao Zhenjing and Li Jingzhi. It came back positive.

    Mao- who had been renamed Gu Ningning – now runs a home decoration business. He said he was “not sure” about the future, but would spend time with his parents.

    Police said he had been sold as a boy to a childless couple for 6,000 yuan (£690, $840 in today’s money).

    Mrs. Li was told the good news on 10 May – Mother’s Day in China. “This is the best gift I have ever got,” she said.

    The investigation into the 1988 disappearance is still ongoing. The authorities have not released information about the couple who raised Mao.

  • Trump gives WHO ultimatum over COVID-19 handling

    Trump gives WHO ultimatum over COVID-19 handling

    By Samuel Oamen

    United States (U.S.) President Donald Trump has threatened to permanently pull funding from the World Health Organisation (WHO), if it does not commit to “major substantive improvements” within 30 days, according to a letter to the WHO chief shared by Trump on Twitter.

    In a four-page letter to WHO director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Trump set out what he called “repeated missteps” by the organisation.

    Trump claimed that the WHO shares the responsibility for the large number of deaths in the crisis.

    He alleged that mismanagement on the part of the WHO and reliance on information from China had dramatically worsened the epidemic and spread it globally.

    Trump said he would make a temporary freeze of funding permanent and might also reconsider U.S. membership of the organisation at the end of the 30-day deadline if he saw no improvements.

    “The only way forward for the World Health Organisation is if it can actually demonstrate independence from China,” the U.S. president asserted.

    He said discussions with the organisation on how to reform the WHO had already begun.

    “But action is needed quickly. We do not have time to waste.

    “I cannot allow American taxpayer dollars to continue to finance an organisation that, in its present state, is so clearly not serving America’s interests,” Trump concluded.

    Read Also: Trump threatens to pull U.S. funding to WHO permanently

    The U.S. president faced international criticism when he announced in April that he would be halting funding to the WHO while a 60- to 90-day review took place.

    He has also faced criticism over how the White House initially responded to the virus.

    Trump has repeatedly accused the organisation of failing in its response to the coronavirus pandemic.

    He said U.S. taxpayers provided between 400 and 500 million dollars a year to the organisation.

    That funding is largely appropriated by Congress.

    Trump’s criticisms of the WHO echo some experts, who say the organisation relied too heavily on information from China in the initial stages of the outbreak.

    Trump’s ultimatum also comes at a time of pressure for the WHO.

    On Monday, Tedros backed a review of the agency’s handling of the pandemic. He said an independent evaluation would take place “at the earliest appropriate moment”.

    Health Secretary Alex Azar spoke at the WHO’s World Health Assembly and accused the organisation of letting Covid-19 spin “out of control” at the cost of “many lives”.

    In his letter to Tedros, the U.S. president accuses the WHO of having an “alarming lack of independence” from China.

  • Romanian president fined for minority joke

    Romanian president fined for minority joke

    A Romanian discrimination watchdog on Wednesday fined President Klaus Iohannis over a remark seen as abusive toward the Hungarian minority.

    Iohannis was handed a 5,000-lei (1,130-dollar) fine for suggesting that the Social Democratic Party (PSD) – his political foes – have arranged the handover of the Szekely Land, or Szeklerland, a region dominated by ethnic Hungarians, to Hungary proper.

    Reacting to a bill handing wider autonomy to the region, he had uttered “good morning, PSD,” pronouncing the acronym with a heavy Hungarian accent. The bill was eventually knocked down.

    READ ALSO: Man seeks divorce over wife’s alleged romance with policeman

    He told the gformedia.ro news site that he would appeal against a “highly political” decision by the National Council for Combatting Discrimination (CNCD). The CNCD has 30 days to formally explain the sanction.

    In December, Iohannis received a German award, the Charlemagne prize, for his support of minorities in Romania. Iohannis himself is of German ancestry.

    Romania is heading towards regular parliamentary elections late this year or early in 2021.

    Iohannis and his Liberals pushed for a snap election after the PSD lost power in November and went into opposition following a series of corruption scandals.

    That, however, did not happen because of delay tactics by the PSD and then the coronavirus crisis.

    (dpa/NAN)

  • COVID-19: Falling demand pushes Rolls-Royce to cut about 17% of jobs

    COVID-19: Falling demand pushes Rolls-Royce to cut about 17% of jobs

    Rolls-Royce, a UK aircraft engine manufacturer, is planning to cut at least 9,000 jobs, due to falling demand for civil aerospace engines amid the coronavirus pandemic.

    The number of jobs to be cut represents 17.3 per cent of the company’s global workforce, the company said in a statement on Wednesday.

    According to the manufacturer, such measures are being taken due to the “unprecedented” impact of COVID-19 on the whole aviation industry, and it will take several years to restore demand to the levels seen a few months ago.

    “We are proposing a major reorganisation of our business to adapt to the new level of demand we are seeing from customers.

    “As a result, we expect the loss of at least 9,000 roles from our global workforce of 52,000,” the company said.

    In addition, the company will cut expenditures associated with the maintenance of plants and property, capital and other indirect costs.

    READ ALSO: Rolls-Royce makes record sales

    The cost-cutting, the company further said, is expected to generate an annual savings of more than 1.3 billion pounds ($1.6 billion), with 700 million pounds aimed at covering headcount costs.

    “Governments across the world are doing what they can to assist businesses in the short-term, but we must respond to market conditions for the medium-term until the world of aviation is flying again at scale.

    “And governments cannot replace sustainable customer demand that is simply not there,” Rolls-Royce CEO Warren East said, as quoted in the statement.

    Rolls-Royce started a large-scale reorganisation back in June 2018 in order to reduce costs and increase the financial stability of the company.

    In particular, the manufacturer cut 4,600 jobs amid declining demand in the oil and gas market.

    By the end of 2020, Rolls-Royce intended to reduce costs by 400 million pounds per year.

    (Sputnik/NAN)

  • S. Sudan tribal clashes: At least 1,000 people killed in single day

    S. Sudan tribal clashes: At least 1,000 people killed in single day

    At least 1,000 people were killed in a single day during tribal clashes in the volatile nation of South Sudan, an official said on Wednesday.

    At least 370 others were wounded, some critically, when heavily armed men from the Murle ethnic group attacked six villages in Uror county in Jonglei state on Saturday, County Commissioner John Gatluak.

    Among the dead were 230 women and children as well as 270 young men who had tried to defend their families and neighbours, according to the commissioner.

    “We have confirmed nearly 1,000 bodies,” Gatluak said.

    The commissioner added that the death toll might rise further as the search continued for missing villagers who had fled into the bush to escape the attackers who were armed with rocket launchers and machine guns.

    Earlier this week, when the clashes first became known, Gatluak had placed the death toll at 80 people.

    READ ALSO: South Sudan confirms 10 new cases of COVID-19 as total rises to 45

    Presidential spokesman Ateny Well Ateny said that President Salvar Kiir condemned the violence.

    Local authorities believe Saturday’s attack was in revenge for a similar incident in February, when men from the Lou Nuer ethnic group had raided cattle and abducted children from the Murle.

    Cattle raiding has occurred for centuries between ethnic groups in the East African nation, and children are sometimes abducted during raids to be used as domestic slaves.

    (dpa/NAN)

  • Turkey extends travel ban in 15 major cities due to COVID-19

    Turkey extends travel ban in 15 major cities due to COVID-19

    Turkey’s Interior Ministry has announced to extend a travel ban in 15 major cities for another 15 days due to the raging COVID-19 pandemic.

    In a statement, the ministry said the travel ban will continue from May 20 to June 3 and those who do not obey the restrictions will be subject to administrative fines.

    It said that air, land, and sea travel to and from these cities will be restricted.

    READ ALSO: Turkey says 120 inmates infected with coronavirus in four prisons

    The cities include Istanbul, Ankara, Izmir, Balikesir, Bursa, Eskisehir, Gaziantep, Kayseri, Kocaeli, Konya, Manisa, Sakarya, Samsun, Van and Zonguldak.

    Earlier in April, Turkey imposed the country’s first travel ban across 31 provinces to stem the spread of the novel coronavirus and later lifted it in some provinces.

    As of Tuesday, Turkey has reported a total of 151,615 COVID-19 cases and 4,199 deaths.

    (Xinhua/NAN)