The Nation Newspaper

Tag: Mike Pence

  • U.S vice president urges Mueller to ‘wrap up’ Russia probe

    United States Vice-President, Mike Pence, has urged special counsel Robert Mueller to “wrap up” his investigation into alleged Russian meddling in the 2016 election.

    He said the White House has “fully co-operated” with the probe, which is looking at whether U.S President, Donald Trump’s campaign colluded with Russia.

    Mr. Trump and the Kremlin have repeatedly denied the allegations, the BBC reports.

    His remarks came as he and Mr. Trump greeted three Americans returning from North Korea after being held there.

    “In the interests of the country, I think it’s time to wrap it up,” he told NBC News early on Thursday morning at Joint Base Andrews.

    The vice president added the administration had provided more than a million documents to Mr. Mueller’s investigation team.

    “And I would very respectfully encourage the special counsel and his team to bring their work to completion,” he said.

    Mr. Pence dismissed reports about Michael Cohen, Mr. Trump’s personal lawyer, receiving millions of dollars in payments from companies as a “private matter” and “something I don’t have any knowledge about.”

     

  • U.S Vice President skips Olympics dinner with North Korean delegation

    U.S Vice President skips Olympics dinner with North Korean delegation

    United States Vice-President, Mike Pence, has skipped a dinner at which he was due to share a table with North Korea’s ceremonial head of state, Kim Yong-nam.

    Mr. Pence briefly encountered Mr. Kim but they tried to avoid directly facing each other, Yonhap news agency reports.

    Meanwhile South Korean President, Moon Jae-in, has shaken hands with North Korean leader, Kim Jong-un’s sister, at the Winter Olympics opening ceremony.

    The Games are taking place amid tension over North Korea’s nuclear programme, the BBC reports.

    Mr. Pence has brought to South Korea as a guest Fred Warmbier, the father of a young American who died after being released from prison in North Korea.

    Meanwhile, on Thursday North Korea held a military parade that had been scheduled for April but was brought forward.

    Mr Pence and Kim Yong-nam were being hosted by South Korean President before the opening ceremony in Pyeongchang.

    But the US vice-president left the reception venue after five minutes.

    While Mr. Moon and Japanese Prime Minister, Shinzo Abe, both shook hands with Mr. Kim, Mr. Pence did not, South Korean officials said.

    At the event Mr. Moon said he hoped the Winter Olympics would be remembered as the “day peace began.”

  • Trump, Turnbull to meet after tense phone call

    Trump, Turnbull to meet after tense phone call

    Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull and U.S. President Donald Trump will meet in New York later on Thursday for their first face-to-face encounter following a testy long distance start to their relationship.

    Trump and Turnbull are set to attend an event to commemorate the 75th anniversary of the victory over Japan by U.S. and Australian forces in World War II’s Battle of the Coral Sea.

    The two leaders would also hold a bilateral meeting, with issues surrounding North Korea and China expected to dominate the talks.

    Their first official conversation over the phone in February went sour after Trump blasted Turnbull over the terms of a refugee swap deal.

    Before leaving office, President Barack Obama’s administration agreed to take more than a thousand refugees languishing in Australian immigration detention centres in the Pacific islands.

    Trump reportedly hung up on Turnbull and later tweeted that it was “a dumb deal.”

    However, the Trump administration said later that it would honour the agreement.

    In April, U.S. Vice President Mike Pence was in Australia on a two-day visit for the final leg of his four-nation Asia-Pacific tour, and assured that all was well between the two long-time allies.

    “They don’t have to be best friends, but of course they will be gracious toward each other.

    “I have no doubt that the prime minister and President Trump will find a lot in common, I’m sure they’ll get along well,” Australian Foreign Minister Julie Bishop said.

    Turnbull is said to be bringing a jarrah timber box handmade outside Canberra to hold a dozen golf balls for the president, according to local media.

    This will also be the first time Trump is returning to his home city New York since assuming office in January.

    Turnbull would be returning to Australia on Saturday.

     

  • N Korea poses ‘most dangerous’ threat to Asia-Pacific – Pence

    North Korea poses the “most dangerous and urgent threat” to the Asia-Pacific region, visiting Vice President Mike Pence said Wednesday aboard a U.S. aircraft carrier stationed in Japan.

    “North Korea is the most dangerous and urgent threat to the peace and security” of the region, Pence told US and Japanese Navy personnel as he visited the USS Ronald Regan at a US naval base in Yokosuka, south of Tokyo.

    “As (U.S.) President (Donald) Trump has made clear to the world, the era of strategic patience is over,” the vice president said.

    However, he also said the U.S. will “continue to work diligently” with Japan, China and other allies in the region to “bring economic and diplomatic pressure to bear on” North Korea.

    Pence arrived in Tokyo on Tuesday for a two-day visit, after wrapping up a three-day trip to South Korea, including a visit to the Demilitarised Zone between North and South Korea.

    He reassured Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on Tuesday that the U.S. stands behind Japan in the face of a nuclear threat from North Korea.

    “We are with you 100 per cent,” he told the premier.

    Pence’s visit to two U.S. allies in East Asia, part of a four-nation tour set to include stops in Indonesia and Australia, comes amid rising tensions over North Korea’s nuclear and missile programmes.

    His remarks also coincided with an embarrassing U.S. admission on Tuesday that an aircraft carrier Trump said 10 days ago was sailing to waters off the Korean Peninsula was in fact heading in the opposite direction.

    The USS Carl Vinson was now heading north to the Western Pacific “as a prudent measure,” according to the US Pacific Command.

    Under leader Kim Jong Un, North Korea has ramped up its programmes, carrying out two nuclear tests and launching some 20 ballistic missiles last year alone.

    Pyongyang made a failed ballistic missile launch attempt on Sunday, a day after the reclusive nation marked the

    105th anniversary of the birth of the late founding leader Kim Il Sung.

    “Those who would challenge our resolve or our readiness should know we will defeat any attack and meet any use of conventional or nuclear weapons with an overwhelming and effective American response,” Pence said later in Wednesday’s remarks.

    “The United States of America will always seek peace,” he said. “But under President Trump, the shield stands guard and the sword stands ready.”

     

  • North Korea to continue missile test

    North Korea will continue to test missiles, a senior official has said in Pyongyang, despite international condemnation and growing military tensions with the United States.

    “We’ll be conducting more missile tests on a weekly, monthly and yearly basis,” Vice Foreign Minister, Han Song-ryol, told the BBC.

    He said that an “all-out war” would result if the U.S took military action.

    Earlier, U.S Vice-President, Mike Pence, warned North Korea not to test the U.S.

    He said his country’s “era of strategic patience” with North Korea was over.

    Mr. Pence arrived in Seoul on Sunday hours after North Korea carried out a failed missile launch.

    Tensions have been escalating on the peninsula, with heated rhetoric from both North Korea and the U.S.

    Mr. Han told the BBC: “If the U.S is planning a military attack against us, we will react with a nuclear pre-emptive strike by our own style and method.”

    North Korea has accelerated its nuclear and missile tests in recent years, despite international condemnation and United Nations sanctions.