by admin | May 25, 2021 | World
Washington : US President Donald Trump has slammed Attorney General Jeff Sessions for deigning to indict members of his own party just weeks before the midterm elections.
Trump on Monday blasted Sessions and lamented the indictments of Duncan Hunter and Chris Collins who were his earliest supporters in the Congress during the 2016 election, suggesting they should not have been charged because they are Republicans, the CNN reported.
“Two long running, Obama era, investigations of two very popular Republican Congressmen were brought to a well publicised charge, just ahead of the Mid-Terms, by the Jeff Sessions Justice Department,” Trump tweeted.
“Two easy wins now in doubt because there is not enough time. Good job Jeff…”
New York Congressman Collins was charged with insider trading in August — he made a possibly incriminating phone call on White House grounds.
While California’s Hunter is accused of engaging in graft over many years, which includes disguising personal purchases as benefits to military veterans, the Time said.
The comment on Monday was the latest indication that Trump, who ran on a pledge to “drain the swamp”, believes his political allies should be immune from prosecution, regardless of the evidence stacked against them, the CNN said.
The Justice Department declined to comment on the President’s tweets.
—IANS
by admin | May 25, 2021 | Muslim World
Washington : US President Donald Trump has ordered more than $200 million in economic aid which was to be allocated to Gaza and the West Bank be redirected elsewhere.
A State Department official said the decision was made after a review “to ensure these funds are spent in accordance with US national interests”, BBC reported on Friday.
It has already withheld $65 million from the UN relief agency for the Palestinians.
Relations between the Palestinians and the US have been difficult since Trump took power.
They hit a low point after the US recognised Jerusalem as Israel’s capital in December 2017. As a result, the Palestinians said the US was unable to continue its mediation role in the peace process and suspended contact.
The US administration, meanwhile, suspended aid to the Palestinians pending a review in the light of the Taylor Force Act back in June.
The act aimed to force the Palestinian Authority to cease paying stipends to families of individuals convicted of terrorism against Israel.
On Friday, a State Department spokesman said the decision to “redirect” the funds to other “high-priority projects” was made as a result of the review, but did not say where the money would now go.
Both the Palestinians and the United Nations Relief and Works Agency warned cutting funding would make everyday life harder for the territories’ citizens
However, the US official said the decision took into account “the challenges the international community faces in providing assistance in Gaza, where Hamas control endangers the lives of Gaza’s citizens and degrades an already dire humanitarian and economic situation”.
—IANS
by admin | May 25, 2021 | Muslim World
Iranian Foreign Ministry Spokesman Bahram Qasimi.
By Ali Murat Alhas,
Ankara: An Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman on Thursday called on the U.S. to return to a landmark nuclear deal from which it withdrew earlier this year.
Speaking on Iranian state television, ministry spokesman Bahram Qasimi said that returning to the nuclear deal would be “the best option” for the U.S.
“I hope the U.S. views Iran — and the region in general — in a positive light and doesn’t repeat its past mistakes as the situation in the Middle East is very sensitive,” he said.
Noting that U.S. President Donald Trump would be unable to implement all of his planned policies, Qasimi said the U.S. had become “isolated” as a result of its decision to withdraw from the agreement.
EU countries, he said, thanks to their close ties with the U.S., should work to correct Trump’s Iran policy and advise him on Asia and the Middle East policymaking.
Russia and China, he added, should also work on convincing the U.S. president to remain a party to the nuclear deal.
“What Trump must understand… is that returning to the nuclear agreement is his best option,” Qasimi asserted.
“What’s more, the U.S. should abandon its sanctions policy, because such political maneuvering only hurts its reputation,” he said.
In mid-2015, Iran signed a landmark nuclear deal with the P5+1 group of nations (the five permanent UN Security Council members plus Germany).
The agreement placed tight restrictions on Iran’s nuclear program in exchange for billions of dollars in sanctions relief.
In May of this year, however, Trump unilaterally withdrew the U.S. from the agreement, which he had earlier described as the “worst deal ever”.
The move drew widespread criticism among the agreement’s other signatories.
Washington then re-imposed sanctions on Iran, which primarily target the country’s banking sector.
The sanctions are intended to hinder Tehran’s acquisition of U.S. currency; its precious metals trade; bank transactions denominated in Iranian currency; activities related to Iran’s sovereign debt; and the country’s automotive sector.
—AA
by admin | May 25, 2021 | World
Washington : US President Donald Trump said on Saturday that the US has ended the development fund for Syria, urging “rich countries” to pay instead.
In a tweet, Trump said “the US has ended the ridiculous $230 million yearly development payment to Syria.”
“Saudi Arabia and other rich countries in the Middle East will start making payments instead of the US,” he said.
“I want to develop the US, our military and countries that help us!”
Earlier on Friday, the US State Department said that the fund, which was targeted to support the stabilization initiative in Syria, has been ordered to be redirected, ramping up speculation that it would be withdrawn from the country.
US former Secretary of State Rex Tillerson announced on February 13 that the US pledges $200 million in support of the anti-IS coalition efforts and recovery commitment in Syria, Xinhua reported.
However, Trump reportedly ordered in March a hold on the funds, demanding more information on how the money is being used, and urging other countries to step up to the plate and pay more.
He also said that his country will withdraw its troops in Syria “very soon,” triggering speculation of the US possible retreat from Syria.
Syria has always denounced the US military action in the country as uninvited aggression.
—IANS
by admin | May 25, 2021 | World
Washington : US President Donald Trump signed into law the $717 billion annual defence policy bill, the earliest in the year the bill has become law in more than four decades.
“The National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) is the most significant investment in our military and our warfighters in modern history, and I am very proud to be a big, big part of it,” Trump said before signing the bill on Monday.
“It was not very hard. You know, I went to Congress, I said let’s do it, we got to do it. We’re going to strengthen our military like never, ever before, and that’s what we did,” he said.
Trump signed the bill during a visit to Fort Drum, New York, where he was joined by Vice President Mike Pence, Deputy Defence Secretary Patrick Shanahan and the Joint Chiefs of Staff Joseph Dunford, reports The Hill.
This year’s NDAA authorizes about $639 billion for the base budget of the Pentagon and defence programmes of the Energy Department.
It also allows for another $69 billion for a war fund known as the Overseas Contingency Operations (OCO) account.
It fulfils several of the administration’s priorities to bulk up the military, including adding 15,600 troops across the Army, Navy, Air Force and Marine Corps.
The bill also follows the administration’s request for 77 F-35 fighter jets and goes beyond the its request for Navy ships, authorizing a total of 13 new vessels.
“We will replace aging tanks, aging planes and ships with the most advanced and lethal technology ever developed, and hopefully we’ll be so strong we’ll never have to use them,” Trump said.
The bill also gives troops a 2.6 per cent pay raise, the highest in nine years, The Hill reported.
On Monday, Trump made no mention of the bill’s namesake.
With the NDAA signed into law, Congress now turns its attention to passing a defence spending bill to make the dollar amounts authorized by the NDAA a reality.
The House passed a Pentagon spending bill in June, while the Senate is expected to start considering its version as soon as this week.
—IANS
