by admin | May 25, 2021 | Media, World
By Behlul Cetinkaya and Meltem Bulur,
Ankara: The cover of TIME magazine’s latest issue shows the U.S. isolated from its most important allies, on Friday.
A prominent U.S. weekly TIME pictured the U.S. in the center of the cover while the other countries layered around the edges.
According to the article titled “America Alone” – written by Karl Vick — the country has lost its aura and has increasingly isolated itself under the Trump administration.
The article stressed that the U.S. had become a country today criticized on issues such as freedom of press and migration — a formidable contrast from its image as a source of inspiration for democracy after World War II.
The article recalls an incident in which a petition was circulated in the U.K., a longtime U.S. ally, to ban Donald Trump from entering the country.
As the U.S. prestige fades, the world searches for a new leader, says the article.
A sentiment echoed by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan after Trump decided to recognize Jerusalem as Israel’s capital.
“The U.S. was left alone because of its wrong decision,” Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said after an overwhelming 128 members voted last month in favor of a resolution that rejected the recognition of Jerusalem as the capital of Israel and called on the Trump administration to reverse its move.
Nine countries voted against, 35 others abstained and 21 did not cast a vote.
In Syria as well, U.S. efforts to play a role have been trumped by initiatives taken by Ankara, Tehran and Russia namely at peace talks in Sochi, Russia and Astana, Kazakhstan.
The U.S. is however present at the UN-led peace talks in Geneva.
In Astana and Sochi, U.S.-backed groups do not attend the meetings as a result of a decision taken by Turkey, Russia and Iran.
PYD/PKK, U.S. supported terrorist organization, were not invited to Sochi and Astana, upon Turkey’s request.
The U.S. has supported the PYD/PKK — considered by Ankara as the Syrian offshoot of the PKK terrorist organization that has waged a more than 30-year war against the Turkish state. The terror campaign has resulted in tens of thousands of deaths, including women and children.
—AA
by admin | May 25, 2021 | World
Sergei Lavrov
Moscow : The sanctions imposed on Russia by the US are groundless and will not affect Moscow’s foreign policy, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov has said.
“We consider that the sanctions are imposed absolutely without any grounds as for the reasons behind them… Russia’s honest, open and constructive policy cannot be changed by them,” Lavrov said in an interview with a newspaper on Sunday, Xinhua reported.
Lavrov’s remarks are in response to the upcoming release of two reports by the US presidential administration, concerning backgrounds of high-ranking Russian officials and the feasibility of imposing new economic sanctions on Moscow.
The minister said that Russia’s foreign policy is based on the country’s national interests and will not submit to foreign pressure.
“The fact that our foreign policy enjoys a broad support in society is the best evidence that the attempt to change our foreign policy by putting pressure on our elites and certain companies is unpromising,” he said.
In August 2017, US President Donald Trump signed into law a new package of sanctions against Russia. Unlike previous sanctions bills, the new legislation grants US lawmakers power to block Trump from unilaterally lifting the sanctions.
Washington’s relationship with Moscow has been sour for some time, amid disagreements involving the war in Syria, the conflict in Ukraine and the Kremlin’s alleged meddling in the 2016 US presidential elections, among others.
—IANS
by admin | May 25, 2021 | World
By Michael Hernandez,
Washington: Senate moderates scrambled futilely Sunday to finalize a compromise bill that would have ensured hundreds of thousands of federal government workers could go to work Monday – the first day a government shutdown will be fully felt.
The bipartisan group of senators presented Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and Minority Leader Chuck Schumer with their proposal to pull the U.S. out of its funding deadlock.
The deal would see the government funded until early February in exchange for a promise from McConnell to hold a vote on immigration reform in the coming weeks.
Democrats have rejected any stopgap spending bill that does not including a renewal of protections for people brought to the U.S. illegally as children, a group collectively known as “Dreamers”.
The parties wrangled over whether the vote to extend the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program should take place before or after the time frame in which the compromise bill would fund the government.
But McConnell said late Sunday there would not be a vote Sunday, instead adjourning the chamber with a vote expected noon Monday.
The shutdown’s effects have been mostly muted so far due to the fact that it has only been in effect over the weekend when most government workers would be home anyway and agencies would either be closed or working on a limited basis.
Some national parks have been closed, as well as agencies deemed non-essential. But law enforcement and military operations, air traffic control, and border security have continued unabated.
Those are tasks deemed essential, and are unaffected by the shutdown. The employees who carry out their duties, however, have to go without a paycheck until the shutdown ends.
Democratic support for any spending bill is essential with Republicans holding a razor-thin 51-seat majority in the 100-member Senate. Republican leadership would need about a dozen Democrats to ensure the legislation can clear a potential filibuster.
Earlier Sunday, President Donald Trump urged his party to change Senate rules to end the filibuster, a proposal both parties have traditionally shirked away from, and which McConnell rejected.
“Republicans should go to 51% (Nuclear Option) and vote on real, long term budget, no C.R.’s!” Trump said on Twitter, referring to Continuing Resolutions, or stopgap measures.
—AA
by admin | May 25, 2021 | News, Politics
By Arul Louis,
New York : As an upstart candidate aiming for the highest office in the United States, Donald Trump promised an election rally of Indians that they “will have a true friend in the White House” and “we are going to be best friends” with India.
In his first year as President, Trump has stuck to the promise, appointing for the first time an Indian-American, Nikki Haley, to the cabinet and giving India a “leadership role” in Washington’s global strategy across a broad geographic swath.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi, a man of humble origins, and Trump, a billionaire and a flamboyant reality TV personality, have struck an unlikely friendship.
During a White House visit in June, their hitherto phone friendship was sealed with hugs. “The relationship between India and the US has never been stronger, never been better,” Trump declared. “I am thrilled to salute you, Prime Minister Modi, and the Indian people for all you are accomplishing together.”
The ties have been growing strong under the previous three administrations of Presidents Bill Clinton, George W. Bush and Barack Obama, and Trump has moved it to a higher trajectory given its preoccupations with China and Afghanistan.
Global security has emerged as the centrepiece of Trump’s approach to India.
“We welcome India’s emergence as a leading global power and stronger strategic and defence partner,” said his national strategy unveiled last month, with a view to making New Delhi a counter-balance to Beijing in the Indo-Pacific region.
And Modi had said in October that India-US ties were growing with a “great deal of speed”.
While Indian-Americans are overwhelmingly Democrat — a Pew Research Center survey said 65 percent support that party — Trump has given members of the community some top administration jobs.
Trump appointed Haley to the high profile US cabinet rank post as UN Permanent Representative in which she is often the face of Trump’s hardline foreign policy.
Ajit Pai became the Chairman of the Federal Communication Commission, a position with a vast portfolio overseeing of the Internet, mobile phones, airwaves, broadcast and communications. He took the administration’s controversial decision to end net neutrality.
Trump appointed Raj Shah as his deputy adviser and principal deputy press secretary. Uttam Dhillon, another deputy adviser, is also his deputy counsel.
Others include Seema Verma, administrator of the health insurance programmes for seniors and the poor; Neomi Rao, administrator of the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs; Vishal J. Amin, White House’s intellectual property enforcement official, and Neil Chatterjee, a member of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission. They all shape and implement Trump’s controversial policies.
But there have also been areas of friction with India, with immigration as the most contentious. The Trump administration — and his campaign — have signalled plans to fundamentally change the H-1B visa programme for professionals that overwhelmingly benefits Indians. But so far it hasn’t, although it has tightened the scrutiny of the visas.
It also backed off a threat to make H1-B visa holders in line for Green Cards return home while they wait out the years for their permanent residencies.
He has also announced that he wants to end the immigration of relatives beyond the immediate family, categories that mean a lot to Indians. But his proposed reforms also include a points system to rank applicants on the basis of their qualifications, which could benefit Indians.
On the economic front, Trump’s “America First” and Modi’s “Make in India” are likely to come into conflict as each seek manufacturing, jobs and investments in their own economies, and Trump threatening nations with which the US has a trade deficit.
The five Indian Americans in the Congress opposed Trump on most issues. The first Senator of Indian-American ancestry, Democrat Kamala Harris, has emerged as one of the fiercest critics of Trump. She is pushing the Senator Judiciary Committee enquiry into Trump campaign’s alleged links to Russia and has called for his resignation over charges of sexual harassment.
But Trump’s India policy “transcends partisanship” and the party supports his initiatives to strengthen it further, according to Democratic Congressman Raja Krishnamoorthi.
An important area of convergence for the two countries is the fight against terrorism. “Both our nations have been struck by the evils of terrorism and we are both determined to destroy terrorist organisations and the radical ideology that drives them,” Trump said during Modi’s visit to the White House in June.
After several warnings to Pakistan that it “has much to lose” by supporting terrorists, the Trump administration tightened the screws on Islamabad by suspending security assistance this month.
The administration has added Hizb-ul-Mujahideen, which carries out attacks in Jammu and Kashmir, and its leader Mohammad Yusuf Shah to the lists of global terrorist organisations and individuals to choke off financial and other support.
In the South Asia region, where Trump’s main focus is on stabilizing Afghanistan and ending terrorism there, Trump said in his August strategy speech, a “critical part of the South Asia strategy for America is to further develop its strategic partnership with India – the world’s largest democracy and a key security and economic partner of the US”.
He asked India “to help us more with Afghanistan”.
But the truly transformational prospects are in the Indo-Pacific region where the US and its allies see a growing threat from China – and for Washington a challenge to its global status.
In his National Strategy document Trump declared: “We will deepen our strategic partnership with India and support its leadership role in Indian Ocean security and throughout the broader region.
“We will seek to increase quadrilateral cooperation with Japan, Australia, and India.”
(Arul Louis can be reached at arul.l@ians.in)
—IANS
by admin | May 25, 2021 | World
Washington : The US government began shutting down on Saturday, putting thousands of workers on unpaid leave, after the Senate failed to pass a stopgap budget.
The shutdown marked the first anniversary of President Donald Trump’s inauguration, media reports said.
It is the first shutdown in US history to happen while the same party controls both chambers of Congress and the White House, the BBC reported.
Despite last minute bipartisan meetings, the bill to fund the government until February 16, did not receive the required 60 votes.
The budget proposal presented by the Republicans on Friday night got more votes in favour (50) than against (48), but they were insufficient to approve funds. Four Republicans voted against the bill while five Democrats broke rank to support it.
Earlier on Thursday night, the House of Representatives voted 230-197 to extend funding until February.
Minutes before the midnight deadline expired, White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders blamed Senate Democrats on Twitter for the “Schumer Shutdown”, the New York Times report said. (Chuck Schumer, the top Democrat in the Senate, is seen as the prime opponent to the stopgap budget).
“Tonight, they put politics over our national security, military families, vulnerable children, and our country’s ability to serve all Americans,” Sanders said.
“We will not negotiate the status of unlawful immigrants while Democrats hold our lawful citizens hostage over their reckless demands.
“This is the behaviour of obstructionist losers, not legislators,” she added.
Sanders said “the President and his administration will fight for and protect” the American people during the “politically manufactured” shutdown.
The rejection of the funding bill by the Senate meant many government services would close down until the budget was agreed upon.
The last US shutdown was in 2013 during the Barrack Obama administration. It lasted for 16 days when many federal employees were forced to take leave of absence.
On Saturday, Trump wrote on Twitter: “Not looking good for our great Military or Safety and Security on the very dangerous Southern Border. Dems want a Shutdown in order to help diminish the great success of the Tax Cuts, and what they are doing for our booming economy.”
According to a report in The Guardian, federal law requires agencies to shut down if Congress has not appropriated money to fund them.
In previous shutdowns, services deemed “essential”, such as the work of the Department of Homeland Security and the FBI, have continued.
—IANS
