by admin | May 25, 2021 | World
Washington : The White House rejected Turkey’s offer to release an American pastor in exchange for forgiveness of billions of dollars in US fines on a Turkish bank, a senior administration official told The Wall Street Journal.
The rejection could lead to the US imposing additional sanctions against Turkey sometime this week, the Journal reported on Sunday.
Last week, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said that the US was willing to do so if the pastor Andrew Brunson was not released.
“A real NATO ally wouldn’t have arrested Brunson in the first place,” the senior White House official told the Journal. Turkey is a member of the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO).
Brunson’s incarceration in a Turkish prison has soured the two countries’ relationship, sparking a crisis that has contributed to a sharp decline in Turkey’s currency, reports CNN.
On Friday, a Turkish high criminal court rejected Brunson’s appeal to be released from house arrest and allowed to travel abroad after his appeal was rejected by a lower court.
The North Carolina pastor has been held in Turkey since 2016 after being accused of helping plot a coup attempt against Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
—IANS
by admin | May 25, 2021 | Muslim World
Washington : The White House on Tuesday hailed its ties with Israel to prove the global popularity of the foreign policy rolled out by the Trump administration.
According to notes provided by the White House correspondents pool, Hogan Gidley, the White House deputy press secretary, told the media that U.S. ties with Israel proves that Washington’s foreign policy is beloved around the world, Xinhua reported.
“Israel. It’s Israel. That’s one,” he said during a flight from Washington to Greenbrier Valley Airport of West Virginia. “You’ve seen the relationship with Israel that is greatly enhanced because of this President.”
Israel “was virtually thought of to be an enemy of the American people in the last administration,” Gidley said. “I think he’s turned things around in a big way.”
He also boasted the controversial “partnerships on air strikes in Syria” on April 13, when US President Donald Trump ordered to attack Syria in coordination with Britain and France in response to the alleged chemical attacks in the nation.
The Syrian government has denied the accusations, saying the move illustrates again the Western nations’ disregard for international laws. Russia, Iran and Lebanon, as well as many West nations, have condemned the attack on Syria.
The foreign policy of the Trump administration, featuring dropouts from multiple international treaties and organisations and threats to slap tariffs on many countries and allies, has been lashed out at around the globe.
Specifically, Washington’s recognition of Jerusalem as the Israeli capital and the opening of U.S. embassy there have caused global outrages and heightened tensions in the region.
—IANS
by admin | May 25, 2021 | World
Washington : US President Donald Trump on Wednesday reproached Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, claiming that Canada burned the White House in the War of 1812, although that was actually done by British troops, media reports said.
According to a CNN reported, citing unnamed sources, during a May 25 telephone call to discuss US tariffs on Canadian steel and aluminum, Trudeau asked Trump how he could use national security to justify imposing the tariffs.
“Didn’t you guys burn down the White House?” Trump reportedly responded in what was an overall “testy” conversation.
Since Trump announced that he was weighing the possibility of imposing tariffs on steel and aluminum imports — although he temporarily agreed to exclude the European Union, Australia, Argentina, Brazil, Canada, South Korea and Mexico — the White House has taken the stance that it was being done on the basis of national security.
The justification for that argument, however, has been called into question both by experts and other leaders, Efe reported.
In fact, during an interview last weekend – and with the tariffs already in place – Trudeau said it was “inconceivable” that the Trump administration could suspect Canada, one of Washington’s closest allies over many decades, of posing a national security threat to the US, adding at a press conference that suggesting such a thing was an “affront” to Canada.
When asked whether he simply took Trump’s comment as some sort of “joke,” the Canadian leader said “To the degree one can ever take what is said as a joke. The impact on Canada and ultimately on workers in the US won’t be a laughing matter.”
Regarding the burning of the White House on Aug. 24, 1814, in fact it was British troops who – after invading Washington in the War of 1812 – burned several federal buildings including the White House and the US Capitol.
Canada was still a British colony – and thus did not exist as an independent country – at the time and the British occupation of Washington came in response to an American attack on the city of York, Ontario.
This is not the first time that Trump has made a comment that riled the Canadians. In March, he boasted before television cameras that he had lied to Trudeau by claiming that Washington has a trade deficit with its northern neighbor.
—IANS
by admin | May 25, 2021 | World
Washington : The White House has denied any direct talks yet between US President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, though Washington has spoken to Pyongyang “at the highest levels”.
The White House statement on Tuesday came minutes after Trump seemingly hinted that he has already spoken with Kim, Xinhua news agency reported.
When asked by reporters if he had spoken directly with Kim, Trump had said “yes”.
In the statement, issued after the confusing incident, the White House said, “In regards to talks with leader Kim Jong-un, the President said the administration has had talks at the highest levels” and added that they were not with him directly.
On Tuesday afternoon, Trump himself also said that Washington and Pyongyang have already started direct talks at “very high levels,” without specifying how “high” the level was.
“We have had direct talks at very high levels, extremely high levels with North Korea,” Trump said. He might have hinted at CIA Director Mike Pompeo’s reportedly top-secret visit to North Korea over Easter weekend as his envoy.
The trip made by Pompeo was an effort to lay the groundwork for direct talks between the leaders of the two countries. No official confirmation of Pompeo’s visit has come yet.
Trump was expected to meet Kim in May or early June. The venue of the meeting was still to be decided. Trump said that five sites were being weighed and none of them were located in the US.
Tension on the Korean Peninsula has thawed over the last few months. The South and North have agreed to hold an inter-Korean summit on April 27, the first meeting between the leaders of the two sides in 11 years.
“They do have my blessing to discuss the end of the war,” said Trump on Tuesday, referring to the summit.
The 1950-1953 Korean war ended in an armistice. The Korean Peninsula remains technically in a state of war.
—IANS
by admin | May 25, 2021 | Muslim World
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Washington : The national security advisors of the US, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) met at the White House on Friday to discuss joint efforts to counter the “Iranian regime’s malign influence and provocative behavior.”
The White House said in a statement that security officials of the three nations talked about issues of strategic importance to the three countries.
Senior officials from the US Departments of State, Defense, the Treasury and the intelligence community participated in the meeting, Xinhua reported.
The leaders agreed to meet trilaterally on a regular basis to develop and implement joint frameworks to mitigate threats to regional security and to bring greater peace, stability and prosperity to the Middle East.
“Additionally, the National Security Advisor of Afghanistan joined a session focused on discussing ways the US, Saudi Arabia and the UAE can partner with Afghanistan to support the Afghan government and set conditions for an enduring peace settlement,” said the White House.
Also on Friday, the US sanctioned an Iranian entity and 10 individuals over “malicious cyber-enabled activities,” saying the hackers worked at the behest of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps.
Iranian Foreign Ministry said on Saturday that the US measures were “illegal and provocative,” proving the US inherent hostility against Tehran.
It also condemned Saudi Arabia’s allegations that Iran “is the source of terror and extremism,” saying that Saudi Arabia itself was the “essential source and cause of terrorism and extremism.
—IANS
