Tag: politics

Five key dates for post-Soviet Russia

MOSCOW, Russia (AFP) — Here are five major dates in Russia since the disintegration of the USSR or the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. 1991: the Soviet Union dies December 8, Russian President Boris Yeltsin, elected six months earlier at the first multi-party election, agrees with his Belarussian and Ukrainian counterparts to replace their union, the USSR, with a commonwealth. As the Soviet Union disintegrates, leader Mikhail Gorbachev resigns. The USSR ceases to exist in […]

Hong Kong goes to polls in crunch vote for democrats

by Elaine Yu © Agence France-Presse HONG KONG, China (AFP) — Hong Kong’s pro-democracy camp will try to claw back lost seats as polls opened early Sunday in controversial by-elections that have exposed the heart of the city’s political divide. The vote comes as China signals a harder line against any challenges to its sovereignty, with high-profile young candidate Agnes Chow barred from standing because her party promotes self-determination for the semi-autonomous city. Beijing has become […]

Bannon tells French far-right: ‘history is on our side’

by Anne Renaut © Agence France-Presse LILLE, France (AFP) — Former top Trump aide Steve Bannon told the French far right on Saturday that “history is on our side” as he addressed the party conference of a National Front that is seeking to bounce back from crushing electoral setbacks. “The tide of history is with us and it will compel us to victory after victory, after victory,” Bannon, once a powerful figure in the Trump administration […]

Trump presses EU on trade barriers in tit-for-tat

by Alex Pigman Agence France-Presse WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — President Donald Trump renewed his demand Saturday that the European Union halts its trade barriers to US products in order to spare his allies new steel and aluminum tariffs. The American president made his comments after crunch talks in Brussels between EU negotiators and US Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer in an effort to defuse a bitter row that many fear could turn into an all-out trade […]

Modi, Macron sign key security deal with an eye on China

by Abhaya Srivastava © Agence France-Presse NEW DELHI, India (AFP) — French President Emmanuel Macron on Saturday said defense ties with India had reached a new high after the two nations signed a key security accord for the Indian Ocean to counter China’s growing influence in the region. “Defense cooperation between the two countries now has a new significance,” Macron said as a gushing Prime Minister Narendra Modi stood by his side. Under the deal, India […]

EU, Japan seek clarity from crunch US trade talks

by Alex Pigman © Agence France-Presse BRUSSELS, Belgium (AFP) — The EU and Japan held crunch talks with their US counterparts in Brussels on Saturday hoping to get “clarity” on President Donald Trump’s controversial new steel and aluminium tariffs. Trump’s announcement of duties of 25 percent on imported steel and 10 percent on aluminium has stung the European Union and triggered warnings of an all-out international trade war. Brussels has prepared a list of US products […]

Hundreds join anti-junta rally in Thailand as calls for democracy grow

BANGKOK, Thailand (AFP) — Hundreds of pro-democracy Thais rallied in Bangkok on Saturday to skewer the ruling junta with T-shirts, signs and speeches, as activists grow bolder in their defiance of a ban on protests. The military regime has kept a tight rein on dissent since its 2014 power grab by outlawing gatherings of more than five people and pursuing activists in the courts. But impatience with the generals has been mounting ever since their latest […]

Trump to make the first trip to Latin America

by Andrew Beatty Agence France-Presse WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — Donald Trump will make his Latin America debut next month, visiting Peru and Colombia after harsh rhetoric towards Hispanic migrants and neighbors to the south. Trump will travel to Peru to attend the Summit of the Americas in Lima on April 13-14, a gathering of leaders from across the Western Hemisphere. From there he will visit Colombia, White House officials told AFP. The announcement ends […]

US, China agree to keep the pressure on North Korea

by Andrew Beatty Agence France-Presse WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — Donald Trump enlisted Friday the help of China’s Xi Jinping to keep sanctions pressure on North Korea, amid fears that an audacious diplomatic gambit by the US president could lead to backsliding. In an evening tweet, Trump praised a possible future agreement with the communist North as “very good” for the international community as a whole, after the US leader stunned the world by accepting […]

Pangulong Duterte handang ipasuri sa anti-corruption body ang kaniyang bank account

MANILA, Philippines (Eagle News) — Wala umanong planong hadlangan ng Palasyo kung bubuksan ng Anti-Money Laundering Council (AMLC) ang bank accounts ni Pangulong Rodrigo Duterte. Tugon ito ni Presidential Spokesman Harry Roque nang matanong kung ipag-uutos ni Pangulong Duterte sa AMLC na makipag-ugnayan sa imbestigasyon ng Ombudsman sa umano’y tagong yaman ng Pangulo. Ayon pa sa kalihim, sa tingin niya ay puwede namang magkusa ang AMLC na buksan ang tinutukoy na bank account ni Pangulong […]

North Korea talks offer a defining challenge for Trump

  by Andrew Beatty Agence France Presse WASHINGTON, United States (AFP)  —  North Korea’s surprise offer of nuclear talks has thrown Donald Trump the biggest global challenge of his administration — and prompted a rare show of restraint from the usually outspoken president. Perched in the Oval Office, the 71-year-old president was uncharacteristically cautious. “I don’t want to talk so much about things that we don’t know yet,” he said, holding out for clarity about […]

S. Korean presidential hopeful quits after rape accusation

by Jung Hawon Agence France-Presse SEOUL, South Korea (AFP) — A former South Korean presidential contender stepped down as a provincial governor and announced his retirement from politics Tuesday in a stunning political fall after a female aide accused him of multiple rapes. Ahn Hee-jung — who came second to current President Moon Jae-in in the contest for the Democratic Party’s presidential nomination last year — is the most prominent figure to face abuse allegations […]