Category: WORLD NEWS

Opponents of the Maldives government clashed with police on the streets of the capital today, demanding the release of imprisoned politicians whose convictions were overturned by the Supreme Court. Last night court ruling ordered the release of the politicians, including exiled ex-President Mohamed Nasheed, saying their guilty verdicts had been influenced by the government. Hundreds of people celebrated in Male, the Indian Ocean archipelago’s capital, by waving the country’s flag, but police dispersed the crowds using pepper spray and batons. Rocks were thrown at police and at least one injured…

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Washington’s top diplomat was to sit down today with the leader of the country that President Donald Trump has perhaps disparaged more than any other, the United States’ neighbor Mexico. As he confronts the first stage on his first Latin American tour since being named secretary of state, former oilman Rex Tillerson will talk trade, crime and immigration with President Enrique Pena Nieto. Before setting off, Tillerson laid out a vision of the US and Latin America — the “democratic hemisphere” — working together to build a prosperous future, but…

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A court in southern Vietnam has sentenced a doctor to four years in prison for writing and posting dozens of articles on social media that the court said tarnished the image of the country’s leaders and instigated people to boycott local elections, state media reported today. Ho Van Hai, 54, was convicted of spreading propaganda against the state at his one-day trial in Ho Chi Minh City on Thursday. He was also sentenced to two years’ probation, Thanh Nien newspaper reported. He was accused of writing and posting three dozen…

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US President Donald Trump is set to approve the release of a controversial memo accusing the FBI of abusing its surveillance tools during its probe into alleged Russian collusion in the 2016 presidential election, setting up a clash with the intelligence agency. The approval for the release of such a memo, which is being opposed by the FBI, could come as soon as tonight, US media reported. A senior administration official, told reporters aboard Air Force One that the president is expected to tell Congress that he has no objections…

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Beijing criticised the “outdated Cold War mentality” of the United States today after President Donald Trump named China among threats to American values in his State of the Union address. In recent weeks, US officials have laid the groundwork for a strategic pivot that envisions a world of renewed great power competition with the likes of Russia and China. In his State of the Union address to Congress and the nation on Tuesday, Trump described Moscow and Beijing as challenging “our interests, our economy, and our values”. In Beijing today,…

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The legal woes of Pakistan’s ousted prime minister Nawaz Sharif and his family mounted today when a top court issued notices to them for allegedly committing contempt of court during a rally in Punjab province last week. The Lahore High Court issued notices to the federal government, Election Commission of Pakistan and the Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (Pemra) to submit their reply by February 14. Petitioner Amina Malik told the court that Sharif, his daughter Maryam, son-in-law Capt (retd.) Muhammad Safdar, Interior Minister Talal Chaudhry and Punjab law minister…

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An accountability court in Pakistan today rejected ousted premier Nawaz Sharif’s objections to the supplementary case filed against him and his family by the country’s anti-graft body over properties in London. The court holding trial in graft cases against Sharif and his family decided that the supplementary case would be made part of the record in the Avenfield flats case. The National Accountability Bureau (NAB) on January 22 filed a supplementary case with the accountability court’s registrar in Islamabad which is already trying Sharif and his family — two sons…

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A prominent Chinese human rights attorney has been charged with “inciting subversion of state power” and will be held in isolation far from his home, his lawyer said today. Yu Wensheng, 50, was initially charged with “disrupting a public service” after he was detained by a dozen police officers as he left his Beijing apartment to walk his son to school on January 19. But on Saturday police in the eastern city of Xuzhou, Jiangsu province, added the more serious subversion accusation, which carries a maximum prison sentence of 15…

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US President Donald Trump today asserted that America is committed to ensuring that Afghanistan never again becomes a safe haven for terrorists and urged other nations to invest in their own defences to make the world safer from rogue regimes. Addressing the World Economic Forum (WEF) gathering here, Trump said the US is working with allies and partners to destroy jihadist terrorist organisations such as ISIS. “We are committed to ensuring that Afghanistan never again becomes a safe haven for terrorists who want to commit mass murder of our citizens.…

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