Category: WORLD NEWS

The word Brexit is “over” and is receding behind us into history, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said on Monday in his first major speech since the UK formally left the European Union after 47 years of membership following the vote in favour of the divorce deal in June 2016.The UK formally left the EU on January 31 and is now in a pre-agreed period of transition during which it is free to open up trade talks with countries around the world.In a triumphant vision statement for the UK to…

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Prime Minister Boris Johnson will hold talks on post-Brexit trade with the top US diplomat on Thursday, eve of Britain’s historic departure from the European Union.The British premier will aim to paper over recent disagreements as he hosts US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo the day before nearly half a century of EU membership ends late Friday.With Britain at a historic crossroads, Johnson wants to strike post-Brexit trade deals with both the bloc and the US, but has seen recent strains in the so-called “special relationship” with Washington.Britain will enter…

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Britain’s economy, lifted by the country’s post-election political stability, risks fresh turbulence as Prime Minister Boris Johnson seeks tricky Brexit trade deals amid global threats that include the coronavirus. Recent positive British economic data offset weaker figures at the end of 2019, but this is not expected to have a lasting impact despite government promises of major infrastructure spending. On the eve of Brexit, there is a strong possibility that the Bank of England will later Thursday announce its first interest rate cut in more than three years, as economic…

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Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Tuesday announced that he was withdrawing his request for parliamentary immunity in the three graft cases against him to stop the “dirty game” over the issue, paving the way for legal proceedings against him to go forward.The Israeli leader made his decision public through a Facebook Post from Washington, where he is on a visit to meet US President Donald Trump before the latter announces his plan for peace between Israel and the Palestinians. Netanyahu, Israel’s longest-serving prime minister, was indicted on counts of…

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Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Tuesday announced that he was withdrawing his request for parliamentary immunity in the three graft cases against him to stop the “dirty game” over the issue, paving the way for legal proceedings against him to go forward.The Israeli leader made his decision public through a Facebook Post from Washington, where he is on a visit to meet US President Donald Trump before the latter announces his plan for peace between Israel and the Palestinians.Netanyahu, Israel’s longest-serving prime minister, was indicted on counts of fraud,…

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President Donald Trump’s lawyers plunged into his impeachment trial defense Saturday by accusing Democrats of striving to overturn the 2016 election, arguing that investigations of Trump’s dealings with Ukraine have not been a fact-finding mission but a politically motivated effort to drive him from the White House. They’re here to perpetrate the most massive interference in an election in American history,” White House counsel Pat Cipollone told senators. And we can’t allow that to happen.” The Trump legal team’s arguments in the rare Saturday session were aimed at rebutting allegations…

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Sri Lankan President Gotabaya Rajapaksa has halted the arrest of a judge accused of conspiring with Opposition leader Ranjan Ramanayake to fabricate evidence in an ongoing court case. Attorney General Dappula de Livera had directed the police to arrest Judge Gihan Pilapitiya over tapes where he and Ramanayke are heard discussing impending judgments and ongoing investigations. The recent tapes controversy has rocked the island nation in which there are over 1,20,000 conversations of Ramanyake speaking to politicians, their wives, top judges, policemen and investigators. Pilapitiya had been interdicted following the…

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Led by Congressman Adam Schiff, House Democrats on Wednesday began making a strong case before Senators to remove President Donald Trump in the third ever impeachment trial in the American history.Knowing that they are unlikely to succeed in ousting Trump from the White House as Republicans enjoy a 53-47 majority in the 100-membered Senate, the managers of the House, wherein Democrats enjoy a majority, had their arguments on the Senate floor with an eye on the November elections. Making a strong plea before Senators, Democratic Congressman Schiff, who is the…

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Prince Harry and his wife Meghan Markle, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, have signed up to a formal exit deal from the royal family, which will see them forsake their His and Her Royal Highness (HRH) titles and will no longer receive UK taxpayers’ funding for their duties. The deal, which comes into effect by spring in a few weeks’ time, means the couple will no longer be representing the Queen in an official capacity.“The Sussexes will not use their HRH titles as they are no longer working members…

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Mumbai Russia’s Vladimir Putin and China’s Xi Jinping have established themselves as the world’s most powerful authoritarian leaders in decades.Now it looks like they want to hang on to those roles indefinitely.Putin’s sudden announcement this week of constitutional changes that could allow him to extend control way beyond the end of his term in 2024 echoes Xi’s move in 2018 to eliminate constitutional term limits on the head of state.That could give them many more years at the helm of two major powers that are frequently at odds with Washington…

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