TUESDAY, JUNE 21, 2016
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15
Around the World
lawmakers convene in US election: Trump UK tribute to murdered politician fires campaign boss W hen slain British lawmaker Jo Cox made her first speech in Parliament last year, she said that despite diversity in the area of northern England she represented, people had "far more in common with each other than things that divide us".
T
he campaign manager for presumptive Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump has been fired. A campaign spokeswoman said Corey Lewandowski would no longer be working on it and said the team was grateful to him "for his hard work and dedication". Speaking on CNN, he did not deny being fired, replying "I don't know" when asked why he was let go. He oversaw the New Yorker's unlikely triumph in the primary contests. The exact reason for Lewandowski's departure was not yet clear, but he denied it was to do with his abrasive style. His departure comes as the businessman faces strong resistance from senior members of his own party over his strident tone, hard-line immigration policy and falling poll numbers. Lewandowski was not escorted from the building as some reported but accompanied by a "friend from the campaign", he told CNN, saying it had been a privi-
That comment by Cox, a mother of two young children who was murdered in the street last week by a man heard shouting "Britain first", was repeated by many lawmakers paying tribute to her life in a rare specially convened parliamentary Corey Lewandowski (left) has left the campaign for reasons that are unclear
lege to work on the team. He also denied he had not been getting along with top Trump strategist Paul Manafort and the Trump children. Lewandowski has had a contentious relationship with the press. Earlier this year, he was charged with battery after allegedly yanking a female reporter out of Trump's way after a campaign event. The charges were dropped. One Trump cam-
paign staff member told NBC News that the campaign was not briefed on Lewandowski's firing and that right now there was "bedlam in the Trump campaign. No one knows what is happening". Republicans have started to distance themselves from Trump following his personal attacks against a Hispanic federal judge overseeing two lawsuits against him. (Excerpt from BBC News)
NATO's Stoltenberg: EU sanctions on Russia should remain
T
he European Union should keep in place the sanctions imposed on Russia over the Ukraine crisis, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg told Reuters on Monday, a day after the German Foreign Minister said they should gradually be phased out. "My assessment is that one should not remove the economic sanctions before Russia has changed its behaviour. I believe there is a broad agreement about this in the EU," Stoltenberg said in an interview. German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier
was quoted on Sunday as saying the EU should gradually phase out the sanctions if there is substantial progress in the peace process and if Russia showed it was doing its part in implementing the Minsk peace plan for Ukraine. Steinmeier was quoted in a separate article as saying that NATO exercises in eastern Europe could worsen tensions with Russia, warning against what he called "sabre-rattling and shrill war cries". Stoltenberg told the Sueddeutsche Zeitung newspaper in Germany that NATO was actively seeking
to avoid an escalation with Russia, while standing firm against its aggressive behaviour. "The Cold War is over and we want it to stay that way," Stoltenberg was quoted as saying. "But we must react to a Russia that has tripled military spending since 2000, that is behaving far more aggressively, and that has used military force to change borders in Europe." Stoltenberg said plans to deploy a new NATO force in Poland and the three Baltic nations were aimed at preventing conflict, not provoking it. (Excerpt from Reuters)
India overhauls foreign ownership rules
I
ndia has announced a radical overhaul of its foreign ownership rules to attract more overseas investment. Airlines and some defence industries may now be 100 per cent foreign owned – up from 49 per cent and 74 per cent respectively. And for overseas retailers there's respite from a rule that required 30 per cent of what they sold to be Indian sourced. The BBC's Simon Atkinson in Mumbai said it was the biggest signal yet
that the country was serious about attracting more foreign investment. The move will be welcomed by brands like IKEA and Apple which see India as the next big market, he added Investment rules in pharmaceuticals and food production have also been relaxed. The new rules were introduced "with the objective of providing major impetus to employment and job creation in India" the Government said in a state-
ment. "With these changes, India is now the most open economy in the world for FDI [foreign direct investment]." Prime Minister Narendra Modi last announced major reforms in November 2015. The local sourcing rules have been relaxed for up to three years – and for another five years if the company can prove that "state-of-art" and "cutting edge" technology is involved. (Excerpt from BBC
News)
session on Monday. Prime Minister David Cameron, Opposition Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn and lawmakers from all parties praised 41-yearold Cox as a woman who fought hard for causes from women's rights to refugees. "Out of the deep darkness of Jo's death must now come the shining light of her legacy. So let us build a politics of hope not fear, respect not hate, unity not division," said Labour lawmaker Stephen Kinnock, who shared an office with Cox. Parliament had been recalled from campaigning for
Thursday's European Union referendum, and Kinnock criticised a poster from one of the "Leave" campaigns showing a photo of refugees walking through a field in Europe under the slogan "Breaking Point". The head of that campaign, UKIP party leader Nigel Farage, accused proEU campaigners of trying to exploit Cox's death to discredit the "Leave" cause and accuse its activists of fanning racism. Cox's constituency in the northern English county of Yorkshire has an ethnically diverse population. (Excerpt from
Reuters)
Bahrain strips Sheikh Isa Qassim of nationality
B
ahrain has stripped a leading Shia spiritual leader of his Bahraini nationality following a request from the Interior Ministry. The Bahrain News Agency quoted the Interior Ministry on Monday as saying that Sheikh Isa Qassim had played a key role in creating an "extremist" sectarian atmosphere and working to divide Bahraini society. After the decision was announced, several hundred Qassim supporters gathered outside his house in the mostly Shia village of Diraz, carrying posters and chanting religious slogans. Sayed Alwadaei, director of advocacy at the Bahrain Institute for Rights and Democracy, said in a statement that the decision would escalate tensions and may lead to violence. Hezbollah, the Lebanese
Sheikh Isa Qassim has been accused of working to divide Bahraini society [AP]
Shia group, said the decision would have "grave consequences", while Qassem Soleimani, the commander of Iran's Revolutionary Guards, gave a warning of armed resistance to Bahrain's rulers. In a statement published by Fars news agen-
cy, Soleimani said: "The Al Khalifa [rulers of Bahrain] surely know their aggression against Sheikh Isa Qassim is a red line that crossing it would set Bahrain and the whole region on fire, and it would leave no choice for people but to resort to armed resistance. "Al Khalifa will definitely pay the price for that and their blood-thirsty regime will be toppled." However, Saudi Arabia's senior council of religious leaders, who follow a conservative Sunni ideology that is at odds with Iran's Shia leadership, welcomed the actions taken by Bahrain. A Bahraini Interior Ministry statement said Qassim had endorsed "the theory of theocracy" and had used his sermons to serve foreign interests, an apparent reference to Iran. (Excerpt from
Al Jazeera)
Afghanistan: 14 Nepali security guards killed in Kabul
A
wave of attacks in Afghanistan has killed at least 23 people, with the Taliban claiming responsibility for at least two of the blasts. On Monday morning, at least 14 Nepali security guards were killed after a suicide bomber hit a minibus in Afghanistan's capital, Kabul, along the main road to the eastern city of Jalalabad, Police said. The attacker was on foot, Police said, as they reported multiple casualties among the passengers who worked at the Canadian embassy. Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid claimed responsibility for the attack on social media, saying it was "against the forces of aggression" in Afghanistan. Less than three hours later, another attack in eastern Kabul targeting a politician killed at least one person, injured the Member of Parliament and wounded
The last attack in the Afghan capital on April 19 left 64 dead and more than 340 wounded
five others. The Taliban also claimed that attack. A security official said a magnetic bomb planted in the vehicle of MP Ataullah Faizani was detonated in the Chel Siton area. A third attack – a motorcycle bomb blast at a market in the remote north-eastern province of Badakshan – killed at least eight people and wounded 18, and it is feared the death toll will rise. There was no immedi-
ate claim of responsibility. Al Jazeera's Qais Azimy, reporting from Kabul, said after the first attack that "Afghan Police told us they have reports that this kind of attack could happen again". The bus bombing was the first attack in Kabul since the start of the holy fasting month of Ramadan on June 6. More than 24 ambulances rushed to the scene. (Excerpt
from Al Jazeera)