Bangladesh PM lashes out at Myanmar on Rohingya issue, and French President ready to take over role of global leader.
Donald Trump accuses China of interfering in midterm elections, without proof
US President Donald Trump Wednesday accused China of meddling in the country’s midterm elections, scheduled for November, with an intention to damage him politically, CNN reported. He made the claim without citing any evidence.
“Regrettably, we found that China has been attempting to interfere in our upcoming 2018 election — coming up in November — against my administration,” Trump said at a UN Security Council meeting. He also claimed the interference was backlash for the import tariffs he has imposed on Chinese goods.
“They do not want me or us to win because I am the first president ever to challenge China on trade,” he added.
Denying Trump’s accusations, China’s minister of foreign affairs Wang Yi said that the country had always followed the principle of non-interference in other countries’ domestic affairs, which he described as a tradition of Chinese foreign policy.
“We refuse to accept any unwarranted accusations against China, and we call upon other countries to also observe the purposes of the UN charter and not to interfere in other countries’ internal affairs,” Wang added.
Bangladesh PM says patience with Myanmar on Rohingya ‘thinning out’
Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has said that Myanmar is “finding new excuses” to delay the return of 700,000 Rohingya refugees living in her country after reportedly being driven out of their home in Rakhine, Reuters reported.
In an exclusive interview with the news agency, Hasina said that “under no circumstances” could the Rohingya refugees be permanently settled in the already crowded country.
“I already have 160 million people in my country, I can’t take any other burden. I can’t take it. My country cannot bear it,” Hasina was quoted as saying.
She said that her patience was thinning out, but added that Bangladesh did not want to pick a fight with its neighbour.
Last month, Myanmar leader Aung San Suu Kyi had remarked that the repatriation of the Rohingya depended on Bangladesh.
In November last year, both countries had reached a deal to begin the repatriation process within two months. However, it is yet to begin.
Emmanuel Macron lashes out on Donald Trump at UN assembly meet
French President Emmanuel Macron criticised Tuesday the policies pursued by his US counterpart Donald Trump on Iran, climate change, the UN, immigrants, and the Middle East, CNN reported.
Addressing the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA), he also suggested that he was ready to assume the role of global leader traditionally assumed by American presidents.
Macron also lashed out at the isolationist message sent out by Trump in his UNGA address a day earlier. “I shall never stop upholding the principle of sovereignty,” said Macron, “Even in the face of certain nationalism which we’re seeing today, brandishing sovereignty as a way of attacking others.”
Where the US President had urged world leaders to reject globalism, Macron sought a collective and inclusive world order under which everyone takes responsible actions.
Google admits it is creating a censored search engine for China
Google has finally admitted that it is designing a search product tailored to China’s censorship rules under the codename ‘Project Dragonfly’, CNN reported.
Rumours about the project came up repeatedly at a Senate committee hearing in Washington Wednesday, where top bosses of several technology and telecommunications giants were testifying on a potential law to regulate data privacy. Even so, the Google privacy official who attended the hearing said the launch of the China project was not certain.
Google remains banned in China, where strict internet censorship is the order of the day. The bid to create a special product for the country is aimed at tapping the vast consumer base on offer in China.
Meanwhile, The New York Times reported that a former Google research scientist, who is said to have quit the search giant over the controversial China search engine, lashed out at the product in a letter to American lawmakers.
Beijing refuses US navy ship permission to dock in Hong Kong
Beijing has refused a US navy ship permission to dock at Hong Kong as the feud between the two nations shows no signs of letting up, CNN reported.
The US Wasp was scheduled to make a port call in Hong Kong next month, the report added.
“The Chinese side reviews and approves such requests in accordance with the principle of sovereignty and in light of specific situation on a case-by-case basis,” CNN quoted foreign ministry spokesman Geng Shuang as saying.
China and the US are locked in a bitter standoff triggered by bilateral tariffs on each other’s goods, and precipitated recently by the sanctions imposed on the Chinese military by Washington for acquiring weapons from Russia.
Working mom melts hearts with campaign video for US midterm polls
A Democratic candidate contesting the US midterm election for a seat in the House of Representatives is making waves online with her campaign video, which details her brush with poverty among other travails.
Homeless, pregnant, and alone, I had to steal to eat. Mine is a tough story to tell, but it's not mine alone. I have encountered so many people who are just like me. We all struggle, we all face challenges, and we all need each other. pic.twitter.com/rr1BDQfgHz
— Julie Oliver (@JulieOliverTX) September 26, 2018
In her campaign video, Julie Oliver of Texas talks about her life: She was homeless at the age of 17, stole food for survival, and was abandoned by her partner’s family when she got pregnant. However, she is now a lawyer, accountant and healthcare advocate who successfully juggles her career with motherhood.
“I hope people will see a little bit of themselves in me and realise that you can overcome the odds,” she says in the video.
In the election, to be held on 6 November, Oliver is up against incumbent Roger Williams, a Republican who has been representing the seat since 2013.