US NSA John Bolton says troops can’t be withdrawn from Syria, and Saudi Arabia puts into effect new law to alert women of divorce.
US, China officials to meet in Beijing today for trade negotiations
US and China officials are set to meet in Beijing Monday and Tuesday to start the sixth round of negotiations between the two countries to resolve the ongoing trade war. This the first face-to-face negotiations between the two countries after a 90- day truce was declared in December.
“If no agreement is reached, US tariffs on $200bn (£160bn) of Chinese goods will increase in March to 25% from the current 10%,” reported The Guardian.
Peking University professor Zha Daojiong told the South China Morning Post, “One prospect is that this round of talks prepares the way for commitments to be firmed up later at a higher level. The other prospect is that neither side… expects much to come from such meetings.”
Reports suggest that the Chinese economy is slowing down due to the tariff war.
Last week, US President Donald Trump said, “China’s not doing very well now… It puts us in a strong position. We are doing very well.”
The New York Times said Trump “is correct about China’s economy, which by several measures appears to be hobbled by American tariffs on $250 billion worth of Chinese imports.”
The report, however, added that the president is ignoring the impact of a protracted government shutdown.
Eswar Prasad, a trade expert at Cornell University, told NYT, “The balance of leverage appeared to have shifted in favor of the U.S., with signs that China’s economy was slowing down, but the stock market rout and concerns about a U.S. growth slowdown have restored a more even balance between the two sides. Still, it will be tough sledding for the U.S. and China to reach a deal that is acceptable to both sides.”
NSA John Bolton says troops can’t be withdrawn from Syria until ISIS is defeated
In a reversal of the plan announced earlier, US President Donald Trump’s national security adviser John R. Bolton said Sunday that US forces will not withdraw from Syria unless ISIS was completely defeated and there was no threat to its ally Kurdish forces from Turkey.
Addressing the media during his ongoing visit to Israel, Bolton laid out “conditions” for US troops withdrawal that could leave the forces there for months or even years, The New York Times reported.
A Wall Street Journal report said, “His (Bolton’s) comments marked the first public acknowledgment from the White House that the safety of Kurdish allies is being considered as part of its pending withdrawal plan.”
The NYT quoted him saying, “We don’t think the Turks ought to undertake military action that’s not fully coordinated with and agreed to by the United States, at a minimum so they don’t endanger our troops”.
However, Bolton also made it clear that some US troops would remain in Southern Syria in al-Tanf as part of its attempts to counter Iran’s activity in the region, The Guardian reported.
On this, WSJ’s report quoted Bolton as saying, “It’s going to be a different environment after we leave, there is no question about that, but there is no desire to see Iran’s influence spread, that’s for sure.”
He added that this will be discussed with Turkey on his upcoming visit there. The latter views Syria’s Kurdish fighters as affiliated to a terrorist organisation.
Saudi Arabia puts into effect new law to alert women of divorce
Women in Saudi Arabia will now get a text message when they get divorced by their husbands, a new law put into effect Sunday said.
The law passed by the country’s Justice Ministry is being seen a positive move in the direction of empowering women by ending cases where husbands secretly divorce their wives to avoid legal requirements, including alimony.
An Al Jazeera report quoted the Justice Ministry saying that the Saudi courts have already started implementing the legislation in “a step aimed at protecting the rights of female clients, and enhancing digital transformation with more services.”
Meanwhile, a CNN report said the details of the text message will include the number of the divorce certificate as well as the court from where the woman can receive the documentation.
Additionally, women can also avail of a provision where they can view their marital status on the ministry’s website.
The Middle East Eye reported that the “move comes as Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, the de facto ruler, spearheads a liberalisation drive in the conservative kingdom, which has some of the world’s toughest restrictions on women.”
Malaysian King Sultan Muhammad V abdicates throne
Malaysia’s King Sultan Muhammad V has abdicated his throne in a move that ended weeks of speculation about his future. He didn’t make a statement for the reason behind his decision.
Speculations about Muhammad started after photos of his marriage to former Russian beauty pageant winner Oksana Voevodina emerged during his two-month medical leave.
Supposed pictures of the ceremony show the 49-year old ruler was married this month to former Moscow beauty queen Oksana Voevodina, 25. #Malaysia PM #Mahathir says can't confirm if the King has married https://t.co/8kQtic81Ap @chedetofficial
— Rosalind Mathieson (@RosMathieson) November 30, 2018
The 49-year old ruler renounced his throne just two years after taking the office in December 2016. It’s the first instance of a monarch willingly abdicating the throne in Malaysia.
Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad denied knowledge of the abdication but The Strait Times reported that he wrote a blog post, titled “Rule of Law”, last week where he said that all Malaysians, including the royalty, were bound by the laws of the land.
It further read, “There is no provision which exempts anyone from the rule of law. For the rulers, there is a special court, but the laws are the same as the laws applicable to ordinary citizens. The rulers too must respect the laws. It is disturbing to see blatant breaches of the law being perpetrated in the mistaken belief that immunity has somehow been accorded.”
Out of the nine royal households, who typically take turns to sit on the throne, the selection of the king is done by a vote in the Council of Rulers, explained ABC News.