Section: Politics
Trump nominates ”Mad Dog” Mattis to Secretary of Defense
President-elect Donald J. Trump on Tuesday announced his intent to nominate General James Mattis, retired U.S. Marine Corps four-star general, who criticizes Russian aggression in Ukraine, to serve as Secretary of the United States Department of Defense, according to the President-Elect Donald J. Trump`s website. ”I am proud to nominate General...
Ukraine feels let down by EU with visa deal elusive
Ukraine feels let down by the European Union for not keeping to a promise to give its citizens visa-free travel in the bloc, senior Ukrainian officials said, according to Reuters. The comments, made by two senior officials in interviews with Reuters, were unusually outspoken and cut through the public displays of bonhomie shown at a Ukraine-EU...
Ukraine State Treasury`s website hacked
Hackers have apparently interfered with the website of the State Treasury Service of Ukraine. For several hours on Tuesday, the link www.treasury.gov.ua has been redirecting the users to www.whoismrrobot.com. Also, the website of the Ministry of Finance of Ukraine is not downloading its homepage. Press services of both state agencies have not yet...
French PM Valls poised to announce 2017 presidential bid
France`s Socialist Prime Minister Manuel Valls will announce on Monday he is standing for the presidency in next year`s election, French media reported, according to Reuters. The move would make him a front runner to lead his battered party against the center-right`s Francois Fillon and the National Front`s Marine Le Pen in the 2017 poll, Reuters...
Uzbekistan elects President
Acting President of Uzbekistan Shavkat Merzieev has won in the country`s presidential elections, RIA Novosti reports. Mr Merzieev secured 88.61% of popular vote, according to the head of the Central Election Commission Mirza-Ulugbek Abdusalomov, RIA Novosti reported. Previously, Mr Merzieev held the position of the country`s prime minister. ”15.9...
Anti-immigration nationalist Hofer loses Austria presidential vote to independent Van der Bellen
Austrians elected a Green Party-backed economics professor as their next president, spurning the appeal of an anti-immigration nationalist who campaigned to weaken ties to the European Union, according to Bloomberg. With all regular votes counted, Alexander Van der Bellen defeated Norbert Hofer of the Freedom Party by 51.7% to 48.3% after...
Trump warns U.S. companies of ”expensive mistake” of moving production overseas
U.S. President-elect Donald Trump has warned the U.S. companies in a row of tweets that moving their production capacities overseas is an ”expensive mistake”. The U.S. is going to substantially reduce taxes and regulations on businesses, ”but any business that leaves our country for another country, fires its employees, builds a new factory or...
Putin says Trump clever, will understand new responsibilities – media
U.S. President-elect Donald Trump is a clever man and will quickly understand his new responsibilities, Russian President Vladimir Putin said in an interview with NTV TV, according to Reuters. Putin has spoken previously of his hope that Trump will help restore U.S.-Russia relations, and analysts said he was unlikely to want to dial up...
Norway urges Trump to issue predictable, clear policy on Russia
Norway on Friday urged U.S. President-elect Donald Trump to enunciate a clear and predictable policy on Russia as soon as possible, amid growing concerns in Oslo about increasing Russian military activities in the ”High North” or Arctic region, according to Reuters. ”What is most important to us right now is to have both a predictable and a very...
Donald Trump risks China rift with Taiwan call
Donald Trump risks opening up a major diplomatic dispute with China before he has even been inaugurated after speaking on the telephone on Friday with Tsai Ing-wen, the president of Taiwan, which was the first U.S.-Taiwanese presidential contact since diplomatic relations were cut in 1979, according to The Financial Times. Although it is not...