Section: theSun (Malaysia)
Trump says cabinet picks free to express own ideas
WASHINGTON: US President-elect Donald Trump on Friday shrugged off the strikingly divergent positions his cabinet picks have taken on Russia, torture, and a host of other issues, saying he wanted them to express their own ideas. “All of my Cabinet nominee (sic) are looking good and doing a great job,” he said in an early morning tweet...
Trump’s cabinet picks contradict his foreign policy
WASHINGTON: Toughness with Russia and China, support of the Iran nuclear deal, the quest for a solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict: Donald Trump’s diplomacy and military picks have outlined the incoming administration’s foreign policy in Senate confirmation hearings this week. And on many strategic issues, in particular the...
Trump pick could talk his way into war
BEIJING: Prospective US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson better watch his mouth, angry Chinese media said Friday, warning Donald Trump’s nominee that his threats to block China in the South China Sea are fighting words. The comments came after the former ExxonMobil CEO told US senators that he would seek to deny Beijing access to the...
China muted after Tillerson vows islands blockade
BEIJING: China offered a muted response Thursday after Donald Trump’s secretary of state pick Rex Tillerson warned the US would stop it from using its artificial islands in the South China Sea. Tillerson’s comments, during his confirmation hearing in the US senate, are the latest salvo the Trump team has aimed at Beijing....
Canada names Freeland top diplomat in cabinet reshuffle
OTTAWA: Canada’s Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Tuesday named Chrystia Freeland as foreign minister, replacing Stephane Dion, a critic of US President-elect Donald Trump, in a cabinet shakeup. Freeland, who was international trade minister, will still be in a position to help renegotiate the North American Free Trade Agreement with the...
US senators unveil Russia sanctions bill after intel report
WASHINGTON: Several US senators including Republicans critical of President-elect Donald Trump’s scepticism of alleged Kremlin-ordered hacking joined forces Tuesday to introduce sanctions against Russia for interfering in the US election. The five Democrats and five Republicans laid out expansive new punishments including visa bans and...
Trump blasts anti-Russian ‘fools’
WASHINGTON: President-elect Donald Trump condemned Russia critics today, calling those who oppose better relations with Moscow “stupid” people and “fools” in his latest Twitter tirade. His attack comes a day after he met the country’s leading intelligence agency chiefs – including the director of national...
Dutch police seize MH17 crash debris from reporter
THE HAGUE: Dutch police have taken from a journalist items, including possible human remains, which he found at the crash site of flight MH17 in eastern Ukraine, prosecutors said Sunday. Freelancer Michel Spekkers was met by police as he returned to Schiphol airport late Saturday after visiting the region and writing an article about his...
Le Pen to push for ‘Frexit’ if EU refuses to cede powers
PARIS: French far-right leader Marine Le Pen pledged Friday she would campaign for France to leave the EU unless Brussels agreed to return full powers to control immigration and economic policy to member states. The presidential candidate has promised if elected in May to dump the euro and organise a Brexit-style referendum on France’s...
Ex-senator Dan Coats is Trump pick for intel chief
WASHINGTON: Donald Trump has chosen for his director of national intelligence someone who could provide a counterweight to the president-elect’s alleged soft spot for Moscow: a former senator banned by Russia. Dan Coats, 73, will be nominated by Trump to serve as the powerful coordinator of 16 intelligence and security agencies, according...
