Month: November 2018

A Turkish presidential adviser and friend of slain Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi says his body was cut up and dissolved in acid for easier disposal, the Turkish newspaper Hurriyet reported Friday. “According to the latest information we have, the reason they dismembered his body is to dissolve it easier” before it was disposed of, Yasin Aktay told the newspaper. Khashoggi, a Washington Post columnist who who had written critically of Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, was killed after entering the Saudi consulate in Istanbul last month to get a document he needed to marry his Turkish fiancee. After initially …

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The Italian government has decided it needs to offer incentives to combat the country’s declining birthrate and proposed a new plan it is calling “Land-for-Children.” The agriculture minister says providing free farmland for families who have a third child could create new business ventures for Italian families.   Italy now has the lowest birthrate in Europe, and the populist government of Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte is taking measures because it wants to reverse the trend. In its draft budget it announced a plan to award land to married couples who have a third child. The idea is not only to …

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The leaders of Russia and Cuba have vowed to expand what they called their “strategic” ties and urged the United States to lift its blockade of Cuba. Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Cuban counterpart Miguel Diaz-Canel pledged Friday to develop political, economic and military cooperation between their nations. Diaz-Canel, who replaced Raul Castro in April in a historic changing of the guard in Cuba, hailed the “brotherly” ties between Russia and Cuba. During the Cold War, the Soviet Union poured billions of dollars in supplies and subsidies to Cuba, its staunchest Latin American ally. But ties withered after the …

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The prime ministers of France and Vietnam have witnessed the signing of two business deals worth over $10 billion and dozens of other cooperation agreements covering energy, education, health, technology and the environment. The agreements overseen by Edouard Philippe and Nguyen Xuan Phuc come as the two countries seek ways to further boost trade and investment cooperation. They include the purchase by Vietjet Air, Vietnam’s leading private airline, of 50 Airbus A321neo planes worth $6.5 billion and CFM Leap engines worth $5.3 billion. Earlier Friday, Philippe met with President Nguyen Phu Trong and National Assembly Chairwoman Nguyen Thi Kim Ngan. …

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The fiancee of slain journalist Jamal Khashoggi said the Trump administration’s response to Khashoggi’s death has been “devoid of moral foundation.” “Of all nations, the United States should be leading the way in bringing the perpetrators to justice,” Hatice Cengiz wrote in an op-ed piece appearing Friday in The Washington Post. Instead, Cengiz said, “Some in Washington are hoping this matter will be forgotten with simple delaying tactics. But we will continue to push the Trump administration to help find justice for Jamal.  There will be no coverup.” The New York Times, quoting two people familiar with the matter, reported …

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U.S. Energy Secretary Rick Perry will visit Ukraine, Poland and other eastern European countries next week as the Trump administration seeks to offer them alternatives to buying coal and gas from Russia. Perry will also visit Hungary and the Czech Republic on the trip. He will meet with government officials on topics from nuclear energy to cyber security and coal and liquefied natural gas exports, the Department of Energy said in a release on Thursday. The Trump administration is seeking foreign markets for coal as domestic consumption has dropped to the lowest level since 1983 due to closures of coal-fired …

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The United States is urging Saudi Arabia to locate the body of slain journalist Jamal Khashoggi and return it to his family as soon as possible. Khashoggi was killed when he walked into the Saudi consulate in Istanbul last month, according to a Turkish prosecutor. His body has not been found, although Turkish police last month searched a forest on Istanbul’s outskirts and near Yalova, a city near the Sea of Marmara, for Khashoggi’s remains. Khashoggi’s friends and family say they want just a piece of his body so they can carry out his wish to be buried in the …

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Armenia’s president on Thursday dissolved parliament and called an early election, a political maneuver intended to unseat the current parliament majority. President Armen Sarkisian’s move is in sync with acting Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian’s efforts to unseat his foes in parliament. Sarkisian set the early election for Dec. 9. Pashinian took office in May after spearheading weeks of protests that forced the resignation of his predecessor, but his political opponents retained a majority in parliament. Last month, Pashinian announced his resignation, saying that an early vote is needed “to return the power to the people.” Armenian law says a snap …

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Norway summoned the Iranian ambassador Thursday over a suspected assassination plot against an Iranian Arab opposition figure in Denmark involving a Norwegian citizen of Iranian background.  Denmark said Tuesday that it suspected the Iranian government intelligence service had tried to carry out an assassination on its soil. It is now calling for fresh European Union sanctions against the Islamic Republic.  A Norwegian citizen of Iranian background was arrested in Sweden Oct. 21 in connection with the plot and extradited to Denmark, Swedish security police have said.  “During the meeting we underlined that the activity that has come to light through the investigation in Denmark is unacceptable,” Foreign Minister Ine Eriksen Soereide said …

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