Category: US

Ethiopia criticizes Trump over comment on disputed dam

Post author By Yassim Yassim
Post date October 24, 2020

Ethiopia criticizes Trump over comment on disputed dam

Ethiopia has interpreted Friday comment by the United States President, Donald Trump, on the disputed Ethiopian as belligerent threat and affront.

The US president said Egypt will ‘blow up’ the Ethiopian dam if an agreement is not reached over operation and water flow.
In a tweet, former Ethiopian Prime Minister Hailemariam Dessalegn said Trump’s comments were reckless and irresponsible.

Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed did not specifically reference Trump in a statement released by his office on Saturday, but said “occasional statements of belligerent threats to have Ethiopia succumb to unfair terms still abound”.

“These threats and affronts to Ethiopian sovereignty are misguided, unproductive, and clear violations of international law,” Abiy said. “Ethiopia will not cave in to aggressions of any kind, nor do we give recognition to a right that is based on colonial treaties.”

Foreign Minister Gedu Andargachew summoned US ambassador Michael Raynor to clarify Trump’s comments.
On Friday, Trump called for a resolution to the standoff over the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam during a phone call with Sudanese Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok.

He warned: “They [Egypt] will end up blowing up the dam.”
“And I said it and I say it loud and clear … they’ll blow up that dam. And they have to do something,” he said during the call, which came as both leaders announced that Sudan would begin to normalise relations with Israel.

Trump had told the State Department earlier this year to suspend millions of dollars in aid to Ethiopia because of the dam dispute, angering Ethiopians who had accused Washington of being biased in its earlier efforts to broker a deal on the project with Ethiopia, Egypt and Sudan. Ethiopia walked away from those talks.

“They will never see that money unless they adhere to that agreement,” Trump said on Friday.

Egypt, for its part, has repeatedly said it wants to settle the dispute through diplomacy, but has also said it would use “all available means” to defend the interests of its people.
Abiy’s office has said there has been significant progress made in resolving the dispute since the African Union took over negotiations, the most recent round of which broke down in August.

“The man doesn’t have a clue on what he is talking about,” he wrote.

Ethiopia, Sudan and Egypt have been deadlocked in the dispute over the filling and operation of the dam for years.
The Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam has been a subject of an ongoing dispute between Egypt, Ethiopia, and Adis Ababa hailed the completion of the first phase of the dam in August as a national triumph that will help to lift citizens out of poverty by making it a major power exporter.

Cairo has said it is dependent on the Nile for more than 90 percent of its scarce freshwater supplies, and fears decreases in water flow caused by the dam could have a devastating effect on its economy.

Khartoum, meanwhile, stands to benefit from the project through access to cheap electricity and reduced flooding, but it has also raised fears over the dam’s operation, which could endanger its smaller dams, depending on the amount of water discharged downstream daily.

Cairo and Khartoum are seeking a legally binding deal that would guarantee the appropriate flows of water.
William Davison, a senior analyst at the International Crisis Group, told Al Jazeera that Trump’s comment were “pretty outrageous” and suggest that he is “not really in touch with the reality on the ground”.

“The idea of conflict to solve this dispute over the Nile has always been very far-fetched and ultimately hugely counter-productive – it could lead to some sort of regional conflagration,” he said.

Timothy Kaldas, a non-resident fellow at the Tahrir Institute for Middle East Policy, told Al Jazeera that – despite Trump’s comments – Egypt is unlikely to take military action over the dispute.

“It’s unclear exactly what [Trump’s] motivation is. I think part of it actually is vanity – I think he is pretty annoyed that the Ethiopians withdrew from the talks unilaterally, and refused to show up to Washington for what was meant to be the last round of talks,” Kaldas said.

“I don’t think that there is a serious risk that Egypt is going to proceed with any sort of military action on the dam. They’ve made it pretty clear that that’s not what their priority is.”

Tags ethiopia

US War/Crisis

US to lift terror ban on Sudan on $335m fine payment confirmation

Post author By Kings UBA
Post date October 20, 2020

Sudan: There is now a memorial in the Kenyan capital, Nairobi, to the victims of the attack. Source/BBC

US to lift terror ban on Sudan on $335m fine payment confirmation

Although the Government of Sudan said it has paid the compensation fine of $335m to victims’ families, the United States said it has not received the payment. US President Donald Trump said the war-torn country will come off the list of state sponsors of terror if there is a confirmation of payment of the compensation £259m.

Sudanese Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok responded by saying the funds had been transferred but there was no immediate US confirmation.

Sudan has been listed since 1993 when al-Qaeda leader Osama Bin Laden lived there as a guest of the government. The compensation relates to al-Qaeda’s 1998 bombing of US embassies in Africa.

The attacks in Tanzania and Kenya killed more than 220 people and the compensation money is to be paid to “US terror victims and families”, Mr Trump said.

Relations between the US and Sudan have improved since President Omar al-Bashir was ousted after mass street protests last year. Mr Bashir had ruled the conflict-ridden African nation for 30 years.

Dropping Sudan from the blacklist will be very welcome news in the country, where food, fuel and medicine are getting more expensive and scarcer, BBC Africa senior correspondent Anne Soy reports.

In a tweet, Donald Trump wrote: “GREAT news! New government of Sudan, which is making great progress, agreed to pay $335 MILLION to U.S. terror victims and families.

“Once deposited, I will lift Sudan from the State Sponsors of Terrorism list. At long last, JUSTICE for the American people and BIG step for Sudan!”

The US president has the power to remove a nation from the State Sponsors of Terrorism list. Congress then has 45 days to object.

Sudan is currently one of four countries – along with Iran, North Korea and Syria – on the blacklist.

Tags Sudan

Africa US

Nigeria’s Head of AfDB to face fresh probe following US position

Post author By Kings UBA
Post date June 5, 2020

Nigeria’s Head of AfDB to face fresh probe on US position

Nigeria’s Head of AfDB to face fresh probe following US position

Following insistence on fresh probe of corrupt allegations against him, the African Development Bank (AfDB) has said it has commissioned an independent inquiry into allegations of corruption against its head, Akinwumi Adesina.

The former Nigerian agriculture minister is seeking re-election in August.

But the United States has led calls for him to be investigated on suspicion of embezzlement, preferential treatment for fellow Nigerians in senior appointments, and the promotion of people suspected or convicted of fraud and corruption.

Adesina denies any wrongdoing and was initially cleared of the allegations by an internal investigation.

The institution – one of the world’s five major multilateral development banks – is the only African lender afforded the highest credit rating.

A number of African leaders, including Nigeria’s President, Muhammadu Buhari have backed the embattled AfDB chief, saying that the rule of engagement of the AFDB should be followed in the case.

ALSO READ: Buhari throws absolute weight behind Adesina’s re-election in AfDB

Buhari is not convinced that Akinwunmi Adesina is culpable of corruption charges levelled against him by unnamed members of staff of the bank.

During a meeting with Adesina on Tuesday, Buhari said his administration would stand solidly behind Adesina in his bid to get re-elected as AfDB President.

16-point allegations against Adesina bordering on corruption is threatening his re-election for another five-year term in the continental institution. But Adesina who is currently a sole candidate for the election has denied all charges, saying they are trumped-up.

The president spoke at the State House, Abuja, Tuesday, while hosting Mr Adesina.

“In 2015, when you were to be elected for the first term, I wrote to all African leaders, recommending you for the position. I didn’t say because you were a People’s Democratic Party (PDP) Minister, and I belonged to the All Progressives Congress (APC), so I would withhold my support. I’ll remain consistent with you, because no one has faulted the step I took on behalf of Nigeria,” said Mr Buhari.

The president pledged that Nigeria would work with all other leaders and stakeholders in AfDB to ensure that Mr Adesina was elected for a second term built on the record of his achievements during his first term.

Mr Adesina is facing allegations of corruption at the bank and is being investigated.

He denies the allegations and had earlier been cleared of the claims raised by a whistleblower group, but the United States, the bank’s second-largest shareholder after Nigeria, has called for an external probe.

The Nigerian government and other African leaders have been rallying support for Mr Adesina who is seeking a second five-year term.

Giving a background to what was happening in the bank, Mr Adesina, a former Nigerian Minister for Agriculture, said the 16 allegations raised against him were trumped up, “and without facts, evidence, and documents, as required by the rules and regulations of the bank.”

He added that the Ethics Committee of the bank cleared him of all the allegations, and calls for fresh investigation by the United States of America, were against the rules.

“My defense ran into 250 pages, and not a single line was faulted or questioned. The law says that report of the Ethics Committee should be transmitted to the Chairman of Governors of the bank. It was done, and the governors upheld the recommendations. That was the end of the matter, according to the rules. It was only if I was culpable that a fresh investigation could be launched. I was exonerated, and any other investigation would amount to bending the rules of the bank, to arrive at a predetermined conclusion,” Mr Adesina said.

Stressing that the motive was to soil his name, and that of the bank, the AfDB president said he was proud to be Nigerian, and thanked President Buhari for his unflinching support.

“You helped me to get elected in the first place, and you have supported me robustly all along, and the African Union unanimously endorsed my re-election” he declared.

While commiserating with President Buhari on the death of the former Chief of Staff, Abba Kyari, Mr Adesina described Professor Ibrahim Gambari, new Chief of Staff as “a man of integrity, and of global standing.”

Tags AfDB

Culture US

Same-sex marriage spreads to Central America with legalization in Costa Rica

Post author By Kings UBA
Post date May 26, 2020

Same-sex marriage spreads to Central America with legalization in Costa Rica

LGBT Rights spread to Central America with legalization in Costa Rica

Costa Rica has become the first country of Central America to legalise same-sex marriage. A court ruling came into force Midnight on Tuesday.

Planned celebrations did not take place because of the coronavirus pandemic, but a special program about LGBT rights was broadcast on public television and online as the first weddings were held.

“This change will bring about a significant social and cultural transformation, allowing thousands of people to marry,” said President Carlos Alvarado in the program.

Costa Rica is the eighth country in the Americas to recognise same-sex marriage — a group that includes Brazil, Ecuador and Argentina, as well as Canada and the US.

The move was triggered by a 2018 ruling of the Supreme Court which declared the part of the law banning gay marriage was unconstitutional.

That ruling gave parliament 18 months to legislate on the matter — but it did not, so the provision was automatically annulled.

“Costa Rica is celebrating today: marriage equality has become a reality in the country — the first one in Central America,” said the International Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans and Intersex Association (ILGA) in a tweet.

“We rejoice with you: congratulations to all those who worked so hard to make it happen!”

Victor Madrigal-Borloz, the UN’s Independent Expert on Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity, called it “an extraordinary moment of celebration” in a tweet posted hours before midnight.

He expressed “gratitude to the work of so many activists, and of quiet reflection of the lives of those who lived without seeing this moment”.

Tags Costa Rica

White House Wears Caution as ‘Presidential Aides’get Coronavirus

Post author By Kings UBA
Post date May 9, 2020

White House Wears Caution as ‘Presidential Aides’ get Coronavirus

White House is taking more cautious precaution to “keep President Donald Trump and Vice President Mike Pence” safe as White House staff tests positive of COVID-19.

Pence’s press secretary, Katie Miller, tested positive for coronavirus days after ´officials confirmed Thursday that a member of the U.S. Navy who works as one of Trump’s personal valets had the virus´

President Donald Trump publicly identified Miller as the aide, but said he was “not worried” about the virus in the White House. Katie Miller is married to a top Trump adviser, Stephen Miller. There was no comment on whether Stephen Miller has tested positive or is working at his White House office.

In this April 29, 2020, photo, Katie Miller, press secretary for Vice President Mike Pence, listens as President Donald Trump speaks about reopening the country, during a roundtable with industry executives in Washington.

Katie Miller had tested negative for the virus one day earlier.

“This is why the whole concept of tests aren’t necessarily great,” Trump said.

“Katie, she tested very good for a long period of time and then all of a sudden today she tested positive,” he said.

The news makes Miller the second person at the White House to test positive for the virus this week, after officials confirmed Thursday that a member of the U.S. Navy who works as one of Trump’s personal valets had the virus.

White House chief of staff Mark Meadows said Friday that the White House was “probably the safest place that you can come” but said he was reviewing further precautions the White House could take to keep Trump and Pence safe.

“We’ve already put in a few protocols that we’re looking at, obviously, to make sure that the president and his immediate staff stay safe. But it’s not just the president, it’s all the workers that are here,” he said.

Pence, whose trip to Des Moines, Iowa, was delayed Friday by the news, was accompanied on Air Force 2 by Agriculture Secretary Sonny Purdue and Iowa Sens. Chuck Grassley and Joni Ernst.

During the flight from Joint Base Andrews in Maryland, a senior administration official informed VOA and other members of the press on board of the aide’s test result. He said the White House is tracing the aide’s contacts.

Six staffers were also asked to deplane “out of an abundance of caution.” The official later said all had tested negative for the coronavirus.

White House Press secretary Kayleigh McEnany confirmed that a member of the vice president’s team had tested positive during Friday’s White House press briefing.

Tags White House

COVID-19: I can do a lot to retaliate China, says Trump

Post author By Kings UBA
Post date April 30, 2020

I can do a lot to retaliate China, says Trump

COVID-19: I can do a lot to retaliate China, says Trump

In an interview with Reuters in the Oval Office, President Donald Trump talked tough on China and said he was looking at different options in terms of consequences for Beijing over the Coronavirus. “I can do a lot,” he said.

Trump said on Wednesday he believes China’s handling of the coronavirus is proof that Beijing “will do anything they can” to make him lose his re-election bid in November.

Trump has been heaping blame on China for a global pandemic that has killed at least 60,000 people in the United States according to a Reuters tally, and thrown the U.S. economy into a deep recession, putting in jeopardy his hopes for another four-year term.

The Republican president, often accused of not acting early enough to prepare the United States for the spread of the virus, said he believed China should have been more active in letting the world know about the coronavirus much sooner.

Asked whether he was considering the use of tariffs or even debt write-offs for China, Trump would not offer specifics. “There are many things I can do,” he said. “We’re looking for what happened.”

“China will do anything they can to have me lose this race,” said Trump. He said he believes Beijing wants his Democratic opponent, Joe Biden, to win the race to ease the pressure Trump has placed on China over trade and other issues.

“They’re constantly using public relations to try to make it like they’re innocent parties,” he said of Chinese officials.

‘I don’t believe the polls’

Trump went on to say during the interview Wednesday that he does not believe opinion polls that show Biden leading in the 2020 race for the White House.

He said he did not expect the election to be a referendum on his handling of the coronavirus pandemic and added he was surprised the former vice president was doing well.

“I don’t believe the polls,” Trump said. “I believe the people of this country are smart. And I don’t think that they will put a man in who’s incompetent.”

He said the trade deal that he concluded with Chinese President Xi Jinping aimed at reducing chronic U.S. trade deficits with China had been “upset very badly” by the economic fallout from the virus.

A senior Trump administration official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said on Wednesday that an informal “truce” in the war of words that Trump and Xi essentially agreed to in a phone call in late March now appeared to be over.

The two leaders had promised that their governments would do everything possible to cooperate to contain the coronavirus. In recent days, Washington and Beijing have traded increasingly bitter recriminations over the origin of the virus and the response to it.

However, Trump and his top aides, while stepping up their anti-China rhetoric, have stopped short of directly criticizing Xi, who the U.S. president has repeatedly called his “friend.”

‘We had the greatest economy in history’

Trump also said South Korea has agreed to pay the United States more money for a defense cooperation agreement but would not be drawn out on how much.

“We can make a deal. They want to make a deal,” Trump said. “They’ve agreed to pay a lot of money. They’re paying a lot more money than they did when I got here” in January 2017.

The United States stations roughly 28,500 troops in South Korea, a legacy of the 1950-53 Korean War that ended in an armistice, rather than a peace treaty.

Trump is leading a triage effort to try to keep the U.S. economy afloat through stimulus payments to individuals and companies while nudging state governors to carefully reopen their states as new infections decline.

Trump sounded wistful about the strong economy that he had enjoyed compared with now, when millions of people have lost their jobs and GDP is faltering.

“We were rocking before this happened. We had the greatest economy in history,” he said.

He said he is happy with the way many governors are operating under the strain of the virus but said some need to improve. He would not name names.

Trump’s handling of the virus has come under scrutiny. Forty-three percent of Americans approved of Trump’s handling of the coronavirus, according to the Reuters/Ipsos poll from April 27-28.

But there was some good coronavirus news, as Gilead Sciences Inc said its experimental antiviral drug remdesivir was showing progress in treating virus victims.

Trump has also seeking an accelerated timetable on development of a vaccine.

“I think things are moving along very nicely,” he said.

At the end of the half-hour interview, Trump offered lighthearted remarks about a newly released Navy video purportedly showing an unidentified flying object.

“I just wonder if it’s real,” he said. “That’s a hell of a video.” (By VoA)

Tags Trump

US World

China, Gates say US WHO Funding Cut will impact the world negatively

Post author By Kings UBA
Post date April 15, 2020

President Donald Trump speaks about the coronavirus in the James Brady Press Briefing Room at the White House, Monday, April 13, 2020, in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

China, Gates say US WHO Funding Cut will impact the world negatively

Founder of Microsoft, Bill Gates and Republic of China have described the US cut of WHO funding as dangerous and impactful.

On Wednesday, China said that U.S. President Donald Trump’s decision to withhold funding to the World Health Organization would affect all countries as the world faces a critical stage in combating the coronavirus pandemic.

The comments from the Foreign Ministry followed Trump’s announcement Tuesday in which he said the WHO did not adequately investigate early reports of the virus in China.

Germany joined the defense of the agency, with Foreign Minister Heiko Maas saying Wednesday that assigning blame “doesn’t help.”

“We have to work closely together against #COVID19,” Maas tweeted. “One of the best investments is to strengthen the @UN, especially the under-funded @WHO, for example for developing and distributing tests and vaccines.”

Bill Gates

✔@BillGates

Halting funding for the World Health Organization during a world health crisis is as dangerous as it sounds. Their work is slowing the spread of COVID-19 and if that work is stopped no other organization can replace them. The world needs @WHO now more than ever.

European Union foreign policy chief Joseph Borrell said there is no justification for Trump’s decision when WHO efforts “are needed more than ever.”

“Only by joining forces we can overcome this crisis that knows no borders,” Borrell said.

There are about 2 million confirmed cases worldwide, but with difficulties in accessing tests in many areas, the true figure is surely higher. Johns Hopkins University statistics Wednesday put the worldwide death toll at more than 126,000.

France said its own toll had surpassed 15,000 people, making it the fourth country to do so, along with the United States, Italy and Spain.

Italy and Spain are among several European nations that have started to ease strict lockdowns meant to stop the spread of the virus, while France just extended its measures.

Discussions of when and how to ease the restrictions are taking place in governments all over the world. In the western U.S. state of California, Governor Gavin Newsom said he will only consider lifting lockdown orders when the number of hospitalizations decline for at least two weeks, testing is more widespread, more protective gear for health care workers, and officials have better ability to track and isolate those who are infected.

India announced Wednesday it plans to allow manufacturing and farming activity to resume in rural areas on April 20, while a nationwide lockdown remains in place until early next month.

The differing measures reflect the path of the outbreak, with earlier hotspots seeing promising signs the worst could be over, while other parts of the world are just starting to experience higher case numbers.

That has been reflected with a number of new lockdown orders this week in Africa. Malawi is among the latest, with President Peter Mutharika announcing Tuesday a 21-day order that begins Saturday.

“I would like to urge you to fully comply with the measures because they are for the good of our country,” Mutharika said.

Japan urged people to cooperate with calls for people to stay home and for businesses to close, as a government-commissioned estimate said as many as 850,000 people could become seriously ill, and about half as many could die in a worst-case scenario unless such prevention measures are followed.

On the economic front, the stay-at-home orders have led to a vast drop in oil consumption.

The International Energy Agency issued a forecast Wednesday of a drop in demand for April of 29 million barrels per day, reaching levels the world has not seen in 25 years.

In New Zealand, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern announced she and other top officials are voluntarily cutting their salaries by 20% in a symbolic move acknowledging the country’s economic hardships in response to the outbreak. (Report with VoA)

Tags who

Africa Politics US

Democracy: US says Senegal holds the ace in West Africa

Post author By Kings UBA
Post date February 17, 2020

Democracy: US says Senegal holds the ace in West Africa

The United States Secretary of State, Mike Pompeo, has said Senegal holds the anchor for democracy in West Africa.

Pompeo is in Senegal till late Monday where he held talks with President Macky Sall focused on strengthening security ties and promoting deeper economic cooperation.

“We see Senegal as an anchor of democracy and linchpin of security for West Africa,” said Pompeo. The U.S. regards Senegal as a critical ally in U.S. efforts to advance peace and security in West Africa and worldwide.

The U.S. officially recognized Senegal as an independent state in 1960, and the two countries have forged a close relationship over the past six decades of diplomatic ties. Senior State Department officials have praised Senegal as a role model for democratic institutions, stability and tolerance in West Africa.

Washington has obligated more than $106 million in security assistance to support Senegal’s security institutions since 2014. The U.S., via the Departments of State and Defense, helps train and equip the Senegalese military and police to counter the evolving threats of regional terrorism and cross-border violence that spills over from the Sahel region.

The Defense Department is conducting a global force review and has indicated there likely will be a reduction, but not a complete withdrawal, of U.S. forces from Africa. Ahead of Pompeo’s visit, Sall said a drawdown of American troops from Africa would be a mistake, and it would be “misunderstood” by African leaders.

The United States is the largest bilateral health donor in Senegal, with approximately $60 million in bilateral health funding in 2019 to support maternal and child health, nutrition, and efforts to combat malaria and HIV/AIDS.

After leaving Senegal late Monday, Pompeo will travel to Luanda, Angola, and then Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. He also will visit Saudi Arabia and Oman before returning to Washington after his nine-day trip.

In Luanda, he will meet with President Joao Lourenco and Foreign Minister Manuel Augusto to reaffirm U.S. support for Angola’s anti-corruption and democratization efforts.

In Addis Ababa, Pompeo will meet with Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed and President Sahle-Work Zewde to discuss joint efforts to promote regional security and to support Ethiopia’s political and economic reform agenda. Additionally, he will meet with African Union Commission Chairperson Moussa Faki Mahamat and give a speech.

The chief U.S. diplomat began his trip at the Munich Security Conference in Germany, where he met with a number of foreign leaders, including Afghanistan’s President Ashraf Ghani. A senior State Department official told reporters a reduction in violence deal has been reached with the Taliban, although the terror group needs to show it can deliver on throttling back the suicide bombings and rocket attacks.

Tags Democracy

Politics US

Analysis: Why Senate Impeachment Trial of Trump Will Fail,Trial Begins

Post author By Kings UBA
Post date January 21, 2020

Analysis: Why Senate Impeachment Trial of Trump Will Fail

Analysis: Why Senate Impeachment Trial of Trump Will Fail, Trial Begins

Impeachment trial of President Donald Trump has officially begun in the Senate. The House of Representatives had voted against Trump, impeached him and transmitted the Articles of Impeachment to the Senate.

The 100-member senate has 57 Republican members and 43 Democrat members. To convict President, the Democrats need a two-third majority vote, that is 67 votes.

Unlike in the House where the Democrats had an easy sail, the Senate is dominated by Republicans who have volunteered a massive support for President Trump.

Trump’s legal team have called on senators, who will act as jurors in the trial, to “speedily reject” the impeachment case against him, arguing that he broke no laws in a submission made on the eve of his trial in the Senate.

But Democrats have condemned the trial rules outlined by the Republican leader in the Senate, Mitch McConnell, which would give each side to just 24 hours to present their case.

Adam Schiff, the Democrat leading the prosecution, dismissed it as a “cover-up”. “This is not a process for a fair trial, this is the process for a rigged trial” he told reporters.

The 100 members of the Senate gathered in the chamber on Tuesday afternoon, with the chief justice of the US Supreme Court, John Roberts, presiding over the trial.

It is only the third time in history that a US president has endured an impeachment trial, after Andrew Johnson in 1868 and Bill Clinton in 1999.

The first order of business on Tuesday was to set the rules of the trial, such as how long they will hear the arguments of the House managers, or prosecutors; how long they will hear the defense; the time allotted for questions, submitted by the senators but read by Justice Roberts; and whether they will call witnesses or seek other evidence.

Flexing his solid 53-47 majority, Mr McConnell laid out ground rules that would block subpoenaing key witnesses or documents while each side makes its case – potentially crippling prosecutors’ arguments.

“The basic structure we’re proposing is just as eminently fair and even-handed,” the Republican senate leader said.

Mr Trump’s team offered a preview of the president’s defence on Monday night in their 171-page legal brief, arguing the impeachment proceedings had been a “rigged process” and insisting Mr Trump “did absolutely nothing wrong”.

Mr Trump’s lawyers central argument is simple: he cannot be guilty of abuse of power – the first charge against him – because he is not accused of violating any law, unlike past presidents who have faced impeachment.

They also summarily rejected the second article of impeachment, charging Mr Trump with obstructing Congress, by arguing that his decision to reject legal demands for White House officials to testify to the impeachment investigation falls within the remit of his executive powers.

Mr Trump himself, who is in Davos, Switzerland for an economic conference, denounced the proceedings as “a total hoax,” as he does daily, and said, “I’m sure it’s going to work out fine.”

The Democrats’ impeachment managers, who will act as the prosecution in Mr Trump’s trial, begin outlining their case against the president on Tuesday.

They will make the case that Mr Trump tried to pressure Ukraine into interfering in the 2020 US election to help him win, and then tried to thwart a congressional probe of his behaviour.

Part of the scandal centers on a July 25 telephone call in which Mr Trump pressured Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy to announce an investigation of former Vice President Joe Biden, Mr Trump’s potential opponent in the November vote.

Democrats, who control the House of Representatives and led the investigation, accuse Mr Trump of manipulating Ukraine by withholding nearly $400 million in military aid for its war against Russian-backed separatists and a White House meeting for Mr Zelenskiy until the latter announced a Biden probe.

“The president did nothing wrong,” Mr Trump’s lawyers responded in their legal brief, which calls for the Senate to reject the articles “and acquit the president immediately”.

The president’s his 12-man legal team consists of high profile lawyers such as Kenneth Starr, who tried to bring down Mr Clinton over his affair with Monica Lewinsky.

While the Trump team’s is unlikely to succeed in their attempt to get the case against Mr Trump speedily dismissed, the president looks almost certain to ultimately be acquitted because of the 53-47 Republican majority in the Senate.

Mr McConnell, the Senate Majority Leader, has proposed rules calling for each side to have 24 hours over two days to present their arguments. That makes for long trial days stretching late into the night but is a significantly quicker pace than in Bill Clinton’s impeachment trial in 1999. The chamber will debate and vote on the proposed rules Tuesday.

Chuck Schumer, the top Democratic senator, said Mr McConnell is rushing the trial and also making it harder for witnesses and documents to be presented.

Tags Trump

Trump envies Nobel Peace Prize Award to Ethiopia’s Abiy Ahmed

Post author By Kings UBA
Post date January 13, 2020

Trump envies Nobel Peace Prize Award to Ethiopia’s Abiy Ahmed

President of the United States, Donald Trump has complained about the Norwegian Nobel Peace Prize which was awarded the Ethiopian Prime Minister, Abiy Ahmed in 2019, saying he was overlooked after his efforts at averting war in the horn of Africa.

But Ahmed has asked Trump to channel his compliant to Oslo and not Ethiopia, noting that he was not aware of the criteria that gave him the global peace prize in 2019. The Nobel Peace Prize committee noted that Ahmed won the 2019 edition following his effort at bringing peace back to Ethiopia and Eritrea after 20 years of conflict.

For two decades, the long border was closed, dividing families and making trade impossible.

Mr Trump said last week that he had “saved a country” from a big war, a possible reference to his work on another dispute involving Ethiopia.

Ethiopia and Eritrea fought a bitter border war from 1998-2000, which killed tens of thousands of people.

Although a ceasefire was signed in 2000, the neighbours technically remained at war until July 2018, when Mr Abiy and Eritrea’s President Isaias Afwerki signed a peace deal.

Abiy Ahmed told reporters during a press briefing in South Africa that he was “not working for the prize” but for “peace in the region”.

“I don’t have any clue about the criteria, how the Nobel committee selects an individual for the prize,” he said.

“If President Trump complained it must go to Oslo not to Ethiopia,” he added.

Trump had said: “I made a deal, I saved a country, and I just heard that the head of that country is now getting the Nobel Peace Prize for saving the country. I said: ‘What, did I have something to do with it?’ Yeah, but you know, that’s the way it is,” he said.

Tags Trump