Merkel wins Germany’s only televised debate: Polls

Merkel wins Germany’s only televised debate: Polls

German Chancellor Angela Merkel has won the single pre-election televised debate against her opponent Martin Schulz ahead of the national elections on September 24, a poll said. According to the surveys conducted on Sunday by two of Germany’s public TV channels, 55 per cent of the respondents found Merkel more convincing while 35 per cent […]

Sitharaman joins powerful ‘sisterhood’ of female defence ministers

Sitharaman joins powerful ‘sisterhood’ of female defence ministers

Nirmala Sitharaman is now a member of a powerful sisterhood of 16 female defence ministers, in a sign of rising women empowerment in an overwhelmingly male-dominated arena. Sitharaman, who got the portfolio on Sunday, heads the world’s third largest defence force of 1.4 million personnel. It is also the strongest of those headed by female […]

US shuts down Russian consulate in San Francisco

US shuts down Russian consulate in San Francisco

Russia has been given two days to close its consulate in San Francisco as well as diplomatic annexes in Washington and New York, the US State Department has said. The move comes in response to the Kremlin’s decision last July to order the US to reduce by 755 the number of diplomats and diplomatic personnel […]

Venezuela assigns prosecutors to probe ‘traitors’

Venezuela assigns prosecutors to probe ‘traitors’

Venezuelan authorities have assigned two prosecutors to probe alleged acts of treason by citizens who supported the US’ latest round of economic sanctions against the South American nation. “We’ve assigned two prosecutors who are going to investigate these actions,” Attorney General Tarek Saab said on Thursday. Speaking two days after the National Constituent Assembly (ANC) […]

Talking is not the answer, says Trump on N Korea

Talking is not the answer, says Trump on N Korea

US President Donald Trump has said that “talking is not the answer” in dealing with North Korea’s military operations. “The US has been talking to North Korea, and paying them extortion money, for 25 years,” he wrote on Twitter, BBC reported on Wednesday. But US Defence Secretary James Mattis, insisted on Wednesday that there was […]

Hurricane Harvey weakens to tropical depression

Hurricane Harvey weakens to tropical depression

The catastrophic hurricane Harvey has weakened to a tropical depression with its centre now located in southwest Louisiana, but continues to cause heavy rains, the US National Hurricane Centre (NHC) announced. In the public advisory released late Wednesday night, the NHC indicated that Harvey has maximum winds of 55 km/h and is located 15 km […]

Trump urges Saudi King to end Qatar crisis

Trump urges Saudi King to end Qatar crisis

US President Donald Trump has urged Saudi King Salman bin Abdel Aziz in a call to find a diplomatic resolution to end the Qatar crisis, the media reported. The US President spoke to the Saudi King on Wednesday, Xinhua news agency reported. Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates and Egypt had cut off diplomatic […]

Brazil’s top prosecutor to remain in Temer graft case

Brazil’s top prosecutor to remain in Temer graft case

Brazil’s Federal Supreme Court (STF) dismissed a motion to remove General Prosecutor Rodrigo Janot from heading investigations into President Michel Temer’s alleged corruption. STF Judge Edson Fachin said on Wednesday there was no evidence that Janot was politically motivated or biased, as Temer’s defense team claimed, Xinhua news agency reported. Janot’s initial investigation into charges […]