International
Trump, Biden squabble over credit for Quad rebirth
Washington, June 26 (IANS) So who “put together” or “re-established” the Quad? The Trump campaign on Tuesday slammed President Joe Biden for claiming in a recent interview that he “put together” the Quad, an evolving multilateral group of nations comprising the United States, India, Australia, and Japan focussed on dealing with the aggressive rise of China.
“This is a classic example of Crooked Joe Biden taking credit for something he didn’t do. The reality is President Trump re-established the Quad in 2017 – a historic agreement that was lauded as breakthrough foreign policy,” the Trump campaign said in a document it released called “Biden Lies: Foreign Policy Edition”.
“Just one of the many historic foreign policy achievements that set the world on a path towards unprecedented peace – until Crooked Joe Biden screwed it all up.”
Trump and Biden face off on Thursday in an unprecedentedly early presidential debate and their campaigns are engaged in the run-up in a vitriolic exchange of words.
Biden is hoping to use the debate to reverse the negative narrative weighing down his poll numbers and Trump is seeking to insulate his chances from his legal troubles, which include a historic conviction of criminal charges for a former President.
The Quad was founded in the aftermath of the 2004 Tsunami by the four countries – India, Japan, the US, and Australia – to pool their resources for relief and rehabilitation efforts in the affected areas, chiefly the Indo-Pacific. Over the next few years, the group came to be seen as a counter-force to China, which used its economic clout to prise away Australia. Canberra announced its pull-out in 2008, killing the group.
President Trump’s administration resurrected the group in 2017 with a meeting of the officials of the four nations on the sidelines of the ASEAN meetings in Manila. And over the next two years, it was elevated it to the level of foreign ministers, who met for the first time as a group in 2019 on the margins of the UN General Assembly meetings. That was a breakthrough meeting for its time.
Biden, who won the US presidential election the next year and took office in January 2021, made the Quad an immediate priority and elevated it to the level of leaders in a virtual summit in March, just two months after being sworn in.
That was the first ever summit-level meeting of the Quad, in person or virtual. Biden followed it up with the first in-person summit of the group a few months later in September, when the leaders were in the US for the annual UN General Assembly meetings in New York City.
“We put together the Quad, which is India, Australia, the United States and Japan,” Biden said in an interview to Fareed Zakaria of CNN.
Biden did not put together the Quad. He elevated it to the level of leaders. That’s a fact.
Trump did re-establish the Quad. And that’s a fact as well.
–IANS
yrj/vd
International
5 killed, 20 injured in firecracker warehouse blast in Philippines
Manila, June 29 (IANS) A total of five persons were killed while 20 others injured after a powerful explosion ripped through a firecracker warehouse in Zamboanga city in the Philippines on Saturday, the media reported.
According to officials, the blast also damaged houses and commercial establishments near the warehouse, Xinhua news agency reported.
Zamboanga Mayor John Dalipe, who rushed to the blast site, told reporters that five persons died, and rescuers rushed 20 others to hospitals.
Of the injured, eight are said to be in a critical condition.
A police officer said that a child was among those killed in the blast. She told reporters that firefighters and the police are investigating the cause of the explosion.
–IANS
int/pgh
International
5 killed, 26 injured as truck overturns in Zimbabwe
Harare, June 29 (IANS) At least five persons have been killed, and 26 others injured after a truck carrying 38 people overturned in Zimbabwe, the media reported on Saturday, citing officials.
The police attributed the accident to recklessness on the part of the driver who fled the spot after the mishap, Xinhua news agency reported.
A police officer said that the truck veered off the road and overturned on the way from Karoi town in Mashonaland West Province to Binga in Matabeleland North Province.
Following the accident, some passengers were thrown off the truck while others were trapped beneath the load the truck was carrying.
–IANS
int/pgh
International
1,500 kg illicit drugs seized, 120 offenders arrested in Afghanistan
Zaranj (Afghanistan), June 29 (IANS) Afghan police seized 1,500 kg of illicit drugs, including opium and heroin, and arrested 120 alleged drug smugglers from Afghanistan’s Nimroz province over the past six months, the provincial police office said in a statement on Saturday.
Without providing more details, the statement said that the dossiers of the suspects have been referred to the judiciary for further investigation and possible legal process, Xinhua news agency reported.
Afghan authorities have intensified crackdown on illicit drugs and those involved in the business.
Poppy cultivation in Afghanistan had dropped by an estimated 95 per cent since the country’s caretaker government imposed a drug ban in April 2022, according to a report from the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime issued last November.
–IANS
as/arm
International
Iran's presidential election enters run-off (Lead)
Tehran, June 29 (IANS) Iran’s 14th presidential election on Saturday entered a runoff vote, with former Health Minister Masoud Pezeshkian securing 10 million votes, while former chief nuclear negotiator Saeed Jalili got over 9 million, Iran’s Election Headquarters Spokesperson Mohsen Eslami said.
According to Eslami, Pezeshkian got 42 per cent of the total vote count, while Jalili got 38 per cent, but no one secured the minimum threshold of 50 per cent of votes, Xinhua news agency reported.
The spokesperson said that the voting turnout stood at 40 per cent of over 61 million Iranians who are eligible to vote, adding that the runoff election will be held next Friday, July 5, as the majority was not secured by any of the candidates.
Additionally, Parliament Speaker Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf got 3,383,340, or 13.8 per cent, and Mostafa Pourmohammadi, a former interior minister and justice minister, got 206,397, or 0.8 per cent, Eslami said.
Voting for Iran’s 14th presidential election took place on Friday after President Ebrahim Raisi died in a helicopter crash last month.
The voting was held at close to 59,000 polling stations in more than 95 states, and over 61 million people are eligible to vote in the election, according to authorities.
Iran’s 14th presidential election, initially set for 2025, was rescheduled following Raisi’s unexpected death.
Initially, six candidates — Amir-Hossein Ghazizadeh Hashemi, the current Vice President; Alireza Zakani, the Mayor of Tehran; Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf, the Parliamentary Speaker; Saeed Jalili, the former top negotiator for nuclear talks; Mostafa Pourmohammadi, a former Interior Minister and Justice Minister; and Masoud Pezeshkian, a former Health Minister — were qualified to enter the race.
Later, Hashemi and Zakani, two principlist candidates, withdrew from the race in favour of Qalibaf and Jalili, who were also in the principlists’ camp.
–IANS
int/sd/
International
Explosion at community facility kills 1, injures 5 in Japan
Tokyo, June 29 (IANS) One man died while five others sustained injuries following an explosion at a community facility in Japan’s central Niigata prefecture on Saturday, local media reported.
The local fire station received a report of an explosion during pipe dismantling work at Yahiko General Cultural Center in Yahiko in the prefecture at about 1:30 p.m. local time, public broadcaster NHK reported.
According to the police and fire department, the explosion is believed to have occurred in the basement of the building, where renovation work was being carried out on the air conditioning system and toilets, Xinhua news agency reported.
The facility has been closed since earlier this month for renovation, and no public visitors or village staff were present, the report said.
Local authorities are currently investigating the incident.
–IANS
int/sd/arm
-
Video1 year ago
PM Modi Attacks Congress in Karnataka with “Kerala Story”
-
Cricket1 year ago
CSK players rejoice 5th IPL title with their families (Pics)
-
Politics1 year ago
Siddaramaiah & DK Shivakumar sworn in as Chief Minister & Deputy CM respectively
-
Entertainment1 year ago
Karan Deol weds his longtime Girlfriend Drisha Acharya (Pics)
-
Entertainment1 year ago
Urvashi Rautela dazzles on Cannes 2023 red carpet (Pics)
-
Entertainment1 year ago
Sunny Leone gets ready for Kennedy premiere in Cannes (Pics)
-
Entertainment1 year ago
Alia Bhatt looks crazy beautiful in Prabal Gurung creation at MET GALA 2023 (Pics)
-
Cricket1 year ago
Sakshi & Ziva Dhoni enjoy their time during CSK VS MI match