Tag Archives: World Leaders

Police question Netanyahu for third time in criminal case

Benjamin Netanyahu

By Maayan Lubell

(Reuters) – Israeli police questioned Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Friday for the third time this month as part of a criminal investigation into abuse of office, Israeli media reported.

A police source confirmed the questioning took place but would not provide further details. A Reuters cameraman at Netanyahu’s official residence, where the questioning took place, said investigators were on the scene for three hours.

Police confirm they are questioning Netanyahu as a suspect in two criminal cases, one involving gifts given to him and his family by businessmen and the other related to conversations he held with an Israeli publisher. He has denied wrongdoing.

If charges are brought, political upheaval in Israel would be likely, with pressure on Netanyahu, 67, to step down after 11 years in office, spread over four terms.

The first case — referred to by police as Case 1,000 — involves Netanyahu and family members receiving gifts on a regular basis from two businessmen. Israeli media have reported that the gifts include cigars and champagne.

The second involves a deal Netanyahu allegedly discussed with the owner of one of Israel’s largest newspapers, Yedioth Ahronoth, for better coverage in return for curbs on competition from a free paper owned by U.S. casino mogul Sheldon Adelson.

Adelson is a supporter of the prime minister and his newspaper is staunchly pro-Netanyahu.

Israel Radio said Friday’s questioning mainly focused on the second case.

Addressing parliament on Wednesday, Netanyahu said there was nothing wrong with receiving gifts from close friends and that it was common for politicians to hold conversations with newspaper publishers. He accused opponents of trying to overthrow him.

“The goal is to pressure the attorney-general to press charges at any cost. There is no limit to the hounding, the persecution, the lies,” Netanyahu said.

In a research note published this week, Moody’s rating agency said the investigations into Netanyahu “are sufficiently serious that they could end his tenure as prime minister”.

“Should Netanyahu be forced to resign, it is likely that new elections would need to be held, since there is no clear successor in his Likud party.”

Under Israeli law, the prime minister is not obliged to resign even after he is charged, but he could be pressured into stepping down. Opponents are calling for him to do so.

Netanyahu is not the first Israeli leader to have faced criminal investigation: former prime minister Ehud Olmert was convicted of breach of trust and bribery in 2014 and Ariel Sharon was questioned while in office over allegations of bribery and campaign financing illegalities.

Israel Radio and Channel Ten television reported this week that police were investigating two more cases involving Netanyahu. Police did not confirm or deny the reports.

(Editing by Luke Baker and Dominic Evans)

Putin-Trump phone call to take place on Saturday: Kremlin

Putin

By Christian Lowe and Noah Barkin

MOSCOW/BERLIN (Reuters) – Russian President Vladimir Putin and U.S. President Donald Trump will speak by telephone on Saturday, the Kremlin said, a first step towards what Trump has billed as a normalization of relations after three years of tensions sparked by the conflict in Ukraine.

Trump will also have a telephone conversation the same day with German Chancellor Angela Merkel, and that call is expected to focus on Russia, a source in Berlin familiar with the matter said. Merkel’s spokeswoman declined to comment.

Merkel and French President Francois Hollande met in Berlin on Friday, underscoring a need for European unity in the face of growing internal and external threats, including concerns about a move toward protectionism by the United States.

“Let’s say it honestly, there is the challenge posed by the new U.S. administration, regarding trade rules and what our position will be on managing conflicts in the world,” Hollande, who will leave office after an April-May election, told reporters.

Trump has said in the past that, as part of the rapprochement he is seeking with Russia, he is prepared to review sanctions Washington imposed on Russia over its 2014 annexation of Ukraine’s Crimea Peninsula.

That move is likely to face resistance from both influential figures in Washington and foreign leaders — Merkel among them — who argue sanctions should only be eased if Moscow complies with the West’s conditions on Ukraine.

Trump and Putin have never met and it was unclear how their very different personalities would gel. Trump is a flamboyant real estate deal-maker who often acts on gut instinct, while Putin is a former Soviet spy who calculates each step methodically.

PATIENCE

Both have spoken about ending the enmity that has dragged U.S.-Russia relations to their lowest ebb since the Cold War.

“Wouldn’t it be nice if we actually got along with people? Wouldn’t it be nice if we actually got along, as an example, with Russia? I am all for it,” Trump told a news conference in July last year.

Trump is already under intense scrutiny at home from critics who say he was elected with help from Russian intelligence — an allegation he denies — and that he is too ready to cut deals with a country that many of his own officials say is a threat to U.S. security.

Putin’s spokesman Dmitry Peskov, said the Russian leader would use the call to congratulate Trump on taking office and to exchange views on U.S.-Russian ties.

Asked by reporters if Ukraine would come up, Peskov said: “This is the first telephone contact since President Trump took office, so one should hardly expect that (it)…will involve substantive discussions across the whole range of issues.

“We’ll see, let’s be patient.”

If Putin and Trump can establish a rapport, it could pave the way for deals on Ukraine and Syria, two sources of friction during the administration of Barack Obama.

For the Russian leader, there is much to gain. Putin is expected to run for re-election next year, but is hampered by a sluggish economy. A softening or removal of sanctions would allow Western investment and credit to flow in, lifting growth and strengthening Putin’s election prospects.

(Additional reporting by Polina Devitt and Denis Pinchuk in Moscow and Joseph Nasr and Andrea Shalal in Berlin; Editing by Ralph Boulton)

U.S.-Mexico crisis deepens as Trump aide floats border tax idea

boy watches as U.S. workers build wall between U.S. and Mexico

By Steve Holland and Miguel Gutierrez

PHILADELPHIA/MEXICO CITY (Reuters) – The White House on Thursday floated the idea of imposing a 20 percent tax on goods from Mexico to pay for a wall at the southern U.S. border, sending the peso tumbling and deepening a crisis between the two neighbors.

Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto announced on Twitter around midday on Thursday that he was scrapping a planned trip to meet with U.S. President Donald Trump, who has repeatedly demanded that Mexico pay for a wall on the U.S. border.

Later in the day, White House spokesman Sean Spicer sent the Mexican peso falling to its low for the day when he told reporters that Trump wanted a 20 percent tax on Mexican imports to pay for construction of the wall.

Spicer gave few details, but his comments resembled an existing idea, known as a border adjustment tax, that the Republican-led U.S. House of Representatives is considering as part of a broad tax overhaul.

The White House said later its proposal was in the early stages. Asked if Trump favored a border adjustment tax, White House Chief of Staff Reince Priebus said such a tax would be “one way” of paying for the border wall.

“It’s a buffet of options,” he said.

The plan being weighed by House Republicans would exempt export revenues from taxation but impose a 20 percent tax on imported goods, a significant change from current U.S. policy.

“If you tax exports from Mexico into the United States, you’re going to make things ranging from avocados to appliances to flat-screen tvs, you’re going to make them more expensive,” Mexican Foreign Minister Luis Videgaray told reporters at the Mexican Embassy in Washington on Thursday night.

Countries like Mexico would not pay such taxes directly. Companies would face the tax if they import products made there into the United States, potentially raising prices for American consumers.

The idea is unpopular with retailers and businesses that sell imported goods in the United States. It also has met opposition from some lawmakers worried about the impact on U.S. consumers.

Trump himself appeared to pan the idea in a Wall Street Journal interview last week, saying the House border adjustment provision was “too complicated.”

Even after Trump’s comments, congressional Republicans have continued to discuss the issue with White House officials in an effort to bring them on board with the idea.

RIFT WITH MEXICO

Trump, who visited Republican lawmakers at their policy retreat in Philadelphia, told them he would use tax reform legislation to pay for the border wall.

“We’re working on a tax reform bill that will reduce our trade deficits, increase American exports and will generate revenue from Mexico that will pay for the wall if we decide to go that route,” he said.

Trump, who took office last week, views the wall, a major promise during his election campaign, as part of a package of measures to curb illegal immigration. Mexico has long insisted it will not heed Trump’s demands to pay for the construction project.

He signed an executive order for construction of the wall on Wednesday. The move provoked outrage in Mexico. A planned meeting between Videgaray and U.S. Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly was canceled, a department spokeswoman said.

Videgaray said Mexico would work with Trump but that paying for the wall was out of the question.

“There are things that go beyond negotiation,” he said. “This is about our dignity and our pride.”

Pena Nieto, who had been under pressure to cancel the summit, tweeted on Thursday: “We have informed the White House that I will not attend the working meeting planned for next Tuesday with @POTUS.”

Trump had tweeted earlier that it would be better for the Mexican leader not to come if Mexico would not pay for the wall. He said later the meeting was canceled by mutual agreement.

Relations have been frayed since Trump launched his presidential campaign in 2015, characterizing Mexican immigrants as murderers and rapists. His trade rhetoric has hit the Mexican economy, causing consumers to rein in spending and foreign businesses to wait on new investments, according to the International Monetary Fund.

Trump has vowed to renegotiate the North American Free Trade Agreement with Mexico and Canada and slap high tariffs on American companies that have moved jobs south of the border.

Mexico ships 80 percent of its exports to the United States, and about half of Mexico’s foreign direct investment has come from its northern neighbor over the past two decades.

The United States runs a $58.8 billion trade deficit with Mexico, according to the latest U.S. government figures. But Mexico is also the United States’ second-largest export market.

(Additional reporting by Roberta Rampton and Ayesha Rascoe in Washington, David Morgan in Philadelphia and Frank Jack Daniel, Dave Graham and Christine Murray in Mexico City; Writing by Emily Stephenson; Editing by Alistair Bell and Peter Cooney)

Hungary set on closer ties with Russia, U.S.: foreign minister

Hungary's foreign minister

By Krisztina Than and Marton Dunai

BUDAPEST (Reuters) – Hungary favors closer ties with Russia and also expects links with the United States to improve markedly under President Donald Trump, whose criticism of NATO’s strategy on terrorism it endorses, its foreign minister said on Friday.

In an interview with Reuters days before Russian President Vladimir Putin visits Budapest to discuss closer energy ties, Peter Szijjarto also said the European Union’s sanctions regime against Moscow was ineffective and should be scrapped.

“Hungary’s position on the sanctions is that (they are) useless,” Szijjarto said, estimating Hungary had lost export opportunities worth $6.5 billion since they were introduced in place in 2014.

“Should we be happy with Russia’s economy declining? No, we regret that,” he said, adding that Budapest did not view Moscow as a threat.

Hungary, a member of NATO and the EU, has remained on good terms with Russia under the sanctions regime, imposed following its annexation of Crimea in March 2014 and its subsequent involvement in the separatist conflict in Ukraine.

Prime Minister Viktor Orban has in the past criticized the sanctions, and his overall relations with EU authorities have been less smooth, with Budapest notably defying Brussels over the latter’s attempt to introduce a quota system for hosting refugees.

Speaking in English, Szijjarto said the sanctions had also damaged the wider European economy and failed politically as they had not persuaded Russia to honor the four-power Minsk agreement to end the fighting in eastern Ukraine.

His preference would be for “really high level” talks to find new footing for relations with Russia.

“I don’t see Russia as a threat on Hungary. I understand and respect that our Polish friends, Baltic friends have another position on that… Russia would not attack any NATO member state. I don’t think it would be in Russia’s interest.”

TALKING ENERGY

Szijjarto said Hungary, which will host Putin on Feb. 2, is already looking at ways to extend cooperation on natural gas supplies with Russia beyond 2021.

“We have to start now,” he said, adding Budapest would like to develop alternative energy sources but Russia was far more reliable than European partners, which had failed to build the necessary infrastructure to reduce reliance on Russian gas.

Hungary is also pressing ahead with the construction of two new power blocks at its Paks nuclear plant, a 10 billion euro deal with Moscow that has come under scrutiny from Brussels, with a state aid probe still pending.

Once that probe gives the green light, “we will start (construction) immediately,” Szijjarto said.

Budapest also expects a “massive improvement” in ties with Washington, he said, agreeing with Trump’s view that NATO had failed to defend successfully against the threat of terrorism.

“Currently if we speak about threats …I see ISIS as a threat… A non-state actor is the most serious threat to the civilized world. And in this regard, I think yes, NATO could have a bigger role.”

Hungary’s Prime Minister Viktor Orban clashed with the Barack Obama administration over what critics said was an erosion of democratic values by his government.

Last year Orban was one of the first international leaders to endorse Trump, who, Szijjarto said would no longer “interfere into the internal political issues of Hungary.”

“Now as the new President made it very clear that export of democracy is out of the focus of US foreign policy… this kind of pressure… will disappear,” he said.

(editing by John Stonestreet)

NATO, Russia and trade top the agenda for Trump talks with Britain’s May

Theresa May before meeting Donald Trump

By Steve Holland and Elizabeth Piper

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – U.S. President Donald Trump and British Prime Minister Theresa May, who share an unusual bond as the products of anti-establishment uprisings, will sit down on Friday for what could be a difficult search for unity on NATO, Russia and trade.

The meeting will mark Trump’s first with a foreign leader since taking power a week ago, and it could go a long way toward determining how crucial Trump considers the traditional “special relationship” between the two countries.

Trump rode an anti-Washington wave to win on Nov. 8, and May gained power in July after the “Brexit” vote that has put her country on a path to separate from the European Union. The meeting will conclude with a joint White House news conference.

Trump has declared NATO obsolete and expressed a desire for warmer ties with Russia. May considers the trans-Atlantic alliance crucial and is skeptical of Russian President Vladimir Putin.

They both want to begin work on a bilateral trade agreement, which for May would provide proof of stability amid the Brexit breakup and for Trump would support his belief that he can negotiate one-on-one trade pacts.

“They both need this to be a success,” said Heather Conley, a European expert at the Center for Strategic and International Studies think tank.

Trump, she said, “needs to demonstrate that he has a command of issues” while May “needs to hear strong messages of support for her vision of a Britain that works for everyone, a global Britain.”

May, in a speech to Republican lawmakers gathered in Philadelphia on Thursday, suggested she saw the need for some reforms in NATO and for more countries to pay more to the alliance to help fund it, which has been Trump’s main complaint about NATO.

“America’s leadership role in NATO – supported by Britain – must be the central element around which the alliance is built,” May said.

But she said that EU nations “must step up” to ensure NATO remains the cornerstone of the West’s defense.

Trump and May also seem somewhat at odds over how to deal with Russia. In her speech, May said Western leaders should “engage but beware” of Putin and should not accept Putin’s claim that Eastern Europe is now in his sphere of influence.Trump, on the other hand, wants a strong U.S. relationship with Russia to fight Islamic State militants.

“I don’t know Putin, but if we can get along with Russia, that’s a great thing,” Trump told Fox News’ Sean Hannity” on Thursday. “It’s good for Russia, it’s good for us.”

(Reporting by Steve Holland and Elizabeth Piper; Editing by Leslie Adler)

Anxious world leaders seek clarity on Trump policies

Donald Trump arriving at election night speech

By Angus MacSwan

LONDON (Reuters) – World leaders reacted to Donald Trump’s victory in the U.S. presidential election with offers to work with him tinged with anxiety over how he would deal with a host of problems, from the Middle East to an assertive Russia.

Several authoritarian and right-wing leaders commended the billionaire businessman and reality TV star who against the odds won the leadership of the world’s most powerful country.

Trump, who has no previous political or military experience, sent conciliatory signals after his upset of Democratic rival Hillary Clinton, pledging to seek common ground, not conflict, with the United States’ allies.

During his election campaign, Trump expressed admiration for Russian President Vladimir Putin, questioned central tenets of the NATO military alliance and suggested Japan and South Korea should develop nuclear weapons to shoulder their own defense burden.

Putin was among the first to send congratulations after Trump declared victory.

Ties between Washington and Moscow have become strained over the conflicts in Ukraine and Syria, and allegations of Russian cyber attacks featured in the U.S. election campaign.

“We heard the campaign statements of the future U.S. presidential candidate about the restoration of relations between Russia and the United States,” Putin said.

“It is not an easy path, but we are ready to do our part and do everything to return Russian and American relations to a stable path of development.”

Among other issues causing concern among allies are Trump’s vows to undo a global agreement on climate change, ditch trade deals he says have been bad for U.S. workers and renegotiate the nuclear accord between Tehran and world powers which has led to an easing of sanctions on Iran.

Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif urged Trump to stay committed to the Iran deal. Iranian President Hassan Rouhani said the election result would have no effect on Tehran’s policies and the nuclear accord with six world powers could not be dismissed by one government.

Elsewhere in the Middle East, Israel’s Benjamin Netanyahu, who had a poor relationship with President Barack Obama, said he hoped to reach “new heights” in bilateral ties under Trump.

Obama and Netanyahu sparred over the issue of Israeli settlements, while Trump has said they should expand.

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas also congratulated Trump, but analysts said his rule may be profoundly negative for Palestinian aspirations.

And despite Trump’s negative rhetoric about Muslims during his campaign, including threats to ban them from the United States, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi said he hoped the business magnate’s election would breathe new life into U.S.-Egyptian ties.

UNCERTAINTY

In Britain, where Trump’s victory had echoes of last June’s referendum in which voters showed dissatisfaction with the political establishment by voting to leave European Union, Prime Minister Theresa May said the “enduring and special relationship” between the two countries would remain intact.

Nigel Farage, a leader of the Brexit campaign who spoke at a Trump rally during the election campaign, tweeted: “I hand over the mantle to @RealDonaldTrump! Many congratulations. You have fought a brave campaign.”

But some European officials took the unusual step of denouncing the outcome, calling it a worrying signal for liberal democracy and tolerance in the world.

“Trump is the pioneer of a new authoritarian and chauvinist international movement. He is also a warning for us,” German Vice Chancellor Sigmar Gabriel told Funke newspaper group.

Some leaders are smarting from insults that Trump doled out in the past few months, such as calling German Chancellor Angela Merkel “insane” for allowing more than 1 million migrants into the country last year.

“We’re realizing now that we have no idea what this American president will do,” Norbert Roettgen, a conservative ally of Merkel and head of the German parliament’s foreign affairs committee, told German radio. “Geopolitically we are in a very uncertain situation.”

President Francois Hollande said France wanted to begin talks with Trump immediately to clarify his stance on international affairs.

“This American election opens a period of uncertainty,” Hollande said.

French officials had openly endorsed Clinton and warned that Trump’s “confused” foreign policy objectives were alarming for the rest of the world.

“The U.S. is a vital partner for France and what’s at stake is peace, the fight against terrorism, the situation in the Middle East, economic relations and the preservation of the planet,” Hollande said.

But like-minded right-wing European parties that are hoping to make inroads of their own in 2017 — a year in which Germany, France and the Netherlands hold elections, and Italy and Britain could also do so — hailed Trump’s victory.

“Their world is falling apart. Ours is being built,” Florian Philippot, a senior figure in France’s far-right National Front (FN), tweeted.

CHINA CONCILIATORY

In Asia, Chinese President Xi Jinping sent a message with a conciliatory tone, telling Trump that Beijing and Washington shared responsibility for promoting global development and prosperity.

“I place great importance on the China-U.S. relationship, and look forward to working with you to uphold the principles of non-conflict, non-confrontation, mutual respect and win-win cooperation,” Xi told Trump, who said on the campaign trail to take on China and to tax Chinese imports to stop currency evaluation.

South Korea expressed the hope that Trump would maintain current U.S. policy of pressuring North Korea over its nuclear and missile tests. Seoul was concerned Trump may make unpredictable proposals to North Korea, a ruling party official said, quoting top national security officials.

A Japanese government official, speaking before Trump clinched the election, urged him to send a message as soon as possible to reassure the world of the United States’ commitment to its allies.

“We are certainly concerned about the comments (Trump) has made to date about the alliance and the U.S. role in the Pacific, particularly Japan,” the Japanese official said.

(Reporting by Reuters bureaus in Europe, Asia and the Americas, Editing by Sonya Hepinstall and Angus MacSwan)

Top diplomats from U.S., Japan, South Korea to meet on North Korea

World leaders from US, Japan, and South Korea

By Tony Munroe and Ben Blanchard

SEOUL/BEIJING (Reuters) – U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry will meet with his Japanese and South Korean counterparts in New York on Sunday to discuss responses to North Korea’s latest nuclear test, South Korea’s foreign ministry said on Wednesday.

The three countries are pushing for tough new U.N. Security Council sanctions on North Korea after the isolated country on Friday conducted its fifth and largest nuclear test.

The blast was in defiance of U.N. sanctions that were tightened in March.

China, the North’s chief ally, backed the March resolution but is more resistant to harsh new sanctions this time after the United States and South Korea decided to deploy a sophisticated anti-missile system in the South, which China adamantly opposes.

South Korea said Foreign Minister Yun Byung-se and his counterparts Kerry and Japanese Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida will meet during the annual U.N. General Assembly to discuss putting further pressure on North Korea.

The United States wants China to do more, with U.S. Defence Secretary Ash Carter last week singling out the role he said China should play in curbing its neighbor.

TESTING TIMES

North Korea has been testing nuclear weapons and ballistic missiles at an unprecedented rate this year under young leader Kim Jong Un.

On Tuesday, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi spoke with South Korea’s Yun by phone, expressing Beijing’s opposition to the North’s latest nuclear test but also reiterating opposition to the planned deployment of the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THADD) anti-missile system in the South, China’s foreign ministry said.

China is North Korea’s most important diplomatic and trade partner and refuses to cut the country off completely, fearing it could collapse.

Beijing’s official People’s Daily newspaper on Wednesday called the United States a troublemaker and said it has no right to lecture China about taking responsibility for reining in North Korea as tensions on the peninsula are a direct result of U.S. actions.

In a commentary, the ruling Communist Party’s official paper said the United States was pretending it had nothing to do with the North Korea issue and was putting the blame on others.

“People have reason to doubt whether Washington is willing to make the effort to push the North Korea issue in the direction of a resolution,” the paper said.

China and Russia have pushed for a resumption of six party talks on denuclearization in North Korea. The talks, which also involve Japan, South Korea and the United States, have been on hold since 2008.

Washington has said it is willing to negotiate with the North if it the country commits to denuclearization, which Pyongyang has refused to do.

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe will seek Cuba’s help in responding to North Korea’s nuclear and missile programs during a rare visit to Havana next week, a spokesman said.

(Editing by Lincoln Feast)

Italy’s Renzi signs potentially huge business deals in Iran

Iran and Italy Leaders

ROME (Reuters) – Italy and Iran signed deals potentially worth billions on Tuesday when Prime Minister Matteo Renzi visited Tehran seeking a strong Italian foothold in a nation hungry for infrastructure investment as it emerges from financial isolation.

Renzi was accompanied by a delegation of some 60 business leaders in sectors including, energy, railways and defense, and by Italy’s export agency and state lender which pledged billions of euros in credit lines and guarantees.

Three months ago President Hassan Rouhani made Italy his first stop in Europe as he sought to drum up investment in the Iranian economy, which rejoined the global trading system in January following a deal to lift crippling sanctions in exchange for limiting its nuclear activities.

“The end of sanctions is a historic step not only for Iran but for the whole region,” Renzi told reporters in Tehran with Rouhani standing by his side.

“We are committed to making sure the efforts of the international community are accompanied by mutual trust and by the immediate relaunch of economic links.”

Business delegations from other European countries are expected in Tehran in coming weeks, but Italy is well positioned to win contracts that could deliver a much needed export boost for its chronically sluggish economy.

Enel said it signed a memorandum of understanding with the National Iranian Gas Export Company on possible future cooperation in natural gas, liquefied natural gas and related infrastructure, that could lead to long-term gas supplies for its power stations.

The Enel deal was one of seven signed by Renzi and Rouhani, Iranian state television said. Renzi was due to return to Rome on Wednesday.

Oil major Eni has an agreement that allows it to take oil from Iran in payment for previous investments while oil service group Saipem, expected to clinch a new deal on Tuesday, had already signed preliminary deals in January that a source said at the time could be worth $4-5 billion.

Italy’s state railways company, Ferrovie dello Stato, said it signed a “framework of cooperation” agreement to build two high-speed lines in Iran. The contract could be worth some 3 billion euros, a source close to the matter said.

Italy’s state-run lender Cassa Depositi e Prestiti will offer credit lines of 4 billion euros to companies building oil and gas infrastructure, while export agency SACE will guarantee loans and offer trade financing of 4.8 billion euros, a SACE statement said.

($1 = 0.8758 euros)

(Reporting by Steve Scherer and Stephen Jewkes, additional reporting by Sam Wilkin in Dubai, Isla Binnie in Rome and Francesca Landini in Milan, editing by Isla Binnie and Robin Pomeroy)