Britain welcomes China’s Xi with royal pomp but some worry about Beijing’s growing clout
Britain welcomes China’s Xi with royal pomp but some worry about Beijing’s growing clout
LONDON (AP) — China’s leader quoted Chinese proverbs and William Shakespeare while Britain’s prime minister hailed a “golden age” between the two nations as a state visit festooned with regal pomp and pageantry was shadowed by concerns about national security, human rights and economic rivalry.
President Xi Jinping’s trip, years in the making, aimed to cement deals giving Britain a vast new pool of investment and China greater access to European markets. But as Xi was welcomed Tuesday as an honored guest at Buckingham Palace and Parliament, critics warned that Britain was taking a risk by courting Beijing so aggressively.
“If you act like a panting puppy, the object of your attention is going to think they have got you on a leash,” James McGregor, a China expert at consulting firm APCO, told the BBC.
Some British politicians, businesspeople and union members are alarmed by growing Chinese investment in key sectors of the British economy, including nuclear power, and by Chinese competition in areas such as steel production.
Hundreds of U.K. steel layoffs were announced Tuesday, the first full day of Xi’s four-day visit, in a crisis that manufacturers blame on China selling steel at a loss on world markets to secure its own market share.
Webb withdrawing Democratic bid for president, will consider options
WASHINGTON (AP) — Former Virginia Sen. Jim Webb said Tuesday he is dropping out of the Democratic race for president and is considering his options about how he might “remain as a voice” in the campaign.
Webb said at a news conference that he is “withdrawing from any consideration” of becoming the Democratic party’s nominee and would spend the coming weeks exploring his options about a possible independent bid.
“The very nature of our democracy is under siege due to the power structure and the money that finances both political parties,” Webb said, joined by his wife, Hong Le Webb. “Our political candidates are being pulled to the extremes. They’re increasingly out of step with the people they’re supposed to serve.”
Webb said many of the issues that he cares about are not in line with the hierarchy of the Democratic party, saying he did not have a “clear, exact fit” in either party. Asked if he still considers himself a Democrat, Webb said, “We’ll think about that.”
If Webb chose to run as an independent, he would face long odds in raising enough money and building a strong enough organization outside of the two-party system to get on the ballot in 50 states. Outsider candidates have struggled to amass broad support in the past: Ross Perot got 19 percent of the vote in 1992 and 8 percent in 1996. Ralph Nader got 3 percent of the vote as a Green Party candidate in 2000 but garnered enough liberal support in Florida to prevent Democrat Al Gore from carrying the state and winning the presidency.
Russia, US sign agreement to minimize risks as they separately carry out airstrikes in Syria
WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. and Russia put into practice on Tuesday new rules designed to minimize the risk of air collisions between Russian and U.S.-led coalition aircraft over Syria.
A Russian defense official in Moscow said the “memorandum of understanding” suggests a potential for U.S.-Russian counterterrorism cooperation, but U.S. officials said it was a narrow arrangement that does not lessen Washington’s concern about the Russian military campaign in Syria.
There is no plan to establish zones of cooperation in the parallel air campaigns or to share intelligence or target information in Syria, Pentagon spokesman Peter Cook said.
The Pentagon has cited several instances when Russian aircraft came too close to U.S. warplanes over Syria in recent weeks. More broadly, Washington has complained that instead of hitting Islamic State fighters, Russian airstrikes are mostly targeting rebel forces fighting the Syrian government. Russia also deployed ground troops and land-based weaponry, including multiple-launch rocket systems, in support of the Syrian government.
The arrangement announced Tuesday “does nothing to assuage our concerns about Russian military activities in Syria,” State Department spokesman John Kirby said.
Canada returns its liberal roots under Trudeau after a decade of Conservative rule
TORONTO (AP) — The stunning victory of Justin Trudeau will have reverberations beyond Canada’s borders after the Liberal Party leader emphatically put an end to a decade of rule by the most conservative leadership in the country’s history.
Among the areas in which Trudeau differs from his predecessor, Conservative Stephen Harper: airstrikes against the Islamic State group, support for Israel, climate change, immigration and how much relations with the U.S. should hinge on the future of the Keystone XL oil pipeline.
Speaking at a rally in Ottawa on Tuesday, the 43-year-old Trudeau — son of one of the country’s most dynamic politicians — underlined the sea change.
“I want to say this to this country’s friends around the world: Many of you have worried that Canada has lost its compassionate and constructive voice in the world over the past 10 years. Well, I have a simple message for you on behalf of 35 million Canadians. We’re back,” he declared.
With Trudeau’s decisive victory on Monday, Canadian voters reclaimed their country’s liberal identity, giving the new prime minister a commanding majority in parliament that will allow him to govern without relying on other parties.
Thousands join migrant exodus through Slovenia as tiny Balkan nation deploys troops to border
BREZICE, Slovenia (AP) — Led by riot police on horseback, thousands of weary migrants marched across western Balkans borderlands as far as the eye could see Tuesday as authorities cautiously lowered barriers and intensified efforts to cope with a human tide unseen in Europe since World War II.
Leaders of Slovenia deployed military units to support police on their overwhelmed southern border with Croatia, which delivered more than 6,000 asylum seekers by train and bus to the frontier in bitterly disputed circumstances between the former Yugoslav rivals.
With far too few buses available in Slovenia to cope, most people walked 15 kilometers (9 miles) on rural lanes past cornfields and pastures to reach a refugee camp, a challenge eased by sunny weather after days of torrential rain, fog and frigid winds.
On Slovenia’s frontiers with Croatia and Austria, aid workers toiled to erect enough tents and other emergency accommodation to shelter up to 14,000 travelers, more than five times the tiny nation’s previous official limit.
Interior Secretary of State Bostjan Sefic told reporters in the Slovene capital, Ljubljana, that the pressure on border security with Croatia had grown “very difficult with an enormous number of people.” He said Slovenia, an Alpine land of barely 2 million, needed much more help immediately from bigger EU partners to cope or the country might have to adopt border-toughening measures.
UN chief urges calm during Jerusalem visit as Palestinian attacks continue
JERUSALEM (AP) — U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon called for calm during a surprise visit to Jerusalem on Tuesday ahead of meetings with Israeli and Palestinian leaders, in a high-profile gambit to bring an end to a monthlong wave of violence.
The visit comes amid unrest that erupted a month ago over tensions surrounding Jerusalem’s most sensitive holy site sacred to Jews and Muslims. A spate of almost daily Palestinian attacks against civilians and soldiers, most of which have involved stabbings, has caused panic across Israel and raised fears that the region is on the cusp of a new round of bloodshed.
“These are difficult times for Israelis and Palestinians. I am here in the hope that we can work together to end the violence, ease the tensions and begin to restore a long term political horizon of peace,” Ban said at a press conference with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu Tuesday night.
“I deplore the random attacks against civilians, such terror attacks make every place unsafe and every person regardless to gender or age a potential victim,” he said.
“We need to keep the situation from escalation into a religious conflict, with potential regional implications,” he added.