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US warns Iran to stop plotting against Trump

US warns Iran to stop plotting against Trump
Republican presidential nominee, former President Donald Trump, holds a town hall at the Greater Philadelphia Expo Center in Oaks, Pennsylvania. (File/AFP)
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Updated 15 October 2024
Reuters
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US warns Iran to stop plotting against Trump

US warns Iran to stop plotting against Trump
  • Biden briefed regularly on threats, directs team to address Iranian plotting
  • Iran denies plotting, cites US interference in its affairs
  • White House warns of severe consequences for any attack on US citizens
Updated 15 October 2024
Reuters
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WASHINGTON: The United States has warned the Iranian government to stop all plotting against Republican Donald Trump and said that Washington would view any attempt on his life as an act of war, a US official said on Monday.
The official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said US President Joe Biden has been briefed regularly on the threats and directed his team to address Iranian plots against Americans.
At Biden’s direction, top US officials have sent messages to the highest levels of the Iranian government warning Tehran to cease all plotting against Trump and former US officials, the official said.
The Iranians have been told that Washington would view it as an act of war if any attempt was carried out against Trump’s life, the official said.
Iran has denied interfering in US affairs. Tehran, in turn, says Washington has interfered in its affairs for decades, citing events ranging from a 1953 coup against a prime minister to the 2020 killing of its military commander in a US drone strike.
In January 2020, Trump ordered a US air strike that killed Iran’s then-top military commander, Qassem Soleimani, after receiving intelligence that Soleimani was planning imminent attacks on US diplomats and armed forces in Iraq, Lebanon, Syria and elsewhere in the Middle East.
Trump, a Republican, is now seeking a return to the White House after losing the 2020 election to Biden. Trump is now in a battle against Vice President Kamala Harris in the race for the Nov. 5 election.
His campaign said on Sept. 24 that Trump was briefed by US intelligence officials on the alleged threat from Iran.
The White House said the United States has been closely tracking Iranian threats against Trump for years and it warned of “severe consequences” if Tehran was to attack any US citizen. “We consider this a national and homeland security matter of the highest priority, and we strongly condemn Iran for these brazen threats. Should Iran attack any of our citizens, including those who continue to serve the United States or those who formerly served, Iran will face severe consequences,” said White House National Security Council spokesperson Sean Savett.
He said “appropriate agencies are continuously and promptly providing the former president’s security detail with evolving threat information.”
“Additionally, President Biden has reiterated his directive that the United States Secret Service should receive every resource, capability, and protective measure required to address those evolving threats to the former president,” Savett said.

Topics: Iran Donald Trump

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Evacuation call as Philippine volcano erupts

Evacuation call as Philippine volcano erupts
Updated 7 sec ago
AFP
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Evacuation call as Philippine volcano erupts

Evacuation call as Philippine volcano erupts
  • Rising more than 2,400 meters above sea level on the central island of Negros, Kanlaon is one of 24 active volcanoes in the Philippines
Updated 7 sec ago
AFP
MANILA: A volcano erupted in the central Philippines on Monday, sending a huge ash column into the sky as the government called for the evacuation of surrounding villages.
Rising more than 2,400 meters (8,000 feet) above sea level on the central island of Negros, Kanlaon is one of 24 active volcanoes in the Philippines.
“An explosive eruption occurred at the summit vent of Kanlaon Volcano at 3:03 p.m. (0703 GMT) today,” the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology said in a statement.
“All local government units are advised to evacuate the six-kilometer (four-mile) radius from the summit of the volcano and must be prepared for additional evacuation if activity warrants,” it added.
Video clips posted by nearby residents on social media showed a giant cauliflower-shaped grey mass of smoke billowing above Kanlaon’s crater.
The seismology office said the plume rose to 3,000 meters above the vent, with red-hot ashes and other materials also falling on its southeastern slope.
The activity means “magmatic eruption has begun that may progress to further explosive eruptions,” it added.
In September hundreds of nearby residents had been evacuated after the volcano spurted thousands of tons of harmful gases in a single day.

Assad’s departure a momentous day of joy for Syrians says non-profit group

Assad’s departure a momentous day of joy for Syrians says non-profit group
Updated 48 sec ago
Arab News
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Assad’s departure a momentous day of joy for Syrians says non-profit group

Assad’s departure a momentous day of joy for Syrians says non-profit group
Updated 48 sec ago
Arab News

LONDON: The departure of the Assad family from power in Syria after 53 years is a momentous moment for all Syrians, according to the non-profit group Council for Arab-British Understanding.

A statement from the group said the change allows a new horizon for Syrians who have suffered for years, even decades, under one of the most brutal regimes in history.

Chris Doyle, director of Caabu, said: “To topple this tyrannical leadership in less than two weeks with relatively little bloodshed is extraordinary and bodes well for Syria’s future.

“It is clear that all components of Syrian society agreed that Assad had to go,” Doyle said. “Moreover, whilst the uppermost echelons of this mafia regime have gone, the state has survived, which will be vital in keeping services going and saving the country from a collapse reminiscent of Iraq.”

According to the Caabu statement, international powers, including the UK, must get behind a proper political process to support a Syrian-led political transition in Syria that is inclusive with respect for all communities. This must ensure that the interests of the Syrian people are prioritized above those of external powers who have all too often polarized Syrian society and played a negative, even destructive role, in Syria.

“The donor community must assist in the transition process in a responsible fashion. The immediate humanitarian needs of the Syrian people must be addressed. But the Syrian economy needs to be reignited. Donor states can help in a phased lifting of sanctions, but also with a stimulation of small and medium businesses across the country. The benefits of any transition must be felt across all sectors of society in all areas of the state,” it added.

Topics: Fall of Assad Syria Bashar Assad

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Taiwan military sets up emergency response ahead of Chinese drills

Taiwan military sets up emergency response ahead of Chinese drills
Updated 09 December 2024
Reuters
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Taiwan military sets up emergency response ahead of Chinese drills

Taiwan military sets up emergency response ahead of Chinese drills
  • China expected to launch another round of exercises waters around the island
  • Taiwan’s military has activated its ‘combat readiness exercises’ at strategic locations
Updated 09 December 2024
Reuters

TAIPEI: Taiwan’s military set up an emergency response center and raised its alert level on Monday, saying China has set up seven zones of reserved airspace and dispatched naval fleets and coast guard boats to waters around the island.
China, which claims democratically governed Taiwan as its own territory, had been expected to launch another round of exercises in response to Taiwan President Lai Ching-te’s trip to the Pacific, which included stopovers in Hawaii and the US territory of Guam, security sources had told Reuters.
China has set up seven “temporary reserved areas” of airspace to the east of its eastern Fujian and Zhejiang provinces, Taiwan’s defense ministry said in a statement, adding those zones are valid from Monday to Wednesday.
Such zones are temporarily reserved and allocated for a particular user during a set period, though other flights can pass through with permission from controllers, according to international rules.
China’s defense ministry did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment.
Taiwan’s military said it has activated its “combat readiness exercises” at strategic locations and its naval and coast guard boats are closely monitoring the Chinese military activities.
“Any unilateral and irrational, provocative actions could seriously destroyed peace and stability in the Indo Pacific and that will not by welcomed by the international community,” Taiwan’s defense ministry said.

Topics: Taiwan China

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Dozens of schools in Delhi get bomb threats – report

Dozens of schools in Delhi get bomb threats – report
Updated 09 December 2024
Reuters
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Dozens of schools in Delhi get bomb threats – report

Dozens of schools in Delhi get bomb threats – report
  • Schools, railway stations and airports this year have been subject to hundreds of bomb threats, which have later turned out to be hoaxes
  • Airlines and airports in India received 999 hoax bomb threats from the start of the year until mid-November
Updated 09 December 2024
Reuters

NEW DELHI: At least 40 schools received a bomb threat by email in Delhi on Monday demanding $30,000, ANI news agency said, while police officials conducted initial searches on school premises.
Schools, railway stations and airports this year have been subject to hundreds of bomb threats, which have later turned out to be hoaxes.
Airlines and airports in India received 999 hoax bomb threats from the start of the year until mid-November, and 12 people had been arrested during the same period, government data shows.
Two schools got the threatening email on Sunday night, which said multiple bombs were planted inside buildings and would be detonated if the sender was not paid $30,000, according to ANI.
Many other schools received the emails on Monday morning, prompting school authorities to call parents to take the students home for the day.
Parents were seen picking their children up from the gates of some schools as police checked school premises for suspicious items.
Police officials in Delhi did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Reuters.
In May, more than 50 schools in Delhi and the adjoining suburb of Noida received similar bomb threat emails that turned out to be hoaxes.

Topics: India

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Tonga’s prime minister quits moments ahead of no-confidence motion in parliament

Tonga’s prime minister quits moments ahead of no-confidence motion in parliament
Updated 09 December 2024
AP
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Tonga’s prime minister quits moments ahead of no-confidence motion in parliament

Tonga’s prime minister quits moments ahead of no-confidence motion in parliament
  • Siaosi Sovaleni, who took office in 2021, did not specify a reason for his departure but his resignation halted the no-confidence motion expected on Monday
Updated 09 December 2024
AP

WELLINGTON: Tonga’s Prime Minister Siaosi Sovaleni abruptly resigned in parliament on Monday ahead of a planned no-confidence vote in his leadership, capping a period of fraught relations between his government and Tonga’s king.
Sovaleni, who took office in 2021, did not specify a reason for his departure but his resignation halted the no-confidence motion expected on Monday. It was not immediately clear who would succeed him.
His resignation comes less than a year before a national election in Tonga, a South Pacific island nation of 105,000 people, and it highlighted the occasional tensions between Tonga’s monarchy and elected lawmakers in a still-young democracy after reforms that transferred powers from the royal family and nobles to regular citizens in 2010.
A statement on the Tongan Parliament Facebook page said Sovaleni, 54, quit “for the good of the country and moving Tonga forward.” Video from Tonga’s parliament on Monday showed the leader making brief and emotional remarks in Tongan before the no-confidence vote was scheduled to take place.
Sovaleni’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment. His leadership had survived a previous no-confidence vote in September 2023.
In recent months, Sovaleni’s tenure was marked by difficult relations with Tonga’s head of state, King Tupou VI. Although the sovereign’s predecessor ceded power voluntarily in the 2010 democratic reforms, Tupou VI retains powers to dissolve parliament, appoint judges and veto laws.
The king at times made his dissatisfaction with Sovaleni apparent, including by withdrawing confidence in him as defense minister in February. Some lawmakers at first decried the king’s pressure on Sovaleni and his foreign minister as unconstitutional, but both eventually resigned their posts in April — although Sovaleni remained prime minister.
A month earlier, Sovaleni had been photographed at a traditional ceremony of apology to the king, but neither side publicly addressed the event. When Tonga hosted the Pacific Islands Forum Leaders’ Meeting in August, the king was traveling abroad and did not attend the conference — a significant event for the small Pacific nation — which analysts said was a snub to Sovaleni and his government.
Speaking to Radio New Zealand on Monday, Sovaleni did not signal a particular reason for his departure. Asked whether his decision was prompted by disagreements with the king, Sovaleni said that “differences in views” were normal.
“I’m not sure whether that’s the reason,” he said, according to RNZ, adding that he still did not know why he and Tonga’s foreign minister had lost the king’s confidence earlier this year.
“But we still provide respect to his majesty,” Sovaleni told RNZ. “Whatever we do, we always consider that relationship. So maybe you can ask someone else.”
His successor will be selected by Tonga’s 26 lawmakers in a vote. The parliament is made up of 17 lawmakers elected by the public and nine who are nobles, elected by a group of hereditary chiefs.
Sovaleni entered parliament in 2014 and had been a minister since 2019. He led Tonga as the tourism-dependent country struggled to rebound from the impact of the coronavirus pandemic, growing threats from climate change and a catastrophic 2022 volcanic eruption and tsunami, which battered beachfront resorts, homes and businesses around Tonga’s 171 islands.
A former senior public servant who also worked in the private sector before entering politics, Sovaleni is the son of a former Tongan deputy prime minister. He attended high school in New Zealand and studied at the University of Oxford and the University of the South Pacific, attaining master’s degrees in computer science and business.

Topics: Tonga

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