7, October 2019
General Colin Powell says US foreign policy is in shambles 0
American former General Colin Powell says the Republican Party “needs to get a grip on itself” amid the Ukraine scandal engulfing the administration of US President Donald Trump.
“The Republican party has got to get a grip on itself,” Powell told a crowd at The Jefferson Series, an event in New Albany, Ohio, on Monday. “Republican leaders and members of the Congress, both Senate and the House, are holding back because they’re terrified of what will happen to any one of them if they speak out.”
The former secretary of state, who calls himself a “moderate Republican,” added that the US foreign policy is “in shambles right now.”
“I see things happening that are hard to understand,” he said.
Trump has apparently pressured Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to investigate Jo Biden, his potential opponent for the 2020 presidential election, warning that he would not give Ukraine the promised military aid in case he refused.
Republicans have shown “blind partisan loyalty” to Trump, according to Democratic Senator Chris Murphy.
“This entire country should be scared that at a moment when we need patriots, what we are getting is blind partisan loyalty,” Murphy said in an interview on “Meet the Press.”
Democrats controlling the House have launched an impeachment inquiry based on whistleblower complaints that accuse Trump of “using the power of his office to solicit interference from a foreign country in the 2020 US election.”
“I feel like this is a moment where patriots need to step up and try to save this country,” Murphy said. “And I think there are a lot of regular citizens out there that are going to demand that their members of Congress look at the facts, make a decision on the facts, not make a decision based on their loyalty to the cult of Donald Trump.”
Trump has dismissed the impeachment probe as an attempted “coup” and a “witch hunt,” and has even asked China to investigate Biden as well.
“You really think he was serious about thinking that China’s going to investigate the Biden family?” Ohio Republican Rep. Jim Jordan said on ABC. “I think he’s getting the press all spun up about this. Remember, this is the president who’s been tougher on China than any other president… You would think after … a few years of following this president, you would understand sort of how this guy communicates. I think that is what he’s doing.”
Biden has accused Trump of asking Ukraine to “manufacture lies” about him.
“In my experience, asking a foreign government to manufacture lies about your domestic political opponent is not ‘done all the time,’” said the former vice president.
He was responding to a Trump tweet that alleged: “As President I have an obligation to end CORRUPTION, even if that means requesting the help of a foreign country or countries. It is done all the time. This has NOTHING to do with politics or a political campaign against the Bidens. This does have to do with their corruption!”
Source: Presstv
7, October 2019
Nigeria: 16 killed in jihadist attacks 0
At least 16 people, including 11 soldiers, have been killed in jihadist attacks in Nigeria’s northeastern Borno state, military and militia sources said Saturday.
Rival factions of Boko Haram launched the attacks on military and civilian targets between Thursday and Saturday, they said.
On Thursday, fighters from the IS-aligned Islamic State West Africa Province ambushed a military convoy near Mauro village in Benisheikh district, a military source told AFP.
“Our men on patrol fell into a terrorist ambush… which claimed 11 soldiers and wounded 16 others. Two other soldiers are still missing,” said the officer, who asked not to be identified.
He said the troops were travelling in three vehicles.
“The terrorists made away with 11 AK-47 rifles and anti-aircraft gun mounted on the gun truck,” he said.
In another attack the same day, Boko Haram gunmen opened fire on a vehicle at Frigi village, killing one person and injuring another, militia sources said.
Jihadist fighters also killed two militiamen in Gubio, 80 kilometres from the state capital Maiduguri.
On Saturday, Boko Haram militants stormed a camp for those displaced by the conflict in the town of Banki near the border with Cameroon, killing two residents and injuring three vigilantes guarding the area, two militia sources said.Shop Related Products
The decade-long Boko Haram campaign has killed 35,000 people and displaced around two million from their homes in northeast Nigeria.
The violence has spread to neighbouring Niger, Chad and Cameroon, prompting a regional military coalition to fight the insurgents.
Rival factions of Boko Haram launched the attacks on military and civilian targets.
Source: Wion