Former Cuban President Raul Castro has announced his resignation as the head of the country’s ruling Communist Party, the most powerful position in the Caribbean island nation.

Castro made the announcement during a speech Friday on the first day of the party’s eighth congress, saying he is handing over power to a younger generation that is “full of passion and anti-imperialist spirit.”

“I believe fervently in the strength and exemplary nature and comprehension of my compatriots, and as long as I live, I will be ready with my foot in the stirrups to defend the fatherland, the revolution and socialism,” he told party delegates at the closed-door meeting at a convention center in Havana.

Castro underlined that he was retiring with the sense of having “fulfilled his mission and confident in the future of the fatherland.”

He is expected to formally step down on April 19, the last day of the congress, when the party’s new leadership will be elected.

The 89-year-old was elected to the top position in 2011, succeeding his older brother and ex-president Fidel Castro, who had held that position since the founding of Cuba’s Communist Party in 1965.

Raul Castro announced in 2018 that he expected incumbent President Miguel Diaz-Canel to replace him after his retirement in 2021. The 60-year-old represents a new generation and has been serving the first of two five-year terms as president.

Castro’s retirement comes as Cuba is facing multiple challenges exacerbated by US-led sanctions against the Caribbean island nation as well as the coronavirus pandemic.

Cuba’s economy shrank 11 percent last year due to the deadly viral pathogen and tightened US sanctions which have caused a decline in aid from its ally, Venezuela.

Moreover, the US returned Havana to its so-called list of “state sponsors of terrorism” just nine days before Republican President Donald Trump left office.

The then US secretary of state, Mike Pompeo, said Cuba was being blacklisted for “repeatedly providing support for acts of international terrorism,” and cited Cuba’s security support for Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro.

Source: Presstv

US President Joe Biden has asked Vladmir #Putin to show restraint with #Ukraine, amid signs #Russia has mobilised thousands of troops in the border region in recent weeks.

 In a phone call Tuesday, Biden urged his Russian counterpart to de-escalate tensions on the border, and invited him to an in-person summit.

Queen Elizabeth II faces the twilight of her record-breaking reign without her most trusted adviser and personal confidant — husband Prince Philip.

But his death last week aged 99 is not expected to change the monarch’s lifetime commitment to duty, as a new chapter beckons for Britain’s most famous family.

The Queen, who turns 95 next week, once described the Duke of Edinburgh as her “strength and stay”, in a rare moment of public candour.

He has been credited with the successful running of “The Firm”, cementing its position in national life, and helping it to weather crises and scandal.

“The Queen, as you would expect, is an incredibly stoic person,” said the couple’s second son, Prince Andrew, who has been under a shadow because of his links to the late Jeffrey Epstein, a convicted sex offender.

“She described (the duke’s death) as having left a huge void in her life,” he told reporters, adding the family was “rallying round to make sure we’re there to support her”.

– Life of service –

A steady stream of close family members have visited the Queen since last week, including her eldest son and heir, Prince Charles, Andrew, and youngest son, Edward.

Edward said his mother was “bearing up”, despite the understandable shock at the loss.

The Times reported on Tuesday that she is currently not being given her daily red boxes of government papers during the two weeks of official royal mourning.

But early signs are the Queen will remain faithful to the commitment she made in a radio address to the Commonwealth as a 21-year-old princess from Cape Town, South Africa, in 1947.

“I declare before you all that my whole life, whether it be long or short, shall be devoted to your service,” she said.

Just a day after her husband’s death was announced, she had an audience with Prime Minister Boris Johnson, according to the Court Circular, which lists royal events and engagements.

On Tuesday, she hosted an event at Windsor Castle, west of London, to mark the retirement of the Lord Chamberlain, the most senior officer in the royal household.

She has links to more than 600 charities, military associations, professional bodies and public service organisations.

– Family support –

Prince Philip was almost ever-present at the Queen’s side since she acceded to the throne in 1952 but had been seen less after retiring from public duties in 2017.

It is expected she will now rely more heavily on Charles, his second wife, Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall, as well as second-in-line Prince William and his wife at engagements, according to British media reports.

Charles, now 72, has already taken on more of her duties in recent years, including overseas, in preparation for his long-awaited succession.

He is expected to accompany his mother for the state opening of Parliament on May 11.

Younger royals have also accompanied her at events, including online over videoconference during the coronavirus pandemic.

The Times quoted royal sources as saying she will still carry out solo engagements.

The Queen’s apparent desire to get out and about is in stark contrast to Britain’s last female monarch, Queen Victoria, who wore black for four decades and barely made any public appearances after her husband Albert’s death in 1861.

Her seclusion led her to being called the “widow of Windsor” and increased the popularity of the republican movement.

– Step up –

Public sympathy for the Queen after her husband’s death is high, and she has consistently topped polls as the most popular royal.

Her presence and longevity as Britain’s longest-serving monarch have helped stave off republican sentiment, even as attitudes to the monarchy have changed over the years.

Charles has effectively taken over his father’s role as the most senior royal male, and if he follows in his footsteps, he has a series of pressing issues to deal with.

Andrew’s public reappearance last weekend caused outrage in some quarters, as US prosecutors still want to speak to him about his links to Epstein.

The palace is also dealing with the fall-out of Charles’ youngest son Prince Harry and his wife Meghan’s shock move to the United States last year — and their explosive claims of racism and treatment in the royal family.

Saturday’s funeral will also see Harry and elder brother William reunited, with widely-reported claims of a deep rift between the pair.

The brothers — once close after the death of their mother, princess Diana, in a Paris car crash in 1997 — pointedly issued separate tributes to their grandfather after his passing.

Source: AFP

Top US officials are in Europe this week seeking to shore up allied support on countering Iran and China as well as recent Russian moves at the Ukraine border. U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin arrived in Berlin on his inaugural tour of Europe while Secretary of State Antony Blinken headed to Brussels on Tuesday for talks on Ukraine and NATO troops in Afghanistan.

Nearly a year after President Donald Trump ordered thousands of troops to leave Germany, capping a series of setbacks for U.S. relations with major allies, U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin began an inaugural tour of Europe to shore up partnerships that are a cornerstone of the post-World War II order.

Austin arrived in Berlin on Monday against the backdrop of a newly emerging crisis with Iran, which on Monday blamed Israel for a recent attack on its underground Natanz nuclear facility. Israel has not confirmed or denied involvement, but the attack nonetheless imperils ongoing talks in Europe over Tehran’s tattered nuclear deal.

Also at stake in Austin’s visit is the future direction of U.S. defense commitments in Europe at a time of growing concern about Russian military intervention on NATO’s periphery, including a buildup of Russian forces near Ukraine’s border. U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken was headed to Europe to discuss with U.S. allies the Ukraine situation as well as the administration’s thinking on further withdrawals of troops from Afghanistan.

The United States also seeks European support for its approach to countering China around the world and for efforts to restore an international agreement with limits on Iran’s nuclear program.

Austin arrived in the German capital on Monday night and will hold talks Tuesday with senior government officials. He will also visit NATO headquarters later this week in Belgium and meet with British defense officials in London. He began his trip Sunday in Israel, where he underscored U.S. defense support in meetings with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Benny Gantz.

Austin, a former four-star Army general whose overseas military experience was primarily in Iraq, is likely to assure German officials of intentions by the Biden administration to keep troops in Germany, though the number is subject to discussion as part of a monthslong global review of the basing of U.S. troops. Last year, Trump ordered the number in Germany reduced by about 12,000, to about 24,000.

In his first visit to NATO headquarters in Brussels since taking office, Austin will meet with Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg, who declared on President Joe Biden’s inauguration day that the arrival of a new administration marked “the start of a new chapter for the trans-Atlantic alliance.”

Trump’s departure from the world stage gave the Biden administration an opening to restore a more supportive U.S. approach to Europe and the NATO alliance, but complications will persist. For example, the NATO allies are anxious for Biden to decide whether to pull out of Afghanistan. NATO has more troo ps there than does the United States, and Biden’s indecision troubles them, not least because they count on U.S. military support for removing troops and equipment.

The attack on Iran’s Natanz nuclear facility further complicates U.S. efforts to draw Iran back into a nuclear deal. Austin was asked about this earlier Monday while in Israel, and he said only that he expects the administration’s diplomatic efforts with Iran will continue.

‘Pivot’ to Asia

On the broader horizon, the European allies remain uncertain how their defense and security relationship with the United States will be affected by Biden’s push to focus more on China as the chief threat to U.S. security. That shift in U.S. thinking began during the Obama administration, which announced a “pivot” to Asia that left Europeans thinking their U.S. ally was turning its back. Washington adjusted diplomatically and rhetorically, assuring the Europeans that it was just a “rebalancing.”

Then came Trump. His administration further emphasized China as the prime security threat, but of greater concern to the Europeans was his frequent, sometimes shocking, denigration of the trans-Atlantic partnership that had been the foundation of U.S. security policy for decades. He dismissed the NATO allies as freeloaders, and last summer he ordered the removal of about one-third of the U.S. force in Germany, as well as the move of U.S. European Command headquarters from Germany to Belgium.

“We don’t want to be the suckers anymore,” Trump told reporters last July, calling the Germans ingrates who don’t spend enough on defense but expect the United States to protect them from Russia.

Germany has been an anchor for the U.S. military presence in Europe since the early post-World War II years. In addition to hosting the headquarters for U.S. European and U.S. Africa commands, Germany’s Ramstein Air Base is headquarters for NATO air and missile defenses. The U.S. Army’s largest overseas hospital, the Landstuhl Regional Medical Center, is a few miles from Ramstein Air Base. The U.S. Air Force also has a substantial presence in Germany, including the 52nd Fighter Wing at Spangdahlem.

In his first speech to an international audience, Biden in February declared to the Munich Security Conference: “America is back, the trans-Atlantic alliance is back, and we are not looking backward. We are looking forward together.”

Biden suspended the Trump decision on a partial withdrawal of troops from Germany, which had not yet been implemented. It seems likely the administration will decide not to carry out the Trump order.

Jim Townsend, who served throughout the Obama administration as the Pentagon’s lead policy official on Europe and NATO, said in an interview that he sees lasting value in Austin’s touring of European capitals early in his tenure.

“It’s a better way to repair the torn fabric of that trans-Atlantic relationship,” Townsend said.

Even if the Europeans can put the Trump-era tensions behind them, they will still have questions about the Biden emphasis on China, which is not a front-burner issue for the Europeans. They largely view NATO as a bulwark against Russia, particularly since Moscow’s annexation of Crimea in 2014 and its intervention in eastern Ukraine, which is not a NATO member but aspires to join.

(AP)

Iranian President Hassan Rouhani said Wednesday that talks in Vienna on rescuing a troubled 2015 nuclear deal had opened a “new chapter”.

An Iranian delegation met Tuesday with representatives of the remaining parties to the agreement to discuss how to bring Washington back into it and end crippling US sanctions and Iranian countermeasures.

US President Joe Biden has said he is ready to reverse the decision of his predecessor Donald Trump to withdraw from the agreement and reimpose unilateral sanctions.

But differences remain over the mechanics of the move as Tehran has since responded by suspending compliance with some of its own obligations under the deal.

The United States was not present at Tuesday’s discussions because Iran has refused to meet the US delegation so long as its sanctions remain in place.

Instead, the European Union acted as an intermediary, but all sides gave a positive assessment of the opening talks.

“A new chapter has just been opened yesterday,” Rouhani told a cabinet meeting Wednesday.

“If (Washington) shows it is honest and sincere, that’s all we ask… I think we’ll be able to negotiate in a short time, if necessary, with the (other parties to the deal).”

The talks are to resume in Vienna on Friday, a diplomat familiar with the discussions said.

The US delegation is to gather in a different hotel, with EU negotiators acting as go-betweens.

At the same time, two groups of experts — on lifting sanctions and nuclear issues — are working “to identify concrete measures to be taken by Washington and Tehran” to restore the deal, Russian envoy Mikhail Ulyanov said.

Washington gave an upbeat assessment of the opening session.

“We do see this as a constructive and certainly welcome step,” State Department spokesman Ned Price said.

Source: AFP

Since the deadly Jan. 6 insurrection at the US Capitol, former president Donald Trump and his Republican allies have pushed false and misleading accounts to downplay the event that left five dead and scores of others wounded.

His supporters appear to have listened.

Three months after a mob of Trump supporters stormed the Capitol to try to overturn his November election loss, about half of Republicans believe the siege was largely a non-violent protest or was the handiwork of left-wing activists “trying to make Trump look bad,” a new Reuters/Ipsos poll has found.

Six in 10 Republicans also believe the false claim put out by Trump that November’s presidential election “was stolen” from him due to widespread voter fraud, and the same proportion of Republicans think he should run again in 2024, the March 30-31 poll showed.

Since the Capitol attack, Trump, many of his allies within the Republican Party and right-wing media personalities have publicly painted a picture of the day’s events jarringly at odds with reality.

Hundreds of Trump’s supporters, mobilized by the former president’s false claims of a stolen election, climbed walls of the Capitol building and smashed windows to gain entry while lawmakers were inside voting to certify President Joe Biden’s election victory.

The rioters – many of them sporting Trump campaign gear and waving flags – also included known white supremacist groups such as the Proud Boys.

In a recent interview with Fox News, Trump said the rioters posed “zero threat.” Other prominent Republicans, such as Senator Ron Johnson of Wisconsin, have publicly doubted whether Trump supporters were behind the riot.

Last month, 12 Republicans in the House of Representatives voted against a resolution honoring Capitol Police officers who defended the grounds during the rampage, with one lawmaker saying that he objected using the word “insurrection” to describe the incident.

The Reuters/Ipsos poll shows a large number of rank-and-file Republicans have embraced the myth.

While 59% of all Americans say Trump bears some responsibility for the attack, only three in 10 Republicans agree. Eight in 10 Democrats and six in 10 independents reject the false claims that the Capitol siege was “mostly peaceful” or it was staged by left-wing protestors.

“Republicans have their own version of reality,” said John Geer, an expert on public opinion at Vanderbilt University.

“It is a huge problem. Democracy requires accountability and accountability requires evidence.”

The refusal of Trump and prominent Republicans to repudiate the events of Jan. 6 increases the likelihood of a similar incident happening again, said Susan Corke, director of the Intelligence Project at the Southern Poverty Law Center, which tracks hate groups.

“That is the biggest danger – normalizing this behavior,” Corke said. “I do think we are going to see more violence.”

In a fresh reminder of the security threats the US Capitol faces since Jan. 6, a motorist rammed a car into US Capitol police on Friday and brandished a knife, killing one officer and injuring another and forcing the Capitol complex to lock down.

Officers shot and killed the suspect.

Allie Carroll, a spokeswoman for the Republican National Committee, said its members condemned the Capitol attack and referred to a Jan. 13 statement from Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel.

“Violence has no place in our politics … Those who partook in the assault on our nation’s Capitol and those who continue to threaten violence should be found, held accountable, and prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law,” McDaniel said. A representative for Trump did not respond to requests for comment.

‘Dangerous spin on reality’

The disinformation campaign aimed at downplaying the insurrection and Trump’s role in it reflects a growing consensus within the Republican Party that its fortunes remain tethered to Trump and his devoted base, political observers say.

According to the new Reuters/Ipsos poll, Trump remains the most popular figure within the party, with eight in 10 Republicans continuing to hold a favorable impression of him.

“Congressional Republicans have assessed they need to max out the Trump vote to win,” said Tim Miller, a former spokesman for Republican presidential candidate Jeb Bush. “That that is the path back to the majority.”

Republicans in Congress show few signs of breaking with Trump.

Right after the deadly Capitol siege, 147 Republican lawmakers voted against certifying Biden’s election win. The Democratic-led House of Representatives impeached Trump for “inciting an insurrection”, making him the only US president to be impeached twice, but most Senate Republicans acquitted him of the charge in a trial.

Last week, Republican congressman Jim Banks of Indiana said the party must cater to the working-class voters that comprise Trump’s political base ahead of next year’s critical midterm elections that will dictate control of Congress.

“Members who want to swap out working-class voters because they resent President Trump’s impact… are wrong,” Banks wrote in a memo to Republican House leader Kevin McCarthy, contents of which he posted on Twitter.

Banks was one of the 147 lawmakers who voted to block certification of Biden’s win, and he later voted against impeaching Trump. Banks did not respond to requests for comment.

Some mainstream Republicans contend that after Republicans lost both the White House and control of both chambers of Congress on Trump’s watch, the party must move on from the former president in order to attract suburban, moderate and independent voters.

In the latest Reuters/Ipsos poll, only about three in 10 independents said they have a favorable view of Trump, among the lowest level recorded since his presidency.

Most Americans — about 60% — also believe Biden won the November election fair and square, and said Trump should not run again.

Representative Adam Kinzinger of Illinois, one of Trump’s top Republican critics in Congress, has criticized the push to rewrite the history of the Capitol attack.

The disinformation effort is “such a dangerous, disgusting spin on reality,” Kinzinger wrote in a fundraising appeal to supporters last month, “and what’s even worse is that it goes unchallenged by so many in the Republican Party.”

The window for the Republican Party to distance itself from Trump seems to have passed, Miller said.

“There was a chance after January 6 for Republican leaders to really put their foot down and say, ‘We can’t be the insurrectionist party,’” he said. “Now that opportunity is totally gone.”

The Reuters/Ipsos poll was conducted online, in English, throughout the United States. It gathered responses from 1,005 adults between March 30-31. The poll has a credibility interval, a measure of precision, of about 4 percentage points.

(Source: Reuters)

Russian President Vladimir Putin has signed a law that would allow him to stay in office for two more terms until the year 2036.

The legislation, officially approved by Putin on Monday, came after changes to the country’s constitution last year that allowed the 68-year-old Russian leader to run for two more six-year terms once his tenure ends in 2024.

The changes, which were overwhelmingly backed in a public vote last summer, permit Putin to potentially hold office until the age of 83.

The reforms also include an amendment that grants former Russian presidents automatic immunity from criminal prosecution.

Putin, already the longest-serving leader in modern Russian history since Soviet leader Josef Stalin, and his supporters said at the time that the reforms were needed to ensure national stability.

The legislation was passed in both the lower and upper houses of Russian parliament last month.

Putin has ruled the country as a president or prime minister for more than 20 years.

Source: Presstv

Jordan’s Prince Hamzah, accused of a “wicked” plot against his elder half-brother King Abdullah II, has struck a defiant tone, insisting he will not obey orders restricting his movement.

The government has accused Hamzah of involvement in a seditious conspiracy to “destabilise the kingdom’s security”, placed him under house arrest and detained at least 16 more people.

But 41-year-old Hamzah, who says he has been ordered to stay inside his Amman palace, vowed he would defy orders limiting his movement and communications, in an audio recording posted on Twitter late Sunday.

“I don’t want to make moves and escalate now, but of course I’m not going to obey when they say you can’t go out, you can’t tweet, you can’t communicate with people, you’re only allowed to see your family,” he said.

Hamzah, a former crown prince who was stripped off that title by Abdullah in 2004, has emerged as a vocal critic of the monarchy, accusing Jordan’s leadership of corruption, nepotism and authoritarian rule.

In a video he sent to the BBC on Saturday he bemoaned “incompetence that has been prevalent in our governing structure for the last 15 to 20 years and has been getting worse”.

He charged that “no-one is able to speak or express opinion on anything without being bullied, arrested, harassed and threatened”.

‘Wicked slander’

Hamzah denied being involved in any “nefarious” plot, but said he had been placed under house arrest, with his phone and internet cut, by Jordan’s military chief, General Youssef Huneiti.

In the recording released Sunday, Hamzah said that: “When the head of the joint chiefs of staff comes and tells you this … I think it’s kind of unacceptable”.

He added that when Huneiti visited his home, “I recorded what he said and sent it to my friends abroad and to my family, in case anything happens”.

King Abdullah, 59, named Hamzah crown prince in 1999, in line with their father’s dying wish, but stripped him of that title five years later and named his own son Prince Hussein, now 26, heir to the throne.

Hamzah’s mother, American-born Queen Noor, defended her son and the others on Sunday, tweeting that she was “praying that truth and justice will prevail for all the innocent victims of this wicked slander.”

Linchpin of stability

Jordan’s palace turmoil has laid bare divisions in what is usually considered a bulwark of stability in the Middle East.

Washington, major Gulf powers, Egypt and the Arab League were all quick to pledge their support for Abdullah and all his steps to ensure stability.

Jordan has only 10 million people but outsized strategic importance in a turbulent region. It borders Israel and the occupied West Bank, Syria, Iraq and Saudi Arabia and is the formal custodian of Jerusalem’s Al Aqsa Mosque.

It hosts US troops and is home to millions of exiled Palestinians and more than half a million Syrian refugees.

The Washington Post had first reported Saturday that the former crown prince was “placed under restriction” as part of a probe into an alleged plot to unseat the king.

Jordan’s government waited until Sunday afternoon to outline its case, delivered by the foreign minister and deputy premier Ayman Safadi.

“This sedition was nipped in the bud,” Safadi said, charging that the plotters had linked up with foreign parties “to carry out wicked plans aimed at destabilising” the kingdom.

Among those arrested were a former finance minister, Bassem Awadallah, who was chief of the royal court in 2007-08, and Sherif Hassan bin Zaid, a junior member of the royal family.

Safadi declined to identify the alleged foreign parties or say what the charges were, but said authorities acted because the alleged conspirators were “talking about timing”.

He also charged that an individual “with links to foreign intelligence services” had offered to spirit Hamzah’s wife out of the country by plane.

An Israeli who said he is a close friend of Hamzah, Roy Shaposhnik, said in a statement he had indeed “extended an invitation for the prince’s wife and children to stay at his home in Europe”.

He said he had made “this benign, humanitarian” offer after the prince had described a “dynamic situation in Amman” and voiced “concerns about the safety of his family”.

Shaposhnik stressed that he had “never served in any capacity with any intelligence branch in Israel or any other country for that matter” and that he had “no knowledge of, or any involvement with, events that are allegedly transpiring in Jordan”.

(AFP)

The half-brother of Jordan’s King Abdullah II was asked to “stop some movements and activities that are being used to target Jordan’s security and stability,” the country’s top general said Saturday amid the arrest of former senior officials close to the ruling monarchy.

The details remained murky, but any internal unrest would raise alarms among the US and other Western nations, which have long viewed Jordan’s ruling monarchy as a key military ally and a bastion of stability in a volatile region.

Gen. Yousef Huneiti, the army chief of staff, denied reports that Prince Hamzah – the king’s half-brother who was also a former crown prince – had been arrested. He said an investigation is still ongoing and its results will be made public “in a transparent and clear form.”

“No one is above the law and Jordan’s security and stability are above all,” he told the official Petra news agency.

Petra had earlier reported that two senior officials who formerly worked for the palace “and others” had been arrested for “security reasons,” without providing further details.

The Petra report said Sharif Hassan bin Zaid, the former royal envoy to Saudi Arabia, and Bassem Ibrahim Awadallah, the former head of the royal court, were detained. Awadallah also previously served as planning minister and finance minister.

The agency did not provide further details or name the others who were arrested.

“We are closely following the reports and in touch with Jordanian officials,” State Department spokesman Ned Price said. “King Abdullah is a key partner of the United States, and he has our full support.”

Abdullah has ruled Jordan since the 1999 death of of his father, King Hussein, who ruled the country for close to a half-century. The king has cultivated close relations with US and other Western leaders over the years, and Jordan was a key ally in the war against the Islamic State group. The country borders Israel, the occupied West Bank, Syria, Iraq and Saudi Arabia.

Jordan’s economy has been battered by the coronavirus pandemic. The country, with a population of around 10 million, also hosts more than 600,000 Syrian refugees.

Jordan made peace with Israel in 1994, but relations have been tense in recent years, largely due to differences linked to Israel’s conflict with the Palestinians. Jordan is home to more than 2 million Palestinian refugees, most of whom have Jordanian citizenship.

Abdullah stripped his half-brother Hamzah of his title as crown prince in 2004, saying he had decided to “free” him “from the constraints of the position of crown prince in order to give you the freedom to work and undertake any mission or responsibility I entrust you with.”

The current crown prince is Abdullah’s oldest son, Hussein, aged 26.

Abdullah had chosen Hamzah as his crown prince hours after their father died of cancer in February 1999. The designation was out of respect for Hussein, who is known to have favored Hamzah the most among his 11 children from four marriages.

Abdullah and Hamzah have not displayed any open rivalry over the years.

Source: AP