India PM Modi’s government defeats no-confidence motion

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In this screen grab India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi (R) is seen on a television screen as he addresses the lower house Lok Sabha in New Delhi on August 10, 2023, in response to the Opposition's no-confidence motion against the NDA government. (AFP)
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Updated 10 August 2023
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India PM Modi’s government defeats no-confidence motion

  • Opposition lawmakers brought the motion over months of ethnic violence in Manipur state 
  • No-confidence vote was dismissed by the government ahead of a general election next year

The government of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi defeated a no-confidence motion in parliament on Thursday after a fiery speech by the premier at the climax of a three-day debate.

Opposition lawmakers — who had brought the motion over months of ethnic violence in Manipur state — walked out of the chamber, prompting a furious rebuke from the premier, with the government then winning the vote.

The walkouts, according to broadcasters, included Congress party leader Rahul Gandhi, who on Wednesday said Modi’s government was “set on burning the whole country.”

Modi denounced them, saying: “Those who don’t trust democracy are always ready to make a comment but don’t have the patience to hear (the rebuttal).”

They would “speak ill and run away, throw garbage and run away, spread lies and run away,” he added, to cheers from his own benches.

“This is their game and the country can’t expect much from them.”

The no-confidence vote was dismissed by the government ahead of the vote as a headline-grabbing gimmick ahead of a general election next year.

Modi’s Hindu-nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has a large majority in the 543-member lower house, and is widely expected to win a third term in power.

Its muscular appeals to India’s Hindu majority have proven a winning formula, and Modi has already steered it to two landslide victories over Gandhi and his Congress party.

“I can understand the Congress party’s problem,” Modi said Thursday. “They have been launching the same failed product again and again, but the launch fails every time.”

‘Peace in Manipur’

Gandhi, 53, is the son, grandson and great-grandson of three former Indian premiers.

He spearheaded the parliamentary attack on the government Wednesday, condemning what he said was Modi’s inaction over the deadly Manipur violence.

In a speech to lawmakers, Gandhi had charged that Modi was “killing Mother India.”

The opposition leader was restored to parliament on Monday after the Supreme Court suspended his defamation conviction over past comments criticizing Modi.

Gandhi had been sentenced to two years’ imprisonment in March in a case that critics flagged as an effort to stifle political opposition in the world’s largest democracy.

Modi’s party has been repeatedly accused by political opponents and rights groups of fomenting religious divisions for electoral purposes.

At least 152 people have been killed in Manipur since May, according to government figures, after armed clashes broke out between the predominantly Hindu Meitei majority and the mainly Christian Kuki community.

The state has fractured on ethnic lines, with rival militias setting up blockades to keep out members of the opposing group.

On Thursday, Modi called the violence “saddening” and said that “there will be peace in Manipur in the coming times.”

Tens of thousands of additional soldiers have been rushed from elsewhere to contain the violence, and a curfew and Internet shutdown remain in force across Manipur.

Human Rights Watch has accused BJP-led state authorities in Manipur of facilitating the conflict with “divisive policies that promote Hindu majoritarianism.”

Modi faced a barrage of criticism from opponents for taking more than two months to speak about the conflict.

He broke his silence in July after the publication of a graphic video showing a baying mob parading two Kuki women naked, saying that the incident had filled his heart with “pain and anger.”


Trump orders nuclear submarines moved after Russian ‘provocative statements’

Updated 14 sec ago
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Trump orders nuclear submarines moved after Russian ‘provocative statements’

WASHINGTON: US President Donald Trump on Friday said he had ordered two nuclear submarines to be positioned in “the appropriate regions” in response to statements from former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev.
“Based on the highly provocative statements of the Former President of Russia, Dmitry Medvedev ... I have ordered two Nuclear Submarines to be positioned in the appropriate regions, just in case these foolish and inflammatory statements are more than just that,” Trump said in a social media post.
He added: “Words are very important, and can often lead to unintended consequences, I hope this will not be one of those instances.”
He did not specify what he meant by “nuclear submarines.” Submarines may be nuclear-powered, or armed with nuclear missiles.
It is extremely rare for the US military to discuss the deployment and location of US submarines given their sensitive mission in nuclear deterrence. The US Navy declined comment. The Pentagon did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Trump and Medvedev, who is deputy chairman of Russia’s Security Council, have traded taunts in recent days after Trump on Tuesday said Russia had “10 days from today” to agree to a ceasefire in Ukraine or be hit with tariffs, along with its oil buyers.
Medvedev on Thursday said Trump should remember that Moscow possessed Soviet-era nuclear strike capabilities of last resort, after Trump told Medvedev to “watch his words.”
Moscow, which has set out its own terms for peace in Ukraine, has given no indication that it will comply with Trump’s deadline of August 8.
Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Friday that Moscow hoped for more peace talks with Ukraine but that the momentum of the war was in its favor. He made no reference to the deadline.
Trump, who in the past touted good relations with Putin, has expressed mounting frustration with the Russian leader, accusing him of “bullshit” and describing Russia’s latest attacks on Ukraine as disgusting.
Medvedev has emerged as one of the Kremlin’s most outspoken anti-Western hawks since Russia sent tens of thousands of troops into Ukraine in 2022. Kremlin critics deride him as an irresponsible loose cannon, though some Western diplomats say his statements illustrate the thinking in senior Kremlin policy-making circles.
Trump also rebuked Medvedev in July, accusing him of throwing around the “N (nuclear) word” after the Russian official criticized US strikes on Iran and said “a number of countries” were ready to supply Iran with nuclear warheads. “I guess that’s why Putin’s ‘THE BOSS’,” Trump said at the time.
The US president took office in January having promised to end the Ukraine war on Day One, but has not been able to get Moscow to agree to a ceasefire.
Only six countries operate nuclear-powered submarines: the US, the UK, Russia, China, France and India.
The US Navy has 71 commissioned submarines including 53 fast attack submarines, 14 ballistic-missile submarines, and four guided-missile submarines. All of them are nuclear-powered, but only some carry nuclear weapon-tipped missiles.


EU court rules against Italy on Albania migrant camps scheme

Migrants follow the authorities after their arrival in the port of Shengjin, northwestern Albania, Jan. 28, 2025. (AP)
Updated 39 min 4 sec ago
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EU court rules against Italy on Albania migrant camps scheme

  • Judgment weakens policies to combat mass illegal immigration and defend national borders, Meloni says

ROME/BRUSSELS: Europe’s top court on Friday questioned the legitimacy of Italy’s “safe countries” list, which is used to send migrants to Albania and fast-track their asylum claims, in a fresh blow to a key plank of the government’s migration policy.

Conservative  Giorgia Meloni’s office, in a statement, called the court ruling “surprising” and said it “weakens policies to combat mass illegal immigration and defend national borders.”
Dario Belluccio, a lawyer who represented one of the Bangladeshi asylum-seekers in the specific case brought before the European Court of Justice, said the Albanian migrant camps scheme had effectively been killed off.

BACKGROUND

The detention facilities Italy set up in Albania have been empty for months, due to judicial obstacles.

“It will not be possible to continue with what the Italian government had envisioned before this decision ... Technically, it seems to me that the government’s approach has been completely dismantled,” he told Reuters.
Meloni had presented the offshoring of asylum-seekers to camps built in Albania as a cornerstone of her tough approach to immigration, and other European countries had looked to the idea as a possible model.
However, the scheme stumbled on legal opposition almost as soon as it was launched last year, with Italian courts ordering the return to Italy of migrants picked up at sea and taken to Albania, citing issues with EU law.
In a long-awaited judgment, the Luxembourg-based ECJ ruled that Italy is authorized to fast-track asylum rejections for nationals from countries on a “safe” list — a principle at the heart of the Albania scheme.
It also stated that Italy is free to decide which countries are “safe,” but warned that such a designation should meet strict legal standards and allow applicants and courts to access and challenge the supporting evidence.
In its statement, the ECJ said a Rome court had turned to EU judges, citing the impossibility of accessing such information and thus preventing it from “challenging and reviewing the lawfulness of such a presumption of safety.”
The ECJ also stated that a country may not be classified as “safe” if it fails to provide adequate protection to its entire population, effectively agreeing with Italian judges who had raised this issue last year.
Meloni’s office complained that the EU judgment effectively allows national judges to dictate policy on migration, “further reducing the already limited” capacity of parliament and government to take decisions on the matter.
“This is a development that should concern everybody,” it said.
The case raised before the ECJ involved two Bangladeshi nationals who were rescued at sea by Italian authorities and taken to Albania, where their asylum claims were rejected based on Italy’s classification of Bangladesh as a “safe” country.
The detention facilities Italy set up in Albania have been empty for months, due to judicial obstacles. Last week, a report found that their construction cost was seven times more than that of an equivalent center in Italy.
Though the Albanian scheme is stuck in legal limbo, Italy’s overall effort to curb undocumented migration by sea has been more successful. 
There have been 36,557 such migrant arrivals to date, slightly up from the same period in 2024, but far below the 89,165 recorded over the same time span in 2023.

 


Militants kill ‘dozens’ of soldiers and civilians in Burkina Faso

Updated 01 August 2025
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Militants kill ‘dozens’ of soldiers and civilians in Burkina Faso

  • A manager in a road haulage company confirmed the convoy attack
  • The attack on the military base was on Tuesday claimed by the JNIM

ABIDJAN: Two militant attacks in northeastern Burkina Faso early this week killed “several dozens” of soldiers and civilians, two security sources and a local source told AFP on Friday.

In a “major” attack carried out on Monday, a military unit in the village of Dargo was targeted by “armed terrorist groups,” leaving “several dozens of deaths on each side,” one of the regional security sources said.

The other security source told AFP that militants waged a second attack on Monday, on a supply convoy going between the towns of Dori and Gorom-Gorom.

“In that ambush, several soldiers were killed, along with civilians, notably truck drivers transporting supplies,” said the source.

A manager in a road haulage company confirmed the convoy attack, and said that “some 20 drivers and their apprentices were killed.”

The attack on the military base was on Tuesday claimed by the JNIM, an armed Islamist militant group affiliated with Al-Qaeda that is active also in Mali and Niger. The group indicated it had killed 40 Burkinabe soldiers.

The JNIM has risen to become the most influential militant threat in the Sahel region, according to the United Nations.

Burkina Faso has been plagued by attacks by the JNIM and the Daesh group since 2015.

Wamaps, a group of West African journalists specializing in Sahel security issues, said the attack on the Dargo base was one of the deadliest attacks against Burkina’s military “in recent weeks.”

In a post on X, the Wamaps group cited local sources as saying that around 50 soldiers were killed.

In the convoy attack, “nearly 200 terrorists” from the Daesh group in the Sahel were believed to have taken part, the group said, adding that “some 15 escort soldiers were killed and more than 10 drivers executed.”


Bangladesh secures 20 percent US tariff for garments, exporters relieved

Workers are engaged at their sewing stations in a garment factory in Savar, on the outskirts of Dhaka, on April 9, 2025. (AFP)
Updated 01 August 2025
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Bangladesh secures 20 percent US tariff for garments, exporters relieved

  • The readymade garments sector is the backbone of Bangladesh’s economy, accounting for more than 80 percent of total export earnings, employing about 4 million workers, and contributing about 10 percent to gross domestic product

DHAKA, KARACHI, AHMEDABAD: Bangladesh has negotiated a 20 percent tariff on exports to the US, down from the 37 percent initially proposed by US President Donald Trump, bringing relief to exporters in the world’s second-largest garment supplier.
The new rate is in line with those offered to other major apparel-exporting countries such as Sri Lanka, Vietnam, Pakistan and Indonesia. India, which failed to reach a comprehensive agreement with Washington, will face a steeper 25 percent tariff.
Trump put steep tariffs on exports from dozens of trading partners, including Canada, Brazil, India and Taiwan, ahead of a Friday trade deal deadline.

HIGHLIGHTS

• India faces higher 25 percent tariff on apparel shipments.

• Pakistani exporters cautious about impact of 19 percent tariff.

The outcome secured by Bangladesh — home to a $40 billion apparel export sector — reflects careful negotiation, said Khalilur Rahman, national security adviser and lead negotiator.
“Protecting our apparel industry was a top priority, but we also focused our purchase commitments on US agricultural products. This supports our food security goals and fosters goodwill with US farming states,” Rahman said. Muhammad Yunus, the head of the country’s interim government, called it a “decisive diplomatic victory.”
The readymade garments sector is the backbone of Bangladesh’s economy, accounting for more than 80 percent of total export earnings, employing about 4 million workers, and contributing about 10 percent to gross domestic product.
The prospect of higher US tariffs has rattled Bangladesh’s ready-made garments industry, which fears losing competitiveness in one of its largest markets.
“While the 20 percent tariff will cause some short-term pain, Bangladesh remains better positioned than many of its competitors,” said Mohiuddin Rubel, additional managing director at Denim Expert Ltd, which makes jeans and other items for brands including H&M.
Exporters in neighboring India said the relatively higher tariffs levied would hurt the country’s textile exports, as its competitors like Bangladesh, Vietnam and Cambodia got lower tariffs.
“We are hoping that the tariffs will be rationalized. We will have to recalibrate our strategies depending on the final tariff imposed, said Chintan Thakker, chairman of industry body ASSOCHAM in the state of Gujarat, a major apparel exporter.

’Devil will be in the details’
Pakistan, which exported about $4.1 billion worth of apparel to the US in the 2024 fiscal year, secured a tariff rate of 19 percent, but industry figures were cautious about the immediate impact.
“Considering India’s lower production costs and the likelihood of it negotiating reduced tariffs in the near term, Pakistan is unlikely to either gain or lose a meaningful share in the apparel segment,” Musadaq Zulqarnain, founder and chair of Interloop Limited — a leading Pakistani exporter.
“If the current reciprocal tariff structure holds, significant investment is likely to flow into DR-CAFTA countries and Egypt,” he said, referring to a trade agreement between the US and a group of Caribbean and Central American countries.
Elsewhere in South Asia, Sri Lanka also secured a 20 percent tariff rate from the US, which accounted for 40 percent of its apparel exports of $4.8 billion last year.
“The devil will be in the details as there are questions over issues such as trans-shipment, but overall it’s mostly good,” Yohan Lawrence, secretary general of the Joint Apparel Associations Forum, a Sri Lankan industry body, told Reuters.

 


Colombia ex-president sentenced to 12 years of house arrest, document shows

Updated 01 August 2025
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Colombia ex-president sentenced to 12 years of house arrest, document shows

  • Uribe was convicted of the two charges on Monday by Judge Sandra Liliana Heredia
  • Uribe will be fined $578,000 in the case, the document showed

BOGOTA: Former Colombian President Alvaro Uribe will be sentenced on Friday to 12 years of house arrest for abuse of process and bribery of a public official, according to a document seen by Reuters and a source with knowledge of the matter.

Uribe was convicted of the two charges on Monday by Judge Sandra Liliana Heredia in a witness-tampering case that has run for about 13 years. He has always maintained his innocence.

The information, also published by local media, came hours ahead of the hearing where Heredia will read the sentence in court.

Uribe will be fined $578,000 in the case, the document showed.

The conviction made him the country’s first ex-president to ever be found guilty at trial and came less than a year before Colombia’s 2026 presidential election, in which several of Uribe’s allies and proteges are competing for top office.

It could also have implications for Colombia’s relationship with the US: Secretary of State Marco Rubio said this week Uribe’s conviction is a “weaponization of Colombia’s judicial branch by radical judges” and analysts have said there could be cuts to US aid in response.

Uribe, 73, and his supporters have always said the process is a persecution, while his detractors have celebrated it as deserved comeuppance for a man who has been accused for decades of close ties with violent right-wing paramilitaries but never convicted of any crime until now.