Iran President: ‘Not the time to build walls’
Iranian President Hassan Rouhani criticized his US counterpart Donald Trump on Saturday, saying now was “not the time to build walls between nations”.
“They have forgotten that the Berlin Wall collapsed many years ago. Even if there are walls between nations, they must be removed,” Rouhani said at a tourism convention in Tehran.
His remarks came after Trump ordered construction of a wall along the US-Mexico border and imposed tough new controls on travelers from seven Muslim countries, among them Iran.
Rouhani did not comment directly on the visa ban, but said Iran had “opened its doors” to foreign tourists since the signing of a nuclear agreement with world powers in 2015.
Rouhani did not comment directly on the visa ban, but said Iran had “opened its doors” to foreign tourists since the signing of a nuclear agreement with world powers in 2015.
With more than a million Iranians living in the United States, many families are deeply concerned about the implications of Trump’s visa ban, which also affects citizens from Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen.
On Thursday, one of Iran’s most popular actresses said she would boycott next month’s Academy Awards in protest at the ban.
“Trump’s visa ban for Iranians is racist. Whether this will include a cultural event or not, I won’t attend the #AcademyAwards 2017,” tweeted Taraneh Alidoosti, who stars in the Oscar-nominated “The Salesman”.
No visas will be issued for migrants or visitors from the seven countries for at least 90 days, a restriction which can be extended if the countries in question do not provide extensive information on individuals seeking to enter the United States.
Quizzed on the street, many Iranians said they were baffled by the move.
“Americans themselves are mostly immigrants. To pick out a few countries and call them terrorist is not logical,” said Mohsen Najari, a 33-year-old resident of the Iranian capital.
Tehran and Washington have not had diplomatic ties since students stormed the US embassy in 1980 following an Islamic revolution that toppled the US-backed shah.
“It’s got nothing to do with terrorism. Iran and the US just don’t have good ties. The US has good relations with Saudi Arabia so it doesn’t matter how many terrorists come from Saudi Arabia,” said Sima, a 27-year-old.
Trump and Putin tinkle talk by Saturday
A planned phone call between Russian President Vladimir Putin and his American counterpart, Donald Trump, is scheduled to take place at 12:00 noon EST (17:00 GMT) Saturday, the White House press service reported on Friday. US Vice President Mike Pence will also take part in the conversation between the two leaders, the White House announced. Earlier, Kremlin’s spokesman Dmitry Peskov confirmed the conversation had been arranged for Saturday, without giving any details about the call’s agenda. “Let’s be patient,” Peskov said, adding that the call is unlikely to lead to any breakthrough in bilateral relations, taking into account that it will be the first official talks scheduled between the presidents.
UK- PM says Trump’s confirmed he’s ‘100% behind NATO’
UK Prime Minister Theresa May has secured a commitment from the new Republican president, Donald Trump, confirming that the United States is fully behind the NATO alliance. “On defense and security cooperation, we’re united in our recognition of Nato as the bulwark of our collective defense and we reaffirmed our unshakeable commitment to this alliance,” May, who became the first foreign leader to visit Trump in the White House, said. “Today we’ve reaffirmed our unshakeable commitment to this alliance – Mr. President I think you confirmed that you are 100 percent behind NATO,” she added at a press conference on Friday, as quoted CNN
Southern EU leaders make show of unity at Lisbon meeting
Seven southern European leaders are holding a summit to emphasize their commitment to the European Union, in the wake of Britain’s vote to leave the bloc. The informal half-day meeting in Lisbon on Saturday includes the leaders of France, Italy, Spain, Greece, Cyprus and Malta, as well as host Portugal. Portuguese officials say the seven leaders will commit their countries to closer cooperation on border security and efforts to fight terrorism. They will also consider ways of spurring economic growth and coordinating their economies, which all use the euro currency. EU growth is on the whole sluggish. The countries have already signaled they are prepared to surrender more national sovereignty to EU institutions.
Soldiers in Jammu and Kashmir’s Macchil sector rescued
All five soldiers trapped under snow in Jammu and Kashmir’s Macchil sector rescued.
Five army personnel have been hit by an avalanche that struck an army post in Jammu-Kashmir’s Kupwara district. Rescue operations by the army are underway.
Several avalanches and landslides hit the Jammu-Srinagar National Highway on Friday even as the death toll in the series of snow slides that have hit Jammu and Kashmir crossed 20 with the recovery of the bodies of four soldiers. Media agencies
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